Sunday, September 25, 2011

Will You Change Your Mind?

"What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. Matthew 21: 28—32

Just about everyone knows this type of disappointment: someone promises you something, then they don’t deliver. If you’ve been disappointed enough, you don’t even let yourself get your hopes up anymore, because you know there’s a difference between knowing the right answer and doing the right answer. There are a lot of people who know what they ought to do—and promise to do it--and far fewer who actually live it.



The simple story Jesus told the ruling priests and the elders brings this idea to light. One son says “no” to his father, but changes his mind and goes to work; the other says “yes” but never gets around to working. Who does the will of his father? Of course, the one who changed his mind and worked! And I suppose someone could look at this brief tale and conclude that the moral of the story is: “We ought to be people who keep our word. If you make a promise, follow through on it.” Certainly, we should strive to be people of integrity. But, as usual, Jesus wants to go deeper than that. He wants to go deeper than behavior. He wants to know about your heart and your motivation. He wants to know if you’ve really changed your mind.



In our story, the son who did the father’s will is the son who changed his mind and went to work. Jesus moves right from the story to its application: he told the religious establishment of His day that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God’s kingdom ahead of them because those “sinful” folks heard John the Baptist’s preaching and it changed their minds. But it didn’t change the minds or lives of the priests. It didn’t change the minds or lives of the Pharisees. It didn’t change the minds or lives of those who believed their “religiousness” made changing their minds unnecessary. Not only did it not change their minds, but they were enraged by the very suggestion that their minds needed changing, and they began looking for ways to punish and silence those who dared to say such things. They knew that they were guilty and that they needed to turn around. But they would not—call it pride, stubbornness, sin—they would not change their minds and go God’s way.



Does that sound like you? I didn’t say, does that sound like someone you know; I said, does that sound like you? Do you recognize your need to change—or do you refuse to believe that you need to? Do you recognize yourself in the son who says an easy “yes” to the father, but then doesn’t do what he’s asked? Are you OK with a little bit of church or a little bit of Jesus as long as you don’t have to change your mind and the way you live your life? Christians can start trusting in their own “religiousness” as much as they trust in Christ! Or more than they trust in Christ! We can start thinking, “Well I’ve done this, and I’ve done that, and I’ve done this for that many years, and I did that with them,” but the bottom line is: Are you a changed person? Has Jesus changed you with His forgiveness; with his mercy? Have you let Him?



It’s the change of mind—the turning around—that God is looking for. And I say all of this as someone who is no less guilty than you. I sin too and I’m pretty well versed in it. Sometimes when people are leaving a worship service, they’ll say, in reference to the sermon, “Pastor, I really needed to hear that today,” and I often answer by saying, “So did I!” And it’s the truth! If I happen to really nail you in a description of a particular sin, how do you think I know? I struggle with it too. And just like you, I need to hear God’s Word, because God’s Word cuts through all the static and all the junk and all my self-justifying arguments and excuses and says: Look. You are a sinner. You choose the wrong. You neglect the right. You need to repent.



Convinced of this, I still need to hear God’s Word, because it says to me in my embarrassment and shame, your sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ. That good Word tells me that Jesus stamped “paid in full” on the account of my sins as He died on the cross. When God leads you to realize that your only option before Him is to say, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner,” He has led you into life-saving truth. He then is happy, overjoyed even, to be merciful to us, to give us the gift that He purchased with the passion and death and rising again of His Son: the gift of forgiveness and restoration.



When God’s Word moves you to repent, you become the son in Jesus’ story who at first said “no,” then changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard. Believing the Gospel, you willingly go to work for your Father. Trusting that Jesus has granted you full pardon of your sins, you look for ways to ease the burdens and increase the joys of others. Lord, change our minds, change our priorities, change our lives so that you are clearly visible and active in us; in Jesus’ name: Amen.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Christian's Motto

“The will of God shall be my pleasure/While here on earth is mine abode; My will is wrong beyond all measure; It doth not will what pleases God. The Christian’s motto ever must be: What pleaseth God, that pleaseth me.”


Sometimes hymns can just break it down for you. Today’s sermon hymn is one of those. “The Christian’s motto ever must be: What pleases God, that pleases me.” If it makes God happy, it makes me happy. If that’s what God values, then I value it, too. Is that your motto? I think we’d all like it to be. But it’s easier said than done.


