Sunday Sermon

     This past week I got to provide pulpit supply for a pastor friend of mine.  He had just started a series out of the book of Numbers, and to keep up with the flow of things and to challenge myself, I continued with the series.  This was the first time I preached out of Numbers 3:1-13 and it was a great experience.  Here are some of the highlights of my sermon.

     The first observation is that God not only called, but also consecrated the tribe of Levi to not only be His representation to the nation of Israel, but also for them to be the voice of Israel back to Him.  Among the tribe of Levi, there was the Levites, who were responsible for the day to day happenings with the Tent of Meeting.  Whether is was moving, the leading Israel in the worship of God, or the general care of the Tent of Meeting, they took care of it.  They were also the "Judge Judy" because they took care of disputes and acted as judges along with the keeping of records.  The Priest were not only the overseers of the Levites, but they were the ones responsible for performing the sacrifices.  Whether it was the sacrifices of the individual families, or the nation of Israel, it was their responsibility to perform these task.  They communed directly with God and God with them.  Not only were they the official voice of God to the nation of Israel, they were interceding for them and helping the Nation of Israel be in right relationship with God.  They were also the moral compass for Israel.  As moral and upright the priest were, so was the nation of Israel.  Or if the priest were immoral and broke God's commandments, so did the Nation of Israel.  God set the Tribe of Levi aside as consecrated for a particular purpose and a calling to be holy.  He has called us to do the same. 

   The second observation I made was this idea of what it means to be consecrated/set apart.  When I think of this, two meanings come to mind.  The first one is that I think of my mom's fine china where we only use it for holiday meals, and the rest of the year it sits in the china cabinet looking all pretty.   The danger with this is that we are set apart and holy, but we are not being that agent of Change that God has called us to be.  The second idea of being consecrated/set apart means that we have a specific purpose to go out and change the world.  I agree with this, but we have to be careful of the extreme that we forget that we are holy and set apart and we come away looking like the world. 

  My third observation and conclusion to this whole idea of being set apart/consecrated means that we are to take the Biblical commands seriously that we are to be holy as God is holy.  Being consecrated means that we are holy.  I tend to see holiness as perfection, not as I have done nothing wrong, but as maturity.  This means that we are living in right relationship not only with God, but with our fellow man.  It means that we are putting away things that hinder our relationship with God and others while continuing to grow in Gods grace and mercy.  In essence, its maturity or growing up and the end result is that we love God with everything we got and we love our neighbors as ourselves.  As the Apostle Paul states that we should not stay on spiritual milk forever, we need to grow up.  One sign of immaturity is that we continue to struggle with the same issues.  A sign of someone who is maturing is the over coming of those issues.Just as we need to grow up from teen to adulthood, we need to mature spiritually.  So how does this look practically.

     Since we are set apart and consecrated, we are called to be God's hands and feet in a very dark and broken world.  With Christ becoming the ultimate High Priest, He is inviting us to be apart of the Priest Hood of all believers.  Just as the priest of the Old Testament were interceding for the nation of Israel, Christ does the same.  If Christ is interceding for us on a daily basis, how can we not do the same for the world in which we live in.  It is being the dispenser of God's grace to this world.  It is more than just getting people saved (which is important), but it is bearing each others burdens, interceding for those who can't, it also is bring justice to a broke world.  Justice is not just bringing punishment, but it is bringing people back into right relationship with not only each other, but God too.  It is the dispensing of forgiveness and reconciliation not only with God and others, but ourselves as well.  As mentioned earlier, we need to put away things that hinder our relationship with God and others.  We can only change the world in ways we are willing to grow up and change.  This isnt meant to be works orientated, but as we grow in grace of the living God, it will change the world we live in. So in closing lets be the presence of God in a broken world interceding and being that agent of Change God called us to be and that Christ is working through us

An hour at the art museum

  I have developed a fascination with photography over the last several years.  I like looking at pictures, especially sport orientated photos.  When I heard that a local art museum (Tweed museum on the UMD Campus) had a new showing of someones photography work, so I went and I checked it out.  The pictures were good, but what caught my attention was a big painting that was on the wall.  The painting was of a person in chains wearing noting but a loin cloth and he has been beaten.  The person is looking towards the sky with a smile on his face.  There is also a solider and other people surrounding him.  As I learned with art, it is open for interpretation.  Five people can look at the same piece of work and get five different meanings.  So, I asked about the painting and a person who works at the museum went and found some information on the piece.  The piece of artwork happened to be a rendition of the martyr of St Blaise, who was a fourth century Christian who liked to spend time out in the woods in prayer and contemplation.  He was also a friend of animals and people often compared him to St Francis.  There is a fokelore has it that he also had the gift of healing. 

