Numbers 13:1-3, 17-20, 25-30 [NLTse]

The Lord now said to Moses, ² “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.” ³ So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran…

¹⁷ Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? ²⁰ Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)

…

²⁵ After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned ²⁶ to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. ²⁷ This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. ²⁸ But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.”

³⁰ But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

³¹ But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”

The famous, so-called “love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13 ends, saying, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” (v. 13)

In my estimation, we Christians talk quite a lot about faith, and even more about love, but not so much, if at all, about hope. So I’d like to invite us to contemplate together our hope in Christ…

“Faith” and “hope” are sometimes used interchangeably in modern speech, which is unfortunate. Because, where the writer to the Hebrews defines “faith” as “having assurance about things we cannot see” (11:1) – that is, that “faith” is having confidence about things we can’t see, confidence that affects what we say and do here-and-now – “hope”, however, is always future-focused.

Webster’s Dictionary states that “hope” means to cherish a desire with expectation of its fulfillment. And Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Greek Words states that “hope” is a favorable and confident expectation, the happy anticipation of good. So, “hope” is the confident expectation that good is coming. It is an overall optimistic attitude about the future based on the goodness and promises of God. We are called to be people of hope!

In our Scripture Reading twelve spies – one from each of the Twelve Tribes – were sent to reconnoiter the territory God had promised Israel upon their exodus from Egypt. All twelve spies saw the same land, saw the same inhabitants, saw the same fortified cities, saw the same bountiful farmlands, vineyards, and grazing lands. But only two returned calling Israel to invade, conquer, and claim the land: Caleb and Joshua. Why the difference?

The Scriptures make clear the difference was that Caleb and Joshua trusted the Lord’s promise and believed Him when He said the land would be theirs. While the other ten spies were filled with visions of the mighty inhabitants (even some giants, descendants of Anak!) and the massively fortified cities and the strength and power of their armies, Caleb and Joshua were filled with visions of God’s promises: Of Israelites walking up and down the streets of the great cities, and of Israelites tending the vineyards and the fields and the flocks, and of Israelites living in the Negev and in the hill country and along the Mediterranean coast and the Jordan Valley. They were filled with hope, and what they saw – the same things that the other spies saw – was transformed in their hearts and minds by the expections that what God had promised them would indeed come to be!

Paul’s letter To the Ephesians famously describes spiritual armor every lover and follower of Christ needs to always be wearing in order to stand in the face of evil. The head-protection of that armor is called “the Helmet of Salvation”, (6:17) which, in his first letter To the Thessalonians, Paul calls “the Helmet of the Hope of Salvation”. (5:8)

The Roman helmet that Paul is referring to covered the ears as well as the entire head and down over the forehead. That tells me that part of our salvation and the hope of our salvation is our being wise and guarding what we listen to. But then, once we have heard something and it has come into our minds – with the Helmet of the Hope of Salvation firmly in place – we must filter what we do hear through the favorable and confident expectations of the good God has promised us. That is, we hear bad news but we filter it through the hope we have in the good news God’s spoken to us through Christ; we hear about illness and tragedy but we filter it through the hope we have in Christ’s call to us to go and heal and serve those in need; we hear of hopelessness and destruction but we filter it through the hope we have in Christ’s good promises and expectations of new life!

It’s important what we think and how we think about what we think, because – to use the New American Standard Version’s translation of Proverbs 23:7 – “As [a person] thinks within himself, so he is.” Our thoughts, our motives – all that makes up that core driving what we say, how we use our influence, and what we do – that is who we are. And Christ has redeemed all we are to be People of Hope!

Of course, for us Christians, though we have much good and many good promises from God to hope for in this life, ultimately the great good and the greatest promises we have are in Jesus’ return from Heaven to raise all of the dead, grant us imperishable bodies, judge all humanity once and for all, establish a new Heaven and a new Earth free from sin and sinners and death and sorrow and crying and pain, and then to live with us there forever!

So, even with all we have to hope for in this life, ultimately our hope is not in this life at all but in Christ’s sure and certain promises concerning the life He has for us to come! And all of this is our part in wearing the Helmet of the Hope of Salvation and keeping it tightly fastened!

A Christian discipline that can aid and nurture our hope is the practice of meditation. Where contemplation is a practice that has us focus intently on a Scripture passage, thought, or idea – taking it apart, considering it from all angles, etc… – meditation is taking a passage, thought, or idea just as it is and taking it into ourselves with the intention of replacing the lies and deceptions we’ve previously believed with God’s truth. Meditation originally had to do with “mumbling to one’s self”, and when taken together with Romans 10:17 that says, “faith comes through hearing”, we get the picture of the practice of meditation being our preaching to ourselves the Word God’s revealed to us we need to hear.

We human beings need to hear the Word again and again and again to truly believe it and be transformed by it. And the act of meditation helps us soak in a truth so that the lies we’ve believed might be replaced by God’s truth, and so that His truth would indeed set us free!

I’m picturing taking time during my daily devotions to contemplate my circumstances. As I think in a focused way about my circumstances from all sorts of different angles the Holy Spirit directs me to consider, not my circumstances, but how I’ve been thinking about and responding to my circumstances: That is, what I truly believe about what’s going on in my life. And so, although the faith statements and doctrines I might tell others I believe are one thing, I’m helped to realize that my thoughts, words, and actions concerning my circumstances demonstrate that actually I believe something far different. The Spirit of Truth has helped me identify my true beliefs.

So, perhaps I write down those lies and half-truths I’ve believed. But then I research God’s full-truth about these things using Bible helps or, perhaps, by asking a more knowledgeable Christian friend: To know my situation in the light of Christ crucified, raised from the dead, and coming again! And then I begin meditating on those true-truths, seeking to replace the lies my thoughts, words, and actions have shown me I truly believe with the truth of God’s Word; seeking to fill my mind with God’s hope-made-flesh in Jesus Christ.

And so I meditate on God’s Word: “Mumbling” THIS is true; THIS is true; THIS is true; again and again. And then, across the day when I realize I’ve begun thinking, speaking, or acting according to those old lies I’d believed, I “mumble” God’s truth to myself again… My friends, our level of hope shows us whether we are believing lies or truth, because God’s truth produces hope!

In closing, pastor and author Steve Backlund has some helpful things to say about hope. He writes, “Any area of my life that does not glisten with hope is under the influence of a lie, and that area is a stronghold of the devil in my life.” He challenges us that, “My hopelessness about a problem is a bigger problem than the problem.” And he then reminds us, “There are no hopeless circumstances, only hopeless people. Once people get true hope from God, their circumstance cannot stay the same.”

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

Shepherds and Sheep

Ann H. LeFevre, M. Div.  March, 10, 2013

Follow the Leader/Simon Says- They were popular games we played as children.  Of course the best part of each of those games was when you got to be the leader!  There was a lot of power in saying “Simon says, ‘Put your hand on your head!’” and seeing all your friends do exactly what you said.  And when someone goofed and missed, you had the power and authority to say, “You’re out!” and that person had to sit down.  When playing Follow the Leader, you set the course and everyone went where you went!  It’s true, there’s a lot of power in being the leader, but most of us are not leaders, we are followers.  And that means we must choose who we follow wisely.

Lord, As we open Your word today and learn of what it has to say to us about leaders and followers, we ask that Your Holy Spirit would enlighten us so that we will follow You and only You.  Amen

Contrary to the popular saying, certain ladies of the night are not members of the oldest profession!  That honor goes to shepherds.  Archaeologists have uncovered thousands of small tablets like this one.  This small piece of clay is a contract that records the number of sheep and goats which belong to a certain farmer.

In these contracts the farmer/owner hires a shepherd to move his flock to a new water source or to tend to his flock in a new grazing area.  An interesting aspect of these contracts is that there is a built-in loss factor of 20%.  In other words it was a given that some sheep would get sick, get lost, get hurt, or become the shepherd’s dinner!

