The Entire Gospel

This morning on Twitter, one of the ministry leaders that I follow Tweeted this thought from St. Augustine

"If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself."

The thing is, people like the warm and fuzzy Jesus.  The Jesus that talks about loving our neighbors as ourselves.  The Jesus that talks about not judging others until we've examined our own motives.  The Jesus that welcomes sinners and even eats with them.  The Jesus that is full of righteous anger towards the hypocritical, judgmental Pharisees.  In many cases as we read the Gospels, Jesus seems much more palatable and easier on the ears.  Many people believe this part of the Gospel because they like it.  It makes them feel good.

And then there are entire chapters like Matthew 13 that are downright uncomfortable to read.   The warm and fuzzy Jesus gets lost and the righteous, holy Jesus steps to the forefront.  Many people reject this part of the Gospel because it's not so warm and fuzzy.  And we see that it's not really the Gospel that they believe, but themselves.  

You see, here's the deal, I believe the WHOLE gospel.  Even the parts that make me uncomfortable and afflict my complacency, arrogance and self-satisfaction.  When I read through Matthew 13, I hear Jesus talking about some very uncomfortable things:

In v.v.18-23 he talks about the fact that not everybody that hears the Gospel of salvation will grow in the Gospel.  In v.v.40-43, he talks about the harvest when He returns to judge the nations and that there will be wheat and there will be weeds, and the weeds will be thrown into the fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  And again in v.v. 49-50.  

And then in v.v. 53-58, we see that Jesus was rejected, even in his hometown of Nazareth.  

If you believe the entire Gospel like I do, Matthew 13 should disturb you.  I believe that there is a literal hell, because Jesus said there is.  But I take no comfort or satisfaction in that.  In fact, I hate it.  I hate that hell is a reality.  I hate that even Jesus - who died to forgive the sins of the entire world - tells us that hell is a reality.  I hate the fact that I know people who have, who are and who will reject Jesus. When I really consider the seriousness of it, it almost brings me to tears.  In fact, when I preach about this reality, it often does!

But it begins by preaching the Gospel to yourself, and allowing it to consume you.  If you have no desire to believe the entire Gospel, you'll have no desire to preach the entire Gospel to others.  If you believe the entire Gospel, you should have a great desire to preach the entire Gospel to others.   

For some great perspective, take 5 minutes and go watch this video from Penn Jillette.

 
 

This is persecution . . .

If you're not familiar with the ongoing story of Pastor Saeed Abedini go read these links:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57566124/u.s-pastor-sentenced-to-8-years-in-iran/

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/28/inside-evin-look-at-world-most-notorious-political-prison/

This is the kind of persecution Jesus told us that we could expect when we lived for him.  

Christians in America have very little idea of how easy it really is to be a Christian in America.  

Despite a cultural hostility towards Biblical Christianity (and here's a prime, recent example) and a Presidential Administration and Judiciary that is hostile towards Biblical Christianity and is stripping away the First Amendment rights of individual business owners and Christian businesses (here's a prime, recent example) ; we do not know what real persecution is.

Pastor Saeed Abedini, and his family, know all too well what real persecution is.  Persecution is not an academic discussion for them.  What if you were in a situation like Pastor Saeed, and your only hope was the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:10-12?  

Would you still go to church on Sunday mornings?  Would you still go to a Bible Study or a Small Group?  Would you still post about how much you love Jesus on Facebook?  If you knew that a tortuous, 8 year prison sentence awaited you?

In today's reading in Matthew 11, we find a man who loved Jesus in a similar situation.  John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, came before Jesus preaching about repentance the Kingdom of Heaven.  For his zeal and his passion for Jesus, he was imprisoned.  

Here's what Jesus said about the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in v.12:
"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."

Being a follower of Jesus isn't a joke or a game.  It's not a hobby.  It's an all consuming, all-or-nothing, stake your life it on commitment.  Reading about Pastor Saeed and thinking about our cultural climate reminds me of this.  It's so easy to sit by and say nothing, and to feign shock and surprise at the decay and godlessness around us, while doing nothing.
It's easy, when "everybody else is doing it," to give in and give up and quit our pursuit of righteousness.  

