MarkDaniels.Blogspot.com (via Mowser)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Gift of Self-Control

[This was shared during worship with the people of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, earlier today.]

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
This past week, I went for a checkup with my cardiologist. After the assistant had done her thing and the doc had looked over my files, he walked into the examination room and said, “Everything looks good.” Then, with a smile, he asked, “What’s with the weight?” I had gained six more pounds since our last visit, putting me about 27 pounds above my ideal weight. The culprit? I love bread.

So, I’m asking God to help me exercise self-control in order to more faithfully treat this body, which the Bible reminds me is not my own, but something that, with His death on the cross, Jesus bought back from sin, death, and the devil. And it’s this body that, if I endure in my faith in Jesus Christ, will rise again from the dead when Jesus returns on what the Bible calls “the Day of the Lord.” The Bible also teaches that every Christian’s body is: “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” To take care of this body, I need self-control.

We live in a world that, in many ways, discourages self-control.

Lady Gaga sings, “I was born that way,” encouraging people to commit whatever sins they think consistent with their inborn natures.

TV commercials and shopping channels prompt us to waste money on products—from mouthwash to financial planning services—for which often false promises are made.

Married men and women engage in what they think of as harmless trysts, while other people mouth smutty talk, giving no thought to how, as they do these things, they debase the gift of sexual intimacy God has given to them.

Pornography, it’s estimated, is a $10 to $15-billion industry, in which devotees are encouraged to idolize sex (or, as the Bible puts it, to worship the creation instead of the Creator) and end up viewing other people as objects to be used for their own pleasure, rather than as fellow human beings made in the image of God.

Obesity is becoming a pandemic: About one-third of all adults in the United States—33.8%--are obese.

All of these instances (and countless more) and the heartaches and the wedges they drive between God and us, between others and us, and between us and the people God made us to be, exemplify human sin and a death-dealing lack of self-control.

The Bible has a lot to say about self-control. And for good reason.

We’ll see why self-control is so important and how we can have it in a moment.

But let's first establish that God Himself wants us to exercise self-control in how we live.

Please look at Genesis 4:6. These are words spoken by God to Cain, one of Adam’s and Eve’s sons, after his offering of leftovers to God looked bad compared with his brother Abel’s grateful offering of the firstlings from his flocks: “So the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

It was a lack of self-control that caused Cain to not give God first place his life, to resent his brother for Abel’s grateful faith in God, and to despair of the importance of his own life…in other words, to sin. God is telling Cain to exercise self-control, to master his sinful impulses.

Our second lesson for today was written to the church the apostle Paul founded in the Greek city of Corinth. The letter was written in about 54AD. Look at what Paul says in our short second lesson. His words are worth reading and hearing again:

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Paul, of course, is using an analogy or a metaphor, both comparing and contrasting the life of a follower of Jesus Christ with the life of an athlete.

An athlete exercises self-discipline: She trains; he practices; they exercise and watch what foods they eat.

In Paul’s day, athletes who won their contests—a race or a wrestling match, for example—didn’t receive money, gold medals, commercial endorsements, or trips to Disney World. They received wreaths, made of laurel leaves, placed on their heads. Wreaths are perishable and they were dead shortly after given as awards.

Paul says that he and all Christians live our lives—we run—for a prize that is imperishable, one that will never wither or die. The prize is the gift of a relationship with God, here and eternity.

It’s a gift for which we don’t compete. All who believe and are baptized are already gold medal winners. We are saved by God’s charity (His grace) through our faith in Christ.

We cannot earn—or achieve—our way to a saving relationship with Christ. Jesus died on a cross, absorbing all the poison of our sin and selfishness, paying the debt to God we owe for our sin, then rising from the dead, so that all who repent for their sin and give their lives to Christ, are saved from sin, death, and futility as a free gift.

It is possible for us to kick away the life that Christ offers to us freely, though.

We kick Christ and life with God away when we lose our self-control and let the world, the devil, and our sinful selves call the shots in our lives.

