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Category: Jesus (Page 38 of 60)

Every Day is Election Day

November 6, 2012 / / 2 Comments

I keep hearing that the office up for public election today is for the “leader of the free world” and the “most powerful man in the world.” Funny, I don’t see the title “Christ” or the name “Jesus” on the ballot.

Certainly, the office of President of the United States carries a lot of power as it relates to the kingdoms of this world. Today’s winner will wield much political influence in this world. Today’s democratically elected man will run the largest and most deadly military machine in the history of the world. He will oversee a complex economic system that informs and shapes the rest of the kingdoms of this planet.

But when/if you pull a lever or punch a chad today at the public school or the neighborhood library, you will not be voting for the “most powerful man in the world.” That title alone belongs to our risen and sovereign King Jesus.

And we vote for him every single day.

Every day, every decision you make is a vote for or against our Lord. Your decision to respond with forgiveness to someone who harms you instead of retaliation is a vote for the Messiah. Your decision to serve someone with love instead of ignoring them in apathy is a vote for the Anointed One. Your decision to delete the mean-spirited email instead of forwarding it to others is a vote for the way of the Savior. When you reach out instead of withdraw, when you give instead of take, when you show mercy instead of judgment, you are casting a vote for our King Jesus.

Jesus has shown us that self-giving love and sacrificial service are the only ways to truly save this fallen world. As disciples of his, every moment of every day is an opportunity to either endorse Jesus and his politics or reject him and his ways as unrealistic. For followers of the Christ, every day is Election Day.

Peace,

Allan

Greater Things Than These

October 23, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.” ~John 14:12

Around the dinner table on that last night, Jesus tells his closest disciples that, by the power of his Holy Spirit, they will do greater things than even he had done. “I’m leaving,” Jesus says. “But I’m sending my Spirit to you and you’re going to not only continue doing what I have done, you’re going to do even better.”

???????

I have a difficult time with this verse. I know my own life. I know my sins and my failures. They are many. I’m a dedicated follower of our Lord, yes, but I can’t begin to do what he did, much less more than he did. Or greater things than he did. Greater things? Greater things than Christ Jesus? Even with the almighty power of God’s Holy Spirit living in me, I can’t imagine anything I could ever do for God’s Kingdom as being classified by Jesus as greater than what he had done.

“Greater” could mean broader or wider. Yes, it could mean that the Spirit is working through the Church now to spread the good news of salvation from God in Christ around the whole planet. In that sense, the Church today has a “greater” reach than Jesus and his faithful disciples in and around Galilee.

But I can’t ignore the fact that Jesus uses the singular pronoun “anyone” when he talks about these greater things. He’s speaking about individuals.

Could it be that the really amazing things Jesus did on this earth weren’t really the healings and the exorcisms and the feedings of the multitudes? Is it possible that, in God’s eyes, Jesus’ acts of humility and service were really the “greater things?” While he walked in our shoes, the Son of God displayed amazing obedience and sacrifice. Our Lord humbled himself and put his very life at risk in order to save others. He submitted. He not only submitted to the Father, he submitted to the world. For the sake of the world. It is amazing what Jesus did while he was here.

Is it more amazing, again, in the eyes of God, that sinful human beings also sacrifice and submit and obey? The very fact that fallen and finite men and women, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can display incredible acts of humility and service might just blow the angels in heaven out of the water. God’s Spirit enables even us to serve like Jesus, to obey, to be submissive, to be generous to others as Christ was and is. It is great! It’s almost unbelievable! Greater than what Jesus did, maybe, in that we’re sinful humans! It’s mind-blowing! I think it might be a tremendous wonder in heaven when the angels consider that the Spirit of God actually does so much good through us weak and sinful human beings. They may applaud our measly acts of service and humility as the most amazing things in the universe!

Only by the grace of God and power of his Spirit are we able to truly obey, to really submit, to actually sacrifice and risk in order to serve others. His Spirit changes us. He transforms us. He enables us to act like and look like his Holy Son. A holy and righteous and eternal Creator living inside unholy and sinful and finite human beings in order to save the world. It’s not a different ministry from what Christ did on this earth. It’s the same ministry; it’s a continuation of God’s plan to redeem all of creation back to himself. So you are empowered to do these great things. You are enabled to sacrifice and serve. You are used by God to submit and obey. You are empowered to put others’ needs ahead of your own. You are a co-worker with God, partnering with him in this great salvation work. Believe it or not, in this blessed age of the Spirit, what’s happening right now through you, Christ’s disciple, is the greatest and most amazing yet.

Peace,

Allan

Love Trumps All

October 1, 2012 / / 1 Comment

(Posting a comment on this blog still qualifies you for the books to be given away later this month. Just click on the “comments” line in the upper right hand corner of the post. Scroll down — way down — to the September 20 & 21 posts for more details on the drawing.)

