Sunday Sermon: Your Past Has a Future !

Scripture Passage – Matthew 1

Hands Passing Baton at Sporting Event (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Description – First of 2013 series on Being Empowered by God

I begin this morning with a word that you will frequently hear over the next four weeks and throughout the year.

Empower.

To empower something is to equip, supply, and/or enable that something or that someone to accomplish something.

Now we can empower something or someone for good reasons and for bad reasons. We can enable people to fail or succeed, remain addicted or get in recovery from something, or to decline or grow.

A local church can be equipped, supplied, and enabled to succeed or fail; grow or decline; be effective or be ineffective.

God wants the local church, including our church, and Christians, including us, to be equipped, supplied, and enabled to grow. He does not want us to fail. (Amen? Amen!)

He wants to empower us so that His good work is done in our lives and in the lives of those we reach out to on a daily basis. Our mission field is outside the door of this church.

As such I believe that God has given us the following things to help us live and be empowered to serve Him:

Our salvation through His saving grace

Scripture

The Holy Spirit and the Spiritual gifts which come from Him

Our skills and abilities.

The question becomes, “Do we/Do I choose to live empowered or not?”

This is the first month of 2013 and as I prayed about what I was to share with you in the opening weeks of this year, the theme of “First Chapters for First Months” came to my mind. As I pondered this theme I took time to go through the Bible and scan all 66 first chapters.

Then I prayed some more and I pondered some more and thought (some more) about this word empower (which is my focus word for this year – kinda like a new year’s resolution) and re-reviewed the chapters again.

And these five chapters made the cut because, I believe, they speak to both barriers and opportunities to live empowered.

Matthew 1

Deuteronomy 1

Psalm 1

Revelation 1

Philippians 1

So this morning I begin with a chapter, the first chapter of the New Testament and one of ‘those’ chapters – the ‘begats.’ However, I want us to read and hear this chapter from this perspective this morning:

God can, and does, use anyone to accomplish His mission and purpose. Our past, with its failures, its victories, its joys and its pains, and our future with its potential and purpose has a place and future in God’s hands and for God’s purposes.

Here is Matthew 1 from the New Living Translation:
(To read the passage, click on this link http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201&version=NLT

The latter fourth of this chapter, verses 18-25, are the ones we most often hear and read. But first three fourths also has something to say to us as well.

To read verses 1 through 17 is to get an over view of Old Testament history in a very compact way and I think that if one was to spend time studying each of these persons listed, a clearer understanding of it would occur. Some of these people are described in great detail in the Old Testament. They have had many sermons and even books written about them and their faith journey. Their success and failures with following God are well documented.

Others of them have been presented as models of faithfulness in the midst of tough times. And yet another group represented in this passage are basically unknown to us.

One of the ways that we can study this passage is by using the generational groupings as defined in verse 17. There are three of them and they reflect three different and important Old Testament historical periods.

The first group contains a group of people who are familiar to us because much is written about them or they are involved in some important moments. This is the group of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Boaz, and King David. But let us not forget Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth as well! This makes up the patriarchal period followed by the time of the judges and then into the early years of the ancient Israelite monarchy.

I have selected three persons, one from each group to illustrate the point of God using our pasts as part of His current and future purposes.

 The first person is Jacob.

A twin who talked his famished older twin brother, Easu into giving him his birthright and then, with his mother’s assistance and direction, deceived his father into thinking that he was Easu and received the all important blessing. The result was chaos, bitterness, rage, that required Jacob to leave home. At least fourteen years passed before he came face to face with his brother and they were reconciled but not before he came face to face with God and was no longer Jacob the Deceiver but Israel, God fighter, because “you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

Jacob was a stinker.

He was a trickster.

He was mamma’s favorite!

And he left a trail of conflict and bitterness behind him as he moved through life. But, God would use him, letting his mother know, in a prophetic moment prior to his birth, “your older son will serve your younger son.”  Eventually he came to grips with who he was, a deceiver, a gypster, and he had to finally face the truth about himself. But God used him. He was part of the human line through which Joseph, the man who served as Jesus’ earthly father. He serves an example to us that no matter how we have lived our life, God can still use us to accomplish his purpose – even though we may walk or live with a ‘limp’ because of our choices.

The second group, from King David through the Babylonian exile, is a list of kings, of a united Israel and then the two divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They are an interesting group.

Some were wonderful rulers and others were awful and even downright evil. And some were a mixture of both.

 One who has always caught my attention was King Hezekiah. He ruled the Southern Kingdom (which were ruled by the descendents of King David) and we can read about him in 2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 29.

Here is a portion of what was written about him:

“Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became the king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.  He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. In the very first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them.” 

Hezekiah’s father was Ahaz who significantly altered the Temple to accommodate the practices of the pagan Assyrians’ who were next door by having a new altar made that was just like the pagan Assyrians. Ahaz also required one of his sons to walk between two fires which was a pagan worship practice as well.

The southern kingdom suffers under Ahaz until his death. Then his son Hezekiah becomes king. What is he going to do?

He did what was right and he restored the temple in Jerusalem to the way it was supposed to be and reinstituted worship of the one true God. I have a sense that there were a lot of nervous people when Hezekiah became king. He had a choice in how he was going to govern. He chose well.

But while king he faced some challenging circumstances. He faced invasion from the Assyrians who were now the dominate power in the region and desperately sought God to deliver the tiny nation which happened. Then he was faced with a serious life threatening illness to which he appealed to God for healing and was healed.

Hezekiah grew up in a family that would perhaps be labeled dysfunctional and even abusive today. He faced a leadership and a health crisis. But he kept on believing that the one true God of Israel would deliver him and God did. I think that he serves as example of one who chose to serve God in spite of his upbringing and the pressures he faced that he could have chosen to deal with in a way that would have taken him away from God.

Then there is Zerubbabel, mentioned in Matthew 1:13 and part of the group mentioned after the Babylonian exile.

There are several Zerubbabels mentioned in the Bible but this is the one referred to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and was believed to be the grandson of King Jehoiakim. In Ezra 2 we read “Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah where they originally lived. Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.”

       70 years have passed since the southern kingdom of Judah had been conquered and now Israel is about to be repatriated and Zerubbabel is among the leadership of the returning Israelites. And what Zerubabbel does when he returns is to help start the rebuilding of the Temple altar in Jerusalem so they again have a place of worship.

