The Giver is Greater

As I watched television last night, a man climbed a platform to be recognized with an award of excellence in Australian Rules Football.  The round medal was connected to a ribbon to be worn around the neck similar to medals awarded during the Olympic games.  The recipient bowed his head as a smiling presenter carefully placed the medal.  The man slowly stood up, and raised a fist in triumph as he acknowledged the cheering crowd.  It struck me that while the athletes generally receive the glory or recognition, the game of Australian Rules Football is bigger than each individual player.  Awards given for excellence are even greater than the star players.  The man literally had to bow to receive the award from the presenter who represented the league which gives the player any credibility at all!

The Olympic games are greater than any single athlete.  That spectacle of sport is a bigger stage than any personality.  The greater the stage and the higher the stakes only magnify the glory of the participants.  In the United States at the moment the National Football League and the players are in the middle of a labour dispute.  The owners of each franchise own the rights to the NFL, but the players claim the NFL wouldn't be what it is without their talent.  Though it is a mutually beneficial relationship, I side with the owners.  Without the National Football League those players would be virtually unknowns:  no advertising campaigns, no video games, no television coverage, no multi-million dollar contracts.  The NFL is bigger than any player.  Players are drafted and retire, traded, succumb to injury or rise to stardom, but the league keeps churning on.  Every year 32 teams battle for the coveted Vince Lambardi trophy.  The game is bigger than them all.  The game honors the greatest NFL players in a Hall of Fame:  the players do not honor the game by playing, though many play honorably.

This line of thinking led me to consider of the relationship between Jesus and His followers.  Jesus has died on the cross, risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven.  Because He physically has left the earth, Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within and come upon every believer.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God has given spiritual gifts (not awards or rewards!) so we might honor Jesus Christ and edify the church.  To receive these gifts we must not only bow our heads but lay down our will to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire.  In some circles today, the gifts of the Spirit almost eclipse the view of Jesus.  He is seen as our means to obtain power and this is sin.  Jesus is not a means but our ultimate all:  as Christ lay down His will before the Father, we ought to lay down our will completely before Him.

No matter how decorated a general might be, the country who granted him a career and recognition remains greater than he.  How true it is that a man of authority must be a man under authority!  While athletes are governed by rules of conduct and sportsmanship, Christians are under the authority of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit who make up the triune God as revealed in the Bible.  No man can cast a shadow upon Christ no matter how gifted or skilled he might be.  While men are recognized for their talents on gridiron or their volunteer work off of it, every gift given by God to man is received only by grace.  Is any person worthy to receive even a scrap from their Creator's table, much less to be counted fellow-heirs with Jesus Christ?  Romans 8:14-17 reads, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."

While professional football players receive glory on the field, there is also a measure of suffering they endure for their effort:  knee replacements, chronic arthritis and pain, early onset of dementia from head injuries, even paralysis or death.  Christians are called to give all glory to God despite certain suffering as we serve Him faithfully.  Consider the next verse:  Romans 8:18 says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."  For children of God it is not the promise of rewards, gifts, awards, or compensation which moves us to serve God:  it is love!  God has revealed such gracious love to us in sending His Son Jesus to die for us!  What a privilege to be permitted to serve and even suffer for His name's sake.  Every gift we receive from God's hand gives us greater appreciation and love for Him!  His gifts are greater than us, and God is greater than His gifts.  Let us bow our heads and thank Him for such indescribable gifts of salvation, forgiveness, peace, joy, grace, mercy, and love - all with infinite quantity and divine quality!

Faith Out of Date?

As a eating enthusiast, I enjoy cooking and baking a great deal.  The quality of ingredients used plays a key role in creating an edible masterpiece.  I appreciate an omelet packed with delicious contents, a well-formed Snickerdoodle, or sweet zucchini bread with a crack down the middle.  Though I have met with relative success in the kitchen, there have been occasions where everything seemed to go very wrong - like the time I put in a cup of sugar instead of a tablespoon in the pancakes.  Sometimes failures in the kitchen are not the fault of the cook.  When the oven will not heat up to the correct temperature, baked goods will not rise property.  If baking powder or yeast is very old, it will affect the amount of rise and texture.  Both ingredients for baking and medicines have a "use by date" because their effectiveness is directly tied to their freshness.

