Cleaned up!

Can you imagine showing up for a family celebration dinner, sweaty, dirty, and stinking? It’s just not what’s done, right? No matter how much I loved him, I would not find it a very appetizing meal if I had to sit down with a relative who just came from cleaning out his gutters, covered in the debris of rotting leaves and muck, would you?   There is a time and place to get cleaned up and presentable.

God told His people that He desires a change in us, too. In Christ we are washed up, made presentable for service!   

Paul describes the sinful lives before Jesus past tense:  "that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:11, NIV)  Jesus did not come to tell us that we are just fine as we are. He entered creation to provide a Way to become acceptable to our Father, to get cleaned up.  Selfishness, hate, rage, greed, lust – such things – once dirtied up our lives.  Christians talk about being ‘washed in the blood.’  It sounds like a strange phrase without understanding. In fact, it seems almost gross to us until … we grasp that Jesus gave us life, spilled His blood at the cross, so that there is a means for us to leave old habits, things that make us guilty and ashamed, that keep us from enjoying our Father’s table, behind because we are washed.

On this Monday morning, there comes this challenge from the Spirit.  “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1, NIV)  Our Father says, “Show me respect. Stop wallowing in the muck of sin. Clean up!”

Let’s take care not to turn this instruction into a kind of rule that makes us self-righteous or hypocritical. This passage is often abused and mis-taught in a way that makes Christians isolated, afraid, and alone- unable to talk about their failures, putting a thin veneer of “spirituality” over an unchanged heart. We are called into the Body of Christ, tied heart to heart by profound love that listens, cares, and restores.  We take the stuff that makes us dirty and ashamed to Christ and to trusted brothers and sisters so that together we can find our way to wholeness, to joy, to the freedom from fear that is be a foundation of our faith. In the letter to the Hebrews we are told to ‘encourage one another,’ to speak truthfully and loving in ways that allow those who are struggling to get life right to find hope and a real desire to deal with the broken and sinful places in life.

Our Father invites us to celebrate with Him, and says that because He loves us and we love Him, we will apply faith and make the choices to get ‘cleaned up.’  “Perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”  The word, perfecting, is not about being flawless; it is a process of growing into wholeness.  What do we pursue in our spiritual growth?  We desire to become useful to our God, recognizing that we exist for a higher purpose than our fun, our pleasure. We are part of His family and as our Father He has a plan that we will live a quality life of beauty that turns the attention of others to Him.

Here is that passage from The Message. Make this word from the Word your aim this week. "So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,” says God. “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.” The Word of the Master, God. With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God." (2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1, The Message)

________________

Thank you, Lord, for faithful words
which help us to understand life as it really is,
which keep us from illusions and fantasies and self-delusions and sets us free.

Thank you that you love us and want to see us men and women

wholesome and whole, free and confident

and able to function as we were intended.

Grant to us that we will glory in the fact

that we are the temple of the living God,

and that you dwell in us. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

• A prayer from Pastor Ray Stedman

How to find maximum freedom

Parenting teens is seldom fun, almost never easy, is it?  Bev and I aimed for a balance between love and respect.  We tried to affirm a sincere ‘try’ even if it failed, but also let our teens live with the consequences of their choices. I smile when I recall an oft-repeated line that I spoke when they were angry with me. "I'm not your best friend; I'm your father."  Nothing brings greater joy to my heart than seeing those ‘kids’ navigating adulthood, creating good for others, loving God and their own families.  



Let me ask you this. Which child will be a happier person when they reach adulthood;  the one who is indulged and therefore thinks the world owes them everything; or the one who knows how to show up responsibly, who understands the concept of commitment, the one who can choose wisely for long-term gain?

Just as loving discipline, sometimes unpleasant, trains a child for life, we who are God’s children need our Father’s training for godliness!  He is not a cruel God when He allows us to feel the sting of His correction. In the letter to the Hebrews we learn: "Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God."  [12:11-12 The Message]

Freedom is often confused with irresponsibility.  Those who do what needs to be done regardless of how they feel often are mocked as drudges.  But, doing the daily things, the little things, consistently and in an orderly fashion, frees a person from the chaos that comes with the snarls of unmet obligations and unpaid bills.  Do I always enjoy finishing a project on-time? No, sometimes I would rather goof off.  Do I like mowing my lawn on a hot day, or doing the laundry when I’m tired? Not any more than anyone else. But, I do enjoy the beauty of a well-kept property and finding a clean shirt in the closet at 6 am.  Yes, there is a freedom that discipline produces.  When we take care of the little stuff, the larger problems are less likely to develop tomorrow.

