Getting to the Heart of the Matter

Posted by on November 18, 2001 under Sermons

In the 1960s I took a course about restoration history under Dr. Earl West. As always happens, final exam came. As did most of my teachers, Dr. West gave essay examinations. He listed several short answer questions. You selected a specific number of questions and gave at least a page answer to each. He also listed several in depth answer questions. You were required to select one and write at least an hour about your answer.

When I selected my “long question,” I knew well the answer to one question on the list. I wrote furiously. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Then, about five minutes before exam time was up, I suddenly realized a horrible truth. I started my answer at the wrong place. By starting at the wrong place, I left out some of the core material. Everything I said was true. All my facts were correct. But because I began my answer at the wrong place, my answer did not address the point of the question. Everything I wrote was technically correct, but I missed the point.

I tried to “fix” my answer by adding an explanation, but it did not work. Because I started at the wrong place, my answer missed the point.

  1. Perhaps that is a good way to describe the conflict between Jesus and Israel’s religious experts–the place these experts started simply missed God’s point.
    1. The religious experts who constantly questioned, ridiculed, and challenged Jesus were the scribes and Pharisees.
      1. They were genuine experts in the scripture, and Jesus never challenged the fact that they were well read and knowledgeable.
      2. Jesus’ challenge was simple: these experts missed God’s point.
    2. Late in Jesus’ life, not long before these religious experts insisted on his crucifixion, Jesus was specific on how these experts in scripture missed God’s point.
      1. In all the challenges and criticisms before this occasion, Jesus tried to teach these people.
      2. But on this occasion, Jesus straightforwardly declared exactly how they missed God’s point.
      3. Matthew 23 contains Jesus’ declaration of how the scribes and Pharisees missed God’s point.
        1. In verse 13 Jesus said they used their scriptural expertise to blind the Jewish people to God’s kingdom and prevent them from entering that kingdom.
        2. In verse 14 Jesus said they used prayer to create the appearance of spirituality while they took advantage of the helpless.
        3. In verse 15 Jesus said they spared no effort to indoctrinate converts, but, when they finished, the converts were unspiritual people devoted to Satan’s purposes.
        4. In verses 16-22 Jesus said in worship they made artificial distinctions God never made.
        5. In verses 23,24 Jesus said they gave God ten percent of absolutely everything, but they ignored central spiritual matters that God regards essential.
        6. In verses 25-28 Jesus said they were very concerned about projecting the appearance of being righteous, and very unconcerned about having righteous hearts.
        7. In verses 29-36 Jesus said they condemned the wicked acts of Israel’s past generations while they did the same kinds of evil they condemned.

  2. This morning please give serious consideration to Jesus’ condemnation in Matthew 23:23,24.
    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
    1. If we think carefully about this condemnation, it should terrify us.
      1. First, please note Jesus said not all of God’s commands are of equal importance.
        1. They all come from God.
        2. They all are inspired.
        3. They all are scripture.
        4. But God regards some of greater importance–some are “weighty” and some are not.
      2. May I state this in another way that is also accurate?
        1. From God’s perspective, some exist at “the heart of the matter”–these are “core” considerations.
        2. Others are “edge” matters; they are important, but they are not devoted to God’s “core” matters.
    2. The point is not that core commands should obeyed and other commands should be neglected; both should be obeyed.
      1. However, never make a core teaching out of an edge teaching.
      2. These religious experts gave God ten percent of absolutely everything, even the cooking spices they grew.
      3. But they did little to be just (give everyone fair treatment), to be merciful (to forgive those who made a mistake), or to be faithful (always to be honest and trustworthy).
    3. In fact, their emphasis actually encouraged people to be unfair, to condemn, and to be deceitful.
      1. According to them, giving God ten percent of absolutely everything was extremely important, a core matter.
      2. However, according to them, being just, merciful, and faithful were not core matters.
      3. Jesus said they missed God’s point.

  3. On more than one occasion, Jesus stressed the two most important commandments God ever gave (Matthew 22:34-40; Luke 10:25-28).
    1. Both were a part of the core because all other commandments would be obeyed if a person did these two things.
      1. Love God with all your being.
      2. Love other people like you love yourself.
    2. The fact that people who love God love other people has always been a core matter in God’s priorities.
      1. Six of the ten commandments given to Israel are covered by loving other people like you love yourself.
        1. You will take care of your parents.
        2. You will not murder.
        3. You will not have sex with another man’s wife–consensual or otherwise.
        4. You will not steal things that belong to someone else.
        5. You will not ruin another person’s reputation or lie about what he or she did.
        6. You will not look at anything he or she has and be motivated by greed.
        7. You simply cannot do such things if you love people.
    3. Jesus himself said of all the commandments God ever gave, loving people as you love yourself is command number two.
    4. Paul said the Christian who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law because you cannot have sex with someone to whom you are not married, you cannot murder, you cannot steal, you cannot be motivated by greed, you cannot bring harm to anyone you love as you love yourself (Romans 13:9,10).
    5. As far as God is concerned, that is core material.

So you ask, “David, does that understanding really terrify you?” Yes! “Why?” Because we too often miss God’s point. Because we have made “core issues” out of things God does not emphasize. Because we are unconcerned about things God clearly emphasized.

We make “core matters” out of worship, out of worship styles, out of religious systems, out of the use of church buildings, out of procedures, out of every imaginable kind of personal preference.

And then our unrestrained greed flows, and we are sexually active outside of marriage, and we hate, and we lie, and we neglect our families, and we justify any kind of ungodly behavior when it gives us pleasure.

And we miss God’s point. And I fear we will hear God say to us, “Woe unto you!” And we will say, “But, God, we sang without an instrument, and we used unleavened bread in communion, and we took communion every Sunday, and we gave, and we had invitation songs, and we were very careful about how we used our auditorium.” And God just might say, “And you missed the point! Your answer started in the wrong place! You used your religious lives to strain out gnats while you swallowed camels.”

Does Anything Ever Remain The Same?

Posted by on under Bulletin Articles

Generally speaking, the answer is no. Regarding some considerations, that is desirable. At times, I know change produces good: when I heat food in a microwave; when Joyce makes a cell phone call from the car as I drive on a trip; when I look at the choice of food items in a grocery store; when a friend has successful open heart surgery; when I enjoy temperature control in any environment.

