Speaking Into The Meltdown

Speaking Into the Meltdown

Note from Pastor Ed Evans: Rather than my normal Sunday sermon, I wish to share with you a sermon by Gordon MacDonald. He has been a pastor and author for more than fifty years. He serves as Chancellor at Denver Seminary, as editor-at-large for Leadership Journal, and as a speaker at leadership conferences around the world. His books include Building Below the Waterline, Who Stole My Church, A Resilient Life, and Ordering Your Private World. Gordon and his wife, Gail, live in New Hampshire. Gordon MacDonald delivered this message on March 30, 2009. Yes, this message is two years old, but as important as if he delivered it five minutes ago.

I share this with you because we all seem to be focused on pending national disaster. We are probably in that box because both our national leadership and our news media continues to tell us we are there. As followers of Jesus Christ, having established our faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we must realize we are not in that box. There are not only alternatives, but the national leadership of this nation that we love is not nearly so much "in charge" as they think. Gordon MacDonald addresses that paradigm here.

Scripture: Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21

145:8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
145:9 The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
145:14 The LORD upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.
145:15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
145:16 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
145:17 The LORD is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.
145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
145:19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them.
145:20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
145:21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Speaking into the Meltdown
Our times demand a new kind of leadership.

Recently, I was invited to a breakfast meeting for financial executives where two world-class economists offered their analysis of the global economic crisis. The presentations—mostly statistics about bailouts, indexes and averages—was over (way over!) my head.

Everyone else at my table appeared to comprehend what was being said, so I pretended I did, too, nodding my head at appropriate places and furiously taking notes.

What was clear, even to me, was the larger message the speakers were trying to convey: uncertainty. This much was abundantly clear: no one can say with confidence what's going to happen on Wall Street or Main Street in the foreseeable future. The solutions being offered as a way out of this recession or depression (call it what you will) are nothing more than educated guesses. Bottom line: don't bet on anything. Keep your seat belt tightened and don't quit your day job … if you've got one.

One of the speakers suddenly stopped talking statistical language and in plain English offered some observations. Here in bulleted form is what I heard him saying:

• There is all kinds of evidence that this economic tsunami (the speaker's word) is radically changing the ways Americans think about money and the ways it has defined our modern way of life.
• We're seeing an economic paradigm shift in the way people are beginning to save rather than spend.
• New and cautious views of the meaning of career, risk, wealth, success, and personal satisfaction are emerging.
• Trust, the "glue" that holds financial systems together, has been almost destroyed.
• Economically speaking, the world has gone from peak to trough overnight, and we are likely to remain in that trough for several years. Better to plan with that long range view in mind than keep getting disappointed by every quarterly business report.

As the speaker ventured these speculations, the audience seemed to freeze, each person appearing to turn inward as if to ask: Where am I in the midst of all of this? What do these new realities mean to me and to my loved-ones?

A new kind of leadership?

My own reaction was to wonder if we are not in a profoundly biblical moment: a time when God is seeking the attention of people and when he wishes to raise up a new kind of leadership with a different kind of message.

For forty years or so, leadership in my branch of the Christian movement has been characterized by entrepreneurial calls to vision, to the dream of world-changing, to the possibilities of large organizations with global reach via technology and marketing skill. Some of those leaders, whom I admire, have achieved spectacularly, and I am grateful to know them.

Borrowing a term, I see these past forty years as the period of boomer leadership during which there has been an impressive effort to redefine and recast the church. These leaders have given us, among other things, mega-congregations, global TV "ministries," and books (including many New York Times best sellers). Someday history, maybe God Himself, will reveal whether this was a lasting or merely a temporary contribution to the centuries-long Christian movement.

I observed how boomer Christian leaders tried to respond initially to the downturn in our economy. Their message, up until very recently, was one based on the hope that the world was merely experiencing a temporary economic hiccup and that everyone should keep on financially supporting his or her favorite (usually meaning their) Christian organizations.

One TV preacher spoke on the world situation as if he'd figured it all out and then ended his sermon with an invitation to his audience to sign up for a cruise to … (well, I won't say where, but it is an expensive destination).

Now things are changing. Once-optimistic leaders representing Christian colleges, seminaries, para-church ministries, and congregations are now saying this economic downturn may not be temporary and that it could in fact threaten the existence of many of these organizations.

Much of this has surprised me. For some time I have tried to imagine (and predict) the necessary changes soon to be made by all Christian institutions and churches because of new technology and social networking. But I wasn't smart enough to realize that the changes I anticipated might be driven more by economic pressures than innovations.