Imagine if we faced jail or death for our faith.  I honestly don't know what I would do.  I think I know what I HOPE I would do.  And then I am reminded of how weak and immature my faith really is, when it can't stand up to trials and temptations that are far smaller and mundane than death and imprisonment.

So what do we do?

First of all, we pray.  

We pray for our brothers and sisters around the world for whom death and imprisonment are very real threats to their faith.  There is absolutely nothing like praying for somebody going through an extreme crisis or trial to bring you to a place of thankfulness and joy for what you have, and to help you realize the real pain and hardship that others endure for the sake of their faith.

Secondly, we fight.

"Wait a minute, Pastor Dave.  Wasn't Jesus all about turning the other cheek and loving our enemies?"  Yup.  But he was also about doing whatever it took to advance His Kingdom on earth.  Did you read verse 12?  "The Kingdom of God is FORCEFULLY advancing."  Our fight isn't with fists or guns or weapons.  Our fight is on our knees.  Our fight is with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.  Our fight is with love.  I am reminded of what John the Apostle said about the coming of Jesus in John 1:14, "We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."  Jesus fought with grace and Jesus fought with truth.  

Finally, we focus on what matters.

The Apostle Paul, a man and a warrior for the Kingdom of God who was very familiar with REAL persecution wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  

I don't know much about Pastor Saeed, but I know that a man that is willing to risk his physical safety for the sake of the Gospel is a man who knows what it means to pray, fight and focus on what matters.  John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul too.  Any story in the New Testament about a man or a woman that changed the world with the Good News is the story of a man or woman who knew the power of these things!  My hope and prayer is that I would know this power too.  
 
 

Amazing Grace

One of the most mind blowing things about grace is this: It isn't fair.  Because of the grace of Jesus, we get what we don't deserve.  In Jesus we have forgiveness for our sins; we have every kind of healing we need; and we have the hope of eternal life in heaven.  When we consider the depth of our sin and brokenness, and what Jesus has done for us, we realize that grace is amazing.

In today's reading from Matthew 9, we see just how amazing grace is.  In v.9, Jesus invites a tax collector - Matthew - to be his disciple.  Seems innocent enough, until you realize just how despised most tax collectors in Jesus' day were.  Many, like Matthew, were Jews who worked for the Roman government.  The tax collection process was full of corruption and deceit.  Jews who worked as tax collectors were especially despised by other Jews, because their very own were pawns of a corrupt government trying to make life unbearable for Jews.  It's a good bet that Matthew was despised and hated by many of his fellow Jews.

In v.10, we see that Jesus didn't only invite this hated man to a new life following him, but that he actually went and had dinner at his house and that, "many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples."  This infuriated the Pharisees who asked incredulously, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

We don't know what the sins of these "sinners" were, but we know that Jesus saw great value in them and spent time with them and showed them amazing grace.  And Jesus gets to the heart of the matter in v.v. 12&13 when he says, "On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Many people today think that grace means we ignore sin and brokenness, and just show kindness to others.  But grace confronts sin and brokenness and points it out.  Until the "sick" and "sinners" know that they're sick and sinful, grace means absolutely nothing.  Until you realize your need for a Savior, the Good News of the Gospel means absolutely nothing.  

When we have received grace and really get what grace is about, it should humble and amaze us every day.  For those of us who know Jesus, we should never, ever forget what it was like to live apart from Him.  We should never, ever forget that he saved us from sin not because we deserved it, but simply because He loves us.  When we understand our own need for grace, everything changes with how we view others who are separated from God because of their sin.

If you know me at all, you know that one of the things I'm very passionate about is Steelers football.  Last Sunday as I watched 2 of the most despised teams in Steeler Nation play for the AFC Championship - the Ravens and Patriots - I mused on Facebook that trying to decide who I wanted to win was like trying to decide if I'd rather have a colonoscopy or a root canal.

The face of the Ravens franchise is Ray Lewis, a ferocious middle linebacker who was the first draft pick in in Ravens history.  As a Steeler fan, I loathe Ray Lewis the football player.  There are many football fans, and non-football fans too, that loathe Ray Lewis the man because he was at the center of a double homicide investigation 13 years ago in a melee after the Super Bowl in Atlanta.  He was initially charged with murder, and later plead guilty to obstruction of justice.  There are many people out there who believe he got away with murder, and absolutely despise him.  