We spend a lot of our time and energy in God’s Church, it seems, on things that don’t really matter at all. Special meetings are called in the church foyer and around the church library conference table to discuss and decide critical matters of corporate worship and important points of Christian doctrine and pressing items regarding belief and/or practice and/or politics. We spend a lot of time and energy on all that. Way too much time and energy.

We spend a lot of our time and energy in God’s Church, it seems, complaining about things that don’t really matter at all. Concerned members question the order of service, worried ministers dispute the makeup of a committee, discontented congregants accuse others of straying from the path, uneasy elders lament the fading away of old leadership structures. We spend a lot of time and energy on that. Way too much time and energy.

We level charges and voice complaints, we fire off emails and whisper in the halls. There’s way too much of this going on in Christ’s Body. Too much.

We’ve lost our focus on Christ’s command, our Lord’s singular command, the most important command that outweighs them all.

“Love each other as I have loved you.”

While attempting to settle disputes between Christian brothers and sisters over gender issues and economic segregation and spiritual snobbery, the apostle Paul tells the Corinthian church that love trumps everything. Everything!

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul makes it crystal clear that love is the question and the answer; it’s the beginning and the end; it’s the end-all, be-all to everything that might possibly harm or divide the community of faith.

All the preaching, all the prophesying, all the giving, all the good works are worthless — they have absolutely no value — if there’s not any love. Love is more important than faith. Love is more important than hope. I don’t know if we’ve ever really read that the way Paul wrote it. Love is more important than Christian faith. Seriously.

So, if love is really more important than faith and hope, if love is really more important than good preaching and good works — and it is — then love is more important than everything. Love trumps our worship assemblies and our worship styles. Love is bigger than our business meetings and church budgets. Love is more critical to life in Christ than any of our rules or doctrines. Love is bigger and more important than any issue that could ever possibly divide us.

And, if that’s true, why aren’t we as committed to loving each other as we are to our doctrines and practices?

We must place unconditional, God-ordained love in the supreme position of our hearts and minds in God’s Church. All our time and energy, all our strength and resources, should go first and forever toward loving each other. Then, as has been my experience and as is the teachings of our Lord, all that other stuff takes care of itself. Love trumps all.

Peace,

Allan

The Least Important Person

September 27, 2012 / / 0 Comments

(Commenting on this post automatically enters you into the drawing for the books to be given away in conjunction with this blog’s upcoming 1,000 post. Check out the details a few posts back.)

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12
“This is my command: Love each other.” ~John 15:17

What distinguishes the love of Christ and marks the love of all disciples of Jesus is the willingness — no, the eagerness! — to condescend to meet the needs of others. Those being transformed by the Spirit into the image of our Savior are those who consistently imitate him by considering the needs of others more important than their own. They consider others better than themselves. They seek the interests of others ahead of their own. They are the ones who make themselves less important in order to show compassion to those around them.

Our Lord gave us the illustration for such an attitude. When he washed his followers’ feet around the dinner table on that last night, he provided the perfect example of sacrificial love. He showed them “the full extent of his love” and then commanded them to “do as I have done for you.”

What’s astounding is that Christ Jesus, the Holy One of Israel, the promised Messiah and Savior of the World, stooped down to make himself the least important person in the room.

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet.” ~John13:13-14

There is no job beneath our dignity, there is no task beneath our pay grade, there is no calling that is under our position or status. Would it shock everybody in your office if they saw you taking out the trash? Would it be a huge surprise to your wife if she heard you loading the dishwasher? Would your neighbors gasp in disbelief if you swept up all the gunk in the alleys around everybody’s dumpsters? Would your children faint if you turned off your TV show to play a game with them? In the manner of our Lord, we are commanded to stoop, to condescend, to continually seek new ways to become the least important person in the room.

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 Now that the NFL lockout of the regular referees is over, we can look back and laugh at the miscues and botched calls, the uncertainties and the chaos that was life with replacements. We can giggle at the punny headlines of the past three days such as “FAIL MARY!” and “The Inaccurate Reception.” The funniest line I heard was on ESPN when on Tuesday one of the studio hosts noted that Russell Wilson was the first quarterback in history to throw a game-winning interception. The lockout provided plenty of fodder for late night talk show hosts and editorial cartoonists.

The greater tragedy during the past three weeks, though, has been overlooked. Something far worse has occured in the NFL that’s been overshadowed by the referee lockout and ignored by the national media. It’s brought untold shame and ridicule to a once proud franchise and threatens to undermine the integrity of the entire league. I’m talking, of course, about Jerry Wayne’s new Papa John’s pizza commercial in which the owner of the Cowboys actually raps!

Words can’s describe the embarrassment I felt for the Cowboys, the NFL, the city of Dallas, and the whole great state of Texas upon seeing this commercial for the first time Monday night. It’s humiliating. Jethro rapping and rhyming and shucking and jiving right there in bold HD, jumping up and down stadium staircases, gesturing awkwardly with his hands, striking hilariously defiant poses, selling pizza and Pepsi. That’s the owner and general manager of the Cowboys.