It's here that I want to dive in deep and risk a personal opinion or two and to provoke fresh thinking.

As I listen to leaders, I have yet to hear in the midst of all the organizational pain what I believe is a greater question than just institutional survival: Is God saying something in all of this international mess that a bunch of us might not be able to hear in any other way?

If we are a part of a biblical movement that believes God is continuously present and always speaking, then what is he saying now?

Is it time for a prophet?

Does the Bible have much to say about economic meltdowns, times when lots of people lose everything? Yes. They might not be defined in the same way as today's recessions and depressions. Rather they took the form of famines, plagues, natural disasters, and the consequences of military conquest. People suffered and died during these Biblical meltdowns. There were no governmental safety nets.

In virtually every meltdown in Bible times, God shows up speaking through the voice of a prophet. In fact, it appears as if meltdowns and prophets go together, and sometimes it's hard to figure out which one leads to the other.

Prophets usually came not from the center of society but from the edge. They were beholden to no one. They cared little about personal safety, reputation, or speaker-fees. They spoke with a gift of heavenly discernment, people who had insight into the meaning of contemporary events.

Sometimes they came across as rather angry people who hated human exploitation and abuse, and much of the time, their view of sin and evil had a lot to do with economics and the misuse of power.

Most prophets did not live long. More often than not, they were killed in the line of duty. The words of Ahab regarding the prophet, Micaiah, suggest why: "I hate him," Ahab said, "because he never prophesies anything good about me."

So allow me a speculative question. What if we are suddenly in need of a little less boomer leadership (no offense intended) and a little more of this prophetic leadership?

Where to turn your eyes

During Biblical versions of meltdown, we see that fear and despair were the dominant moods. The widow of Zarephath, amid a devastating famine, describes her condition to Elijah: "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."

While few in today's western world find themselves as bad off as the widow, we need to be aware that millions in other parts of the world might find her comments quite descriptive of their situation.

Could the widow's experience ever become our experience? We're foolish not to contemplate this possibility. Newspaper articles this week describe churches in California flooded with calls from people asking for assistance on their mortgage payments and help in finding food.

If the widow seems an innocent victim of meltdown, the onetime king of Israel, Ahab, (not a nice man) represents a different side of the same event. Having chosen a life that was violently antithetical to the laws of Israel's God, he attracted heaven's judgment.

The prophet denounces him: "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

Overnight, as Elijah prophesied, everything in Ahab's world underwent meltdown. One would have wished that he quickly repented and gotten on with a more God-friendly life. But he chose to defy Elijah's message, and the result: everyone suffered. The widow of Zarephath is one example.

Instead of repenting, Ahab focused his energies on trying to locate Elijah and kill him … as if the prophet, not Ahab, was to blame for the meltdown.

Ahab reminds me of those who react to meltdowns by going on witch hunts so that others can be blamed—the other political party, or the bankers, or the oil nations, for example—for what has happened.

While there is always an appropriate moment to identify those who have walked outside the law, the first search ought always to begin with oneself. Prophets believed this. That means that I start with questions such as: how have I been complicit in the economic disorder which rages. Have I lived beyond my personal means? Have I incurred irresponsible debt? Have I lived indulgently, a lifestyle directed more by culture than by the influence of Christ? Has my life's purpose been more about acquiring stuff than living a life of generosity and compassion? What bothersome questions these are!

Military sieges were usually an attempt to cause an economic meltdown of a city. The assumption was that people deprived of food and water would finally capitulate when the city's infrastructure failed to provide the essentials. Desperation overcomes Jerusalem in the time of King Jehoshaphat when it is besieged by the armies of Moab and Ammon.

In this case, we get a rather instructive view of spiritual leadership within a meltdown.

In a public prayer, Jehoshaphat speaks frankly about the effects of the siege: "If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague, or famine, we will stand in Your presence before this temple that bears Your Name and will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us." Later in the same prayer, he says, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."

Jehoshaphat prays like a broken man who knows that Jerusalem's salvation can come only through direct deliverance from the God of Israel. Unlike the widow of Zarephath who prepared to surrender to events larger then herself and die, Jehoshaphat prays with the conviction that God will hear and act.

When I survey the behaviors of people in Biblical meltdowns, my favorite is always the story of the four lepers in the Samaria famine who in their final moments of starvation decided to surrender themselves to the Arameans whose choke-hold strategy was causing such misery.

