Faith | Discipleship at Messiah

Jesus Is Alive

Posted on 4/4/13 by On the road with Jesus.

If Christ has not been raised then your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
–I Corinthians 15:17

This story is told about T.S. Eliot: “A literature student, upon graduating from Harvard, went to ….Eliot to get advice. For a while Eliot said nothing. Then he said, ‘40 years ago I went from Harvard to Oxford. Now you are going from Harvard to Oxford.’ Then he paused some more. The student was anxious to hear his famous words that he would remember for the rest of his life. Finally, Eliot put his hand on the young man’s shoulder and said, ‘Don’t forget your long underwear.’”

Sometimes I’m afraid people come to church wanting to hear something to sustain them for the rest of their life and are disappointed with the trivial. Even with Easter, the Resurrection, we can trivialize it by talking of budding flowers, butterflies, and Easter eggs.

Last week, I said that we sometimes seem to minimize Jesus’ death in order to emphasize the resurrection. To do that is also to minimize the resurrection.

One of the reasons we may not appreciate the resurrection as we should is that we avoid death, evil, refuse to acknowledge it in our life, our world. Philip Yancey reminds of a scene from the novel, Watership Down:

A colony of wild rabbits is uprooted by a construction project. They begin to wander and encounter a new breed of rabbits, huge, healthy, and beautiful, Their bodies show no signs of scars or struggle. They are asked how they “live so well.” The answer: “Someone provides for us. LIFE IS GRAND!”

The displaced rabbits are impressed but suspicious. One day they notice one of the fattest and sleekest tame rabbits has disappeared.

They are told. It happens regularly. We don’t understand, but we don’t let it interfere with our lives.

Then they discover a trap with a noose.

The gullible rabbits ignore the imminent danger of death.

The more you are aware of evil, death, the more you understand its pervasiveness, the more it enters your experience, the more important the resurrection, hope, a new beginning becomes. In fact, we are not prepared to experience resurrection until we have experienced crucifixion, until what we hold dear has been “put to death.” Only then can it be raised to life, eternal life.

When you have lost all hope in your intelligence, physical energy, cunning, hard work, education, security in things; only then does resurrection, new life come.

It comes as you place your trust in the living Christ.

Filed under: The Journey | Tagged: Faith, Religion, spirituality | Comments Off on Jesus Is Alive

A Burned-out Florescent Tube

Posted on 3/23/10 by On the road with Jesus.

          Theologian Myron Augsburger once told a story about a man who wanted to discard a burned-out florescent tube from his office. Past hours, he planned to dump it at a construction site on his way home. “He carried the seven-foot tube down the street, into the subway station, onto the train. But how do you sit down with a seven-foot tube in your hand? So he remained standing, holding the tube upright.
          When the train stopped at the next station, five people go on, and four of them grabbed hold of the tube. Now what? Pretty soon, it occurred to him that all he needed to do was to get off at his station and leave the pole.”¹That could be a parable of many of our contemporaries. We’re all looking for something to hold on to for some stability. However, sometimes what we grab, like that burned-out florescent tube, only has the illusion of support.
          Archimedes, a Greek mathematician and engineer, said, “Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth.” Blaise Pascal, considered to be one history’s greatest minds, left notes on a book intended to tell about a “center of stability” he had found.² Rick Warren, author of best selling book of all time (outside the Bible), The Purpose Driven Life, wrote, “You need an unshakable center.”
          Something to hold on to, a place to stand, what we can depend on—stability, certainty, trustworthiness are all necessities for meaningful life. In our chaotic world, the good news is that Jesus provides what we need for this life and eternity. Place your faith in Him and hold on for dear life.

¹Marguerite Shuster
² Elton Trueblood, A Place To Stand

Filed under: Discipleship, Faith, Growth, The Journey | Tagged: certainty, Christian, dependable, Discipleship, Faith, stability | Comments Off on A Burned-out Florescent Tube

His Eye Is On the Sparrow

Posted on 1/27/10 by On the road with Jesus.