 As I did some pondering over the painting, it really had me captivated.  I thought of the Apostle Paul and how this picture could be him.  He had spent much time in prison and he even written several of his epistles from the jail cell.  During these letters, Paul is not only praising God despite of his circumstances, but also encouraging others from his cell.  Paul had a different view of prison than I would if I were ever in prison.  he wrote to the Philippian Church that because of him being in prison that others were coming to know Christ as their Savior (1:12-14).  Or in His letter to the Ephesians is that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the sake of the Gentiles (3:1).  Or that he is an ambassador in chains and that he must boldly speak the cause of Christ (6:20.  Or to the church in Colossians  that he was rejoicing for suffering for the others and those who have done the same (1:24). 

   I have never been locked up in jail for any amount of time, and I would imagine it wouldn't be a very pleasant stay.  But here is the thing, no matter if we have ever been in jail for a day, week, month, or years, or never, we all have or had life opportunities where we felt like we were in prison.  Could it be the loss of a spouse, a bad health diagnosis, a troubled relationship, a bad job or no job.   In each of these situations, it we are given the opportunity to get out of, make it better, or just make it go away, we would.  Here's the thing, are we grumbling about our current circumstances, or praising God.  God has a bigger purpose than just to keep us happy.  There things that happen because we live in a fallen world and we have to suffer the consequences.  Are we going to let life's circumstances where us down, or are we going to give thanks in all things, no matter how bad they get.  When I give thanks to God for every situation, it is a realization that it is not about me.  It is also realizing that even if we live in a fallen world, we still have a Savior that holds the future.  When giving thanks for the presence circumstances (even though we might not like or enjoy it) to move forward.  Every day we are given the opportunity to grow in grace and maturity, or to do nothing, which usually ends up as regression.

  Having a grateful heart is not the last stop in life, it is what we do with that gratitude is what makes the difference.  Having a grateful heart means action.  It means living at peace with family and friends.  Seeking forgiveness when wrong is done and bestowing forgiveness when wrong is done to you.  It is loving and being patient with people who are just plain hard to be with.  It is having joy in every circumstance, not matter if we just got a batch of homemade cookies or cut off in traffic.  The Apostle Paul was in prison for preaching the Gospeland he had every right to be mean, hateful and bitter, but he chose not too. 

random thoughs

  I was coming home from an arousing game of cards and my grandmas house and I got to thinking on some sermon notes I read through yesterday.  The sermon notes were on how to be a godly parent and training your children in ways that they should go and they wont stray from them.  What got me thinking is what is my role in child rearing?  Just to be clear, I am single and no where close to having the children conversation with anyone.  There are people who do not have children either because of singleness, choice, or life circumstances, and I truly believe that we can come along side the people in our lives and help them in the raising of their children. 

  I may not agree with most of her political positions, but Hilary Clinton said something when her and Bill were in the White House that has not only stuck with me, but I agree with mostly.  She said something to the affect of that it takes a village to raise a child and I agree with her for the most part.  The only part I would add is that, this statement does not take away the responsibility of the parents and the parents need to take the lead in raising their child(ren) and I hope and pray that they are instilling a solid Biblical foundation for their children, both in action and in word.  I also hope and pray that they are modeling Biblical character in their own lives and it is not do as I say and not as I do.  We learn the most (both the good and the bad) from our family or the people who we spend the most time with. 

  Here is a quick rant, parents can teach a Biblical foundation and display what they teach, they child still has to accept that teaching and making it their own.  Sometimes having a free will stinks because we can control what other people do or don't do.  This still doesn't negate the parents responsiblities, to teach, pray for and with our children.  At some point children need to make faith their own and live with the positive and negative consequences of their actions.  Ok I am done with my rant

   So here is my question, how do people who are kidless, whether they are empty nesters or not kids whats so ever, come along side the people in our lives with children and help them raise Godly children?  By no means do I want to overstep boundaries or their authority, but I also don't always want to sit passive and let the parents do all the heavy lifting.  There are two kids that go to my church and they are brother and sister.  They can't be older than 6 and 4 and every time I see them, they want me to throw them in the air and then catch them.  For some reason, they find it fun, and their grandma usually has to drag them home.  How do I go from just being the big teddy bear to coming along side the parents and supporting them in raising the kids.  The Biblical image I get is that Moses lead the Israelite's into battle and he is sitting on top of a hill, and as long as he raises his staff above his head, the Israelites are winning.  As soon as that staff drops, they are losing.  It turns out that two people come along side Moses and help keep his arms up and Israel wins the battle.  So how can us people who are not at the stage of life of children, or who have children that have grown out of that stage come along side parents and aid them in the raising of children?

