My word!

A few weeks ago we came home to discover that our dog had taken up a study in the word, an intense digging into and digesting the word of God.  

It WAS my favorite bible.  

Now, sadly, it's a commentary to how not to consume the word of God.  

I know it's a small thing.  We are blessed to be able to pull another one off the shelf and pick up where the dog left off, but the discovery forced me to make some micro-second decisions.  Anger, irritation, frustration were all there, but I had a choice.  What would come out?  How would I respond?

In every crisis where life is changed, where things don’t go as we think they should, we have a moment to filter our responses and then what comes out will reveal to others our heart and our god.

Jesus said, "What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them."  

And in a moment our heart is revealed, the world sees what we have put in…because it always comes out.  When something precious is destroyed, something important taken, when crisis comes...and it will...what will come out?  Problems put pressure on our hearts and our lips reveal what we have invested in.  Our lips reveal who we trust and tell more about us than we often realize.

There is a passage in Psalm 109 that fascinates me.  I’ll close with these astonishing words from the Psalms,

He also loved cursing, so it came to him;
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it entered into his body like water
And like oil into his bones.

Are we alone?

Stephen Hawking, "Current technology gives us a real chance to answer one of humanity's biggest questions: Are we alone?

Stephen Hawking has launched a new multi-million dollar project to seek out intelligent life in our Universe.  It is one of his passions to discover alien life. It's his hope that this discovery will give meaning to our lives as well. 

It would be a lonely planet if we leave God out of the picture.  

It would be a hopeless place to not really know why we are here. 

It would be rather meaningless if we have no knowledge of origins or the future.  

Without God we seek purpose and meaning in other things....like aliens.

If aliens exist maybe they could tell us why we are here.  If we could find them we might find ourselves. If we can discover other intelligent life we might have answers to our place in the Cosmos. At least that is the hope of those who will not let God into their formula of life.

Are we alone?  No, not at all!  We live in a world rich with life we know nothing about.  We are surrounded by "aliens" and don't even see them.  Let me give you an example,

"When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." 2 Kings 6:15-17. 

We live in a world where our sight is blinded to much that is going on around us.  We live in the very presence of God and don't even see him, hear him or sense his presence.  We live in a world where angels watch us.  And I wonder, how much more is there besides what God has shown us already?  

But the real question for us is not "Are we alone?" but rather, "How should we live out this life as the Universe watches?"

Hebrews 12 gives us a hint of an olympic game with the bleachers full of watchers as we live out our lives.  How amazing is that?  

Are we alone? 

NO!  

So now what?  

How then should we live?

I don't need another slogan

Culture is rich with pithy little life slogans to help you think well, but to be honest, as I thought about it this morning I realized slogans don't really do that much to help me.  They sound nice, they sometimes make us smile, make us angry and may even make us think but they do nothing to help me live.

I found these 37 life slogans, many you have heard, as examples of how we try to help one another with nice little words,

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

Accept what you can’t change. Change what you can’t accept.

Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.

Bite off more than you can chew.

Bloom where you’re planted.

Counting other people’s sins does not make you a saint.

Do small things with great love.

Do something each day to bring you a little closer to your dreams.

Do something good today.

Done is better than perfect.

Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Don’t put the key to your happiness in someone else’s pocket.

Dreams don’t work unless you do.

Enjoy every moment.

Flirt with adventure.

Have less. Do more, Be More.

I can be as contrary as I choose.

It will all work out.

It’s the little things.

Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens.

Laughter is the best medicine.

Live by the sun, love by the moon.

Live in the moment.

Live what you love.

Make it happen.

Make mistakes.

Never ruin an apology with an excuse.

One day at a time.

Please and thank you are still magic words.

Rejection is not fatal.

Rise above the blues.

Seize the day.

Sometimes the wrong choices brings us to the right places.

Take a moment and breathe.

The glass is half full.

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.

Some are a bit true, some are helpful....but none model for me what will help me really live well.  As I left to take the dog for a walk this morning my daughter came by to take care of a few things. She was stressed, a bit overwhelmed and I gave her one of the many little slogans we use.  She laughed sarcastically and replied, "Thanks John Lennon!"

So what do we need?  What will help us live, really live well?  

What we all need is a life lived well, lived all out in which we can see how it's done.  When Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." it really meant little until he really did it and gave his life for the souls of others.

What I need is someone who has really lived well!  That's why there are four gospel narratives.  Four stories of men who watched the perfect man live life as we are meant to live it.  We don't need another slogan, we need someone who has lived it out.  Jesus did that.

And so, daily, I'm "following Jesus" as he walks the dusty roads of Israel, engages people, helps those in pain, cares for the outcast, deals with the proud.  When I tell you I follow him that's not just a nice phrase, it's how I read the gospels.  In the stories of Jesus there are not just 12 disciples, there are 13....and I'm that 13th one.

As he fed the 5,000 giving bread and fish to the 12 to pass out I'm also passing some out.  When he calmed the storm in the boat and the 12 worship so do I.  In every story I'm there and as I follow Jesus I see what life was really meant to be, what we were designed to be.

Slogans are nice, but they don't help me live.  What I need is someone to follow and I follow Jesus.  I hope, one day, to look like him a bit.  I hope, one day, someone will say, "weren't you with that Jesus fellow?" And will exclaim with excitement, "YES!  Yes I was!"

