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Category: Matthew (Page 11 of 24)

Act Four – Jesus

September 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Cross-ArtAct Four is where the Story of God just absolutely soars. It really takes off here and just zooms majestically into beautiful places we never anticipated.

God himself comes back to the earth he created to live with his people. But this time, he comes as a person. The Creator of Heaven and Earth puts on human flesh and blood to live with us and to once and for all save us. This time, God doesn’t send an angel or a prophet or some other representative. He leaves his home in eternal glory to live with us himself. This time, God is not forming man from the dust; God himself enters that dust, he becomes that clay. This is very personal God. After all, it’s his promise.

“‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the LORD had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ — which means ‘God with us.'” ~Matthew 1:21-23

“You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The LORD God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his Kingdom will never end.” ~Luke 1:31-33

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” ~John 1:29

Jesus says “I came to seek and save the lost.” “I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life.” “I have come to proclaim the Kingdom of God.” “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

Jesus of Nazareth is a real flesh-and-blood man in the real history of time and space. But he is also God. “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” “I and the Father are one.” And God did not come just to save us from our sins, he came to save us to life: more abundant life, eternal life, life in union with God as true sons and daughters of God.

So God becomes flesh and makes his dwelling among us. And he immediately begins to overturn the effects of sin and death. He starts to change things back to the way they were in Act One. Jesus begins to reverse the curse of sin.

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.” ~Matthew 4:23-24

JesusHealsSketchJesus heals the sick because there is no disease in the Garden of Eden. He feeds the hungry because there is no need in the Garden of Eden. Jesus raises the dead because there are no cemeteries in the beginning. He eats with Jews and Gentiles, he shares meals with religious leaders and sinners, because there were no distinctions in the Garden. He reaches out to women and elevates women, he calls and commissions women, because Adam and Eve were equals in the beginning. He calms the storms and stills the seas because earth and nature were created to cooperate with people, not destroy them. Jesus forgives sins because humans were created by God in the perfect image of God in order to live and reign with God in his presence forever.

Jesus is actively reversing the curse. He’s making all things right. And he is with us. Immanuel. God with us. Eating with us, worshiping with us, laughing and crying with us, blessing our children, living with us. Changing lives. Saving lives. Thousands of people traveled miles and days just to hear the words fall from his lips, just to feel the love in his gentle touch. Little kids were crawling all over him. People were climbing trees just to see him, ripping roofs off houses just to get to him.

And then Jesus did something only he could do. He did something to finally and ultimately and completely reverse the curse, to destroy the effects of sin and death forever. Cross-Art

He died.

He died on a cross.

On purpose.

Jesus resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem and walked to the cross. He allowed himself to be beaten and tortured. He allowed them to nail his hands and feet to the blood-soaked wood of a cross. He died willingly. He sacrificed himself. He could have called ten thousand angels. But he died alone. For you and me. It’s what Jesus came to do. The Lamb of God who dies to take away the sin of the world.

Peace,

Allan

Identifying the People of God

August 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

InvisibleStone

The rich man in Jesus’ parable never lifted one finger to help poor Lazarus. He didn’t act to relieve even a small part of Lazarus’ suffering. The rich man totally ignored him. And God’s people do not ignore the hurting. When Jesus gives us that picture in Matthew 25 of the last day, he makes it clear that we’re all going to be separated according to whether or not we helped people who were hurting.

We are saved by God in order to bless others. We are redeemed by God in order to serve others. We don’t love others so we can feel good, we love others because we have been loved. We don’t bless others so we can look good, we bless others because we have been blessed. We don’t lift up others to earn favor or points, we lift up others because we have been lifted up.

God’s desire is to do something in you and something through you. He is changing you so you can bless other people. But that is never going to happen until we see people the way our Father sees people. We must see the hungry, the lost, the poor, the sick; we have to see the lonely, the stressed, the depressed, the sad — we must see them all through the eyes of our God. We see all people for who they are: men and women created in the image of God. We see all people for who they can be: physically and spiritually whole, restored to a righteous relationship with their Creator. We see all people for what our Lord desires them to be: one with him and with all our brothers and sisters in his Kingdom.