In recent years, Ray Lewis has been very vocal about his relationship with Jesus and his love for God.  Incredulous people say, "There's no way!  It's all a show!  He's a murderer!  He's got 4 kids with 3 different women!  There's no way he's a Christian!"

I know that many people in the public spotlight, when they face trouble, will talk about "finding Jesus" or "getting right with God."  I'll admit that I’m skeptical until I see transformation happen.  People can say it without really meaning it or living it out.  But Ray Lewis seems different.  I watched a documentary about him a few weeks ago, and I was really surprised to see who he has become and the things that are now important to him.  He is bearing the fruit of somebody who has been changed and transformed by trusting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

I don’t know what happened at that crime scene in Atlanta.  I still can’t cheer for Ray Lewis the football player, but I am cheering for Ray Lewis the man.  If Jesus has done in Ray Lewis’ heart what Ray Lewis the man has said He has done (and the evidence says He has) then Ray Lewis the man is my brother in Christ. 

Many people will say, “But it’s not fair!”  And they’re right.  Grace isn’t fair.  We don’t get to choose to receives grace, only Jesus does.  1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins to Him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”  I’ve staked my life on that truth!  And as somebody who has staked my life on that truth, I’ve got to cheer for others that stake their lives on that truth, no matter how wicked or heinous their sins appear to be.  I’ve got to cheer for people who are seeking the hope and promise of that truth!  I pray and hope that everybody comes to believe this truth!  It’s why I do what I do!

This is why grace is amazing – nobody, despite what they have done, is beyond the grace of Jesus Christ if they confess their sins and trust in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross and in the power of his resurrection from the dead! 

Untouchable

Matthew 8 begins with 4 verses about Jesus healing a man with leprosy.  Leprosy was an absolutely horrible disease of sometimes epidemic proportions in ancient times.  It was marked by incredible disfigurement and ugly sores.  Ironically though, it did not cause much physical pain for its victims.  Leprosy is caused by a deadening of nerve endings in the skin.  So when the sores and lesions began, most of its victims could not tell that they were afflicted with leprosy.

However, what we do know of ancient customs regarding leprosy is that the emotional and physical pain of this disease was real and intense.  Jews that were afflicted with leprosy were cast out from the community according to Mosaic law because they were unclean.  As populations increased in towns and cities, those afflicted with leprosy were sent to live with other lepers so that they did not infect healthy people.  

Imagine if you can what this must have been like.  You are afflicted with a disease that will slowly kill you over a period of years as necrosis sets into your body.  Rather than receiving any kind of treatment or care, you are sent off to endure the rest of your days with other people that are as sick as you are.  You live in a constant state of misery and horrid stench as those like you watch their bodies decay and become necrotic right before their very eyes.  

You are untouchable.  

Even though your family may miss you and long to be with you, they would not and could not touch you.  People who were otherwise healthy, though they may sympathize with your condition and wish for your healing, would not and could not touch you.  History tells us that when lepers would leave their colonies and venture among healthy citizens were forced to ring a bell and yell out "Unclean, Unclean," so that those in their path could move out of their way. 

There was never any escape from the emotional and spiritual pain that leprosy caused.

On top of that, if you were a Jew, you were cut off from your worshipping community.  In the early stages of leprosy, most of its victims were still very able bodied and could go to the Temple to worship and have sacrifices offered on their behalf if they would have been allowed to.  But they were cut off because they were unclean.  Imagine what this would have been like.  You long for God’s presence.  You long to be obedient to Him and participate in the worship of your people.  But because of a disease beyond your control, you are cut off.  You are in isolation and you cannot escape your disease.

You are untouchable.

Matthew 8:2 tells us this about the man with leprosy: “A man with leprosy came and knelt before him (Jesus) and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

It took incredible courage for this man to make his way to Jesus.  And it actually required that he defy the rules that the religious leaders had made concerning him.  Look again at 4 words he said, “. . . if you are willing . . .”  He didn’t know how Jesus would respond.  He didn’t know if Jesus would be like the priests and the teachers of the law and rebuke Him.  I think he was expecting to be rebuked, but hoping beyond hope that Jesus could do something for him. 

