According to Your Word!

The words above are powerful words.  They set into motion all of the vast and life-changing possibilities that God sees and imagines for your life.  They are submission.  They are trust.  They are giving to God everything including self.  They are uncomfortable.  And, they are beautiful.

In Luke 1:38, we hear these words from a teenager that is filled with fear and expectation, terror and awe, unworthiness and honor.  She is wise beyond her years as she responds to the calling of God, spoken through the angel Gabriel.  I might have bolted out of the door.  I might have been incapacitated by sheer terror.  But Mary says those beautiful words ... "Behold the maidservant of the Lord.  Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38)."

Let's see how these words can lead us to both obedience and the full blessing of God.  First, they are words of submission.  To follow God, we must allow God to be in control.  We must not ask "what do I want?" or "How can this benefit me."  We must, instead, ask "What does God want?"  or "How can I react to benefit God and God's Church?"  Daily decisions, large and small, are entwined with these questions.  How will I answer them?

Second, these words imply a trust of God's direction.  Last Sunday at the 1st service I had planned a short homily that I was ready to deliver.  During the music and preparation time God was speaking and leading in another direction.  I threw those notes away and hopefully followed where and how God was leading.  It is always about God's message, direction and God's Word.

Finally, on a very musical note, Mary's words express the tune (attitude) of her life.  In the 1st service we discovered that the weather and humidity changes had caused the piano to be about 1/2 step low.  Since we can't tune a piano on the fly, all the guitars, the cello and the bass had to tune down a bit so that all of us were tuned together.  Often, we ask God to change to accommodate our "tuning."  God does not do that.  Mary's words here are all about the tune of her life.  She wants to be in tune with God and asks God to change her to conform to the perfect plan God has in mind for her.  Maybe I, our church, our denomination and our nation can learn something from a little, scared teenager ... "Behold the maidservant of the Lord.  Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38)." AMEN

Beyond

In the old Star Trek series, the concept is to discover, explore and invest people, starships and training into seeking out the unknown … to 'boldly go where no one has gone before.'  And just maybe, this 'concept' is a snippet of what Christmas is all about.

I started down this train of thought last week when I heard a contemporary song about how the singer needed a savior that met his/her list of specific requirements.  Some of the requirements were 'easy to love', 'easy to follow' and 'easy to praise.'  As I listened, I reflected that wouldn't we all love a god that met our self-defined needs.  Judas wanted a conqueror.  Martha wanted a focus of her worship.  Mary wanted someone she could serve.  Paul wanted a missional god.  Barnabas wanted support in encouragement.  Moses wanted a deliverer.  And I could go on for each of us.  But Jesus didn’t come to meet our self-defined needs and then walk off into the sunset.  Jesus came to teach us, lead us, show us and grow us in our idea about who God really is.  Because God is in all of those needs and many more!

Here is where I am going with this.  Our God is not the God if the expected.  God is not the God who follows us into our comfortable concept of who and what God should be.  Our God is worth investing people, stuff, training, time, service, prayers, patience and life.  When we enter life with God we are boldly going into the unexpected and the unknown.  God is beyond our expectations and beyond our wildest dreams.  In Michael Card’s song, The Promise he writes, “the promise showed that our wildest dreams, had simply not been wild enough.”  Jesus is that promise lived-out.

If we define god, our definition is not god at all.  Psalm 113:1-4 says it this way … “God is higher than anything and anyone, outshining everything you can see in the skies.  Who can compare with God, our God, so majestically enthroned, surveying his magnificent heavens and earth? He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who’ve been thrown out with the trash, seats them among the honored guests, a place of honor among the brightest and best.”  THAT is only one grain of sand in the universe of defining God!  This Christmas, let God be who God is.  Get out of the way.  Get into God’s Word.  Get out of the fray of franticness.  And look for God beyond your dreams, expectation and boundaries.  God is ‘beyond’ so boldly go where you have never gone before!  Randy  

Highways

During the Christmas and Thanksgiving season we drive a lot.  Trips to see kids and grand kids ... trips for shopping ... trips to missional activities (like Christmas Eve at Tent City, NOON to 2pm).  We are going, going, going!

In the busyness this year, take a look at the roads you travel.  Because this time of year is filled with bumps and potholes.  When we lived in Louisiana we would travel Interstate 20 from Vicksburg through Birmingham, Atlanta (to I-85) and to Greenvile all the way to Charlotte.  We have a few family stories about that trip.  It was a long haul, filled with lots of bumps and potholes.  But we made the trip to see our family in Charlotte.  We had laughs, arguments, tears and a few memorable happenings.  There were ups and downs, curves and hills ... and through it all we did life.

