Teen culture and the “faith-disconnect”

In my observation working with youth, the biggest challenge that our young people are dealing with is the disconnect of their faith between Monday and Sunday. It seems that many of the teenagers in our congregations have a form of faith, or religious devotion, but to them the faith they embrace is more similar to the gadgetry they toy with than the transformative relationship we witness in Scripture.

Let me explain. In the big NSYR study of spirituality in the lives of American teens, what they observed is that kids have a faith that resembles moral therapeutic deism. In other words, Jesus is a “get out of jail free card,” with little or no active involvement in the world today. Spirituality for most American teens is just merely furniture in their lives, or like I observed above just another gadget they toy with.

I am not saying that all teens fit into this mold, but our young people are buying into the allure of what the world offers, and missing the radical call to revolution that Jesus teaches (Matthew 5-7).

Can we remedy this seemingly desperate situation? I think so. It won’t be easy. We have got to heed the call in 1 Peter 2:11-12 to live our lives as aliens on this planet, not attached to the stuff that advertisers feed to our desires and wants. And we must live authentically in our world, and let our teens see how faith and the practice of that faith affects the entirety of our being and the world around us. I think part of the problem of our thinking has been a misunderstanding of the “kingdom of God,” and a lack of emphasis on the cross for our lives today. The kingdom of God is the place where God rules, and if we are in Christ and the Spirit of Christ dwells with us we are to submit to the rule of God in our lives, and this should effect the way we live and interact with others. Because of the victory of the cross we can live with victory now. I think if we had a better understanding of the kingdom and lived with the cross in view we would be better disciples ourselves and I think we would be able to make better disciples also.

I will praise you in this storm

Yesterday was one of those days when our world was turned upside down with financial woes. Those of you with mortgages, car payments, credit card payments, student loan payments, hospital bills, etc., know what I am talking about.

Well, to make a long story short. This old heart of mine buckled. I drowned in the sea of despair. As I was fretting over our prediciment, two things happened.

1. I came home before Wed. Night Church began to eat dinner and spend some time with my family. My youngest daughter, Kenzie is 11 months old. Anyway, she wanted to play with her daddy. She was content being with me. She doesn’t know the size of our debt. She doesn’t worry about making payments. She was with her daddy. She was safe and she was loved. Even in the storm, that is where I want to be, with my Father. Just being with him, allowing him to shelter me from the raging wind and howling wind is enough.

2. I read these words yesterday from Psalm 138:7, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.” I read those words early in the day yesterday, they would certainly come in handy later that evening. I was so overwhelmed yesterday, I broke down and cried out for mercy. In those moments of desperate pleading for help, I felt like I laid my burdens down and was reassured that the One who promises to take care of his children, will and does.

My first two years in ministry: What I learned (revised)

The last two years have been overwhelmingly positive and warm. I feel that I have gleaned a lot from our elders, and other ministry staff. I want to thank our elders and our congregation for taking a chance on my wife and I. I say taking a chance, because after they hired us, and we moved here, I had what was my first major crisis of faith. I was unwilling for the first several weeks to give things a chance, but our elders believed in me, my wife believed in me, and finally after much needed time in prayer and meditation, I chose to take a huge step of faith. I remained. I am glad. I would like to summarize a list of some of what I have learned from my experience in ministry in my first two years:

1. Over-communicate activites. Even after two years, one of the biggest gripes I hear is that teens and parents didn’t realize that an event was coming up or had passed. At the beginning of the school year I pass out a youth group yearly calendar. In addition to the youth group calendar, there are weekly bulletin reminders of coming events, weekly e-mails, and our youth foyer bulletin board. However, all these various channels of communication still manage to miss a few. So, we have to look for various means to reach our student/adult population.

2. It is important for youth ministers to have a good work ethic, and to keep regular office hours. One of the ongoing questions that drives me crazy as a youth minister is the question, “what is it that you do?” I know there are some genuine, kind-hearted souls out there that think youth ministers are glorified Bible teachers and babysitters. We are more than Bible teachers and babysitters, we are followers of Christ. We are trying to be live out the kingdom ethics of Jesus while we are here. We are cultural missionaries. One of the ways we combat the false impression that good people have about youth ministers and what they do, is to have a good work ethic. Keep regular office hours, let your office staff know when you are leaving the office and let them know where you are going. I know that youth ministry is not just an 8-5 job, but make sure you are visible in the office doing the administrative stuff. Who knows, maybe even while you are in the office, you might get some study time. Also, we should have a “mop and bucket attitude.” If we see things that need done around the church, do it. We musn’t fool ourselves into thinking that we are too good for a mop bucket.

