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The Gospel According to Starbucks

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The Gospel According to Starbucks

2 Chronicles 7:11-16

James C. Denison

Starbucks is clearly America’s favorite coffee shop, with some $8 billion in sales last year. Since I don’t drink coffee, I have never bought their product. And so I was interested to learn that Starbucks prints quotes from customers on their cups. Some are quite interesting, or even inspiring.

But one cup and quote is not so uplifting. It was given to me last Sunday morning after church: “Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure.” The quote is signed by Bill Scheel of Ontario, a self-described “modern day nobody.”

I have an answer for Mr. Scheel, and for anyone who is wondering how you can experience God today. We have learned that God Almighty is awesome, to be feared and revered; and that he is intimately interested in each of us. We have discovered that he is both love and judge. Now we learn that he responds to our faith, and yet he is unchanging. In everything he does he is awesome, intimate, love, and judge. He never changes. But the ways he acts can change, depending on us.

Let me show you why that theological fact is true, and why it is so crucial to living a life God can bless today.

Why does God bless his people?

God called Solomon to build his temple, a place where the Lord would always meet with his people, receive their sacrifices, and hear their prayers. But Solomon was the son of David’s adulterous liaison with Bathsheba. A man who had won no battles and had yet to accomplish anything of significance. How would such an untested leader accomplish the greatest and most significant building project in Israel’s history?

When we trust God, he responds to our faith with his grace.

The king had accumulated 100,000 talents of gold (3,750 tons) and a million talents of silver (37,500 tons; 1 Chronicles 21:14). I ran the numbers recently: that’s a total of $60,504,000,000. Solomon would inherit a net worth 25% greater than Bill Gates’. And that doesn’t count the “quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone” (v. 14). With this disclaimer: “And you may add to them.”

Who would utilize all these riches? His father had enlisted tradesmen in every kind of work (vs. 14-15). Who would help him organize this massive effort? David had enlisted “all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon” (v. 17).

So it was that a man who had never won a battle, never built a kingdom, never built anything that we know of, was called to build the most important structure in human history. And succeeded. When we respond to God, he responds to us.

Now David’s son has finished his task. It would seem that he has achieved success for the ages. But success in his eyes or that of his people is immaterial. God is clear: only “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways” (2 Chronicles 7:14a) will he bless this Temple.

“Humble ourselves” means to admit that we need his help and hope and direction, that we cannot accomplish his purpose in our plans and power. So we submit ourselves to his plan, his will, his glory. It’s not about us–it’s all and only about him.

So we “pray” as we turn to his power and purposes, not our own. When we pray we “seek my face” with honest, heart-felt, intentional, intense, soul-giving prayers. We seek a personal, daily, intimate relationship with him.

When we do, we must “turn from our wicked ways.” The closer we draw to him, the more our sins are exposed by his light. You see the dirt on your hands not in the dark but in the light.

Only then will he “hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (v. 14b)–the purpose of this Temple.

Only then will his eyes be open and his ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place–the purpose of this Temple. Only then will he use the efforts of men for the eternal glory of God. Only then.

When we respond to God, he responds to us. When we pray, he answers; if we don’t, he doesn’t. When we seek his face we find him; if we don’t, we don’t. When we respond to God in faith, he responds to us in favor. When we don’t, he can’t. This is just how it is with the God who responds to the people he has made.

Does God change his mind?

Have you ever wondered about the times when Scripture indicates that God “changed his mind”? There are numerous biblical references which seem to indicate that God did this. Remember Abraham’s intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah–if ten righteous people had been found, God would have changed his plan to destroy the city (Genesis 18-19).

Other examples are even clearer:

When Moses prayed for the nation as they worshiped the golden calf, “the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people” (Exodus 32:14).

God told the prophet Jeremiah, “At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it” (Jeremiah 18:8).

When God showed Amos the destruction he planned for the sinful nation, Amos prayed for his mercy. Then “the Lord relented concerning this; ‘It shall not be,’ said the Lord” (Amos 7:3).

After Jonah preached to Nineveh, “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).

And yet the Bible teaches that God is “immutable”–that he does not change. Hebrews 13:8 states that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” James 1:17 says that with God “there is no variation or shadow of change.” In Malachi 3:6 God says, “I the Lord do not change.”

If God does not change, how can he change his mind? The fact is that he doesn’t, at least not in the way we think. What happens is that God alters his plans when our actions warrant such a change. He would have brought judgment against Nineveh except that they repented of their sins. He would have destroyed Israel except that Moses and Amos prayed for the nation. Seen in human terms, he “changed his mind.” But not in the sense that a human persuaded him to do a right thing he would not otherwise have done.

We all deserve to spend eternity in hell, for we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). But God alters his response to our sin when we repent and trust in Christ. He does not change his character, but his action. For such grace we should be exceedingly grateful.

Can God bless your life?

So it was at the Temple: if the people would live in confession and repentance, God would respond with blessing and grace. If they would not, he could not. God is always both awesome and intimate, loving and judge. We choose which side of God’s eternal character we will experience today. So, are you living a life God can bless? How can you know? Let’s apply Solomon’s example.

First, have you decided to yield every part of your life to your Lord? Solomon dedicated his Kingdom and his fortune, his people and their work to this project. He could have reserved it all for himself, but he didn’t. He could have spent it all to build an even greater palace, an even stronger army, an even more glorious nation, but he didn’t. He chose to yield it all to God.

Have you done that? God can bless only what he can use. He can lead only those who will follow. Do you begin the day by surrendering it to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Have you decided to use your life to honor his Kingdom? When last did you make this surrender?

Second, have you humbled yourself before this God in prayer? Self-sufficiency is the enemy of spiritual power. If Satan cannot get us to do sin, he’ll settle for getting us to serve God in our strength. He knows that we cannot convict of sin or save souls, that only what God does matters. When last did you ask God to transform lives through you?

Third, have you sought his presence in confession? To seek his “face” is to seek his intimate presence. The closer we get to God, the more clearly we see ourselves. And when we do, we must confess what we find there. When last were you so close to God that you were sorry for all he saw in your life and heart?

Last, have you asked him to use your life for his greatest purpose and global glory? God intends to “heal our land” through us. Do we need to be healed?

According to the FBI’s “Crime Clock,” a violent crime occurs in America every 19 seconds. A property crime occurs every three seconds; a murder every 29 minutes; a burglary every 13 seconds; a larceny every four seconds; a motor vehicle theft every 23 seconds.

30,000 Americans commit suicide every year. 1.3 million abortions are performed annually in our country. Some 16 million Americans use illegal drugs; pornography is a $10 billion annual business in our nation. Do we need for God to “heal our land”?

What is the answer? The better question is, Who is the answer? You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. You are the presence of Christ in our nation, his hands and feet. You are the world’s only hope. God wants to use your life for eternal significance, but he can do that only if you are surrendered to him, humbled in prayer, close to God in contrition, asking him to use you. Then he will, guaranteed.

In The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis makes this assertion: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.” Which is true for you?

Conclusion

God is waiting for you to choose the “gospel according to Starbucks” or the gospel according to Jesus. He has a plan to prosper you and not harm you, to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). But the awesome, intimate, loving Judge of the universe has given us freedom, and will honor it. If we will live a life he can bless, he will bless our lives. If we won’t, he can’t.

On Thursday our Men’s Bible Study heard Afshin Ziafat, our Thee Camp speaker the last two years. His is a remarkable story. His family fled Iran when the Shah fell in 1979. His father is a doctor and the head of the Islamic Medical Association in Houston. Afshin came to Christ in high school, and was promptly disowned by his dad. He had to choose between his earthly father and his heavenly Father, and chose to follow his Lord.

How has God responded to such obedience? Afshin started seminary with four dollars in his pocket, but God provided the support he needed and then called him to the staff of one of our area’s largest churches. He led him into a preaching and evangelistic ministry which crosses the nation. He called him to partner with ministries which are shipping Bibles into Iran and training Christian pastors in Muslim lands.

Afshin will be in Turkey next month and India the month after. God is using this former Muslim to share the grace of Jesus with the entire world. Not bad for a kid who didn’t know how he would eat or what he would do with himself.

What is God waiting to do with you?

The Gospel Paradox

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The Gospel Paradox

Mark 1:14-20

James C. Denison

There were many ways to call people in the biblical era. Kings could send messengers to summon you to their palace. Generals could dispatch sentries to enlist you in their wars. “Trumpets,” rams’-horns called the “shofar,” were a common way of warning people of impending attack, or calling soldiers to battle.

