Do We Get It?

I think all of us love our Easter Music and our Easter rituals.  Here we say, "He is risen," and the enthusiastic response is, "He is risen indeed!"  I love that!  We bring flowers for the cross (please bring lots so the cross will be beautiful).  Jim Carter and I will assemble the tomb, and Jim will place chicken wire on the cross so that the flowers can be placed.  There will be flowers, songs, lots of good music as we gather at 7am for the Sunrise Service, 9am for the Contemporary Service and 11am for the Traditional Service.  There will be a lot of preparation and work that will happen during the week as Andy practices, the Praise Team gathers to make sure all is good, Tina gets our 11am service stuff together, Monica does bulletins, and all of the "behind-the-scenes" things are done.  Most of you never see these things, so I encourage you to tell the participants, "Thank you!"  But in the midst of all of these things, do we get it?

Do we get the magnitude of the resurrection as we sing, "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today ... Lives again our Glorious King, Where O death is now your sting?, once He died, our souls to save, where's thy victory, boasting grave?"  Is this worth our devotion, our priority, our worship?

Do we understand that this event is the culmination of the Good News of the Gospel?  "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)!"  God has brought us new life, new hope and He has allowed us to put away our old proud, greedy, self-focused self!  Have we put away pride, greed and self?  Has our life in Christ changed our patterns, or do we revert to that person who is supposed to be dead (the one who leaves Christ and follows our emotions)?  Do we get it?

Do we enbrace Christ, or do we embrace our culture that sees Holy Week as a chance to "take a spring break?"  Our community has decided it is a good time for the circus to come to town!  Do we treat Christ and the Church as the driving force, or do we treat them both as an afterthought?  Do we get it?

I am sending this blog early this week.  There will be plenty of details to "put to bed" as next week travels from "Hosanna" to "Crucify Him" to "He is risen, He is risen indeed."  I hope to see all of you, and sing the praises of the Lord Most High!  We will meet for communion Thursday (7pm), and remember His betrayal.  We will meet Friday (7pm), and remember His crucifixion.  We will wait expectantly Saturday and hope in the promise of His resurrection.  We will meet Sunday and sing those beautiful songs that some think are worth their twice-yearly journey inside the doors of the church.  

My prayer for us ... our body of Christ ... our congregation, is this.  That we get the God who is above our culture, above our petty patterns, and, above even death!  That we come, serve, worship, smell, taste and touch the God who is calling, "Come home!"  "He arose!" "He is alive!" And we are the plan to tell the world this Good News!  Will you join me and His Church, as you leave self and follow Him?  Will He change you ... will you get it?  Thanks for listening!

Struggle

We are entering the last week of the Lenten season as we make our journey to the Cross and the Resurrection.  I am mindful and reflective of what a struggle Jesus encountered as he made His way back to Jerusalem and back to a week of shallow praise, deep evil, and beautiful sacrifice.  We will share, together, the stories of this week.

In my devotional time, I read the story of Jacob's wrestling match with God, as Jacob struggled with every aspect of life.  Jacob had brother issues.  Jacob had family issues.  But Jacob also had an identity issue.  In the wrestling match from Genesis 32, Jacob struggles with God all night.  The match ends with God blessing Jacob, but also changing his name to Israel.

As I thought about this story, I thought about something that I hadn't before.  Why did God change Jacob's name?  Here's what I think!

The passage says, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome (Genesis 32:28)."  I think this passage can apply to all who read it.  We all struggle with God.  We all struggle with people.  We all struggle with ourselves.  And, I think the greatest struggle is deciding exactly who we are and who we belong to.

Jacob's name change was a reminder that he was part of something bigger than himself and all of his little issues.  Jacob had a big God with a big picture view of the world, and Jacob's life/responsibility stretched over generations and over the whole world.  Israel was called as a witness and blessing to all nations.

Jacob's name change was God's claim on him.  Jacob was a man with lots of problems.  Israel was a father of great nations that would produce one who was the savior of that whole world.

Jacob's name change was a call to see himself as part of a great movement of God.  That movement, as Jesus comes to Jerusalem, sees God's plan overcome even death, as Jesus is praised, betrayed, crucified, buried, and resurrected, all in the span of a week.  And the movement of God's salvation plan moves from the temple, out into the whole world.

Are you willing to be renamed by God?  Are you willing to move from your petty struggle just to exist, into God's plan to bring the whole world to Him?  Can you, just for a moment, place your pride, distrust, and self on hold, so you can grasp what Paul (also a recipient of a new name) meant when he said ... "and may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is."  Maybe we should grapple with that, rather than our pettiness!  AMEN

Renewing a Promise

Have you ever been in a high and holy moment?  Not a contrived time to elicit your emotions, or a time when you are basking in something good that has happened to you.  I am speaking about a time when God's presence is so evident that you can taste, feel, and touch it!

