Real Good Part 3: "A Place" - Jesus has a place for all.

I wear many hats both literally and figuratively. Literally I like wearing hates because they are like a hug for my head. Figuratively, the hats I wear represent a place in which I fit.  I, like everyone else seek to fit into my place and I can get very uncomfortable when my place in unclear. However the challenge for me is realizing the place God has created for me. The choice that I have in attempting to occupy my place is to try and define it myself, or seek God and fit into the place that He has created for me. 

You face the same issue and the same question.  In our post-Christian culture and even within the church we view life as “carving out our niche” in this world through self-actualization not through the discovery of why God has created us. The problem here is that we often get it wrong, because we make such determinations at an early age or listen to the lies about we are. Too often we define ourselves by our mistakes or the harm that someone else has done to us.

However, Jesus has a place that He has prepared for you. The context for this thought is John 13 and 14. Here we read John's account of what is popularly called, "The Last Supper". As Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the Feast of Passover, Jesus speaks of some disturbing news. He speaks of someone betraying Him and that their betrayal would lead to His death. This is not the first time Jesus has spoken of this, yet the news in no more clear than its previous mention. Jesus also speaks of the fact that He will be going away and that the disciples could not follow Him now but He would return and receive them again. 

Peter in his usual form speaks up and proclaims that he would follow Jesus to his own death. As much as I am sure Jesus appreciated this, He tells Peter that he would do just the opposite by denying Him three time prior to the sunrise. The most amazing part of this, is Jesus' next words in the conversation. After telling Peter that he would deny Him three times He states, "let not your heart be troubled." In other words Jesus is saying to Peter, I know that you are going to deny but don't let this trouble your heart because I am making a place for you. Jesus knows that Peter is struggling with this but He wants Him to know that his struggle which results in rejection does not mean the end. Through this discussion we discover that Jesus through His death and resurrection is creating a place for all of us who have denied  Him and have more questions than answers. 

As you think about this story, reflect on the following truths:

1. There is a place for those who have rejected Jesus. John 13:31-38

2. There is a place for those who are troubled by the way God works. 
    John 14:1

3. There is a place with Jesus. John 14:2-3

3. There is a place for those with honest questions. John 14:4-5

4. There is a place to which there is a clear and definite path. John 14:6

  

With these truths in mind, the challenge becomes dealing with the questions that remain. As much  as we may desire for Him to do so, God does not answer all of our questions. Many things remain unclear, specifically about our eternal home. I challenge each one who reads this to focus of loving one another as the questions remain or are answered. The world will not know that you are a Christian because you have all the answers, but will know that you are a Christian because you love To be reminded of this read once again Jesus words in John 13:33-35. 

A final thought for now is that as we focus on loving one another, we can trust that God can do a better job creating a place for us, than we for ourselves. May we not forget that we are created beings and that as such we have a Creator who does not create haphazardly but does so with our specific place in mind. We are not created to fit into this broken world, but we are created to fit into the eternal world that will exist when God restores all things.  

Scary Close: Interview with Donald Miller, From Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN

Real Good Part 2: "Life through Death"

I love to find answers to question that arise from life experience. I don’t always have the answers, but for me the learning process in fascinating. I also love to be asked questions. The questions I love most are the big questions that are difficult to answer and may have multi-level answers. I think this is because I am amazed by how Jesus answered questions. His answers always corresponded with reality and were not the sort of answers that sought political correctness.  I believe Jesus calls us to the same sort of answering of questions and that we Christians have answers to the big questions of life based upon solid reasoning and line up with reality. 

One such question is what happens when we die? I believe that Christianity answers the question of the afterlife based upon the reality of Jesus own resurrection. There are however multi-level answers to this question and I have a lot to learn, but I believe that we as Christians can offer our culture the truth that there is life though death.  

I believe that unless we come to grips with death then we will never really know how to live. With solid answers about death, we can live a full and meaningful life know while knowing that our physical death is not the end but in fact a new beginning. When our culture asks, what happens when we die, we can answer that there is life through death. 