Regarding some considerations, the absence of change is frustrating: when I cannot control my cholesterol by diet, weight control, and exercise; when I watch society and the church become increasingly ignorant about relationship skills; when I observe the level of moral and ethical ignorance rising; when I watch us “reap what we sow”; when I marvel at the ways greed and selfishness impact and influence all of our lives.

I am reminded frequently and personally that nothing remains the same. New understandings excite me until they remind me of how much I have forgotten and how much I have never known. In the past few years I audited a condensed graduate Bible course each summer. Why? I do it for several reasons: (1) the joy of discovery; (2) the humility of awareness; (3) the soberness of responsibility; and (4) the reminder of personal ignorance.

We measure ourselves through comparisons. When we stop judging others and evaluate self, comparisons frequently disturb us. Physically, I dislike what is happening to my strength and balance in the decade of my 60s. My dislikes are based on my comparisons to the decade of my 20s. Expectations in the 60s should be based on capabilities of the 60s, not the capabilities of the 20s. Self-comparisons are never kind or fair!

But at times self-comparisons are encouraging. Mentally, I like to compare my understandings of my 60s’ decade to my understandings of my 20s’ decade. I appreciate the mental rewards of forty years of experience. I like the benefits of “hindsight.” I enjoy the values of decades of study, thinking, and understanding.

With each Christian, spiritual comparisons are both encouraging and discouraging. Spiritual development is always a growth and maturing process. As we each spiritually develop, certain awarenesses are essential. (1) Never base personal spiritual development on the failures of others. (2) Always remember you are growing toward God’s thinking. (3) Humbly accept your ignorance. (4) Ever allow better biblical understandings to guide you toward God’s priorities. Growth toward spiritual maturity always requires the willingness to change. Why? Imperfect humans are growing toward the perfect God.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He never changes. To be like Him, growth demands we constantly change. Does anything remain the same? No, not if we allow Jesus to help us grow toward God.

The Power and Importance of Respect

Posted by on November 4, 2001 under Sermons

May I begin by thanking you for the ways you responded to my last three Sunday evening lessons on Christian community, meals, and worship in the first century. Thank you for expanding your thinking.

In practical ways, I want to make some applications based on the insights from those lessons. We can be fascinated by the fact that Paul told Christians in Rome (Romans 14) that they could hold totally different conscience conclusions regarding meat offered to idols, and God would accept both persons conclusion. The requirement: they refused to judge each other or hold each other in contempt. However, if our fascination with that biblical fact is not translated into respect for each other, our fascination produces little benefit or meaning.

This congregation is composed of very different people. Few if any of us have even one thing in common with everyone in this congregation (excluding our love for Jesus Christ). May I use myself to illustrate this fact? I grew up on a farm years ago in a rural area known more for its past coal mines than for its farming. Many of you lived in a city environment all your lives. Does that make either of us good or bad? No. In no way does that give either one of us good roots or bad roots.

I was taught not to respect people who grew up in a city. Was that a good teaching? No, that was a horrible teaching. Any feeling of superiority produced by a rural childhood experience is pure arrogance. I have a first cousin who spent a week in my home when I was a teenager. Because we lived on a farm, I had daily jobs to do through the summer. My particular job when my cousin visited was to stack brush in a creek bottom that had been bulldozed and cut with a heavy disk. I was accustomed to the sun, heat, and dust. My cousin was not. When my cousin quickly wilted under the hot sun, I thought it was funny. I have no doubt that I reflected a superior attitude.

However, if you placed me in my cousin’s city environment, I was scared to death. I could get around in the woods, but I could not get around in a city. I never wanted to spend a week with him in the city. Because he could not function in my environment, that was bad. Because I could not function in his environment, that was insignificant.

What was the tap root of my problem? A lack of respect for my cousin.

  1. In our society, little is done to teach the importance of respect.
    1. In our country, people in every distinctive sub-group struggle to respect people from groups who have distinctive cultural differences.
      1. To me it is fascinating to observe the changes since our September 11 tragedy.
        1. Suddenly all forms of bigotry have disappeared.
        2. Have you seen the television advertisement with a number of individuals making the same statement: “I am an American.” There must be 12 to 18 different men and women who make that statement, and each of them is obviously from a distinct cultural heritage.
      2. But bigotry in the United States is not dead.
        1. Hate is still here, and its roots are disrespect.
        2. Racism is still here, and its roots are disrespect.
        3. Sexism is still here, and its roots are disrespect.
        4. Multiple forms of violence still exists, and their roots are disrespect.
      3. If you want to see and hear the enormous expressions of disrespect in this country, look at and listen to our humor.
        1. Note the ridicule in the humor you see and hear.
        2. Note the “put downs” in the humor you see and hear.
        3. Note the contempt in the humor you see and hear.
        4. Notice that “hilarious humor” degrades someone.
        5. What do ridicule, “put downs,” contempt, and degradation have in common? They all begin with a lack of respect.
    2. If we could feel and see respect anywhere among any people, it should be among Christians.
      1. Why?
        1. Because Christians know what it means to be forgiven.
        2. Because we know the acceptance of grace.
        3. Because we know what it means to receive mercy.
        4. Because we have experienced receiving a pardon.
      2. Is that the actual experience Christians have when we are among Christians? Can we move among Christians with the confidence that we will be respected?
        1. Which is the more common attitude: “I know that you are sincere in your convictions and hold them honestly,” or, “If you do not hold my conclusions, you deliberately choose to be wrong and know it!”
        2. Do you feel respect and understanding when you meet with fellow Christians, even when you have differences?
          1. Could you say, “Amen!” It was common practice in the church at Corinth in the New Testament.
            1 Corinthians 14:15,16 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?
            1. Paul did not tell them to stop speaking in tongues (see verse 39).
            2. He told them to use tongues in ways that were orderly and edified all present.
            3. Please note that one of his arguments is this: people cannot say the “amen” if they do not understand what they hear.
          2. Men, could you comfortably raise your hands as you prayed in public knowing Christians would respect you? Christians in Asia Minor could.
            1 Timothy 2:8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.
            1. Paul told Timothy what he should instruct Christian men to do.
            2. This was appropriate Christian behavior.
    3. “David, are you suggesting that we have to say “amen” or have men raise their hands when they pray?”
      1. That is neither my point nor my emphasis.
      2. If that is your reaction to what I have said, that reaction well may illustrate my point.
      3. If a Christian sincerely, from heart and conscience truly dedicated to the Lord chooses to express faith, devotion, and praise to God in biblical, but different ways, will I respect him or her, or will I judge, condemn, or ridicule him or her?
    4. We teach Christians to react to other Christians in a lot of ways.
      1. We teach them to judge.
      2. We teach them to condemn.
      3. We teach them to ridicule and belittle.
      4. We teach them to express contempt.
      5. We teach them to control others.
      6. Do we teach them to show respect?

