I'll never forget when I saw the picture of me that my wife took after the STP. I had just finished riding my bike from Seattle to Portland, 206 miles, in one day. It took 15 hours including rest stops. I didn't feel that bad when I got to the finish line at the park in downtown Portland. Boy, did I look rough! My face was grimy from the road and every feature clearly displayed the exhaustion in my body. It was truly a picture worth a thousand words.
In Acts 6 Luke reports, "All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." (Acts 6:15). This was not an occasion on which you would expect Stephen to have a joyful or peaceful or bright countenance. Stephen was under arrest and on trial before the Sanhedrin. Surely this disciple knew what happened to Jesus when He was tried before the same body. He should have been anticipating the worst. Wouldn't his face reflect worry, fear, or perhaps even anger at being unjustly seized, and having false accusations flung at him? But his face was like an angel.
Ecclesiastes 8:1 tells us: "Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance." Stephen possessed the true widsom that comes from above. His face shone like Moses did after he had been with God on the mountain. He face was aglow like Jesus' was on the mount of transfiguration. His face reflected his faith, and it caused those in the Sanhedrin to gaze upon him intently.
What does your face reflect? I have to admit that too often my face reflects the worries and fears of the day. Too often my face looks weary and burdened like it did after the STP. This passage really made me think about how my face should reflect my faith.
Paul wrote: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) When we have the Spirit of the Lord in us to enable us to trust in Jesus, then our faces should be like Moses coming down from the mountain aglow, or like Stepehen's, shining like an angel. With the Holy Spirit at work in us through God's Word, we are being transformed into the likeness of Christ with ever increasing glory, and our faces should show it! They should reflect the real freedom we have in Christ from fear and doubt.
Every week at Concordia our Pastors remind us to go out and shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the Word of life. If we try to hold out the Word of life to others while we have gloomy, frightened or angry faces, we won't be doing much shining. So the next time you look in the mirror, don't just think about how your hair is combed or whether your makeup is right. Ask yourself if your face reflects your faith in Jesus. Say a prayer for that to happen. Then go out and SHINE!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Spirit or Self?
Who's it all about? Have you ever asked yourself that question? We have a terrible tendency in life to want to make things all about ourselves. Two years ago I rode my bike from Canada to Mexico, in order to raise funds to buy ultra sound machines for crisis pregnancy centers. There was a temptation to make it easier for me by using some of the funds raised to offset the cost of the trip. There was a temptation to seek publicity for what I was doing so that I could be recognized. By the grace of God I resisted those temptations. Nevertheless, the temptation for self-promotion is always present.
In my Word for Today reading I was reminded how Ananias and Sapphira gave into that temptation. They owned some land that they weren't using and decided to sell their land and give the proceeds to the church to help the poor. But their real motive was self-promotion. They gave only a portion of the proceeds but pretended to give it all. They wanted to look good before men and in process, lied to the Holy Spirit.
"Who's it all about?" is a good question to ask ourselves when we do good. If it's all about us, what other people think of us, how good we look to others, then our motives are false and our good works will not be pleasing to God. In fact, if we do good things at church in order to promote ourselves, the wrath of God may fall on us. It certainly did fall on Ananias and Sapphira, in a big way! They died on the spot!
In reality, all of us are sinners and all of us are a mixed bag of motivations at best. There is often a little bit of selfishness in even the most unselfish things we do. Thankfully, the grace of God in Jesus Christ covers over those sinful motivations, and by faith, God is pleased with the good things we do to serve Him and those in need. But when we realize that something good we do or some gift we give is really all about us, then we are in trouble. Then it's time to step back and examine our hearts to see if faith is alive.
If the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts, whenever we recognize self-promotion in ourselves we will be grieved in our spirt and repent, seeking God's forgiveness. If self is at the center of our motives, however, we may make the same mistake that Ananias and Sapphira made in thinking they could lie to the Holy Spirit and get away with it.
So the next time you have opportunity to do good, examine your heart. Check your motivations. Ask yourself "Who's it all about?" If the answer is God, and the people He has called you to serve, then do it joyfully giving thanks for the opporunity to glorify God. If the answer is "Me!" then turn back to God in broken hearted repentance and ask Him to help you serve or give from a pure heart.
In my Word for Today reading I was reminded how Ananias and Sapphira gave into that temptation. They owned some land that they weren't using and decided to sell their land and give the proceeds to the church to help the poor. But their real motive was self-promotion. They gave only a portion of the proceeds but pretended to give it all. They wanted to look good before men and in process, lied to the Holy Spirit.
