Why this god?

There are many gods: gods of fame, gods of fortune, gods of war, gods of love. There are football gods - there must be, I heard commentators refer to them and players point up to them. There are gods of vengeance and gods of... you get the point.

So the day after we celebrate the birth of Christ I'm led to ask a question: WHY THIS GOD?

It is my nature to question. My DNA leads me to wonder (as I wander). I am skeptical and sometimes critical. My four-year-old why? has grown into middle-age with me.

On the point of this question however, I am not left with only speculation. There are a multitude of things I doubt in this life - most have to do with me - but on this one, I'm settled.

WHY THIS GOD?

If you'll allow, I will answer another question first: Why not the other gods? 

First, they are little gods; and thus, the little g in gods. Secondly, they are limited gods. Thirdly, they are not God. As a matter of fact, they are not even gods, except that we give them the power to be.

But here is the most important reason; and the one that is particularly relevant and beautiful during this season. Gods - as in little-g gods (unfortunately the word begins this sentence and is therefore, captialized) - require from us. They require either power from us so they can be gods, or they require performance from us, that we might please them. Every fake god of our making fits into the former category, and every known god of religion, with the exception of ONE, fits into the latter.

So... WHY THIS GOD? 

...and he will be called Immanuel...

-- Isaiah 7:14

It is more than a nickname; it's his nature. And his mission. Immanuel (Emmanuel in the language of the New Testament) simply and powerfully means: GOD WITH US. 

This God doesn't need anything from us to be (or be more) God. He IS. This God doesn't even say to us, "Jump through this hoop, and this one, and this one... to please me enough to give you some sort of hope." This God is Immanuel, the God who came to us. And that is the difference. 

I'm not sure if you caught it. God came to us. He didn't ask us to climb to heaven via some moral rope ladder to prove ourselves worthy. Little-g gods demand we ascend to prove ourselves. This God condescended (and condescends) because, as stained as we are, he knows our worth. 

WHY THIS GOD? Because ...the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost - Luke 19:10. Immanuel came to us with a mission. He came to us with open arms and a smile. 

HE... CAME... TO... US. 

And that is WHY THIS GOD?

For now...

D

Purpose through pain...

"I don't think I'd ever been of service to anyone in my life... ever." 

As a former (and wanna-be) QB, this guy had everything I dreamt of. He was the number two overall pick in the 1998 draft - behind only Payton Manning.

He is living proof that fame and fortune can crumble. The only thing that really matters is the impact we have on others.

He learned the lesson through pain. It seems all the really important lessons in life are learned through pain.

We all go through the fires of life. The flames either burn us up or forge our character. And purpose, birthed out of the furnace of pain, is a powerful thing.

Watch it here:
http://www.newsbinge.com/ryan-leaf-finds-purpose-in-helping-recovering-addicts/

For now...
D

Have you ever wondered...?

Wonder how God sees you?

Wonder what he thinks of you?
Although this kid can sing...
It doesn't matter what the judges say.
We worry too much about what our judges say.
It really doesn't matter how the audience reacts.
Our audiences won't always love us.
But...
Watch his mother's response.
"Can I hug him?"
"I love him. That's my baby!"
Now multiply it by infinity and bathe it in the blood of a Savior...
Now you get just a glimpse.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, 

that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

-- 1 John 3:1

For now...
D

The Sermon: INSIDE-OUT...

It seems we often get it upside-down. Maybe inside-out is a better description.

Beware practicing your righteousness... to be seen...

-- Matthew 6:1

The English word hypocrite comes from a compound Greek word used for actors in a play. It literally meant, "one who interprets from underneath." Ancient Greek actors wore large masks depicting their respective characters and hiding their true identities. They acted out their parts in the story according to the masks they wore.

The good thing about literal masks is they are easy to remove. Not so with the very real, but more subtle, masks most of us wear. It would be simpler if they were masks of paper mache, plastic or cloth. But these are masks of the heart. And often, having played the part to rave reviews, we eventually forget they exist. Or the masks become so comfortably worn, we choose to overlook them.

The SERMON ON THE MOUNT is incredibly deep. Yet it is simple. It is profound. Yet it is relatable. In these words spoken on an obscure hill two millennia ago, Jesus addresses the prevailing hypocrisy (acting) of religion, and in its place he promotes the beauty of of a better way.

The same masks exist today; the same parts being played out. We often find ourselves acting out a part for others to see. All the while, feeling empty or broken under the mask. It is not that we are truly living inside-out - that what is on the inside is being honestly displayed. Instead, we often portray on the outside what should be on the inside, what should be real... but isn't. And this is the ironic thing about inside-out spirituality: If we feel a compulsion to make a show on the outside of what is on the inside, what we really demonstrate is a lack on the inside... a void.

And there is a better way.

We (you and I) need to remove the (any and all) masks. Jesus see them anyway. (And frankly, the people that know us best do also.)

I've thought hard about how to phrase the core truth of the SERMON ON THE MOUNT in a few sentences. So here goes (and I may revise this if I get an inkling of inspiration).

I see you, I know you; 

I know your heart, it's joys and pain. 

And I love you... right now... who you are and where you are.

So stop pretending. 

You are worth so much more to me than you know.

Come to me... come with me. I have a better way...

A way of life, love and purpose.

Come on!   -- Jesus

God, show me my masks. I will lay them down.

