The Unprepared Army

The Unprepared Army

For about two years, I have been preaching once a month at Immanuel Lutheran Church in rural Annandale, Minnesota. We have been preaching through the first twelve verses of 1st Peter, Chapter 1. It’s taken us five sermons but that’s all right. Some of you are not surprised since I’m considered long winded anyway.

The first 12 verses remind us of who we are as Christians; in verse 13 of Chapter One, the message changes. To my unprofessional eye, Peter states seventeen things in these 12 verses about who we are in Christ. It’s an impressive list; it should make us dance.

In verse 13 it says, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action.” Peter writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit calls us to action. What action? How about getting our head screwed on right before we go to war. How about true worship before action.

Matthew 16:21-27 says, "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!' Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.' Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.'”
In verse 22 Peter says, "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Peter wanted his plan not God’s. This suffering and being killed stuff was not part of Peter’s plan. Oh, how unprepared and stupid we, like Peter, can be! Today we want Christ and our plan doesn’t include suffering and being killed either. No, we like Peter want Christ but we don’t want the cross.

We want the easy faith. Lord, don’t call me to suffer yet in verses 24-27 Jesus tells us we must deny ourselves and take up our cross.

Today, in the American church, are we prepared for this taking up the cross and following Christ? We like all the “benefits” as it were, of being a Christian yet we shrink from the ensuing battle and the sacrifice it will take to follow Christ. Peter knows what’s going to happen to him. Read John 21:18-19: “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" Tradition has it; Peter died being crucified upside down.

We are not prepared to fight much less have the basic truths of the faith rooted deeply in our mind. Peter waited for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was to pray and watch—he fell asleep. We have fallen asleep; we haven’t prayed; we haven’t watched. We wanted Christ, but please no cross for me. Brother and sisters, persecution is coming and we are an unprepared army. See 1 Peter 1, we are not ready to fight. Oh Lord, please forgive our slumber, may we watch, pray and worship you. May we fully understand your plan. Fill us with your Spirit. Prepare us for battle, root truth deep in our hearts and minds. Do not leave us to ourselves. Come Holy Spirit, come. Amen.

 

This is a repost of the October 22, 2009 Blog.

What is true manhood?  Characteristics  of Being a Man

Last time we studied some things that characterized a true man.  These are my own ideas that I’ve learned working with men over the years.  Culture has rooted some of them out of our society.

As to wives and girlfriends…

Quote:  “A real man will always carry your bags, open the door, show you respect and remind you how beautiful you are.”

Quotes from Don Juan Matus:  “The worst that could happen to us is that we die, and since that is already our unalterable fate, we are free; those who have lost everything no longer have anything to fear”

Fear God alone; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Don’t live life being afraid of other men.  Don’t pick or start fights…if you get in a fight, finish them.

1.    The past is forgiven – Psalm 103:1-5 says “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--  who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,  who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

2.    Today is in God’s hands: Psalm 104:1-5 – “Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.  He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.”

3.    The future is with Him.  Hebrews 13:5-6 – “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

4.    Teach those around you.   Teach during everyday life not just formal settings.  Teach all the time.  Teach what you know.   Pick the time and the place.  Just tell is as it is.  Uncle Jim and I were not taught a lot of things.  We had to learn on our own; that can be a costly and painful lesson.

                  Titus 2:6-8 – “Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”

                  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 --  “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

5.     Be a warrior protector - Let everyone in town know that if anyone messes with your family or friends, you will hold them accountable.  Make your statement by actions not just words.

Joshua 14:10-12; Jeremiah 22:16; Proverbs 31:9

Never stop being a warrior.   Stand up for the right thing; defeat what is wrong.  A warrior is:  “A man or a woman who is a fearless, strong and skilled fighter standing up for what is right.” Sometimes we must do something we don’t want to do—that’s being a man (adult).  Do the right thing.

6.    Be a friend – Be an honest friend.

a.    _________ down your life for others.  John 15:12-15 -  .  “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

b.    The greatest friend we have is God.  -- James 4:8 – “Come near to ________   and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

c.    How do you pick friends? 