"What have we got to lose?" they reason among themselves. "Stay here and we surely die, one of them says; cast ourselves on the mercy of the enemy, and we might live" (my translation).

When the lepers reach the enemy position, they were surprised to discover that the army had retreated and left abundant stores of food and accessories behind.

Here's where the story of the lepers turns noble. Although their first instinct was to gorge themselves, one of them suddenly said, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves." Within hours a population near death was rescued because of the lepers' generous thinking.

This reminds me of an important principle in meltdowns. In the worst of times, we are likely to see a lot of goodness arise in the hearts of some people. While bad people usually get worse during a meltdown, good people often get "gooder."

Do meltdowns have meaning?

When the Bible describes meltdowns, it suggests there are causes or lessons worth exploring. This is part of the task of the prophetic leader. Face the why-questions. What has led to this moment? Where did we all get derailed? What sins need to be confessed? What wrongs need to be made right?

Some modern prophet might want to ask us if today's meltdown is really the result of a few greedy Wall Street financiers. Or do we all share a general responsibility for having bought into an economic system that has allowed some to become obscenely rich while allowing many others to grow obscenely poor.

For too many years there has been silence among Christians in my tradition regarding the flaws and excesses of the capitalistic system. To even hint in many of my circles that there might be aspects of our economic way of life that are un-Biblical would be for most pastors an invitation to job-loss overnight. We have snuffed out intelligent and searching discourse by saying with a dash of humor that capitalism has flaws but it's way ahead of any other system. That does it. It usually stops conversation.

But now that many people have been "victimized" by the greed and dishonesty in the system, perhaps there may be room to get the conversation going and ask some of these formerly-resisted questions: How did we allow ourselves to mix Christian faith and Wall Street economics so completely that we find it difficult to tell where one leaves off and the other takes up?

Today's meltdown may actually force us to deal with the justice question: is it truly Christian for some to live so well while others—not just lazy people—live so unwell.

Justice has not been a well-taught subject for most of us … until now, possibly.

As one preacher out of many, I can tell you of the times when the mere use of the word justice in a sermon invited angry accusations of being "liberal" (a horrible word for many) or even un-American.

But let any of us see our retirement accounts evaporating, or our jobs being dissolved, or a few flying corporate jets while the rest of us go Greyhound, and suddenly the word justice takes on fresh and very personal meaning.

The biggest question

Maybe the most important question is this one: When things melt down, what do we do for the many people who begin to search for something that can offer them a better way of living, a reliable hope?

Some are open to a word from God. One might dream that such people would hear of a Jesus who never let money or stuff or status define him. One might be tempted to brood on the significance of His words, "The Son of Man (the Prince of Heaven) does not have a place to lay His head."

In these days of economic distress we will no doubt hear much about a historic 19th century depression that hit in 1859. America and much of Europe was then plunged into fiscal chaos. Unemployment in American cities neared 25 percent.

While not having a complete economic stimulus plan, a man named Jeremiah Lanphier one day got a simple idea. Why not, he asked, get some people together each day at noon to pray? Lanphier was the key guy who got churches up and down the east coast to open their doors at midday and admit people for the purposes of prayer. And by the millions—in America and in Europe—people began to pray.

I doubt that Lanphier ever got a scintilla of credit for the eventual economic recovery of the nations. But, on the other hand, he originated a spiritual bailout.

All I know is that what became known as the Noontime Prayer Revival touched several generations before its influence ended. But it took a fiscal meltdown to get it off the ground.

Jeremiah, where are you when we need you?

Amen.

Why the Tears? by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Psalm 119:129-136

119:129 Your decrees are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.
119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
119:131 With open mouth I pant, because I long for your commandments.
119:132 Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your custom toward those who love your name.
119:133 Keep my steps steady according to your promise, and never let iniquity have dominion over me.
119:134 Redeem me from human oppression, that I may keep your precepts.
119:135 Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.
119:136 My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not kept.

Since the time I retired from serving a brick and mortar church, my wife and I have visited many churches in our area, looking for the sacrificial love within the church we once knew. We have found many excellent preachers, loving and caring people, among the various denominations. But it just has not been quite the same.

I should explain that the denomination I once served has a rule that when a pastor retires, he may not return and become a member of the congregation he once served. The practical reason is the possibility that people's loyalty and allegiance to the former pastor will cause problems for the new pastor. I believe that having experienced the love of God and the guiding of the Holy Spirit in the pastoral role, a pastor would be able to further support the new pastor through association with longtime church friends, and not allow himself to be a problem for the new pastor. However, the denomination does not agree with that line of thought. So, we had to leave our friends and seek out another church. That has been our wandering and eventful journey, our odyssey.