Part of the problem is that what pleases God is very, very different from what pleases us. He says as much in today’s Old Testament Lesson from Isaiah 55. Here’s verses 8 and 9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Do you hear what God is saying? There’s a pretty big gap between what he values and what we value.


Need some examples? Look at the Epistle Reading. Paul begins his letter to the Philippian Christians by letting them know he is under arrest. Think about that for just a moment. How do you think you would feel if you were imprisoned, not because you had committed a crime, but simply because you were a Christian? I know that I would be tempted to feel rejected by God. I’d feel like my life and ministry were over. I certainly would not feel anything close to happy. Yet look at what the apostle Paul says. “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” The Holy Spirit enabled Paul to see that because he was imprisoned, a whole new group of people were going to hear about Jesus. That’s what pleased God, and so that’s what pleased Paul. And do you know what that says to you and me? It says that God does not value our personal comfort as much as he values sending the gospel message through us. Can you deal with that? In other words, God just might put you in a difficult spot so that you can witness to Jesus; so that a whole new audience can see Him.


Then there’s the story Jesus told in Matthew chapter 20—today’s Gospel lesson—totally unfair by anyone’s standard. Everyone knows that the people who work longer hours deserve more pay. And yet the Master of the house in this story pays everyone the same. People who worked one hour get the same as those who worked all day, and we cry “foul!” But let’s not forget, this is a story about God’s kingdom—this is a story about a place where the gospel rules. And where human beings value being treated fairly and getting what we deserve for the hours that we have put in, the Lord God Almighty values generosity. He values grace. He values more people in His kingdom, as opposed to less. There is a gap between what pleases God and what pleases me. This is the God after all, who tells you to love your enemies and to pray for them. This is the God who tells you that being a servant is the path to greatness. This is the God who tells you that you shouldn’t worry, but instead you should seek His kingdom and His righteousness. There is a huge gap between what God values and what I value. What do I do with that?


I’ll tell you what some people do. They just ignore it. They just pretend that God never said those things, or if He did, that it doesn’t apply to them. They invent a safer god for themselves who isn’t so doggone demanding. But let me tell you, that’s the equivalent of a child plugging his ears and going, “I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!” That doesn’t make the gap go away. It just means that “they” have learned how to deceive themselves. And, of course, it’s not just a “they” thing, it’s a “we” thing, and if it’s a “we” thing, it’s also a “me” thing. A famous preacher was once asked, “What’s wrong with society today?” He answered, “I am.” There’s this gap between what pleases God and what pleases me. What do I do with that?


The answer is given in Isaiah, in the same passage that started us down this path. The prophet says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” God’s values are not the problem; mine are. God is not the problem. I am. And even though that’s true, the invitation stands: give up worldly ways of thinking—leave behind old selfish ways of acting—and return to the Lord. He’s waiting for you and me with pardon; compassion; forgiveness. If you can admit that your values are all screwed up; if you can confess to God that you need Him to constantly correct and fine tune your values and to forgive you when you get it wrong; then He can work with you. More than that, He will overwhelm you with His mercy. He will apply the priceless sacrifice of Jesus to you. You know what that means, right? Without God’s intervention, we try to figure out a way of life that makes sense to us, but in the end it leads to destruction. But because God intervened, sending His Son to sacrifice His life on the cross, you don’t have to endure the hell of not knowing Him and how much He loves you. You just don’t have to!


You see, we totally benefit from the fact that God’s values are not like ours. Would you sacrifice your child for the sake of other people? Would you willingly take a criminal’s death sentence on yourself so that they could walk? Would you risk giving up everything for people that you suspect are going to reject you? That’s exactly what God did in order to give you forgiveness; to give you a life; to give you a place in His family; to give you a leg to stand on before His judgment throne. Thank God, and I mean that literally, that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways!


So here’s the final piece: if you benefit from God’s values, those values will change you. To put it another way, if you think you get it; if you think you’re a Christian and yet your values aren’t even gradually becoming more Christ-like, then you have some serious contemplation to do If you benefit from the gospel, the gospel will change you; it has to change you; it cannot leave you the same. Think about it: you and I were sliding down to hell until Jesus blocked the path; and that’s not going to change you? That’s not going to change the way you navigate life? You and I were looking at a death sentence that lasts forever, and Jesus took it. That’s not going to affect you at all?

