aSacredRebel

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The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:1-10, NRSV)

Jonah went to Nineveh because he was sure God was going to destroy the city. He did not like the Ninevites or what they were known for. He would have been happy if God would have wiped them off of the face of the earth. But God had other plans…

You see when we turn to God, no matter how far away everyone says we are, God is there to accept us back. So when the Ninevites turned form their evil ways and started to do what was right, God was there to welcome them home. Just like all of us!

So delight in those whom God has chosen to include, because we don’t get to choose because God’s grace is too big for us to understand!

near God

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. (Psalm 73:1-28 ESV)

Do not look upon others and judge where they are at with God, because a simple glance does not tell you the story. Can you know the depth of a book by reading the cover, or the back? We can glimpse at what it is, but not know he true depth of passion it possess if we do not dwell in the pages…

How then can we know others with a glance, or a simple small talk exchange?

Or even better how do you say you know God when you do not read His word or spend time with Him in conversation? We glimpse only the surface and Make judgements on who we assume He is and we make Him to be who we want Him to be.

In order for us to know God we must be near to Him, and spend time wi Him in His word and at His feet. Join Him for a cup of coffee, or tea and chat about His dreams for your life, and tell Him all about your days and draw near to Him.

You will never be the same!

lost things…

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:1-10, NRSV)

This chapter of Luke is one of my favorite set of verses in the bible!

I love the story most know as the Prodigal Son. I refer to it as the story of the loving father.

But I had a revelation this morning as I sat in the sanctuary of the congregation I am supplying for and I sent this tweet:

As I sat in the pew and prayed my mind went with lost things and then went to Disney…

I am a bit of a Disney freak and look for examples to use in sermons to help illustrate texts. And I really can’t believe that I did not see this connection before this morning. But the text this week is about lost things, specifically in Luke chapter 15, a lost sheep, a lost coin and 2 lost sons… And I connected this morning with Tinker Bell and one of her discoveries upon her arrival in Neverland, lost things!

You see in Tinker Bell lost things are items that come from the main land and wash up on Neverland. They include buttons, and springs, and the one item that Tinker Bell finds and fixes is Wendy’s music box. Lost things actually help to save spring and help Tinker Bell realize the gifts she has and how she is called to be the best tinker there is. But that is not where it ends…

You see in the 4th movie in the Tinker Bell series is The Secret of the Wings. In this movie Tinker Bell meets her sister Periwinkle. And at one point in the movie Periwinkle and Tinker Ball are going through their similarities, and they both look for and use lost things, only difference is Periwinkle does not call them lost things, she calls them found things…

And it hit me there in the pew, that is really what these readings are about. They are not about lost sheep, lost coins, or lost sons, they are about found sheep, coins, and sons and the length to which the Father and savior will go to have them be found things. You see all of us can be lost, even when we are righteous and not in need of repentance, we can still be lost, but thankfully God looks upon us as Periwinkle does the things that come to Neverland, not as lost, but as found.

Thanks be to God that He has found us and if we wander away, He will go to great lengths to find us and bring us back to the party!

hired hand

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:11-18 ESV)

They always say you can tell who your true friends are because they are there for you through the hard times. People can be fair weather friends, and we have a tendency to treat things that we are caring for that are not ours differently than our own.

We run away for trouble, and the wolves because they are not are and they are not worth our lives. But Jesus will never run away. He will and has laid down His life for you.

Follow His voice and know that He is not a fair weather friend.

God remembered

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. (Genesis 8:1-5 ESV)

Noah entered the ark with his sons and all of their wives. Eight in total, with all of the animals.

They went on the word of the Lord and because of the promise He gave them. They believed what they had been told and built a boat, and gathered the animals under the scrutiny of those around them.

Does God remember you? Are you ready for the ride of your life and to trust the Lord and get I to the boat?

Trust me, God remembers you and all of the promises He has made to you.

Have mercy!

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:1-10, NRSV)

Do yo know what you have done wrong? Do you think about the mistakes you have made?

Most of us think about the things we messed up. We spend a lot of time going over the details of our failures in our minds and have a hard time letting them go.

We are constantly looking at our failures, how can we see the wonder that God sees when He looks at us? He sees a wonderful creation made to wonders! If we can only lay our burdens at His feet, give up our mistakes and hand them over to Him and allow Him to create a new and right spirit within us so that we can have a clean heart and be focused on Him.

Give up your mistakes to the one who created you to be a wonder!

one thing you lack…

And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:18-30 ESV)

Don’t we all want to know what this ruler asked? What must I do to inherit eternal life? But as you see from Jesus message keeping the law is not enough. Even if you could keep the law, it would not be enough.

Then Jesus said to him, “sell your possessions and give the money to the poor.” You see Jesus knew that this man’s possessions were in the way of him following Jesus. So do you have to sell all your possessions to follow Christ?

Jesus knows what is between us and following Him, and that is what He would tell you to get rid of. So what would He ask you to give up? Take it to His feet and let go, because what is impossible for you is possible for God. So what do you lack?

godliness…

If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. These are the things you must insist on and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:6-16, NRSV)

It is good for us to be physically fit, and to train, but the advice given to Timothy applies to all of us, we must also train yourself in godliness.

Train yourself.

What happens when you train yourself physically? Ask any physical trainer or someone who has worked with a trained professional to train physically. If you do not know what you are doing you can injure yourself, and possibly kill yourself. If you are out of shape and trying to get fit you need to get the advice of a doctor and a physical trainer to get you started correctly.

But the advice to Timothy on godliness training is to train himself. Is this safe?

When we read the bible and train ourselves in godliness, we base all we read and know on what we have been taught or brought up in. This is not bad, but it is also not good. There is a reason we gather as a community, so we are not lone wolves. We need community, and where 2 or 3 of us are gathered there is Jesus, so to do it on our own could cause injuries to ourselves and to others.

