When Jesus appeared alongside the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), they had no idea that they were in the presence of the best Bible teacher of all time. The Lord opened their eyes – in more than one way. How does this story relate to our interpretation of current world events? Click the link below to hear Pastor David’s sermon on this passage.
Citizenship in the Kingdom of God
By now you are well aware of the news: Osama bin Laden has been killed. How should we respond as Christians? Much has been said in the past few days; here are a few more thoughts.
I am a citizen of the kingdom of God. This is due to the work of salvation that Jesus Christ began on the cross and has been completing in me since I accepted him into my heart when I was a child. One way our scriptures speak of this is being “born again” or “born from above.” This new birth marked my entrance into the kingdom of God, which Jesus proclaimed was breaking into the world but was not of this world. This kingdom is already present but not yet consummated. This kingdom is populated with human beings whose earthly mortality will not end their participation in the kingdom.
I am also a citizen of the United States of America. This is due to the fact that my parents lived in this country at the time that I was born. I am certainly grateful for all the blessings that accompany that citizenship – and I am sure that there are many of which I am not even aware. However, my citizenship in this country is only good for as long as my mortal body is alive. At death, this citizenship expires.
Why is this distinction important? I believe that I must maintain this distinction so that I can learn to react appropriately to events that take place in the world around me. When crime occurs in my neighborhood, I struggle with the presence of evil, but I attempt to forgive those who do me harm and pray for those who persecute me. When joblessness and poverty fuel each other in a vicious cycle, I encourage and share resources with (or ask for help from) people around me. When troubles, wars, famines, and plagues of all kinds strike my homeland, I trust in the Lord, who said these things must happen, and I offer a helping hand whenever possible.
How does a citizen of the kingdom of God react to the news of Osama bin Laden’s death? How should an American Christian respond? To be honest, I don’t know.
It is undoubtedly a good thing for the United States that bin Laden has been killed. His death signals a major victory against terrorist organizations, and it allows us to breathe a small sigh of relief after holding our collective breath for the past ten years. However, since my citizenship is primarily in the kingdom of God rather than in an earthly kingdom, my reactions to this event must reflect that identity.
One more person has died without having a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
This person’s death has elicited responses of satisfied revenge among many American citizens. King David praised God for how Abigail persuaded him not to seek revenge against her husband Nabal and the men of his town (1 Samuel 25:32-34).
This person’s death may usher in an era of peace for our nation; on the other hand, the future may hold more uncertainty and hardship. Jesus Christ’s command still stands: we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us – that is, those who persecute the church, not those who persecute the United States (Matthew 5:43-48).
Furthermore, we should agree with Paul, who says that “whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Romans 14:1-12). However, this statement comes in the context of disagreements within the church. How we choose to relate to other believers is, I believe, of far greater importance than how we choose to react to the death of an international terrorist. Our unity is of extreme importance, because it points to the reality of Jesus Christ coming from God the Father on a mission of sacrificial love (John 17:22-23).
Osama bin Laden is dead; this may indeed be a very good thing for our nation. Yet the mission of the church is the same as it was a week ago – and ten years ago – and it will remain the same ten years from now. Our safety and national interests cannot take precedence over the interests of the kingdom of God.
–Pastor David
Easter’s Done – Now What?
At Mt. Haley, Easter Sunday is a big day – it’s our highest attendance of the year, and the morning is full of activities that we only do once each year. What a difference a week makes! What does this have to do with Jesus’s first two appearances to his disciples after his resurrection (John 20:19-31)? Click the link below to hear Pastor David’s message on this passage.
Preview: Easter’s Done – Now What?
The “big event” is over; Jesus has risen from the dead. Easter breakfasts have been eaten, churches have been filled, and songs of praise have been sung. Now the party is finished and reality begins to sink in: we have to go somewhere from here. The disciples locked themselves in a room for fear of the Jews; we will meet openly this Sunday morning. Come worship with us as we consider what happened with those disciples in John 20:19-31!