But as anyone who has ever tried to take off a few pounds can testify, self-control, the mastery of self, the punishment of self in order to bring it into submission to the loving will of God, is not easy.

The good news is that we can have self-control.

Let me show you where the power for self-control can be found. Turn to Galatians 5, starting at verse 18, in the Bible.

There, Paul says that if we are led by the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus Christ to all who believe in Him, we aren’t condemned by the law. The power of sin to keep us from living with God has been destroyed.

Then, beginning with verse 19, Paul describes “the works of the flesh”: the things we do when we rely on ourselves instead of on God. It’s not a happy list! Look at it:

“adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies [that’s advocating or actively living doctrine contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the Bible], envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.”

Paul says that people who make a practice of these things “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” They push Jesus and salvation out of their lives.

But look at verses 22 and 23 to see what the Spirit produces in us when we daily and continuously give ourselves to Christ and ask for God’s guidance and help:

...love, joy, peace, longsuffering [that’s patience in the face of difficulties and opposition to us for our faith in and witness for Christ], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

In other words, as we consciously submit our every moment and our every decision to God’s evaluation, correction, and wisdom, we will be given the power to exercise self-control. We’ll experience the peace of God that passes all human understanding.

Every time we make decisions, we evidence either the self-control that comes from God or the lack of self-control that comes from sin.

Here’s a (far from perfect) eight-point checklist you might want to use when you’re confronting any decision in your life. These might help you to invite God's Holy Spirit into the process to give you Godly self-control:

If the decision will take you down the easy path, you probably shouldn’t take it. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, “…the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction…the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life...” If what you're considering doing is what you want to do, you probably shouldn’t do it. Proverbs 14:12 and other Bible passages tell us: “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.” The key is not to rely on your own thinking or common sense, but on the wisdom God freely gives to those who ask for it. If your prospective decision appeals to your ego, watch out. 1 Corinthians 10:31 teaches: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Ask yourself, “Will this decision glorify God?” If your feelings are leading you to a decision, you may want to avoid it. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God reveals that: “The heart is devious above all else…” Unless we, in the words of Psalm 51, are praying regularly and submissively for “a clean heart…and…a new and right spirit within…,” it’s almost always wrong to base our decisions on what we feel. If a trusted Christian friend warns you against a prospective decision, reconsider it. Proverbs 24:6 tells us that “in abundance of counselors, there is victory.” If you haven’t sought the counsel of at least one Christian friend, you may be about to make a bad decision. Jesus told Nicodemus that a sinful world refused to come to Him, the light of the world; instead, they huddled in darkness because they didn’t want their evil to be exposed. If we're not willing to share the decision we're contemplating with at least one other follower of Jesus Christ, we need to ask ourselves what we're hiding and why. Is this decision designed to please others, not God. Paul says bluntly in Galatians 1:10: “If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” As followers of Jesus Christ, our decisions should not be driven by the opinions of others, even if the opinion in question is that of just one other person. Finally, never make a decision if you haven’t been regularly reading God’s Word and praying. Jesus says that wise people build their lives on Him alone. And the Psalm tells us that God’s Word is a light to our path and a lamp to our feet. When we make decisions without regularly reading God's Word and regularly talking things over with God, we are flailing in the dark.

Self-control is the fruit of a life lived in total surrender to the God Who has done everything needed for us to have a life with Him that never ends. As we submit our lives to Jesus Christ and invite Him to be the final authority over us, our lives are transformed.

In following Jesus, we may not always earn the world’s applause or make bigger pay checks, but we will be able to face our Lord at the ends of our lives and say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

And we will hear Jesus say, “Well done… Enter into the joy of your Master.” Amen

8-Point Checklist for Decision-Making

[This is taken from my sermon for February 12, 2012.]

Here’s a (far from perfect) eight-point checklist you might want to use when you’re confronting any decision in your life. These might help you to invite God's Holy Spirit into the process to give you Godly self-control:

In my life as a Christian, I have made good and bad decisions and because I'm as human as the next person and so, as inclined to forget God and all that He has done for me, I will, as long as I'm breathing, undoubtedly make more bad decisions. Thank God for the forgiveness and reconciliation God offers to all who come in the Name of Jesus in genuine repentance, seeking God's forgiveness and renewal in their lives.