No call in all the Bible is less intrusive, more private and personal, than those we will witness today. But none changed the course and face of human history as did these quiet conversations.

In this post-Easter season of our church year, we will explore our vision, purpose, and direction as a congregation and as followers of the risen Lord. We will assess where we are and where God is calling us to go as his people. To do that, we need to revisit these fishermen laboring alongside the Sea of Galilee. We need to hear Jesus’ words to them, for they are his words to us.

Let me lead you into this remarkable story, then we’ll see why it is so crucial to our stories today.

Knowing Jesus

Our text begins with the essence of Jesus’ proclamation: “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (v. 19). “Good news” translates “gospel.” The “gospel” is the good news that God loves us and has sent his Son to save us. This good news calls us to “repent,” to turn from ourselves and our sins and selfish ambitions, and to “believe” and commit ourselves to living by the “good news.”

This was the message of Jesus’ life and work, throughout his life and work. The “gospel” that God loves us and calls us to follow him is still the essential message of the church today. We have no other.

Now Jesus begins to enlist men in the work of spreading this gospel across their culture and human history: “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen” (v. 16). Reading the text, we assume that this is their first meeting. But Mark’s original readers knew this was far from true.

In January of AD 26, Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptizer in the river Jordan. After his temptations in the wilderness, he returned to Bethany, the place of his baptism. There he first met these fishermen (John 1:28, 35-51) and called them, along with Philip and Nathaniel, to join his ministry.

They saw him turn the water into wine, and traveled with him to Jerusalem for their first Passover together on March 21, AD 27. They met Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman.

And so Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John knew Jesus. They have believed in him and followed him for a year. But not full-time, not with their lives and their futures, their all. Not until today.

Many of us are like them. We know who Jesus is and what he can do. We have experienced his saving power in our lives personally. We have asked him to forgive our sins and make us the children of God. But we are not following him, at least not full-time, unconditionally, absolutely. We’re still fishing for fish.

We have our religion and our work, Sunday and Monday, Jesus and the rest of life. We have fish to catch, families to support, work to do. Our culture has taught us that religion is a private, personal thing, a hobby reserved for Sunday morning discretionary time during the week.

It isn’t that way for the Orthodox followers of Judaism in the Holy Land. We saw them by the hundreds, wearing their black clothes and long beards, praying fervently at the Wailing Wall, living every day by kosher dietary laws and strict legal regulations.

It isn’t that way for the Muslims we met in Israel, men and women and children who stop five times every day to pray facing Mecca. The maitre-d at one of our hotel restaurants had a permanent dark mark on his forehead from years spent praying fervently with his face to his prayer rug.

It isn’t like that for the Buddhist who live by the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Noble Path. It isn’t like that for the Hindus who live every day by their caste system and rituals. It wasn’t like that for the first Christians, more than a million of whom died rather than separate their faith from their lives.

But it’s like that for many of us. When was the last time you surrendered your time, money, life, plans, and ambitions completely and unconditionally to God? You know about him–how close are you to him? When last did you spend time listening to his voice, seeking his word, submitting to his trumpet-call to your soul?

Following Jesus

His call was and is very simple: “‘Come, follow me,'” Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men'” (v. 17). “Come” is a command: “come here.” “Follow” means “be full-time followers, pupils, disciples.”

The construction is plural, showing that this is Jesus’ will for each and all of them.

“Me” shows that they will follow Jesus personally. Their loyalty will not be to a religion, an institution, a program, but a person. The Son of God himself.

Then, “when he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him” (vs. 19-20).

For what purpose? “And I will make you fishers of men.” “Make” means to equip for a job, to give you all you need. “I will make you” shows that only Jesus can do this. And that he will–this is his promise.

“Fishers”–people who will catch something. What? “Fishers of men”–all men. Not just Jews, but Gentiles. Not just men, but women. Everyone. The entire world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). He wants us to love the world, and win the world to Jesus.

But it was easy for them, we think. They were simple, humble fishermen–what did they have to lose? Everything we have to lose today.

James and John had hired servants. Peter and Andrew had their own permanent residence in the area. They had enough economic means to be able to leave their families and support themselves for the two years they would live full-time with Jesus in his itinerant ministry.

We visited the site which traditionally marks Peter’s house in Capernaum. Etchings in ancient Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and Latin show that pilgrims visited and venerated the spot as early as the first century. It is the largest house discovered in Capernaum, and is located nearest the beach with the best view.

These men gave up everything we have to follow Jesus. Their jobs, incomes, ability to support their families personally and be engaged in their lives on a daily basis. While their servants would continue their business, these men sacrificed their closest relationships for the sake of their relationship with Jesus.

Serving Jesus

Now comes the paradox: the best thing they could do for their families and friends was to put Jesus before them. By following Jesus fully, they would one day bring his gospel to the families they loved and friends they left. By serving him, they learned the good news which would one day serve them. Their best gift to their horizontal relationships was to put their vertical relationship first: “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

The best thing I can do for Janet is to love Jesus first. The best thing I can do for Ryan and Craig is to love Jesus first. Then I have his love for them. Then I can model his purpose for them and help them follow him. The best thing I can do for our church family is to love Jesus first. When I am right with God, I can be right with you. When I put fishing for men ahead of every other priority and relationship, I serve those priorities and relationships. So do you.

Helping people follow Jesus is the highest purpose of life, and God’s will for your life. And God’s will is “good, acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1). When we are in God’s will, he meets all our needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19); his peace which passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7), and we can do all things through Christ who sustains and strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). There is no better or safer place in all the world to be than in the will of God.

God made us, and he alone knows what most fulfills us. He can do far more with our lives than we can. When we commit ourselves to this purpose, he rewards and uses us for all eternity. But only then.

Conclusion

Let me close with a call to commitment which is nearly 2,000 years old.

Toward the end of our pilgrimages in the Holy Land, we visited the remarkable and emotional site of Masada. This desert fortress adjacent to the Dead Sea was built by Herod the Great. An astounding architectural achievement, the fortress became the home of Jewish rebels from AD 67-73 in their revolt against Rome.

After Titus and the Romans destroyed the Temple and ransacked Jerusalem in AD 70, they turned their attention to the Zealots at Masada. It took them three years to build a ramp which they used to batter down the defensive walls of the fortress.

Now it was the last night. The next morning the Romans would stream through that broken wall and enslave the rebels inside. Eleazer ben Yoir, the leader of the rebels, gathered the group for one last meeting.

He said: “Since we, long ago, my friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, or to any other than God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice….

“We were the very first that revolted from the Romans, and we are the last to fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God has granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in the state of freedom which has not bee the case of others who were conquered unexpectedly.

“It is very plain that we shall be taken with a day’s time, but it is still an eligible thing to die after a glorious manner, together with our dearest friends. This is what our enemies themselves cannot by any means hinder, although they would be very desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose ourselves any more to fight them and beat them….

“Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted slavery; and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually, and preserve ourselves in freedom as an excellent funeral monument for us.

“But let us first destroy our money and fortress by fire, for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies; and shall fail of our wealth also; and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued for want of necessities, but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death to slavery.”

Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, records the results: “They presently lay all they had upon a heap, and set fire to it. Then they chose ten men by lot out of them to slay all the rest, every one of whom laid himself down by his wife and children on the ground, and threw his arms about them; and they offered their necks to the stroke of these who had by lot executed this melancholy office; and when these ten had, without fear, slain them all, they made the same rule for casting lots for themselves, that he whose lot it was should first kill the other nine, and after all should kill himself.

” [Then] the nine offered their necks to the executioner, and he who was the last of all took a view of all the other bodies, lest perchance some or other among so many that were slain should want his assistance to be quite dispatched; and when he perceived that they all were slain, he set fire to the palace, and with the great force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell down near his own relations. So these people died with this intention, that they would not have so much as one soul among them all to be subject to the Romans” (Josephus, Wars 7.8.6; 7.9.1).

Two women and five children, hiding in a storeroom, heard and saw all of this and recorded it for us. 960 Jewish rebels chose death over slavery, and were set free. Now you and I have the same choice to make. We can be enslaved to that which keeps us from following Jesus fully, or we can die to ourselves and live with him in abundant joy, purpose, and peace.

The decision is ours.

The Greatest Miracle

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The Greatest Miracle

Matthew 9:9-13

Dr. Jim Denison

I was born on May 20, 1958. My parents were married in April and had me in May—it was the next May, but Dad didn’t tell people that, which made Mom mad.