3. I can not please everyone. This is more of a work in progress. I know this is true, but I don’t always remember this when I am in the hot seat.

This one is a hard one for me. I am by nature, a people pleaser. So, over the last two years when people have had a problem, I have taken things way to seriously and way to personally. I think you combat this through prayer, and knowing how to handle confict and conflict resolution. Maybe it would do us all good, to spend some time in Matthew 18 and read what Jesus tells us about conflict. We may need to read some books on conflict resolution. The Alban Institute has some wonderful resources for this sort of thing.

We have to remember the source of the criticisim. I don’t think most people are out to get you, but we must be able to rise above the situation and remember that the brother or sister who voices their concern are first and foremost your brother and sister.

So, do your job. Live for the King of Kings and remember that Jesus constantly had people griping at him. We are to rejoice when we face persection.

4. Prayer is essential, necessary, and helpful.

We must be men and women committed to our relationship with Christ. We cannot effectively lead if let our relationship with Jesus backslide. So, we must be engaged in the process of spiritual formation. We are the children of God, and we are invited to come into the throne room boldly. As youth ministers, we get strained, our hearts get broken, and sometimes we make messes of our own lives. We must be humble enough to go to the King, and hungry enough to go often.

5. Youth ministers have the ability to change the world one life at a time.

Sometimes, it gets tough to see any progress among our young people. We are often faced with the reality that many of our kids are just going through the motion. But, we will have kids who get it. We will have those kids who will catch a vision of the Christ we are sharing and it will transform them. Listen, regardless of the problems your group is facing, they need to hear you teaching about Christ and his tender mercy and compassion. Model what this looks like to them, but also be firm.

As youth ministers we reallly are in the people building business. As God pours himself into us, we like wise empty ourselves and pour this into our students. We will impact students. And because of this, we are impacting future generations of young people and ultimately the direction of the church.

Remember, you have had an impact of those you serve. You may not always see the results right away. But by your being a consistent presence in the lives of the teens you serve, you are making a difference.

6. Family is more important than work.

I read an article one time that Jim Burns talked about the importance of family time. When it comes down to whether we cheat our families of family time or cheat the church, he said we always cheat the church. My wife is constantly reminding me that our family is more important than my work. This is and has been, will be a hard lesson for me to fully grasp. It is easy to get so busy that we miss out on important family things. 

In the same article that I mentioned above by Dr. Jim Burns, he also shared how he is only gone three nights a week doing youth ministry stuff. The other nights are for the family. While ministering to teens is important, taking care of the spiritual, emotional, physical needs of our family is more important.  

7. Your spouse needs to hear you say, “I love you,” often.

Our culture is over sex-saturated. Marriages are breaking up left and right. Many of our teens know others who come from broken homes, and quite a few of our own teens are experiencing a family breaking apart as we speak. So, we must commit to modeling what a godly marriage looks like.

Our wives need to hear us tell them we love them often. We must go beyond using the “L-word” we must model the 1 Cor. 13, Eph. 5:25 kind of love that we read about in the NT. Love must be sincere, and we must constantly strive to put our spouse’s needs above our own.

Is this easy? No, we are naturally selfish souls, so we must guard against our own self-absorption.

8. I need parental involvement for a successful youth ministry. In other words, parents are not the enemies.

Knowing this and practicing this are two different things. There is no way of getting around this truth: Parent’s are the most influential people in the lives of our young people. Our job as youth minister’s is to tap into that resource. We have to begin equipping our parent’s to understand teen culture. This can be tricky especially for those of us who don’t have teenagers of our own. So we approach this with humility and honesty. We need to educate our parent’s that our roles as youth ministers is to supplement what they are doing. Deut. 6 teaches it takes a village to raise a child. So, we have to get over ourselves and let parent’s have a place in our ministries. Maybe we need to redefine youth ministry to incorporate family ministry?

