Stuck

Hello! Here is this week’s Living Water. This is a remix of Sunday’s message. Great news – whether you have a pc or a mac you can listen to Walk With Me live on Wednesday nights – 8 pm on http://www.yfnradio.com. We also have just added several new affiliates around the nation. Thanks be to God! Christopher

Feeling stuck today?

Maybe you feel stuck at a job; in a relationship; in a rut or routine that’s not helping; in an addiction; in a spiritual valley; at an organization or group?

You’ve thought about getting out but it never happens. Something else always comes up; rationalizations and compromises are made.

Are you haunted by, or overly attached to the past? Do you often wish or even exist as if the past was great and anything present or new just doesn’t match up?

Or do you avoid thinking about the past altogether because it’s too painful or shameful?

Deep down you know something is not right…

Stay and fight for a solution? Start over? They sound good but seem impossible.

What about something new altogether? That’s it! But a new start…scary.

Let it go (even though you’ve tried so many times before)?

Still stuck, right?

Stuck in the middle between old and new; comfortable and reaching; liking and loving; numbed and compassionate; circling and devoted.

Though stuck may feel safe – it’s not truly alive.

Let’s talk about why we get stuck and how we might get un-stuck.

Here are some ways we get stuck: Denial (“It’s not really over,” and “It never happened” and “I don’t have a problem”) and Pride (“It’s not going/ending the way I want it to”) and Fear (“What will a new beginning be like; who will I be if ____ ends, or I let go?”). All of these together point to something we all wrestle with – avoiding truth, reality, endings and losing control. To make things worse, I cringe when I hear the phrases, “just move on” and “swept under the rug” because they don’t work and cause even more damage beyond being stuck.

As you might imagine, truly getting unstuck might have something to do with shifts on these two – avoiding endings and losing control. Professor Walter Brueggemann explains it as, speaking from a Biblical and spiritual perspective, “only embraced endings permit new beginnings.” Not partial, not hints of endings or temporary ones – only embraced endings.

And he’s right. The Bible is filled with only embraced endings enabling new beginnings. The cross is the ultimate embraced ending…Jesus willingly went to the cross (ending) so that the dominion of sin and death could end and the resurrection and new life would occur. But also, in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:18) in which the son decided to return to his father and repent.

Listen to the words of Psalm 32 that is the voice of stuck to unstuck spiritually speaking, “While I kept silent, my bones wasted away…Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity…and you forgave the guilt of my sin… (Psalm 32:3, 5).” Do you see it? Suffering, strife while in denial or proud or afraid; then acknowledging the truth, embracing the need for God’s grace – new beginning – living forgiven.

Keep in mind, the “new” has already come – Jesus announced that the kingdom “has come near (Mark 1:15).” And in 2 Corinthians 5:17 we hear, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new has come.” So the denial, pride and fear can’t keep the new in anything from materializing (this is a key part of the Gospel). It’s whether or not we are going to engage it by first embracing whatever the appropriate ending is. And frankly when we are not engaged with the new that God is doing (which will always be life-giving), we are usually embracing things that are dying or of death.

So I want to say very lovingly to many of you today that yes it happened and it was awful and it was not your fault. I want to say lovingly that the guilt you carry from what you have done in the past is crushing and suffocating you. I want to lovingly say that there is a problem but you don’t have to suffer under it anymore. I am lovingly saying that you will still be you, in fact a more wonderful you than you have ever known. You know, “we are as sick as our secrets” and I am saying lovingly that all the pretending, denying, pride and fear are only hurting you and keeping you from the goodness and grace God wants to and is ready to pour out on your heart and soul. The irony of course is that to welcome and receive that healing and restoration, you have to embrace the truth of what has happened, what you’ve done, what you can’t control anymore, and what you fear; and it is in that embrace that it’s or their power over you will end and the healing and new beginning can begin.

Maybe it starts like this, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God…Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love for they are from of old…Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord (Psalm 25:1, 6-7).”

And when you lift up your soul and trust in Him above everything and everyone else, and He supplies you with the strength to embrace whatever ending you need to embrace today, He will absolutely be remembering you according to His love and grace. Then you’ll see that those dreams that seemed so far away will be as close as a whispered prayer. Those dreams of forgiveness and restored relationships, those dreams of getting clean or sober, those dreams of being free of guilt and the expectations of others, those dreams of being and feeling loved unconditionally, those dreams of living fearlessly and purposefully, those dreams of the past being the past, those dreams of no longer being defined by past events or decisions, those dreams of having a future with hope, those dreams of finally more fully experiencing the joy and peace of God’s presence.

Amen.

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

http://www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook and is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way; and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on http://www.yfnradio.com.

