By John Stallings
In the movie, “Forest Gump” you may remember the part of the movie where Forest decides to go for a run.
He first runs to the end of the driveway. Then he runs into town. Then he runs to the county line & then he runs to the state line. Then he runs across half the United States to Santa Monica California.Then Forest decides to turn around & run some more. This time he runs across the country to a lighthouse in Maine. He keeps running until people notice. He’s in the media, on magazine covers & starts to build a following. People start to run with him & follow him wherever he goes.With a full beard & dirty, grungy clothes, Forest finds himself with a large number of followers who will go wherever he goes.
One day, Forest stops running. Standing in the middle of a road he speaks to his followers. They wait with bated breath for his words of wisdom. They lean toward him waiting for the words to fall from his lips.Forest speaks like no man ever spoke before, sharing these words of unprecedented wisdom, I hope you’re sitting because this is big; Forest says, “I’m kind of tired. I think I’m gonna go home now.” He walks through his followers who part like the Red Sea.
Though the movie was first & foremost a comedy, I think, & certainly it was just a movie, there’s something here that rings a serious bell. You can’t help but feel sorry for these people following Forest, mostly because they have nothing better to do. They have no direction in their lives. These folk put their faith & hope in Forest & he has nothing to offer them.
WE HAVE A GUIDE
As we embark on the year 2011, we aren’t like the people in the movie Forest Gump, - so empty, - so lost -that we would follow someone who’s going nowhere in particular. Forest had a good heart, but really had no clue where he was going & why.We’re told in scripture & we know experientially that the Holy Spirit who resides within us will Guide us into all truth. We have God, His Son Jesus & The Holy Spirit to fill our lives with meaning & give us guidance.
STUCK
The greatest challenge of the coming New Year will be letting go of the past in order to grasp a new future. It’s not as easy as it sounds because we as human beings have a way of getting stuck. Many people find that though they want passionately to believe things can be different, a new beginning always seems to move just out of reach. They find themselves slipping back into the bondage of the past.In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul said….
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind & reaching forth for those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
If you saw the movie Groundhog Day; you have a perfect example of a man who’s stuck, living the same day over & over. I don’t think there is anyone who isn’t, or hasn’t been stuck. Maybe our “stuckness” centers on a tangible such as buying, eating, drinking, drugging, worrying, fretting, gambling, risks, sex, love, books, movies, television, ideas, work, or power. Or maybe what we’re experiencing is a general malaise or vertigo that we can’t put our finger on.
Being stuck is sort of a twilight zone of sameness with no seeming ability to affect any kind of change. We yearn for new vistas but seem to be fresh out of ideas as to how and where to find them. We look down the road and see no chance of anything but more of the same.
We all know what it’s like to be in a car that’s stuck, either in snow, sand or mud. My heart bled these past few weeks as I watched the folk in the northeastern states being victimized by the white stuff.Though we love white Christmases, too much of a good thing can be devastating.
But being emotionally and spiritually stuck is worse. It’s the realization that we’re not moving forward, and we feel paralyzed. There are projects we know we need to start or finish, but we’re seemingly trapped and frozen in place.
Few of us will grow in our Christian lives in a steady, gradual, upward slope from birth to death. Granted there will be seasons of seemingly effortless growth but there will also be seasons where we somehow get “stuck” at one level and can’t “break out” to the next level.Something’s getting in the way!It's my contention that part of what impedes our personal and spiritual growth are the "stuck" places in our life.
There are varieties of reasons we get stuck but whatever they might be, our personal growth diminishes the longer we remain stuck. We can get stuck in our past, in our pain, in our problems, in our perspectives or in our life patterns.I get stuck sometimes, don’t you? It is not usually an absence of options, but a plethora of them. One gets stuck in the process of choosing & then shuts down.We can sometimes get stymied. That implies being thwarted by some outside force.
Certainly outside forces influence us negatively or positively, but the reality is that most of the stymieing comes from within. We are afraid. We are afraid of the shame, embarrassment, & disappointment that failure will bring & the increased responsibility of success. Therefore, we are timid, tenuous, and terrorized by fear of the decisions we might make or actions we might take. After all, we might make a mistake. We might produce mediocre work. We might open a can of worms. Our "mights take away our might.”
Maybe a large challenge comes up, -we get discouraged & we freeze. We put our plans on hold & break our pattern of discipline.Sometimes “being stuck” is a signal that something has gone wrong; somehow we’ve missed it, and we’re terribly off course. This is not always the case; as a matter of fact, feeling stuck is a condition that can be good for us. For one thing, a prime prerequisite for getting unstuck is to be stuck. When we’re stuck, we’ve lost our momentum and are forced, at least temporarily, to stop and assess our lives.
Feeling stuck acts as an inward summons or call. We face the fact that we are dissatisfied with where we are. We see the utter futility of our situation, and, if we are wise, we reach for another level to satisfy the desire for change. At that point, we are reaching for that which really satisfies, and, in so doing, we are calling out for God. So that’s why I say that being stuck isn’t really a bad thing. What has happened is, because of the stuck feelings, we have begun to readjust our lives, looking for a clearer perspective. In a way we are calling out, “What’s next for me, God?
PEOPLE GET STUCK IN THE PAST
Some people live in the past and seem to revel in the hurts of yesterday. They won’t shake loose from their past failures or calamities because, to them, the past is more important than the present. When you talk to them, you quickly see they are totally caught up with & committed to keeping the past more real than the present. They are stuck. What decade was it that Ronnie Millsap was lost in? Was it the sixties? I liked the song but always forget the decade. Oh well, it matters not; the important things is he was stuck.
In John 5, Jesus saw a man sitting beside the pool of Bethesda. He had been sitting there for thirty-eight years, trying to be first into the water after it was troubled by the angel. Jesus came along and heard the man’s story and immediately saw that he was stuck. I would say that thirty-eight years of sitting in the same spot, whining about the same problem is really being stuck. It didn’t cross the man’s mind that there was another way. When Jesus was able to get him to quit worrying about his past defeats and disappointments & look to Him, the man was healed, & he carried his bed away.
WE CAN GET STUCK IN OLD PATTERNS AND HABITS.
It’s not hard to develop bad habits (sometimes sinful), but more often people are just bogged in ruts. Some give up, figuring they can’t change, so why try? Perhaps because of resentment or a negative thought pattern they’ve been in so long, they think their situation could never change. Perhaps they’ve come to believe their lot in life is already static, & nothing can ever be different.
MAYBE YOU’RE STUCK FINANCIALLY OR WITH SOME OTHER PHYSICAL NEED.
In John 2, Jesus attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee, & they had run out of wine. The people were stuck with no libation, & obviously it put the wedding planners in a bit of an embarrassing spot. They were stuck with no wine. Though Jesus’ time had not yet come to do miracles, He responded to the need & performed His first miracle by turning water into wine. When we are stuck financially, emotionally, or in any other way, we should immediately turn to Jesus, knowing He’ll always be responsive to our needs.
YOU MAY BE STUCK WITH A FALSE ASSUMPTION
In Joel 2:23-32, the prophet speaks to a people who are stuck in despair, feeling things will never get better. He tells them to look up and be glad for God is going to do great things for them. They have a great future if they’ll rise up and take hold of it by faith.He says in verse 25,-
-And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
In I Kings 17 we read the story of Elijah being sent to the home of the widow of Zarephath. A famine was in progress, & the only thing she had was just enough meal to make a cake for herself & her son, then die of slow starvation. This poor little widow woman was indeed stuck. Elijah asked her to make him a little cake first, and at that point she had a choice. She could believe the word of the man of God or do it her way, & no doubt die. When she opted to obey, she was given a miracle supply of oil & meal that lasted for many days.
When things are going bad & we are stuck in some situation or other, we should always listen for Gods voice. He’ll have a plan to get us unstuck. [He has a fleet of spiritual tow-trucks that can be on your case before you can say “Gesundheit”.] The only thing the widow had to do was exercise obedience, & her need was met. To get unstuck, you & I will often have to make that same choice--to obey God.
SOMETIMES BEING STUCK IS JUST PURE PROCRASTINATION.
We develop a habit of putting things off until it finally turns into resistance to tasks that are unpleasant to us. Though we don’t enjoy thinking about it, sometimes we can become stubborn, which started as a childhood-survival technique we may have developed to ward off controlling people. We learned early that we can resist certain things, & people can do nothing but accept our resistance. Perhaps we even enjoyed seeing how it frustrated others when we used those powers of resistance. This may have worked as a child, but it isn’t necessary now, and if we don’t recognize what’s happening, it can be a tool of the devil to sabotage our motivation. Now it translates to pure, old, mule-headed stubbornness, keeping us from the changes we should make.
MAYBE WE ARE STUCK BECAUSE WE ARE RESISTING CHANGE.
Are you stuck at the beginning of the great New Year, 2011?
HERE ARE A FEW HELPFUL HINTS FOR GETTING UNSTUCK.
1. Look at your situation realistically. Does anything in the aforementioned apply? Ask God to help you see what’s really stopping your progress.
2. Look for the bottlenecks in your situation & address them.
3. Develop a “what’s next” mentality. God will show you His will if you seek Him.
4. Don’t hesitate to go to people you respect & enlist their prayers & advice. Don’t forget to seek God.
5. When you get temporarily stuck on a project, walk away for a while, & you’ll come back to it with a new perspective. But do come back.
6. Home run king, Henry Aaron, had this advice: In a slump, keep swinging.
7. Help others with their problems, & yours will seem smaller.
8. Take care of yourself spiritually, emotionally, & physically.
9. Start each day with God’s Word & a prayer for guidance.
LET ME GIVE YOU A LIST OF IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR
1. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you’ll ask God to do for you this coming year?
2. What’s the single most important thing you need to happen to improve the spiritual quality of your family?
3. What spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress in & what will you do about it?
4. What’s the biggest time-waster in your life & what will you do about it in the coming year?
5. For whose salvation will you most fervently pray in the coming year?
6. How could you improve your prayer life in 2011?
7. What will you do in 2011 that will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?
8. What will you do differently by God’s grace this coming year?
9. What’s the most important decision you need to make in 2011?
10. What area of your life needs simplifying & how will you do it?
11. What important need do you feel burdened to meet in 2011?
12. What habit would you like to establish in 2011?
13. Who do you most want to encourage this year?
14. What’s the most important financial goal you need to meet & how will you go about doing it?
15. How can you improve the quality of your work life?
16. What will you endeavor to do to bless your pastor or others who minister to you?
17. What book in addition to the bible do you want to read?
18. What’s your biggest regret of 2010 & what will you do about it in 2011?
19. What important trip would you want to take this year?
20. What skill do you want to learn or improve?
21. To what need or ministry will you give to in an unprecedented way in 2011?
22. What biblical doctrine do you want to better understand?
23. If those who know you best gave you advice, what advice would that be?
24. Would they be right?
25. What will you do about it?You are looking for ways to make progress in your life. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have read these little tips by such a non-expert as I.
If we keep reaching, the best is yet to come.
In Saskatchewan there’s a sign by the side of a muddy road which reads:
CHOOSE YOUR RUT CAREFULLY, YOU’LL BE IN IT A LONG TIME.
Happy New Year,
Blessings,
John
Monday, January 3, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Baby With Four Names
By John Stallings
There are lots of people with three names.
Among them are, Sandra Day-O'Conner, US Supreme Court Judge, Jaquelyn Kennedy Onasis, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tommy Lee Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Ray Cyrus, James Earl Jones, and Sara Jessica Parker.
Of course we can’t forget those with one name like Madonna, or Cher or Elvis.
One of the many important decisions confronting new parents is, “What shall we call our baby?” Most new parents spend hours debating this question. We all realize that names matter. Shall the new baby be named after his father, his uncle, a favorite friend? Should he be given a name that happens to be popular at the moment? Or one that simply sounds good?
Charles Phillip Arthur George
Names are important because once you pick out a name the child will be stuck with it for a long, long time! Babies have no voice in the selection of their names. They have to live with them — to live them down or live them up.
Every so often you’ll run across a person with multiple names, such as Charles Phillip Arthur George Windsor. That’s sounds odd until you discover it’s Prince Charles. If you say that’s a heavy load to lay on a baby, remember He’s royalty and He needs a long name.
So it is with Jesus.
Even before His birth, He was a child with many names. The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years before He was born, prophesied that Messiah would have four names:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
We know that there are many other names for Jesus; however this verse reveals four of those names. Each one features an aspect of His character. They teach who He is and how He can help us. One of our beloved carols is cast in a plaintive question:
“What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?”
Listen to Isaiah’s divinely-inspired answer. These four names speak to us about wisdom, power, security, and assurance. The first name is…
1. WONDERFUL COUNSELOR
Literally this title means “a wonder of a counselor.” It speaks of the wisdom of his plan. The word “wonderful” means “astonishing” or “extraordinary.” The writers of the Old Testament used it for acts of God which man cannot understand. The word “counselor” means “advisor” or “ideal ruler.”
There are several professions that make their living giving advice to others but they can’t claim perfection. Psychiatrists routinely make $150 (and sometimes $350) an hour for their counsel. Much of it is good, some not so good. But the Lord goes to no one for advice. And when anyone comes to him, He gives them the counsel they need.
He is therefore the perfect teacher and the ultimate counselor. This gives us insight into his working. His plans are not our plans, His ways not our ways. He will accomplish things beyond human comprehension and He will do it in ways we cannot fathom. He will do the greatest work ever accomplished and He will do it seamlessly. A violent death would not be man’s way to victory but it was God’s plan and our Lord carried it out perfectly.
As the Wonderful Counselor, He gives great direction to His people. Those who follow him will not walk in darkness but in the blazing light of day. In this tiny baby we see all the wisdom of God wrapped in swaddling clothes.What Child is This? He is the Wonderful Counselor. Then He’s the…
2. MIGHTY GOD
This speaks of the “Power of Accomplishment.” It is first of all a statement of deity. The baby born in the manger is not just the Son of God; He is also God the Son. All the fullness of God dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the ancient creeds declare, He is “very God of very God.”
That can never be said of any mere human baby. Something else is important in this title. The word translated “mighty” is the word gibo, which means “strong one” or “the powerful, valiant warrior.” Thus the term “mighty God is actually a military title. He is the God who fights for his people! At the Incarnation, God took the form of human flesh. That’s why one of his names is Immanuel–God with us.
Now take the first two titles together and what do you have?
As the Wonderful Counselor — He makes the Plans.
As the Mighty God —He makes the plans Work.
All of his wonderful plans will be carried out with all of God’s infinite might. There is in this little baby’s arms flailing around in His crude bassinet all the strength of Deity. The power of God is in those tiny fists. He has strength which is divine. The omnipotence of God is at His command. Whatever He desires, He is able to achieve.
Carl Sagan Meets Jesus
When we meet Jesus, we meet God. If He is not the “mighty God,” then we are deceived and it is blasphemy to worship him. There is no middle ground here.
If He is not God, we are fools to worship Him. If He is God, we are fools not to.
Some time back renowned astronomer Carl Sagan died. He is best remembered for his famous PBS series called “Cosmos” in which he evangelized for his evolutionary views, especially the notion that the universe is billions and billions of years old. He repeatedly said that he didn’t believe in the afterlife. However, he also said he wasn’t an atheist because he didn’t know enough to rule out the possibility of God. I would argue that God never gave a human being the power to be a real atheist, but that’s another article.
Carl Sagan is an evolutionist no longer. And at this moment he is neither an atheist nor an agnostic, for he has met the Mighty God whom he refused to worship in this life. Despite his great learning and his notable achievements, Carl Sagan died a fool’s death because he would not bow before the Babe of Bethlehem.
HERE’S THE REAL REASON MANY PEOPLE RESENT MANGER SCENES IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE…
Banning manger scenes or other Christmas scenes from public places has nothing whatsoever to do with being “politically correct” or offending people of other religions. Let’s do a post-mortem on the real reason some people fight so hard to call Christmas trees “Holiday trees” and say “Season’s greetings,” or “Happy holidays” taking all mention of Christ out of Christmas.
Christmas is the great dividing line of the human race. No wonder some people want all mention of Christmas expunged from our public schools and from our public life, indeed from human consciousness. They understand that Christians believe Christmas is based on the belief that at Bethlehem, God Incarnate slipped out of timelessness into time, to land in the arms of a virgin girl. Now, if this is true, then unbelievers have problems.
When a person says there is no God, rejecting Christianities tenants, they are telling themselves they can live like the devil then die like a dog. How “very nice” for them. They want to believe that at death, that’s it, it’s over. They’ll never be faced with standing before a Holy God being judged based on what they did with their life, and especially what they did with Jesus.
These “atheists” may never darken a church door. They can live their lives and never open a Bible. They never have to even hear the name of God or Jesus Christ except in cursing. But once a year, here comes Jesus again. And that’s every year, for about a month. More toasters will be sold in Jesus’ name than any name in history. More turkey and Ham will be sold in His name and more money will be spent in His name than any other name. The only way these folk could escape it would be to leave the planet.