But what about faith?  Is old faith just as good as new faith in Jesus Christ?  No way!  Our faith is to be renewed day by day as we affirm our belief in Christ and trust in Him.  Jesus commended a woman in scripture for her great faith, and chastened his disciples for their lack of faith.  We walk in faith and exercise gifts according to proportion of faith (Rom. 12:6), and people also have faith of varying strengths (Rom. 14:1).  Even the smallest amount of faith in Christ is real faith.  Genuine faith in Jesus is saving faith indeed.  As we are to grow in grace, Christians are also called to grow in faith (2 Cor. 10:15).  Faith is not work to be done but a gift to be received. 

1 Peter 5:8-9 reads, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."  Faith helps us to stand and trust in Christ but also to resist attacks from Satan.  When Paul talks about spiritual armor in Ephesians 6:16, every believer in Christ is exhorted to put on the whole armor of God:  "...above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."  Every believer has been given a shield of faith to aid and protect us from satanic attacks.  A shield used in a battle by a Roman Hastati  would be battered by stones, burnt by flaming arrows, chipped from slashes of spears and swords.  The leather straps used as handles over time could become brittle or snap.  Needless to say, shield maintenance and replacement was a part of life for a soldier.

I have a great burden for Christians who have gone into battle and fought valiantly for Christ and the Gospel, yet their faith has grown old and stale.  The spiritual fight has whittled their shields to the size of a dinner plate!  They can be more focused on fighting and contending than abiding in Jesus!  More and more arrows find their mark and cause pain.  Instead of finding strength when a man reads God's Word, his mind becomes more focused on difficulties.  He picks over theological bones in online forums rather than drinking the wholesome milk and eating the meat meant to nourish in God's Word.  This is a real danger for all believers.  Instead of trusting in God has a child, we can have intellectual hindrances that keep us from taking God at His word.  We can carry the same genuine shield of faith, but it can be old faith built by things God said or did years ago - rather than what He has spoken to us today!  God is showing me I need renewed faith in Him.  Won't you wait on the LORD to renew your strength by renewing your faith?  He is our Refuge, our Help in trouble. 

Isaiah 40:29-31 reads, "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. ³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, ³¹ but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  Take a moment to inspect your faith.  Is it out of date or in dire need of maintenance?  It is time to purge our pantries and have God restore our shields of faith.  Fresh faith will give us renewed effectiveness for God's glory!

The Power of Giving

The picture on the front page of the Rouse Hill Times this past week caught my eye.  On a hospital bed lay a man propped on pillows with a ventilator tube in his throat and a serene smile on his face!  Above the picture of this young smiling man the headline read:  "Selfless - He's 18 and paralysed, but he only wants to help others."  Inside I read the inspirational story of Blake Nixon, a young man who days before this Christmas was left a quadriplegic as a result of a tragic car accident.  Though his circumstances have been harder than most could imagine, joy radiates from the smile on his face.  Instead of focusing on his lack of ability or drowning in sorrow, Blake decided to have his head shaved to benefit the Leukemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave campaign.

This is not the first time Blake has endured tough obstacles in his life.  His mother passed away in 2007 due to breast cancer.  Few people his age have endured these kind of struggles and for that reason his smile means so much.  Blake thinks about how to benefit others as he lays in a hospital bed.  This young man, despite his paralysed body, has done more for people suffering from cancer than most people in the world whose bodies function perfectly.  Without lifting a finger Blake's smile and the act of joyfully giving what he can lifted my spirit.

Blake's giving heart takes me back to a moving story written by Shel Silverstein called The Giving Tree.  No matter what phase of life the human character was going through, the tree always was happy and content to give.  We always think that helping involves us doing something physical:  helping mow the lawn, helping with the dishes, helping pay the rent.  But Blake has helped people through his attitude and by shaving his head to make a difference in the world.  I have not been diagnosed with cancer, but Blake's sunny disposition has been a blessing to me as well.  Good on ya, mate!

The headline made me think about my Saviour, Jesus Christ.  There is no one who has walked the earth who has given more.  Jesus Himself was also paralysed on the cross by nails which pinned Him down as He bore the weight of the sins of the world.  He also paid for every sickness, for by His stripes we are healed.  Christians should be the most selfless people in the world because Jesus modeled it perfectly.  He has granted us the Holy Spirit to empower us to live in the joy of the LORD.  What can we do to give ourselves to others for God's glory?

