Pastor Tim’s Blog

LEAVE A LEGACY…

As many of you know, Valley Shepherd has partnered with the Church of the Nazarene Foundation in what is called “Legacy Ministry.” Through Legacy, we’re being challenged to consider leaving a legacy of ministry that will outlast our lives. (By the way, Cindy and I have appreciated the wise input of Bob Crew, the Financial Consultant with whom Valley Shepherd is working. He has great credentials in the financial world, plus a heart for the Lord—which helps him understand our priorities. If you didn’t come to the workshop or take advantage of the opportunity to meet with him personally, I’d sure encourage you to do so the next time we have him here—perhaps next fall.)

Legacy Ministry is prompting a lot of thought regarding the legacy of faith I’ll leave my children (and grandchildren!) when this life is over. What will they have learned about Christ through my life? What will they have learned about Christ’s faithfulness? What will they have learned about the need for us to stay close to Him? What difference will they have seen that Christ has made in my life? What will they say at my funeral? What will they say to their children and their grandchildren about me?

One thing I’m convinced of is that the example of our lives makes a difference. I know our kids—even as young adults—are watching my life. When I walked through the most challenging season of my life, one thing that kept me leaning hard on the Lord was the knowledge that my kids were watching. I so much wanted them to see the faithfulness of God when my personal resources were depleted. And God was faithful!

So…what do others see in your life right now? What legacy are you leaving others? What do you want them to see?

January 24, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

IT’S MY BODY, ISN’T IT?
1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Some people, not wanting to leave their houses vacant when they’re gone for long periods of time, prefer to have someone stay in their house. We call such people “house sitters.” I suppose the concept is a take-off on baby-sitters. It’s not a bad idea, but, as is the case with lots of good ideas, it can go bad. Let me describe a couple of nightmarish house sitting experiences.

In the first nightmare, the house sitter redecorates your house while you’re gone—replacing what you chose with what she might like: changing an earth-tone paint in the living room to a fairly bold pink and replacing your new Berber carpet with shag. And when you expressed your horror at her choices, your house sitter simply said, “You know, the house just didn’t express me. I needed a house that communicated who I am.” And your response? “It’s not yours! My house doesn’t exist to reflect you! I asked you to take care of the house, not take over the house!”

But you might even prefer the first nightmare to the second. He didn’t redecorate; he simply neglected. He never washed a dish, never dusted the house, never took out the trash, and never mowed the lawn. “I knew I was just going to be here a few months, so I figured you wouldn’t mind.” Of course you mind!

Both house sitters made the same mistake: they acted as if they owned the house. How could they?! But how could we? When it comes to our bodies, the Bible declares that we don’t own them. Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, chapter 6—
[Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, NIV]

As followers of Christ, are we to use our bodies to indulge our passions? Are we to do whatever we please with our bodies—according to what we feel is good or appropriate? No. As followers of Christ, we are to use our bodies in ways that honor the Lord. Your body and my body are God’s instruments, intended for His work and His glory. Therefore, we are to honor God with our bodies.

Two weeks ago I began a series of sermons dealing with stewardship. Two Sundays ago we affirmed that everything we have and everything we are ultimately belong to God—He’s simply entrusted them to us and we are to use them as He would. We are to be “stewards” of them. Last Sunday I raised the question of “What Shall I Give Him?”—and we considered what we are to give back to the Lord. We talked about the importance of trusting God, we talked about giving one-tenth of all we gain—our tithe—back to the Lord as an act of worship, and we talked about our faithful and generous God who wants to teach us faithfulness and generosity. In the context of that sermon, I challenged you to consider ways you can be faithful with every resource even when this life comes to an end—which is the very reason for Legacy Ministries. And let me encourage you to at least go to the workshops we’re offering tomorrow to help you with those very things.

Today, I want to talk about our need, as God’s children, to learn to be wise stewards of our own bodies—which, as we just read, don’t really belong to us after all.
You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20)
This may very well be the greatest challenge for us in this challenge to be faithful stewards. It’s embracing the reality that God has entrusted this body to me—and it’s the only one I’m going to get. I have no idea how many years I’ll get to keep this body—but God expects me to take good care of it, recognizing that it is a gift from God in order that I might bring honor to Him.

The Corinthians had serious problems with this idea. When it came to their bodies, they insisted, “We can do anything we want to do!” Their philosophical framework separated body from spirit. They saw no connect between the body and the soul, so they concluded, “Have fun with the body, just honor God with the spirit.” Wild Saturdays and worshipful Sundays. No problem.

Paul passionately disagreed, reminding his readers that God has woven together the body and the soul. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?” he said. Our bodies are not toys. Our bodies are not immaterial to our spiritual journey. Our bodies are designed and created as tools.

I read this week about a mechanic who had a sign on his toolbox which read, “Don’t ask to borrow my tools. I use them to feed my family.” I wondered if he was a good-natured, friendly guy who talked with lots of people and genuinely liked to help them—but he’d been burned by those who borrowed tools and didn’t return them or borrowed them and returned them in bad condition or borrowed them and returned them after a long period of time. To do his work, a mechanic needs his tools! He needs them when he needs them and he needs them to be in good condition. When he looks for his wrench, he needs it now. His work is important, thus his tools are important.

What work is more important than the Lord’s work? Doesn’t it just make sense that God’s tools need to be maintained—and available and ready to be used when called upon? So if our bodies are tools for God’s purposes, how are we to maintain them? We need to eat healthy foods. Our bodies need exercise. Our bodies need rest. And we need to stay away from those things that are harmful to our bodies. It’s a matter of stewardship. This is a sermon I should have preached early in the Christmas season, right? Before we indulged ourselves on all those sweets!

Please understand, I’m not trying to inflict a guilt trip on anyone today. This is an area of stewardship where most all of us have to recognize that we can do a lot better. To one degree or another, most of us have mismanaged our bodies. But we can’t just excuse it away—and we need to understand that this is more than just a “physical” thing. There is a spiritual principle at stake in this matter of being a good steward of the one body the Lord has entrusted to you! Our bodies were made for the Lord, and so the Lord cares about our bodies.

I see verses 19-20 as key verses for us today. Listen to it from the words of the New Living Translation—
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NLT)
If our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, then we need to see our bodies as “holy”—sacred, set apart for God’s use, designated for sacred purpose. Do you ever think of that when you look in the mirror? Do you think of your body as that which is holy? Most of us just see all the blemishes, the wrinkles, the unwanted fat…we could go on and on, couldn’t we? But when God sees our bodies, He sees that which is holy—that which He created for holy purposes! Amazing!

So the Apostle Paul is saying that we are to consider our bodies as the sacred dwelling place of the Holy Spirit—which is God. Paul goes on to say that, because of that, I have no right to pervert or misuse my body, for I am not my own master. I have been purchased by God for a price. Jesus shed His blood for the redemption of my life! Thus, the follower of Jesus Christ is given the challenge of glorifying God with his or her body.

Paul begins this section we read this morning with the interesting words, “Everything is permissible for me.” It’s in quotation marks because it was a popular saying of the day. Paul wasn’t saying that it’s true! The paraphrase of scripture called The Message puts the words of verse 12 like this—
Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims. (1 Corinthians 6:12, The Message)

We understand the concept of there being freedom in Christ Jesus. Every follower of Jesus has been set free from the sins of our past. We know what it is feel bondage to guilt and sin—and we’re set free from that. And the Christians in Paul’s day particularly rejoiced in their newfound freedom from the narrow legalism of Judaism. The Apostle Paul saw the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a liberating word and the church as a liberating community. And we believe that because we’ve experienced that! This note of freedom flows through all of Paul’s writings.

But evidently there were those in the Corinthian Church to whom Paul was writing who used their freedom to create new slaveries. The same persons who had celebrated the freedom from guilt which God’s forgiveness brought used that freedom to indulge their appetites and became slaves again—this time to their own desires.

