While polishing that sports car …

 

Nearly a decade ago I bought a little sports car that provided me much fun for several years. One day it was parked on the front lawn and I was putting a coat of wax on it. A neighbor walked over and casually remarked, “You put a lot of time into keeping that little thing looking good.” His remark was not meant as criticism, just friendly conversation, but it stuck in my mind.  He noticed what I valued! He saw all the effort I put into that car.  And I wondered if he saw other things in my life that I valued?  He saw me ‘worshipping’ (in a manner) that machine;  changing the oil, wiping down the interior, putting it away under cover in the garage.  Had it become an idol?  Some reflection brought clarity. My Miata was something I did enjoy but it was just a thing, not a god.

Who or what is your God?  Note I did not ask if you had a god. We all do! We all give ourselves to something or somebody. The question is not ‘will I serve God?’ for we are designed for that purpose and fulfill it. “Who is my God?” is a question the demands our attention having consequence for all of life – both now and eternal.  

Jeremiah preached about the choice of gods sarcastically chastising his audience for their silly decision to serve idols.  “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. … Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. …  But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King." (Jeremiah 10:2-10, NIV)

“Your gods,” he mocks, “are like scarecrows – can’t walk, can’t talk; can’t hurt, can’t help!”  He goes to point out that because they serve fraudulent gods, they are “senseless and foolish.” Now you might thinking, “Jerry, this doesn’t apply to me. I’m far beyond carving a god and carrying it around for good luck.”  Probably true, but have you made a god of your bank account, your reputation, your best friend, or your Self? Gods come in many forms. That person or thing around which you organize your life, to which or to whom you give your best energies and resources, and from which you draw your security – is your god!

A god of gold will make a worshiper of greed.
A god of sensual pleasure will make a worshiper of gluttony or lust.

A god of reputation will make a hypocrite obsessed with social conformity.

The Lord of Glory will ennoble His worshipers. John teaches us that "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. …We love each other because he loved us first." (1 John 4:16,19, NLT)

Jesus told us to carefully evaluate our words against our actions when it comes to declaring our God. 
Singing the right songs on Sunday does not make the Lord our God, He says.
Getting involved with serving in a church program does not mean we love the Lord.  Religion and worship are not necessarily the same thing, Jesus said. “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here." (Matthew 7:21-23, The Message)

Who is your God? It’s an important question with consequence in this life and eternity.

The word from the Word - "O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago." (Isaiah 25:1, NIV) "You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat." (Isaiah 25:4, NIV)

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Be Thou my vision
O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me
Save that Thou art
Thou my best thought
By day or by night
Waking or sleeping
Thy presence my light

Eleanor Hull
Public Domain

I don't want to do the dishes

 

The report on “CBS This Morning” (2/1/2017) found that American families with kids suffer from an inverted kind of social order in which the kids are in charge.  Exhausted parents run all weekend long from one activity to another, sending a message to their little one that he/she is the center of the universe.  The child becomes more and more entitled from the focus and attention showered on him.  This reinforces the American slogan - “I am important!”  The researcher suggested that the way to combat self-centered, entitled kids was to teach them to share the household chores and give them responsibilities and chores early in life which have to be completed well.  I’ll add this – if you wait until age 13 to require this because of ‘competence’ issues, the battle is already largely over! Sure a toddler’s clean up of his play area at day’s end will be lacking in organization, but he can learn that he is a servant, just like you.

“Ah, come on, Pastor Jerry. I don't want to do the dishes. Who wants to be a servant?”  I know that we fiercely protect what we believe to be our rights!  I also know that Self-esteem is healthy. However, self-esteem that is not balanced with humble service subtly morphs into pride and from that root grows some bad stuff!  Here are just a few things that come when a person is untrained to serve.

Hypocrisy, an emphasis on looking good over actually being good, flourishes in those who are prideful.

Vanity, the hollowness that comes from excessive attention to one’s appearance, is found in those who must be first and admired.

Exclusivity, the desire to be part of the ‘in’ group, is another fruit of pride. Howard Schultz, who grew Starbucks® into a huge company, did so in part by turning the act of buying a cup of coffee into a way to ‘belong to a club.’ Coffee snobs take pride in their mastery of the names of the blends and drinks. That exclusivity is rather harmless when it is about coffee, but as a way of life it is antithetical to Christianity!  

The discipline of service is the anti-dote to poison of pride.  The Word shows us the prime example. "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names." (Philippians 2:5-9, NLT) Jesus became involved with our need, fully human, and served! He was no demi-god, dabbling in our world. He humbled himself to become one of us, setting aside His glory for our sake.