The response of Jesus to his request is mind blowing.  Before he spoke a word, Jesus did something that nobody had dared to do since this man had been afflicted.  Jesus touched him.  Jesus reached out his hand and touched this man who was untouchable and in that moment the richest grace of Heaven was revealed as it collided with the sin, brokenness and disease of man.  With a touch and with a word, this man was cured of a great scourge that had killed his heart and soul.  “I am willing,” he said, “Be clean!”

Do you see the willingness of Jesus to heal what is broken?  Do you see the willingness of Jesus to touch what is untouchable?  Do you see the willingness of Jesus to love those who are unlovable?  Do you see the willingness of Jesus to bring restoration to what seems to be beyond repair?

I do, and I’m humbled by it.  It’s a reminder to me that I was once like that leper.  I was separated from God because of my sin, and in his grace and truth, Jesus reached out and healed me, touched me, loved me, and restored a broken relationship with God the Father.  

It’s also a reminder to me that I can’t be afraid to touch the untouchable and to love the unlovable.  I think one of the biggest dangers that those who follow Christ can fall into is that we insulate ourselves from the hurt and need of the world around us.  As we deal with people in our lives each day who are far from God and separated from Him for so many reasons, one of the most loving, compassionate things that we can do is to touch them and to love them right where they’re at.

So many Christians want to live in a bubble of insulation from the brokenness of the world and cast judgment on those who are isolated from God.  It’s not judgmental to look at someone and say, “Wow, they’re really broken and hurting because of their sin.”  But it is cruelty of the highest order to walk away from them shaking our heads and muttering, “I don’t care what happens to them.  They’ve just got to reap the consequences of their sin.  They’re untouchable.”

But with Jesus, nobody is untouchable.  Every.  Single.  Person.  Matters.  To.  Jesus.

And they ought to matter to us. 

Whatchya Building On?

I've been in some sort of ministry leadership position now for almost 20 years - from teaching Jr. High Sunday school when I was 18 to pastoring a church now that I absolutely love.  I've had the incredible and holy privilege of walking with literally thousands of people - helping them to learn what it means to walk with Jesus, and learning myself what it means from a lot of them.  

I've been with people in the highest moments of their lives and the lowest lows in their lives and everywhere in between.  I've seen God do Ephesians 3:20 stuff in people's lives and I've seen people just stuck and mired in sin.  

If I could narrow life down to one overriding principle it is this: we will always be blessed when we build our lives on Jesus and we will always fail when we build our lives on anything else.  If you've heard me preach, or even if you've read any of the stuff I wrote last week, you know that blessing doesn't always mean easy or free from suffering.  Blessing isn't always material.  Blessing comes from knowing and seeing God at work in every circumstance in which we find ourselves and knowing that our lives are in His hands.

Conversely, when I talk about failure in life, it doesn't always look like misery or poverty.  I know lots of people with lots of money and great jobs and cool toys that are absolutely miserable.  They live with lots of regrets and pain and shame.  They have this insatiable hunger and thirst in their lives - no matter how many "things" or "titles" they have because they haven't yet realized that the thing they were created for is to live for God's glory.

Jesus gets to the very heart of this truth in Matthew 7:24-28
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Ultimately, we've all got to answer the question: What is my life built upon?

Walking in the truth and grace of Jesus is wise.  Ignoring the grace and truth of Jesus is foolishness.  And even Jesus makes it clear that storms are coming.  Flooding rain and hurricane winds that will test the strength of whatever we build.

Some of you might be reading and thinking, "I'm good.  Jesus is my Savior."  But is he your Lord?  Is everything in your life built on The Rock, or are you putting down an addition on the sand?  Don't be surprised when it falls.

Some of you might be reading and saying, "I'm tired of always rebuilding after a storm.  I'm tired of this regret and pain and shame.  I'm tired of not knowing if what I'm building will last."  If that's you, it's never too late to start building on The Rock.  