"Who's it all about?" is a good question to ask ourselves when we do good. If it's all about us, what other people think of us, how good we look to others, then our motives are false and our good works will not be pleasing to God. In fact, if we do good things at church in order to promote ourselves, the wrath of God may fall on us. It certainly did fall on Ananias and Sapphira, in a big way! They died on the spot!
In reality, all of us are sinners and all of us are a mixed bag of motivations at best. There is often a little bit of selfishness in even the most unselfish things we do. Thankfully, the grace of God in Jesus Christ covers over those sinful motivations, and by faith, God is pleased with the good things we do to serve Him and those in need. But when we realize that something good we do or some gift we give is really all about us, then we are in trouble. Then it's time to step back and examine our hearts to see if faith is alive.
If the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts, whenever we recognize self-promotion in ourselves we will be grieved in our spirt and repent, seeking God's forgiveness. If self is at the center of our motives, however, we may make the same mistake that Ananias and Sapphira made in thinking they could lie to the Holy Spirit and get away with it.
So the next time you have opportunity to do good, examine your heart. Check your motivations. Ask yourself "Who's it all about?" If the answer is God, and the people He has called you to serve, then do it joyfully giving thanks for the opporunity to glorify God. If the answer is "Me!" then turn back to God in broken hearted repentance and ask Him to help you serve or give from a pure heart.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Power from Within? Not!
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you." Acts 1:8
When you want to cycle long distances one of the most important things to remember is to eat and drink frequently while riding. If you fail to do so you will "run out of gas", just like your car does when you fail to put gas in the tank. The power to keep going after 50, 75 or a hundred miles has to come from within... not! Yes, it does take inner strength and determination to keep going long miles, but if you don't get the power you need from the outside, all the inner determination you can possibly summon will not be enough. The power to keep going must actually come from outside of you, from the food and drink that you put into your mouth, down into your stomach, and into your bloodstream.
Jesus had given his disciples a huge task. "Go and make disciples of all nations..." That makes cycling a hundred miles look easy. How in the world could they ever hope to undertake such an impossibly great commission? Could they count on themselves? It almost seems as though they were doing that, because before the day of Pentecost arrived they added another apostle to their ranks to help carry out the Great Commission.
But Jesus told them clearly where their power would come from. He said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The power for them to carry on Jesus' ministry after his return to heaven, would come from within only in the sense that the power for me to keep going on my bike comes from within, that is from the food and liquid that I put in my stomach.
The power of the disciples would not come from themselves, but from the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus would send from the Father to enable them to carry on his ministry. Yes, from the day of Pentecost onward, believers have been filled with the Holy Spirit, so in a certain sense, the power to do God's will and carry on Jesus' ministry comes from within, but only because God has put His Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Paul wrote, "our Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." (1 Thessalonians 1:5) The power to believe, to do God's will, to carry on Jesus ministry, to share the Gospel with others comes from the Holy Spirit, not from within us. We have no power within ourselves to do God's work and will. But when we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift of God's grace, we receive all the power we need to do everything God asks of us.
So how do we continually "fill the gas tank" so that we can keep going in doing God's will? Just as a cyclist has to keep eating and drinking, so we must continually feed on God's Word and the Sacraments, so that we can have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us.
When you want to cycle long distances one of the most important things to remember is to eat and drink frequently while riding. If you fail to do so you will "run out of gas", just like your car does when you fail to put gas in the tank. The power to keep going after 50, 75 or a hundred miles has to come from within... not! Yes, it does take inner strength and determination to keep going long miles, but if you don't get the power you need from the outside, all the inner determination you can possibly summon will not be enough. The power to keep going must actually come from outside of you, from the food and drink that you put into your mouth, down into your stomach, and into your bloodstream.
Jesus had given his disciples a huge task. "Go and make disciples of all nations..." That makes cycling a hundred miles look easy. How in the world could they ever hope to undertake such an impossibly great commission? Could they count on themselves? It almost seems as though they were doing that, because before the day of Pentecost arrived they added another apostle to their ranks to help carry out the Great Commission.
But Jesus told them clearly where their power would come from. He said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The power for them to carry on Jesus' ministry after his return to heaven, would come from within only in the sense that the power for me to keep going on my bike comes from within, that is from the food and liquid that I put in my stomach.