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.
N.T. Wright

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A Confession

Hello! Here is this week’s Living Water! Please listen to a special best of Walk With Me tonight, 5 pm to 9 pm (4 episodes) on www.yfnradio.com. Also, it’s Jenny’s birthday today! Blessings, Christopher

You know how a song or a line from a book or movie can capture how we feel about people or things? 

Well, I found a couple of verses in the Bible recently that do that. It’s funny because I had never noticed them before. They’re in Romans 9 and I am so used to reading most of and certainly the end of Romans 8 and stopping. The end of Romans 8 talks about how nothing in this world can separate us from the love of God in Christ. So then Paul says this…

“At the same time, you need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow. It’s an enormous pain deep within me, and I’m never free of it. I’m not exaggerating – Christ and the Holy Spirit are my witnesses. It’s the Israelites…If there was any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by him, I’d do it in a minute (Romans 9:1-3 MSG).” 

Essentially, Paul is saying that he has great compassion and a burden for “his” people who are disconnected from God. For me, this is how I feel about people who feel disconnected from God, in particular, people I grew up with – those are “my” people. He captures how I feel when it says, “a huge sorrow…enormous deep pain…never free of it.” That’s how it feels many times. And I know that comes from God. Certainly I would care on my own – but it’s much deeper than that. It’s the Holy Spirit that deepens and sharpens the “sorrow” so that it drives me; I spend a lot of time in prayer about them. And like Paul says, I would trade places with them if I could.

 

It’s hard to explain in words, but it’s there. I guess a lot of it is I want people to know and experience what I have with God – the joy, the purpose, strength and healing. I am very moved by stories of people who feel like God abandoned them or wasn’t there for them or just feel like they can’t get close to Him for many reasons – like feeling unworthy or not perfect enough. In part because these are some of the worst feelings in the world; and in part because these feelings are real; but they’re not true. In general, I am so driven to try to show people how much God loves them.   

Just a few months ago, I was talking to someone and I mentioned that I was so blessed to be where I am right now because it gives me the opportunity to reach out to people I grew up with. And the person with whom I was speaking said that he had never heard of a pastor concerned about that before. I laughed; I had never thought of it as unique – I just thought it was what I was supposed to do. 

I also take it very seriously when God puts people in my life – He puts them there for a purpose – whether today or 30 years ago. It’s an amazing experience to comprehend that God “gives” me people to care for. I feel that way about my congregation members as well as family, friends and others that God seems to point me to. As a pastor and even as a friend, I feel like people are “mine” to care for – and I mean that in the healthiest of terms; it’s the shepherd quality in me. There’s a unique sense of belonging and attachment that comes from the Holy Spirit. 

That’s why I have always identified with the first part of Luke 15 – when Jesus describes the love of God as the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one. It doesn’t make sense on many human and worldly levels – but in God’s Kingdom there is a different economy. In other words, each one counts; each one is precious; each one is worth seeking after and risking for.

And I think that when you have this mindset coming from God and you’ve had it long enough, that’s where the sorrow and the pain that Paul describes comes from; but it’s also where the passion, joy and drive to keep seeking comes from too. 

But I want you to know that I thank God for it. It’s not easy or comfortable. It requires a lot of strength, patience and faith (much more than I have on my own) – in other words, dependence on God. Would my life be simpler without it? Probably. But it wouldn’t be as fulfilling or meaningful either. And it’s to the point where I wouldn’t be Christopher without it; it’s become part of my nature. 

As Paul said, “The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that (Galatians 2:20 MSG).” 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook and is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way; and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on www.yfnradio.com.

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point. N.T. Wright

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The Biggest Sinners

So I know that I am late in grasping the phenomenon of the television show The Biggest Loser (the finale was last night). But having watched just a few episodes, I wanted to share some interesting spiritual connections. As you may know it is a reality show where people who are dangerously overweight, with professional medical, nutrition and fitness help, compete to lose the most amount of weight – thus the bigger loser (of weight).

Well, in order for this to work, I need you to switch weight for sin. In other words, if the contestants on the show have serious weight problems – I want us for this discussion’s sake to imagine what sin makes us look like on the inside. Both sin and weight can have devastating effects on our lives – internal and externally.

For example, Psalm 32 tells us about the effect of sin on us internally, “When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up (The Message).”

On the show, people acknowledge that there is a serious problem and that it is time to change. The reasons often given are improved health, overcoming the past, or being a good example for their kids.

How is this different from sin? They’re no different – with possibly the exception that sin can be easier to hide (for a while).

The show is about the journey of the participants to change their lives – to make a real, actual transformation. It’s visible as they lose the weight. Jillian and Bob, the trainers, are part counselors, part drill sergeants, but they’re always focused on one thing – transformation. Through dieting, exercise, and reflection; owning and trying to cease negativity about themselves; and getting to the core of related issues, these people push and are pushed and challenged.

How is this different from the way Christianity and churches often operate? Unfortunately, it’s very different. Here’s how… (And remember, we’re switching the very visible issue of weight for the often less-visible issue of sin in our lives.)

