Spiritual Maturity Part 2

Spiritual Maturity—Inner Principles > Outside Pressure

Deuteronomy 13: 1-4, 6-8; Matthew 7: 15-23

            Some years ago, a friend and colleague decided she was joining and going to the gym, and she also decided I was going with her. I did not go seeking an opportunity to wake up at the crack of dawn to go work out at an expensive place, but I figured if God opened the door and all…you know. When we met with the trainer, he asked about our motivation for coming. He started in on all this “get healthy, commitments to a new self,” and all of this motivational pep talk. I simply agreed because I didn’t want to admit in public that, after the holidays, it was getting hard to button my pants. My friend, however, when asked her motivation said without pause, “When I look down, I want to see bust and toes instead of belly.” At least she’s honest and stuck to her real principles. 

            As our second principle of spiritual maturity today, we look at “acting less from outside pressures and more from principles of inner convictions.” In order to understand this idea of inner convictions and principles over outside pressures, we must first understand what principles Jesus left us. In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is. He actually names two—love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and second, love your neighbor as yourself. But then Jesus makes a very sweeping statement, “The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 40). Thus, these two commandments should be the foundation of our principles of inner convictions. 

            It is often harder than you think to stand on principles. In Deuteronomy, the writer notes that some will perform signs and miracles, may dream dreams and have visions much like a prophet of that day. It may be a close friend or relative who pushes or entices us to do something that steps out of our faith and God’s principles. In the days of Deuteronomy, this often looked like being enticed to worship false idols of neighboring peoples. In our day it often looks more like being distracted or diverted from God’s calling to bad behaviors and temptations. In the law, we call it undue influence—some form of persuasion which overcomes your own will, but never convinces you that it’s actually right. 

            Standing on God’s principles requires a strong foundation of knowing Christ’s teachings and prayerfully applying them to your life. Now this doesn’t mean we should avoid working with other denominations and faiths—God has given us a mission and expects us to work together—in love—with others to accomplish it. What we are warned to avoid is letting our thoughts go to places which pull us away from our faith in Christ. We must avoid letting our actions become a stumbling block for others or walk us away from the love that binds us to God. Living by principles of inner convictions means our faith, our actions, and God’s will all stay aligned in our daily life here on earth. 

            There’s another warning in the Gospel for today, though. Jesus says that some who call out, “Lord, Lord,” some who perform miracles and prophesy, some who cast out demons even claiming they do so in Christ’s name will also utterly fail. Why? I’m going to borrow a phrase from a younger generation. They will ask, “Dude, are you for real (pronounced fuh-real)?” Here is one place where “fake it till you make it” does NOT work. This one is a struggle. Just how faithful do we need to be? I’ll give you another example from my ill-fated time at the gym. While in the morning class at 5:30 A.M., the instructor would excitedly shout, “Are we ready to get pumped this morning!” I and everyone else yelled back, “YES!” But, if I were to be honest, there was absolutely nothing I found even exciting, encouraging, or even remotely desirable at all about doing cardio at 5:30 in the morning in a room full of people who were caffeinated into a frenzy. 

            We must be honest about our faith, our walk with God, and where we are struggling. This isn’t to find judgment, but to be met with the prayers, the encouragement, and the love of our church family. It’s okay to ask for help when you feel lost, but what Matthew’s Gospel warns against is faking it. Sometimes people pretend in their faith because they’re struggling. And sometimes they pretend with more sinful motives like money, exploitation, and a desire for personal gain over love of God and neighbor. Be honest when you struggle or feel alone and worried. If you can’t come to your church family to find love and support, then what is the point of being a church family? This is a place to restore our faith and find the courage to stand on Christ, the solid rock of our faith. 

