September 30, 2023

Acts 17: 17 . . . he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. (NIV)

It would not be in our best interest to always remain in one happy and comfortable location.*

The number one rule for writers is, “Write what you know.” The number one rule for preachers might be, “Preach where you know.” That seems to be what Paul was doing here in Athens, killing time while he waited for Timothy and Silas to join him.

As a Jew, Paul was comfortable in the synagogue. He understood the rules – written and unwritten – and knew his audience well. Likewise, the marketplace was a familiar setting. It wasn’t only a center for business and commerce but also a place where people could gather for philosophical discussion. Paul clearly knew where to preach.

What about you? Do you have a comfort zone when it comes to sharing the gospel? Is there an audience that is likely to be more receptive to you than others? Is there a setting where you know the written rules as well as the implied ones? Perhaps this is where you should “preach.”

Writers aren’t really limited to what they know now. For example, I didn’t know that the marketplace was a setting for philosophical discussion until I did some research for this passage. And Paul was not limited to his familiar stomping grounds either – he spent a lot of time in jail, turning it into another “comfortable” pulpit. 

So here is the lesson for us: we “preach” where we are comfortable - and when the Spirit leads us out of our comfort zone, we learn to preach there. Our witness is not limited to our current happy place. 

Along the way, learn to be of value where you are.*

September 29, 2023

Acts 15: 28, 29 “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.” (NIV)

The Bible rarely advocates one cultural approach over another. God’s heart is that every tribe and tongue come worship him without having to surrender their food, language or other cultural distinctives in the process.*

These verses are an excerpt from a letter in which the apostles and elders addressed a specific audience regarding a specific problem. Some Jewish Christians were insisting that Gentiles couldn’t become Christians without first adhering to Judaism. What we have here is a compromise that the church leaders (led by the Holy Spirit) offered to help ease the cultural clashes that were occurring between the Jews and Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, without imposing unnecessary restrictions on the Gentiles or offending the sensibilities of the Jews.

So while these words may not specifically apply to us today, they present a general principle that is applicable to modern Christians. They are rules consistent with holy living in the society of the day, not rules to make it harder to be a Christian. And while it was a cultural compromise, the church leaders were in no way watering down the message of the gospel.

We also live in a world where different cultures are learning to live together - and the church should be leading the way for the rest of society. Our leaders could learn from the example of the Council of Jerusalem - 2,000 years ago - to seek ways to be sensitive and accommodating without compromising the truth. It would seem good to the Holy Spirit if we did.

Centuries before it was popular to be inclusive, Jesus started a church in which everyone has equal standing.*

September 28, 2023

Revelation 5: 12 In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (NIV)

The lORD introduces Himself to His people with titles reflecting His great majesty, and expects His people to respond to Him as such a glorious God.*

A well-meaning friend felt I would benefit from her criticism of my summer-camp crush. She thought he was stuck on himself, that he thought he was “all that” (or whatever was the 1973 equivalent). I surprised us both by saying that I didn’t care because I thought he was “all that,” too. I lost track of that young man until recently when he began to appear in my Facebook feeds. Turns out he and I both might have overestimated how special he was. Seems he was “just okay.”

This passage in Revelation reminds us that God’s worthiness is in no way connected to what my thoughts are on it. Everything that God demands of us is his due. It isn’t arrogant or egotistical of him to demand and receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise. He is worthy of it.

What makes him worthy? . . . Besides the fact that he is the Great I Am, you mean? In verse nine of Revelation chapter five, the angels sang a new song about why he is worthy: “Because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God . . .” Has there ever been anyone else whose blood has such power to save? Does this not make him worthy of anything he asks of us? Aren’t his expectations reasonable – in light of what he has done and because of who he is?

He can call humankind to worship him and not be arrogant at all.*

September 27, 2023

Acts 8: 18-20 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!” (NIV)

Power is never achieved when pursued for itself.*

Our church office often gets phone calls from people who would like to use our facilities for a wedding. Of course, they are disappointed when they are told that it is our policy to only allow members of our congregation to hold weddings there. One caller clearly had her heart set on holding her wedding in our building. “What do I have to do to become a member?” she asked. Not quite the same as, “What must I do to be saved?” Neither is it the same as Simon’s request to buy the ability to dispense the Holy Spirit to others by touching them – but it is equally misguided.

There is nothing in Simon’s request as recorded here to indicate that he had anything but good intentions for the special gift he wanted to buy, but Peter, who witnessed his words, his tone, and his body language, could see that Simon was “full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (8: 23) Simon wanted this gift for his own personal gain, not for the glory of God or to bless others. Shame on you, Peter might have said. Your heart cannot be right with God if you think you can buy something from him.