This wandering, comparing, searching has left me with several thoughts about the Bride of Christ, if not in America, at least where I have joined in worship. My first thought is that, were I granted the opportunity to begin again, it would not be with a denomination, and secondly, the church would pay its taxes and speak freely, openly, about the society in which we find ourselves in this age.

Let me say quickly that we never "did-not-stay" with a church because of the people. Nashville, Tennessee, is filled with people who love God and search to find ways to be the hand of Christ to others, to love, to care for, to cheer other brothers and sisters in Christ.

While attending one church we were visiting, my wife became ill during the week, and learning of this the women of the church arranged a steady stream of home-cooked meals which they delivered to our home. The food was so good I thought perhaps word had leaked out about my poor culinary arts talents. We were not members of that church, but that was not the criteria by which they reached out to those in need, and we were blessed by their kindness in a mighty way.

No, it was not the people that kept us visiting around, but the church management in terms of what that denomination stood for, what they supported within the society within which we all live, how they dealt with the issue of sin.

I don't hesitate to admit there are many -- not a few, but many -- who will tell you I am too demanding of the church, that I am too "hardnosed" when it comes to what the Bible calls sin. Having been called on the carpet by many who would follow Christ regarding this issue of sin, I would explain that Ed Evans doesn't decide what is sinful, i go by what my God says in the inspired word of God. And I don't go around pointing fingers at people over sin, I introduce them to Jesus Christ and they convict themselves. But I am a discerning person, which God's word tells me to be.

In today's scripture from the Psalms, they speak of God's decrees, commandments and His expectations for us. Of those we need to be discerning, loving even the unlovable as those decrees call for, but being discerning of right and wrong, good and evil, fallen and resurrected.

In 1st Kings 2, Solomon, new to the throne of Israel, is asked of God what He should give him, and Solomon asks for a discerning heart that he might know right from wrong. Like the wisest of all men, we are to be discerning, not judging others unfairly, but discerning right from wrong. And this is the element I find lacking in many churches today. No one is willing to tell their congregation that there is flat out right, and absolute wrong. Black and white have become dark gray and gray. Every action, every plan, every desire is judged according to how it will seem in accordance with the interpreted mores and ethics of today's society. I cannot tell you how dangerous that is, to allow yourself to be guided by the changing ethics of this world, even as Satan is the god of this world.

The holy, inspired word of God is clear and true, even though what we read today was written more than 2,000 years ago. The natural sinfulness of mankind has not changed, and what was wrong in God's eyes in the time of the prophet Samuel is wrong for mankind today.

Now there are those who would muddy the water by throwing in such things as dietary laws, but that's just Satan tickling your ears repeating the lie He told Eve in the Garden of Eden, "God didn't really mean that." Yes, God did, and God does, "really mean that."

Today's scripture begins with the acknowledgment, "Your decrees are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of Your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."

All can understand what God wants from us. It's not complicated. His sacrificial love, demonstrated for us through Jesus Christ, makes it easy to understand. We make it difficult by playing to our own human desires, trying to find a way around what God warns us away from, weasel-wording what He says, and what He wants from us.

I observe that churches today are setting aside the sharp edges of what God has demanded of us, and play instead to what human society says is good and okay. We tarnish His Word by overlaying it with "What God meant to say was...." No, God said what He meant to say. But we walk all over his precepts and commands for us meant to draw us close and protect us from ourselves. Instead of learning more about what the Word of God says, delving deeply into His intentions and purposes for us, we get lectures on improving ourselves so that we are successful in business and society, so that we can fatten our bank accounts and share with the church.

And if it's not that, we are treated to horror stories and scare tactics about the eventual coming of Christ, about Armageddon and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. But instead of being concerned about when Christ is coming, we need to get into the meat of His word and be more concerned about what kind of people we are when He gets here. Will He push through the hungry, homeless, needy to get to us in our glitzy churches and beautiful homes?

The issue of what kind of people we will be when He comes is more serious than many want to think about. For we claiming to be worshippers of the one and only God, the great I Am of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, have wandered far afield from the Christ who unreservedly declares, "No one comes to the Father but through Me." Believe it or not that very claim is an embarrassment to some so-called Christians. But Christ knew already that would be a problem, and He sent an answer to us across the ages, in both Mark 8:38 and Luke 9:26, that whoever was ashamed of Him and His words, "...the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." A frightening thought.