            Finally, Matthew’s Gospel says that the evidence is what is produced from a person’s life. Jesus often likes to use the examples of growing plants and bearing fruit. It’s simple and clear. No one picks a grape from a thorn bush, or at least I wouldn’t recommend it. You wouldn’t find a delicate fig in a bunch of thistles. When a person follows the voice and guidance of God in their lives, you see the evidence of God at work in them. If someone is listening to every bit of bad advice, bad temptation, and sinful voice out there, you will see that in the outcome of their lives. This isn’t a question of suffering in life, for suffering visits us all. This is a question of whether a person is building for God’s kingdom or lost in bad behaviors that destroy their life and their witness for God. 

            What is our motivation? Do our faith and actions come from inner principles based on the foundation of Christ’s guidance? Or are we tossed around by every bit of bad advice under the planet? We have all, at one time or another, been talked into something that we knew was wrong, or we may have talked our own selves into it. That’s not a place where we can live in for the rest of our lives as God’s children. We must find God’s word and guidance from which we get our inner strength. We must be open and honest—for real if you want to use the phrase—about our faith. And we must continue to bear good fruit in this world with God’s help. That kind of motivation and those inner principles will always steer us in the right direction in this life. 

       Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1353781455057511

Spiritual Maturity Part One

Adjusting to Life’s Inevitabilities—Isaiah 60: 1-6; Matthew 2: 1-12

            We begin a series on the marks of spiritual maturity lasting most of this time of Epiphany. The basic outline for this series comes from the writings of Christian ethics professor T.B. Matson, who taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The outline and the characteristics are his. The details of the sermons are my own, so I stole (or borrowed, shall we say) the idea, not the content. The first of these marks of spiritual maturity is being able to adjust to life’s inevitabilities. Now, the self-help books list a few things as “life’s inevitabilities.” Some of those include conflict, personal weaknesses, getting old, failure, taking something for granted, and death. I’m sure there are more, but this gets us started. 

            I had a friend who could adjust to life better than anyone I have ever met. If he had a flat tire, he just smiled and whistled while he changed it. When people began to fight and quarrel around him, he could defuse the situation in an instant. If he couldn’t do something, he just shrugged and went on to something else. I asked one time how he managed this whole sense of calm. He laughed, and said, “Whenever something happens outside of my control, I try very hard to be unbothered. I’ve decided to live my life unbothered by things I cannot change.” 

            I think we see a number of instances of being unbothered in our texts today. The Magi followed a star—they were unbothered by the struggle and difficulty of the journey to Jesus. They were unbothered by Herod’s complete lack of help in their search for Jesus. They were unbothered by the awkwardness of meeting a young Jesus and finding a poor family instead of a rich king. They were unbothered by having to find a new route home to avoid the wicked plans of King Herod. Mary and Joseph were likewise unbothered by three complete strangers showing up; though, I’m sure expensive gifts helped. These Magi were foreign and strange to Mary and Joseph, from different social classes, and likely both parties were taken aback by one another, but both were unbothered by it in this unique moment of Gentiles from far away meeting and worshiping the Holy One—Christ. 

            The person who was truly bothered by the whole situation was King Herod. His limited time as king, his weakness before God, and his fear of losing the privilege of the throne not only bothered him but shook him to his core. It caused him to scheme, to continuously go against God, and finally to order a murderous rampage against innocent children. But God always has the last word over the Herod’s of this life who seek to bring power only to themselves instead of following where God leads. 

            In our own lives, we must learn to be unbothered. Life and the troubles of life will come and go so long as we live and breathe here on earth. There are things we can control—suffering, poverty, hunger, lack of faith and hope. We can fight to combat these evils in our world. We can live and work our part of God’s mission here on earth. But there are also some things that we cannot control. 

            For those things we cannot control, we have this gift of trusting in God just enough to find ourselves unbothered. Now, being unbothered isn’t some miraculous, never-ending sense of happiness. Of course, when life’s inevitabilities happen, we are going to be upset, hurt, and wounded deeply. Feelings and emotions are natural—even Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus despite knowing he could raise the dead!  Instead, being unbothered means we find this peace which passes all understanding that can only come from God. 