–Pastor David
Don’t Leave the Light Switch On
When I was growing up, my brother and I had a bad habit of leaving lights turned on whenever we left our bedrooms, hallways, bathrooms, and so forth. Our parents had to remind us over and over again, for the sake of stewardship of electricity (not to mention the monthly electric bill), to remember to turn off the light switch when we left a room. Sometimes I would get all the way to the other side of the house before remembering (or being called back) to turn off a switch in another room.
We have just experienced the highest holiday of the church year: our annual remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord from the dead. What a tremendous high point to celebrate! For many churches, including Mt. Haley, Easter Sunday marks the highest Sunday morning attendance of the year. So not only do we have reason to celebrate in Jesus’s victory over sin and death, but we also might feel grateful and energized because the pews are slightly more crowded than usual.
I know that I am new to this role of “pastor,” and in fact this is my first Easter as a full-time minister, but I have a hunch that our attendance will be back to “normal” next week. Some folks choose to come to church once or twice a year, and they may have already reached their quota for the year. I observed something interesting on Easter Sunday this past week: it seemed that each visitor knew at least one of our regular members. The visitors were family, friends, coworkers, people who had grown up in the church as children, and so forth.
In last week’s article, I wrote that the darkness of Christ’s death must come before the light of his resurrection. Now that the light has arrived, we would be foolish simply to assume that the work of sharing the message of Christ has been completed. It’s like when I was a child: I left light switches turned on in rooms I wasn’t going to visit again. We have shared the light with our once-a-year visitors; we shouldn’t assume that the rest will take care of itself! And since we collectively have personal contact with most of the people who have passed through the church doors, we should find creative ways to carry the light of Christ into the places where our neighbors have gone.
On another level, I believe the same analogy can apply to our spiritual lives, both as a congregation and as individuals. We have experienced “Focus 40” – forty days of prayer and fasting – and now the joy of Christ’s resurrection has illuminated our hearts. Should we simply walk away from that light, leaving the switch turned on in the room we only visit on high holy days? I believe it is much healthier for us to carry the joy of the Easter season in our hearts throughout all seasons of the year.
With these two applications in mind, I invite you to read and meditate on the following passage of scripture:
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:1-6 NIV)
–Pastor David
The Lord is Risen!
Over the past few days, we have remembered and celebrated the weekend that changed the world. On Maundy Thursday, we shared in the Lord’s Supper and washed each other’s feet. At sunrise on Easter Sunday, we gathered with the women at the empty tomb. Later that morning, we celebrated with the full congregation of those who had heard the good news: the Lord is risen! Click the links below to hear Pastor David’s messages from these three services.
Darkness Before Light
This is one of the most powerful weeks in Christian faith – the week known as “Holy Week,” the set of days that commemorate the final days of Jesus’s life, those that led up to his crucifixion and burial. Within a week of being ushered into Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna!”, Jesus was condemned to die via public execution as an example to those who would disrupt the status quo. Of course, we understand that his death had tremendous significance: he was the sacrificial lamb, perfect and unblemished, wholly divine, whose death satisfied the demands of a just God who requires sacrifice to accompany our repentance of sin.
Yes, we always live as Easter people. That is, we live as people who believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, an event the Christian world will celebrate on Sunday. Christ proved his power over sin and death by rising to newness of life; therefore, we too have hope that this life is not the end of the story for those who believe in him.
Yes, we always live as Christmas people. That is, we live as people who celebrate the fact that God chose to become one of us, to live and dwell among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We have the comfort of knowing that God understands our human predicament, and he continues to dwell in and among us in the person of the Holy Spirit.
However, at least for this week, we must live as Good Friday people. We must remember the betrayal, trial, and torturous death experienced by our Lord. We must experience the spiritual darkness of Good Friday before celebrating the marvelous joy of Easter Sunday. Why?
