The Food Won’t Come To You

April 9, 2009 1 Comment

Ryan, my eleven-year old, got off a classic line the other day. He was one with his bed, lying there watching his television. His mother had just finished her nightly chore of preparing his supper. When she told him that supper was ready, he didn’t respond. Finally, after a few minutes, she ratcheted the tone up to vintage motherly level and said, “Ryan, get in there and get your food.” In response, he said, with genuine surprise, “Oh, I thought it was going to come to me.”

As a pastor, I can’t help but relate that line to church attendance. Christian, the spiritual food doesn’t come to you; you have to actually go to church and get it. It’s all laid out there for you. It’s been carefully chosen and prepared to quench your spiritual hunger. But it won’t magically make its way to where you are and jump in your mouth. You have to put forth some effort.

Oh, I know all about the television ministries that some churches have. You can sit right there on your couch and be fed. But there’s really nothing like the “meal” you get by attending your local congregation. You know those people in a way you can never know that television congregation. That t.v. pastor won’t be the one to visit you when you are admitted to the hospital. He won’t be the one to baptize your child or grandchild. He won’t be the one to preach the funeral of your family member. That’s local church stuff.

Some years back, at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine special athletes lined up at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. When the starting pistol sounded, eight of them took off down the track. One boy, however, stumbled out of the blocks, tumbled a couple of times, and began to cry. When the other eight heard the crying, they slowed down to see what had happened. Upon seeing the boy, they all turned around and went back. One girl with Down’s Syndrome bent down, kissed the boy, and said, “This will make it better.” Then, with arms linked tightly together, all nine walked down the track and crossed the finish line together. That’s a beautiful picture of what church can be like. Brothers and sisters in Christ can help each other in life’s race by encouraging and supporting one another. Try getting that from a television broadcast.     

I realize that I’m painting a very idyllic view of churches. I’m a pastor, remember? It’s not like I haven’t seen my share of church members behaving badly toward each other. My point is simply that when church is right (and it’s right more times than we admit) there’s no place like it on earth. It’s a place for learning. It’s a place for growing. It’s a place for fellowshiping. It’s a place for sharing. It’s a place for giving. It’s a place for worshipping. Why wouldn’t you want to be there? 

And, believe me, I’ve heard just about all the excuses for not going to church. Again, I’m a pastor, remember? But so very many of those excuses don’t hold any weight with the Lord. In his book, The Miracles of Our Lord, Charles Ryrie offers a good word about such excuses. He does it in the context of his comments concerning Christ’s attendance of synagogue. He writes:

“If our Lord had wanted to use reasons, such as those often heard today, for not attending public worship He could have found many. Certainly He got very little out of the message, for after all He was the fulfillment of every Scripture read or explained in the service. Surely He knew more about God and spiritual things than anyone present, including the leaders in the synagogue. Too, He knew that the organization He was supporting would soon be replaced by the church. But still He went regularly. Christian liberty, properly understood, does not free one from regular responsibilities, including attending worship services (see Heb. 10:25).”

So, I ask you, how is your church attendance? Are you someone who can be counted on to be there? Or are you the type that only shows up when every last star comes into alignment? It’s been said that church-attendees are like cars: They start missing before they quit. You haven’t been sputtering, have you?  If you have, consider this little post God’s means of getting you back in tune and running smoothly. Go get your “meal.” It won’t come to you.

Filed under Church attendance, Worship Tagged with , ,

God’s Chemistry

April 7, 2009 2 Comments

My yard is covered in snow this morning, the result of an April winter storm. Living where I do, I’m quite used to snow. Last night’s local news featured a family from Florida who happened to be driving through our area when the snow started falling yesterday afternoon. The father actually pulled off the road and let the kids enjoy the thrill of playing in the white stuff. They had never seen it before. I thought, “How odd. I can’t imagine living in a place where it doesn’t snow.”

But there is one thing about snow that always, without exception, takes me by surprise: how bright it is. Each time I pull back the curtains on a new day and find snow on the ground, my eyes receive a jolt. I’m never ready for the startling effect of snow’s pure whiteness.

