The Worst of Society

There is no doubt that humanity suffers from sinful depravity. It’s seen in the news headlines and it’s experienced in the home lives. Law enforcement is a front row seat to some of the worst expressions of that sinful depravity. Fathers abdicate their duties towards their children. Husbands abuse their wives. Drunks take the lives of innocents. Drug addicts rip their bodies apart with poison they can’t live without.

Knowing it and experiencing it are two different things though. I know there are far worse acts of sinful depravity occurring in Sudan, but I can’t empathize with the victims of those horrible acts because I’m not there. I suppose that is why the gospel is such good news. Jesus Christ took on flesh and experienced our pain and suffering and can empathize with us. There are times when I bump up against the worst of society and their sinful acts and mentally shake my head.

One such experience started out as a simple call. I was dispatched to a two vehicle, head on crash with no injuries. But as what happens so often, initial information is not correct, and what was early on going to be a simple call developed into something quite different. Our dispatcher said that the caller was saying that the driver may be intoxicated.

When I got on scene I found much more to the picture. One vehicle was completely disabled, with a wheel sheered off, and an older man in still in the driver’s seat. Another vehicle was 50 yards down the road, in a ditch, with one of its wheels sheered off as well. Two people had stopped to help and were the ones that called 911 and when I asked where the other driver was they said he had ran off into the woods.

The older man was perched in his seat with a blood elbow and was slightly dazed. His back and side windows were shattered and I asked him how that had happened because it was clear that it hadn’t been from the crash. He said that after his vehicle and the other vehicle collided a younger man got out of his car and came up to his vehicle.

Enraged, the young man began punching this old geezer in the face after smashing out two windows with a billy club. Not only had this young man got drunk and chosen to drive but when he got into the crash, he was so angry about getting another DWI that he destroyed two windows and assaulted a man in his 80’s (who wasn’t completely innocent and had his share of problems as well).

We setup a perimeter, called in the K9, and quickly tracked him to the backyard of a nearby house where he was laying down behind a garden. His second DWI was now underway.

This job is a front row seat to a jacked up, broken down, sideways spinning world where I wouldn’t have categories to deal with people if it weren’t for God’s Word. As creation groans underneath the weight of sin, so does my soul.

Going and Sending Starts With Receiving

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all the nations. Let the people praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.” Psalm 67:1-3

Grace Church, we now begin missions week. This is a missions Psalm. The writer of this Psalm had a desire that God’s nature (who he is) and God’s salvation (what he does) would be known not only among his own people but among all peoples in all nations. How does he ask for this to happen?

He asks for God to show and display his grace and his blessing to himself and to his nation so that other nations may see it and praise their God. This means that when it comes to missions and sending people out to proclaim the gospel the main factor in all of this is not the goer or the sender. The main factor in all of this is God who demonstrated his grace and his blessing by taking on flesh and dwelling among us sinners. What a glorious gospel this is! No god in any other religion does this.

The work we are calling our church to this week is to be radical senders or radical goers. Yet our acceptability before God is not dependent on the amount of money we give to missionaries, or how many letters we write, or how many missionaries we send to unreached people groups. What God requires of us he freely gives us through his grace and his blessing in the perfect and complete work of Jesus Christ. Radical going and sending starts with receiving.

Jesus was the ultimate missionary. He stepped off this throne in heaven and stooped down to serve us and die for us. So our prayer today is that God would be gracious to us and bless us so that we may display that for the world to see.

Cards, Math and 121 Holes

Cancer is a pirate. In the waining days of my Grandpa’s life, bone cancer ravaged his body and turned him into the shell of a man he once was. A body that carried an extra 20 pounds was now depleted to mere skin and bones. A black tongue. A brain that was no longer present. The cancer took away the Grandpa I once knew and left us with six months a slow, life-draining death.

My Dad, Aunt, Uncle, their spouses, my brothers and sisters and our cousins, would take turns providing 24 hour care so that he could stay in his home and die surrounded by joyful memories. I remember him having dreams of being a young man still working at the paper mill he poured 30 years of his life into. His hands would make movements as if he were still operating the machines- the machines that nearly caused him to lose an arm once when it was sucked into a roller. I remember laying on top of him as he would weakly hit me and swear at me because he wanted to get out of his hospice bed; fully convinced he needed to go to work. I remember him snapping out of the hallucination and crying. I remember him asking me to forgive him for what he had just did and said. I remember crying.

