Nehemiah 1:4-11

Nehemiah 1:4-11

English Standard Version 

  I absolutely love this prayer from Nehemiah.  Remember -- he's just heard devastating news that Jerusalem lies in ruins -- but rather than rush headlong into action, he stops to pray.  He slows down enough to ground himself in prayer.  May we all be so wise!

  And as he prays, he includes a confession of sin.  He acknowledges the shortcomings of the people.  God repeatedly warned the people of turning from the worship of God, and the people did it anyway, and they are scattered.  Nehemiah prays for forgiveness, including himself among the culpable, but then turns and prays for God's blessing upon his actions, reminding God that the people are the redeemed who have been claimed by the strong hand of God.

  When we pray, we don't need to hide anything from God.  We can confess our sins with confidence, because God knows our sin -- but our sin isn't the end of the road, thanks be to God.  There is hope on the other side of sin, and so Nehemiah acknowledges and confesses sin but then moves through it, asking God for a way forward.  

  We all have shortcomings in our own lives, areas where we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  In the midst of dire situations, we can acknowledge that reality in our prayers, but we don't have to stop there -- we move through it and ask God's blessings on the next steps, that we may do what is wise.  We don't need to live in the past -- the future is ahead, and God sends us into it!

Nehemiah 1:1-3

Nehemiah 1:1-3

English Standard Version 

  Nehemiah is physically far removed from Jerusalem, but the city isn't far from his heart -- when he has the opportunity, he questions Hanani about it, wanting to know the fate of the city.  At the time, he probably doesn't realize that the question will change his life.  

  The right questions have the ability to transform our futures.  When we keep people and places close to our hearts, we look for updates, and sometimes, those updates will drive us to changes.  They'll lead us to actions that can come at great cost.  

  So who are the people on your mind this week?  What are the places that you're concerned about?  Keep looking for updates.  Those updates may eventually ask something of you, some sacrifice, but when you care, you make those sacrifices willingly.  When our brothers and sisters are suffering, community demands something of us. 

Sermon for February 26

Psalm 131

Psalm 131 

English Standard Version 

  A great Lenten Psalm -- it's about simply resting in God.  There's nothing grand or overarching in here, and yet it's also the essence of our relationship with God -- we who are children are nestled into the laps of God, and we receive unconditional love from God -- love like a mother offers a child.  I've never seen my children so peaceful as when they are curled up in their mother's laps.  Likewise, we'll never obtain peace like we can get from God.

Psalm 100:5

Psalm 100:5 

English Standard Version 

  The Lord is good.

  There are so many things we can doubt in the world, so many things that are uncertain.  We think we can count on a lot, but even the things that are most certain in this world, most of those things will fail us, at some point or another.  Have you ever read Jane Kenyon's poem Otherwise?  It's a stark reminder that one day, all will be otherwise than what we know today.  

  But God is good.  God's love is forever.  If you can build your life upon something and know that it will hold true forever, that's the one thing.  God's love is good, and we can trust God, and God will be faithful forever.

  In a world where the sands are constantly shifting, may we give thanks for God's consistency.

Psalm 100:4

Psalm 100:4 

English Standard Version 

*************

  Thanksgiving and praise will be the hallmarks of eternity.  

  What's it like to start practicing those now?

  It's easy to get caught up in cynicism.  I default to sarcasm a lot, and we're all surrounded by people reminding us to be afraid or distracting us by showing us things we desire.  

  What's it like to practice gratitude and to have a rhythm of praise?

  It's a hard thing to do, but I suspect it's worth the effort.  Maybe it will build us up as individuals and a community, training us in the ways of eternity while we're here on earth.

Psalm 100:3

Psalm 100:3

English Standard Version 

  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

  When we truly grasp this concept, this reality, then it is absolutely amazing.  Just imagine what it is like to want for nothing!  We spend so much time and energy chasing our desires, even when we know that won't fully satisfy us... when God offers us what we truly need and want.  When we can rest as the sheep of God, we rest in God's pasture, and we know that we know that we know that we are God's.

Psalm 100:2

Psalm 100:2 

English Standard Version 

  There's plenty of people out there who do things out of obligation.  It's funny when we ask the kids to clean their rooms.  Not a lot of gladness there.  It's probably the same way I deal with some of the requests to me!

  But that's not how God wants us to serve.  We're called to serve the Lord with gladness.  We can only do this when we've reflected on what God has done for us -- that should plant gladness in our hearts.  

  And maybe there's something about singing that helps us be glad.  Maybe when we sing, we train our hearts to be glad.  I'm not a huge singer... but maybe I need to try this.

