The Vow

Acts 18.18-22, Ecclesiastes 5.1-7; Matthew 5.33-37 for a support scriptures

I would like to talk to you about a couple. Fred and Jenn had been married for about 3 years. Fred loves Jenn’s cooking, especially her beef roast. One day, Fred noticed that Jenn did something peculiar. She cut the end off of the roast she put it in two trays into the oven. Being that this seemed odd to Fred, he asked her why she did it, why did she cut the end off of the roast? Did it aid in the cooking?

Jenn replied that she wasn’t sure. Growing up, her mom taught her how to cook, and when it came to the roast, mom always cut end off and put them into two trays. So now Jenn was curious as to why she cut her roast in half. She called her mom.

Mom answered with the same reasoning. She was always taught that the end had to be cut off before cooking. But as far as mom could tell, it didn’t seem to aid the cooking or the flavor. If anything, the meat was a bit dryer. Jenn was encouraged to call grandma since she wanted to know.

Grandma answered the question saying, “I am not sure why you and your mother cut the ends off the roast anymore. I had to cut the ends off so that it would fit into my tiny oven.”

So the pressing question is what does this story have to do with making a vow as a Christian? The answer is simple, it’s not. The story grabbed your attention, but in context,  it is out of context. Just as we pick up with the journey, or perhaps conclusion of Paul’s second missionary journey, we all of a sudden see that he is also concluding a vow he had made, a vow that Dr. Luke didn’t mention having been made in the first place.

Here is what we do know about this event, that perhaps going into Corinth, he made a vow to the Lord for protection from his enemies, a vow that the Lord affirmed in a dream. Then the arrest came, and Paul was brought before the magistrate. There the case was thrown out. It didn’t affect the Pax Romana, or the peace of Rome. It was therefore a non-issue, and the Jews were given a message that allowed Paul to remain there for a year and a half. It is when he leaves Corinth, before embarking on the boat, he shaves his head, a response of thanksgiving to the Lord for His mercy and protection. 

Vows are one of two spiritual disciplines that we see talked about in the Law of Moses, yet they are not commanded to be done. Did you know that? Nowhere does the Lord require that we fast, though there were specific times that the people were commanded to fast and pray. But there is no general day of fasting.

There are no general guides either about needing to make a vow to the Lord, yet we do. Looking at the Old Testament, Numbers 18.18, we see that when a vow is made for a specific period of time, at the conclusion, the person shaves his, or her, head. Then depending on the vow, the sheared hair would be placed under the Fellowship Offering that the person giving thanks would offer at the Temple. But that’s typical of the Nazarite vow. Yet when vows are made, they are binding. If a child makes such a vow, then father can overrule them, but if he fails, that vow is binding.

Now the type of vow that Paul offered isn’t know. I can speculate. But since we see a Christian man fulfill his vow in a way that is in keeping with the system he is use to, and we see it again a few chapters later, which will likely fall on my Sunday again, let us talk about making vows. Let’s look at some examples of vows and draw a lesson from them.

Such as the first thing that we need to consider is Jephthah, the judge of Israel in Judges 12. He was to face some fierce enemies, but he vowed to the Lord that whatever greeted him as he came home unharmed, that he would offer to the Lord. I often wonder if he was used to coming home and being greeted by the dog, or perhaps even better, the pet cat. No, perhaps it was more insidious than that, that he thought his wife would greet him, as usual. But it threw him when the door flies open and it’s not the family pet or the wife, but his precious little girl. My question is that during the two months that he allowed his daughter and her friends to mourn the ending of her life, why he didn’t consult with the Lord about redeeming his precious daughter? But he kept his vow, even though it was foolishly made.

Then there are the vows of moms who aren’t. Hannah is my favorite one who makes a vow. It reminds us that the vows are made to our God. They aren’t always the easiest to make, either. Lord, if you grant me a single son, I will dedicate him to your service. That was the vow. When the boy was weened, no longer needing momma to change or feed him, she brought him to Eli the high priest, to serve before the Lord’s tabernacle. From there, the Lord blessed her. Can you though imagine giving a child away? But it really wasn’t giving him away because she did visit him during the required trips to the tabernacle to make their offerings.

Yet what happens when a vow is broken? One king made such a vow. He would serve the Lord as he lead the Lord’s nation. Yet twice he failed. Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, but in 1 Samuel 12, he and the troops were to wait for Samuel to arrive to make the burnt offering. But Saul feared people more than he feared God, so he acted not only as king, but as priest. Samuel said that had he been more patient, his family would have remained on the throne. Then in chapter 15, the Lord to Saul to destroy all that has life in the land of the Amalekites. Instead, they kept the best livestock and King Agag. It was here that the Lord sent word through Samuel, that the kingdom will be torn from Saul’s hand.

When Saul stopped following the Lord, seeking his guidance, he started becoming wise in his own eyes. He thought that he caught the spirit of the Lord’s meaning. He mostly obeyed, but a little rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, and idolatry. He thought by sacrificing, he would please God, but reality is that he wasn’t thinking about God but how he looked to the people. He placed the nation as a god before the Lord Almighty. He paid a great price for it.

Let me recap really quickly: vows to the Lord is a spiritual discipline that transcends the covenants. I could look at Abraham and the vow he made. Vows are not something to do flippantly, carelessly. Vows kept will be blessed when you make them for the right reason. Yes, wanting a child could be seen as being selfish, but then how big a heart it took to give him back to the Lord. In her life, she sought to glorify the Lord. And Samuel served the Lord faithfully as the last judge of Israel, and then anointed two kings. But when we do not live according to the vows we make, then we can see how quickly messy life can become.