In order to do this job well, the shepherd must know the lay of the land.  In Israel the majority of shepherding is done in the region known as the Negev.  It is a wide open region that accommodates large herds easily.  But it is also much drier, receiving substantially less rainfall the further south you go, so a shepherd needs to know where flocks will be able to graze and get water too.  Scattered wells and cisterns throughout this area help, but more importantly, good shepherds know how to “read the rocks”.  The bedrock of this region is comprised of Senonian Chalk, Alluvium and Limestone which can form large pockets in the rock where water can collect.  A good shepherd knows how to tap into these pockets and provide water for his herd.  Wadis are a water source too.  These gorges and ravines are carved into the ground by natural elements such as wind and water.  Some are very narrow, and some are quite wide.  Although they may look like a great place to bring a herd the shepherd must know the best way in and out for wadis are prone to rapid temperature changes and flash floods.

But why do sheep need a shepherd?  Aren’t they able to fend for themselves like other animals?  Well, there are two things about sheep that have not changed for thousands of years.  The first is:  Sheep are stupid!

Photo by Jennifer Esperani

And the second is that because sheep are stupid, they are also vulnerable.  Sheep are known to follow each other into ditches or wander off from the herd and end up lost.  If one tips over and ends up on its back with his feet in the air, he cannot turn himself over.  And other sheep will stand there and just look at him.  With no common sense and no natural defenses, sheep are prone to attacks from predators.  So to say they need a shepherd is putting it mildly.  Without a shepherd, sheep would not survive.

In order to keep the herd as safe as possible and make sure that the 80% required make it to the grazing area, shepherds have developed a system to move them.   The older, more experienced shepherd will follow behind the herd and watch for stragglers or ward off danger.  Another shepherd will go in front of the herd.  It is his job to guide them along the chosen route and he does this by calling out to the sheep (usually by name!).  The sheep in turn, hear the shepherd’s voice and follow behind him by watching his feet.  These practices have not changed for thousands of years!  One of my favorite experiences in Israel was while standing at Jacob’s well in Beer Sheva, my group saw two shepherds leading a flock of sheep through the Negev.  You could hear those silly critters bleating and complaining from a ways off, and my goodness, did they make a ruckus!  As the flock neared us you could also hear the shepherd calling out to the flock.  I’m surprised they even heard him!

As most of us know, David who wrote the psalm we read this morning was well acquainted with shepherding.  While three of his older brothers were enlisted in Saul’s army, David, the rest of his brothers and his father remained home and took care of their sheep.  David was a good shepherd from what the Bible tells us and shepherding seems to have prepared him well for fighting giants and the role of king.   It could have been easy for David to think that his shepherding skills could keep him out of harm’s way.  After all, in protecting his sheep he killed both a lion and a bear.  But instead David declares “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

David must have seen something in his sheep that reminded him of human nature.  Perhaps the vulnerability of his sheep reminded him of his own vulnerability in the harsh elements of the Negev.  The question is, “What does David’s Shepherd do that makes David trust Him so completely- just like sheep implicitly trust their shepherd?”  I would like to highlight three aspects of David’s Shepherd today.

Photo by Ruth Moucharafieh

First: David’s Shepherd brings him to a place where he can eat!  Our translations often read “green pastures” for this place, but the word here nahavote in Hebrew, is really the specific word for the green places at the bottom of the wadi where water has produced nice, green, vegetation.  It’s a great place to eat and rest but without a shepherd who understands the lay of the land and knows what to listen for while he’s in the wadi, the sheep could be in danger of drowning in a flash flood, getting hurt, or succumbing to a rapid temperature drop.

Photo by AHL

Secondly: David’s Shepherd restores his soul.  The wilderness is a dry place.  In the shepherding region of the Negev there is only 10 inches of rainfall per year.  David’s Shepherd knows where the water is (whether it’s in a wadi, a cistern or in the rock) and He leads him to that water source.  In the Hebrew mind there is a close connection between the soul and breath therefore the same word is used for them.  In a practical sense David’s Shepherd refreshes the place that his breath passes through- his throat- with this water.  But the Shepherd also restores his inner most being- his very life-breath, his soul.

Thirdly: David’s Shepherd makes sure that David is on the right path.  He guides him across the Negev to the places where water and food can be found.  He leads him along those rocky wadis in the safest way so that David arrives at the proper destination.  The climate in a wadi can change rapidly.  There can be a vast difference in temperature just between the area with sun and an area in the shade.  Without common sense, sheep need someone to watch out for these dangers.  Because David’s Shepherd is so good, David never fears the dark shadows of the wadi.  He has confidence in the Shepherd who is leading the way.

Photo by Joanna Payne

So here is my question today.  Who is your Shepherd?  If you and I believe that the Lord is our Shepherd, then that means we are…His sheep.  And what do we know about sheep?  Yes, they are stupid and vulnerable!  They lack common sense and need guidance through their harsh environment.  But do you and I really believe, REALLY BELIEVE, that the Lord is our Shepherd.  Do we see ourselves as a sheep?  Or do we think we can handle life on our own?  If we believe we are as vulnerable as sheep, then are we following the Shepherd?

You probably think that I have never made any stupid decisions in my life.  But, believe me, I have.   Perhaps one of the worst decisions I ever made was a judgment in character.  I was particularly enamored with one girl in 7^th grade.  She was cute, she was popular and I wanted to be just like her.  So I followed her lead.  She was also mischievous and prone to lying.  I found myself copying her in dress and behavior.  But one day, after doing something I knew was wrong behind my mother’s back, it all came crashing down around me.  I was discovered in a lie, and I was mortified!  I may not have put myself in physical danger, but I had become vulnerable in mind and spirit.  I had followed the wrong Shepherd.

Do you see yourself as a sheep?  If so, who are you following?

Jesus says in John 10:11 that He is the Good Shepherd.  If Jesus qualifies Himself as the Good Shepherd, that must mean there are bad shepherds.  What makes a shepherd bad?  Simply put, the bad shepherd does not really care about the sheep.  He cares more about himself.

Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  I know My own and My own know Me even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father;  and I lay down My life for the sheep.  My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life to them, and they shall never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:7, 11, 14-15, 27-28)

After the fall harvest is complete and the winter months settle in, shepherds in Israel bring their sheep in from the grazing fields and put them in sheep pens.  These enclosures are somewhat like a corral, but they are bordered with stone walls that are only waist-high.  The entry way, which is about 5-6 feet wide, is called the gate, but it usually doesn’t have a gate or door there.  It is open.  During the day a shepherd or one of his hirelings will stand guard there.  At night the shepherd lies down in front of the gate and literally becomes the door.  No predator will be able to get past him; no sheep will be able to wander out.  The bad shepherd abandons this duty as soon as trouble comes his way.  He does not protect the sheep.  When I was caught in that lie those many years ago, my friend abandoned me- even denied she was a part of the whole episode.  She was a false shepherd.

Jesus sees us as sheep.  He knows we need a Shepherd.

Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd and that He lays down His life for the sheep.  Do you see the picture of the sheep pen that Jesus is painting here?  I don’t think it’s an accident that Jesus refers to us as sheep or to Himself as the Shepherd!   Sheep are prone to getting themselves in trouble or danger.   Sheep are prone to wandering astray.  Sheep have an enormous lack of common sense.   That’s why sheep need a shepherd.  When I look back on some of the choices I’ve made in my life, I know Jesus was right in comparing me to sheep!   I know I have wandered from the path at times thinking I could find the water and green stuff myself.  I know that I have trusted bad shepherds to refresh my soul only to be abandoned by them.  As the Good Shepherd, Jesus not only leads me on the right path, He lays down His life for me.  Let me say that again.  As the Good Shepherd, Jesus not only provides me with the same things as David’s Shepherd, He lays down His life for me.  That’s why the Lord is my Shepherd.  Why would I want to follow anyone else?

Are you following the Good Shepherd?  Your life may depend on it.

Exodus 33:12-23 [NLTse]

¹² One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But You haven’t told me whom You will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ ¹³ If it is true that You look favorably on me, let me know Your ways so I may understand You more fully and continue to enjoy Your favor. And remember that this nation is Your very Own people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said, “If You don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that You look favorably on me—on me and on Your people—if You don’t go with us? For Your presence among us sets Your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”

¹⁷ The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Moses responded, “Then show me Your glorious presence.”