But many of the "best" churches, the largest denominations don't want to go there. They are busy conforming to the latest changes in human society, placing those who sin blatantly, contrary to God's Word, in positions of leadership and authority. They do this, they explain, that the Word of God be served, and justice be done.

But the Word of God is not served. Justice is not done. And yes, for that I weep. And those who do not love God in the way Jesus said in John 14:15 may not understand why, as it says in Psalm 119:136, "My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not kept." Some are incensed when they see sin rampant. Some are perplexed, not knowing what they should do. Some fall in with those in error so as not to stand out and be ridiculed or set apart. I weep. Many who love Him weep. My heart aches for the separation from God that I see and I weep for I have a deep sense of the consequences. And that is worth weeping over. Yes, a grown man weeps. An old man cries. If only my tears had the power to share with them the deep, abiding, sacrificial love they are throwing back in the face of a patient, loving God.

Lord God, as it says in Your precious Word, "Turn to us and be gracious to us, to each one reading this, as is Your custom toward those who love Your name. Keep our steps steady according to Your promise, and never let iniquity have dominion over us. Redeem us from human oppression, that we may keep Your precepts. Make Your face shine upon Your servants, and teach us Your statutes." Amen.

The Tares Are On a Tear, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

13:24 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;
13:25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.
13:26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
13:27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'
13:28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'
13:29 But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.
13:30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
13:36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field."
13:37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
13:38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,
13:39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
13:40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers,
13:42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

Dag Hammerskjold. once America's ambassador to the U.N., is known for remarking that no one designs a garden with a little plot set aside for weeds. It would seem to be common sense that we don't mix weeds in with our garden of vegetables, with our bed of beautiful flowers. But that common sense doesn't seem to carry over into the life we live today.

We readily allow, indeed sometimes invite, questionable people, practices and appetites into the life we live before God Almighty.

And let us be clear, we're not hiding anything from Him. Psalm 139:1-4 reminds us of His complete knowledge of what we're up to, where the Psalmist writes, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, You know it completely."

At the same time, we should remain aware of what is happening on the other side of that holy curtain, for even as God watches, 1st Peter 5:8 warns us, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Satan is watching, too.

Felt like you've been eaten up with mistakes, with temptations, with just pure idiocy lately? You may be right.

Even so, this is no surprise to our God. He is never caught off-guard. He sees around the corners of time and knows our nature before we reveal it to ourselves. But He is a perfect gentleman, having given us free will, and we are free to ignore Him or seek His guidance through the Holy Spirit.

All around us, as the tares among the wheat, are people who thumb their nose at God so they can please themselves, have it their way, satisfy their own desires. We see men dressing as women, women dressing as men, demanding "uni-sex" public restrooms, abusing children and animals, engaging in distressful public behavior as they claim "I'm just being me."

Still we are not called to live life as "the natural man." The heart of the natural man is decidedly deceitful, Jeremiah 17:9 tells us. We dare not trust our idea of what is good, for by God's standards what we call "good", He says is like filthy rags.

Instead, we are called to live lives of genuine faith. We should be able to say with Paul in Galatians 2;20, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life with I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

This basic principle of the Christian life that keeps us from going astray is documented even before the time of Christ, back in Habakkuk 2:1-5 where we see the difference between the just and the unjust. Again in Romans 1:17 and Hebrews 10:38 we are told the just live by faith. In Matthew 17:14-21 we see how faithlessness limits what we are able to accomplish through Christ, for as Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 3-5 points out, the power of the wisdom of God comes through those who love Him. If we truly love God, we have faith in Him.

Even so, Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that faith does not make anything easy, but it does make all things possible. And Romans 8:28 affirms that for us, pointing out that faith does not believe that all things are good, or that all things work well, but that all things work together for good to them that love God.

For those of us "living among the tares", living, working, dealing with those who insist on being "weeds" outside of Christ, such reliance upon Christ becomes all-important. Hebrews 2:2 advises us "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

If living as a Christian were ever easy, it certainly doesn't appear easy today in a world filled with injustice, fear, and temptations everywhere we look. When Christians set their mind to living their life according to the statement of Galatians 2:20, they immediately find themselves out of step with those around them. The Christian's purpose in this life is different from those outside of Christ, their goals are different, even their reasoning and their approach are very different. Noticeably dissimilar and out of step, Christians make others nervous, make them feel guilty, and draw fire from those who don't like to have their own motives exposed by comparison.

