August 30, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?
Matthew 25:31-46

Cindy and I were driving to Emmett a few weeks ago for Casey and Alyssa Wilkerson’s wedding rehearsal, and we had a brief conversation in the car about what we were seeing along the way. After we had passed a field with some animals in it, Cindy said something about the goats she had just seen. I remarked that I thought they were sheep. Now granted, Cindy and I aren’t exactly farm folk, but, given a chance at a clear view, we think we’d know the difference between sheep and goats! The challenge in this case was that they were a distance off the road, and we were simply quickly driving by—so neither of us was sure what they were after the fact. I made the same trip by myself the next day for the wedding (since Cindy had to be there much earlier than I did), and I made effort to check out the field again and figure out what we’d seen. That was when I figured out that it was a field of both sheep and goats! Cindy was right and I was right!

Jesus and the people He taught as He walked this earth were far more familiar with such things than Cindy and I are. It was evidently a pretty common sight for them all, and Jesus loved to take common things and use them to help the people understand deep spiritual truths. And so it was that sheep and goats made their way into one of Jesus’ sermon illustration!

One of the things they evidently understood about fields of sheep and goats was that there were times when they had to be separated. I’m told that in the Palestinian countryside the sheep and goats mingled during the day. But at night they were often separated because the sheep tolerated the cool air, but the goats had to be herded together for warmth. Apparently, in sparse grazing areas the animals might be separated during the day as well. And if you turn in your Bibles to Matthew 25, we can read how Jesus used this common practice to teach a significant spiritual truth.
[Read Matthew 25:31-46, NIV]

One of the most significant attributes the faithful follower of Jesus Christ will cultivate in his or her life is that of love—love evidenced in acts of kindness and compassion for others. And, as Jesus noted, there is to be particular concern for those overlooked or ignored. We are called upon to address their needs—to feed the hungry, to welcome strangers into our homes, to provide clothing where needed, to care for the sick, to visit and encourage those in prison. It’s what Jesus did for others. It’s what we, as Christ-followers, are to do as well.

I read an interesting quote from Buddha the other day—“He who loves fifty has fifty woes, he who loves ten has ten woes, he who loves none has no woes.” The statue of the Buddha shows him in the lotus position, with the subtle smile of one who has passed beyond every power on earth to touch him. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, lives now as He did when He walked this earth, with eyes wide open to the needs of others, taking their hurts and needs upon Himself—just as He has taught us to do.

In fact, the words of Jesus which we just read indicate that the way we respond to the overlooked and ignored of our world is the way that we are actually responding to Jesus Himself. He so identifies with the needy that He puts Himself in this position! An act of loving kindness done for someone that is needy is an act of loving kindness done for Jesus Himself, just as indifference to the needs of others reflects a heart of indifference to Jesus Himself.

Matthew 25 can easily be an indictment against Christians who live their lives indifferent to the needs of people. It can easily be an indictment upon the church for its lack of social involvement as kingdom members. Jesus taught that love for God is evidenced by love for our neighbor, that knowing God’s forgiveness will lead us to share mercy, and that experiencing God’s love prompts us to extend that love to others. Here we see that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has always had social implications—even though not all social action has the Gospel. And, as I noted a few weeks ago, the story of the Good Samaritan is the classic illustration of Christian social action.

I want to make sure we don’t miss the seriousness of this passage, for it addresses a subject that many no longer considered politically correct. It announces judgment upon us for ignoring the command of Christ!

I have a hunch that many would leave out verses 41-46 of this passage, because they declare the harsh words of judgment that Jesus pronounced. They draw a line in the sand. But if only shared with the you the “blessing” words of Matthew 25:31-40 and failed to read the rest of what Jesus said, I’d only be giving you half the Gospel! We need to see the big picture! We need to see both sides of the coin! Some people try to edit out the parts of the Gospel that speak of judgment and condemnation, this certainly isn’t all bad news! The Good News is that every one of us can choose the way of blessing—and how grateful I am that Jesus has been clear with us regarding what that is—and what it isn’t!

Part of the message of Matthew 25 is that every one of us will face the judgment of God some day. I know, it’s not a popular thought. We want to think that we can set our own course and determine our own destiny—that no one has the right to tell us how we are to live our lives and that certainly no one has the right to judge us or condemn us according to our choices. And you can think that if you want to, but understand that our Heavenly Father, our Creator, the God of the universe, has made clear to us the fact that we will be held accountable for our actions, that there will come a day of judgment when this life is over, and that he will separate us out, like a farmer separates sheep and goats—and that’s it’s as clear to Him who are truly sheep and who are truly goats—in others words, no one is part this and part that. He’ll put the sheep on his right side, to be with Him forever, and He’ll put the goats on His left side and say, “Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell!”

My goodness! How can the loving Heavenly Father ever condemn anyone to hell? And what would be His criteria for doing such?

Here are the words of Jesus, telling us that if we are indifferent to the needs of people around us that we have been indifferent to Jesus Himself, and that we are in danger of God’s judgment. Why would I emphasize this matter of judgment in this message? Because I want us to catch the full implication of what Jesus is saying. He’s not only telling us to love others and to take care of the needs of the overlooked and ignored of our society. He’s telling us this is serious…we need to listen!…and that there will be serious consequences if we fail to respond to what He’s calling us to do and to be!

I know, we don’t want to think that we’re accountable to anyone, let alone to God. But let me ask you something: if it’s okay and even a good thing for parents to give guidelines to their children, why is it so hard to understand that our loving, Creator God would give us guidelines regarding the way in which we are to live our lives and to experience life at its best?

Someone refuse to believe that God will ever judge us, but that doesn’t change the truth that He will. There are those who are convinced that the Holocaust never happened, but it doesn’t change the reality that it did. There are those who believe that there’s nothing wrong with sexual relations with a child, but that doesn’t change the truth that there’s something perverted and terribly wrong with doing so! We don’t each get to write our own truth. God determines that, and He’s been gracious enough to lay it out before us.

This passage can easily also rile those of us who do not believe that we are saved by our own works. Many of us have held long and hard to biblical words such as what we find in Ephesians 2:8-9—
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
And what we have understood from God’s Word is that none of us can “earn” our salvation—by being “good enough” or by doing enough good things! We can’t be that good!

But we need to go one verse further into the Ephesians passage to get the full implication of what the Apostle Paul was saying—
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
In other words, our good works don’t earn us our relationship with God, but rather they are to flow out of our relationship with God that has been made possibly by the sacrificial death of Jesus. He paid the penalty for our sins that we could never pay! Romans 6:23 tells us,
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
Our salvation is a gift from God! But what Jesus is saying to us is that we are called then, in response to God’s love and mercy for us, to pour out such love and mercy upon others. Our acts of loving kindness don’t save us—Jesus has already done that!

So…back to the Matthew 25 passage…how are we to carry this out? How are we to feed the hungry and cloth those who need it and offer shelter to the homeless and care for the sick and visit the imprisoned? How are we to live out such a life of loving response to human need?