Janet was born the next November 11. I’ve always been grateful to her parents for arranging her birth on Veterans’ Day, so the entire nation could celebrate and her future husband could be reminded of her birthday.

How much did you have to do with your birth? With its circumstances? With its date?

Nations are different. On this day 234 years ago, at 2:00 in the afternoon in the city of Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress of England’s 13 colonies in the New World declared themselves to be the United States of America. They did so by affirming a Declaration of Independence which has become our nation’s most treasured document.

For years the colonies had struggled with England’s King George III over what they called “taxation without representation.” Finally they gave up; in May of 1776 they appointed delegates to their Second Continental Congress to pursue independence. On June 11, they formed a committee to create a formal “Declaration of Independence.”

They appointed a Virginia delegate named Thomas Jefferson to head the committee. The other members were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman. On June 28, Mr. Jefferson presented his first draft to the Congress. They made 86 changes before adopting it on July 4.

The next day, copies were given to the public. On July 6, the Pennsylvania Evening Post printed it for the world to see. On July 8, the Liberty Bell was sounded in Independence Hall as citizens gathered to hear the first public reading of the Declaration.

The most famous document in American history begins:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

These words birthed the nation whose birthday we celebrate today.

Democracy requires morality

But the Declaration rests on a stronger, much older foundation—the morality of the citizens who adopted it.

In his farewell address (September 19, 1796), President George Washington told the nation: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. . . . Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. . . . Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.”

John Adams, our second president, claimed that “the general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.” He stated, “Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be.”

Thomas Jefferson, our third president and principal author of the Declaration, was not a biblical Christian. He cut from the Bible every reference to the miraculous, and viewed Jesus as only a man. But he insisted, “Injustice in government undermines the foundations of a society. A nation, therefore, must take measures to encourage its members along the paths of justice and morality.”

Abraham Lincoln said of the Bible, “Nothing short of infinite wisdom could by any possibility have devised and given to man this excellent and perfect moral code. It is suited to men in all the conditions of life, and inculcates all the duties they owe to their Creator, to themselves, and to their fellow men.”

The greatest need in America is for her people to experience a great spiritual renewal. More people are coming to Christ than ever before in history: 82,000 a day, according to one expert. South Korea is one-third to one-half Christian; there have been a million new Christians in Cuba the last ten years. I was in Beijing in May, where I learned that the People’s Republic of China may be the largest Christian nation on earth.

But of the 82,000 documented by that expert, only 6,000 are in Europe and North America, combined. In Great Britain, four times as many Muslims go to mosque on Friday as Christians go to church on Sunday. In 30 years, France will be a Muslim-majority nation.

In America, the number of atheists and agnostics has quadrupled in the last two years. There are twice as many atheists in our country as Episcopalians. We celebrate political liberty—our great need is for spiritual liberty.

Jesus creates morality

In that regard, we’ll hear today the story of Matthew.

We’ve been discussing Jesus’ miracles this summer. We’ve watched him heal angry storms and diseased bodies. Today we’ll see the greatest miracle of all, when he healed a soul. Bodies would get sick again; storms would return again; but Matthew would never be the same.

From our text we learn that Jesus knew Matthew’s past.

“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth” (v. 9a). Why does the Bible tell us where the man was sitting? What difference does that fact make?

All the difference in the world. Tax collectors were the most hated, despised people in the ancient Roman Empire. When Rome conquered a people, they found someone living in their midst who would betray his community for a price. They hired him to collect taxes for them, with the promise that he could keep anything he collected so long as he gave them their cut.

So Matthew was tax collector in Capernaum, the major city in that part of the world. He taxed fishermen on their boats, and nets, and the fish they caught. He taxed them on the carts with which they took the fish to market, on the wheels of the cart, and on the roads they used. He taxed them on the tables they used to show their fish. He taxed them on their houses and clothes. And there was nothing they could do about it, because the Roman soldiers in the area protected him.

Imagine that the Nazis captured your Jewish town in Poland, and one of your Jewish neighbors went to work collecting their taxes and stealing your money. That was Matthew. He had collected taxes from Peter and Jesus’ other disciples, and probably from our Lord as well. Jesus certainly knew his past.

Jesus called him in the present: “‘Follow me,’ he told him” (v. 9b). This was the official invitation of a rabbi to join his school, something like a college acceptance letter. And not just to any school—to join the disciples of the most popular and powerful rabbi their people had ever seen. This was an acceptance letter to Harvard or Stanford.

And Jesus used him in the future.

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with him and his disciples” (v. 10). Through Matthew, Jesus was able to share his love with people he could never have known.

Then Matthew told us the story in the gospel that bears his name. Since the New Testament was first completed and organized, his gospel has always stood first. Since it was written for the Jews and quotes the Old Testament more than the other three gospels combined, it was seen as the best bridge from the Old Testament to the New. So, for centuries those who open the New Testament find first the words of this converted tax collector.

What Jesus did for him, he did for me.

I was born physically on May 20, 1958. I was born spiritually on September 9, 1973. Some friends had invited me to their church in Houston, where I heard the gospel of God’s love and came to accept its truth.

On that Sunday, my Sunday school teacher led me to ask Jesus to forgive my sins and become my Lord. On that day I became the child of God. He knew my past, called me in the present, and would use me in the future.

Conclusion

The same is true for you. Jesus knows your past; he calls you in the present; he will use you for eternity. He is part of your life or Lord of your life?

Today we celebrate the Declaration of Independence and the freedom it proclaims. Here is how the most famous document in American history concludes:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Let us join them.

The Harder it is to Worship Jesus, The More We Need to Worship Jesus

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Topical Scripture: Mark 14:1–9

Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue is one of the most iconic images in the world. Dedicated in 1931, the statue together with its pedestal stands 125 feet tall and weighs 635 metric tons. It has been listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The statue has survived two world wars and the worst of what the elements could muster. It saw nearly two million visitors last year. But the coronavirus pandemic forced authorities to close it to the public.

So Rio de Janeiro’s archbishop held a religious ceremony at the base of the statue in support of those affected by the pandemic, then the hashtag “Praying Together” was shone on it in multiple languages. And the statue is still visible across the region, a clear reminder that while its park may be closed, the one it honors is not.

Jesus promised us, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Right now, he is “at the right hand of God,” where he is praying for us (Romans 8:34).

The problem is, problems have a way of turning us from God when we need him most. My father was a Sunday school teacher before he fought in World War II, where he witnessed horrific atrocities. He did not attend church again, unable to reconcile his suffering with his faith.

Dad was not the first or the last. For many people, hard times in the world are hard times for their faith.

The truth is, however, the sicker we become, the more we need a doctor. The harder it is to pray, the more we need to pray. The harder it is to trust Jesus, the more we need to trust Jesus.

What makes it hard for you to worship Jesus today? What question, struggle, guilt, grief, or pain is living in your soul? What do you need to get past to come closer to your Lord?

In our spring series, as we watch Jesus change lives on the way to the cross, we meet today a woman who worshiped our Lord at great personal cost. From her we will learn three transformative life principles. Then we’ll decide whether to make her story our own.

Worship Jesus, whatever the cost (vv. 1–5)

Our text begins: “It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread” (v. 1a). As Passover began on Thursday evening, the event recorded in our text took place on Tuesday evening of Holy Week. Jesus had spent the day teaching in the temple, where he defeated the Pharisees and Sadducees in their attempts to discredit him (Matthew 21:23–22:46). He then exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders (Matthew 23).

As a result, “the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him” (v. 1b). This was because of his popularity: “for they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people'” (v. 2).

Our text continues: “And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table . . .” (v. 3). Bethany was situated on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, two miles from Jerusalem. It was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and became Jesus’ home when he came to the Holy City (cf. John 11:1). He stayed in this town from Sunday evening through Wednesday evening of Holy Week.

“Reclining at table” describes the typical posture by which a meal was eaten in Jesus’ day. The “table” was a low platform, eighteen inches from the ground. The people would lean on their left elbow while eating with their right hand with their bodies stretched on the ground away from the table.

While Jesus and the other guests were eating, “a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly” (v. 3). John identifies her as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus (John 12:3). Her devotion to Jesus was already well-known, as when she sat at Jesus’ feet while Martha cooked the meal (Luke 10:38–42).

On this occasion, she came to Jesus with “an alabaster jar,” a flask with a long neck and no handles. The top was sealed to preserve its contents. In this case, the contents were “pure nard,” a perfume made out of oil taken from roots found in India and imported to the Middle East.

