Seasons of Rest (May 3, 2020)

Have you found rest?

It is hard to believe, but at the time of this letter we have been unable to gather as a church for 6 weeks.  6 weeks!  Sunday will be the seventh.  Our last time of worship together in a church building was in March…the 15th to be exact.  Right now, as I type, we are on the brink of May.  Who could have predicted that this would be the case?  How is it even possible?  WHEN WILL IT EVER END?  Those are great questions, and I wish that I could tell you the answer to them (especially the last one), but let me ask another, more important question for you to consider…have you found rest?

I know.  I know.  Some of us are tired of “resting”, tired of being cooped up inside, limited in what we can do, where we can go, who we can see.  We don’t want to talk about resting anymore.  Let’s get on with life!  I understand, and I have those thoughts and feelings too.  I’m getting antsy and done with the whole situation.  I feel ready to move onto the next step.  I’m ready to get back together with people.  I’m ready to have church on Sunday mornings, to give out hugs and handshakes, to worship Jesus together.  I’m ready to go to Red Robin after church, sit at a table and eat bottomless sweet potato fries (they make a good sweet potato fry).  I’m ready for normal life to return!  It’s been long enough!  Surely, we can be done now! 

But, have I found rest?

Rest.  It can be underrated and often ignored.  I know that I can be guilty of this fact in my own life.  I get busy, the chores pile up, the list of responsibilities and tasks gets long, the “have tos” and “want tos” start to become overwhelming, caffeine intake increases, sleep decreases, “rest” becomes less of a priority.  But, is this really how I should live, and what price am I paying?

Throughout the Bible, rest is a topic that comes up often.  If you read through Scripture, apparently “rest” is important to God.  Right away in the book of Genesis, in the story of God creating the world, what do we see?  God creating, God working, God doing marvelous things, but not only that, we see God resting.  Look at what Genesis 2:2 says:

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 

Now, let’s be clear.  God is God.  God wasn’t tired.  God wasn’t worn out.  God wasn’t exhausted to the point that he just collapsed on the coach and needed a power nap because he just couldn’t do any more.  God could have done whatever God wanted to do on that seventh day.  God chose rest.  God didn’t need rest.  God chose rest.  And God chooses rest for us as well.  Genesis 2:3 reads:

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

God made the seventh day holy, a day set apart, a “sabbath,” a day for worship, a day for rest.  Not only did God mandate a seventh day of rest for humankind every week, he also had a plan in place that the creation would rest every seven years as well. 

When instructing the Israelites on how to plant and harvest their fields, listen to what the Lord says.

‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord.  For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops.  But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.  Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.’  ~ Leviticus 25:1-5

For the people who were called out of Egypt to follow God, even the fields were to have rest.  The land was to be given a time to rest and rejuvenate.  Six years of planting, six years of pruning, six years of gathering crops, and then one year of resting.  This was to be the pattern.  This was to be the routine.  Work followed by rest.  Effort accompanied by trust.  Labor and a task to accomplish followed by a break, a time of worship, a time of rest.  It turns out that rest is important.  

So, I ask again, have you found rest?

I have to admit that even in this unique time of shutdown and isolation, rest has not just come to me easily.  It’s easy for me to work straight through all seven days and accompany that with distraction and sleep but not necessarily rest.  It’s easy to put in the six years of planting and continue to plow right through the seventh.  The hard part is to take the time off and truly rest, to trust, to put the day into the Lord’s hands and say “This day is yours.  Let me worship you today.  Let me find my rest in you this day.  I know that you will provide.”  I wonder how often, even in my down time, that I’m actually resting in the Lord, trusting in God, allowing for my faith to grow and God to provide.  Instead, am I just sitting while my mind is still worrying, while my fears are building, while I am fretting that if I don’t get up off of the couch soon nothing will be done?

Even in this time of mandated rest, of stay-at-home and don’t come out orders, I still have to make a decision to rest in the way that God wants me to rest.  

In my house, there is plenty to keep me busy for years.  The project list is long.  The unfinished “someday” ideas are never ending.  The work hasn’t stopped just because of the coronavirus.  I am blessed and thankful that I still have work/job responsibilities in pastoring these churches.  There are calls to be made, devotionals to complete, pastoral online meetings to attend, paperwork to be done, videos to record.  In addition, I still had classwork to do, papers to write, conversations to be had (praise the Lord that I’m done until the fall!).  Then, there are normal household responsibilities.  Plus, we’re remodeling/finishing some rooms that have never been completed.  So, I’ve done a little wiring, some minor plumbing, tore down a wall, hung drywall, mud & taped and am working on sanding the drywall.  I still need to finish the drywall, paint, get ductwork installed, clear out the rest of the room, lay flooring, trim, baseboards…you get the idea.  That’s just one room!  There are doors in our house that need hung and painted, a garage that needs cleaned out (my fault), an office that is a dump (my fault), a shed that is over full (my fault).  The list could continue for a long, long time.  And yet…I know that even in the midst of all of this I need rest.