As Paul the Apostle writes his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, he is  requesting that the Corinthians unify with him in his ministry because many were accusing him of not being a genuine apostle. His opponents argued that his sufferings were an indication that he was not a true apostle. He then points to the fact that his sufferings highlighted his dependence on the strength of Christ and gave legitimacy to his apostleship. Here we see the opposite of popular thought. People have always viewed difficulty and suffering as a sign of God's absence. This belief has never lined up with reality. The truth is, God has always made Himself known through difficulty and suffering. This is the case throughout the Old and New Testaments on through to today. 

Following Paul's introduction in chapter one he provides perspectives on the gospel ministry. In 2:5-17 Paul discusses the meaningfulness of forgiveness and how it helps us not be outwitted by Satan due to our own ignorance of how he works. He then spends chapter 3 addressing the covenant that we have with Christ that is based on faith and not works. Here he teaches concerning the inner transformation and the growing image of God within those who believe. In chapter 4 Paul teaches that what we proclaim is Jesus as Lord and that this news is veiled in the minds of those who reject it and the difficulty we have because of our own limitations. The point is most clear in verse 7 where he states, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us." This problem is an example of my point that Christians believe that life is through death. This example here is not the ultimate example but it points in the same direction. It leads the mind of the reader into what Paul addresses in chapter 5. 

Here in chapter five, Paul explains that the body we now live in is comparable to a tent and the one that we will inherit when we die is described as a building. We identify with this text because the tent analogy and the words "groan" and "burden". Paul further explains in the text that as we live in this "tent", we are away from God but in our "building" we will be at home with the Lord. So what stands between us and our building at home with the Lord? DEATH! 

All this may seem like non-sense and in fact as Paul the Apostle taught, many believed that is was. I agree that it seems unprovable, until we understand that it is Jesus' resurrection that makes it all possible. Jesus went through death and back again. He did not stay in a shadowy underworld as was the belief of many Jews of His day. He did not go and live among the gods as was the believe of many Pagans of His day. He came back! He came back and proved to all of us that there is life through death.  We can now be of good courage and fully live a life of purpose and meaning without the fear that death is the end. Our physical death is the beginning. No other world religion has the proof that Christianity is founded upon. The literal physical resurrection of Jesus is the proof that Jesus is exactly who He stated He was and that He has conquered death and has brought us all life by doing so. He died and now we live. 

Real Good Part 1: "We have An Announcement"

I love good news as long as it is real. If the supposed good news is not real, and is simply some one's spin on what is really bad news, I am not interest because I don't find comfort in spin. I realize that even with the worst of news there can be a good result or a good aspect, but in order for news to be truly good it has to be real. We all can make up stories of non-existent good news to makes us feel better or make us feel that the wrong we are doing is actually right. That may make us feel better for a season but in reality truth will one day wash away all the spin. Reality has a way of doing that.

In light of my love for good news as long as it is real, comes the belief that Christians have the greatest of all good news. In fact that is why we call our story, "the gospel". The gospel means good news, but the questions that need to be asked are, is the gospel real and why is it good? These questions will be the focus of this series of messages called, "Real Good". Here in part one we will answer these questions by addressing the fact that our news is the life of Jesus was His announcement of His identity and mission. When we begin to understand who Jesus is, and what He came to accomplish, we will see how the good news is real and truly good.

Paul the apostle gives us a good summary of the gospel in his letter to the church in Rome. In Romans 1:1-6 we read, " 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (ESV). Here we see that Paul is among other things saying that what we call the Old Testament point to Jesus and that His life displayed who he was and what He was seeking to accomplish. 

The Gentiles is Rome would have read this as the greatest of news for though Jesus they were being invited in to a relationship with God through faith. A proper understanding of the prophets would then lead to an understanding that through Jesus, Christian were offering the real good news about the identity of Jesus and how through His life, death and resurrection, God's restoration of His creation had begun. This is the real good news.

Turning our attention to the life of Jesus we see though the Gospel of Mark, that Jesus lived a life that helped, confused, worried and angered people. The first half of the Gospel of Mark is filled with examples of how this took place. He helped people to the point that he and his disciples could not enter any town freely (1:40-45). He confused people by the way that He taught and the type of people that He associated with (2:21-28). Jesus also angered many people by disrupting their power structure and interpretation of God's law. Finally Jesus also worried people by the pace at which he served and words He used. His family came to think that He was out of his mind (3:13-21). 