But the rich man views Lazarus as his servant. Even after they both die and the rich man is being tormented in the flames and Lazarus is sitting in Abraham’s lap in an air-conditioned heaven with a root beer float. The rich man still sees Lazarus as an object to be used. He still thinks he’s better than Lazarus.

“Send Lazarus to bring me some water! Send Lazarus to warn my brothers!”

Helping the hurting is the evidence that your heart has been changed by grace. It’s a proof that your life has been transformed by the Spirit. It identifies you as a child of God.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth.” ~1 John 3:17-19

Peace,

Allan

The Church is on a Mission

April 7, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Two positive observations following the Rangers’ season opener: 1) tonight will be better; it absolutely cannot be any worse, and 2) the Rangers are still mathematically alive. For Evan Grant’s five reasons Rangers fans should not be panicked today, click here.

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In case you’re keeping score at home, Kevin Schaffer won our church office bracket contest and the free lunch and dessert that goes with it. Well, actually, his wife Michele won it for him. Kevin doesn’t know a Blue Devil from a Demon Deacon. On the strength of Duke’s come from behind win in last night’s title game, Vickie Nelson, our office manager, edged past Hannah McNeill for second place and the other free lunch. With all the guys on our church staff, three ladies finished in the top three. I’m glad Connie retired before she could fill one out.

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One more sports angle: how can anybody ever trust a guy like Tony Romo? Doesn’t it say something about the guy’s integrity, his character, when he’s born and raised in Wisconsin, but shows up in Indy last night wearing Duke colors and openly cheering for the Blue Devils against his home state university?!? It would be like Troy Aikman flying to Atlanta to wear blue and white and cheer for BYU over Oklahoma. It makes no sense. How do you trust a guy like that?

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In Ephesians 3, Paul prays this beautiful prayer for the Church. He prays about transformation: that God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, that Christ may dwell in your hearts, that the church would be rooted and established in love, that we would have power together with all the saints, to grasp the love of Christ, to know the love of Christ, and to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”

The request here is that God would do a whole lot with the power that is at work in the Church. This prayer is not a wide open plea for God to demonstrate his power in the world in random ways and by random means. This is a specific request for God to act in spectacular ways through his Church. The transforming power of God belongs to us. So we’re not asking God to do great things while we sit in our church buildings and wait on it. And study it. And talk about it. The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talking, but of power!

God’s Church is on a mission.

In Matthew 9, Jesus asks his disciples to pray for workers to send into the fields. Pray about it, he says. This is what we want God to do, to raise up these workers. And then in the very next sentence, just one verse later, Jesus is giving them the authority and the power and sending them into those fields to do the work. You ever notice that?

Be careful when you pray. The answer to your prayer may be the power of God moving you to mission. If you pray for God to use your church or to work through your church, be prepared to get off your pew and in to the mission. Go ahead and pray for the hungry and the sick. Please pray for God’s will to be done in your town just as it is heaven. Yes, pray those things. And then open your eyes and your ears and your heart to how God wants to work through you to do it.

Peace,

Allan

All On A Mission

April 6, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Opening Day. And I can’t remember a spring in my lifetime when the Rangers appeared to be as undermanned and ill-prepared. Brand new manager. No ace. Bullpen a work in progress. Questions in the outfield. Predictions for last place. Again. The Cactus League never gives the full picture, but the Rangers only won nine out of 33 games. And they looked bad doing it. First innings exploded against the starters, late leads were squandered by the relievers, and the offense has never really looked like it clicks. But I can’t wait for the first pitch tonight at 9:05. There are a lot of supremely talented young guys on this team. Choo and Fielder are both healthy. Who knows? It’s a long, long season. A lot can happen. It’s finally baseball time in Texas. Go Rangers.

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All children of God and disciples of Jesus are on a mission. In Genesis 12, when God decides to tell us how he’s going to restore the world, how he’s going to fix the problem of sin and evil and rebellion and death, when he shares his plan with us, he lets us know clearly that we are in on it with him. God is not interested in saving the world by himself. He calls Abraham. He calls him and sends him. “Go,” God says, “to the place I will show you… All peoples on earth will be blessed by you.”