Can I just talk honestly with you for a few moments? I’m a product of the Church of the Nazarene—it’s all I’ve really known. I know we’re not the only church doing God’s work, but it’s the family we belong to. And I love our church. It was the Church of the Nazarene that brought my grandparents and great-grandparents to faith in Christ and nurtured them in the Christian way—and my parents and then my generation benefited from that spiritual heritage. But I have to confess that if you had asked me what the Church of the Nazarene believes in when I was growing up, I would have given you the answer, “We don’t smoke; we don’t drink; we don’t dance; we don’t go to movies.” I suppose I defined it that way because that was the obvious distinction between how we were told to live our lives in contrast to what our Lutheran or Methodist classmates had been told.

I don’t remember a lot of nonsense sermons in my growing up days about burning in hell if we did this or that. My dad was my pastor my first ten years of life and I never felt he was legalistic in the sense that some were. I grew up loving Jesus, and I honestly never reacted against what others thought were legalistic restraints of the “do’s” and “don’ts.” I do remember hearing a sermon when I was a teenager when the preacher got onto a tangent and start condemning women wearing panty-hose—but I thought the guy was nuts then, and so did my friends and the adults whom I most respected.

I am glad that we are seeing the need to present the Christian life in positive terms rather than in negative ones. It’s very freeing! We probably hear a lot more in preaching today about the peace Christ gives, the joy of the burden of sin lifted, the hope found in Christ, the unbelievable grace and mercy of the Lord poured out upon our lives. I believe those things! They’re true! The Gospel is more about the love of God than it’s about our sinfulness—and that’s a wonderful thing! By God’s grace, we can stand before a holy God and be made free from the penalty and power of sin over our lives! That’s so very freeing!

But we need to remember that freedom has responsibilities and we need to understand that freedom can be abused. That’s what the Corinthians were doing—and it’s what Paul was trying to correct. And I fear that the Christian world today is so enthralled with the freedom we find in Christ that too often we neglect the responsibility that comes with that freedom. Our character is determined by how we use our freedoms. We don’t need to return to the days when we tried to earn God’s love by things we did or didn’t do, but we need to learn to let His unconditional love create in us a holy life lived in response to His love. The move from legalism to love is to be a move to responsible discipleship—giving ourselves wholeheartedly to the journey of becoming the persons God wants us to be.

Paul specifically addressed the matter of sexual immorality in this passage. As I mentioned earlier, the Corinthians delighted in saying, “Everything is permissible for me.” Their way of thinking was influenced by the Greek philosophy of Gnosticism. Gnosticism taught a “dualism” between the body and the soul. The soul was recognized as good and of God, but the body was considered bad and not of God. Some people concluded that the body needed to be punished, so they denied it practically all of its appetites—leading to asceticism and the monastic movement. But the more popular reaction was not to neglect the body but to indulge its every appetite without constraints—freedom, if you will. They concluded that what someone did with their own body had nothing to do with the soul or with one’s faith.

And that’s about where we are today, isn’t it? “It’s my body; I’ll do what I want with it.” And God responds to such nonsense, “No it’s not. It’s mine.” We’ve so focused on our freedom in Christ that we fail to recognize our responsibility to be wise stewards of what God has given to us. Sex is treated as just another appetite to be satisfied as casually as the appetite for food is met by getting a snack out of the refrigerator. That’s how Christians justify casual sex outside marriage and how Christians excuse away searching for porn on the internet—and then put on their church masks on Sundays and act like everything’s okay! But it’s not! That’s what Paul’s saying! It’s no okay!

Please understand that God is not anti-sex! Sex was His idea—don’t ever forget that! From God’s perspective, sex is holy, a gift from God to be opened in the special context of marriage. But sex outside of marriage pulls the Corinthian ploy, pretending that we can give away our bodies and not our souls. We can’t. The me-centered phrase “as long as no one gets hurt” sounds good, but the trust is that we don’t know who gets hurt. You may think it’s harmless, but sex outside of marriage is never harmless—even though it may take years for the damage to show up on the radar screen. Sex apart from God’s plan wounds the soul. Sex according to God’s plan nourishes the soul.

When we recognize our bodies as that which is holy, belonging to God, then and only then do we see the attitudes and actions of our culture relating to sex as so very wrong! Everything about the pornography business has the basic problem that it uses sex in a prostituting way. We have seen it so infiltrate the world of advertising that it seems it’s everywhere we look! Have any of you seen a recent Carl’s Jr. ad that even makes eating a fast-food salad seductive?

Paul says that we are to run from sexual sin! We are to flee from sexual immorality! “All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” That’s the context of the words, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?” We’re not only God’s tool, but He lives in us!

While Paul applied the general principle of the stewardship of our bodies to one area, it’s certainly important for us to relate that same principle more broadly in our lives today. If we are to glorify God in our bodies, then there are many more ways in which we need to apply this truth. Chances are that you’ll come up with more applications than I will mention this morning—and I bless that, knowing that my list isn’t exhaustive and recognizing that I too still have a lot to learn about what it means to be a good steward of my body. But let me suggest a few.

Our bodies need exercise, don’t they? Most of us don’t get much exercise in the course of our work day. We have to plan for it and work at it. I’d like to tell you that I enjoy doing my exercise throughout the week—but mostly, it’s just hard work! I just know I need to do it. But I will tell you that I feel better when I do.

Our bodies also need proper nutrition. We need to eat the right stuff. Most fast foods clog arteries! Much of the prepared foods purchased in grocery stores are loaded with salt and preservatives. Our lives are lived out on the run—so we excuse away a lot of unhealthy eating. We need more fruits and vegetables—something I’m still working on learning to enjoy!

And, both exercise and what we eat impacts the matter of our weight. I’ll confess that I’ve had a lifelong battle with my weight. It’s just been my lot in life. I battle it continually. But I know that when I’m overweight, it impacts my blood pressure, it impacts my energy, and it puts me at greater risk of shortening my life due to heart disease, and puts me at a greater risk of diabetes—and those are just for starters! Besides the risks—I hate how my clothes fit when I get overweight! But that’s more of a vanity issue than it is a stewardship issue!

Again, I’m not trying to impose guilt on anyone. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be challenged to take seriously this matter of being good stewards of our bodies. And if you’re one who never struggles with your weight, I rejoice with you! You are blessed! But please don’t be too unkind to those of us who struggle with it because for some of us it’s one of the biggest challenges we have in life.

Let me address another stewardship of body concern: tobacco. Now more than ever, Christians have reason to stay away from tobacco in all of its forms. It isn’t cool! It’s like spinning a roulette wheel with your life. If you smoke, let me encourage you to ask the Lord to help you stop. Quit excusing it away. Get the help you need. I heard a presentation by someone with the American Heart Association this week and she said that the first thing you can do proactively to prevent heart disease or risk of a stroke is to stop smoking now. She also added not to subject yourself to secondhand smoke.

Have you seen the new wave of anti-Meth ads that have come our recently. I doubt I need to convince you that illegal drugs and the misuse of prescriptive drugs destroy lives. Stay away from them. Be a good steward of the body God has given you. The trap of drugs is the thinking that you’ll try it just once. That’s exactly how every drug addict got started. Get help if you need it. Let us know so that we can pray for you and encourage you and help you in every way we can.