Try to picture Jesus saying these things to a great crowd of people as he looks out on them.  I would imagine that he's focusing intently on individuals, locking eyes with as many as he can.  Looking at the hollowness and emptiness in the eyes of those who have built upon the sand.  Longing to take away their pain and forgive their sin and restore their relationship with God.  I can almost see tears welling up in his eyes as he sees those that will reject the invitation to life and blessing.  I don't see Jesus saying this in anger, but in compassion.  His love is great and His desire is to bless and redeem. 

There is nothing worth having in this life apart from Jesus.  Whatchya building on?

 

Matters of the Heart

I think that some of the most challenging words of Jesus are found in today’s reading from Matthew 5.

In v.v. 1-10 we find what are often called the Beatitudes.  I can remember that as a kid, around age 12, I had to memorize these for my Confirmation Class, along with a bunch of other stuff.  Unfortunately, these are no longer something I can recite from memory, but I remember at the time thinking that these were really strange.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that Jesus was turning things upside down for me.  I still have trouble wrapping my mind around it.  But what we see is that being blessed is a matter of the heart.  So often we have this idea that blessing is something tangible or material, and it can be.  But Jesus tells us that being blessed is more a matter of attitude and understanding the way that God works in our heart. 

Blessing comes from knowing that we are poor in spirit on our own, and absolutely need Jesus at the center of our lives.  Blessing comes from being comforted by Jesus in times of mourning.  Blessing comes through humility and meekness, and knowing in our hearts that we’re not as great or as important as we think we are.  Blessing comes from the hunger in our hearts as we seek the righteousness of Jesus.  Blessing comes from releasing anger and feelings of wrath from our hearts and showing mercy to those who have sinned against us.  Blessing comes from having a pure heart that is set on seeing the Kingdom of God come to fruition in every area of our lives.  Blessing comes from the freedom of knowing that because we have peace with God through Jesus that we are called to make peace with others.  And blessing comes when our hearts and spirits are crushed by those who mock or hurt us because of our faith, because it is a sign that we are seeking after God whole heartedly. 

We can’t read these words without realizing how much being rightly related to God is a matter of the attitudes of our hearts towards Him.

In v.v. 13-14 Jesus talks about how those who follow him are salt and light in a world full of decay and darkness.  The metaphors are really striking when we pause to think about them.  In Jesus’ world, salt was a life giving substance.  It was used as decay prevention and to protect people from food borne illnesses that could kill them.  We take light for granted, because we can flip a switch and have it on demand.  But in Jesus’ day, everything was dark unless there was light to illuminate it.  The light of Jesus in our hearts reveals that we indeed belong to him, and points the way to Jesus for those living in darkness.

We can’t read these words without realizing how much being rightly related to God is a matter of the attitude of our hearts towards the world in which we live.

And then the rubber really meets the word as Jesus talks about what it means to live a life of holiness and righteousness on a personal level.  V.20 always stuck me as odd when Jesus says, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  What’s so striking about this is that the very people that Jesus holds up as an example of righteousness were the very people that were always at war with him.  How can this be?

You see, the “righteousness” of the Pharisees was a righteousness based on following and keeping a whole bunch of laws and rules.  Some of the laws were given by God in the Old Testament.  Some of the laws and rules were made by men over the course of centuries and added undue baggage and burden to those who struggled to keep them.  For the Pharisees and teachers of the law, righteousness was all about outward appearances.

What Jesus is saying here is that righteousness is far more about matters of the heart than it is about keeping laws and regulations.  We’ve got to be careful with this though.  Many people that experience the grace and love of Jesus want to disregard God’s instructions for holiness and right living.  But Jesus doesn’t leave that option to us.  The law is not abolished in Jesus, but fulfilled.  In other words, the life that Jesus lived – a perfect, sinless life – is the full expression of the fulfillment of all that God commands.  Jesus would later boil this down to two commandments: Love God with your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

Our righteousness comes from the heart, in our love for God; our love for ourselves and our love for other people.  True righteousness is expressed as obedience to the law of God because of our love for God.  We can keep rules and obey laws because we fear the punishment or the consequences, or we can obey God because we love Him and believe that His ways are ways that lead to life and blessing. 

