A child shows the way

As a parent, I see the difficulty that so many children of all ages are having growing up in our American society today. There are pressures that I couldn't have imagined when I was in that age group years ago. Media influences, peer pressure, social media. political correctness, and other outside pressures put them under a microscope that didn't exist when I was a child.

So how do we teach our children to respond to all this pressure? I think that a vignette from the gospel of Luke shows us a beginning. Luke tells the story of Jesus' trip to the Temple with His parents. They went for the annual celebration of the Passover, as required by the Law. Since Jesus was 12 years old, this would have been the first year He was required to make the trip as a man, although He probably had done it before. They probably stayed for the week of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, then began to travel back to their home.

His parents had traveled for a day before they realized Jesus wasn't with them. This sounds shocking to us, but Luke tells us they thought Jesus was with some of their relatives and friends, which would have been a fairly common practice of that time. Maybe someone else had offered to look after Jesus, or to have Him travel with other children His own age. We don't know who was supposed to be watching out for Him, but in the end it was His mother and father who made the trip back, frantically looking for their son.

They found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers of the Law, listening and asking them questions. He was also providing them with some astonishingly insightful answers. When questioned by Mary, He simply replied, "Didn't you know I had to be in My Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). Jesus as a child wanted to learn more about His Father and about the Word of God.

How does this apply to children today? I don't think any of us think our child is the moral and spiritual equivalent of Jesus. (I don't think any of us think we ourselves are either, for that matter.) Still, the interest Jesus showed in learning from the Word and in understanding how He should live in the presence of HIs Father is something we should seek to instill in our children. The best way to avoid the pressures of the world is to understand the truth of God's Word and to apply that truth to our lives.

I recently sat in on a class with some children who spoke of how they were picked on at school. I could tell from their words and expressions that this was an unpleasant part of their lives. When asked how they dealt with it, they responded with some typical answers like punching the person or insulting them back, only to say then that while that's what they would like to do, they knew that they shouldn't respond that way. I think those children have started to really take in and live out the teaching of the Word.

I'm not saying that this is easy for children, or even for adults. What I am saying is that this is where we have to start. We cannot resist the call of the world if we don't hear the call of Christ louder. We can't hear Christ call if we don't spend time taking in His Word, through reading, meditation, and teaching. Jesus had to spend that time when He was here on earth; why would we think we don't? Let's help our children learn that lesson, and continue to take it in for ourselves.

Taking the church outside

One of the characteristics of my home church is a stated desire to "take church outside these four walls." Over the years I have been a member, we have done this in a variety of ways. My pastor likes to describe us as "Colts Neck Community Church-where community is our middle name." I have been in a number of churches in my days (which is getting to be an increasingly large number!), and I think I can say without too much prejudice that our church is making a very good effort at taking the message of the love of Christ out to where people are.

This morning we took "taking the church outside" quite literally, and had our service out in the front yard right by the road. This wan't just a gimmick; our goal was to attract people to something a little different when they might not be inclined just to go to a "church service" in a building. Members of the church invited friends to come, and we had a large number of visitors. The most significant moment came when two people were baptized, professing their faith in Jesus Christ. (We set up a small pool outside; an outdoor baptism is a serious thing for Baptists!) After the service, we engaged in the sacred ritual of "lunch" while a worship band played. It was a meaningful and exciting day for the church.

I'm sharing this because I think that what we did today was representative of what we believe the church should be about. I've been part of too many churches that engage in serving those on the inside of the church and building programs to satisfy the needs of the existing congregation. That is certainly something that every church needs to do, but it isn't the sum total of what Jesus wants us to be. The Great Commission tells us to "go into all the world," and the verb go implies that we need to move out. I believe that every church, as a group of people who believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father and who want to show His love to others, needs to be involved in the community in which they have been placed.

When I served as an interim pastor, I often encouraged the members of the churches I served by reminding them that they were not where they were by accident. God has each church in its time and place to accomplish His purpose in their location. Each member of the church is not there by accident, either; we are all placed by the Lord in the place He wants us to be to carry out our mission with that congregation. Our goal should be to understand the purpose and mission which God has for us, and to carry out that purpose and that mission for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Your church may never go outside for a service, but I would encourage you to go outside for mission for Jesus Christ.