Last Sunday we talked about the vast human need around the world today. And while we can’t all go and certainly can’t all go to all the people of the world to take care of their needs, there are means by which we can address such things. Our prayerful and generous support of Nazarene World Missions is one way we can do this. There are also specific ministries such as Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and Hands of Hope that are addressing such matters—and our support of them addresses the needs of people far away.

But there are also needs all around us. How many of you have passed people standing on street corners here in Treasure Valley who were holding up cardboard signs saying things like, “Homeless. Need money. Anything will help”? Do you feel as guilty as I do when you drive on? I know, most of us have heard stories of how such funds can be abused, and so many of us refuse to give handouts in such settings…but we can’t do nothing, can we?

Of course, a significant dimension of such Christ-like love and care takes place when we address such needs one-on-one with people we already know personally. And I certainly encourage that!

And there are organizations that some of you are already working with to address human need here in our area. One of the significant ways we have done that as a church is in our organization of and our support of the Meridian Food Bank. Several of our people donate a lot of time and energy to making this happen—including those who have worked in our garden this summer! And I applaud what all of you are doing and thank you! Let’s continue to support Meridian Food Bank!

But I also want to let you know this morning of another means by which you can respond to the needs of the often overlooked and ignored of our valley. It’s an organization called “Love in the Name of Christ”—or, “Love INC” for short. Their director Lois Tupyi, is here this morning, and I’ve asked her to take some time to explain to us ways we as a church can partner with Love INC in addressing the needs of people in our area.

[Lois Tupyi of Love INC]

Everyone has gifts and talents which they can contribute. As the old song declared, “Little is much when God is in it!” Let me encourage you not to be afraid of mark a card this morning, but rather to see it as an opportunity to further explore possibly means by which you can get involved in this. You’re not signing anything in blood! You’re not obligating yourself! But remember what I said earlier, “We can’t do nothing!”

There are a few of you who are doing all one can be expected to do in efforts to respond to the needs of others, and you don’t need to feel guilty at all for not responding to this. But there are so many others who just haven’t known what they could do—and here’s an opportunity to try to get some handles on that.

Pastor Ron’s Blog

EVERYONE NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT

Everyone needs encouragement. You that are parents just think for a moment about your first child and how you encouraged every step they would take. “Way to go sweetheart.” Or, “keep going, keep going you are doing great.” Just in a little while they would be walking. Much of that progress was due to your encouragement.

The desire for encouragement continues throughout our lives. It has been said that the theme of “encouraging one another” is one of the most dominate themes in the New Testament.

We are living in a time when we all need to be attentive to one another. Even as I write this blog there are marriages across America and in churches that are in chaos. Many Christians have succumbed to a level of discouragement.

The writer to the Hebrews speaks clearly to the importance of encouragement when he says, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”(Hebrews 3:13) This theme is mentioned again in Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Everyone needs a cheerleader in life. There are too many lonely people who are not being touched by the ministry of encouragement.

The high school basketball team, I was a part of, had some great cheerleaders one of whom I have been married to for 50 years. How pumped up the team would get when we would make our way out on the floor as the school band played and the student body sang our school song. Talk about sending a chill up your spine and bringing out the best in you as a player. So it is in the Christian walk as we become cheerleaders for one another.

Reach out to someone today and be their cheerleader in the ministry of encouragement. It could make all the difference in their day.

Pastor Ron

August 23, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS:
GETTING TO THE HEART OF THINGS
Deuteronomy 5:21, NLT

I want you to stand and do something for me just one more time! For while I know that the Ten Commandment Song may be a little cheesy and not quite as cool as most of you, I still think it’s been a good little tool to help us remember the Ten Commandments. So set your pride aside one more time and sing with me—
One—Don’t worship other gods
Two—No graven images
Three—Don’t take God’s name in vain
Four—The Sabbath is for rest
Five—Obey your mom and dad
Six—Don’t ever, ever kill
Seven—Be faithful to your spouse
(Eight)—And don’t steal
(Nine)—Don’t lie
(Ten)—Don’t wish for other people’s things!

(c 1994 Word Publishing Company; words by Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson)

Aren’t you glad you won’t have to hear that one again—except that you’ll wake up in the middle of the night with the tune in your mind, trying to remember all the words. Great!

The 10th Commandment, as found in Deuteronomy chapter 5, goes like this—
Do not covet your neighbor’s wife. Do not covet your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns (Deuteronomy 5:21, NLT).

Some have considered it the “weak sister” of the list of Ten. It doesn’t seem as dramatic as the others! Some have wondered why the Lord ended with what they thought was the least important of the Ten. But as we get into this Commandment this morning, I have a hunch that you’ll see that while this Commandment isn’t as visible or tangible as the others, it gets to the heart of things! And that’s exactly why it’s so very important!

Coveting is probably the least understood of the Ten Commandments. Many have asked, “What in the world is coveting?” As our little song tells us, coveting is wishing for other people’s things. It is indeed an intense desire to possess something or even someone (!) that belongs to another person. To covet is to crave or yearn for something that does not belong to us. It is to be discontent with what we have, as opposed to what someone else has. We covet whenever we set our hearts on anything that is not rightfully ours.

Basically speaking, this covetousness springs from a greedy self-centeredness and an arrogant disregard of others and of God’s law. Granted, not all desires are selfish. God made us to be creatures of desire. Our desire for food reminds us to eat—though some of us have a disproportionate desire for such activity! Our desire to do something worthwhile motivates us to work. Our desire for friendship draws us into meaningful relationships. We have many healthy desires, but our desires can also be corrupted by sin. We often want the wrong thing, in the wrong way, at the wrong time, and for the wrong reason. And that’s what the 10th Commandment rules out!

Have you ever watched a little group of 2-year-olds playing in the same room? A ball may have been in the room since they gathered and not one of the kids seemed interested in it until one of those children starts to play with it. And suddenly, every child wants to play with it—and they’re not interested in sharing! Nothing arouses a child’s interest in a toy quite like seeing it in the hands of another child! And coveting in that case quickly leads to stealing—and you can have a roomful of unhappy, crying children all too easily! Now, we adults are more subtle about such things, but we’re guilty of the very same thing!

Coveting is what causes that little twinge of disappointment whenever someone else gets what we want. It’s how we might react when a co-worker gets the promotion, when your roommate finds romance and you’re still single, or when friends go where we can only dream of going on a vacation. We are always comparing ourselves to others, and frankly, we resent it when we don’t get what they have! The Apostle James described it like this—
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight (James 4:1-2a).