When I was a kid, I was a pretty good kid, compared to most of my friends.  I have 2 older brothers, and they were just about perfect – according to my Mom anyway – but compared to them, I was a hellion.  Although I had learned the Beatitudes as a child and attended church and Sunday School and youth group as regularly as anybody else I knew, my own sense of my righteousness was based on being a good kid and staying out of trouble.

But I was good because I feared punishment.  I hated when I got spanked as a child.  My mom would use a rubber spatula on the back of my bare legs.  That hurt!  In comparison to many of my friends though, that was nothing.  I’d watch friends get spanked by their dads’ belts.  I’d see friends get wooden spoons broken over their butts at the hands of an angry mother.  I knew that wasn’t for me.  I can only remember my dad spanking one time in my life, and that was enough for me.  I was going to be a good kid.

And so as I grew into my teen years, I avoided many of the sins that my friends were engaged in.  I didn’t drink.  I didn’t take advantage of girls.  I didn’t have a foul mouth – well most of the time anyway.   I avoided a lot of the things my friends immersed themselves in.  Compared to them, I was doing it right and living righteously.  But mostly because I didn’t want to get caught and get punished.  The problem was, I was just like a Pharisee.

When I was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school, some other teenagers and their youth pastor told me about my need for Jesus.  I really wrestled with this.  I was a good kid.  Their stories of radical salvation, while moving, didn’t really resonate with me.  But somehow, God spoke through my arrogance and self-righteousness and helped me to see that I DID need Jesus.  All of those good things I did were nothing because I didn’t love God with all I had.  My own rule keeping wasn’t righteousness.  I needed a Savior and I needed to obey God because I love Him.  And I agreed.  That was the first time in my life where I WANTED a Savior and where I WANTED to please God because I love Him.

All of us need to come to that realization, and continually live in it.  As Matthew 5 continues, Jesus talks about murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge and loving enemies.  As he addresses each of these, he makes it clear that avoiding sin and living righteously begins in the heart because we love God and desire to obey Him because we understand and appreciate His love for us.  Get your heart right with God, and obedience will follow.  Out of obedience based in love, will flow blessing and abundance and the fullness of life that Jesus promises. 

Proverbs 4:23 - Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Healer

Matthew 4:24 - News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

In today's reading from Matthew 4, we get a glimpse into the very first hours and days of the public ministry of Jesus.  Following his temptation in the desert in which he was tested and tried, Jesus began to do 3 things: Preach, call people to follow Him and to heal.  

For many of us, we know the things that Jesus preached and taught.  For many of us, we've decided that Jesus is in fact our Messiah and we have chosen to follow him.  But I wonder how often we realize, and seek, his healing power in our lives?

What kinds of people did Jesus heal?  Well, we see in v.24 that he healed diseases; he healed those with severe pain; he healed the demon possessed; he healed people that were afflicted by seizures and he healed paralytics.  People were amazed by the healing power of Jesus and there was nobody that he couldn't heal.  

We are fortunate and blessed to live in an age where God has given wisdom and ability to men and women to be means of healing in our lives.  But there are limitations to what even the best doctors and practitioners of alternative medicine can do.  

When my wife Jessie was pregnant with our 9 year old son Isaac, an ultrasound late in her pregnancy showed some serious issues with his kidney development.  We met with a cold and tactless neo-natalogist that told us our son would live with polycistic kidney disease for his entire life, and that he would probably never be able to live the kind of life most normal boys do.  We heard about all kinds of things and kidney transplants at some point.  It was one of the most unsettling days of my life.

So what did we do?  We prayed.  Our friends and our church prayed for us and with us.  When we left the hospital with Isaac, we went straight to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to have some diagnostic tests done to see just how bad things were.  They weren’t nearly as bad as that neo-natalogist had told us they would be.  For the first 9 months of his life, Isaac was followed closely by a pediatric urologist, and had regular ultrasounds done.  At his 9 month visit, as the doctor was doing the ultrasound, he looked at us and said, “This is a miracle.  I never need to see him again.”

When we trust Jesus, and respond to his invitation to follow Him, we are never promised a life free from pain and suffering and illness.  Isaac still gets sick and hurt playing sports.  So do my other 2 kids.  So do I.  But we have a healer in Jesus.  A healer that often heals us in ways that we don’t even realize we need to be healed. 