No; if you accept that Jesus has rescued you, and you know what He’s rescued you from, that is going to shape your life. You’ll begin to value mercy instead of revenge. You’ll start to value kingdom work more than personal comfort. You’ll value the reckless riskiness of forgiveness more than the stingy scorekeeping approach to life. And over time, as you live in and work in and play in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you’ll find yourself wanting what God wants. Never perfectly, never all the time, but it’s there. What pleases God pleases you. That’s more than a Christian motto. That’s the sweet spot of life with Christ.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Teach Us to Number Our Days

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90: 12


September 10, 2001, was an ordinary day in New York City. For those who worked in the World Trade Center, it was business as usual. One day later, nearly 2,800 of them would be gone. For them, September 10th is the last time they will ever walk out at closing time, ride home on the train, eat dinner with the family, fight over the remote. It’s the last bedtime story…the last kiss good night.


September 10th is the first day on the job for disaster insurance specialist Scott Vasel, who is thrilled with the view of the Hudson River from his desk on the 97th floor of the North Tower.


It’s a seemingly lucky day for Greg Clark, who survives layoffs that claim two dozen of his colleagues on the 104th floor.


Telmo Alvear, a dinnertime waiter at Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the North Tower, agrees to cover breakfast the next morning for another waiter.


John Cruz, who works on the 101st floor, sets his wedding date: September 21, 2002. Joseph Romanolo, whose office is four floors above, calls his father to say he’s selling his motorcycle—which he loves and his wife hates—and is buying a camper the family can enjoy.


The sun sets at 7:06 p.m. but no one sees it in New York City. A thunderstorm dumps almost half an inch of rain and floods the field at Yankee Stadium.


In Verona, New Jersey, Bill Erwin stays up late, folding two baskets of freshly laundered clothes. It’s a surprise his wife will discover the next morning, as he is en route to his office high in the North Tower.


Joe Kelly, who works on the 105th floor of the North Tower, is at the Yankees game with his two sons. They wait to see if the field will dry out enough to play the game. In the Kelly family, Joe takes the pictures. As a result, he appeared in only two of 195 pictures from their vacation at Disney World, but tonight, a family friend snaps a shot of father and sons together. At 8:50 p.m., the game is cancelled, and Joe calls his wife on Long Island to say he and the boys are on their way home. This is goodbye. She’ll be asleep before they get back. The next morning he’ll leave to catch the 6:14 from Hicksville to Manhattan before she’s awake.


“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” This is the request of Psalm 90: 12. Underneath the horror and the outrage, under the loss and trauma of that terrible day, this simple request stands as a small and steady beacon of light. What can we do with the memory of that national tragedy, now ten years past? We can apply Psalm 90:12 to the life we have. “Teach us to number our days…” Why? “…to get a heart of wisdom.” What is the wisdom of numbering our days? It’s that our days are numbered. It’s the awareness that today might be your September 10th . That’s reality, whether we like to think about or not, and we usually don’t. But what Psalm 90: 12 is trying to tell you is that there is wisdom for living—not just being alive, but really living—and you can have that wisdom. If this is your September 10th, are you satisfied with how things went? Are you happy with who you are and what you’ve done? If today is your September 10th, do you feel like you’ve completed your mission? Did you tend to your family relationships the way you had hoped? Are you as close to God as you wanted to be? Your days are numbered. What are you doing with them?


Reflecting on 9/11, we come to the unavoidable conclusion that we may not have the long life we envision for ourselves. So often, the human response to inevitable death is: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Even churchgoing people fall into this philosophy. But you know what? There is so much more to life (especially Christian life) than scratching items off your bucket list. If Jesus has grabbed a hold of you and you of Him, then the fact that your days are numbered is not cause for fear; it’s a wake–up call. It’s a wake-up call that you receive at the beginning of day filled with possibility. If you really trust in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then that means you will live forever with Him. His life is yours. That’s the absolute bedrock foundation of the Christian faith! A Christian believes that he or she will live forever with God because Jesus defeated death. So that takes the fear of death off the table for a believer. What’s left? The fact that our days are numbered, the Bible says. You’re going to live forever by the grace and power of Christ. You’re only going to be here for a little while. So count your days…and make your days count. That’s the point. Count your days and make your days count with Christ as your source, your purpose, your power for living.