The most important question

If I were to ask you, 

"What is the most important question?" 

What would you reply?

This question assumes something very important.

It assumes there is one question 
that is the most important...

...for any person

...for any situation

...for any problem.

And that would be true.

What question will help anyone 

with anything 

in any place?

Here it is,

"I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; 

is anything too difficult for me?" Jer. 32:27

Why is that question the most important question?

Because in the answer to this one question 

is the solution to every problem!

In the answer to this one question 

is the person who can answer every other question.

So, when you come to a difficult place remember God's question to Jeremiah,  "Is anything too difficult for Me?" 

If not, then you have your answer, 

you have the solution to every fear, 

to every need, 

to every pain.  

You have him.

Following Christ

"You must have the same attitude 

that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God,
 he did not think of equality with God
 as something to cling to.
 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
 he took the humble position of a slave
 and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
 and died a criminal’s death on a cross."

Philippians 2

These few verses are some of the most difficult in the Bible.  They begin with these words, "have the same attitude..." and what follows is the model for how we are to live out our lives.

Instead of glory we are to choose obscurity.

Instead of the first place we are invited to sit in the lowest place.

Instead of ruler we are invited to be the servant, the slave.

We are invited to humbly serve God and the ones he puts in our path....just as Christ Jesus did.

This is the most difficult call to discipleship in all of scripture.  This invitation challenges us to put to death our pride, our desire for glory, fame, success and humbly serve.

And to what point? To what outcome?  The example Jesus gave us is to the death, to the point of giving all we have and are for the souls of those around us! This is our model, this is our invitation, "you must have this same attitude..."   It's the attitude of a servant not seeking anything except the approval of the master.

Everything about following Jesus is counter to the way our culture works.  It's a call to being nobody in this world so Christ can be seen through you.  It's an invitation to put pride to death and serve without a "thank you", without acknowledgement, without reward....to the death.  

That's our model.  Setting aside everything we want, desire or claim so that God can work though us and glorify his name.  This is the highest calling in all of human history...the call to be nobody so that Christ can be seen and glorified through us.

How wonderful it would be to be completely unknown, living a life of anonymity so God can be seen through us, so those who watch us want to know this God we serve.  Could there be a richer life than that?

Really?

 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28

All things?  

Really? 

Have you seen my car? 

Yesterday morning I went to coffee with one of our guys.  As I pulled into the restaurant I saw one place to park in front of the restaurant, but then thought, "No, I'll park over there where there aren't any cars. That will be better." And so I changed direction at the last moment and went right instead of left.

My friend and I had a great visit and then, halfway through coffee, a man comes into the restaurant asking, "Who has a white Ford Fiesta?"  

I replied, "I do."  

He then, a bit sheepishly, said, "I hit it."  

I couldn't help it, but responded, "Why did you do that???" 

We both went out the parking lot to inspect the damage on my new little car.

He gave me his insurance info.  I gave him my business card, you know the one....the one with "pastor" on it.

We went back into the restaurant and my friend and I finished our coffee and paid the bill.  But before we left I went over to the man who hit my car and thanked him for being honest.

As I thought about it later I realized a lot of people were watching me....my young friend, the man who hit my car.  The waiter was looking as well.  What were they watching?  

My reaction.

They were watching to see how I responded, how I reacted to my new car being hit.  

The man who hit me was surprised, I'm sure, that I didn't get angry, didn't raise my voice, didn't act "normal" as our culture would expect.  

You see,  years ago I decided that people are more important than things and so my response was already set.  I value this man I didn't know more than my new little car.

Here's what I know already-  my young friend watched my reaction, the man in the big truck who hit me saw something different, the people in the restaurant were watching......and out of it all I know one thing.....God will work in this little small situation to glorify his name and bring people to him.  Who knows, the man who hit me may have had a divine appointment with God to hit my car so we could talk about important things in the days ahead.

Yes, God works all things together.....even my little dented car....for good and his glory.  I can't wait to see what he does with this small little event in the days ahead because "ALL thinks work together....."

To Him!

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us...."  Ephesians 3:20

How small our God is!  

We Christians worry about almost everything, don't we?  

We worry about what the government is going to do next. We worry and fret about what will happen in our country.  We worry about money, about health, about what others will do...what they will think...what will happen to us. 

We have such a wee little God that I sometimes wonder why we continue to believe in him at all.

I so wish we could capture a vision of the God who is!  In fact, that's why he made the stars.  He made the stars to show us how big he really is, but we have blinded our eyes to his glory with the lights of our cities.  Now, if you live in a city, you can't see the majesty of what he has made.  

He made the stars to remind us how big, how grand, how powerful he really is!  

He is GOD!  Creator of heaven and earth.  He has had to say to several men in the bible, "Is anything too hard for me?"  And the obvious answer is, "NO, NOTHING is too hard for the one who made the stars!" Why do we still doubt him so?

And yet we cower with fear at what man is going to do to us. But what about God?  The God who made everything....isn't he in charge? Isn't he able to watch over you, to care for you, to meet your needs?  Isn't he big enough?  Or have you been worshipping a small God so long you can't see how glorious he really is?

Let's rediscover the God of the bible, the God who made heaven and earth.  Let's rediscover the God who Paul proclaimed, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us...."

To Him be glory, praise and trust now and into eternity.  The great God, the only God, the God who is able!

To Him!