¹⁹ The Lord replied, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will call out My name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. ²⁰ But you may not look directly at My face, for no one may see Me and live.” ²¹ The Lord continued, “Look, stand near Me on this rock. ²² As My glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove My hand and let you see Me from behind. But My face will not be seen.”

In ancient construction practices the cornerstone was the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. It was important because all other stones in the foundation would be set in reference to this stone. The position and soundness of the entire structure was based on how rightly this first cornerstone was laid. It set the stage for the rest of the building.

As Moses was leading Israel from Egypt to the land God had promised them, Moses asked the Lord to help him understand His ways because Moses wanted to know the Lord and enjoy Him more fully. Moses said, “[Lord], show me Your glorious presence.” (v. 18) And the Lord’s response was, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will call out My name before you.” (v. 19)

Moses wanted to understand God’s ways and see His glorious presence. And the Lord’s response was, “I will make all My goodness pass before you…”

Have you ever wanted to understand God’s ways? “I will make all My goodness pass before you,” the Lord responds. Have you ever wanted to see God’s glorious presence? The Lord responds, “I will make all My goodness pass before you.” The cornerstone for knowing God’s ways and seeing His glory is the reality of God’s goodness. God’s goodness is the reference point for everything else about Him: His ways; His glory. Knowing and trusting that God is good is the cornerstone for all the rest of Christian faith and practice.

Have you ever heard the Christian chant, “God is good!”? [All the time.] “All the time.” [God is good.] And yet there are so many theologies out there threatening people with God’s wrath and explaining the terrors and tragedies going on around us as the result of God’s judgments. But the Lord Jesus says, “God loved the world so much that He gave His One and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” That, “God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17)

When Jesus was cutting through Samaria to make His way to Jerusalem, one village wouldn’t let Him pass, and His disciples wanted to call down fire from Heaven to punish them. But Jesus rebuked them! In a longer version of that event, Luke records, “The Son of Man has not come to destroy people’s lives but to save them.” (9:51-56)

In revealing the Father to us, the Lord Jesus doesn’t show us a God Who destroys people with floods and storms and has people get shot and go hungry so that they’ll learn to fear Him and Hell and then want to become His disciples. He said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. [Referring to Satan and his crew.] My purpose,” Jesus went on, “is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:10)

Now, I know that Jesus makes clear that there’s a real Hell, and that He makes clear that there will be a real Day, when He returns, where everyone will be judged according to their deeds, and whether or not saving faith in Him motivated those deeds. But He it wasn’t Jesus’ practice to threaten people with Hell. His pattern seemed to be showing people God’s goodness and calling them to follow Him because of God’s goodness!

He helped people see God’s goodness! His every word and deed was an example – a living parable – of God’s goodness! In our day it seems that many people enter the Kingdom of God with fear and foreboding, thinking they need to accept Christ in order to escape Hell. When the reality is that we have a good Father Who’s shown Himself so very ready to welcome us into His family!

When the goodness of God is our cornerstone it powerfully shapes what we do, speak, and think! And like with a building, the cornerstone of our faith sets the stage for all that we’re about. If we look around us lamenting evil’s victory, we are not only believing a lie but will also spread that lie through our attitudes, responses, and actions to those around us. Too often Christian preachers and teachers tell us to pray harder, pray longer, to pray with more desperation! Somehow a weed has sprung up in God’s garden that we are more merciful that He, and that God pays more attention to our desperation than He is to our faith and confidence in His goodness!

I’ve shared with many of you of how my little brother was killed just following his 21^st birthday. My older brother was not a Christian at that time and, trying to be compassionate towards me about my faith, he was asking me what it was like believing in God when something horrible like this happened. And I remember telling him, “I’d rather be slapped by someone I know loves me than be slapped by someone I think hates me.”

Trusting in God’s goodness gave me supernatural strength during that horrible time (and through many days since) and the cornerstone of His goodness transformed the ministry I was able to have towards others through it all. I didn’t understand my little brother’s death: Why; how? But I did understand that God loved me, and that He is good all the time!

Typically right after some calamity, you can hear people ask, “If God is so good, then why do bad things happen?” But the cornerstone of that question is out of whack. The truth is not, “If God is so good,” the question should be, “Since God is so good, then why do bad things happen?” Because then the stage is set for us, in humility, to consider that, perhaps, our finitude and limited understanding keeps us from seeing and keeps us from knowing all that our good and loving God and Father, in His infinitude and limitless understanding, sees and knows.

Afterall, aren’t we a people who truly believe that God does indeed working everything together for our good, we who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose for us? Aren’t we a people who truly believe that God is love, and that in Him there is no darkness at all? Of course, we are! Of course, we do!

And this is the good news our good and loving Father in Heaven has given us to share with our friends and coworkers and classmates and family members and all those who will learn from our attitudes, words, and deeds: That God is good! That God wants to give them a full and satisfying life! That God wants to give them greater understanding, like being a light for them when they’ve gotten used to walking around in the darkness! That God wants to fill them with peace that surpasses our culture’s comprehension and that our events and circumstances can’t take away! That God wants to fill them with joy that not only brings laughter and happiness, but that gives strength for our living day by day!

And it’s our Father’s desire looking for those around us to be able to see His goodness in us. And God’s goodness can always be recognized in those who seem to overflow with joy, encouragement, forgiveness, peace, and generosity…

Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach glad tidings of good things.”

O Father, may our feet be truly beautiful! Help us grow in revealing Your goodness to those around us. Increase our trust in Your goodness. Grant the goodness You have shown us in Jesus Christ – the joy, the peace, the wisdom, the health, the wholeness, and every other good promises we read about in the Bible – grant the goodness You have shown us in Christ to truly be our cornerstone, setting right all that is our life and faith. And when trouble and tragedy come, grant us the readiness and the courage to bring the truth and deeds of Your goodness to those tempted with doubt and despair.

You are love. You are good. And we trust and praise You this day, in Jesus’ name…

According to Luke 10:38-42 [NLTse]

³⁸ As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. ³⁹ Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what He taught. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

⁴¹ But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! ⁴² There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Can I tell you a story?

A man was having difficulty communicating with his wife and concluded that she was becoming hard of hearing. So he decided to conduct a test without her knowing about it. One evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her back was to him and she could not see him. Very quietly he whispered, “Can you hear me?” There was no response. Moving a little closer, he asked again, “Can you hear me now?” Still, there was no reply. Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still there was no answer. Finally, he moved right behind her chair and said, “Can you hear me now?” To his surprise and embarrassment she responded with irritation in her voice, “For the fourth time, yes!”

The Bible tells us that God speaks. We see Him meeting with Adam and Eve in the cool of the afternoon to walk and talk together. We read of Abraham and the Lord talking together, making treaties, and even negotiating the future of great cities. Moses and the Lord talk together about commandments, and Moses writes them down. The prophets speak to God on behalf of Israel and then bring God’s responses back to them. As a matter of fact, the prophet Amos tells us that not hearing from God is one of God’s judgments against humanity when he says,

“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word.” (8:11-13)

But if the Lord is so eager to be in touch with us, then why don’t more people hear from Him?

In the very first place, let’s remind ourselves that in John 10:27 that the Lord Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27) Notice He does not say, “My sheep can hear My voice,” or, “My sheep should hear My voice,” or even, “My sheep might hear My voice.” He says, “My sheep hear My voice.”

So, at its most basic, to hear from God, first, we must be of His sheep: We must accept the gift of eternal life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Today, acknowledge your need for someone to rescue you from your life of regrets, someone to rescue you from your fears, addictions, loneliness, and the hopelessness that life can ever be anything different. Jesus has a new life for you, and a new family to live that life with and in here. Accept Him! And begin trusting and following Him today.

That’s the first thing.

Of course, to hear from God we must believe that God wants to speak to us. For instance, if your phone rings and Caller ID says, “The Holy Spirit” is calling. Is your response, “Yes! I knew He would!” or do your respond, “No, God wouldn’t call me,” or, “Nah, God doesn’t speak to people any more (if He ever really did).”

And then we must give quiet time to hear from Him, willing to wait, if necessary.