9. Find an accountability partner.  

James in his epistle is quite frank, he writes, “when tempted…” He doesn’t sugar coat the truth. When we are tempted, and let’s be honest we all are. Our temptations come in different packages, but we are engaged in the battle between the flesh and the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). James also encourages us to “confess our sins to one another” (James 5:17). I encourage you to find at least one person who you can trust to share your struggles, hurts, failures and victories with. This person must be another adult. I know that some will vary on their opinions on this next piece of advice, but I would even suggest you find someone removed from your church setting who can offer a non-biased opinion.

My accountability guy and I talk weekly, or more as needed. We share our failures and vicotries and pray with each and for each other. We also share what we are learning in the Word.  

10. God really will do what He says He’ll do.

Our God is an amazing God who loves us so much He was willing to trade places with us. Our sin for His righteousness. He promises to be with us always, to equip us, to forgive us when we fail, to provide for our needs, to guide us, to heal us. Is there a request to bold for our God? No, we need to remember that God is a person who keeps his Word. I turn your attention to Gen. 15. God cut a covenant with Abraham. The way this worked was an animal was cut in half, and both parties would pass through. If either party failed to uphold their end of the covenant they were agreeing to let happen to them what happened to the animal. Abraham passes through the halved animal, and so does God. He seals the deal. His promises never fail and His love never ceases.

This is not an exhaustive list of all that I have learned, but I think it reflects my first two years. I am looking forward to this next year of ministry and all that God has store for our congregation.

His Love Endures Forever

“…His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1)

A word from the Word: Read Psalm 136

“…His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:2)

Food for Thought: His Love Endures Forever…

Psalm 136 is a great psalm. Twenty-six times the phrase “His love endures forever” is repeated. Maybe just maybe the first readers, and surely all who came after the first audience struggled with accepting, understanding and maybe even believing God’s love. The wilderness generation tested God. They would not get to see the Promised Land. After all that He had done for them, and that they did to free themselves from Him, “His love endures forever.” Then in the period after Joshua and the crossing into the Jordan, the people turn away over and over again. Yet God’s love doesn’t fail. “His love endures forever.”

June 27, 2006. Think about your past week, this month, and even this year up to this point. Have there been any disappointments? Any weak moments? Dare I ask, any rebellious streaks? Even for those of us who have strayed, and fallen we too can claim the promise, “His love endures forever.” So, what’s holding you back this morning from spending some time soaking in His goodness and love? He isn’t to busy to heal a hurting heart.

His love endures forever.

back from camp

I am back from camp. It was an awesome two weeks, and trying to get rested up.

 This week, our church is hosting our county's first annual work camp. It will be interesting.

A Case of The Uglies

The following devotionals are the morning Quiet Times for our first week of camp. 

Read: Luke 5:12-32"But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." –Luke 5:30-32

 

            I want to end out time together this week talking about sin. But, I thought this week was all about grace. It is, but it is so easy to get out here at Lu Jo and pretend that life won’t be difficult again once we get home. I want you to leave here confident in the grace and mercy of God, but also aware that we are sinners saved only by this amazing grace of God.