I can think of several of these times.  There was my 1st real experience with God, when I came to the altar as a 7-year-old.  I knew God was there!  There was a time, on a mission trip to Brazil, when we worshipped at the exact center of the South American continent, and looked out on a beautiful vista.  I remember thinking, "Lord, you are truly God above all!"  There have been moments in time when, in that high and holy experience, there is an intense need to reset my relationship with God and with the people God has placed in my life.

In Joshua 8:30-35, we find the Hebrew people in a state of change.  Moses has died, and Joshua has just achieved a great victory over the King of Ai.  But that victory was not the high and holy moment.  After the Hebrews had prevailed, they built an altar and offered a fellowship offering.  This was done as a pause in the fight to take Canaan, the land promised by God.  It was a reset to consider 1) who had brought the victory, 2) how they could continue to be connected to God as the battle continued, and 3) who they were as a people.  It is very interesting how Joshua reinforced these three things.

First, he built an altar, "according to what is written in the Book of the Law."  I love this "first" act, because what we do first conveys what is in our hearts and minds.  They had a massive worship service and made burnt and fellowship offerings, focused on a reset of their relationship with God and one another.  Pretty amazing!

Second, Joshua copied/re-wrote the law of Moses that had been given by God.  And, they had no copy machine!  All of this was in the context of a worship service.

Third, the worship time continued as Joshua "read all the words of the law, the blessings and the curses."  I wonder if he preceded his reading with, "I've got good news and bad news."  This must have taken days!

Finally, Joshua made sure that every human ("the whole assembly of Israel") heard what was read.  Men, women and children ... foreigners living among them ... all the people.

How could Joshua assemble such a group, and make sure everyone was present and listening?  They were all focused on one thing ... following the commands of God.  They owned the mission, owned their part in the mission, owned the leadership God had provided and they believed in the source of all, the God of Israel.

How can we reset?  We can renew our promise and live into God's promises!  Maybe we can place the commands of God as our focus and priority.  Maybe we can own the mission to "take the land God has given" by making disciples of Jesus who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.  Maybe we can realize that these things happen when we are participants, and not bystanders.  Maybe, we can decide to engage and encourage our leaders, and become the leaders God has called us to be.  Maybe, we can become believers in Christ so much that we actually decide to follow Him!

Finest

Each year I marvel at the Missions Auction that takes place in our Family Life Center.  I have learned that we can approach this event with different perspectives.  Some come to this kind of auction hoping to find that 'deal' that is a diamond in the rough.  I understand the attitude.  Things are costly, and every dollar means something.  But some come differently.  They come to see how we can help out with missional needs in our community and all over the world.  I am not writing to condemn one or praise the other.  I have just been challenged by the Wake Up Call devotionals I have read, and am especially convicted/convinced by today's episode about bringing the finest.

The attitude of bringing the finest to God can relate to our stuff.  I have a pastor friend who had a member knock on his door.  When he opened the door, the man stood on the front porch with an old TV.  The man said, "God told me to give this TV to the parsonage."  My friend (after seeing this attitude for many years of ministry) finally broke and said, "No He did not!"  "Let's see ... you are telling me that you have this old TV taking up space, and you want to get rid of it.  I suspect you probably have a newer/better TV at home.  So let's see ... you want to give this to the church, while you reserve the good stuff for your use?" The man left in a huff, and my friend figured he was about to be in trouble with the leadership of his church.  Later that day, he heard another knock on the door.  He opened the door, and there stood the man with a new TV.  The man simply said, "You were right."  He left the TV and walked off.

While this amusing story might give us the chance to scoff at this man and his attitude, I wouldn't be so fast to criticize.  Do we give God our finest?  Of our resources?  Of our talents?  Of our time?  Of our creativity?  I certainly fall short on this at times, and I am glad the Wake Up Call has reminded me that God called the Hebrews to bring the finest flour as a grain offering.  The offering was given to remember the covenant made at Mt. Sinai ... this is where God claimed the Hebrews as His people and they claimed Yahweh as their God.  This offering was both an act of worship and a way to provide for the priests who served God.  The grain offering was to be of the finest flour and was an act of worship and ongoing relationship with God and His people.

So, how do you come to the altar we are building?  For we come 1) entering God's place and presence (what an honor!), 2) rejoicing in our relationship with God, 3) excited that God has provided leadership that loves their people, 4) remembering God's kept promises, and 5) expectantly looking forward to God's work that is to come!  It is worth our finest!  So we bring our open hearts.  We bring our repentance!  We bring our humility!  We bring our children!  For we offer what is dear to us ... our finest!  Because God gave us the very best He had ... His name was/is Jesus!