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It Starts with Humility

22 Apr

No verse.

 

Dear God, I want to talk tonight about a Christian life that is dry. Mine certainly has been at times. So when are the times when my spiritual life has not felt dry?

  1. When I am in deep need or despair.
  2. When I have been to a retreat or a revival.
  3. When I have been teaching others and leaning into you for wisdom (like I am right now)
  4. When a friend is in trouble and needs counsel (I can help them, but that can sometimes come out of my ego, not you)
  5. When I consciously remind and discipline myself to pray, repent, and worship.
  6. When I give of myself (money, materials, and/or time) out of inspiration from #5.

 

It’s interesting. As I look back and try to find the thread to these six things, the common denominator seems to be humility, loving the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, and strength, and loving my neighbor as myself. But I think even the parts about loving you and loving others can’t happen unless I first get over myself and lead with humility.

So what are the parts of humility?

  1. Admitting that I make mistakes.
  2. Accepting that my wellbeing is not more important than someone else’s wellbeing.
  3. Serving with no expectation of recognition.
  4. Loving others without feeling the need to judge them as inferior to me.
  5. Extending forgiveness when it is not deserved or sought.

 

And what is going on when my life is dry. When are those times?

  1. When I feel hurt and sorry for myself.
  2. When things are going well and I forget to consciously choose to humble myself before you.
  3. Sometimes when I’m depressed and I let myself fall into lethargy. I don’t discipline myself into discipleship or to even take care of myself in any area of my life.
  4. When I decide it’s time to treat myself and allow myself to be a little selfish (this is tangential to #1, but not quite the same)

 

So I’m giving a sermon tomorrow and the pastor asked that I speak on serving others, but I feel like I will be doing a disservice to the congregation if I just talk about the need. This sermon needs to be more like the giving sermons that I loved at our church in Waco. Those sermons made it about how giving is important because it is part of the giver’s working out their faith and relationship with you with fear and trembling.

All week, I’ve been playing with the Chuck Colson quote at the beginning of Steven Curtis Chapman’s song “Heaven in the Real World:”

Where is the hope? I meet millions who tell me they feel demoralized by the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that each of us has isn’t in who governs us or what great things we do as a nation. Our hope is found in the power of God working through the hearts of people. That’s where our hope is in this country. That’s where our hope is in life.

 

Well, how do we make sure it’s God’s (your) power working through us and not our own power and ego driving a personal agenda? I think that’s where the humility and self-discipline to disciple come in.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2018 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Uncategorized

 

John 14:9

21 Apr

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

John 14:9

Dear God, Rich Mullins once said, “I don’t read the Bible to know truth. I read the Bible to know God.” I agree in that there are too many little discrepancies in some of the stories (e.g. two creation stories) to feel like I’m getting a 100% accurate, detailed account of a situation. It’s a little like taking testimony from three different people who witnessed a car accident from three different cars. The details might be a little off. But in the Bible’s case, it’s your nature that at least comes through a little.

The trick is, how does anyone fully describe who you are? It’s kind of like a friend of mine yesterday trying to describe a dream to me. He could give me a little of it, but at one point he even said, “It’s hard to describe, but it’s in my head.” What’s there that’s indescribable is an essence that the dream had. The dream wasn’t just a story. It was a story wrapped up in emotion that combines to be an experience impossible to describe.

So what do I know about you given what the Bible tells me? Well, according to the Old Testament, for whatever reason, you played favorites. Setting aside that aspect of things, when it came the Israelites, you were much like a parent raising children. There were times of great fellowship. There was tough love. There was forgiveness. But one of the things we often fail to appreciate is the amount of time in which you do things. You work much slower than I think we expect you to now. That Jeremiah 29 verse that everyone likes to quote out of context and talks about you knowing the plans you had for them is really talking about a 70-year process. The people hearing Jeremiah’s words will be dead by then. Jeremiah will too for that matter.

Father, I’ve said this before, but we measure time in days, weeks, and months, but you measure it in years, decades, and centuries. In addition to the fatherly love and discipline you have for us as individuals and societies, you also work on a timeless plane that we often fail to appreciate. So while I might not know minute-by-minute truth from the Bible, I am grateful to have a document that helps me an entry point through which I can get to know you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 21, 2018 in John, Uncategorized

 

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

20 Apr

54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[j] this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.[k]
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?[l]”

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:

 

Dear God, I am struck by the phrase in verse 56, “the law gives sin its power.” The law is what we all want to gravitate towards. JUSTICE! RIGHT AND WRONG! YOU WRONGED ME! And then the shame of having done wrong comes with that as well. The law is what we use to set our parameters for society, but it’s also what we use to judge others and judge ourselves.