What about the vows that we make today? Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5, we should not swear, make an oath, by the temple, nor by its gold. Even swearing by one’s hair isn’t proper since we have no control. Instead, Jesus taught us that our yes should be yes, and our no, no. There was a time that Herb tells when he sold a car on a simple handshake. After filling out a bill of sale, the new owner drove off. Now car contracts, once the bank is located, takes 45 minutes of signing. Contracts are not so simple, seeking to head off any loophole the buyer might use to cheat.

But let’s return to point. There are a couple of vows that we’ve taken, that are commonplace in our culture. The first vow has to do with marriage. Two vow before God that they will live their lives together, and live right before God until death separates the couple. And though I bind the vow until death, how many of us can point to a divorce that has caused life to become messy? I can’t tell you how many times a couple has sat in my office and declared, “We were just too young when we got married.” Or there is this, “It’s better that we split than to fight in front of the kids.”

Then there is another vow that we have all taken, well most of us I will presume in this room have taken. That is the vow that we made when we submitted our lives to Christ. This is the most important vow we will ever make.  In 2 Thessalonians 1.10ff, we have looked at living a life worthy of Christ’s call on our lives. Paul repeats it slightly different in Ephesians 5 where he encourages us to live our lives worthy of the grace we have received.

When we make a vow, be it rashly, be it fully thought through, it changes, it affects how we live our lives. Do we desire to live for Christ but cling to that in which we know is wrong? I follow Christ, but as an accountant, I love cooking the books. I follow Christ, but I still love to spread gossip. I love Christ, but I hate my new neighbors from across the world.

Now as I replay my outline and my words, I don’t want to unnecessarily beat you up over it. Life is messy. I made a vow to buy a vehicle for work that didn’t last. I knew that the likelihood of the bank taking it back was high, but I wanted to keep my vow so I sold my prized bronco to delay the inevitable. I made a foolish vow compounded by another. It’s a mess.

But that’s the grace of God for us. Life is messy, and most of the time, it’s a mess from our own doing. But today is a new day in Christ. If you can mend vows that you made in the past, great. You should. If you can’t, then press on. Fix your eyes upon Jesus, through whose offering God declares us right, gives us a second chance. I want to encourage you to let that same grace overflow through you so that you are vessels of God’s grace to a world that sorely needs a light spot in this present darkness.

Now for those who haven’t made a vow, haven’t surrendered to Christ, and accepted his forgiveness, I want you to know that though following Christ will not make your life easier, Christ came to die because though we are sinful, God desires us to be in His presence. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. God wants to know you. So this moment, take that step, make a vow before the Lord to accept him as king and savior.

Stuttgart Business Review - AutoZone

I wasn't sure where to put this. But since this particular blog was started here in Stuttgart, I thought, "Why not?" 

Now from time to time, there will be an experience with an organization, be it good, be it bad, that will stand out to me that I will want to share with you, my readers. Today was AutoZone's turn.

Let me set it up for you: This past Saturday, (8/3) my bride went to DeWitt for a baby shower within our homeschool group. No problems. She came home. Not 15 minutes later, I decided I needed to head to the store to get some food for dinner. It was to be chicken, but the chicken was still too frozen, and I didn't feel like having a late dinner. I sit in the car, add the key, listen to the beeping until I close the door, do my seatbelt and then turn on the car. (Yeah, you really wanted to know all of this.) By this time, I popped the hood. The terminals on the battery had such corrosion that the two white piles had become one. (It's amazing how fast what was a mere spot on one terminal several weeks ago became one all-consuming mass.)

Thankfully, we had a plastic squeeze bottle and Carol made me a solution with baking soda. From there, I cleaned the battery off. But every time I ran the hose over the battery, the mosquitoes swarmed me. This didn't really help my patience. But once the battery was cleaned, I hooked up my bus to the van to jump it. Nope, nothing. Even 10 minutes of revving the bus didn't produce enough charge to jump the van. (The bus' battery is only a few months old itself.)

That is a dichotomy with me. One hand, I love working on cars. I was always working on my Plymouth Volare station wagon and my Citation. On the other hand, my hands don't fit anymore in the newer cars. Even now the petroleum causes my hands to bleed as if I dipped them into acid. Oh well. I am glad that there are still people whom I can pay to take care of these problems for me.

So Monday, my friend comes from Marvel to pick me up and give Carol a rest from the boys. We also pulled the battery with the goal of getting it to an AutoZone in Memphis. I am told those are 24 hours. So dropping the boys at his house in Marvel, we continued our trek to Memphis. (No I haven't seen, nor plan to see Graceland.) 

Why were we going to Memphis? Well another preacher, from California, was visiting the area because his boy is in college there. We decided that BBQ would be the best venue for our meeting. (We had met on a mutual forum on Facebook and were interacting quite often.) Now in Memphis, I learned that it's not unheard of to combine bbq and pizza. The place we went did just that, Stateline Pizza.

But this post isn't about Stateline Pizza, other than to say that we 3 windbags visited until 11 pm, nearly 6 hours. The other two wondered about my needing to be home. Carol, thankfully, understood that when I am around other preachers, I seem to enter a time vortex. She was counting to seeing me when she saw me. 