I know this: If we make good, Godly decisions, we have less to regret than when we have when we go our own ways.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Yes, Homosexuality is a Sin; But God Wants to Set People Free from It

This is a reflection prompted by the controversy over tweets and columns by liberal CNN political analyst Roland Martin.

Personally, I am willing to accept the notion that some people--perhaps 1 to 3% of the adult population at any time, based on the data I have seen--have inborn impulses or orientations to homosexuality, even though there is not yet any scientific date definitively proving the point.

But even if a homosexual orientation is inborn, it doesn't relieve the person who has this orientation from heeding the will of God.

If we want the hand of grace, forgiveness, and new life that Jesus Christ offers to us, we must lay down the sins that weigh us down and would otherwise prevent us from having Christ in our lives.

To accept or spurn the grace of God is a choice we all must make each day, whether in relation to the general inborn sinful impulses we all have (the Bible teaches that we are born in sin, a condition of self-will and separation from God) or to the specific sins that seem to especially tempt every person.

All of us are sinners, including me. I sin every day because I am human.

But there's a difference between the sins we commit because of our errant human judgments, on the the one hand, and the sins of deliberate and knowing rebellion against the revealed will of God, on the other.

The Old and New Testaments, and Jesus Himself, the One we Christians believe is God in the flesh, speak unambiguously in teaching that sexual intimacy is a gift from God to be opened only by a man and a woman in marriage.

Citing the book of Genesis, Jesus underscored the sanctity of heterosexual marriage (and the horrors of divorce) when He said:

Have you not read that the One Who made them at the beginning [God] "made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? (Matthew 19:4-5)

The Bible also gets very specific in dealing with homosexual behavior.

For example, much of the Old Testament book of Leviticus conveys ritual/sacrificial law no longer valid because Jesus Christ has become the perfect sacrifice for sin "once and for all" or civic law, invalidated because we do not live in a theocracy, as ancient Israel was meant to be. But sections of Leviticus, like the portion of it referred to as "the holiness code," are merely explanations of the Ten Commandments, the Mosaic law, which is what Jesus was referring to when He said:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

This is important to keep in mind when considering this admonition to men found in Leviticus:

²²You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Leviticus 18:22)

In the New Testament, Paul says that the increase of all sorts of sin, including homosexuality, is a result of human beings coming untethered from God and giving credence to the human impulse, seen a lot today, toward worshiping the creation, including the self, rather than the Creator:

²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools; ²³and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. ²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. ²⁶For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, ²⁷and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. ²⁸And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. ²⁹They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, ³¹foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. (Romans 1:22-32)

Exegeting the Ten Commandments for the young pastor Timothy, the apostle Paul singles out homosexuality as a violation of the Sixth Commandment, "You shall not commit adultery," a proscription against adulterating the gift of sexuality by stealing it from God outside of heterosexual marriage:

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately. ⁹This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, ¹⁰fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching ¹¹that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (1 Timothy 1:8-11)

It may be politically incorrect, but Christians are bound to tell the truth to all tempted by sin or mired in sin (including ourselves) and the truth is that to be tempted by homosexuality is not a sin, but to fall into it is.

But there is hope! Paul also writes in the New Testament:

¹³No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

If we are open to the help of God, God will help us and as we walk more intimately with Him, our lives will be transformed in ways we can hardly imagine!

Martin Right to Apologize for Tweets, But Shouldn't Bow to Bullies of Political Correctness

Liberal CNN commentator Roland Martin has been suspended by the news network for two Twitter posts which gay activist groups have rightly seen as demeaning to homosexuals and which could be construed as advocating violence against gays.

Martin, again rightly, has apologized for the two tweets and gay groups have expressed appreciation for the action of CNN and the statement of Martin. Stereotyping is unfair and even hinting at calling for violence against persons for their appearance is wrong.