  2. God made great effort to get Peter to Cornelius’ house to teach Cornelius, his family, and his friends.
    1. It took a lot to penetrate the apostle Peter’s understanding.
      1. The roof top vision did not penetrate his understanding (Acts 10:10-16).
      2. The Holy Spirit speaking to Peter directly did not penetrate his understanding (Acts 10:17-20).
      3. The testimony of the men Cornelius sent to Peter did not penetrate Peter’s understanding (Acts 10:22,23).
      4. Peter’s initial introduction to Cornelius did not penetrate his understanding (Acts 10:24-27).
      5. “David, that is just your opinion.” No, that is Peter’s testimony–that is actually what Peter said to Cornelius.
        Acts 10:28,29 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”
    2. Finally, the message God wanted Peter to understand penetrated:
      Acts 10:34,35 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”
      1. The King James translation begins Peter’s statement with these words: “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons …”
      2. God shows respect for all people who reverence Him and do what is right.
    3. The greatest single problem in the church in the New Testament was getting Jewish Christians and Christians who were not Jews to respect each other in their differences.
      1. The greatest single problem in the church of today is getting Christians who are in Christ to respect each other in their differences.
      2. In my personal judgement, that respect will be of enormous importance in the near future–just simple respect may well determine if we have the greatest opportunity the church in American has ever known or the most impossible mess the church in America has ever known.

Is one of the greatest blessings this congregation experiences produced by your ability to respect Christians who are not like you? Is one of the greatest heartaches this congregation experiences partially the result of your inability to respect Christians who are not like you?

God’s Passion to Forgive

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What is your passion? I am not asking you what do you like. I am not asking you what gives you a high. I am not asking you what you do anytime you are allowed to indulge yourself. I am asking you, “What is your passion?”

The question I ask has to do with a cause or an injustice that deeply moves you. You are so deeply touched by this cause or injustice that it is your number one priority in life. Any time you must choose between your passion and anything else, you always choose your passion. Absolutely nothing is as important as your passion.

Let me share some examples. Some people’s passion is a political cause. They will do anything legal for their political cause. Some people’s passion is community service. They will endure great personal inconvenience for the sake of community service. Often suffering produces a passion. A parent whose child was killed by a drunk driver opposes drinking and driving with a passion. A spouse whose husband or wife suffered some horrible injustice opposes such injustices passionately.

You can observe this type of passion all around you. Look for anyone who totally devoted to a cause or a “rights” movement. Such people have an obvious passion.

Three questions: do you have a passion? Does God have a passion? Does your passion and God’s passion “hold hands?”

  1. “Allow me to answer your questions.”
    1. Different ones of us would answer in different ways regarding our personal passion.
      1. Some would say, “I do not have one. I have never been into causes.
      2. Some would say, “I probably have a passion, but I have never thought about it much–I would have to think about it.”
      3. Some would say, “I surely do have a passion! I can tell you exactly what it is!”
    2. If we discussed God’s passion, we would have differing answers.
      1. First, we could generate an interesting discussion about the possibility of God having a passion.
        1. Most of us tend to think of God as being dispassionate.
        2. Some of us tend to think of God as being “feelingless”–everything with Him is intellectual and never emotional.
        3. Many of us realize God deeply desires some things, but we never thought of God’s desires being causes.
      2. Second, if we agreed God has passionate causes, we likely would disagree about His number one cause.
        1. Knowing our thinking and priorities, we likely would intensely disagree about God’s number one priority.
        2. I have my doubts that we would agree on God’s number one cause.

  2. I want you to think, and I wish to issue the challenge in this way.
    1. Have you ever felt so moved, so committed, so passionate about anything that it was your number one priority in life for at least a decade?
      1. God has, and it was His number one priority for several thousand years.
        1. It became His number one priority the moment evil perverted His good creation.
        2. It became His number one priority the moment that evil distorted human beings into something God never intended.
          Galatians 4:4,5 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
          1 Timothy 2:3-6 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
      2. God labored for a few thousand years to give the people a Savior who could offer them perfect forgiveness.
    2. Have you ever felt so moved, so committed, so passionate about your number one priority that you made an enormous sacrifice to benefit your consuming cause?
      1. God has; He was so committed to His consuming cause that he sacrificed His son.
        1. Sometimes people adopt a cause because they suffered the loss of a child.
        2. God sacrificed for His cause knowing that it would cost the life of His only son.
          1 John 4:9,10 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
      2. God knew the ultimate cost of His commitment when He devoted Himself to the cause.
        1. “On the front end” God knew what it would cost.
        2. He knew His commitment would mean the death of His only son, a son who was totally devoted to His will, a son who would depend on Him absolutely.