For example, churches often don’t take the problem (sin) very seriously out of a desire to not offend anyone. In terms of the show, it would be like having contestants who all weigh 400 pounds and talking about their cars or their hair or just giving them different outfits – anything else but the actual situation. Listen, if we don’t talk about and take sin seriously, it will destroy people and churches – as it has already. Also, if we don’t take sin seriously, there’s no need for a savior; Jesus didn’t have to go to the cross. Please hear me – if there is no sin, there is no grace – in theory or in real life.

Now it doesn’t mean we dwell on the sins – because once confessed, God remembers them no more. Again, Psalm 32, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Gone. Done. But how many of us carry around sin as if it were 400 pounds of weight – afraid to confess it to God out of guilt or pride as well as not being able to talk to others about it either. It is a silent killer.

Now, on the show, even when trainers Bob and Jillian are hard on contestants, there is little to no judgment – their focus is on transformation. And even though competitors, other contestants are rarely judgmental.  Rather, they are encouraging. It creates an encouraging, authentic atmosphere where transformation is fostered.

Unfortunately, churches and Christians, usually because they don’t want to face their own sins, often focus on others’ sins and thereby create unsafe, judgmental atmospheres. Authentic confession is just not going to be possible there.

Guess what else won’t be possible there? Well, if no one is a sinner and we’re all “good people,” and if there actually are any sinners, but they can’t be honest about it – there will be no grace, growth or transformation. I mean, there is no need for them in that scenario. It sounds comical when I re-read it, but that is how many churches are operating.

On the show, weight loss and progress are met with celebration and the encouragement to do more. The amount of weight loss and progress determines winners for the show. But I can see how Jillian and Bob are encouraging of anyone who is trying – whether they win the show or not. Jesus talked about those who battle for new life, “Count on it – there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue (Luke 15:7, The Message).”

In churches, are growth and transformation celebrated? It’s kind of hard to when we’re pretending that it’s not necessary 😉 So that’s why churches often start to take too much pride in other things that are nice but aren’t central to the cross and to grace. There is a great book on this by Richard Stearns called, The Hole In Our Gospel.

Because the central thing is becoming more like Christ. We’re called to produce fruit in our lives and for the Kingdom. Christianity is, by its very nature, at its core, transformational – lost to found, hurt to healed, weak to strong, blind to seeing, sinful to forgiven, dead to alive and many others. Anywhere it is staying the same by choice or lack of effort – it is dying.

We need to improve at being a like Jillian and Bob by challenging people (including ourselves) to lovingly, fearlessly face sinfulness, embrace grace for themselves and others, and grow and transform closer to God’s best for us. After all, “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new (2 Corinthians 5:17, The Message).”

Churches should be the places where the “biggest sinners” are welcomed, loved and grace-fully transformed. It’s exactly what Jesus did when he dwelled among us in the flesh. And you and I know, people in our families, communities, nation and world are crying out for help – crying out for a new start!

The most inspiring, touching stories of transformation and new life should come, not from a reality television show, but from communities of Christians who understand and acknowledge they are the biggest sinners and therefore the biggest winners (of grace), and in light and joy of that grace, radically love one another, and seek out others to radically love and restore.

Amen.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the state of your spiritual health? What are some ways to effectively measure it in terms of your relationship with God (in other words, not just using “activities.”)
2. What are some areas that need transformation and growth? What can you do about them?
3. If you belong to a church, what is the approach to transformation there? How is that working?
4. Do you need a new start or second chance today? Please feel free to email or contact me to talk about it more

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You: Every Step of the Way (2011).

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

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Rescued from the Depths – The Miners and Us

The world has been focused on and moved by the rescue of the miners in Chile. A miracle? Wondrous? Amazing? The Gospel in real-time and real life? Yes, on all of these. Watch this…

 

The Ditch

The miners were stuck underground since August with very little supplies and no way out except for being dug out. This is like us spiritually. Because of sin we are permanently separated from God who is holy. Just like the miners, there is nothing we can do. They couldn’t dig themselves out – and neither can we – sin is that corrupting and that powerful. In order for us to overcome sin and all of its consequences, we need to be rescued. We can’t be good enough or perfect enough. If you have tried that route, you know that it is exhausting and doesn’t work.

 

 

Hope

But do not despair. Just like the miners knew that they could communicate with the world above. We have prayer. And our prayers are heard! “I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened (Psalm 40:1 The Message).” If faith is the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit exist, hope is the confidence that they can act in our lives. We may not know what it looks like, or when it will come, but hope is believing that there will be a divine response for our good. Hope is so powerful that it can keep people alive in the worst circumstances. People who are addicted and trapped, people who are in abusive situations, miners stuck below ground – anytime it looks on paper or in reality that it’s over – that is when God, only God, can do something. And often He does through family, friends and others who care.