All of this takes my mind to Psalm 51:7, where David says to God, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” The heading of this Psalm leaves no doubt as to what prompted David’s need of forgiveness. The prophet Nathan had just confronted him regarding the adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah (2 Samuel c. 11-12:1-15). David, the “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), had broken three of the ten commandments that made up the moral summation of the body of law that God had given to Israel. He had coveted his neighbor’s wife (Exodus 20:17). He had committed adultery (Exodus 20:14). He had murdered (Exodus 20:13).

David understood that only God could remove the dark stain of his sins. There was no heroic deed that could be performed to remove that stain. There was no list of good works, no rite, no ritual. There was only God. If He would forgive, David could be restored. If He wouldn’t, there was no hope.

And did David receive his forgiveness and cleansing? Yes. God used that odd chemical process of His. He took David’s sins, which were a crimson, scarlet red in His sight (Isaiah 1:18), and covered them with sacrificial blood, which was also crimson, scarlet red (Hebrews 9:22). This turned those sins as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). I know that dark red on dark red shouldn’t produce white, but in God’s chemistry it does.

Of course, David lived in Old Testament days, days in which God commanded the Israelites to offer up blood sacrifices to Him (Leviticus 17:11). What we must understand, though, is that these sacrifices couldn’t “take away” sin (Hebrews 10:4,11). They could only roll the sin forward and stay the wrath of God (Hebrews 10:1-3) until Jesus, the One whose blood could take away sin (John 1:29), would come and die on the cross (Hebrews 10:12-14). All of the Old Testament sacrifices found their legitimacy in His death. Just as we look back upon Christ’s death, Old Testament believers such as David looked ahead to it. It was in the crimson blood that flowed through Christ’s sacrificial body that David found his eternal cleansing.

Maybe you have done something that makes you want to cry out to God for cleansing. Maybe you have committed a sin that you want God to make whiter than snow. Such forgiveness is available to you. It’s found in Jesus. He died on a Roman cross as an Old-Testament style, blood sacrifice for the sins of the entire world (1 John 2:2). There is no sin so scarlet that He cannot plunge it in His blood and make it as white as snow.

But just as there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, there is no application of Christ’s blood without belief in Him. His death was sufficient for everyone’s sins, but it is only efficient for those who place their belief in Him as Savior (John 3:16-18). 1 John 1:7 offers a profound, doctrinal truth when it says that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, but that verse was specifically written to Christians, people who have placed their belief in Christ. You see, God’s chemistry does work. Scarlet sins really can be turned snow white. But the agent that produces the reaction is the shed blood of Christ, and that blood only gets applied to those who make the voluntary choice to believe in Him.

Filed under Forgiveness, Sacrifice, salvation Tagged with , , , , , ,

Keep Playing

April 5, 2009 1 Comment

In Galatians 6:9, the apostle Paul says to the Christians of Ephesus, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” At the risk of sounding like a preacher, let me point out that this verse easily divides into three alliterated parts.

Part #1 is the command: Let us not grow weary while doing good. It is so easy for the Christian to grow tired of doing right in a world filled with so much wrong. He pours himself into people who inevitably disappoint him. He supports just causes that ultimately fail. He speaks truth only to have it drowned out by a din of lies. He questions whether he is making a difference at all. Nevertheless, he must keep at it. Even when he can no longer see the point or use of it all, he must not grow weary while doing good. This is the divine command.    

Part #2 is the compensation: In due season we shall reap. Even though the harvest may linger, it is surely coming. It merely awaits the due season. The great scorekeeper of the universe is on the job, and He will see to it that good-doing is rewarded handsomely. It’s wrong for the Christian to be motivated to service by the expectation of gain, but when God Himself chimes in with the gain it’s perfectly acceptable. This is the compensation for a job well done.     

Part #3 is the condition: We will only reap if we do not lose heart. The farmer who sows his seed but stops caring for the crop after only a few weeks needn’t expect a harvest. Likewise, the Christian who loses heart in doing good will not get to enjoy the harvesting of the due season. The problem with a loss of heart is that it leads to a loss of good-doing. Doing good is hard enough when one’s heart is in it, let alone when there isn’t a heart for it. Therefore, the Christian must see to it that he doesn’t lose heart while awaiting his promised compensation. This is the condition for reaping his harvest.