Contentment

  I will be honest with you all, I have two home churches and the problem for me is that my second home church is ten hours away.  Every summer I make a trip to Kansas for a Roayals game with my friend Russell.  While I am down there I attend his church and I have been there a couple of times and I feel really comfortable there.  Another thing that that makes Lifepoint of Topeka my other home church is that Russell often sends me the sermon notes to my iPhone.  It makes it really nice and when my phone vibrates every Sunday afternoon I know its him.  Well this Sundays sermon was good and the notes were what I needed to hear and here is what I needed to hear. 

  One of the issues that really hit home for me this week was this whole idea of complacency, and it is a very tough thing to get out of and break free from.  Being complacent for me is this whole idea of not caring along with throwing my hands up in the air and doing nothing.  There have been a few times in my life where I have been complacent and it has been a very dry spell for me spiritually.  One of those times for me I was going to grad school full time while working over thirty hours a week and it got to the point of being burnt out.  Luckily for me, I had a friend come along side me and not only did she listen to my rant about not caring, but she also told me to take care of myself.  Luckily, it was at the end of my semester and I was able to take some time off and do some traveling and some well needed rest and baseball.

  Another dangerous area where complacency can affect us is through our obedience, whether to God or others.  We may not me directly disobeying orders, but here is the thing, we are not doing all that we should.  Whether it is avoiding conversations that we need to have, not spending the time with God or the other important people in our lives as we should, or to put it bluntly, we are half-assin things.  We are not doing things to the best of our abilities or like we know how they should be done.  I find myself to be moody and kind of sarcastic when I am in this stage.  I often find myself in this stage when I don't like where I am at or what I am doing.  Whether it is a physical location, the work I am doing, or the stage of life I am at, this is when complacency sets in.

  So whats the cure for complacency and a heart that is rather disobedient.  Outside a trip to the woodshed, here are some more gentler practical ideas that I have been pondering.  In Jeremiah 29 the Prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to the Israelite who were hauled off into captivity.  I, essence what he is saying in this chapter is that quit praying to God that He will smite the bad guys and that He will let you go home to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.  I am sure at least some of us have prayed that prayer to have the wrath of God come down on someone and for us to get out of a particular situation.  Whether it is being fired from a job and you want the former boss to pay for firing you, or the crazy former spouse or significant other who screwed you over and you want God's wrath to be upon them. What Jeremiah is saying here is not only be content where you are at, but start family, and for your kids to start families.  Not only pray for the city you live in, but actively get involved where you are at.  When we are on our knees for our location and where we are at in our lives, it makes being obedient a whole lot easier, and it also changes things and the circumstances.  Nothing great has ever happened without people spending time praying seeking after God and His direction.  In this chapter, it states that God is willing to be found, but we have to be willing to seek Him.  The big difference between complacency and content in this chapter is that complacency is often a spirit of laziness, distrusting and self reliance.   Contentment is relying on God and having Him be are all in all. 

  Through out Scripture, but especially the Psalms we find that God is to be our all in all and that we can take refuge in God.  Psalms 46 shares with us that even though our world may be crashing in on us, we are to be still and know that God is still God.  Peace isn't the absent of strife, but how we react to it when it is happening.  God does not command us to things and know that He is God, He calls us to be.  Everything we do, is an outpouring of who we are.  Being still allows us to commune with God and for us not only to talk with God, but for us to listen.  How can we be obedient to God when we don;t listen.  Being is more that just about doing and saying the right thing, it is about character change and being in right relationship with God and others. 