For a lot of different reasons, I would encourage us to be very specific, as we wait. Let God know you’re there to hear from Him. Perhaps you’d pray aloud something like, “Lord, I’m here. I want to hear Your voice. I am committed to do Your will…” Perhaps as you wait you might say things like, “I love You, Lord,” and perhaps spend some time giving Him thanks… Just enjoying Him and trusting Him. And then wait. And listen to the Lord as we read the Scriptures and hear various sermons and interact with others throughout our days, always listening for God to speak…

Our reading from Luke about Martha and Mary shows us the importance of getting rid of those things which can interfere with our hearing from God. Mary was busy – welcoming Jesus, getting the big dinner ready. These weren’t bad things, necessarily, but they were clearly too many things.

I think many of us can be tempted to give Jesus our leftovers: Our leftover possessions; our leftover energy; our leftover money; our leftover time… And I think the devil can try and keep us distracted from God’s voice and God’s things with busyness, even when it’s just lots and lots of good things. But Jesus said that Mary, sitting at His feet and listening as He taught, had chosen the very best thing…

Anger, bitterness, unforgiveness… can all interfere with us hearing from the Lord. Focusing on the hurt another has caused us, while trying to hear from God at the same time, doesn’t work.

Notice that Martha didn’t go to Jesus to listen to Him but to complain to Him about Mary.

Ask yourself, “Who is keeping me from hearing God?” [Pause.] If a name or face just came to your mind then you need to forgive that person or your anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness will not keep you from letting God effectively work in your life.

Jesus said to Martha, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!” Worried, stressed, under pressure, feeling choked… All of this interferes with our hearing from God. Upset, wrecked, overturned, in shambles… How are we supposed to hear from God?

So, to hear God speak, we need to trust in Christ; we need to believe God would speak to us; we need to give Him the opportunity and time to speak to us; and we need to get rid of all that can clog up our hearts and minds and interfere with our hearing Him. (Of course, this is all from our human point of view, what we can do seeking to hear from God.)

Another is to be where we know God speaks.

“Where does God speak?” [Wait for responses.] It wasn’t just that Mary wasn’t too busy. Mary put herself where she could hear from Jesus.

Are you putting yourself where you can hear from Jesus when He speaks in these various places?

Then, when we’re where God speaks, we need to be focused and attentive, expectant that He may and wants to speak to you. For instance, we all come here each Sunday, but are we truly intent on hearing God speak as we sing the songs, pray the prayers, hear the Scripture, receive the sermon, etc..? (After all, Mary and Martha were both in the same place with Jesus, but only one of them was truly “there”.)

We can be in the same room with God, even taking notes, but if our mind is wandering or if we’re sure we already know all about what the preacher’s teaching or if we’re listening without wanting to hear from God our receive from Him…

John 11:27-29 is another account of Mary and Martha, when their brother, Lazarus, died. It tells us that when Martha told Mary that Jesus was coming towards their house that Mary got up quickly and went to Him. Do we rush to those places we know Jesus regularly shows up?

The last thing I want to speak about this, but, perhaps, the most important, is that when we are seeking to hear from God we need to be ready and committed to respond.

Have you ever been talking to someone and somehow realized that they didn’t really seem to care what you were saying? How motivated are you to continue talking to them after you’ve realized this? Or have you ever given someone advice but they never took it? Time and time again? What do you think, will you keep on giving them advice forever?

Perhaps you’re not hearing from God today because He’s waiting for you, first, to do what He told you to do last week? Perhaps the Lord is not answering your questions about this part of your life because you haven’t yet acted on His advice about that part of your life? (The Letter from James says, “Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says”! [1:22])

Sometimes people don’t hear from God because they have no true intention of obeying Him. Sometimes Christian people pretend to seek out counselors when, in truth, they are really just looking for more opportunities to gossip about their troubles or others. Sometimes Christians will say they want to hear from God, yet there are certain actions they are unwilling to take, certain things they are unwilling to surrender. Sometimes God speaks to us but it is not what we want, so we continue praying awaiting the answer we want Him to give us, and we wonder why He’s so silent. Sometimes we want to hear from God when we’re already decided what we want Him to say. The truth is, we don’t want to hear from Him, we just want His approval for what we’ve decided to do, anyway.

But we live by faith. Faith that God is good! Faith that God has great plans for us, not plans for our harm but for our good! We live by faith that God works all things out for our good, those of us who love Him and are responding to His calling toward Christlikeness! Faith that God is love, and that He loves us with a love that has faced death and that has overcome death. And knowing and trusting all of this, we can listen, waiting, ready to do what He tells us with child-like faith.

The Lord Jesus says to His sheep, to all who truly love and follow Him: “Blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it. (Matthew 13:16-17)

Luke 10:1-12 [NLTse]

The Lord now chose seventy other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places He planned to visit. ² These were His instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord Who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields. ³ Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. ⁴ Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.

⁵ “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ ⁶ If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. ⁷ Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.

⁸ “If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ ¹⁰ But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’ ¹² I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day.

The word apostle is a Greek word meaning “one who is sent out”.

And we see in our reading this morning the Lord Jesus “sending out” seventy of His disciples to prepare towns and places for His coming. These “seventy” are not the Twelve Apostles – the Twelve “Sent Out Ones”. No. The Twelve were “sent out” in the “office of apostleship”: After Jesus’ sacrifice, and after they’d been anointed by the Holy Spirit, the Twelve would be those “sent out” to spread the good news of Christ’s Kingdom and establish church’s and Christian communities as they went.

But this group of seventy “sent out ones” Luke makes clear are just your average disciples. Jesus “sends them out”, but not to necessarily stir up a following or establish churches, they are “sent out” simply to prepare the people and communities they are going to for Jesus’ coming.

So there are two very different aspects to this idea of “apostle”, of being “sent out”. Yes, there’s the “office of the apostle”, but there is also the mindset of being apostolic: The recognition that each and every Christian has been “sent out” by Christ to prepare the people and communities around us for Jesus’ coming; no matter where we go and no matter what else we may be going to do there, that we’ve ultimately been sent there by God to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming.

Here are some examples: We go to school and complain because of the ways our teachers or classmates behave, or get down because of what the administration allows there… Your workplace is getting worse and worse: Growing in the Lord is helping you see more and more clearly how twisted their values have become and how mixed up their priorities. And it’s becoming harder and harder and more and more drudgery even just to get out of bed to go and be there each day… And we could describe the same kinds of feelings, struggles, and complaints about our home life, relationships with neighbors, and even our life together here at church…

But the Lord Jesus tells us that everything changes when we go to school or go to work or go home or go wherever it is we go realizing we go there “sent out by God”. If I go to the office hoping I can make it through the day, that’s very different than getting ready for work with the mindset, “I’m on a mission from God!” – knowing that God has sent us to bring Heaven to that place, to be Jesus to this specific group of people.

Without the sense of being “sent out”, well, we all know what it’s like: Our days are emotional roller coasters, happy one moment (depending on our circumstances), and miserable the next (as those circumstances change). We’ve all, perhaps, known or heard about priests and pastors who’ve left the ministry because of disappointment and hopelessness in the circumstances where they’ve been called. (I can think of one pastor I know whom this happened to recently who spent six or seven years – the entire time of her pastorate – complaining and frustrated because those who made up the church she served just wouldn’t be the way she wanted them to be or do the things she wanted them to do.

(I had the opportunity to counsel her as things were coming to a head and tried to share with her this mindset of apostleship: That sometimes our Father calls us to be Light among other Light-bearers. But other times He calls us to bring our Light into places that need more Light – places where there is darkness or negative, unpleasant, even demonic things happening. And having a sense of godly purpose – knowing we’ve been “sent out by God” into these dark, negative, unpleasant, and even (sometimes) demonic places changes everything!

So we ought not be surprised if and when we find that things aren’t the way we’d hoped they’d be at our new job or in our marriage or at our new school, in the Commissioner’s Office or at the Courthouse, etc… Having put His Spirit inside of us, the Bible is filled with accounts of the Lord God sending His sons and daughters into troubled situations to be a part of His solution there! He “sends us out” to share Jesus’ love and bring Heaven to Earth in these places.

Too often, however, we go to work hoping to get Life there; we hope to get Life from our husband or wife, we hope to find Life and fulfillment from our friends, or from this or that endeavor, and we are regularly disappointed because we don’t understand the nature of God’s calling on our lives as His “sent out ones”.