“Yo! It lights me up like a roman candle! Toppings and flavor almost too good to handle!”

Note to Roger Goodell: now that you’ve got the regular refs back to work, please assess some fines and penalties against Jerry Wayne for actions detrimental to the league.

Peace,

Allan

Love Completed

September 25, 2012 / / 0 Comments

(Posting a comment on this article automatically enters you into the drawing for the books to be given away in conjunction with this blog’s upcoming 1,000th post. See the past couple of posts for details.)

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12

Jesus doesn’t say I’ll love you if you treat me right or I’ll love you if you straighten up. Jesus’ love isn’t conditioned by right behavior or a good performance. It’s not based on anybody’s I.Q. or money or skin color or clothes or bloodline or reputation. Jesus’ love says I’ll die for you while you’re my enemy. I’ll serve you while you’re still a sinner. I’ll give my life for you while you only look after yourself.

I’ll do this, Jesus says, because I love you so much. But that’s not where this love of Christ ends.

This love that starts with the Creator of Heaven and Earth flows to his Son, the Holy One of Israel. Jesus then takes that love and showers it on us. And he tells us to receive his divine love in order to show it to one another. This heavenly love is completed, it’s fulfilled, only when we give it to others. God’s love was never, ever intended to be finished in merely saving you.

“Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us.” ~1 John 4:16-17

We are the last link in this cosmic chain. This love of God in Christ finishes its course through his people. This is why we sacrifice for one another. We serve each other and consider the needs of others more important than our own. This is the reason we die to ourselves and for one another every day.

God’s love is not finished, it’s not accomplished all, until we take seriously this singular command of our Lord: Love each other. This love of Christ that we receive and selflessly pass on proves that we are children of God. It brings eternal glory to our Father. And it changes the world.

Peace,

Allan

False Vines

September 24, 2012 / / 1 Comment

(Posting a comment on this article automatically enters you into the drawing for the books to be given away in conjunction with the upcoming historic 1,oooth post. See the previous couple of posts for details.)

“I am the true vine… Remain in me and I will remain in you.” ~John 15:1-8

Jesus calls himself the true vine. He urges us to stay connected to this true vine, to remain in this true vine, in order to produce fruit, to prove their discipleship to the King, and to bring glory to God. Jesus is the true vine. And that tells me there must be some false vines out there to which we sometimes attach ourselves.

We know what these false vines are. We recognize them as counterfeit and temporary. But the people who are connected to these vines all look pretty happy. They all look like they’re doing OK. So off we go…

Chasing after the false vines of money and power. Connecting to the false vines of pleasure and fame. Seeking our identity in the false vines of career and the athletic achievements of our children. Obsessed over and addicted to the false vines of entertainment and technology. Drawing energy and life’s meaning and purpose from the false vines of nationalism, patriotism, and worldly politics.

Like Jeremiah’s wild donkeys in heat, we can’t be restrained. We run after these false gods and connect ourselves to these false vines with barely a second thought. Like the people in Jeremiah, we proclaim, “I love foreign gods, and I must go after them!”

We need to all be reminded that this world’s politics is a false vine. The politics of this world are producing the rotten, stinking fruit of polarization and alienation, threat and insult, fear and hate. This nation’s politics are to the point, and have been for years, that if you disagree with me on just one issue, you are the enemy and you are thoroughly evil from head to toe. If you disagree with me on just one point, I label you and the conversation stops. I don’t listen to you anymore. All hope for community with you is abandoned. I label you and put you in your proper category and I insult you. You and your party and your candidate and your ideas and your intelligence and your character and your mama and your daddy and your greasy granny!

There is nothing remotely Christ-like about any of that.

As disciples of the Messiah, we must quickly come to the realization that in this country there is not one righteous party and one evil party, there is not one right set of candidates and one wrong set of candidates. What we have is one massive corrupt and worldly system that is powered and motivated by the principles of this world and that the Kingdom of God is working right now to overthrow and conquer! It’s a sinful and worldly system that the holy Son of God came to oppose and destroy!

As baptized disciples of Jesus, we are citizens of the eternal Kingdom of God. And God’s Church is very political. We are very committed to political thought and political actions. But our politics are not of this world. We belong to a Kingdom that is not of this world. We pledge allegiance to a King who is not of this world. So we do not do things the way the world does things. We do things the way Jesus does things.

This world will not be saved by power and force. You and your family are not going to be protected by your petitions and votes. Jesus has come to save and protect by sacrifice and submission, by selfless love and service. And I don’t hear any of that in today’s political ads. I don’t see any of that on anybody’s platform.

Our politics are entirely different because our King is unlike any other. Jesus is the true vine. He is not planted in the dirt of this world and thus destined to blow away. He is the true vine who is rooted in the eternity of God. Everything else we might attach ourselves to is a fake. It’s false. And it will suck the life and energy and meaning and purpose right out of you. Jesus is the only source for the life and energy, meaning and purpose we need to live as holy children of God. There are no other sources. And there is no other way.

Peace,

Allan

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