“There Is Nothing Inside Worth Dying For”

On one of my recent jaunts through our new neighborhood I approached a house with a sign that stated: “There Is Nothing Inside Worth Dying For.” The sign was a warning to any intruder to consider before actually invading this dwelling. I found this sign interesting yet not surprising. There were several signals up to this point in the yard and driveway that the resident(s) had some form of military experience. I do not want denigrate any particular branch of the military but I am sure I noticed some Marine paraphernalia in the yard. Not a real surprise. Hurrah!

Being a preacher, I ruminated on that sign for a good while. Also, having a fertile mind – that being one that is well fertilized and we know what fertilizer mostly consists of – I pondered that sign with great intensity. It really had spiritual implications while giving insight into the resident of that house. There was something in that sign that could be preached on. But, of course, all preachers think that about almost anything. I will never forget Henny Youngman (I know many of you have no idea who he was because you are way too young) who was known as the “King of the one liners.” I remember seeing him on Johnny Carson one night (you may be too young to know Johnny Carson too!). Youngman told Carson to say a word and he had a joke about it. Carson picked “penguin” and lo and behold Youngman had a joke. I told my son the other night to pick a word and I could make a sermon about it. I did okay with pineapple but got kind of lost on walrus! So, as I walked along ruminating about that sign I did realize a couple of things that may preach.

While I am sure the sign’s warning was supposed to be a partially humorous attempt to dissuade anyone from breaking into the house, I believe it revealed something about the resident. Did he think his stuff was of little worth compared to any intruder’s life?  In one respect the answer would be yes. That is of course until you don’t heed the warning and attempt to break in and he is willing to protect his stuff at the cost of your life. This sign clearly displays his values.

At my own house I always thought that if somebody wanted my stuff they could have it. Obviously they needed it more than I did. Besides, my stuff was old and I had insurance to replace it. I know the replacement stuff would be better than what was stolen!

Later on during the week, I saw the same sign again at another house. As I began to ruminate on it again, my first vivid thought was how glad I am that Jesus doesn’t feel that way! Applying Jesus’ perspective to the sign made me see things in a different light. Too many people today have the same sign posted on the door of their heart and life. It is almost as if Jesus comes to knock on their heart and there is another big and clear sign on display “No Soliciting!” They want to chase Jesus away and anyone else who wants to have an effect on their hearts for that matter.. They agree with the premise of the sign that “there is nothing inside worth dying for.” They feel they have nothing in their life worth having anyone dying for, even the Son of God. They are not trying to be heretical but they see no need for what Jesus Christ did and think he was basically a fool and so are all of those who believe in him. Their arrogance will be their undoing. Let’s hope they come to their senses before it is too late. Eternity is real and apart from having Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, eternity will be HOT!

In reality, Jesus DID die for what is inside of them and us. And, in his estimation it was worth dying for. Jesus Christ wants to redeem the image of God that is resident in all of us, all human beings. It was given to us at creation and it is what sets us apart from all of the other animals, regardless of whatever nonsense PETA bloviates. There is a reason why, in the first Genesis account of creation, God calls everything “good” until he creates mankind. Only after man comes on the scene does God call his work “very good.” We are the crowning jewel of God’s magnificent work in creation. You have to wonder sometimes if God spoke too soon. But Jesus died for that portion of each and every life that lives in opposition to God.

 There are always going to be a group of people that do not feel worthy of the sacrifice Jesus made for them. And, they are not alone in their unworthiness but they don’t know it. They just feel that there really isn’t anything worth dying for in their lives. There isn’t one thing that is redeemable, that is worth saving. In our disposable culture, they feel they are not worth anything more than ending up on the trash heap of life. Their self-esteem is so low, their psyche so disoriented and abused, their pain so deep and thorough, they cannot image one scenario that would lead Jesus Christ to want to save them. I have actually heard people say that if God knew how bad they had been, he would not give them the time of day. I love that one because they imagine that their life of sin and its severity will come as a surprise to God! That is arrogance of another form. In essence they deny God his almighty power believing they are the only one he cannot or will not save. Everything is possible with God except for them. The other end of the spectrum is the worthless wasted life that has no meaning, purpose or quality and thus would not be of interest as something God would waste his time over. How sad, truly sad, that people actually believe this. The good news – the gospel – is that Jesus ignores the sign that says “There Is Nothing Inside Worth Dying For.” In God’s economy, every life has value and Jesus came to die for each and every one of those. When Jesus restores a life through the work of salvation he wrought on the cross, he reinstates the worth back into that life by his precious shed blood. Regardless of what you have done, what you continue to do, or what you will someday do (again and again and again as our former taekwondo instructor used to say) Jesus still feels that you are worth dying for. He is not going to wait for you to come to your senses, to wake up and smell the coffee. He has already done everything necessary for you to receive what he has to offer. The rest is up to you because there is something inside worth dying for and Jesus is the Lord of Life.