The origin and cost of transportation made this perfume “very costly,” as Mark notes. Such an expensive possession may have been a family heirloom or part of Mary’s dowry. She likely had kept it for many years, only now choosing to use it.

The text tells us that she “broke the flask and poured it over his head” (v. 3). The fact that she “broke” the jar (syntripsasa, shattered, crushed, broke into pieces) rather than removing the top shows the depth of her commitment. She clearly did not intend to keep any of the perfume for herself, using it all to anoint Jesus. She shattered the jar, so that it could not be repaired to be used again.

When Mary made her great sacrifice, “There were some who said to themselves indignantly, ‘Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.’ And they scolded her” (vv. 4–5).

A typical worker received one denarius per day, so “three hundred denarii” was roughly a year’s worth of wages. Their statement lends credence to the theory that Mary’s perfume was a family heirloom.

Mary made her gift of worship at great personal cost, both in financial and in social terms. She received the ridicule of those present for offering a gift of extravagance that is hard for us to comprehend.

There are times when worshiping Jesus comes at a price today as well. I’ve met Christians in Cuba who paid for their faith by being assigned the worst jobs by the government. Their children are sent to the worst schools and given the worst military assignments. Some have been jailed or worse.

I’ve met Christians in China who must worship in secret lest the government censure and censor their messages and their faith. I’ve met Muslim converts to Jesus who risk their lives to follow their Lord.

What price will you pay to follow Jesus? Will you risk the rejection of others by sharing your faith with them? Will you give Jesus the sacrifice of your time, your talents, your resources?

C. S. Lewis was asked how much we should give for benevolent purposes. His answer: “More than we can spare.” When last did it cost you something significant to follow your Lord?

Worship Jesus, whether you understand him or not (vv. 6–8)

Now our text moves closer to our circumstances today.

Jesus’ response was swift: “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial” (vv. 6–8).

Jesus’ statement in no way minimizes his commitment to the poor. Scripture consistently calls us to care for the impoverished (cf. Deuteronomy 10:18; 15:7–8; Psalm 9:9; 72:12; Proverbs 22:22–23). Caring for the poor is an essential element of Christian ministry (cf. James 2:15–17; 1 John 3:17–18).

Rather, his point was that Mary made a sacrifice that was especially significant on this Tuesday evening: “She has anointed my body beforehand for burial” (v. 8). Anointing a body with spices and perfumes for burial was customary in Jesus’ day (cf. Luke 24:1). He had been predicting his death and resurrection, but his disciples still did not understand his warning. Mary’s action was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice our Lord would soon make for us all.

So, here she is on this Tuesday evening. Jesus has been disputing with the religious authorities all day. He has been telling his disciples that he would soon be betrayed and executed. Mary could not pick a less logical time to identify publicly with him or make an extravagant offering to him. But she gave him her sacrificial gift out of love, not logic.

There is so much about the pandemic that we do not understand. I cannot explain why our sovereign Lord has allowed this crisis. I don’t know why he heals some and not others. But I do know this: he knows what I do not. As his word states, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

Even Jesus cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). When his disciples met the risen Lord “they worshiped him, but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17).

If we must understand God fully to worship him, we’ll never worship him. Much about the Christian faith cannot be understood before it is experienced. It’s like marriage or parenting—you can study it, but you cannot understand it until you experience it.

Therefore, the harder it is to worship Jesus, the more we need to worship Jesus.

Worship Jesus, knowing your present obedience will bear eternal significance (v. 9)

Our text concludes with Jesus’ statement: “Truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Mark 14:9). Mary’s action pointed to the “gospel,” the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. As that message was told, her sacrifice would be included. Jesus’ prediction came true in the Gospels of Mark and John, as they preserved Mary’s story for all time.

Note that from the beginning, Jesus intended his gospel to be preached “in the whole world.” Christianity has always been a global movement (Matthew 28:19), inclusive of both Jews and Greeks (Galatians 3:26–29).

If you will honor Jesus publicly with your sacrificial service, he will use your obedience to advance his kingdom in ways you cannot imagine. This is because you cannot measure the eternal significance of present faithfulness.

Conclusion

In these hard days, our Lord is calling us to follow Mary’s example by worship, serving, and trusting Jesus whatever the cost, whether we understand him or not, knowing that our present obedience will bear eternal significance.

Several years ago, I had an experience that brings our text home for me.

Louie Giglio is known internationally for his ministry to young adults. In 2003, he was holding a rally in the Dallas area that mobilized more than twenty-five thousand college students for the gospel.

The day before, horrific thunderstorms attacked the farm where the event was staged. The students’ tents were blown away; many had to sleep in their cars or on gym floors; electricity failed; the field was a mud pit.

Louie began the rally the next day by recounting in detail all the students had endured. I thought he was going to thank them for their perseverance and suffering. Instead, he pointed his finger at the huge crowd and said, “And our God is worth all of that.”

When last did it cost you something significant to serve Jesus? What price will you pay to glorify your Lord this week?

The Holiday God Requires

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The Holiday God Requires

Psalm 100

Dr. Jim Denison

What is your favorite holiday? According to all the surveys, Christmas is America’s first choice. Yet it may surprise you to learn that it was not celebrated until 336 A.D., and did not become popular in America until the 1860s. And no one is sure when Jesus’ birth actually occurred. It is observed on December 25 because early Christian leaders wanted to replace Saturnalia, a popular pagan holiday observed on that day.

The holiday which comes in last in popularity for Americans is Thanksgiving. Only 2% rank it their favorite. Would you? God does.

It is a glorious and wonderful thing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We should do so every day. But thanksgiving is the one observance which is commanded by our Lord, absolutely mandated by the Scriptures: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Thanksgiving is the will of God.

Why is thanksgiving so important to God? How can it be more important to us? Today’s message teaches this simple fact: thanksgiving is the key to the presence and power of God. The power you need for your life and problems today. Our text will show us how to use that key this morning.

Be thankful for who God is (Psalm 100)

What are we to do? Here are seven imperatives, seven commands in this famous psalm.

“Shout to the Lord”—”shout” means to participate actively and publicly in vocalizing your praise to God. This is no spectator sport, no watching professionals or musicians perform. To “shout” involves your voice, your mind, your emotions, your spirit, your body. To give everything to personal, passionate worship.

“Worship the Lord with gladness”—”worship” here means to orient your entire life and existence to your sovereign Master, to give him your whole heart, to surrender your entire life to his service. This is 24/7, not just an hour at church. To yield your life all day, every day, to his Lordship. Do this with “gladness,” rejoicing for the privilege.

“Come before him with joyful songs”—literally, “come into his presence through joyful singing.” “Presence” means his face. Get so close to God that you can see his face. Twice over the years, I have heard the President of the United States speak, in the same room. Both times I was so far away that it could have been his brother, or his wife, for that matter. Get into the closest possible presence of God with your worship.

“Know that the Lord is God”—”know” means to acknowledge or confess personally, to admit publicly that the Lord is God over all the world. This is a public confession, made proudly and boldly.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.” More of this in a moment.

“Give thanks to him”—once you are in his presence, give thanks to God. The 100th psalm carries the Hebrew inscription, “for giving thanks.” It is the only psalm in the Bible which does.

“Praise his name”—the “name” of God denotes his presence, his personality, his very essence. Praise God himself.

Here are the commands of God, his expectations of us. They come to this: give thanks to God, this day and every day.

Who should do this: “all the earth.” Is anyone excluded? Anyone today left out? No matter our singing ability. I may be the only person you know who was invited not to join his church youth choir. But I can sing in this choir loft. And so can you.

No matter our religious background. As you know, Jews thought God made Gentiles so there would be firewood in hell. But here Gentiles are invited into the worship of God.

No matter our religious achievements. No sins can keep us from God’s love; no failures can bar the way. No sin is beyond the grace and forgiveness of our Father. If you dwell on the earth, you are invited to the worship of the Lord God.

Why do this? Because of who this God is:

He is “Lord.” This is the Hebrew word YHWH, transliterated “Yahweh.” It was the holiest name in all the Hebrew language. It means “the One who was, is, and is to come.” Lord of all time and eternity. Lord of your past, present, and future.

He is “God.” This is the Hebrew word Elohim, meaning “one who is great, mighty, and dreadful.” Yahweh says who God is; Elohim says what he does. He does great, mighty, awe-ful things.

He is “good” (5a). This Hebrew word means that God keeps his promises, out of his character and nature. He is righteous, trustworthy, and holy. He deserves our thanks.