 

I know it is often easy to look at our spiritual lives and think that our sins are beyond redemption, that we are in a ditch that not even God can (or wants to) reach. Maybe we think it has been too long since we went to church or prayed or asked for forgiveness. But like the miners, while they couldn’t hear the drilling, but it was coming. I promise you today that no matter what your situation, no matter how bad it looks, God is still seeking you out. He is still working to break down whatever is between you – sin, time, fear, doubt, idols and addictions. The love of God in Christ Jesus and power of the Holy Spirit are slowly, purposefully moving toward you, to reach you in the depths of your heart.

 

 

The Rescue

And then there is the breakthrough. The drilling breaks through and then they set up the phoenix rescue capsule to be able to bring the miners up from the depths. That apparatus for us spiritually was the cross. Where on the cross Jesus Christ took upon himself everything that separates us from God – sin and death. And when he died on that cross and rose again, the power of sin and death were put under his authority. Yes, they still affect, haunt and pursue us. But thanks to Jesus we can be rescued from them permanently and eternally by believing in what he accomplished – that it was for you and me personally.

 

As Psalm 40, states, “He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud.” The miners, one by one are being pulled out of the depths, lifted up to life. I just watched the last one be rescued. They were cheering and celebrating. This is what we need to do every time someone is rescued or restored by Jesus. That is the meaning of the heart of the Luke 15 parables (lost sheep, coin and son).

 

I know for me, the times when God has pulled me out of ditches, there is no feeling like it. And there is no feeling like remembering those times and praising God for them. It is a life changing moment when you say to God, “I am powerless against sin (and other things) and I surrender my heart and life to you – I belong to you body and soul, life and death – forgive my sins and create in me a clean heart, a new heart that desires you above all things and let me spend my life thanking you through worship and serving.”

 

Just like the light growing clearer and brighter for the miners as they ascended in the tube, the old, true hymn Amazing Grace sings, “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.”

 

 

New Life

As each miner was released from the cage of the phoenix capsule, the door opened to a new life. Nothing will ever be the same for them. Some will struggle and have much to overcome. But, they know, perhaps more than most people in this world, what it is like to be lost and be found; to be dead and now alive; to be trapped and now rescued. I encourage you to stop and take a moment to think of the weight of what God has done for us. And yet, believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the same experience. Unfortunately, religion and routine and human nature can dull the joy and reality of new life for Christians. The knowledge and reality of being lost and found, dead and alive has to be vigilantly kept aflame. As Psalm 40 proclaims, “He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise song to our God.” Sunday worship isn’t just a nice thing to do, it is an opportunity to thank God as a community for His grace and power. Our lives aren’t just for us; they are living sacrifices to thank God for the life and eternal life we wouldn’t have without His grace.

 

One more thing. It is so great that this rescue of the miners in Chile has been on display for the world to see. International effort, technology, and prayer it’s all good! It is a great example for Christians and churches. Our efforts as the body of Christ to reach people in the depths of despair, addiction, sin, and all the things that separate people from God – have to be as clear and visible as what we have seen over the last few days. The celebration of those rescued should be too! The Gospel and good news in real-time and real life.

 

So that soon and very soon, “More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God (Psalm 40:1-3 The Message).”

 

Amen!

 

 

Discussion Questions

1. Do you feel trapped by sin, circumstances, relationships, addiction? Have you ever felt hopeless or ashamed? I want you to know that you can email me and we can talk about it – anytime – no judgment, just compassion. There is no such thing as lost with Jesus.
2. Are you ready for a rescue? Have you been waiting on God for a long time? Maybe tonight is your night of rescue. Read the prayer again in The Rescue section above. How about it?
3. Maybe you have already been rescued and brought to the surface. Do you need to remember what God has done for you? How can you do that to awaken to the reality of new life in Christ?
4. How can your church be more visible in its “rescue” efforts?

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@sbcglobal.net

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

 

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After All (You Can Come Home to God)

Hello: Here is this week’s Living Water. It is actually the final chapter from my book Giving Faith a Second Chance. I just felt like someone out there might need to hear this today. Blessings, Christopher

“He who counts the stars and calls them by their names, is in no danger of forgetting His own children.”

C.H. Spurgeon

It was a familiar ending.  It seemed inevitable.  This son, this brother had gone off, thinking he knew better (Luke 15:11-32).  He thought he was too big for his family, for his hometown.  So he took his share of the family fortune.  He would show them.

Well, things didn’t go exactly as planned.  They never do.  The world kind of got in the way of the plans.  The distractions, the pleasure-chasing, all the wasted time on fruitless adventures – they ate up that portion of the family fortune rather quickly.