But it's now 11. We DIDN'T go into Memphis first, and at 11, I was wanting to get home. So the battery was pulled and I would just carry it to the local Autozone when I woke up the next day. Which I did, both wake and took the battery in. At 10.30, I was told to give them about 45 minutes because the battery was so dead. I told them that I was heading to Wal-Mart so it may be another hour or so. (Apparently Wal-Mart is another source of time vortexes with me.)

It was hot Tuesday. We unloaded the bus, and I sat to cool off. Then at 5.30 I remembered that my battery was sitting at AutoZone. I called. They still needed another half hour. OK, not a good sign. Then at 7, I called again. Yep, still not charged. It's bad. They quote me a price and I look at my bottomline in the bank. The two didn't see each other.

I was blessed with the funds for the battery yesterday afternoon. I picked up the new battery and reminded them that I had already brought in my core to trade. But there was a small problem. The clamp wasn't coming off the positive terminal. So I bought a new one, along with anti-corrosive gel, along with those neat green and red felts. It was a blessing because the total costs weren't near as much as I expected, well actually nearly $10 lower. 

So I get the battery in. As I was in the process of reconnecting the wires to the positive terminal clamp, the negative clamp came loose and touched the negative terminal. Instantly, my lights flashed on as well as my A/C fan. Instantly I removed it, resecured it and finished my job. Then for the moment of truth. I turned the key. NOTHING! 

I was a bit upset and then some. So I went into the house. The evening shade made it too dark to check the fuses. Now I shared this on Facebook. Someone said I should wait and try to start it again. OK. I did. It didn't. So I checked the terminals. The negative was loose. But I was done for the night.

Before I left for my meeting with the Stuttgart Ministers this morning, I took a pair of locking pliers and saw that though the clamp was loose, the nut would not tighten the least bit. Yet I had a connection, precarious as it was. It started and I drove it into town. 

After the meeting, I took it to AutoZone. (Hey, wasn't this the point of the post?!) I told them what was going on and they said they had a shim. I asked if they could install it since I left my tools at home. They were gracious. But the shim made the too loose clamp become the too small clamp. It tore up the shim. The option before me was to replace the clamp. I had a hacksaw that I could use, but being 95 outside, I wasn't looking forward to the tight confines and a medium size tool the saw is.

Again, AutoZone took time to cut off my old clamp and install a new one. And of course, I had to get more gel since I didn't have any left from the night before. It took them about a half hour to work in the heat, but unlike my house that had shade, AutoZone was in direct noon-time sun. No respite from the sun. And the guy did the work with a smile on his face and grace in his voice. And even for just a $5 sale.

You want quality service, AutoZone in Stuttgart, Arkansas will give it to you. I highly recommend them.

A Tale of Three Cities - Acts 17 (Sermon)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of time, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

Now I did not intend to set out and find a longer, single sentence than that of last week's message. But it seems that Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities was such an example of an even longer opening sentence. And to that, I do love history, how the book seems to be looking at London and Paris and how they are handling the brewing wars each nation would soon be facing, one across the pond, while the other down in the streets of the cities.

But this morning, I am not going to be talking about the politics in light of history and in the light of the times that we are now living. Rather, this morning, I want to look at three cities that were each unique (which, by the way makes for the shortest introduction I've had in quite some time). Each church has a lesson for us when we share our faith.

With that, after Paul left Philippi, his next significant stop was the City of Thessalonica. Here for 3 weeks, he talked with the Jews in the Synagogue on the Sabbath. During the week, he'd talk with the Greeks of the city. The key here is verse 4.

Here is what we see: Paul preached and showed the Jews that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah whom the Jews had been looking. Now reading between the lines, Paul must have spent the rest week speaking to people where they were, be it the marketplace or the parks or other meeting places.

The Good News is accepted by people who may not have been likely candidates. I am not talking about the Jews, but also Greeks whose hearts were open to the truth of Jesus. Not just Greeks, but women as well. Now the question that I have to ask, are these women Luke mentioned Greeks alone, or are there Jewish women as well?

It is a question to consider because one of the largest complaints against Christianity is that it is chauvinistic against women. Why would women come to a faith that has them submitting to a man? This is the argument that many critics put up. Of course, the sad truth is that many people have used and do use the Bible as a weapon or a source of power. True faith, we know doesn't. Where it says that women are to submit, the previous verse says that we are all to submit. Besides that, coercion is not the same as submission.

But here's the point. When we share the Good News of Jesus, we cannot know who all we will reach. We may even reach those who we weren't seeing. Or perhaps another way is that we need to be open to reaching everyone we come into contact.

Berea is the next town in Paul's journey. My focus is on verses 11 & 12. Berea, however, is not what Paul's enemies would have thought. If a person leaves a place, then he would travel to another via the main road. Paul had to leave in the cover of darkness because people were wanting him stopped. As Paul would tell the Corinthians, preaching Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentile. (1 Cor. 1.23)

Here Paul found a bit of respite because the city wasn't on a major highway. It was on a back road. Consider leaving Stuttgart to head to Pine Bluff. But instead of heading to Pine Bluff, you decide to go to Almyra. Here Paul was refreshed because it might be some time before his critics found him. But then there was eagerness in his audience. They had an open mind to hearing things of God and Jesus. But unlike many today, they didn't just take his word.

How many peopled do you know around you hear something and they automatically assume that it's solid. A friend recently saw how Judge Scalia resigned his weekend job as a scout master because of the decision of the BSA. He forwarded it to me, and I pointed to him that the source is satire. He was glad he didn't post that story as the truth for what might have been thought.