Making your days count begins with making Jesus the center of your day, every day. It means letting Him be your heartbeat. It means He is the well that you draw from; he is the power you plug into, day after day after day. Are you doing that? Do you know how to do that? If we’re going to make our days count, we need to have confidence that Jesus goes with us, whispering in our ear, “I am with you always…””Do not be afraid.” We need to hear his Words and to talk to Him. This takes discipline; it takes effort; it takes remembering to do it, but if we try to make our days count without Jesus as the source, we’ll burn out. We’ll run out of gas. Plug into the power of Jesus every day.


Making your days count also means recognizing your calling. Do you realize what God has called you to do? You may say to yourself, “Well, God hasn’t called me, has he? I’ve never heard a voice telling me what to do. That’s for extra-spiritual people.” Wrong. Do you recognize and realize your calling? Do you know how to find out? Just ask yourself who you are! Are you a husband or wife? Son or daughter? Parent? Grandparent? Brother? Sister? Are you a friend or mentor to someone? God has given you these relationships, and when you put your heart into them, you are honoring the Lord. When you love and forgive and put your soul into other people, you are making your days count.


Who are you? What’s your vocation? Financial services? Teacher? Administrator? Are you a manager or counselor? Repairman? Are you an artist? A writer? Are you retired from a position that gave you a whole portfolio of experiences? Realize that God placed you in your profession, and when you do your work to the best of your abilities, you are glorifying the Lord. When you think of your work as a way to give praise to God, you are making your days count.


You really want to make your days count? Recover a sense of mission in your life. The secret here is that mission and joy go hand in hand. If you have no joy in your life, then chances are you’ve lost, or never had, a sense of mission pushing you forward. Think of it this way: if you’ve ever asked, say, a seven-year-old what they want to do when they grow up, have you ever heard them say, “Oh, I think I want to push papers in an office cubicle somewhere.” No! They are joyful in their response. “I want to be an astronaut. I want to be a fireman. I want to play in the big leagues!” They have dreams, they have a mission, and it’s joyful. Where does that go? Or think of the great stories, the great books, the great movies. How many of those are about saving the world? We get wrapped up in these heroic stories, the epic tales of good versus evil, because we want to be part of that! We yearn to be tested, to have significance, to have a mission. If you’re going to make your days count you need to recover that mission for you, and guess what? If you’re a Christian, you have one. Jesus gave it to His Church. That mission is to make more disciples of Jesus Christ. That mission is to let your gospel light shine. Do you see? Right here is where your calling and your mission intertwine, and where your calling and your mission intertwine, there is joy. When you use your abilities to show and tell others about Jesus, you are making your days count.


One more way to make your days count, and I’m just going to mention it quickly, is to take the appropriate time to rest. Rest, after all, is rooted in God. He did it first, after creating the world, and he embedded rest into the routine of humanity. We need rest in order to function. Let’s not confuse an overbooked schedule with living out our calling and mission. The beauty of the gospel is that we don’t have to kill ourselves with busyness to get God to love us. He loves us already. His Son was killed to prove it. Pastor John Piper put it this way: “[Jesus says] I am your rest, and there is good work for you to do each day until you’re home.” When you rest in the Lord and take care of yourself so that you are at your best when it’s time to serve, you are making your days count.


“So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart to wisdom.” Today we remember a terrible tragedy in our nation’s history, but we also remember those who sacrificed their lives in the attempt to save others, who ran into burning buildings when everyone else was running out. Their calling and their mission was clear, and we are right to think of them as heroes.

Hope for our nation and hope for our world comes from another true hero, who sacrificed his life for all on the cross; who ran into the fire to cancel the debt of our sins. He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If He is your Savior and Lord, make Him the center of your day. Recognize your calling and your mission. Find your rest in Him. Then you can count your days and make your days count.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Turn and Become Like Children

Jesus loved and honored children. If you’re familiar with Him then you almost take that for granted. Our Lord’s attitude towards children has shaped the way His Church does business. The Church’s desire to “receive the little ones” has given birth to Christian Day Schools, Christian Preschools; and yes, Christian Sunday Schools. On this day when our kids advance to a new Sunday School class, we’re rallying around a teaching ministry aimed right at children. Who could argue against it? A Church that does not honor or serve its children chooses to ignore the spirit in which Jesus honored children. Bad choice.


However, as important as instructing our children in the Word of God is, it’s not the main point of today’s Gospel Reading. Jesus doesn’t plop a child down in the middle of his disciples in order to say, “You guys really ought to start a Christian School.” In fact, Jesus does this to say, “This child could school you. You have to learn from this child, or you’ll never make it in the kingdom of heaven.” The point of this reading is less about teaching our children, and more about what they can teach us.


