This week in Home Group we start tell out stories. Most of the Bible was written in narrative. God chose to reveal himself through the stories of his called people. Jesus told his disciples that if they wanted to see the Father they need only look to him. So we also, if we would see the Father, his character, his commandments, his power and purpose, we need only look at Jesus. And where is Jesus seen more clearly than in the 4 narrative books that open the New Testament.
So there is something about stories that are revelatory. That I married my wife on October 18th, 2008 is a fact. You can check that in some marriage record database and verify it, I'm sure. But that fact alone doesn't give you any clue as to how beautiful my bride was, or how nervous and excited I was reciting my vows. Those details of the story of my wedding are the things that let you in, give you a glimpse into who my wife and I are.
"Why would we want people to know our stories?" you may ask. "What difference does it make where I grew up, or what my dad was like?" Or some of you may think you story isn't very exciting or dramatic or wouldn't be useful for anyone else to know. The reality is, God gave you the story you have, not for your glory, or so that you could feel important, but so that Jesus would be made much of. Your story is meant to be shared to the glory of the author. And you don't have to worry about how it will impact anyone, he will work that part out. Our stories not only reveal us to the world, they also reveal Jesus to the world. Our lives, in a way, are just a continuation of the scriptures. This is why in home group we will be telling out stories, for the glory of the author.
28 July 2010
19 July 2010
Grace
At weekend services this week at my church we sang a new song called All I have is Christ. In it there is a line that reads, "You bore the wrath reserved for me, Now all I know is grace." That stuck in my head and it got me to thinking, is that how I view the cross? Is that how most Christians view it.
See if this sounds familiar. My boss and I are talking one day and some how church was brought up. She then asked me a question that struck me as odd. She told me how some Sunday mornings she will take her two girls up to church and drop them off with their aunt and then go back home to do yard work or house work, and how her grandmother told her and her sister when they were kids that God would "get" them for such things. She asked me if I thought God would get her. I didn't know how to respond then, and I said I hoped not because I don't go to church every weekend. I know this is silly but the point is, do we know that God is not out to get us anymore (we being those who are in Christ)? The line from that song is the best explanation I have seen of what the cross of Christ accomplished for us, what Romans 8:1 means, that there is now no condemnation for those in Christ.
Consider this quote from John Piper during a sermon on Romans 8:1:"What Paul is saying is that all of God's condemning wrath and all of his omnipotent opposition to us in our sin has been replaced by almighty mercy and omnipotent assistance. In other words, if you are in Christ Jesus all of God's action toward you is almighty mercy and omnipotent assistance. It is not mixed. It is not as though some days he is against you with wrath - and those days are bad days - while other days he is for you with love - and those days are good days."
Now All we know is Grace. Nothing you receive from God is punishment or wrath. It may well be discipline but that is the love and mercy of God (Hebrews 12:6). Even the natural consequences of our sin are not the wrath of God, but the reproof of a father who wants to know that in him only there is joy. It is like a parent who has told their child over and over again that the stove is hot. Sometimes the kid just has to get burned to learn that lesson. This is not the wrath of the parents but something they deem necessary for the kid to get it.But what practical implications does this have for us? That is too big a question for me to tackle, other than to say I want to build my life on this truth. To say all of God's actions toward us are mercy and grace makes things like cancer and death and divorce and wayward children hard to explain, but are they any easier to explain as God's punishment to the believer? Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 tells us how he knew the hard realities of God's grace through suffering. He says, "...there was given me a thorn in the flesh...Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" My grace is sufficient God says. Isn't that the purpose behind suffering, to make us depend on Jesus for our strength? That surely is grace.
See if this sounds familiar. My boss and I are talking one day and some how church was brought up. She then asked me a question that struck me as odd. She told me how some Sunday mornings she will take her two girls up to church and drop them off with their aunt and then go back home to do yard work or house work, and how her grandmother told her and her sister when they were kids that God would "get" them for such things. She asked me if I thought God would get her. I didn't know how to respond then, and I said I hoped not because I don't go to church every weekend. I know this is silly but the point is, do we know that God is not out to get us anymore (we being those who are in Christ)? The line from that song is the best explanation I have seen of what the cross of Christ accomplished for us, what Romans 8:1 means, that there is now no condemnation for those in Christ.
