Go to Where the Water Is

Today, I took the afternoon (as I often do on Thursdays) to finish up the sermon for Sunday morning.  A good bit of my time in sermon writing is spent in thought, prayer, and meditation, and so I often find myself looking out the windows of my church office while I organize my thoughts.  Today, I saw something I haven’t noticed before, something that interrupted my train of thought, something I’d like to share with you:

The snow on the roof is melting in the sunlight, and water drops are falling off the edge of the roof onto the ground below.  Suddenly, a few birds – cardinals, from the looks of one of them – land on the edge of the roof, bend over, and drink from the water droplets as they trickle off the edge of the building.

photo by ccho

I think what struck me about this scene is just how odd of a drinking position that must be for the birds.  Can you imagine jumping into a stream of running water, facing downstream, bending over, and drinking until your thirst is quenched?  I suppose the birds found this water much more palatable than the running water in nearby Bullock Creek – a stream from which neither birds nor humans would drink willingly!

These birds went to where the water is, and they found satisfaction for their thirst.  Water is fuel for life:  nearly all species of plants and animals depend on water for survival.  So we too, in our daily lives, need spiritual refreshment and nourishment.  Where do we find water for the soul?

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39 NIV)

Friends, in your everyday walk of faith, go to where the water is:  even Jesus Christ, the one whose birth we celebrate this season, whose glory was revealed on the cross and in the empty tomb, whose Spirit dwells in those who believe, whose return we await with great hope and anticipation.  Drink deeply from this source of life, no matter if it seems like a strange thing to do from the world’s perspective.  There is no better way to live!

–Pastor David

The Olympics and Spiritual Life

By now, our fast-paced culture has moved on from the London Olympics and is gearing up for a presidential election that will take months to resolve.  But today I encourage you to think back on the Olympics for a moment.  Did you watch any of the events?  Did you take note of how various athletes responded to winning, losing, succeeding, or failing?

When we put athletes on display at the Olympics, we give ourselves an opportunity to see the most raw of human emotions in these categories.  For some athletes, the sheer joy of winning a gold medal – especially when such a victory was a surprise – brought smiles to our faces.  For many, simply competing in a certain event was enough of an honor to provide us with a positive experience as observers.  And for a few, the cold reality of not qualifying, not finishing, or not placing high enough evoked feelings of frustration and disappointment – at least in the athletes, if not in us.

I was impressed by how many athletes, in their post-competition interviews, gave thanks and praise to God for helping them to compete.  Usually, this acknowledgement of God’s help came in good times (such as medal-winning performances) or at least respectable times (such as simply finishing an event).  However, I rarely saw an athlete mention his or her faith in God when a frustrating or disappointing result came about.

This speaks to something in our human condition:  it’s easy to be faith-filled and thankful to God when the sky is blue and things are going our way.  It’s harder to remember our faith when things are not so good.

Why, then, do we spend most of our prayer time in supplication, asking God to bring about something good (such as healing, restoration, a job, etc.) in someone’s life?  Why do we spend so little time, in our personal devotional lives and in our collective church life, giving God thanks and praise for who he is and what he has done?

I believe that’s because people generally rely on their emotions to gauge their spiritual lives.  When you’ve won a gold medal (in the Olympics or, figuratively speaking, in real life), your emotions point you toward thankfulness.  When a tragic or disappointing result happens in the race, your emotions direct you to ask God for healing or a second chance.

What if our spiritual lives were to be God-centered rather than emotion-centered?  What if our relationship with Christ were so central to our daily lives that the events of each day could be understood in light of that relationship?  The gold medal would still be worth celebrating, and the tragedy or disappointment would still be worth uplifting in prayer.