As Christians we are not called to seek Life or fulfillment from the people or activities of the world. We are called to get our fulfillment and Life from Christ, and then to bring Christ’s Light and Life to the places we go.

It can be a challenging mindset. It can be a difficult calling to remember and set our lips and hands to day by day, but it is His calling on our lives, and He promises it’s an integral part of our having abundant life here in the world, and, of course, integral to those around us coming to Christ and enjoying His Light and Life for themselves, as well.

Such a being “sent out” would have been just as strange and awkward to those first seventy. So let’s see what He told them to help them live in this Way.

First, the Lord Jesus told them not to take any money with them or any extra belongings. I hear two charges to us in this. First, let’s not think we have to have this or that saved up or to have attained this or that status or position to serve God in the world. Jesus tells us we’re ready to be “sent out” just the way we are!

Second, I hear Him calling us to travel light. Our plans to achieve and possess the good things of this world often get in the way of God’s giving us the best things of this world. Giving away and not getting bogged down in the acquiring and getting (and then the maintenance and care of those things we’ve acquired and gotten) keeps our hearts, minds, and souls light for God to “send us out” and fill up our lives with His best things.

Another charge Jesus gave concerning this apostolic mindset was to ask God’s blessing upon the people and places they went to. How would it change you and your school (or your workplace or home life or neighborhood, etc…) if, every time you entered its doors and entered your various classrooms or conference rooms you asked our Father in Heaven, “Grant Your peace to this house”? I think the truth is, we don’t know how it would change things because we don’t tend to do it! J

Jesus “sends us out” saying, “Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’” As we go about our daily lives, the awareness that Heaven has sent us to those places we’re going – Taco Bell, Radio Shack, gym class, that new prospect’s office, the doctor’s office, etc… – can make us ready to pray with and for those we sense have a need. Now, I know that many of you would feel uncomfortable initiating prayer with someone else. And, in the name of Jesus Christ I say to you today, “Get over it!” God has “sent you out” to be His representative: To bring Heaven to Earth; to bring Jesus to lost people. Pray for those He brings to you. Share with them what He’s done in your life.

You’re on a mission from God.

On Saturday afternoon, March 23^rd – the day before Palm Sunday and the week before Easter – we are going to be breaking all of us up into teams and going out door-to-door and around the Wal-Mart and Kmart (and more) shopping centers to invite our neighbors and community to celebrate the wonders of Jesus’ death and the mind-blowing fact of His resurrection with us. We’ll be meeting a week earlier, Friday night, March 15^th at 7pm downstairs in Fellowship Hall, for some training and preparation in this very special kind of “sending out”.

Let’s make plans now to be available and be a part of it all!

We are on a mission from God!

Traditional Worship: [“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” (Hymn #354, vv. 1, 2, 3) (INTRODUCED BY PASTOR)]

Contemporary Worship: [Acknowledging the Body of Christ (PASTOR)]

, and across Luke, we see that Jesus had the habit of sending out different ones of His followers ahead of Him into the towns and places where He planned to visit. At the beginning of Luke 9 we see Him “sending out” the Twelve Apostles to preach, teach, and minister in Jesus’ name and Kingdom. Later in Luke 9 we see Him “sending out” messengers to a Samaritan village He was preparing to visit. As we’ve just read, Luke 10 records Jesus “sending out” seventy other disciples (that is, not from among the Twelve) to go ahead of Him to get ready those towns and places for His coming. And Luke 22 shows Jesus “sending out” Peter and John to get everything ready for their Passover celebrations in Jerusalem.

There are two distinct kinds of “sending out” going on in these passages: When “sending out” the Twelve Apostles the Lord is “sending them out” to train them for the “office” of Apostle, training them to be “sent out” to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God far and wide, and to establish communities of Christians as they go. The “office” of Apostleship.

But these other “sent out ones”, the so-called “messengers” and “the seventy”, are simply “other disciples,” Luke writes. And unlike those called to the “office” of Apostle, these others were “sent out”, but then they came back.

Matthew 10:16-31 [NLTse]

¹⁶ “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. ¹⁷ But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. ¹⁸ You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are My followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. ¹⁹ When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time.²⁰ For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ “A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. ²² And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

²⁴ “Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master.²⁵ Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the Master of the Household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of My Household will be called by even worse names!

²⁶ “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. ²⁷ What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!

²⁸ “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in Hell. ²⁹ What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. ³⁰ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

I was recently talking with a friend who was considering purchasing a handgun for protection. (I know in the aftermath of the Newtown Elementary School shootings that some people have looked to guns as a way of protecting themselves and their families.) It got me thinking – this idea of protecting ourselves from society; this idea of protecting ourselves from “bad guys,” “crazies,” “people that have snapped” – it got me thinking…

If I have a handgun to protect myself from somebody who’s a “bad guy” or somebody who’s snapped: If they kill me, and Jesus has given me the confidence by adopting me into His family – has given me the confidence in salvation – to know where I’m going (that is, to be with Him in Heaven until He makes all things new), and that comforts me; and if the realities of the Holy Spirit’s saving work in my life – the ways I’ve been changed and am being changed for the good – and that giving them hope to know where I would be going, if that would all be a comfort to my wife and my children and my parents and all of you, my loved ones; then, in a manner of speaking, if I died or was killed, I’d be OK, and you’d all be OK… (Of course, you’d perhaps grieve, but your grief would be buoyed by the hope God would have given you in the promises of my being with Him in Heaven…)

But if I somehow killed them – killed the “bad guy, killed “the crazy,” killed someone who’d snapped – then, likely, they wouldn’t be ready, overwhelmed by all their troubles and likely still in their sins, and likely they’d end up going to the other place. So if I died or was killed, I’d be OK because I’m ready to die. But the ”bad guy” or the troubled guy, they wouldn’t be ready…

It all got me thinking, “Are you ready?” Are you ready to die, if that’s what comes? Or do you feel you need to protect your life here? Do you feel like you need to save your life here? Do you need to save yourself?

(I’m not talking about people that have handguns because they enjoy target-shooting and all that kind of stuff. I’ve never shot a handgun. I’ve never been target-shooting. People say it’s fun. Maybe it is? That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the idea of having guns to protect ourselves. I’m talking about all the extremes that some people can go to so that we can protect ourselves…)

I want to challenge us that this is a spiritual issue. It is a question that our faith as Christian men and women and boys and girls, as those of us who are getting to know God through Jesus Christ better and better by the Holy Spirit, and who are getting to love God through Jesus Christ better and better by the Holy Spirit. It’s a spiritual question – a spiritual issue – for us: Protecting ourselves…

It leads me to ask all of us, all of you this morning: Do you know where you are going? Do you have confidence, not just in your faith in Jesus Christ, but in what He has promised is true for us because of that faith?

Because the Bible tells us, as Christians, that the idea of our death should not fill us with fear but with joy! Paul says about himself and his missionary companions, “We would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord,” in 2 Corinthians 5:8. And he writes to the church in Philippi: “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.” (1:21-23)

Yes, the Scriptures reassure us that not even death will “separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Once a believer has died, though his or her physical body remains on the Earth and is buried, at the moment of death their soul (though in some places it’s spoken of as their spirit) goes immediately into the presence of God with rejoicing!

We’ve already seen Paul’s writings to the Corinthians and Philippians about preferring to be away from the body and at home with the Lord, and that to depart and be with Christ would be far better! But our Lord Jesus also speaks to the repentant revolutionary on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Sound joyful to you? You bet! And the author of Hebrews writes that each time we Christians come together to worship that we come, not only into the presence of the angels, God in Heaven, and the Lord Jesus, but also into the presence of “the spirits of the righteous ones in Heaven who have now been made perfect.” (12:23)

So don’t let the teachings about Purgatory steal your sense of hope and joy concerning Heaven, because if we’re in Christ when we die then Christ has fully paid the penalty for all our sins and there is no further condemnation or need for purging our sin further.