                                  i.    Proverbs 13: 20 --  “He who walks with the _________  grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”

                                ii.    Keep your tongue.  Proverbs 22:24-25 – “Do not make friends with a ___________   ______, do not associate with one easily angered,  or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.”

                               iii.    1 Corinthians 15:33 -- Do not be misled: "______     ______________ corrupts good character."

7.    How do you treat your friends? 

Luke 6:31— “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  (Sound familiar??)

Romans 12:10 – “Be _______________ to one another.”  (Could also use ‘loyal’)

Ephesians 4:29-32 -  “Forgive as _________ forgives.”

8.     Importance of friendship

a.    Proverbs 17:17 - ________________ makes friends like brothers.

b.    Proverbs 19:20 -  Listen to _______________ and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.

c.    1 Samuel 18:1-3 – David loved __________________ as a _________________.

In closing, remember God has a purpose for each of us.

Psalm 57:2 – “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills [his purpose] for me.”

Seehusen Family Bible Study #2

“Boys take; men give.  Boys criticize; men create.

Boys complain; men solve.  Boys consume; men serve.  Boys pout; men endure.”

 John Bryson

Three truths in a man’s life:

1.    I have to be intentional

2.    I must rely on God

3.    I need other men

From “Stepping Up—A Call to Courageous Manhood” a video series by Family Life

Answer these questions:

1.    A boy becomes a man when he…

2.    What is the last courageous thing you have done?  Have you done any?

To be a man, lead.

Remember Jeremiah 10:23-25 from last week.   “I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.24 Correct me, LORD, but only with justice-- not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland.”

·         Genesis 2:18 – “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

            Women will love a servant leader.  A servant leader is a man who leads those he is in charge of (family, business, military unit) with the best intentions for those whom he is responsible.  Not his agenda, but a respectful leader that leads quietly with measured words and by example.

·         Be a protector and provider.  1 Timothy 5:8 says “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Your girlfriend, wife and children must know you will lay down your life and personal agenda for their benefit.

1 Peter 3:7 – “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”   ‘Weaker partner’ means of lesser physical power; it does not mean of lesser worth.

·         Grow up – be stable – measure your words.

Proverbs 18:2 – “A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.”

Proverbs 12:16 – “A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.”

Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”

Proverbs 11:12 – “A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue.”

2 Timothy 4:5 – “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

Titus 1:12-16 – “Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." 13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”    Don’t act like a brute (1/2 step above an animal).

1 Corinthians 13:11 – “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”

2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

Culture measures manhood by:*

o   Billfold

o   Ball field (sports arena of any kind)

o   Bedroom

o   Number of toys (I added this)

*From “Stepping Up” by Family Life

 

Next week – What is true manhood? 

 

Seehusen Family Bible Study

This is the first in a series of the Seehusen Family Bible Study.  Humbly I ask God to bless our efforts.  May God bless us.

1.     God is incomprehensible. Scripture teaches that we can know God personally but we cannot completely understand Him.

Acts 17:24-27 - "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”  Every beat of our heart is a gift from God. 

Great is the Lord - Psalm 145:3-4 -- Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.  Note:  This is why we, as men, must do this study and share it with others. 

Quiet and Loud - Job 26:12-14 -- By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?" 

Isaiah 55:8-9 -- "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Romans 11:33-34 -- Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"

Heard of God but do not know or see Him: Job 42:1-6 -- Then Job replied to the LORD: 2 "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.3 [You asked,] 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.4 ["You said,] 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.'5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." 

Deuteronomy 29:29--- The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
 

2.     Incomprehensibility without knowability can lead to 1) despair or 2) apathy. But God is knowable. 

2 Peter 1:2-8 -- Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 

My life-changing verse: Jeremiah 10:23-24 -- I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.24 Correct me, LORD, but only with justice-- not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. 

Jeremiah 9:23-24 -- This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.  

"Power of God" -- 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 -- When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

John 17:1-3 -- After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.


Philippians 3:10-11 -- I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  

1 John 4:7-8 -- Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

John 20:30-31 -- Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 

Acts 17:24-27 -- "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

 

Knowing God or "Dead Orthodoxy"

"Knowledge of God is the goal of theology.