The power of the disciples would not come from themselves, but from the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus would send from the Father to enable them to carry on his ministry. Yes, from the day of Pentecost onward, believers have been filled with the Holy Spirit, so in a certain sense, the power to do God's will and carry on Jesus' ministry comes from within, but only because God has put His Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Paul wrote, "our Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." (1 Thessalonians 1:5) The power to believe, to do God's will, to carry on Jesus ministry, to share the Gospel with others comes from the Holy Spirit, not from within us. We have no power within ourselves to do God's work and will. But when we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift of God's grace, we receive all the power we need to do everything God asks of us.
So how do we continually "fill the gas tank" so that we can keep going in doing God's will? Just as a cyclist has to keep eating and drinking, so we must continually feed on God's Word and the Sacraments, so that we can have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Convnced
"But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense." (Luke 24:11)
Scientific truth is established through a rigorous process of repeated experimentation and observation. When a scientist seeks to understand a certain phenomenon he develops a hypothesis about what is going on. He then performs an experiment to test his hypothesis. When the same result is repeatedly observed the truth of his hypothesis is confirmed.
When the disiciples first heard the words of the women exclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead, they did not believe them. Their words seemed like nonsense to them. Why? Early Christians are sometimes portrayed as "gullible" fools who were duped into believing miracles by a master magician, Jesus. The disciples were not gullible. They knew that in their ordinary experience dead people did not rise. Yes, they had seen Jesus raise the dead, but in this case, the One who had raised the dead was dead Himself. Therefore, they did not believe the women's report.
However, something changed their minds. What was it? It was repeated experience of the same report, or their own repeated observation of the same phenomenon, Jesus risen from the dead, that ultimately caused them to recognize the fact of the resurrection. After the women gave their report, Peter and John observed the empty tomb for themselves. They heard the report of the Emmaus disciples who saw Jesus alive. Then, they observed the risen Lord for themselves. And not only that, they saw Jesus experimentally demonstrate that He was truly alive in the flesh by eating in front of them on more than one occasion.
When we ask ourselves why we should believe that 2000 years ago the impossible occurred, that a man who had obviously died in the presence of many witnesses arose from the dead on the third day, we can assure ourselves that we have good reason to believe. Ancient skeptics were themselves convinced by repeated observation of the facts. Luke, the historian, records those repreated observations for us so that we can "know the certainty of the things [we] have been taught." (Luke 1:4)
Scientific truth is established through a rigorous process of repeated experimentation and observation. When a scientist seeks to understand a certain phenomenon he develops a hypothesis about what is going on. He then performs an experiment to test his hypothesis. When the same result is repeatedly observed the truth of his hypothesis is confirmed.
When the disiciples first heard the words of the women exclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead, they did not believe them. Their words seemed like nonsense to them. Why? Early Christians are sometimes portrayed as "gullible" fools who were duped into believing miracles by a master magician, Jesus. The disciples were not gullible. They knew that in their ordinary experience dead people did not rise. Yes, they had seen Jesus raise the dead, but in this case, the One who had raised the dead was dead Himself. Therefore, they did not believe the women's report.
However, something changed their minds. What was it? It was repeated experience of the same report, or their own repeated observation of the same phenomenon, Jesus risen from the dead, that ultimately caused them to recognize the fact of the resurrection. After the women gave their report, Peter and John observed the empty tomb for themselves. They heard the report of the Emmaus disciples who saw Jesus alive. Then, they observed the risen Lord for themselves. And not only that, they saw Jesus experimentally demonstrate that He was truly alive in the flesh by eating in front of them on more than one occasion.
When we ask ourselves why we should believe that 2000 years ago the impossible occurred, that a man who had obviously died in the presence of many witnesses arose from the dead on the third day, we can assure ourselves that we have good reason to believe. Ancient skeptics were themselves convinced by repeated observation of the facts. Luke, the historian, records those repreated observations for us so that we can "know the certainty of the things [we] have been taught." (Luke 1:4)
Friday, September 17, 2010
Surprise! (Not to God!)
Every day all kinds of things happen that we don't expect. We go to Starbucks for a latte and on our way out bump our hands on the door and spill our drink. We get on our bike for a ride and end up having to stop and change a flat tire. From our perspective life is full of surprises.
In Luke 22 Jesus told His disciples to go into the city and prepare for the Passover feast. They asked Him where He wanted them to prepare it. He then told them: "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there." (Luke 22:10-12)
I imagine that the disciples were amazed when everything unfolded exactly as Jesus said it would. Or maybe they weren't at this point, after three years of following Jesus. Earlier in the week Jesus had told them about a donkey that He would ride into Jerusalem. (Luke 19:30) By this time, then, they probably expected and weren't surprised to see the man carrying a jar of water.