But, this account says that some gay groups are also upset with columns, like this one Roland Martin wrote in 2006. In this particular piece, Martin, a Christian whose wife has been a Baptist pastor for decades, explains why the majority of the African-American Church cannot see living out a homosexual life style as anything but sin. In it, Martin speaks truth against the prevailing powers of American culture. Here are a few excerpts:

[What must be understood is] that the fundamental issue is that gays and lesbians want to be accepted and embraced by the church, and not acknowledge that they are engaged, in the eyes of the church, in sinful behavior...there will never be a happy medium on this issue.

As individuals, gays and lesbians - those claiming to be born this way and others who say they have evolved to live a homosexual lifestyle - are naturally going to want to live their life as they see fit. And yes, the last thing they want to do is sit in a church and listen to someone from the pulpit castigate their way of life. I get that. But someone who is living with a member of the opposite sex while not married also doesn't want to hear that being preached. And surely the man or woman cheating on their spouse prefers not to hear their behavior cast as being sinful and unGodly.

But for Christians, going to church is not supposed to be a feel good exercise. We are expected to be convicted, and encouraged to walk away from sin and live a more Christ-like life. In my church, this goes for the woman who is an alcoholic, the child who continues to be disobedient to his parents, the young lady who is hell-bent on stealing, and the person who is gay.

Yet what churches must do is make it clear that their doors are not closed to anyone, even if you homosexual.

My wife, an ordained Baptist minister for 20 years, has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle, and to live a chaste life. She has asked heterosexual men and women to abstain from sex until marriage. For her, the obligation is to her calling as a minister of the Word, rather than bowing to societal pressures. She loves gay and lesbian church members dearly, and prays with them, talks to them, and breaks bread with them. But what she cannot do is compromise the integrity of the teachings of Christ.

It would be nonsense for the body of Christ to launch a gay and lesbian ministry that is not focused on teaching God's Word - including those that address homosexuality. Preaching about the dangers of becoming drunkard - which Paul wrote about in the Bible - must be taught alongside of Jesus' admonition in Matthew 19 that God has only called a man and woman to marry.

If a gay or lesbian individual is not willing to belong to a church that preaches this, then they should join whatever house of worship to their liking. But if someone expects to join a church that is rooted in the Bible, then they should be prepared to hear a sermon that might, in the words of the Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III of Dallas' Friendship-West Baptist Church, "bowl down your alley or sit in your pew."

The church is called to love our fellow man, preach the good news and set the captives free - free from a life of sin.

That isn't being homophobic. It's being a Christian. And no one should have to apologize for that.

Martin's tweets were wrong and he's to be commended for his apology.

But he has nothing to apologize for in upholding, as he does in the column cited above, the Bible's teachings that sexual intimacy is reserved for men and women in lifelong marital covenants with God and each other.

There's a lot of bullying happening today, even within our churches.

The bullies of political correctness, heedless of the loving will of God, want to shut the mouths and the scruples of any who try to speak God's liberating Word to those imprisoned by their own sinful desires. These folks push a false gospel of tolerance that tolerates the spreading of lies that contradict the will and Word of God while being harshly intolerant of anyone who dares to question the prevailing mores of contemporary culture. These are the same kinds of folks who, in bygone days, would have stoned the prophets and said:

"Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way [of God], turn aside from the path [following God], let us hear no more of the Holy One [God]..." (Isaiah 30:10-11)

Church, we dare not shut up!

To be silent in the face of sin is a sin itself and something for which we will have to one day give an accounting to our Lord.

If we are silent, Christ will pose the same question to us that He will undoubtedly pose to all who have claimed Jesus as Lord, yet acquiesced to sin, including the churches that allowed swastikas in their sanctuaries in Nazi Germany, churches who today embrace the worship of goddesses as well as the God ultimately in Jesus Christ, and churches who turn the salvation God offers for free to all who turn from sin and believe in Jesus Christ into an achievement of human works, among others. The Lord is sure to ask:

Why didn't you love your neighbor enough to speak the truth to them about the dangers to their immortal souls posed by their sins? Why didn't you lovingly call them to turn to Christ, Who forgives sins and gives those who humbly surrender to Him the power of His Holy Spirit to resist sin and walk with Him?