But this isn't just current events. There are many who will fall in line with what a preacher says because of who he is, what he has earned by way of pedigree or diplomas. I can imagine how comforting it is that what I preach isn't accepted out and out, that you take notes and consider what I've said in light of the Gospel message.

When we open the Word, when we look at our Bibles, do we seek to understand what we read, what we hear from other people, be they our friends, family or preacher? This is the lesson that the Bereans are teaching us. (Though it would also be an interesting study that I hadn't thought until yesterday, why does Luke now mention Greek women and men in that order?)

Then Paul's break was over. His critics didn't find him readily, but they did find him. He left in a hurry to Athens with half his team staying behind to help establish the Church there. He arrives in Athens, having taken a ship. My focus is on verse 16, 22-23.

This city teaches us about the opportunities that present itself. Too often, something comes along and instead of seeing ways to preach Jesus, we react to it. For example, a family comes to church. The dad is an accountant who is known for his shady practices. Rather than seeing a person who is open to the Gospel, we tend to shun and rain on him and the sins of thievery. Or perhaps we see a couple of men seeking to become married.

What would your reaction be? What should it be? Here are a couple of men who have come to a church to be married. One hand, they may be trying to set the church up. Perhaps. But they are at a church. What should they see and hear?

Paul took advantage of what he saw. He saw idols to everybody and everything. And just in case the city forgot a god, they had one to the “Unknown God”. The people, Paul surmised, were ripe for hearing about the unknown God. After all, He is unknown. Jesus comes from a no-count community in a no-count country. No one in Athens, the home of modern philosophy and civilization, would have heard of this Jesus of Nazareth.

We have opportunities all around us all the time to share the good news, to speak into another's lives if we see the invitation. Idolatry was just a symptom. The cure was Jesus. They didn't need to hear a message of how each of their gods were inferior. They needed to know the Creator of the Heavens and His Son who came to pay our punishment, not to dole it out, as their perceptions taught.

Three cities have shown us that the most unexpected people will respond to the Good News. Three cities have shown us that there is a need to keep an open mind on the standard of God's Word. Three cities have shown us that there are opportunities if we but look for them instead of react to events. What else have these three cities shown you?

To Waive or Stand? - Acts 16.22-41 (Sermon)

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and the Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

These are the first two, albeit long, sentences of the Declaration of Independence, passed unanimously by the 13 United States of America on July 4^th, 1776. Since that time, we have had good people lay down their lives to secure these rights and freedoms that we truly enjoy. On this Memorial Day, 2013, we should remember those sacrifices that have been made on our behalf. These brave men and women have followed the ultimate example set forth by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Since that time, we, as a nation, have been pursuing the last, Happiness. We’ve tended to forget that we were not promised by the Founding Fathers of this once great nation to actually achieve happiness here. We have the right to pursue it. Perhaps some will obtain it, perhaps some will not. We fight with one another in social media, the public arena and in the courts what it means to have our rights. We forget that our rights are conditional, that we are free to pursue them until they trample another’s rights. For example, I am free to play my music as loud as I want until I rob my neighbors the right to peace and quiet. My neighbor has a right to landscape his yard anyway he wants until he starts violating my right to my property because he’s planting beyond his yard.

Then of course we have those who want to pursue choices and we re-label them to make them seem like the same right. If you disagree with those beliefs and refuse to see them as nothing more than bad choices, you are labeled a hate monger, or bigot. Same gender marriage is one such example. I do not support it, and I will never vote yes. Now am I being judgmental about this? Not at all. I know that Paul tells the Church in 1 Cor. 5 that we aren’t to judge those who don’t know better. It’s only with those claiming to follow Jesus and are embracing their sins that I have a problem with.

Yet in our ever loving battle for our personal rights, there is a tough question that we must ask regularly. When should I waive my rights and when should I stand up and fight for my rights? What makes this a hard question is that we are Americans. We have always fought to have our rights, and even fought so others could have their freedoms and rights. So this idea of potentially waiving our rights is completely foreign to us.

But we are Christians first and foremost so let us consider Paul. We are in Acts 16.19. To catch us up, they’ve come to Philippi and are currently staying with one their first converts in the city, a lady by the name of Lydia. And now it gets interesting in this city. Paul and Silas were daily going to the people to proclaim Jesus and His saving grace, but they had a girl following them being their herald. Yet she wasn’t just any girl. She was a possessed fortune telling girl. Her owners made a living from her. Which is better? To have people of good repute, people whose lives have been changed by the Gospel, telling others of who you are, or someone like her, whose life wasn’t changed by the good news? Her witness was vexing to Paul, a thorn in the side. She would be a thorn to anyone today preaching. So Paul took care of her cast the demon away. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, as the axiom goes. That’s where we pick up our text in verse 22. Let’s read the text.

Paul and Silas are citizens of Rome. As I’ve stated before, citizenship has its privileges. He could have a fair trial and then just sentence that was not public or humiliating. Being stripped and then caned was both. But they waived this right at this time. There is another time, Acts 22, where Paul was about to be flogged at that time. He stood up for his rights then. What was the difference? Why did he allow himself to be caned in Philippi, but didn’t allow himself to be flogged, or whipped, in Jerusalem?