“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (verse 57) I had someone come up to me this week and say something negative about someone else. What this person didn’t realize is that people have said the same thing to me about them when they are not around. Where is the grace? As a leader at work, that’s probably one of the hardest things with which I have to deal—employees lightening the heck up and extending grace to one another. Maybe it’s because we need to receive that grace first.

Father, help me to completely receive your grace and then extend it to others. Help me to love you richly, receive your love richly, and then give your love richly. Help me to experience this grace so that the law that guides me might not own my soul.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2018 in 1 Corinthians, Uncategorized

 

Commentary on “Catch a Wave”

19 Apr

“Catch a Wave” by Fred Smith

Dear God, I’ve been intimidated by a bad argument for a long time. Frankly, I’m intimidated by a lot of arguments. There are a lot of times when someone will say something that I find shockingly offensive or inappropriate, but I don’t have a well thought out response to it so I remain silent. Or maybe I don’t want to be confrontational and hurt their feelings–although they didn’t seem to pay much attention to my feelings when they said it in the first place.

In Fred’s blog post that I linked to above, he mentions hearing someone make an argument that is being made in many places around our country and world right now. Social media, frankly, only seems to have made it worse. The quote Fred heard was, “Your community will soon experience the full force of a tsunami of brown, young, unemployed, fertile, sometimes violent, non-English speaking immigrants from the South. It is going to affect every institution and, as it has everywhere else, the economic resources of your city and region.”

I am so tired of this. I’m so tired of the bigotry and hate it implies. I’m tired of the lack of empathy it suggests. I’m tired of the insecurity and fear it develops.

I have a confession. If I ever read a news story about a drug bust or a domestic violence issue, or if I ever read about a shooting somewhere, I one of the first things I look for is to see if I can make out the race of the offender. Were they white? Black? Hispanic? Middle-Eastern? Asian? If they are a minority, will this make people jump on board and accuse all minorities of the same behavior? If they are white, will it make racists stop and think twice about only looking at the crimes of minorities?

With the recent passing of Barbara Bush, there was a hateful woman who had a lot of bad things to say about her. She spouted off on Twitter, her post went viral and she got a lot of push-back. The news picked it up, and then Barbara Bush defenders started accusing “liberals” of being tolerant of this hateful speech. It grew into a national news story. One woman who happens to be a tenured professor at a university was given a platform, and with that she was handed by the right the mantle to carry for all “liberals.” But the truth is she was just one woman with one opinion. She didn’t speak for “liberals” anymore than I speak for moderate conservatives or Christians. At the end of the day, there is no reason I should have ever even known about her or her opinion.

I was riding my bike the other day when I passed by a playground in my town. I saw an Hispanic man, probably in his early 50s, taking pictures of a child who was probably young enough to be his grandchild. There was a young woman there as well. I assumed she was the little girl’s mother. But as I saw this man I thought about the stereotype of the Hispanic man who is unfaithful, drinks too much, and abandons his family. I hoped that racist people might pass by and see that this man represents most of the Hispanic people I know. The problem is, we are still so segregated in our society, most white people don’t personally know Hispanic people so the only thing they know of them is what they see on the news or in the paper–and these people have no business representing an entire race of people.

About 10 years ago, I remember there was a church in Florida that decided it was going to burn a bunch of Qurans. I think it went viral on YouTube. Then the media picked it up and it caused an international incident so serious that the Secretary of Defense at the time called the pastor to implore him to not do it. The disgusting thing about the story, however, was that the church in question consisted of about 25 members. So a fringe, cultish group of people were all of a sudden representing United States Christians to the Muslim world.

But back to Fred’s piece. What I like so much about it is that their group of leaders looked for and embraced the strength all immigrants bring to our American fabric. The chose to respect those who were coming to us and find a way to help them to be successful Americans. They didn’t plan social programs. They embraced and helped them live out the dream that drove them to come to this country in the first place.