How do we covet? Let me count the ways…
• The most common way we think of coveting is desiring material possessions—things like a bigger house, a new car, more exciting entertainment, new clothes, the newest models of gadgets or appliances.
• But the commandment also rules out coveting “your neighbor’s wife”—so this is a clear reminder that sex can be one of our most unruly desires. Whenever we engage in sexual fantasy, we are guilty of a kind of coveting. We are feeding a sinful desire that soon will demand to be gratified.
• We may covet other people’s attributes—such as their good looks, their brains, or their talents!
• We might covet their situation in life—
o People who are single may want to be married.
o People who are married may wish they were single again!
o Those without children may covet those who do.
o And sometimes those who do covet those who don’t.
o We might covet someone else’s financial security and their freedom to go places and do things that we will likely never be able to do.
• We can even covet someone’s spiritual attainments or their special spiritual gifts. It might be that we covet a prominent position of ministry in the church.
• We might covet the opportunities others seem to get that we never do.
The list isn’t meant to be exhaustive. The truth is that we’re not supposed to covet anything someone else has. God’s Word rules out every wrongful desire!

I think there is a tendency among people to consider this as a relatively minor sin. Somehow it just doesn’t seem to fit into the “big league” sins like murder and adultery! And it really doesn’t seem like a very climactic ending to the Ten Commandments!

There is something unusual about the 10th Commandment that distinguishes it from the rest. It goes straight to the heart of things. The other nine Commandments explicitly condemn outward actions like making idols, working on the Sabbath and killing innocent victims. And, as we’ve talked about, these commandments also forbid sins of the heart that lead to them—things like hatred and lust. But the first nine Commandments start on the outside and then work their way in as we learn how to apply them. On the other hand, the 10th Commandment starts on the inside of us. It’s not so much concerned with what we do, but with what we want to do! It confronts our internal desires.

The 10th Commandment makes it clear that God requires inward as well as outward obedience. If it weren’t for this Commandment, we might think that as long as our outward actions were acceptable, that everything was okay. But coveting gets to the heart of things—which is indeed where sin gets its foothold in our lives! The truth is that the human struggle with coveting is exactly what has led many to violate the other commandments! The question we’ve got to ask ourselves is this: What does my heart desire and where will that desire lead me in the end? What a question!

I remember the TV game show called Supermarket Sweep—do you remember that? The show would culminate in two teams being set free in a grocery store with their carts for so many minutes—and the one who rung up the highest total at the checkout was the winner. Can’t you just see the shopping carts flying! They’d fly through the stores, just like you and I would do if we were set free for a shopping spree at a Target Store or Walmart today. You’d hurry to the electronics and load your cart with a computer, digital cameras, DVD players—you name it. Then on to the auto shop, where you get another cart and throw 4 new tires into it. Then you see the linens and grab enough linens to last your whole extended family for a lifetime! You’re ripping down a main aisle, grabbing things right and left. Time is running out, but you just saw another person with a third cart, and you know you’ve got to do the same if you’re going to win! So you start filling it too, though it’s a little harder to move through the store now because you’re trying to navigate three carts! You see another person with watches and jewelry, and you’re sure you’ve got to one-up them. You’re on your way toward the checkout, but if you can just grab a few more things on the way, maybe you can win what you’ve got. You know you’re pushing it, but you just have to grab a little more. You hear the timer running out: 5-4-3…you’re hurrying as fast as you can…2-1…your carts turned funny and they don’t want to move…0! Time’s up! You lose! Looser!

Why were you the looser? Because enough was never enough! And that’s just how we get consumed with things and ambitions and desires! But when is enough enough?

Let me tell you something. Happiness is an inside job. It comes from the inner soul—that inmost place where we make our choices. Our problem is that we usually end up coveting that which can never make us happy, failing to realize that what matters most is not what becomes of us but what we become. We determine that.

Someone has suggested that there are at least two ways to be rich. One is to have a lot of possessions; the other is to have few needs. To win the battle over coveting is to put our needs in the proper perspective, and diminish our wants to a manageable level.

Frankly, coveting is not only sinful, it’s stupid! We have no cosmic right to an equal share of what everybody else has! If you’re prone to leaning in that direction, consider how you would feel if you were averaged out with the world’s 6.7 billion people. I’d dare say you’d have a lot less than you do today, for over 1 billion people around the world go hungry every day. About 1/4th of the people around the world face a severe housing problem. As Americans, we live in one of the high-income nations—but 80-90% of the world’s population is not so blessed materially. One of the marvelous ways to confront our covetous desires is to put ourselves in the situations where we see how the poor and needy live every day! That’s the great merit of missions trips and involvement in ministries to the needy right here in our area!

Now and then I get to realizing that I’m far too insulated from the reality of how most people live. And I have a hunch that most of us are. And I’m also convinced that we can’t be faithful followers of Christ and remain so isolated and insulated—and that we as individuals and as a church body need to keep looking for ways we can see the needs of others and address them.

Coveting makes us think we can find happiness from the outside in, but, in reality, happiness comes from the inside out. So much of our frustration in life comes from wanting things that God has not given us. We are so prone to concentrate on what we don’t have rather than on what we do have! “If only we made a little more money.” “If only I had a bigger place to live.” Once we get going on this, there’s no end to our discontent. The story is often told of the reporter who asked billionaire Nelson Rockefeller how much money it takes to be happy. Rockefeller answered, “Just a little bit more.” I was struck recently in hearing all about Michael Jackson’s death that all that he had in terms of material things and in fame didn’t bring him enough peace of mind that he was even able to sleep at night without anesthesia!

But please understand that coveting is not limited to any particular tax bracket. Ecclesiastes 5:10 proclaims, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). This is true of both the rich and the poor.

As long as we are basing our sense of contentment on any thing in this world, we will always find some reason to make ourselves miserable! And, you see, the problem is not on the outside! It’s on the inside!—and therefore nothing on the outside can ever satisfy it! It will not be resolved by getting more of what we think we want! Until we learn to be satisfied right now in our present situation—whatever it is—we’ll never be satisfied at all!

All too often—
• In the heat of the summer, we long for the cool of autumn.
• In the winter, we’re wishing for the warmth of summer.
• When we’re 6 years old, we want to 12.
• When we’re 12, we long to be 16.
• And when we’re 16, we wish we were 21!
• But most 30 year olds wish they were 25!
• 50 year olds wish for 35 again!
• 70 year olds long for the vitality of 50!
If we’re not careful, we can live our whole lives always wanting to be something that we’re not—and never being content!

The truth is that if God wanted you to have more right now, you’d have it—right? And if you needed different abilities and opportunities, He’d provide them for you. If you were ready for the job you want, He’d put you into it. If you are supposed to be in a different situation in life, you’d be there. Instead of always saying, “If only this or that…”, God invites us to worship Him from where we are and journey with Him to wherever it is He wants to take us.

And the word for such a journey of trust in His will and His provisions is contentment. Contentment is the positive side of the 10th Commandment. It is a remedy for coveting. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy—
Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6).
The writer of Hebrews wrote—
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Contentment means wanting what God wants for us rather than what we want for ourselves. And the secret to enjoying this kind of contentment is to be so satisfied with God that we are able to accept whatever he has or has not provided for us.