It is the ends here. The caning was a means to preaching to more people, those who were sitting in the Philippi prison. The flogging would not. Instead the Centurion was using the whip to derive the “truth” from Paul. Paul would have gladly given the truth without the pain. There wasn’t a prison cell waiting for Paul in Jerusalem. He knew that town well, and he knew what to expect. But in Philippi, he allowed it. God blessed him for it.

Of course I might be asked if Paul truly had the chance to waive his right to trial. The passage suggests that this happened quite quickly. It is a valid point. And then I think to the passage Paul wrote to the Romans in 8.28: God will work all things to the good of those who love Him and are called to His purpose. Paul, then at least is showing faith in not struggling to retain his rights as a Roman Citizen. He was always looking to share the Good News. Philippi seemed to offer the opportunities to do just that whereas Jerusalem did not.

So what does this mean for us this morning? Waiving our rights and taking a stand for our faith is of the hardest challenges that we face on a regular basis. Too often it is too easy not to take a stand, to enjoy the camaraderie of our non-Christian family and friends. Paul instead sets the bar high for us so that we can rise to the challenge, especially when the world around us seems to be ever lowering the bar of what is acceptable.

So how do we know when to stand and when to waive? First I want to remind you that each of us should be about the mission before us. Noah was the example Peter refers to as having bore witness for God for 120 years. Are we bearing witness where we are in our own lives? We live among some pretty hurting people. Divorces and bad relationships are all around us. Kids are rebelling, being even more wild than their parents were as youth. Twisters are devastating places not too far from home. People lose their homes all the time, but not always to disasters. Perhaps their losses come from financial turmoil which can be as ever devastating. This doesn’t even include the myriad of other sources of woe and pain. Bottom line is that they need hope that can only come from Christ Jesus. But how can they believe unless they hear? How can they hear unless someone tells them? How will someone tell them unless someone goes? You are that person. Or in other words, you must ask yourself: Do you have a concern for the loss?

Having a concern is more than just a passing thought about the loss. It is like when I’ve been cooking, frying up sausages in the kitchen. Then as I move to another task I see my daughter start reaching for the pan of hot oil, I am well motivated to forcibly grab her away from the danger. But then she is my daughter. So start small. Start with your dearest friends and family. Are they walking with the Lord? If not, have you earnestly told them why they need to?

Perhaps this question could have preceded the first question. This question to ask that helps us know when to waive is: Do you have the faith required? Paul gave a pretty powerful promise that all things will work to the good of those who love God. It isn’t easy, I know. I’ve been dealing with taking a stand for the faith. I’ve had some unexpected support, but then I’ve also been hit hard from where I’ve least expected. But I know that my family will be the better for it.

Besides, walking in faith is not like you are by yourself. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us if we but listen. You also have me, as I have you, as we have one another to encourage each other in the faith. We are a family. A book I am reading right now had an anecdote that I thought sums up the American Church today. In it, as the character was idling at a red light as he recalled the old stone church that had once stood on the now vacant lot for sale. At one time, there was a group of people doing life right, living together in the faith. We are a family. That’s one of the reasons I look forward to Sundays, to see each of you.

Now the final question that can be answered with ease after these previous two: Is this choice I am making going to advance or hinder the spreading of the Good News, the spreading of God’s love and grace? There are times that you, as an American, will want to say, “Stop!” Here is the hard part about it: There are no fast rules about when it’s a time to say, “Hey wait!” Sometimes we will not be able to clearly see the road and know that the Gospel will be advanced by taking a particular avenue. But faith comes in at that point. 

Leading of the Spirit - Acts 16.6-12 (Sermon)

49 days ago, we celebrated Easter. Today is the day of Pentecost. This day, about 1980 years ago, give or take, the church was born. The people who had come or stayed in Jerusalem from the Passover were now witnesses to this great and monumental event.  It started with the rushing wind, though there was no wind. Then the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles, as tongues of flame. He then enabled them to communicate the Gospel message to everyone listening in his or her native language.

Can you imagine what that would have been like? 3,000 people came to know the Lord that day. 3,000 people repenting of their sins and being clothed into Christ Jesus. No church plant can claim such success! 3,000 that day, with the Scriptures telling us that the Lord was daily, DAILY, adding to those being saved!

I did get ahead a little bit. They heard the initial good news, the masses, after being led by God to where the Apostles were. But not all of them were amazed. They thought that this was a neat parlor trick brought about by too much wine. They scoffed. So Peter then stood up and gave account to what it all meant. He showed them how Jesus was the long awaited Savior of Israel. And that this is the same Jesus that the crowd had 50 days prior, called to be crucified. But the good news is that Jesus did die and was buried, but he conquered death to pay our sin debt to God, our Heavenly Father. He continued that in order to become right with God, they would need to do two things: Repent and be immersed into Christ for not only the forgiveness of our sins, but also to receive the Holy Spirit.

We forget that last part, too often. Oh, we know in our heads that when we are immersed, we receive the Holy Spirit, but do we allow that knowledge to affect our hearts and our actions? Or do we tend to continue on with our daily lives paying mind only when we hear or read about the Spirit?

As we continue our journey through the book of Acts, Acts 16 this morning, verses 6-12, we find that Paul is continuing on in his journey having added Timothy, and a few verses later, Luke, our book’s author. Here, we see the Holy Spirit working actively, in a way that hasn’t been seen since Acts 2. Let’s read the text: [Read]

Here we see that Paul has a plan, but the Spirit directs him differently. Then Paul adjusted his plan, only to be denied once again. Finally, the Holy Spirit gives Paul a vision to follow. There are a few lessons here that we should take to heart about the Spirit.

