April 26, 2009 - Pastor Tim

DEALING WITH THE STING OF BETRAYAL

Luke 22:1-6, 21-23, 47-48

 

[Begin with the video of Charlie Brown and Lucy]

(The scene begins with Charlie Brown and Lucy and the football. Lucy promises that, for once, she won’t swipe the ball away at the last moment, and Charlie’s gullible heart swells with confidence: “This time I’m gonna kick that football clear to the moon!” He barrels toward it, and she, of course, swipes the ball away at the last moment, and he tumbles through the air with a cry before crashing his head on the earth.) Poor Charlie Brown…betrayed once again by ol’ Lucy!

This morning we’re continuing in a series I’ve called, “Looking at the Cross through Resurrection Eyes”—digging into the significance of the Cross from a Post-Resurrection perspective. And, as you may have noted in our bulletin, my sermon for this morning is entitled, “Dealing with the Sting of Betrayal.” And, as our friend Charlie Brown could tell us: Being betrayed hurts…sometimes the hurt goes deep.

As you might guess, we’re looking at Judas’ role in the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, for Judas, one of the 12 disciples, was the one who betrayed Jesus. But, honestly, it’s not Judas I want us to ultimately focus on—it’s Jesus. And perhaps the question before us is this: What can we learn from Christ to help us when we feel betrayed by others?

Turn with me in your Bibles and let’s read from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 22—

[Read Luke 22:1-6, 21-23, 47-48, NIV]

So, what does betrayal look like? How does it feel? Let’s start with Judas. Judas is the great question mark in history. Books have been written about him—trying to get a handle on who he was and why he did what he did.

Some have said that we’re so intrigued with Judas because we’re a lot like him. Some try to put Judas in the best possible light—saying he was loyal to Jesus, but in his concern that things weren’t moving fast enough, he wanted to force Jesus into revealing His power. Some have said that Judas thought he understood more about the world and the kingdom than Jesus did. In some sense, if that were right, it would remind us of Genesis 3 and the first sin of humanity—Adam and Eve disobeyed in an attempt to be as wise as God. Too many of us think we know better than God does—and some say that was Judas’ problem.

Others are convinced that Judas knew exactly what he was doing. They’d say that all we can do is judge Judas by his actions—though we prefer to be judged by our intentions. (Try that the next time a cop pulls you over for speeding—“I didn’t mean to do it!”) But apparently Judas is guilty. He’s a traitor. He was the betrayer.

Imagine the scene—this circle of men reclining, as was the custom, as they shared a meal. They’ve all been together for three years. It has been an incredible experience for all of them. Jesus had shared His kingdom with them—His presence and His power. Now, in the bread and in the cup, he gives them His body and His very blood. He gave Himself unreservedly to all twelve, including Judas.

They were sharing the Passover meal. You see, traditionally, the Passover is celebrated with one’s family. It commemorates the angel of death passing over the children of Israel while slaying the first-born in every Egyptian household. Jesus chose to celebrate the Passover with the group that had become family to Him—those twelve men with whom he had shared His life and ministry for so long. And to this special family, He said, “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me.” The betrayal by one so loved was especially devastating.

What does betrayal look like in our corner of the world today? Ask a woman whose husband left her for another woman and she’ll give you a clear definition of betrayal—but it won’t be with a smile on her face! I remember in my college years reconnecting with a family I had known well years before—a family from the church my dad had pastored when I was in elementary school. Theirs was a home I had spent a lot of time during those years. The dad, Dave, after multiple affairs across the years, finally left his family and married a woman the age of his oldest daughter. Then he proceeded to build a house next door to his family for him and his new wife to live in! When we visited with the wife and kids, they were all seething with the anger of having been betrayed!

We can feel betrayed by our spouse, our children, our extended family, or our friends. We can also experience betrayal in the context of our work—from our boss, our co-workers, or even our employees. I hate to mention this, but I’m also aware that there have been times when people have felt betrayed by their church. I think there’s a sense in which we can feel we’ve been betrayed by our politicians, by our “system,” and, perhaps more recently, by our banks and our other financial institutions. When the vast amount of your retirement fund has been washed down the toilet in an economy out of control, there’s a tendency to want to blame someone! It wasn’t supposed to be this way! We trusted those in authority over us! Betrayal was why there was so much outrage over the AIG corporate execs receiving billions of dollars in tax-payers’ financial bailout funds and then going ahead and apportioning millions of dollars in bonuses for themselves!

And let me clarify something here. We may feel betrayed by others even when we may not, in reality, have been betrayed by them. We may feel betrayed even in instances when others may genuinely feel they have not betrayed us. I recall a time when I felt betrayed by someone who worked for me—who also would have said he felt betrayed by me. While I did everything I could to avoid the person feeling that way about me, I will likely never be able to change their feelings about the matter. I also recall a situation where I very much felt betrayed by someone who had promised to stand by me in something—though the person contended later that they did nothing wrong by me. My point is that, in this matter of betrayal, our perception is our reality. Whether we’ve been betrayed or not isn’t likely the point—we’re going to have to come to grips with our response—to our feelings—of betrayal regardless of what the intentions of others were in reality.

Betrayal is when our presumptive understanding of trust or confidence in someone has been violated or broken. We thought we could trust someone—and we couldn’t! They let us down—and it suddenly changes everything in our relationship. We might think of the person or the organization as a traitor—and that’s what we feel they are!

Being betrayed carries with it tremendous emotional impact. Generally speaking, the greater the trust that you had placed in the other person, the greater will be the emotional impact upon you if you feel betrayed by them. And I don’t know that we can ignore our emotions at this point—we’ve got to own up to them and deal with them. We’ve got to be realistic about our emotions, and yet we can’t afford to “stay parked” on unhealthy emotions. With God’s help, we’ve got to work our way through them without allowing them to destroy us from within—and they will, if we let them! They can work like a cancer within us. The emotion most felt with betrayal is anger, though there may also be an accompanying fear of loss of the relationship and repulsion at the lack of integrity of the other person.

One of the other side-effects of betrayal is that it’s harder to trust again. And it not only makes it harder to trust that particular person or organization again, but our lack of trust is likely to carry over to others as well—who don’t deserve our prejudice of mistrust! The man whose wife left him for another man may conclude he could never trust another woman again! The person who felt “abused” by their church may feel they can never trust another church again!

Betrayal is such a personal thing—because it’s a violation of a relationship! There are those who have concluded that betrayal can only happen if you love—and there are those who, once betrayed, promise they’ll never love again and keep everyone at arm’s length. Because the reaction to betrayal can be so intense, it can almost destroy hope in our lives. The playwright Tennessee Williams concluded, “We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal.” One of our early leaders in American democracy, William Penn, warned, “Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.”

But I must tell you that I’d find that a terrible way to live! How can we ever build healthy, loving relationships with others if we refuse to trust! Perhaps a good question to ask ourselves is this: How would Jesus respond to the betrayal we’ve experienced? This leads to the question I put before you earlier: What can we learn from Christ to help us when we feel betrayed by others?

Shall we explore how it must have felt for Jesus to be betrayed by one who was so close to Him? If we look closely at Luke 22, we find that just before Judas arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane with those ready to arrest Jesus, Jesus was praying intensely through the long hours into the night. The disciples kept falling asleep on Him, indicating that it was getting later and later, encroaching into the hours during which they were normally asleep. But Jesus couldn’t sleep that night—and was a bit frustrated that His disciples couldn’t seem to stay awake in support of Him.