As Martin rightly says, we need not apologize for telling the truth. God's truth is the only thing that can set any of us free...from sin and from death. Are we willing to idly watch as people destroy themselves? Don't we love them enough to tell the truth no matter what society says?

These are questions I ask myself each day and I pray God will give me the strength of character and faith to follow His way and not my own.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Audio of This Morning's 'Read the Bible in a Year' Discussion (February 8, 2012)

The people of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, have been reading the Bible in a year's time and then, discussing it in weekly gatherings. This is audio from the morning's discussion, covering (ostensibly) 1 Corinthians 13 to Ephesians 3.

BIG MISTAKE in the audio: I said that the region of Asia Minor, basically modern Turkey, was the first place that followers of Christ were called, Christians. That isn't true. That actually happened in Antioch, in Syria. Nonetheless, what I say here about the importance of Turkey as, in many ways, the "cradle of Christianity" holds true.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

What is Contentment?

One of my favorite blogging pastors, Mark Roberts, has some thoughts on what contentment looks like. His perspective doesn't conform to your usual picture.

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Renouncing Our Rights to Live in Freedom!

[This was shared during worship with the people of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, earlier today.]

1 Corinthians 9:16-23
We Americans are firm believers in our rights. The Declaration of Independence says that we are endowed by our Creator with “certain unalienable rights.” That may be true.

But let me ask you a question: If God had a task for you that entailed giving up one or all of your rights, your freedom to do what you wanted to do, what would you do?

This is not an abstract question. It’s the question that every Christian, especially we American Christians where we have what I call "a glut of options," must face every day.

Are we willing to renounce our rights in order to be servants of Jesus Christ alone? Are we willing to to live lives designed by God and not by us?

In his book, You Were Made for More, Pastor Jim Cymbala tells the true story of Mark Hill, an architect who graduated from an Ivy League school, Cornell, and later went to work for the great architect, I. M. Pei.

But in the midst of a career that provided him with a high six-figure income, Mark began attending the church of which Cymbala is senior pastor, the Brooklyn Tabernacle. It was then that God grabbed hold of Mark and gave him his life mission.

When a call went out for volunteers to teach Sunday School, he decided to teach elementary-age Children’s Church. “I loved it!” he later remembered. “I had such a feeling of being in God’s will. And the kids responded energetically.”

One thing led to another and today, Mark Hill works full time, alongside his wife, with youth programs at the church. Being a church youth worker has meant giving up on the income that his hard work, education, and experience would have otherwise given him every right to expect. But he’s renounced those rights in order to voluntarily perform the mission Christ has given to him.

Of course, you don’t have to give up your day job in order to fulfill the mission Jesus Christ has for you.

Take the apostle Paul, for example. Paul traveled thousands of miles to share the gospel of Jesus Christ: the good news that we human beings, born slaves to sin and bound for death and hell, can be saved from sin, death, and futility when we respond to the gracious love of God by turning from sin and believing in Jesus, Who shared death with us and wants to share His resurrection with all who trust in Him.

Paul wrote most of the books in our New Testament. He started churches, counseled new Christians, developed leaders. He was an apostle, a word meaning sent one, sent by Christ Himself to take the Good News of Jesus into far and often hostile places.

For his efforts, Paul suffered beatings, imprisonments, stoning, shipwrecks, and false accusations. But, in spite of all he gave to the mission entrusted to him by Christ and all that he endured to fulfill it, "apostle-ing" wasn’t even Paul’s day job.

He was a tentmaker.

As Paul saw it, his profession made it possible for him to do his real job, the same job you and I have as baptized believers in Jesus Christ: Changing the world by sharing Christ with others.

Martin Luther once said that there are two conversions that must happen in the life of every Christian. First, there must be the conversion to faith in Jesus Christ. Second, there must be a conversion of our pocketbooks. It takes time for new Christians to realize that, in grateful response for all that God has given to us, how we give and spend our money (along with how we spend our lives) should put God first. Paul understood that this second conversion may take longer even than the first.