Father, all of this is to say that I need to be more willing to take on that argument in real time, jump into the water that I might not have totally explored yet, and spread your love. Sometimes, the attitude in our country makes it feel like it’s midnight in America, but I hope that we can take even that sentiment and turn it into an opportunity to shine our own lights in the dark of night.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 19, 2018 in Miscellaneous, Uncategorized

 

Romans 7:21-8:4

18 Apr

21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart.23 But there is another power[a] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

8 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power[b] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you[c] from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.[d] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Romans 7:21-8:4

 

Dear God, I remember when my daughter was six years old she said she wanted to be baptized. I was skeptical that she was old enough to understand the decision she was making so we had her meet with the children’s minister at our church. After meeting with her, the children’s minister came out and said, “Yes, I think she understands and is ready.” I turned to our daughter and asked, “Honey, do you think that if you get baptized you won’t sin anymore?” She said, “Yes.” Then I looked at the children’s minister and said, “She’s not ready.”

At the time, our daughter internalized a lot of guilt. She was one of those people who hated it when she made a mistake and she hated to be corrected by my wife and me. It was a delicate balance we had to walk with her because there were times when we needed to correct her, but she would take it so hard. She didn’t see Jesus as her sacrifice and atonement. She saw him as the path to not making mistakes any longer.

Growing up Baptist, I had similar experiences. I would go to a revival, a Fellowship of Christian Athletes Conference, or hear a particularly convicting sermon and I would walk the aisle, repenting of my sins and wanting to sin no more. I would think that maybe something went wrong from the last time I did this because I wasn’t who I wanted to be. It wasn’t until later that I realized that it doesn’t work this way. Paul describes it here. I am being formed. The chaff is being burned off. The dross is being removed. The Holy Spirit is molding me as I spend time with you, but that doesn’t mean I have arrived. In fact, I have no idea what it would ever look like if I did “arrive” on this side of death, but I guess I would not be a perfect person, but an incredibly loving person who had zero ego and was completely focused on you and others.

Father, I am not there, but I hope I am at least closer than I was yesterday, or last month, or last year, or last decade. I came to this job over 12 years ago. I hope I am closer to you and being who you need me to be now than I was then. And I hope I will be closer to you 12 years from now than I am now. You have a lot left to teach me. Help me to continue to submit to your authority, molding, and leadership.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 18, 2018 in Romans, Uncategorized

 

1 Corinthians 1:18-21

17 Apr

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

1 Corinthians 1:18-21

 

Dear God, I think the problem with the message of the cross is that it requires humility to hear it. It requires humility to say:

  • I am a sinner
  • I cannot face life on my own
  • I need God
  • I need God’s grace in order to have relationship with Him
  • I need to lay down my life, rights, and will to pursue Him

I heard about a man a couple of years ago who claims to be a Christian, but said he had never found a reason to ask you for forgiveness. There was a pastor who responded that he didn’t know how anyone could claim identity as a Christian if they had never repented. The part of the Catholic church’s penitent prayer that says, “I have greatly sinned in what I have done and what I have failed to do. Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault…” If any Christian, protestant or Catholic, sees no reason to say those words then they are part of the foolish world and not part of your redeemed Kingdom.

Of course, the humility doesn’t start or end there. Like I said, there is also the part of the equation that requires us to acknowledge that we need you to guide our lives. Sometimes we need to make the foolish-looking choice in terms of career, family, or church in order to be within your will. Sometimes we need to take what looks like a step back in our human world to take a step forward in your Kingdom coming and your will being done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Father, help me to be foolish for your glory’s sake. Help my wisdom to be unconventional if that’s what you are calling my wisdom to be. Help me to be a source of your light in my community. Help me to cover those who work with me in prayer so that all of us might be bonded together for your glory’s sake and for the sake of your work that needs done here in our town. And help me to be who you need me to be for my wife, my children, and the rest of my family and friends, no matter the cost to me and my own agenda for my life.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2018 in 1 Corinthians, Uncategorized

 

1 John 3:16-24

15 Apr

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister[f] in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

1 John 3:16-24

 

Dear God, I’m going to be preaching for the local Methodist church one week from today, filling in for a pastor friend who is on sabbatical. This has been a weird little season for me because, before March, I had only ever preached in one church service and one funeral. Now, in a two-month period, I will have preached three times to two different churches.

I thought I would start going through the verses that will be the readings for next Sunday’s service and see where they take me. For this service, my pastor friend asked me to talk about the need for all of us to give of ourselves to our neighbors. Since I work for a nonprofit and have spoken in front of many groups, this is something I’ve certainly talked about before, but I want to be sensitive to what your Holy Spirit might have to say to this particular group on this particular day so I’m going to go through the scripture readings for the United Methodist Church for this day. This passage from 1 John seems to fit well with the message the pastor wants me to share.

