Without Words Wednesday

Thinking About Christmas

Our home schooled children have been learning about different types of poetry over the last few weeks. Today Thea (our 8 year old) decided to sit down and start cranking out Christmas limericks (a limerick is a five lined poem with the rhyming sequence of a-a-b-b-a). Of the three poems she has written thus far, this one is my favorite:

Thinking About Christmas

I love the Christmas tree,
Even though it's not about me;
It's about a Baby,
Some say maybe;
But I know that He's the key!

Just Be Good For Goodness Sake?

For centuries mankind has been trying to deny the existence of God. While God has declared His existence to all mankind through general means such as creation (Psalm 19:1-2; Romans 1:19-20), the human conscience (Romans 2:14-15), and His loving care of all mankind (Acts 14:16-17) and has revealed Himself through the special means of His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), mankind still chooses to suppress and distort this truth about God (Romans 1:21).
One such attempt to deny God was made in the weeks leading up to Christmas a few years ago. The American Humanist Association launched a $40,000 holiday ad campaign in Washington D.C. by putting the message, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake” on the sides of city buses. A spokesman for the group stated in an interview that, “We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you. Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion.”
The D.C. ad campaign came on the heels of a similar anti-God barrage in England. The British Humanist Association ran ads on London buses declaring, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” This ad campaign in the U.K. goes to show that foolishness knows no geographical boundaries (Psalm 14:1; 53:1).
But as I read and considered the content (or lack thereof!) of the ads and the comments of their propagators, I was immediately struck with the absurdity of their argument. Simply wishing God away or denying His existence does not change the fact that He does exist. I may not believe in gravity, but one step off the Perrine Bridge sans parachute and I will be quickly convinced, at least for a second or two, of the truth of the force of gravity. Month after month I can choose to deny my accountability to the bank for my mortgage, or even go so far as to deny the very existence of the bank itself. But the bank will be quite quick to remind me of their existence and the consequences of my denial when they begin foreclosure proceedings. Why believe in a God? Because the overwhelming evidence leads us to the existence of a God who has made Himself known. God exists and He is far from silent about His existence.
The message, “Just be good for goodness sake” is not good news at all, because as hard as we may try, we cannot be good enough. The message of the Bible and the Gospel is not “clean up your act and try harder and be good for goodness sakes.” The Good News of the Bible is that Jesus came because I cannot be good. He embarked on a divine rescue-mission where He would deliver sinners from the penalty of their sins through His death (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Timothy 1:15).
And while many “agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists” feel alone during the holidays, they only feel such because they have rejected God. The message of the Bible is that we are not alone: the God of this universe cares for us. The message of Christmas that makes them feel “a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion” is the one that proves to them that God loves them enough to send His Son to save them (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).
Is anyone really willing to rest their life on the shifting sand assertion of “there’s probably no God”? Besides that, if there is no God, then I have lost all capacity to “stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The problem is that if there is no God then all I can do is worry. If there is no God then I have been cut off from the only thing in the universe that brings true joy to my life and is able to satisfy the deepest longings of my heart (Psalm 73:25; Isaiah 43:7). If there is no God then life ceases to make sense and nothing really matters at all.
Jesus came because I cannot be good. Jesus came because I do feel alone. Jesus came because I need hope for this life and hope for the life to come. He came for “agnostics, atheists, and other types of non-theists” and for just run-of-the-mill sinners like you and me. There is a God. And this God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life. Now that’s a great message for an ad campaign (Acts 1:8)!