  3. What is God’s passion? What is His number one priority? What is His ultimate commitment?
    1. God wants to forgive people.
      Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
    2. God’s desire to forgive people is greater than any desire or commitment you or I have ever had.
      1. “David, that is just your speculation, maybe your exaggeration.”
      2. No, according to the New Testament, that is fact.
    3. Do you think you could describe the kind of person God would and would not forgive?
      1. Let me describe a person to you.
        1. This person was extremely religious, absolutely committed, zealously devoted, and would kill other people to advance his convictions.
        2. Because of his religious commitment, he was part of a killing machine responsible for the imprisonment and death of many Christians.
        3. He was so committed to destroying these people he thought opposed God that he made a house-to-house search in a major city to arrest those people.
        4. He was willing even to travel to other countries to arrest people who were of his nationality but believed heresy.
        5. He even went into buildings devoted to worship to physically abuse Christians in a determined effort to get them to renounce the heresy.
        6. He tried to destroy the very situation God spent several thousand years bringing into existence.
        7. Did God’s desire to forgive include a person like this?
      2. To make certain that you understand that I am not speculating, read these scriptures with me.
        Acts 8:1-3 And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
        Acts 26:9-11 So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.
    4. God not only wanted to forgive this man, He did forgive him, and made him the greatest missionary we have ever known; and allowed him to be the author of many of the New Testament writings.
      1. Why would God do that?
      2. Let him answer your question.
        1 Timothy 1:12,13,15,16 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; … It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

Paul did not know what he was doing; then God got his attention. God showed the scholar just how ignorant he was. God showed the man who believed enough to kill for God that his faith was in himself, not in God.

God wants to forgive you, and He will if you will let Him.

What Shall I Accept?

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The Old Testament states long ago lived a man named Job. He had great integrity, wealth, and influence. More importantly, he impressed God. God considered Job unique. God saw him as a blameless, upright, reverent man who despised evil (Job 1:8).

Satan argued Job would be stupid not to be who he was. God richly blessed him, and Job knew it. Why should he disappoint God when he realized God gave him all he enjoyed?

Job literally lost everything–his wealth, his children, his wife’s respect, and his health. The situation was so grim his wife suggested he turn lose of his integrity, curse God, and die (Job 2:9). To her, the solution was death. At least it would end the physical suffering and embarrassment.

Job’s response is still insightful: “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10) After that statement, the writer wrote: “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

In the rest of the book, it is evident (1) Job did not understand his situation, and (2) he regarded his experiences to be acts of gross injustice. Yet, at no moment did Job consider leaving God. Neither his personal confusion, his friends’ false accusations, nor his wife’s loss of respect moved him to consider leaving God.

We never are upset with God for blessing us. Because we are blessed frequently in numerous ways we take our blessings for granted. At times we even convince ourselves we deserve to be blessed. Rather than being content, we often want more. No matter how “good we have it,” we believe we should have it better.

Going from “having little” to “having more” is not a difficult journey. Going from “having more” to “having little” is very difficult. I am not speaking of simplifying a blessed life. I am speaking of losing blessings. Few people enjoy the experience of “going back” if “going back” requires a loss of blessings.

As long as evil functions with influence in this world, adversity will occur. Just as situations can improve, they can also get worse. Just as blessings can increase, they can also be lost. Just as ease can touch our lifestyles, struggles can also touch our lifestyles. Just as our families can know great joy, our families can also know great sorrow. Physical existence is not a continuous experience of knowing good.

Job’s question is relevant for every Christian today. Can we accept God’s good and reject evil’s adversity? This is not a question of justice. This is a question of origins. The origin of the good that touched Job’s life was God. The origin of the evil that touched Job’s life was Satan. The origin of the good that touches your life is God. The origin of the evil that touches your life is Satan. Our dependence on God always will be tested more by the adversity we experience than by the good we experience.

The Darkness Within

Posted by on October 28, 2001 under Sermons

It is distinctly possible that every adult in this audience and most of the teens in this audience all used a similar object this morning. In fact, it is distinctly possibility that all adults and most teens use this similar object every morning. In fact, we all use this object so commonly that we rarely notice it. The only time we think about this object is when no one has one. When we have it, we never think about it. When we do not have it, we really miss it.

I expect some of you are thinking, “No way! Many of us might use something similar, but nothing is used by all of us.” How many mirrors do you have in your house? Do any of you have a bath room sink or a dressing area that does not have a mirror? Is there ever a day in your life when you do not look in a mirror?

The probability is high that you have some very good mirrors in your home. If you want to make a room appear larger, use some mirrors. If you want to brighten up an area, use some mirrors. Good mirrors are incredible in the way they reflect light. Mirrors literally can destroy darkness. But, regardless of the quality of the mirror, it only reflects light. A mirror is never the source of light.

  1. I want us to read together a number of passages on light, and I want us to make the connection scripture makes between light and mirrors.
    1. Read with me these scriptures.
      1. First, note God is the source of all light, not the mirror but the source.
        James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
        1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
      2. Second, note that Jesus is our light because we see God through him.
        John 1:4,5 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
        John 1:9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
        John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
      3. Third, note that Christians reflect Jesus’ light into our world so through us people see Jesus and through Jesus people see God.
        Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
        Ephesians 5:6-14 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”
    2. So you say to me, “Let me get this straight:
      1. “God is the source of light.
      2. “Jesus as our light reflects God to us.
      3. “If we are Christians, we reflect Jesus and through Jesus people see God.
      4. “Are you not just stating your opinion?”
    3. May we allow Paul to verify that is precisely the situation. Consider 1 Corinthians 3:21-23.
      So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
      1. The Christians in Corinth had many problems.
      2. One reason they had problems was this: they exalted certain people.
      3. They exalted these people because they did not understand the roles of God and Christ.
      4. Paul explained that in the matter of salvation everything, including spiritual teachers like Paul, Apollos, and Cephas existed for their benefit; and they existed for Christ’s benefit, and Christ existed for God’s benefit.