Sometimes it seems as if the "tares" are on a tear, making public spectacles of themselves in defiance of the great "I Am" of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They not only refuse to recognized the authority of God, they demand those who follow God approve their disobedience. Those who follow Christ not only cannot do that, but they are called upon to pray for such people outside of Christ.

But when we do that, we must pray with the recognition that it is our responsibility to do as Christ says, it is incumbent upon us to share the gospel of Christ, but the results are between those people and God. Success is not up to us.

If we would only realize, as the Bible teaches us, that our success is to be found in the glory of God. It really isn't about us. We might say we understand this, but do we? We have "In God We Trust" written on our money, but we have "Me First" written on our hearts. In fact, when you consider the lengths to which some churches must go in order to draw members in -- orchestras, paid soloists, choirs, and musicians; stage productions, huge TV screens and even fireworks -- it would seem the glory of God lies lightly on the church today. None of that is for God, it is all directed at the audience, at those who would be what the Word of God calls the Body of Christ.

It seems a very thin line we walk as Pastors and church officials when we brag of having camels and sheep and donkeys inside the sanctuary to tell the "real" Christmas story. Is that really to glorify God? The world went for hundreds of years drawing people to Christ with the simplicity of the manger scene in the Gospel.

Regardless of what those around us are doing and saying, our strength, our stand is in Jesus Christ. That could not be more important for the follower of Jesus Christ. We must follow Him and not lose our way. For as the final verses of today's scripture lesson tell us, in the end: "The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

Indeed, "let anyone with ears listen." The world cannot claim ignorance. We have all been told, and "having it our way" only leads to the furnace. Pray hard. Time is short. Amen.

The Seeds of Do's and Don'ts, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
13:2 Such great crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
13:3 And He told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow.
13:4 And as He sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.
13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.
13:6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.
13:7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
13:8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
13:9 Let anyone with ears listen!"
13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.
13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.
13:20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
13:21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.
13:23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

The job of the seed is to take root and grow. Given the opportunity of good soil, water and sunshine, the seed will do its job. But as scripture points out, not all seed sown is successful.

The job of the sower is to ensure the seed is placed in an environment that will support this growth.

The seed doesn't attempt to prepare the soil, ensure sufficient water and sun for itself, nor walk about to find good ground.

Nor does the sower bury himself in the ground, attempting to replicate himself with nourishment from the soil, water and sunshine, as would a seed.

To even think about it seems foolish.

Yet every day we are confronted with those who would follow Christ, but are off on missions they themselves have created, up against obstacles they cannot budge, attempting to change a world they neither created nor have the power to change. They find themselves caught up in an age-old war that began in the heavens, has already been won, and yet they enter into it under their own power and cannot understand why they lose, without seeking God's counsel.

When they cannot do what they want to do, they blame God. But He was never brought into the picture until it was time to find someone to be at fault, then often they compromise with the powers of this world, deciding surely God did not mean what He said. However, since when does a persimmon tree operate a backhoe, a cocker spaniel train for surgery, or a goldfish divine the intricacies of human emotion?

There is rhyme and reason to God's created universe, and denying what is and will be doesn't make it less so. Truth has its own imperative and will stand, alone if necessary. John 14:6 tells us that God is truth, and that will not change. He will not change, not His intentions, His word, or His mission for us.

It's worth remembering that the mission of our military soldiers and Marines sent to Iraq and Afghanistan was not to change the religion of the attacking Taliban, so they did the next best thing and sent them home to their god, Allah. (Of course, we know that when they got there, there was nobody home.)

As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not my God-given mission to change homosexuals to straights, nor bank robbers to gentle souls, nor liars to truth tellers. My job is to introduce them to Jesus Christ and His gospel -- to sow His seed -- the results belong to God. That makes God's admonition to us that we are to be in the world but not of the world a lot more understandable.

So it is that I must overlook the distaste I feel at some of these individual with odd sexual desires, misplaced allegiances and understandings of right and wrong, with the inability to tell themselves "no" and thus spare their brother, and speak truth to them about the Christ who loved them first.

Many of those we find in such a state are overcome by the world, and our first inclination might be to change the world so they are not so badly affected by it and drawn away from the love of Christ. But that is not our mission.

Consider how many unjust Kings and petty tyrants Jesus deposed while He walked this earth, how many bullying Roman soldiers he corrected, how many unfair tax systems He changed; how much of the world He rehabilitated.