I have seen people use the church for selfish purposes as well - not just for facility-usage privileges but also to further a political career, to increase their client base for a home business, to get reduced tuition to our Christian school, and even to spread false teaching. We don’t always have Peter’s ability to perceive another’s impure motives but we should be prepared to follow Peter’s example when we are faced with them. “Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord,” he said. (8: 22) Don’t pretend that wrong is right. Tell them the solution, and pray for them.

There’s a risk in confronting a brother or sister in Christ, but there’s a greater risk, for them and for the church, if we do not confront.*

September 26, 2023

Galatians 6: 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (NIV)

There never was a person who did anything worth doing, who did not receive more than he gave.*

What is the “law of Christ?” Could it be the “new command” that he revealed in John 14: 34? “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Is there any better way to demonstrate that we love each other than by performing acts of service? How many times have you set out to bless someone in need and ended up being blessed yourself? Probably every time!

It may surprise you to learn that fulfilling the law of Christ might mean more than helping a brother or sister to shoulder their load. It is a reciprocal activity: in order for one person to receive the blessing that comes from giving, someone else must accept the blessing that comes from receiving. In other words, sometimes we have to let other people help us – whether we need it or not.

Jesus didn’t need anyone’s help, but look at how willing he was to allow others to participate in the giving and receiving of blessing. Could he have fed 5,000 people without taking the lunch offered by a little boy? Could he have quenched his thirst without asking the Samaritan woman to draw water from a well? Could he have prayed alone in the garden without the dubious comfort of his sleepy disciples? Did he have to be buried in a tomb that was borrowed from a friend? “Was Jesus a freeloader?” one writer asks. “Of course not. He just understood that when people help you out, they come to feel like a part of your life and work.”*

According to Paul (in Acts 20: 35), Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Based on the example set by Jesus, it is also blessed to receive. Don’t be afraid to let others help you carry your burdens, be they large or small.

Jesus could have done everything alone, but he chose not to. God calls us to work in community.*

September 25, 2023

John 21: 15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” . . . “Feed my lambs.” (NIV)

Jesus did not ask Peter if he loved His sheep, but if he loved Him. Affection for God’s people in itself will not sustain us. His sheep can be unresponsive, unappreciative, and harshly critical of our efforts to love and to serve them. In the end, we will find ourselves defeated and discouraged.*

From this passage, we might assume that it is not necessary, really, to love those unlovable sheep as long as we love the Lord. And we would be wrong. We can’t know all about Jesus based on one episode found in the gospels. But even in this single passage, Jesus recaps one of his most important lessons as taught at another time in another place. Matthew chapter 26, verses 34 through 40, records the incident in which the Pharisees thought to trick Jesus by asking, “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Love me more than these.) And, to which Jesus added that the second greatest commandment is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Feed my lambs.)

One commandment may be greater than the other but they are both commandments. Obedience to the one you love most requires that you love others – and increases your capacity to love them more deeply.

When will we live as if we know our ministries profit us nothing without love? When will we love as if it is the greatest commandment?*

September 24, 2023

Luke 4: 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (NIV)

If it were not possible to forsake his divine status (or at least misuse it), then the temptation means nothing.*

Luke tells us that after the devil was done with tempting Jesus, he left him until an opportune time. Did he ever find that time? There are no more Jesus vs Satan stories in the Bible but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. We can be sure that the devil did not give up after one attempt to thwart God’s plan. I read somewhere that Satan really didn’t know what was afoot when Jesus walked among men but - whatever he didn’t know - he knew that Jesus’ mission would be devastating to his cause.*

So what was so tempting – and bad - about Satan’s offers? Jesus could have turned anything into bread at any time. What about all the “authority and splendor” of all the kingdoms of the world? Jesus said that he had been given all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28: 18), so he didn’t need to worship Satan in order to get it. Was he really tempted to throw himself off the highest point of the temple to see if angels would rescue him and prove that he was the Son of God? As Phillip Yancey writes, “The three temptations do not seem evil in themselves—and yet clearly something pivotal happened in the desert.”* What was it?

Jesus lived his whole life knowing the horrible way he was going to die. We know from his prayer in the garden that he would really, really rather not have to go through with it. Don’t you think that he was tempted, not by the things Satan could offer him, but by what they represented? Wouldn’t Jesus the man prefer the chance to fulfill his destiny without all that torture business? Do you think it’s possible that he was tempted to be the “thundering Messiah”* that the people were expecting? 