The Apostle Paul had learned this lesson. He wrote—
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11b-13)

The bottom line is this: God is all we need—and therefore He is to be the center of our desires. Sounds like we’re coming full circle back to the beginning of the 10 Commandments, doesn’t it? God has provided for the forgiveness of sins through His Son Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have the promise of abundant life here and now—and eternity in His Presence when this life is over. We have the promise that He will never leave us or forsake us and that he will help us through all the challenges of life. What else do we need, friends?

The 10th Commandment brings us to a logical conclusion to this series. And it calls us to decision. We have learned that it is the heart-cry of our Heavenly Father for each of us to find and experience life at its best within certain boundaries,
• that we worship God alone and
• that we worship Him for Who He is, rather than who we might make Him out to be
• that we honor His name and His character
• that we keep the Sabbath day as a holy day
• that we honor our fathers and our mothers
• that we value and respect life
• that we keep the covenant of marriage as a sacred trust
• that we respect what belongs to others
• that we be people of honesty and integrity
• and that we find contentment in God alone and what He provides for us.

And so…the choice is yours. This is a decision you must make. Will you live life God’s way? Will you trust His process for experiencing life at its best? Will you be a man or woman of God—who, as a child of God, acknowledges that God is the God of wisdom and love, and His ways are best for you?

The decision is before you! Are you ready? You can keep trying to find satisfaction in all the things around you, or you can embrace the truth that you’ll never experience life at its best unless you submit to the unseen God’s life-giving guidelines for living. God’s Commandments call us to decision. Are you ready to experience the life He designed for you? How life-giving it would be if our acceptance of God’s ways prompted us to simply reply, “I will do them! I will find out how I am to live my life and I will determine to live that way! This is the best life strategy I’ve ever heard of!”

May I remind you that your Heavenly Father, your Creator God loves you. He has chosen you. And He has waited…for this moment when you reach out to Him and take His Hand and start to trust Him as never before. Would you take that Hand?

Pastor Casey’s Blog

Title: Prove it!

In case you hadn’t heard, 3 weeks ago, I married an amazing woman, Alyssa Wilson. The last three weeks have been great. We have been very busy writing thank you notes, getting ready for our Yakima reception, getting our house organized and trying to put everything away. It has been crazy, but very exciting and fun at the same time.
Just the other day, Alyssa and I were able to watch the video of our wedding. It was funny as we watched little things happen that we had no idea had happened in our wedding. One thing that I really enjoyed doing during the ceremony
(other than the kiss ) was pouring the sand together into the vase. I was reminded this week of the significance of the sand coming from two different vases and being put into one together. There is no way that the sand can ever be separated back into the original vases. In the same way, Alyssa and I came from two different walks of life and have now joined together to never be separated, because of the love we have for each other.
God wants to have the sand ceremony with each of us. He wants to show us, He will always be there and that His love for us will never be removed. He will never separate Himself from us, and we can choose to never separate ourselves from Him.
Alyssa knows that I love her, because of how I treat her and how I am around her. I don’t just tell her I love her, I show her I love her. I strive to make it obvious to her, and to anyone else watching. If someone was watching how I treated Alyssa, they would know that I love her. It’s the same way in our relationship with God. Do you love God? Have you done more than tell Him you love Him? Have you shown Him that you love Him? How? As much as I love Alyssa, I know that my love for God is more. And as much as I know Alyssa loves me, I know God loves me so much more. God doesn’t just “tell” us He loves us. He shows us He loves us by sending His son to die for us. Not because He had to, but because He loves us. He “showed” His love for us, and He continues to “show” His love for us each day, if we choose to accept His love. What ways have you “shown” God you love Him?

Pastor Casey

August 16, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS:
THE TRUTH ABOUT LYING
Deuteronomy 5:20

The Ninth Commandment God gave to Moses to be passed down to the people was this:
Do not testify falsely against your neighbor (Deuteronomy 5:20).
In two words: Don’t lie! God is a God of truth—and He expects the same of His people. Just as the Third Commandment protects the name of God, so this commandment protects a person’s name or reputation. The immediate context of this command is in relation to giving testimony about someone in a court of law, but the principle calls for the sanctity of truth in all areas of life.

Bob Harris, a major TV network weatherman in New York, had to weather a public storm of his own making a few years ago. Though he had studied math, physics and geology at three colleges, he left school without a degree. With a strong desire to be a media weatherman, he phoned WCBS-TV introducing himself as a PhD in geophysics from Columbia University. The phony degree got him in the door and for ten years his career flourished as “Dr. Bob.” But eventually an anonymous tip prompted an inquiry and when the truth came out, Bob Harris’s career was more than turbulent!

In December 2001 George O’Leary was on top of the world, having just been named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame. It was the dream of a lifetime! Then two days later, the call came. A reporter had been trying to contact some of the guys who had played college football with O’Leary back at New Hampshire as he had claimed, but the strange thing was that nobody could remember anyone named George O’Leary. O’Leary reluctantly admitted that he hadn’t actually played football at New Hampshire. It was a small lie put on his resume 21 years before—but it was big enough to turn O’Leary’s dream into a nightmare and cost him his job and reputation.

Things were bad enough for Melvyn Reed of London when he had to go through triple bypass surgery last spring. But it went from bad to worse when all three of his wives showed up at the same time to visit him at the hospital, despite his frantic efforts to stagger their visits! Let’s just say that the recovery time took a bit longer than expected!

Let me tell you something this morning: God values truth! God hates lies! God values truth because truth sets us free. Lies destroy lives; truth opens the door for our lives to be all they were meant to be!

If lying is forbidden by the 9th Commandment, then telling the truth is what’s required. And every one of us knows that sometimes that’s hard to do! George Orwell said,
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
And if that is true, then we as Christians are called to be revolutionaries! How does that grab you?! In what Charles Colson calls a “Post-Truth Society,” we are called to be people of the truth.

The reason we’re called to be people of the truth is because we serve a truth-telling God. God the Father is true.
• The Bible tells us that Jesus, the Son of God “came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
• Isaiah said about the Christ: “there was no deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9). In other words, Christ is truth personified.
• Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
• At His trial before Pilate, Jesus said, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37).
• The Holy Spirit is also true—referred to in Scripture as “the Spirit of truth” (1 John 4:6).

And so, if God is true to us, that challenge is for us to be true to Him and also to one another—as well as to ourselves! We’re called to be people of truth—not lies!

So…when is a lie a lie? It’s whenever we speak that which is just not true. It’s when our words are insincere or empty. Would you like to hear a few examples?
• I’ll do it later.
• One size fits all.
• How am I? I’m fine.
• Leave your resume and we’ll keep it on file.
• I just need five minutes of your time.
• The check is in the mail.
• Let’s get together sometime.
• Boy, you haven’t changed a bit!
• How about the carefully-crafted response to reference checks: You’ll be lucky if you can get him to work for you!
• How about the all-too-often insincere: I’ll be praying for you.

A lifestyle of deception is far too common—and if we all grew noses like Pinocchio whenever we lied, we’d probably be bumping into noses everywhere we went! Some professions—like lawyers, salespersons, and politicians have a reputation for fostering deception—though this isn’t to say that every member of these professions is a liar! We greatly value lawyers and salespersons and politicians whom we can trust!