The God Who Sings

I must confess that I am not a very good singer. In fact, my singing is quite bad. It is not that I do not like to sing; on the contrary I find great delight in it. The problem is that those who hear me find absolutely no delight in it. Yet singing is something that the Bible says we are to do in response to the person and work of God in our lives. Moses and the Israelites sang “to the Lord” after He led them through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19). King David was a mighty warrior, but an even mightier composer of songs to and about God (2 Samuel 22:1-51). The book of Psalms is a divine hymnal of praise to God for His mighty works. In the Old Testament singing was a part of great and historic events, such as the restoration of the temple (Ezra 3:11), while in the New Testament singing is a source of instruction for others (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). And as the book of Revelation gives us a glimpse into heaven we see singing there as well as the saints and the host of angels are gathered around the throne of God praising Him in song (Revelation 5:8-10, 14:3, 15:3-4).
The Old Testament book of Zephaniah speaks of singing as well. The majority of the book is taken up with the theme of the coming day of the Lord when He will judge the peoples of the earth for their rebellion against Him. God through Zephaniah describes that day as “a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” as the peoples of the earth come face-to-face with the righteousness and justice of God (Zephaniah 1:15). But after two-and-a-half chapters about God’s coming judgment God says, “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” (3:14). Sing? Up to this point in the book there has not really been a lot to sing and rejoice about!
But then God gives the reason for their singing, “The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more” (3:15). Their singing is not based upon wishful thinking, nor does its foundation rest upon their ignoring the circumstances around them. Their singing flows from the truth that God’s judgment has been taken away from His people, their enemies have been triumphed over by God Himself, and God’s very presence is with His people. Now that is a reason to sing!
For those who have a personal saving relationship with Jesus we too can praise God for those very same things. The judgment of God has been removed from us because Jesus has taken away and paid for our sins and rescued us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:8, 8:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Our enemies have been triumphed over through the finished work of Jesus (Romans 8:37, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). And now, through Jesus, God is always present with His people to care for them and to bless them (Romans 8:31-39, Hebrews 13:5-6).
But the most shocking thing about this passage from Zephaniah is not that God is calling His people to sing, but the fact that God Himself is singing! God says, “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (3:17). As God is in the midst of His people that He has saved He is rejoicing and singing over them.
If you are like me this seems too good to be true. At first glance it does not even really make sense. I mean think about it: there is nothing in me that is worthy of rejoicing. There is nothing about my life that is song worthy. So how can God rejoice over me with singing? The answer is found in the fact that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:10-12). He sings over me because of the triumphant and sin removing grace of God that has been demonstrated in my life through Jesus Christ.
No matter what your musical ability, “break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises” (Psalm 98:4). Whether you are a baritone, a bass, or something in between, “sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:6). And as you sing know that in Jesus Christ God is rejoicing and singing over you as well!

Glorifying God in the Ordinary

There is nothing wrong with being ordinary. As a matter of fact, that is the likely category that most of us find ourselves in: ordinary. We are ordinary people, with ordinary jobs, who are part of ordinary families, living out ordinary lives.
But the extraordinary thing about God is that He intends to inject His glory into the ordinariness of our lives. With God nothing is just ordinary because He intends to be glorified in all areas and facets of our lives; including the ordinary.
Paul understood this point when he wrote, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Eating and drinking are the epitome ordinary; quite mundane actually. Yet in even these things I have the capacity to glorify God because all of life is meant to be about Him and for Him. And think about the “whatever you do” part. Paul is saying that the glorifying of God is not limited to certain “spiritual” tasks or activities, but is possible in everything.
In much the same way Paul writes to the Colossian Christians and says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17). The “whatever” of this verse is broad enough to totally encompass your “ordinary” life.
This means that you do not have to be a pastor or a missionary or have some other “spiritual” vocation to please God with your life. God is glorified in the lives of businessmen who maintain Christian ethics in their business and honor Him with their profession. He is glorified in the tradesman who puts in an honest day’s work and seeks to work “heartily as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). God is exalted in the life of the stay-at-home mom who nurtures, loves, and instructs her children. God delights in the teachers who love their students and live out the Gospel before them day-in and day-out. Secretaries, students, salesmen, servers, and a whole host of other “ordinary” people truly have the capacity to glorify God with their lives as they live for Jesus.
This also means that there is an urgency to all of our work. We are not waiting to do God’s work; whatever God has set before us is God’s work! If we sit and wait for something better that is more “spiritual” or “important” and less ordinary then we may miss the thing that God is calling us to that is right before our eyes.
Missionary James Fraser learned this valuable lesson as he was language learning in China. He wrote: “It is all if and when. I believe the devil is fond of those conjunctions … The plain truth is that the Scriptures never teach us to wait for opportunities of service, but to serve in just the things that lie next at our hands … Since the things that lie in our immediate path have been ordered of God, who shall say that one kind of work is more important and sacred than another?”
His point is that what lies before us is the work of God. While we have a tendency to separate life into “sacred” and “secular” compartments, the Bible makes no such distinction. The “whatever you do” of 1 Corinthians and Colossians destroys those compartments and makes everything the work of God whereby God can by glorified. Fraser goes on to write: “I am no more doing the Lord’s work in giving the Word of God to the Chinese than you are, for example, in wrapping up a parcel to send to the tailor. It is not for us to choose our work. And if God has chosen it for us, hadn’t we better go straight ahead and do it, without waiting for anything greater, better, or nobler?” He is saying that the most “noble” work that God can call you to is the work that God has called you to. He is saying that with God there is really no such thing as ordinary.
So go and live out your “ordinary” life. But do it in a way that points others to your extraordinary God!