So, although he had every right to expect a pay package that would allow him to do his work without worrying about how to fill his belly or pay his bills, Paul didn’t demand this of the new Christians who made up the new congregations he started. Paul said that, while he would never brag, if he wanted to, he could brag that he had shared the Gospel with those converted to Christ by his preaching and teaching, without asking for a penny.

In the verse that comes just before our second lesson, Paul says to the people of one of the churches he founded, in the Greek city of Corinth: “I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in this case. Indeed, I would rather die than that—no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting.”

But take a look at what he says next, in our second lesson, printed on the Celebrate insert: “If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” Then, slip down to verse 18, where he writes: “What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.”

God, Paul is saying, has given me a responsibility to share the Gospel, free of charge, with others. When I do that, I’m only doing my job and shame on me if I don’t do it, whether I get paid for it or not.

Christ had set Paul free of sin and death. So, he chose to use his freedom to make himself a servant of Christ alone.

In connection with Paul's sentiments, speaking personally, I know that I've always seen what's referred to as my "pay package" as an allowance. God has called me to be a pastor and whether God intended me to do it full time in a congregation like Saint Matthew or, for no pay, with a church that couldn't afford a pastor while I worked another job, I would feel bound to take up the mission Christ has given to me. And shame on me if I don't do just that, "pay package" or not! After Christ has set me free, why would turn around and enslave myself to a "pay package"? There is nothing more disgraceful than "pastors for hire," who seem to always be angling for more money!

In his essay, On Christian Liberty, Martin Luther wrote:

A Christian…is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian…is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.

This is exactly what Paul is talking about when he writes what he does in the last five verses of our second lesson. They’re worth reading. Take a look at them with me:

For though I am free with respect to all [that is, I have no obligations to nobody but to Christ Who, alone, has freed me from the power of sin, death, and futility], I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. [I have voluntarily made myself the servant of everyone so that I can introduce them to Jesus Christ.] To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. [This doesn’t mean that Paul got along to get along. He wasn't playing the game of political correctness, telling the cultures in which he served what they wanted to hear, as both liberal and conservative churches do for their preferred constituencies in North America in 2012. It means, rather, that he lived alongside Jews, Gentiles, and the weakest of the world in order to credibly share Christ with them. He disavowed whatever rights he had as a Jewish scholar or a Roman citizen or a noted intellect or a free male in order to win a hearing for Jesus Christ.] I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.”

In setting aside whatever rights or glory the societies of his world might have had to offer, Paul, like his Savior and our Savior Jesus, chose to use his Christian freedom to serve God and others.

He renounced his rights to pursue the mission Christ had for him.

So, what has this all got to do with you and me?

Everyone, it seems, wants the world to recognize their rights.

Everyone seems to want what they see as belonging to them: attention, comfort, respect, money.

Selfishness, self-absorption, demanding our rights, and carving out what some people call “me time,” are common themes of the day.

People think that by diving deeper into themselves, they’ll find peace.

But that’s a lie!

Life, joy, purpose, and peace: These things only belong to those who recognize that none of them are our rights. They are gifts from the God we meet in Jesus Christ.

And it is only those who renounce the idea that they’re entitled to anything and instead, recognize that every good and perfect gift comes from the God we know in Jesus Christ alone, who experience life, joy, purpose, and peace.

Whether you’re a plumber or a preacher, a teacher or a doctor, a farmer, a student, a repairperson, a nurse, a retiree, or a millionaire, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the same privilege and the same mission.

The privilege is knowing that because of Christ and your faith in Christ, nothing can separate you from the love of God. You belong to God for all eternity and nothing—not disease nor death, not unemployment nor the unkindness of other people—can separate you from God's love. You can live your life with complete boldness, knowing that you are in the palm of God’s hand always.

The mission is to share the liberating good news of new life through faith in Jesus Christ with everyone you meet, even organizing your life so that you can meet more people and share Christ with them.