As we know, He is already part of our lives, if we’ve been baptized into Christ Jesus. But are we sensitive to the Holy Spirit? That is something that comes from spending time. Paul, as he is traveling, preaching Christ, has been a Christian to this point perhaps as many as 10 years now. We know that he spoke of going to Arabia for 3 years before going to Jerusalem to meet the Apostles. We also get the sense that he was in Antioch for a number of years. We can’t be sure how much time has passed, but we do know that to this point, Paul is not a new believer. He has developed a spiritual life that allows him to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

We can as well. Paul went into study, spending time with the Lord in prayer, meditation and the Word. I suspect that he looked at the Old Testament with new eyes in his time preparing to meet the Apostles in Jerusalem. We know that he fasted the first days waiting to be healed, he did so again before going out on the first missionary journey with Barnabas and again when he appointed elders in each of the churches they planted. And he fellowshipped with the believers. They became family to him.

Just as Paul did, do we spend time in the Word? We need to spend time in the Word so that by it, we might grow. This was one of the most common problems that Paul dealt with, immature Christians who refused to consider the Word. But looking at the word for understanding isn’t enough. We also need to be able to gather together to encourage one another with the Word. Past few weeks, it seems that through our time of fellowship on Wednesdays has refocused how I viewed passages. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Now I am going to step on some toes here, including my own. Praying to God doesn’t seem to be a problem. I’ve adopted Paul’s advice to the Thessalonians, to have a constant attitude of prayer. But here is where I am weak: the other half is fasting. Its been said that God has never told us to fast as Christians. This is true. There are no commands about it. Paul, Peter, James and John never wrote about this exercise. But what of precedent? We after all meet on Sundays, the first day of the week, because the early church met on the first day of the week, because Christ arose on the first day of the week. If we follow that precedent, then why not the precedent of fasting, especially when we have a monumental decision to make, such as a direction for the church, or installing a elder or preacher. And this is hard to say because I know that there is lunch waiting for us when I finish the message here.

So let’s move on to the next lesson about the Holy Spirit. When He guides us, it is to help us in our mission. Remember, we were all called to be witnesses of all that Christ has done and taught. It isn’t just a select few who are to carry this out. Now how was Paul’s guidance a help to the mission? We know that from Peter’s writing, where Paul wanted to travel with the Good News, Peter would instead travel. There is that side of the coin. Another side is that Paul was uniquely qualified to take the message west unlike any of the other Apostles. Paul was a Roman citizen. There would be no way that Caesar would grant audience to any of the other Apostles. But as a citizen, Paul had that right. So the Holy Spirit helped him move towards Rome.

Now about us. By listening to the Holy Spirit, we are able to make choices that are between good and better. Next week, we will see Paul make such a choice. His choice was to stand up for his rights as a citizen, or to trust God to advance the Good News. These are the choices that we need to make. Is what I am doing advancing the Gospel message? As a parent, am I making sure that what my children are exposed to pro-Jesus? Now I have children, but you have grandkids or nieces and nephews. They are needing to be influenced as much by you as you possibly can.

Often, I’ve seen my parents do this, to allow my nieces and nephews to carry on as they would at their own homes. Do you know I get ribbed for not allowing Sponge Bob or even Dora the Explorer in my home? This is on top of my attitude about Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. But I believe that I need to make sure that I am teaching them to follow Jesus as much as I can. When there is a show that is questionable, then we sit and talk about it. Ricky loves picking apart these evolution shows such as “Walking with the Dinosaurs” or even “Meer Cat Manor”.  My point is, make sure that we are making the choices that best helps you to further your witness to those around you. This is done when we listen, when we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

Now there is a final lesson here. Paul was not mandated to go the Macedonia. God may prohibit us from doing something. But God will not force us to do something. For example, Paul received a vision of a Macedonian. He was not told he had to go that direction. He was free to go another direction.

Jonah and the fish doesn’t count. The fish was God’s punishment for Jonah disobeying God in the first place. Going to Nineveh was Jonah’s acceptance of God’s will, to carry the message, to a people God wanted to reach. Jonah repented of his disobedience. Now mind you, Jonah is a bit different in that he signed up to be a prophet of the Lord. When a person accepts that responsibility there is a surrender of free will to a great extent.

Come to think of it, there is a surrender of free will when we come to Christ. The Word is always challenging us to live a higher standard. We can see how the world around us lives. People who don’t know Jesus, who are not truly clothed in Christ, live a truly selfish life. We who are in Christ are encouraged, not forced, but encouraged to live a selfless life. Even then, God, by the power of the Spirit, the same power, Paul wrote, that raised Jesus from the dead.

We have this same Spirit who gives us this same power so that we can live a life different from those around us. So let this day of Pentecost be the day that we decide that we are going to be more sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, that we will be more open to sharing God’s love with those who are hard to love, that we will be the witnesses of the message. Then perhaps once again, we can see God add to those being saved.

Reaching the Hurting - A Mother's Day Message (Sermon)

This day 99 years ago, Anna Jarvis successfully changed our society by having the 2^nd Sunday of May forever known as Mother’s Day, a day in which we celebrate the women who are important in our lives, who have raised us, guided us, mended our wounded knees and our wounded hearts. And as we are commended by Paul, we should indeed honor our mothers. This is the day that moms will receive cards and flowers and calls from children who’ve moved away. Some will arise to find their family serving breakfast in bed. Some might even be blessed enough to see their children cleaning without being told, or at least trying their best to behave and to be quieter than normal so that mom can have the illusion of rest. Some moms might even attend church with their families, or perhaps I should say that their families will attend church with their moms, though not as many will attend church for MD as they would be for Easter and Christmas. But nevertheless, they join mom in church because they will take mom out for a special lunch. 