When Isaiah wrote chapter 40 of his prophecy, he knew we all had bumps and potholes in the road of life.  Hezekiah (chapter 39) had been healed of a great illness and had been granted 15 years of life by God.  Hezekiah was feeling so blessed that when envoys from Babylon came bearing gifts he gave then the 'top secret' tour of all that was in the temple.  God was not pleased and told Hezekiah that all of the 'stuff' he was so proud of would be hauled off to Babylon, along with some of his descendants.  But as a comfort to the people, Isaiah writes his famous prophecy about God's ultimate deliverance of the people saying, "A voice of one calling 'in the desert prepare the way of the Lord.  Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low.  The rough ground will become level, the rugged places a plain.  For the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all mankind will see it!" (Isaiah 40:3-5).

I hope that we, this Christmas season, will be a voice calling in our 'wilderness' saying, 'prepare the way for the Lord.'  Get ready.  God has a good plan for you.  God will lift you up out of the valleys and potholes you have fallen into.  God will level you out and bring you down to reality when you get too proud, to high on yourself and too important.  God will allow life and gentle sanding to smooth out the rough spots.  When you face those rugged places God will grade them down by giving you the perspective of what is really important.  God can do these great things and keep these promises if only you would look, listen, see and hear!

One Thanksgiving I sat with a family at the Celebrate Recovery dinner.  It was the first time in 3 years that this particular family had been able to have a meal together.  That is the leveling, smoothing and lifting up the God does through ministries like Celebrate Recovery.  It happens because God uses people like you and me to make this prophecy a reality.  In a small way, God's glory was revealed and God's deliverance was highlighted.  And THAT is a blessing you should want to be part of!  AMEN ... Randy

A Great Place To Start

This coming Sunday begins Advent.  Wikipedia calls Advent "a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the Birth of Jesus and the return of Jesus at the 2nd Coming."  Pretty cool and pretty amazing!

For our congregation there will be lots happening over the next few weeks.  We will have lots of work (you will see notices about decorating, helping with CR Thanksgiving [this Thursday], participating in missions [Angel Tree for prisoner's children, feeding and clothing people at Tent City on December 24th noon-2pm], much music (Choir Cantata on December 8th 11am, Praise Cantata on December 15th at 9am, Special Musicians [Christy Garrett, violinist, on December 1st, Rachel Cole, cellist, on December 15th and 24th at Christmas Eve Communion], food (please plan to come to the parsonage on December 7th from 10am till NOON for Christmas Brunch), Community Events like the Christmas Tree Lighting on December 4th at 6pm, and just bussiness/fun/friends.  Please make plans to be part of everything!

But to enjoy and embrace Advent we need to start at the right place.  That place is Jesus.  Jesus will meet us where we are.  Many struggle with this time of the year.  I struggle with business.  Some struggle with losses that have happened during the year.  Some fight addictions that seem especially strong during Thanksgiving and Advent.  Depression looms for some of us.  Finances are a concern for many.  And some just worry about what is happening in our country and the world.  Where do we start so that we can enjoy 'the light of the world' we sing about?  This year lets start with a Psalm.  We will have plenty of time to savor the Christmas story.  Sermons and devotionals will tell us about the prophecies that foretold Jesus' coming.  But this Psalm is about who Jesus is ... what Jesus is ... why Jesus is one we can count on.  Psalm 95:3 says "For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods."  Simple ... concise ... true ... and able to be carried in our hearts every day of this busy season.  Our God is able to carry us through whatever we face, enter wherever we are and overcome whatever opposes us.  That is the 'why' we sing and the 'who' we sing to/about.  He is so worth the preparation and expectation of Advent!  AMEN

All

So many Biblical passages relate to that little word ... all.  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)"  Psalm 150 tells us to praise God with all we have (including some instruments that are not on our preferred list).  Then, as he instructs stiff-necked people that are being sent to take the land they have been given, Moses reminds the people of truth that will empower and strengthen them for the days ahead: "For the Lord IS your life (all your life) and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give your fathers ... (Deuteronomy 30:20)."  God is into this ALL thing!

I remember playing football as a youth and I heard these words over and over again ... "Leave it ALL on the field."  The coach meant all of my focus, all of my effort and all of what I had to give on a particular day.  When you read this you say, "of course the coach wanted and expected that of his players.  Why would anyone think otherwise?"

But (contrary to many who are pretty focused on their teams) there is a bigger, more important and more meaningful game afoot.  Deuteronomy 30 tells is all.  The game of life in which the Lord is life itself.  Matthew knew it as he quoted Jesus saying, "Fear the one who can destroy (who has power over) body and soul in Gehenna (Matthew 10:28)!"

