PASTOR'S BLOG
Discovering Spiritual Truths & Celebrating God's Grace in the Every Day Happenings of Life.
 Have you ever been the recipient of an unexpected gift?
Or a surprise act of service or generosity? In my experience, these can be hard to receive. They catch us off guard, make us feel uncomfortable. We don’t feel worthy. We don’t feel like it is deserved. We contemplate underlying motivations. We worry about returning the favor. Yet this is the very reason such surprises are called just that—a gift. Even though we have heard for years and served with the Lord’s church, I wonder how many of us, or those around us, struggle with accepting the free gift of salvation in Jesus. For what reasons? My sin is too severe for God to love me. My hidden shortcomings are too extreme. I can never be good enough to make God happy. I lack contentment when I look at those around me. I don’t know as much about the Bible as others. I fail to lift others up in prayer. I’m too tired to serve like I used to. I don’t go (or want to go) to church as much as I should. My children or grandchildren have stopped going to church. There is discord amongst my family. Whatever the reason, God has a definitive retort, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39) We are loved by God. YOU are loved by God. Unconditionally. Unequivocally. All the time. No strings attached. Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord beautifully declares, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” (31:5) We are loved with His eternal and everlasting love. No matter our age and in spite of our deficiencies, God’s grace abides in us. As Christians, we understand that this is absolutely not because we deserve it or because we have earned it with our good works or profound piety. God’s love is a gift. Sometimes, and especially this time, we simply need to sit back and rejoice in the generosity given to us. As we continue on in this season of growth and new life, give thanks for the gift of Jesus. Rejoice and be glad. We are loved by God! 😊
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 This past Tuesday night at our council meeting, alongside our NJ District president, we talked about our synod’s recent “resolutions” for congregations to put into action. I won’t bore you with the particulars of each resolution, but one of the common themes that comes up anytime such conversation takes place is the importance for outreach. This shouldn’t be shocking, as we are taking seriously the cue of Jesus in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples.” (On a side note, if you do want to hear more about the synod’s recommendations, feel free to give me a call and we can chat about them over a cup of coffee.) This past January and February, one of the consistent themes that came out of the online “stewardship surveys” was that we need to do more outreach. We need to engage our community. We need to promote our church. This came up repeatedly. Similarly, our church council is frequently talking about ways to do evangelism. But here’s the thing… outreach and evangelism is NOT best found in programs and events. It is NOT best achieved by knocking on doors or randomly handing out pamphlets. And it is definitely NOT to be left to leadership, pastor or otherwise, to do it themselves. To be sure, these are good things, and they have their time and place. Yet the great commission of Jesus forces each and every one of us to get our hands a bit dirtier. The Great Commission was given by Jesus to every Christian—not just pastors, missionaries, and church council members. We can’t wait, with open arms, for people to come to us. We need to go to them and meet them where they are at. Fruitful outreach is best embodied when the members of a church, all of them, live incarnationally. In other words, we look for ways to express and share our faith with the people we see where we live, work, and play.