Jesus was overwhelmed with all kinds of feelings that night. We can only imagine what He was going through. And among the myriad of feelings, I’m guessing that there was anguish over Judas’ betrayal of Him. Surely Jesus felt anger when Judas barged into this solemn setting, leading the group of those pursuing Jesus—and the audacity of Judas to identify Jesus to them by the greeting customary between valued friends in their culture—a kiss! Can you imagine how Jesus felt when He said, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

I believe it’s important for us to embrace the reality that Jesus knows what it’s like for you and me to experience betrayal. And if we can accept that, then it’s valid for us to try to take our cues from what Jesus did and from what we believe He would have done.

I’ve been pondering a question this week that I invite you to ponder with me: If Judas had not taken his own life that night, would Jesus have restored Judas to fellowship just as He did with Peter—presuming that Judas was willing? Would Jesus have sought out Judas personally after the Resurrection just as He did Peter—who had denied Him three times—and as He did with Thomas—who doubted the reality of Christ’s Resurrection? Would Jesus have been as redemptive with Judas had Judas given Jesus a chance?

Think with me for a moment of the Last Supper scene itself. Luke tells us—

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:19-20)

Judas was among those gathered around that table. Was Jesus giving His own body up for even Judas? Was it for Judas that Christ poured out His blood? That’s what Jesus said to them! The new covenant in Christ’s blood carried with it the assurance of forgiveness. We are, as the old song indicated, “covered by the blood.” His sacrificial death paid the penalty for our sins and provided for a new covenant, a new relationship, with our Heavenly Father. So would Jesus have extended that opportunity to Judas, too, if Judas had given Jesus a chance?—if he hadn’t, in his despair, tragically taken his own life after Jesus was arrested?

When Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray, He also said, “but woe to that man who betrays him” (vs 22). Was Jesus declaring a curse upon Judas? I don’t believe so. I believe Jesus was stating with a broken heart the terrible consequences Judas would bring on himself in the act of betrayal.

You see, it would have been absolutely inconsistent with Jesus’ character for Him not to have forgiven Judas—again, if Judas had given Jesus a chance to do so. If Jesus hadn’t done so, it would have violated His own commands. Do you remember what Jesus had declared in the Sermon on the Mount and various other times during His ministry?—

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)

Jesus taught us to pray,

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”…for it you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)

There’s a wonderful story about the cardinal of the Philippines, named, oddly enough, Cardinal Sin. When Cardinal Sin was a bishop, a young woman in his parish claimed that she had visions of Jesus. Bishop Sin was given the task of determining if these visions were authentic. He called her in for an interview, after which he made this request: “Daughter, the next time you see Jesus, would you ask Him what sin your bishop committed as a young priest and then come and tell me His answer.” She agreed. The bishop, aware that nobody knew his sin except himself, his confessor, and Jesus, felt this would be a valid test. Months later the young woman returned, reporting she had seen Jesus again. The bishop said, “Good. Did you ask Him about my sin?” She said, “Yes,” “What did He say?” “He said, ‘I’ve forgotten.’”

Would it have been any different for Judas? Of course not! I refuse to believe otherwise! Judas’ betrayal did not cause Christ to love him less. It was for sinners like Judas that He was about to give His life!

So, how are we to respond to those who betray us? Our calling and God’s command of us is to forgive those who sin against us—and is there any better description of betrayal? We must let go of our hurts and wounds, and refuse to nurse them in anger and resentment. Chances are, the deepest betrayals will demand an ongoing commitment to forgiveness—for, in our humanness, we often find it difficult to let go of such things all at once. Resentment and bitterness has a way of continuing to raise its ugly head, continually trying to draw us into its trap once again. My own experience is that it’s a day-by-day process, an ongoing entrusting to the Lord of our feelings and the situations with a refusal to give in to bitterness. The Lord knows that our hurts will consume us and destroy us, if we let them—and He is our greatest ally in our determination to let go of such wounds.

One way in which we’re helped in this process is to dare to remember the ways in which we, in our sin, have betrayed Christ ourselves. We might also remind ourselves of the ways in which we have surely left others feeling betrayed. We dare not be too smug in refusing to forgive those we feel have betrayed us. And in seeing all of this through Resurrection eyes, the disciples of Jesus were all too aware of their own guilt of jealousy, selfish ambitions, denial and defection from Christ. They were surely humbled in acknowledging their own failures—just as we might also be as we commit to resolving our own responses to those who have betrayed us.

So, how are we to deal with the sting of betrayal? As sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, we are called to respond with forgiveness. Because our sins have also been forgiven, we are called to be part of God’s redemptive work in the lives of others. With the help of the Lord, we can learn to let go of our feelings of bitterness and resentment, trusting such things into the hands of the Lord. We can move on with our lives, set free from that which would destroy us from within. And, with the help of the Lord, we can learn to trust again, though perhaps more wisely and more discriminately. And as we do, we focus our energies in pouring out our lives for the sake of others, just as Jesus did. It’s the way not only to blessing others, but also the way to be truly blessed ourselves.

April 19, 2009 - Pastor Tim

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Luke 22:24-30

What a wonderful Resurrection Sunday we had last week! My thanks to all who helped make Easter such a grand day around here!

This morning, the Sunday afternoon Easter, I want to begin something I’ve never done before—that means that you’re all “guinea pigs” as we try something new! I’m going to begin a series of sermons I’m calling, “Looking at the Cross through Resurrection Eyes.” I’ve typically spent the Lenten season, the weeks prior to Easter, retracing the steps to the Cross through one of the four Gospel accounts—and that’s certainly appropriate as we try to grasp the significance of what Christ has done for us and to capture the breadth of the wonder of the Resurrection. As I was doing my sermon planning, I got to thinking about the early days of the Church—and how the Resurrection shaped who they became. And I began to think through the fact that all of the events leading up to the Cross suddenly took on new meaning once they were on the Resurrection side of things! Surely there was a lot of lively interaction after the Resurrection, bringing new meaning to all of what Jesus taught and lived in those final days.

I invite you to turn with me to Luke, chapter 22. The stage had already been set for what was about to happen. Judas had already agreed to the devious ploy of the betrayal. Jesus was gathered with His disciples in the Upper Room, and had just shared the Last Supper with them, instituting what we often call “communion” or “the Lord’s supper.” But did you realize that right after that most solemn moment, the disciples got into an argument? All things considered, their timing was terrible! Their behavior was shocking, to say the least. It was the last thing Jesus wanted to hear right then! It must have been all Jesus could do to keep from smacking them all upside the head, trying to knock some sense into them. But in His patient way, Jesus used it as an opportunity to teach them some extremely important things about His Kingdom.

Listen as I read—

[Read Luke 22:24-30, NIV]

God’s desire in His covenantal relationship with Israel, that we read about it in the Old Testament, was that while all the other nations had kings, God Himself was to be the King of Israel. As you may recall, the people weren’t happy with that, and whined and fussed about it until God finally gave in and gave them a king. And, all in all, the kingship of Israel proved to be a terrible disappointment. The nation split into two, divided by two men who were determined to be king. It wasn’t a pretty thing!

Then came Jesus—hailed by many as “the King of the Jews.” There are times when we refer to Him as “King Jesus,” or “Christ the King.” And Jesus Himself often spoke about His kingdom, though He always spoke of it in terms that contradicted the normal expectations of a kingdom. Jesus redefined a kingdom.

What do we think of when we think of a king?

• Power. Absolutely! Kings get what they want.
• Control. We think of authoritarian rule.
• Wealth. For some reason, I think of silver and gold.
• Extravagant living. The king can afford it, can’t he? And people expect it of a king.
• A throne and a crown—the center of attention, being in the place of greatest prominence.
• Servants. Kings were meant to be served. There were kings—and then there was everyone else.
• Honor, pomp and circumstance…grand entrances…everyone bowing down.

And was that the kind of king Jesus would ever be? Was that the kind of kingdom He aspired to have? Not in the least!