A woman, writing in Decision magazine years ago, told about sensing that God wanted her to take her family overseas so that she could be a missionary.

She excitedly told her husband about this “call.” He wasn’t sure his wife had been called to go overseas at all. He suggested that she test this call first.

Why not try reaching others with the Good News of Jesus in their neighborhood, something she had never previously attempted, he said, and see where that led?

Disappointed, she nonetheless agreed to this plan. She wracked her brain for awhile to come up with some ways she could be a neighborhood missionary, then hit on an idea.

She and her husband lived in a community that was growing. Lots of people were moving in all the time. She would bake bread and welcome newcomers to their community. No Bible tracts. No religious jaw. Just a welcome from a neighbor.

At first, the woman thought that she was wasting her time on some insignificant activity. But over time, as she organized her life around pursuing this mission outreach, she became friends with a number of the newcomers.

When a crisis developed in their lives, they would call her for help or ask her for prayers.

Many asked her the reasons for her joy and helpfulness to others and she was able to tell them about Christ.

Over the decades, this woman saw hundreds of people who previously had no connection with Christ come to believe in Him, in part because she organized her life around sharing Christ in a simple, practical way.

Living out our mission for Christ may entail renouncing the attention, comfort, and respect the world gives to its movers and shakers and its success stories.

It may cause us discomfort or even suffering.

That’s OK. As Paul writes elsewhere: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory…to be revealed to us…”

When Christ returns, the dead in Christ rise again, and we begin to reign over a new heaven and a new earth alongside Christ in eternity, the mad scramble to assert and maintain our rights will be shown for the sham and the shame and the waste that it is.

In the end, when we see Christ, the only thing that will matter is whether we have held onto Jesus Christ, because anything else we may hold onto—anything we may think we have the right to hold onto—will slip from our mortal hands.

Only the God we know in Jesus Christ is immortal.

And only Jesus Christ, the conqueror of death and sin and futile living, is worth living and dying for.

Only Jesus Christ can give us the eternity of forgiveness and fellowship that none of us has any right to expect!

So, what about it? Are you willing to renounce your worldly rights in order to live for Christ alone?

Are you willing to live the mission of sharing Christ with others, whatever your job?

If you are, let God know it…and then seek, however imperfectly, however inconsistently, however constantly you (and I) will need to repent and to be renewed by God’s Holy Spirit…live it!

Live it!

Amen!

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Of Pens, Swords, Keyboards, & Throwing Businesses Under the Cyberbus

I don't know that I've ever written a review of a restaurant or retail establishment on my blog or on any of the social media outlets, other than to say we particularly enjoyed or appreciated a place. (The Olive Tree in Hilliard and the Giant Eagle Market District in Upper Arlington, both of which we love a lot, come to mind.)

But Beth McShane makes an important point in a post she titles, The Pen is even mightier than the sword: Our pens (or furious keyboard-tapping fingers) can cause a lot of damage to some establishments, especially to those mom and pop businesses whose owners have a genuine commitment to customer satisfaction and product improvement.

McShane writes:

There is an unfortunate trend among some social media dabblers to tweet first and ask questions later. The days of asking to see the manager when you have a complaint has been replaced with reaching for the iPhone and tweeting directly from the dinner table. Don’t like your haircut? Try talking to the salon before giving that one star review on Twitter. You owe it to them to give them a chance to make things right before you go public with scrutiny.

I like Beth's alternative strategy.

By it--laying aside our pens, swords, and keyboards long enough to get explanations or better performances in response to the second chances we provide--we might save the reputations of earnest merchants who really do want to the right thing and, unless the fly actually belongs there in your soup, generally have a great product. (You'll have to watch the great Grover clip from Sesame Street that Beth provides at her post to get that.)

So, please check out Beth McShane's post.

By the way, in mentioning McShane's post calling for giving merchants and retailers you've disappointed the chance to make things right, I haven't really wandered from my usual bailiwick of Biblical Christianity.