Talk is cheap (verse 18). It’s easy to say I love a relative or friend. It’s easy to say, “I’ll pray for you.” But what action follows that up? Is there real prayer? Is there a sharing of my resources of treasure and time (verse 17)? Will I take less so that my neighbor can have something they need? Will I be inconvenienced for another?

Father, I’m going to be spending a lot of time on these thoughts this week. I’ll go through the other passages they have scheduled for next Sunday. I’ll go through a few of my own. I’ll even bring in a quote from Chuck Colson. This week, I want to immerse myself in the idea of worshiping you and becoming more Christlike through the offering of my life to the world, even if it is as my own expense. That’s where true discipleship and growth happens.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 15, 2018 in 1 John, Uncategorized

 

Blessings – Laura Story

13 Apr

Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22

Dear God, this was the verse from My Utmost for His Highest today, and Oswald Chambers’ take on it was really good. I even forwarded it to a friend this morning who has been going through some trials. Here are some excerpts that I liked:

 

“We must distinguish between the burden-bearing that is right and the burden-bearing that is wrong. We ought never to bear the burden of sin or of doubt, but there are burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off, He wants us to roll them back on Him.”

 

This is what caught my eye immediately. How often do we try to get rid of the burdens you want us to bear so that you can shape us into who you know we can be, but we will hold on to the burden of shame and secrecy that comes with sins we commit and maybe even the sins committed against us? There is a song called “Blessings” by Laura Story that perfectly describes how your burdens might be shaping us. I’ll paste the lyrics at the end of this prayer.

 

“Many workers have gone out with high courage and fine impulses, but with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, and before long they are crushed.”

 

I am guilty, guilty, guilty of this. I am so guilty of this. I get an idea and then I trust in myself to try to pull it off. But the times in my life when I have seen the most success from my work are the times when I have earnestly prayed to you. Now there have been situations about which I have prayed and you didn’t answer quickly and they went a different direction than I hoped. I have been disappointed in you. There have been times I have yelled at you. But I truly know that whenever I go “out with high courage and fine impulses,” but I don’t lead with an earnest seeking of you then even if things turn out okay there is not nearly as much joy and victory in them.

 

“Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it.”

 

I need to not only embrace my burden, but put myself there with it. I love that! I love the idea of not just throwing my burden to the cross, but also putting me there with the burden. After all, I am the one with whom the burden resides. I remember when my children were young and I was struggling to parent them, I asked a friend, “How do I turn my children over to God? I don’t know what that looks like because I am still responsible for them.” But reading this, I think the answer is that I put myself there with them, in your loving arms.

Father, help me to lead with you today. Please bless the fruit of my work. Whether it is with my wife, my children, my job, or my family and friends, bless my path. Be glorified in me and through me so that others might see you when they see me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 

 

“Blessings” Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It’s not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

 
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Posted by on April 13, 2018 in Hymns and Songs, My Utmost for His Highest Scripture of the Day, Psalms, Uncategorized

 

“Waterfalls” – TLC

07 Apr

Dear God, this song is on my “Pop” playlist, and I kind of paid attention to it for the first time this morning. I’ve always liked the sound, but until about 45 minutes ago, I couldn’t have told you what it was about. But this morning, when it came on my iPod, something encouraged me to stop and look at the lyrics. It had so much more meaning that I expected.

Here are the words to the song as well at a link to the music video which was the music video of the year in 1995:

“Waterfalls”
Performed by TLC,
Songwriters: Lisa Lopes / Marqueze Ethridge / Patrick Brown / Raymon Ameer Murray / Rico Renard Wade

A lonely mother gazing out of her window
Staring at a son that she just can’t touch
If at any time he’s in a jam she’ll be by his side
But he doesn’t realize he hurts her so much
But all the praying just ain’t helping at all
‘Cause he can’t seem to keep his self out of trouble
So, he goes out and he makes his money the best way he know how
Another body laying cold in the gutter
Listen to me

Don’t go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to
I know that you’re gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you’re moving too fast

Little precious has a natural obsession for temptation
But he just can’t see
She give him loving that his body can’t handle
But all he can say is, “Baby, it’s good to me”
One day he goes and takes a glimpse in the mirror
But he doesn’t recognize his own face
His health is fading and he doesn’t know why
Three letters took him to his final resting place
Y’all don’t hear me