"Knowledge without devotion is cold, dead orthodoxy.  Devotion without knowledge is irrational instability.  But true knowledge of God includes understanding everything from His perspective.  Theology is learning to think God's thoughts after His.  It is to learn what God loves and hates, and to see, hear, think, and act the way He does.  Knowing how God thinks is the first step in becoming godly."
 

(Taken from "Biblical Doctrine: An Overview" in the ESV Study Bible)

 What is "dead orthodoxy"?

1. Correct doctrine without being born again.
2. Correct doctrine without practical outworking or living a godly life
3. Correct doctrine without zeal; lack of zeal for the Word or souls.  Zeal is ardent, active interest.
4. Lack of emotional experience in worship (not manufactured)
5. Formalism = rigidness in worship

It’s Christmas – so what’s the big deal?

“Time and again the church has proved a willing accomplice to its own captivity, in the new covenant as well as the old.  Observing this tendency in his day, Martin Luther wrote ‘On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church,’ in which he argues that the church desperately needs to be liberated by its Lord from bondage to the very things it regards as benign or even hopeful.”

“Is the word captivity too strong?  After all, there is nothing like an Office of Religious Affairs controlling the church’s discourse in America.  In his book ‘Amusing Ourselves to Death,’ Jewish writer Neil Postman (communications professor at New York University) points out the difference between two apocalyptic scenarios.  George Orwell’s 1984 predicts a society ruled by ‘Big Brother’—a totalitarian regime.  Congratulating ourselves on having dodged Orwell’s prophecy, at least in America, we have forgotten Aldous Huxley’s slightly older ‘Brave New World,’ with a quite different scenario.  While Orwell predicts an externally imposed oppression, Huxley imagines a self-imposed captivity:

“As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.  What Orwell feared were those who would ban books.  What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book for there would be no one who wanted to read one.  Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information.  Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.  Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us.  Huxley feared the truth would be drowned is a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture.  Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.”

If we are slaves, it is not to an external oppressor but to our own trivial desires.  We are willing captives—until God appears on the scene and utters his solemn command to the powers and principalities we have enthroned: ‘Let my people go!’”

Quoted in part from “Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church” by Michael Horton.  Pages 238-239 by Baker Books

Michael Horton’s definition of the American Church today carries some powerful words and concepts.  I quote in part: “If we are slaves, it is not to an external oppressor.   Jesus came “that we might have life and have it more abundantly” not a life burdened with chasing after trivial things.  Yet an honest appraisal of our lives reveals a constant barrage of the trivial, the useless, and the unsatisfying.  Quoting Horton, “We are willing captives…to the powers and principalities we have enthroned.”  Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

“Let my people go” Horton writes.  Jesus came to save His people from their sin (Matthew 1:21 – “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”.)

Jesus came to serve, not to be served. Matthew 20:28 says: “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

In the midst, the Christ child came to “set the captives free” (Isaiah 61:1-2 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,”

The manger is empty; the cross is empty; the tomb is empty.  Jesus sits at God’s right side interceding for us, waiting for the command from the Father—“Go get my kids”.  Jesus will then rise and come to earth a second time.  Ah, good news for us pilgrims. 

Come quickly Lord Jesus.  Come again – as it says in Revelation 22:20—“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”  All this brothers and sisters is the big deal!

 

The Visited Blue Ball

I remember when the first astronaut came around the back side of the moon and saw earth (that perfect blue white ball, suspended on nothing, hanging in space) and in stunned awe the astronaut said, “In the beginning God…”

I can’t really imagine God sitting somewhere beyond the universe some 2,000 years ago looking at His footstool, the earth, and saying, “Today is the day I’m going to send my one and only Son, Jesus to go to earth , to become a microscopic ovum, to be born of a virgin born in a barn, to go and redeem fallen man.”