This account is just one illustration of the fact that God, and His Son Jesus, knows everything. Nothing surprises God. This is of comfort to me when a not so pleasant surprise pops up in my life. I may not have seen it coming, but God did. I may not understand why He let a certain trial come my way, but I know it didn't happen because God wasn't paying attention, or worse yet, simply didn't know it was coming.
As your day unfolds, full of surprises, be confident that none of them is a surprise to God. He has a good purpose is everything that happens to us. And because He saw it coming before we ever got there, we can be confident that He can and will help us through whatever the circumstance may be.
In Luke 22 Jesus told His disciples to go into the city and prepare for the Passover feast. They asked Him where He wanted them to prepare it. He then told them: "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there." (Luke 22:10-12)
I imagine that the disciples were amazed when everything unfolded exactly as Jesus said it would. Or maybe they weren't at this point, after three years of following Jesus. Earlier in the week Jesus had told them about a donkey that He would ride into Jerusalem. (Luke 19:30) By this time, then, they probably expected and weren't surprised to see the man carrying a jar of water.
This account is just one illustration of the fact that God, and His Son Jesus, knows everything. Nothing surprises God. This is of comfort to me when a not so pleasant surprise pops up in my life. I may not have seen it coming, but God did. I may not understand why He let a certain trial come my way, but I know it didn't happen because God wasn't paying attention, or worse yet, simply didn't know it was coming.
As your day unfolds, full of surprises, be confident that none of them is a surprise to God. He has a good purpose is everything that happens to us. And because He saw it coming before we ever got there, we can be confident that He can and will help us through whatever the circumstance may be.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Hanging on His Words
"Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words." (Luke 19:47-48)
I have a Twitter account, but I'm not very good at it. In more than a year that I've been on Twitter I've tweeted exactly six times. I have three whole followers on Twitter. On the other hand, I follow Lance Armstrong on Twitter (from time to time) and he tweets several times a day every day. Lance Armstrong has 2,651,017 followers on Twitter. Now that's impressive.
Nevertheless, whether it's lowly me, or the mighty Lance Armstrong neither comes close to the impact Jesus had, and that's without TV, radio, internet, blogging, Facebook, Twitter and anything else to promote Himself. Nevertheless, Luke tells us that the Jewish leaders were afraid of trying to do away with Jesus, "because all the people hung on his words."
What was it about Jesus' words that made them so compelling? Some might argue that people hung on His words because He was such a great story teller. Jesus' parables are compelling. Others might say it was because He challenged the status quo. But neither of those is the real reason that people hung on Jesus' words.
Peter said it as well as anyone could on the one occasion when many people were turning away from Jesus because of His words. Jesus asked it the disciples wanted to leave as well and Peter replied: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
People hung on Jesus' every word because He had the words of eternal life. Jesus spoke the truth about sin that brings death, about his own death that paid for sin, and about his resurrection that brings eternal life. In a world where life itself is "terminal" those are words worth hanging onto.
I have a Twitter account, but I'm not very good at it. In more than a year that I've been on Twitter I've tweeted exactly six times. I have three whole followers on Twitter. On the other hand, I follow Lance Armstrong on Twitter (from time to time) and he tweets several times a day every day. Lance Armstrong has 2,651,017 followers on Twitter. Now that's impressive.
Nevertheless, whether it's lowly me, or the mighty Lance Armstrong neither comes close to the impact Jesus had, and that's without TV, radio, internet, blogging, Facebook, Twitter and anything else to promote Himself. Nevertheless, Luke tells us that the Jewish leaders were afraid of trying to do away with Jesus, "because all the people hung on his words."
What was it about Jesus' words that made them so compelling? Some might argue that people hung on His words because He was such a great story teller. Jesus' parables are compelling. Others might say it was because He challenged the status quo. But neither of those is the real reason that people hung on Jesus' words.
Peter said it as well as anyone could on the one occasion when many people were turning away from Jesus because of His words. Jesus asked it the disciples wanted to leave as well and Peter replied: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
People hung on Jesus' every word because He had the words of eternal life. Jesus spoke the truth about sin that brings death, about his own death that paid for sin, and about his resurrection that brings eternal life. In a world where life itself is "terminal" those are words worth hanging onto.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Great Crowds
If you've ever watched the Tour de France you've seen the crowds. Thousands and thousands of people line the Tour route waiting for hours and hours to catch a glimpse of the riders for just a couple of seconds as they speed by at up to 35 miles an hour. In the cities the crowds will be ten to fifteen deep, especially behind the barriers near the finish line.