Matthew and Mark both record a similar scene and conversation to the one we just read from Luke’s Gospel. In Matthew and Mark, it took place just prior to what we know as His Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem. The mother of James and John had come to Him, asking if her two boys could be on either side of Jesus when He came into His kingdom. They were so much thinking about all the old paradigms of kings and kingdoms, that they couldn’t grasp the fact that Jesus had something all together different in mind—even though He’d been modeling it for them all along! He said her, “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

When the other disciples learned about James and John’s mother’s request, they were angry! They were probably lining up their moms to go talk with Jesus, too! But Jesus called them together then and said to them,

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:25-28, NIV)

Luke tells us then about the same old argument popping up in the hours before Jesus was arrested, the eve of His death on a Roman cross. It was incredible that in such a time the disciples would be thinking of their own power and control and prestige and honor!

Would you like to understand more about Christ’s Kingdom? Do you want to know what Jesus’ kingship is all about? Can I answer it in a nutshell? If you want to know what Jesus’ kingship is all about, look at the Cross! If you want to know what kind of king Jesus was, look at the Cross! If you want to understand what His Kingdom is all about, look at the Cross!

What do I mean by that? Jesus’ Kingdom was not about power, control, wealth, extravagant living, a throne or a crown! The Kingdom of Jesus is about serving—and ultimately laying down our lives for others, loving so very much that we would do whatever we have to do for the sake of the well-being of others.

Jesus acknowledged that secular rulers or leaders “lord it over” others, but Jesus made it clear that this was not the way of His Kingdom—He wouldn’t do that and certainly didn’t want His followers doing it either. Years later, when Peter wrote his first letter to the church, he wrote instructions to the elders of the church, admonishing them to

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers…not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:2-3).

Jesus acknowledged that while others like to have titles bestowed on themselves, that’s not how it’s to be in His kingdom. He said, “But you are not to be like that.” The greatest is to be like the youngest—which, certainly in their culture, reflected subservience to the others. The person who rules is to be like the one who serves. In the social custom of the New Testament times, the person sitting at the dinner table certainly had a higher social standing than the person who was moving around the table, serving the food. And it’s hard for us to read this passage, thinking of the setting in which Jesus spoke these words, and not be reminded of what John’s Gospel tells us happened on that same evening, as Jesus got down on His hands and knees and went around the room, washing the feet of His disciples as a common servant would do.

Don’t you know that, after the Resurrection, the Disciples had to be shaking their heads in disbelief that they had ever talked and acted in such a way just a few days before? They must have felt so ashamed! Jesus had shown them “the full extent of His love” when He went to the Cross, and they had to have been humbled to the core that they had ever fussed over prominence within their own little circle. They had so terribly missed the point!

I saw the other day the most interesting challenge to our cultural icons. I’m honestly not much into the TV reality shows that are seeking out talent, but who seem to enjoy humiliating a lot of people along the way. But the eyes and ears of lots of people were taken back this week when a very plain 47-year-old, unemployed Scotswoman took the stage on Britain’s version of “America’s Got Talent”—called, appropriately, “Britain’s Got Talent.” The crowd and the judges were all set for a good laugh at her expense—just watch their body language at the outset. The table was clearly set for humiliation and defeat…until she began to sing…

[play Utube video of Susan Boyle]

Her voice was incredible! And the jeers and snickers quickly turned to acclaim, as she broke the expectation that to captivate the hearts of people with musical talent you must be stunningly beautiful and debonair. I frankly enjoyed the breakdown of the paradigm, and hope that it accomplishes far more than just a momentary shakeup. And maybe we can come alongside that shakeup this morning to allow the Holy Spirit to shake up our ideas and aspirations about what it means to be great. It’s not what we thought it was!

So, how are we going to respond? How’s this to be lived out in our lives—in a world that too often berates the seemingly not-so-shining-stars and lifts up others for all the wrong reasons?…that pays professional baseball players and movie divas millions of dollars every year but pays schoolteachers and police officers and helping professionals minimally? Despite the shining moment of a Susan Boyle, our world doesn’t generally applaud simple people! It doesn’t applaud servants! So how are we to live out the teachings of Jesus in our world? How are we going to pursue “success” and how are we going to redefine it?

Can I go back to the simple answer I gave you a few moments ago relating to what Jesus’ kingship is all about? Look at the Cross. How are we to live out the teachings of Jesus in our world? What’s it going to look like? What is success? What is greatness? Look at the Cross.

Jesus set aside His glory and any prominence people gave to Him, and embraced the Cross. That’s not what we expected from a King, is it? But, oh what an impact that King has had on our lives! He is the Resurrected King, Lord of our Lives—and He is with us still, everyday, empowering us to rise above the sin of this world and to live as part of His Kingdom! He invites us to greatness—but He redefines what that means!

So, how are we to live? We’re to serve. We’re to lay down our lives as Jesus did. We’re to give our lives for the sake of others. We’re to love—and love so deeply that we forget our preoccupation with ourselves and any selfish desires and self-centered ambitions. We’re to give no thought for how important we may seem to be in the eyes of others or what wonderful titles others might give to us. We are to, in effect, wash the feet of others.

No doubt, one of the great examples of such self-sacrificing service to others in our era was found in the person of the one known as Mother Teresa. At the ceremony for 11 new members of her order of nuns, the then frail and stooped Mother Teresa said,

Love, to be real, must cost. It must hurt. It must empty us of self. (Mother Teresa)

The disciples of Jesus in those days before His crucifixion were so easily distracted by their own aspirations to greatness. And we live in a world that presses us to do the same—every day! But Jesus said that greatness in His eyes isn’t marked by how long we live, how well-known or how popular we are, nor how rich we are at retirement. Jesus said that the measure of life is in our service—how we learned to give our lives away for others. George Truitt, a great Baptist preacher of generations ago, said—

It is not the talents one has that makes him great, however many and brilliant they may be; it is not the vast amount of study that gives mental enrichment to the mind and life; it is not in shining social qualities; it is not the large accumulation of wealth that secures peace and honor. In none of these measured by God’s standards does greatness reside. The true greatness consists in the use of all the talents one has in unselfish ministry to others. (George W. Truitt)

A lot of people have been helped by Alcoholics Anonymous. They speak of four paradoxes:

We surrender to win.

We give away to keep.

We suffer to get well.

We die to live.

Jesus, I believe, would add another: To lead, we serve…to be great, we take on the role of the servant. To be great in His Kingdom is not to sit at the most important table or demand the biggest office or the largest salary, and certainly not the most attention. To be great in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is to learn to serve as He did and to love as He did…giving our lives for the sake of others.

How’s this going to look in the church? Can I answer that with a little story? It was published in Servant Magazine several years ago (Jan/Feb 1989), though I don’t know the name of the one who wrote it. He apparently was the pastor of a rather large church—perhaps with 5000 every Sunday. He tells of running into a woman at the grocery store who sought him out, wagged her finger at him, saying, “I left your church!” And she was more than glad to tell him why—“Because you weren’t meeting my needs.” He said, “I don’t ever recollect seeing you before, let alone talking to you, let alone knowing your needs. Did you ever tell anyone specifically what your needs were?” She couldn’t recall that she had, so he raised another question. “Can you tell me, if we have 5,000 people sitting in that church, all with your attitude, how anyone’s needs are going to be met? If you reserve the right to have that attitude, then you must give everybody the freedom to have that attitude. And if everybody has that attitude, who on earth is going to do all the need-meeting?” The woman didn’t back down, demanding still who would meet all the people’s needs. The pastor was quicker than I’d be while standing in the grocery store, and he simply said, “This is what will work: when people stop sitting in the pew saying, ‘They’re not meeting my needs’ and start saying, ‘Whose needs can I meet?’ Then needs will be met. When the servant spirit flourishes in a congregation, then they minister to each other as unto the Lord.’”

