The world in which I have grown up is a world so full of grades, scores, and statistics that, consciously or unconsciously, I always try to take my measure against all the others. Much sadness and gladness in my life flows directly from my comparing, and most, if not all, of this comparing is useless and a terrible waste of time and energy.
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen, p. 103.
Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash
Leave a Comment
One of the most important questions we as Christ-followers need to ask ourselves is, what is God doing in and with this world? Why is this so important? Because it’s the answer to this question that determines our identity which in turn sets the direction for our lives. We as Christ’s disciples are not just marking time on this earth until he returns, but have a purpose, or you might want to say, a mission. And this mission is found as we ask ourselves, what is God doing?
So what is God doing? And what’s our role? I think all of Scripture, not just parts of it (ie. the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20) answers these questions for us. In Genesis 1-2, we read that God created this world and breathed life into us as humanity. It was our creation “in his image” which was the climax of all he made as he commanded us, in relationship with him, to rule and perfect this world or temple (much more could be written about this) in which the presence of God dwelled.
Unfortunately, we tried to usurp the role of God as we became convinced to doubt the goodness of God (see Genesis 3). As a result of our disobedience, the world became a place of envy instead of gratitude, pride instead of humility, and strife instead of peace. God, however, did not wash his hands of us and what he made. Instead of abandonment, God continued to pursue his creation as he began the mission of making right what was made wrong.
We read in Genesis 12 that his call to Abram was to bless him and his family in order that he would bless all peoples on the earth. And as his family became a nation, the people of Israel, they were to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). They were to be the ones God used to begin restoring this earth to once again be his kingdom, the place where he dwelled openly and freely.
Chances are, you know the rest of the story. Israel became just as rebellious and needed saving just as much as all the nations around her. So Isaiah spoke of a new servant, one that would suffer (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), that would bring healing and forgiveness for Israel and the world around her. Jeremiah spoke of a day when the law would not be written on stone tablets (as was the 10 commandments) but would instead be written on people’s hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). Ezekiel spoke, much like Jeremiah, that “hearts of stone” would be replaced by “hearts of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
These promises made in the Old Testament, of which the ones listed above are just a sampling, came to completion in Jesus. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection began a new day. The Kingdom which had been thwarted because of our sin was breaking into the world once again. What God began in Genesis 1 is now in the beginning stages of being restored. And as we read in Revelation 21-22, it will one day be completed. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
So what is God doing in and with this world? He is restoring and renewing it! He is reconciling “to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). “All things” are being united in Christ, “things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10).
What does all this mean for us? How does this story of God shape us? To start with, we must remember that we are God’s image bearers. We have a role to play in God’s mission for this world. What we do is important. And I have to say here that though proclaiming the gospel is a vital part of our mission, it is not the whole of it. What I hope you glean from this is not that we should deemphasize sharing the gospel (there is plenty I have written about it’s necessity), but that we should elevate everything else we do in life as part of the mission of God as well. “What if we ponder,” writes Michael Wittmer, “what it means to be to follow our crucified Christ as we close a deal, type a report, sort the mail, care for our employees, or prepare a lesson?” (See Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright & Heaven is A Place on Earth by Michael Wittmer)
Bottom line: our role is vital to God’s mission of renewing this earth. This is why we were created and now saved. This is why we are told to pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This is why we become engineers, doctors, lawyers, painters, construction workers, day care workers, etc…. This is why we plant cotton (at least many of us in West Texas), say “hello” to strangers, and help those in need. And of course, this is why we share the story of Jesus and ask people to follow him.
This is good news for us! The Kingdom has broken in and we as God’s icons are all wrapped up in it. So no matter whether you work on Wall street or pick up trash on Wall street, you are vital to the Kingdom. And all you do matters! As Michael Wittmer asks: “What if we ponder what it means to follow our crucified Christ as we close a deal, type a report, sort the mail, care for our employees, or prepare a lesson?” This is who you are in this world. This is your direction in this life. Follow it!
Photo by Brett Zeck on Unsplash
You cannot read the Bible without hearing the loud message that God cares for the displaced, the downtrodden, the oppressed, the humble, the needy–in other words, those who know their lostness and who long to be found.
Philip Yancey, Vanishing Grace, p. 53.