Only 20%? WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Only 20%? WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

My family and I recently moved to a new city. In an effort to find out more about our new area I searched for demographic information on-line. One web site contained a lot of information including religious affiliation. I realize that Oklahoma is the outer ring, the sort of fly-over waste land of the western portion of the Bible belt. In fact, when we first moved to Oklahoma City, we were jokingly told (at least I think it was a joke) that there was a law that there had to be at least one Baptist church on every corner. It is good to remember that most jokes have some element of truth in them. Even though we only moved less than 10 miles away, we have entered another universe. I was surprised – okay literally appalled – that in my new zip code of at least 16,000 households, only about 20% of the people claimed any religious affiliation. Many people may not answer surveys but I don’t think that is the reason this number is so low. While this statistic is a disturbing, it also offers some hope.

First, let’s discuss the appalling thing. WHERE IS THE CHURCH? Where are all of the disciples that Jesus gave the great Commission to? I just read a Barna Group survey revealing that between 1991 and 2004 the number of unchurched people in North America almost doubled. The number increased from 39 million to 75 million people. I think there was a very wise man who once said the fields were white with the harvest. It is very obvious that North America is the one of the world’s largest mission fields. It is evident that the Church (big “C”) is not fulfilling her calling given to her by Jesus Christ.

A recent excursion through my new neighborhood gives a little insight into this phenomenon. As of this week, we are about two weeks shy of Halloween. From the looks of things in this area, it must be the most celebrated “holiday” in America. I am not sure everyone celebrates the true "meaning" of Halloween but the decorated houses tell a different story. I will have to wait for a couple of months to see if they put as much effort into decorating for Christmas.

I remember at seminary one of the biggest debates was about recognizing Halloween and letting our kids participate in trick-or-treat. At that time my kids did not know much about the day except that you went to as many houses as possible to get as much candy as possible. In my house, we have a rule that all Reese’s Cup go to dad.  So, not wanting to deny my kids their candy or mine, we let them go. They were never to dress in “scary” costumes and they had to say “thank you” at every house. As they got older, I would tell my son to find out which houses gave away Reese’s Cup and come home and change so he could back for more. Alas, he is too big now to pull this off with any sincerity, much to my dismay and Reese's cravings! I’ll just have to hope his being new to the neighborhood will not be a detriment to my sugar fix. As with my kids, I assume many people have no idea what the real meaning of the day is. That may make it worse. I am reminded of Paul’s admonition to the Philippians: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” I suspect that some of these decorated houses are even inhabited by “professing” Christians. I don’t want to condemn them but it does make one think. Does this send the right message?

As I walked along, I kept wondering why people would put so much effort into this type of decorating. Some were very elaborate and took a lot of time and trouble to construct. As the seasons change, the weather gets colder, the sunlight shrinks, it just seems people need something to get excited about. Again, WHERE IS THE CHURCH? If people only have a release of celebration in Halloween decorations, then the Church has fallen woefully short in being able to reach people with the excitement in the love, grace and  forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

There is good news in this statistic though. If Christians want to truly be Christians and obey Jesus’ commands (which I think is part of being a Christian), they will not have to travel far to find someone in need of what Jesus has to offer. The mission field is right in your own backyard (Jerusalem), in your own subdivision (Judea), in your own zip code (Samaria). You don’t even have to go to the ends of the earth! Your neighbor may be the next person you introduce to Jesus. When Jesus says that he stands at the door and knocks, it is probably at the house right across the street. In fact, he may be knocking at several doors on your block alone. Just think of how many he may be knocking at in your subdivision or in your zip code? The opportunity for the Church is enormous. Yet, we miss these opportunities for a variety of reasons.

The really good news for me as an ordained person is that with numbers like that I have job security. In my own zip code accepting these numbers means there are almost 13,000 households who do not have a religious affiliation much less a relationship with Jesus Christ. My congregation does not need transfer growth – swapping or stealing sheep – when we can go through our own neighborhoods and find many “lost” people, which up to 80 percent of them seem to be. And, we are even willing to share our catch with other congregations who want to reach the unchurched. Our nets won’t break but our facilities might. While it is a headache I would love to have, how would you deal with an influx of huge numbers of people? Any church would have to ramp up everything they do in order to meet the needs of those coming in. I would love to be in that situation and find a way to deal with it. With those kinds of numbers, it should be really easy to fill ministry positions, not to mention the congregation’s softball lineup.

I could go on and on about this topic. But you will have to excuse me. I have to go through my neighborhood and tell some more people about Jesus being the Lord of Life! Want to join me?

Generic or Specific?

Generic or Specific?