He was right on target, wasn’t he? And the same thing works in our homes and at our work and in the community. How many struggling marriages would be turned around if both husband and wife determined to meet the needs of the other? How many conflicts that you deal with at work would be resolved if you just set out to “wash the feet,” so to speak, of your co-workers?

And those who are truly great in the Kingdom of Heaven have somehow figured that out, and are following in the footsteps of Jesus, who loved so much that He willingly laid down His life for us. It was His mission in life, and according to the passage we read this morning, He’s given us a commission to do the same. He’s called us to be great in His Kingdom—which doesn’t correlate at all to how greatness is perceived in our world. He has redefined greatness!

Think with me a moment. Who do you know that you believe might be among the greatest in Christ’s Kingdom? Who in your life has best reflected the heart and spirit of Jesus Christ? It’s not always the people of great position or status! For you, it may have been a grandparent, or a Sunday School teacher when you were a kid, or a school teacher who took a special interest in you, or a next-door neighbor, or a youth worker, or the co-worker who lead you to Christ. Maybe it was your mom or dad. They are the people who loved you unconditionally, who took the commission of Christ seriously and poured out their lives for you. Along the road to success, they got it figured out—that Jesus had redefined “success”! He had redefined greatness!

Would you this morning ask the Lord to help you reassess what you’re pursuing? Would you ask Him if what you’re pursuing is really “greatness” in His eyes? Would you allow Him to help you redirect your pursuits and your aspirations—for His Kingdom’s sake?

April 5, 2009 - Pastor Tim

THE HOMECOMING OF GOD

Psalm 24

One of the hot topics in the church world today is “worship.” The church today longs for a renewal in worship—and yet we struggle to agree on just what “worship” is! I too have a deep desire to be an effective worshiper and to lead others into meaningful worship. I guess I’m saying that the struggle is a worthwhile struggle.

My frustration is that we too easily make the focus of “worship” that which satisfies the worshipper, neglecting the very heart of what worship is meant to be. It becomes consumer-oriented—as if the goal of the church is to make each of you “happy.” For what it’s worth, I believe our Heavenly Father must be terribly grieved that the topic of worship is something that has become so divisive in the Christian community today—and He must be terribly disappointed when He sees us divided over how we are best to worship Him. It simply goes to prove that the Enemy of our soul can take and twist and turn even that which is good and lofty in order to undermine Christ’s Church.

The Hebrew word for worship means literally “to bow down,” thus the Old Testament attitude and position of worship is that of a person subject to a reigning king. That’s why we read in Psalm 95:6—“Oh, come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” To worship is to submit, to surrender (which, by the way, means that it doesn’t have anything to do with making us happy or being tailored to suit us!). When we come to worship the Lord, we come to surrender to Him.

There was a dear older man named Paul Hardy in our church in San Jose when our kids were all little. He was a prayer warrior and cared deeply about spiritually lost people. While other people tried to get our little ones to talk to them or to laugh or to perform some silly thing with them, Paul tried to teach them to “surrender”—with their hands held up in the air. He was such a man of prayer and such a godly man that it was his way to try to impress upon us all the essence of what worship is about—surrender!

The goal of worship is the entrance of “the King of glory.” As we call upon the Lord, as we submit to Him, we are inviting Him to be present in our midst with all His glory. And, unless and until that happens, something is terribly lacking. Our hearts will be satisfied with nothing less than Him. We anxiously await the grand entrance of our King of all glory!

I think grand entrances have a way of making an impression upon us. I was privileged to be part of the inauguration of our new president at Northwest Nazarene University a few weeks ago. There was a huge processional in academic regalia (caps and gowns and colorful doctoral hoods), as an orchestra played an appropriately regal number. The processional included the marching in of representatives of other universities, the Board of Trustees of NNU, and the faculty and administrators of NNU. Then finally was the entrance of the new president—as he strode down the long aisle by himself.

Every traditional wedding anticipates the grand entrance of the bride. Grandparents and parents of the bride and groom are escorted in. The long white aisle-runner is pulled out, creating the pathway for the entrance of the bride. The minister and the groom and his groomsmen enter and take their places at the front, where they immediately turn to watch the entrance of the others in this grand procession. The bridesmaids enter one by one. Then the ring-bearer and the flower girl come next—the ring-bearer carrying the ring that will be placed upon the finger of the bride and the flower girl spreading flower petals on the long white aisle-runner preparing it for the entrance of the bride. And then everything stands still for a moment as the bride comes to the doorway of the sanctuary and the music switches to the tune which signals the bride’s grand entrance. As she and her father begin their long walk down that aisle, the crowd stands to their feet in her honor. And all eyes are upon her as she makes her way to where her groom is anxiously awaiting her arrival. The bride has arrived! Now the ceremony can begin!

Today is Palm Sunday, and it is the Sunday in our Christian calendar when we remember Jesus’ grand entrance into the Holy City of Jerusalem. Have you ever thought of it as His grand entrance? That’s exactly what it was! As a king might do, He was riding on a young donkey. And as he went along, people spread their outer garments out on the pathway as a sort of aisle runner meant to honor the one who would walk on it. And as Jesus entered the city, His disciples and those in the crowd who had become enthralled with Him cried out with great joy, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

And for the astute, it was powerfully reflective of a word spoken by the Old Testament prophet Zechariah many years before when he wrote,

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)

It was an amazing event! And those who were seeking God somehow sensed that God—their King—had come. He had just made His grand entrance!

Did you know that the huge, noisy crowd that flocked around Jesus that day was the only such crowd that Jesus didn’t run from? It was the most public hour of Jesus’ life! And did you know that while only two of the four Gospels tell the traditional Christmas story, all four Gospels seem to come to a crescendo with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem?! It was the one time that Jesus didn’t discourage or restrain the spontaneous and extravagant praise and gestures of the people. Jesus knew good and well that the accolades of praise were directed toward Him. He knew that the people recognized Him as God’s chosen Messiah, and yet He did nothing to hinder the all-out worship that was given Him that day. Jesus did nothing to tone down the adoration.

It was a day of great joy, and yet Luke’s Gospel tells us about Jesus weeping bitterly that day. It was a great reception for Jesus, and yet Jesus capped the day with an outburst of righteous indignation that stirred His enemies to form an alliance against Him. It was the day that ushered in the week in which Jesus was arrested and humiliated and beaten and executed on a Cross.

It was an event of great paradox—and even His followers failed to grasp its enormous significance. They didn’t get it! They weren’t connecting all the dots! It wouldn’t be until it was all over and they saw Jesus after the Resurrection that they would begin to understand—and we’re still trying to put all the pieces together in our own hearts and minds.

I want us to turn to what may seem on the surface to be an unlikely passage of Scripture for us to center on this morning. It is the 24th Psalm in the Old Testament. It is, by the way, a psalm of worship—and through it today we are being called upon to bow down and worship our Lord, the King of our lives. In its words is the cry for God to come, for heaven to open and the King, the most-desired One, to come.

Would you read it in unison with me this morning?

[Read in unison Psalm 24, NIV]

The first two verses settle the breadth of His Kingship—

[Re-read Psalm 24:1-2]

He is the Creator of all—thus He is King over all! To worship the Lord is not to deify animals or the land or any person—it is to worship the One Who created it all and Who put the world all into motion. He is the Creator! He alone is King!

And verse 3 interestingly turns to the worshippers. “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?” I get a little amused and a little irritated when people speak about worship and perhaps a worship service when they reflect on how it made them feel—as if worship is designed to please the worshipper! In answering the questions of who is qualified to worship, the psalmist answers straightforwardly—

[Read Psalm 24:4-6]

The appearance of holiness in our lives is not enough, because we need not only “clean hands” but also “pure hearts.” Looking religious doesn’t cut it—we need to be pure within. Jesus made a promise to us once, saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). We must be holy to enter the holy presence of God in worship, but it is only because of Christ that this demand does not crush us. He Himself becomes our holiness, for He made peace with God for us through the shedding of His blood. It is through Jesus that we “have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18).