            When we find this peace, this “unbotheredness” at adjusting to life’s inevitabilities, we can move from unbothered to unburdened. Jesus tells us what this means in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you…for my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” But the best part of those verses is what we find in Christ. Verse 29 says that “you will find rest for your souls.” If unbotheredness is finding peace, then being unburdened is finding rest. Two things we don’t often get enough of in life are peace and rest. 

            This whole story of Jesus teaches us about the importance of growing in a closer relationship to Christ. In our story of the Magi today, the ones who sought Jesus with all their efforts were unbothered and unburdened in life. Herod, who fought against Jesus the whole way to the point of pure wickedness, remained riddled with fear, anger, and sin right up until his death. 

            Life is going to send us inevitabilities, troubles, real burdens which we must cope with. But the real mark of our spiritual growth is not what troubles we navigate in life, but how much we are willing to rely on the Holy One to see us through. As Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” The true secret to being unbothered by the inevitabilities or “inescapbables” of life is how much we are willing to trust in Jesus to navigate us through all of these things. And when we find this peace of unbotheredness we can find this rest of being unburdened. 

            A friend of mine was recently told that it seemed he was talented at everything. Shyly, he replied, “I’m not, unfortunately, but God knew what he was doing when he made me flawed because I’d let it go to my head if I knew [too much] more.” He went on to acknowledge that where he finds shortcomings, he knows to rely on God. To be unbothered and unburdened and find God’s peace and rest requires us to trust in God’s guidance and wisdom. Some may even call it God’s providence. Whether we are led by a star in the sky, a feeling in our heart, a cloud, pillar of fire, or any other means of God speaking to us, one thing is certain: the more we trust, the more life’s inevitable troubles fade away into God’s goodness and God’s glory. I pray this year is an amazing year for all of you, my friends. 

 Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/448438886911228

Advent IV and Christmas

Today we are only sharing a short reflection as this was mainly a service of Lessons and Carols. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Reflection: “The Waiting Periods” 

            In all honesty, I don’t feel very Christmas-y this year. Maybe it’s how fast the year has seemed to move. Maybe it’s all of the anxiety still going on in our world. Maybe it’s the uncertainty of fellowship and togetherness even as we continue in this pandemic, cause groups seem a lot more “people-y” than they did before. Maybe in my mid-30s it’s time to just resign myself to the fact that it’s just not going to feel that magical at Christmas. 

I feel like I’ve done everything. I decorated a week early. I bought gifts for up to half my folks this year instead of stuffing money in cards from Dollar Tree. (You’ve done it, don’t judge.) I attended so many lessons and carols services—Presbyterian, Mercer, Messiah, Episcopalian, online—I could probably classify my Christmas experience as Presby-Methodo-Baptist-Episcoposterian. The point is I’ve tried, but the magic just isn’t there. 

Then I came across this quote by Rich Villodas, “What God does in us as we wait is often much more important than what we are waiting for.” Maybe we need to embrace this idea of understanding the waiting period so that we’re not living this untruth of fake festivity. Maybe God’s best work in us is in these tough times of waiting for the miraculous, because truthfully, you cannot appreciate the miraculous if you don’t fully do the work of anticipation or waiting.  

God spoke to Mary as she waited for her marriage and birth of Jesus. God spoke to her cousin Elizabeth before hers and Mary’s sons would be born. God spoke to Joseph as he waited to figure out what to do with his pregnant fiancé. God spoke to the people through John the Baptist as they waited for Jesus appeared on the scene. It’s in these waiting periods that God speaks to us and not necessarily when we reach the miraculous. 

Waiting periods are hard. They are a space where anxiety, uncertainty, and impatience can find a home in our spirits, but if we embrace the wait, we can understand the miraculous even more. We read in Luke 2 that rather than rejoicing, proclaiming the good news, or anything else, Mary kept all these things she’d seen and heard and pondered them in her heart. Maybe the magic isn’t so much in the festivities of the season. Maybe instead it’s found in what we ponder in our heart as we wait for God to speak to us. God and sinner reconciled, Prince of Peace, Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love, have we pondered in hearts what these things mean to us? 