  2. The simple, immediate point I want you to see and understand is this: if you are a Christian, you are a mirror to reflect Jesus Christ.
    1. I want us to ask two extremely important questions and to understand the answers.
      1. Question # 1: Why does God’s light shine through Jesus?
      2. The answer given in the verses we read is consistent: the light shines to destroy darkness.
      3. Question # 2: The darkness where? The darkness “out yonder” or the darkness inside of us.
        1. I think most of us would quickly say both.
        2. God wants to destroy the darkness out there and the darkness inside us.
        3. Which darkness do you try to destroy?
        4. May I make an observation that each of us needs to think about very seriously: we will never effectively destroy the darkness outside us until we are serious about destroying the darkness inside us.
    2. As amazing as a mirror is in reflecting light, that mirror reflects absolutely nothing if there is no light.
      1. When a good mirror reflects an intense source of light, it can blind you–never look into a mirror that is reflecting the direct rays of the sun.
      2. Take that same good mirror outside on a pitch-black night that is completely overcast.
        1. In the darkness lay the mirror on the ground, back up two or three steps, and attempt (in the dark) a complete turn.
        2. Then find the mirror; if you find it, it will be by feeling because there will be absolutely no light to reflect.
        3. That mirror is never the source of light; it can only reflect light.
    3. If we are Christians, we are never the source of light; we can only reflect light.
      1. We can only reflect light to the degree that we let Jesus shine through our lives.
      2. We can reflect light only to the degree that we allow Jesus to destroy the darkness within our own lives.
      3. Several things cause me to be very afraid for us.
        1. Some of us are not even aware that there is darkness inside of us to fight–we allow the darkness of evil to exist inside of us without opposition.
        2. Some of us know there is darkness inside us, but we have decided if we can hide that darkness from “the right people” it is perfectly okay to keep it.
        3. Some of us have concluded our darkness is okay, that if other people accept us they will just have to accept and get used to our darkness.
        4. Some of us are so busy opposing the darkness “out there” we never take time to confront the darkness inside.
    4. “What are you talking about?” Let me illustrate clearly what I am saying.
      1. Some of us Christians have our list of big, horrible sins that as black, black darkness are absolutely outrageous.
        1. This list might include things like prostitution, murder, violence, physical abuse, obvious addictions, promiscuous conduct, thievery–things such as those; such things are black, black, black darkness.
        2. But there are other things that we might classify as undesirable, but we would hesitate to say they were darkness, and we surely would not say they were black, black, black darkness.
        3. “What things?” Matters such as greed, deceit, prolonged anger, ungodly words, bitterness, slander, gossip, indulging sexual desires, drunkenness, cheating.
        4. If you are really concerned about letting Jesus’ light destroy the darkness inside, see which of those lists are resisted the most in the epistles.

  3. A few days ago Brad received an e-mail I want to share with you. No confidentiality has been violated, and no, I do not read Brad’s e-mail. I do not know who sent this e-mail and have made no effort to find out. Brad received permission from the person for me to share it with you. All I know about the person is this: it is a teenager above 15 years old. This teenager has attended this congregation all his or her life.
    1. This is the message:
      “Okay I know I said I was going to try to come by this week … but I can’t. I have tried to make room but I am booked all week it seems … ah … I feel like I am about to fall into a bottomless pit and I don’t think I am going to be able to get out … ever.
      How in the world am I going to get out of this messy room when I don’t even know whose room this is anyways. How will I know even where everything goes and goes precisely? I am scared of getting yelled at from someone for doing the job wrong let alone just the job. I do not know that I can clean another room besides the room I am in right now … but how do I get to that room when I can’t even see the door to this room I am in … I am confused again and I don’t know where to begin … the fog had fallen and the dew is setting … the temperature is dropping and hearts are getting colder as well … I don’t know where mine belongs. I don’t know where to store it … who to give it to or whatnot.
      I don’t know if you understood that but I hope you do … later.”
      1. I doubt any teenager here above 15 has any difficulty understanding that letter.
      2. I am confident that a number of adults honestly would ask, “What was that teenager saying?”
    2. I want to share with you an insight, not a statement of confrontation or an argumentative statement, but an insight.
      1. We as adults are grieved deeply because so many of our teenagers leave the church when they become adults.
      2. Those of us who still have children at home are terrified that our children might decide to do the same thing in the years ahead.
      3. My insight: our children do not see us using the light God gives through Jesus to fight the darkness inside ourselves.
      4. We have focused so much energy on fighting the “darkness out yonder” that we individually do not even look at the darkness within ourselves.
      5. When something forces us to peek at the darkness in our own lives, we are far more likely to justify the darkness than we are to use Jesus’ light to attack the darkness inside.
      6. And our children see it and know it; they hear us tell everybody else how to fight the darkness out yonder; and they see us unable to shine the light on our own personal darkness.
      7. So when they confront darkness in their own lives, they have absolutely no idea of how to fight it, and the church as they know it suddenly becomes very irrelevant in the battle against personal darkness.

Some of you are a source of great personal joy and encouragement. Some of you understand that the first battlefield in the war between good and evil is the battlefield of the darkness inside self. Some of you understand that the only way to fight the darkness inside is with the light of Jesus. Some of you realize that to become lights to the world, we must constantly fight the darkness within. We are mirrors who reflect Jesus Christ. If we do not fight the darkness within, our mirrors have nothing to reflect. When we use the light to fight our own darkness, we shine Jesus’ light in our world as well as in ourselves.

Is Faith in God an Asset?

Posted by on under Bulletin Articles

Recently Brad and I read an article with a challenging illustration. It noted what many who teach about God observe: people who are not Christians often misunderstand us. [I would also observe that many in the church do not understand what they hear.] That writer said he attempted to “see” us through the eyes of an outsider observing us as we “drive by” his or her life. The writer compared what he saw to a rusty car moving in jerks as it spewed the odor and smoke of burning oil. We inside the car talk about the smooth ride. Observers outside the car wonder if we ever look at ourselves.

The article was not negative, just factual. The problem is OLD. When I was a boy many years ago, adults talked about the same situation. They talked about “seeing ourselves as others see us.”

The objective is not to deceive or create false impressions. Yet, this is factual: others often cannot see God because they cannot see past us. Others often do not understand what we say about God because they do not understand what we say or do.

We take pride in distinctive worship practices, but often our everyday behavior resembles people who have little knowledge of God. We use our language in our writings, sermons, and classes as we talk to ourselves. We seldom realize someone who is not a part of us does not understand us. When words or concepts are used to connect to their minds, we get upset at our own speaker because he or she is not using our language.

If you think we do not confuse those observing us from outside “the car” as we drive by, consider our present national crisis. This is an extremely complex moment in American history. I certainly do not have the answers. My point is simple: do we confuse others “who are not a part of us”?

Terrorists injected fear into our lives. For most of us, this is our first experience with the danger of uncertainty. Before September 11 we asked ourselves the question in hundreds of ways, “What would Jesus do?” After September 11 many who asked that question were for bombing [as long as it took] to destroy the terrorists. Are God’s values for humanity relevant only if we have peace in our lifestyle? In your understanding, what eternal realities confront those who die?

