Pastor Brian: 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?

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

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?