Now, if they’re not careful they’ll hear Christ’s name coming out of their own mouth, and we couldn’t have that. A manger scene isn’t only about a cute little baby. Who could be offended by that? The entire world loves a baby. But baby Jesus is different. If you accept that manger scene then you’ve got to accept that God exists, the miracle of the virgin birth, and the rest that goes along with it. This is too painful for them because when you extrapolate it out, you’re faced with things like- one day giving account for yourself to God and then issues like what your eternal address will be, - heaven or hell.
If we take out manger scenes and the name of Christ, we’ve erased some of the best gospel preaching imaginable, and to these people that’s a good thing.
In this tiny baby we see the power of God sleeping on Mary’s lap. What Child is this? He is the Mighty God. He is also…
3. THE EVERLASTING FATHER
In the Hebrew the phrase is literally “the Father of Eternity.” This speaks of the purpose of his coming.
He is before, above, and beyond time. He is the possessor of eternity. He is eternally like a father to his people. This is not a statement about the Trinity, but about the character of our Lord. All that a good father is, Jesus is to his people.
Because He’s like a father, -caring for his people. Because He owns eternity, He can give us eternal life. That’s so important for those of us who live on this sin-cursed planet. No one lives forever. Sooner or later we will also find our own place in the graveyard. We’re not immortal, but transitory. We’re here today, gone tomorrow. A dead Christ will do us no good. Dying men need an undying Christ.
Here’s a key phrase: He is a father forever! That’s important to me because I had a father, but not a father forever. I had a father, but he is gone now… He was a very good man, but he was not a father forever. . I am father to daughters but not a father forever. I will someday pass away. All human fathers must go. But Jesus is a father forever! He’ll outlast the stars in the heavens.
When our children need anything, we run to help them. If they cry, we go. If they want us, we will come to them. We would never kick them out. They belong to us. They are ours, in a manner of speaking. What we are in a poor way to them, Jesus is in a perfect way to all who believe in Him.
In this tiny baby we see the love of God sleeping in a stable. What child is this? He is the everlasting Father and he’s also…
4. PRINCE OF PEACE
The phrase literally means “the prince whose coming brings peace” This speaks of the effect of his coming. This final title is the climax of all that has gone before. The word “prince” means something like “General of the Army.” It speaks of his high position. The word “peace” speaks of his basic nature.
Recently I read that there are more wars raging right now than at any time this century. All over globe there are ethnic conflicts and tribal wars. Closer to home not a day goes by without word that someone else has been murdered in America. We see so much killing that it no longer surprises us—or even bothers us.
In Florida where I live, just this week a man, embittered because his wife had lost her teaching job went to a school-board meeting intent on killing several school board officials. The video has been played over and over with the warning about its violence. He was a very angry man but thankfully a bad shot and was gunned down by officials. This video will probably go viral on YouTube.
We’re practically immune to violence because we live in a violent world.
Isaiah 9:6 tells us that God’s plan for world peace is focused on a one person—a baby asleep in a manger in Bethlehem. He is the ultimate man of peace.
· In the past, His coming made peace with God*
. In the present, those who come to Him find peace in their heart when Christ comes in.
· In the future, His second coming will usher in a kingdom of peace. There is no peace today. -So much strife and bloodshed. He is not a failure. We are.
Christ is no warrior, no greedy conqueror, and no empire builder. He came to bring peace. He did. He does. He will.
In this tiny baby we see the peace of God welcomed by angels and shepherds. What child is this? He is the Prince of Peace.
In this one verse you have the four names of Jesus. This is what they mean to us today:
If you are confused…He is the Wonderful Counselor.If you are weak…..He is the Mighty God.If you are scared……He is the Everlasting Father.If you are disturbed….He is the Prince of Peace.
You never know what may happen in the world because a baby was born. No doubt the Innkeeper didn’t know who he was turning away. Even Mary couldn’t fully imagine what it all meant that night. But that baby born in Bethlehem has become the centerpiece of human history. We even divide time itself by his coming—B.C. and A.D.
What child is this? He is … the Wonderful Counselor … the Mighty God … the Everlasting Father … the Prince of Peace.
“For to us”
The most important part of our verse is the first three words……."For to us” The gift of Christ is a personal gift from God to us. A gift requires a response. If I put a gift under your tree, you may acknowledge it, may admire it, may even thank me for it, but it isn’t yours until you open it and take it for your own.
Why Would God Visit Us?
Mankind has made a total mess of things. We blew our one shot at immortality—and now the graveyards are filling up. But God is not finished with us yet. Go to Psalm 8 and find these words;
“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
David seems to say; why bother with people like us? We ruined Eden, you gave us another chance, and we fouled up so badly that you sent a flood to wipe out the human race except for one family. Why not just hit the delete button on the human race? Why not just admit that this was an experiment that didn’t work out? No one could blame God if He decided to get rid of us all and start over again.
David’s question comes to the very heart of Christmas—What is man that God should pay attention to us? What is man that God should care about us after we’ve failed so miserably? Why should God care about us at all?
The New King James Version renders verse 4 this way: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Why would God care enough to visit people like us? It is right at this point that we see the glory and wonder and mystery of the gospel.
Jesus visited us to become like us in his nature. That’s the Incarnation. That’s Bethlehem. That’s Christmas. He came into this world as a tiny baby, born in a stable, in an obscure village, born in poverty, unwanted by the world. He was just another face in the crowd. Few knew that He was coming. No one cared that He had arrived. Jesus “had” to do this. In order to truly “visit” us, He had to become like us.
Jesus tasted death because that is our common destiny… Jesus could not have truly “visited” us if He had held himself back from “the last enemy” that confronts us—death. In order to be fully human, He had to taste death. Jesus suffered and died because that was the only way He could save us. Only by dying could He give us life.
Jesus came to restore all that we had lost in Eden. The Bible calls Jesus “the last Adam.” One of the verses of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” calls him the “Second Adam from above.” He came to reverse the curse that we brought upon ourselves. Now in heaven He is crowned with glory and honor. One day all those who believe in Jesus will share that glory with him.
God said, “I will not leave you alone. I will not let you destroy yourself, each other, and the world I have made. I love you too much to let you alone.” So He sent prophets. We killed them. He wrote letters. We ignored them. He told us how to live—and we said, “Who are you to tell us what to do?” We mocked the God who made us, we broke his laws, we said we didn’t need him, and we made up our own gods that we liked much better because they looked so much like us.
Oh, we made a mess of things. God had every reason to kill us all. But he didn’t. He said, “I love you too much to let you go.” And after we had trashed everything, God said, “I’m coming down there so you’ll know once and for all how much I love you.” We didn’t pay any attention; it didn’t even make sense to us. How could God visit us? But He did—and He came to the world in a very strange way. He entered a virgin’s womb and came out as a baby, born in Bethlehem, a baby named Jesus, born to save us from our sins.
So He came as a baby, and when He grew up, we butchered Him, slaughtered Him and murdered Him on a cross. That’s the thanks we gave to God for visiting us. But we were wrong about everything. After we killed Him, He came back from the dead—proving that He was right all along and we were really wrong—dead wrong about everything—and still God loved us and came from heaven to earth on the greatest rescue mission in history.
He came because we blew it so badly.He came and we killed him.He died and became our Savior.
WHAT A STORY! WHAT A CHRIST!
That’s the good news of Christmas: God has done it all. The only thing left to you and me is to believe. God wrapped up his Son in swaddling clothes and said to the whole world, “This is my Christmas gift to you.”
Someone rightly called Christmas “the happiest holiday.” But it will only be truly happy for those who truly believe in Jesus. I cannot prove to you that what I have said is true. You will have to decide that for yourself. But I can say without any reservation that I have staked my life on the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the incomparable Son of God.
Christmas matters because truth matters. And the heart of the truth is that God did not leave us alone, but in our misery He came to visit us one dark night in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.
Christmas is all about who we are, and who God is, and how far God will go to reach us.
Blessings,
John
Merry Christmas!
There are lots of people with three names.
Among them are, Sandra Day-O'Conner, US Supreme Court Judge, Jaquelyn Kennedy Onasis, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tommy Lee Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Ray Cyrus, James Earl Jones, and Sara Jessica Parker.
Of course we can’t forget those with one name like Madonna, or Cher or Elvis.
One of the many important decisions confronting new parents is, “What shall we call our baby?” Most new parents spend hours debating this question. We all realize that names matter. Shall the new baby be named after his father, his uncle, a favorite friend? Should he be given a name that happens to be popular at the moment? Or one that simply sounds good?
Charles Phillip Arthur George
Names are important because once you pick out a name the child will be stuck with it for a long, long time! Babies have no voice in the selection of their names. They have to live with them — to live them down or live them up.
Every so often you’ll run across a person with multiple names, such as Charles Phillip Arthur George Windsor. That’s sounds odd until you discover it’s Prince Charles. If you say that’s a heavy load to lay on a baby, remember He’s royalty and He needs a long name.
So it is with Jesus.
Even before His birth, He was a child with many names. The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years before He was born, prophesied that Messiah would have four names:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
We know that there are many other names for Jesus; however this verse reveals four of those names. Each one features an aspect of His character. They teach who He is and how He can help us. One of our beloved carols is cast in a plaintive question:
“What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?”
Listen to Isaiah’s divinely-inspired answer. These four names speak to us about wisdom, power, security, and assurance. The first name is…
1. WONDERFUL COUNSELOR
Literally this title means “a wonder of a counselor.” It speaks of the wisdom of his plan. The word “wonderful” means “astonishing” or “extraordinary.” The writers of the Old Testament used it for acts of God which man cannot understand. The word “counselor” means “advisor” or “ideal ruler.”
There are several professions that make their living giving advice to others but they can’t claim perfection. Psychiatrists routinely make $150 (and sometimes $350) an hour for their counsel. Much of it is good, some not so good. But the Lord goes to no one for advice. And when anyone comes to him, He gives them the counsel they need.
He is therefore the perfect teacher and the ultimate counselor. This gives us insight into his working. His plans are not our plans, His ways not our ways. He will accomplish things beyond human comprehension and He will do it in ways we cannot fathom. He will do the greatest work ever accomplished and He will do it seamlessly. A violent death would not be man’s way to victory but it was God’s plan and our Lord carried it out perfectly.
As the Wonderful Counselor, He gives great direction to His people. Those who follow him will not walk in darkness but in the blazing light of day. In this tiny baby we see all the wisdom of God wrapped in swaddling clothes.What Child is This? He is the Wonderful Counselor. Then He’s the…
2. MIGHTY GOD
This speaks of the “Power of Accomplishment.” It is first of all a statement of deity. The baby born in the manger is not just the Son of God; He is also God the Son. All the fullness of God dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the ancient creeds declare, He is “very God of very God.”
That can never be said of any mere human baby. Something else is important in this title. The word translated “mighty” is the word gibo, which means “strong one” or “the powerful, valiant warrior.” Thus the term “mighty God is actually a military title. He is the God who fights for his people! At the Incarnation, God took the form of human flesh. That’s why one of his names is Immanuel–God with us.
Now take the first two titles together and what do you have?
As the Wonderful Counselor — He makes the Plans.
As the Mighty God —He makes the plans Work.
All of his wonderful plans will be carried out with all of God’s infinite might. There is in this little baby’s arms flailing around in His crude bassinet all the strength of Deity. The power of God is in those tiny fists. He has strength which is divine. The omnipotence of God is at His command. Whatever He desires, He is able to achieve.
Carl Sagan Meets Jesus
When we meet Jesus, we meet God. If He is not the “mighty God,” then we are deceived and it is blasphemy to worship him. There is no middle ground here.
If He is not God, we are fools to worship Him. If He is God, we are fools not to.
Some time back renowned astronomer Carl Sagan died. He is best remembered for his famous PBS series called “Cosmos” in which he evangelized for his evolutionary views, especially the notion that the universe is billions and billions of years old. He repeatedly said that he didn’t believe in the afterlife. However, he also said he wasn’t an atheist because he didn’t know enough to rule out the possibility of God. I would argue that God never gave a human being the power to be a real atheist, but that’s another article.
Carl Sagan is an evolutionist no longer. And at this moment he is neither an atheist nor an agnostic, for he has met the Mighty God whom he refused to worship in this life. Despite his great learning and his notable achievements, Carl Sagan died a fool’s death because he would not bow before the Babe of Bethlehem.
HERE’S THE REAL REASON MANY PEOPLE RESENT MANGER SCENES IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE…
Banning manger scenes or other Christmas scenes from public places has nothing whatsoever to do with being “politically correct” or offending people of other religions. Let’s do a post-mortem on the real reason some people fight so hard to call Christmas trees “Holiday trees” and say “Season’s greetings,” or “Happy holidays” taking all mention of Christ out of Christmas.
Christmas is the great dividing line of the human race. No wonder some people want all mention of Christmas expunged from our public schools and from our public life, indeed from human consciousness. They understand that Christians believe Christmas is based on the belief that at Bethlehem, God Incarnate slipped out of timelessness into time, to land in the arms of a virgin girl. Now, if this is true, then unbelievers have problems.
When a person says there is no God, rejecting Christianities tenants, they are telling themselves they can live like the devil then die like a dog. How “very nice” for them. They want to believe that at death, that’s it, it’s over. They’ll never be faced with standing before a Holy God being judged based on what they did with their life, and especially what they did with Jesus.
These “atheists” may never darken a church door. They can live their lives and never open a Bible. They never have to even hear the name of God or Jesus Christ except in cursing. But once a year, here comes Jesus again. And that’s every year, for about a month. More toasters will be sold in Jesus’ name than any name in history. More turkey and Ham will be sold in His name and more money will be spent in His name than any other name. The only way these folk could escape it would be to leave the planet.
Now, if they’re not careful they’ll hear Christ’s name coming out of their own mouth, and we couldn’t have that. A manger scene isn’t only about a cute little baby. Who could be offended by that? The entire world loves a baby. But baby Jesus is different. If you accept that manger scene then you’ve got to accept that God exists, the miracle of the virgin birth, and the rest that goes along with it. This is too painful for them because when you extrapolate it out, you’re faced with things like- one day giving account for yourself to God and then issues like what your eternal address will be, - heaven or hell.
If we take out manger scenes and the name of Christ, we’ve erased some of the best gospel preaching imaginable, and to these people that’s a good thing.
In this tiny baby we see the power of God sleeping on Mary’s lap. What Child is this? He is the Mighty God. He is also…
3. THE EVERLASTING FATHER
In the Hebrew the phrase is literally “the Father of Eternity.” This speaks of the purpose of his coming.
He is before, above, and beyond time. He is the possessor of eternity. He is eternally like a father to his people. This is not a statement about the Trinity, but about the character of our Lord. All that a good father is, Jesus is to his people.
Because He’s like a father, -caring for his people. Because He owns eternity, He can give us eternal life. That’s so important for those of us who live on this sin-cursed planet. No one lives forever. Sooner or later we will also find our own place in the graveyard. We’re not immortal, but transitory. We’re here today, gone tomorrow. A dead Christ will do us no good. Dying men need an undying Christ.
Here’s a key phrase: He is a father forever! That’s important to me because I had a father, but not a father forever. I had a father, but he is gone now… He was a very good man, but he was not a father forever. . I am father to daughters but not a father forever. I will someday pass away. All human fathers must go. But Jesus is a father forever! He’ll outlast the stars in the heavens.
When our children need anything, we run to help them. If they cry, we go. If they want us, we will come to them. We would never kick them out. They belong to us. They are ours, in a manner of speaking. What we are in a poor way to them, Jesus is in a perfect way to all who believe in Him.
In this tiny baby we see the love of God sleeping in a stable. What child is this? He is the everlasting Father and he’s also…
4. PRINCE OF PEACE
The phrase literally means “the prince whose coming brings peace” This speaks of the effect of his coming. This final title is the climax of all that has gone before. The word “prince” means something like “General of the Army.” It speaks of his high position. The word “peace” speaks of his basic nature.
Recently I read that there are more wars raging right now than at any time this century. All over globe there are ethnic conflicts and tribal wars. Closer to home not a day goes by without word that someone else has been murdered in America. We see so much killing that it no longer surprises us—or even bothers us.
In Florida where I live, just this week a man, embittered because his wife had lost her teaching job went to a school-board meeting intent on killing several school board officials. The video has been played over and over with the warning about its violence. He was a very angry man but thankfully a bad shot and was gunned down by officials. This video will probably go viral on YouTube.
We’re practically immune to violence because we live in a violent world.
Isaiah 9:6 tells us that God’s plan for world peace is focused on a one person—a baby asleep in a manger in Bethlehem. He is the ultimate man of peace.
· In the past, His coming made peace with God*
. In the present, those who come to Him find peace in their heart when Christ comes in.
· In the future, His second coming will usher in a kingdom of peace. There is no peace today. -So much strife and bloodshed. He is not a failure. We are.
Christ is no warrior, no greedy conqueror, and no empire builder. He came to bring peace. He did. He does. He will.
In this tiny baby we see the peace of God welcomed by angels and shepherds. What child is this? He is the Prince of Peace.