Consider this quote from John Piper during a sermon on Romans 8:1:"What Paul is saying is that all of God's condemning wrath and all of his omnipotent opposition to us in our sin has been replaced by almighty mercy and omnipotent assistance. In other words, if you are in Christ Jesus all of God's action toward you is almighty mercy and omnipotent assistance. It is not mixed. It is not as though some days he is against you with wrath - and those days are bad days - while other days he is for you with love - and those days are good days."
Now All we know is Grace. Nothing you receive from God is punishment or wrath. It may well be discipline but that is the love and mercy of God (Hebrews 12:6). Even the natural consequences of our sin are not the wrath of God, but the reproof of a father who wants to know that in him only there is joy. It is like a parent who has told their child over and over again that the stove is hot. Sometimes the kid just has to get burned to learn that lesson. This is not the wrath of the parents but something they deem necessary for the kid to get it.But what practical implications does this have for us? That is too big a question for me to tackle, other than to say I want to build my life on this truth. To say all of God's actions toward us are mercy and grace makes things like cancer and death and divorce and wayward children hard to explain, but are they any easier to explain as God's punishment to the believer? Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 tells us how he knew the hard realities of God's grace through suffering. He says, "...there was given me a thorn in the flesh...Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" My grace is sufficient God says. Isn't that the purpose behind suffering, to make us depend on Jesus for our strength? That surely is grace.
16 July 2010
Work
I have a good job. I like the people I work with and my boss is a great boss. I get paid well for what I do and my benefits are perfect for my needs. That being said I want out. But to do what?
Having recently graduated I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do when I grow up. I know what I would like to do, but who is going to pay me for that? So do I just work somewhere to make money and then do what I really want to do on the side? But then how come all of these other people get paid to do what they really want to do? After all of these thoughts and more run through my head I am too emotionally drained to fill out applications and work on my resume.
Underneath all of the specifics of my situation are foundational questions such as, what should we expect from work? Solomon said that toiling is basically vanity. Some people have a God given ability to thrive at and enjoy their work, reap the benefits of their toil. Others just don't have that ability, they work and work hard and never enjoy it. In the end death comes to both and after they are gone no one will remember them or their work. At this Solomon says the most we can hope for is to eat, drink and be merry in our toil.
Paul paints a similar picture of work for us. He tells the readers of his letters that they should work hard and quietly. Christians are to be productive so that they can live peaceful dignified lives in this world. I think it is funny how today we see Paul as a first century itenerate evangelist/church planter. Paul was a tent maker for Jesus. He tells the Theselonians that he wanted to work with his hands so as not to burden them. Yes he was primarily a planter of churches but that was not his profession. He worked at sharing and spreading the gospel as a tent maker.
I think the real question we should ask regarding work is what do I spread the gospel as?
03 July 2010
Joy
The more and more I think about life, my life, the way things are in my day to day tasks, the more I believe that what should make me happy actually makes me miserable. I work at a job that is so boring. I work with people who freak out and are stressed by the smallest most insignificant things, and they are loud about it. At the end of the day I am exhausted, emotionally and mentally. So all I want to do when I get home is nothing. That is what will make me happy. But then when it is 11:00 and time for me to go to bed this wave of guilt and shame crashes down on me as I realize that I did exactly what should have made me happy, nothing. Now after the same kind of draining day at work I go home, but instead of doing nothing I clean the kitchen or read a book that causes me to think, or I go see a friend, guess what 11:00 feels like? I feel full, and satisfied and great, most of the time I am not tired but ready to do more of the same types of things I did when I got home. Who in their right mind would think that going home to clean after a draining day of work would energize them? This works with just about anything in our lives. Food for example. If you eat the food you want, that looks really appetizing, most of the time afterward you feel fat and lethargic.
