The Elder Son Luke 15:28-32

This story is so much more rich that I have ever understood. The elder son would have known that the day of the prodigal's return would have been the greatest day of the Father's life. As a matter of fact it would have been the responsibility of the elder son to the the key reconciler between the father and the rebellious son. What I have found is that a primary theme in the parable is distance from the father's heart. Keep in mind that over half of the parable is about the elder son. If the story were truly about the prodigal only, would not it have ended upon his return? The story is about 2 sons who both attack the unity of the family, and who are both alienated from the father.

We see the younger son doing things that put him in the lost category, Jesus however points out that the elder son is just as lost! So we sort of learn that there are two kinds of lostness.

As I was studying this it occured to be that perhaps we have misdefined something. The text says that the younger son went of to a "distant country" we have understood this to mean that he left his family and went far away. In other words, he was far from the father. We even say that in our own Christian culture do we not? We say, " Well , I was far from God" Of course usually this is said in the context of us being involved in ,

1. Sexual sin
2. Some other addiction
3. A religious search
4. Maybe just living for ourselves,

Whatever the case, most would agree that if one is involved in one of the aforementioned, he is "far from God"

I started thinking, and the time in my life when I was "sinning", this is not the time where I felt the furthest from God. Honestly, it was when I was choosing sin that I was most cognizant of His presence. Now mind-you , I was never as "far-off" as the prodigal son. For me, the time when I felt the furthest was when I was in seminary, preparing for ministry. This was the time when I was learning the Greek and Hebrew and the do's and don'ts of church life. This was a time in my life where everything I learned was used to judge those who did not know what I did. My faith and Christian walk felt the most mechanical and fake, rarely did I feel close to God. I share this because I believe we have misunderstood the idea of being "far from God" We are far from God when our hearts are distant. We are far from God when the father does not concern us. We are far from God when we have a bible in our hands, a backside in the pew, while at the same time our hearts have no concern with the things of God or a passion for His people. Its a little like loneliness, often times you feel the most alone when surrounded by hoards of people. Just because you are around Christians or just because you are in church, does not mean you are close to God or share His heart!

I Timothy 4:10

"To this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe" I Timothy 4:10

Matthew Henry Writes in response, " The salvation He has in store for those who believe is sufficient to recompense them for all their services and sufferings"

A Quote !

I was reading an article today about John Calvin. In the article the writer, in explaining John's heart said something that we would do well to understand. This is how Calvin lived his life and what an example for us!

When Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He was not telling us: " Now when you go about your life, when you pursue your goals, don't forget the big picture. Don't lose sight of why you do what you do." Instead Jesus was telling us: "Seek this. Seek this alone. Forget about everything else. Have a single-minded passion and leave the rest alone. It is in hands anyway"

Does this characterize your life?

The Holy Spirit !

Evaluate these 2 statements:

1. You have no less of Jesus than the first disciples did. You just have Him in the person of the Holy Spirit.

2. You have as much spiritual power at your fingertips as the next believer. The question is what are you going to do with it!

Fish

I was reading for this week's sermon and came across a statement that really hit me. The quote reads, " God cleans the fish after He catches them", That may not seem all that profound, but it applies to our story of the lost son. Being found does not require that you get your act together and you change your life. In our story, it was the father who cleans up the son. In our lives, we simply need to " come to our senses" -- We need to be tired of ourselves and the world's way of doing things. At this point we are ready to be "found" by God and at this point He can start to make the changes He needs to.

Strange Thoughts

Is there anything we can do to be acceptable or accepted by God? It would seem that the answer would be yes. I mean there has to be something we can do that will invoke a positive response from God. What about good works. surely that will produce a pleased God. In studying the parable of the Prodigal son. I started to believe for a moment that there was something that just might earn a standing before God. The theme in the parable , as is in the two prior is that of repentance. I started to think that I had found the key to the reception of God. I quickly then realized that if there is anything that I can do or anything that I have to do to earn God's positive response then, this would reduce the unconditional love nature of our Holy God. In other words, if me doing something earns God's favor , then His favor is conditional. If His love and acceptance is conditional, then HIs motives are not pure. If His motives are not pure, then He is not a Holy Loving God. If He is not a Holy Loving God, then how could I trust anything He says, as I would always be left questioning His Motives. Here in lies the problem, we do not trust God, we do not trust His motives because we confuse Him with ourselves. This reality forces us to come up with ways to earn favor with God. Any earning of favor that is initiated by us is self-centered. Whew!! I almost bought into the idea that repentance earns our standing before God. For the inverse is the truth. God's love and open arms are what allows for us to repent and recieve the Love that is already there.