Theologian Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.: “It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular. Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be thankful ‘in general.’ It’s very strange. It’s a little like being married in general.”

Be thankful for who God is. Such thanksgiving is the key to the presence and power of our Lord.

Be thankful for what God does

The psalmist calls us to give thanks for who God is, and now for what God does. Here we see the blessings of the Lord in three tenses.

First, what he has done for us in the past: “He made us” (3b). He created us, each and every one of us.

Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” If you dwell in the heavens or on the earth, he made you. There are no exceptions here.

Here are some facts I learned this week about these bodies God has made. Your body is made of 100 trillion cells; 300 million of them die every minute. Your brain possesses 100 billion nerve cells. Each square inch of your skin contains 20 feet of blood vessels; placed end to end, your body’s blood vessels would measure 62,000 miles. That’s how far your blood travels each day. That same square inch of skin has an average of 32 million bacteria on it. Your eyes are the same size as when you were born, but your nose and ears never stop growing. Every year 98% of the atoms in your body are replaced. And when you sneeze, all your bodily functions stop—including your heart.

Your God made all that, when he made you.

In the past God created us, then redeemed us. He made us, and then he bought us.

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Now, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (v. 9).

One of the first stories I ever heard in a sermon was about the boy who built himself a little red toy sailboat. He loved it, and played with it every day. Until the day the string broke and it sailed down the river and out of his sight. He was crushed.

A few days later he saw his boat in the window of a pawn shop. He went to get it back, but the owner told him he’d have to buy it. So he saved every nickel until he had enough money. He took it to the shop and retrieved his boat. As he left the store he said to the boat in his hands, “Now you’re mine twice. I made you the first time, and I bought you the second.”

Be thankful for all that God has done for you in the past. Next, be thankful for what he does in the present: “we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (v. 3).

“We are his,” for he made us. He “owns the patent.” He is our owner and master.

And so we are “his people, the sheep of his pasture.” This means that he knows us intimately and personally, as a shepherd knows his sheep. The shepherd lives with his sheep. He sleeps in their field, and walks at their side. He weathers their storms, faces their enemies, comforts their fears. He knows his sheep intimately.

In John 10 Jesus says of himself, “the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (v. 3). Jesus knows your name. He knows every detail of your life. And he loves you intimately. Nothing shall ever separate you from his love (Romans 8:35-39).

We think we have earned what we have today, but we’re wrong.

If we were to shrink the world’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, that village would contain the following: 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western hemisphere, and 8 Africans. 52 would be female, 48 male. 6 would possess 59% of the world’s wealth. 80 would live in substandard housing; 70 would be unable to read; 50 would suffer from malnutrition. Do you know how many would have a college education? One. How many would own a computer? One.

Did you deserve to have physical abilities and not challenges? To be born in America and not Iraq? To have parents who would love you and not abuse you? To have the privileges and opportunities you enjoy today?

Be thankful for what God has done in the past, and what he does in the present. Now be thankful for what he will do in the future: “his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (v. 5).

Here’s a glimpse of our future: “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away'” (Revelation 21:3-4).

Our finite and fallen minds cannot begin to comprehend the future God has in store for us: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Conclusion

Give thanks because of who God is, and what he does. When we do, our thanksgiving ushers us into the presence of God: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise” (v. 4). The “gates” of the Temple were the first entry point; the “courts” were the area where worship was given.

When we worship the Lord, giving thanks to him, we are able to enter past the gates and into the courts of the Almighty. This is how we enter his presence, and experience his power. This is how we meet with God. In this way and no other. Thanksgiving unlocks the gates of heaven. It is their only key.

Is Thanksgiving a holiday or a holy day for you? Is it an annual event or a daily experience? When you see who God is, and what he does in the past, present, and future, can you hold back your thanks and praise? Does he not deserve our attitude of gratitude, thanksgiving as a daily experience and lifestyle? This is how you experience God, in all his holiness and power, grace and glory. This is the one holiday God requires.

I found this poem this week, and it has lifted my spirits every day:

My heart is overflowing with gratitude and praise,

To Him whose loving kindness has followed all my days;

To Him who gently leads me by cool and quiet rills

And with their balm of comfort my thirsty spirit fills.

Within the vale of blessing, I walk beneath the light

Reflected from His glory, that shines forever bright.

I feel His constant presence wherever I may be;

How manifold His goodness, how rich His grace to me!

My heart is overflowing with love and joy and song,

As if it heard an echo from yonder ransomed throng.

Its every chord is vocal with music’s sweetest lay,

And to its home of sunshine it longs to fly away.

I feign would tell the story, and yet I know full well

The half was never, never told—the half I cannot tell.

Fanny Crosby wrote these words. Her eyes were blind. But her heart saw God, and gave him thanks. Does yours?

The Hope of Christmas

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Topical Scripture: Galatians 4:4

Let’s begin with a quiz. The real St. Nicholas was born in what country? Turkey. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created as a promotion for what department store? Montgomery Ward. What song does Lucy ask Schroeder to play on his piano in A Charlie Brown Christmas? “Jingle Bells.” Eggnog was first consumed in what US city? Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. (I got one right out of four.)

Here’s another question most people would struggle to answer: why did Jesus come when he did?

Why not when Moses was trying to save his people from Egyptian slavery? Or when the Babylonians were destroying Jerusalem? Why did he come when he did? And what does the timing of Christmas say to us today?

Last week we discussed the grace of Christmas and claimed God’s mercy for our past. Today we’ll focus on the hope of Christmas and claim God’s help for our future.

What about tomorrow is on your heart today? Where do you most need the hope of Christmas?

The timing of hope

Two thousand years before Christmas, the Lord promised Abraham “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). The Messiah to come would come through Abraham’s descendants.

But which of his descendants? “A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17). But Jacob had twelve sons; which would continue the line of Christmas? “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” (Genesis 49:10).

Which of Judah’s descendants? “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). Which of Jesse’s sons? The Lord said to David, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12).

Matthew thus begins his Gospel: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).

And there’s more. Scripture tells us not just about Jesus’ male ancestors, but his mother as well: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). We’re even told where the virgin would give birth: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old” (Micah 5:2). Both predictions were made seven centuries before Christmas.

Galatians 4:4 then describes the specific time when Jesus would come into the world: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son.” Historians point to the existence of a universal language (Greek), universal roads, a universal peace under Roman military authority, and a universal hunger for truth.

The universal language means that Christians could travel the Roman Empire without having to learn new languages to preach the gospel. Universal roads gave them access to the Empire. A universal peace gave them security by which to travel. A universal hunger for truth opened hearts across the world to the good news of God’s grace.

All were essential to the remarkable spread of Christianity in the years after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. All led to the hope of Christmas that came into the world on that Bethlehem night.

The promise of hope

Here’s the point: If Jesus would come where he did, when he did, he will come anywhere.

Frederick Buechner: “Those who believe in God can never in a way be sure of him again. Once they have seen him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear or to what lengths he will go or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of [us]. If holiness and the awful power and majesty of God were present in the least auspicious of all events, this birth of a peasant’s child, then there is no place or time so lowly and earthbound but that holiness can be present there, too.

“And this means that we are never safe, that there is no place where we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break in two and recreate the human heart because it is just where he seems most helpless that he is most strong, and just where we least expect him that he comes most fully” (The Face in the Sky).

The One who came at Christmas promised us, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He will meet a persecuting Pharisee on the road to Damascus and make him the greatest evangelist and theologian in Christian history. He will meet an imprisoned apostle on Patmos and give him the Book of Revelation.

He will meet a troubled but brilliant monk named Martin Luther and make him the harbinger of the Reformation. He will meet an imprisoned theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer and make him a model of sacrifice and courage for all time.

The power of hope

Gabriel Marcel: “Hope is for the soul what breathing is for the living organism.” G. K. Chesterton: “There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner.” Samuel Johnson: “The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.”

A mouse dropped in water will give up and drown in minutes. But if it is rescued, it will tread water for more than twenty hours the next time.

After World War II, the Allied armies gathered up thousands of hungry, homeless children. They were sheltered and fed. But they were afraid to go to sleep. Then they were given a slice of bread, not to eat but to hold. And they slept well, for they knew they would have food for tomorrow.

Austin pastor Gerald Mann saw his church grow from sixty to four thousand members in fourteen years. His explanation: “I know three things people want when they come to church: they want help, they want home, and they want hope.”