   So to wrap things up, being content is more than just being satisfied to where we are at.  It is seeking God where we are at.  Its transforming my thoughts, actions, desires from a me first to others first and that God is not only at the center point of what I do, but the energy and the change agent for doing those things. In essence we are replacing our yoke (or cinder blocks) of burdens and works righteousness with God's yoke of grace, mercy, fellowship and the justice of being in right relationship 

Songs and Fruits

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head for more than a day?  It can be a blessing or a disturbance, depending on the song.  The type of songs we listen too often tell the mood we are in.  If we are in a joyful mood, it is often an upbeat song, or if we are angry, the song is often heart pounding and talks about revenge.  Here is the other cool thing about songs and especially catchy tunes, they can help us remember things.  For me it was a song from kids camp many moons ago that helps me remember the Fruits of The Spirit.  They put the Fruit of the Spirit to the song  “Na Na Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Kiss Them Good Bye.”  To this day, they only way I can remember the fruits of the Spirit is by singing the Fruits to that tune

In Galatians 5, Paul talks about how we are to have Fruits of the Spirit and we should cloth ourselves in them.  These things are love, joy, peace, patience, self control, forebearance, kindness, gentleness and self control.  We have to make a commitment on a daily basis to cloth ourselves in these things.  When we make a commitment to cloth ourselves in these things, God comes down and meets us there and He provides the grace and endurance for us to be clothed with these things.  These characteristics our not in our natural instincts if we are left to ourselves.  We tend to be impatient, not that loving, self centered, and losing our cool at the most inopportune times.  Clothing ourselves with these things doesn’t mean so much that we give up something, but it is what are we gaining.  If Christianity was truly about giving something up, I don’t think it would be worth it.  Could true Christianity be what we are gaining?  Instead of giving up vindication, retaliation, bitterness, which are all things that lead down a spiral and eventually to death, because we can not just stop and throwing one person under the bus, but its an addictive habit.   When we cloth ourselves with the fruit of the Spirit we are clothing ourselves with very nature of God.  The Fruits of the Spirit doesn’t save us, but they not only show who we belong too, but is also a sign of maturity.  Not only do these things bring us into right relationship with God, but it helps bring us into right relationship with others.  It helps us not only ask for forgiveness, but forgiving others when they have wronged us.  The goal of growing is not to still struggle with the same issues, but when we cloth ourselves with the character of God, we actually but away childish behaviors and move forward.  We are called to grow and to mature and not to be that slob that is so easy to be. 

There are two big theological terms here that we should discuss and they are imputing and imparting.  Imputing is what God does to us and He does to us what we can not do ourselves.  Imputing brings us back into right relationship with God through Christ work.  God imputes the Fruit of the Spirit to us, because it is something we can not do ourselves.  The other term is imparting, which is what God does through us.  In essence, it is the Fruits of the Spirit lived out in our daily lives.  It could be showing and having joy while balancing the checkbook, or having patience when a child is having a tempertantrum.  In essence, God is not only giving us grace, but we are being clothed in His righteousness and His character is becoming our own.  So in closing, are we letting God’s character become our character, and how are we letting it play out in our daily lives.  What is the point if we have God’s character and we do not let affect every part of our daily lives.  To finish up from last months newsletter, God did become one of us, not to be like us, but so we can be like Him and have our character changed. 

What if God was one of Us

            For those of you who are fans of 90’s grundge rock, you would probably recognize the name Alanis Morrissette and her song What if God Was One of Us.  The song ponders just as the title proclaims, what if God really was one of us, what would that be like and would He really be a slob like one of us.  In essence I really think Alanis was down playing the Deity of Christ and is essentially saying that He is not the Son of God.  There is a whole sermon or two of God becoming one of us in the form of Jesus, but as I wanted to share with Alanis and everyone who has ever listened and liked the song, God did not become one of us so that He could be a slob.  God became like us so that we could be like Him.  Its so that we don’t have to continue in our mess that we are in.  What really plays into this God changing us is due to His very nature of righteousness and holiness.