Modern research tells us that rest is important (go figure…God has been telling us this since the beginning).  According to the Cleveland Clinic, lack of rest can result in “high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure or stroke…”  And that is just a short list of some of the issues.  Even in creation, there are studies that say that lack of rest can have negative consequences for fields as well (lower amounts of nutrients in the soil, smaller production numbers, etc.).  

Rest is important, and failure to rest has consequences.  The body breaks down.  The mind frazzles.  Relationships falter.  Things wear out.  But rest isn’t just isolated to a temporary pause from busyness or a quick break from working a job or household chores.  Rest is important in other areas as well.  Rest from worries.  Rest from fears.  Rest from anxiety and stress.

So, I ask again, have you found rest?  

True rest?  Have you found rest from your worries?  Have you found rest from your fears?  Have you found rest from your anxieties and concerns?  Have you found rest for your soul?

Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  This doesn’t mean that we will be work free, that our jobs will cease, that our chores will be magically completed, that we won’t have responsibilities and that we can become lazy bumps on a log.  It doesn’t mean that life will magically go how we want or that all of our problems will be resolved in the way that we want them to be resolved.  Instead, Jesus offers us rest that extends beyond just physical rest, a rest that extends beyond our circumstances, a rest for our souls.  Jesus offers us a quietness of mind, of heart, a rest and a sense of trust that God is holy and that no matter what happens in our lives we can rest knowing that we are loved by our Savior, that we are in the palm of God’s hand, that God will provide for us.

Friends, we need rest.  We need rest each evening when our heads hit the pillow.  We need rest each week as we take a sabbath, to worship God and to take a break from our work.  We need routines of rest in our lives when we allow ourselves to have periods of lower productivity and activity.  We need rest, now.  

For many of us, the current situation has provided us with a unique opportunity to rest.  Some of the distractions have been removed.  Some of the busyness has ceased.  Life has slowed down for a little bit.  For others, the craziness of life has only been amplified.  Health care workers, grocery store employees, people who are continuing to put in long and difficult hours as life has sped up in this pandemic.  No matter where we find ourselves in that spectrum, we need rest, and we need it now.  More specifically, we need to find rest in Jesus.  We need to spend holy time with Jesus for him to speak life into our souls, for him to remind us that we won’t be separated from his love, for him to console us and give us peace, for him to sustain us and fulfill us in ways that our endless striving never will.    

Friend, have you found rest?

I hope that you have, that you can answer “yes” to that question.  Regardless, I encourage you this week to have a sabbath.  Take time, set it apart as holy unto the Lord.  Rest by yourself or with your family, worship God, read the Bible, pray, ask Jesus to give you rest.  After all, it is amazing what can be accomplished in six days when you rest on the seventh.  Don’t believe me?  Let me tell you a story about God and God’s creation…

~ Pastor Chris

You Are Stronger Than You Think! (April 26, 2020)

(This week's devotional is brought to you by Christa.  I hope you enjoy!  ~Pastor Chris)

If you watched Chris’s online message last Sunday, you know that he mentioned how he lost in Ping Pong.  In fact, out of the last 46 games, I am ahead by two (not that we keep count or anything). But even though I am winning, I have to be honest.  Chris is a better Ping Pong player than me.  Much better, in fact.  So how am I winning?  

Let me explain.

A few years ago, Chris made me a dining table from 100 year old barn wood.  This barn wood was special to me because it came from my grandfather’s old barn.  I love my table.  But there is one thing you might, or might not know about barn wood…it’s not perfect.  And my barn wood table is not either.  There are nail holes, cracks, rough wood, wobbly legs, and many more “imperfections” that make up my table. 

It is this very table that we rigged up as a Ping Pong table.  It’s not even close to regulation size, and we use a yard stick to hold up a net!  A hillbilly Ping Pong table, for sure.  But it works.  We play almost every single night.  

Now, what does this have to do with me beating Chris at Ping Pong?  Well, I mentioned how this table is imperfect. I mentioned its holes, its cracks, its roughness.  And it’s those very things that make me beat him.  You see, I hit the ping pong ball just so it hits the crack and when Chris expects the ball to bounce to his right, it bounces to his left.  I aim for a hole and Chris has his paddle ready and waiting on his left and the ball veers to the right.  My entire strategy is aiming for cracks and holes…the table’s weakness is my strength!  

You know, I was thinking about this in regard to our lives.  On Sunday, Chris had quoted a scripture in Luke that stated how if we want to win life, we must stand firm.  But, a lot of times, instead of standing firm, we get a little bit like my barn wood table.  Wobbly. Filled with holes and cracks.  Rough edges.  We feel like 100 year old wood!