This may surprise you and even disturb you, but I sometimes wonder if Christians have cultivated an unreal kind of expectation that forces insincerity and pretenses rather than authenticity. Some of the most stressful moments we had when our kids were little was getting everyone all dressed for church and ready to go out the door at the same time—and to be on time at that! All too often the ride to church included scoldings…but when we’d walk through the doors of the church we somehow knew that we had to put on our smiling faces and act as if everything was marvelous that morning—especially if you happened to be the pastor or the pastor’s family!

One of the greatest stresses upon pastors and parsonage families is the expectation of being super-Christians—and at least acting as if you’ve got everything “put together” even when you don’t! People often seem to expect that of pastors and their families. And the deception of perfection is less than honest and real. We sure don’t want to let anyone know that we struggle with temptation and conflicts or that our children have real struggles too!

But then, couldn’t such a pretense be said of many in the church throughout the years? It may on the surface look more “holy,” but I think we’re beginning to understand that this isn’t what holiness is all about! Frankly, I think the world is much more drawn to people who are authentic—real and honest about themselves, recognizing their need for God’s help and growth and healing. Funny thing…even if we don’t admit it, others can generally see that we don’t have it all put together anyway! And the truth is that our perfect little facades are dishonest.

Human nature tries to normalize lying—and even make it a virtuous thing. Many would consider lying preferable if the truth might hurt someone’s feelings. I was intrigued how often that idea crept up in the interviews on the video we saw a few moments ago. Little lies whitewashed as “white lies” are supposedly told to protect another person’s feelings. But the problem with “white lies” is that those who think it’s okay to tell white lies soon become color blind. Truth and lies seem to blur together. And many people can’t even tell the difference between truth and lies!

A noted physician on a network news and talk show proclaimed a few years ago:
Lying is an important part of social life, and children who are unable to do it are children who may have developmental problems.
Isn’t that a sad perspective on honesty! What a crock!

My daughter Krista took an interpersonal communications class one summer at a community college. The professor gave them an assignment relating to the students’ habits of lying. I believe the topic was something like, “One thing you’d feel okay lying about.” Krista—who was studying to be a nurse—was challenged by fellow students because she said she wouldn’t lie to people in a crisis to minimize the reality of their condition. She explained that even professionally she wouldn’t be allowed to do that—but they felt it somehow inhumane for a nurse to give an honest answer to someone who was suffering severe injuries and asking about the extent of those injuries. Of course, you’d give hope where you could and you’d offer care and comfort—and yet the class was outraged that Krista wouldn’t be willing to lie and offer false hope.

Please understand that I’m not suggesting we be mean and cruel in proclaiming truth to everyone! Tact and kindness are still virtuous—and so needed. Keeping the 9th Commandment does not mean saying whatever comes to mind. There are many situations in life when it is better to say nothing at all. What the 9th Commandment calls for is telling the truth—when called upon—and doing it in a loving way. The Apostle Paul noted that when God’s people are living and acting as a united fellowship, and we’re mature in our faith and trust in Christ, that we will “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Sometimes we blame truth for someone being hurt but what’s really missing in the equation is the love.

Let’s go back to the big issue again. What’s wrong with lying? Lying destroys trust—which is an essential ingredient in every relationship! Deceit fractures relationships! Again I found it interesting in the video interviews that people would acknowledge lying themselves but it made them mad when others lied to them. Why? Because they felt they could no longer trust such persons.

The German atheistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche even said, “What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that from now on I can no longer believe you” (Friedrich Nietzsche). As humans, we understand that trust is a desirable thing; as followers of Christ, we understand that trust is indeed sacred.

I have often told couples in pre-marital counseling to guard the trust in their relationship—because once that trust is broken, it is incredibly hard to repair it. And yet lying breaks down trust! Lying is disastrous for relationships! Teens, when you lie to your parents, you sabotage the trust you want from them. And the truth is that it only takes one lie for trust to be destroyed. If you’ll lie to me once, you’ll lie to me a hundred times.

And God cares so much about us that He wants you and me to enjoy encouraging and strengthening relationships with other people. We need these relationships in life! We need our family and we need our friends! These relationships are such tremendous blessings in our lives! They are so much an aspect of the “abundant life” Christ promised to those who follow Him! They are so necessary in order for each of us to be healthy emotionally and to be genuinely “whole.” We were not made to live life in isolation from others. We need other people in our lives—and we need healthy relationships with them…honest, trusting relationships that are open and even vulnerable, relationships with others with whom we can let down our guards and be real.

I’m learning that I can only have such a relationship with someone else if I’m first of all honest with myself. When I “get real” with myself it breaks down the barriers that keep others outside the beautiful façade built so carefully around me to make me look pretty good—or at least I convince myself of that—but our facades are absolutely artificial! The 9th Commandment calls for honesty in every corner of our lives.

And honesty with myself and with others is the only solid foundation for such healthy relationships. It’s only when we get real about ourselves that we are in a position to truly bond with others. But listen to me again: Lying destroys all of that!

There are many different ways to lie. There are “big lies” and “little lies”—great deceptions as opposed to half-truths and flatteries and fibs. With half-truths, what we are saying might even be true, but we leave out the details that might put us at a disadvantage. Or we say something that is technically true, but is nevertheless intended to deceive. We might overstate our accomplishments, putting ourselves in the best light. At the same time we might exaggerate the failings of others, thinking and speaking the worst about them. We lie when we mislead, misquote or misinterpret. It’s a terrible thing to twist people’s words, taking things out of context. And whenever we do this, we are exchanging the truth for a lie.

Lies often harm others in the process—and almost always, ultimately anyway, we do harm others in the end. Lying has done so much to destroy people and their reputations throughout the ages. Our mouths get us in so much trouble and can do so much harm to others! The Apostle James spoke of animals that can be tamed, but about the human tongue he said—
No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:6).
And the Apostle Paul warned against slander and malice, discord and dissension also.

One of the hardest things I’ve ever done as a pastor is confront a lady who was perceived by many—including herself—to be a pillar in the church but who had worked so hard to damage my reputation and my character by misquoting and misinterpreting me, misleading others about my motivations. She had done the same to every other pastor before me. My words were twisted and taken out of context—and passed around widely! Her words were not true. They were constantly deceptive—and I was the brunt of her subtle though insidious attacks. There came a time to confront her with her deceptions—and I did it as boldly yet as kindly as I possibly could. I know personally how much lying hurts others and how it hinders a sense of community when only one person is propagating half-truths. By the way—when people are telling you such things, you have a responsibility to kindly but firmly shut them down.

Lying destroys others. It steals their reputation and their good name. One of the sugarcoated words for lying is gossip—and if we’re not careful, we can excuse it away as okay.