But as time passes Zerubabbel and the others are opposed by a group of people who did not wish to see the temple rebuilt. They basically get the equivalent of a court injunction to stop the work. But when the prophets Haggai and Zachariah show up in Jerusalem their prophetic words empower Zerubabbel to re-start the process. It is thought that twenty years went by before the work was complete

He too, encountered difficulties and challenges that probably stretched and tested his faith. But he gave of his skills and talents and was used by the Lord to help rebuild the Temple after 70 years of exile.

He serves as example of using his skills and abilities in difficult situations to serve God.

So what does all of this mean for us? How does this related to the issue of empowerment.

At ‘A’ certain point and in some instances certain points, these three men chose to obey the Lord and push forward. They serve as an example to us of faithfulness to the Lord through all kinds of situations and circumstances. As a result, they were empowered to serve the Lord in some difficult situations.

The image of the baton truly represents want it means to be empowered and this year I am handing off some batons to you. Each of us are empowered in some way and for some area of ministry and mission to my single goal for this year is to help you discover where you are empowered to serve and empower you to do so. Will you take your baton this year?

Amen.

Review of Cliff Graham’s Covenant of War

Once during the harvest, when David was at the cave of Adullam, the Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. The Three (who were among the Thirty—an elite group among David’s fighting men) went down to meet him there. David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem.

David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.” So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the Lord.  “The Lord forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me.” So David did not drink it. These are examples of the exploits of the Three. 2 Samuel 23:13-17

No matter what your view of the Bible, one cannot help but be amazed at the names and exploits of Biblical characters such as The Thirty and The Three who were part King David’s army during a time when the ancient Hebrews were fighting both one another and their mortal enemies, the Philistines. Such interesting and historical stories in the Old Testament books, such as 2 Samuel, add a flavor to Biblical history that leaves some wanting more and some wanting less.

The theological issues raised as one reads through such books have been the source of controversy for many years and decades if not centuries. “If God is love, then why did they kill in the name of God like they did?” “How can such things be done in God’s name?”

However, Cliff Graham has fictionalized the exploits of David and his men in a unique and attention grabbing way with his series Lion of War, a three volume set published by Zondervan. I was recently privileged to read the second volume of the series Covenant of War as part of the Amazon Vine review program and look forward to reading the other two.

Covenant of War is set in the time frame laid out in the Old Testament book of  2 Samuel when a divided Israel was torn between Ishbosheth,a surviving son of the late King Saul who led the 10 Northern tribes, verses David, the new king as decreed by God through the Hebrew prophet Samuel, who led the 2 tribes of Benjamin and Judah. And it tells the story of a desperate attempt by David to bring peace to the nation and unite it under his rule so that a unified Israel could focus on defeating the Philistines.

Graham, an Army veteran, has painstakingly reconstructed a very plausible rendition, using  a variety of sources,  of both the “uniforms” of the Hebrews and the Philistines as well as battle tactics used in that day. In doing so, he has given us a very human and, at times, graphic presentation of David and his legendary warriors referred to as The Three and The Thirty. The book is rich in detail and does justice to the Biblical element of faith, notably the ancient Hebrew faith, in a manner that provides some insight into their mindset toward life, death, and war.

I liked this book because it gave an understandable perspective to a portion of the Bible that is often left alone because the languages and views of that day. And while it is a fictionalized account of certain Biblical passages, I believe that it is an honest rendering of that period in human history.

Warning contains graphic battlefield scenes and actions. I would not recommend it for persons under 16 years of age. 

I rate this book a ‘good’ read and look forward to reading the other three.

Note: I received a copy of this book via the Amazon Vine review program in exchange for review of it. I was not required to write a positive review.

Advent Thoughts for December 7th (2011)

What is the baby’s name?

Image via Wikipedia

Being an only child, I remember saying to my wife that I wanted more than one child. Having the first was one of those truly life-changing and spiritual experiences. We had names picked out, one boy and one girl. When we knew what sex the baby was, we relaxed. We already knew his name.

But when number two came along, we panicked. Well, not too much but just enough because we had to come up with a boy’s name. It took some time but not enough to cause panic.

And when we knew it was a ‘he’ we again relaxed. We already knew his name.

Naming a child is a difficult task for some parents. There is peer pressure. We did not feel any pressure (or we really did not care what others thought) when it came to naming. I know that some parents spend hours and hours looking at names, “trying them on for size.”

We did not.

Neither did Joseph and  Mary. They already knew their boy’s name. They  was told was it was to be.

In some cultures names mean little other than to acknowledge family members (which is important). But in other culture, to name a child is an important task.

Names meant something in Joseph and Mary’s day (and just read the Old Testament, especially the book of Hosea, to find out just how important (and interesting) naming your children was to God! Would you call your child “Lo-ruhamah” which means Not loved’? Didn’t think so..)

“you are to name him Jesus,  for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (NLT)

But I also think about, when it comes to names, Jacob…

yes the “Old Testament, pull-a-fast-one-over-on-me-will-ya,” Jacob.

He had a night of wrestling with an angel (some say God and I think he also wrestled with his conscience) before he faced his estranged brother.

In that night, he was changed and he was given a new name, a new identity…

“What is your name?” the man asked.  He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” Genesis 32:27-28

What is your name? What does God say that it is?

Sunday Sermon: A Mysterious Man Called Enoch

Scripture Passage – Genesis 5:23-24

Description – The first sermon in a three part series on “Walking With and Just Not For God.”

click on audio link to this sermon here 81411sermon

One of the things about the Old Testament is that it sometimes forces us to have more questions than answers.

We argue about the time sequence and scope of Genesis 1.

We wrestle with just exactly how the walls of Jericho did come down and also what they looked like.

We get stumped and puzzled about the strange dietary laws that tell the ancient Hebrews “you can eat this animal but not that animal.”

There is great mystery in the Older Testament, as Gordon MacDonald calls it, that often causes to want to close the Bible or at least turn to our favorite passage in the New Testament for something that we can at least wrap our minds around!