Our “weaknesses” can come from:

-Past Hurts

-Sin and Disobedience

-Fear

-Health Concerns

-Present Circumstances

-World Problems

-_____________ (You can personalize this line with something that has affected you personally)

This list can’t possible exhaust all of the ways we have been affected over the years.  There are so many factors in how we get cracks, bruises, scars, and holes in our lives.  

But there is Hope!  

Just as I used a barn wood table’s weakness for a strength, God can use your weaknesses for His strength!

2 Corinthians 12:9 begins: 

  “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness!  Our weaknesses can point to His strength!!  

Here’s how…

-Our Hurts TO His Healing

-Our Sin TO His Forgiveness and Grace

-Our Fear TO Faith in Him

-Our Health, World, and Present Issues TO His Care and Protection

-Your Personal Concern TO His Love and Provision

God can take any of our needs and concerns and use it for His good, His strength, His power, and His love.  We can go from wobbly, cracked, worn- out beings TO being used as God’s vessel!

How we can we do this?  How can we take all of these weaknesses and have God use them for His strength?

When Chris built my table, he didn’t have all of the right tools.  (I’m not complaining, I still LOVE it).  Since then, he now has the tools that would fix the cracks, patch up the holes, and smooth out the wood. He knows this table better than anyone, and knows that he can fix it to exactly how it should be.  I just don’t want him to.  I know all I have to do is ask him.  But, I know it will take him too much time and effort.  Besides I’m used to it.  

We can be like that.  We don’t want “fixed.”  We want to walk in the sin, we want to harbor the hurt, we want to worry and fear…we are used to it.  

We have all of the needed tools to be smoothed out!  We have The Tool that can fill all of our cracks and holes!

The One who knows you best, the One who “built” you, the very One who died for you can fill up every hole in your life with His love!

But, you have to want Him to.  You have to ask Him.  You have to allow Him.  And you have to use some tools yourself.  God can do miracles in your life, but He also wants you to play a part.  He wants you to want Him.  He wants to spend time with you.  

Some tools to do this are prayer and Bible Study.  Pray for His help to heal hurts, to forgive sins, to overcome fear, to move in your life and in this world.  Seek Him with all of your heart!  And then read His love story to you…the Word.  Seek His guidance and His will for your life as you read the Bible.   

As you do this, His strength will begin to fill up your life.  The very things that you thought were your weaknesses can now be used to show Christ’s strength in you.  

And just as I love my barn wood table, know that God loves you even more!  He thinks you are beautiful!  He would never reject or discard you, no matter how many cracks or holes you have.  Instead, He longs to use them, use you to point to Him.

You still might have cracks, you still might have holes, you still might get more.  But know that God can use them.  He can turn your weaknesses into His strength, when we allow Him to work in our lives.  

 Will you ask Him to do this right now?

God, take my hurts, my fears, my concerns.  I give them to You.  I ask for you to fill me up with Your love and hope.  Help me to want You more than anything in my life. I know that I am weak.  I am imperfect.  But will You, the Perfect One, use my weaknesses to show Your glory?  I will put my trust in You.  I will put my past, my present, and my future in Your hands.  To You be the the glory.     Amen 

So, the next time life sends you a curve ball (or a ping pong ball that bounces the wrong direction!)…may we do what 2 Corinthians 12:9 continues to say:

“…Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

And because of this, because of Jesus…WE ARE STRONGER THAN WE THINK!

Our prayers are with you,

Christa Morris

Peaks & Valleys (April 19, 2020)

Have you ever noticed that we define our lives by significant events?  

Let me explain…if we had recently met and were starting a friendship, after we got through all of the “What’s your name?” “Where do you live?”  “What’s your job?” business, and we started to get to know each other a little better, we’d likely go over our personal histories.  We’d start to share a bit about what makes us tick.  Most likely, we’d hit the highlights, the significant times in our lives that stand out, the mountaintops.  So, for me, I’d start telling you about some of the biggies in my life…how I came to faith in Jesus, when I met Christa, when we got married, the night that Silas was born, that time in college where I consumed an absurd amount of chicken wings on an all-you-can-eat night…you know the important stuff.  The triumphs.  The mountaintops.  These would be the significant details that I would share with you, those things that I point to in my life that define who I am as a person.

This is true when we look at our lives as a whole, but it also holds true whenever we shorten the timespan, say to like a week.  Even after we’ve become friends, if you ask me about my week, I’d still hit the highs, the peaks…like the cinnamon rolls with icing that I baked…from scratch…with yeast (a previous sermon nod…you’d have to have been there), or the beautiful sunrise that I witnessed, or the work that has been accomplished in the room we’re remodeling.  I’d point out the highs, the significant, positive events that happened within the last week or so.  Granted, these highlights might not make the lifetime highlight reel (the cinnamon rolls were good…but they weren’t that good), but I’d still use them to describe my life and what is happening in it.