Recently I heard the question, “How can Christians who oppose abortion in this country think that widespread death is the answer in another country?” If we disregard the selfishness factor and the self-interest factor, that immediately is a complex question. Suddenly “them” issues are “me” issues.

What do our attitudes toward the current crisis say to others about our God?

Thanks to those who pray for our enemies in our public prayers. I appreciate your attitude and your prayers.

Christian Community: Relating to Differing Children

Posted by on October 21, 2001 under Sermons

Joyce and I have three children. We laughingly say our children are so different people would not believe they had the same parents. They have been different since they were born. Our oldest son wanted to please. His feelings were obvious. How other people felt about him mattered. Emotional reactions were common. Our middle son was quite independent. He did not show emotions. He was very much his own person, very much in control of himself. He worked hard. He set goals. He met his goals. Our youngest, a daughter, was a people person. She was always around people. She was very social minded.

Though as children they were very different, we loved each of them. Because we loved each of them, we dealt with them as individuals. Though with each of them we functioned on the same principles of love, we communicated our love to each child differently. Though we functioned on the same principles of fairness with each of them, we communicated our fairness to each child differently. Though we functioned on the same principles of encouragement and responsibility with each of them, we communicated those principles of encouragement and responsibility to each child differently.

Let me give you specific examples. I drove an o-l-d Ford pickup truck. It had way over 100,000 miles on it when I bought it. That truck served very pragmatic purposes. One of those purposes was providing me “in town” transportation. It provided only “in town” transportation because I did not trust it out of town.

Occasionally it was necessary for me to take one of them to school. The boys made no complaints when they had to ride to school in the truck. But, if it was our daughter, a truck ride to school was embarrassing. She would plead with me to let her out two blocks from the school so no one would see her riding in our very old pick up truck.

This has been our practice for buying cars: buy it, take care of it, and drive it until it is unreliable. In the course of our married life, we have owned and driven each travel vehicle for about ten years. The first car we bought when we returned from the mission field was driven until it had almost no trade in value. So when we replaced it, we kept it.

Our children did not have cars to drive in high school. With the exception of special circumstances for a few semesters, they did not have cars in college. When Jon was a senior in high school, he was the only senior who rode a school bus. When Kevin was a senior in high school, he was the only senior who rode a school bus.

When Anita was a senior in high school, our family schedule was extremely hectic. To us it made sense for her to drive the old car with no real trade in value to school. Jon and Kevin, who were no longer at home, protested. Anita bought a bumper sticker: “Make My Day: Steal This Car.”

My point is simple: loving parents treat each children differently. To accomplish love’s objectives in each child, parents must relate to children as the individuals they are.

  1. As I challenge you to think, I ask you to listen in my context.
    1. I am specifically speaking of men and women who are Christians, who are in Jesus Christ, who are cleansed of evil by Jesus’ blood.
    2. I am speaking in the same context of the past two Sunday evenings.
      1. We focused on the fact that for hundreds of years one way people worshipped was by eating a sacred meal.
      2. We focused on the fact that both Jews and idol worshippers often ate a meal as they worshipped through animal sacrifices.
      3. We focused on the fact that most men and women who became Christians in New Testament times previously participated in worship by eating a meal.
      4. We focused on the fact that worship meals created confusion and crisis among Christians in the first century.
        1. Some Christians thought they should do whatever they considered okay.
        2. Some Christians thought some things could be done and some things could not done.
        3. Some Christians thought all Christians should become vegetarians and give up eating meat.

  2. God interacts with his children individually; He relates to and understands each child as an individual.
    1. Most of us are quite comfortable with that understanding when it comes to human parents and their children.
      1. We understand that each child born into our family is a unique individual.
      2. We understand that our principles must not change, but that we must relate to each child as an individual as we teach those principles.
      3. We understand that even though each child is an individual, they need to learn to respect each other. Differences do not justify disrespect.
      4. We understand the need to help them learn how to encourage each other.
      5. Even though each child is different, we are still the parents of all our children and love each of them–they do not have to be identical to receive our love.

    2. While we are quite comfortable with those truths in regard to human parents and their children, we do a poor job of understanding those truths in regard to our divine Father and His children.
      1. Paul clearly taught that God relates to His children individually.
      2. The challenge is to get us to relate to each other as God relates to each of us.
      3. We are the ones who try to make clones out of all Christians.
      4. We have not understood that is not and never was God’s objective.
      5. The truth that God relates to and accepts each of His children as individuals is powerfully stressed in Romans 14 and the crises created by sacred meals.

  3. Let’s begin by considering the context of Romans 14.
    1. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome.
      1. Some were Jewish people who were converted from backgrounds in Judaism.
      2. Some were not Jews who were converted from backgrounds of worshipping idols.
      3. Some probably were converted from backgrounds that held pretty dim personal views of the entire religious scene.
      4. Some converted Jews were certain they knew how God wanted things done.
      5. Some converted idol worshippers thought these Jewish Christians were ridiculous.
      6. Some had a hard time separating their background experiences of the past from their present conversion to Christ.
      7. Some clearly understood what God was doing in Christ.
      8. Some were spiritually weak.

    2. One thing that magnified their differences was eating meat that had been offered to an idol.
      1. Some Jewish Christians said Christians absolutely must not do that–such was an act of idolatry.
      2. Some converted idol worshippers said Christians absolutely could not do that–to eat such meat was an act of worship that honored a false God.
      3. Some stronger Christians with a correct understanding of what God did in Christ said it was unimportant.
        1. A Christian may eat any meat because he or she should understood that God created the animal.
        2. A Christian may eat any meat because he or she understands all food was made acceptable by Jesus’ death and prayer.
      4. As we still do today, they got into a big argument among Christians about who was right.
        1. Some argued spiritual safety said Christians should not eat any meat.
        2. Some argued that was too extreme: Christians just needed to be cautious and ask the right questions when they bought or ate meat.
        3. Some argued that both were concerned about matters that made no difference to God; if Christians properly understood Christ, they would not waste time and energy on such practices.