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash
Leave a Comment
If you asked someone to draw a picture of church, what would he/she draw? Would it be large a-framed type building with a steeple on top? Or would it be a group of people? And if it is a group of people, what would they be doing? Would they all be found in the a-framed building singing or listening to a sermon?
I wonder if we sometimes become confused as to what church is. The reason I think this is because that most times, when I observe any sort of print advertisement or social media invite to a church, the photo with it encompasses bright lights, a worship band on a stage, and people singing with raised hands (much like the photo above). Now before you jump to conclusions, I’m not against lights, worship bands, or singing. I’m just wondering if this type of picture does justice to what church is and should be.
It is true that worship is a vital part of church. After all, we become like what we worship. Plus, God is deserving of our praise as he has rescued us out of the mess we created for ourselves. As we gather as the people of God, we must declare his goodness, grace, mercy, love, kindness, and holiness.
But what I’m concerned about is whether or not the pictures we draw or photos of church we post really show what church is? Is it just about singing? Is it just about showing up to a building and listening to a sermon? Is not church bigger than an event at a specific time and specific place?
Once again, don’t read between the lines here. I’m not against any style of worship necessarily although I do think we need to think a bit more theologically about what it means to worship corporately. And I’m not against buildings nor meetings. What I’m trying to convey is church is more than these things.
Church is a people. I think we know this. It’s not a building. I think we know this too. And it’s also not just a group who gathers to sing contemporary songs to God led by a praise band. I think we know this as well. However, our photos of church don’t show it.
Whenever I picture church, I think of an older couple who become like grandparents to a young boy whose family is currently in disarray. I picture a young married couple who visits an elderly man each week who can’t make it to his Sunday School class any more because of health. I picture a man and his family who are struggling financially being taken care of until they get their feet back under them. Bottom line: I picture a family.
This family is the family of God. God is the Father! And this family, as God as Father and the Son as savior and the Spirit as empowerer, has a mission to the world around them. It is to declare and demonstrate, by their sacrificial love for one another, that a new Kingdom has been inaugurated through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is a Kingdom in which all are invited. And it is a Kingdom in which includes a new way of thinking, a new way of living, a new identity, and new brothers and sisters…the church!
Luke writes in Acts that the early believers spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together. Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked. All the Lord’s followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever needed it. Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).
How do we put all this in one photo? How can we draw it all on one piece of paper? Not sure it’s possible! But then of course, that’s the dynamism of being the people of God. Still shots don’t do it justice!
Photo by Shaun Frankland on Unsplash
Leave a Comment
I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. This is a happy discovery for the Christian who begins to pray for others. There is no dislike, no personal tension, no estrangement that cannot be overcome by intercessions as far as our side of it is concerned. Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day. The struggle we undergo with our brother in intercession may be a hard one, but that struggle has the promise that it will gain its goal.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together, p. 86.
Photo by Kyle Ashton on Unsplash
Leave a Comment
Repentance! What comes to mind when you hear this word? I imagine for some, especially those who are not-yet-Christ-followers, do not think highly of it. I’m afraid their mental picture of repentance is giving up something they enjoy and which brings pleasure in turn for taking up a life of hum-drum boredom made up of rules. It’s like the guy who was asked why he didn’t talk to people about God of which his reply was: “I don’t want to burden people with him!”
Is this idea of turning from a life of excitement to a life of drudgery really the idea behind repentance? I hope we know it’s not. God did not call us to himself to heap a burlap sack of demands over our shoulders, but to lift us out of the quicksand we drudge through every day trying to make sense of our lives. Repentance is, according to Peter, refreshing!!!
Personally, I’m not sure I have always thought of repentance as refreshing. I guess some of it has to do with my mindset of “Repent and be saved” as a an old-school hell-fire and brimstone revivalist preacher phrase. More emphasis was placed upon what you were repenting from than what you were repenting toward though no doubt we must not deny the reality that we have sinned against God.
But Peter, in his second recorded speech in Acts, declares to the Jews to “repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:19-21).
To repent, to change one’s mind, to head in a new direction, to pursue God and pledge allegiance to him, is refreshing! This word “refreshing” that Peter uses refers to a “cooling” to relieve trouble or to dry out a wound. The only other time this word can be found in Scripture is in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in Exodus 8:11 “where it refers to relief from the plague of frogs” (Darrell Bock, Acts). Bottom line, this word refers to a new life of rest (consider Hebrews 3-4).