I define and describe myself by the big things, the important stuff, the mountaintop experiences.  These are the things that stand out.  These are the markers to which I point to share about who I am, and I’m not alone in this type of description and definition.  In part, we all define ourselves by our mountaintop experiences, and typically, these are the things that we are most likely to share with others.

But, if our relationship grew, and trust was gained, and the friendship deepened, I’d also begin to share about some of the low points in my life.  Those failures or circumstances that I look back on and realize that I have been defined by them too.  I’d share about the losses I’ve experienced, the hurts that I have endured.  I’d share about the times that life didn’t go so well, that I was broken or bruised, disappointed or let down.  As our relationship developed, I’d let you in on those significant, negative events that have occurred.  I’d share with you the valleys.  Though most of us are usually not as open about them, we are defined by our valleys as well…perhaps even more so than by our mountaintops.

Peaks and valleys.  Hills and dales.  Highs and lows.  Some of them aren’t that significant.  Cinnamon roll highs and burnt toast lows.  We remember them for a short period, but they’re quickly forgotten.  Others are life-defining events, highs as lofty as Mount Everest (a marriage, a birth, etc.), lows as bleak as Death Valley (the loss of a loved one, bankruptcy, etc.).  There are significant happenings that occur that forever change how we describe ourselves, how we define who we are and the experiences that we have been through, there are things that happen that stick with us for good.

Like the rest of us, Moses was a man who experienced significant, life-defining highs and lows (I’m going to mention a number of them, but if you want to read the Scriptures, look in the book of Exodus, starting in Chapter 2.).  He was hidden by his mother as a baby when it had been ordered for all Israelite babies to be killed (a high in the midst of a terrible low point for the nation of Israel), he was put into a basket and set in a river (a low…but a caring one.  His sister watched over him, and it was a way of rescuing his life…even though it meant separation from his mother), he was rescued from the river by Pharaoh’s daughter (high), he was then returned to his mother to be nursed (high), he was raised in a palace (high), he had compassion for his fellow Israelites (high), but he was misguided in how to help and killed a man (low), he fled for his life (low), he resided in a desert for 40 years (low…for a long period with some highs mixed in like getting married and having kids).  Then, God spoke to him in a bush that was burning but didn’t burn (high), he was asked to lead the nation of Israel (high?), he said he was unable and doubted God (low), he confronted Pharaoh (high), he followed God and led the Israelites out of Egypt (high), God used him in the parting of the Red Sea (high), he met with God on a mountain and received the 10 Commandments along with other instructions (high), only for him to come down and see that the rest of the nation was worshipping some absurd statue of a cow (low).  He subsequently broke the tablets on which the commandments had been written (low).  He met with God on the mountain again and received the second printing of the commandments by the finger of God on stone tablets (high).  He faithfully led Israel through a long period of wandering and trial in the desert (high), but in his frustration, he struck a rock for water when God had asked him to do otherwise (low), and he was prevented from entering the promised land (low).  

In just a short period, Moses’ life can be defined by running over the highlight & lowlight reel.  We can see all of these experiences, good and bad, and figure that we know enough about Moses, we have Moses down to a tee, but I’m not convinced that is the case.  Even though we like to define ourselves and others by our highest highs and our lowest lows, that is not all that there is to it.  There is something that happens in the everyday, mundane, day-to-day existence that speaks to who we are and what we might become.

Moses spent 40 years in the palace.  40 years!  And we have precious little detail on that time.  We do know, however, that his time in the palace prepared his heart to care for his fellow Israelites.  When he saw the suffering of one of his people, he responded (not in the right way, but he did respond) (Exodus 2:11-12).  Something worked within Moses while he was in the palace to develop a heart for the people he was to lead.  He was living the good life, in the lap of luxury, and yet his heart developed compassion.  Moses was prepared for leadership for the first 40 years of his life, and we condense it to a couple of sentences, we summarize with a few notes about the highs and the lows.

Then, Moses spent another 40 years in the wilderness in the land of Midian, caring for his father-in-law’s sheep.  40 more years!  Again, we have precious little detail on that time.  We hear the start when he flees from Pharaoh and he gets married (Exodus 2:15-25), but then there’s nothing until God speaks to him through the bush that is burning but isn’t burning as it’s burning but not burning (it’s a weird thing, that bush) (Exodus  3).  Again, we summarize with a few notes about the highs and the lows.  

But what do we miss?  What are we overlooking when we just hit the highs (and sometimes the lows)?  