In this one verse you have the four names of Jesus. This is what they mean to us today:
If you are confused…He is the Wonderful Counselor.If you are weak…..He is the Mighty God.If you are scared……He is the Everlasting Father.If you are disturbed….He is the Prince of Peace.
You never know what may happen in the world because a baby was born. No doubt the Innkeeper didn’t know who he was turning away. Even Mary couldn’t fully imagine what it all meant that night. But that baby born in Bethlehem has become the centerpiece of human history. We even divide time itself by his coming—B.C. and A.D.
What child is this? He is … the Wonderful Counselor … the Mighty God … the Everlasting Father … the Prince of Peace.
“For to us”
The most important part of our verse is the first three words……."For to us” The gift of Christ is a personal gift from God to us. A gift requires a response. If I put a gift under your tree, you may acknowledge it, may admire it, may even thank me for it, but it isn’t yours until you open it and take it for your own.
Why Would God Visit Us?
Mankind has made a total mess of things. We blew our one shot at immortality—and now the graveyards are filling up. But God is not finished with us yet. Go to Psalm 8 and find these words;
“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
David seems to say; why bother with people like us? We ruined Eden, you gave us another chance, and we fouled up so badly that you sent a flood to wipe out the human race except for one family. Why not just hit the delete button on the human race? Why not just admit that this was an experiment that didn’t work out? No one could blame God if He decided to get rid of us all and start over again.
David’s question comes to the very heart of Christmas—What is man that God should pay attention to us? What is man that God should care about us after we’ve failed so miserably? Why should God care about us at all?
The New King James Version renders verse 4 this way: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Why would God care enough to visit people like us? It is right at this point that we see the glory and wonder and mystery of the gospel.
Jesus visited us to become like us in his nature. That’s the Incarnation. That’s Bethlehem. That’s Christmas. He came into this world as a tiny baby, born in a stable, in an obscure village, born in poverty, unwanted by the world. He was just another face in the crowd. Few knew that He was coming. No one cared that He had arrived. Jesus “had” to do this. In order to truly “visit” us, He had to become like us.
Jesus tasted death because that is our common destiny… Jesus could not have truly “visited” us if He had held himself back from “the last enemy” that confronts us—death. In order to be fully human, He had to taste death. Jesus suffered and died because that was the only way He could save us. Only by dying could He give us life.
Jesus came to restore all that we had lost in Eden. The Bible calls Jesus “the last Adam.” One of the verses of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” calls him the “Second Adam from above.” He came to reverse the curse that we brought upon ourselves. Now in heaven He is crowned with glory and honor. One day all those who believe in Jesus will share that glory with him.
God said, “I will not leave you alone. I will not let you destroy yourself, each other, and the world I have made. I love you too much to let you alone.” So He sent prophets. We killed them. He wrote letters. We ignored them. He told us how to live—and we said, “Who are you to tell us what to do?” We mocked the God who made us, we broke his laws, we said we didn’t need him, and we made up our own gods that we liked much better because they looked so much like us.
Oh, we made a mess of things. God had every reason to kill us all. But he didn’t. He said, “I love you too much to let you go.” And after we had trashed everything, God said, “I’m coming down there so you’ll know once and for all how much I love you.” We didn’t pay any attention; it didn’t even make sense to us. How could God visit us? But He did—and He came to the world in a very strange way. He entered a virgin’s womb and came out as a baby, born in Bethlehem, a baby named Jesus, born to save us from our sins.
So He came as a baby, and when He grew up, we butchered Him, slaughtered Him and murdered Him on a cross. That’s the thanks we gave to God for visiting us. But we were wrong about everything. After we killed Him, He came back from the dead—proving that He was right all along and we were really wrong—dead wrong about everything—and still God loved us and came from heaven to earth on the greatest rescue mission in history.
He came because we blew it so badly.He came and we killed him.He died and became our Savior.
WHAT A STORY! WHAT A CHRIST!
That’s the good news of Christmas: God has done it all. The only thing left to you and me is to believe. God wrapped up his Son in swaddling clothes and said to the whole world, “This is my Christmas gift to you.”
Someone rightly called Christmas “the happiest holiday.” But it will only be truly happy for those who truly believe in Jesus. I cannot prove to you that what I have said is true. You will have to decide that for yourself. But I can say without any reservation that I have staked my life on the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the incomparable Son of God.
Christmas matters because truth matters. And the heart of the truth is that God did not leave us alone, but in our misery He came to visit us one dark night in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.
Christmas is all about who we are, and who God is, and how far God will go to reach us.
Blessings,
John
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
I'm Dreaming Of A Right Christmas
By john Stallings
A pastor worked in his study all through Christmas Eve preparing for the Christmas morning service.
Being very tired he dozed off & dreamt of a world to which the Savior had never come. In his dream he was looking around his home but there were no Christmas decorations, no candles or Christmas wreaths.He walked into his study & thumbed through his library but found no books about Jesus, & the Bible he found ended at Malachi.
He noticed that the last words of the Bible were,
LEST I COME & SMITE THE EARTH WITH A CURSE.
He walked out unto the streets & found no church spires pointing heavenward.He went back inside & a knock on the door brought a request to visit a dying mother. He went to her bedside but could find no comforting scriptures, for the gospels were not there. Paul’s comforting letters that included passages about life beyond the grave were missing. There was no promise beyond the grave. Even John’s book of Revelation was not there.
He could only bow his head & weep in hopeless desperation. Two days later he stood by the mother’s grave & conducted her burial but he could give no word of changed hearts & glorious resurrections, only, “ashes to ashes & dust to dust.” It was just one long, last, final farewell.
Suddenly nearby music awoke him from his sleep & he was sobbing uncontrollably. He realized he was hearing his own church choir in the sanctuary next door practicing for their Christmas service & singing “Oh come let us adore Him.” The fact was, Jesus had come & His coming had split history in two, giving hope for eternal life to all who trust in Him.
WHAT WOULD A WORLD WITHOUT CHRIST LOOK LIKE?
Had Christ not come we’d have no New Testament, no gospel, no church, no Lord’s Day, no repentance, no forgiveness of sins, no changed & transformed hearts & lives & no hope of His eternal presence.The angel wouldn’t have told Mary, -With God nothing is impossible.The angels wouldn’t have sung to the shepherds, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men.
One of my favorite secular Christmas songs has always been ErvIn Berlin’s White Christmas. Though it’s always been a dream of mine, I can’t say that I ever experienced a white Christmas. In the last few years that dream has faded & been replaced with the desire to celebrate each year, a Right Christmas.What does a right Christmas look like?
A RIGHT CHRISTMAS IS BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE & SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL.
Have you ever tried to explain the real meaning of Christmas to a child? It isn’t easy. There is so much tradition mixed up with spiritual truth that it’s sometimes hard to tell Jesus from Santa Claus & the Wise men from the snowmen.The very young have puzzled looks on their faces as they try to sort it all out. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight….Christmas is baby Jesus’ birthday, but I get the presents?” They end up thinking;-“Is this a great religion or what?”
THE MOST NEGLECTED CHRISTMAS VERSE OF ALL
There is one verse that for me sums up the real meaning of Christmas better than any verse in the Bible. Within this short verse we find the answer to the question, what is the right attitude about Christmas & --what is a right Christmas? Here is the verse,
---2 Corinthians 8:9: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
Let’s examine this verse for in it I believe we find the essence of a right attitude toward Christmas.
A. HE WAS RICH
I read last week that Wal-Mart is the richest & most successful business that’s ever existed on planet earth. My computer even knows who Wal-mart is because it just corrected my spelling of the name.This brings up a question in my mind: “Why don’t we let Wal-mart bail out General Motors?” But I digress. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart was a “rich-en.” He was among the group of old boys who would light their cigars with a hundred dollar bill. The average rich ride first class. The medium rich charter a jet. The super rich own the jet. The incredibly rich own the airline.But Jesus Christ owns the skies. The Bible says---
HE WAS RICH!
This is speaking of what He had in heaven before He came to earth. You can take the richest men who ever lived, the most powerful rulers who ever lived, the wisest men who ever lived, the mightiest generals who ever lived, the strongest athletes in every sport, the most spell-binding orators, the greatest political leaders & any other great men on earth, calculate their wealth…power…skill…genius…wisdom…insight…& ability. Whatever that vast sum comes to, Jesus had more in heaven. No man or collection of men could touch Him. The pre-existent Jesus Christ wasn’t a pauper but a man who lived in glorious untold splendor.He Was Rich!!
B. HE BECAME POOR
When you & I celebrate a right Christmas we keep in mind the lowly baby Jesus who became poor. Exactly what does that mean? He was rich in eternity but He became poor when He moved into time. He left heaven for a remote village in a forgotten province, to join a despised race, to be born of an obscure teenage peasant girl in a stable, wrapped in rags & placed in a feeding-trough instead of a crib.But Jesus didn’t act “high & mighty.” He knew it all but wasn’t a “know it all.” He owned all the stuff but never did “strut His stuff.” He wasn’t a “name-dropper.” He wasn’t a showoff. He never asked people, “Want me to beam you into the 21st century?” Jesus could have constantly been saying things like, “I’ve got some property on Jupiter.”
But Jesus’ purpose wasn’t to show-off but to show-up. Jesus was holding the entire Universe together but you couldn’t tell it by watching or listening to Him. He wasn’t like that.Here is the creator of the universe who looked no different than the guy down the street. Jesus became poor & pitched His tent among us for a while. He didn’t Lord it over us but loved us so much He was willing to die for us. He wasn’t on an ego trip he was on a rescue mission.
A right Christmas is one that remembers that we are something special to God.Notice that Jesus became poor. You & I are made poor by circumstances but Jesus of His own free will became poor. The man who was richer than any man has ever been gave it up freely & became poorer than any man has ever been.If we have a right Christmas we’ll be remembering that the heart of it all, the heart of the gospel is that the richest person in the universe of His own free will became poorer than the poor.
I love the story of the atheist who would never go to church with his Christian family. One Christmas season, his wife & children were readying themselves to go to Sunday morning service & pleaded with him to go just this once. It was a special Christmas service & there’d be beautiful music.The unbelieving man refused to go, as usual, telling his family it would just be a waste of time for him, that Christmas was just a silly old tradition about a man who never really existed.The family left for church leaving the father sitting in his recliner near a large picture window that overlooked a big back yard. It was snowing & the sight of the flakes building up on the barn behind the house was breathtaking. He thought how much it looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.
Then something happened that almost startled him out of his chair. A flock of about twenty birds, not seeing the glass window, flew right into it, leaving several of them wounded & flapping around on the ground. The man, pitying the poor birds slowly got up & walked toward the window to get a better look. He stood & watched the birds slowly regain their composure & then begin to wander around the backyard in a state of confusion.
He went & dressed & got some bread from the kitchen thinking he’d try to feed the birds if they’d allow him to get close enough.His worst fears were realized when he approached the dazed & confused birds when they fluttered away, seeing every move he made as a threat to them. This went on for quite some time & the man finally had an idea. If he could open the big barn doors, & get the nearly frozen birds to go in they could have shelter from the blistering winds & maybe live to fly again.The man slowly moved across the barnyard & opened the doors, placing the bread crumbs on the ground hoping the birds natural survival instinct would kick in. The man tried every trick he could think of to get those disoriented birds to see that life was within their reach just a few feet away, but the birds stubbornly refused to co-operate.
Finally the man, not able to stand the bitter cold had to give up & go back inside to warm himself. As he stood at the window & watched the birds, still wandering aimlessly around the yard, the thought came to him; there was only one way he could ever hope to get those birds to go into the barn, but it wasn’t within his power to do it.The only way the birds could be saved was if he himself could become a bird & join the little flock & lead them into the safety of the barn.When his family returned from church, the man shared the experience with them.
Through that visual experience with the birds God had shown him the meaning of Christmas. Bethlehem was about God wrapping himself in human flesh & becoming a man. He entered the human race & became poor like us so that we would hear Him saying, “I love you.” Immanuel—God with us.
C. THAT WE MIGHT BECOME RICH
Here is “The right Christmas” message;
Jesus became poor so that we who were poor might become rich.
Think abut that. All the riches & grace of God is available to me by virtue of my relationship with Jesus Christ. All the power & all the right standing with God are mine through Him.You may say, “You don’t deserve that.” Indeed I don’t but that’s the grace of our Lord Jesus. If I deserved it I wouldn’t need Jesus, but through my relationship with Him suddenly I’m a rich man.
The theologians have a word for it. They call it the doctrine of imputation. He takes my sin & I take His righteousness. That’s grace by association.
Do you remember the wedding of Lady Diana & Prince Charles? We saw a T.V movie about it recently. Diana didn’t exactly come from poverty but compared to the royal family, her family was poor. But now, by virtue of her marriage to Prince Charles, all the wealth, all the prestige, all the power, all the pomp & glory of the royal family belong to her. Once she was an outsider; now she has access to the Queen. Did she earn such a lofty standing? No. It was imputed to her by virtue of her relationship to Prince Charles. Imputed honor- imputed wealth -& imputed standing.
What do you call a poor girl who marries a prince? You call her “Your Highness.”So it is that when we came to Jesus we were spiritual paupers. Our hands were empty & our pockets were bare. We had nothing to offer & no claim to make. All our lives it had been, one step forward & two steps back but when we came to Him, we were fed, clothed, filled, forgiven, & crowned with every good thing.Jesus took away our rags & placed around us His own righteousness.
Everything that was against us was gone & everything we lacked we now have. All this happened because of Christmas. He who was rich became poor for my sake, that through His poverty I might be rich.The Son of God became a son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God.Again, what is a right Christmas?
A—He was rich
B---He became poor
C---That we might become rich.
And that’s the true meaning of Christmas.Only one thing remains. Have you found the Christ of Christmas & asked Him to be your Savior? Have you placed your trust in Him? Have you given up your spiritual poverty for the riches He offers to you?
One of my favorite Christmas songs is “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” I love this verse;
How silently, how silently
This wondrous gift was giv’n
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessing of His heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in the world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
And so He does!
May that be our experience as we all enjoy,
A RIGHT CHRISTMAS!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Blessings,
John
A pastor worked in his study all through Christmas Eve preparing for the Christmas morning service.
Being very tired he dozed off & dreamt of a world to which the Savior had never come. In his dream he was looking around his home but there were no Christmas decorations, no candles or Christmas wreaths.He walked into his study & thumbed through his library but found no books about Jesus, & the Bible he found ended at Malachi.
He noticed that the last words of the Bible were,
LEST I COME & SMITE THE EARTH WITH A CURSE.
He walked out unto the streets & found no church spires pointing heavenward.He went back inside & a knock on the door brought a request to visit a dying mother. He went to her bedside but could find no comforting scriptures, for the gospels were not there. Paul’s comforting letters that included passages about life beyond the grave were missing. There was no promise beyond the grave. Even John’s book of Revelation was not there.
He could only bow his head & weep in hopeless desperation. Two days later he stood by the mother’s grave & conducted her burial but he could give no word of changed hearts & glorious resurrections, only, “ashes to ashes & dust to dust.” It was just one long, last, final farewell.
Suddenly nearby music awoke him from his sleep & he was sobbing uncontrollably. He realized he was hearing his own church choir in the sanctuary next door practicing for their Christmas service & singing “Oh come let us adore Him.” The fact was, Jesus had come & His coming had split history in two, giving hope for eternal life to all who trust in Him.
WHAT WOULD A WORLD WITHOUT CHRIST LOOK LIKE?
Had Christ not come we’d have no New Testament, no gospel, no church, no Lord’s Day, no repentance, no forgiveness of sins, no changed & transformed hearts & lives & no hope of His eternal presence.The angel wouldn’t have told Mary, -With God nothing is impossible.The angels wouldn’t have sung to the shepherds, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men.
One of my favorite secular Christmas songs has always been ErvIn Berlin’s White Christmas. Though it’s always been a dream of mine, I can’t say that I ever experienced a white Christmas. In the last few years that dream has faded & been replaced with the desire to celebrate each year, a Right Christmas.What does a right Christmas look like?
A RIGHT CHRISTMAS IS BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE & SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL.
Have you ever tried to explain the real meaning of Christmas to a child? It isn’t easy. There is so much tradition mixed up with spiritual truth that it’s sometimes hard to tell Jesus from Santa Claus & the Wise men from the snowmen.The very young have puzzled looks on their faces as they try to sort it all out. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight….Christmas is baby Jesus’ birthday, but I get the presents?” They end up thinking;-“Is this a great religion or what?”
THE MOST NEGLECTED CHRISTMAS VERSE OF ALL
There is one verse that for me sums up the real meaning of Christmas better than any verse in the Bible. Within this short verse we find the answer to the question, what is the right attitude about Christmas & --what is a right Christmas? Here is the verse,
---2 Corinthians 8:9: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
Let’s examine this verse for in it I believe we find the essence of a right attitude toward Christmas.