Here's a novel thought about whether you are into this ALL thing.  What occupies your worries?  What occupies your spending?  What occupies your time?  What do you talk about the most?  What do you pray about?  This may look a bit like the vows new members make as they join the Methodist Church ... "I will support the church with my prayers, my presence, my gifts, my service and my witness."  Luke, Deuteronomy, Matthew and the Psalms all agree ... "leave it all on the field!"  Love intensely, give generously, talk passionately, pray without ceasing and serve with joy.  For the Lord is your life! And He will give you many years in the land that He swore to give your fathers!  AMEN

FOR

I like this word, especially when we have so much negativity swirling around us.  So many causes.  So many victims.  So much negativity (and I can get caught up in that).  I prayed this morning for God to deliver us from all of the 'isms' that divide us.  And, as I walked with my friends Freddie and Tanner on Saturday I thought of this little word ... FOR.

If you watch talk TV you will quickly find out what people are against.  It seems that shrill voices speak out against almost everything.  Jesus reminded us that one of those things was His followers.  In John 17:14 Jesus says that "I have given them your word and the world has hated them."  Yes ... we are opposed, persecuted and even hated.  This world is against us because powers, principalities and evil forces cannot tolerate who we worship and what we represent.  But as we walked Saturday I am sure people thought we were marching because we were against something.  We weren't!

So we started thinking ... how could we turn this negativity around?  My idea was a T-shirt that said FOR ...  Family Of the Redeemer.  It may not be the best acronym ever, but I hope you can catch on to the general concept.  What if we became known for what we are for?  What if we claimed as family everyone who called on the name of Jesus as their Lord, Savior and Redeemer?  Would that have a power to change our community, our neighborhoods, our State and our Country?

If you haven't figured this out, we have some massive problems, and many stem from our national pension (and respect) for stubbornness over listening and ideology over our Christian faith.  James reminds us that 'faith without works is dead' (James 2:14).  And this aspect of our faith (love as Jesus has loved) is vital if Jesus is going to become an ever growing and positive part of life in America.

What are you for? What am I for?  What did Jesus call us to be for?  What say you?  Randy

Center

In the second half ... after Half Time ... we/I/you must begin to consider what is really central to life itself.  Jesus knew this.  He made several statements that challenged us to decide what is really central.  He confirmed that the most important commandment is to love God, others and (with painful honesty) ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39) LOVE.  He said that if we were to come after (follow) Him we must decide the cross we must bear for Him (Matthew 10:38) LIFT. He said we must look to Him and not look back at other things, responsibilities or excuses LOOK. And He said if we would follow Him we must leave the things that keep our hearts away from Him (Luke 18:22) LEAVE.  Loving, lifting, looking and leaving are central things to the mission God has planned out for us.

There is an interesting thing happening in the rap/hip hop world.  Kanye West, noted for music, bad-boy comments and some pretty bizarre outbursts, has (in his words) changed.  He has decided to follow Jesus and has even published a 9th album called Jesus is King (true whether Kanye says so or not).  On a talk show he was asked whether he was a Christian artist. Kanye replied "I am a Christian everything!"  While I know exactly nothing about West, his music or his passion for Jesus, I truly love this answer.  Kanye West is, at least in words, drawing a line in the sand that describes what is now central in his life.  He expresses love, work (our daily heavy lifting), seeing (what he looks for/at every day) and (in his response to the talk show question) what he is leaving.  Paul summed all of this up in 2 Cornithians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!"  That is the gist of deciding what is central to our lives.

Over the past few weeks I have shared a few stories of the Iranian Church.  It is an amazing story of visions, discipleship, redemption, danger and God's power in the midst of oppression we, here in America, cannot even imagine.  God's Spirit is changing people in very unorthodox ways.  While doctrine, church polity and the normal process of inviting people 'to' church are largely ignored, people are asked if they would like to learn about a God of love, grace, light and life?  People do not enter as converts but as seekers who may, at a later point, become followers, after knowing the cost of discipleship and the story of Jesus.  They are taught, as Matthew 28 says, to follow and obey the things that Jesus said.  And they are choosing Jesus in droves, even knowing that this God is one who 1) loves all, 2) leads us to lift a cross (a burden He says is an easy, light yoke), 3) points us to a life of looking to Jesus as our center and 4) calls us to leave things that are toxic to our faith.  And, like Kanye West, they are saying "I am a Christian everything" who chooses the inconvenience and danger of meeting with broken people who are different, high-maintenance and hard-shelled.  It amazes me!  How about you?  Randy