We miss the grind.  We miss the day-to-day work that God is doing in the background.  We miss the processing and working and smoothing and re-working and processing and working and working and working that takes place.  We miss the years and years and years of faithfulness (or unfaithfulness depending on the person).  When we just look at the highs and the lows, we miss all of that middle ground, and it’s often in that middle ground that God does a lot of the preparing and transforming and renewing and restoring, getting us ready for the next significant moment, whether it is a high point or a low one.  Moses spent a total of 80 years in preparation before he was called to lead the Israelites.  That’s a looonnnnggg time of God working on him on a day-to-day basis.  Not only that, but once he was done, it wasn’t like it was just a hop, skip and a jump to their destination.  No, he spent another 40 years wandering through another wilderness, leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. 

Friends, we’re just coming out of Easter Sunday, a day that is often a high point of our year, but maybe this year it looked more like a low.  Right now, this day, we are somewhere in the middle ground of a season that looks like it is a wilderness, a valley.  Easter is behind us, and who knows what lies ahead.  At the very least, we are in a season of instability within our nation, uncertainty with our future, and inability to live as normal.  Right now, we do not know when this season will end, but at some point in the future, we will look back on this coronavirus season and we will be able to define it as a marker within our lives.  It is a significant time.  

The question, though, remains: How will we allow God to prepare us during this time?  How will we allow God to mold us, to shape us?  How will we allow God to work within our lives when each day blends into the next, when each week goes into the next, when we start to forget the days of the week let alone know the date?  

When Moses was in the palace and then in the wilderness of Midian, God wasn’t sleeping, he wasn’t delaying.  He was using that time, getting Moses ready, ready for the next step.  And that next step, leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land, took a lot of preparation.

We do not know what is next, or when this season will end, but my hope is that we will allow God to utilize this time.  Please don’t just waste it all away with the television (I’m not saying don’t watch any.  I am saying don’t make that all you do.).  Please don’t just wish it away, longing for a mountaintop to return again.  Seek God.  Spend time with Jesus.  Ask God to work within your life to prepare you, to mold you, to shape you, to utilize this time for whatever purposes God wishes to accomplish.  

After all, Romans 8:28 reminds us:  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Even this.  Even this daily drudgery and grind.  Even this uncertainty and difficulty.  Even this can be used of God.  Who knows, when we look back years from now, we may look at this season as a peak…when we met God more closely, when we relied on God more fully, when we heard his voice more clearly, when we walked in truth more faithfully, when we sought his favor more diligently, when we spent time in prayer more earnestly.  May God use even this time for his will and his glory.

Pastor Chris

Light out of Darkness (April 12, 2020)

The spring season is my favorite season of the year!  I love this time, don’t you?  There’s just something about hearing the sounds of the birds singing, seeing the trees bud, smelling the flowers (sneezing and getting a runny nose…those blasted seasonal allergies), the bees buzzing, the temperature rising (but not to the point of being suffocatingly hot), the days getting longer, everything coming to life.  It’s a joyous time.  Then, you couple the sounds and sights and feelings of spring with the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, the joy of Easter, and it just can’t get any better!  Life out of Death.  Victory out of Defeat.  Hope out of Hopelessness.  Joy out of Mourning.  Light out of Darkness.  

Light out of Darkness.

What a tremendous thing.  

If you have ever had the chance to wake up early when it is still dark, shuffle outside, and witness a sunrise, there’s something indescribable about the light appearing where there was only darkness.  Pictures can’t capture the sentiment.  Words fail.  It can be an emotionally moving, spine tingling, amazing experience.  First, the morning light starts to change the environment.  Shapes become clearer.  Things that were masked and hiding become illuminated and apparent.  That “bear” that you were sure was going to come and steal your picnic basket turns out to be a shirt hanging on a clothesline.  The “creepy guy” lurking down the way turns out to be an old tree.  As the time passes and more light arrives, details become apparent.  Leaves are given color, birds are given voice, warmth replaces the chill of the night.  Light breaks forth out of darkness.

Light out of Darkness.

It is a glorious thing.

Too often, I fear, we miss that moment at Easter.  That moment when the light breaks through.  We miss the sunrise.  Sure we celebrate, sure we’re thankful for the light of Jesus, sure we say “He is Risen!”, and we are right to do all of those things, but we miss the light breaking out of the darkness because we fail to recognize the darkness in the first place.  As the church, we can have the tendency to skip over the uncomfortable parts, to miss the agony, the surrender, the betrayal that took place outside the Garden of Gethsemane.  We fail to remember the darkness of Good Friday and the suffering that our Savior endured.  We jump from the celebration of Palm Sunday to the glory of the Resurrection, and we miss the fact that not only were we people living in darkness, but that Jesus went through the darkness for us as well.

In the gospel of Matthew, there is a small, descriptive verse surrounding the events of Good Friday.  It says this:

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.  (Matthew 27:45)

It’s not a large passage, there isn’t a whole lot of detail, but there, during what would have typically been the brightest part of the day, from 12-3, darkness covered everything.  The physical world, the creation, responded to the suffering of the Light of the World, Jesus, by going dark.  Darkness came over all the land.

Jesus experienced darkness.