But for those who would come out on MD, we preachers have tried to be on the ball to prepare, to honor as a body, our moms in the congregations. So we will seek the messages of motherhood from a character such as Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Sarah, or Timothy’s mom and grandma, or some other mom mentioned in the Bible. I’ve even used Mrs. Job for a Mother’s Day message. Some will not look at one mom, but look instead to Proverbs 31.

We will hold up the beacon of motherhood and praise them. Some churches will give the moms in attendance a flower of sort. I used to give a rose to each mom. Some would give a bigger gift for the mom with the most children, the oldest mom, and the newest mom. We would have all the moms in the room stand so that everyone might cheer their sacrificial work raising the children. In our honoring, we assume motherhood through rose-colored glasses, whereas on Father’s Day, we will blast the man who isn’t pulling his weight as a father. It is as if we are saying that if you are not a mom, then you are not a whole woman. We can even site Scripture such as 1 Timothy to that effect, that women are saved through having babies, lots of babies.

Now not all women are able to have kids. So when the church is showing so much love and adoration on moms, these women are hearing that message. They hear the church saying you are not a fulfilled woman unless you have children. Or you are not a whole woman. We don’t mean it, but our actions too often betray our message.  So these women, be that they don’t have children, have lost their children, or have been abandoned by their children will skip church in May, since we prepare the week before and reflect the week after. And this disenfranchised group is ever growing. Joining them are moms who feel so overwhelmed that they really see themselves as failures. They hear praise and think to themselves, “It’s a facade. You wouldn't say that if you saw these brats a couple of hours ago!”

It’s led me to look at their point of view and reconsider how we should handle MD. As you might have guessed, I am not going to have a MD message in the traditional sense. Rather, I want us to see, to be aware of the opportunities that surround us, and not just with women who fit the mentioned segment, but to expand our view to others as well, for I am ever the student of humanity.  I can sit at a mall and just watch people and not be bored. But since I've moved from the city life, I am not able to readily enjoy watching people. But we do have the internet and there are forums I do look at. And it is interesting that as I read their profiles, their user names are telling. There is one user name that is “ashleysmom” or another “dadcoach” because he has 6 boys. Some of the names are descriptive of what the person does, “gusbusdriver”. Of course my favorite name that I’ve seen is “forlorncubbie”. Now that is someone who loves the Chicago Cubs but knows they will be destined to be forever one of the worst teams in pro baseball. Marlins are the worst presently.

The lesson here is that often people find fulfillment where they can. They are really seeking purpose, meaning and belonging in a world that is otherwise cold and rejecting. Solomon said of all the things that man can pursue in life, nothing will fill that emptiness that people have. Well almost nothing he concludes. At one point, he said that life apart from the Lord is a waste, meaningless.

In this time we have the answer to speak into the lives of those around us. We have found our purpose and can therefore share it with others who need the hope. How do we do this?

1 Corinthians 5.11-13 Paul is encouraging the church in how the body deals with people. Did you know one of the biggest complaints against the church is the “hypocritical judging”? This is a valid complaint. Here’s what I mean: we tend to expect Christian behavior from non-Christians. Then we tend it ignore non-Christian behavior committed by Christians. For example the context of the passage is that Paul a man is with his father’s wife and the church is not batting an eye. Paul then tells them that this shouldn't  be so. We shouldn't put up with godlessness within the body. This doesn't apply just to the sexually impure, as this man was, but continues with the drunkards, the thieves, the abusive, and the greedy as well. Those who do these and claim to be a believer in Christ put them away. Don’t even eat lunch. But the part of the verse I want to focus on is last part of 12. Since we judge those with us, we must allow God to take care of the outsiders, or the non-believers. Why should the non-Christian come when he sees no difference between God’s children and his drinking pals? We must be sure that we do not however expect Christian behavior from non-Christians. We have radio ministries who are doing just that. Corporations that didn't claim to be Christian corporations are being bullied into complying? There we are lacking grace that allows us to speak into a person’s life.

Another passage that tells us how to speak into the life of someone hurting is Colossians 4.5-6. Paul tells us here that we need to make the most of our time that we have with the outsiders, making sure that we are gracious in our speech so that we can answer each person’s questions. I sometimes like listening to debates. Ken Ham is one. But every once in a while, he will lose his cool with his debate opponent and be a little less than gracious, unlike his radio bites. I am not criticizing him. This is where his fallible humanity shines through. He tends to lose it with “experts” who are refusing to listen.

Finally there is Titus 3.3. We must remember that when we are dealing with those seeking a sense of belonging, we were also once just like that outsider. This is why we need to be gracious in our speech and in our conduct. We must be patient as they struggle with the faith, coming to terms, accepting it on their timetable, and not ours.

This is what we are called to do as Christians. This is how we witness and carry out the Great Commission to the world around us Monday through Saturday and even some on Sunday. The world is hurting and lost. Let us therefore be God’s instruments of grace and love.