In Isaiah 49, God calls his people out of exile. He saves them and changes them for the purpose of participating in his mission: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches his followers how to pray: “Our Father… Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

And that’s exactly what happens. Jesus heals the sick because there is no disease in heaven. He feeds the poor because there is no hunger in heaven. Jesus raises the dead because there are no cemeteries in heaven. He turns the other cheek because there is no violence in heaven. He eats dinner with everybody because there are no divisions or distinctions among people in heaven.

And on that last night, he sends his disciples out: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do the same things I’ve been doing. In fact, you’ll do even greater things because I’m going to live inside you! Go! Go do it! And, remember, you didn’t choose me, I chose you! You are the light of the world! You are the city on a hill! Your good deeds will bring praise to our Father in heaven!”

Every one of us is on a mission. No one is exempt.

Matthew 25 says on that last day the King will separate us according to who was on a mission and who wasn’t.

Peace,

Allan

Beyond Your Sin

March 24, 2015 / / 1 Comment

“…your Father who sees what is done in secret…” ~Matthew 6:3, 6, 18

Remember the old church song about the All-Seeing Eye? It was creepy. It was scary, actually. I think it must have been written to keep church people from leaving during the invitation song. The All-Seeing Eye. And the song created this terrible picture of our God as this angry, arbitrary, ogre in the sky who just can’t wait to nail you. To grab you by the scruff of the neck and throw you out. Or destroy you.

Yes, our God sees everything. He sees all the good things you do. And, yeah, he definitely sees all the bad things you do. He sees your sin. He sees everything.

That means he not only sees your sin, he sees under your sin. He sees behind your sin. God sees above and below your sin. He sees beyond your sin to your pain. He sees the fear and the scars. God sees the hurts and the wounds that cause your sin. He knows.

God doesn’t just want you to stop sinning — yes, he definitely wants you to stop sinning — but he also wants to heal you. He wants to make you whole. He wants to get to the pain that drives you to those websites. He wants to fix the hurt that causes you to lie. God wants to cleanse the wounds that push you to anger or stealing, addiction or gossip. God loves you. And he wants to transform you. He wants to make you whole.

Peace,

Allan

Eating and Drinking with Losers

January 26, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” ~Luke 14:13

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ~Matthew 9:11

“Bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame!” ~Luke 14:21

“Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” ~Matthew 11:19

The gospels show us that the Kingdom of God is a big party with a bunch of losers. Jesus wants us to see that God’s idea of a great time is a huge feast with a bunch of people you wouldn’t be caught dead with on a Saturday night. Or any other time of the week. Jesus came eating and drinking with losers.

And you are one of those losers. So am I. We are all losers together at the table of our King.

We’re all coming to the table with a limp. We’ve all got a wound or a chronic pain. We come to the table with a horrible story or a distorted view or a serious issue. All of us are maimed. Or dysfunctional. Or disabled. And broken. All of us.

The Pharisees at these dinner parties — the ones “watching closely,” the ones criticizing Jesus and complaining — are so self-righteous and smug with their nice and tidy lives in their pressed and flowing robes. They set themselves apart from and above the losers. “They’re sinners; but we’re saved. Their lives are a mess; but we’ve got it all together. They need a whole bunch of God’s grace and forgiveness; we just need a little grace to get us over the top.”

No! In Luke 14, Jesus says, at these dinner parties, don’t choose a place of honor for yourself. You’re not as great as you think you are. And these people you categorize as losers are my cherished children.

We are all sinners, every one of us. We have all sinned and fallen terribly short of the glory of God. And we are all being saved together by the lavish grace of our Father. Yes, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. And, yes, all the seats are the same around the table of our Lord.

Scripture says we’re all going to eat and drink together with Jesus forever. We’re all going to take our places with him around the table at the wedding feast of the Lamb. And I think Sundays are the warm-up. I think Sunday mornings are party practice. Sunday mornings together are like the chips and hot sauce to the fajitas and enchiladas. Eating and drinking with sinners, sharing a meal with broken losers, with each other, together on Sundays, teaches us how to live together. It’s one of the places we learn to bear one another’s burdens. We learn to help each other, to encourage each other, to challenge each other.

We look at all the faces around the Lord’s Table on Sundays and they’re all looking back at us. No doubt, seeing very clearly our messes, knowing fully our sins. And, yet, still choosing to eat and drink with us. And we know at that moment that Jesus was crucified for the lousy company he kept. And he still is.

Peace,

Allan

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