Cancer is a pirate. Although these bitter memories are clearly lodged in my mind, the scales still weigh heavy in the balance of the joyful memories I have of my Grandpa. He was a generally happy man that loved his children and loved his grandchildren. His house was a hub of family gatherings in which coffee was always available, cribbage was just around the corner, laughing abounded, and love ran thick. I loved going to my grandparents house. Christmas was off the charts awesome.

His first day of retirement was marked by taking my brother and I to a Minnesota Twin’s game. He and Grandma never moved to warmer lands because to do so was to leave their grandkids and that was just out of the question. I remember their house being a crash site while going to college. Chocolate cake was always on standby as I walked through the door after a long day at work and long evening at school. These memories are the ones that rise to the surface. I remember hearing my Grandpa pray. The quiver in his voice only came on during prayer time and I imagined it was a result of a profound thankfulness to God for justifying him from his sins through the work of Jesus Christ at the cross.

Each year our extended family gathers to honor my Grandpa in a unique way. Our Grandpa gave us all a unique gift- he taught all of our cousins and myself how to play the game of cribbage. The memories abound surrounding this game of fifteen two, fifteen-four and a pair is six. Cutting, dealing and pegging were staples at my Grandpa’s house and he spread his love of Cribbage to us all.

Now, after his death, we gather once a year for a family tournament. It’s an excuse to get together. It’s a special way to remember my Grandpa and Grandma. I love how a simple game has been the catalyst for so much happiness among our family. I love that we serve a God who gives us simple gifts like cards, math and 121 holes as way to create that happiness and family unity. Cancer is a pirate but God is the giver of all good things that far outweigh any temporary pain that he experienced.

I’ll see you soon Grandpa. Not because sentiment says so but because you trusted in the rock solid, complete work of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Thanks for pointing me to him.

The Comfort of The Gospel

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom shall I see for myself and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:25-27

I read this passage during my devotional time this week and had a soul-satisfying time thinking about what it means for me. Grace Church, today, right now Jesus lives. We can know that our Redeemer lives and at the end of this story we are living in, he will stand up on the earth.

Often it doesn’t feel like that. Ten people die in an attack at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Two thousand people were killed by Boka Haram in Nigeria with most of the victims being women and children. Our sinful flesh persists as we do things we don’t want to do. Loved ones die. Sickness cripples. Our bodies are slowly wasting away. In the midst of all this tragedy and ongoing decay, where do we find comfort?

Where did you go for comfort this week when you chose to sin? Where did you go for comfort when you were blind-sided by depression or frustrated with a co-worker or angry at your spouse or just plain tired at the end of a long day? Did you find comfort in food or Netflix or exercise or sleep or anything else besides the gospel? If your soul first and foremost went to anything less than the truth and joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, your soul was choosing to quench its thirst by drinking from a tobacco spitter instead of the clear and refreshing water that Jesus Christ offers. Anything less than Jesus cannot and will not satisfy because nothing is more real and more true than the fact that Jesus lives and he stands ready to forgive.

Come to Jesus this morning. Behold his face and not another. The only reason you can be acceptable to God this morning and removed from his wrath for your sin is by drinking from the water of Jesus Christ’s grace and mercy through the cross.

Tyler and Anna

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17

Tyler and Anna, this verse has been a meaningful one for you in your relationship. You have rightly seen each other as a gift from God and that gift has led you to the this day. You are about to enter a covenant relationship that is like no other on earth. It is a relationship that God intends to only be severed by death. On this day, August 15th, 2014 you two will become one flesh and this verse has much to say about how you should view this day and the rest of your lives together.

James tells us that God is the source of everything. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” It was this way from the very beginning of creation. At one point there was no earth or sun or moon or galaxies or animals or sea creatures or human beings. God formed and crafted this earth through spoken words. Out of nothing came everything. When God spoke planets began spinning into their assigned orbit, vast oceans met dry land and formed shorelines, sunrises and sunsets began a constant rhythm that have not failed to this day. Birds began flying, bugs began crawling, lions began roaring, dolphins began swimming and Adam began breathing. God was the source of this all.

We see that God has given us an entire world that he called good. He made it for us to enjoy. He made Adam and Eve to enjoy each other. There is not one single thing you have received in this life that has not been from your heavenly Father. Each of us sitting in these pews or standing at this altar will not breathe a single breath unless God grants it to us. He speaks and new life is born. He speaks and old life is stopped. He speaks and storms are silenced or spun into existence. Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God who is the source of everything. To him alone belongs glory.