• Jesus experienced darkness 
• when the religious leaders and authorities sought his life.
• when a friend agreed to betray him for the price of 30 silver coins.
• when he prayed in the garden so fervently that his sweat was blood.
• when his betrayer came to reveal him to the authorities with added insult, betraying him with a kiss.
• when the chief priests, the officers, the temple guard, the crowd came to arrest him as if he was a criminal or the leader of an unlawful movement.
• when every one of his followers fled and left his side. 
• when one of his closest friends denied knowing him.  Not just once.  Not just twice.  Three times.
• when he was falsely accused,
• spat upon
• struck
• beaten
• slapped
• mocked
• rejected 
• scourged
• ridiculed
• whipped

• Jesus experienced darkness 
• when the crown of thorns was pushed into his head.
• when he was forced to carry a cross.
• when the nails pierced his hands, his feet.
• when the people yelled and jeered.
• when he bore the weight of all of our sin.
• when he surrendered his life.

Jesus experienced darkness.  

That list doesn’t even cover it all.  It’s not exhaustive.  Jesus experienced darkness in ways that are beyond description.  His suffering was great.  The sacrifice was immeasurable.  The price that Jesus paid was beyond what we can comprehend.  Jesus experienced darkness so much so that creation responded and the whole world went dark around him.

Friends, right now, we are in a dark time.  For some of us, we are in a dark time physically.  Whether or not we have been affected by COVID-19, there are still those among us who suffer physically.  There are those who are hurting, those who are in pain, those who are in darkness.  For some of us, we are in a dark time emotionally.  The distancing of this time has taken a toll.  The loss of loved ones is felt deeply.  The fear of the unknown, the questions of if life will ever return to normal, the uncertainty of our days has left us in darkness.  For some, we are in spiritual darkness.  We are walking around in our sin and our shame, our rebellion and our loneliness, we have not yet embraced the saving light of Jesus, we are still in darkness.  

But the darkness is not the end.

We are fortunate that we live on this side of the resurrection.  We know that the darkness did not win.  We know that in spite of the darkness, the light shines forth.  

Light out of Darkness.

It’s an Easter thing.

It’s a glorious, marvelous, indescribable thing.  

The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

a light has dawned.

~ Isaiah 9:2

Easter is best celebrated when we first recognize the darkness.  When we recognize the darkness of our sin, our stain, our rebellion.  When we recognize that we have been an enemy of God and that we are unworthy of forgiveness.  Easter is best celebrated when we recognize that we deserve no such grace, no such mercy, no such forgiveness.  Easter is best celebrated when we realize that we have been people walking in darkness, living in darkness, and that darkness is what we deserve.  Easter is best celebrated when we know that Jesus, the Light of the World, the One in whom there was no darkness at all, willingly entered into our dark, into our despair, into our hopelessness that he might pull us out of darkness and into the light.  Easter is best celebrated when we realize that Jesus experienced darkness, but even the deepest darkness could not overcome the Light.

Light out of Darkness.  

It’s an indescribable thing.

May we experience that this season through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pastor Chris

Choosing Our Focus (April 5, 2020)

A good friend of mine often quotes a passage of Scripture to me that I’ve had in my head frequently as of late.  It comes from the book of Isaiah, and I’m going to share the King James Version…something that I don’t use often, but it’s the one that he quotes, and I like it.  

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”  (Isaiah 26:3)  

The New Living Translation says it this way:  

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”

Perfect peace.  I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me.  Perfect peace…especially in times that are unsettling.  How can we have this?  

It might sound simplistic, but the answer is focus.  Keep our minds “stayed on God,” our minds “focused” on God.  Keep our trust rooted in Jesus, our trust “focused” on our Savior.  Keep focused on Christ.  That is the way to have perfect peace…even when our world and situations are changing rapidly.

I’ve shared with the church that I decided to lay off of the sweets for Lent.  No sugar for me!  It’s not like this is some huge problem or sacrifice, especially in light of what others are going through during this time; however, I do like my chocolate, and cookies, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and pie, and cake, and ice cream…you get the point.  I like sweets.  Do you know when it’s the hardest for me to refrain?  Do you know when I struggle the most?  I have the hardest time when I become focused on those things that I cannot eat.  When I focus on the Butterfingers in the bottom of the pantry on the left hand side, wrapped in their bright yellow packaging, whispering my name (not that I’m keeping track), when I focus on them instead of the fresh fruit in the refrigerator, I struggle.  When I think about the chocolate Frosty at Wendy’s that I have chosen not to consume during this time instead of the refreshing glass of water in my hand, it’s more difficult.  

If I focus on that which I cannot have or cannot do, I find myself struggling more.  I find myself having a hard of time.  I find that I am not at peace.  However, if I focus on the good, the true, the right, the holy, the blessings that I have received, peace comes.  More importantly, if I focus on God, if I fix my mind on Christ and I put my trust in Jesus, that peace that is mentioned in Isaiah can be mine.