But there were those, believing themselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, that brought the ancient Hebrew writings that Jesus Himself quoted, into the canon (that’s c-a-n-o-n which means authoritative standard) that we know today as the Bible. And there is mystery to things that we cannot fully wrap our minds around because, 1. the customs and culture of that day were vastly different to ours, 2. Some things in scripture have not been fully explained, and 3. our faith needs some mystery in it to be more clear and sharp…

… things, and people, like Enoch

Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him. Genesis 5:23-24 (NLT)

Anthony asked the hunter to shoot an arrow. He did. “Another one,” said the Abbot. Off it went. “Another one.” The hunter obliged. “Again.”

This time the hunter objected.”If I bend my bow all the time it will break.” The abbot replied, “So it is also in the work of God. If we push ourselves beyond measure, the brethren will soon collapse. It is right, therefore, from time to time, to relax their efforts.”

(Source: August 10, 2011 email post from MINemergent.)

I cannot get away from the sense that there was a simple joy and peace in Enoch’s life because he took the time to rest and walk with God. And those moments were foundational to his intimate faith and walk with God.

The family and I did some intense walking, rather hiking, last month at Brown County State Park. The trail was only 1.5 miles long but the beginning and the end of it required a steep descent and a steep ascent. And in the heat, it was exhausting!

(I learned that I need to read the sign more closely. It dropped 345 feet in a short stretch as noted by the sharply downward slope in the picture! We had to rest and recharge. We did, in the pool, and that was helpful.)

Enoch had such days I am sure. He was not super special or super natural. He was human and yet I cannot help but feel there was this rhythm in his life that enabled him to live so closely to God.

How then do we begin to starting living more closely to and with the Lord?

We take responsibility for our own spiritual growth.

We need to slow down and create time and space for God.

Related articles

• Enoch, Patriarchal Prophet of Faith (fellowshiproom.org)

Sunday Sermon: A Time to Scatter Stones and A Time To Gather Them

Scripture Passage – Ecclesiastes 3:5

Description – Sixth Sermon in the Series “A Faith For and A God Of All Seasons” and Communion Meditation for July 3, 2011

On Memorial Day, the family and I went with my mom to decorate my late father’s grave. He was buried in a cemetery that has a very old historical section and I discovered two decorated Veterans’ graves in that section…

(Slide one) This one

 

(Slide two) and this one… (you are not seeing double… same gravestone taken from different angles)

           

And then I spotted this one, or I should say these sets of stones…

(Slide three)

And this reminds me of our main text for this morning, “a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them.”

In the Old Testament we read of gathering stones in several places such as:

Genesis 31 starting with verse 43:

Then Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks—in fact, everything you see is mine. But what can I do now about my daughters and their children? So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment.”

 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument. Then he told his family members, “Gather some stones.” So they gathered stones and piled them in a heap. Then Jacob and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal.

Moving to verse 51 we read, “See this pile of stones,” Laban continued, “and see this monument I have set between us. They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me. I call on the God of our ancestors—the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of my grandfather Nahor—to serve as a judge between us.”

What does this pile of stones mean? Some would call it a cairn which is a man made pile of stones often used to mark trails today and in the past has served as a boundary marker between plots of land. This Genesis text would indicate that it is serving as a boundary between Laban and his son-in-law Jacob in their relationship.

Then there is Exodus 20 and verses 24 and 25 which says “Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you. If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.”

An interesting passage, is it not? But God’s point to the ancient Hebrew people is that to shape the stone is to turn it into an altar or an idol like the pagan altars and idols around them and that is not what God wanted. God’s terms set a boundary on a place of worship.

(Slide four) This weekend is about boundaries of the political kind.

Our nation’s founders finally set some boundaries, if you will, regarding what they would accept and not accept from King George III. Those boundaries were not made in stone, though thousands of gravestones mark the Revolutionary War, but on paper that included statements like “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

(Slide five) Boundaries are essential to healthy and functional living. To have appropriate boundaries is to know, as someone has said, “where you begin and I end.”

And this morning I want us to think about the times (or seasons) when stones (or boundaries) are scattered and when they need to be in place for us. There are seasons when one’s boundaries need to be strengthened. When you step back and look at the ancient Hebrew law it can be seen as God’s boundaries for them. There are “yeses” and there are “no’s” in it.

Boundaries include yes and no. I am reminded of hearing Henry Cloud, co-author of the book with John Townsend entitled Boundaries, tell the story of his two year old daughter being given ‘yes’ drawers and ‘no’ drawers in the kitchen. The lazy Susan was a ‘yes’ drawer where she could play to her hearts delight. But the towel drawer next to it was a ‘no’ drawer as she loved to pull out the towels and watch them unravel in the air.

One day Cloud stood around the corner of the kitchen to watch what she would do. Well, she opened the towel drawer and began pulling out the towels yelling, ‘No, no, no’ each time she threw one in the air!

(To see this story on video, click on this link, http://www.cloudtownsend.com/videoserver/video.php?clip=CCNT2049 )

Was Cloud and his wife being mean with their daughter as they gave her some boundaries? No! They put them into place to give her a sense of direction and even, I suggest this morning, freedom.

God’s boundaries, as outlined in scripture, give us greater freedom than when consistently choose to over step those boundaries. And there are seasons when our boundaries, due to health issues or a change in a relationship for example, need to be readjusted. And then there are seasons in our life when we need, in becoming a more mature follower of Christ, to place new boundaries in our lives so that we are more and more like the Lord.

(Slide six) So this morning, on a weekend in which we celebrate a great freedom, what are some boundaries you need to adjust in your life? Is it a health boundary? Is it a diet boundary? Is it a relational boundary? Is it a financial boundary?

The Holy Spirit is present to help us create and maintain good boundaries; He wants to help us in this regard.

(Slide seven) Finally, as we prepare for communion, I think that we can say with great certainty that when Christ arose from the dead and the stone was rolled away that death was not just boundaried but it was bound up!

The death and resurrection of Christ readjusted the boundaries of life and death. The stone across the tomb entrance was moved, death was no longer powerful. Christ has triumphed over the grave.

And on this July 4^th weekend the freedom that we enjoy is a just a partial taste of the greater freedom Christ has made possible through His death of the cross and His resurrection.

Let us give thanks to God for His forgiveness and His boundaries this morning!