In the mountains it's even more amazing. People will climb thousands of feet up the mountainside to see the riders as they make their ascent. Since they're only going 10 to 15 miles per hour on the steep climbs the fans on the mountains get a much better view of the riders. Sometimes the crowds get so large that the motorcycles have to clear a path through the crowd for the cyclists to be able to ride through. I've even seen riders push fans out of their way so they can continue up the mountain.
I'm sure you've heard news reports of crowds getting so large and so unruly at soccer matches that fans have actually been trampled to death. Crowds of fans are pretty much the same no matter what the event might be. I've been to Christian music festivals where the crowds were pressing so hard against the stage that people in the front row were being crushed.
It wasn't any different in Jesus' day, although I was amazed to see it. I know I've read Luke 12 many times, but this morning I was struck by what Luke said about the crowds. "Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples."
Jesus knew how to draw a crowd. But in the days before radio or TV, before newspaper ads or posters on telephone poles, before public address systems and walls of giant speakers, it's pretty amazing to think that crowds of many thousands would gather around Jesus. They were so eager to have access to Him, that people would trample one another to try to get as close as possible to our Lord.
What was the attraction? Grace and truth! John said: "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) When Jesus spoke, people heard the truth. He spoke with authority. He told them to truth about themselves and about God. And in Jesus they experienced grace firsthand. He healed the sick, cast out demons, gave sight to the blind, and fed the hungry. This was grace in action. No wonder everyone wanted to get as close as possible to Jesus.
It's one thing to press in close in order to see a great cyclist, a great soccer match, or a great singer. But when people pressed in close to see Jesus, they were seeing the real thing. John said: "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known." (John 1:18) And Jesus himself said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) Yes, I'd press in as close as possible to be able to see God in the flesh! I'm not sure how Jesus and his disciples handled crowd control.
Yes, Jesus knew how to draw a crowd, but that was not what he was interested in. He was interested in imparting life, eternal life to lost people. He did so by sharing grace and truth. And people found grace and truth attractive. Sometimes, churches are criticized for wanting to draw a crowd. If those churces are sharing grace and truth in order to impart eteranl life through faith in Jesus with lost people, then they are doing exactly what they should be doing.
In the mountains it's even more amazing. People will climb thousands of feet up the mountainside to see the riders as they make their ascent. Since they're only going 10 to 15 miles per hour on the steep climbs the fans on the mountains get a much better view of the riders. Sometimes the crowds get so large that the motorcycles have to clear a path through the crowd for the cyclists to be able to ride through. I've even seen riders push fans out of their way so they can continue up the mountain.
I'm sure you've heard news reports of crowds getting so large and so unruly at soccer matches that fans have actually been trampled to death. Crowds of fans are pretty much the same no matter what the event might be. I've been to Christian music festivals where the crowds were pressing so hard against the stage that people in the front row were being crushed.
It wasn't any different in Jesus' day, although I was amazed to see it. I know I've read Luke 12 many times, but this morning I was struck by what Luke said about the crowds. "Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples."
Jesus knew how to draw a crowd. But in the days before radio or TV, before newspaper ads or posters on telephone poles, before public address systems and walls of giant speakers, it's pretty amazing to think that crowds of many thousands would gather around Jesus. They were so eager to have access to Him, that people would trample one another to try to get as close as possible to our Lord.
What was the attraction? Grace and truth! John said: "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) When Jesus spoke, people heard the truth. He spoke with authority. He told them to truth about themselves and about God. And in Jesus they experienced grace firsthand. He healed the sick, cast out demons, gave sight to the blind, and fed the hungry. This was grace in action. No wonder everyone wanted to get as close as possible to Jesus.
It's one thing to press in close in order to see a great cyclist, a great soccer match, or a great singer. But when people pressed in close to see Jesus, they were seeing the real thing. John said: "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known." (John 1:18) And Jesus himself said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) Yes, I'd press in as close as possible to be able to see God in the flesh! I'm not sure how Jesus and his disciples handled crowd control.
Yes, Jesus knew how to draw a crowd, but that was not what he was interested in. He was interested in imparting life, eternal life to lost people. He did so by sharing grace and truth. And people found grace and truth attractive. Sometimes, churches are criticized for wanting to draw a crowd. If those churces are sharing grace and truth in order to impart eteranl life through faith in Jesus with lost people, then they are doing exactly what they should be doing.
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