We don’t talk much about it, but we need to acknowledge that alcohol has destroyed lots of bodies and lots of lives. I don’t believe that you’re necessarily going to burn in hell if you take a drink of alcohol, but I think the risks far outweigh the benefits. We talked earlier about Christian freedom—and I rejoice in it. But I’ve also come to see that part of maturing in our Christian walk is moving from the question, “So what’s wrong with it” to the better question, “Does this have more potential for blessing or for bringing harm into my life and the lives of others?” I believe that the Church of the Nazarene’s stand on total abstinence from alcohol has more validity now than ever. The best way to guarantee alcohol not being a problem in your life is to not allow it a place in your life. Most of us don’t have quite as much discipline as we think we do. Besides that, I have trouble enough keeping my brain clear without dulling it by alcohol. And it really concerns me when I see parents and grandparents becoming casual about drinking, because I think we’re sending a dangerous message to those who watch our lives the closest. God’s called us to be wise stewards of our bodies.

Here’s an application of the passage that might seem more palatable to you: give your body rest. It’s part of being a good steward of it. God didn’t design your body to go 24/7. He created night for a reason. Build in times of rest and relaxation.

And let me meddle a little bit more. Find a doctor you can trust and respect—and then take his/her advise seriously. Your medical doctor becomes your coach for taking good care of your body. If your doctor says you really need to lay off the salt—then lay off the salt! If your doctor feels you need to be taking a certain medication, then take it! Don’t blow off the advice of a professional. If you don’t trust your doctor, find one you do trust—but then listen and heed what they tell you! (Do you like that, Dr. Fender?!)

The Apostle Paul tells us to “flee” from sexual immorality. We need to apply that same thought to anything that harms our bodies. Some of us need to “flee” the dessert tables! Some of us need to flee the couch and the TV and get out and take a long, brisk walk! Some of us need to flee the allure of alcohol and other drugs. You get the idea!

See your body as a gift from God—holy, sacred, a treasure in the eyes of the Creator. Recognize that it’s part of what He’s entrusted to you as a steward. Take care of it. Don’t be careless with it. Don’t keep excusing away bad habits. Don’t let your sense of spiritual freedom consume your passionate desire to be wholly devoted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. May God help you and me to be faithful stewards of the bodies He’s given to us.

Pastor Tyler’s Blog

READY OR NOT…

As a toddler or child, you most likely played this game. If you have a toddler, then you’ve most likely played this game recently! It starts by closing your eyes and beginning to count. Once you begin to count, everyone else scatters and runs to find the best hiding spot. Finally, you say it—“Ready or not…here I come!”—and everyone freezes as to not make any sounds to reveal their whereabouts.

For the last three Wednesday nights, we have been in a series entitled, “Ready or Not…” We have found ourselves in three different stories, with three different characters, each with a unique lesson to be learned. In week one, we read in Mark 9 about a guy by the name of Bartimaeus. He was a blind beggar. We learned how he shouted above the crowd in order for Jesus to hear him and not pass him by. He was rebuked by the crowd, but that only encourage him to shout louder! Jesus heard him and furthermore, called to him. The text says he immediately through off his cloak, stood to his feet, and made his way to Jesus. Then he was healed of his blindness!

In week two, we learned about Zacchaeus. He was a Jew that was hated and despised, as he was a tax collector. He was considered a traitor to his own people, a sell-out to the Roman government. We read how he, too, knew Jesus was going to be passing by and he didn’t want to miss it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the tallest guy around. So he changed his position and climbed a tree. He put himself in position to encounter Jesus. Sure enough, Jesus passes by and calls out to him. The text says immediately Zacchaeus climbed out of the tree and took Jesus to his house. Zacchaeus is restored and changed because of Jesus.

This past week we read in Luke 17 about ten individuals who had leprosy. In that day, they could be found on the outside of the village. They were labeled as “unclean.” Therefore, they weren’t welcome…they were outsiders. We read in the text that these men were the first to meet Jesus as he was passing through. Just like Bartimaeus, they shouted out to Jesus. Jesus instructed them to go show themselves to the priest. The key part of what happened next isn’t the fact that they were healed, but the text reads, “…as they went, they were healed.” As they went. They weren’t healed until they responded to what Jesus told them to do.

There is an interesting thread to these three stories. In each one, Jesus is traveling somewhere. In each one, Jesus is passing by. Each of the characters had their own set of challenges, yet they were willing to position themselves in the right way to meet Jesus.

The blind beggar shouted above the scolding crowd. Zacchaeus rose above and separated himself from the crowd, even willing to look foolish in order to see Jesus. These lepers were willing to shout and present themselves as servants in order to be healed. The interesting thing about the ten lepers, though, is that only one returned. If you read the story in Luke, it says they shouted, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” In their shouting, they proclaim Jesus as their master, implying they were willing to serve Him. Yet when they found themselves healed, only one lived out the act of servant hood by returning to the feet of Jesus to thank Him.

There are a couple of truths I want to highlight. There is always a crowd. Sometimes they’re yelling at us to be quiet. Sometimes they judge us because of our reputation. Other times they’ll completely shut us out and close the doors behind. Jesus is always passing by. Sometimes it is at a distance, sometimes it is with the intention of coming to our house for dinner, or sometimes it is in the midst of entering a city. Jesus will notice us if we’re willing to make ourselves available and known to Him. We may have to shout above the crowds in our life. We may have to separate ourselves from our reputation or from the judgments of the crowd. We may have to wait as an outsider, away from the busy life inside the city walls. And maybe most importantly, we all have a choice as to what our response to Jesus will be. We can choose to throw off what hinders us and get up as Bartimaeus did, handicaps and all. We can choose to come down from the tree—or come down from our pedestal—and go with Jesus. We can choose to turn back after Jesus heals us and thank him. Or we can simply choose be a part of the crowd.

The crowd will yell at others to be quiet or stay at a distance. The crowd will judge and point fingers, or maybe scoff at the fact someone wants to see Jesus. The crowd will keep their schedules running, and life will go on just as long as we keep “those” people outside the gates. But, crowds or not, the question with which I’ve challenged our teens is this, “Are you willing to let Jesus pass by without responding to Him?”

Likewise, the questions I pose to you are these:

1) Are you willing to shout above the “crowds” in your life in order for Jesus to hear you?
2) Are you willing to rise above the “crowds” in your life, to put yourself in position to see Jesus?
3) Are you willing to not just cry out, “Jesus, Master…” but actually turn around and make Him Master?

Jesus is passing by today…how will you respond?

January 17, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

WHAT SHALL I GIVE HIM?
John 6:1-13

We’ve just come through the Christmas season—so now we’re all trying to lose the weight we gained during the holidays and settling back into our normal routines. Chances are, you’ve tried to get your house back to normal, too—though I’m wondering if there are some of you who might confess to still having Christmas decorations up around your house?

A pressing question throughout the Christmas season is the question of what we’re going to get for those we love. Most of us have had the experience of walking around malls and through department stores hunting for just the right gift—though we had no idea of what we were looking for! But the question persists—as does our search—“What shall I give him/her?”

Last week I introduced a 6-week sermon series on stewardship that I’ve called “Embrace the Trust.” We affirmed last Sunday the understanding that everything we have and everything we are ultimately belongs to God. We also talked about the matter that whatever is in our care is that which God has entrusted to us and that over which we have been given the role of “steward.” We’re to use every resource God provides for us as He would—in keeping with His mission and purpose in our world. This principle of stewardship applies to our financial and material blessings, but also to our time, our bodies, our talents, and our relationships. And I encouraged you to learn to be faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us, assured that we can trust Him to meet our every need as we use those resources as He would.

This morning I want us to center in a bit more on what it means to be a faithful steward. How do we live that out in our day-by-day lives? How does it impact how we use the resources God provides for us?