The full magic of the season may not have hit yet, and for many of us, the honest truth is it may not have for years. But maybe instead of going full-on Christmas, we can back up a bit and begin to wait with hearts open to listening, spirits softened enough for hearing. I promise that when we are ready, like Mary we will have plenty of things to ponder in our hearts. Instead of shouting Merry Christmas to you like you walked into a giant retail store, I’m going to leave you with a different wish. As you pause and wait this Advent, may the wisdom, the love, and presence of God overwhelm you so that your heart is filled with Good News you can ponder upon. 

Worship Video: https://fb.watch/9-frZrsOpz/

Advent III: Action

Action: Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3: 7-18

            When I was a kid, we used to play a game called “Truth or Dare.” It’s pretty self-explanatory from the name. Basically, you go around the group and each person chooses whether they want to answer a question truthfully or be challenged by a dare. I played the game once and ONLY once in my life. The first time around I chose truth, and I came out easy. The second time around I chose dare, and the snot-nosed little kid next to me dared me to lick a toilet seat. Now I have done many dumb and gullible things in life; however, this was most certainly not going to be one of them. There was no way I was going along with all this foolishness. 

            I flatly refused the dare, got kicked out of the “teacher-forbidden” group game, and happily went over to the swing set by myself. We’re not always too keen on that idea of dares in society. Usually dares challenge us to do something way, way outside our comfort zone, and for the most part, we are all creatures of habit. In today’s Gospel lesson, it is almost as if John the Baptist gives the listeners a dare: “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” Those are the words we hear in verse 8. It’s a dare—prove it! But it’s also more than a dare. It’s a call to action for us to show how faith has made the difference in our lives. Without evidence of Christ at work in us, what good are our claims of being faithful? Isn’t that the very thing the non-religious world so often indict us for—failing to live our lives reflecting the faith we claim? 

            John the Baptist spares no abruptness and does not mince his words for this accusation in his day.  He calls the assembled folks a “brood of snakes.” Some translations have this as “brood of vipers.” Now, in my own personal life, I never greet folks with the phrase, “You brood of vipers!” (unless I’m walking into a room full of lawyers). John goes on to graphically describe how the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to violently chop down the trees producing bad fruit and burning them up in the fire. In the modern age, we’ve lost that fire and brimstone, and I don’t necessarily miss it because churches were far too good at the scare tactics, but not so good at the follow up. John, though tells the people that their actions must align with the faith they claim to have, in essence he dared them to live the truth they professed. 

            What does this look like? John gives them a few examples. For instance, if you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with the hungry. When the soldiers who policed the streets asked what they should do, John advised to stop taking bribes and falsely accusing others. To the tax collectors, John said to collect no more taxes than the government requires. And by that one hopefully you realize that most of these instructions didn’t really stick. They didn’t stick then, and they don’t really stick with us now. If we’re playing truth or dare, the truth is we don’t really like the dare, the challenge, or the call to action. 

            The people with two shirts stopped and thought, “But I like both shirts…I don’t want to give it away.” The soldiers weren’t happy because how were they supposed to live on the cheap Roman pay without getting their bribes? The tax collectors weren’t happy because their careers and finances did better the more money they collected. Honesty and truth didn’t really pay off for them at all, and now this is what this man is telling them? They really were a brood of snakes just as John the Baptist said. 

            They were more than ready to claim that they followed the Messiah, but when that following cut into their comfort, their faith didn’t stand the test. I think, in a way, John knew that the people didn’t have the heart to act on what they said they believed. That’s why John said Jesus was ready to separate the chaff from the wheat. The wheat could be used to make the bread of life, but the chaff is just the husks on the outside that provides no useful material for food. 