    3. “Paul, with the Christians in Rome arguing about sacred meals, what did you ask them to understand?” (Romans 14)
      1. “Understand the purpose of being a Christian is to accept other Christians [even weak ones], not to judge other Christians” (Romans 14:1).
        1. “In this matter of sacred meals, Christians, do not hold other Christians in contempt” (Romans 14:3).
        2. “In this matter of sacred meals, Christians, do not judge other Christians” (Romans 14:3).
        3. “You have no right to hold in contempt or judge a person God accepts” (Romans 14:3).
      2. “The Lord is the master, and he can make Christians stand even when they reach completely different conclusions regarding sacred meals” (Romans 14:4).
        1. “Every single one of you is a servant.”
        2. “Servants have no right to judge each other.”
        3. “Only a Master can judge a servant.”
        4. “A servant’s judgment is not the basis of another servant’s approval or rejection.”
        5. “That right of approval or rejection is reserved for the Master alone.”
      3. “God knows and understands why you do what you do” (Romans 14:5,6).
        1. “God knows actions that come from faith when He sees them.”
        2. “God knows actions that come from sincere consciences when He sees them.”
        3. “One Christian observes holy days to honor God.”
        4. “Another Christian does not observe holy days to honor God.”
        5. “One Christian eats no meat to honor God.”
        6. “Another Christian eats meat to honor God.”
        7. “The basic motivation of each Christian is the same, and God knows it.”
        8. “Do not oppose or discourage the Christian who honors God by acts of faith that come from his or her conscience.”
      4. “The focus is to be on the Lord, not on me and my standards” (Romans 14:7-9).
        1. “Our whole existence and our deaths are about the Lord, not about self.”
        2. “Our basic concern is not, ‘Are these Christians living up to my standards?'”
        3. “Our basic concern is calling the world to accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ, not judging other Christians by our personal standards and conclusions.”
        4. “Spend your time advancing Jesus’ Lordship, not judging other Christians.”
      5. “Judging Christians is God’s business, and He can and will care for that matter far better than we can.”
        1. “Let God judge why Christians do or do not eat the sacred meal.”
        2. “Each one of us will explain to God not only our actions but our motivations.”

The fact that everyone of us is different does not distress God. If what we individually do honors God, if what we individually do expresses the faith that depends on God, if what we do praises God from a sincere conscience, God knows and understands exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it.

People in Jesus Christ who depend on God, who honor God, who praise God for what He does for us in Jesus Christ must respect each other. Every Christian needs the encouragement of the respect of other Christians.

The “No Consequence” Mentality–And Me

Posted by on under Sermons

The situation: Mom treasures an old vase that belonged to great-grandmother. It is the only thing she has that belonged to great-grandmother. It is not worth much, but it is of enormous personal value. She warned her son often not to touch the vase.

The happening: the son shatters the vase. It is broken into so many fragments that it could never be glued together.

The question: should the son endure consequences of his action? What form should those consequences take? How should Mom impose those consequences?

Before deciding if consequences should occur, the form of those consequences, and how to impose the consequences, there are other issues to settle.

How did the vase break? Was it an accident? Was it willful, deliberate disobedience? Or, was it one of those unusual, freak happenings?

Obviously, Mom is deeply upset. Should Mom express her anger and grief in the consequences? Or, should Mom assume the consequences?

If the son broke the vase by willfully, deliberately disobeying Mom, what should Mom do? Should her rage give her son a beating never to be forgotten? Should Mom wait until her feelings are under control before deciding the consequences? Should her son understand the “why” of the consequences?

It seems to me the two “bookend approaches” of Mom’s options are these. One “bookend” is the “no consequence” mentality. “Honey, it is my fault, not yours. I should have placed the vase out of your sight and reach.” The other “bookend” is to give him a whipping that he will never forget. A multitude of options lie between those “bookends,” and hopefully Mom’s wisdom will choose one of those options.

To me, in real terms, those “bookends” contrast our past society with our present society. In the past, a razor strap whipping was almost automatic. Some of you experienced that consequence. Today, “It is not your fault,” is a common approach.

  1. Every one of our personal worlds struggle with messes.
    1. In our fantasies, someone else’s life is ideal and has no problems.
      1. The truth: there are no ideal lives.
      2. The truth: everyone struggles in his or her personal life.
      3. The struggle between good and evil expresses itself in personal terms in all our lives.

    2. Nowhere is that struggle more real than in the consequences of behavior.
      1. The consequences of behavior is a complicated, complex reality.
      2. Sometimes we struggle because of consequences produced by our own behavior, even when we do not wish to admit it.
      3. Sometimes we struggle because of consequences produced by the behavior of those we love.
      4. Sometimes we struggle because of consequences produced by the behavior of people we do not even know.
      5. Sometimes we struggle because of consequences produced by behavior within our society.
      6. Sometimes we struggle because of consequences produced by behavior in our world.
      7. Most of our struggles are produced by a combination of these.
      8. The struggle between good and evil occurs in all those arenas, and all those struggles affect our personal lives.

    3. This is the truth: in the context of physical life and physical existence, we cannot eliminate bad consequences.
      1. Given our freedoms and opportunities, we can make choices that reduce the number and the effect of some bad consequences.
      2. However, the majority of the people in our world cannot make such choices.
        1. The majority of the world’s population have few opportunities or freedoms.
        2. The majority of the world’s population have little control over what happens in their personal worlds.
      3. Because evil is an ever present reality, bad consequences are a constant part of physical existence.

  2. I want to emphasize two simple truths about behavior and consequences by using Bible examples of two men.
    1. The first man was a godly man who thought through manipulation he could escape the consequences of his ungodly behavior. Consider Israel’s King David (2 Samuel 11-17).
      1. King David was truly a godly man who had an enormous heart for God.
        1. Once King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife.
          1. As a result of his “one night stand,” Bathsheba was pregnant.
          2. Uriah was a soldier in David’s army, and he was with the army fighting a battle.
          3. David thought he could hide his adultery by having Uriah come home and be with his wife.
          4. David’s plan failed, so he sent Uriah back to the army carrying orders for him to be placed in the front line in a way that assured his death.
        2. Uriah was killed in a battle; Bathsheba mourned for him the appropriate period; and David married her.
          1. David was certain he had hidden his adultery.
          2. He was certain there would be no consequences.
      2. Months later, after the child’s birth, the prophet Nathan confronted David.
        1. Not for one moment had all David’s evil acts been hidden from God’s eyes.
        2. The consequences were enormous: David suffered; Bathsheba suffered; the child died; and the resulting consequences within David’s family included rape, murder, and a determined effort by one of David’s sons to destroy him.
      3. Though David was a godly man, the consequences of his behavior were enormous.
        1. God forgave him.
        2. But forgiveness did not eliminate the consequences.