And don’t let the teachings about Limbo steal your sense of hope and joy concerning Heaven. In the case of Old Covenant believers the Bible makes clear that God is the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that although these Patriarchs may seem dead to us that they are very much alive and in His presence to God! (Matthew 22:32; and see Luke 16:19-31) And in the case of infants or young children who’ve never been baptized, the Bible makes clear that God knows His Own, that He’s chosen us before the creation of the world, whether we are infants or adults, baptized or unbaptized.

And don’t let the teachings about “soul-sleep” steal your sense of hope and joy concerning Heaven. (“Soul-sleep” is the teaching that upon death believers go into a state of unconscious existence – like sleep – and the next thing they are conscious of is being with Christ when He returns and raises them to eternal life.) The Bible speaks of death as “sleep” only metaphorically, such as when Jesus says to His disciples about the death of Lazarus, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep,” in John 11:11 when Jesus is speaking about going to raise Lazarus from the dead. This and, of course, the passages about going immediately into Jesus’ joyous presence in Heaven that we’ve already read, make clear the promised reality that our souls (or spirits) go to be with Him immediately upon our deaths, awaiting the Great Resurrection and the consummation of the New Heaven and the New Earth!

Let’s not miss this, because all of this impacts our growing older, the aches and pains of aging, of this body breaking down; and of all the troubles we can have living in this fallen world. God in His Own wisdom has chosen not to drive out all trouble – the wicked, the unclean, dark powers, the cruel, the unjust – from this world. He has chosen in His wisdom to allow these things to continue until all His enemies are destroyed, the last being death.

And He has chosen not to grant us the fullness of salvation here: So our bodies know weakness; our bodies know the failure of systems breaking down; our bodies know death… And this death is not a punishment for sin, because there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

The deaths we experience as Christians are the realities of living in a world that has not yet unilaterally bowed the knee to Jesus Christ. And living in a world where our salvation is not all that it will be when the Lord returns to make all things new; as we live in a world where the Holy Spirit has been given us as a down payment – a foretaste – of the fullness that God has for us to come.

So growing old, getting sick, these are all most fully opportunities to show God’s glory to the watching world. You can go to any rehab, hospital, and doctor’s offices and dentist’s offices and hear people moan and groan, complain and grumble, about their bodies having trouble. And maybe they’ll blame it on their doctors, maybe they’ll blame it on their bodies, maybe they’ll blame it on God, whoever, whatever. But few, if any people, will you find glorifying God and trusting Him with their troubles, perhaps saying: “Yeah, I’ve got this or that going on, but, worse-comes-to-worse I know where I’m going. And although I hope and trust that God’s going to use this doctor to help me, even if He doesn’t…

It makes me think of the prophet Daniel’s friends – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – “We believe that our God can protect us from your fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar. But even if He does not we will not bow down to your golden statue!” We believe that God can save us and heal us, but even if He does not… We believe He can restore us from the troubles of old age and refresh us and renew us and keep us from all illness and infirmity, but even if He does not we will not forsake Him Who has never forsaken us!

Because we know He has given us a promise of life everlasting, and that until He returns – even if we were to die today – that until He returns that we have good things to look forward to after our death: Life with Christ in Paradise; a better, completely spiritual life with Him; more intimate than we are able to experience with Him here in this fallen world; awaiting the fulfillment of all things as we await the time of His return…

From glory to glory! After all, this Earth can be pretty glorious sometimes. But the intermediate state – Heaven! – how even more glorious that will be enjoying Jesus’ mighty, glorious presence! And of course, more glorious still, the New Heaven and the New Earth where we will live with Him in our resurrected bodies – you and I perfected and living face-to-face with Him in that perfectly material and spiritual creation. “Onward and upward for eternity!” as C.S. Lewis put it… (“The Last Battle”)

So let us glorify God with your bodies! In our troubles let us give Him praise. Let us see, in our troubles, opportunities to learn perseverance of faith. Let us see, in our troubles, opportunities to be better molded and shaped, by the Potter’s hand, into Jesus’ likeness. Let us see, in our troubles, our infirmities, our aches, our pains, our gray, our weakness, our inability to do what we used to be able to do… In our getting sick more readily… Let us see in our lives in this fallen world opportunities to give our Lord and our Savior endless, unending praise to draw men and women and boys and girls to Him as we celebrate His goodness in the good times and the bad times. As we celebrate the abundant goodness of this One Who is Himself the very standard of goodness!

Because this life is not the end. Because this world is not our home. Because the end Christ has for us is glory, if we will be faithful and true to Him in this life. And because the home Christ has for us is Heaven, and a New Heaven and a New Earth, if we’ll be faithful in our lives as strangers and temporary inhabitants of this fallen world!

To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel According to John 1:1-9 [NLTse]

3 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent You to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with You.”

³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴ “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. ⁷ So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

⁹ “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

Nicodemus should have known Jesus was talking about conversion.

Most literally Jesus speaks here as being born “from above”. In the Lord Jesus’ day, as is sometimes still practiced by Jews and even a few Christians, as a way of demonstrating the holiness of God’s name – hallowed be Thy name, we pray – some good Jews would not use God’s name in their conversation: Not “Lord”, not “Yahweh”, and for some not even saying “God”. And so they developed what are called circumlocutions to help them talk about God and His things without having to refer to Him and use any of His names directly. So “Kingdom of Heaven” is spoken of when referring to the Kingdom of God; and when the High Priest asked Jesus, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” he says “Son of the Blessed One” instead of saying Son of God. So the Lord is speaking here of being born of God, often spoken about as being “born again”…

That being said, Nicodemus should have known Jesus was talking about conversion. Because when Jewish teachers would speak of Gentile converts to Judaism they would talk about the convert starting a new life, like a “newborn child”. For another reason, in the First Century, those adopted as sons, under Roman law, relinquished all legal status in their former family: Legally-speaking they were not children in their family of origin any longer, they were children of their new family, as though they had died and were born again. Nicodemus should have known the Lord was talking about conversion because baptism was seen, by Jewish leaders, as necessary for cleansing converts to Judaism from their “Gentile impurities”, and was commonly spoken of as saying they’d been “born of water”…

Perhaps Nicodemus didn’t get it because these were all associations used for Gentile converts to Judaism. Perhaps, as a leader of Israel, he couldn’t perceive of the need for someone who’d been born a Jew to need to be cleansed from impurity and start a new life like a “newborn child” and be born again of God and be converted to the true faith of Israel by following the Messiah, Jesus. Perhaps he couldn’t get it even though John the Baptist had preached it, as well, when he said, “Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing.” (Matthew 3:9) No, for neither religious knowledge nor family affiliation nor community ties are sufficient basis for a relationship with God: One must be born into God’s family by the Holy Spirit.

And we need to hear these things in our day because we have people who say, “I’m a Christian because my momma and daddy were Christians.” Or who say, “Of course I’m a Christian. I’ve been attending this church since I was a kid.” Or who say, “Who are you to tell me I don’t have a relationship with God? I went to seminary!”

No, my brothers and sisters and friends: We must be born of God by the inward working of the Holy Spirit, that work that occurs once we’ve seen our need for a new life – our need for someone to save us and rescue us from this life – and we put our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior and the Lord of all of our lives.

Nicodemus should have gotten it because, as a leader of Israel, the prophetic words of Ezekiel should have echoed in his mind when the prophet uses water to speak symbolically of God’s cleansing work by the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel speaks the Word of God, saying, “For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. ²⁷ And I will put My Spirit in you so that you will follow My decrees and be careful to obey My regulations.” (36:24-27)

And with God’s Word echoing in our minds we can see that the Lord Jesus’ use of the term “born of God” and “born from above” and “born again” speaks of so much more than merely relinquishing legal status in former families, and so much more than merely shifting from one belief, view, or party to another (which is what “conversion” actually means). So very much more!

It is a cleansing, this being born of God, as absolute cleansing from every impurity and all filthiness. It is an absolute cleansing from every wrong and harm and shameful act you have ever done and an absolute cleansing and binding up and healing from every wrong, harmful, and shameful act ever done to you. An absolute cleansing.

And yet there’s more! Ezekiel speaks of so much more! The Lord’s referring to so very much more!