      .Yesterday we noted that all have a self problem. It's a problem we all have. Rich, and poor alike. Elders, deacons, and ministers are not immune from it.  Baptists battle it, Nazarenes need to avoid it, Methodists manage to do it, Church of Christ folks can claim it's presence in their lives as well. It's a universal problem. Sometimes it's quite obvious. Other times it's not. When it happens to me, I like to refer to it as "a case of the uglies." What is this problem?      Sin. Three of the nastiest letters in the English language. For a moment, we take our eyes off of Christ, and we are see ourselves seated on the throne of our will, so we think. With a quick glance here and there, we strike. With out stretched hand, we strain and strain, until the forbidden fruit is within our hands. Dare we think no one will notice? We try to cover up our misdeed. But, lest we forget our Father sees. He saw the whole thing, and because He is loving, He lets us choose. Choice, it's the most powerful tool in the human arsenal. Choice, it's what Adam and Eve discovered to be one of the toughest tools in our possession.  God lets us choose sin? If that is what our hearts desire, yes. After we choose wrongly, all hope is not lost. We have yet another choice to make. What is that? The choice to return to Him.  Sin, breaks the heart of God. Sin sent the Son to suffer on a cross. Sin silenced heaven. But praise be to God, sin was defeated on the cross. Your sin doesn't have to be your master. I know what you're thinking. "If this guy only knew how many times, I did__________, he wouldn't be telling me there was hope." If that is what you're thinking, you are sadly mistaken. Sin is no doubt awful. It's consequences, can affect the rest of your life. But, you can be forgiven, and live a life free from bone crushing guilt. Jesus came to earth, not to over load you with guilt because you can't live up to His standard. His mission is one of mercy. "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). Your sin-stained soul is the reason why Jesus came to earth. His mission was a rescue mission. Redemption, the forgiveness of sins, hope for today, and life for the next. All this can be yours. But you have to be willing to live for Him.  The Christian life is not an easy one. There is heart break, disappointment, and I dare confess — sin. I have been a Christian for 8 years, and there is not a day that goes by that I don't need a Savior. Especially after I get a case of the uglies, hands stained with sin, overwhelmed with guilt, burdened by bad decisions, and regretting words spoken in the heat of the moment. I have been there friend. I am still in need of a Savior. And it is in that moment, the moment of realization of my guilt and shame, that the Master calls me by name and invites me to come, to come back to the table to dine with Him. The cross dealt a crushing blow to sin. The blood that Jesus willingly shed washes the sinner anew. Not just once, but for the rest of his life. Are you willing to let the Savior save you?   

As we close out our time together this week, I want you leave you with one final story titled The Wrong Way Riegels*:

On New Year’s Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played UCLA in the Rose Bowl. In that game a UCLA player named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble, but somehow got confused and started running in the wrong direction down the field. He ran sixty-five yards before one of his teammates, Benny Lom, tackled him just in front of the goal line—otherwise Riegels could have scored a safety for the opposing team. UCLA was unable to move the ball from that point in the game. Georgia Tech blocked the punt and scored a safety on the play.Since that strange play happened in the first half, everyone watching the game was asking the same question: “What will coach Nibbs Price do with Roy Riegels in the second half?” The players filed off the field, went into the dressing room, and sat down on the benches and the floor—all except Riegels. He put his blanket around his shoulders, sat down in a corner, put his face in his hands, and cried like a baby.A coach usually has a great deal to say to his team during halftime, but that day, Coach Price was quiet. No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels. Then the timekeeper came in and announced that there were only three minutes till play time. Price looked at the team and said simply, “Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second.”The players got up and started out—all but Riegels. He didn’t budge. The coach looked back and called to him again; still he didn’t move. Coach Price went over to where Riegels sat and said, “Roy, didn’t you hear me? The same team that played the first half will start the second.” Then Roy Riegels looked up and Price saw that his cheeks were wet with a strong man’s tears.“Coach,” he said, “I can’t do it to save my life. I’ve ruined you. I’ve ruined the University of California. I’ve ruined myself. I couldn’t face that crowd in the stadium to save my life.”Then Coach Price put his hand on Riegels’ shoulder and said, “Roy, get up and go on back. The game is only half over.” And Roy Riegels went back, and those Georgia Tech players will tell you they have never seen a man play football as Roy Riegels did in that second half. The grace of God is like Roy’s coach. At times we feel as if we’ve messed up so badly that we want to give up and throw in the towel. God doesn’t give up on us, though. He says, “Get up and get on out there. The game isn’t over yet.” The Gospel of the grace of God is the Gospel of the second chance, and the third chance, and the hundredth chance. We fumble the ball continually, but God never tosses us out of the game. He just keeps cheering us on. 

* The Wrong Way Riegels, Hot Illustrations for Youth 1.0, Youth Specialties, 2001

  

Grace, who needs it?