    2. The second man was a godly man whose bad consequences were not produced by his personal choices. Consider Daniel in the book of Daniel.
      1. For generations God warned the kingdom of Judah they would pay horrible consequences for their ungodliness and idolatry if they did not repent and return to Him.
        1. The people of Judah refused to repent and turn to God.
        2. After many warnings and a lot of patience, God allowed the people of Judah to suffer the consequences of their behavior.
      2. The consequences began by allowing the Babylonian empire to take control of the kingdom of Judah.
        1. The first to go into exile included young men from the finest families in Israel; young men from the royal family and the families of nobility; young men who were noted for intelligence, wisdom, and understanding.
        2. Among these young men was a young man named Daniel.
      3. Nothing indicates that Daniel went into Babylonian exile as a consequence of his own personal ungodliness.
        1. In fact, the book of Daniel documents the godly faith and godly behavior of this man.
        2. Yet, he was among the first to go into exile.
        3. He never saw his homeland again.
        4. He never walked the streets of Jerusalem again.
        5. He may never have seen his family again.
      4. Yet, he was a godly man in very ungodly circumstances who was committed to God. Once, early in his exile, Daniel praised God with these words:
        Daniel 2:20-23 “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
      5. Daniel endured the consequences of evil produced by generations of rebelliousness committed before his birth.

    3. David and Daniel represent scary realities.
      1. It is impossible for us to hide anything we do from God.
      2. It is possible for us to endure bad consequences made necessary by the lives and decisions of other people.

  3. A loving God in the ultimate kindness we know as grace and mercy did something for us none of us could do for ourselves.
    1. We often say God sent us Jesus to die for our sins, but perhaps we have said that so long that we have forgotten what God did for us.
      1. Jesus declared what God was doing when he talked to Nicodemus:
        John 3:16-19 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
      2. Everyone, including Israel, was already perishing, but the loving God wanted to substitute eternal life for perishing.
        1. So the loving God sent Jesus to save the world, not condemn the world.
        2. Those who continue in faithlessness in Jesus are self-condemned.
        3. But those who place their faith in Jesus are removed from perishing.
        4. Placing our trust in what God did in Jesus removes us from condemnation.

    2. Why? What was it that God did in Jesus that destroys our condemnation?
      1. Many Bible statements tell us what God allowed to happen in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, but two powerfully come to my mind.
        1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
        1. Jesus wore our sins, actually wore our sins, as he died on the cross.
        2. He did that to give us opportunities that did not exist.
          1. He did that to give us the opportunity to die to sin.
          2. He did that to give us the opportunity to live to righteousness.
        3. Because he was wounded for us, you and I can be healed.
          2 Corinthians 5:21 He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
        4. As Jesus died on the cross, God made Jesus sin for us.
        5. Why did God do that? So in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God.
      2. What God did for us in Jesus is too incredible to completely comprehend.
        1. As he wrote to Christians, John gave this explanation in 1 John 1:5-10.
        2. If as Christians we will do three things:
          1. Commit ourselves to living in God’s light;
          2. Live in fellowship with each other;
          3. Confess (to God) the sins we realize that we commit.
        3. God promises Christians to do the following:
          1. Use Jesus’ blood to cleanse (ongoing process) us from all sin.
          2. Forgive us of the sins we confess.
          3. Cleanse (ongoing process) us from all unrighteousness.
        4. Thus for the Christian every day of life begins brand new because God cleanses us in Jesus’ blood.

As long as we live on this earth there will be evil, and evil will produce consequences. But as long as we live on this earth, in Christ we can begin every day new in the cleansing only God can provide.

Why Would Anyone Want To Be Like God?

Posted by on under Bulletin Articles

God’s nature is relevant to the present condition of our world. America’s world shook in ways we regarded unshakable. Amazingly, the fundamental issue moving our world to the brink of chaotic instability is not at all the issue Americans expected. If the fundamental issue dealt with economic suffering, power inequities, materialistic unconcern, social injustices, or racial bias, most Americans quickly could relate to the issue. Why not? Those problems shake life inside America.

But the basic issue is about God. That issue is far more basic than His correct name, the proper way to approach Him, or the proper way to worship Him. The “now” issue centers in God’s nature. Before September 11, God’s nature was a “none issue” here.

In America before September 11, can you guess the only place that discussed God’s nature? Sunday school classes? No. Wednesday night Bible classes? No. Sermons in church buildings? No. Bible studies with seekers? No. Anyone attempting meaningfully discussions of God’s nature in those contexts was B-O-R-I-N-G. “Killing” interest in a Christian study, class, or audience was guaranteed if one meaningfully discussed God’s nature. Then where? Theology classes in schools training preachers might guide in-depth studies of God’s nature. In other contexts, God’s nature is assumed. The prevailing conviction: “No one needs to understand God’s nature! Do what He says and get on with life!” [That assumes we can do what He asks without understanding Him.]

America is now at war. Our government carefully tries to keep this war from becoming a religious war between two worldwide belief systems. Why? The war is based on radically different understandings of God’s nature.

One system primarily believes God is a God of justice. God was deeply offended by unbelievable injustices. Because of injustices against God’s nature, hate appropriately expresses faith. Faith expressed through hate results in acts of terror. Believers’ vengeance against unbelievers appeases God’s anger.

One system primarily believes God is a God of redemption. God’s love was deeply wounded, but He uses mercy and grace to forgive. Through forgiveness, He teaches people to be forgiving. Repentance appropriately expresses faith. Faith expressed in repentance results in kindness.

Why should anyone want to be like God? If God is the source of hatred, and faith expresses itself in terror and vengeance, that is a good question. If God is the source of redemption, and faith expresses itself in kindness and repentance, the answer should be obvious.

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