A. HE WAS RICH
I read last week that Wal-Mart is the richest & most successful business that’s ever existed on planet earth. My computer even knows who Wal-mart is because it just corrected my spelling of the name.This brings up a question in my mind: “Why don’t we let Wal-mart bail out General Motors?” But I digress. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart was a “rich-en.” He was among the group of old boys who would light their cigars with a hundred dollar bill. The average rich ride first class. The medium rich charter a jet. The super rich own the jet. The incredibly rich own the airline.But Jesus Christ owns the skies. The Bible says---
HE WAS RICH!
This is speaking of what He had in heaven before He came to earth. You can take the richest men who ever lived, the most powerful rulers who ever lived, the wisest men who ever lived, the mightiest generals who ever lived, the strongest athletes in every sport, the most spell-binding orators, the greatest political leaders & any other great men on earth, calculate their wealth…power…skill…genius…wisdom…insight…& ability. Whatever that vast sum comes to, Jesus had more in heaven. No man or collection of men could touch Him. The pre-existent Jesus Christ wasn’t a pauper but a man who lived in glorious untold splendor.He Was Rich!!
B. HE BECAME POOR
When you & I celebrate a right Christmas we keep in mind the lowly baby Jesus who became poor. Exactly what does that mean? He was rich in eternity but He became poor when He moved into time. He left heaven for a remote village in a forgotten province, to join a despised race, to be born of an obscure teenage peasant girl in a stable, wrapped in rags & placed in a feeding-trough instead of a crib.But Jesus didn’t act “high & mighty.” He knew it all but wasn’t a “know it all.” He owned all the stuff but never did “strut His stuff.” He wasn’t a “name-dropper.” He wasn’t a showoff. He never asked people, “Want me to beam you into the 21st century?” Jesus could have constantly been saying things like, “I’ve got some property on Jupiter.”
But Jesus’ purpose wasn’t to show-off but to show-up. Jesus was holding the entire Universe together but you couldn’t tell it by watching or listening to Him. He wasn’t like that.Here is the creator of the universe who looked no different than the guy down the street. Jesus became poor & pitched His tent among us for a while. He didn’t Lord it over us but loved us so much He was willing to die for us. He wasn’t on an ego trip he was on a rescue mission.
A right Christmas is one that remembers that we are something special to God.Notice that Jesus became poor. You & I are made poor by circumstances but Jesus of His own free will became poor. The man who was richer than any man has ever been gave it up freely & became poorer than any man has ever been.If we have a right Christmas we’ll be remembering that the heart of it all, the heart of the gospel is that the richest person in the universe of His own free will became poorer than the poor.
I love the story of the atheist who would never go to church with his Christian family. One Christmas season, his wife & children were readying themselves to go to Sunday morning service & pleaded with him to go just this once. It was a special Christmas service & there’d be beautiful music.The unbelieving man refused to go, as usual, telling his family it would just be a waste of time for him, that Christmas was just a silly old tradition about a man who never really existed.The family left for church leaving the father sitting in his recliner near a large picture window that overlooked a big back yard. It was snowing & the sight of the flakes building up on the barn behind the house was breathtaking. He thought how much it looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.
Then something happened that almost startled him out of his chair. A flock of about twenty birds, not seeing the glass window, flew right into it, leaving several of them wounded & flapping around on the ground. The man, pitying the poor birds slowly got up & walked toward the window to get a better look. He stood & watched the birds slowly regain their composure & then begin to wander around the backyard in a state of confusion.
He went & dressed & got some bread from the kitchen thinking he’d try to feed the birds if they’d allow him to get close enough.His worst fears were realized when he approached the dazed & confused birds when they fluttered away, seeing every move he made as a threat to them. This went on for quite some time & the man finally had an idea. If he could open the big barn doors, & get the nearly frozen birds to go in they could have shelter from the blistering winds & maybe live to fly again.The man slowly moved across the barnyard & opened the doors, placing the bread crumbs on the ground hoping the birds natural survival instinct would kick in. The man tried every trick he could think of to get those disoriented birds to see that life was within their reach just a few feet away, but the birds stubbornly refused to co-operate.
Finally the man, not able to stand the bitter cold had to give up & go back inside to warm himself. As he stood at the window & watched the birds, still wandering aimlessly around the yard, the thought came to him; there was only one way he could ever hope to get those birds to go into the barn, but it wasn’t within his power to do it.The only way the birds could be saved was if he himself could become a bird & join the little flock & lead them into the safety of the barn.When his family returned from church, the man shared the experience with them.
Through that visual experience with the birds God had shown him the meaning of Christmas. Bethlehem was about God wrapping himself in human flesh & becoming a man. He entered the human race & became poor like us so that we would hear Him saying, “I love you.” Immanuel—God with us.
C. THAT WE MIGHT BECOME RICH
Here is “The right Christmas” message;
Jesus became poor so that we who were poor might become rich.
Think abut that. All the riches & grace of God is available to me by virtue of my relationship with Jesus Christ. All the power & all the right standing with God are mine through Him.You may say, “You don’t deserve that.” Indeed I don’t but that’s the grace of our Lord Jesus. If I deserved it I wouldn’t need Jesus, but through my relationship with Him suddenly I’m a rich man.
The theologians have a word for it. They call it the doctrine of imputation. He takes my sin & I take His righteousness. That’s grace by association.
Do you remember the wedding of Lady Diana & Prince Charles? We saw a T.V movie about it recently. Diana didn’t exactly come from poverty but compared to the royal family, her family was poor. But now, by virtue of her marriage to Prince Charles, all the wealth, all the prestige, all the power, all the pomp & glory of the royal family belong to her. Once she was an outsider; now she has access to the Queen. Did she earn such a lofty standing? No. It was imputed to her by virtue of her relationship to Prince Charles. Imputed honor- imputed wealth -& imputed standing.
What do you call a poor girl who marries a prince? You call her “Your Highness.”So it is that when we came to Jesus we were spiritual paupers. Our hands were empty & our pockets were bare. We had nothing to offer & no claim to make. All our lives it had been, one step forward & two steps back but when we came to Him, we were fed, clothed, filled, forgiven, & crowned with every good thing.Jesus took away our rags & placed around us His own righteousness.
Everything that was against us was gone & everything we lacked we now have. All this happened because of Christmas. He who was rich became poor for my sake, that through His poverty I might be rich.The Son of God became a son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God.Again, what is a right Christmas?
A—He was rich
B---He became poor
C---That we might become rich.
And that’s the true meaning of Christmas.Only one thing remains. Have you found the Christ of Christmas & asked Him to be your Savior? Have you placed your trust in Him? Have you given up your spiritual poverty for the riches He offers to you?
One of my favorite Christmas songs is “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” I love this verse;
How silently, how silently
This wondrous gift was giv’n
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessing of His heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in the world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
And so He does!
May that be our experience as we all enjoy,
A RIGHT CHRISTMAS!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Blessings,
John
Monday, November 29, 2010
Who's Your Daddy?
By John Stallings
Jesus' rejection in his own hometown is a story that gives me chills every time I read it.
Jesus, fresh from a preaching and healing campaign in Galilee has returned to his boyhood home of Nazareth after an absence of many months. He left a commoner, He returns a celebrity. In Nazareth He was known as a nice, hard-working young man from a good family.
The Nazarenes had been hearing about Jesus’ exploits from almost a year on the road. They knew about the water He’d turned into wine at Cana and the paralyzed man He’d healed in Jerusalem. Now Jesus was home and the people were waiting to be impressed. The “buzz” on the street was “that boy is back in town.” The Nazareth Gazette probably ran a story entitled “hometown boy makes good.”
In the temple on the Sabbath Jesus is invited to read from the sacred scrolls and comment on the text. Nazareth would see what kind of teacher He had become. Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1-5, about the Spirit of the Lord anointing him to preach good news, heal and set free.
When He’d finished reading from the scroll He sat down and said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Huh? You could have heard a marshmallow fall on a carpet.
In essence, Jesus is saying;
“I’m the finale. I’m the completion of God’s plan to save you. Everything Moses wrote about in his books, everything David wrote in the Psalms, and everything the prophets promised, all of that pointed to me. I’m the seed of the woman. I’m the son of David. I’m the suffering servant. I’m the one God anointed. In Hebrew I’m the Messiah: in Greek I’m the Christ. Are you waiting for the Messiah? You’re looking at him!”
Mixed Reaction
The reaction in the synagogue on that Sabbath was one of astonishment. Luke says they were "amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips." Apparently they had never heard Jesus as a public speaker, or teacher. His life among them had been as a carpenter, never a public figure. This was an entirely new role, and they were, as Matthew and Mark put it "astonished." Jesus "gracious words" were impressive.
But was this the astonishment of appreciation or of skepticism? At first glance, we're not sure. Maybe there was a wave of approval, followed by a low guttural muttering, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
The congregation's quickness to pigeonhole Jesus as Joseph's son shows that their paradigm was unable to view Jesus in any other context than as a member of a Nazareth family. They may have been thinking of the “scandalous” events surrounding his birth. After all, this was a small town, and people talk.
"Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” Matthew 13:54-56
The people of Nazareth were amazed but skeptical. Sure, He was good with words. But how could He really be worthy of the acclaim and adulation He had been met with elsewhere in Galilee? The congregation "took offense at him" Matthew 13:57.
A Prophet without Honor
Jesus sensed the unbelief and skepticism in the room that day. The congregation made no attempt to hide their feelings. Jesus' next comments confront this anti-faith:
"Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' I tell you the truth," he continued, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown." Luke 4:23
The words, "Physician, heal yourself" are plain enough. It's similar to our proverb which observes that the cobbler's children go barefooted. Probably the townspeople are applying the words to Jesus hometown vs. other towns where He had performed healings. In other words, they are saying, “you’ve healed elsewhere; how about in your own hometown?”
The skepticism in Nazareth was so pervasive that Mark records, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith." Mark 6:5-6
If your family doesn’t accept your faith, have you ever wondered why? They remember your past, perhaps, and don't believe you've changed. Jesus’ family was convinced that He was mad though they finally came around and accepted Him, - His townspeople never did. Sometimes faith is a lonely road.
Jesus speaks to them of God's Blessing on Two Foreigners
In response to his townsmen's open skepticism, Jesus refers to stories of how God blessed two non-Jewish individuals, at a time that many Jews had needs that went unmet. Jesus tells of the widow at Zaraphath in 1 Kings 17:7-24. The Prophet Elijah had stayed with her and her son during the 3-1/2 year drought that preceded his victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The widow's small jar of flour and tiny jug of oil were not depleted, though they fed the three of them for years. Later, when the widow's son died, Elijah's prayers revived him from the dead. No Israelites received such a blessing.
Then Jesus told of Naaman, General of the Army of Israel's enemy Aram, whose capital was Damascus 2 Kings 5. Naaman had contracted leprosy, and heard that the Prophet Elisha in Israel had the power to heal. At Elisha's word, Naaman had dipped seven times in the Jordan, and after the seventh time his leprosy was healed and his skin restored like that of a child.
There were many lepers in Israel at the time, commented Jesus, but only the foreigner Naaman was healed.
Jesus' clear implication was that the Israelites in these eras were unworthy of these miracles, and so God bestowed miracles on outsiders who believed. It was a not-so-veiled commentary on the absence of faith Jesus perceived in Nazareth. Outside this village Jesus had performed amazing miracles, but the unbelief in Nazareth was way too thick. Even though they wanted to see a miracle show, they were neither worthy nor ready. A prophet wasn't honored in his own hometown.
Murderous anger
As always, the truth hurts. The resentment and skepticism that seethed beneath the surface now erupted in murderous rage. The congregation rose up from their Sabbath synagogue worship intent to kill their homegrown boy. They took Jesus into custody and then they drove him out of the building and out of the village.
I’ve visited Nazareth several times and IMHO it’s the quintessence of a dreary, depressing back-water town built at the edge of a mountain. To the west the ground drops very rapidly to the fertile Jezreel Valley below. Without hearing or trial, and in violation of both Jewish and Roman law, Jesus’ townspeople intended to kill Him by throwing him over a precipice perhaps as a prelude to stoning.
I don’t know if you saw the 80’s movie Throw mama from the train, but in this case it’s—Throw Jesus off the cliff. Was Jesus justified in his judgment of their worthiness, faith, and character? Obviously He was!
Walking Away
What happened next is perhaps one of the most “unsung” miracles in the Bible. As we’ll see, this isn’t the only time it’s happened to Jesus. Strangely, though they forced Him to the cliff, they couldn't throw him over. Jesus just walked away, through the crowd, and out of town, never -- so far as we know -- to return to his hometown of Nazareth. It wasn't his time to die -that would be three years later. But the anger in Nazareth was emblematic of the kind of anger and resentment that finally killed Jesus.
JOHN CHAPTER EIGHT- ANOTHER CLOSE CALL
A man went on a long awaited vacation to Europe. Two days after he left he called home to check on his cat and his brother answered the phone. The man asked, “How’s my cat?” The brother answered, “Your cat is dead.” The man said, “Now you could have been gentler in telling me that, so as not to shock me and hurt my feelings. You could have said your cat is on the roof. Then tomorrow you could have said the fire department came to get the cat down and dropped him and your cat is at the vets. The day after that you could have said the cat couldn’t be saved and was peacefully put down. Then you wouldn’t have hurt my feelings.”
The man then asked, “How’s mother?” To which the brother replied, “She’s on the roof.”
GENTLE JESUS, -MEEK AND MILD?
Jesus didn't use that kind of subtly. He didn't "tiptoe through the tulips, nor walk on eggshells." Generally when I think of Jesus’ physical presence, I see Him holding a little lamb across His shoulders or with children surrounding Him. Other pictures of Jesus that often come to mind are Him sitting at Jacob’s Well talking to the Samaritan woman, standing before the multitudes teaching, silently facing His tormentors, or on the cross in death as He forgave those who were crucifying Him.
It’s easy to forget that Jesus didn’t write “How to win friends and influence people,” although He always spoke the truth in love. Jesus wasn’t always smooth and subtle, and definitely didn’t “tip-toe through the tulips,” either in His hometown of Nazareth or in this story in John Chapter eight. If we want to see Jesus “torqued,” and “in your face” it’s here.
It’s interesting that the conversation starts in John 8:31 with these words;
As He spoke these words many believed on Him.
So Jesus is talking to Jews who believed in Him and His message. As He speaks to them a debate ensues and it’s plain to see that the crown was in top form as far as not “getting” what Jesus was saying. Talk about confused, when Jesus told them “the truth would set them free” in typical argumentative fashion they said, “Free? We’ve never been in bondage,” conveniently forgetting the 400 years their ancestors spent in Egyptian slavery. Was that just a vacation? What about the 70 years they spent in Babylonian enslavement? Even as they spoke they were living in subjugation to a merciless, Jack-booted Roman occupation.
DON’T YOU TALK ABOUT MY MAMA!
But in verse 41 they crossed the line and said, “We were not born of fornication” an obvious slur on the conditions of Jesus’ birth.
Again he’s faced with people questioning His “spiritual paternity, or lineage.” If ever He had an “in your face” attitude, He had it when speaking to His townsfolk in Nazareth and with these people in John chapter eight.
Jesus is speaking to a group of people who were separated from Him because they belonged to another god, and were not true Believers. He figures that if they want to dabble around in “bloodlines,” He’ll lay it out for them and show them who their daddy really is.
JESUS OFFERS ONLY TWO OPTIONS
Jesus tells the crowd there are only two possibilities concerning who they are. They’re either God’s children or the devil’s children. He clearly proves these people are not able to receive Him because they were living under a different spirit and power, their “father the devil.” He tells them that they persecuted Him because of their spiritual separation. They were under the influence of their god whom He names; -“Ye are of your father the devil.” Bam, Bam, there it is.
Jesus then sets forth the evil activities of the people who were imitators of their father the Devil. They worship this false god and copied his evil ways. As proof of their pedigree, Jesus tells them that they want to kill him so that makes them like the devil, and He called them liars, the other trait of the devil. This of course didn’t thrill these folk much which is why at one point they picked up stones to kill him. It seems the attitude of the people was, “if you call us what we really are we’ll kill you.”
Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”- John 8:44-47KJV
“YOU GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY”
Several years ago Bob Dylan wrote a song entitled “You gotta serve somebody.” There are two roads, the broad road that leads to destruction or the narrow road leading to life eternal. There are two masters, God or the devil. And there are two places to go when we die, heaven or hell.
There’s a popular saying that-“We’re all God’s children.” That’s true in one sense, since God made us all. But nevertheless, spiritually speaking we all have a “daddy.”
Listen to 1 John 3:10;
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither loveth not his brother.
Paul told the Galatians;
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel lings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance…
Listen to John;
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.—John 1:12-13
This verse makes it clear that unless an individual receives Christ they don’t belong to Him in the sense that their eternal address will be heaven when they die.
In John 8:43, Jesus said;
“Why do ye not understand my speech, even because ye cannot hear my word?” That is, ye cannot bear my doctrine: it comes too close to you; it searches your hearts, detects your hypocrisy, and exposes your iniquitous intentions and designs; and as ye are determined not to leave your sins, so ye are purposed not to hear my doctrine.
Jesus then exposes the unregenerate character of the unbelieving religious person that serves
their god Satan.