Read: Romans 3:21-30 

 *The small house was simple but adequate. It consisted of one large room on a dusty street. Its red-tiled roof was one of many in this poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the Brazilian village. It was a comfortable home. Maria and her daughter, Christina, had done what they could to add color to the gray walls and warmth to the hard dirt floor: an old calendar, a faded photograph of a relative, a wooden crucifix. The furnishings were modest: a pallet on either side of the room, a washbasin and a wood-burning stove.Maria’s husband had died when Christina was an infant. The young mother, stubbornly refusing opportunities to remarry, got a job and set out to raise her young daughter. And now, fifteen years later, the worst years were over. Though Maria’s salary as a maid afforded few luxuries, it was reliable and it did provide food and clothes. And now, Christina was old enough to get a job to help out.Some said Christina got her independence from her mother. She recoiled at the traditional idea of marrying young and raising a family. Not that she couldn’t have had her pick of husbands. Her olive skin and brown eyes kept a steady stream of prospects at her door. She had an infectious way of throwing her head back and filling the room with laughter. She also had that rare magic some women have that makes every man feel like a king just by being near them. But it was her spirited curiosity that made her keep all the men at arm’s length.She spoke often of going to the city. She dreamed of trading her dusty neighborhood for exciting avenues and city life. Just the thought of this horrified her mother. Maria was always quick to remind Christina of the harshness of the streets. “People don’t know you there. Jobs are scarce and the life is cruel. And besides, if you went there, what would you do for a living?”Maria knew exactly what Christina would do, or would have to do for a living. That’s why her heart broke when she awoke one morning to find her daughter’s bed empty. Maria knew immediately where her daughter had gone. She also knew immediately what she must do to find her. She quickly threw some clothes in a bag, gathered up all her money and ran out of the house.On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing. Pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black and white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janeiro.Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with a reputation for streetwalkers or prostitutes. She went to them all. And at each place she left her picture—taped to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo, she wrote a note.It wasn’t too long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village.It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs. Her face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet. Yet the little village was, in many ways, too far away.As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Christina’s eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation: “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.”She did.Jesus is God’s picture taped to a Roman cross, inviting us to come home. “The Son is the exact radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3). When you look at Jesus, you can’t help but see the Father who loves you. No matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve become, God invites you to come home. “Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

A good question then to ask our selves today is who needs grace? Hopefully by now this week, we realize that because of our sin there exists a giant chasm between us and God. Imagine for a moment trying to leap across the Grand Canyon. Could it be done? Only the absurd would try. The Grand Canyon is some 5000 feet deep, some 277 miles long, and 18 miles wide. ** Not that we have a little perspective would you still try and jump? I doubt it. Well, the canyon that separates us and God is infinitely deeper, wider and longer than any earthly canyon we could imagine. Sure some of us maybe better jumpers than others, but no one is good enough to bridge this gulf. But our culture loves to think that there are those that are good enough. Most people in our world today think that God will reward them a place in heaven because they are good. We are a culture obsessesed with the good deeds of others. We saw many acts of compassion and goodness last year in the aftermath of several deadly hurricanes. Will goodness be enough?

 

Paul didn’t think so, as a matter of fact he believed we were all bad. Every one of us: "10 As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:10-12).

 

What’s the deal, you might be wondering, surely I am not a bad person. I may not be a Mother Teresa, but I am not Hitler. The problem is one of the self. Let’s be real honest, we are self-absorbed people. Our culture promotes a lifestyle of self indulgence. Everything from Burger King to Starbucks screams at us “have it your way,” “do what you want.” Seven hundred years or so before Christ, Isaiah writes to address the people of his day, for they too had a self problem. I would argue that the problem we have with self is really not new, it’s the oldest problem. Look at what Isaiah writes in Isaiah 53:6, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray each of us has turned to his own way…” Sin is always an “I” problem. We want what we want, and not what want God wants. Sin is going our own way, it is rebellion against God. You have to understand that it’s not just a series of actions, it’s an attitude that ignores the law of God. We are not just guilty before God we are also corrupted in our natures, polluted and vile before him because of our sinfulness.

 

For this reason, the Bible never speaks of God’s grace as making up our deficiencies – as if salvation consists in so much good works plus so much of God’s grace. Rather the Bible speaks of a God who justifies the wicked, who is found by those who do not seek Him, who reveals himself to those who do not ask for him.