A mother, hoping to encourage her young son to continue his piano lessons, bought tickets for a performance by Ignacy Paderewski, the Polish master. After arriving at the concert hall, the woman began talking to a friend and lost track of the boy. When eight o’clock arrived, the spotlights came on and only then did she notice that he had climbed onto the stage and was sitting on the bench of Paderewski’s piano. Then, to her horror, the little fellow started to play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Before the mother could retrieve the boy, Paderewski walked on stage. He got behind the little fellow and whispered, “Don’t quit – keep playing.” Then he reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. He followed that by reaching down with his right hand and adding a running obbligato. Together, Paderewski and his young apprentice played the grandest version of a children’s song the audience had ever heard.

Christian, think of yourself as that boy and the Lord as Ignacy Paderewski. To you, your efforts at doing good seem as if you are only playing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” But you aren’t hearing the fill in parts that God is playing. Just as Jesus took a boy’s small lunch and fed five-thousand men (John 6:1-14), He will take your efforts and multiply them beyond your wildest dreams. Remember this the next time you feel a tinge of weariness while doing good. It’s too soon to quit. Your due season is just over the horizon. God has promised that you will reap. All you’ve got to do is keep playing.

Filed under Doing Good, Patience, perseverance, Reward, Sowing and Reaping Tagged with , , , , , ,

Are You Too Busy?

April 3, 2009 1 Comment

Yesterday afternoon found me on the road having to be at a certain place at a certain time. It also found me in the midst of an absolute sea of traffic. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing. Cars, trucks, big rigs, dump trucks, and school buses were everywhere. I kept thinking, “Where are all these people going?”

To understand my astonishment, you’ve got to know where I live. I live in little old Mitchell county, way up in the mountains of western North Carolina. Our total population is a little under 16,000. We roll up the sidewalks at night in our two towns. We know our neighbors’ business. When we dial a wrong number, we end up talking to the person for ten minutes.

My afternoon trip had me driving out of Mitchell county and into Yancey county. Yancey county isn’t much more than a twin sister to Mitchell. That’s what made the traffic so amazing. I’ve taken more trips through Mitchell and Yancey counties than I can count. I know what is normal for these roads. Yesterday, I felt like I was in downtown New York city.

I don’t know where you live, but I’m guessing that there are more cars on your roadways these days. It seems that we now average two or three cars per household. Honestly, it’s hard for me to feel sorry for the auto manufacturers. It’s plain to see that they’ve been highly successful at selling their products for a long time now. If they’re having financial troubles, it has to be because of inept management, sinful excess, greed, downright stupidity, or something. They’ve sold enough cars in the past to be monetarily solvent for years to come. Of course, I do feel for all the blue-collar workers who’ve lost their jobs. It’s just that it seems absurd that they had to lose those jobs. I mean, it’s not like people haven’t been buying cars! 

But why am I fixating on cars today? I’m not. What I’m really fixating on is how BUSY we’ve become. Everybody seems to be running around to some place to do something. It makes me think of that Andy Griffith episode where the visiting preacher tells the Mayberry church folk to slow down and enjoy the simpler things of life. That was 1960s Mayberry. If that preacher wanted to preach that same message to today’s church folk, he’d have to leave an hour earlier just to account for the traffic to get to church.

There’s a Bible story that fits in here too. You’ve heard the one about Mary and Martha, haven’t you? They were the two sisters of Lazarus, the man Jesus raised from the dead. Luke 10:38-42 is the record of a visit that Jesus made to their home. While Martha was scurrying around the house, taking care of the serving, doing the work of a hostess, Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.” Finally, in thinly veiled anger and frustration with the whole scene, Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

It seemed to be a perfect occasion for a Proverbs style lesson on the value of a work ethic. It seemed to be the right time for a good word about love being shown in service. It seemed to be a clear case of Martha having a legitimate argument. But Jesus didn’t think so. He reversed field and said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

I can’t help but wonder how those words made Martha feel. They had to hurt her feelings, didn’t they? Did tears well up in her eyes? Did she get even madder? Did her mouth drop open in utter disbelief at Jesus siding with Mary? The Bible doesn’t tell us. The lesson of the story isn’t hard to discern, though: No matter how busy you are, you must make time to “sit at Christ’s feet” and “hear His word.” This can be done through prayer, Bible study, or reading a daily devotion. Many people call it “having a quiet time.” The classic word for it is worship.