So it is with our spiritual lives. For an example of how this looks spiritually I will ask a question about marriage. In your marriage when are you the most satisfied with your spouse? When do you have true joy in your relationship with your spouse? Is it when they are making much of you, or when you are making much of them? Ladies, think about when you get to brag on you man. What does that do in you? You look at him differently and are full of love and respect for him. When you are proud of your husband it spills over into all aspects of your marriage, and thus you find joy. Yes when he does sweet things for you that causes joy. But greater joy than that comes when you talk about that sweet thing with your friends or family. Does that make sense? Guys, it is the same for us. When we get to talk about our wives as God’s grace in our lives, that’s when we are truly happy in marriage. Of course it feels great when they speak well of us but that just makes us think, “boy do I have her fooled.” Yet when we get to see her shine and sparkle, whether at home or in the world, what joy we have in our marriage. That is when we are overwhelmingly attracted to our wives. I know that’s how it works in my life. But if we, husband or wife, only seek being made much of, bitterness sets in and disappointment marks our life because our spouse cannot possible make as much of us as we desire. Isn’t that odd? It is as if God were trying to show us something. Now in your relationship with God, what brings you the most joy? For me it was when I was walking with my friend Chris as he was being lead out of Mormonism. On a weekly basis I had the privilege of trying, feebly I might add, to make God look so good that Chris would find Mormonism unsatisfying. That had nothing to do with me. God through me was revealing himself to Chris. Through ME?!? And God became more glorious to me during that time too. But, when I at home group or in a men’s bible study try to make much of my intellect or the only reason I say something is trying to lead one of you to tell me how amazing I am, I go away empty and ashamed. Yet when I simply hold forth Jesus, and my desire is to have him made much of, O the joy that stirs up in me, and O the glory Jesus gets from that. His glory is our good, just like making much of our spouse brings us happiness in marriage. What would a church look like, a marriage look like, if the people involved lived this out?
Jesus help us to forget ourselves. Prove yourself to be exceedingly great and desirable above all things. It is glory for you and joy and peace for us.
So it is with our spiritual lives. For an example of how this looks spiritually I will ask a question about marriage. In your marriage when are you the most satisfied with your spouse? When do you have true joy in your relationship with your spouse? Is it when they are making much of you, or when you are making much of them? Ladies, think about when you get to brag on you man. What does that do in you? You look at him differently and are full of love and respect for him. When you are proud of your husband it spills over into all aspects of your marriage, and thus you find joy. Yes when he does sweet things for you that causes joy. But greater joy than that comes when you talk about that sweet thing with your friends or family. Does that make sense? Guys, it is the same for us. When we get to talk about our wives as God’s grace in our lives, that’s when we are truly happy in marriage. Of course it feels great when they speak well of us but that just makes us think, “boy do I have her fooled.” Yet when we get to see her shine and sparkle, whether at home or in the world, what joy we have in our marriage. That is when we are overwhelmingly attracted to our wives. I know that’s how it works in my life. But if we, husband or wife, only seek being made much of, bitterness sets in and disappointment marks our life because our spouse cannot possible make as much of us as we desire. Isn’t that odd? It is as if God were trying to show us something. Now in your relationship with God, what brings you the most joy? For me it was when I was walking with my friend Chris as he was being lead out of Mormonism. On a weekly basis I had the privilege of trying, feebly I might add, to make God look so good that Chris would find Mormonism unsatisfying. That had nothing to do with me. God through me was revealing himself to Chris. Through ME?!? And God became more glorious to me during that time too. But, when I at home group or in a men’s bible study try to make much of my intellect or the only reason I say something is trying to lead one of you to tell me how amazing I am, I go away empty and ashamed. Yet when I simply hold forth Jesus, and my desire is to have him made much of, O the joy that stirs up in me, and O the glory Jesus gets from that. His glory is our good, just like making much of our spouse brings us happiness in marriage. What would a church look like, a marriage look like, if the people involved lived this out?
Jesus help us to forget ourselves. Prove yourself to be exceedingly great and desirable above all things. It is glory for you and joy and peace for us.
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