The return of hope

Where do you need hope for the future? What about the coming year worries you today? What about tomorrow is burdening your soul today?

The truth of Christmas is that God visits us in the dark. He knocks at the door of our hearts with the promise, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

And one day, he will come again. The season of “Advent” is not just about Jesus’ first coming, but his second as well.

When he comes back, he will not be a helpless baby in a feed trough. The book of Revelation describes his return this way:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11–16).

In the meantime, the Christ of Christmas will meet us anywhere, hear any prayer, meet any need, and lead any soul in whatever way is for God’s glory and our best.

Conclusion

What about the future is on your heart today? Because of Christmas, there is hope. There is always hope.

But like all Christmas presents, the presence of hope has to be opened.

The single most meaningful Christmas present I own is an old steering wheel and wheel cover. The wheel belonged to my 1966 Ford Mustang; when it broke, I mounted it on my garage wall and have kept it ever since.

The reason is the cover on the wheel. It was my father’s last present to me. He bought it for me for Christmas in 1979. I opened it ten days after he died. I will have it the rest of my life.

I have kept the wheel because it reminds me of my father’s love for me. But even more, because it reminds me of my heavenly Father’s love for me. When my earthly father died, my heavenly Father was there for me. Over the years, when the future seemed most frightening, his power, grace, and hope were the gifts I needed.

Where do you need the hope of Christmas today?

The Humility of Christmas

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Topical Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11

It seems that everything about Christmas gets bigger each year. A Christmas tree in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, floats in a lagoon and stands 279 feet tall. Conversely, an 82-foot-tall tree hangs upside down from a stain glass ceiling of a mall in Paris, France. The 77-foot-tall Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City was lit yesterday for the first time this year.

If you’re looking for something to take home, you might consider a nativity set from Bethlehem. It’s nearly seven feet wide, four feet deep, and five feet high, and goes for a mere $35,900.

It was all so different on that first Christmas day.

The humility of Christmas

Jesus could have chosen to be born to the Chief Priest and his family, where he would have grown up in the splendor of the temple and its traditions. He could have been the son of a Pharisee and grown up with all the respect afforded these men venerated as spiritual heroes.

But he chose to be born to a peasant teenage girl from a town so small that it is not named a single time in the Old Testament or in the extensive histories of Josephus. He chose for his earthly father a man so poor that he could afford only the offering of two pigeons at the ceremony celebrating his birth.

The place where he was born is marked with grandeur and majesty today, but it was not so then. It was a simple cave where animals were kept. His first crib was not made of wood—it was a stone feeding trough.

The theme continued across his life. He chose to grow up in Nazareth, just two miles from Sepphoris, the Roman capital of lower Galilee. He and his tekton father probably helped to build this massive, magnificent city. It had a large Jewish population; he could have lived there, but he did not.

As a boy of twelve, he astounded the religious teachers with his wisdom and knowledge; clearly, he could have been a famous rabbi in Jerusalem like them. But he chose to base his ministry in Capernaum, a small fishing town with a population of 1,500 on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee.

He could have built a megachurch there; his first days of public ministry drew crowds from across the entire region to hear him and to be helped by him. But he chose to go to the other towns and villages instead.

Since he came to die for our sins, he could have arranged prophetic history so that he would be executed by his own Jewish people. This was the very effort they made at Mount Precipice (Luke 4:29). He would have been thrown off a ledge at least twice his height. If the fall did not break his neck, stoning would soon have rendered him unconscious as he died. Instead, he chose to be crucified, the most horrific form of torture ever devised.

Before his death, he could have arranged to be buried in a massive tomb that would still be celebrated today much like followers of Islam celebrate Muhammed and Russians venerate the remains of Lenin. But he was buried in a friend’s grave so anonymous that no one is positive of its location.

The choice of Christmas

Here’s the point to remember: All of this was his choice. He was the only baby in human history to choose his parents, the place of his birth, and the place where he would grow up. He chose to base his ministry in Capernaum rather than in Jerusalem and to die by Roman crucifixion. It was by his providence that he was buried in a borrowed tomb rather than a massive mausoleum.

One of the earliest hymns in Christian history tells the story like this: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5–8).

Christmas began when Jesus gave up his hold on his throne: he “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (v. 6). He let it go, stood up, and all of heaven watched in amazement. What would he do next?

He “emptied himself.” The Greek makes it clear that he chose to do this. He volunteered to come to earth, to become one of us that we might be one with him. He did this by “taking the form of a servant.” “Form” translates morphe, the unchanging essence. He didn’t just look like a servant—he became one for us.

That’s why he washed his disciples’ feet, and fed the five thousand, and touched the lepers, and forgave us from the cross. He chose to become a servant, for us.

How would he serve? He was “born in the likeness of men.” He was “born” as a man. He chose to come to earth not as a man in full possession of his omnipotence but as a helpless, defenseless baby. And so he was “found in human form.” “Form” translates schema, external appearance. His unchanging essence was that of a servant, even as he wore the temporary flesh of a human.

Then, finally, he “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” He chose to die in the cruelest manner possible for each of us. As St. Augustine said, God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

And every step from crown to cross was his humble choice.

Conclusion

What does the humility of Christmas mean for us this season?

One: We should love others as God loves us. Verse 5 introduces the hymn: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” We are to have the same “mind,” the same attitude of service and sacrifice and love, that our Lord had for us. We are to love others as he loves us.

If you choose to love those who serve you in the hectic, chaotic stores this season, to love those who cut you off on the tollway, to love friends and family members amid all the demands of this season, to look for ways to love and serve as Jesus loves and serves you, your life will make a dramatic and demonstrable difference in the lives of others.

Richard Stearns, the former CEO of World Vision, notes: “The beautiful simplicity of our faith is that it distills down to the exact same bottom line for both the brilliant theologian and the five-year-old child: love God and love each other—period.”

Two: We should love ourselves as God loves us. Our culture judges us by how we look, what we have, where we live, and what we buy. It will measure this Christmas by what we spent and what we gave. There is no more hectic and hurried season of the year for many of us than Christmas.

This season, take time every day to remember that Jesus chose to be born for you. He chose to live and to die and rise again for you. He would do it all over again, just for you.

The best advice I ever received came from my youth minister when I was in high school: Always remember the source of your personal worth.

A number of years ago, the actor Kirk Douglas was a guest on the Johnny Carson show. They were talking about the experience of being recognized everywhere they went, with people pestering them because of their fame.

Then Douglas told about the time he was driving his car one day and stopped to pick up a hitchhiking sailor. When the sailor opened the door, looked in and saw Kirk Douglas. His jaw dropped and he exclaimed, “Do you know who you are?” Douglas said that it was a good question, one he’d been thinking about ever since.

Christmas tells us who God thinks you are. Do you agree?

The Joy Of Giving Jesus

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The Joy of Giving Jesus

Isaiah 61:1-2

Dr. Jim Denison

The little crowd of 102 persons finally arrived, after surviving two months of stormy seas on a crowded little boat. Their first year, about half died in the severe winter, most of pneumonia. The next year, in the fall of 1621, the survivors planned a time of memorial and sorrow for those who had died in the previous year. But as they looked about themselves at all God had given them—their first harvest, the friendly Indians, their blessings from heaven—they chose to turn that service from one of memorial to gratitude. And so Thanksgiving was born.

On Monday last, at 12:10 in the afternoon, Mr. Rip Parker went home to be with his Father in heaven. He was adamant that there be no memorial service, no funeral, no obituary in the paper. Nothing which would draw attention away from Jesus to him. And so against our wishes, we have planned no memorial service. But he can’t tell me what to preach about. In the context of his physical death, when our souls so want to mourn our loss, Rip would have us count our blessings. And give thanks to our God.

My one point today is clear and simple: our greatest joy comes from giving God’s good news to others. Here is our greatest cause for thanksgiving—our greatest purpose, significance and legacy. Rip was convinced that it is so. Here’s proof that he was right.

Know the purpose of your empowering (v. 1)

God’s word begins, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me.” The Holy Spirit of the Sovereign ruler of the universe, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—he is “on me.” After Pentecost, he came to dwell “in” us. Now we would say, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is in us.”

Why? “Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news.”

“Because,” for this reason or purpose. This is why you and I exist. It’s why God left us on earth after he saved us for heaven. We’re not here to make money, or earn status or acclaim.

We are anointed, chosen and empower and gifted, to “preach good news.” The “good news” that our Creator loves us, that the Lord of the universe knows our names, our needs, our hurts and our hearts. We are called and commanded, privileged and purposed by God to tell such good news.