None of us are world-changers, but we are called to be soul changers by ensuring they know they have a Christian alternative way of life. And so you and I must tell them. What the world does after that is not up to you or me. I'm neither King nor Emperor nor God nor here long enough to make those changes. I do pray God that they listen to the truth, but I'm not leaving God to go chasing after souls who have abandoned the God who loves them.

There is a story about a young boy who was touched by the plight of some homeless boys passing by his home. He asked his mother if she might give them something to eat, and she said, "Yes, of course, bring them home and I will feed them, and love them, and tell them of God's love."

The boy went after them and urged them to come home with him, telling them of all his mother had promised. But the boys looked him over and said, "You're much too clean to be a real boy. Although it would be good to enjoy a good meal, and we have missed a mother's love, but we decide the rules we will live by, and having a god would just get in our way. But walk along with us and tell us more, and we will listen."

So the boy called to his mother, "I am just going to walk along with them so I can convince them to come home with me."

But they talked and talked and walked so far that the boy had to write his mother a letter and tell her where he was, and that he was still trying to convince the other boys to come home with him.

The mother wrote back, "Consider how close to home you were, and how far away you are now, and still they come not home with you. Love, Mother."

And the boy realized that you can't bring others home with you by walking away with them.

Just so, you cannot bring others to Christ by walking away from Him with them. Scripture doesn't tell us it's fruitful to disobey Christ for a season so we can draw others to Him.

Jesus said, in John 14:15, that if we love Him we will do the things He says.

If we would bear the name "Christian", we will obey the Christ. The inspired Word of God is filled with a long list of do's and don'ts, but someone has said that if you will spend your energy doing the "do's" you won't have time to worry about the "don'ts".

In that same book of John, chapter 13, verse 34, Jesus, having fulfilled the law as He stated in Matthew 5:17, now says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." If we can't obey Him in this, how can we say we are a follower of Jesus Christ?

Ah, you say that's too hard to do? That's because you are attempting to "do" it in your own power. You need to know the "doer" who has the power of salvation. God gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to empower us to fulfill Micah 6:8, where the prophet asks what is it that God requires of us. He answers that question with, "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Paul in the book of Romans advises us down through the ages, "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with that which is good".

Do you tell others you are Christian? Do you really want to do the "do's"? Then you must know the "doer" of salvation. Jesus Christ will enable our souls to stay busy with His Father's work, doing what is just, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God.

Go, love God and do the do's, and you will find there is precious little time to worry about the don'ts, after all.

Amen.

Getting to Know You, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Psalm 145:8-14

145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
145:9 The Lord is good to all, and His compassion is over all that He has made.
145:10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, and all Your faithful shall bless You.
145:11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and tell of Your power,
145:12 to make known to all people Your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all His words, and gracious in all His deeds.
145:14 The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