Not only is God the source of everything but he is the giver of everything. God did not speak this world into existence, wind it up like a mechanical watch, and walk away from it all. He gives good gifts and perfect gifts to us. He is like a generous father who loves to shower his children with presents on Christmas morning.

Some of these gifts we are keenly aware of, like a spouse, or a job we enjoy, or good health, or forgiveness through the cross for our sinful hearts. Many of these gifts we are unaware of and don’t even think about. Did you wake up this morning and breathe without pain? That was a gift from God. Did you drive to this church tonight without getting into a car crash? That was a gift from God. Did you enjoy a bottle of water this afternoon or some food to satisfy your hungry stomach? That was a gift from God. What a wonderful and loving God we have who gives us good and perfect gifts!

James also wants us to know that God uses these gifts as a way in which to show the personal relationship he has with his children. He gives us exactly what we need, when we need it. The gospel of Jesus Christ saves enemies of God, brings them into the family of God, and gives them access to God’s grace and mercy and love.

God does not only give us good and perfect gifts that are material and tangible but he gives us so much more.Tyler and Anna, you were at some point in your life under God’s wrath because of your sinfulness. Your sin separated you from a God that is more awesome and beautiful than you could ever imagine. Through Christ living the life you could never live, dying the death you should have died, and conquering the power of sin, death and Satan, he has brought you into a personal relationship with God. This reality rests squarely on the Jesus Christ; your cornerstone.

“Christ alone; cornerstone. Weak made strong; in the Savior’s love. Through the storm, He is Lord. Lord of all.”

Finally, we see that God is unchangeable. “With whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” We live in a constant state of change. Things that seem so lasting and permanent can be snuffed out or taken away in a heartbeat. A home with all earthly goods and possessions can turn into ashes on one bitterly cold evening in December. Life is but a vapor. We are here one day and gone the next.

Yet, God does not change. His attributes and promises are never changing and will never change. The same God that spoke this world into existence is the same God ruling over this marriage ceremony right now. If God is unchanging that means his promises are unchanging. If his promises are unchanging nothing in this life can separate us from his love! “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:36-39).”

What do these four truths have to do with marriage then? Everything. Matthew Henry describes God this way: “What the sun is in nature, God is in grace, providence, and glory; yes and infinitely more.” Just as the sun is the source by which we see, experience and enjoy life, so God is the source by which our lives are completely dependent. We are in desperate need of his sovereignty, grace and glory whether we realize it or not.

If God is the source of everything and the giver of everything, he will be the source of your marriage and the sustainer of your marriage. You both are entering this covenant as a man and a woman in need of God’s grace and mercy.

Tyler and Anna, you will have times where you will be exhausted with life. You will have times when the trials are deep and the road is dangerous. You will have times where you will experience circumstances that never entered into your realm of thinking. You will have times of disagreement and frustration. God has storehouses of gifts in the form of his help and grace and love waiting to be poured out on you for those very instances. Cry out to God in these times together and you will find a depth of God’s comfort and strength that you will have never known in times of plenty and comfort. And when times are good and plentiful, be thankful that every good gift and every perfect gift is from the Father of lights.

God is a personal God and displays this through the gifts he gives. Tyler and Anna, he has given each of you unique roles within marriage for you to fulfill. He has not given them to you as a burden or as a mere duty to obey, but as a good gift to be enjoyed when you act your part the way God designed.

Tyler, God created Adam first and he gave him a mission. He was to tend to the garden and name the animals. Adam was the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in his own image. You were created to orient yourself to God and his work. Yet this was not enough for Adam. He needed a companion. Anna, God created Eve to orient herself to Adam as he orients himself towards God and his mission. Eve was made to provide friendship and support to Adam.

These are your God given roles designed to bring joy and delight in one another and in God. God is the Author of a story you are about to embark on and you two are actors in this drama. Will you play your part well to the glory of the One who made you?

Tyler, your role is to love your wife as “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25).” Jesus’ relationship with the church cost him his life in order that they would be made lovely in the sight of God; holy and blameless.

Just as Jesus is the head of the church so you are the inescapable leader of your marriage. You will lead either through action or inaction, but you will lead. The kind of leadership and headship you are called to display is not one of dominance but one of being a servant. If an aroma of Christ is to be present in your home for all to see it will begin with you loving Anna as Christ loved the church. Your job is to show a world around you what Christ’s love for his church looks like by the way you love Anna. It’s the role of a lifetime! So treat her well, cherish her through sacrificial love, feed her spiritually, and protect her. Lay down your life for her.