The worship of any other god disqualifies us as worshipers. The first commandment is clear, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). The temptation to worship idols is as strong for us as it was in ancient times, though it is not statues or figures that we worship. But we still have our own idols. They are abstract idols like “power,” or concrete idols like “money.” “Self” receives a lot of personal devotion today. And the Apostle warned us of times like this—

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Paul had just described the kind of idolatry we are so easily drawn into—and the psalmist (probably David himself) made it clear that the one who comes to worship the Lord must “not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.”

While all are welcomed into our worship services, scripture is saying that true worship calls first and foremost for an attitude and mindset of the soul—a submission before the Lord God…a submission that is reflected in a single-hearted devotion to the Lord…a submission which reflects integrity of heart and mind and speech. These are the qualifications for worship. Holy people are welcome in the holy place before the holy God. The Good News for us is that by repentance, by faith in Jesus, and by the gift of the His Holy Spirit we are made holy and have access even into the ultimate holy place—heaven itself.

I love the latter verses of Psalm 24 that prepare us for the grand entrance of the Lord—and which certainly in ancient times pointed to the very scene which we remember today as the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into the Holy City of Jerusalem.

[Read Psalm 24:7-10]

We worship today the One who is “the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” Some of you may be put off by the military language, but scripture reminds us over and over that there is a battle going on—a spiritual battle—for the hearts and souls of people. There is a constant battle in the world between good and evil—and the Lord is strong and mighty, mighty in battle! God is not negotiating with evil or gradually curtailing it. All the way through the Bible there are indications that God is fighting a war with evil that He will ultimately win! The evil is really that bad. Because of our sin, we are utterly powerless to fend off evil, and we fall prey to it so easily. But God Himself has not left us to die as rebels and hostages of the Evil One! He has waged a long war. The cost has been unimaginably great—the very blood of the Son of God who was slain! But God has prevailed, and even today He completes His victory of liberation—freeing us from the bondages of sin. This mighty warrior King takes His rightful place in our lives and rightly becomes the object of our worship.

And that brings us to the Gospels and their accounts of Jesus’ grand entry into Jerusalem early in the week in which everything came to a climax—first in the crucifixion of Jesus and then in the His ultimate victory over death displayed in His Resurrection.

Someone has said that the last few verses of Psalm 24 constitute one of the most profound prayers of all the prayers in the Bible. It’s the prayer that the King would come! It’s a cry of heaven to open, for the-most-desired-One to come. And ultimately, this psalm gives us permission to hope. We are not left to make something of the existing things on hand. We are not left to merely cope. We are not left merely to imagine possibilities by which we might vaguely shape our future. Neither are we left empty of hope. We are to live with uplifted heads, crying out to God to make His grand entrance once again in our world and in our lives!

But it all seems surreal, doesn’t it? We’re mostly busy people, preoccupied with our own lives, consumed with both major and trivial problems that consume our hours. And yet each of us was created by God with what has been described as a “God-shaped vacuum” in our hearts—and we can try to fill it with created things all we want, but it won’t work! The only thing that satisfies it is the entrance of the One for whom it was made! We were designed with a desire for the Homecoming of God!

Like the ordinary people who gathered around Jesus on that first Palm Sunday, we find God drawing our hearts toward Him with a hope to see God come to us personally and ultimately to fill our whole earth with His glory. On this Palm Sunday, let’s embrace the hope that the long struggle with evil will someday be over. The staggering cumulative suffering in the world will come be resolved! The Lamb who was slain will have carried our sorrows and redeemed the lives which seemed so broken that no one could fix them…but He can! The glory of God will replace terror and grief and sin. Scripture tells us that He will tenderly dry our tears! And He will usher in a new world—a world of true glory, because He is the King of glory!

On this Palm Sunday, we hear again the cries of the crowd, saying, “Hosanna!”—which simply means “save, we pray!” It’s used as a cry of praise, but was originally more of a cry for help. In proclaiming “Hosanna” this morning, we proclaim that Christ’s victory is sure. We are welcoming the Lord once again with a whole-hearted sense of hope. And in our often dismal world, we need the hope that only God can give to us! In a world so consumed with sin and lust and greed and dishonesty, we need a hope that transcends it all and consumes us in the glory of Christ!

On this Palm Sunday, we boldly enter a holy rehearsal of Christ’s coming. He comes today into the hearts of people, freeing us from the guilt of sin and transforming our lives. But someday He will come again—and I believe it will be a grand entrance beyond anything we’ve ever seen before! And He will take His rightful place on the throne of the universe—and we will join the throngs of those worshipping Him.

Be encouraged on this Palm Sunday, my friend! May you experience the grand entrance of the Holy One as He steps into your life! Embrace the hope that is ours through Jesus Christ! His victory is sure! God is coming!

March 15, 2009 - Pastor Tim

THE WONDERFUL MESSAGE OF HOPE

Isaiah 61:1-4

We had a lot of my family gathered at our home last August—a rare opportunity for my parents to be together with all three of their sons and daughters-in-law and a few of their grandkids and even a couple of their great-grandkids. We had a marvelous time!

I specifically recall one of those warm August evenings we had together that are so pleasant here in Idaho—and we were scattered in the family room, kitchen and patio of our home, with dinner about ready to share. I think we had done hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill.

Sitting on the edge of the countertop in the kitchen was one of those big gallon glass containers so ideally suited for making sun tea—which Cindy had done. But just before dinner, one of my niece’s little boys made his way into the kitchen and wanted some more iced tea. Before any of us could intercept, little 3-year-old Ian had reached up to release some more iced tea into his cup, but, in doing so, caused the whole thing to come crashing to the kitchen floor. It shattered and seemingly exploded into a million pieces. We didn’t care about the glass container; we were just happy that Ian wasn’t hurt. The container could be replaced! A bunch of us quickly sprung into action trying to both soak up the iced tea and pick up the tiny pieces of glass without getting cut ourselves. We found glass probably 10-12 feet in all directions—I don’t know when I’ve seen something go into so many pieces!

As I was reading a passage of scripture this week, I got to thinking about people whose lives are in many ways like that shattered iced tea container—broken into lots of pieces. Their dreams are shattered. Their security has exploded into tiny bits—seemingly impossible to reconstruct. And I got to thinking about the amazing way in which God puts lives back together again—from shattered remains beyond repair. I’ve seen it over and over again—and I never cease to be amazed at how God redeems lives.

In the 61st chapter of the Old Testament book Isaiah, there’s a wonderful message of hope for broken people. Let me read the first four verses of this chapter to you this morning—

[Read Isaiah 61:1-4, NIV]

In these four verses, there are so many images and word-pictures of hope that we don’t have the time to unpack it all—but my prayer is that one of these images will resonate with you, and if there is any corner of your life that seems void of hope today, you will see the difference the Lord can make in your life and in your circumstances.

These verses present a picture of a man anointed by the Holy Spirit for the task of preaching—and his preaching was centered on the message of hope. His calling was to speak for the Lord, and in so doing, to bring good news to the poor, to bring healing to the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for captives and release for prisoners. The words “captive” and “prisoner” trigger in my mind images not just of those who are behind bars, but also those who are held captive by habits and addictions. I also think of those who feel they’ve been held captive by devastating experiences from their past—perhaps abuse for which they had no control and perhaps memories that prompt guilt and shame for choices and decisions they made in the past. The past can so haunt us that we are held captive by it—and God’s Word offers hope to those who feel there’s no hope for ever getting past some of this stuff.