In doing so, I want us to turn to a wonderful scene from the ministry of Jesus. It’s actually found in all four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I’m told that it’s the only miracle that’s found in all four Gospels—so it’s evidently pretty significant. However, John tells us some details that the others didn’t, and those details are key for our time together this morning. Listen now to the reading of God’s Word—
[Read John 6:1-13, NIV]

Here was a boy who trusted Jesus with what little he had. And it really wasn’t much, was it? The five barley loaves were the bread eaten by the very poor, and the fish were little more than large dried minnows—perhaps larger than sardines but certainly not much more appealing! That was it! But it was evidently all that could be found—or at least all that was offered. But over what we’d consider a pitiful lunch Jesus spoke His blessing and with it turned around and served five thousand men plus women and children—so perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 people were served dinner that day, all from the gift of a young boy.

The miracle, of course, was what Jesus accomplished with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish! We don’t know how He did it! I’d love to have seen it happen, wouldn’t you? And when all the people had been fed, they collected the leftovers and filled 12 large baskets with bread! Amazing!

But I’m grateful John lets us in on the story of who provided the first little loaves of bread and 2 fish—it was just a child! But this child was willing to give Jesus what little he had. He was generous. He was obedient. And he apparently did what he did not out of fear but with a trusting heart. And Jesus blessed it—as only Jesus could do—and with it Jesus met the needs of thousands that day!

The Lord has graciously provided to each of us far more than just 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish to eat. Even those among us with the least have far more than that! The question before each of us is this: what shall we give back to the Lord? It’s the age-old question—a practical component to our worship, and it’s what I want us to consider today.

First and foremost, we are to give the Lord our hearts! As I said last week, when we give our hearts to the Lord, He’ll have everything else at His disposal. As His children, we can trust our entire lives into His care and keeping. We trust Him for our salvation—it’s not something we can earn, but rather it is His gift to us that we accept by faith. When we give the Lord our hearts, we can live with the calm assurance and trust that God will provide everything we need.

Giving the Lord our hearts is at the center of whatever we give Him. The truth is that we could give to the Lord great and impressive gifts but if we have failed to give the Lord our hearts, our gifts wouldn’t mean anything to the Lord. We certainly can’t buy our way into heaven—though many have sure tried.

And when we first and foremost give the Lord our hearts and learn to trust Him, we aren’t resistant then to what He asks of us. Giving back to Him becomes an almost natural response, just as our gifts are to those whom we love deeply. We want to give back to the Lord who has graciously and generously given so much to us! We give out of the context of relationship! We give not because we have to but because we want to!

Throughout the ages, God’s people have learned the importance of bringing gifts to the Lord as a significant aspect of our worship. According to scripture, we are to bring to Him our tithes and offerings on a regular basis—and we are to do so faithfully, generously and in a spirit of trust. In fact, we’re to be “joyful” givers!

Last Sunday I spoke briefly about the scriptural principle of tithing—that our giving is to begin with giving 10% of all we earn back to the Lord as part of our worship. I talked about it being a God-given exercise in trust—for gifts like that defy human logic and reason. Long before the Law was given to the Israelites, Abraham presented a tenth of everything to Melchizedek, priest of God Most High (Genesis 14:20). When you read through the Old Testament Law given to the people through Moses, tithing was the standard principal for giving back to the Lord.
A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. (Leviticus 27:30)
The tithe is the standard biblical answer to the question, “What shall I give the Lord?”

The last book in the Old Testament gives us the most pointed word on tithing. The word of the Lord through the prophet Malachi includes this:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” (Malachi 3:8-10)

Jesus affirmed the matter of tithing in the New Testament, berating the Pharisees for carefully following the letter of the law in some things but neglecting the heart of it in others.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” (Matthew 23:23)

In fact, do a word search in the Old and New Testaments on “tithe” and on “tenth” and you begin to get an understanding that this was certainly the biblical answer to our question this morning, “What shall I give Him?” And while I understand that Jesus came to fulfill the law and while my understanding is not that we are to tithe because of the letter of the law, I still understand scripture to say that it’s the answer to our question, “What shall I give Him?” We are to give not because we have to but because we want to. We are to tithe not because it’s the requirement, but because it is the God-given standard for the appropriate gift.

The story is told of a man that made half a million dollars every year. He was audited, and the IRS agent was intrigued that the records indicated that the man had made no charitable gifts—even though such gifts would have helped his taxes immensely. “Wouldn’t you like to give some of your wealth to help others?” the agent inquired.

The man became indignant. “Did your report show that my mother was ill with bills double her income this year? And did your report show that I have a mentally disabled brother who has little income and great needs? And did your report show that my sister was left destitute by an abusive husband with no place to live?” The chagrined IRS agent hung his head and said, “Well, no, I didn’t know any of those things.” And the man snapped back, “Well, if I wouldn’t give any of them a dime, why do you think I’d give to anyone else?!”

Clearly, our giving becomes a reflection of our heart. When we give our hearts to the Lord, we’ll have no problem giving Him anything else He prompts us to give.
Besides that, as I said last week, tithing is an exercise in trust. You and I can trust our Heavenly Father, our Creator God to provide all that we need. He is so gracious and so generous with us! That’s exactly why we are to learn to be generous with Him! Tithing thus is not the end of giving, but the beginning—spurred on by hearts and lives fully yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Now, in the context of this series on stewardship, I want to take this question of “what shall I give Him?” one step further. And I will acknowledge that some of what I’m about to say isn’t dealt with specifically in scripture, but it is very much dealt with in principle and it is an appropriate application of biblical principles to life in the United States in 2010. I want to challenge us to consider our need to be faithful stewards with what God has provided for us when this life comes to an end.

I read something this week that was alarming to me, but it confirms our need to deal with this issue. Here’s what I read: “Every year the vast majority of Americans who die do so without having prepared a valid estate plan. For the past three decades, the numbers have been between 70 and 80 percent.” Whether we’re nearing the end of our lives, contemplating retirement, or younger with a growing family at home, giving attention to some form of estate planning boils down to determining how, when and to whom we will transfer the stewardship of what God has entrusted to us when we can no longer serve as stewards ourselves.

The reality of life in America is that it’s fairly easy for us to make our personal wishes known and followed regarding what God has entrusted to us in this life when our life ends. For instance, you can and need to make known your wishes regarding child guardianship and property distribution. Besides that, a careful estate plan will often minimize costs related to settling the estate and protects the estate from undue taxes.

Since 1998, I’ve been particularly passionate in challenging parents with children in their homes to give prayerful consideration to having a will that specifies the guardianship of their children in the event that their lives were to end quicker than they had expected. Let me tell you why. Near the end of June, 1998, our friends John and Maxine headed to Hawaii to celebrate the completion of her MBA. They were dear friends who were leaders in the church I pastored. The four of us had just said goodbye to their two teens and our three teens who headed off in chartered buses on a mission trip to Mexico. It was an exciting time for the kids and an exciting time for John and Maxine as they departed themselves from the church parking lot to go to the airport for their own trip.

Before the kids got back, Cindy and I left the Cleveland area and traveled to Oklahoma, where we were going to meet our kids on their return trip home and spend some vacation days at a lake in Oklahoma with friends. Cindy and I had been in Oklahoma one night when we got the call that set a whirlwind of tragedy into motion. John and Maxine had been killed in a helicopter crash in Hawaii. It was a freakish kind of accident. Their bodies hadn’t even been recovered at that point, but somehow we had been tracked down because somebody needed to tell their kids. I’ll never forget the phone call with our youth pastor—a pretty put-together kind of guy who wasn’t at all put-together as he was trying to figure out how he should tell these two teens that their parents were dead.

Our hearts were broken. Cindy and I turned around and headed back home, getting there before the teens arrived and trying to run interference with the local media who were being rather intrusive. Another man and I went with the kids into their home to see if we could find a will. Fortunately, John had given great attention to such things, and we were able to find it and other necessary documents.