Thanks for the lesson, Blake Nixon.  May we never forget that Christ gave His all so we might give ourselves completely back to him and others!

The Crown of Grace

As we sang "Amazing Grace" in church yesterday, it struck me how amazing God's grace really is.  Like the peace of God which passes understanding, it is past finding out.  The brutal irony remains that the place where grace ought to flourish the most - among the people who profess to know God - is the one place grace is not found.  Instead of seeking restoration or salvation for the woman caught in the act of adultery, the Pharisees were gathering stones to injure and destroy.  It took Jesus stepping into the scene to prevent destruction.  Instead of sympathizing with the adulteress, Jesus desired the woman cease her sinning and be saved.

In my own life I have struggled with giving grace freely.  It is very easy to limit the grace we dole out, but we are rewarding according to merit.  If we only give grace where it seems warranted, it is not grace!  All people are undeserving of God's favor, for we all have sinned against Him ignorantly, willingly, and purposefully.  When we see people in sin we are not shocked, for all are sinners.  But when we see professing Christians stuck in sin, our flesh recoils in that familiar Pharisaical disdain:  how dare he!  And when we do so we become hypocrites equal to the worst of sinners.  Because we do not consider our own past faults and sins, we now stand in judgment of those who are devastated by sin's curse and condemn whom God has forgiven.

I am grieved when I see people "punished" by men after they have freely confessed their sin and repented.  That is one thing God never does.  Is not guilt and separation from God punishment enough?  Instead of the grace of God, man's method is devised of making up for wrongs through trying to do good.  "Penance" is something placed upon one who has voluntarily confessed their sin to a pastor or priest.  Penance is defined as, "a punishment usually consisting of prayer, fasting, etc., undertaken voluntarily as an expression of penitence for sin; a punishment of this kind imposed by church authority as a condition of absolution."  Should prayer or fasting ever be a punishment?  Can one work off the debt of sin through any mortification of the flesh?  I have known people who have freely confessed sin, repented, and were forced to stop all formal service for God for an arbitrary space of time.  It is as if the church refuses to believe that the sufferings of Christ are enough to pay for sin:  we must do all we can to further increase guilt and humiliation.

It seems that in the church we often construct an environment where failed people are no longer allowed to fail.  We are all failures before God, but the lie of Satan is we can never let others know how rotten we really are.  As a man, I am aware of my gross failures and past sins.  As a pastor, I am aware that many people do not feel safe or free to share their own failures because of fear they will be judged, ostracized, or condemned.  Because they feel this way, they keep their sins hidden.  Why should they confess sin and repent to be punished by man in addition to their burdened consciences?  These people can be casual church attendants or people in leadership.  All cry out and long for the grace of God.  Those in leadership feel additional pressure to be outwardly perfect and the lack of confession can not only hinder but destroy their witness entirely.

How beautiful it is that God gives us grace!  How wonderful it is when we can share church fellowship where everyone sees themselves as a complete wreck God has restored!  What a testimony to the life-saving power of the grace of God where all who repent are included, and none who are lost remain excluded:  God's grace is available to all, and it is only our own pride, fear, and selfishness that prevents us from rejoicing in it.  I am tired of the work of Christ's church being hindered because of this lie of perfection before service.  Peter was not a perfect man, nor was Paul.  But God used them anyway.  King David was a great king in Israel, and he sinned horribly with Bathsheba.  Though there were consequences in his life, God allowed His reign to continue.  Why?  Because he freely admitted his sin before God, something Saul would not do!  Though flawed, David was a man after God's own heart because he acknowledged and repented of his sin.  Allow me to share a beautiful song of forgiveness, Psalm 32.

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. ³ When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah ⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah ⁶ For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. ⁷ You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah ⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. ¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. ¹¹ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!"

Psalm 32:1-11

Let us put aside the bit and bridle of guilt and shame which prevents us from repentance.  Instead of demanding penance from those who are in sin, may we seek to restore such in a spirit of gentleness and realize soberly that we too may be drawn away from God to sin.  Let us be honest with God and one another, confess our sins one to another, and pray for one another that we may be healed.  The church is as desperate for this healing as the lost, sin-stricken world in which we live.  Do we mash a crown of thorns upon the heads of those who transgress as those who crucified Christ and in doing so pierce ourselves with sorrows, or do we lovingly adorn them with a crown of grace?  May our lives be a testimony of God's grace, forgiveness, and restoration!