During this time of uncertainty, I ask, “Where is your focus?”  Do you spend more time focusing on the news and the ever-changing soundbites of information about this virus, or do you spend more time focusing on God?  Is your mind fixed on Jesus, or is your mind fixed on distraction, filling your time with a constant Netflix stream or never-ending recaps of Tom Brady’s (or some other celebrity’s) every move?  Have you spent as much time in the Bible as you have in the newspaper?  Are you more focused on what you cannot have and cannot do rather than what you can have and can do?  Do you have the perfect peace that God has offered, or are you filled with waves of doubt and fear and uncertainty?  Is it possible that there is a problem with your focus?

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.  Typically, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we talk about the crowds, we talk about the King of the Jews entering on a donkey, we wave palms, we sing songs of joy, we celebrate.  All of that is good, and we should certainly continue to celebrate this occasion in the life of Christ.  However, for this Palm Sunday, I want for us to consider another aspect of the story, and I want for us to think about focus.  Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing what was coming.  He knew that beyond the celebration of Palm Sunday that he would be facing betrayal, he would be facing trial, he would be facing persecution, he would be facing the cross.  

If we look at the Gospel of John, directly after the Palm Sunday passage, Jesus says this: 

“Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory.  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.  Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.”  ~ John 12:23-25

Jesus knew that suffering was coming.  He knew that it was time for him to be planted, to die.  But even though the cross was before him, even though unimaginable suffering and death were in his path, Jesus maintained focus…not on Palm Sunday’s fleeting worship, not on Holy Thursday’s communion, not even on Good Friday and this suffering that would occur.  Instead, Jesus remained focused on what lay beyond.  Hebrews 12:2 says, “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”   Jesus endured the cross because he knew what was beyond, he knew that he would be reunited with the Father, he knew the joy that lay before him.  That was the focus.

In this time, we have a choice, and it’s a choice of focus.  May we endure our “crosses” now, the suffering, the heartache, the distancing, the threat of disease, the discomfort, all of it, while looking beyond, while focusing on God.  May we, too, be like Jesus who endured the suffering for joy that was before him.

This Palm Sunday, we can still wave our palms (well, figuratively), we can still sing songs, we can still worship, we can still praise Jesus.  Yes, the times may not be easy, yes, we may suffer, yes, the cross may be before us.  But if we remain focused on God, even in the midst of our suffering, we will experience peace.  Why?  Because God has promised that He “wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

You remain in my heart and prayers,

Pastor Chris

We Still Walk in Freedom! (March 29, 2020)

We live in an awesome land, don’t we?   The land of democracy.  The land where we can go where we want, when we want, how we want.  The land of independence.  The land of choice.  The land of the FREEEEDOMMMM (yelled in a Braveheart voice for those who know the movie). For the most part, we like this land.  We’re a people of independence, a people of choice, a people of freedom.  

If I want to walk around my yard with a boombox on my shoulder singing “Mahna Mahna” from the Muppets at the top of my lungs (look it up if you’re bored and like the Muppets), wearing polka dotted shorts, a camouflage jacket, one pink shoe and one purple, while dancing like nobody’s watching and eating a taco, I’m free to do so, and I like that freedom.  I like this land that lets me have such personal freedom of expression.  Granted, the previous decision might not be a great choice (even though the Muppets are funny, I wouldn’t really be bothering any neighbors except for family, and tacos are delicious), but it would still be my choice, and I’m free to make it.  Also, if I want to go to Walmart at two in the morning wearing said outfit and buy 5 gallons of ice cream with a pound of peanuts and a quart of Hershey’s syrup and proceed to eat the whole thing…guess what?  I can.  Again, it may not be the best choice, it may not be the best use of my freedom, but it is still my choice and typically, I would be free to do so.  I would be free to go to Walmart at whatever hour I so chose because I live in the land of the free (and because Walmart has found it profitable to remain open all hours of the night so that they can make $$$ off of people’s choices).  We are accustomed to choice, and we like having the option to choose.  We like having our freedom.

But what happens when our choices are taken away?  What happens when our freedoms are limited?  What happens when we’re told, “We’re shutting down Walmart at 9.  No ice cream for you.  Take your pink and purple shoe-wearing self home.”?  What happens when we can no longer do exactly what we want, when we want, where we want, and how we want to do it?  

What happens when we’re told:

No.  You can’t go and play racquetball today.  You can’t even go to the gym. 

No.  You can’t go to Macy’s.  You can’t even go to the mall (a poor choice, going to the mall, if you ask me…but you’re not asking me).  

No.  You can’t have that graduation party that you’ve been planning for your entire college career.  You can’t even get together with more than 10 people. 

No.  You can’t go to that concert.  We’re canceling them.  