“No problem,” this son and brother thought.  He would just get a job and build everything from there.  But the job was worse than dead-end.  And there he was – everything was lost and he was a prisoner of his choices and the consequences of those choices.  He had reached the end of his rope.  And like we have said, there is a certain clarity at the rope end.  And so there was for this son and brother.  The crazy idea came to him, that maybe he could go back to his father and ask for forgiveness.  It’s amazing how the rope end influences us to conceive of the impossible things we swore we never would do.  We start thinking about things that only happen in dreams, good dreams.  We start facing the truth at the rope end.  At the same time, it’s incredible how the end of the rope jars our memories of good things like old pictures of what was good; of what can still be good or good again.

Here was this son and brother, hitting the bottom; how far he had fallen.  It all could have ended right there.  Maybe he wouldn’t die right away, he would sooner or later, but it was his soul that was nearly dead and he was already dead and lost to his family.  It could have been a familiar ending; one we have read and heard about so many times…

But he was on his way back.  “It couldn’t get any worse,” he must have thought.  Facing a living or an actual hell or facing his father; his father might forgive him; hell wouldn’t.  He practiced his speech again.  The distance and the walking weren’t as far as the distance he felt from his dad.  It could have been a million miles, but the gulf he felt between he and his family was much more.  The shame, the sense of failure, the sins and the damage were all wider and farther than any road.

So many questions.  Will he recognize or remember me?  Will they let me back into the family?

He kept walking despite the prison he was carrying, despite the fear, despite the doubt.

And then it was in sight.  The house.  The house and the family he had shamed and failed.  He practiced the speech again.  “Father, I have sinned against you…I am not worthy to be your son…”  The road was the same and as he looked up he could see someone moving toward him; now running.  It was him, the father.

“Can I do this,” the son asked himself.  “Maybe I should turn and run; this feels awful, I think I am going to puke,” he thought.  “He is probably running towards me to tell me to get out of here; that I am not allowed to come near this house ever again.”

The son remembered a chasing game they used to play when he and his brother were children.  The father would chase them from far away.  And as he would run after the sons, he looked bigger and bigger to them as he approached.  He always looked bigger, clearer just as he scooped them up in his strong arms.

Now the father was running toward the son again.  The once impossible distance was now rapidly disappearing.  The father was coming from his house – the son coming from the rope end.  And just like before, the father became bigger as he came closer.

The son looked down as to hide.  And when he looked up again the father was there right in front of him his arms first raising and then opening…opening for an embrace.

“He wants to hug me?” the son thought in confusion.  And then it happened.  The son was in the arms of the father again.  The father embraced and kissed the son.

And all the son could think was, “I don’t deserve this, I am not worthy of this man’s embraces and kisses.”  He thought of his speech.  “I have to say my speech about how I am not worthy.”

He tried to stammer out the words, but then he realized that his father wasn’t listening; his father was already starting to organize the party.  What about the punishment?  What about the condemnation?  What about the speech about awful he was?

See, the return spoke all the more than any speech and confession…he could come home after all; because he came home first in his heart.  Before he even took a step with his foot, he was already home.  The miles, the distance, and the sins all can be miraculously bridged with that one lean and lurch and tilt of the heart.

So that after all, for the son and for us, there is an open seat, we can be recognized; we can be found, heard and held.  After all, our souls can breathe again, the eclipse can pass, and there can be real fulfillment.  After all, the prison door can open and the questions can be answered.  After all, for the son and for us, it can be like this and more by returning through the broken pieces of our hearts.

After all, for the son and for us the celebration can begin…

1. Have you been or have you ever tried to make it on your own and failed? Can you share about that and how it felt, if you were able to, to go back?
2. Is there any chance God could be like the father in this story? Why or why not?
3. Could you also come home to God in your heart before you even take a step? Are you ready to do this through asking for a second chance?

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An Open Love Letter

Hello: When we think of Valentine’s Day – we think chocolate, flowers, and romantic dinners. But how about a “love” letter? “To love someone is to help them love God,” said Soren Kierkegaard. Please read this for yourself, use it to start a conversation, or send it as your own to someone…

“When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home he calls his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Luke 15:5-6

February 2010

Dear ____________________

First of all I just want to tell you how much I love you and care for you. You have made such an impact in my life. I can think of many special memories we share. If God had not brought you into my life, things would be very different. I am so thankful to God for you.

And that is why I am writing to you. You see, I have thought about this message to you so many times. I have prayed it and prayed about it many times. In fact, I want to apologize for not saying or writing this to you sooner. It’s that important and yet and I just could never find the right words or right time. Or maybe I was just afraid.

But not anymore. I feel like God has moved in me and my life and the time has come for me to share this message with you. Like I said before, you have meant so much to me. And that is why the thought of not sharing eternity with you in God’s presence is motivating me to share how much having Jesus as my savior has meant to me and how I want you to share in this too. The thought of being in Heaven without you breaks my heart. I want you to be there.