Jesus lived His life in this way and it finally led to a key question. In Mark 8:27-30 Jesus asked His disciples, "who do people say that I am?" There answers were typical for their day. Some said that Jesus was John the Baptist who had returned from the dead. Other due to their understanding of prophecy thought that Jesus was Elijah. Still others believe as many today that Jesus was simply a prophet. In this text, Jesus then asked His disciples, "but who do you say that I am?" Once again Peter was the one who spoke up and said, "You are the Christ." Based upon the manner in which Jesus lived His life, Peter's answer was the only correct one. 

With this in mind, the question still looms concerning the identity of Jesus. He is asking the same questions to the church today. We as Christian posses the real good news about the identity and mission of Jesus because we answer the question based upon the most reliable historical evidence. The challenge for us to to answer based on this evidence while others make up their own answers based upon wish fulfillment. Ever since His birth people have tried to define Him based upon their own desires and thoughts of what He should be a do. 

We have an announcement, and the announcement is that through Jesus God has begun His restoration of His creation. Jesus has reveal God, died to paid the penalty for sin, and has conquered the grave. As we enter in to relationship with Him our lives are renewed. 

Liberty: Jesus Brings True Liberty

As we celebrate our national freedom, I would like to point us in the direction of our spiritual freedom. In the days of Jesus and the first century church national freedom was at the forefront of every Jewish mind. They were anticipating a deliverer that would free their nation from their oppressors the Romans. Jesus their true messiah did not come to free them from the Romans, but to free them from what got them into captivity in the first place. A plain understand of the Old Testament and the intertestament period provides for us the reality that whenever the Jews rebelled against God, the result was bondage. Therefore Jesus goes straight for the root of the problem, namely sin.

In Romans 7 Paul the Apostle paints a picture for us that we all identify with. That picture is of the fight within us for good and evil. We want to do good but we fail and do the evil that we do not want to do. Reading verse 15 we see the problem, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but the very thing I hate.”  He goes on to ask and answer the following question in verse 24-25, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

There is much debate over this whole section of Paul’s letter to the Roman church, but it at least means that you and I cannot free ourselves from doing wrong. In many ways instead of relying on and accepting the freedom that Jesus brings, we have simply redefined what we once hated and have fallen in love with our sin. In other words if we can’t stop doing wrong, let’s just call wrong right and bondage freedom.

With this in mind I would like to point out three realities surrounding the fact that Jesus brings true liberty. 

1 . Christian liberty is deliverance from sin and its resulting inner corruption. This is seen in the      

     Gospel of John 8:31-37 in combination with Paul's words in Romans 6:20-22

John 8: 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

33They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" 

34 Jesus answered them,"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 

35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

Romans 6: 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 

21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?For the end of those things is death. 

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

2. Christian liberty was a large part of Jesus' mission. In the Gospel of Luke 4:16-21 we read of Jesus       speaking as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1.

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom,he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 

17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 

21And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

3. Christian liberty is not to be abused. Peter helps us understand this in 2 Peter 2:19-22  

19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 

20 For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 

21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 

22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."

Having viewed these three points, the question may be asked, why at times does God not seem to bring freedom when it is sought? There are several ways to answer this question but first I would state that many desire freedom but they are unwilling to following Jesus on the road to that freedom. In other words they want freedom yet without the need for obedience. Still others have a pure heart and willingness to obey however the Lord leads yet liberty does not come. This is a very difficult issue yet one the Bible addresses in 1 Corinthians 12:7-9. Here the Apostle Paul prayed three times for liberty from, "a messenger from Satan". God did not deliver Paul but provided the necessary grace to deal with the presence of the issue. The tough part about this is, sometime God says no. When He  does so, He provides the necessary grace to thrive in presence of difficulty. We must not abandon God and is will for our lives. Every Christian has some temptation that simply will never go away until our ultimate deliverance comes, but that does not mean that giving in to the temptation is permissible. God will give us the grace to stand. 

  

For those of us at Yucaipa Valley Church of the Nazarene, we must be a church that is used by God to bring people to true liberty. We must not misinterpret love as permission to sin, but rightly love with the truth of God's word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Author John Howard Yoder in The Politics of Jesus stats, "True freedom is not found in insisting on one's own rights, but is freely giving them up by being a servant to Jesus Christ first and the people of God second."

May God grant you liberty through His Son Jesus Christ, and may you stand in His grace in what He allows.