The mention of proclaiming “the year of the Lord’s favor” was a clear reference to the Hebrew “Year of Jubilee”—every seven years when all debts were canceled and many slaves were set free. It’s such a great concept for us of a fresh start—something we sometimes feel we aren’t ever going to get, and something others don’t always offer to us. But if we quit believing that God can give people fresh starts, we’re all in trouble! Someone was telling me this week that there’s a direct connection here with U.S. guidelines for bankruptcy—for individuals can only file bankruptcy ever seven years. Interesting, isn’t it? And while these wouldn’t logically or theologically line up completely, there seems to be a connection—it’s the hope of a fresh start when life has gotten out of control.

Going on, there’s comfort for those who mourn—the crown of beauty instead of the ashes worn in a time of mourning in their culture. There’s the anointing of joy—the oil of gladness—instead of mourning—and the garments of praise instead of the spirit of despair. Lives once wrecked by sin—their own sin or even lives seemingly wrecked by the sins of others—will be transformed into “oaks of righteousness”, standing tall and strong in a way which once seemed impossible.

God rebuilds the ruins! Someone put it this way: God works with rejects! Jesus gave us many examples from which we can better understand this. He transformed a tax collector into a disciple, a prostitute into a saint, a skeptic into an apostle, a madman into a family man, and a thief into a friend. God restores the devastated places! He renews the ruined cities.

When Cindy and I were living in San Jose, California, where part of my responsibility in the church was overseeing our ministry to youth, we got acquainted with a teenager named Jim. It was after our district camp one year that a counselor from camp called me, telling me that he’d had a kid in his cabin who lived in our area but wasn’t attending church—and he thought that if someone provided transportation that this teen would love to be at our church.

Jim had been in and out of foster homes all of his life. His dad was non-existent, and each of the children in his family had a different biological father. Mom was in and out of prison. Early in his life, Jim had been placed in a Nazarene foster home, and while he eventually left them, they had stayed in touch with him and had paid for his way to church camp every year. (Could plug our camping program!)

And it was through the camp that we connected with Jim—and Cindy and I quickly fell in love with this guy. Our home became a sort of safe haven for him, since there wasn’t much attention and certainly no love in the foster home where he was assigned. When he graduated from high school, he was immediately out of the foster care system, and came to live with us until he started college in the fall at Point Loma Nazarene University. On breaks in that first couple of years, he came mostly to our home.

Jim came out of the remains of shattered lives—lives devastated by sin…and God rebuilt the ruins! He completely transformed Jim’s life. If there was ever a story of someone who broke the generational cycle of sin, it’s our friend Jim. By God’s grace, God restored the devastated places for Jim. He gave a crown of beauty instead of the ashes of mourning. He offered release from captivity in Jim’s young life. The generational patterns have been broken!

Today Jim is a Christian medical doctor in the Phoenix area, married to a wonderful Christian gal named Amy. They have three children, including a little girl adopted from Korea. Theirs is a wonderful Christian home. I’m so proud of Jim—and so grateful for the God who redeems lives!

Let’s go back to Isaiah 61. When I read the passage a few minutes ago, did it sound at all familiar to you? Perhaps you’re remembering it from Luke 4, where Jesus quoted this passage clearly identifying the speaker with Himself. The setting was early in Jesus’ ministry. He had returned from Galilee to Nazareth, the town where he had grown up.

…On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)

And the point is this: In Jesus Christ, God offers hope to every person. His love and care is good news to the poor! He brings freedom into our lives that we’d never have otherwise! He offers release for those oppressed, a fresh start to those whose lives have been wrecked by sin.

This hope changes everything! And we’re lost without it. Our lives are empty and pointless without such hope. And the Good News of the Gospel—the message He has called us to proclaim to one another and to others—is that not one of us has to be without that hope! God’s redemptive work is available to each one of us. And the hope that God speaks into our lives changes everything!

A few years ago I watched the movie, “Shawshank Redemption.” It’s a pretty intense movie, but permeated throughout the story is a message of hope. Near the end of the movie, the chief character addresses another man, saying, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

It’s such a stark contrast from the often dismal state of affairs in life. I know there’s some choice in all of this. Some people seemingly choose to live in the shadows of life—rarely choosing to step over into the sunshine. But the truth is that life’s messy—at least in some ways for us all! And hope paints a sharp contrast to the messiness of life!

I’m not sure if you would have caught it, but in the words from Isaiah is the contrast of the heaviness of a funeral to the joy of a wedding—“a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” That sort of resonated with me because our family has suddenly gotten caught up in wedding plans—and on Monday afternoon of this week, I went from being with my family with wedding details being discussed with great joy and excitement to a hospital room where a friend of ours was dying. It was quite a contrast.

Weddings are joyful occasions—at least most of them are anyway! As a pastor, I often have the privilege of standing beside a groom and watching as that man’s radiant bride comes walking down the aisle to come alongside him. It can be an incredibly joyful moment! And it hit me last Sunday afternoon that I’m going to have the privilege of once again walking a daughter down the aisle at her wedding—and my eyes start leaking a little just thinking about it.

I had some apprehensions of how hard that would be when our daughter Kara got married nearly 3 years ago. Shortly after she and Josh became engaged, I attended a wedding where a good friend of mine was walking his daughter down the aisle. Suddenly, seeing him with his daughter, arm in arm, coming down the aisle, something inside me almost imploded. If I hadn’t known better, I might have thought I was having a heart attack. It was a moment of stark reality for me in realizing that I too was going to be giving a daughter away and that the moment was fraught with such a wide range of feelings. I saw the father of the bride after the wedding and said, “I hope you didn’t see me as you and Jessica were coming down the aisle. My response really had nothing to do with the two of you!” He graciously said, “Oh, yes, I saw you, but I understood immediately what you were experiencing!”

And yet, on the day of Kara and Josh’s wedding, when it came time for us to make that long walk down the aisle together, she was beaming with so much joy that she nor I had a thought of tears. I was caught up in her joy. She was ecstatic! If there was ever a radiant bride, it was Kara as she walked down the aisle to marry the man who had been her childhood sweetheart. She and I did great—until we got down to the front and saw tears streaming down Josh’s face and Kara’s twin sister as maid of honor blubbering away already. And it was pretty much downhill all the way then for the emotions—though I performed most of the wedding and came away feeling that for me I’d done pretty well—I never sobbed and never had snot on my upper lip!

So in August, I get to do it again. And already I’ve seen the joy in Krista’s eyes. It’s been so fun to see her in love! Someone said last Sunday that I needed to tell her to quit smiling—that her face was going to break from smiling so much! And I’m sure that when August rolls around and I’m about to walk her down the aisle, there will be a flood of emotions all over again, but I have a hunch that I’ll get caught up in her joy too—for there’s something about the joyful radiance of a bride on her wedding day!

Isaiah’s message of hope contrasts the widow in mourning with the radiant bride. You see, hope changes everything! God brings amazing transformations into our lives! He lifts us out of despair and puts us in a place of great joy—abundant peace, radiant gladness deep within! And the truth is that God offers such hope to every one of us!

Let me tell you a story I heard many years ago. It took place at an old apartment building in Russia—long before I first heard the story. The apartment house had a basement, and all the tenants had across the years taken their leftover “stuff” to the basement as so many do who have basements. And among all the boxes and unused items was an old harp, long before discarded as too broken to repair, and yet too valuable to throw away.

On a cold, snowy night, a homeless old man knocked on the door of that apartment building, pleading for some corner in which he might sleep. The apartment owner told him that all of their apartments were filled and that they had no more room. And then she looked out at the terrible snowstorm and blustery wind, and compassion came upon her as she looked upon the pitiful old man. “We have no room for you, but I guess I could clear out some space in the basement.” And so she emptied a corner in the basement and put some old blankets down as padding on the hard floor. And the old man was so grateful.