Psalm 100:1

Psalm 100:1 

English Standard Version 

  I'm a terrible singer.  The larger the chorus with the loudest voices, the better I sound.

  But the Psalmist doesn't tell us to make a perfect sound -- it's a joyful sound.  A joyful sounds might be different for each of us, and it might not sound great to others... but it's a joyful sound that is offered to God, and when we offer it from the depths of our hearts, it brings glory to God.

  Also, it's not necessarily a song.  It's a joyful noise.  Maybe it's laughter.  Maybe it's the sound of children playing.  Maybe it's a peaceful exhalation.  

  Whatever it may be... make a joyful noise today.

Psalm 97:10-12

Psalm 97:10-12 

English Standard Version

  What do you love, and what do you hate?  

  When I read this verse, I think about Lot.  I imagine that when he first separates from Abraham in the Old Testament, he never would have imagined himself in a place like Sodom.  

  But over time, he clearly became comfortable with it.  We all make compromises, and Lot clearly does.  He doesn't hate evil enough to separate from it, so he settles in, and soon it surrounds him and endangers him.

  May we continually rejoice in God, and may we pay attention to the evil in the world -- may we not grow comfortable with it, but reject it, and continue to do so, that we may not find ourselves surrounded by it.  And may we give thanks that God draws us out of danger by God's grace and mercy.

Psalm 97:6-9

Psalm 97:6-9 

English Standard Version 

  I was listening to a sermon yesterday morning that described how all of us go through life and at one point, a trapdoor will open beneath us and we'll fall out of this life.  What will happen after that is that we'll either fall into nothingness, or we'll fall into the waiting arms of our eternal God.  At that moment when that trapdoor opens, nothing else can save us -- no matter how much money is in our bank account or how hard we've worked or how sterling our reputation is.  The only thing that can save us is the grace of God, waiting to catch us as we fall.  

  Many of us, myself included, spend our lives ignoring the reality of the trapdoor.  We don't like to think about it... so we don't.  We fill our lives, often with many good and worthwhile things, whistling past anything that would dare remind us of that trapdoor.

  Some people completely ignore the trapdoor, opting for idols that they think might be able to save them, only to discover later on that the promises the idols made to deliver were worthless.  

  The Lord is high over all the earth.  We'll all discover this someday.  May we live with wisdom in the here and now, aware of the trapdoor and grateful that there is a God there to catch us when we fall through it.  We don't have to live in fear of it, which means that we can spend our lives serving others, just as God serves us.

Psalm 97:1-5

Psalm 97:1-5

English Standard Version 

  There's a rental car place down the street from me that I use every once in a while when I'm driving across the state for the day, and the lady who runs it has a little dog that never fails to greet me like I'm the most important person in the world.  You'd think I had my pockets stuffed with dog biscuits when I walked in there the way that little dog jumps up to see me.  It always makes me feel good.

  Sometimes, when I see that little dog jumping up, I think about God.  We treat God pretty casually sometimes.  Maybe we need to do a better job of treating God like God is the most important person in the world.  God wants to be intimate and to be a friend, but let us never forget that this is the God who has fire go before him.  If the mountains melt like wax before the Lord, a little reverence from us would be prudent, right?  Maybe a lot of reverence and fear.  We can get very casual and comfortable, and we should remember that it is God who sits on a throne of righteousness and justice -- this God is strong enough to save, mighty enough to punish, and chooses to exercise divine favor and grace when looking upon us, despite our sinful ways.

  We should fall before God's throne in worship in reverent awe. 

Psalm 96:7-10

Psalm 96:7-10 

English Standard Version 

  If I showed up unexpectedly at your house, maybe you'd feel generous and offer me a cold beverage.  Depending on what you had on hand and what time it was and how frustrated you were with me, maybe I'd get something to eat as well.  But that's probably as far as you'd go, right?  I mean, it's just me.

  What if Arnold Schwarzenegger up at your house?  Or Angela Merkel?  I bet you'd get out the nice plates for them.  Maybe you'd even offer them a gift out of your house.  Maybe a plant or a candle, something you have on hand to show your appreciation for them stopping by.  Perhaps you'd offer them some money to support a cause they were working on, not that either need any money.  

  What if the Creator of the entire universe stopped by for a chat?  What if the one holding the entire universe together with God's will were to swing by.  What would you give?  

  The Psalmist tells us to ascribe to the Lord the glory that is due his name, and it makes me laugh, because what could we possibly give to God compared to all the glory that God deserves?  We fall woefully short of what God deserves.

  But God asks us to give what we can, to worship the Lord and sing God's praises.  God doesn't ask for more than we can give, but we should give all that we can, offering ourselves, our joys and songs, to worship the Lord out of gratitude for all that God has done.