I believe that if we do not fully experience the magnitude of this week’s events, then our message of the gospel becomes truncated. If our message to the world is only hope and peace and joy and victory, then that message will bounce right off of the pain-hardened shells in which people live. Yes, we have a message of hope – for ourselves as well as the world – but this is no mere feel-good message. This is a gospel which has tasted the bitterness of death, which has walked through the darkest valley, which has known the worst that the world has to offer.
Friends, allow the joy of this Sunday to come when it will come. In the meantime, contemplate the magnitude of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Walk with him through the Garden of Gethsemane, into the courts of Caiaphas and Pilate, and along the long road to the Hill of the Skull. And remember that these dark events have tremendous meaning for God’s relationship with you and with those around you.
–Pastor David
The Center of Attention
On Palm Sunday, we enjoyed a children’s program entitled “The Tale of the Three Trees” in our morning worship service. This musical helped to lead the congregation in worship, much like the children did when Jesus entered Jerusalem two thousand years ago. Click the link below to hear Pastor David’s sermon on Matthew 21:1-17, the story of Jesus’s triumphal entry.
(Please excuse our technical difficulties: the wireless microphone cut in and out of operation a few times during this message.)
Truth and Narratives
Lately, I’ve been thinking frequently about narratives – stories that inform our lives, that give our lives meaning and direction, that help us to view the world in a particular way. A narrative can be something simple like “I like how I look,” or it can take a form as complex as your family history. Narratives can be true (“my work is valuable”) or false (“no one loves me”). They can be helpful or harmful, and that is a different quality than being true or false. These stories orient us to the world in specific ways, often in ways that we do not fully understand.
For Christians, the primary narrative of our lives should be the gospel of Jesus Christ. The meaning of our Savior’s life, ministry, death, and resurrection should shape everything that we do and even how we think about the world. We should see ourselves as sinners who have been redeemed at great cost and who have been given a great commission to spread this message of redemption and new life to people of all nations. Our obedience to the Lord is a natural outworking of this narrative; because we belong to Christ, we obey him at every opportunity – or at least that is our goal.
However, this Christ-centered perspective on the world is challenged by other narratives, many of which are false and unnecessary. The world presents us with alternate stories to adopt: the value of my life is determined by my health, safety, possessions, money, and so forth; what others think of me is more important than what God thinks of me; my success in life depends on how much power I can accumulate. Many similar perspectives can distract us from the truth of our human existence.
I met with a few pastor friends this week, and we were discussing among ourselves The Shack, a recent best-selling book about a man who comes to faith after experiencing terrible tragedy in his family life. If you haven’t read this book and are interested, just let me know – you may borrow my copy! Without spoiling too much of the story, I will say this much: the main character has a vision (of sorts) in which he interacts with God and wrestles with the meaning of his suffering. One of the pastors in my meeting this week suggested something fascinating about this vision: what if this vision of God was no mere vision but actual reality?
My reaction to his suggestion was to scoff and say, “of course not – that’s just a vision.” But as we discussed this idea, I came to realize that this reveals part of my own personal narratives. Specifically, I approach the world as if I am the one who gets to determine what is real and what is imaginary. A vision cannot be real because it’s just a dream! Do you ever function in the same way?
How would we think, feel, and behave differently if we acknowledged that God determines reality? What if we adopted his perspective on the world, on other people, and on ourselves? Jesus Christ has the transformative power to reshape our false, broken narratives into stories that reflect ultimate truth, which necessarily comes from his perspective. The journey of the follower of Christ requires laying down our perspectives on life and picking up those that belong to the Lord. If we see the world through his eyes, then we will better understand how to minister to a world that is in need.
–Pastor David
Give Up Despair
Dead bones are reassembled, with muscles and tendons and skin forming on top of them… and then the breath of life enters these bodies, which stand up and form a great army. A scene from a recent Hollywood film? No, we’re talking about Ezekiel 37:1-14, in which God calls Ezekiel to prophesy to the dead bones, which represent the people of Israel in exile. How does this passage speak to the issue of despair in our society? Click the link below to hear Pastor David’s sermon on this topic.