In Conflict, Grace (Sermon)

It is interesting that just a couple of days ago, a news article hit the net in a near viral moment. I saw friends reposting that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was holding an informal work meeting with his city comptroller at a pizzeria. When he asked for a second slice, he was denied by the owner in protest to the mayor’s law banning the sale of larger sodas. You can buy smaller fountain drinks. You can buy smaller bottles, or the 2 liters, but the 1 liter and larger than 16 ounce mugs or bottles, nope. That’s against the law which the pizzeria owner was protesting. The report says that the mayor lost his cool using even vulgarity with the owner. He finally left and went to another pizzeria. Later in the day, the pizzeria’s website had so many visits that the site crashed for a 24 hour period of time. Of course, this added more to the fuel to the fire with people claiming that the mayor was so incensed that he had the pizzeria’s website and probably even wifi turned off.

Then on Friday, it was revealed that the mainstream press that picked up on this story, along with all of us net stream users, were duped by a site called “Daily Currant”.  Of course, most news sites were all saying, “we knew it was a hoax from the start.” Talk about trying to save face.

Oh the soda law is real, just not the pizzeria visit. I don’t know that the mayor would be brave enough to enter an establishment that is being forced to reduce the amount of soda it can serve or sell. And though it was a funny article, it revealed how silly some conflicts that you or I might get caught up in can be.

I can’t imagine being told, “Sir, I must cut you off because you have had your limit.” But that is just one area in which we can find conflict. There are other areas. The latest conflict on the news feed is that of Israel and Syria. Which country should Iran fear more? Syria admitted that early Friday morning, Israel launched an air strike against a military weapons factory. I thought that was awful nice of them to admit. Some countries in the past have claimed what was believed to have been such a place was really an aspirin factory. “Yeah, Israel, you got us. We admit it.” But I digress.

Topic this morning is conflict. Not just political conflict, but conflict that is more personal, that hits home. Sometimes we are blessed that conflict happens only at work, or perhaps when one fishing line crosses another. It is a blessing when the church is without that conflict. I appreciate that even now that we don’t seem to have conflict within our family here at Central.

In fact, of my 20 years now of serving churches, this is the first time that I have had the pleasure of being part of a body free of current inner turmoil and conflict. The issues of conflict are in the past, which is a good place for them. And yet, as we are together, as we seek to be about the mission of sharing God’s news to those around us, conflicts will arise. And when we do, our true character will shine through.

So the question we must ask ourselves is what is our character as a body, as a family? In a single word, I suggest that our character we commit to is grace. It is easy to love when everything seems good or even when life is ok. But when life is not so rosy, the ability to love others, or even each other, can only happen if we are a people of grace.

Until recently, I don’t think I was as much a person of grace as I thought I was. I mean, sure, I give grace where I can, and more often than I should, so I have been told. But as we were studying this morning’s passage, I learned that I have been perhaps short of grace to the Apostle Paul.

Acts 15.36 is the start of a conflict, the first conflict within a ministry team. Paul and Barnabas are fighting over giving John Mark a second chance. Then the team, being unable to reconcile, split apart. Let’s read the passage:

The focus this morning is verse 40, that they were commended to the grace of the Lord. Most scholars say that the church sided with Paul in the conflict. But Wednesday evening, it was suggested that perhaps I have fallen into the trap of seeing verse markers as thought segments. I mean that verse 40 was its own thought and verse 39 was a different thought, or event. And he was right. I was. And because so, I have short changed the grace that I should have given Paul.

With every conflict, there are two parties, unfortunately, sometimes there are more. There are two rights, and there are two wrongs. Jesus commended us that we should appear united with our brothers of the faith, at least be reconciled with them. And here they both were, arguing. Paul did not want to rely on someone who lacked the strength, perhaps. Barnabas, being that his was his nephew, being that Mark was a young man, could see that Mark was full of potential if he had the right guiding. And so the church of Antioch didn’t take a side, but commended both to the grace of the Lord. The “them” of verse 40 refers to not only Paul and Silas, but also to Barnabas and Mark. Both men, Paul and Barnabas, needed grace.

They both needed grace because when conflict comes, it can kill a spirit. It can kill a ministry. Grace, on the other hand, heals. We see later that Paul must have reconciled with Barnabas because Paul refers to him as a partner in the ministry. He wrote this to the church of Corinth, so they somehow came together in that the church knew both men. And then John Mark is mentioned as a dear partner in the ministry in a couple of Paul’s letters.

Finally, the brethren of Antioch teach us about grace is that by grace, God is glorified. Consider what we do know about this passage. Barnabas takes one team and heads out. Unfortunately, we don’t know where he’s gone other than to perhaps the churches of the first mission trip and of course to Corinth. Paul takes another team out, for he picks up Timothy in the next chapter as well as Luke not too much farther down the road. So here are two teams spreading the news of Jesus’ love and sacrifice. More people are therefore hearing the Gospel message. More people are therefore accepting this message, which means more people being saved.

Let’s further speculate in Corinth since we know that this church knew them both. How much more powerful did Paul’s message become when Barnabas came sharing the exact same message? Or how much more receptive were the people of Corinth to Barnabas because Paul had already laid the groundwork?

Now let me bring this home. We will not always avoid conflict, be it here in the body, or especially not in our daily lives. Yet what we have seen and thought about grace with Paul and Barnabas also applies to us. How much more receptive will the defying brother, the one who knows all your buttons to push, will be when he sees you respond to him with the grace of the Lord? What about with the pesky neighbor, or the overbearing boss? In every area of life, let us commend ourselves; let us commend one another to the grace of the Lord so that we might be better Christians for the world to see.