April 2009 Archives

As we continue to refine our use of this technology (blogging) I thought I would venture this week outside of devotionals and engage people on different topics.  (some serious....some humorous)

I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel tonight and as I was fast forwarding through commercials I came across an advertisement for the United Methodist Church.  They were promoting a new ministry or focus in the denomination called "Rethink Church: 10K Doors".  Here is their tag line off of the commercial and their website:

"What if church wasn't just a building, but thousands of doors? Each of them opening up to a different concept or experience of church - and a journey that could change our world. Would you come?"


 As you walk through the website there is a strong focus on "Doing" especially in the area of social justice, staying current in world news, inviting dialog, inviting diversity of perspective, giving people a voice, and engaging people who are looking to "rethink" church. As I read their tag line these elements stand out to me....

1. challenging a previous understanding of church
2. inviting people to rethink what they understand the church to be
3. seeking diversity (of thoughts, perspectives, religious understandings)
4. inviting people to experience/journey
5. this journey has a strong element of doing.
6. Inviting people to be apart of something new/fresh

I am left with questions....questions that made me want to know more about the culture we find ourselves in and the same culture that this church is reaching out to.

1. What portion of our culture (church or unchurched) feels the need to rethink church?

2.  What are the major elements of rethinking that people feel need to go on in the church?

3.  Is there any pitfalls or blind spots to our cultures apparent affinity for a "doing mentality"?

4. Where does Jesus fit in all of this?

This is raw for me and I am still thinking this through.  I wonder how others feel about movements like this in the church today?

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." - Romans 8:28 

No this isn't a new Dan Brown book about Leonardo da Vinci and some secret insight into the life of Christ that was been hidden and banished by the Catholic  Church and found by one of the greatest mind in the 15^th century.

 I was watching a new show on the Discovery Channel call "Doing Da Vinci".  The whole premise behind the show is a team of engineers, expert metal workers, and carpenters working together to build ideas and plans that Da Vinci had 500 years ago but were never built.  It is a fascinating show.  The first idea of Da Vinci they constructed was a tank designed to protect the soldiers insight while blasting cannons in a 360 degrees.  The result of their work was pretty impressive. 

So what does this have to do with Ephesians 2:1-10 you might ask?  This passage is probably pretty familiar to most.  In verse eight we see a frequently quoted passage about the nature of our forgiveness and salvation.  It is a gift given to us through grace apart from anything we can do to earn it.  This idea forms one of the fundamental pillars of the evangelical faith. 

But as I read it through this time, this wasn't what caught my eye.  Rather I was found myself dwelling on the last verse.  "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I wonder if sometimes in our cultural context we focus so much on what we can do to get ahead, to right our own ship, to made advancement in our careers, to be the master of our own domain that I think it is incredibly easy to forget that we are a workmanship of someone else.  We were created in Christ Jesus for a purpose.  The plans of our life, they were put into motion long before we could actualize them.  So as the ideas of a genius lay dormant for 500 years become reality in the 21 century so too are we in the eyes of our maker.  The free gift of grace allows us to reconnect with our craftsman's.  We have been moved from the broken pile (with little hope of fixing) to the work-in-progress pile.  The joy of our journey, no matter where we are in life is to find out what those good works are and to participate in the plans that were drawn for you and me.   

 

What is the craftsman's doing in your life?

 

What have you discovered about the plans prepared for you in advance?

 

How can the body of Christ encourage you in this journey?

 ¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This week we are reading Isaiah 40:28-31 together. The repeated word that stands out to me is "weary." I see it four times in these verses. Why are the readers of Isaiah weary? The answer may be found in verse 27, "Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God.'"

    "Weary" means weighed down, distant from God, with no refreshing springs of water, no inspiring word in the night, and no energy for the good work of the day. "Weary" is a hard place to live.

    I once heard of a preacher who was expounding on this text, and at the conclusion of his sermon he got excited in this good news of God, but as he made his final point his tongue got twisted a little. He proclaimed, "We will soar on ings like weagles!"

     I think that can describe me sometimes. I can feel like a "weagle" - a weary eagle. We were created by God to fly like eagles, but so often we get weighed down, we run out of energy, we wonder where God is on our lives. We complain. We become weagles.

    Isaiah gives an interesting response to Israel's complaint.

           Do you not know?

           Have you not heard?

           The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

During this Holy Week we remember the center of our faith; we remember what we know and what we have heard.

Jesus Christ died for your sins.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

By the transforming power of God's love and victory through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we "weagles" become eagles again!

I have been thinking a lot recently about the way God works in our world and the way he works in my life.  It is during this season (Lent) that we reflect on the Son of Man lifted up and by doing so endured pain and scorn.  We pin our hopes on God's divine Word breaking into our lives in the person of Jesus and I think in some way we are amazed by his method.  When we read the words of the prophet Isaiah we connect with God being an everlasting God, creator, powerful, and one who does not tire.  But at least for me, I was caught off guard a bit by this last phrase "his understanding no one can fathom." 