Anna, your role is to submit to Tyler’s servant leadership. “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22).” One of the primary ways you submit to Tyler’s leadership is through showing him respect. Honor him and submit to his leadership. Praise him when he leads well and encourage him when he doesn’t. Use your tongue to build him up and not tear him down through nagging or arguing.

Tyler and Anna, when you act out your roles in a God-honoring way you are writing a story. You are small parts in a bigger story that is being unfolded in God’s drama of redemption. It is a story that began with God’s creation of a perfect place where Adam and Eve lived in perfect relationship with God. When they stepped outside of their roles, sinned against God, and chose their own script, sin entered the world and corrupted everything. They were expelled from the garden and from that perfect relationship they had with God.

Then, Jesus Christ, the God-Man, stepped onto the stage. Where Adam failed Jesus succeeded. He resisted the temptation of Satan and won for himself his bride through the brutal, bloody and torturous death of a cross. He stood on the neck of Satan and offers life everlasting to those who would repent of their sin and put their trust squarely on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. He purchased us free passage into a promise land where one day we will all sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. This is the gospel, Tyler and Anna.

You need the gospel. Not to just save you from your sins. You need the gospel for every day of your married life. There are going to be times that you will fail in living out your roles as husband and wife, just as Adam and Eve did. Tyler, you will fail to lead. Anna you will fail to submit. What will you do when this happens? Look to the cross.

Milton Vincent writes, “The gospel is not just one piece of good news that fits into my life somewhere among all the bad. I realize instead that the gospel makes genuinely good news out of every other aspect of my life.” The gospel is for every facet of your marriage. You are acceptable to God not based on your performance of your roles but based on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).” This is a good gift. Indeed it is a perfect gift. It is the greatest gift Jesus, the groom, could have given his bride, the church.

“This is the story of the Son of God Hanging on a cross for me But it ends with a bride and groom And a wedding by a glassy sea Oh, death, where is your sting? ‘Cause I’ll be there singing Holy, holy, holy is the Lord”

The best is yet to come.

Your Faith Has Saved You

“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” These words are what Jesus spoke to a a woman that was described as a devoted sinner. The story takes place while Jesus is having dinner with a Pharisee. The man was a part of an elite and small group of religious leaders who believed that strict obedience to every detail of God’s law was what made one righteous before God. When Jesus entered this man’s house the Pharisee neglected to wash Jesus’ feet or greet him or give him the customary hospitality.

Yet this devoted sinner found out that Jesus was at this man’s house. As she entered, she would not even stand in front of him as she poured expensive ointment over his feet from behind. Feeling the weight of her sin she wept tears of anguish that poured over the feet of the man that would one day have nails driven through them. She used her hair to wipe off the tears from the flesh that would one day be ripped open because of her very sin.

The Pharisee, witnessing this scene, looked on in disgust and thought to himself, “If this Jesus really were a man of God he would have never allowed this woman to even touch him.” Jesus, knowing his thoughts, began to tell him a story. The story was about a lender who had two people that owed him money. The first person owed him 20 months worth of wages while the second person owned the lender two months worth of wages. The lender unexpectedly forgave them both their debt. Jesus asked the Pharisee, “Who do you suppose had more love for the lender.” The Pharisee correctly replied that the one who was forgiven the larger debt had more love for the lender.

Jesus used the story to reveal to the man his self-righteousness. Jesus said that she showed great love because her sins, which were many, were forgiven. We are the sinful woman in this story. We need a Savior who was mocked, beaten, flogged, and spit upon. We need a Savior whose skull had thorns driven into it and whose flesh was ripped apart. We need Jesus Christ to forgive the magnificent debt for which our sin put him on the cross.

It was not this woman’s performance, reputation or adherence to a set of rules that saved her. It was her faith that brought her to Jesus a sinner and sent her away in peace. This faith is what caused a well spring of love the overflow in her heart.

Peter reminds his readers in II Peter 1:9 that it is possible for us to forget this. “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” This morning, as we come before God in prayer, consider the former sins of which Jesus’ death saved you. Don’t forget it. Let your faith rise on God’s past, present and future grace that forgives us of sins and makes us his children for whom he loves. We were under wrath but are now under grace.

Allow your mind to think on these precious and great promises and ask God for it to be a motivator to fight sin in the future. Let’s go before God in prayer and confess our sin to him and thank him for his grace which will fuel our trust and obedience in his conditional promises like Philippians 4:6-7.