Category: Bruce’s Blogs

Have you heard the news that some schools are banning “high fives” and teaching kids and teachers how to wash their hands to prevent the spread of the swine flu? Doesn’t it seem strange that our fears have gone from school shootings to simple interaction among kids? While it makes sense to take precautions to avoid illness, it seems that we are developing a culture of fear.

It seems that people are trying harder than ever to insulate themselves from any kind of danger. From the frantic search for no-risk investments to the frenzy to find the flu vaccine. Our culture has become afraid of risks of any kind.

Worst of all, we find that kind of fear in the church. Many people come to church expecting it to be a safe place from the world instead of a safe place for the world. Unfortunately, our fear of the world has led the church to disconnect from the world to the point where we have even stopped interacting with world. Our fear of the dangers in the world has made us ineffective in the world. We have tried to insulate ourselves from the sin of this world, but we have also lost touch with the people of this world who need the message we have been given.

While we look up to the martyrs of our faith, from Bible times to today, we fear persecution that, in this country, will not likely lead to our own deaths. It is ironic and sad that Christians have taken the name of Jesus, the one who died to save us, but we are afraid to death of sharing his message with the world that is dying to hear it.

Our faith is dangerous, but it is also powerful. We can’t forget that God took a huge risk entrusting his plan of salvation to the church. We can’t forget our mission because of the danger of living in this world. Paul wrote in Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” Let’s take our simple message of God’s love and forgiveness and be dangerous in the world.

Have you ever lost your way? Growing up hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping, I’m proud to say that I’ve never been lost. I have, however, been “turned around” a few times. Even though I knew exactly where I was supposed to be—I could point it out on the map—I wasn’t quite sure how to get there, since I didn’t know exactly where I was on the map. I could have gone back the way I came or headed toward a nearby road which would have led me back to where I had started, either solution taking me an hour or two out of my way. But rather than taking the obvious, sure-fire ways out, I opted to wander through the woods for nearly three hours. While I did find my way back, I wasted several hours of my time and my father’s, who was out looking for me.

We do a lot of wandering in the church. While most Christians have a good idea of where they’re going, many find themselves wandering because they are not sure where they are at any given moment. Others wander because they’re not willing to take the steps that will point them in the right direction. Others are afraid to turn away from their current path and head back in the right direction. Many who wander eventually come to a complete stop, paralyzed by their doubts, their fears, or their past.

The good news is that when we focus Jesus, we will head in a simple direction: toward God and heaven. Paul encourages us to head in one direction in Philippians 3:13, 14 where he wrote: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” This means we don’t have to get bogged down in our past. We don’t have to be thrown off track by obstacles and bad choices. We don’t have to come to a stop whenever we lose our way. While the way may not be as easy and direct as we might like, we simply have to head toward Jesus.

I’m a simple guy, so repetition is a good learning tool for me. I know I just preached this sermon, but I want to stretch the application more than I was able in the sermon. I said in the sermon on August 2 that many of our problems in life are caused by a simple lack of focus on God. Just as Israel had done in Judges 6, we forget God, we disobey him, and then we experience suffering because of our disobedience. Israel’s solution was to focus on God; Gideon’s strategy was found in Judges 7:17, where he told his scant army “Watch me. Follow my lead. Do as I do.”

This is the basis for discipleship as well, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” When I said that we can all be leaders, this is exactly the model we must follow. We must follow those who follow Christ as we lead others to follow Christ.

This is demonstrated best in the family. Christian moms and dads have a tough job to raise their kids to become followers of Jesus. Many parents just don’t feel up to the job, and so they bring them to church and hope that the church can do the job effectively. However, the church has an average of 40 hours of influence per year on each child, where parents have about 2000 hours of influence on their children each year. The best hope parents have for their children becoming Christians and maturing as Christians and remaining Christians through their lives is to model the Christian life for their children. The church, then, can help parents develop their own focus on God and encourage them as they model that focus for their kids.

All of us can model this focus for everyone with whom we have influence. We know that people are watching us: our kids, our coworkers, our classmates, our neighbors. When they see our lives being transformed because of our focus on God, they will want to follow us and do as we do.

In the last issue, I focused on the Good News that we have peace with God because of the reconciliation we have through Jesus. But there’s more to the Christian life than being reconciled to God; we must also be reconciled to each other. Jesus taught his disciples that our forgiveness depends upon the way we forgive others: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). And just in case we missed the point, he repeated himself in verses 14 and 15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” The simple peace we find through Jesus depends upon us simply forgiving others.