Living Life "All In"

My nine year old son Ezra wants to learn to play Poker. He has a book called “The Most Dangerous Book For Boys” that has all of these cool things in it that would interest boys his age and Poker happens to be one of them. So we were looking at the book recently and it talks about how to play different Poker games and it gives some of the different Poker terms. It describes terms like “straight” and “flush” and what it means to “call.” And one of the things that it talks about is what it means to be “all in.” To be “all in” is defined as every one of a player's available chips being committed into the pot. When a player is all in he is playing this hand going for broke; he is betting it all and everything he has is out of his hand and in the pot.
And as we read this Ezra is thinking cards and I am thinking about how you follow Jesus. I thought, “That’s how you live the Christian life: you live the Christian life all in.” We have a book called the Bible that could also be called “The Most Dangerous Book For Christians” because if you take it seriously it will challenge you to radical living for Jesus Christ.
1 Kings chapter 19 describes the call of the prophet Elisha into the service of the Lord. The Bible tells us there that as the prophet Elijah was nearing the end of his ministry the Lord told him to go and call Elisha to serve as God’s prophet in his place. Elisha was a farmer and as Elijah came up to Elisha, his future predecessor, Elisha was plowing a field with twelve pairs of oxen.
When Elijah saw him he threw his mantle on him (which would have been like a cloak) and this symbolized that Elisha was now being called to follow and serve the Lord as a prophet. He was being called to commit his entire life to follow after the Lord and serve Him in all that he did.
This was a call that would have taken Elisha away from everything that he knew and everything that he was comfortable in and comfortable doing. This was a radical call to commitment; a radical call to be “all in.” It was the call to forsake all that he had and to venture with God into the unknown as he walked by faith and served God as a prophet.
And do you know how Elisha responded to this call to commitment? The Bible says he killed two of the oxen and took the oxen’s equipment and chopped it up and set it on fire and cooked the oxen over the fire. He then gave the meat to the people there and he arose and followed Elijah. That is a picture of being “all in.” Where there is no turning back. When you kill the oxen and burn the yoke you have truly set your course to follow hard after God.
That is the commitment that we need in our service to the Lord Jesus: total commitment that kills our self-centered way of life and burns our past, and follows Jesus. Sold out, total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman are names you may not readily recognize. They were men with ordinary occupations (one was a potter and the other a carpenter), but who lived extraordinary lives for Christ. These two men became the first Moravian missionaries in 1732.
What makes their story unique is that they felt the call of God minister to the slaves of the West Indies. To accomplish this they willingly sold themselves into slavery and gave up all their rights so that they might go and share the Gospel. One of the men had his wife and children standing on the dock as the slave ship left its port begging him to stay. But it is recounted that as the ship pulled away from the wharf the men cried, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.”
I read that story and think, “I do not have a clue what it means to be all in for Jesus Christ.” But I want that. I desperately ache for that. I want that so deeply for me and for my family and for you. It does not mean that you have to become a missionary and sell yourself into slavery, but it does mean that you have to fall so deeply in love with Jesus that you live your life in the pursuit of making nothing of yourself and everything of Him.
And I want that because that is life! That is what it means to live! That is what Jesus has saved you for: He saved you from sin and hell, but He saved you for a life like that here and now. He has saved you to live “all in.”
To be “all in” is defined as every one of a player's available chips being committed into the pot. Where are your chips at today?