Healing requires faith.  We see in v.24 that people were healed because people brought them to be healed.  They heard about Jesus.  They had seen Jesus.  And they believed that Jesus could heal their loved ones and so they brought them, no matter what they were suffering from. 

There’s definitely a tension here though.  Does it mean we don’t have faith if we don’t find the healing we seek?  I don’t believe that.  The Apostle Paul struggled all his life with what he described as a “thorn in his flesh,” that most scholars seem to agree was some sort of physical malady.  Paul had tremendous faith, and Jesus used him to heal people with many, many diseases of all kinds.  And yet Paul struggled with this pain.  But Paul also realized that the ultimate healing we have on this earth – the healing of our hearts when our sins are forgiven by Jesus – was a healing work that God had already done in his life.  Paul also knew that complete and total healing would come in Heaven.  It’s what caused him to say in response to his malady, “Your grace is sufficient.” 

Sometimes our healing in this life only comes spiritually and emotionally, and we have to press into the grace of Jesus as we endure physical pain, knowing that our lives are in his hands.  Sometimes our physical healing only comes when we escape these mortal bodies and bask in the presence of Jesus in heaven.  I wish I could explain why it has to be that way sometimes, but I can’t.

But I do know that Jesus is good and that he heals.  Not only does he heal, but he is with us in our suffering.  Hebrews 4:15&16 is a wonderful reminder of this: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Furious

In the Christmas story, it’s often easy to overlook Herod’s reaction to hearing about the birth of the Messiah.  But there it is, in Matthew 2:16 – “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were to years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”

This event, historically, has been called “The Slaughter of the Innocents.” History tells us that this is no fairy tale.  At the time of the birth of Jesus, there was a systematic and deliberate slaughter of baby boys in Judea.  According to God’s Word, the impetus for this slaughter was the fury of Herod at being outwitted by the Magi.  If we connect the dots in Matthew 2, it seems as if Herod would have been satisfied to just kill Jesus, if the Magi had led him there.  But they were warned in a dream by God not to return to Herod. 

In our culture today, it is almost unfathomable that something like this could happen, and yet it is happening.  Things really aren’t much different.  Every year in America, our government supports, funds and encourages the killing of 1.2 million innocent children under the guise of choice and convenience.  If ever there was a time for the righteous fury and anger of God’s people, this is it.  Too many Christians remain silent on this issue for fear of offending somebody.

The school massacre in Connecticut in December is a tragedy of monumental proportions.  Our nation was outraged and furious at the slaughter of these innocent children, and rightly so.  We grieved at a distance with that community.  We prayed for them.  We hugged and kissed our own kids a little extra.  We’re talking about ways to ensure that something like this never happens again.  20 precious children.  Unimaginable.

The President, like many other Americans, suddenly found some use for religious rhetoric and righteous anger.  His words at a prayer vigil in Newtown: “This is our first task: caring for our own children.  It’s our first job.  If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right.  That’s how, as a society, we will be judged . . . Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?”

I don’t agree with President Obama on much at all, but I absolutely agree with his assessment of our responsibility to our children.  But he, like so many in our culture today, rightly condemns the killing of 20 children in a school in Connecticut, yet condones the killing of 1.2 million children a year in America.  Our culture is profoundly confused when it comes to the value of life, and the value of our children. 

Caring for our own children begins in the womb.  Abortion causes great pain and distress to a baby.  A baby suffers as much physically during an abortion as every one of the children that was shot in Newtown, maybe even more.  If this is really our first job, how can we allow this to happen 1.2 million times a year in this country?

We’re not getting it right, and God WILL and IS judging our society based on our ignorance and callousness towards the sanctity of human life.  We are absolutely not doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose.  Not when our government condones and encourages killing 1.2 million of them a year because they’re “inconvenient.” 

This is not about choice.  This is not about convenience.  This is not about a woman’s right to do with her body what she wants.  Our bodies don’t belong to us anyway – what a joke!  Our bodies belong to God.  This is about what is right and this is about what God’s Word says about the value of every human life (read Psalm 139:13-16 if you’re confused about when life begins). 