For now...
D

THE SERMON...

Blessed are the... blessed are the... blessed are the...
-- Matthew 5:3-11

It is the greatest sermon ever preached. Spoken on a hill long ago by the greatest preacher to ever live. The words of THE WORD (who became flesh).

As I begin to write on the Beatitudes, I am struck by everything written and said up to and following this past Tuesday's election. So a brief aside...

I do not believe the election season created a divide in our country. I believe it further revealed a divide in our hearts. I won't slide into the political because frankly, I do not think politics are the problem or the answer.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the...

     poor in spirit...

     mourners...

     meek...

     ones hungry for righteousness... 

     merciful...

     pure in heart...

     peacemakers...

     ones persecuted for righteousness..."

Neither political party can create anything resembling the kingdom Jesus describes. But the Kingdom of Heaven is a reality to be experienced. Though, on this side of eternity's door we see only glimpses; real and powerful, but fore-shocks of the earthquake of love, peace and joy to come.

In the eight Blessed's..., Jesus describes the heart that both experiences and is formed by his love. A President, Congress, or Supreme Court cannot usher in a kingdom. Nor can they ultimately bring healing to a fractured culture. People are divided and broken because we are not meek or merciful, we are not pure or poor. And only THE WORD can speak the words that reform hearts and bring healing.

Blessed are the...

God, let these words form and describe my heart.

For now...
D

FALL BACK...

We Fall Back tonight. Really, we don't. Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 am tomorrow. But even with that, we don't truly fall back. With Daylight Savings you and I stay in the same spot and just adjust the clock. When we fall back or spring forward, we stay in the present. We don't move in time. Time keeps moving the way it always has and always will. All we ever do is move with it.

But... think about the possibility of the impossible for just a moment. What if you could spring forward into the future? How far ahead would you spring? What & when would you spring to? Maybe a more telling question, (and please overlook the sentence-ending prepositions) what & when would you spring from?

So now let's say you've sprung into the future. How will you look back on this moment? This day? This week and month? You are in the future; looking back at your NOW self, what do you think? Is it possible that THEN you would like to fall back to make some change?

I'm sure there are times, people and places you would like to fall back to. (Oh, we are back in the present now.) We say to ourselves, "If I could just fall back and do that differently... say that differently... IF..."

So now you've fallen back into the past. How do you view this  moment... this now (this one right here right now - this present)? Is it, and are you, all you want? Are you who you picture yourself becoming? If you could fall back, to where and to when would you go? What change(s) would you make?  

NOW...
Sorry if this is coming across like a non-Matthew McConaughey version of Intersteller, but there is a point. Allow me to quote myself - from five paragraphs ago:

 ... we stay in the present. we don't move in time. Time 

keeps moving the way it always has and always will. 

All we ever do is move with it. 

So I can't SPRING FORWARD. Nor can I FALL BACK! What I have is NOW... this moment... to be who I want to be... to live life the way I want to live. I don't like to think of the NOWs I've wasted! Wait a minute... those were THEN. I can't fall back to do anything about them and I can't spring forward to avoid what they may have created.

I HAVE NOW...

(If only I could spring forward to see if I've finally learned the lesson!)

For now...

D

TEMPTED

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted... and the tempter came...
-- Matthew 4:1,3

The life of faith is not necessarily an easy one. Some might propose it to be. Their doctrine is Christianity-light. Worse, they may expound that the true person of faith should not know pain, sickness, loss, or crisis of belief. And if he or she experiences these, it is due to lack of faith. This is not the real world. And this is not true Christianity. Some feel-good prophets go as far to claim they are above (or beyond) temptation; and that this is a goal of the Spirit-filled life.

Only one whose feet have touched the dust of this earth has lived perfectly. Yet none has more deeply known rejection, slander, or loneliness.

He was despised and rejected by men, 

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

-- Isaiah 53:3

And none who has come since (or before) has known temptation to the degree that Jesus was tempted. His ministry began with temptation - in a lonely wilderness; and it ended with temptation in a garden. (I don't think I am reading too much into the spiritual, emotional and physical battle that produced bloody sweat drops.) 

Jesus taught us to pray that we not be led into temptation (Matthew 6:13). Yet he was. Why? He didn't, with his wilderness victory, win the right to be Messiah. That is who he was. He was the Word become flesh, the Creator become creation. He had nothing to prove. No, I believe his temptation was for our benefit. 

Through Jesus' temptation we understand:

• Temptation is not a mark of failure. It is not sin to be tempted. We all, he included, know temptation. As long as we breathe we will face temptation's subtle allure.  
• He understands our weakness. We have a ...high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses... (Hebrews 4:15). And though he never failed, he loves us in the midst of our failures. 
• We too can overcome. We can overcome because Jesus overcame - not just temptation, but death, sin and hell. And the Great Overcomer stands with us in every circumstance. 

Much later, Jesus' brother James wrote:

Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. --James 4:7

That is exactly what Jesus did in the desolate wilderness. And it is what he calls us and empowers us to do still. 

Temptation is inevitable. And that is a good thing. It means we are alive. It means our spirit is alive and struggling daily to follow our Creator. 

Two final thoughts:

• Though temptation is inevitable, failure is not. 
• However, when we do fail, we never fail beyond the reach of God's grace.

God, lead me away from temptation. But I won't fear it when it comes. You are with me. And you have overcome.

For now... 

D