Looking back, I believe that John and Maxine, never imagining that the unthinkable could happen, named as guardians the family members whom they thought were the best choice to raise their kids. The problem was that it was rather clear that the named relatives didn’t want the kids, and even more heartbreaking was the reality that these kids were going to live in a home that had no Christian foundation. Besides that, these teenagers were loaded up in cars from the cemetery and taken several states away, leaving behind their whole network friends, including the church. There were multiple families in our church, including Cindy and me, who would gladly have taken those two kids into our home, but the will was binding. Had the relatives declined guardianship, it would have become a decision of the courts—and none of us trusted what would have happened with that.

In the aftermath of John and Maxine’s death, families who had never made wills got busy putting them in motion, and many who had them re-evaluated the whole matter of guardianship—realizing that they had a responsibility to be good stewards of the children the Lord had entrusted to them. The question moved beyond, “what family members might be the best ones to entrust our children to?” to “what Christian family would be the best home for our children to grow up to love and serve the Lord?” And Cindy and I were among those who completely redid our wills in light of what had happened.

Intensifying our new commitment to this was another tragedy that happened just six weeks later. Another dear friend in our church—also about the age of 40—died suddenly in the night, leaving behind a husband and three teens. Our church family was grief-stricken and stunned—and honestly, those tragedies are tragedies we’ve never gotten over.

If you have children in your home, God has entrusted them to your care. And part of your parental responsibility is to give careful consideration to who you would entrust them to if your lives were cut short. The only way you can protect your kids is by having a legal document that assures that your wishes would be carried out.

Across my years of pastoring, I’ve also seen the significance of what some people have been able to accomplish in their estate planning that far exceeded what they might have ever dreamed possible. I’m told that most people are willing to consider leaving something to their church when they die, but because no one ever raises the question, few think to do so.

I’m reminded of a delightful lady name Roselyn in one of the churches I pastored. Roselyn had no family—the church was her family. Being a pretty sharp business woman, she had thought carefully about what she would do with her resources when her life would come to an end. Somewhere along the line, she had been challenged to consider leaving at least a portion of her estate to the local church. Eventually, she determined to leave it all to the church, since she really had no one else to whom to give it—and the church family had really been so kind and attentive to her. When she passed away, we learned about her will—and while she seemed to live simply, we were shocked when her estate totaled over $200,000. It was a wonderful answer to prayer for that congregation, and Roselyn’s estate became the seed money for a major building addition and renovation that was so desperately needed. Roselyn left that congregation a wonderful legacy—and I’ll soon have a grandbaby who will be cared for in a nursery that was built in part by money provided by Roselyn’s estate.

And what I want to encourage you to consider and pray about is how you can leave a legacy—how you can be the most faithful steward of the resources left when your life comes to an end. It is perhaps our last test of stewardship—and it needs to reflect the great mission and purpose of the Lord because He’s the One who entrusted those resources to us to begin with.

I came across a quotation a few months ago that has stuck with me—
Let us not be afraid to begin tasks that are longer than our lives. (Francis Ward)
Isn’t that great? That helps me to see the impact and influence of my life exceeding the dates that will appear on my tombstone some day.
Let us not be afraid to being tasks that are longer than our lives.

Our Lord’s mission and purpose in this world is so big that you and I will never be able to get our arms around it. It’s the greatest mission ever! While there will never need to be another Savior die on the cross, our Father God still has some huge projects ahead, for millions need yet to be reached with the Gospel. God is commissioning us not only to be good stewards in this life, but to leave a legacy that will partner with Christ in His saving mission in our world throughout generations to come.

To assist our people in considering ways we can leave such a legacy and be faithful stewards of all that God has entrusted to us, the leadership of Valley Shepherd has agreed to partner with the Church of the Nazarene Foundation. I want to introduce to you the representative of the Foundation who will help equip us in this endeavor. His name is Bob Crew and he comes from Wichita, Kansas. He’ll be here again a week from tomorrow—Monday, January 25, to conduct a workshop for us—at two different times: Noon with a light lunch, and 7:00 pm with childcare provided.

In our local congregation, we have assembled a team of people to help us with this. We’ve called them our Legacy Ministry Leadership Team. And I’d like to have them come forward so that you will know who they are. They’ll be available in the foyer this Sunday and next if you have questions: Kevin Borger, Dan Clark, Al Duddles, Fred Fender, Bob Marsland, Russ Stanley, Elaine Wilson, myself, and chairing our committee is our former pastor, Dr. Jerry Johnson. I’ve asked Dr. Johnson to share a word with you about this:
[Dr. Johnson will speak]

[Explain the workshops,
personal and confidential appointments available;
response cards]

Let me just say this in closing: Giving has always been a significant aspect of worship. Read through your Bible and you’ll see that it’s true. As stewards, we are called to be faithful with what God has entrusted to us—holding loosely to it in the knowledge that it all belongs to Him anyway. And one of the blessings God’s people have experienced throughout the ages is that when we have entrusted to Him our big and even our meager resources, He has blessed us in ways we could never have imagined. Our faithful God calls us to be faithful. Our trustworthy God wants to teach us to place our trust in Him alone. Our generous God wants us to learn the heart of generosity—now and in our unseen tomorrows.
Let us not be afraid to begin tasks that are longer than our lives. (Francis Ward)

January 10, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

EMBRACE THE TRUST
Psalm 24:1-2

As the youngest of three boys, raised by a father who loves organization, I learned early to label everything that was “mine.” And when something was “mine,” then no one else was supposed to mess with it! I think I still have some books in my possession which have the name “Timmy Pusey” written in the front—which is what I was taught to do with books in my possession. I still always put my name in the front whenever I receive a book! I remember as a kid being frustrated sharing a room with a brother who didn’t always keep his half of the room as clean as I thought he should—and I came close to carrying out my solution of drawing a line down the middle of the room with tape, declaring “my” half and “his” half. I didn’t want him to step foot on my side of the room! I even remember a confrontation in my college days when another guy overstepped his rights onto what was mine!

I don’t know why such things are important to us. Perhaps the things we own somehow seem to validate us as persons—in some strange way affirming our value and worth as a person. Maybe it is a matter of control. I’ve sometimes wondered if maybe I’ve tended to be that way because I was the youngest of three boys and often felt I had to stake my turf. I was even for many years the youngest cousin in a string of cousins that were together a lot—I was with some of them this summer and we were all laughing about how much fun they had excluding me, and the fact that it made me mad probably served to only spur them on!

Clinging tightly to what is mine seems a bit childish—but it’s such a part of human nature. In my old age, I’m trying to learn to let loose of things. Oh, I still get a bit cranky when my favorite pen disappears from the desk…but still, I like to think I’ve come a long way! And what I’m trying to learn is what I want to share with you this morning—that it all belongs to the Lord anyway…and when I say “all,” I mean everything belongs to the Lord!

In Psalm 24, King David gives us a rather simple and profound truth. It’s not unique at all to this passage, but this passage seems to put it in words that are unmistakable. Look with me at these first two verses—
[Read Psalm 24:1-2, NIV]
The earth belongs to Who? (the Lord) Who created it? (the Lord) Who rightfully owns it? “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it…” So what part of it belongs to God and what part belongs to you or me? No…everything belongs to the Lord, who created it!

In Jesus’ ministry, He built on this understanding several times. Perhaps the most well-known to us is what is called the Parable of the Talents. Listen to what He said about the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 25, beginning at verse 14—
[Read Matthew 25:14-30, NIV]

What Jesus was teaching was the principle of stewardship—the understanding that everything belongs to the Lord, but, like the wealthy man entrusted huge sums of money to his servants when he was going away on a trip, so the Lord entrusts great resources to each of us. We are to be productive with it. We are to use it as He would. And ultimately it all ends up back in the hands of the Lord—because it never belonged to us; it always belonged to Him. He simply entrusts it to us.