THIS EVENT PARALLELS THE NAZARETH EXPERIENCE
This story closes almost exactly as the Nazareth story closed. With a huge crowd mad enough at Him to kill Him, somehow Jesus just walked away out of harms way, because as in Nazareth His time to die hadn’t come.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR FATHER
If you and I can truly call the God of heaven our Daddy,
We’ll have no problems trusting Him,
We’ll enjoy talking about Him,
We’ll seek to do His will,
We’ll have a longing to be like Him,
We’ll suffer willingly for Him, and we’ll obey His words.
We’ll use our father’s vocabulary,
We’ll have love one for another, [God’s kids are known by their love not their t-shirts.]
It would be a terrible thing not to know who our father is.
My father is the Alpha and the Omega, He’s the Almighty, He’s the Bread of Life and the Bishop of my soul, He’s the Christ, the Captain of my ship, the Daystar and the Deliverer who brings joy in the morning, He’s Emmanuel and the Eternal One, He’s the Father of all who trust Him and a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, He is God and the Good Shepherd, He’s the Holy One and the Horn of Salvation, He’s the great I AM and the Invisible God, He’s Jesus and Jehovah, He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He’s the man of sorrows and Manna that fell from heaven, He’s Nazareth’s Son, He’s the Omnipotent God, Prince of peace, Righteous Judge, Son of God and the Savior of the world, He’s the truth, the Way, and the Life, the Unseen hand that’s providing when we’re not looking, He’s the Voice of the Lord that speaks sweet words of life to me, He’s Wonderful, and He’s mysterious, He’s Zion’s King.
He wants you and me to stop acting like we’re illegitimate and take our place at His table and be His son or daughter.
Who’s your Daddy?
Blessings,
John
Jesus' rejection in his own hometown is a story that gives me chills every time I read it.
Jesus, fresh from a preaching and healing campaign in Galilee has returned to his boyhood home of Nazareth after an absence of many months. He left a commoner, He returns a celebrity. In Nazareth He was known as a nice, hard-working young man from a good family.
The Nazarenes had been hearing about Jesus’ exploits from almost a year on the road. They knew about the water He’d turned into wine at Cana and the paralyzed man He’d healed in Jerusalem. Now Jesus was home and the people were waiting to be impressed. The “buzz” on the street was “that boy is back in town.” The Nazareth Gazette probably ran a story entitled “hometown boy makes good.”
In the temple on the Sabbath Jesus is invited to read from the sacred scrolls and comment on the text. Nazareth would see what kind of teacher He had become. Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1-5, about the Spirit of the Lord anointing him to preach good news, heal and set free.
When He’d finished reading from the scroll He sat down and said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Huh? You could have heard a marshmallow fall on a carpet.
In essence, Jesus is saying;
“I’m the finale. I’m the completion of God’s plan to save you. Everything Moses wrote about in his books, everything David wrote in the Psalms, and everything the prophets promised, all of that pointed to me. I’m the seed of the woman. I’m the son of David. I’m the suffering servant. I’m the one God anointed. In Hebrew I’m the Messiah: in Greek I’m the Christ. Are you waiting for the Messiah? You’re looking at him!”
Mixed Reaction
The reaction in the synagogue on that Sabbath was one of astonishment. Luke says they were "amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips." Apparently they had never heard Jesus as a public speaker, or teacher. His life among them had been as a carpenter, never a public figure. This was an entirely new role, and they were, as Matthew and Mark put it "astonished." Jesus "gracious words" were impressive.
But was this the astonishment of appreciation or of skepticism? At first glance, we're not sure. Maybe there was a wave of approval, followed by a low guttural muttering, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
The congregation's quickness to pigeonhole Jesus as Joseph's son shows that their paradigm was unable to view Jesus in any other context than as a member of a Nazareth family. They may have been thinking of the “scandalous” events surrounding his birth. After all, this was a small town, and people talk.
"Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” Matthew 13:54-56
The people of Nazareth were amazed but skeptical. Sure, He was good with words. But how could He really be worthy of the acclaim and adulation He had been met with elsewhere in Galilee? The congregation "took offense at him" Matthew 13:57.
A Prophet without Honor
Jesus sensed the unbelief and skepticism in the room that day. The congregation made no attempt to hide their feelings. Jesus' next comments confront this anti-faith:
"Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' I tell you the truth," he continued, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown." Luke 4:23
The words, "Physician, heal yourself" are plain enough. It's similar to our proverb which observes that the cobbler's children go barefooted. Probably the townspeople are applying the words to Jesus hometown vs. other towns where He had performed healings. In other words, they are saying, “you’ve healed elsewhere; how about in your own hometown?”
The skepticism in Nazareth was so pervasive that Mark records, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith." Mark 6:5-6
If your family doesn’t accept your faith, have you ever wondered why? They remember your past, perhaps, and don't believe you've changed. Jesus’ family was convinced that He was mad though they finally came around and accepted Him, - His townspeople never did. Sometimes faith is a lonely road.
Jesus speaks to them of God's Blessing on Two Foreigners
In response to his townsmen's open skepticism, Jesus refers to stories of how God blessed two non-Jewish individuals, at a time that many Jews had needs that went unmet. Jesus tells of the widow at Zaraphath in 1 Kings 17:7-24. The Prophet Elijah had stayed with her and her son during the 3-1/2 year drought that preceded his victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The widow's small jar of flour and tiny jug of oil were not depleted, though they fed the three of them for years. Later, when the widow's son died, Elijah's prayers revived him from the dead. No Israelites received such a blessing.
Then Jesus told of Naaman, General of the Army of Israel's enemy Aram, whose capital was Damascus 2 Kings 5. Naaman had contracted leprosy, and heard that the Prophet Elisha in Israel had the power to heal. At Elisha's word, Naaman had dipped seven times in the Jordan, and after the seventh time his leprosy was healed and his skin restored like that of a child.
There were many lepers in Israel at the time, commented Jesus, but only the foreigner Naaman was healed.
Jesus' clear implication was that the Israelites in these eras were unworthy of these miracles, and so God bestowed miracles on outsiders who believed. It was a not-so-veiled commentary on the absence of faith Jesus perceived in Nazareth. Outside this village Jesus had performed amazing miracles, but the unbelief in Nazareth was way too thick. Even though they wanted to see a miracle show, they were neither worthy nor ready. A prophet wasn't honored in his own hometown.
Murderous anger
As always, the truth hurts. The resentment and skepticism that seethed beneath the surface now erupted in murderous rage. The congregation rose up from their Sabbath synagogue worship intent to kill their homegrown boy. They took Jesus into custody and then they drove him out of the building and out of the village.
I’ve visited Nazareth several times and IMHO it’s the quintessence of a dreary, depressing back-water town built at the edge of a mountain. To the west the ground drops very rapidly to the fertile Jezreel Valley below. Without hearing or trial, and in violation of both Jewish and Roman law, Jesus’ townspeople intended to kill Him by throwing him over a precipice perhaps as a prelude to stoning.
I don’t know if you saw the 80’s movie Throw mama from the train, but in this case it’s—Throw Jesus off the cliff. Was Jesus justified in his judgment of their worthiness, faith, and character? Obviously He was!
Walking Away
What happened next is perhaps one of the most “unsung” miracles in the Bible. As we’ll see, this isn’t the only time it’s happened to Jesus. Strangely, though they forced Him to the cliff, they couldn't throw him over. Jesus just walked away, through the crowd, and out of town, never -- so far as we know -- to return to his hometown of Nazareth. It wasn't his time to die -that would be three years later. But the anger in Nazareth was emblematic of the kind of anger and resentment that finally killed Jesus.
JOHN CHAPTER EIGHT- ANOTHER CLOSE CALL
A man went on a long awaited vacation to Europe. Two days after he left he called home to check on his cat and his brother answered the phone. The man asked, “How’s my cat?” The brother answered, “Your cat is dead.” The man said, “Now you could have been gentler in telling me that, so as not to shock me and hurt my feelings. You could have said your cat is on the roof. Then tomorrow you could have said the fire department came to get the cat down and dropped him and your cat is at the vets. The day after that you could have said the cat couldn’t be saved and was peacefully put down. Then you wouldn’t have hurt my feelings.”
The man then asked, “How’s mother?” To which the brother replied, “She’s on the roof.”
GENTLE JESUS, -MEEK AND MILD?
Jesus didn't use that kind of subtly. He didn't "tiptoe through the tulips, nor walk on eggshells." Generally when I think of Jesus’ physical presence, I see Him holding a little lamb across His shoulders or with children surrounding Him. Other pictures of Jesus that often come to mind are Him sitting at Jacob’s Well talking to the Samaritan woman, standing before the multitudes teaching, silently facing His tormentors, or on the cross in death as He forgave those who were crucifying Him.
It’s easy to forget that Jesus didn’t write “How to win friends and influence people,” although He always spoke the truth in love. Jesus wasn’t always smooth and subtle, and definitely didn’t “tip-toe through the tulips,” either in His hometown of Nazareth or in this story in John Chapter eight. If we want to see Jesus “torqued,” and “in your face” it’s here.
It’s interesting that the conversation starts in John 8:31 with these words;
As He spoke these words many believed on Him.
So Jesus is talking to Jews who believed in Him and His message. As He speaks to them a debate ensues and it’s plain to see that the crown was in top form as far as not “getting” what Jesus was saying. Talk about confused, when Jesus told them “the truth would set them free” in typical argumentative fashion they said, “Free? We’ve never been in bondage,” conveniently forgetting the 400 years their ancestors spent in Egyptian slavery. Was that just a vacation? What about the 70 years they spent in Babylonian enslavement? Even as they spoke they were living in subjugation to a merciless, Jack-booted Roman occupation.
DON’T YOU TALK ABOUT MY MAMA!
But in verse 41 they crossed the line and said, “We were not born of fornication” an obvious slur on the conditions of Jesus’ birth.
Again he’s faced with people questioning His “spiritual paternity, or lineage.” If ever He had an “in your face” attitude, He had it when speaking to His townsfolk in Nazareth and with these people in John chapter eight.
Jesus is speaking to a group of people who were separated from Him because they belonged to another god, and were not true Believers. He figures that if they want to dabble around in “bloodlines,” He’ll lay it out for them and show them who their daddy really is.
JESUS OFFERS ONLY TWO OPTIONS
Jesus tells the crowd there are only two possibilities concerning who they are. They’re either God’s children or the devil’s children. He clearly proves these people are not able to receive Him because they were living under a different spirit and power, their “father the devil.” He tells them that they persecuted Him because of their spiritual separation. They were under the influence of their god whom He names; -“Ye are of your father the devil.” Bam, Bam, there it is.
Jesus then sets forth the evil activities of the people who were imitators of their father the Devil. They worship this false god and copied his evil ways. As proof of their pedigree, Jesus tells them that they want to kill him so that makes them like the devil, and He called them liars, the other trait of the devil. This of course didn’t thrill these folk much which is why at one point they picked up stones to kill him. It seems the attitude of the people was, “if you call us what we really are we’ll kill you.”
Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”- John 8:44-47KJV
“YOU GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY”
Several years ago Bob Dylan wrote a song entitled “You gotta serve somebody.” There are two roads, the broad road that leads to destruction or the narrow road leading to life eternal. There are two masters, God or the devil. And there are two places to go when we die, heaven or hell.
There’s a popular saying that-“We’re all God’s children.” That’s true in one sense, since God made us all. But nevertheless, spiritually speaking we all have a “daddy.”
Listen to 1 John 3:10;
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither loveth not his brother.
Paul told the Galatians;
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel lings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance…
Listen to John;
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.—John 1:12-13
This verse makes it clear that unless an individual receives Christ they don’t belong to Him in the sense that their eternal address will be heaven when they die.
In John 8:43, Jesus said;
“Why do ye not understand my speech, even because ye cannot hear my word?” That is, ye cannot bear my doctrine: it comes too close to you; it searches your hearts, detects your hypocrisy, and exposes your iniquitous intentions and designs; and as ye are determined not to leave your sins, so ye are purposed not to hear my doctrine.
Jesus then exposes the unregenerate character of the unbelieving religious person that serves
their god Satan.
THIS EVENT PARALLELS THE NAZARETH EXPERIENCE
This story closes almost exactly as the Nazareth story closed. With a huge crowd mad enough at Him to kill Him, somehow Jesus just walked away out of harms way, because as in Nazareth His time to die hadn’t come.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR FATHER
If you and I can truly call the God of heaven our Daddy,
We’ll have no problems trusting Him,
We’ll enjoy talking about Him,
We’ll seek to do His will,
We’ll have a longing to be like Him,
We’ll suffer willingly for Him, and we’ll obey His words.
We’ll use our father’s vocabulary,
We’ll have love one for another, [God’s kids are known by their love not their t-shirts.]
It would be a terrible thing not to know who our father is.
My father is the Alpha and the Omega, He’s the Almighty, He’s the Bread of Life and the Bishop of my soul, He’s the Christ, the Captain of my ship, the Daystar and the Deliverer who brings joy in the morning, He’s Emmanuel and the Eternal One, He’s the Father of all who trust Him and a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, He is God and the Good Shepherd, He’s the Holy One and the Horn of Salvation, He’s the great I AM and the Invisible God, He’s Jesus and Jehovah, He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He’s the man of sorrows and Manna that fell from heaven, He’s Nazareth’s Son, He’s the Omnipotent God, Prince of peace, Righteous Judge, Son of God and the Savior of the world, He’s the truth, the Way, and the Life, the Unseen hand that’s providing when we’re not looking, He’s the Voice of the Lord that speaks sweet words of life to me, He’s Wonderful, and He’s mysterious, He’s Zion’s King.
He wants you and me to stop acting like we’re illegitimate and take our place at His table and be His son or daughter.
Who’s your Daddy?
Blessings,
John
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Big Boy Christianity
By John Stallings
Like many of you, the Spirit of God got a hold of my heart at a very young age. By the time I was six I realized that Jesus loved me & died on the cross to save me. So I gave Him my heart & life & was born into the family of God.
As you might expect, I had no spiritual vocabulary & no spiritual teeth. I didn’t understand all there was to know about Jesus & still don’t. If you’d put a gun on me I couldn’t have told you what repentance or faith was. I had received the spirit of adoption whereby I could cry Abba or Da-da according to Romans 8:15, but that’s about it.I think I was pretty much a normal baby, spiritually & physically.
I remember my first “little mans” haircut & remember crying to get out of the barber chair. My kinfolk never let me forget that I was so scared all I could sobbingly say was “Feet on floor daddy, feet on floor.”Though my parents never said much about it, I can imagine the relief when I slowly began to grow up, though I also have a feeling it took quite a long time. One of the phrases I can remember hearing most from my childhood was “Johnny, be a big-boy.” Come on son, be a big-boy for daddy, or mommy.”
I can also remember that sentiment being impressed on me in non-verbal, somewhat painful ways that centered on the place where I sat down.One of the reasons a baby takes so much care is because in their world, it’s all about them & their needs. They’re always getting hurt, if not really hurt they’re getting their feelings hurt & they’re always making a mess for someone else to clean up. As much as we love our babies, we have to admit that in the home, if there’s a problem, it usually centers around the babies.
Have you ever noticed that the same is true in a church? You can count on spiritual babies to be at the center of just about every church disturbance.Acts chapter 15: 36-41 gives us a rare glimpse behind the scenes into the inner working of perhaps the greatest missionary team the Holy Spirit ever put together.This little glimpse into the lives of Paul & Barnabas shows the humanity yet spiritual maturity of the two men.
Paul needs no introduction anywhere because He’s without doubt one of the icons of Holy Writ. Barnabas however isn’t as well known but it’s good to remember that his name meant “Son of consolation” or “Encourager.” It’s rather special to be named after a gift of the spirit. i.e. Romans 12:8.Barnabas was responsible for over half the books of the New Testament. Paul wrote 13 of them, & Barnabas was the man who brought Paul to the brethren in Jerusalem. Acts 9:26-27. Mark wrote one & no doubt it was Barnabas who loved & encouraged him to continue in the faith. That’s 14, over half of the 27 books.
Have you ever heard the term “kinfolk’s complex?” The word we use today is nepotism. What both terms refer to is a prejudicial, biased leaning toward family. This problem is at the root of what’s happening in this story.On Paul & Barnabas’ first missionary trip together, John Mark the cousin of Barnabas accompanied them. Somewhere along the way John Mark decided to leave the team & return to his home in Jerusalem. We’re not told the reason for his departure however some have theorized the fires of resistance to the gospel were so hot, John Mark allowed fear to cause him to tuck-tail & run.When a second campaign was planned Barnabas suggests taking John Mark along as helper. Paul promptly nixed the idea. The scripture tells us that “sharp contention” developed between Barnabas & Paul over John Mark. Barnabas says he goes, Paul says he doesn’t go. They couldn’t agree so they split up.