How can a circle also be a rectangle?

Answer: it can if we adjust our perspective and see things in a different dimension.

 

When we move from two dimensions to a third we see how a circle can also be a rectangle.  The issue becomes one of perception. I have heard a lot of people recently wonder were God is in their life.  The natural assumption is that because my life isn't going well that God has lost interest in my life or has moved on to others.  We seek to understand why his methods are the way they are and we get lost and at times frustrated by our search.  We see God from our perspective which is bound in time, but the words of the prophet Isaiah suggest that the understandings and activities of God function outside of time.  So what are we left with....what knowledge of God do we carry with us when our perception and understanding of God's methods are limited.

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God

The creator of the ends of the earth

He is not going to get tired or worn out

He is not going to stumble and fall

He will renew our strength

(Paraphrase from Isaiah 40:28-31)

"His ways belong to eternity, we to time; his vision is for the world, we are local; his ceaselessness keeps him always ahead of the point we have reach."  J Alec Motyer

 ²⁸ Do you not know? 
       Have you not heard? 
       The LORD is the everlasting God, 
       the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
       He will not grow tired or weary, 
       and his understanding no one can fathom.

 ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary 
       and increases the power of the weak.

 ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, 
       and young men stumble and fall;

 ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD 
       will renew their strength. 
       They will soar on wings like eagles; 
       they will run and not grow weary, 
       they will walk and not be faint.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

There seems to be a fundamental equation that exists for the Christian believer.  On one end of the equation we have an exceedingly loving and just God whom despite our best efforts to mess with his plans overcame sin through his Son and redeemed us so that we can be called children of God.  On the other end of the equation is our effort to respond to the love and mercy that we have received and live our lives in such a way that God is honored. This Divine intrusion and response is a pattern we see a lot in scripture.  In our passage this week, we see phrases like....

"You are a chosen people"

"Royal priesthood"

"Holy Nation"

"People belonging to God"

"People brought into his wonderful light"

"People who have now received mercy"

These Phrases represent what God has done for his us, phrase that form our story. Phrases that reflect the activity of God. Then we see the second part...our part!

"Dear Friends"

"I urge you"

"To abstain from sinful desires"

"Live such good lives"

"See that your good deeds glorify God"

In Lent both of these elements are clearly in play.  We recognize what God has done in our lives, where we have fallen short, that we have been redeemed and shown mercy, and now we are called to go out and live up to our new found identity.

How has God shown his mercy to you?

 

How has God impressed this pattern in your life?

      The phrase that catches my attention in I Peter 2:9-12 is, "that you may declare the praises of  him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

     Last Sunday was an experience of moving from darkness to light. When I got to church, I discovered that the parking lot was filled with snow, the walks were all covered in slush, and there was a power outage in the building. So it was cold and dark inside and nearly impassable outside. What could I do to help move us from this cold darkness into light?

    I thought I would start with the walkways, but before I could even get started, Brian grabbed one snow shovel and Trevor had the other, and in no time the walks were clean. I tried to do some shoveling at the entry way so at least cars could get off the street. Then an angel masquerading as a guy with a truck and blade appeared and offered to plow our lot. He did not charge anything for doing it!

   Our guest speaker, Andy Larsen, arrived about 10 after eight, and due to long years as a missionary, he was ready to do whatever we needed. With no electricty and a cold, dark sanctuary, we had to hold the 8:30 service in the Narthex, using the light from our big windows. Sarah and her Worship Team quickly figured out which songs were feasible and willingly led them a capella. The order of service went out the window, and instead we spent time giving witness to the goodness of God and praying together, and then Andy talked about sharing the Good News with Muslims.

    During Sunday School, the adults stayed in the Narthex and listened more to Andy, while the children found some places by the windows downstairs, and Maria and the teachers quickly put together a revised plan. It went great! Ben went out and bought a few boxes of coffee and Mike and Ruth had already brought in the pastries. We had a Great Sunday School!

   But what to do at 11 am? We ventured into the cold and dark sanctuary not knowing quite what might happen. And then at precisely 11 am the lights came on! And the heat! Ben and Brian scurried to get the microphones set for the worship team and to load the Power Point that Andy brought. Kathy extended the prelude, and by five after 11 we were on our way to a joyful, and quite normal worship. From darkness to light.

    What did it take to move us from darkness to light on Sunday morning? How many jumped in to help? Who came by at just the right time? How many workers were out on the power lines that we did not see?

   "He called you..." Yes, it is God's work to bring us from the darkness of sin to the light of the Gospel. But how many people took part in the call that came to you? Some were visible and you can name them. Others you do not know, but their witness through the centuries was absolutely essential.

   Are you part of God's work in calling people today out of darkness and into his wonderful light? Are you praying for God to show you the people who need Christ through you today?