But the constancy of our relationship with Christ would remind us that the most important thing in our lives is that relationship.  Win or lose, success or failure – the real race still lies ahead of us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV)

–Pastor David

Discipleship Goals
photo by Brian Hathcock

Recently, I spoke briefly about five criteria for church leadership that Pastor Dave Perry (from Edgewood Church of God in Ithaca) shared with several area pastors at our last monthly meeting.  I would like to summarize and explain those points here in writing for you to consider.  Remember that these are not rules that must be followed dogmatically, nor do they form a perfect and complete list of expectations.  But I agree with the other Pastor David that these form a good basis for how Christian church leaders should orient their spiritual lives.

These ideas are, I believe, also applicable to anyone who would choose to follow Jesus, to anyone who calls himself or herself a Christian.  No one is expected to be perfect in the church, but all of us should be expected to grow and mature into full disciples of Christ.

So consider these five criteria as goals for our spiritual lives.  Take a few minutes to do a self-examination:  where do you stand on these five goals?  How can you improve?  What is God asking to change in your life?

  1. A personal testimony:  Having a story of how Christ has transformed your life is crucial.  This has to do with being connected to Christ and, therefore, to other Christians.  First Peter 3:15-16 encourages us to be ready to explain what we believe at all times.  Are you able to tell (or share in any other form) your testimony of how you became a Christian?
  2. A regular worshiper:  Setting Christ first in your life includes making regular worship a top priority.  Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks about our need to meet regularly, and John 15 uses the imagery of a vine (Jesus) and its branches (believers) to illustrate our need to remain connected.  Is regularly attending Sunday morning worship a priority for you?
  3. A positive supporter:  As taught in Philippians 2:1-4, the unity and progress of the church are more important than personal control or personal preferences.  You are not asked to say “yes” to everything that the pastor or other church leaders propose.  However, once a decision is made that is the opposite of what you prefer, are you first in line to support and help in that direction?
  4. A person of growing character:  Desiring to be Christ-like and being willing to grow are incredibly important characteristics.  Colossians 2:6-7 implores us to continue always in our pursuit of growth in Christ.  Are you an example to others of a believer who has not yet arrived but is pressing on toward the goal?
  5. A tither:  Giving to God ten percent of all we earn helps us remember that everything we have belongs to the Lord.  This spiritual discipline helps us keep our material lives in perspective and helps orient our spiritual lives correctly.  Malachi 3:10 challenges us to bring the full tithe into God’s house.  Are you trusting God to provide for all of your physical and spiritual needs?

Let’s all continue to grow on the path of discipleship together!

–Pastor David

The Importance of Meditation
photo by rachel_titiriga

When was the last time you spent fifteen minutes just thinking about God?

You know what I’ll say next:  For many of us, our lives are so busy, so full of things to do and people to see, that we often can’t imagine taking a quarter of an hour to meditate on our Lord.  When can we fit that into an otherwise packed schedule?  That line of thinking affects even how we talk about “spending” time, as if it were money – and everybody knows there’s only so much money to spend before it runs out.  The same is true of time!  Right?

Sometimes you can find interesting factoids about how often specific words are used in the Bible.  When I searched through the NIV for words like “meditation” and “meditate,” I was surprised to find that sixteen of the eighteen times the Bible mentions meditation are in the book of Psalms.  (That may be of interest to those of you who are currently in our new women’s Bible study group, which is focusing on a group of Psalms together.)  The other two times are (a) in Genesis 24:63, when Isaac is waiting to meet his new bride Rebekah, and (b) in Joshua 1:8, when God is calling Joshua to be the new leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses.

All of the other mentions of meditation in the Bible have to do with people meditating on God’s laws, decrees, wonders, works, and so forth.  From early on in the history of God’s people, they knew that life was not complete unless they took time to remember, reflect, and give thanks for all that God is and all that God does.

Friends, is meditation part of your regular spiritual diet?  Do you frequently allow your mind to wander in the vast expanse of God’s love?  Do you use something so valuable – your daily allotment of time – in such a way that keeps you connected to the God who gave that time to you?  Do you pause to remember the great sacrifice and great victory that we have in Jesus’s death and resurrection?

I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.  (Psalm 104:33-34, NIV)

–Pastor David