Have you ever contemplated if no one sinned until now and we were living in perfect peace, and then old Adam and Eve would decide to do some very serious apple crunching. Sin then comes into the world and God would decide to set up a committee to ask advice from us on how to redeem fallen man (He won’t do that but I can speculate). What would you come up with? We would come up with man-made religion. We’d crawl on our belly, into the presence of God and propose some plan of “working off” our sin. We would be in the deal-cutting business. We’d hope we’d be good enough to obtain salvation. We would propose works based salvation. That is the rest of the world’s religions…hoping we’ve been good enough, and that God may in His mercy allow us to live. Who would even dare come up with the idea of God sending His one and only Son to come to earth as an ovum, be born in a barn, suffer taunts of His suspect parentage (Psalm 69), be tempted by the devil himself, be tempted in every way, yet be without sin, be both man and God, and when preparing for the cross, feel so much pressure He would sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemane. We would convict Him on no evidence, have a sham trial, and murder Him on a cross, the most torturous of death, with the idea that He would forgive your sin and mine. Then by God’s power alone, God would raise Him from the dead—victorious over sin and death…Oh, who would dare dream this up, much less present it to a Holy God and awesome God? No one—no one—no one would dare do it; it’s God’s plan alone. A gift to us; undeserved; we can’t comprehend the majesty, the greatness of it! But it is God’s plan…

Remember this Christmas, the manager is empty, the cross is empty, the tomb is empty…In these days we do not have to take God to a hurting world, and He is already there. Let’s get up and go see what He is doing!

On this Christmas weekend, old Jer cannot bring anymore light on this subject because Jesus is the Light, the God of the universe among man. Immanuel, God with us. What a story? What a Gift! May we never take it lightly. Amen

(This blog is reposted from December 22, 2006)

Christmas Dinner

 

I would like to share the following which is written by Ravi Zacharias from his book, Jesus Among Other Gods, (Nashville, Word Publishing 2000), 44-46.

“Some years ago, we were spending Christmas in the home of my wife’s parents. It was not a happy day in the household. Much had gone wrong during the preceding weeks, and a weight of sadness hung over the home. Yet, in the midst of all that, my mother-in-law kept her routine habit of asking people who would likely have no place to go at Christmas to share Christmas dinner with us.

“That year she invited a man who was, by everyone’s estimation, somewhat of an odd person, quite eccentric in his demeanor. Not much was known about him at the church except that he came regularly, sat alone, and left without much conversation. He obviously lived alone and was quite a sorry-looking, solitary figure. He was our Christmas guest.

“Because of other happenings in the house, not the least of which was that one daughter was taken to the hospital for the birth of her first child, everything was confusion. All our emotions were on edge. It fell upon me, in turn, to entertain this gentleman. I must confess that I did not appreciate it. Owing to a heavy life of travel year-round, I have jealously guarded my Christmases to be with my family. This was not going to be such a privilege, and I was not happy. As I sat in the living room, entertaining him while others were busy, I thought to myself, This is going to go down as one of the most miserable Christmases of my life.

“But somehow we got through the evening. He evidently loved the meal, the fire crackling in the background, the snow outside, the Christmas carols playing, and a rather weighty theological discussion in which he and I were engaged—at his instigation, I might add. He was a very well-read man and, as I found out, loved to grapple with heavy theological themes. I do, too, but frankly, not during an evening that has been set aside to enjoy life’s quite moments, not someone’s polemical mind.

“At the end of the night when he bade us all good-bye, he reached out and took the hand of each of us, one by one, and said, “Thank you for the best Christmas of my life. I will never forget it.” He walked out into the dark, snowy night, back into his solitary existence.”

“My heart sank in self-indictment at those tender words of his. I had to draw on every nerve in my being to keep from breaking down with tears. Just a few short years later, relatively young, and therefore to our surprise, he passed away. I have relived that Christmas many times in my memory.

“The Lord taught me a lesson. The primary purpose of a home is to reflect and to distribute the love of Christ. Anything that usurps that is idolatrous. Having been lifted beyond the prejudice of culture, Jesus repositioned for the disciples the place of wealth. So staggering was the impact that many of them in the years to come would leave their own homes to go to distant parts of the world in order to proclaim the heaven-sent message that redefined their earthly homes. Eleven of them paid for that message with their lives.

“The first time I walked through the noisy streets of Bethlehem and endured its smells, I gained a whole new sense of the difference between our Christmas carols, glamorizing the sweetness of the “little town of Bethlehem,” and the harsh reality of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Ah! But it is not a part of the wonder of God’s disclosure of reality that He point to what we live with to show us what true living is meant to be?