Matthew 7

I was studying Matthew 7 with our youth last evening. We discussed the "plank removal" and we discussed the idea of judging our fellow man when we have this huge plank in our eye. As we were talking it occurred to me that the passage is much more than about not judging others. When I read verse 2, it really struck me what Jesus was saying, " For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." By what standard would we like to judge. Its ironic that we would say as a Christian that we would only want God to judge us, while not realizing that He has the most insight as to the intent of our heart. Do we really want Him judging is? I mean in "real life" is it not better to have our fellow man judge us, after all we can fake them out, we can "pretend " to be something we are not and then the judgement we receive , we actually fabricate. The problem is when this is the standard by which we choose to be judged or understood, we find ourselves constantly misunderstood. So we have to reinvent ourselves or default into apathy. What if the standard by which we were judged were God. What if the "measure was God himself. What would this look like? Yes, its dangerous. Why would I say that? Well, God is the only one who knows the true intentions and condition of our heart. When He is our standard, we can not be misunderstood. Who better to judge us than the one who, " knows the depths of our hearts, and loves us the same. " I choose to live for God, not the approval of man. He knows me and , and as long as I seek Him and Him alone, what else could I want for?

Now onto the judging others part. Scripture does not say that we should not judge period. Jesus just informs us that the "measure" by which we do so will be the same measure by which we are also judged. What if we looked at others and understood that we could never truly understand their hearts. What would we do then. " You Got it" We would pray for them and allow the One who truly knows them to speak to them and change their hearts. By the way, at that point, He may show us our true selves.

As the youth and I discussed, God's standard is way to high for us to reach on our own. Jesus knew that, and that is why He came down to earth to not lower the standard, but to lift us up to a position of righteousness. How encouraging is it to know, for me at least, that God has never lowered His standard for me, but has judged me based on the perfection and sacrifice of Jesus.

What if we looked at people that same way? Would our hearts break for them? Would we pray more honestly for His passion ? Just some thoughts !

My confidence

Last evening, the youth and I discussed the bar that has been set before us by God. The youth had tremendous insight regarding how high that bar has been set. At first glance this truth can be intimidating because we know that we can never measure up. God's Word tells us that He is holy and he cannot be in the presence of unholiness. When you read Philippians 3:9, you realize that God has not lowered His standards , but rather has placed us in relationship with the only one who could live a perfect righteous life. , " and may be found in Him , not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith." We must learn to stop having confidence in our own ability, but must learn to place all of our faith and trust in Christ Jesus.
Thank you Lord for placing that bar so high, and thank you for allowing me to trust in His ability to live up to the standard.

Are We missing Out?

This question I ask because, I wonder just how much do we miss out on hearing God because of all the noise that surrounds us? How many days go by that you cannot hear the voice of God, for all the clutter and noise? Does this even bother you?

Without practicing silence, we will not hear from God, so this week just try silence. You would be amazed at how difficult it is to even sit for 3 minutes, yes I know people like me have an even more difficult time, but just try it. Just sit for a period of time, read a portion of scripture and ask God these three ?'s

1. How have I messed up?
2. What do you want to show me?
3. What do you want me to do?

Of course each of these questions requires not just the asking, but the waiting for the answer. Also remember, God most often speaks through His Word.


Psalm 46:10 : " Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.

How Good is Good Enough ?