 ***One of the most powerful films in recent history is Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. The film begins on D-Day, June 6, 1944, as the Nazis were advancing across Western Europe. Faced with the ugly possibility of defeat, the Allied powers staged on the beaches of Normandy the greatest military invasion in history. Their goal was to cripple the German army and ultimately force Hitler and his army into retreat.Following the bloody battle, Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and his surviving company of soldiers receive very unusual orders from their commander. They must locate and rescue a solder, Private James Ryan (played by Matt Damon), who is fighting somewhere behind enemy lines. We are told that Ryan and his three older brothers enlisted in the Army. What Private Ryan doesn’t know is that all three of his brothers perished during the Normandy invasion. To spare Private Ryan’s mother the anguish of losing all four of her sons, Miller and his men must find James and bring him back alive.As Miller and his eight men move deeper into enemy territory in search of Ryan, they engage in an intense debate about why one man’s life is so important that they should risk theirs. “This Ryan better be worth it,” Miller says. “He better go home and cure some disease or invent a new longer-lasting light bulb.”Despite their misgivings, Captain Miller’s band of soldiers bravely carry out their orders, with several of them paying the ultimate price as they successfully locate and rescue the young soldier. In the final battle scene, Miller takes a bullet that will ultimately cost him his life. But before he dies, he whispers to Private Ryan, who is kneeling by his side, “Earn this…earn it.”The movie ends with a scene set some fifty years after the war, with the elderly James Ryan standing over Captain Miller’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery. With a trembling voice, he says, “Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I’ve tried to live my life the best I could. I hope that was enough…I hope I earned what you did for me.”In the movie, Ryan then asks his wife, “Have I been a good man?” For 50 years, he was tormented by the realization that he could never do enough to earn what Captain Miller and his men did for him.Contrast that with Jesus, who gave his life so that we could live. His dying words were not “Earn this.” Instead, he said, “It is finished!”Had Jesus said, “Earn this,” you would have quickly come to realize that there’s no way to earn what it cost for Jesus to give his life for yours. To spend a lifetime trying to earn your salvation only leads to frustration and despair.That’s why Jesus said, “It is finished!” He declared once and for all that nothing more needs to be done. You don’t have to earn it. The free gift of salvation is yours—no strings attached. Just believe and accept him as your savior and friend.Does that mean we live our lives as if nothing happened? Do we go on living as we did before? “By no means!” writes Paul in Romans 6:2. Instead, we demonstrate that we have new life in Christ by living in obedience to him. Our good works won’t earn our salvation, but they will provide evidence that we have gratefully received it. 

*Excerpted from No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, by Max Lucado, Multnomah Publishers, Inc., Copyright 1986 by Multnomah Publishers. Reprinted by permission.

 

** http://www.thecanyon.com/

 

***Saving Private Ryan, Hot Illustrations for Youth 1.0, Youth Specialties, 2001

What is Grace?

Read 2 Samuel 9:1-13“…so Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons” (2 Samuel 9:11).

*An elderly woman walked into a large department store and approached a salesperson. She explained that she wanted to return an automobile tire she felt was unsuitable for her car. The salesperson discovered that she had been a longtime customer of his store and that she and her friends spent much of their time there.But, she said, she was unhappy with the tire she had purchased. The salesperson was surprised, but asked if she had the tire with her. She told him she had the tire in her car, but that she had lost the receipt.“Well, that’s not a problem,” the salesperson said after a moment of thought. “You can return the tire. Would a store credit be okay?”The woman agreed and the salesperson gave her a store voucher for the full value of the tire.You may think there’s nothing extraordinary about how this particular salesperson handled the situation. After all, he worked it out so that the woman would still end up spending her money in his department store. And she would probably tell her friends how fairly and respectfully she was treated there. So it was just good business, right?Well, yes. But there’s something else you should know. This incident occurred in a store that doesn’t sell automotive equipment—not even tires.This is the kind of story that Jesus might have told. Consider the parable of the laborers in the vineyard who were paid a full day’s wage even though they worked only an hour or two (Matthew 20:1-16). Or the story of the prodigal son, who received a gala homecoming party even though he had been selfish and rebellious (Luke 15:11-32). Those are grace stories—stories about people who received good things they didn’t deserve. Sometimes you may want to believe that if you’re good enough, you can earn your way to heaven and eternal life. On the other hand, you may worry that God will never let you into heaven because you’ve been so bad. But that’s not how grace works. Grace is not about what you’ve done in the past or about what you can do in the future. It’s about what God can do right now.Just as the store salesperson gave the elderly woman store credit because he could, so God credits us with eternal life because he can. He loves us and will do anything he can to make it possible for us to draw near to him. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).And now Jesus calls us to treat others with grace as well. Hey, if a department store can do it, so can you.There is an episode from the life of King David that illustrates God’s grace to us through Christ. If you would turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 9, we encounter the last surviving son from the house of Saul, Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth. Once David became king of Israel, he wanted to show kindness to any of the former king’s descendants, for the sake of his best friend Jonathan. So, David invites Jonathan’s crippled son to come live in the king’s palace and eat at the king’s table like one of the king’s sons. Mephibosheth didn’t do anything to earn this spot at the table of the king. It was because of the friendship that David and Jonathan shared that provided Mephibosheth a place at the table. Does this story remind you of anyone? It should. For we are like Mephibosheth, crippled by our sin and in great need of help and provision. David does for Mephibosheth what Christ does for us. We are invited to dine with the King and given a seat at the table. Four times in the text today, the author mentions that Mephibosheth ate at the kings table. We are also told in v. 3 and v. 13 that he was crippled in both feet. He never got to a place where he got over his being crippled. In other words, he never got to a place where he could make it on his own, and guess what? Neither do we!