To be born of God / born from above / born again means receiving a new heart. A new heart from God! God has a new heart for you – for us! A new heart not of stone filled with commandments and “you must”, “you must”, “you must”, but a heart of flesh that brings our desires in-line with His desires, so that we might want for others and for ourselves what God wants for them and for us; a new heart to share each other’s lives, so that other’s burdens would be our burdens – joining our hearts with them in prayer and joining our resources with theirs to help support and alleviate their need; a new heart – a heart from God – to replace your weary and despairing heart with a fresh and a hope-filled heart! To replace your jaded and needing-to-protect-yourself heart with a new trusting and free-to-trust-God-to-protect-me heart from God!

And yet being born of God, being born from above, being born again is so much more! Through His Word God has promised, “I will put My Spirit in you so that you will follow My decrees!”

So the born of God / born again life is not you and me trying our best to dig deeper and work harder to have the strength or energy or courage or whatever to accomplish God’s heart and will for us in serving others and sharing Jesus’ good news. And it’s not about trying to be more and do more and trying not to burn out as we do so. No!

It is God’s Own Spirit giving us power to not only do what the Father has called us to but also to succeed in everything He’s called us to do. Whether that’s helping families recover from hurricane Sandy; whether it’s sharing what the Lord’s done in our lives with neighbors, coworkers, or friends, whether it’s helping clean up after Worship or Fellowship Hour; or praying for someone while you’re in Wal-Mart together; or telling your husband or your wife or your roommate or child or parent that you’re sorry… Whatever God is speaking to you to do through the new heart He’s given you, He empowers you to do in giving you the Holy Spirit!

Is your life bad enough that you’d be born again of God through Jesus Christ today? I’m not asking for some emotional response, but for a thoughtful, intentional decision to follow Jesus and start – today – a new life! Are you discontent enough with your present life in this world that you would give yourself to Jesus’ new life today?

Don’t misunderstand, the Lord of Heaven and Earth has not come and borne the sin of the world on the cross of Golgotha to just be one more part of your life. The Almighty God has not overcome death so we could join another community group to help us all be nicer and more moral people. He has come that we would be born again – born of God! – to live a completely new life with a new heart and the Holy Spirit of God within us. Is that you today?

Is God helping you see today that you have merely been being a part of this church, or that you have merely been being a member in a Christian family, or that you have merely been doing good and trying to do your best and please God so that He might be pleased with you and love you?

If God has helped you see that – or something like that – today but today you want to become a son or a daughter of God, trusting God to give you all He’s promised AND MORE THAN WE CAN IMAGINE! Then I invite you to come forward…

According to John 2:12-25 [NLTse]

¹³ It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the Temple area He saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; He also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. ¹⁵ Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. ¹⁶ Then, going over to the people who sold doves, He told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning My Father’s House into a marketplace!”

¹⁷ Then His disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s House will consume Me.”

¹⁸ But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are You doing? If God gave You authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”

¹⁹ “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰ “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and You can rebuild it in three days?” ²¹ But when Jesus said “this temple,” He meant His Own body. ²² After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered He had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.

²³ Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in Him. ²⁴ But Jesus didn’t trust them, because He knew human nature. ²⁵ No one needed to tell Him what mankind is really like.

The Passover celebration took place yearly at the Temple in Jerusalem. (Every year at just about Easter time, we might think of it.) Every Jewish male was expected to make a pilgrimage to the Holy City to honor God and worship. (Deut. 16:16) This was a week-long festival: The Passover was one day, and the Festival of Unleavened Bread lasted the rest of the week. The entire week commemorated the freeing of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. (Ex. 12:1-13)

The outmost court of the Temple, called the Court of the Gentiles, was always crowded during Passover with thousands of out-of-town visitors. The religious leaders crowded it further by allowing bankers to set up shop there who could exchange foreign and Galilean currencies into the coins used by those selling approved sacrificial animals, and then crowded it even further by allowing those who actually sold the sacrificial animals to be there, as well, with their cages and pens of pre-approved sheep, cattle, and doves. The leaders seemed to rationalize the practice because of the convenience for those Jews who’d come from distant lands to worship and because it was such a good way to make some extra money for Temple upkeep. Yet, as a result, the Court of the Gentiles was often so full of merchants and worshipers-waiting-in-line and pens and stalls and cages, that the non-Jewish “God-fearing Gentiles” (they were called) who came seeking the Lord – who were only allowed in that area, the Court of the Gentiles – would often find it difficult, if not impossible, with all the shouting and bleating and pushing and crowding, to pray and worship. And worship was the main reason they’d come to the Temple!

Add to that the fact that by Jesus’ day the money-changers often were charging exorbitant exchange rates, and that the animal merchants’ could charge higher prices in the Temple than they could get away with elsewhere, and it’s no wonder the Son of God drove all these business people and their wares out! And John tells us that the Lord Jesus did these things, His disciples realized, because the Psalms said Messiah would be zealous – passionate – for God’s House.

After Jesus was raised from the dead those first disciples realized what many of us already know, that one of the reasons Jesus came was to put an end to that faulty and corrupt Temple so He might raise up a new Temple, a living Temple, His Own Body – the Body of Christ – as the new and eternal dwelling place for God’s Spirit among the people of the Earth.

As the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians: “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this Temple! For God’s temple is holy, and all of you together are that Temple.” (3:16-17) And in 2 Corinthians, “we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be My people.” (6:16) And to the Ephesians, “Together, we are God’s house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy Temple for the Lord.” (2:21) And to which the apostle Peter added: “You are coming to Christ, Who is the living cornerstone of God’s Temple. He was rejected by people, but He was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual Temple…” (1 Peter 2:5)

According to John 2:1-12 [NLTse]

2 The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and His disciples were also invited to the celebration. ³ The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told Him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

⁵ But His mother told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

⁶ Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, ⁸ He said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed His instructions.

⁹ When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. ¹⁰ “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

¹¹ This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.

¹² After the wedding He went to Capernaum for a few days with His mother, His brothers, and His disciples.

My wife, Amy, and I have been married for 22 years; 23 years this-coming October. Here’s our wedding photo: She’s just as lovely as ever; me, well, I’m working on it…

When we got married we both lived in Baltimore, MD downtown in the Inner Harbor area. She was renting a little second-floor 3-room apartment and I was renovating a 3-story brownstone two streets over. After we got married the brownstone was no longer mine: It became hers, too, and we worked on it together. Our first couple of years of marriage were tough: I’d lost my job during the 1990-housing crash and was working for minimum wage doing handyman work around a friend’s rental properties. But Amy was making a lot of money as a Psychiatric Nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital; and because we were married, her income was my income, too!

As I’ve mentioned at different times, my grandfather was a world-renowned scientist: He helped invent the flamethrower and was a part of one of the Manhattan Project work teams that developed the atomic bomb. As my grandparents got older they began giving their children and us grandchildren our inheritance while they were still alive to avoid tax troubles. It wasn’t a million or even hundreds of thousands, but it was a nice little nest-egg to either spend or invest. And because Amy and I were married, all of that became hers, as well.

We both brought debt to our marriage: Some college debt, some credit card debt. And I became responsible for her debt and helped pay it off, and she became responsible for my debt and helped pay it off.

It was no longer, “Hey, there’s Ben Willis!” or “Look, it’s Amy Butterworth!” (Yes, pancake and maple syrup fans, I married Ms. Butterworth). No, we were “Amy and Ben”. Everywhere we went it was, “Here’s Amy and Ben!” Through the covenant of marriage two had become one.

John records in our reading this morning Jesus’ first miraculous sign revealing His glory. I think it is significant that it happened at a wedding: Our Savior changing water – that symbolizes ritual cleansing – into wine – that symbolizes the New Covenant He’s established in His blood.

Looking back into ancient history, when people made covenants – like a marriage or a treaty – the two might exchange cloaks to symbolize that they were each giving their authority to the other. They might exchange weapons as a way of saying, “Your enemies are now my enemies. I’ll fight your fights as if they were my own.” When our Father made a covenant with Abraham, they walked through the blood of slain animals together, promising their loyalty to one another – Abraham and God, promising their loyalty to each other – even to the death…

By entering into a covenant-relationship with us God has given us everything He has and bound Himself to us in a relationship that cannot be dissolved. And with the Lord Jesus’ death it is a “‘Til death do us part” relationship. (And even then He exercises His power to raise Him and us from the dead!)