Related articles

• Codependency and the Church – Control (revdlesley.net)

A Time for Creating and A Time For Re-Creating

Image by concrete_jungler101 via Flickr

Scripture Passage – Ecclesiastes 3:7

Description – The second sermon of a spring/summer series “A Faith For and a God of All Seasons”

(Slide one)

Last week I began this series with some brief descriptions by Pastor Mark Buchanan about the seasonal tasks, which he calls ‘activities,’ of our inner life.

(Slide two) There is spring…

…which he says is a season of plowing, planting, and cleaning.

(Slide three) There is summer…

… a season of no worries, no hurries, and the enjoyment of fruitfulness in one’s life and faith.

(Slide four) Then the season of fall…

… is a season of harvest and a time for feasting and thanking God.

(Slide five) And then, there is winter…

Pastor Buchanan sees winter as a time when “God seems either too far or too near-aloof in his heavens, or afoot with a stick. Either way, it’s as though there is no refuge. Winter hides God.”

The tasks of a soul in winter, he suggests is to pray, prune, and wait. Easier said than done, we all know. But he also suggests that it is a time in which birth to new dreams can take place and we begin a journey in a new direction. In other words, winter can be a time for an important makeover.

Now the title of the message this morning is not one of the phrases of our series text and left me scratching my head and thinking, “Jim what were you thinking?” But as I thought (which I am known to do sometimes) I realized that I was thinking about the passage with a bigger view in mind as I studied each of the verses from the passage.

(Slide six) Here is the body of the main text. Notice that they are like bookends, chapters and conclusions, starts and finishes. Born/die, plant/uproot, weep/laugh, silent/speak; but not all of them are that way – kill/heal, embrace/refrain from embracing, tear/mend. And it is this last pairing that has caught my attention and is the basis for this message.

(Slide seven) There is a time to tear and a time to mend.

What is meant by this verse? What kind of a season of the soul does this statement illustrate?

These are words we are familiar with because they refer to a familiar household chore – repairing ripped items – like shirts, pants, skirts. But other things like our feelings and our hearts and our souls get torn as well.

They are torn by sin. But while we are torn we can also, praise God, be mended! Because of what Christ did for us on the cross, our hearts and souls can be mended through the grace and mercy of God. (Amen? Amen!)

But in the ancient Hebrew world, and I think that it still takes place today, tearing one’s clothes was an act of either grief and mourning or a response to a calamitous event.

There are seasons of grief in our lives when we mourn the loss of someone we love and when we mourn the loss of something that is forever rent and cannot be mended. But there are also seasons of renewal and reconciliation when things can be mended are mended.

I think of Joseph and how his life was both rent and mended. It began with the very serious rending of his relationship with his very angry brothers. It continued with his trouble with Potiphar’s wife. In fact, as we read in Genesis 39:12, “Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.”

But again, his life was rent as he was sent to jail where he would languish for several years because of a false accusation. And again his life is rent in two even as he pleads to the two who would be freed from prison, “Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place.”

But he is eventually brought to Pharaoh to interpret a dream that none of his advisors could interpret. Again it appears that his life is on the mend as his wise interpretation of the dream saves ancient Egypt from starvation.

And all appears well for Joseph. He is the number two person in Egypt. He is a leader. He is respected. He is powerful.

And then his brothers, seeking food, show up.

And Joseph is faced with a decision that every one of us who’s lives has been torn by conflict face. Do we choose to mend the relationship, primarily through forgiveness or not?

And what the Biblical writer shows us as Joseph’s story progresses, is a man who wrestles with deep and strong emotions of, I think, anger toward them mixed with gladness that his family is still alive.

He has a decision to make. Provide them with grain or let them starve.

The rending between Joseph and his brothers was deep as some of us are aware of in our lives when a picture or an event or a date on the calendar reminds of a relationship that has been deeply broken in two. And the threads of that conflict are like downed power lines that we know, unless carefully handled, can shock us and cause us to step back from mending the torn relationship.

Joseph, after what seems to me to be an agonizing period of time, chooses mending over further rending. In a very emotional scene Joseph can no longer keep his true identity a secret as we read in the opening verses of Genesis 45:

Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.

“I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.  So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviserto Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.” (NLT)

There are moments, seasons, of rending and mending in our relationships. Some come because of their choices and some come because of our choices.

Joseph’s story reminds us that while there are seasons of conflict, the choice to be ‘mended’ can usually be made though it might be a while. I say usually because another Old Testament story reminds us that sometimes a relationship between two people as well between a person and God cannot be mended.

I am thinking of King Saul and David.

It is one of the tragic stories in the Bible and as I read the story again this week and the Wednesday night adult group viewed it as part of our gathering, I was struck by the desperation of Saul to keep God’s favor as he grabbed Samuel as we read in 1 Samuel 15:

As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. (NLT)

Saul’s season of rending grows darker over his 40 years as the first king of ancient Israel because of his disobedience to the point he becomes obsessed with killing his popular and younger successor David as he, Saul, sadly descends into a madness brought on by raging anger and jealousy.

Disobedience can do that to us.

There is an aspect to Saul’s story that also reminds us of the seasons of tearing and mending. It is in the slow and painful death of one’s dreams. In his research of over 40 years ago, the late Daniel Levinson, wrote in his landmark book, Seasons of A Man’s Life, about the death of a man’s dream at a certain age being one of the most painful experiences he would face in life.

And there comes a point when it happens. There are less years to accomplish that ‘dream’ which is an often deeply hidden and personal goal that motivates much of what one does. (I think that this can hold true for women as well.) It’s tearing up can drive a person to the depths of despair and even depression.

And there is another type of tearing and mending I was reminded of this week in a recent blog post by Ed Cyzewski entitled interestingly enough “Cutting Loose Excess Baggage for a Course Change.”

In it he writes of finding old pictures of his college girlfriends in a box. He says, “When Julie and I got engaged, I began sorting through my stuff in order to downsize prior to moving into our apartment. I found a stack of pictures with these old girlfriends from my early college days.