As far as I’m able to discern, the two remarkable men never saw each other again.It’s impossible to read this drama & not be moved. The encouraging thing is the break-up didn’t come over doctrine. The rupture involved a personal dispute based on a judgment call. To their credit Paul nor Barnabas didn’t allow the conflict to distract them from their respective efforts of spreading the gospel. They were big-boys & exhibited “big-boy” maturity. Too often we can act like babies when we have a disagreement.If you ever raised kids you know the most glorious day was when the kids could sit at a table & feed themselves. We knew then they were becoming big boys & girls. I think God has the same feeling when He sees His kids growing up & not reacting to a speed-bump like it was a mountain.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN SPIRITUAL MINDS & HEARTS WILL DISAGREE.
The important thing is to stay focused on the work of God. Because of the disagreement, Barnabas chose his cousin John Mark & they formed an evangelistic team. Paul chose Silas & both teams went on the road.Which team was most successful? As far as we know they were both equally successful. Some have said that Paul was just too stubborn in the matter. However we read in Acts 15:40 that the Church commended Paul & Silas, but no such commendation came for Barnabas & John Mark.Paul may have been motivated more by experience, cool logic & rationality, while Barnabas was guided by a kindred familiarity & a warm heart. Most of can relate to Barnabas here because we’ve all needed a second chance .
It’s interesting to note that later on Paul writes to Timothy & says,--Get Mark & bring him with you, for he is profitable to me in the ministry.—2 Tim.4:11. Sounds to me like "uncle barny" got some vindication here.
We're looking here at a case of brass tacks Christian maturity. We are allowed to closely inspect how God’s choice men dealt with disagreements. Let’s look at some of the aspects of the way Paul & Barnabas settled their dispute & see what we might glean & utilize the next time we have a problem with a family member, Christian friend or worker.I think you’ll agree that 95% of our problems will be less than Paul & Barnabas’ situation so let’s see how we can disagree & still be like Jesus. Let’s see what “Big-Boy” Christianity is all about.
1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU DISAGREE.
We’ve looked closely at Paul & Barnabas’ problem & see the simple story; they disagreed over taking John Mark on this missionary trip. It’s all laid out rather simply for us don’t you agree?Proverbs 18:13 says,--he that answereth a matter before he hears it, it is folly & shame to him.
The following ad was placed in a newspaper,
“Wendell Walsh has a sewing machine for sale. It belongs to the lady who loves with him.—Ph. 359-4704 Address 67 Walnut street.”The next day the following ad appeared.—“Wendell Walsh no longer has a sewing machine for sale. I have smashed it. The owner did not love with me; she’s an elderly lady who lived in my upstairs apartment. Please don’t call 359-4704, it’s been disconnected. Please don’t go to 67 Walnut Street, I no longer live there.”What a mess, & all the confusion was caused by the mix-up of two letters, I & O.
So much pain is caused on a daily basis because someone got their facts wrong. You may remember the news story about a young woman in a beauty pageant who was crowned queen & as she walked around with the crown on her head the judges started comparing notes because they knew she wasn’t the one they voted # ONE. It was embarrassing for all concerned when they had to back-peddle & remove the crown from one woman’s head & place it on the real winners head, all because of a mistake in counting.
Paul Harvey told about one of the top national credit reporters who messed up a woman’s credit & it took her ten years to get them to clean up their mistake. After all those years of suffering the credit company finally found [admitted to] their problem & the woman was given millions in compensation, but not before wrecking her good name & her emotions in the process.It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of having our facts straight before we allow our opinions to jell, especially when it’s something we are telling to others as the truth. There’ll be plenty of time to disagree, but first get the truth.
2. DON’T INFLATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ONE DISAGREEMENT.
Paul & Barnabas didn't over inflate the importance of the disagreement they had. How do I know that? As we’ve already stated, Paul & Barnabas had the love & grace to sit down, spread out a map & say, “You go here & I’ll go there.” Every battle isn’t Armageddon & it’s always wise to choose our battles.If you’re having a disagreement with someone, here are a few pointers that should help;
1. Check your motive. Is your problem a valid point or is it a personality problem.
2. Check your spiritual fruit. Love, joy, peace, etc.Don’t go into a disagreement until you know your love level is higher than the disagreement level.Read & reread 1 Corinthians 13.
3. Have you lifted this up to God in prayer? Prayer will set our hearts & minds right.
4. Have you searched the scriptures on this matter?—Do you know what the bible teaches about it?
5. If you disagree, don’t be disagreeable. Our positions don’t get us into trouble, our dispositions do.
3. ISOLATE THE TRUE ISSUE & STAY ON THE POINT. DON’T BROADEN THE AGENDA.
A couple [I’m sure all married folk have experienced this, I know I have] will be out driving & get into an argument over directions. Maybe the man will turn on the wrong street or make some other mistake the wife feels will put them off course. It’s important to remember it’s just that one corned not all corners for the rest of our lives.And it’s extremely important to remember that our mother-in-law has nothing to do with this corner.A couple can get into a disagreement over the wife spending money on clothes & & then she’ll say to the husband, “Well, you bought a new shotgun & you already had two guns.” Then the man might say, “I don’t like your old momma anyway.” Where did momma come from? Money, money, money, momma. Once it gets to this point old Satan has a heyday.
A person in church might come by the pastor & say, “I think the music was a little loud this morning. And while I’m at it, your tie was a little too flashy last Sunday.” I’ve seen this spirit get loose & go on to say, “And I don’t like your hair, your shoes, clothes, your car, house or kids.”You see what that is? It’s broadening the agenda. I’m sure you know that a church of any size will have an agenda for their annual business meeting. The meeting has to be announced far enough in advance for all the folk to plan for it. Then the pastor & deacons will take all the business of the church & formulate an agenda for the meeting.If it wasn’t done this way, you’d have people getting up during the meeting & bringing up things that would lead the proceedings way a -field. Precious time would be wasted & people would leave all dazed & confused. Centuries of experience has taught that even the best of God’s people can get into strife if meetings like this aren’t conducted in a timely, planned & deliberate way.
Paul said,--Avoid foolish & unlearned questions for they gender strife. 2 Tim 2:23. We don’t see this happening with Paul & Barnabas. As far as we know they stayed on the one issue, worked it out & never moved out of peace.
4. LEARN HOW TO BE HONEST WITHOUT BEING BRUTAL.
In John 4:7-39, when Jesus sat down at the well & talked to the woman, he could have taken the truth & destroyed her with it. She’d had five husbands & was shacked up with one she wasn’t married to. If Jesus had thrown her past in her face, she’d have shriveled up but he didn’t. He could have said, “woman, don’t go telling people you’ve been talking to me,” but He didn’t. He allowed her to act as a messenger to go into her little town & tell the story of this man who’d told her all she’d ever done. Many people came out to see Jesus & became believers because of her testimony.
I heard about a lady who mastered the art of telling the truth without being brutal. Her husband told her one day, “Honey, I wish I could be smart, educated & handsome for you because you deserve that kind of husband.” She answered, “But I don’t want someone smart, educated & handsome, I want you.”
A young man told his dad he felt everybody in the world hated him. The dad said, “That’s silly son, everyone hasn’t met you yet.
If you watch the news at all you know that in our country, you can’t do things that appear brutal. Even if a person is caught mistreating a dog or cat, they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Human nature recoils if we see a human being or animal being treated unfairly. Though I love the animals & believe in treating them with kindness, I have a problem with the fact that we can kill unborn babies with fewer problems than we have when cats & dogs are mistreated. But "don’t be cruel" is always a good motto.We shouldn’t make statements like; “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” or “you’re as strong as an Ox & almost as smart,” or “honey, I wish you’d lose a little weight, when you walk in front of the TV we miss three episodes.” It’s much better to learn to say; “I may be wrong but here’s what I think.”
5. NEVER BREAK YOUR PLOW OVER A STUMP!
This is a very “old school” illustration that comes from the farming culture. My father was raised on a South Georgia farm & he shared many philosophies with me that originated on “dirt poor” farms.My grandfather used to teach his sons that some of the richest soil had stumps growing in it. What the farmer had to do was plow around the stumps instead of hitting them with his relativity fragile plow. This might seem like a no-brainer because anyone can see how unwise it would be to intentionally use a light plow on an entrenched & sturdy stump. The stumps were deeply embedded & rock solid. If a farmer tried to pull one of them up with his plow he’d not only tear- up his plow but He’d break down the horse or mule pulling the plow. So the farmer would simply plow around stumps.
There will be “stumps” growing in every field we’ll ever work in be it the ministry or a secular business. These stumps will be of the human variety. They aren’t of themselves demonic, but Satan sets them in your path trying to get you to do or say something you’ll regret. It might be a kindly old aunt, grandmother, mother-in-law, boss, neighbor or any other person “planted” in your field.I remember in the first church I pastored there was a “stump” in the form of a little old lady who’d been in the church for fifty years. She was against me from the day I arrived in town & she’d sit in the congregation & glare at me when I preached. Looking back she was the best friend I ever had because at least I always knew where she stood & she kept me sharp. I would study and pray an extra hour just with sister……in mind. I knew she was looking for any mistake I might make & she’d trumpet it to the high heavens.I challenge you to look at your life & pin-point the stumps in your “field.” Again, they aren’t necessarily Satanic, they may be some of best folk you’ll ever meet, but God has chosen to use them to challenge, chisel, sand-paper, test your patience & polish you up.We should remember that the more serious the issue, the higher our love level must be.
Paul took the time to totally expound on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He not only tells us what love is, he tells us what love isn’t. Everything you & I do & say must be filtered through that chapter & everything good we might accomplish, even if it’s being burned at the stake, If it’s not done in love, it won't count.If you need another proof-text to show if you’re dealing in love or if others are dealing with you in love, apply James’ test;
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy.-James 3:17
If we’re going to have any friends, hold a job long or live in anything closely resembling peace & happiness, we’ll all have to plow around a stump now & then. But some gorgeous & nutritious crops are grown in some awfully stump-filled farm land.
6. IF YOU HAVE A DISAGREEMENT WITH SOMEONE, AND IT TURNS INTO A POINT OF SEPARATION, MAYBE NOBODY WAS WRONG. MAYBE A SEPARATION IS GOOD EVEN IN GOD’S EYES.
The bible doesn’t say Paul & Barnabas were at odds about everything & on every point for life; they just had a difference of opinion on one point. Obviously God blessed both these ministering teams.Paul didn’t write poison-pen letters to the churches against Barnabas. Barnabas didn’t send letters saying “Don’t listen to Paul. I know him & he’s a scoundrel.” They just split up “and the church rolled on.”
Some churches like to Baptize by totally dunking the individual & that seems to me to be the bible way. But when you think about it, others want to sprinkle them with water. Some want to baptize folk back ways, front ways or sideways. There was such as drought in Georgia recently the Baptists were sprinkling, the Methodist’s & Episcopals were spraying from a bottle & the Catholics were offering handiwipes. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me whether we squirt-em, spray-em, sprinkle-em or dunk-em, we should find a way to meet in the middle because in the final analysis, we’re all heading for the same heaven.
WHAT IS ‘BIG-BOY’ CHRISTIANITY? IT’S LOOKING FOR THINGS WE CAN AGREE ON & AS MUCH AS IS POSSIBLE, LIVING PEACEFULLY.
Let me tell you about the biggest baby in the bible.We find him in Jonah 4:1-11. Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it-when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”
But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.But then God sent a worm.
By the dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: “I’m better off dead!”Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?”Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die.”God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planter or watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”
This big baby named Jonah was mad at God for blessing & forgiving the people he’d preached to.
What a contrast to the words of Jesus on the cross;
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Jonah---Not a very BIG-BOY!!
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
BLESSINGS,
John
Like many of you, the Spirit of God got a hold of my heart at a very young age. By the time I was six I realized that Jesus loved me & died on the cross to save me. So I gave Him my heart & life & was born into the family of God.
As you might expect, I had no spiritual vocabulary & no spiritual teeth. I didn’t understand all there was to know about Jesus & still don’t. If you’d put a gun on me I couldn’t have told you what repentance or faith was. I had received the spirit of adoption whereby I could cry Abba or Da-da according to Romans 8:15, but that’s about it.I think I was pretty much a normal baby, spiritually & physically.
I remember my first “little mans” haircut & remember crying to get out of the barber chair. My kinfolk never let me forget that I was so scared all I could sobbingly say was “Feet on floor daddy, feet on floor.”Though my parents never said much about it, I can imagine the relief when I slowly began to grow up, though I also have a feeling it took quite a long time. One of the phrases I can remember hearing most from my childhood was “Johnny, be a big-boy.” Come on son, be a big-boy for daddy, or mommy.”
I can also remember that sentiment being impressed on me in non-verbal, somewhat painful ways that centered on the place where I sat down.One of the reasons a baby takes so much care is because in their world, it’s all about them & their needs. They’re always getting hurt, if not really hurt they’re getting their feelings hurt & they’re always making a mess for someone else to clean up. As much as we love our babies, we have to admit that in the home, if there’s a problem, it usually centers around the babies.
Have you ever noticed that the same is true in a church? You can count on spiritual babies to be at the center of just about every church disturbance.Acts chapter 15: 36-41 gives us a rare glimpse behind the scenes into the inner working of perhaps the greatest missionary team the Holy Spirit ever put together.This little glimpse into the lives of Paul & Barnabas shows the humanity yet spiritual maturity of the two men.
Paul needs no introduction anywhere because He’s without doubt one of the icons of Holy Writ. Barnabas however isn’t as well known but it’s good to remember that his name meant “Son of consolation” or “Encourager.” It’s rather special to be named after a gift of the spirit. i.e. Romans 12:8.Barnabas was responsible for over half the books of the New Testament. Paul wrote 13 of them, & Barnabas was the man who brought Paul to the brethren in Jerusalem. Acts 9:26-27. Mark wrote one & no doubt it was Barnabas who loved & encouraged him to continue in the faith. That’s 14, over half of the 27 books.
Have you ever heard the term “kinfolk’s complex?” The word we use today is nepotism. What both terms refer to is a prejudicial, biased leaning toward family. This problem is at the root of what’s happening in this story.On Paul & Barnabas’ first missionary trip together, John Mark the cousin of Barnabas accompanied them. Somewhere along the way John Mark decided to leave the team & return to his home in Jerusalem. We’re not told the reason for his departure however some have theorized the fires of resistance to the gospel were so hot, John Mark allowed fear to cause him to tuck-tail & run.When a second campaign was planned Barnabas suggests taking John Mark along as helper. Paul promptly nixed the idea. The scripture tells us that “sharp contention” developed between Barnabas & Paul over John Mark. Barnabas says he goes, Paul says he doesn’t go. They couldn’t agree so they split up.
As far as I’m able to discern, the two remarkable men never saw each other again.It’s impossible to read this drama & not be moved. The encouraging thing is the break-up didn’t come over doctrine. The rupture involved a personal dispute based on a judgment call. To their credit Paul nor Barnabas didn’t allow the conflict to distract them from their respective efforts of spreading the gospel. They were big-boys & exhibited “big-boy” maturity. Too often we can act like babies when we have a disagreement.If you ever raised kids you know the most glorious day was when the kids could sit at a table & feed themselves. We knew then they were becoming big boys & girls. I think God has the same feeling when He sees His kids growing up & not reacting to a speed-bump like it was a mountain.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN SPIRITUAL MINDS & HEARTS WILL DISAGREE.
The important thing is to stay focused on the work of God. Because of the disagreement, Barnabas chose his cousin John Mark & they formed an evangelistic team. Paul chose Silas & both teams went on the road.Which team was most successful? As far as we know they were both equally successful. Some have said that Paul was just too stubborn in the matter. However we read in Acts 15:40 that the Church commended Paul & Silas, but no such commendation came for Barnabas & John Mark.Paul may have been motivated more by experience, cool logic & rationality, while Barnabas was guided by a kindred familiarity & a warm heart. Most of can relate to Barnabas here because we’ve all needed a second chance .
It’s interesting to note that later on Paul writes to Timothy & says,--Get Mark & bring him with you, for he is profitable to me in the ministry.—2 Tim.4:11. Sounds to me like "uncle barny" got some vindication here.
We're looking here at a case of brass tacks Christian maturity. We are allowed to closely inspect how God’s choice men dealt with disagreements. Let’s look at some of the aspects of the way Paul & Barnabas settled their dispute & see what we might glean & utilize the next time we have a problem with a family member, Christian friend or worker.I think you’ll agree that 95% of our problems will be less than Paul & Barnabas’ situation so let’s see how we can disagree & still be like Jesus. Let’s see what “Big-Boy” Christianity is all about.
1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU DISAGREE.
We’ve looked closely at Paul & Barnabas’ problem & see the simple story; they disagreed over taking John Mark on this missionary trip. It’s all laid out rather simply for us don’t you agree?Proverbs 18:13 says,--he that answereth a matter before he hears it, it is folly & shame to him.
The following ad was placed in a newspaper,
“Wendell Walsh has a sewing machine for sale. It belongs to the lady who loves with him.—Ph. 359-4704 Address 67 Walnut street.”The next day the following ad appeared.—“Wendell Walsh no longer has a sewing machine for sale. I have smashed it. The owner did not love with me; she’s an elderly lady who lived in my upstairs apartment. Please don’t call 359-4704, it’s been disconnected. Please don’t go to 67 Walnut Street, I no longer live there.”What a mess, & all the confusion was caused by the mix-up of two letters, I & O.