Notice with me how different the covenant that Jesus established between the Father and us on the cross is from the covenant Moses established between the Father and Israel on Mt. Sinai. Moses went up the mountain and then brought down with him commandments as the condition for the peoples’ faithfulness to the covenant. A complicated sacrificial system was needed and set in place to make atonement for any covenant breaches… On the other hand, Jesus carried a cross up the mountain, let Himself be nailed to it, asked the Father to forgive us, and died to satisfy divine justice for the sin of everyone who would ever believe it.

One covenant was conditional, based upon obedience (even though it lovingly had provisions for every time breaches might be made so the transgressors might be brought back into the covenant again). But the New Covenant was and is unconditional, based on a whole different kind of love: The Lord Jesus died to bring us back into right and intimate relationship with the Father (as God had intended with Adam and Eve in the beginning); and, anyone who believed and trusted in Jesus was (and is) welcome to be a part of it.

The prophet Hosea speaks of this different kind of love, of a day when God’s peoples’ relationship with Him would grow from that of an obedient “servant-master relationship” to that of a loving “husband-wife relationship”. Hosea says, speaking the Word of the Lord: “‘When that day comes,’ says the Lord, ‘you will call Me “my Husband” instead of “my Master”… I will make you My wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.’” The Lord said, “When that day comes you will call Me ‘my Husband’ instead of ‘my Master’…”

And yet even in our day where we as a people – His Church – have been invited into this husband-wife relationship with Almighty God, we can see our Betrothed calling us into an even more and more maturing love here as we wait for Him to come and take us home.

Somewhere I read the following description of this “divine marriage” we are a part of, and the growth of love and intimacy that is hoped for us. It went something like this: “In the beginning She was more concerned with Him giving her a happy life. She saw her Betrothed as making Her happy and as a way to being happy for the rest of her life. Jesus called this “immature love” but accepted it, He did not cast Her off. However, His goal was to mature Her love so that He alone – not riches, nor comforts, nor mere happiness, nor even promises of wonders to come, that He alone – would in the end be for Her the goal of Her life…

My brothers and sisters, together with Christians across every continent, speaking every language, with every color of skin and from every known people group, we, together, are the Bride of Jesus Christ, and He our Betrothed, our Husband! Since the beginning the Father has sought to prepare an equally-yoked Bride for His Son. In this New Covenant marriage-relationship He established on the cross, all Jesus has is ours, and all we have He desires we freely give to Him: His name, His authority, His armor and weapons (all ours!); our treasure, time, and talents, our friendships and business contacts; our thoughts, words, and actions (all His!); His righteousness, His healing, His riches in glory, His strength (all ours!); our sin, our sickness, our poverty, our weakness (all His!).

O, if we truly knew our God and Husband! O, if we truly knew how He has been pursuing us our whole lives long, and how He is pursuing us each and every day! O, if we truly knew who we are to Him and how precious we are to Him, His Bride! O what lives of lavish and extravagant thankfulness we might lead in response to His pursuit and love!

Would you pray with me?

Holy, holy, holy One! Grant us the grace to know You and receive You to be our God and our Husband! Grant us all we need to recognize and respond to Your pursuit: The signs of it in our past, and the ongoing expressions of it each day! Help us to comprehend the incomprehensible: That is, all that we are to You, how prized, sought after, sacrificed for, and precious! Fill us with Your Holy Spirit that our self-worth, priorities, words, actions, and relationships might all be transformed out of thanksgiving for You and Your love in our lives… Amen?

The Gospel According to John 1:19-34 [NLTse]

35 The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. 36 As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” 37 When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.

38 Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” He asked them.

They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are You staying?”

39 “Come and see,” He said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with Him to the place where He was staying, and they remained with Him the rest of the day.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”).

42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”).

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow Me.”44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.

45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.

47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

48 “How do You know about me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then He said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see Heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the One Who is the stairway between Heaven and Earth.”

In our reading from John’s Gospel today we read about the gathering of Jesus’ first disciples: John the Baptist sends two of his disciples off to begin following Jesus; one is Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, who immediately goes to find his brother Simon to tell him about Jesus; and once back in Galilee Jesus calls a fellow named Phillip to follow Him, who immediately goes and tells his friend, Nathanael.

When Andrew brings his brother, Simon, to Jesus something significant happens: The Bible tells us, “Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, ‘Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas’ (which means ‘Peter’).” [A rock.]

The word translated “looking intently” is the Greek word emblepsos, which most literally means to look upon (in the sense of “taking it all in”) but also to look into in the spiritual sense of Jesus truly knowing someone: Their secret thoughts, their heart, the very depths of their soul…

We don’t get to know whether or not Simon likes being called “rock”, but then we do get to see Jesus’ meeting with Nathanael, where the Lord Jesus says, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

Likewise in other passages we know that Jesus called the brothers James and John “Boanerges”, sons of thunder, and another Simon among the apostles was called “the zealot”. I’ve heard sermons relating what hotheads and troublemakers James and John must have been for Jesus to call them that. (Though they don’t come across that way in any of the Gospels.) And I’ve heard lectures telling how this other Simon must have been part of the anti-Roman group called the Zealots to have been named that. But what if James and John were relatively quiet, never rocking-the-boat kind of men? (The Bible shows us they had a domineering and pushy mom, and I can imagine sons with such mothers growing up to be that way.) What if Jesus named James and John “sons of thunder” because when He looked into them that is what He knew they truly were and would be? What if Simon was called “the zealot” not because of some political group he had been affiliated with, but because once Simon was in Christ and Christ was in him that he would be known for his zeal, “the zealot”?

The Bible shows us that Simon Peter was a people-pleaser: Telling Jesus he would die with Him, but then telling a servant-girl and bystanders three times that he’d never known the Lord; He ate forbidden foods with Gentile believers in Antioch, but then followers of the Torah-Law came to Antioch he started doing what they taught was right and wouldn’t even sit with the Gentile believers any longer. But Jesus said Simon would be called a rock!

And although Nathanael comes across as kind of a cynical and mocking sort, Jesus says, “No, that’s no longer you; you’re a man of absolute integrity.”

I pledged a fraternity my freshman year in college. During one of our “activities” one of the seniors in the fraternity was giving telling us what he thought of each of us. When he came to me he told me he thought I was “Indomitable”. (It means “impossible to subdue or defeat”.) He said to me something like, “When we make people a part of this fraternity our hazing and other activities are intended to break you down and make you to be just like us. And you go along, Willis: You do our pushups and situps and go through the nasty hoops we make you jump through. But I don’t think we’re breaking you down like the rest. And that might be good for you, or that might not…”

It’s funny that that name became kind of important to me across those years, a name I rallied around when times were especially difficult; a name that helped me hold onto who I was when my understanding of who I was began getting blurry.

To the Church in Pergamum, in The Revelation to John, the Lord Jesus writes, “To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in Heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.”

What does the Lord Jesus see when He looks into you? Don’t be distracted by what a retched sinner you think you are and so be thinking that that’s all He can see in you. Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus loves you. He loves sinners. Your sin doesn’t impress Him. He’s died for it and satisfied God’s justice against it on the cross. And don’t be distracted by your own sense of self-importance, if that blinds you. No one who is anybody is anything apart from Jesus Christ: Apart from Him we can do nothing.

What does the Lord see when He looks into you? I believe He has a new name for us all, a name that describes who we truly are born anew in Him…

The Lord Jesus knows you inside and out, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the shameful. And He loves you. And a part of His knowing you, a part of His looking at you intently in love to-save-you-and-rescue-you-and-make-you-new is this new name – a new identity, a new character – that He has for you, that is who you truly are now that you are in Him and He is in you! Who are you? What is your name?

Today and these days I encourage us to ask Jesus to tell you what your new name is. When you hear this name from Him in prayer or your readings, write it down. Study what it means. Share it with a wise, Christian confidant. Is it really your new name? If not, keep asking Him and waiting. If it is, rally around that name, meditate on your name, let it define you when the lines of who you are seem to be getting blurry, and when you have opportunities to make new choices that will show you and those around you the new kind of person Christ has re-made you to be.

In Jesus Christ the old has gone the new has come.