It’s not like I hoped to one day rekindle any of those old flames. I was in love with Julie, and therefore the old pictures had to go. It wasn’t like I needed to purge them from my memory, but I wanted to make a clean break with the past. I couldn’t think of any reason to hold on to that part of my past as I moved forward into something new.” (Italics mine)

(Source: http://inamirrordimly.com/2011/05/19/cutting-loose-excessive-baggage-for-a-course-change/)

There comes a season of life and a season in the soul when there is a tearing away of the past and a mending of the heart that must come to move forward. This is true of people, of families, of churches.

There is a season when you have to shred something because you cannot hang on to it – a relationship, a job, a dream, the past, even a conflict,  – and move forward into the future. A tearing away has to take place.

At times it is very, very difficult to do. But it is very essential to do.

In addition to the very real reality of disobedience  the ancient Israelites had to let go of the baggage that came with 430 years of life in Egypt. It was a long season of tearing and mending in their desert wanderings as they progressed toward the Promised Land.

So how do we navigate a season of tearing and mending? What are the tasks of such a season?

Is this a season like winter when life seems to flee from us and leave us alone in bland environment of white and colorless colors?

Or is it a season of the soul like summer when we navigate the dry heat and parched ground of the wilderness that summer can become?

Or is it a season like spring when life is emerging chaotically out of winter’s depths and nothing is certain?

Or is it a season of fall when tearing is the result of sowing seeds of disunity and lack of harmony?

I think that it depends, in part on the nature of the tearing. A deep and unexpected loss can send us into the depths of a winter season that leaves us frozen with grief and sadness. I also think that if the ‘tearing’ comes from sowing seeds of discord then it could be fall season when what one gets is a rip in a relationship, a marriage, and even in one’s personal faith.

But, we need to remember…

(Slide eight) We have a faith for and a God of all seasons of life. He is present in all the seasons of our soul.

There is a time for everything… including being torn and being mended.

“Now how can that be true of us Pastor Jim? Does God want us to suffer? Didn’t Jesus save us from pain and sorrow?”

Romans 8:28 “we know that God causes everything to work togetherfor the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” What are those first words?

We.know.

NOT… we think we know or it could be true that or it is possible that

NO! It is we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose!

So what does all of this mean?

Let me simply suggest that when you are in a season of tearing either through profound grief or because, quite frankly, you are reaping what you have sown, God is there and awaits your return to Him! Just like the prodigal son who came to senses, I think, in a season of fall when he squarely faced the harvest of what he had sown.

Finally, persevere  in the midst of the tearing because God is in the mending business. Obey Him in spite of and because of His plans and purposes, however unclear, during the season of reaping you are going through right now. Also, pray and read the Bible for clarity of direction and purpose.

Let us in these concluding moments, respond to the Lord as we need to and let us find Him! Amen

Faith, An Impossible Gift

Image via Wikipedia

Scripture Passage – Genesis 15:1-6 and Romans 4:17-15

Description – The First Sermon of the 2010 Advent Series

 

(Introduction was a dramatic reading from the Advent Series ‘While Shepherd’s Watched,’ by Arden W. Mead. © 1999 Creative Communication for the Parish)

 

I begin with a question, “If you had to move from where you are currently living, what would be the most difficult place for you to move to?”

(Allow for congregational responses)

I want us to keep in mind the various emotions that we might be feeling in response to this question as we turn our attention to Abraham and Sarah.

(Slide one) The Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu once said “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

Our dramatic introduction has Abraham and Sarah well down the road of their “thousand mile journey.” It has been many, many years perhaps seventy or eighty since God said, as we read in the opening verses of Genesis 12, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others.” (One source I consulted had Abraham at 75 years of age when he left family at Haran and who knows how long it had been since he had left his birthplace of Ur.)

Well Abraham left, perhaps very reluctantly and journeyed until he came to the place that the Lord said to him, (verse 7) “I am going to give this land to your offspring.”

But Abraham kept walking and walking for a while. He walked into some interesting situations. One was in Egypt as we read in verses 10 through 18 of Genesis 12. He was afraid he might be killed because of Sarah being his wife and so he told her to lie and say that she was his sister.

Then there were the two situations at Sodom where in the first he rescued his nephew Lot who had been captured by a group of armies at war with the other kings and communities in the area. And in the second, a very fascinating conversation takes place between God and Abraham (Genesis 18) who is trying to spare Lot’s life and that of a community he had helped to save earlier. But what overshadowed all of this was the challenging, and for Sarah, painfully hard, journey of childlessness. Many people can identify with both the joys and sorrows of Abraham’s (and Sarah’s) journey.

Our Advent journey this year takes us outdoors, if you will, and into the fields with shepherds. (Slide two) Today we are spending time with Abraham. Next week we shall journey with Moses then, we will walk with David, and finally end up visiting the shepherds outside of Bethlehem that wonderful night.

I am using parts of a resource this advent season entitled “While Shepherds Watched” and I think that it is important that we focus on the word ‘watched’ in the next four weeks.

Now the word “watched” is the past tense for the word ‘watch.’  But it also implies an active view as in “He expectantly watched for the gift of chocolate to come in the mail unharmed.” And I when I say ‘watch’ I do not mean this (Slide three)

… but something like this… (Slide three a)

And really like this… (Slide three b)

Watching is about looking. It is a purposed action in which we are looking either at or for something in a very intentional way.

In Luke 15 we read about the value of “looking for” in three legendary parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. All underscore our Heavenly Father’s passionate desire of looking for and finding us so that we can come home to Him.

All of this thinking about watching and looking causes me to ask us this morning this very common question (slide four), ‘What are you looking for?”

But also I think about this question (slide five), ‘What/who are you looking at?”

Our dramatic reading has Abraham looking at the sky, the same sky that God told him to look at years before the time period in our dramatic dialogue when He promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great number of people too numerous to count like the stars!

Now, as we are becoming and have already become aware of again this time of the year, one of the things that are looked for are… gifts! And a side theme, important to this series, is that there are certain gifts God has given to us we need to accept, open, and enjoy them by using them.

We read in Ephesians 2:8-9 “God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

In our Genesis text, after God told Abraham (still Abram at this point) that he would be the father of people too numerous to count we read about the gift that was given to Abraham, “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith.”

Faith is a very, very important gift. And it is important in Abram’s situation that due to his faith, God declared him righteous. In other words, God declared him right with Him.