For example, the eighth of the Ten Commandments, the list of basic moral laws God gives to the human race for us as long as Planet Earth is still spinning on its axis, God says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

In that edict, it's clear enough that God doesn't want us to spread untruths about others. But back in the 1520s, in a book called The Small Catechism, Martin Luther penetrated to the deeper levels of God's intent for this commandment, when he explained that:

We should fear and love God so that we do not betray, slander, lie, or gossip about our neighbors, but defend them, speak well of them, and put the most charitable construction on all that they do.

By Luther's perceptive summation, we see that God wants to be sure that, even when a neighbor doesn't meet our expectations, we restrain ourselves from "throwing under them bus." That would include cyber-buses like Twitter, Facebook, or your own blog where you fume about deficiencies of products or services.

Maybe the businessperson who disappointed you was having a bad day (like Mr. Gower in It's a Wonderful Life) or you didn't understand that the menu really did promote Cream of Mosquito soup (see the Grover video). (Matthew 7:12)

When we obey the eighth commandment--a tough proposition, I might add--we're really fulfilling what has been called Jesus' golden rule: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12).

If we do have complaints or questions though, the Bible suggests that we investigate things before complaining to the world. In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus lays down a process for Christians to resolve conflicts with fellow Christians. But its principles clearly have broader application.

The bottom line is that if you have a beef with someone, you go to them first...not the entire Internet committee. You may be able to get things resolved without resorting to wielding the sword of a blog post or Facebook or Twitter update.

After all, wouldn't you rather help solve a problem than have the privilege of bellyaching in cyberspace? Yeah, me too.

Turns out Beth McShane's advice is good in a lot of ways! You can also follower her on Twitter: @BethMcShane

Friday, February 03, 2012

What Does "Hallelujah" Mean?

“Hallelujah” (also sometimes rendered as "Alleluia") is another English transliteration of a word imported from another language.

In this case, the original word is from Hebrew, the language in which the majority of the Old Testament was written.

It means, “Praise Yah!”

“Yah” is the first syllable of the Name that God as identified as His own to Moses at the burning bush. Yahweh is I AM.

The ancient Hebrews and even many modern Jews today feel that God’s Name is too holy to be used in its entirety. Because their hesitation about using the full Name, they often said, “Hallelujah!,” meaning, “Praise Yahweh!”

The Name by which God has ultimately revealed Himself to the world is, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

As Luther writes in The Small Catechism, God gives us His Name so that we can use it to bring God, “prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.” All other uses are vain, meaning nothing, thereby disrespecting God and misusing the gift of God’s Name to us.

By the way, Jesus several times identifies Himself as Yahweh, as when He told His fellow Jews in a grammatically awkward phrase: “Very truly [Amen, amen!], I tell you, before Abraham was, I AM!” (John 8:58)

What Does "Amen" Mean?

Worshipers at Christian churches use the word, "Amen" a lot, usually at the ends of prayers. But what does it mean?

The word “amen” is what’s known as a transliteration. A transliteration happens when a word is taken from another language, as is, to mean the same thing in the new language as it did in the language from which it was taken.

The New Testament was originally written back in the first century, in Greek. Greek was then the "second language" of the world, much as English is today.

But "Amen" in the Greek was actually a transliteration from yet another language, Hebrew. It was also transliterated into the language Jesus used every day, Aramaic.

“Amen” means truly! It's a word that underscores the truth of a statement that comes before or after it's said. Or, as in the case of prayer, it denotes faith in the God to Whom prayer is offered.

When in English translations of the Bible, we see Jesus saying things like, “Verily” or “Truly,” it means that the original Greek cites Him as saying, “Amen” or even, “Amen, Amen!”

Of course, as mentioned above, Jesus’ everyday language was Aramaic. But He and the fishermen and tax collectors among His disciples, given the cosmopolitan region in which they grew up, probably were conversant with Aramaic, Hebrew (the language used in the synagogue), Greek (the international language of trade and scholarship), and Latin (the language of their Roman conquerors). His earliest followers composed the books and letters that now make up the New Testament.

MarkDaniels.Blogspot.com