When we offer people the opportunity to turn back to God therefore, we are asking them to join a “time of refreshment.” We are encouraging them to experience the presence of God, to have their sins completely removed, and to be a part of God’s kingdom coming to earth as he will one day restore all things. It is to join a life of “shalom” or wholeness. It is to live life as was designed by our Creator.
Granted, not all is as it should be…yet! Though there are times of refreshment in the present, there is a future day in which “new heavens and new earth” will be made (Revelation 21:1). There will be a day when the whole creation will be “set free from its slavery to decay, to share the liberty of the glory of God’s children.” (Romans 8:21). Ultimate refreshment is on the horizon.
So let’s repent! And may we encourage others to do the same. Let’s enter into the rest and refreshment of God knowing that there is much more to come. This is indeed good news!
Photo by Tadeusz Lakota on Unsplash
Leave a Comment
Leave a CommentDo not waste time bothering whether you love your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 116.
Remember a guy called Justus? His name was actually Joseph but he was called Justus. And he was also called Barsabbas. Let me give you a hint: he’s a Bible character. If you don’t recall much about him, don’t worry. I’m guessing most people read right past him. I did!
In Acts 1, Peter and the rest of the apostles discuss what to do about replacing Judas. Judas had left the group (and world) quiet violently as he hanged himself in remorse for betraying Jesus. And according to Acts, he “burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18). To replace Judas, therefore, as the Apostles understood it, was to take initiative in restoring the kingdom. Twelve apostles were needed to coincide with the Twelve tribes of Israel.
So as the apostles deliberated, it was decided that the one who would replace Judas must be “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John tunnel the day when he was taken from us” (Acts 1:31-22). Two men qualified. One was named Matthias, and the other, as you might have guessed by now, was called Justus.
The disciples cast lots and it was determined that Matthias would now be numbered with the apostles. So what about Justus? Nothing more is written of him though he had obviously been a follower of Jesus for quite some time. But then again, nothing more is written of Matthias either. Here is Matthias, one of the apostles now, and he gets no other mention.
We can project that both these men, as they continued to follow Jesus in the days of the birth of the church, served faithfully to the end. It can be assumed that Matthias was praying in the upper room when the Spirit of God came upon all present; filling them (Acts 2:1-4) and empowering them to take the gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Most likely, Justus was there as well. Also, when persecution in Jerusalem became heavy, Matthias probably stayed in Jerusalem while Justus left with the others who scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. (Acts 8:1).
The truth however, is that there is no certainty of whatever became of either Matthias or Justus. Neither one of them, even though Matthias was given the role of apostle, became headliners in Acts. Those roles belonged to Peter, Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, James and Paul. But being a major character in Luke’s story of the dawn of the early church is not the crux of the matter. Consider the words of N.T. Wright:
Part of Christian obedience, right from the beginning, was the call to play (apparently) great parts without pride and (apparently) small parts without shame. There are, of course, no passengers in the kingdom of God, and actually no ‘great’ and ‘small’ parts either. The different tasks and roles to which God assigns us are his business, not ours.
Acts For Everyone (Vol. 1) by N.T. Wright, p. 19.
It’s hard sometimes, not to want to be a Peter or Paul. They get the front page. But what if we are to be a Justus? What if we don’t get picked for a certain ministry or to serve in which we feel we are much qualified? What if our role is one that gets no press? How do we handle it?
I think first and foremost, as Wright points out, we must understand that there are no “small” roles in the Kingdom of God. It is true that there are different roles, but none are insignificant. And each are vital to what God is doing in the world. To serve the person in your neighborhood in whom no one notices is no small thing. To share the gospel and your life with a co-worker whom annoys the rest of the staff is crucial to Kingdom work. To be a welcoming and warm soul to new people who attend your church on Sundays makes an impact.
I pray we serve where God places us! I pray we love those around us as ourselves! These are not small things. In fact, in the economy of God, they are just as important as Peter preaching to a huge crowd in Acts 2. So let’s be faithful where God has placed us!! It’s an important work!
Photo by Brad Helmink on Unsplash