This morning I’m beginning a six-week series of sermons on stewardship. Among the thoughts that come to mind when we hear the word “stewardship” is something equivalent to “just turn your wallet upside down over the offering plate and shake.” That’s about what my wife did one time as a child, by the way—with her mother’s purse! Cindy’s dad was the pastor of a small church in South Dakota at the time. They paid him in cash week by week—and his most recent payment was in her mother’s purse. Her mother was evidently at the piano when the offering was taken, and an usher watched as little Cindy dumped all the money in her mom’s purse into the offering plate that morning—it was so generous of her! I’m told that the amused usher gave it all back to Cindy’s parents at the end of the service.

I saw a cartoon this week that showed a pastor standing in front of his congregation, while every person in the crowd was obviously putting their fingers in their ears, and the caption simply states, “It happens every time he mentions church finances.” And I’m guessing that the concept of stewardship draws about the same kind of response.

However, I want you to know that I’m not after your money—nor is the Lord, by the way. He is after our hearts! When He has our hearts, our money and our resources are no problem—because when He has our hearts, we humbly acknowledge that all we have is really His anyway—including our money and our resources. Besides that, money is just one aspect of stewardship—though, granted, it’s an important aspect of it and that’s exactly why Jesus dealt with it as many times as He did.

This six-week series will take a fairly broad look at stewardship—including our stewardship of money and material things, but also our stewardship of our abilities and what’s often called “spiritual gifts”, as well as the stewardship of our bodies, our time and our relationships. The stewardship of our relationships will center primarily on our marriages and the family the Lord has entrusted to us. I also want us to consider the importance of being faithful stewards of what’s left when we come to the end of our lives—in fact, next week I want to introduce to you someone whom we’ve asked to help us with that as we begin a new ministry called “Legacy Ministry.” Too often we’re not as intentional as we should be with what happens to our resources when we’re gone—and those of you who have children in your homes also need to give careful attention to the stewardship of those most precious gifts to you in the event that your lives were cut shorter than we’d all like.

So as we begin these sermons on stewardship, let me share with you something written by Sue Kline that might help us get the big picture of stewardship:
In the beginning there was the King. He was unlike any other king, for he was a creator-king. Everything in his kingdom had been made by him. He made it all; he owned it all.

Among the King’s creation were people. He created these people to be like him in many ways—to bear his image—so that he could enjoy relationship with them. He did not make them kings; there could be only one King. He did not make them owners; there could be only one owner. But his love compelled him to elevate them in some way, to give them a calling worthy of their unique place in his heart.

“All that is precious to me I will entrust to them,” the King declared. “They will become essential to the welfare and expansion of my kingdom. I will honor them by revealing my heart to them: my deepest values, my highest purposes, my innermost character. And they will honor me by using each resource I entrust to them to spread my values and purposes and character to every corner of my kingdom.

“I will give them the title of Stewards—the highest title one can aspire to in the kingdom of the creator-owner. And great will be the rewards of my faithful stewards. In relinquishing, they will receive. In living for my glory, they will become glorious beyond their imaginations. In forsaking their tiny personal kingdoms, they will receive my kingdom, which, though great now, is destined to become even greater.”

And so the King, as an expression of his great love for his people, gave them the gift of his trust.

The biblical concept of stewardship deals first and foremost with the paradigm of ownership. Ownership is rooted in the idea of possession. What we own is essentially part of our little kingdom. If you doubt that, try taking a favorite toy away from a toddler—the response you’re likely to get is a clear indication that you’re messing with what the child perceives as his/her “kingdom.” Our possessions are an extension of the kingdom of me. They are things over which I rule—under my dominion, existing for my satisfaction! They are mine!

The problem with that mentality is that it’s not scriptural. True ownership is introduced in the first pages of Scripture. Genesis 1:1 tells us God created all that is—
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
This gives God rightful claim to everything. David affirmed that in the Psalm we read earlier—
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1)
What is clearly established is simple: God made it. He owns it. It belongs to Him.

God created Adam and Eve. He placed them in a beautiful garden where they were to live and work. They were to take care of it. But Adam and Eve’s mutiny changed everything. They had been entrusted with the task of being caretakers of the Garden. But they began to think of themselves as owners who had a legitimate claim on everything.

In the New Testament, Paul tells the Colossians that all things have come into being through Jesus Christ—
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)
Since all things were created for Christ, all things have been created to serve Him and worship Him.

The acknowledgement of God as Creator answers the question, “Whom do we worship?” We are to worship the God who has made us. Our focus is not to be on ourselves and certainly not on our “stuff.” We are to come before Him with singing. We are to
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3)
Thus, God deserves our worship because we belong to Him. All that we are and all that we have belongs to Him.

So, if I’m not really the owner of everything seemingly in my possession, including the intangibles like my time, my talents, and my abilities, what then is my role in it all? The biblical answer is that we are stewards of it all. God entrusts it to us to take care of as He would—never forgetting that ultimately it belongs to Him.

The man named Joseph from the Old Testament provides a great example of a steward. As was a typical arrangement in that day, Joseph, the most trustworthy man Potiphar had working for him, was elevated to a unique position of responsibility: the steward. Joseph’s role in Potiphar’s house exemplifies good stewardship. When his master saw how capable and effective Joseph was,
Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned…with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. (Genesis 39:4,6)
While Joseph owned nothing, he was entrusted with great wealth. And when Potphar’s wife scooted too close to Joseph with less than lofty intentions, Joseph’s quick response was shaped by a right understanding of stewardship:
“With me in charge…my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care…My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:8-9)
The defining quality of the good steward—implicit in Joseph’s words, is trust. Just as Potiphar trusted Joseph and Joseph proved worthy of that trust, so God entrusts much to us—because He trusts us—and our challenge is to prove ourselves worthy of such a trust.

Stewardship is all about trust. To begin with, our Creator God, our Heavenly Father, entrusts to us certain things. He makes them available to us, trusting us to be wise stewards of them. He entrusts us with the care of all He “provides” for us. To embrace the trust is to embrace wholeheartedly the reality that all that we have and all that we are belongs to God—we’re simply blessed by Him entrusting it all to our care and keeping, presuming that we will do with them what He would want in keeping with His purposes.

Our attitude toward everything in our care should be like that of King David when he offered gifts to the Lord for the building of a new temple:
“O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided…it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.” (1 Chronicles 29:16)
It all belongs to Him. Written at the front of every life, sewn into every moment of time, stuck on every penny and possession and person is a label that reads, “Property of the King of the Universe.” It was his long before we had it; it is His while it’s in our hands; and it will remain His even when we give it to others.

And there’s a flip side to this trust. When we acknowledge His ownership of all that seemingly belongs to us, we can embrace the trust that He will in turn provide all that we need. God wants us to trust Him in all things. We too often find our security in what we can call mine. We find security in our bank accounts and in our possessions. We find security in the people the Lord has brought into our lives. We find security in our abilities and achievements. God wants us to find our security in Him. Embracing the trust calls us to step out in faith, assured that God will provide for us, that He will take care of us. When we trust the Lord fully, it really isn’t problematic to let go of anything in our possession—we’re willing to hold onto such things loosely.

The concept of tithing, for example, seems so hard to some people. That the Bible would call for the follower of Christ to return 10% of the gross of everything God provides for us seems from a mere human standpoint unreasonable and demanding. But in so many ways tithing is a continual exercise in trust. It seems to me that when we trust the Lord to provide all that we need, we don’t have any problem letting go of anything God has entrusted to us—including the first 10% of our income. It seems to me that if we have trouble tithing, we likely have a trust issue—that we’re struggling to trust that when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness that He will truly give us all that we need. We want to be in control! We want to call the shots! But when we “embrace the trust” of His provisions, we need not worry and fret about how our needs will be met—we’re set free from that. We trust the Lord—and that’s enough.
Stewardship, then, is not the begrudging business of prying loose our grip from what is rightfully ours. Rather, it is the joyful relinquishment of what never belonged to us in the first place. (David Henderson)

So, what does Christian stewardship ask of us? First, the Christian steward acknowledges that everything we have and everything we are belongs to God—it belonged to Him from the beginning and it will belong to Him long after we’re gone. Second, we are to fully accept our role as steward—to make the most of everything the Lord provides for us in keeping with God’s purpose and mission in this world. And third, we are to trust the Lord to care for our every need—free from worry and free from fear…simply trusting. In a nutshell, we are to embrace the trust.