As well, I have watched you for a long time. And I have lifted up many prayers for you. And I have watched you wrestle with many demons, questions and emptiness. Believe me, I have my demons and questions too! But despite being a sinner, I have a peace and a power and hope that is beyond anything that can be achieved, bought or found in this world. Thanks to Jesus, I have something that nothing in this world can take away, no disease, no loss, no defeat – nothing in this world is greater than His love for me.

And I want you to have this too. This way of life that is by no means easy! But I reached a point where I realized that I couldn’t (and didn’t want to) do this life on my own – whether it was salvation or figuring things out or withstanding all the things that we face in life.  And so I turned to Jesus and I asked him to be the Lord of my life, forgive my sins, save me, remove my guilt, heal me, give me a purpose and be my rock and compass – none of which I could do for myself. And since then things have never been the same. When I think of my life without Christ ruling in my heart, I seriously wonder how I made it; and I see how hard it was at times and how empty and alone I felt. Do I still fall short? Absolutely. And yet he continues to shape and mold me. Not fun at times, but I know His love for me is unconditional and never-ending and unlike anything I have ever known. I would love to tell you more about how I gave my heart and life to Christ. I would also love to pray this with you in person or over the phone.

I know you may be thinking that God doesn’t remember you or it’s too late or you are no longer worthy or a whole bunch of other things. Or that maybe your heart is so broken now that there is no hope. Or that you are doing fine on your own and that you don’t need God. Or that maybe you have been going through the motions and rituals all your life but have never made a personal commitment to Jesus. But the great thing, the best thing is that through Jesus dying on the cross and rising on Easter, we get a second chance (a third, fourth and fifth and so on). No heart or life is so broken or cold or numb that it is beyond the reach of Jesus’ love. It really is that amazing! I have felt it in my life so abundantly that my heart overflows with thanksgiving to God.

I need to tell you today that I love you. I need to tell you that God loves you more than you know and always has and that He is waiting for you to turn or come back to Him. I need to tell you to ask or re-welcome Jesus into your heart today. I need to tell you that I want to see you in Heaven. If I can help you, you know I am there for you.

In Him, Christopher

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Arise

“My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.” Song of Solomon 2:10-11

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.” Isaiah 60:1-2

“They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” Isaiah 61:4

“He (Jesus) clasped the little girl’s hand and said, “Talitha Koum,” which means, “Little girl, arise.” Mark 5:41

“I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son…and he arose and went home to his father.” Luke 15:19-20

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He (Jesus) is not here, but has risen.” Luke 24:5

All throughout history, God has been raising His people up. Up out of slavery, up out of destruction and exile, up out of despair, up out of sin and guilt, up out of wildernesses and being lost, up out of sickness and disease, up out of addictions and prisons, up out of impossible situations, and ultimately – through His Son – up out of death. This is a God of salvation and raising up – it’s His nature and His plan.

In what ways can the Lord raise you up today?

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Postcards from Exile

For Matt, life seemed pretty normal. Wife, kids, house, good job, all the usual stuff. But he felt empty. Worse than empty. All the while he kept thinking, “Why aren’t I happy?”

 

In large part, it was because all those “good” things had crowded God out of the center of his life. And then when it all started to fall apart – it felt like the whole world was closing in on him. He was distanced from God and felt distanced from people too. And the distance seemed to grow and grow. The way back to “good” seemed impossible.

 

For Matt and maybe you today reading this, it is a sort of exile. You see, because of sin, all of humanity was and is in a complete state of exile from God. But it was Jesus who opened a door from eternal exile to eternal life through His cross and resurrection. Believing in Him offers the ultimate second chance.

 

Now, this book of Lamentations from the Bible (passage below) is the voice of the exiled Hebrews – a poetic mix of grief, hope, tears, confusion, remembrance, and faith. It captures the thoughts and feelings of God’s people, who were in relationship with God by way of their covenant with Him, at their lowest point – dislocated from their promised land and held captive far away – but worse – distanced from God.

 

“And yet, God, you’re sovereign still, your throne intact and eternal. So why do you keep forgetting us? Why dump us and leave us like this? Bring us back to you, God – we’re ready to come back. Give us a fresh start. As it is, you’ve cruelly disowned us. You’ve been so very angry with us.” Lamentations 5:19-22 (The Message)

Everything they counted on, knew and understood just evaporated. I’ve known what that’s like. Maybe you have been there too. And we will probably be there someday again.

 

Today, we experience exile or distance from God and others in many ways. But always at the heart of it is a loss of Jesus being the center of our lives. Sometimes, like God’s people in Lamentations, they had been warned and warned by the prophets to turn back to God – and they didn’t. Sometimes we turn away from God and others because of guilt, hurt and disappointment.