Disciples (see the connection with discipline?) who want to know God and to walk with Him in joyful freedom will choose well today.  I cannot recall ever having a discussion with a Christian who said, "Jerry, I just want to do the minimums, live spiritually on the edge, and squeak into Heaven by the razor edge of grace!" Yet, that is exactly the way of so many who claim to be followers of Jesus.

One last thought today …  We love quick fixes, easy solutions, and pills to heal our ills.  Truth is there are no 'magic pills' that will produce instantaneous or effortless spiritual health and maturity. There are choices to be made, disciplines to practiced.  Most are not huge, earth-shattering, turn life inside out, kinds of choices.

They are ordinary life decisions, things like -

• Turn off the TV an hour earlier and go to bed so you can get up 30 minutes earlier and have time to prayerfully meditate and take in some Scripture before rushing out the door to work;
• Make a first line priority of being in corporate worship on Sunday morning.
• Deal with temptation in its infancy instead of letting it turn into an enslaving habit.
• Settle conflict quickly, forgiving instead of carrying around the weight of a grudge.

One writer puts it this way: "Each of us becomes another Michelangelo, for choice is nothing other than the chisel we use to sculpt our life. The chisel doesn't come free, however, for the price of choice is responsibility. But when we accept and carry out our responsibility, the reward is great. The reward is happiness."  (Learning to Laugh, Gary McGuire)

Let’s ‘grow up’ in grace. Our Father provided the means for freedom of choice by saving us through the gracious gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit persistently leads us to life. Now, let us use that freedom to grow into Christians who live worthy of His investment in us. 

Here are a couple of thoughts from the Word. Take them with you today. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7, NIV) "If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." (James 1:25, NLT)

___________

He Set Me Free

Once like a bird

In prison I dwelt

No freedom

From my sorrow I felt

But Jesus came

And listened to me

And glory to God

He set me free

He set me free

Yes He set me free

And He broke the bonds

Of prison for me

I'm glory bound

My Jesus to see

For glory to God

He set me free

Now I am climbing

Higher each day

Darkness of night

Has drifted away

My feet are planted

On higher ground

And glory to God

I'm homeward bound

Good-bye to sin

And things that confound

Naught of the world

Shall turn me around

Daily I'm working

I'm praying too

And glory to God

I'm going thru

Albert E. Brumley

© 1939. Renewed 1967 Bridge Building Music, Inc. (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) CCLI License # 810055

You gave them the keys

On my front door is a little device into which I enter a code to unlock the door. My family and a few of my friends know the code. It is implied that they are welcome to just ‘’walk in” anytime. They do not need an invitation. I truly enjoy extending hospitality, but not everyone I know gets the code to the front door.

In the passage we are reading this morning, Paul reminds us not to give the code to the front door of our heart to just everybody! "Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (2 Corinthians 6:14-16, NLT)

Christians are to be loving and accepting of others, regardless of their status, their beliefs, even their moral choices. We model our lives after Jesus who spent time with the outcasts and received condemnation for it. The Pharisees scathingly accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”  He wore the label even insisting that He came to save those who were spiritually sick, that it was those most in spiritual distress that received His message of the Kingdom. However, the people to whom Jesus opened His heart, those with whom He prayed and shared the deepest parts of Himself, were His disciples. Even within the 12, there 3 who were an inner circle; Peter, James, and John.  These men were included in His sorrows, witnessed the raising of a dead girl, and joined Him at the Transfiguration.

We must be loving but wise, recognizing the importance of our own inner circle, the people who know our failures and successes, who know the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ of our lives, who share our faith and love. The Word tells us that those we invite into that place in our lives must love God.  It is not that we are superior to anyone else. We want those who have the code to be able to share the weight of serving God, to  pull in the same direction as we do, to be those who know and speak ‘truth’ into our lives.