In the two weeks since the earthquake in Haiti we have heard so many words–sorrow, anger, courage, hero, fear, weary, shock, miracle, unbelievable. We have heard explanations, promises, assurances, warnings. Some of them have been wise, some foolish, some sinful and evil. In these words there have the words from God, but also from fallible humans, and some straight out of the mouth of Satan himself. Sometimes it is hard to know which are which.

The Bible helps us put things in perspective.

First, we are reminded that we cannot rid the world of suffering. Someone has said, “This is a world where robins die, and sparrows, and people: the ones we love, the ones Jesus loves.” The Peanuts characters put it this way:

Charlie Brown: “I have a new philosophy…’Life is like a golf course.’
Snoopy: “And ‘a sand trap runs through it.'”

The Biblical view says that God’s original creation has been damaged. It is defaced, messed up. And earthquakes happen. We can endlessly debate the philosophical and theological issues here, but the reality is clear. This is a world where people, innocent people, get hurt.

However, in the midst of this, God is paying attention. God listens, God sees, but most importantly God cares. In the Old Testament God promises Soloman and the people just that–My eyes and my heart will always be here. (II Chron 7:16b-NLT) Jesus says that even the fate of sparrows is not lost on God (Matt. 10:29). And in the defining text of the Bible He says, For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only son. (John 3:16)

God is not just an observer, but, in fact, is in the midst of all this—in the Salvation Army relief worker, World Vision, UMCOR and scores of other Christian groups and individuals. But, also in secular groups—the Red Cross, Chinese disaster teams, American military units—any one there with the will to help is doing God’s work whether they know it or not.

Finally, hope is intrinsic to the Christian message. Along with faith and love, hope makes up the triangle of the Christian’s attitude. A pastor dying of cancer took a leave from his church. He was able to return and in a sermon he said, “We want to worship God in this church, and for our worship to be real, it doesn’t have to be fun, and it doesn’t have to be guilt-ridden. But it does have to be honest, and it does have to hope in God.”

Hope is the future tense of faith. Though we cannot deny what God has done and is doing, we must keep our perspective. In our lives and those around us, much of the Gospel is promise of what is yet to be. But God is here, God is at work and is preparing a better place for us. It is called heaven and without it, disasters/tragedies cannot be reconciled with a loving God.

Sisters, brothers keep the faith.

Filed under: Faith, Heaven, Obstacles, The Journey | Tagged: Christian, Discipleship, Faith, hope, suffering | Comments Off on His Eye Is On the Sparrow

It’s Free

Posted on 12/7/09 by On the road with Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

“It’s Free”

We all are familiar with statements like:
“You get what you pay for”,
“you don’t get something for nothing”.

I don’t know about you but I am suspicious, no down right unbelieving when I get something in the mail (bulk rate) which boldly announces you have been chosen to receive $199.95 value necklace of genuine faux pearls. Please send $19.95 for postage and handing so you can receive your free gift.

But no matter how skeptical and doubtful, we keep on hoping and trying anyway. Oh, how we hope and try. Look at the lottery.

I read about a man doing some back-yard landscaping who went to buy some bricks. When he inquired about the cost, the sales clerk replied: “The more you buy, the cheaper they are.” “Is that so? Then just keep loading them on my truck until they’re free.”

Given our skepticism, it is not surprising then how difficult it is for us to understand one of the great words of the gospel–GRACE. It is a word so central to the Good News, that one can hardly speak of Jesus and his work for us without in someway mentioning “grace” or at least the idea if not the word.

The writer of Ephesians says, “by grace you have been saved”. To make sure it is clear, he adds, “and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”.

In it’s general meaning, then, it is undeserved favor, blessing, but specifically, what God has done for you in Jesus.

The wonder and glory of a salvation “so rich and free” and we can’t believe it. IT IS A GIFT! IT IS FREE!

By faith reach out and take it!

Filed under: The Journey | Tagged: Faith, Grace | Comments Off on It’s Free

« Previous Page

Discipleship at Messiah

Email Subscription

Seekers’ Class

Hurricane Relief

Helpful Sites

Jesus Is Alive

A Burned-out Florescent Tube

His Eye Is On the Sparrow

It’s Free

Topics

Search

Recent Thoughts

More thoughts