It's not so unusual we think this way. Look at our lives! We've been taught to ask: How well do I have to do to get the A? How many points do I need to average to make Varsity? What GRE scores do I need to get into that graduate program? What sales goal do I need to hit to get the promotion? The 'how good is good enough' question in one form or another applies to most every aspect of our lives.
Here's the great news...our God operates in a whole other economy than this world does! What is His only requirement for us to be loved by Him and sure of eternity with Him? Look at the words of scripture:
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. ~ 1 John 5:11-13

Do: Rest in the fact that your place in eternity and the love of the Father doesn't rely on your own goodness, but on the goodness of Jesus Christ.
Pray: Dear God, thank you that I can know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm accepted by You because I have Jesus! Show me someone in my life that needs to know this truth and help me to find just the right opportunity to share this great news with them.

Repeat the Words of Job !

Can we repeat the words of Job ? If its been a while or if you have never read the book of Job, I challenge you to do so. As you read, the point is not to compare your life to Job's and come out releaved that yours is not quite as bad. The point is that regardless of what life throws your way, the knowledge that "My Redeemer lives" should keep us going. As I think about this in the context of Easter , I realize that the hope that we have in Christ is the same hope that Job in the Old Testament. If Jesus can defeat death, He can certainly handle your problems, if He died to save your life for eternity, He can certainly give you the life He promised on this earth.

Colossians 3:22-25

Although this scripture is aimed at servants/employees, it is applicable to each one of us in our lives, whether we are in employment, or working in the home, or in a particular full-time ministry. Whatever we are doing, let us not be looking to man’s approval. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Whatever we do, let us do it as if we are doing it for Jesus. May we not be pleasers of men, performing well when their eyes are on us. Because our reward does not come from men, but from the Lord, as verse 24 says “Knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The one whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah)”.So often we may look for approval from others. Quite often it doesn’t come. We shouldn’t rely on that, or even look for that. In the end it is God who we will stand before to give an account (Romans 14:10-12).Let us look for our Lord's approval smile. To hear the words ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant’.

I so often find myself pulled in different directions, of course this happens because I find myself wanting to please people over God. I just felt these verses were a reminder I needed most of all. I am called by God, not man and pleasing man is a dangerous thing that will often pull us off course. The enemy (Satan) I believe uses our tendency to need the approval of man to get us not to sin directly, but to take our eyes of Jesus. I guess Paul knew what he was talking about when He told us to " Fix our eyes on Jesus"

A Reminder

I was reading in Mark 8 this a.m. Jesus had just performed a miracle by taking 7 loaves of bread and turning it into an amount that fed 4000. Verse 10 says that Jesus Immediately got into the boat with the disciples and left to the region of Dalmanutha. Verse 11" Then the pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him, (12) " But He sighed deeply in His Spirit, and said, " Why does this generation seek a sign? " Scripture says he left them by getting into the boat again with some of His disciples. Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus warned them to take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and that of Herod. The Disciples were confused and somehow thought Jesus was getting on to them for not bringing enough bread. Jesus then , knowing their thoughts, proceeds to go off on them for having hardened hearts. Now at first glance you might think that Jesus is having a bad day, maybe He is tired and is taking it out on the disciples. He asks them if their hearts are hardened? And then proceeds to remind them of both miracles that he had performed regarding bread. Ok, what is Jesus' problem? Why is He so mad. In this context, Jesus is reminding the disciples that He has the ability to provide anything they may lack. He is saying, " You have seen me provide, and yet your faith is still so little" He warns them against the "leaven" because He sees them as really being no different then the Pharisees, who needed more signs to believe.

What about us? How many times does Jesus have to prove Himself ? Do we find ourselves, faithless, just wanting one more sign before we believe, before we trust?

Are we totally convinced that Jesus can provide, that Jesus desires to provide everything we might need?

We, like the disciples, have been given ears to hear and eyes to see! Remember what the Lord has done for you and ask Him to help you with your unbelief.

This passage starts with a statement by Jesus regarding those who had been following Him." I have compassion on the multitude, because they have continued with Me for three days and have nothing to eat."