We read in Hebrews 12:2 that, “God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith.” This included Abraham, as we read further down in chapter 12. Faith is a gift that, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, we cannot earn but only receive from God otherwise we would brag about our ability to be right with God instead of humbly accepting his gift of salvation which requires of us faith.

(Slide six) This gift of faith requires us to look in the right direction and in Abraham’s case it was up. When you read Hebrews 12 you realize that those of who are spoken as to their great and abiding faith in God, looked in a different direction as we read in verse 16 “But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland.”

People with faith look at things differently and they see things differently than others do. And sometimes that vision, that looking, cause them to be mocked, ridiculed, even beaten because what and who they are looking at and for, is far, far different than others.

Abraham demonstrates this unique vision of faith as we read in Hebrews 12, “Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent.”

The promise that God gave Abraham, in the face of apparent childlessness (how many 80 year old mothers and fathers do you know?) gave challenge to his faith and that of his wife. But it was not an empty promise, it was a God promise.

Now one of the challenges of faith is believing that a great promise is also a God promise. And sometimes it seems we hang onto what we believe is a God promise and it turns out that it is not and disappointment and disillusionment sets it. This was Sarah’s problem. She laughed at God’s promise and was called out on it! But Abraham had this steady faith because He believed God. He did not just believe in what God said, he believed in God Himself. An important distinction here. Faith requires us to believe in God alone and apart from what He can do for us.

And faith requires of us many things. And one of the biggest things that faith requires, as Abraham demonstrates, is learning to wait.

One of the themes of Advent according to Joan Chittister is waiting. She writes “Advent is about learning to wait. It is about not having to know exactly what is coming tomorrow, only that whatever it is, it is of the essence of sanctification for us. Every piece of it, some hard, some uplifting, is the sign of the work of God alive in us. We are becoming as we go… Life, we come eventually to know, is an exercise in transformation, the mechanics of which take a lifetime of practice, of patience, of slow, slow growth.” She goes on to say that “waiting –the cold, dry period of life when nothing seems to be enough and something else beckons within us- is the grace that Advent comes to bring.”

(Source: The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister. Published by Thomas Nelson.)

What are you waiting for? We give a lot of good answers to this question. We are waiting for Washington to get its act together. We are waiting for our finances to improve. We are waiting for more work to come our way. We are waiting for a certain gift item to go on sale so that we can get it at an even lower price with the 30% coupon we are holding onto! We are waiting in line!

But I think at rock bottom what we are waiting for is really faith, hope, and love. We are waiting for our faith to be renewed after having one disappointing experience after another. We are waiting for our hope to be renewed after having it shattered by circumstances or people. We are waiting for love, a love that really, really satisfies us to come along.

We are waiting for God to not just show up but to come through. Just like Abraham and Sarah were waiting.

But this waiting has a purpose. This waiting during Advent, anticipating and expecting the baby in the manger to again appear, be seen, and worshipped, is a waiting that we do… often throughout the year.

We are waiting on God. We are waiting for God… as we take one step at a time in a direction of faith in Christ and the subsequent journey that we do not know where it is taking us.

Where then are you looking for this faith, hope, and love? Where are you looking for God? Like Abraham we have to look up! Up into the face of God who is alone the ultimate source of our faith, hope, and love.

Where are you at in your life journey today? What next step of faith are you finding it hard to take?

I ask a similar question on my Facebook page this week and this is what I heard…( The question was “Other than a step of religious faith, “What is the hardest step of faith a human being has to take?” )

 

… giving your life to your marriage partner

…having had two major surgeries

… the hardest step of faith is [trusting] Jesus Christ with my life. Trusting Him to save my soul was the easy part.

… Allowing your children to grow and make their own decisions. Gotta have faith that the values you instill in them will surface when they need them most!

… Sending your teenage daughters away to college, hoping they will become independent, successful women. Then understanding your role completely changes when they become independent, successful women.

… I think its surgery. Letting someone put you out and paralyze you so that they have to help you breath!

… Parachuting from an air plane you have 50 percent chance your chute could open or not.

… to Surrender all!

… Asking God to do something and then NOT tell him how to do it. Shut up and get out of his way and let him do it HIS way and on HIS time frame and not yours.

… It was the day that my husband left me and my 3 children. I had to take a huge step of faith in the Lord and myself.”

We are on a journey that at points is rough and difficult and then at other times an absolutely joyful and fun. God is present every step of the way. The question is “Are we believing in Him and His wonderful promises whether or not they have been realized at this point?”

The gift of faith is, at times, a seemingly impossible gift. It requires of us the ability to believe, to hope, and to love when circumstances and choices seem to be going against what God has promised. But without it is impossible to walk with God and experience His forgiving grace and mercy as we are reminded of in Hebrews 11:6 “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

We must not lose faith! We must keep looking up believing God and taking Him at His word! We must keep trusting and believing the Lord! He is the source of our faith, our hope, and our love.

We are all on a journey of a thousand steps. God’s purposes and mission for us may not be as large and important as Abraham’s was, but because it is God’s and not ours, it is very important. And it requires us to open and use the gift of faith.

Let us keep believing in a great and good God whose plans and purposes will be done. Amen and Amen.

Seeing With The Eyes of Faith

Image via Wikipedia

Scripture Passage – 2 Kings 6:8-23

Description – 1^st Sermon in the Fall 2010 Series “Seeing with the eyes of faith.”

I have a series of slides that I want you to look at as we begin this morning. As I show them, I want you to tell me what you they are, ok?

Here we go!

(Slide one) What do you see?

(Slide two) It is a guitar

(Slide three) What do you see?

(Slide four) It is a TV

(Slide five) What do you see?

(Slide six) It is a Telephone

(Slide seven) What do you see?

(Slide eight) It is a Teddy Bear

(Slide nine) What do you see?

(Slide ten) Sun glasses

(Slide eleven) What do you see?

(Slide twelve) A zebra

(Slide thirteen) What do you see?

(Slide fourteen) A Cow

(Slide fifteen) What do you see?

(Slide sixteen) Pizza

(Slide seventeen) What do you see?

(Slide eighteen) A turtle

(Slide nineteen) What do you see?

(Slide twenty) An elephant

One last one…

(Slide twenty one) What do you see?

I have done this one before. How many of you see the young lady? How many of you see the older lady?