            There is something that we need to remember about God’s righteousness and holiness.  Even though God came and became one of us, He is still the Creator of the Universe and we are the created.  One of the essence of being a Christian and the Christian community is believing and embracing the idea that Jesus is fully God and fully man all at the same time.  One of these heresies is that Christ didn’t become God’s son until He was baptized by John the Baptist.  It is a complete lie because we can read throughout Scripture that Jesus was, is, and will be apart of the Trinity and apart of God’s plan.  Jesus is neither created, but He is of the same substance and is on equal relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

            Ok, I am done with my rant, and lets get back to Jesus becoming human.  He didn’t become human so that He could be a slob like one of us, it was so that we can take on the very nature and character of God.  This does not mean we will become God, but God will bestow His image of purity, righteousness and maturity on us as long as we reach out in faith.  In essence, Jesus death and resurrection is a calling for all of us to grow up and to be who God intended for us to be.  So what does this look like?  There are several places throughout Scripture where we are challenged to grow up and to put on the likeness of Christ.  Back when Tiger Woods was at the top of the golf world and winning majors, he would always wear a red polo on Sundays to finish up a golf tournament.  That polo was more than just a polo, when Tiger put on that polo, he was not putting on just another polo, but that polo signified confidence and a killer instinct that he was going to win that day.  When everyone saw Tiger on the golf course with that red polo, they new he was going to win the golf tournament.  Just as Tiger puts that polo on, we need to cloth ourselves with God’s righteousness.

            In Colossians 3, Paul talks about how we are not to be clothed, in which some of these things are; lustful thoughts and actions, rage, anger, impatience, bitterness and gossip.  These things lead us down a road of self destruction and separation from God.  These things often make us bitter and hateful people, and in Alanis song, I really think that she was claiming that God became one of us so that He could embody these things.  If He really did embrace these ideals, it wouldn’t make Him God’s Son and why would He come to save us to slobness when we had already perfected it.  So if we are to put away these things, what are we to cloth ourselves with then? Keep tuned in for the answer.

Actions and Consequences

  Here is a random thought and its something that I have been thinking about this week and these thoughts were engrained into my head by president of the college I attended.  One of his major platforms is that ideas do matter and that actions and words have consequences.  We often learn of these truths early, but need reminding of them on a daily basis. I read an article today from a recent Sports Illustrated about a college student who was a walk on football player for the University of Virginia. (even to be a walk on at a Division 1 program means you are a very talented athlete).  But Joseph Williams has a bigger cause on his plate, not only does he volunteer at several places and mentors a number of people there is one thing that is near and dear to his heart.  He and several students at the University of Virginia went on an eight day hunger strike to bring up awareness about the pay of the service employees at the university were receiving.  A lot of the service employees were receiving minimum or just above minimum wages which resulted in them just scrapping by.  Williams saw it as an injustice because the university was spending millions on athletics and yet they could not afford to give their employees a pay raise.   This news story not only caught the attention of the administration, but also garnished national media attention.  Williams was forced to make a decision to fall in line and give up the protest and remain on the team, or keep on with the protest and not be a member of the football team.  He chose that the latter and thought it was to big of a cause to give up.

  This gives light to issues of social justice and what is worth fighting for and what is important.  It is often standing in the gap for someone else and giving them a voice.  I also know that a lot of us are not willing to go on an eight day hunger strike, but two things still remain.  Who or what are we willing to stand up for and are we wiling to face the consequences of them.  Everything that we do/say or not do/say has consequences either for good or bad.  Our actions, thoughts and words often shows us where we are at with God and the condition of our heart.  Whether it is not getting up and going for that walk in the morning, makes it that much easier not to do it tomorrow morning (not that missing a morning walk will make us lose our salvation).  Or failing to communicate with family members or the tone of communication can have bad consequences and shows how selfish and self centered.  So often we just focus in on the bad consequences and trying our hardest not to do them, that we often forget that there are good consequences.  We teach ourselves and others (especially children) don't do stuff because something bad will happen.  Whether it is drugs, alcohol, or premarital intercourse, we often preach on the evilness of these things and they will lead to bad things.  Instead of always preaching don't do(there is a time and place for this), maybe its preaching on doing good things and reap the good benefits.  Whether it is some more time in the Bible,leaving the cell phone at home, or saying no to that late night ice cream, they do have positive consequences.
  
  In closing are actions and words, both that are said/done and the ones that are not said/done have consequences and they are usually either positive or negative consequences.  The Christian faith is not one of works that will get us into heaven but our works are a response to who we belong to and the grace that has been given.  I think there are very few decisions that are amoral (neither good or bad) because these things often lead to another decision.  So be mindful of what is said and done and that as a Christian, we do have the power of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to make those decisions that will have a positive impact. But here is the kicker, we have to be open and listening for Him.  The Holy Spirit usually that still small voice in our ear or that deep gut feeling telling us what to do or say, or from time to time hits us on the back of the head to get our attention.