John Ortberg writes that “the oldest Christological heresy—docetism—arose because people could not absorb the notion that God might enter into vulnerability and suffering. John, the apostle, says it is the spirit of antichrist that denies that Jesus came kata sarx—"in the flesh." Jesus was no Superman. He did not defy his enemies, hands on his hips, bullets bouncing harmlessly off his chest. The whip drew real blood, the thorns pressed real flesh, the nails caused mind-numbing pain, the cross, led to actual death. And through it all, he bore with people, forgave them, loved them to the end.” - LeadershipJournal.net 1/2007 Curing Grandiosity

Wonderful people adopt an attitude of ‘whatever it takes’ instead of ‘not my job.’ They bring it home and instead of looking for ways to get their spouse to do more, they serve; hopefully inspiring reciprocal service.  They take it to work and are willing to take up the slack.  The more a person is in the grip of pride the more ways he will find to force his agenda and create his own ‘kingdom.’ His world will increasing shrink down to revolve around his comfort, his concerns, his reputation, his preferences, his emotions, and his agenda. It’s an ugly way to live; tragic, lonely, and paradoxically – what the proud man desires most is denied him by his own pride. Self-absorption is the surest way to become a forgotten person!

Are you willing to set aside your ‘glory?’

Will you become the person that God desires you to be by serving?

Don’t look around while you’re serving, wondering who’s watching and what they think. Just serve for Christ’s sake. Don’t calculate the potential for reward or recognition, just serve for Heaven’s reward.

Let me leave you pondering a story Jesus told at a wedding where the guests were competing to sit at the best tables.  It is our word from the Word today.

“When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You’re in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.’ Red-faced, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.

“When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.” (Luke 14:8-11, The Message)

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A Charge To Keep I Have

A charge to keep I have

A God to glorify

A never dying soul to save

And fit it for the sky

To serve the present age

My calling to fulfill

O may it all my powr's engage

To do my Master's will

Arm me with jealous care

As in Thy sight to live

And O Thy servant Lord prepare

A strict account to give

Help me to watch and pray

And on Thyself rely

Assured if I my trust betray

I shall forever die

Carlton R. Young | Charles Wesley

© Words: Public Domain

Frayed cords that bind?

How would I live without the ‘communion of the saints’ as we say in our creed? The network of friends and associates with whom I do life and ministry is as essential to my well-being as the air I breathe! I love all those people who work together under the headship of Jesus Christ and the umbrella of Faith Discovery Church to teach, love, serve, feed, encourage, and just ‘be friends in the family of God.’  Sunday evening, while watching some very dedicated, loving adults lead children to learn Scripture in a fun environment, my heart sang the Psalm, "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! …For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." (Psalm 133, NIV)

The New Testament calls it ‘fellowship.’  I heard an old preacher define it with a smile as ‘two fellows in a ship.’  As much as I might go on about the wonder and beauty of shared Christian life, I have to recognize the ugly realities that have always been with the church and continue to be. Unity does not just happen, nor does it flourish without care. Paul had to deal with divisive leaders who brought false doctrine, personal attacks, and selfish motives into the little fellowships he started across the Empire. In the formative centuries of Christianity, there were bitter fights about the doctrines of Christ’s divinity, the Trinity, baptism, and such matters. And so it has gone to this very day.

At the present we are being torn apart by political arguments, tempted to hurl ugly rhetoric at the ‘other’ side.  I cannot tell you how many blogs and emails I have read in the last two weeks that insist that anyone who supports (fill in the person or position) could not possibly be a Christian!  Really?  Really?

Paul wrote to the fractured church in Corinth to pointedly redirect them back to the One who was their Hope:  "Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!" (1 Corinthians 1:12-13, NLT)  Oh that we would ponder that challenge in our time of frayed fellowship!

John, late in the first century, taught us what (better, Who) brings real fellowship. We are not an affinity group of shared interest, a homogeneous group of similar culture or race, or a functional group held together by mission. We are family, people called into faith and united by our shared relationship with the Father, through Jesus Christ, our Savor. We are united in Christ!  "We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:1-3, NLT)

Read this word from the Word and let it call you to gentleness, to understanding, to patience, and- above all – to love. "I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future." (Ephesians 4:1-4, NLT)

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Lord, call us in a holy fellowship.

Heal the fractured Body.
Reweave the frayed cords that bind.

Lift our eyes higher to Christ and His cross.

As we hear His call into the Family,

Teach us how to meld conviction and activism

With divine Love and gentle persuasion.

In Jesus’ name.  Amen