This past Sunday, I mentioned that I have recently switched insurance providers for my home and auto policies. A couple of weeks ago, I sought out recommendation from a local “Sparta Dad” Facebook group. After several for the same person, I made the switch. So long Gecko! My new insurance provider will save me over $200 a month! This is obviously good news so I was quick to go back to the group to thank them for leading me in the right direction, and will now myself not hesitate to recommend this person to anyone who is searching. It is a strange thing… We have no hesitation about recommending places to eat. We have no reservation about telling people what insurance provider to pursue. We get excited about telling people where a great place would be to vacation or visit. We have no problem leaving online reviews—both positive and negative—for stores and products. But why do we wimp out when it comes to sharing our faith with others? Why do we cower in the face of opportunities to connect people to Jesus? Why do we clam up when given the opportunity to speak of the hope that lives within us? We can talk all we want about the need for our church, or any church, to “do” community outreach and evangelism. But it starts with us—in our homes, neighborhoods, ballfields, and workplaces. We each need to invest. We each need to intentionally and purposefully engage those around us. I hope to share more details about this in the future, but about two weeks ago, I saw an online post of one of our King of Kings members who shared something very positive about an experience she had here at the church. She didn’t preach. She didn’t share Bible verses. She didn’t overtly invite. She shared her specific experience and her gratitude for being a member of this church. Over 30 people reacted to her post. One even asked the question, “What church is this?” How remarkably simply. How wonderfully beautiful. My hope and prayer is that we each look for the opportunities that God regularly places before us. I pray that we have the same Spirit-led boldness that we read about this past Sunday, to invite others to meet the Jesus that means so much to us. Making disciples was demonstrated to be the top priority of Jesus. Should it thus be any different for us? Remember these post-Easter words of Jesus, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21) It is a call to action, to get up and get going. Jesus pulls us each out of the stands and off of the sidelines; He puts us directly into the game. It’s time for us to share the Gospel. We don’t need to wait for the next great idea, we simply need to take our faith into the relationships we already have and the places we already go. “God my Creator said, 'Go and make disciples.' So I don't want to sit and make excuses.” (Francis Chan) “To make disciples is to engage with God in fulfilling his desire to bless all the peoples of the earth.” (John B. MacDonald) “Thriving churches have the Great Commission as the centerpiece of their vision, while dying churches have forgotten the clear command of Christ.” (Thom S. Rainer)  Yesterday morning I had an eye exam. It involved several steps and multiple machines. And many questions. What colors do you see? What letters can you read? Better one or better two? But there was one question that I heard the most: Fuzzy or clear? This was the question I was asked multiple times this morning by the doctor. Our vision is something we take seriously—and for good reason! If we can’t see properly, it is obviously dangerous to drive or impossible to enjoy a beautiful sunset. I can’t even begin to fathom what it would have been like for me to live in a world without glasses or vision care. I would miss out on so many things in life with my blurred vision. We know the importance of routine eye exams. They prescribe proper prescriptions. They check for potential warning signs or dangerous eye conditions. Most importantly, they ensure we can clearly see what we need to.
As I was waiting in the office, this Bible verse came to mind from this past Sunday. You’ll hopefully remember these words of Jesus spoken to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.” (John 20:29) Of course, Jesus is commending you and I and all believers who, though we cannot physically see Jesus, we still keep our eyes fixed upon him. We have faith that He is risen, even without being eyewitnesses ourselves. But I believe Jesus is also talking about how still need to look to Him, even if we can’t actually see Him. Our “spiritual” vision is just as important as our routine eye doctor visits. Hebrews 12:2 say, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” Of course we cannot see Him the flesh. So how do we fix our eyes on Jesus? How do we ensure we are always seeing Jesus clearly? Indeed, there are many distractions that blur our vision. There are many pitfalls and temptations that fuzzy up our view of Jesus. Sometimes we let pride or self-righteousness cloud our vision. Sometimes we view and interpret the world through our own personal feelings and not God’s eternal truths. No question, we all have moments of “spiritual” blindness. Our spiritual vision doesn’t require glasses, but it does require help from God. It will always be fogged by sin and carnality. If we refuse to let go of our sinful ways, we may wake up one day and find our spiritual vision dimmed. This condition deceives us into thinking we can continue living like the world and still know God intimately. Just as the eye doctor sharpens a person’s vision with glasses and contact lenses, Jesus sharpens our vision and focus through our daily prayers, His Word, worship gatherings, serving, and Bible study. To grow, to change, to open our eyes and hearts, and to see our place in His work, we must have a desire to see more clearly. Our spiritual vision can be improved through obedience to God’s word, regular repentance, and a continual connection with Him in prayer. Not only will He restore our faulty gaze, but He will give us a new vision to cling more tightly to His incredible grace. When we take Jesus at His word and submerge ourselves in His grace, our eyes are refocused, renewed and filled with the light of who He is. We are filled with a new sense of clarity about what is important, and the hope of what Jesus can do in our lives when we see things the way He does. “Look around and be distressed, look within and be depressed, look to Jesus and be at rest.” (Corrie ten Boom) “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” (Darlene Zschech) |
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