We cling to so much chaff in our lives instead of using the wheat to make something nourishing and filling. John warned the people that looking to their heritage and history would not save them. Being children of Abraham was not the point of grace needed. Business as usual was not going to work, for John challenged their entrenched corruption of heart and practice, and Jesus later flipped the tables in the temple. But the Gospel winds up with an odd last verse. It says that John used such warnings to announce the Good News. He talks about God ready to chop people down with an ax and throw them into the fire as a way of announcing Good News? 

But the truth is that is what all of the Christmas story revolves around—the Good News of a loving Savior. John came to challenge hearts and minds to create a fertile ground for Jesus’s teaching. It’s much like decades ago in revivals. The visiting preacher would come in and go to town preaching on hellfire and brimstone. By the following Sunday, everyone was really happy to have their regular preacher back for a bit of relief. 

Even the very first announcement of Jesus’s birth brings these same words, for the angel said to the shepherds, “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy.” In spite of all the dire warnings, the terrifying examples, and fiery sermons, at the very core of our lives both the truth and the dare are whether we are willing to live our lives according to this good news of great joy. For it’s not just the grace of Christ that we celebrate, but it’s also the example of how Christ lived on this earth. No one will believe the claim that you’re saved by Christ if you don’t live the example of Christ here on earth. As John the Baptist challenged, the people then and now need to prove their faith by how they live. 

Now, you will not find God’s grace in your works and how you live, but to carry on with John’s analogy, a tree which produces bad, bitter, and nasty fruit cannot be a good and healthy tree. Likewise, a person who lives bringing suffering, misery, hate, and cruelty to others cannot possibly be following what Jesus taught. The hymn says, “You’ll know that they are Christians by their love.” You show your faith by living as the example of Christ. Philippians, I think, sums it up best: always be full of joy, let everyone see that you’re considerate, pray instead of worrying, ask God for what’s needed, be thankful, and live in God’s peace. 

Every day we can be bombarded by challenges, the roughness of the world, and even the very snakes that John preached at and against in his life. But in it all there is still good news of great joy for all the people. That is a gospel truth—that we can rejoice in the Lord always, as Philippians says. And as we rejoice in the truth of God’s Good News—a Savior for us—may we also be challenged, no, actually, may we be dared to live our lives demonstrating our faith by living Christ’s example in this world.  

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/376405607576568

Advent II: Preparation for Peace

Preparation: Malachi 3: 1-4; Luke 3: 1-6

            When I was a junior in high school, I went to summer camp with the youth group all of my friends went to. I was not particularly fond of this youth group or its leader, but all of my friends from school went there, and I had to keep up with appearances you know. We were playing a game as part of the evening Bible Study lesson where we had to gently toss water balloons to each other without breaking them. I have no idea what Gospel lesson this could possibly illustrate, and I have yet to find a Gospel lesson where I feel the need to bring in water balloons. However, there I was dreading the inevitable. And sure enough, while caught off guard, a water balloon hit me square in the face, failed to burst, and knocked me completely on the ground. All I could yell was, “I wasn’t ready!!” 

            Preparation is important in life. Isaiah prophesied of John the Baptist who would come and preach to the people, “Prepare the way for the Lord!” Or, if you grew up King James Bible, you heard, “Prepare, ye, the way of the Lord!” in ye olden English. How, then, do we prepare ourselves for this coming Prince of Peace, Emmanuel? First, preparation means clearing the clutter. Second, preparation means hearts and minds ready to embrace Christ’s way of righteousness. Prepare ye, then, for God’s coming and for the next couple of points on getting ready for God to do something good. 

            Preparation means clearing out the old clutter in our hearts, minds, and lives. John the Baptist preached this word of preparation, but he also told the people to repent of their sins and turn to God. Malachi also talks about the coming day of the Lord but adds that God will be as fire which refines metal, like soap which bleaches clothes, If you go to the assigned Epistle lesson for today, you get Philippians 1:6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” 

            None of these things can happen: the refining, the bleaching, the turning, the finishing the good work can happen unless there is space to do it. That means delving into our hearts and minds to clear back the clutter. I like the analogy of when we refurbished the Sanctuary here six years ago. The contractor said, “We’ve gotta take everything out, first.” We all looked around at this full sanctuary and the chair of that committee started to slowly nod with wide eyes and said, “Okay…” You may be a bit concerned when you hear “clear the clutter,” though, because it’s not really possible to just forget everything. 