“For the disciples, Jesus’ answer to their simple question—“Where do You live?”—was to lift them beyond race and culture, beyond wealth and power, beyond time and distance to make them true citizens of the world, informed by the world to come. He brought them into a dramatically different way of living and thinking from the one to which they were accustomed. He showed them the inclusiveness of His love for the whole world. But implicit in that was the exclusivity of His truth, for which they were willing to give their lives. We have reversed Jesus’ order. We have made truth relative and culture supreme and have been left with a world in which wickedness reigns.

“Jesus brought truth to light and a different world to His message. In Him my heart finds its true home.

“G. K. Chesterton has captured the wonder in how Jesus’ earthly address changes ours, as only he can do.

"A child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost—how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky’s dome.
To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home."

G.K. Chesterton, “The House of Christmas,” from Robert Knille, ed., As I Was Saying (Grand Rapids: William B. Erdmans, 1985), 304-5.

“Where does Jesus live? Come to Christ and see what it means to live.”

From the Seehusen's to you--God bless you and your family this Advent Season.

Jesus, welcome to our world. May we follow where you lead us. May we use all our gifts and talents to Your glory. May we go to a hurting world even when we want to come home and be cozy and comfortable. Forgive us. Amen. Amen

 

(This blog is reposted from the December 24, 2009 Beef on the Grill Blog)

Picking up some church trash

2 Corinthians 6:3-11

“Don't put it off; don't frustrate God's work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we're doing. 4 Our work as God's servants gets validated - or not - in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; 5 when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; 6 with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; 7 when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing his power; when we're doing our best setting things right; 8 when we're praised, and when we're blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; 9 ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; 10 immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all. 11 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life.”

A church affiliated non-profit agency was forced out of business last Friday.  About three months ago when it became evident that they were not getting any more funding, the first thing cut was the bag lunches for the homeless.

Upon arriving early Monday morning, I found they had dragged the remnants of the last management party to the dumpster but did not throw it in.  Over the weekend, the coons and squirrels had a party of their own eating the leftovers of the last party by the agency.  Expensive coffee, expensive bagels (I am avoiding brand names), unfinished very nice sandwiches partially eaten either by humans or the animals of the night made up the trash.

Over the last five years the arrogance of the people at this agency has been a topic of debate among other tenants of the building.  These people were smug, arrogant, cold, and distant and had open disdain for those they were to serve.  People felt the agency’s demise was well deserved but…as a para-church organization, their example can poison non-believer’s hearts.  In away, they represented all Christians—us, if we share the name Christian.

As we picked up the trash, a bitter young man (rightly so) pointed out their hypocrisy.  Closing down the bag lunch ministry (white bread, peanut butter and apple) while they ate and wasted much expensive food.

I now understand why Jesus wants to spit out the lukewarm ones of us; we make Jesus want to puke.  Any blog or sermon that points out our own hypocrisy is not well received. 

Recently a well-established professional in a medium size rural Minnesota town (an elder in the church) told me that if we confront ourselves, no one will listen.  He said to me, “You’re just another Jeremiah no one will listen to.”  We need to do some serious soul searching both personally and collectively as Christians and as the church.  The down and out of our communities do not seek us out because we do not rub shoulders with them…we don’t want to.  Yes, we can eat our expensive bagels, drink our expensive coffee, enjoying our personal Christian ghetto but looking away with disdain when, after a night of overdrinking, they mess their pants.

We are told to “feed the sheep” – all of them.  Feeding sheep is sometimes a downright smelly, dirty business.  The bottom line is that the lukewarm ones of us don’t want to be bothered or to get dirty.  Yes, we smugly drink and eat on in holiday merriment while our brothers and sisters slide into hell.

Remember the words of 2 Corinthians 6:3-11 at the beginning of this blog.  Forgive me; help us Oh Lord… send us a Jeremiah…change our hearts Oh God.

Two quotes from the White Horse Inn Blog Spot:

“In the time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

George Orwell

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing it, doesn’t go away”

Philip K. Dick