I’m told of three preachers who were out on a boat far from land. Their conversation became open and honest, as one confessed a secret problem with alcohol. Another began to talk about his battle with lust. They finally turned to the third preacher and asked if there was anything he was battling. He said, “Yea, I really have a problem with gossip, and I’ve got to tell you that I can’t wait to get back to shore and tell what I’ve just heard!”

May we never forget the destruction that happens when we allow ourselves to get caught up in gossip! God expects better from us! The gossip tells things that don’t need to be told, often at the expense of someone else’s reputation. And trying to undo the damage done by gossip is like trying to gather up the feathers of a feather pillow ripped open in the wind.

As I suggested earlier, it’s always hazardous to lie to ourselves, too. Many of you can relate to my battle with the recorded tape somewhere inside of me that proclaims far too often that I’m not worth much and that what I’m doing isn’t significant. Maybe your tape tells you that God can’t forgive the sin you’ve committed. Maybe your tape tells you that you’re second-rate, that God doesn’t care as much about you as He cares about others. Perhaps your tape proclaims guilt and worthlessness about something for which you had no responsibility at all. Those are all lies, aren’t they? And they destroy us within—and our Heavenly Father longs for us to break free from those lies! The Psalmist declared, “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts”—or as the New Living Translation puts it, “You desire honesty from the heart” (Psalm 51:6, NLT).

On one hand, we must deal honestly with our weaknesses and short-comings and need for growth. But on the other hand, our Heavenly Father does not want us to wallow in the mire and muck of sin already forgiven, uncertain of His unconditional love and doubting the worth of someone He created! God found us so worthy of His love that He sent His Son to die for us—so we could discover the abundant life and be in fellowship with Him forever! God has made us all wonderfully unique—with special ways we each can make a difference in the lives of others.

You see, this God-given guideline for truth is for our protection—because our Heavenly Father loves us! Can you rejoice in that today? We should! Jesus said that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Doesn’t that sound good to you—to be set free from a life of deception and lies!—to embrace a life of integrity and honesty! Wow! Being “set free” sure sounds marvelous to me!

So…what’s the truth about you? What lies have you been telling? How have you hurt others by your half-truths? Do people struggle to trust you because they cannot believe everything you say? What are the lies you tell yourself? What are the lies you try to sell to others? How have you lied to your spouse this week? How might you have twisted the truth to make yourself look good to others this week?

And how are you going to live in the week ahead? What kind of person are you going to be?

Something wonderful happens when we’re willing to confess the real truth about ourselves. That’s when we’re able to see the real truth about Jesus and what He has done for our salvation. It’s only when we tell the truth about our own lives that we are able to see how much we need a Savior—the Savior who proclaimed, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” (John 8:32). How I long for each of us to be people of truth—whom the Spirit of God truly sets free to enjoy life at its best! That’s what I long for each of you!

Pastor Paul’s Blog

When was the last time you really told God how you felt in your prayers. I’ll be honest and tell you that I’m not even sure when the last time was, or if there even was a time. God is working on me in this area of my prayer life.

You know of King David right? He’s the little guy who defeated the giant, Goliath; the “man after God’s own heart,” (I Samuel 13:14). Listen to some of the things King David had to say about an enemy of his in one of his Psalms / Prayers. “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.” “May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.” “May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children.” All quotes from Psalm 109.

Can you imagine praying statements such as these in your prayers? I used to never imagine praying such things, but then I realized, that God already knows my thoughts. I think some of those statements in my mind, so why wouldn’t I speak them to my Heavenly Father in prayer. Why would I try and sugar coat my prayers to the God who knows my heart?

I can think of many occasions in which I have spoken similar statements to my wife about my enemies, whether public or personal enemies. So if prayer, as some of us define it, is simply a conversation with our Heavenly Father, then why wouldn’t I speak the things that are truly on my heart? Have you ever thought that this may be part of what Christ was asking us to do when He encouraged us to “pray for our enemies”? I think then when we truly pray about our frustrations, fears, hurts in an honest open way will we be free of the bondage those burdens put on us. We hand our worries, enemies, etc. over to God and say take control.

So why wait until you have only good and positive things to bring to the Father. I’m sure He would love to hear from you today, even if it’s just to “vent” about all that life has dumped on you. His shoulders are big enough and He is waiting to bring you rest and restore your joy.

Pastor Paul

August 9, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

WHAT’S YOURS IS MINE…?
Deuteronomy 5:19

I’ve heard it said that you want to be careful when you go digging around into your genealogy, because you never know what you might uncover! You might learn more about your background then you want to know! Some have discovered horse thieves and bank robbers. And while I know that my grandfather’s dad was quite a rascal, I don’t know of any horse thieves or bank robbers discovered in my family’s background…but we did have at least one candy thief once. Her name is Kara.

I’m guessing our daughter Kara was about 3 years old at the time. She and I had just enjoyed our every-third-Friday “date with daddy” that consisted of lunch at McDonalds and perhaps a visit to the library or the running of a few errands together. We had run into the grocery store across the street from our church—a place named Neff’s Market. I frequently it often (especially their bakery!) and I knew many of the employees.

As Kara and I were checking out, she kept asking for some of the candy so conveniently placed near the checkout! She was particularly interested in having a little box of “Nerds”—some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. I was a mean daddy that day and said “No” to her repeated pleading that she just had to have them! We paid for our groceries, walked out, got into the car, and headed out to wherever it was we were going.

But several minutes later, I looked over and saw that she was slyly eating something. And when I pressed to find out what she had, I was shocked to learn that she was eating candy from a little box of Nerds. She finally admitted to taking the candy and we had a little father-daughter chat about the perils of stealing. We then turned around and went back to Neff’s Market. By then my remorseful little girl was sobbing. We went into the store and sought out the clerk that had checked us out. Kara’s head was buried in my shoulder—trying to hide her embarrassment and her tears. I explained to the clerk what had happened and we paid for the candy—and she could see that Kara was sobbing too much to speak. So she asked Kara if that would ever happen again, and she got a quick shaking of the head—and it never did happen again, I’m sure!

The story of this has become such a family legend that when our son Justin heard me asking Kara if I could tell this story once, he said that he had taken candy once too—but when he started telling us what happened, it was obvious that he was simply re-telling the story about Kara—thinking he was the one who had taken the candy that day!

This morning we move to the 8th Commandment in our series on the Ten Commandments. Like the last commandment, it’s pretty short and straight to the point—not even difficult to quote by memory. In the New Living Translation of Deuteronomy 5:19, the verse has only three words: Do not steal. That’s it! Repeat it with me: Do not steal.

Theft is taking or keeping something that is not ours. The Bible obviously defends our right to own property, and God’s Word condemns stealing property that rightfully belongs to someone else.

Several years ago, on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, there was a painting by Leslie Thrasher that looks a lot like the work of Norman Rockwell. It shows a woman buying from a butcher what I would think is a turkey. The turkey is lying on the scales and the butcher is standing behind the counter, as he did for many transactions every day. The customer, a prim and proper lady is watching the weighing-in for the other side. Each of them has an interesting look on their faces, as if each knows a secret. There was nothing unusual about a butcher and a customer watching as a turkey is being weighed, but the expression on their faces indicates that something unusual is going on. The painter lets us in on the joke by showing us their hands. The butcher is pushing down on the scales with one finger, while the woman on the other side of the scale is pushing up on the scales with her dainty forefinger. Neither is aware of what the other is doing.