After several hours, the owner of that old, broken-down harp suddenly heard music in the basement. She rushed downstairs to find the old man playing the harp. “How did you repair my harp?” she asked. “I’ve never been able to find anybody who could fix it!”

The old man looked up and quietly responded, “Mam, when I was young, I made that harp. And when you make something, you know how to put it back together again.”

Your Heavenly Father knows all about broken hearts and shattered dreams. And God’s Good News to you today is that He—your Creator—knows how to mend broken hearts and shattered dreams. He made you—and He knows how to put you back together again! You can depend upon Him. You can trust Him! And the healing and release and freedom and comfort of the Lord is something each of us must first embrace ourselves—and yet we then get to share that wonderful news with others who so very much need to hear it.

Do you need a fresh dose of hope right now? Our Heavenly Father is the God of Hope, and He wants to address your specific need today…

March 8, 2009 - Pastor Tim

DO YOU KNOW THIS MISSING PERSON?

Luke 15:1-32

Have you ever lost your keys? Or your wallet? Or your wedding ring? Or your cell phone? Or maybe your child? (Maybe you’ve lost your mind!…I feel like I have some times!) How many have lost your cell phone and called the number to see if you could hear it ringing and find out where it is?

Have you ever lost the remote control to your TV? We did that a couple of years ago and looked everywhere we could think of before we bought a “one-remote-fits-all” replacement. I dug down into the couch, thinking it may have fallen down there, but we could never find it! It may have been as much as a year later that I noticed a strange bulge on the back of the couch and started doing some digging to find out what it was. Sure enough! It was the remote control!

Jesus talked about things getting lost. In fact, in the 15th chapter of Luke He describes three different things being lost. Listen as I read this passage—

[Read Luke 15:1-32, NIV]

You’ve probably already figured it out, but Jesus’ stories were really about people who were lost spiritually.

Jesus talked about how people who realize that something is lost go on a thorough, almost panicked search to find it—and how thrilled they are when the lost has been found! And that’s just how Jesus responds to people who are lost spiritually. He goes searching and searching—and when the lost person is finally found, there is great celebration! That’s what our Heavenly Father is all about: finding lost people. That’s what thrills Him. That’s what makes Him tick.

There are two basic ideas I want you to catch from this passage this morning. You might think of it as two sides of the same coin. The first thing I want you to catch is that the Lord loves YOU so much that if you were the only person lost, He would go searching for YOU! God loves YOU that much. And He throws a great party to celebrate when you accept Him into your life—when the lost has been found!

And the other side of the same coin is this: the Lord loves every lost person in that same way—and once we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior, we are to be about the great search for others who also need Him. So one side of the coin reminds me to thank the Lord for loving me so much that He went searching for me; the other side reminds me to be part of His search for people who need to know Christ too. It may be one of our friends, it may be one of our family members, or the neighbor next door. Christ calls us to care about the lost, to love them, and to be part of His great search in reaching out to them.

Did you catch at the beginning of Luke 15 the reason why Jesus was telling these stories? Jesus was devoting attention to the “low-lifes” of His day. The tax collectors were consistently known to be manipulative, self-serving people who took money from others in a way that was both dishonest and unfair. Then there were with them others scripture simply clumped as “sinners”—which likely included prostitutes, thieves, pagans, outcasts from the Jewish faith and those who were generally immoral. They were intrigued with Jesus because He was kind to them and demonstrated that He really cared about them. But His association with these people had really stirred up the indignity of the Jewish religious leaders, who in their spiritual piety would not have had anything to do with such people! Jesus wanted both his little crowd of unlikely listeners as well as the pompous religious folk to understand how God felt about this group known to be sinners and why Jesus wasn’t afraid or ashamed to devote time and energy to them. And so He told these three little stories.

Jesus wanted it to be clear to us all: Regardless of what anyone else may think about you, God loves you! The religious leaders of Jesus’ day didn’t want to contaminate themselves by associating with ungodly people. But Jesus knew that they had it all wrong! God cares about people who need Him so desperately! He’s genuine about that! Jesus didn’t just give lip service to the idea of caring for ungodly people—He demonstrated it by the way He treated them whenever He was with them! And what Jesus was saying that day is still true today: regardless of what anyone else may think about you, God loves you!

Think with me for a moment about the common threads of all three of Jesus’ little stories. In each story something is lost—first a sheep, then a coin, then a son. In each case, the lost object is eventually found and the finding produces a lot of happy excitement! The sheep I suppose is innocently lost (it’s evidently just too ignorant to know the difference!), the coin is carelessly lost, and the son was willfully lost—but all lost nonetheless! The sheep is 1 of 100, the coin is 1 of 10, and the son 1 of 2. And yet, whether it was one of 100 or 10 or 2, the lost one was the one worthy of attention. The owner was grateful for that which wasn’t lost, but felt passionate about the one that was lost. That one needed his attention—and got it!

And even though there would have been those who might have concluded that the shepherd had 99 sheep and better stay with the 99 who were secure, or the woman should be grateful for her 9 coins that remained, or the father should be delighted that at least one of his sons was living right—that wasn’t how the story went! The shepherd, the woman and the father cared too much about that which was lost to be fully content with just that which was found. And that’s how God cares about those who are spiritually lost! The ending of each story tells us how God rejoices when a sinner finds forgiveness and is restored to the fellowship of His Heavenly Father.

So what does all of this have to do with us? There are people all around us every day who do not know the Savior. Sometimes their habits and their language and their lifestyles and their priorities disgust us—and we long to be in our comfort zone of people like ourselves who already have a relationship with the Lord. But that isn’t what Jesus felt was important! He cares too much about those who are spiritually lost to devote all of His attention to those who are found! According to these stories, God’s greatest concern at the moment are those who are lost! He’s grateful for those who are already at home, so to speak, with the family…but He can’t rest until all who will have been gathered in!

And I think that there are those who do not have a vibrant relationship with the Lord and who look at people who come to church all the time and are maybe highly involved in the ministries of the church and think: “God surely cares more about them than He does about me! I’m not religious. I know I’d have to change for God to accept me, and I’m still struggling with issues that are keeping me from being a good Christian. No, God surely loves religious people more than He loves me!”

Now, if that’s how you think God thinks, listen again to the truth of these stories! Regardless of what anyone else thinks about the matter, God loves you. It doesn’t matter what you think about yourself: God has determined that you are valuable enough to Him that He’s out searching for you—and He’ll keep seeking you because He loves you!

I believe it doesn’t matter if you even realize that you’re lost—God deeply cares about you and wants to find you!

Sheep, which the first vignette speaks of, are known to be fairly dumb animals. That’s why they need a shepherd, for they wander off and get themselves into trouble without even realizing it! The sheep that was lost probably didn’t even know that it was lost! And certainly the coin, inanimate object, didn’t know it had been misplaced! And if the lost animal or the lost coin were valuable enough to stop everything and go searching, surely a lost person is significant enough for God to go searching—and even to get others in on the search!

Joseph Stowell, former president of Moody Bible Institute, tells of the frightening day when something valuable to him got lost. His family was on their annual Christmas trek to Chicago. Each year they brought their family to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and visit the museums. This time they decided to finish their Christmas shopping at the suburban Woodfield Mall. In the midst of all the fun and excitement, one of them noticed that little 3½-year-old Matthew was gone. Terror immediately struck them. They had heard all the horror stories: little children kidnapped in malls, rushed to a restroom, dressed in different clothes and altered hairstyles and then swiftly smuggled out, never to be seen again! The family split up, each taking an assigned location. Stowell’s was the parking lot. He describes himself frantically kicking through the newly fallen snow, calling out his son’s name at the top of his lungs, feeling like a fool, yet more concerned with his child’s safety than anything else.