It seems the disciples had been bouncing around the question “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of God?” That’s one of our favorite obsessions, isn’t it? From greatest player to greatest president; from greatest singer to greatest school—we concern ourselves with who is number one, which is almost always based on what? High performance. The disciples were doing this with the kingdom of God, and while it might be fun to debate who the best quarterback is, if you start doing this with God and His kingdom, it stops being fun, and starts being spiritually dangerous. So Jesus calls to a child and sets this child right in the middle and says: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”


So, what does it mean to “turn and become like children”? It’s pretty important that we know. Jesus said, if you don’t turn and become like [a child], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. What do children have that we need? We’d better have a good answer!


Let’s think for a minute. What would you say is the biggest difference between children and adults? Lots of ways to answer that question, of course. I would suggest that one of the biggest differences between children and adults is control. Control over their lives. Adults have it, to some degree. Children don’t, and they know it. Here’s one example—the child that declares, “When I grow up, I’m going to stay up all night, play as many video games as I want, eat only Fruity Pebbles cereal…” you get the idea. Parents set the rules, and, best case scenario, they enforce them. The bottom line rests with the parent, not the child. Now, in the culture of Jesus’ time, children had even less control over their lives than they do now. Roman citizens—fathers of the household, in particular—had the right to execute their children if the situation warranted it. There was a cultural assumption that a person was not truly of value until they became an adult.


So what does it mean to “turn and become like children”? It means more than just ‘having a child-like faith’—though that’s part of it. When Jesus says “turn and become like children” He’s saying “surrender control of your life to God.” Become the child and let God be the Parent. Let Him set the rules. Let Him set your agenda. Let Him guide your steps. Trust that He has your best interests in mind. Turn and become dependent on God. Turn and give Him control of your priorities. Surrender control to God.


Is that what you want? Of course, there’s that side of us that’s going to say “no.” There’s that sinful side of us who’s going to rebel. When Jesus says “turn and become like children,” the word “turn” says a lot! Turn from what? Turn from this obsession with who’s got the best track record—who’s risen to the top. Jesus says that attitude will prevent you from entering the kingdom of heaven. How can it do that? Here’s how author and pastor Timothy Keller describes it: “It is possible for religious people to live very moral lives, but their goal is to get leverage over God, to control Him, to put Him in a position where they think He owes them. If you believe that God ought to bless you and help you because you have worked so hard to obey Him and be a good person, then Jesus may be your helper, your example, even your inspiration, but He is not your Savior. You are serving as your own Savior.” Jesus says, “…unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Turn from the religion that says: God’s got to bless me ‘cause I’ve been so good. Become like children, who have nothing unless it’s given to them. Become like children who have no leverage, no control over anything that happens. Become like children who are fully dependent on someone else to care for them. Surrender control of everything you have; everything you love; everything you are to God. That’s what Jesus is saying to you.


Now listen: Jesus isn’t asking anything of you that He hasn’t already done. He surrendered control of His life to His Father. There was a cup that He had to drink for us; that cup was the suffering of the cross. The Gospels reveal Jesus’ great distress in Gethsemane, a scene portrayed in that window up there, with physical agony and death just hours away. But Jesus went through with it. He surrendered to His Father’s will. He endured the horror of the cross. Why? Why? So that your sins could be forgiven today. He died on that cross so that His body and blood could be served to you today, forgiving your sins of pride and control and the chronic need to be number one—they’re all wiped clean away. Having surrendered His life to His Father, His Father then returned Jesus’ life to Him on Easter morning, so whoever believes in Jesus’ death and resurrection will have life returned to them as well, better life; risen life; not only a future home in heaven but a new birth today, a radical reset of who you are and what you’re about. Don’t you want that? Don’t you hunger for that? It’s here for you in the gospel of Jesus.


The sinner inside lives in fear of losing control. The sinner inside is convinced that surrendering control of my life to God means that I lose. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth: giving control of your life over to God means that you win. Yes, you will lose some things that are worth losing, but what the believer in Jesus gains is far greater. What is it that you gain? The Holy, Eternal, All-Powerful God of the universe becomes your Dad, and you become His daughter or son.


Turn and become like children. Return to your Father God and let Him parent you. Accept His guiding hand and the decisions He makes for you. Happily receive the gifts He gives to you. Surrender control. Depend on Jesus. Remember your baptism. You have become God’s child in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.