Doing what Jesus does

One of the inscriptions you can find on Christian items is the acronym "WWJD?" This, of course, is short for "What would Jesus do?" This question was posed in Charles Sheldon's novel In His Steps many years ago. While it has become a bit of cliche, it really isn't a bad question to ask. The point made in the book is that you aren't asking what Jesus would do if He were here on earth today, but what would He do if He were in your situation.

However, there is one example in the Bible of something we can do that is what Jesus is doing now. We studied 1 Timothy 2:1-5 this past Wednesday at our church, and I was struck by the juxtaposition of Paul's urging that Christians should intercede for others with the description of Jesus in verse 5 as the "one mediator between God and man." In several NT passages, Jesus is said to be interceding for us before His Father. He is a "go-between" on our behalf, as the One who paid the price that gave us access to the Father's throne.

In a more limited sense, we are told in this passage to be a "go-between" for others in prayer. We obviously are not the ones who provide the answers for those prayers (although God may use us as His agents to affect those answers!), but we do have a responsibility to pray for others. Whether it is those in authority, those who need to know Jesus Christ, or those who are suffering, we have the remarkable privilege of sharing in a very small part of the ministry of intercession practiced by Jesus.

Today maybe we need to ask ourselves not "What would Jesus do?" but "What is Jesus doing?" Then we can let that thought spur us on to engaging in prayer for those who need our intercession, and learn to appreciate what our Lord is doing for us.

Memories...

In cleaning up after myself on my computer, I found the link to this blog. I had forgotten I even HAD a blog! I considered deleting it, but then I saw that there are actually people still reading it. The best option seems to be to pick up and start writing here again.

A few things have changed since I last posted here. I finished my time at Central Hunterdon Baptist, and have returned to Colts Neck Community Church. (Guess I need to fix their order on my links sidebar!) I now serve as the Christian Education Director for CNCC. I still have my "day job" working with special needs students, and my family situation hasn't changed much, except for having another kid in college.

Since I'm not preaching regularly at present, the "Sunday sermon" isn't appropriate anymore. I'll probably start delving into subjects I'm studying on my own, material I'm teaching, and some excursuses (yes, that is the proper plural) on discipleship and Christian education in general. I'll also provide my take on certain current events and issues as they arise.

One of my takeaways from my time at CHBC was learning sign language through the Deaf ministry of the church. I'll be adding some ASL links to my sidebar as well. I can't sign on the blog, and with my limited vocabulary it wouldn't be very interesting anyway, but perhaps it can give some insight into working with a population that has a specific need that we as the church don't often meet.

I'm not promising a steady stream of posts, but I do hope to become more active than I have been over the past year or so (which is hardly setting the bar too high). I hope those of you who have read my posts in the past will continue to join me for the ride.

Sunday sermon: "The War Within"

 Why do Christians struggle with sin? If, as we see in the beginning of Romans 7, we are freed from the control of sin, why do we still do it? This question has perplexed Christians since the very beginning, and we see here at the end of Romans 7 that even the apostle Paul saw this as a struggle.

One easy way to deal with this passage is to say it only applies to those who have not come to Christ. They may want to do the right thing, but can't. This avoids the issue of saying that Christians still sin, but it fails on two fronts. First, all of Romans to this point teaches that without Christ we are dead in sin, helpless, and seek only to fulfill our own desires. Without the saving power of Jesus, we don't want to do good, so we don't have this struggle. The second problem is that it doesn't have an answer to the question raised in this passage, which is why Christians still struggle with sin. If we aren't supposed to struggle with sin, we come to a point of despair as the reality of sin intrudes on our life.

The struggle ensues because there are two principles at war within us. As those who are new creatures in Christ, we have a desire to do what pleases God, and we begin to align ourselves with His will. Still, our old self wants to follow its own desires. We have self-centered habits to break, and the more we mature in our Christian life the more we see in ourselves that needs to be cleansed.

Ironically, it is those who we often extol as the greatest of saints who are most aware of their sin. I would be thrilled to be as mature as the apostle Paul, yet he considered himself to be a "wretched man" when he thought of his sin. Paul understood how serious sin is in God's eyes, and how any sin violates our relationship with God. I believe, contrary to some teachers, that as we grow in our understanding of God's will and in our Christian walk, we will become more conscious of sin, rather than reaching a point where we believe we are sinlessly perfect.