(Slide twenty two) In this picture, what do you see?

Who sees fear? How about frustration? How about worry?

In writing about being a peacemaker, Blake Coffee notes, “Peacemakers understand one thing about relationships: they rise and fall based completely upon perceptions.  Your response to me (i.e., your half of our relationship) will necessarily be based on your perception of me or of something I have said or done.”

(Source: http://churchwhisperer.com/2010/08/31/peacemakers-as-communication-artists/

© Blake Coffee. Website: churchwhisperer.com)

Perceptions are a key element of relationships. You used perception in determining what you saw and how you interpreted not just this picture but all of them.

The same holds true in our relationship with God and in our faith. In fact, one of the ways our faith in Christ grows and matures is by a change in perceptions.

Jesus, I think dealt with this all of the time and a change in perception was even part of the crucifixion story.  We read in Matthew 27:54 that the Roman officer and soldiers in charge of the crucifixion had a change in perception when the earth shook after Jesus died. “The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” But, prior to this, they were most likely part of the troop that mocked Jesus and verbally abused Him.

There was the prodigal son having a change in perception by thinking that he could get a job, food, and clothing by working for his father instead of coming back as his son. This of course did not happen because the father changed the young man’s perception of the relationship with a wide open acceptance of his return.

For the next four weeks, we are going to do an interesting study of battles in the Old Testament.

Now you might be thinking this morning Jim how on earth did you go from perceptions to battles?

Good question!

These were not just military battles we are going to read about, they were battles in which perception… and faith were challenged and at risk.

Our first story is a story that is about perceptions and how that affects your faith and confidence in the Lord.

Our main text is 2 Kings 6:8-23. Now I am not going to read the entire section today but will read portions as I go along.

This passage features the prophet Elisha, who succeeded Elijah as the ancient Hebrews chief prophet, in a situation in which he is a wanted man. And is wanted by the King of Aram, who is at war with Israel, who is told that Elisha is causing him problems because of Elisha’s divine ability to determine what is going to happen next and telling Israel’s king. So, he tells his military leaders to find Elisha, and when they do, in the city of Dothan, a large contingent of troops is sent to surround the town and bring Elisha back to him.

Now it gets interesting.  Elisha and his servant see the vast number of troops surrounding the city and they have two different perceptions of the situation. They see two different things.

The servant sees an overwhelming military force arrayed against them and sees no way out.

Elisha, as we shall read in a moment, saw it differently. He saw it with eyes of faith. From the latter half of verse 15 of 2 Kings 6

Ah, my lord, what will we do now?” he cried out to Elisha.

“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened his servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

Then Elisha asks God to blind them and after God does he leads them to another location as prisoners of war, where they are fed and released. And then we read in verse 23 “After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.”

I find myself at times seeing what the servant sees: an overwhelming force (be it a person, a decision, a lack of resources, my own anxiety and/or fear) and few options for success. Then at other times, I see with the eyes of faith. I see possibilities for growth, renewal, second chances, life, love.

Why?

Perhaps it is (at times) because of my lack of faith and at others it is because my faith has not sufficiently developed to see what God has me to see and sometimes, I think, that it is because God wants to remind me that He.is.God.

There is a song of many years ago (or it seems that way) that went something like this, “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible, He can do what no other friend can do.”

On this Labor Day weekend, there are lots of things that seem impossible. We feel surrounded on many different fronts. We think that the battle is almost won by the other side.

There are work issues, family issues, concerns about our nation and our communities. There are personal issues and habits that keep us up at night.

Are we asking God to help us not just perceive but see what is right? To see, not just perceive His purposes, plans, and power?

As we prepare for communion, I remind us that on that night, the Disciples were thinking about deliverance of one kind and Jesus was thinking about deliverance of another kind. It was only later, as it often is with us, the veil was lifted (because the tomb was empty) and the disciples “saw” the deliverance that had come through Jesus Christ.

So what does all of this mean for us today?

2 Corinthians 5:7 says “we live by believing and not by seeing.” (In older translations we have read it, ‘We walk by faith and not by sight.’)

And because we do, it is through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ that we are able to see with eyes of faith and across that stream of fear; it means that we see through the mountain of anger and God’s place of peace on the other side; it means that we see God at work in the big and the small of life.

Let us remember and thank the Lord for what He has done for us. Let us continue to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. The battle belongs to the Lord! Amen

(Note: I acknowledge the work and ministry of High Voltage Kids  and the pictures shown in the opening segment of this message is from their series ‘Victory.’ )

Changing Directions

This morning we begin with a few moments of review and reflection. First I am going to review the messages of this Lenten series and then give you a few moments to reflect on this Lenten series by taking time to write out your thoughts for your personal use.

We have spent this Lenten season with Jonah that interesting, and very human, prophet.

(Slide 1) The first Sunday we were introduced to Jonah and we approached Jonah with a reminder of just how challenged we are sometimes with an over abundance of communication, electronic, social, and otherwise these days. An over abundance that makes listening not just to others but to God a very difficult thing to do. Our text was Jonah 1:1-3 and we noted that Jonah “hung up” on God and took off to get away from Him and His request to go to Nineveh and proclaim God’s message to them.

(Slide 2) The second Sunday we went to Jonah 1:4-16 and spent time with Jonah as he dug in his heels and refused to obey God’s message. I suggested this working definition of disobedience:

Refusal to obey is a willful and defiant act of disobedience whereas the failure to obey some times some times comes out of circumstances that prevent full obedience such as when you “fail” to complete your job due to equipment failure (or the unwillingness of a co-worker to do their job!)

Disobedience was the main theme of our time together as we considered how willful disobedience to God’s call affects our relationship with Him, and like Jonah and the ship’s crew, affects our relationship with others.

(Slide 3) On the third Sunday we focused on Jonah 1:17

Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. (NLT)

“God sticks with us” is what we were told and God stuck with Jonah as we heard him pray honestly and earnestly from the belly of a fish.

And it is this kind of praying (Slide 4) that was our focus for our fourth Sunday from Jonah 2:1-10 when I asked the absurd question, Have you ever prayed in/from the belly of a great fish? In that message we were challenged to think about the power of sincerity and persistence in prayer during those “in the belly” moments of life.