 

In his book, The Prodigal God (I highly recommend – our staff read and discussed it together), Tim Keller takes the story often known as the prodigal son in Luke 15 and describes two kinds of exile. One is of the prodigal son and brother – the one who asks for his share of the inheritance and wastes it all on partying. But then returns to the father to find open and arms and second chance. The other exile is the older brother who refuses to join in the celebration of the younger brother’s return. This kind of exile, according to Tim Keller, is due to self-righteousness and a belief that by doing things “right” God owes us – and the anger that comes from not getting what we think God “owes” us.

 

However we arrive at exile, it is an awful experience. Especially the isolation and the disorientation. From the Garden of Eden to the Exile to the garden of Gethsemane and the cross – separation from God, whether we understand it as that or not, is the worst pain in human experience. It is to be separated from the source of life. We were designed to be in full, authentic relationship with God and with others.

 

But sometimes we can even be in church and around other believers and still exist in a state of exile. Just out of reach for connection and community. This makes it all the more difficult. A kind of relative spiritual depravation. In other words, everyone else “seems” to be enjoying God and community. That is hard. On a lighter note, we can find this thinking behind the idea of “Time Out” as a consequence for children.

 

Yet, Lamentations and other parts of the Word show that exile is redemptive – it has a purpose and an end. It seems that God uses times of exile to teach us that He is in fact the center and that joy can only come from dependence and desire for Him above all things. The distance and separation left God’s people and us today crying out for Him in ways like never before. It can open our hearts, minds and lives to experiencing God in new and very alive ways.

 

For it is in exile that perhaps for the first time, we find a truer, more authentic voice for approaching, praising and beseeching God. For it is exile that perhaps for the first time we truly understand the mercy and grace of God through Jesus and how much we need it – need Him and need our brothers and sisters. And it is in that season or moment that exile can transform and translate into homecoming. But ultimately it’s God timing.

 

For Matt, for God’s people then, and for you and me, thankfully there was and is a way back. It’s not always easily visible for a while, the timing is usually not our timetable and it will cost us. But sometimes in life, in a life of faith, just knowing, just holding onto the fact that there is a way back can make the difference between living and dying, between quitting and hanging on, between throwing it all away and a fresh start and second chance. Knowing though, that a fresh start with God would involve transformation – letting go of some things and starting some new things.

 

So the question is, how much longer are we willing to live with the peculiar comfort of the emptiness as well as the episodic pangs of despair?

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Feeling Loved

Jeremiah 31:3

Feeling Loved  

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3 

We have so many questions. Of all of our “big” questions, I find in my life and as a pastor there are some questions that seem to cut across all categories. And if I had to break them down into just a few, they would probably be: 

Does God really love me?

Does God still love me even though I feel unworthy of that love?

Am I worthy of God’s and others’ love no matter what – is unconditional love real?

Would others love me if they knew everything about me?   

I have found that people of faith and people who don’t believe wrestle with these; men and women; young and old. We want to know that God’s love is real. We want to believe that there are some people out there who try to approach loving like God does. But so often our experience shows us otherwise. Still, we are asking the questions, as we should be.  

As God would have it, I spend a lot of time thinking about and praying for people (in general as well as individuals) who have felt or still feel unloved by God and others. I also spend a lot of time thinking about how to communicate what I have learned about God’s love to others.  

Below, you will find the lyrics to a song that I think is a very effective articulation of the above questions…but also some answers. And I have thrown some verses and thoughts in the mix too.  

I Need You To Love Me

By Barlowgirl 

“Why, why are You still here with me
Didn’t You see what I’ve done?
In my shame I want to run and hide myself
But it’s here I see the truth
I don’t deserve You”

(I think there is a part of us that can’t believe that the love of God and others is unconditional and faithful. The voice of this song is asking why would God want to still be around us sinners?) 

“But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

”But I need You to love me, and I
I won’t keep my heart from You this time
And I’ll stop this pretending that I can
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need You to love me”

(We do need God to love us. We have tried to find love in others and in other things – and nothing compares. And we wrestle with needing God’s love and then giving ourselves, our love to Him. And then the voice of the song adds that this love is so amazing that we can only pretend to deserve it – and yet still have it.) 

The Lord says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3 

“I, I have wasted so much time
Pushing You away from me
I just never saw how You could cherish me
‘Cause You’re a God who has all things
And still You want me”  

(We have wasted so much time pushing God and others away – maybe because of feeling unworthy or scared or many other things. And here is the kicker – this God who has all things – doesn’t need anything – calls to us by name, wants and loves each of us uniquely. That is the definition of cherishing. And likewise, in our relationships we can, by God’s power, cherish and be cherished.)  

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” Psalm 8:4 “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13 ”

Your love makes me forget what I have been
Your love makes me see who I really am
Your love makes me forget what I have been” 

(God’s unconditional love for us through Jesus Christ can transform hearts, minds and lives. The moment we can stop running away from or avoiding this love and truly receive, is the same moment that we can forget what we have been and see who we really are (in Christ).) 