 Isn’t it wonderful that, even after three years of seminary and many years in the pastorate, God can show you new things? I must admit that it is humbling and overwhelming at the same time. But it happened today and I am thankful. It occurred during my daily devotional time when I sit in my “prayer chair” and study God’s Word and commune with him in and through prayer. Except for the dogs having to have their affection time, I try to reserve this time for God and me. Most days I am able to accomplish this. I don’t say this to pat myself on the back for my piety but to mention that this has become a “habit” for me, and the dogs! What I found out today radically shook my world and my equilibrium.

As an Anglican I gain perspective by saying the Collect for Purity. I start with this.

            Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known,

            and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of my heart
            by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that I may perfectly love you,
            and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ my Lord.  Amen.

It centers my thoughts and actions for what I am about to do. It gives me the proper perception about who God is and what I want him to do for and in me. For you purists, I have changed the wording from the corporate emphasis to the individual emphasis that pertains to me in this situation. My hope and prayer is that at the end of my time with God, I have a cleansed heart, inspired by the Holy Spirit allowing me to perfectly love him. Not a bad day if you can accomplish that!

After that I say the Confession. Again I use a personal version instead of the corporate version. I know that I am a sinner and that confessing daily still isn’t enough to keep short accounts with God. When I got to the part where it says, “I have left undone those things which I ought to have done, and I have done those things which I ought not to have done,” this is where the seismic rumble began. There are times when I feel as if God is speaking to me. I don’t hear audible sounds but, as someone once said, “knowing’s” in my heart that God is communicating with me. I sensed he was asking me, “What do you mean?” I responded, “Do you want me to get specific, Lord? Boy, you are asking a lot here.” I realized at this point that I was good at the generic confession. I think we all are. We are able to generalize sin and can admit, with no sense of guilt or shame, that we are all sinners. We can admit without confessing. We can agree but we don’t normally name our sins. The generic is always less convicting, less guilt inducing, less shameful than naming each individual transgression. So, I felt compelled to take pen and paper and write down where I missed the mark (one definition of sin). I started with the “things done.” This was easy because I could agree with God on some of them. I suffer from fear, anxiety and worry. But, don’t we all. Yes, they are sins but they are typical of most human beings. But since I committed these offenses I need to confess them. Just when you think you are doing fine God has to interrupt. “Dig deeper,” he said. “Okay.” I also have envy, greed, denial, and pride. “Yes and,” God continued. “Oh, how deep do you want me to go?” Well, true confession means not leaving any stone unturned. As I went deeper, I found more that left me separated from the holy, righteous God of the universe. I will not regale you with the rest of this (it’s not as salacious as much as it is disappointing) but I found I’m not as righteous and pious as I thought. But it didn’t end there.

Don’t you hate it when God won’t let go? At times like these, he reminds me of our little Chihuahua Teenie. She is pesky and will bark and nip at strangers who enter our house. She will not settle down until she is satisfied that all is well and safe. God reminded me that I had not addressed the other portion of the confession. I was leaving out, “I have left undone those things which I ought to have done.” I guess I was settling for “good enough” instead of “best.” God wants the best for us and from us. It is amazing how fast my pen went as I rummaged through my life the past week or so. The first thing I had not done was live with the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians tells us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22) That is a rather extensive list to neglect in any life that claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning. I wish it wasn’t but alas I am not as perfect as I thought (hoped) I was. It becomes more apparent with each passing moment of this exercise, that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. The “left undone” list continues but you get the picture. Later, reading the word of God reinforced this notion powerfully. Micah 6:8 states: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” God sets the bar high and he does not lower it because we cannot attain his standards.

I must admit that after this careful examination, I realized my need, my failures and my lack of anything remotely resembling holiness. I had a glimpse of me from God’s perspective apart from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The only word that can best describe this is hopelessness. Wow! What a revelation. But I also had a sense of thankfulness. Without the person and work of Jesus Christ, I will end up being a sinner in the hands of an angry God. He did everything he could do through Jesus Christ and I am glad I have accepted it. I have faith that all of the promises of Jesus are “yes.” That is the only thing that overcomes this hopelessness. Praise God!

Many Christians know, accept and believe the above. And, they think that is enough. But I am here to tell you more is needed. Not in terms of salvation but in terms of a growing, thriving relationship with Jesus Christ that bears fruit and light and life. Too many people though are stuck in the generic. They realize they are sick but have no intention or inclination to get to the specific. I recently went to my family physician. He accessed my ailment and prescribed a treatment. He did not tell me to take two aspirins and call him in the morning. I am so glad he got specific. The generic answer probably would not have solved my problem and left me in the pain and agony in which I was suffering. God, the great healer, the great physician, works with us in the same fashion. Take a pen and paper and record all the things and areas where you have failed to confess your specifics, things done and things left undone. And allow God to deal with you in his mercy and grace for each thing listed. See what a difference this exercise will make in your life. We have a specific God not a generic god and he is the Lord of Life!