One of the great aspects of having lived so long is that you were present when some of the best music came along. Music that has a gentle rhythm, keeping a patterned pace with my heartbeat. And you could understand the words, words that made sense and often told a story out of our own experiences.
One of my old-time favorites was a song titled “Getting to Know You.”
When I hear this song, I wonder, how is it that the Almighty God, the Great I Am, has been around longer than we have, and His precious Son, Jesus Christ, has been involved with mankind for more than 2,000 years, and we still don’t seem to understand either of them. And then there’s the Holy Spirit. Boy, do we have a lot of misconceptions there. Turn on the TV late at night and see what cable TV has done with the concept of “spirits,” sometime. Truly frightening.
How is it we know and understand so little about the existence of the Living God? There’s really no excuse, since God has given us an instruction booklet that tells us who He is through the experiential history of mankind, what He has done for us, and what He expects of us, as well as what can expect and look forward to.
And yet, we’re still playing “getting to know you.”
That remarkable melody comes from the famous lyrical Broadway play by Rodgers and Hammerstein, “Anna and the King of Siam.” Most of us today know it by the movie title, “The King and I.” Sadly, they just don’t make movies like that, anymore.
Schoolteacher Anna has arrived in the ancient kingdom of Siam at the request of the King to teach his many children (from many wives) about the modern world.
As she is introducing herself to the children and their mothers, Anna says,
“It's a very ancient saying…But a true and honest thought…That if you become a teacher…By your pupils you'll be taught.”
Then Anna sings, “As a teacher I've been learning -- You'll forgive me if I boast -- And I've now become an expert -- On the subject I like most.”
She pauses and says, “Getting to know you,” then sings, “Getting to know you…Getting to know all about you…Getting to like you…Getting to hope you like me.”
“Getting to know you…Putting it my way…But nicely…You are precisely…My cup of tea.”
Then Anna and all the mothers join in singing, “Getting to know you…Getting to know all about you…Getting to like you…Getting to hope you like me…”
Still later they all together sing, “Haven't you noticed…Suddenly I'm bright and breezy? … Because of all the beautiful and new…Things I'm learning about you…Day… by.. day…”
One of the many advantages God has over us is that He knew us even before we were; a difficult concept for us to get our head around. But in Jeremiah 1:5, God said to the prophet, “"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Even before he was, God appointed Jeremiah into an important part of God’s plans. By the way, that’s just one reason why the horrible practice of abortion works against the plans God has for us.
But God has always known us, even as we make only half-hearted attempts to get to know Him. Even as we make up our own rules about who He is, what we guess He wants from us, absolutely sure He must think like we do. And we do this even though if we have read holy scripture at all, we must have run across Isaiah 55:8 which tells us, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.”
I am often amazed when I hear otherwise decent people declare, “My God wouldn’t be against “ this sin or that sin; or “My God wouldn’t be a violent God,” or “I
could never believe in a God who makes war on people.”
This is the creation judging its creator. How ridiculous is that?
The God who has always been, who has created all that is, including us, who knows more and can do more than we, His creation, can even suspect, does not answer to the petty judgments and half-baked opinions of His creation. What this is really evidence of is how little we know of God. For knowing God is much like knowing scripture. You cannot take one aspect of God and judge Him by that, just as you cannot take one verse of scripture and run off with it declaring it to be a truth all its own. You much take the entire Bible in context, for in total it is the story of man and God. Anything less is out of context.
The example is often used of the blind men who encountered an elephant. Not knowing what it was, they each went by their sense of “feel”, much today as we make up our minds about the rational by how we irrationally “feel” about something.
One man first encountered the elephant’s great leg and declared an elephant was like a mighty tree. Another felt its winding trunk and declared it was like a snake. Another felt its tail and said it was like a rope, another its ear and declared it was like a great fan. Nevertheless, for all their declarations, it was still an elephant.
The blind men were not getting to know the elephant, individually they were getting know the separate parts of an elephant, just as we encounter one aspect of God, perhaps answered prayer, and declare God is like a great Genie who will gift us with our heart’s desire. And so we spend all our energy asking for money and success, none of which will follow us to our Father’s House. I’ve never seen a U-Haul attached to a funeral hearse.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the young woman who married a man who had just won a $500 million lottery. But soon afterward he became badly ill and on his deathbed made his new wife promise to put his fortune in his casket with him. She loved him dearly, and so in his dying moments she promised. After the funeral a girl friend asked her, “You didn’t do that, did you?” The new widow answered, “I did. I signed that check for every penny and put it right in the casket with him.”
That makes about as much sense as us trying to hold God to standards that are not His own.
The real God of all time and space is so much better, more powerful, more all-knowing, more loving and forgiving, than any of the make believe and structured deities mankind might come up with.
My answer to all those who want to put human traits, frailties and emotions on God is simply that they don’t know the Living God. They may know “a” god, they make serve something they’ve made up in their mind – and Satan is always happy to masquerade as the an angel of light – but they do not know the Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And let’s not unclear here, that is deadly. That is dangerous. That is soul-killing.
The God-breathed, inspired Word of Almighty God, known to us as the Old and New Testaments, are their own best commentary. All the extra-Biblical texts in the world will not give you the rich inter-connectedness of God’s holy Word like the Bible itself.
Is there something you don’t understand in the Bible? Get into the Word and study more.
Is there something you think is contradictory? Get into the Word and study more.
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to a better understanding of what God has laid out for you there. James 1:5 advises us directly, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
The more you study scripture – I recommend starting every day with a few moments in His Word – you may well feel yourself “suddenly becoming bright and breezy … because of all the beautiful and new…things you’re learning about Him …day… by… day.”
Verses 8 and 9 at the beginning of today’s scripture attests that, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and His compassion is over all that He has made.”
Today’s scripture ends in part with verses 13 and 14, “The Lord is faithful in all His words, and gracious in all His deeds. The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.”
This is the God of all time and space, Who loved us first, even before we were, and knowing Him better simply adds to our joy, in this life and the next. Because no one keeps promises like our God, who has promised to love us, and never leave us. For which we thank You, Father. Amen.