            That’s true. We live, each one, with a past filled with things good and bad. Some of us live with old memories of happier days which haunt us. Some of us live with that ghastly presence of grief that eases up but never fully goes away. Some of us live with trauma or bad habits. And some of us live with great memories we fear forgetting as we age. Repentance, clearing the clutter, these things don’t mean that we wipe our whole minds clean of everything. That’s impossible as human beings. But we must carefully analyze what’s in our lives and minds and see if it is serving us well.

            Maybe that’s a broader definition of repent. We think of repentance as God taking us by the ear and dragging us back from what we’ve done wrong…a punishment, or even a humiliation. But it’s not fully that. I actually think that definition is a bit of a cheat because being chastised for doing wrong doesn’t require any real or meaningful work. John preached repentance and added examples like clearing the road, filling in the valley, leveling mountains and hills, straightening curves, smoothing over the rough places. That’s a lot more that a grand spiritual humiliation for sin. Clear the clutter by going into your life and analyzing what is making your life here on earth and your life with God better and stronger. Not everything in your waking life has to be sacrificed, but if the road is blocked, clear it. If there’s a valley (think of the shadow of death), fill it in. If there’s an insurmountable mountain, level it. If you have hard curves and rough places, even them out and smooth them over in ways that make your life prepared for God, who began a good work, to complete it in and through your life. 

Preparation means hearts and minds ready to embrace Christ’s way of righteousness. God gives us the tools for this preparation, repentance, and clutter-clearing in the example of Christ. There are times we need therapeutic help to get beyond trauma in life, and Jesus counseled people one on one, if you recall he woman at the well. There are old wounds which need to be brought up and finally forgiven in our lives, as Jesus preached seven times seventy times we forgive. There are places where we are hardened and bitter that need the tender touch of trust and vulnerability. There are places where we are judgmental though we have a plank in our own eye and agonize over the speck in our neighbor’s eye.  And sometimes, as the Old Testament indicates, we need Jesus to come in and just burn it to the ground like the refiner’s fire Malachi talks about. 

John the Baptist even gives us the reason for this repentance and decluttering in verse 6 of the Gospel, “And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.” We talk about God’s grace in the church, and we often say that we receive the “free gift of God’s grace.” But I believe that if our hearts and minds are filled with clutter and mess, that God’s grace is not a free gift. Instead, it is a heavy burden, and we don’t know what to do with it. But, but, but, you might say, you can’t deny God’s grace, it sounds like you’re treading awful close to that. The truth is, though, that there’s still that responsibility for us. John said to repent of sin, turn to God, and find forgiveness. It doesn’t say God will repent for us and make it alright. We are told to do the work of clearing the clutter, of repenting in our lives. 

In Philippians 1:11, Paul prays a beautiful wish for the church in Philippi, “May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” To have this full life, repent by clearing the clutter and the mess and be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the overwhelming peace and goodness found in God’s grace unto us. 

God will come to us in some way or another, and I pray that we are prepared. This grace and presence may come as a still, small voice, or it may come as hurtling water balloon straight at our face leaving us with a black eye shouting, “I wasn’t ready!” But the truth is, you are ready. The tools of decluttering, repentance, and new life have been given to us. Each year we celebrate over and over this idea of a wondrous Savior born to give us a way to God’s grace and peace in life. The holidays may be hard, for there may be a lot weighing down on our hearts and minds, and plenty of dread for the holiday itself. But, if we clear just a small path, we may still find just how beautiful the miracle of Christ the Savior, born for us to bring us peace, born to bring us love beyond anything we can possibly know, still truly is. 