You say, “Russell, I understand what you are saying, and I really want to have such times in my life, but I’m just so busy.” Okay, here’s my advice to you: Make this a priority! A friend of mine was fussing at his wife because she didn’t exercise enough. He was running several miles each day, but she wouldn’t even look at the treadmill. She said, “I just don’t have the time.” He replied, “You’ve got to make it a priority.” A few days afterwards, he asked her what was for supper. She said, “I don’t know. I’m not fixing it. I’m doing the treadmill. I’M MAKING IT A PRIORITY.”

I’m not telling you to stop doing any of the dozens of things that are mandatory for your day. Trust me, Jesus knows all about what is mandatory. But I am telling you that you must build times of intimacy with Jesus into your life. Leave the beds unmade if that’s what it takes. The yard doesn’t have to be manicured. Let a few dishes pile up in the sink. Your car will just get dirty again. The clothes don’t have to be yanked out of the dryer the moment it cuts off. Wal-Mart will still be there when you get there. You might have enough bread and milk to delay that trip to the grocery store. You get the idea. Whatever else you get done each day, you must spend some ”Mary” time with Jesus. And if you’re too busy to do that, you need to make some changes in your life. You’re busier than you need to be.

Filed under balance, Bible Study, Business, Church attendance, Personal, prayer, Priorities, Work, Worship Tagged with , , , , , ,

Temptation’s Cliff

April 2, 2009 Leave a comment

Once there was a man who lived in a mountainous region. The road to his house ran along a steep cliff. When the man set about to hire a coachman, three candidates applied for the position.

The man called in the first candidate and asked him, “How near to the edge of the cliff can you drive a six-horse team?” The candidate answered, “I have a steady hand and a true eye; I can get within a foot of the edge and not go over.” The man said, “Thank you. Please step outside.”

The second candidate was called in and asked the same question. His answer was, “Since I am an expert in handling horses, I can drive right along the very edge of the cliff and not go over.” The man said, “Thank you. Please step outside.”  

When the third candidate was called in and asked the question, his answer was much different. He said, “If you want a man to drive on the edge of the cliff, you don’t want me. When I drive, I keep as far away from the edge as I can.” To that, the man said, “Thank you. You’re hired.”

You aren’t the kind of person who likes to drive along the edges of cliffs, are you? When it comes to the cliffs of temptation, you’d better stay as far from those edges as you can. Don’t be like little Johnny, whose mother called out, “Johnny, where are you?” He shouted back, “I’m in the kitchen, standing in front of the cookie jar, trying to resist temptation!”

Proverbs 4:14-15 says: “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it. Turn away from it and pass on.” The idea is, it’s impossible for you to end up traveling the path of the wicked or the way of evil if you avoid it and don’t even enter it. You just can’t go down a path you totally shun.

But the irony of Proverbs 4:14-15 is that Solomon, the man who penned those verses, didn’t heed them. 1 Kings 11:1-13 tells us that he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. These women came from foreign races such as the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. These were idolatrous races who worshipped strange gods rather than the God of Israel. This was Solomon’s cliff. Could he drive along the edge of it by keeping his hundreds of women and yet remain pure in his worship of God?

The answer was, no. Rather than Solomon converting his women to the worship of the true and living God, they caused his heart to turn after other gods. Actually, he fell so deep into idolatry that he built worship sites for the pantheon of false gods his hundreds of women worshipped. We might say that Solomon plunged headlong over the cliff.

I don’t know what particular sin you are susceptible to, but I would advise you to completely shun that path. If you are easily tempted by lust, don’t buy certain magazines or watch certain movies. If you are easily tempted by drunkenness, don’t keep beer in the refrigerator. If you are easily tempted by course language, don’t hang around with foul-mouthed people. Solomon, like the rest of the Israelites, had a bent towards idolatry. He had no chance, then, when he willingly brought it into his life by bringing those foreign women into his life.

It’s been jokingly said that a good run will beat a bad stand. But there’s really more fact than joke in this saying. The apostle Paul told the Christians of Corinth to “flee” sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18) and idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14). He told the young preacher Timothy to “flee” youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:22) and the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10-11). “Flee” is a very strong word. It means, “Get out of Dodge now!” It means, “Why are you still here?” It means, “Let them see your back rather than your front.” It’s what Joseph did when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. The Bible says: “he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside” (Genesis 39:12). Joseph saturated that place with his absence!