So much pain is caused on a daily basis because someone got their facts wrong. You may remember the news story about a young woman in a beauty pageant who was crowned queen & as she walked around with the crown on her head the judges started comparing notes because they knew she wasn’t the one they voted # ONE. It was embarrassing for all concerned when they had to back-peddle & remove the crown from one woman’s head & place it on the real winners head, all because of a mistake in counting.
Paul Harvey told about one of the top national credit reporters who messed up a woman’s credit & it took her ten years to get them to clean up their mistake. After all those years of suffering the credit company finally found [admitted to] their problem & the woman was given millions in compensation, but not before wrecking her good name & her emotions in the process.It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of having our facts straight before we allow our opinions to jell, especially when it’s something we are telling to others as the truth. There’ll be plenty of time to disagree, but first get the truth.
2. DON’T INFLATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ONE DISAGREEMENT.
Paul & Barnabas didn't over inflate the importance of the disagreement they had. How do I know that? As we’ve already stated, Paul & Barnabas had the love & grace to sit down, spread out a map & say, “You go here & I’ll go there.” Every battle isn’t Armageddon & it’s always wise to choose our battles.If you’re having a disagreement with someone, here are a few pointers that should help;
1. Check your motive. Is your problem a valid point or is it a personality problem.
2. Check your spiritual fruit. Love, joy, peace, etc.Don’t go into a disagreement until you know your love level is higher than the disagreement level.Read & reread 1 Corinthians 13.
3. Have you lifted this up to God in prayer? Prayer will set our hearts & minds right.
4. Have you searched the scriptures on this matter?—Do you know what the bible teaches about it?
5. If you disagree, don’t be disagreeable. Our positions don’t get us into trouble, our dispositions do.
3. ISOLATE THE TRUE ISSUE & STAY ON THE POINT. DON’T BROADEN THE AGENDA.
A couple [I’m sure all married folk have experienced this, I know I have] will be out driving & get into an argument over directions. Maybe the man will turn on the wrong street or make some other mistake the wife feels will put them off course. It’s important to remember it’s just that one corned not all corners for the rest of our lives.And it’s extremely important to remember that our mother-in-law has nothing to do with this corner.A couple can get into a disagreement over the wife spending money on clothes & & then she’ll say to the husband, “Well, you bought a new shotgun & you already had two guns.” Then the man might say, “I don’t like your old momma anyway.” Where did momma come from? Money, money, money, momma. Once it gets to this point old Satan has a heyday.
A person in church might come by the pastor & say, “I think the music was a little loud this morning. And while I’m at it, your tie was a little too flashy last Sunday.” I’ve seen this spirit get loose & go on to say, “And I don’t like your hair, your shoes, clothes, your car, house or kids.”You see what that is? It’s broadening the agenda. I’m sure you know that a church of any size will have an agenda for their annual business meeting. The meeting has to be announced far enough in advance for all the folk to plan for it. Then the pastor & deacons will take all the business of the church & formulate an agenda for the meeting.If it wasn’t done this way, you’d have people getting up during the meeting & bringing up things that would lead the proceedings way a -field. Precious time would be wasted & people would leave all dazed & confused. Centuries of experience has taught that even the best of God’s people can get into strife if meetings like this aren’t conducted in a timely, planned & deliberate way.
Paul said,--Avoid foolish & unlearned questions for they gender strife. 2 Tim 2:23. We don’t see this happening with Paul & Barnabas. As far as we know they stayed on the one issue, worked it out & never moved out of peace.
4. LEARN HOW TO BE HONEST WITHOUT BEING BRUTAL.
In John 4:7-39, when Jesus sat down at the well & talked to the woman, he could have taken the truth & destroyed her with it. She’d had five husbands & was shacked up with one she wasn’t married to. If Jesus had thrown her past in her face, she’d have shriveled up but he didn’t. He could have said, “woman, don’t go telling people you’ve been talking to me,” but He didn’t. He allowed her to act as a messenger to go into her little town & tell the story of this man who’d told her all she’d ever done. Many people came out to see Jesus & became believers because of her testimony.
I heard about a lady who mastered the art of telling the truth without being brutal. Her husband told her one day, “Honey, I wish I could be smart, educated & handsome for you because you deserve that kind of husband.” She answered, “But I don’t want someone smart, educated & handsome, I want you.”
A young man told his dad he felt everybody in the world hated him. The dad said, “That’s silly son, everyone hasn’t met you yet.
If you watch the news at all you know that in our country, you can’t do things that appear brutal. Even if a person is caught mistreating a dog or cat, they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Human nature recoils if we see a human being or animal being treated unfairly. Though I love the animals & believe in treating them with kindness, I have a problem with the fact that we can kill unborn babies with fewer problems than we have when cats & dogs are mistreated. But "don’t be cruel" is always a good motto.We shouldn’t make statements like; “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” or “you’re as strong as an Ox & almost as smart,” or “honey, I wish you’d lose a little weight, when you walk in front of the TV we miss three episodes.” It’s much better to learn to say; “I may be wrong but here’s what I think.”
5. NEVER BREAK YOUR PLOW OVER A STUMP!
This is a very “old school” illustration that comes from the farming culture. My father was raised on a South Georgia farm & he shared many philosophies with me that originated on “dirt poor” farms.My grandfather used to teach his sons that some of the richest soil had stumps growing in it. What the farmer had to do was plow around the stumps instead of hitting them with his relativity fragile plow. This might seem like a no-brainer because anyone can see how unwise it would be to intentionally use a light plow on an entrenched & sturdy stump. The stumps were deeply embedded & rock solid. If a farmer tried to pull one of them up with his plow he’d not only tear- up his plow but He’d break down the horse or mule pulling the plow. So the farmer would simply plow around stumps.
There will be “stumps” growing in every field we’ll ever work in be it the ministry or a secular business. These stumps will be of the human variety. They aren’t of themselves demonic, but Satan sets them in your path trying to get you to do or say something you’ll regret. It might be a kindly old aunt, grandmother, mother-in-law, boss, neighbor or any other person “planted” in your field.I remember in the first church I pastored there was a “stump” in the form of a little old lady who’d been in the church for fifty years. She was against me from the day I arrived in town & she’d sit in the congregation & glare at me when I preached. Looking back she was the best friend I ever had because at least I always knew where she stood & she kept me sharp. I would study and pray an extra hour just with sister……in mind. I knew she was looking for any mistake I might make & she’d trumpet it to the high heavens.I challenge you to look at your life & pin-point the stumps in your “field.” Again, they aren’t necessarily Satanic, they may be some of best folk you’ll ever meet, but God has chosen to use them to challenge, chisel, sand-paper, test your patience & polish you up.We should remember that the more serious the issue, the higher our love level must be.
Paul took the time to totally expound on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He not only tells us what love is, he tells us what love isn’t. Everything you & I do & say must be filtered through that chapter & everything good we might accomplish, even if it’s being burned at the stake, If it’s not done in love, it won't count.If you need another proof-text to show if you’re dealing in love or if others are dealing with you in love, apply James’ test;
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy.-James 3:17
If we’re going to have any friends, hold a job long or live in anything closely resembling peace & happiness, we’ll all have to plow around a stump now & then. But some gorgeous & nutritious crops are grown in some awfully stump-filled farm land.
6. IF YOU HAVE A DISAGREEMENT WITH SOMEONE, AND IT TURNS INTO A POINT OF SEPARATION, MAYBE NOBODY WAS WRONG. MAYBE A SEPARATION IS GOOD EVEN IN GOD’S EYES.
The bible doesn’t say Paul & Barnabas were at odds about everything & on every point for life; they just had a difference of opinion on one point. Obviously God blessed both these ministering teams.Paul didn’t write poison-pen letters to the churches against Barnabas. Barnabas didn’t send letters saying “Don’t listen to Paul. I know him & he’s a scoundrel.” They just split up “and the church rolled on.”
Some churches like to Baptize by totally dunking the individual & that seems to me to be the bible way. But when you think about it, others want to sprinkle them with water. Some want to baptize folk back ways, front ways or sideways. There was such as drought in Georgia recently the Baptists were sprinkling, the Methodist’s & Episcopals were spraying from a bottle & the Catholics were offering handiwipes. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me whether we squirt-em, spray-em, sprinkle-em or dunk-em, we should find a way to meet in the middle because in the final analysis, we’re all heading for the same heaven.
WHAT IS ‘BIG-BOY’ CHRISTIANITY? IT’S LOOKING FOR THINGS WE CAN AGREE ON & AS MUCH AS IS POSSIBLE, LIVING PEACEFULLY.
Let me tell you about the biggest baby in the bible.We find him in Jonah 4:1-11. Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it-when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”
But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.But then God sent a worm.
By the dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: “I’m better off dead!”Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?”Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die.”God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planter or watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”
This big baby named Jonah was mad at God for blessing & forgiving the people he’d preached to.
What a contrast to the words of Jesus on the cross;
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Jonah---Not a very BIG-BOY!!
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
BLESSINGS,
John
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Battles We Need Not Fight
By John Stallings
Perception isn’t the same thing as reality.
You know this if you’ve ever jumped to a conclusion that simply wasn’t right.
First impressions are often right, but they are also sometimes totally wrong. At times we think we know what’s going on only to discover later that we weren’t even in the ball park when it came to seeing what was happening or why someone was behaving the way they did. As a rule things are more multi-layered than we suspect. The story in Joshua chapter 22 is a case in point.
After the Jews conquered the east side of the Jordan River, Moses was going to abandon the old land, because the Promised Land was on the other side of the river. But the leaders of Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh had asked if they could stay in the land they had already conquered, because it was just what they needed for their flocks.
The land was rich and fertile and there were large valleys for grazing their flocks and plenty of water. It seemed perfect. Moses agreed on the condition that they had to go across the river with their fellow Jews and help conquer the land of Canaan. After that task was completed they would be allowed to return to their own homes once more.
Canaan is finally subdued after over five years. The soldiers from the 2½ tribes had been faithful in their service and were given permission to return to their homes and families. Joshua, now their leader admonished them to love God and continue in His ways and to serve Him with all their hearts.
In that respect, things haven’t really changed much in the day in which we live. God still wants our faithful service. When He knows He has our hearts he will pour out His best on us.
The separation was an occasion of mixed emotions for everyone. The soldiers from all the other tribes had said their good-byes and there were probably numerous hugs and slaps on the back. Then the 2½ tribes left to cross the Jordan River and return to their families on other side. The soldiers could probably barely wait to get home. Their kids had now grown up and they had many stories to tell them of all the great things God had done.
THE PLOT TAKES A TWIST
As the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh backtracked east, they passed landmarks that must have brought back memories of what God had done. Happy as they were to be going home, it hadn’t been easy to say good-bye to their brothers. They were leaving behind the nearness of the Priesthood and the Tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant. They were leaving the land God had promised to bless. They were going home but somehow already missed the others tribes and began to feel isolated from the nation of Israel.
That’s probably what prompted the 2½ tribes to do what at first glance didn’t make much sense. Not only did it not make sense, it could have cost them their lives.
A MASSIVE MISCONCEPTION
Canaan is now under the control of God’s people. The tribes have each received their allotted portion of land and now they must begin, in the settled environment of Canaan, to live as the people of God; as a nation committed to be obedient to His Law. Under the new arrangements, the 9½ tribes will live on the western side of the Jordan in the land of Canaan itself, while the other 2½ tribes, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh would live on the eastern side of the Jordan.
Things were going swimmingly. The Promised Land and peace were both finally theirs. It seemed nothing could go wrong with the new set-up and then, at that very moment- it did. It wasn’t a small thing either, it was major. The tribes on the western side of the Jordan didn’t see it coming, but there it was. The 2½ tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan River did it. They’re responsible. On the eastern side of the Jordan River, they built a massive altar.
What’s wrong with that? Well God had made it clear in Deuteronomy 12 that everyone in any city that built an extra altar for sacrifice was to be put to death. It didn’t take long of course for word to filter through to the western tribes that the eastern tribes had set up a new altar.
While an altar may not seem all that significant to us, it raised an alarm with the Israelites because it was clearly forbidden. In the aforementioned passage they were told to have only one altar for sacrifices, lest multiple altars lead to a falling away from God’s perfect plan for worship. Having only one altar and one place of sacrifice was a way to preserve the purity of the worship of God. It was a preventative measure to ensure that each tribe didn’t do its own thing when it came to worshiping. One altar spoke of one faith and one people. Unity! In fact, again, the penalty for building another altar was that everyone in the city which built the altar was to be put to death. This was serious business.
So, quite logically, when the western tribes heard another altar had been built they immediately thought that the eastern tribes had abandoned God and become apostates before they even got home. It’s interesting that the 2½ tribes were experiencing such joy about the great things God had wrought; the altar was built as they went home, not after they got there.
However-the western tribes were frightened. Remember how 36 people died when Achan took those few items from the tent in Jericho. Though that had been nearly 5 years earlier, they hadn’t forgotten that lesson. They must not disobey clear commands from God or the consequences would be terrible. What should they do? Were the 2½ tribes so quickly becoming “loose cannons?”
The 9½ tribes on the western side of the Jordan River decided that they had no choice but to go to war with their Jewish brothers on the east bank in order to overthrow their “apostasy and disobedience.”
In chapter 22 verse 12 we read the statement, "the whole assembly gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against their brother tribes."
At least on some level the western tribes are to be commended for the zeal to look out for the honor of God and maintain the purity of worship. The fact that they were so stirred up by what they believed was spiritual infidelity shows that they were deeply committed to God. Far too often God’s people gradually accept things that God doesn’t accept.
The western tribes were right to want to stand against sin.However, as proper as it is to stand up against what’s wrong, they were also wrong because they jumped to conclusions that were far off the mark. It appeared that what their brothers were doing was wrong, but they would discover that there was another side to the story. When they heard about the altar being built they immediately assumed it had been set up in opposition to the altar in Shiloh. Were they correct?
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM.
That’s something all of us must guard against; the danger of judging people by their outward appearance. There’s danger in attributing bad motives to people’s actions when the very same actions could in fact be explained in other honorable ways.
Perhaps you meet a Christian friend walking down the street and wave at them. Although they seemed to be looking your direction they didn’t wave back, in fact, they seem to stare right through you. It’s easy if that happens to immediately jump to the conclusion that they are snubbing you. When in reality it might be that your friend is upset about some personal matter and is thinking about it at that moment. Far from being a deliberate snub that intense countenance could have in fact been the outward evidence of inner turmoil.
One more thing along those lines; when I was younger I had eagle eyes. I could see a person a long distance away and immediately recognize them. I’ve spotted famous people in airports that I’d only seen on T.V maybe once or twice, even when they thought they were incognito.
Because I had good eyesight, it never occurred to me that some people are born, and I say this with all love, about half blind. Out in a crowd, they have to get fairly close to you to recognize you even with their glasses on. Since we tend to judge out of our own hearts, I had to get older and in need of glasses, at least to read, to fully understand that some of those folk who didn’t seem to recognize me, didn’t really even see me. I’m just saying, let’s cut one another some slack.
It’s so easy to do what these western tribes did and jump to the wrong conclusions and pass rash judgments on others.
The Pharisees in the New Testament were often guilty of that. Consider what Jesus said to them about this very subject in John 7:24.
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (NAS)
All of us have had some occasions in our lives when if people had judged us on the way things appeared we would have been in trouble. Things aren’t always as they seem. It’s far easier for me to recall the times when others have misjudged my motives and talked about me, than it is for me to remember the times when I have misjudged others and talked about them.
THE CONFRONTATION
To show the importance that was put on this situation, the 9½ tribes sent Phinehas the priest and 10 other leaders of the tribes to speak with the leaders of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. Phinehas started off with a full head of steam. Instead of listening to the 2½ tribes he began pointing out their failures.
The fact that the priest Phinehas was included in this delegation illustrated that this wasn’t mainly a political matter, the primary issue was spiritual. It was a highly charged moment for Israel. The eastern tribes were accused of breaking faith with God, building an altar in rebellion against God and the rest of the covenant nation.
Phinehas, as their spokesman said, "How could you turn your backs on God and break faith with Him and all the other tribes? You built this altar in rebellion to God. You know how God punished us all when one chose to sin. If the land you’ve chosen is unfit for worship, you can move over to the other side of the river with us. Just don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves."
How many of us would have responded well to Phinehas? Imagine someone walking up to you and saying, "Look here you backslider, what you have done is rebellion and sin.”
The strongest word used in his attack was the word, "rebel" which means to deliberately resist God’s will and disobey His law.
On the surface of the story, there seems to be one group which is very right and another group which is very wrong. At this point it seems like things are going to go sideways but what we’re getting ready to see is a model of skillful/ healthy conflict resolution.