Psalm 96:1-6

Psalm 96:1-6 

English Standard Version 

  LeBron James and I can both play basketball.  One of us, however, has excelled and demonstrated excellence throughout a sustained career -- if he and I were to play basketball against each other, the outcome would not be in doubt for very long.  If I play on my own, I can pretend that I'm very good, but in direct comparison, I fall somewhat short.

  The Psalmist here notes that God made the heavens.  There are plenty of false gods that people have created, but how many of them have created the heavens?  On their own, maybe we can pretend our false gods are sufficient, but when we compare them to what God has actually done, our false gods fall far short.  Only God has truly created the heavens and the earth, and because of this, God is robed in majesty and splendor!

Psalm 95:1-5

Psalm 95:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  I sing far, far better in a chorus.  The larger the group of people, the louder I will sing, because I know my voice will be drowned out by lots of other voices.  I'm not afraid to sing in a chorus -- it emboldens me to sing louder, and I feel like I sound better, because I hear everyone else's voices, which are all better than mine.  

  When the Psalmist talks about singing, it's for us to sing.  It's not a singular act, but one in which we all lift our voices.  In doing, we remind one another to sing, and we also encourage one another to sing louder, for we're not singing alone.  Here, we have the entirety of creation singing, from the depths of the earth to the heights of the mountains.  We join a heavenly chorus as we sing to God Almighty!

Sermon for February 5, 2023

1 Corinthians 4:18-21

1 Corinthians 4:18-21

English Standard Version 

  Kingdoms don't conquer through words.  If they did, Jesus could have simply spoken nice words, given inspiring speeches, and then headed back to heaven.  

  But he came to intervene between sin and God's children, so that we might be saved.  It's the difference between yelling at my child not to play near the street and actively pulling them back from traffic.  Both show concern, but one translates that concern into action and steps in to save a life.

  The church, too, should default to action, with a bias towards being involved in one another's lives, so that we might show God's love through words and back those up with actions.

  What actions can you take today to show the love of Christ?

1 Corinthians 4:14-17

1 Corinthians 4:14-17 

English Standard Version 

  In so many ways, there is as much, if not more, pressure on teachers than on students.  If the students don't learn, it's not always the teacher's fault, but the teacher can be blamed.  Good teachers take responsibility for their students, and even though they're aware of many circumstances that make learning difficult for various students, they still care so much that they put pressure on themselves to help students succeed.  I feel for so many school teachers today -- they're competing with so many different things vying for the attention of their students, and students have so many pressures from so many different directions, and teachers are trying to break through the noise and affirm and challenge and comfort and guide students.  Let us pray for our teachers as well as students.

  When I think of Paul, he had a lot of spiritual children that he was raising in the faith, each of them facing numerous and varied challenges.  There were rich churches and poor churches and churches with every type of person in them, and he was trying to teach them something completely new to many of them, while the students were often being persecuted.  So he sent letters, and he sent people, as he considered himself a spiritual parent, setting an example as well as teaching.

  I read once that everyone should have someone they're learning from and someone they're teaching.  It's an interesting way to think about the world.  Who in our circle of influence can we approach like a student, and who might be a teacher to us, and how do we honor each and both?  How do we hold ourselves accountable to a high standard, that we might bring glory to God and provide an example of how to strive to imperfectly follow Christ?  How can we be honest about our joys and struggles, and in so doing leave a rich legacy of growing into a faith that is challenged and stretched and mature as we live it out in our everyday lives?

  Tough questions that have been wrestled with for thousands of years.  We are wise, like Paul, to ask them of ourselves and to look for resources to reinforce the Gospel message of grace, peace, and love.

1 Corinthians 4:8-13

1 Corinthians 4:8-13 

English Standard Version 

  Paul has a bit of a flair for the dramatic!  Can you imagine the Corinthian church listening to this, telling each other, "Yes, we get it, we get it." Paul is trying to lift them up, to show how Christianity isn't a matter of rank, where some are elevated above others, but it's a matter of grace, where we receive unimaginable riches simply due to the grace of God.

  Where else in the world can such favor be granted so freely?  None of us are in danger of getting freely selected into the royal family simply because it's our lucky Tuesday.  None of us will get a check from Bill Gates simply because he's feeling generous.  None of us will be granted a mansion on a golf course or a new grand piano just because the owner feels generous.  Pretty much everything in this life must be earned, and so we grow accustomed to this line of thinking.  And it wasn't any different two thousand years ago, which is why Paul goes over and over and over this, constantly trying to help the Corinthians see that they have received treasures as a free gift of grace.

  It's a hard way to shift our minds... but it's worth it, it's so worth it, because it frees us to live in grace, given and received.