Unsuccessful, Stowell trudged back to the agreed-upon meeting place. His wife Martie had not found Matthew, nor had Stowell’s mother. But then Stowell’s dad appeared, holding little Matthew by the hand. They were ecstatic! They became oblivious to everything else taking place in the mall, for they were caught up in rejoicing that their child had been found! He was safe! And he was with them!

Interesting enough, Matthew was not traumatized. He hadn’t been crying. To him, there had been no problem. When Stowell asked his father where he found Matthew, his father simply responded, “The candy store. You should have seen him. His eyes came just about as high as the candy counter. He held his little hands behind his back and moved his head back and forth, surveying all the luscious options.” Matthew didn’t look lost. He didn’t know he was lost. He was oblivious to the phenomenal danger he was in. And I suppose that we live in a candy-counter culture, where people who don’t look lost and don’t know they’re lost live for what they can have today—not comprehending how terribly lost they truly are!

I am often sadly amazed at the lack of spiritual realities known by people today. Some are so lost…and don’t even know it. There’s been such a distortion of truth that people are terribly confused—and don’t know it. They’ve been duped by humanistic teachings, by false doctrines, by the watering down of Biblical truth and a culture that is increasingly anti-Christian. People are so confused about what is right and what is wrong and how we can come to know God. Some interpretations of Christianity have scared them—and others have disgusted them. They have failed to see that Christianity is relevant to our lives today—and that indeed our response to Christ has eternal consequences. They’re rushing through their lives with no thought of eternity and no time for God. But then, they aren’t really sure Who God is or if He even exists and they certainly don’t know if God cares a hoot about them anyway!

And while I cannot prove to you today the existence of God—any more than I can prove to you that the stars in the sky truly exist—I can tell you that God personally cares about you and He cares about your need for salvation! You may not fully understand that you’re lost without Him, but if you are without Christ in your life, you are lost! You may not fully grasp what it means to be a Christian, but it does not change your need for salvation through Jesus Christ and through Him alone. He does care so very much about you. He created you—and He created you for fellowship with Him for all eternity…if you are willing. And if you do not know Him today, be assured that He’s on the search for you!

Another marvelous thing that leaps out to me from these three stories is that it doesn’t matter how far we’ve wandered away from Him—God mercifully cares and welcome us back into His fellowship with great joy! I’m reminded of the words sung by a Christian artist known simply as Carman—

It doesn’t matter who you are

It doesn’t matter where you’ve been

It doesn’t matter what the scar

It doesn’t matter what the sin

It doesn’t matter how you fell somewhere along the way

There is healing for your life today.

There’s a river that flows from the fountain of God

And it heals everything along the way

I have tasted and know that for every broken heart

There is healing in Jesus’ name.

It really doesn’t matter how far you’ve gone from God—in your actions or if only in your heart and mind! God mercifully loves you and is thrilled to welcome you back into His fellowship!

God is like the father who had two sons. The younger asked for the share of the property that would someday fall to him. The father conceded and the young man took his money and moved far away. There he squandered his newfound wealth in loose living. And when he hit rock bottom one day, trying just to survive by eating the slop with which the pigs were fed, he came to himself and thought how much better his father’s servants had it than this. He remembered what it was like back home.

So he decided to go back to his father. When they met, he quickly confessed, “Father, I have sinned against God and against you and I am not worthy to be called your son. So just make me one of your hired hands.” But the father hugged him, had new clothes brought to him, put new shoes on his feet, and announced to all that they were going to have a tremendous feast to celebrate that his son had come home! That’s how God responds when someone who’s lost is found!

I’m afraid that sometimes we too have to come to the end of our rope before we are willing to acknowledge how much we need the Lord. But when we do, God sees us coming toward him in the distance, and rushes out to welcome us with open arms. He’s been waiting all along for us to come back to Him, so anxious to see us leave our dreadful existence without Him and so anxious to have us back with Him.

And God is so anxious to forgive all of the sins of our past! He does not wish us to remember what He is willing to forget! One person said that God has a big eraser (Billy Zeoli). He is so anxious to put our sins behind us and help us move forward with Him into the future.

I remember reading a newspaper article a few years ago in the Kansas City Star about a prisoner who was up for parole after serving 13 years in the Kansas State prison system. Kenny Friburg shot a police officer in the face 13 years earlier. That police officer, Dave Moore, had become a police captain—and the article said that Dave Moore went to bat to try to secure Kenny Friburg’s release from prison.

Three years before that, Moore didn’t feel that way about Friburg. He didn’t want to see him released. But then Friburg wrote Moore a long letter describing his feelings, and the years of bitterness and loneliness. Friburg was just 23 years old when, already in some legal troubles, he was trying to flee the state in a stolen car. When Officer Moore pulled him over for failure to use a turn signal, Friburg panicked and used the gun in the seat beside him. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. In the letter he wrote Moore, Friburg said that in the 10 years he’d been in prison, not one person had ever come to visit him.

Officer Moore is a Christian. Actually, Moore is a part of a Nazarene church. He began to sense that God was telling him that he was to reach out to Friburg himself, and so he began to visit him in prison. Officer Dave Moore had the privilege of sharing his faith with Friburg, who eventually accepted Christ and became involved in a Bible study group. Moore’s church got involved in reaching out to Friburg too, and they committed themselves to helping Kenny Friburg make the adjustments to life outside prison whenever he is released. Moore is committed to sticking by the guy who shot him in the face! You see, Officer Moore learned that under all the tough-guy image and beyond all the sins of the past, Kenny Friburg is a person—and God cares about Kenny Friburg just as God cares about you and me.

That’s how God responds to all of us! Underneath all the sins and the rubbish and the stains and the scars of our lives, there is a real person that our Heavenly Father cares deeply about. And God loves each of us—no matter how far we’ve gone from Him. He is merciful in His response to us—and is so anxious to receive us back into His fellowship. He rejoices when those who need Him turn back to Him!

I was probably about two or three years old when our family went a few miles to Fostoria, Ohio to visit friends. My older brothers and I had gone outside to play, and wandered down the sidewalk a little. They decided to race their way back to our friends’ home and took off in a flash. But my little legs couldn’t keep up. I fell way behind and evidently was concentrating so much on my little jog that I didn’t see them end their race and go dashing into the house. I suddenly realized that I didn’t know which house to go into! This neighborhood was strange to me. The whole town was strange to me. I kept walking, hoping to see a house that looked familiar, but never did.

A kind mailman saw me wandering down the sidewalk crying and was immediately concerned for me. After asking me more questions than I could answer, he took me to his home nearby, called the police department, and he and his wife gave me something to eat while I waited. My family and our friends had already realized that I was missing and in their panic had called the police department. A kind police officer came to the mailman’s house where I was, gave me a ride in the police cruiser (which I thought was pretty cool!), and delivered me to grateful parents at the home of our friends.

I can only imagine now how I must have felt then—frightened, alone, confused. And yet I remember the excitement of seeing my parents again and how the desperate feelings of being lost were washed away by the relief of being found.

I remember realizing as a young child that I was spiritually lost and needed Jesus as my friend. And though I felt like I found Him, the truth is that He had been seeking me all along!

You may feel lost today—all alone as you face some hefty pressures in your little world: struggling relationships, work demands, financial obligations, and the whole matter of trying to live a life that has real purpose and meaning. The truth is that you need a Savior! And the Good News today is that God cares about you! It really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you—God loves you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve realized before today that you’re lost or not—God’s known it all along and He loves you and has already provided for your salvation. And it doesn’t matter how far away from Him you’ve gone—God is merciful and joyfully welcomes you back into His fellowship.