This is where we have to remember that “simple” doesn’t always mean “easy.” We wouldn’t describe Jesus’ death and resurrection to be an easy thing, but it’s just that simple: Jesus died so that we could be forgiven. In the same way, we don’t think of forgiving others as an easy thing, but Jesus says simply: “you’ll be forgiven as you forgive others.”

If we’re honest with ourselves, we know that we don’t always forgive others when they hurt us. Some of us have likely drawn invisible lines that separate us from those who have hurt us “X” times. We’re not ready to forgive, and we might even think of them as our enemies. And some of those “enemies” are right here with us in the church. But that cannot continue if we expect to have peace with God, if we expect to be forgiven ourselves.

Remember that Paul described us as “enemies of God” before we were reconciled to God through Jesus (Romans 5:10). Paul echoed Jesus’ words in Colossians 3:13: “Forgive as the Lord forgave you,” but first he said, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” Praise God that he has forgiven us through Jesus, but pray that God will give us the faith to forgive others as well.

With summer comes thinking about summer vacation, whether you’re taking one voluntarily or not. For some it’s thoughts about relaxing on a beach; for others it’s relaxing in the mountains. Regardless of what you’re thinking about for a vacation, it’s very likely that peace and quiet are at the top of your list of criteria for a good vacation.

Our lives are not peaceful. We are busy in our jobs and busy in our families; we’re even busy in the church. There is unrest in the financial world, in the political world, in the home, and, again, even in the church. Our bodies are racing here and there doing this and that. Our minds are racing as we try to manage daily tasks, finances, and relationships. Our hearts are racing as we struggle to maintain relationships with our bosses, our coworkers, our friends and family, our neighbors, and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

But there’s Good News! Peter said, in Acts 10:36, “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” The message of peace began with the announcement of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:14. As Peter told the first church in Jerusalem, he tells us now: peace comes through Jesus.

The peace that we have comes through our reconciliation with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul wrote in Romans 5:10, 11: “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Life will continue to race around us. As we take time away to find some peace or even a few minutes to sit back and enjoy the peace and quiet of a break in the middle of a beautiful summer day, let us rejoice that Jesus has given us peace with God.

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133:1-3, NIV)

As summer approaches, I have clear memories of drinking my grandmother’s iced tea on hot afternoons. It really wasn’t all that special; it was Nestea instant iced tea, but it was just the way she made it that was truly refreshing. I could drink a whole pitcher at one sitting after mowing the lawn or just playing in the yard. If you remember the Nestea commercials, I could relate to the “Nestea Plunge,” when people would fall backwards into a pool of water after drinking just a sip of tea.

That’s the image I get from this Psalm of David. That’s the image I get when I think of the unity of the church. As we plunge into June and the sermon series and service projects of One Prayer, I have the feeling of being refreshed as the church comes together to learn more about God and his love and as we serve together showing God’s love to our neighbors.

We might miss the imagery of David’s picture of oil being poured over Aaron. This is the special anointing of the priesthood, setting Aaron apart to serve God and to serve God’s people. First Peter 2:9 tells us that we are the “royal priesthood.” So we should feel the same kind of refreshment that David describes as the anointing of God not only touches our heads but runs down our faces and onto our clothes, covering all of us. It is meant to set us apart for God’s work, and it is meant to refresh us.

Connecting people to God and to other people and helping them to grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ can be hard work. As we work together, let us be refreshed by God.

In Ephesians 4:11, Paul writes: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” We get that. We understand that there are people called and gifted to do what we call “ministry.” However, most of us aren’t employed by the church as staff ministers. Most of us aren’t elders, deacons, or even teachers within the church. So what about the rest of the body? Are we off the hook if we don’t have to give a report at the annual meeting? Of course not.

Verse 12 continues, telling us that these people are gifted to lead in order “to prepare God’s people for works of service.” It’s actually pretty simple; we’re all called to serve. Everyone within the body of Christ has work to do. While some are called to prepare the rest of us to do works of service, all of us are called to do the work.

While some might bristle at the thought of some being called to lead while others are called to work, verses 12 and 13 complete the thought; some are called to prepare others, but all of us are called to work “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The fact of the matter is that we are all called to the same work: to build up the body of Christ. There are no substantial differences between those who are called to set up the chairs before the service and those who lead the singing or who preach in the service. There is no difference between those who teach the lessons and those who clean the classrooms or who open their home to host the small group where the lesson is taught.

As we look forward to the month of June, when we will be working together every Saturday, let’s put aside thoughts of who has the better job and focus on building up this body. Then we will experience “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”