* Bad Tire Good Business, Hot Illustrations for Youth 1.0, Youth Specialties, 2001

        

Grace, It Really Is Amazing

Read Romans 3:10-26; Eph. 2:1-5; Titus 3:3-5

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24)

 

I want you to consider this morning the words of the familiar hymn*: Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me!I once was lost, but now I’m found; Was blind, but now I see ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed Thru many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. ‘Tis grace hath bro’t me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.  When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shinning as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.  You have sung this song many times, but have you ever stopped to consider the power behind the lyrics? What we have in this hymn is the confession of sinner, who realizes how great his sin was, and how great a Savior we have in Jesus. John Newton wrote the words this now famous hymn, but for all of us who have come to Jesus drenched with our sin, in need of his cleansing grace this hymn is our story.  Grace, really is amazing because of what it is and what it costs. Grace is the unmerited gift of God. In other words, grace is getting what you do not deserve. It would be like me writing a check or a million dollars to each and everyone of you here at Camp this week. Think about your previous school year. No one here at Camp is that good that they flat out deserve one million dollars. Grace is getting what you do not deserve. I also want you to consider, “mercy” for a moment. Mercy is not getting what you do deserve. For example, those of you that have ever been spanked as a child know all to well the sting that comes with a spanking. Let’s say you were caught doing something you weren’t supposed to do, and the consequence was getting a spanking from your dad. You are guilty and you come before your dad expecting a spanking, only this time instead of a belt you are pardoned. You could call that mercy, but to illustrate grace, let’s go a little further…As you come to your dad expecting a spanking, you are pardoned and your dad does the unthinkable, he offers to take the spanking that you deserve. He trades places with you and faces the consequence of your actions.  Does that sound crazy? Maybe a little, but that is what God does for us. He joins the human condition, experiencing fully life as a man. In Jesus we see God coming to earth to show us the way home. Only Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many. According to our sin record the punishment we should receive from our sin is death, but God does the unthinkable. You remember the story of the dad trading places with his son? God does too by allowing himself to be nailed to a tree outside of Jerusalem. Jesus trades places with us, taking on himself all of our sin, and giving us his righteousness. It is almost to good to be true.  What should be our ruin, turns into our remedy. Grace is amazing because it is free. We can’t earn it. Grace is amazing because it reveals the heart of God for humanity. Grace is God’s purposeful, planned and passionate love. There is nothing we can do to make God loves us any less and there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more. Grace is all an act of God on behalf of his children.  

The Bible is wonderful, but when it comes to studying grace there are three passages that are among the best to show just how amazing grace really is. We will refer them as God’s “buts,” statements that change the outcome of the story. In Romans 3:10-18 Paul paints a pretty dark picture of the human condition, ah, but then we get to Romans 3:21, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. (Romans 3:21). According to v. 21, God didn’t leave us in the dreadfulness of our yuck, but he provides the remedy for our sin problem. This remedy is the righteousness of Christ. Christ gets the cross in our place and we get His righteousness. Colossians 3:3 puts it this way, “for you died and your life is now hidden with God in Christ.” In other words, when God looks at you, he doesn’t see your sin, He sees the righteousness of His Son.