That pivotal happening in the desert? I believe that from that moment on, Jesus began to shake off his human nature in order to embrace his divine nature. His victory over Satan was the first step in his path to the cross and victory over death. We have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he was tempted in every way that we are (Hebrews 4: 15). When we are tempted, he will provide a way out (I Corinthians 10: 13) . . . and our eventual victory over death.

Strong as . . . [Satan] is, God never permits him to conquer the man who continues to resist him.*

September 23, 2023

Mark 15: 21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon . . . was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. (NIV)

If we’re looking for a comfortable faith, then we’re not going to want to follow Jesus.*

Simon the Cyrene is the only man in history who was ever forced to carry the cross of Jesus. The rest of us have a choice: to carry or not to carry. When poor Simon was snatched out of the crowd for his moment of fame, he may have experienced some discomfort and even a bit of embarrassment. Mark doesn’t tell us how far Simon had to drag that big old tree but when he was done, it became Jesus’ burden once again.

What happens to us when we decide to carry the cross of Jesus? Discomfort? Embarrassment? Jesus doesn’t give us specific examples of what carrying his cross entails, but he does tell us this much: It involves self-denial on a daily basis (Luke 9: 23). What that self-denial looks like in your life might not be the same as in mine. We are not all tempted by the same things. We have different triggers and different callings. And while daily self-denial sounds like a dismal lifestyle, when we say “yes” to carrying the cross, we, like Simon of Cyrene, will discover that Jesus has not asked so much of us. For some, a season of suffering. For most, perhaps discomfort. Maybe embarrassment for a few. For all, a short journey with a heavy load. And before we are done, we realize that the cross was always, ultimately, Jesus’ burden to bear.

“Take up your cross and follow me,” Jesus said, in the least manipulative invitation that has ever been given.*

September 22, 2023

Mark 14: 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. (NIV)

What would have happened if Jesus had said he couldn’t follow God’s will, the cup was too much to bear?*

There was a short time, in the very distant past, when I felt so hopeless that I just wished I could die. I wasn’t suicidal; I just wanted to go on to heaven because I couldn’t see any other way out of the situation I was in. It was never going to get better, I believed. You might say that my soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Praise God, things did get better. In fact, I doubt if anyone has had a better life on earth than I have.

When Jesus made this heart-breaking confession about his sorrow, I believe the human part of him wished that he could just die right then and there. Not only were things not going to get better . . . they were going to get much, much worse. And he knew it. Everything that he was going to suffer already existed in his mind. Every day of his life, it haunted him. Is there any more vivid example of despair than that?

And yet. With all his knowledge of the horrors that his future held, Jesus also knew the future beyond that future. Jesus the man may have fervently wished to escape his destiny but Jesus the Divine knew it had to be done. And he did it because he wanted us to have that same hope for a future beyond the future. Is there any more vivid example of love than that?

Redemption, the world’s greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world’s greatest sorrow.*

September 21, 2023

Mark 1: 38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (NIV)

God’s call isn’t determined by human logic, nor can the effectiveness of a ministry be measured by numbers alone.*

Wherever Jesus was, there were people who needed to hear the gospel. Why was it necessary now for him to go elsewhere to preach? The short answer: because it was time.

As anyone who has answered God’s call can attest, sometimes God’s will seems a bit random. We find examples of God’s randomness in Jesus’ ministry and miracles. My favorite random event is found in the eighth chapter of Acts when Philip, who was having great success at a revival in Samaria, was sent out to a desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza to preach to one solitary person. Why did it have to be Philip and why did it have to be then? Also, read about Paul’s “Macedonian Call” in Acts chapter 16. For a more recent example: I met a family who, while living in New York, were called to a mission in Texas down by the Mexican border. Their work there resulted in the baptism of one woman before they were called elsewhere.

Random? Probably not. As I read somewhere: “Nothing’s random. Even if it looks that way, it’s just because you don’t know the causes.”* Doing the will of the Father may have the appearance of randomness but God knows the who and the why and the when. Our job is to faithfully go where he leads us. Sometimes blindly. Sometimes randomly. Jesus showed us how (and sometimes why). So did Philip. And Abraham. And many other heroes of faith.

Jesus could have stayed where he was and reached the lost people there. Philip could have carried on with his preaching in Samaria. The family that went to Texas could have felt like failures for their lack of results – but they didn’t. Jesus, Philip, my friends – they understood that God knows what he is doing. And that was all they needed to know. Random? What’s that?

It [the Bible] rarely, or ambiguously, answers the backward-looking question “Why?” Instead, it raises the very different, forward-looking question, “To what end?”*