Jesus knows our needs, He knows of the lives of the faithful followers, Its our job to trust Him

The Upside

It's real easy to do things for people when there is an upside. When we know that we will be rewarded, even if that reward is simply recognition. It becomes less easy when we might face hardship, scrutiny, or even a considerable amount of pain or abuse. In order for this to be possible, we must have a clear view of the end in mind, we have to see that the immediate pain will be outweighed by a benefit for us. What was the upside for Jesus? He became sin and suffered the ultimate suffering for such sin. The upside is us! He was willing to suffer as much as He did for us. We were worth it ! Does that amaze you. It reminds me of the statement, " Jesus is the reason for the season" I guess if you think about it, that's not true. "We are the reason for the season" The reason Jesus came was for us. Of course Jesus is the reason for celebration, and that celebration can and should not be limited to any one season.

Thank you Jesus!!

Baptism of Jesus

I was reading in Mark this a.m. It has always interested me that Jesus needed to be baptized . The Jewish people had a similiar one-time washing of Gentile proselytes. This rite symbolized their embracing of true faith. This served as an admission that they needed to come to God through repentance and faith. I get that Jesus had no reason to repent for any sin that He himself committed, yet His submission to baptism one, confirmed the message that John the Baptist came preaching, but two, visibly demonstates His willingness to become sin for us----

'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Galatians 3

Galatians 3:21-22, " Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law"

In reading through Galatians, and especially This particular verse, it might be easy to conclude that the law is irrelevant for us today. But , Paul in Galatians only describes the law as it relates to our justification. He describes in great detail how the law was NEVER to be used by sinners to effect their own salvation..

The law was given to refute the idea that we can get right with Him by doing enough good to outweigh our bad. Verse 19 tells us that the law was added because of our transgressions.

I love what Luther says, "the law prepares a person for faith, as a "mirror that shows he is a sinner, guilty of death, and worthy of God's indignation and wrath." -- This is actually good news huh!! Its a good thing that our justification is not found in following the law, but in the finished work of Christ, who was tempted and yet did not sin.

Chariots

Psalm 20: 7 says, " Some trust in Chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God"

Question: What is your chariot, and who are your horses? In what or in whom have you been placing your trust? Stop! " Remember the name of the Lord our God"

He can be trusted, He has shown himself faithful and trustworthy! My prayer today is that all of us would learn to trust him more daily-- Its a good thing He is patient huh?

Galatians 3:10

This morning I read Galatians 3:10, " For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ' cursed be be anyone who does not abide by all things in the Book of the Law and do them'" (v.10)

At first this verse might discourage someone, especially if you do not understand the idea of justification. Paul is saying that all who "rely on the law" are still under the curse of sin. This curse of course introduced by Adam. When we choose to rely on the works of the law or rely on following all of the law as basis for our "rightness" or"righteousness", then we operate under that curse. It is not until we trust Jesus for our righteousness that we are OK before God.

All of us should be daily recognizing our inability to please God in ourselves, repenting of our sin, and looking to Jesus alone for our righteousness.

Now many who read this might say, " I did that" Know this, Yes we all do need to come to a point where we say " yes " to Jesus. This is the basis for our eternity, yet daily we must be reminded that not only are we saved by Jesus, but we are also to live daily on the basis of His righteousness. I do not think it is just me that needs to constantly return to Him claiming my dependence.

Super Bowl 2010

I just wanted to ensure everyone knew who would be in the Superbowl in 2010. Our first year in the new stadium should be a great year for that

Thoughts on Justification

I read this quote today in reference to Galatians 2:15-16.

" Faith does not merit God's acceptance;it accepts Christ's merit before God "

I just wanted to throw that out for your thoughts.

I just know that I am truly thankful that it is based on Christ's merit that I am justified before God, not based on my own merit.

So I wonder why do I try now to live based on my own merit?

I was reading this morning the passage that in 1 Corinthians about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit. This reality has always been amazing to me, yet it has not always caused me pause before I act. So I started to wonder, do I live my life in this reality? I read a short story about a man who went to visit a great cathedral in New York. When He walked up to a shrine, around the neck of St. Joseph He saw a sine that read Do not worship here, this shrine is out of order.

So I wonder about my life, is there a sign around my neck? Do not expect to see Jesus here-- This shrine is out of order.

If indeed my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then My worship to the Lord should be evident in my daily life. I need to make sure my shrine is in order-- I am to glorify God in my body and in my spirit which belong to God.