(Slide 5) Then, in last week’s message, we were told that there is a second half still to be played even when we have failed. That God wants to give us a second chance as evidenced in Jonah 3:1 “Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time…”

So (Slide 6) here is the question for your reflection this morning, “What has the Lord shown you from the life of Jonah these past six weeks and what are you going to do about it?”

Take a few moments and write down your response to that question.

Now as we prepare to hear today’s text from Jonah 3 and verses 5 through 10, I want to talk for a moment about literature. (Huh, PJ?)

When you study the structure of a story, one of things that you study is how the story unfolds, right? You study, discuss, and ponder the implications of plot, character, setting and the like.

One key aspect of studying a story is to study the change in directions of a character’s path, the setting, and other factors that illustrate that a major change may be on the horizon. Climax is the term that is often used to describe the high point of the story when the main character’s life (or story plot) reaches a decision point that affects the rest of the story.

I believe that this third chapter of Jonah is the climactic turn of the entire book for it is here that Jonah, after running away from God’s command to go to Nineveh, gets a second chance. What is he going to do now that the word of the Lord comes to him a second time and says, “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message of judgment I have given you.”

What is Jonah going to do? He tried running once and look where it got him! Nowhere… well at least back to shore.

He can try to run again or he can change his direction. What does he do? Our main text for this morning tells us:

This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow.

When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all. Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us. When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened.”

Reed Lessing notes of Dr J Edwin Orr’s study of the great Welsh revivals of the nineteenth century that a problem arose at the shipyards along the Welsh coast during that revival.

It seems, according to Lessing and Orr, that “over the years workers had stolen all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers. However,” they note, “as people repented, they started to return what they had taken, with the result that soon the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property. There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, “If you have been led by God to return what you have stolen, please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken.”

Then Lessing asks this question, “Can you imagine if that type of repentance came upon our town; it might do a number on our economic system?”

(Source: Dr. Reed Lessing. © 2010 by Creative Communications for the Parish. creativecommunications.com.)

What is repentance? Let’s hear some definitions from you.

(Slide 7) I suggest this morning this definition of repentance: A spiritual, attitudinal, and behavioral change of direction made in response to the convicting work of God.

Real and good repentance is more than just saying ‘I’m sorry God.” (Slide 7a) It means “I’m sorry God plus…” “I am sorry God plus I will make amends wherever I need to do so with whom I need to do so.”

The evidence of Jonah’s change of heart is not in perhaps saying “I’m sorry God forgive me,” though that is important.

It is in the change in his behavior… in his obedience to God by turning toward Nineveh and going there as God wanted him to do.

Repentance, as I was reminded this past week, is a 180 degree turn. It is an intentional choice to go the opposite direction. This 180 includes, not just a change in our relationship with the Lord but a change in our attitudes and our behavior.

Those shipyard workers I believe really understood that as the Holy Spirit made clear to them what changes they needed to make.

But there is something else about repentance that we need to note in this part of Jonah’s story.

(Slide 8) Our repentance can, and does, make possible other’s repentance.

Now hear me here church. This does NOT mean that we can save people. That is God’s work. Each of us is responsible to God for our OWN confession, not someone else’s confession (as much as we would like to do that sometimes!)

But if Jonah would have bolted again, what would God have done then? What would have happened to the Ninevites?

Jonah’s repentance, his turning around, made it possible for the Ninevites to repent as well. By making the choice to go to Nineveh, obeying God’s call, the people of Nineveh, heard God’s message of judgment and they repented. (Granted God could have sent someone else. But He wanted Jonah to go.)

I remind us all this morning that each of us has a field, a circle of influence that contains people who listen to us (though it does not often appear that way) and pay attention to how we live our lives (though we do not often realize this). They are a part of our mission field that God has placed us in.

Our genuine repentance has an effect on them!

They see, hear, and sense the changes in us as we repent of our sins and turn around and go the right way. They notice this!

So it is vitally important for us to regularly examine our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to show us where we need to make changes by surrendering a particular area to Him and allowing Him to change us and help us turn around and go in the right direction.

Author Ken Sande tells the story of Thomas Edison’s ability to delegate big tasks when others would have refused. When Edison and his staff were developing the incandescent light bulb, it took hundreds of hours to manufacture a single bulb.

One day, after finishing a bulb, Edison handed it to a young errand boy and asked him to take it upstairs to the testing room. As the boy turned and started up the stairs, he stumbled and fell, and the bulb shattered on the steps.

Instead of rebuking the boy, Edison reassured him and then turned to his staff and told them to start working on another bulb. When it was completed several days later, Edison demonstrated the reality of his forgiveness in the most powerful way possible.

He walked over to the same boy, handed him the bulb, and said, “Please take this up to the testing room.” Sande then comments: “Imagine how that boy must have felt. I can imagine that he was a nervous wreck. And I do not doubt that Edison was also a nervous wreck.”

(Source: Dr. Reed Lessing. © 2010 by Creative Communications for the Parish. creativecommunications.com.)

But God is not a nervous wreck when, after we fall, confess, and get back up, He places the great commandment to love and the great commission to make disciples back into our hands and tells us “go back out there and share the good news that all has been and can be forgiven!”

In Matthew 12 beginning with verse 38 we read these words: “One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove that you are from God.”

But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, faithless generation would ask for a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now someone greater than Jonah is here—and you refuse to repent.”

The lesson I take from Jonah is the importance of repentance and obedience. Both are two sides of the same coin. Repentance of our disobedience to God’s ways is strengthened by our obedience. Our repentance sticks when we obey God’s ways and directions.

So as we enter this week that is different from other weeks, let us repent, let us obey, and let us go and continue to tell the good news that our sins and shortcomings are forgiven and life can be better now because of what Christ has done for us. Amen.

What if?

As I read to my two boys tonight about Moses, I thought about the Israelite leaders during the time between Joseph and Moses:
What kept them going? What sustained their faith? What was their faith like?
Did they remember the God of their ancestors? Did they feel like failures? How did they know Moses was truthful?
Did these Israelite leaders feel like failures? Should they have?
How many pastors who faithfully pastor a congregation between pastors of great effectiveness feel like failures?
I am not personalize this at all. It just came to my thoughts as I read the passage. I am relearning the value of reading scripture aloud!