Don’t go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to
I know that you’re gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you’re moving too fast

I seen rainbow yesterday
But too many storms have come and gone
Leavin’ a trace of not on God-given ray
Is it because my life is ten shades of gray
I pray all ten fade away
Seldom praise Him for the sunny days
And like his promise is true
Only my faith can undo
The many chances I blew
To bring my life to anew
Clear blue and unconditional skies
Have dried the tears from my eyes
No more lonely cries
My only bleedin’ hope
Is for the folk who can’t cope
Wit such an endurin’ pain
That it keeps ’em in the pourin’ rain
Who’s to blame
For tootin’ caine in your own vein
What a shame
You shoot and aim for someone else’s brain
You claim the insane
And name this day in time
For fallin prey to crime
I say the system got you victim to your own mind
Dreams are hopeless aspirations
In hopes of comin’ true
Believe in yourself
The rest is up to me and you

Don’t go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to
I know that you’re gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you’re moving too fast

Don’t go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to
I know that you’re gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you’re moving too fast

I don’t really want to take the time here to deep dive into each verse, but, instead, I’d like to step back and think about how this song speaks to me.

The first thing that hit me was the frustration of a parent. At any stage of life I wanted to be so much more than I could be for my children, but it’s just not possible. At this point, I have 48 years of living and they have 22 and 19, respectively. I’ve learned things that I simply cannot impart to them. Of course, there’s still so much that I don’t know and still have to learn. They have to learn all of it for themselves. And sometimes the mistakes they make will be irreparable. Even worse, sometimes things will happen to them to harm them that are beyond their control. What is in their control is how they will respond to them. Will they let me, my wife, or someone else help them? More importantly, will they turn to you for comfort, guidance, and freedom, or will they allow it to break them?

The second thing that I take from this song is that we all have choices to make. From the mother in the first verse, to her son, to the man in the second verse, and then to his girlfriend/wife, each person is responding to their life and what they will seek for happiness and peace, and how they will choose to love a person who is destroying themselves. In the first verse, the son decided to make money through selling drugs and she decided to be next to him whenever he was in a jam. In the second verse, the woman’s love wasn’t enough her him and exposed both of them to HIV/AIDS. The mother, in particular, strikes me Does she make a mistake by always being by his side when he gets in trouble? Was more “tough love” needed. Or is that cruel. Did the song writer include those words intentionally?

Father, I could go on and on, but at the end of the day, this song is about fallen humans (all four of them) needing to reach out to you That’s what it comes down to for me as well. I am fallen. My wife is fallen. My children are fallen. None of us has anymore standing in your eyes than the other. So I guess my prayer is, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 

 
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Posted by on April 7, 2018 in Hymns and Songs, Uncategorized

 

John 25:14-30

06 Apr

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:14-30

Dear God, this is an interesting story for Jesus to tell. It’s one of the last parables Matthew records. This harshness on the part of God is a little out of character for Jesus to represent. But it’s followed up immediately by the story of those who are at the final judgment and told that they ignored the hunger, thirst, loneliness, etc. of those around them. I think the two need to be read together. I think that’s how Matthew intended them to be digested. That’s one of the problems with having our Bibles separated into not only chapters and verses, but also with little subheadings for the stories so they are easier for us to find. Our brains tend to take those artificial divisions and apply them to the text when the author might not have intended for there to be a separation between those two stories at all.

When I think of what you expect from all of us as your believers, followers, and disciples, I think you expect us to take the “talent” you give us and then do something for your kingdom with it. And some of us will have more than one talent. I met a woman last night who seemingly has a lot of money and I know that she is generous with it. And it would be easy for her to sit back, write checks to people, and accept their gratitude. But that wasn’t her spirit. She also has construction contracting ability. She has bookkeeping ability. I talked with her last night about a big project we are working on to build a shelter for domestic violence victims. Can she write a check? Sure. But her eyes lit up when she talked about the other things she can bring to the table. You gave her more than one talent. You gave her five. And the spirit I saw in her was a desire to bring all of them to the table to see what kind of return you kingdom can get from them.

Father, help me to evaluate the talent that I have, bring all of it to the table for your glory’s sake (NOT mine), and multiply it for the good of your kingdom, our community, and at least one individual life. Help me to do it with joy and an attitude that desire my own decreasing and your increasing.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2018 in Matthew, Uncategorized

 
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