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 

“But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20 

My prayer for you today is that this is the day that for the first time or for more than ever before, you feel this unconditional love of God in your life. 

Amen.   

Discussion Questions

1. Do you need God to love you? Why or why not?
2. Is it hard to believe that God loves like this? Why?
3. Can you think of some people over your lifetime that have demonstrated this kind of love? How did that feel?
4. How can you move toward loving people more unconditionally?
5. If you are cherished and treasured by God (which you are), what does that mean for how others treat you?
6. Is today the day that you stop keeping your heart from God? If it is, email me and let me know.   

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Question No. 1

I have been in ministry for more than five years now. All my life I have been thinking about God. I can’t think of a time when I was not aware of God’s existence. All this time I have been relating to people of varying degrees of faith. Many running away from God; many running toward God.  

I have seen people turn to Him in emergency rooms. I have seen people struggling to find Him in funeral homes. I have sat with people wondering if God existed and what that had to with their lives. I have listened to people weep at how long it has been that they have prayed or gone to church. I have listened to people who are very angry with God. I have listened to children ask insightful questions and grasp the depth of faith in God in the simplest terms. I have listened and watched denominations and traditions wrestle with issue after issue. I have read book after book about God and about trying to be a disciple of Jesus.  

And yet, after all the thinking, learning and listening, I think I can boil it down to one question. It is the one question that keeps coming up – emerging from many different places. Places of faith and doubt. Places of hope and despair. Asked directly and asked from beneath a whole bunch of other things. It is a question that is said, and unsaid many times.

It is the “main” question about God as far as how I am hearing. It is part question and part hope and part yearning.  I would love to tell you that most of the questions I am asked or issues I am involved at church have to do with the Bible, theology and church order. I do get those questions and that is great. But it is this question that I hear most often being asked directly and in not so many words… 

Here it is –  “Will God and you (pastors, fellow believers, church members, humans) still love me even if – I mess up, keep messing up, despite all my problems, though I will never be perfect, and even if I am convinced and act as if I am not loveable nor worthy of it?”  

It is at the heart of so many things. It is often why people join churches; and why they leave. A lot of effort is put into trying to find the answer to this question as well as proving the answer – sometimes over and over. This question is the driver for a lot searching and seeking not only for God but often then through other faiths and belief systems. It is often why people hide and why people act out to be noticed.   

The idea of belonging to, or being rejected by God and others, other Christians in particular is so powerful. It is a fear and a dream. It is the source of unspeakable joy and comfort for many; and unspeakable pain for many too.   

Even in Jesus’ time it was. He arrived at a time when the religious people of the time had taken the wonder, mystery and grace of living in covenant, grace and promise with God and turned it into their own “club.” They got very good at saying who was “in” and who was “out.” I suppose this is a human nature thing. Because we could say the same thing about many churches today.  

So for then and today, Jesus’ answer to the above question is found in Luke 15. The club people were saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable…(Luke 15:2-3).” And it is the story of having one hundred sheep and losing one and going and finding it and rejoicing in that. “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 (turns to or turns back to God) than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:6-7).” Translation: “When you are lost; I am going to come and find you and make sure you are back with the group. It doesn’t matter how or why you got lost – what matters is that you are back and we are celebrating.”  

As well, later in the same chapter for the son that went away and spent his portion of the family fortune on “dissolute living.” “So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him (Luke 15:20).” Translation: “Welcome home; what happened before doesn’t matter; I am just so glad you are home where you belong and I never stopped loving you. And you belong here because of how I love you not for what you have done or haven’t done.”  

The answer to this question of belonging and returning and being loved in spite of ourselves by God through Jesus Christ is “yes.” When it comes to demonstrating this to one another, well, the answer is a “yes” but I think we often fail on this. We get caught up in fear and the past and many other things. I do know this – I think the lowest times of my life have been when I have failed to participate fully in God’s grace for others and people have felt rejected. Likewise the highest moments have been when either I have been the recipient of undeserved grace or I have been an instrument of it – when people have felt like they belonged or welcomed back. 

“All of this is from God, who reconciled (Greek word means “make friends with”) us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).”     

And whether it is about God or one another – there is the part of believing it – believing that God and others can be that gracious and loving.  

A matter of faith.  

Amen.   

Discussion Questions

1. Would you agree this is the most asked question on people’s minds when it comes to faith and church? Why or why not?
2. If it isn’t – please send me what you think the most asked question is – I would love to hear your ideas.
3. Do you believe that God is this gracious and loving? Why or why not?
4. How has the desire to belong to a church or Christian group played out in your life?
5. Is today the day for you to be reconciled with God or someone in your life – to experience grace or be an instrument of it?

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