The conclusion of chapter 7 gives us hope: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" While we may struggle, we do not need to rely on our own strength to overcome the power of sin. It is through Jesus that we conquer sin. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to resist temptation and to do what we know is right. Part of growing in Christ is learning to become dependent on the Spirit rather than self. As we do that, we gradually find sin's power waning, the desire of our self to seek its own way weakening, and our ability to serve the Lord strengthening. We may still have that struggle within, but through Christ we can find victory more and more.

Loving the Cross

Here is a well-known quote from "The Imitation of Christ" (Bk. 2, Ch.11) to meditate on as we approach Passion Week:

"JESUS has always many who love His heavenly kingdom, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who care for trial. He finds many to share His table, but few to take part in His fasting. All desire to be happy with Him; few wish to suffer anything for Him. Many follow Him to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His passion. Many revere His miracles; few approach the shame of the Cross. Many love Him as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless Him as long as they receive some comfort from Him. But if Jesus hides Himself and leaves them for a while, they fall either into complaints or into deep dejection. Those, on the contrary, who love Him for His own sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him in all trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if He should never give them consolation, yet they would continue to praise Him and wish always to give Him thanks. What power there is in pure love for Jesus — love that is flee from all self-interest and self-love! Do not those who always seek consolation deserve to be called mercenaries? Do not those who always think of their own profit and gain prove that they love themselves rather than Christ? Where can a man be found who desires to serve God for nothing? Rarely indeed is a man so spiritual as to strip himself of all things. And who shall find a man so truly poor in spirit as to be free from every creature? His value is like that of things brought from the most distant lands. If a man give all his wealth, it is nothing; if he do great penance, it is little; if he gain all knowledge, he is still far afield; if he have great virtue and much ardent devotion, he still lacks a great deal, and especially, the one thing that is most necessary to him. What is this one thing? That leaving all, he forsake himself, completely renounce himself, and give up all private affections. Then, when he has done all that he knows ought to be done, let him consider it as nothing, let him make little of what may be considered great; let him in all honesty call himself an unprofitable servant. For truth itself has said: “When you shall have done all these things that are commanded you, say: ‘we are unprofitable servants.’” Then he will be truly poor and stripped in spirit, and with the prophet may say: “I am alone and poor.” No one, however, is more wealthy than such a man; no one is more powerful, no one freer than he who knows how to leave all things and think of himself as the least of all."

Sunday sermon: "You Know Better"

As a child, when we did something wrong occasionally our parents would admonish us with the line, "You should know better!" Other kids may have gotten away with the same thing we did, but what mom or dad was saying was that we were raised to follow a higher standard. Truth be told, we probably did know better, but we let our own desires and our own will have control instead of doing what was right.

Paul reminds us in Romans 7:7-14 that this is exactly what the Law of God does for us. It reminds us of the higher standard that God holds for His people. If we did not have this standard revealed to us, we might be able to convince ourselves that we aren't so bad after all. Paul says he was "alive" before he knew the Law. We know from his previous discussion that objectively he was still dead in his sins, as we all are, but here I think he is trying to say that he felt alive. It was the Law that revealed what sin was.

Not only does the Law show us what sin is, it shows us what the consequences of sin are. Sin breaks our relationship with God fatally. When we breach the Law, we are separated from God, eternally condemned to death. If we didn't see God's standard, we wouldn't realize just how impossible keeping the Law is.

Yet this revelation of our condition before God is the beginning of the good news. Before we can understand our need for the saving work of Jesus Christ, we need to know that we have that need. As long as we think we can take care of ourselves, we won't look for an answer from Him. Once we know we are dead, and unable to help ourselves, we start to look for the way out. That's when we are open to hearing the good news that our sin was paid for by Jesus on the cross.

Sometimes Christians disparage the Law. "We aren't under Law, but under grace!" we cry. That's certainly true, but we need to have the attitude toward God's Law that Paul had. Without it, we wouldn't know the high holiness of God, the absoluteness of His standard, and the ways we fall far short of it. Without the Law, we wouldn't realize we need Jesus. The Law has a purpose, even for us today.