 

Let’s consider another passage, Ephesians 2:1-5:

“1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Notice again that Paul paints a pretty bleak picture of the human condition. Before we find life in Jesus we were dead in our sins, not really caring how we lived as long as we did what we wanted. But, I want you to notice, that God intervened. When the situation appeared it could never get better, God intervenes. Where there was death, he now brings life through the death of his son. We also need to notice that if God had not intervened we would still be stuck in our sinful rut.

 

There is one more passage we must consider in our time together this morning, Titus 3:3-5:

“3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,”

 

Again, did you see Paul sharing what our former lives looked like. We were once foolish, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We once lived in malice and envy, being hated and our selves hating others in return. Notice the but here too; once again God intervenes and an amazing way. Notice that it is not our goodness or our religiosity that saves us, but it is only by his mercy.

 

Another passage that goes well with the above passage that really illustrates this intervening of God is found in Isaiah 38:7, “…In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back” In the statement, that you have put all my sins behind your back, what the author is saying that my sins because of your intervention are behind you. God doesn’t just turn his back on your sins, he hurls them into the sea, “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” You would think all of this would be enough, and certainly it would be, but not only does he turn his back on your sins, he hurls them into the depths of the sea, but he also forgets about them, "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isa. 43:25). In blotting out our sins, God performs a legal act, and in remembering them no more he is performing a relational one. In other words we are free from accusation, we are free from guilt:

 

“21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—(Col. 1:21-22)

 “1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 8:1)   *John Newton, Amazing Grace. Songs of Faith and Praise, Howard: West Monroe, LA. 1994

 

Thought for the day: Grace, trading places, and the cross

Read Luke 23

"But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will." — Luke 23:23-25

*A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.  Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions–ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation. What mayor LaGuardia did for the tattered old woman Jesus does for us. He knows the desperation of our situation. He sees the worries of our hearts and he knows our spiritual bankruptcy. And he meets us in our desperation. It is in our hopelessness that we see Jesus do the unthinkable, he pays our debt. Only, this man we call Jesus doesn’t just reach into his pockets and lay down a payment. He himself becomes our payment for our sin-debt by going to the cross for us. If ever we longed for a clear-picture of grace, we need to look no further than the cross.

    Our text for today is Luke 23. There are two scenes at the end of Christ's life that we've read  before, but in preparation for this, these two scenes jumped out at me. By this time in the drama of His last few hours before His crucifixion, Jesus had been presented to Pilate, sent to Herod, and Herod finding no fault in Him, sent Him back to Pilate. The One who is always Just, subjected to a mockery of justice. Jesus was bounced back and forth, at the mercy of the mad crowd. Prior to this day, Herod and Pilate were enemies. They were political rivals, but this day was different. Isn't it interesting that this man whom stood before them united them in friendship? Friends they may have become, but friends with Christ? I think not. They remind me of those in the world who have heard about Jesus, know people that follow Christ, but their allegiance is to something or someone else other than to the King of Kings.

    The second scene from Luke 23, that struck me today was the final trial of Christ and the subsequent release of Barabbas. Jesus, having been returned Pilate and found innocent, Pilate tries to release Jesus.

 

"¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will punish him and then release him." ¹⁸With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" ¹⁹(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"  ²²For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." ²³But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will."

    

The blood thirsty crowd, seized with fury demanded Jesus be crucified. The opportunity had come, the Religious leaders sprang on their prey as a snake strikes it's victim, so the sting of man's sinfulness struck the heel of the seed of the woman. Standing in front of them all, Jesus innocent from any wrongdoing was sentenced to death, the hellish crowd pleaded for the release of a political insurrectionist, and murderer. Innocence trading places with the guilty. A murderer set free and the Messiah given the death penalty. Irony? Maybe. The essence of the Gospel? indeed!

 

    I wonder if Barabbas, and Jesus were within view of each other. If so, I wonder if the eyes of Christ gazed lovingly and long at this man who was on death row. I wonder the thoughts on Barabbas's mind as his eyes caught the glare of God. Dirty and defeated Barabbas may have felt, but with each moment that passed, I wonder if a peace washed over the political criminal. We don't know what happened to Barabbas after this story ends. I know, that I would like to think that he gave His life to Christ. Only Heaven knows. However, Jesus did trade places with a sin soaked soul. Has he done anything less for you, and for me? Amen.

 

*Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Multnomah, 1990, pp 91-2.