Both the butcher and the lovely lady would resent being called thieves. The lovely lady would never rob a bank or steal a car. The butcher would be indignant of anyone accused him of stealing; and if a customer gave him a bad check, he might call the police! But neither saw anything wrong with a little deception that would make a few cents for one or save a few cents for the other. In a word, they were stealing!

Rockwell gives us a picture of how we seek to live, trying to manipulate life for our advantage. And that’s what the Ten Commandments are all about—they remind us that there are eternal laws in the universe by which we must live if life is going to go well for us.

When it comes to the matter of stealing, seemingly everyone knows that it is wrong! To steal is to take something that doesn’t belong to you. The Hebrew word for stealing literally means to carry something away. What the 8th Commandment forbids seems quite simple, and yet many fail to understand its full meaning. It’s actually fairly comprehensive and covers many types of theft—
• Burglary—breaking into a home or building to commit theft
• Robbery—taking property directly from another person in either a violent manner or by intimidation
• Larceny—taking something without permission and not returning it
• Hijacking—using force to take goods being transported and seizing control of the plane, car, truck, etc.
• Shoplifting—taking items from a store during business hours without paying for them
• Pickpocketing and purse-snatching

Stealing also covers some more complex approaches like—
• Embezzlement—the fraudulent pocketing of money entrusted to one’s care
• Extortion—getting money from someone by means of threats or some misuse of authority
• Racketeering—manipulating the system to under-handedly getting money by illegal means.

Of course, there are many other ways that people violate the 8th Commandment. They pilfer public property, they steal supplies from hospitals, building sites and even churches. Citizens steal from the government by underpaying their taxes or making false claims for disability and Social Security.

There is theft at work. Employees fill in false time cards and call in sick when they want a day off. Perhaps some of you have helped yourselves to office supplies, made personal long-distance calls and padded your expense accounts. While most of us wouldn’t embezzle from our companies, people like us commit a type of theft if and when we fail to put in a full day’s work—and waste time “on the clock” surfing the internet, sending emails to friends and playing computer games. In a very real sense, whenever we give anything less than our best effort, we are robbing our employer of the productivity we owe.

The Old Testament book of Malachi says that we rob God when we refuse to give to Him our tithes and offerings. Check it out for yourself in Malachi chapter 3! That’s a pretty serious charge that lots of people ignore week after week!

We tend to think of most of these as victimless crimes, but they aren’t. Employee theft of time and property costs American businesses and their investors more than 200 billion dollars a year—now that’s quite a chunk of change! And that ends up affecting us all. According to some estimates, as much as one third of a product’s cost goes to cover the various forms of stealing that occur on its way to the store. This “theft surcharge,” as analysts call it, is a drag on our entire economy system!

Of course, this is not just a commandment for individuals—it’s also a commandment, a principle, to be followed by companies and even by our own government. Large corporations steal when they keep some of their transactions off the books or when they hide their losses or their assets. One of the worst offenders in recent history was Enron, the vast energy company whose spectacular collapse in 2001 injured the whole U.S. economy and cost some people their life savings. Enron’s fall was quickly followed by a series of others such as Arthur Andersen, WorldCom, Adelphia and Rite-Aid. And we may be still too close to the financial crisis of this year to be able to discern what may or may not be considered pure, unadulterated thievery in the big-business and banking sector. But be assured, theft in these circles is no less thievery than if I stepped into my bank on Fairview Avenue tomorrow morning with a gun in my hands, demanding cash.

Can I mention a couple of other means of theft which you and I might be tempted to skim over quickly? What about plagiarism—passing on someone else’s work as your own work? What about the violation of copyrights or the unlawful duplication of music and videos? Ouch! I stepped into a pastoral role of more than one church where the “music library” was overflowing with music unlawfully copied—and we somehow thought that was okay at one point! (Though I think we have learned better!)

So…what’s wrong with stealing? Why does it matter anyway? Whenever we take something that doesn’t belong to us, we sin against God as well as against our neighbor—and it doesn’t matter how we do it! Stealing is a sin against God in a couple of ways. First, stealing betrays our trust in God and our trust in His provisions. If I take something that belongs to someone else, I am denying that God can give me everything that I truly need.

But stealing also is an attempt to take what God has provided for someone else! We understand that God blesses our right or privilege to own things. But we only own things because God has given them to us! In all things, we are required to use what we have in ways that are pleasing to God—and we are to respect what God has entrusted to others as well.

When I was in Kansas City for seminary 30+ years ago, I worked for a few months at the Arthur Andersen accounting firm in downtown Kansas City. It was an interesting place to work. My job was a clerk’s job—distributing mail, handling major mailings, printing, and distributing office supplies. I worked with a couple of other students—several of whom had been there for a few years. Several of those, including my supervisor, kindly encouraged me to help myself to various office supplies to use for my school needs. I hesitated at first, but then went ahead at their encouragement and following their common practice. The fact that my supervisor encouraged it made it seem acceptable.

But I never felt good about it—and I think I only did so once. I left that job after a few months to work at Nazarene Headquarters. Decades passed and I hadn’t thought about the issue for many years. But a few years ago while preparing a sermon dealing with honesty and integrity, the Holy Spirit brought this issue to my mind and gave me no rest until I sought restitution for it.

Whoever opened my letter at the Arthur Andersen firm that week probably thought I was some lunatic whose elevator didn’t go all the way to the top! I sent a letter explaining my actions and with it sent a check for enough money to more than cover the expense of the materials I had taken. I tried to briefly explain why it was important for me to make restitution on this. I never heard back from them. I’m sure there was someone who found me a bit curious—but it was all I could do at that point to handle what had taken place years before! The 8th Commandment is a call to integrity in every corner of our lives—and we all must nurture that integrity and protect it!

I’ve obviously been thinking on this 8th Commandment a lot in the past week as I anticipated this morning. It seems so simple, and this doesn’t seem to be a crowd who probably has too much problem with stealing as a whole. I honestly struggled a bit with finding much of a challenge for you in this matter. And then I got to thinking about the teachings of Jesus on some of the other commandments.

You may remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew chapter 5, about both adultery and murder. About murder, Jesus said,
You have heard it said… “Do not murder…” but I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment… (Matthew 5:21-22, NIV)

And about adultery, Jesus said,
You have heard that it was said, “Do not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart…(Matthew 5:27-28, NIV)

And I got to thinking that we don’t have recorded every word that Jesus ever spoke. And I wondered if perhaps He might have elaborated at some point on at least some of the other Ten Commandments. If Jesus ever addressed the crowds or His little band of disciples about the 8th Commandment, I wonder how the sentence might have gone?
You have heard that it was said, “Do not steal,” but I tell you __________________.
Jesus took the Commandments prohibiting adultery and murder beyond just the outward actions. He addressed the deeper issues of the heart. What would be the “heart” issue He would address? If He is telling us NOT to steal, what would be the positive action Jesus might call us to do? I’m confident that He has more in mind than just telling us what we canNOT do! What is it Jesus wants us to do? What kind of people does Christ desire for us to become?