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1491407377905996

Advent I: Hopeful Anticipation

Anticipation: Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Luke 21: 26-36

            A friend of mine said the other day that it seems we are living from one crisis to the next in our lives. He said, that the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, all had very distinct styles and personalities for the decade, but beginning in about the year 2000, all we’ve done is account for the next crisis. And to be honest, it does feel a bit that way. I imagine it felt that way a bit for Ancient Israel and Judah as well. If you read through the Old Testament, it becomes one long story of nation after nation conquering or threatening the ancient kingdoms, usually because of Israel’s disobedience. I’ve found that as people grow accustomed to crisis mode and the bright hope for today gets a little dim in their minds, they utter a new prayer filled with hope built on anticipation, saying, “Even so, come Lord, quickly come.” 

            That’s our text for today. The best way to summarize and explain what is going on is this prayer, “Come, Lord, quickly.” This prayer sustained the people of Ancient Israel and Judah with a hopeful anticipation. Our Old Testament is from the prophet Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet. In the early parts of the book Jeremiah prophesies against a people in exile in Babylon. They are enslaved, suffering, and far from their homes. They are under punishment for having turned from God to other idols and pagan worship. They had forgotten their deliverer and sustainer, the God of Israel, Yahweh. 

            But here, Jeremiah offers a new prophecy, one filled with hope and anticipation. In verse 15, Jeremiah looks towards the coming Messiah with God’s promise to “raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will do what is just and right throughout the land.” But the promise goes on to say that Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will find safety. Jeremiah gave the people this hope—this anticipation for a coming Savior of the people. 

            The New Testament picks up this same line of hopeful anticipation. We are given the instruction, “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life.” This is followed up with in verses 34 and 35 with the warning not to be caught unaware or unready. It’s the same prayer for us: even so, come Lord, quickly. This calls for us to be workers of hope in the meantime. 

            One of the easiest ways to be caught unaware is to focus on the first part of this scripture instead of the second part. People, for years, have played the silly guessing game of “when it’s going to happen.” If an eclipse is coming, people will rave about strange signs in the skies. If a nation saber rattles, people will whisper about signs on earth. Hurricane happening? Sign…for sure. This is not to be taken as a grand checklist for the exact determination of when Jesus will come back bouncing down the clouds of heaven. It’s an instruction and a reminder both to live in hope, but also in anticipation. 

            It’s a call for us to be about God’s business here on earth. We are told to keep alert and to work for the kingdom. When the people of Israel finally get back to Jerusalem, it’s not a pretty sight. The city is pure rubble. They were called to work at rebuilding the city and begin living and worshipping as God’s people again. The same is true for us. Between the ascension of Jesus and the return, we are here for a purpose and a mission. Before the hopeful anticipation, there is a meanwhile here on earth. 

            The past couple of weeks were a bit of a roller coaster as far as hope and prayer. The entire nation watched the trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s killers. His death was brutal and there was no mistaking that the three men who killed him harbored a deep-rooted racism. They were convicted, but a young man is still dead, and his family grieves. Before that was the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. Now whatever your thoughts on the outcome and the politicization of that trial and whether he was justified or not, let’s step back to a more basic idea. A 17-year-old traveled across state lines with an assault rifle then later that night shot and killed three people. Whatever your personal beliefs are, that’s still a horrific tragedy. 

            But they’re not isolated—growing murder rates around the country, a looming housing crisis where people will be unable to afford homes or rent, increasing food prices, the continuing undercurrent of animosity and anger based on political beliefs. No wonder we all need antacids and blood pressure medication. Into this world of despair and pain, we have a message of hopeful anticipation and Good News—simple, clear, and hope-filled Good News. It’s two-fold, really. It’s the news of Christ who came to this world teaching love and grace, pushing us to live at peace with one another. Then he showed us exactly what sacrificial love looked like, and he showed us that life and hope overcome sacrifice and suffering. 