Pastor Casey’s Blog

Excitement.

The past few weeks have been full of excitement for me. Alyssa and I shared our first Christmas as a married couple which brought on lots of “firsts” for the two of us. My father came into town for a weekend and I got to show him our church, my home, my favorite hamburger place, and the place in between earth and heaven…Cabelas. It was a week packed with excitement traveling home to see distant relatives and friends from school. More excitement in our church came from the children’s Christmas musicals production, Christmas Eve service, New Years Party and now Upward Basketball and Cheerleading. I got to see some of the excitement first hand Monday night as my team showed up one by one for our first practice. The little 1-2 graders were excited to begin practicing, to meet their coach and teammates, and to get their uniforms!  The looks on their faces were priceless as I pulled out each ones uniform and handed it to them. I have no doubts they took it home and put it on right away…they most likely slept in it; it’s a good possibility that they are wearing it right now even. The point I am trying to make is that all of us at some point in time get excited about something. Whether it is opening a present you have been “eyeing” under the tree but not allowed to touch for weeks, seeing family you haven’t seen for awhile, or watching the Fiesta Bowl; excitement can be found almost anywhere. I wonder what our churches would look like if everyone was as excited about Jesus as they were the BSU victory, or the Superbowl, or the national spelling bee contest (don’t act like you don’t watch it, its okay, no one has to know). Passion for God, Compassion for People is our church mission and when lived out, our excitement for God and others cannot be kept to ourselves. Our true passion comes out, no matter what we are going through.

What are you excited about?

January 3, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

ALL IN THE FAMILY
1 John 4:7-12

Cindy and my concept of “family” is undergoing constant alterations these days—as we’ve added two sons-in-law, a daughter-in-law, a pretty little 4-year-old granddaughter and soon a brand new grandbaby into our family—all in about 3 ½ years span of time! And, you know, this concept of adding in-laws to your family is so interesting—because someone can go from being a stranger to a family member in seemingly no time at all!

For both of our sons-in-law, I was “pastor” before I became “father-in-law.” In the case of our first son-in-law Josh, I was his pastor all through his elementary and high school years—pretty much the only pastor he had through that time! He knew me as “Pastor Tim.” He saw me the way I dress on Sunday mornings! And then—3 ½ years ago—he married my daughter! Now I’m guessing he sees me through a whole different set of lenses! He sees me when I’m simply chillin’ out on vacations. He hardly ever sees me with a coat and tie on now! I’m far more likely to be wearing shorts and sandals or blue jeans when we’re together. When we’re together, I’m in “dad” mode—and it’s a whole different image than what he had seen of me as he was growing up! And just as our kids see a side of us that few other people see, Josh is privy to such a knowledge of us now—and we know him in a way that we never had before. It’s really an interesting phenomenon!

It’s amazing to me the difference that a wedding can make. When Josh Gress and Josh Patten and Chelsea Davis said “I do” to marrying one of our children, in a very real way they were also saying “I do” to our family. Oh, I’m sure they’re all glad they don’t have to live with us, but because they’re married to our kids, they’re forever connected with us! Their children are and will be our grandchildren! We’ll share some of the great moments of life with them—school programs, maybe Little League games, graduations, and weddings. And when one of us is going through challenging or heartbreaking times, we’ll share the pain too. Why? Because we’re family! We care about one another. And I can tell you that Cindy and I have really grown to love the three people who have married into our family as well as little Annabelle who was the bonus package in our recent wedding!

I was with the family of Lester Peck Tuesday morning after he had slipped from this life into the hands of Jesus, and I realized later that two of the five family members in the room were in-laws. And as I was reflecting on our sons-in-law and daughter-in-law, it hit me that they may even be by my bedside when I die—though I hope it’s no time soon because I want to stick around to torment my sons-in-law as long as I can! But do you get the idea? Being family changes everything!

When I think of imagery to describe the Church at its best, the word “family” always comes to mind. By God’s Masterful design, we become “family” to one another when we come to Christ and, and by His grace are accepted into the Family of God. And with that relationship comes both privilege and responsibility.

Our Scripture reading from First John this morning takes us again to something our church leaders have determined to be essential to us—our sense of connection with one another, the sense of “community” which we share, our committed love for one another. Our church’s mission is “Passion for God/Compassion for People.” Our understanding is that this is something we are by God’s design to carry out together—as a church…as a church family. As followers of Jesus Christ, all adopted into His family, we are now by the grace of God related—just like Chelsea and our two Joshes and little Annabelle are now related to Cindy and me!

Listen now to what John wrote to the Early Church—and what God wants to impress upon us as we as a church begin this New Year together—
[Read 1 John 4:7-12, NIV]

Jesus Himself had issued the original command, as recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 13—
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

What does it mean to love one another? How do we live that out in the context of our relationships with others, particularly and initially in the context of our relationships with other believers? Jesus said that our relationships with one another will be the litmus test to the world of whether or not we are true followers of His—and we know that’s exactly how it works in the world! People look to the church to model the kind of love Christ called us to live out in our day-by-day lives! They want to first see how we get along with one another before they are willing to give any thought to giving Christianity much of a try!

If we’re going to understand the biblical concept of love, we need to understand that it is reflective of the very nature of God. It’s not just a matter that “God loves us”—as if it is just one of the many things that He does. Scripture tells us that “God is love.” And so everything that God does is done in love—All that He does—creating, judging, guiding, correcting, helping—He does in love, because that’s Who He is!

And thus the only way we’re going to be able to love others is by being caught up first in a vital connection with our Heavenly Father, who is by His nature the embodiment of the word “love.” And to get a better glimpse of how such love is lived out, we merely look at what God has done—knowing that it is all done in love, because that’s simply Who He is!

John reminds us that God showed His great love for us by sending His Son to us. So it’s clear that the nature of love is unselfish and sacrificial. If we define love by God’s standard, our loving response to others will not be because we “have to” love others, but it will be the outflow of an inner compulsion to love others just as God has loved us. It’s certainly not an optional kind of thing reserved just for those we may think of as the “super spiritual” folk—it’s what every follower of Jesus must do, without exception! We are to love one another!—despite the fact that some of us are pretty interesting creatures, despite the fact that we’re all so different, despite the fact that in our humanness we’re known to step on one another’s toes and irritate one another from time to time! But because the nature of God’s love for us is unselfish and sacrificial, so should our love be for one another.

And we learn this love from our relationship with God. We learn love from the Cross. We continue to learn love along the way in our Christian journey, with all of its challenges and ups and downs. New Testament love is not an ideal; it is a relationship! Love is dynamic; it’s the growing result of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ—that finds its expression in our love for one another.

And to say that we “love” God goes way beyond sentimental mush. Christians are known to sometimes voice, “I love the Lord.” And those are good words to say! But our antennas need to go up if we say those things and yet ignore the needs of people sitting in the pews near us! There’s something wrong if we’re okay bad-mouthing someone else in the body of believers and still find the words “I love the Lord” to be a wonderful thing. There’s a disconnect there! We can’t say we love the Lord and not love one another! That’s just sentimental gibberish!—besides the fact that it gives the world a false picture of who God is! Our unselfish, sacrificial love for one another should be a picture of God’s love to the world around us. A man named Dallas Willard even went so far as to describe the church as “a school of loving.”