If the 9½ hadn’t taken the time to talk to the 2½ they would have probably wiped out the 2½. The 9½ didn’t realize that the 2½ had built an alter for other reasons than the ones they [the 9½] had in mind. [Microsoft Word didn’t like that last paragraph and wanted it re-written. No way!] I’m just glad that the 2½ didn’t get defensive when confronted by the 9½. A good thing to remember is to do all possible to treat criticism as a friend not an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6 says; faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Back to our story -and Phinehas. Sometimes criticism is necessary but it produces stress for most of us. Yet some folk try to motivate people to do better by constantly criticizing them. It doesn’t work as a rule because people don’t feel they deserve it. When we set out to deal in a corrective manner , unless it’s someone directly under our authority, we’d better know what we’re doing, because as you know the person we’ve chosen to ‘set straight” at some point is going to at least make an effort to turn it around on us.
But the western delegation, showing they were honest brokers of peace, doesn’t only accuse and condemn, it makes a very generous offer. If the eastern tribes don’t think they can worship the Lord on the east side of the river, they can come and live on the western side of the Jordan. This would shrink the territory of all the other tribes. This was a marvelously generous thing to do. How were they able to make such an offer? It had to be because it had been discussed with Joshua and the other leaders before they left. In other words, as harsh as the confrontation seemed to be, there was a desire for restoration.
THE EXPLANATION
To their credit, the 2½ tribes responded in an extremely constructive way. They said; - "God Almighty knows what our motives were. He alone is to be praised. If we have done what you said we have done, then we deserve God’s punishment and more. But we didn’t build this altar to sacrifice here, or worship another God. We built this altar as a witness.” The 2½ tribes began by acknowledging a very important fact concerning the accusations made against them, - God knew the truth.
Stated negatively, they say they have not built an altar as an act of rebellion against God. Worded positively, they have built the altar as a replica of the altar before the Tabernacle at Shiloh, as witness to their commitment to keep worshipping at the tabernacle with all Israel, and as testimony of their continuing right to share in the Lord’s worship despite the river that separated them from one another. The altar stood for covenant unity, not division, for firm devotion to God, not for backsliding. The 2½ tribes had a lot of “splaining” to do and they did it from the heart. The eastern tribes focused their attention on God. They used three separate names for (God) in their response to the accusations. El the Mighty One , Elohim God, Yahweh the Covenant Lord.
The Eastern tribes utterly rejected all the accusations. In their oath of denial, they basically invited God to call them to account and encouraged Israel to put them to death if the charges leveled against them were accurate. We should be willing to listen before we rush to judgment.
What a tragedy it would have been for the 2½ tribes to have said, "We know we haven’t done anything wrong and we know what our motives are, and we don’t have to explain it to you."
When we love each other, we really do have to explain our motives and we have to be willing to accept the motives of others. This is at the heart of communication. If you often find yourself saying, - "I don’t have to explain myself,” there’s a good chance you’re walking outside of the will of God for your life, -and you’re choosing to destroy relationships.
THE RESOLUTION
When Christ is at work in our lives, we think less of ourselves and more of what’s best for everyone concerned
Each time we’re willing to say, "I’m sorry" we’re living out a little bit of the Spirit of Christ. These are words of repentance, and repentance means going in the opposite direction. The 9½ tribes went from being critical of the altar to understanding because they were willing to listen and acknowledge that their fellow Israelites had thought of something they hadn’t considered.
This incident with the 2½ tribes can teach us an important lesson. Sometimes we are inclined to fight battles that do not need to be fought. We just see two different ways of getting to the same place. Don’t take it personally that your plan was not chosen this time. If the goal is the same, and the end product is the same, then flow with the plan of others. - Even if you had the better plan. - It’s called teamwork.
Human nature being what it is there will be times when misunderstanding will occur even among Christians. The spirit and example from this chapter speaks of the proper way to resolve those clashes. You and I must be governed by our love for the Lord and we must be careful that we don’t quickly jump to conclusions about others without giving them the benefit of the doubt. In Israel’s case, a few honest, rational words prevented a civil war.
I’m not suggesting that we gloss over things which really matter, that’s equally wrong. The well-known Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, once put it in wonderful perspective when he said. .
"Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth."
The very fragile situation between these tribes ended happily. It ended well because the two groups were highly invested in truth, love and unity. They were intent on loving, walking, obeying, holding fast and serving God with all their hearts. Their commitment to be conscientious brokers of understanding and unity leaves you and me with a template to follow in our personal lives, our homes, and in our churches.
The 2½ tribes made a statement that blows me away. They told the other tribes;-“If we’re in sin, may God destroy us, because we don’t want to defile His name or hurt you.”
Love isn’t’ the absence of problems or differences. Love is a function of something higher, -our commitment -which is an act of our Will to seek one another’s’ highest good.
Blessings,
John
Perception isn’t the same thing as reality.
You know this if you’ve ever jumped to a conclusion that simply wasn’t right.
First impressions are often right, but they are also sometimes totally wrong. At times we think we know what’s going on only to discover later that we weren’t even in the ball park when it came to seeing what was happening or why someone was behaving the way they did. As a rule things are more multi-layered than we suspect. The story in Joshua chapter 22 is a case in point.
After the Jews conquered the east side of the Jordan River, Moses was going to abandon the old land, because the Promised Land was on the other side of the river. But the leaders of Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh had asked if they could stay in the land they had already conquered, because it was just what they needed for their flocks.
The land was rich and fertile and there were large valleys for grazing their flocks and plenty of water. It seemed perfect. Moses agreed on the condition that they had to go across the river with their fellow Jews and help conquer the land of Canaan. After that task was completed they would be allowed to return to their own homes once more.
Canaan is finally subdued after over five years. The soldiers from the 2½ tribes had been faithful in their service and were given permission to return to their homes and families. Joshua, now their leader admonished them to love God and continue in His ways and to serve Him with all their hearts.
In that respect, things haven’t really changed much in the day in which we live. God still wants our faithful service. When He knows He has our hearts he will pour out His best on us.
The separation was an occasion of mixed emotions for everyone. The soldiers from all the other tribes had said their good-byes and there were probably numerous hugs and slaps on the back. Then the 2½ tribes left to cross the Jordan River and return to their families on other side. The soldiers could probably barely wait to get home. Their kids had now grown up and they had many stories to tell them of all the great things God had done.
THE PLOT TAKES A TWIST
As the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh backtracked east, they passed landmarks that must have brought back memories of what God had done. Happy as they were to be going home, it hadn’t been easy to say good-bye to their brothers. They were leaving behind the nearness of the Priesthood and the Tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant. They were leaving the land God had promised to bless. They were going home but somehow already missed the others tribes and began to feel isolated from the nation of Israel.
That’s probably what prompted the 2½ tribes to do what at first glance didn’t make much sense. Not only did it not make sense, it could have cost them their lives.
A MASSIVE MISCONCEPTION
Canaan is now under the control of God’s people. The tribes have each received their allotted portion of land and now they must begin, in the settled environment of Canaan, to live as the people of God; as a nation committed to be obedient to His Law. Under the new arrangements, the 9½ tribes will live on the western side of the Jordan in the land of Canaan itself, while the other 2½ tribes, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh would live on the eastern side of the Jordan.
Things were going swimmingly. The Promised Land and peace were both finally theirs. It seemed nothing could go wrong with the new set-up and then, at that very moment- it did. It wasn’t a small thing either, it was major. The tribes on the western side of the Jordan didn’t see it coming, but there it was. The 2½ tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan River did it. They’re responsible. On the eastern side of the Jordan River, they built a massive altar.
What’s wrong with that? Well God had made it clear in Deuteronomy 12 that everyone in any city that built an extra altar for sacrifice was to be put to death. It didn’t take long of course for word to filter through to the western tribes that the eastern tribes had set up a new altar.
While an altar may not seem all that significant to us, it raised an alarm with the Israelites because it was clearly forbidden. In the aforementioned passage they were told to have only one altar for sacrifices, lest multiple altars lead to a falling away from God’s perfect plan for worship. Having only one altar and one place of sacrifice was a way to preserve the purity of the worship of God. It was a preventative measure to ensure that each tribe didn’t do its own thing when it came to worshiping. One altar spoke of one faith and one people. Unity! In fact, again, the penalty for building another altar was that everyone in the city which built the altar was to be put to death. This was serious business.
So, quite logically, when the western tribes heard another altar had been built they immediately thought that the eastern tribes had abandoned God and become apostates before they even got home. It’s interesting that the 2½ tribes were experiencing such joy about the great things God had wrought; the altar was built as they went home, not after they got there.
However-the western tribes were frightened. Remember how 36 people died when Achan took those few items from the tent in Jericho. Though that had been nearly 5 years earlier, they hadn’t forgotten that lesson. They must not disobey clear commands from God or the consequences would be terrible. What should they do? Were the 2½ tribes so quickly becoming “loose cannons?”
The 9½ tribes on the western side of the Jordan River decided that they had no choice but to go to war with their Jewish brothers on the east bank in order to overthrow their “apostasy and disobedience.”
In chapter 22 verse 12 we read the statement, "the whole assembly gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against their brother tribes."
At least on some level the western tribes are to be commended for the zeal to look out for the honor of God and maintain the purity of worship. The fact that they were so stirred up by what they believed was spiritual infidelity shows that they were deeply committed to God. Far too often God’s people gradually accept things that God doesn’t accept.
The western tribes were right to want to stand against sin.However, as proper as it is to stand up against what’s wrong, they were also wrong because they jumped to conclusions that were far off the mark. It appeared that what their brothers were doing was wrong, but they would discover that there was another side to the story. When they heard about the altar being built they immediately assumed it had been set up in opposition to the altar in Shiloh. Were they correct?
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM.
That’s something all of us must guard against; the danger of judging people by their outward appearance. There’s danger in attributing bad motives to people’s actions when the very same actions could in fact be explained in other honorable ways.
Perhaps you meet a Christian friend walking down the street and wave at them. Although they seemed to be looking your direction they didn’t wave back, in fact, they seem to stare right through you. It’s easy if that happens to immediately jump to the conclusion that they are snubbing you. When in reality it might be that your friend is upset about some personal matter and is thinking about it at that moment. Far from being a deliberate snub that intense countenance could have in fact been the outward evidence of inner turmoil.
One more thing along those lines; when I was younger I had eagle eyes. I could see a person a long distance away and immediately recognize them. I’ve spotted famous people in airports that I’d only seen on T.V maybe once or twice, even when they thought they were incognito.
Because I had good eyesight, it never occurred to me that some people are born, and I say this with all love, about half blind. Out in a crowd, they have to get fairly close to you to recognize you even with their glasses on. Since we tend to judge out of our own hearts, I had to get older and in need of glasses, at least to read, to fully understand that some of those folk who didn’t seem to recognize me, didn’t really even see me. I’m just saying, let’s cut one another some slack.
It’s so easy to do what these western tribes did and jump to the wrong conclusions and pass rash judgments on others.
The Pharisees in the New Testament were often guilty of that. Consider what Jesus said to them about this very subject in John 7:24.
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (NAS)
All of us have had some occasions in our lives when if people had judged us on the way things appeared we would have been in trouble. Things aren’t always as they seem. It’s far easier for me to recall the times when others have misjudged my motives and talked about me, than it is for me to remember the times when I have misjudged others and talked about them.
THE CONFRONTATION
To show the importance that was put on this situation, the 9½ tribes sent Phinehas the priest and 10 other leaders of the tribes to speak with the leaders of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. Phinehas started off with a full head of steam. Instead of listening to the 2½ tribes he began pointing out their failures.
The fact that the priest Phinehas was included in this delegation illustrated that this wasn’t mainly a political matter, the primary issue was spiritual. It was a highly charged moment for Israel. The eastern tribes were accused of breaking faith with God, building an altar in rebellion against God and the rest of the covenant nation.
Phinehas, as their spokesman said, "How could you turn your backs on God and break faith with Him and all the other tribes? You built this altar in rebellion to God. You know how God punished us all when one chose to sin. If the land you’ve chosen is unfit for worship, you can move over to the other side of the river with us. Just don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves."
How many of us would have responded well to Phinehas? Imagine someone walking up to you and saying, "Look here you backslider, what you have done is rebellion and sin.”
The strongest word used in his attack was the word, "rebel" which means to deliberately resist God’s will and disobey His law.
On the surface of the story, there seems to be one group which is very right and another group which is very wrong. At this point it seems like things are going to go sideways but what we’re getting ready to see is a model of skillful/ healthy conflict resolution.
If the 9½ hadn’t taken the time to talk to the 2½ they would have probably wiped out the 2½. The 9½ didn’t realize that the 2½ had built an alter for other reasons than the ones they [the 9½] had in mind. [Microsoft Word didn’t like that last paragraph and wanted it re-written. No way!] I’m just glad that the 2½ didn’t get defensive when confronted by the 9½. A good thing to remember is to do all possible to treat criticism as a friend not an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6 says; faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Back to our story -and Phinehas. Sometimes criticism is necessary but it produces stress for most of us. Yet some folk try to motivate people to do better by constantly criticizing them. It doesn’t work as a rule because people don’t feel they deserve it. When we set out to deal in a corrective manner , unless it’s someone directly under our authority, we’d better know what we’re doing, because as you know the person we’ve chosen to ‘set straight” at some point is going to at least make an effort to turn it around on us.
But the western delegation, showing they were honest brokers of peace, doesn’t only accuse and condemn, it makes a very generous offer. If the eastern tribes don’t think they can worship the Lord on the east side of the river, they can come and live on the western side of the Jordan. This would shrink the territory of all the other tribes. This was a marvelously generous thing to do. How were they able to make such an offer? It had to be because it had been discussed with Joshua and the other leaders before they left. In other words, as harsh as the confrontation seemed to be, there was a desire for restoration.
THE EXPLANATION
To their credit, the 2½ tribes responded in an extremely constructive way. They said; - "God Almighty knows what our motives were. He alone is to be praised. If we have done what you said we have done, then we deserve God’s punishment and more. But we didn’t build this altar to sacrifice here, or worship another God. We built this altar as a witness.” The 2½ tribes began by acknowledging a very important fact concerning the accusations made against them, - God knew the truth.
Stated negatively, they say they have not built an altar as an act of rebellion against God. Worded positively, they have built the altar as a replica of the altar before the Tabernacle at Shiloh, as witness to their commitment to keep worshipping at the tabernacle with all Israel, and as testimony of their continuing right to share in the Lord’s worship despite the river that separated them from one another. The altar stood for covenant unity, not division, for firm devotion to God, not for backsliding. The 2½ tribes had a lot of “splaining” to do and they did it from the heart. The eastern tribes focused their attention on God. They used three separate names for (God) in their response to the accusations. El the Mighty One , Elohim God, Yahweh the Covenant Lord.
The Eastern tribes utterly rejected all the accusations. In their oath of denial, they basically invited God to call them to account and encouraged Israel to put them to death if the charges leveled against them were accurate. We should be willing to listen before we rush to judgment.
What a tragedy it would have been for the 2½ tribes to have said, "We know we haven’t done anything wrong and we know what our motives are, and we don’t have to explain it to you."
When we love each other, we really do have to explain our motives and we have to be willing to accept the motives of others. This is at the heart of communication. If you often find yourself saying, - "I don’t have to explain myself,” there’s a good chance you’re walking outside of the will of God for your life, -and you’re choosing to destroy relationships.
THE RESOLUTION
When Christ is at work in our lives, we think less of ourselves and more of what’s best for everyone concerned
Each time we’re willing to say, "I’m sorry" we’re living out a little bit of the Spirit of Christ. These are words of repentance, and repentance means going in the opposite direction. The 9½ tribes went from being critical of the altar to understanding because they were willing to listen and acknowledge that their fellow Israelites had thought of something they hadn’t considered.
This incident with the 2½ tribes can teach us an important lesson. Sometimes we are inclined to fight battles that do not need to be fought. We just see two different ways of getting to the same place. Don’t take it personally that your plan was not chosen this time. If the goal is the same, and the end product is the same, then flow with the plan of others. - Even if you had the better plan. - It’s called teamwork.
Human nature being what it is there will be times when misunderstanding will occur even among Christians. The spirit and example from this chapter speaks of the proper way to resolve those clashes. You and I must be governed by our love for the Lord and we must be careful that we don’t quickly jump to conclusions about others without giving them the benefit of the doubt. In Israel’s case, a few honest, rational words prevented a civil war.
I’m not suggesting that we gloss over things which really matter, that’s equally wrong. The well-known Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, once put it in wonderful perspective when he said. .
"Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth."
The very fragile situation between these tribes ended happily. It ended well because the two groups were highly invested in truth, love and unity. They were intent on loving, walking, obeying, holding fast and serving God with all their hearts. Their commitment to be conscientious brokers of understanding and unity leaves you and me with a template to follow in our personal lives, our homes, and in our churches.
The 2½ tribes made a statement that blows me away. They told the other tribes;-“If we’re in sin, may God destroy us, because we don’t want to defile His name or hurt you.”
Love isn’t’ the absence of problems or differences. Love is a function of something higher, -our commitment -which is an act of our Will to seek one another’s’ highest good.
Blessings,
John
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