Can I tell you what I think? I believe in light of Jesus’ second-mile approach to the commandments against murder and adultery, that this 8th Commandment is calling us to honest, generous living as we share graciously with those who have true needs. Does that make sense? And so we might imagine the New Testament approach to be something like,
You have heard that it was said, “Do not steal,” but I tell you to share what you have generously and graciously with those who have needs!

Many of you recall the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 10. I believe we can find here three approaches to money and things.
• The first approach could be expressed in the statement, “What’s yours is mine…and I’ll take it.” That was the attitude of the thief who robbed the man walking to Jericho.
• The second approach was held by the priest and the Levite, who walked right past the man who had been robbed and beaten. We could sum up their approach to money and things and even time by the words, “What’s mine is mine, and I’ll keep it.”
• But the Good Samaritan, the one most unlikely to stop and help this Jewish man who was beaten and robbed, evidenced a completely different approach to all resources. He, in essence, said, “What’s mine is God’s and I’ll share it.”

I remember an incident from my freshman year of college. We’d evidently had a torrential downpour of rain accompanied by high winds in Nashville that day. I was in my room when one of the guys with whom I shared an on-campus apartment peaked into my room and quickly said, “Oh, I borrowed your umbrella today. The wind blew it inside out, so I threw it away. Sorry!” I was angry that he had taken the umbrella without permission and that he had casually thrown it away when it was turned inside-out. In the rather heated conversation that followed, I remember him saying that he was raised to share with others—“what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine…” And I remember being outraged that he would dare to suggest that what was mine was also his.

But I’ll confess that for too many of my years I’ve been more of a “clutcher” than a “giver”—hanging tightly to what is mine. I’m not proud of that, but I know it’s my natural inclination…to protect my stuff, to hoard what is mine, to get it all where I know where it is and then keep it that way! And I’m convinced that the 8th Commandment goes beyond the mere prohibition against taking what is not mine from someone else. I’m convinced that the 8th Commandment takes us to the heart of the issue—and calls for us to live lives of integrity as we generously share our God-given resources with others in a spirit of joy—taking our hands off of our stuff and letting God get His hands on it whenever and however He wants!

That’s how Jesus lived. That’s how Jesus responded to others. That’s what He is calling each of us to do. And the world is watching to see if we can get this figured out…if we can abound with such generosity! Frankly, some Christians are incredibly generous!—such an embodiment of the heart of the issue behind the 8th Commandment!

But let’s be honest with ourselves and admit that such Christlike generosity isn’t always evident in our lives. Our hearts are calloused to the poor and needy around us and around the world. We easily become absorbed in the accumulating of savings accounts and stocks and properties and things—all so we can be “secure.” And while there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with these things, it can all too easily make us into “takers” instead of “givers.” Jesus wants us to be “givers”—whose hearts overflow with desire to respond to the needs of others! Are you a “giver” or a “taker”?

Christ-followers are called to live generously! We don’t work just to satisfy our own desires and needs, but also to provide for others. This isn’t to say that we can never enjoy what God has given us, but most of us have far more than what we need and we need to be thinking about what we can give to care for the needs of others. This is really the only way that money loses its grip on us, its power over us. Kent Hughes put it like this—
Every time I give, I declare that money does not control me. Perpetual generosity is a perpetual de-deification of money. (Kent Hughes)

Will you be a man or a woman of integrity and generosity? Many of us must admit that we still have a long way to go on this journey. There’s no shame in that—but only in refusing to allow the Lord to move us from where we are to where He wants us to be in these matters. If you need His forgiveness and the forgiveness of others today, I encourage you to ask for it. If you need Him to reshape your heart to free you from your bondage to things and open up your spirit to giving generously, I encourage you to ask Him to do that. He’s so anxious to meet that need today!

Pastor Tim’s Blog

FROM THE FATHER OF THE BRIDE

As I sit down to my computer today, I’m mindful of the fact that I’m about to give another daughter away in marriage and perform the third wedding ceremony I have performed for my children. In fact, just one week from today—on August 15—Krista will become the bride of Josh Patten. And while Cindy and I should be pros now with having our children marry, there’s still a huge bag of emotions that goes with such an occasion.

Can you indulge me a few minutes of reflection? (I can’t do this kind of reflection when I do the wedding ceremony because I’d be shedding too many tears!) I know you’ve heard it before, but it really does seem like it was just yesterday that we brought her and her twin sister home from the hospital! One part of their first day home that has become family legend is that our son Justin (still a baby himself at just 20 months of age!) sat down on top of one of his sister’s head—and for years our kids thought Kara had a narrower face than Krista because of what happened that day! The stories of the messes Krista, Kara and Justin would get into in their early years are endless. It’s amazing my wife survived!

I’ve loved every stage of our kids’ lives. I had a picture for years in my office of Krista, probably age 4 or 5, playing dress-up in one of her Grandma Pusey’s frilly dresses, with a floppy hat that was way too big for Krista…and the whimsical look on her face has always captivated me. Krista’s been our most “animated” child—oh, how I love to watch her worship, as she sings her heart out to Jesus! She’s always seemed to know how to push her dad’s buttons—and the result has been a lot of laughter in our home across the years. We’ve shared lots of joy and lots of life across the years…family vacations, teaching her how to ride a bicycle, watching her play ball, listening to her play the piano, coaching her in singing competitions, first dates, teaching her how to drive, trips to search out a college, trips to move her onto campus and to bring her home again for summer, calls of encouragement when she was struggling at points through college (and shedding tears on my end that I didn’t want her to know about), posing proudly beside her on graduation day—knowing she would make a wonderful nurse! We’ve also shared some tears along the way (yes, that part’s been animated too!)—for Krista loves people like I do, and leaving them behind is like tearing your heart out.

Last February a young man came asking for my blessing to marry Krista…and I said yes. Next Saturday, I’ll walk her down the aisle. I’m hoping not to shed tears at that moment, but I won’t make any promises. We’d prayed for years that Krista would find a young man who loved her and who loved Jesus—and we believe she’s found him. So we give our blessing and are delighted over their union…but we do so knowing things will never be quite the same. But it will be a happy occasion in so many ways, because we trust the providences of God and willfully trust them now together into His care and keeping. We’ve had to let go more and more across the years since we welcomed her into our home and into our hearts 26 years ago…and we’ll take this next step together and share her joy next Saturday…and look forward to watching them create their own memories across the many years to come.

God bless you, Krista and Josh!

From a Dad who loves you dearly!

Pastor Tim Pusey

August 2, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

Global Missionaries Hugh & Evelyn Friberg

No written sermon