To whom?

To the “poor”—physically, financially, and also spiritually.

To the “brokenhearted,” those who are suffering from despair, discouragement, loneliness, hopelessness.

To the “captives,” those who are enslaved by men or themselves, sin or Satan.

To the “prisoners,” in jails made of bars or sins, of men or devils.

To “all who mourn,” those who have suffered death, loss, grief, pain.

In each case, we are to go “to” them. Not to wait for them to come to us. To give them the good news of God’s love, God’s healing, God’s help and hope, grace and mercy and peace.

Evangelism, preaching, missions and ministry is not imposing our beliefs on others. It is not about getting more people to join our church. It is about gift-giving, giving to others what God has given to us. Nothing more, but nothing less.

It is significant beyond words that Jesus chose these verses as the text for his first recorded sermon. He was invited to bring the message at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. The scroll of Isaiah was handed to him, apparently the chosen book for the day. But he “found the place” where these words were written, and read them deliberately and intentionally. And he “rolled up the scroll, gave it to back to the attendant and sat down” (Luke 4:20). Then “he began by saying, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing'” (v. 21).

What his Father called him to do, he called his followers to do. To “make disciples of all nations,” to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, to be his salt and light, his ambassadors and representatives, his hands and feet and flesh. As the reason we exist, the purpose of our lives and days.

Claim the privilege of your purpose

But most of us are insecure with such a calling and purpose. It’s not primarily a lack of training. Say John 3:16 with me—that’s all the theology you need to explain salvation. It’s not a lack of opportunity—119,000 souls within three miles of us are not in church this morning. This of someone you know who doesn’t know Jesus. Have you given them the good news of God’s love? If not, why?

Here’s the number one answer for most of us: we’re afraid. Afraid of being rejected, of offending them. We’re not sure they need our faith; after all, they seem to be doing just fine. We’re not sure that we have the right to give it to them; after all, religion is a private matter.

So let’s learn a simple fact today: ministry is gift-giving. It is giving to someone you care about that which someone gave to you. The privilege of learning how to have a personal relationship with the God of the universe. The privilege of learning how to have your sins forgiven, your soul cleansed, your life given a thrilling purpose and direction, a joy you can find nowhere else.

There is joy in gift-giving. Already, I’m looking forward to Christmas gifts for that reason. Every parent knows the joy of pleasing your children. Every person in love knows the joy of pleasing the person you love. You’re not imposing your possessions on them. You’re not assuming that they need what you have. Rather, you’re simply giving them your very best gift. You’re giving them Jesus. And there’s true joy in that.

Rip Parker knew such joy, more than any human being I’ve ever encountered.

He knew the joy of worshiping Jesus each Sunday morning, no matter his life circumstances. Did you ever see him without his smile? Even after his left eye was removed because of the cancer which took his life, he was here with a smile, welcoming us to worship. His only fear was that his bandage would keep the children from coming to him for the candy which filled his pockets each week.

He knew the joy of growing in faith each day, no matter his life problems. Each Thursday morning at men’s Bible study, Rip was in his seat. Each Thursday prayer meeting at 6 a.m., Rip was in his chair. Each time we called a prayer meeting, Rip came. In the joy of a faith which never stopped growing.

He knew the joy of serving Jesus each day, no matter his own struggles. Rain or shine, cold or hot, every day he was with his “boys,” the homeless men of downtown Dallas. With food, blankets, clothing, and God’s grace. To someone else such a ministry would be a burden beyond ability. To Rip, it was a joy beyond compare.

He knew the joy of inviting others into his ministry. Each Tuesday night he gathered with any who wanted to help with his “boys,” and so many of you did. Bible study groups, Sunday school classes, men and women, boys and girls. So many of you have been with Rip. And you knew you had been with Jesus.

Conclusion

If I could speak with Rip Parker one more time in the church he loved so dearly, and ask him why all the sacrifices of his witness, his evangelism, his ministry and missions, he wouldn’t understand the question. Because he learned that when we give the good news to others, we give ourselves joy.

Now it is up to us to continue the work. Rip’s life verse was simple: to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48b). In insisting that there be no memorial service in his honor, Rip said again and again, “If you want to honor me, feed my boys.” Wherever you find them. And you’ll find joy. Joy you’ll find nowhere else. The joy of Jesus. Joy now, and joy forever.

Rip Parker would never end a conversation with “good-bye,” because that meant he might not see you again, and he knew that’s not so for God’s people. Instead, he would always say, “See you later.” See you later, Rip. Amen.

The Key to Authentic Happiness

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Topical Scripture: Matthew 5:14–16

Would you choose to stay at a vacation home with no WiFi, TV, or clock? The nearest bathroom is an outhouse down four flights of outdoor stairs. It’s closed the entire month of August because it might burn down in a wildfire.

Yet three hundred people are on the waiting list to stay at Summit Prairie, a vacation home atop a tower deep in the Oregon wilderness. The Wall Street Journal tells us that Summit Prairie is not the only such option in high-priced escapism. An internet-free home in Alaska’s Denali National Park rents for $3,150 per person per night.

Or you could sample a “kudhva,” an architectural shelter perched on tripod stilts in North Cornwall, England.

Americans are on a quest for happiness. Studies indicate that our happiness has been in a steady decline for at least the last twenty years. The rebound from the Great Recession did not produce a rebound in happiness.

What is the antidote?

Martin E. P. Seligman is a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His bestseller, Authentic Happiness, is a fascinating answer to our question.

Dr. Seligman describes three kinds of “work orientation”: a job, a career, and a calling. A job earns you a paycheck and nothing more. A career entails a deeper personal investment in your work. But a calling is a passionate commitment to work for its own sake. According to Dr. Seligman, finding your “calling” is the key to authentic happiness.

So, what is your calling?

Know who you are

In our text, Jesus tells us: “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). “You” is plural, including everyone who follows Jesus. “You are”—present tense, right now. Not you will be, but you are today.

You are “the light of the world.” This is a spectacular compliment. Not because of who we are, but whose we are. You see, Jesus is the true light of the world.

He said so: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). And later, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

Now that he is no longer in the world, he has called us to reflect his light, as the moon reflects the sun.

The Bible says, “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light” (John 1:6–8 NIV).

This is true of each of us: “You are all children of the light” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). We exist to show our Father’s light. To be his mirror. To reflect his light to our dark world. To be the moon to his sun. This is Jesus’ high and holy calling for each of us.

Know that the world needs your light

But why is this calling so significant? Why is being the “light of the world” so important and crucial that it will give our lives deep and satisfying meaning? For this simple reason: you have the only answer to the greatest need in all of humanity.

Would your life be significant and satisfying if you cured cancer or AIDS? If you found the solution to all war, abuse, neglect? If you discovered a way to end all hunger and poverty? Would you then consider your life fulfilling? We could do all this and more, but the world would still suffer in spiritual darkness. And this darkness would be its greatest problem, its worst disease, its most horrific malady.

God says so: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV, emphasis added).

God describes humanity this way: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more” (Ephesians 4:18–19 NIV).

This darkness is Satanic: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

What is the answer to his deception and darkness? You are “the” light of the world. Not just “a” light—the only light.

The Bible is very clear on this subject. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Scripture adds: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NIV).

Because you share his faith and bear his light, you are “the” light of the world. Its only light. Your faith is our world’s only hope of eternal life through a personal relationship with our Creator and Lord.

What calling could give your life greater significance? And thus greater fulfillment, satisfaction, and “authentic happiness”?

Choose to shine for God

Here’s the catch: your light must be visible. Otherwise it does nobody any good, including yourself. Consider these facts.

You are already a witness. Jesus said, “A city on a hill cannot be hid.” “Hill” is literally mountain. Houses in Israel then and now are whitewashed. With their lights at night, a city on a mountain cannot be hidden.

Neither can your life. People see you. They know whether or not you live what you believe, whether you will say what you believe. You are a witness. Is your witness good or bad?

Your light is intended for others. “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket” (Matthew 5:15a). Their lamps were small clay bowls filled with olive oil, with a floating wick. They were very hard to light. So once they were lit, at night they were covered with a basket which allowed them air while shielding their light. Jesus’ point is clear: no one lights a lamp so they can hide its light.

“But on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house” (v. 15b). People in Jesus’ day lived in one-room homes, with one small window. So they built a clay or stone ledge into one wall, and there they placed their lamps. For this was their purpose.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others” (v. 16a). “Others,” wherever they are. You are the light of the world, not of the church. Wherever you go, whatever you do. With whomever you meet. Your light was given to you, to be given to them.