Such relationships with others frees us to be honest and open and real—with ourselves, with God, and with one another. And I think we’re hard-pressed to live out love for one another without such openness—otherwise we’re never getting below the surface of things; otherwise we’re so guarded that we don’t let people see what’s really happening in our lives. We put our churchy faces on and never let anyone see beyond them. And when we do that, we’re just scratching the surface of knowing one another—living cautiously with one another because we don’t want to risk getting too close…we don’t want to risk being hurt…we don’t want to risk others seeing that we don’t have it all put together. Our pride causes us to present ourselves to others in “glamour shots”—so we look like we’re far more “put together” than we are.

I knew a man a few years ago who fell in love with someone from afar, proposed to her over the phone and didn’t see her until just before they were married. They hadn’t seen one another for 15-20 years. The picture he was showing to others was what is commonly called a “glamour shot”—professionally done to make someone look glamorous! I had seen that lady since he had seen her, and she didn’t look anything like the picture he was showing of her! But then, he was an old man himself—40 years older than her, by the way—and he didn’t look much like he had 20 years earlier either.

I really do believe that pride keeps us from letting others see us as we really are—just as glamour shots present an unrealistic image of us to others. Evidently, we don’t want others to know too much about us—for fear they might not accept us or respect us or—dare I say it—they might not love us! But then we’re not sure we want to know too much about others as well—because it might make it harder to love them. Putting on our facades seems a bit safer—but it keeps us from being real with one another.

Four years ago this month, I had the most frightening and sobering health crisis I had ever experienced. What started as simply acknowledging a little pressure I was feeling in my chest ended up in a 3-day hospital stay in which the doctors discovered two almost completely blocked arteries going into my heart. They corrected the problem by angioplasty and stents. And I still remember the strange thought that I was now a “cardiac patient.” I hadn’t even had my 50th birthday yet! There just didn’t seem to be a connect between me and what I had gone through. That was the kind of thing that happened to others. Particularly that was the kind of thing that happened to people much older than me and to those who were far more careless about their health…but it was my new reality.

I’m doing great now. Fortunately I didn’t have a heart attack, and I’m grateful for that. I’ll be honest with you—there was a part of me that didn’t want the whole world to know what I was going through. It went through my mind that there would be those who would from that point on discount my potential for effectiveness, seeing me as “damaged goods.” I knew there might be those who would pass judgment on why I had been so careless about my health. I knew some might be overly guarded in me getting back up to speed and others who might wonder what in the world was wrong with me for making such a big deal out of nothing.

But I recall a conversation I had with an “elder brother”—a semi-retired pastor who served on my staff at the time. We talked about the fact that this was an opportunity for me to model openness and vulnerability to the church, and I felt that in this case he was particularly right about the need for that to happen. How could others understand me or what Cindy and I had gone through if I kept it all hush-hush? Oh, I’m not saying that it’s never okay to handle some of these things in a more private or personal way, but, on the other hand, we don’t build relationships by erecting walls of silence between us—especially in those times when we need each other the most! We build relationships in the midst of the realities of life—good and bad—by sharing life, with all that it brings! It’s what a family does!

And we may as well admit that such relationships require a bit of risk. You see, a lot of people don’t want to risk others knowing too much about them or getting too close to them because they fear rejection, indifference or judgment. And frankly, there’s a good reason why some people have these fears—because it’s exactly what has happened in the past! And they’ve been hurt! And while I hate to admit that “the church” has ever hurt anyone in the past, we may as well be honest and admit that, in our humanness, it has happened! We all know that—so we may as well be honest about it!

But we can’t afford to transpose our lack of trust to everyone. What’s past is past—but the hurts of the past don’t need to forever hinder relationships with others. God’s Word calls us to love one another. Love sees past the scars. Love doesn’t jump to uninformed conclusions. Love goes the second mile. Love doesn’t need to know all the details. Love sees beyond circumstances to see the person…real people in the midst of real life, without the sugar coating!

The love of God in and over our lives is always healing, cleansing, uplifting, preserving, helping. And when we learn to love one another as Jesus commanded us, our love for one another will also be something we can depend upon and trust. Such love will be healing, cleansing, uplifting, preserving, helping—just like the love of God.

If the only way I can love God is by loving you, then that casts a whole new dimension on our relationships with one another in our day-by-day lives—in our homes and in the church. In a very real sense, if I trust God’s love for me, then I am pressed forward to deliberately, consciously risk loving people—and that’s truly how we come to love God more! I learned a long time ago that loving people is risky business, because you might get hurt along the way, but I also concluded that having loving relationships is worth the risk and that, for God’s sake, I must take that risk! You see, God is not so much interested in my “feelings” for Him as He is in my actions of love for you—day-by-day—in the context of our relationships.

And if we’re going to talk about the kind of love Jesus had in mind, we’re going to have to move out of the level of “liking” one another and warm, fuzzy feelings for everyone else—to the level of our intentional will. To choose to love others is like a posture, an attitude, a frame of mind toward others that’s shaped by God’s unconditional love for us—despite all the reasons why we may not always be so lovable! The kind of love we are called to live out with one another means caring for people as persons—seeing one another in a personal way.

Do you remember when you were in school…I know, for some of you that’s right now! Especially in our early years we saw our teachers in a different way than we saw a lot of other people! And then you happened to run into your teacher at the grocery store one day and she was with her husband and they had just come from the soccer field where their kids had played ball. And suddenly you saw her as a real person—not just as your teacher! I suppose it may be sort of like our sons-in-law coming to see us as just people—rather than as the pastor and his wife.

Love gets beyond labels and positions. Love says “I care for you as a person.” Love says in words and actions—
I see you.
I’m listening to you.
I respect you—as a person.
I am aware of you—as a real person with feelings and thoughts and fears and dreams.
And love helps us drop our own pretenses. Love sets other things aside and focuses on the person. Love listens. Love welcomes. Love covers the back of another person.

In the fall of the year, Linda, a young woman, was traveling alone up what I’m told is a rutted and rugged highway from Alberta to the Yukon. Linda didn’t know you don’t travel to the town of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory alone in a rundown Honda Civic, so she set off where only four-wheel drives normally venture.

The first evening she found a room in the mountains near a summit and asked for a 5 A.M. wakeup call so she could get an early start. She couldn’t understand why the clerk looked surprised at that request, but as she awoke to early-morning fog shrouding the mountain tops, she understood. Not wanting to look foolish, she got up and went to breakfast. Two truckers invited Linda to join them, and since the place was so small, she felt obliged. “Where are you headed?” one of the truckers asked.

“Whitehorse.”

“In that little Civic? No way! This pass is dangerous in weather like this.”

“Well, I’m determined to try,” was Linda’s gutsy, if not very wise, response.

“Then I guess we’re just going to have to hug you,” the trucker suggested.

Linda drew back. “There’s no way I’m going to let you touch me!”

“Not like that!” the truckers laughed. “We’ll put one truck in front of you and one in the rear. In that way, we’ll get you through the mountains.” All that foggy morning Linda followed the two red dots in front of her and had the reassurance of a big escort behind as they made their way safely through the mountains.

That’s what we get to be and do for one another—we “hug” one another through the dangerous passages in life. Some of our fellow Christians already know the way and can safely lead us. Others come behind, gently encouraging us along—so we can make it through safely. It’s the wonderful concept of doing life together—as Christ intended for us.

I want us to do something as we conclude our service this morning. I want you all to stand and, if you’re willing, take the hand of the person next to you. Oh, I understand, that when we force being “together” in this way, it may seem superficial in one sense. And I suppose it has the potential for that. But on the other hand, it’s a tangible way we express our connection with one another. And as you’re standing there holding the hands of those next to you, I want you to bow your heads and I want you to first pray for the person on your right…then pray for the person on your left…[then I will close in prayer]