Godliness is conforming to the wishes of God. By being one who upholds the law and always does what is in the rules, is that what God wants? Look at the life of Jesus and what He did and what His disciples did. They did not keep the law, they used the law to the benefit of the kingdom, and when it needed to be bent, it was bent.

We are to be followers of what God is calling us and leading us to do, not a specific reading of His word, that is what we have always been taught. We need to work together and become more like Jesus.

patience

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, NRSV)

The utmost patience in teaching…

Do we as believers take the utmost patience in teaching those who believe differently than us? We are to use scripture for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, but when someone disagrees with us what do we do?

Most people I know are taken aback and hunch down and get ready for retaliation. This is not bad, mind you it is our human reaction when our beliefs are under attack. We get defensive and want to make ready to defend our beliefs. They are usually ling seated from our childhood and therefore can not be wrong. What I learned has to be true and it can not change. But anyone who has spent anytime in education or has children in school knows that what we learned in school is no longer necessarily what is right. For instance, is Pluto a planet or not? Is Australia a continent or not? Things change. And while God does not change, even our translations of the biblical texts have changed, so the scripture we are to use for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness has changed over time… So are we patient with each other, in teaching, in reproof, in correction, and in training in righteousness?

Timothy is told to be patient with all, and we need to do the same. Do not turn and run, or become hateful to someone who is a part of the body that you disagree with, but listen and discuss with them the understanding God has laid on you and in patience work through this with them…

This is what we are called to be. Patience!

sacrifice

Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. (Luke 14:25-33, NRSV)

Have you seen the preview for this seasons running of Survivor? It is about Blood and Water, how family members will turn on each other, or will they? Would you betray brother, fiance, girlfriend, husband, boyfriend, daughter, niece, wife for $1,000,000? What do you think when you saw this, or read this? Reality TV has done some interesting things, and here we clearly see that family doesn’t matter…

But is this something new? Jesus in the above passage tells us we have to hate our family. In order for us to be a disciple of Jesus we have to:

Hate
Carry our cross
estimate the cost
give away all our possessions

Who can really do this? Jesus tells us though if we can not do this that we can not be His disciple. Specifically if we do not hate our family, carry our cross and give away our possessions we can not be His disciple. What does that mean?

Does that mean that unless I hate my mother and father, brother and sisters, spouse, children and all other relatives that I can not be a disciple? Or does it mean that I chose to not hate them, and therefore I can not be a disciple?

Or does it mean that I can’t carry the cross, or I chose not to carry it?

Or that I can’t give all of my possessions away, or I chose not to?

Do you see the difference? Do I really have a choice in this, are the requirements of discipleship something I can do on my own? If I can’t chose to hate my family, carry my cross and give up all of my possessions, does that mean I can’t be a disciple of Jesus? Later in Luke (18:26-27) Jesus says, “What is impossible for man is possible for God!”

So what is Jesus telling us? He is asking us to calculate the cost of what it means to follow Him. It is not easy and will take sacrifice. But life with Jesus is suppose to be easy, right we have to schedule our church events around everything else in society and make it easy on people. We can’t ask them to sacrifice. But isn’t that what Jesus is telling us here? It takes sacrifice, and focus.

Plus sacrifice isn’t anything we are not all already familiar with. How many of you who are parents sacrifice your time on weekends and week nights for sports games and practices? Or sacrifice your evenings and weekends for dancing classes and recitals? Or how many of you are putting in long hours in jobs you don’t necessarily love to secure your futures or just make ends meet? How many of you are spending money to join a gym or to participate in a diet program so you can lose weight or get healthier? How many parents sacrifice their own wants in order for their children to be dressed appropriately and have what they need?

We are not unfamiliar with sacrifice. And don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the above sacrifices. But why do we do this? Why are we willing to sacrifice for our jobs, our livelihood, our children, our families, but not our God?

Here is a story from Mark Allan Powell in Loving Jesus

I remember talking to another Christian rock fan down in Austin, Texas. He was a Jesus freak, just like I used to be and still want to be, and I envied him. He was just living in the joy of the Lord, reading his Bible every day and praying to Jesus and speaking in tongues and playing Christian rock on his stereo. When I asked him abut church, he didn’t write it off, but he did say that he hadn’t been able to find a congregation where he felt like he fit in. “The church where I’m a member,” he said, “it’s like something out of an old back-and-white TV show. You know, Ozzie and Harriett or Leave It To Beaver. Everybody dresses up in suits, and they play this music that doesn’t sound like anything on the radio and the preacher talks about things that have nothing to do with my life, and, I don’t know, it’s just … boring!” So, he said, he didn’t go. I asked him about finding a different church, but he didn’t know about denominations and didn’t really want to get into all the different doctrines and stuff, so he just didn’t go anywhere. “Maybe when I’m older, I’ll get more out of it,” he said. “Or maybe the church will, you know, lighten up or something.”

Well, this time, I did give advice. I don’t know if it was good advice or not, but I thought about it overnight and then I got back to him:

“Do you love Jesus?” I asked.

“Yes, I do. I love him with all my heart.”

“Would you die for him?”

“Yes, I would.”

“You would die for him, but you won’t be bored for him?”

And so I said, this is what I think the Lord wants you to do: I think that Jesus wants you to get out of bed every Sunday morning and go to the Ozzie and Harriet church and just sit there for one hour, being bored. Do it for him. Call it “bearing your cross” if you like. Just do it. (pp. 128-130)

You see it is all about focus. Where is your focus?

Jesus invites us, to ficus on Him and put everything else in the world aside. Yes it takes sacrifice, but the life we will live is the life Jesus prepared for us. So what are you willing to sacrifice for God? What are you willing to do to follow Him?