That’s how you handle the temptation to sin. You don’t stand in front of the cookie jar. You don’t see how close you can get to the cliff’s edge. You don’t give the temptation an opportunity to take hold in your life. You do whatever is necessary to turn away from the path of the wicked and the way of evil. Any dallying and you just might find yourself where Solomon found himself: tragically plummeting toward the valley floor below. You don’t want that, and God doesn’t want it for you. But you must learn to become proactive with temptation. Don’t sit around and wait for it to come creeping in upon you. Know where it lives and stay out of those woods.

Filed under Choices, Sin, Temptation Tagged with , , , ,

A Family Resemblance

April 1, 2009 Leave a comment

Let me shock you: God’s chief characteristic is not love; it is holiness. Psalm 47:8 doesn’t say that God sits upon his “loving” throne. It says that He sits upon His “holy” throne. As Moses stood before the burning bush and talked with the great I AM, he wasn’t told to take off his sandals because the ground was “loving” ground. He had to take them off because it was “holy” ground (Exodus 3:1-14).

How holy is God? Even the stars aren’t pure in His sight (Job 25:5). His eyes are so pure they cannot look upon wickedness (Habakkuk 1:13). He speaks in holiness (Psalm 60:6). He swears by His holiness (Psalm 89:35). His name is “Holy” (Isaiah 57:15). It’s no wonder the seraph angels of Isaiah 6:1-3 cry out, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts!”  

The fact is, if God’s love trumped His holiness, everyone’s soul would go to heaven in the afterlife. But that doesn’t happen. Many souls go to hell (Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 16:19-31). People don’t end up in hell because God doesn’t love them. He loves them enough that Jesus (God the Son) died for their sins (Romans 5:6-11; 1 Corinthians 15:3). That death allows those who place their belief in Christ to be forgiven of all their sins (John 3:16-18; Colossians 1:14, 2:13; 1 John 2:12). No, people end up in hell because God’s holiness compels Him to judge the unforgiven sins of those who do not believe in Christ as Savior (John 3:36; John 5:40; Titus 1:15; Hebrews 2:3).

Now, what if your earthly father’s chief characteristic was generosity? How best could you show people that you were his child? You would be generous, right? Whenever you displayed generosity, people would say, “Oh, how much you act like your father! You are His child. No doubt about it.” Well, Christian, God is your heavenly father (John 1:1-5, 9-12; Galatians 4:4-7; 1 John 3:1). How then can you best show people that you are His child? You got it: be holy. This connection is made so clearly in passages such as 1 John 3:2-3, 1 Peter 1:15-16, and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, 7:1.

In view of this, it’s no wonder that the world doesn’t come knocking on the doors of our churches, begging us to lead them to God. What’s so appealing about a father whose children engage in sexual immorality, alcohol abuse, lying, cheating, foul language, pornography, drug use, backbiting, greed, provocative dress, and unforgiveness? Certainly I understand there are plenty of Christians whose lives aren’t marked by any of these sins. I also understand, though, that there are too many whose lives are.

As a pastor, I’ve seen times when some of my church members conducted themselves in ways that did not cast their heavenly Father in a favorable light. I’m also aware of the feeble attempts to explain away unholy behavior. “I know this is wrong, but…” “I understand that God isn’t pleased with what I’m doing, but I’m still going to heaven when I die.” “Whatever sins I’m commiting are covered by the blood of Christ.” The problem with all of these lines is that they lean heavily on the love of God and play down His holiness. They make God out to be a God of mush and gush whose love forces Him to accept any and all standards of conduct. This is not the God of the Bible. This is the God of the person who doesn’t have enough healthy respect for God’s frightful holiness to repent of his sins.

Christian, if you have never done so, it’s time you started taking your heavenly Father’s holiness seriously. It’s time you gave some real thought to how your ways are causing Him to appear to others. Your sins don’t just hurt your reputation; they hurt God’s! You are the child that He has produced via the born again experience (John 3:1-8). Thus, you are His statement to one and all. Through you He is saying, “Here is what I can do with the person who becomes my child.” But do you recognize how that statement falls apart if your life is tainted by unholiness? You see, the idea of a family resemblance can be a good thing or a bad thing. And it’s up to you to make sure that, in your case, it’s a good thing.

Filed under Fatherhood, Holiness, Sin Tagged with , , ,

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