I am furious that this is happening in our country.  It’s why at ALIVE Community Church, we partner with awesome ministries like Life Choices.  We put our money where our mouth is when it comes to saving innocent lives.  What if more of God’s people allowed this to righteously infuriate them and move them to action?  Could we see the end of legalized abortion in our country?  Please God, let it be so!  

The Most Boring 17 verses in the Bible

Our first reading of 2013 is from Matthew 1.  If you still haven't downloaded a copy of our One Year New Testament Reading Plan, you can find it here.  

Ever wonder why the Gospels start with a 17 verse list of obscure names and references?  If you're not real familiar with the Bible and its structure, you might find it odd - or maybe even boring - that the New Testament would begin like this.  I mean really, who knows – or even cares – who all of those people are?  I bet you were tempted to skip it, weren’t you?  If you did, you missed something incredible.  Before we talk about what’s incredible, let’s talk about the primary reason that it’s there.

Matthew, the man that God chose to write the book of Matthew, was Jewish.  Most of the first people who read his account of the life of Jesus were Jewish too.  You see, one of the primary goals of Matthew was to convince those to whom he was writing that Jesus was, in fact, the long awaited Messiah of Israel.  If Matthew’s goal was to convince his audience that Jesus was THE legit Messiah, he HAD to start by listing his ancestral credentials.  

Any good Jew would recognize the 2 most important names in that lineage - Abraham and David.   Abraham was the spiritual father of Israel - the first to enter into a covenant relationship with God in Genesis.  David was the greatest king in the history of Israel.  All of the prophecies about the coming Messiah said that he would come from the lineage of David.  So Matthew begins by just taking a few minutes to say essentially, "Look, Jesus' claims to be the Messiah are legit from a legal standpoint."  

But what's incredible to me when I read these words is the fact that God would use such a bunch of messed up, broken, sinful people in the lineage of Jesus.  I mean really, if God is trying to convince people in Scripture that Jesus is the Messiah, couldn't the list have looked a little better, and couldn't these people have had a little higher pedigree?

This genealogy is too exhaustive for me to talk about every single person in it.  But if you go to biblegateway.com and do a keyword search of each of these names, you'll see that everybody in this lineage is messed up.   

Some of this stuff sounds like it's straight out of Jerry Springer.   

Read about Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38.  That is messed up!  Read about Rahab in Joshua 2.  She was far from perfect!  Ruth was a pagan from Moab.  The Moabites were one of the most sexually perverted cultures in ancient times.  And we know that despite the greatness of King David that he slept with one of his soldiers' wives (Bathsheba), got her pregnant and then had her husband (Uriah) killed.  The list of Israel's kings that follows David is littered with men that did much evil in the sight of God.  

Nobody in this list is perfect, not even Mary (nope, she's not sinless and she wasn't a perpetual virgin).  In fact, these people are far from perfect.  The incredible thing about Matthew 1 is that it shows us that no matter who we are or what we've done, we're never beyond the grace of God.  No matter who we are or what we've done, we're never beyond being used for the purposes of God.  

But it's not just a feel good story.  It's a story about a Messiah, a Savior.  You see, the birth of a Savior isn't really news at all - good, bad or indifferent - if you don't realize that you need a Savior.  All of the people in the lineage of Jesus needed a Savior.  You and I need a Savior, because we're not perfect either.  

The wonder of the birth of Jesus is that He is "Immanuel - which means 'God with us.'" (v.23).    God loves us so much that He came to us in Jesus.  He was born to die for our sins, in our place and on our behalf, shedding His blood as a perfect atonement for sin.  This wasn't the kind of Messiah that Israel was expecting, but Jesus is the kind of Messiah that saves, heals, restores and makes new.  His life is about our new life.  





 

The Fuel of Revolution

In a few days, I'll be preaching on The Fuel of Revolution, Part 1 - God's Word as part of our New Year's Revolution Sermon Series at ALIVE! Community Church.  As a part of this message, I'll be encouraging everybody at ALIVE to read through the New Testament in one year.  I believe that as we do this together, we'll see God do revolutionary things in our lives and in our church.

You can download a copy of the reading plan by clicking here.  Then click on "Weekly New Testament Reading Plan"

Each week, I'll be sharing some of my thoughts on the readings.  Feel free to add comments and thoughts at the end of each blog entry.