Who has the code?

Who is on your team?  
Are they people who love God as you do?

Will they stand with you – when you fail as much as when you win?

Is theirs a heart full of the Spirit?

Here is a word from the Word.  May it remind all of us to strengthen the ties with those who are in our inner circle.  "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, NLT)

________

Friends

(a classic!)

Packing up the dreams God planted

In the fertile soil of you

Can't believe the hopes He's granted

Means a chapter in your life is through

But we'll keep you close as always

It won't even seem you've gone

'Cause our hearts in big and small ways

Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever

If the Lord's the Lord of them

And a friend will not say never

'Cause the welcome will not end

Though it's hard to let you go

In the Father's hands we know

That a lifetime's not too long

To live as friends

With the faith and love God's given

Springing from the hope we know

We will pray the joy you'll live in

Is the strength that now you show

No a lifetime's not too long to live as friends

Deborah D. Smith | Michael W. Smith

© 1982 Meadowgreen Music Company (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Building a connection

Staying connected!  It is one of the things that I most appreciate about the technology that fills my life. My phone signals the arrival of text messages dozens of times each day; everything from the mundane, “Won’t be home ‘til 6”  to the urgent, “Call me, it’s an emergency!”  I can be reached anywhere, anytime, with that amazing little device that I carry everywhere. Facebook keeps me aware of what’s happening to my friends and relatives scattered around the country.  (Yes, it also keeps me aware of a lot of nonsense, too, but I’ll wade through those to enjoy the smiles, family pictures, and personal updates.)  Yes, I like being connected in this way.

There is a responsibility that comes with having all those connections. 

Paul says that a priority for me, and all Christians, is to work at connecting people to their Creator. "Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.  … If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5: 11,17-18, NIV)  We love and respect our Father, gaining from Him the gift of eternal life through Jesus. Because we are changed, inside out, to love, to serve, to hope;  we want others to know Him, too.

How do we offer Jesus’ love to our world?  

Yesterday I had a brief conversation with some teens who complained about a friend who was so ‘religious.’  Her “God-talk” was counter-productive, obscuring the offer of God’s love with what they saw as her personal agenda to ‘make some converts.’  Christians must be bold in faith, to be sure, but also take care that we do not come off as trying to ‘sell’ Jesus. The Gospel needs a context. That is why Paul says that we are a ‘new creation.’  If our lives are not marked with a genuine love for others, if Christ Jesus is not known by us in a way that is producing real and observable change, we are mostly wasting our breath when we ‘preach.’  We cannot live with hate and division, behind walls that cut us off from those with whom we differ, and then preach the good news that Jesus brings people together in the family of God with authenticity.

The aim of our work at presenting Jesus to others is not just to get them to make a ‘decision.’ We are to make ‘disciples.’ The Church, in my opinion, too often is content with having a person say the right words, making a verbal acknowledgement of Jesus and ‘accepting Him into their heart.’  The ‘sinner’s prayer’ has become something of a sacrament to many of us. That’s a start, but our goal is not just to lead someone in a brief prayer of decision. We want to help them form deep faith, to make a real connection with God, and begin to experience the change of heart and mind that the Spirit desires.  Discipleship may begin with a prayer, but it continues for life, one choice after another as a person grows in grace and faith!

Here is a pointed question for us: 
Does my life create a hunger and thirst for God in those with whom I am connected? 

Asked another way:  Is my Christianity authentic, my love for God and others real, my heart surrendered to God, and my hope on things eternal?

Nothing in life compares to the joy of seeing a person who does not know the Lord come to faith, become a disciple. It is something like becoming a parent. When my children were born all those years ago, the delight was incomparable. When someone is born into the family of God, there is a similar reaction in me. How about you?

Here is a word from the Word.  I pray it helps us all to get our priorities aligned with the desire of our God. "For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ." (Colossians 1:27-28, NLT)

Abba, help me to be connected to You,

Intimately, deeply, and honestly.

As the Holy Spirit works in me to lead me to love,

to help me to serve without self-interest, and to

hope in things eternal,

I pray that the Goodness of Jesus will be evident.

Let Your radiance shining through me, invite those who live around me,

to love and trust You.

Amen.