Finding Our Identity in Christ

The first time that the reader is introduced to Peter and his brother Andrew in the Gospel of Mark Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16). And the two brothers were there casting their nets into the water because, as Mark adds, “they were fishermen.” Now fishermen had a bad reputation in those days: they were known to be hard workers, rough in their speech, crude in their mannerisms, and coarse in their treatment of others. In other words, they were a pretty rough and tumble bunch of guys who were known to be really rough around the edges.
But Peter and Andrew “were fishermen.” They were defined by what they did for a living. When people would have seen them they would have thought, “There are Peter and Andrew the fishermen.” Being defined by what a person did as their profession was commonplace in the first century. Jesus’ step-father was Joseph the carpenter. One of Jesus’ disciples, Matthew, was known as Matthew the tax-collector. Later in Mark chapter 6 when people are wondering about the identity of Jesus they will ask, “Isn’t this the carpenter?” identifying even Jesus by His former profession.
The same thing is true today: one of the first questions that a person usually asks when they meet someone new is, “Now what do you do for a living?” These same things define us and serve as our identitiy: we are engineers, and managers, and pastors, and business men, and stay-at-home moms, and teachers. For Peter and Andrew, as well as for us today, part of who they were was drawn from what they did.
But it is not only our career that defines us and gives us a sense of identity, but many other things as well. Some of you may be defined by your successes: wealthy, successful, powerful. Some of you may be defined by your failures: unwed mother, addict, loser. Some of you may be defined by your past: sin, disappointment, abused, tragedy, victim. That is your identity that you feel that you are living with that defines you and who you are. And there are times where you feel that you cannot shake it and that you will always be “that.”
But the thing that Jesus offered to these fishermen and that He offers to us as well is not a change of identity, but the opportunity to find our identity in Him. That we could be defined by Jesus and our relationship with Him and that we could find our identity in Jesus Himself.
Do you remember the ridiculous years of high school where everybody was just trying to fit in with one group or another? If you were a jock you dressed one way and did one group of things and if you were a preppy you dressed another way and had another group of friends and did other activities. Each group had their defining characteristics as everybody was searching for their identity and what was going to define them. There was franticness about fitting in and being accepted and being noticed and being somebody. Unfortunately the ridiculousness of high school did not end there: many people today are still searching for what will define their lives as they look to find their identity and who they are in what they do and what they have.
So the freeing alternative that Jesus offers is to find our identity in who we are in Jesus. No matter what else I may or may not be, or whatever I may or may not have, I must first and foremost be defined by my relationship with Jesus Christ. Before anything else, before I am a pastor or a husband or a father or a friend or a whatever, I must be defined as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Do not let your past or this world dictate to you who you are. Find your identity in Jesus Christ and let that define you. Because all of those other things may change, but who I am in Jesus will never change. If I can find my identity in Jesus and be satisfied in Jesus then I do not need the latest and greatest things to define who I am. I do not need a huge bank account to make me feel like a real somebody. I will not crave more stuff to impress others. Because I am secure knowing who I am in Jesus Christ.
When that happens I am free to find worth in who I am in Jesus and in nothing else. Peter the fisherman and Andrew the fisherman were about to become Simon Peter and Andrew the followers of Jesus as Jesus said to them, “Follow Me” (Mark 1:17). How sweet and freeing to lose ourselves in Jesus Christ!