Your life is your light. “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (v. 16). How?

Be godly: “The night is nearly over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Romans 13:12–14 NIV). Do others see godliness in you? There you are the light of the world.

Care about hurting people: “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday” (Isaiah 58:9–10 NIV). Whose need are you meeting? There you are the light of the world.

Love your brother: “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him” (1 John 2:9–11 NIV). Are you wrong with someone today? Where you love your brother, you are the light of the world.

Share your faith: “…that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.” (Philippians 2:15–16). Who has heard of Jesus through you? There you are the light of the world.

With this result: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12). When we live as the light of the world, God uses us for his glory. It’s that simple.

Conclusion

You are the light of the world—its only light, right now. Shine that light by being godly, by caring for hurting people, by loving your brother, by sharing your faith.

This always works. Jesus was definite: “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16b) is better translated, “For the purpose of showing them your good works so they will glorify your Father in heaven.”

The darker the room, the more obvious and powerful the light. And the more people are drawn to it.

I’m convinced that the sacred/secular division is one of Satan’s greatest lies. The idea that we should separate Sunday from Monday and religion from the “real world” keeps our light under a basket instead of out where the world can see it. But when we live large and bold, powerfully and courageously serving God and others, the world must see our light. And God will be glorified as a result.

John Geddie was the first Presbyterian missionary sent from Canada. He and his wife, Charlotte, and their children set sail from Nova Scotia in 1846 bound for Polynesia.

What they found was horrific. The natives lived in squalor and ignorance. When one of them died, they ate his body and then killed his wives.

John worked for three years, learning their language and sharing the gospel with them. But few were interested. When he traveled in their forests, the natives threw stones, clubs, and spears at him. But he and his family persisted.

In 1851, everything changed. Several chiefs came to faith in Christ. The churches began to overflow. His island began sending missionaries to other islands.

John died in 1872. A plaque in his memory said, “When he landed in 1848, there were no Christians here. When he left in 1872, there were no heathen.”

Authentic happiness is fulfilling your calling. Your calling is to be the light of the world.

How happy will you be this week?

The Key to Being Pure in Heart

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Topical Scripture: Matthew 5:8

There are three tame ducks in our back yard,
Dabbling in mud and trying hard
To get their share, and maybe more,
Of the overflowing barnyard store.
Satisfied with the task they’re at,
Eating and sleeping and getting fat.
But whenever the free wild ducks go by
In a long line streaming down the sky,
They cock a quizzical, puzzled eye,
And flap their wings and try to fly.

I think my soul is a tame old duck,
Dabbling around in barnyard muck,
Fat and lazy with useless wings.
But sometimes when the North wind sings
And the wild ones hurdle overhead,
It remembers something lost and dead,
And cocks a wary, bewildered eye,
And makes a feeble attempt to fly.

It’s fairly content with the state it’s in,
But it isn’t the duck it might have been.

I don’t want to be a tame duck. You don’t, either. You want your life to have purpose and passion, a reason for being which transcends the hum-drum routine, the workaday world. You want to believe that your life counts for something bigger than yourself, that you are more than a dot on the screen of the universe.

How do we escape the barnyard?

Choose to have a life purpose

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God,” our Teacher says.

Greek scholar Fritz Rienecker defines “heart” as “the center of the inner life of the person where all the spiritual forces and functions have their origin.” “Pure” here means to have integrity, to be consistent, to be of one mind.

So to be “pure in heart” is to have a single purpose to your life. Kierkegaard was right: “purity of heart is to will one thing.” To choose to have a single life purpose.

Not everyone believes you can. Many think that life has no real purpose or meaning.

Philosopher Martin Heidegger says you’re an actor on a stage with no script, director, audience, past or future. Courage is to face life as it is.

French philosopher and playwright Jean Paul Sartre titled his most famous play, No Exit, and his autobiography, Nausea. In Existentialism and Human Emotions, he ended the chapter titled “The Hole” with these words: “Man is a useless passion” (p. 107).

“Postmodernism” says there’s no absolute truth, which is itself an absolute truth claim. It claims life has no real purpose, just what you make of it. Life is chaotic, random dots produced by the coincidence of evolution and the chance occurrences of life.

Why not share this chaotic world view? Why seek to be “pure of heart,” to have a single purpose?

One answer is practical: greatness is only possible through commitment to a single purpose. Winston Churchill in June of 1941: “I have but one purpose, the destruction of Hitler, and my life is much simplified thereby.” Brilliant scholar and author William Barclay: “A man will never become outstandingly good at anything unless that thing is his ruling passion. There must be something of which he can say, ‘For me to live is this.'”

A second answer is logical: if the universe were chaotic, without purpose or meaning, you and I would never be able to know it or say it. Think with me for a moment. If reality were truly chaotic, there would be nothing we could “know.” Red today would be green tomorrow. Stand before a Jackson Pollock painting, splotches on the canvas, and tell me what it “means.” Or before a Mark Rothco, a canvas painted all a single solid color. Again, no meaning. Both artists committed suicide, by the way.

If the world were chaos like their paintings, there could be no objective truth, not even the objective statement that there is no objective truth. And we couldn’t speak of truth, for language could have no common meaning between us.

A third answer is biblical. Jesus made this statement about human experience: “No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).

James added this command: “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). To purify our heart, we must not be “double-minded.” We must have a single life purpose.

A fourth answer is spiritual: we must be “pure in heart” to see God. Jesus’ beatitude makes this fact clear. Let’s explore here for a moment. We cannot see God with our physical eyes: “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). But we can “see” God spiritually. Hebrews 11:27 says of Moses, “he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” Exodus 33:11 states, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”

We can know God this intimately. But only if we are pure in heart. Hebrews 12:14 warns us, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” But Jesus promises: if we are “pure in heart,” we will.

Political campaign contributors will pay $10,000 and more for a table at a dinner, hoping just to meet the president or their candidate. Imagine knowing intimately the God who created the universe. You can. But you must be pure in heart. You must choose a single life purpose.

Choose the right life purpose

So how do we become “pure in heart.” Assuming that these practical, logical, biblical, and spiritual arguments are compelling, what do you do next? What single life purpose will lead us to “see God”?

We’re not the first to ask Jesus. Remember the lawyer’s trick question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36). Which of our 613 commandments will you neglect, so we can convict you of breaking the law?

And remember his answer, summarizing all the law and the prophets, all the word and will of God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. . . . Love your neighbor as yourself” (vv. 37, 39).

The two are one, Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s request for the greatest single commandment in God’s word. They are two wings of the same spiritual airplane, both essential for the soul that flies into the presence of God. Examine them for a moment.

Love the Lord “with all your heart,” by walking in the will of God. Remember that your heart is the center of your life, the origin of your will and actions. The Bible instructs us, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). Flee evil, pursue righteousness. Walk in the will of God and you’ll be “pure in heart.”

Love the Lord “with all your soul,” by practicing the worship of God. With your spiritual life, your daily worship: “Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). To “fear” God is to reverence him, to honor him, to worship him. The “undivided heart” is the pure heart. Love God with your daily worship, as you commune with him, walk with him, praise him. And you’ll be “pure in heart.”

Love the Lord “with all your mind,” by knowing the word of God. Know and obey his revealed truth: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth . . . love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). Know and obey the truth of God’s word and you’ll be “pure in heart.”

And love your neighbor as yourself: “The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart” (1 Timothy 1:5).

Share God’s love by living your faith. As Francis of Assisi suggests, preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words. Share God’s love by caring for hurting souls. Show them God’s love in yours. Share God’s love by explaining your faith. Share with them God’s salvation and urge them to experience his grace.

And you’ll be “pure in heart.”

Conclusion

When a crash closed a road leading to the Denver International Airport, Google Maps offered drivers a quick way out of the traffic jam. However, the route it suggested took them down a dirt road that rain had turned into a muddy mess.

Some vehicles couldn’t drive through the mud and became stuck. About a hundred others became trapped behind them. They were sincere in trusting the app, but they were sincerely wrong.

Today’s beatitude offers us the only path to a life God can bless. So, choose to have a single life purpose, for practical, logical, biblical and spiritual reasons. Choose Jesus’ purpose: love the Lord your God with your heart through his worship, with your soul through his will, with your mind through his word. Love others as yourself. And you will be “pure in heart.” And you will see God.

Your soul can be a tame duck. Or it can be a wild eagle.

The choice is yours.