No.  You can’t watch basketball.  It’s canceled too.  

No.  You can’t go to your favorite fast food joint, sit at the table and drink unending cokes while ordering fry after fry.  In fact, you can’t go out and eat anywhere.  Take out only.  Eat it in your car.  Eat it at home.  Just don’t eat it here.  

No.  You can’t get together and worship on Sunday mornings.  Remember that deal about gathering with more than 10 people?  

No.  You can’t live your life the way you like to live your life.

No.  No.  No.  No.  No.  Stay inside.  Keep 6 feet from each other.  WASH YOUR HANDS!

  

Now, I’m not arguing against any of these directives.  These decisions have been made to try to combat a virus that seems to be spreading like crazy and carrying with it serious consequences.  We should heed the limitations and advice of those who are making these difficult decisions.  We should certainly wash our hands.  Still, the question becomes…Do we still have independence?  Do we still have choice?  Do we still have freedom?

There’s a passage of Scripture in the gospel of John (one that you’ll read this week if you’re following along with our weekly Bible reading).  It comes from the 8th chapter, and Jesus is talking to some people about freedom.  Let’s look at what Jesus says, starting in verse 31:

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Do you know what I find interesting in this passage?  Jesus doesn’t actually equate freedom with the ability to choose to do what you want when you want to do it.  Instead, he equates freedom with knowing the truth.  It’s like a line we hear in movies, “THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREEEEEEE!!!!”  But, here it is from Jesus, and it strikes me a bit odd.  You see, I think it should read, “If you have the ability to go in your yard and play a boombox as loud as you want, wearing whatever you want, listening to whatever you want, eating whatever you want, at whatever time you want, etc., then you shall be free.”  But that’s not what Jesus teaches.  Instead, he says “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Want freedom?  Hold to the teachings of Jesus.  Want true liberty?  Be Jesus’ disciple, know the truth, walk in truth, that will set you free.

Apparently, I’m not alone in questioning what Jesus was teaching and thinking it was odd.  Look at how those listening responded:

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

“Listen here, Jesus.  We’ve been carrying our boomboxes our whole life.  We’ve been wearing whatever shoes we want, listening to whatever music we want, eating whatever kind of ice cream we want, when we want and how we want.  We’re not slaves.  We’re free.  We’ve always been free.  What are you talking about?"

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

“Ah,” Jesus replies.  “You think you’re free, but if you sin, guess what?  You’re actually a slave.  You’re not free at all.  If you sin, you’re a slave to sin.  So what if you can dance around to whatever music you like on the outside, if you sin, you’re really just a slave that is dancing.  Your sin has condemned you.  You don’t actually know freedom.  You don’t actually know deliverance.  You don’t actually know what it means to have a permanent place in the family.  No, you’re just trying to escape slavery by fulfilling your appetites.  Freedom?  Freedom comes from the Son.  That’s the only place to get true freedom.  And if the Son sets you free, then, and only then, you will be free indeed.”

Here’s the thing, true freedom, it doesn’t come from whether or not we get to go to Walmart when we so choose.  True freedom doesn’t come from whether or not we get to gather with our friends when we so choose.  True freedom doesn’t come from whether or not we get to buy what we want or do what we want or listen to what we want or any of those things.  True freedom comes from the Son.  True freedom comes from Jesus.  True freedom comes when we know that we have been loosed from our chains, that our shackles have been released, that we have been freed from the grip of our sins.  Once we’ve experienced that freedom, we will be free indeed.

Once we have experienced the freedom that God has given us through Jesus we will be free, no matter our circumstance. 

Paul says it this way:  

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.  (Philippians 4:12-13)

Paul faced circumstances that were plenty difficult.  He faced actual chains in an actual jail with a very real possibility that he would be sentenced to death.  And yet, here he is saying “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…”  How is this possible?  Paul, knew what Jesus taught.  Paul knew The Truth, and The Truth (Jesus) had set him free.  So free, in fact, that even when he was physically bound, the chains could not hold him.  Even when he was locked up in jail, he knew the freedom of Jesus.  He had been freed from the sin that held him, and nothing could hold him any longer.

So, friends, though our choices during this season are limited, true freedom is not.  Sure, we may not be able to do all of those things that we typically like to do, but don’t be fooled into thinking that these limitations on our choices actually take away our freedom.  Jesus offers us true freedom.  

Freedom that allows us to have joy, even when circumstances are difficult.  

Freedom that allows us to have peace, even when times are turbulent.  

Freedom that allows us to hope, even when the situation seems hopeless.  

Freedom that allows us to have faith, even when the news would portray a world that is crumbling. 

Jesus offers us true freedom, a freedom that cannot be taken away.  After all, Paul knew how to be free while he was a prisoner in a jail cell.  May we know how to be free, even when we’re locked in by a coronavirus.

In peace, in love, and in FREEDOM,

Pastor Chris