            But there’s also a message of hope in the meanwhile. The message comes as food for the hungry, for Jesus fed 5,000 spiritually and physically. It’s a message of clothing and help for those who need a warm place in the cold of winter, for Jesus was without a home. It’s a message that as we live, in and through our work here on earth, we can get a glimpse of hopeful anticipation even as we still pray earnestly in hope, “Come, Lord, quickly.” 

            The words come from Revelation 22 where the writer prays for Christ’s quick return. Paul and Ruth Manz wrote a song based upon the text in 1953 when their three-year-old son was critically ill. There was nothing left to do but pray. As they prayed, Ruth wrote the words, and Paul later added music. The lyrics say this: “Peace be to you and grace from him who freed us from our sins, who loved us all and shed his blood that we might sav-ed be. Sing Holy, Holy to our Lord, the Lord, Almighty God, who was, and is, and is to come. Sing Holy, Holy Lord. Rejoice in heaven, all ye that dwell within; rejoice on earth, ye saints below for Christ is coming, is coming soon, for Christ is coming soon. E'en so Lord Jesus, quickly come, and night shall be no more. They need no light nor lamp nor sun, for Christ will be their All!” Their son made a full recovery, which they credited to prayer and hopeful anticipation. 

            This Advent, may we be ready and watching, for Christ comes soon. But in the meantime, there is the work of hope to be done here on earth. When evils raise their ugly heads, when pain and struggles come to dwell in our homes and communities, may we remember the One who saves us, may we proclaim the Good News, and may we live in this world working as hope to those in need. The night of winter is long and dark, but we wait in hopeful anticipation for Christ, the light of the world. E’en so, Lord, quickly come. Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/600078091305136

Thanksgiving Sermon

Blessed and Highly Favored: Joel 2: 21-27; Matthew 6: 25-33

            A friend of mine, when asked how she is doing, will respond to you, “I am blessed and highly favored in the Lord.” In anticipation of Advent, the saying is a reference to the angel visiting Mary saying something to the effect of, “Hail, you who are blessed and highly favored,” depending on which translation you read. But the saying has come from the words of Luke’s gospel to the everyday Southern sayings we have now. The other day, I jokingly replied with a new twist saying, “I am stressed and highly labored in the world.” My friend gasped and laughed loudly before replying, “You know, sometimes, that’s exactly what it feels like.” 

            I think many of us can say that same thing. Instead of “blessed and highly favored,” we are “stressed and highly labored.” As we approach Thanksgiving this week, there are two things we need to remember from Jesus’s words in Matthew: letting go and finding gratefulness. Changing a mindset from stressed and busy to one of freedom and thankfulness is no easy task. And it’s not really a question of how much you’re doing. It’s more a question of how you approach what you do in both mind and spirit. 

            Let’s look first at letting go. The Gospel starts out with Jesus saying, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food or drink, or enough clothes to wear.” This passage gets a lot of criticism. Many challenge it saying, “How dare Jesus be so dismissive and heartless about people who may be homeless, dressed in tattered clothing, or hungry and without food. How can he say this?!” But that criticism misses the context. This passage comes in the middle of an entire sermon on money and worldly things. It follows closely the scripture on not storing up treasures on earth, but instead storing up your treasures in heaven. 

            One commentator notes that “‘worrying’ in this context is not to be defined as ordinary concern, but a debilitating anxiety that is [completely opposed] to trust in God.”[1] It’s normal to be worried about where your next meal comes from or about good housing. What is not normal is worry or concern that is crippling to your life. And side note, it is equally wrong for churches to leave people with crippling worry about whether they will have food or a warm place at night. Letting go for us who are blessed means we give over these things unto God. But letting go is a hard process, and it’s not just about the bits of worry we have here and there. 

            What is a dragging on your life, holding you hostage, or creating a spiritual clog in the pipeline between you and God? Jesus identifies here that we often let doubts and worries get into our minds far too much. We worry sometimes about the very things God has provided for us. Letting go means realizing that if the lilies in the field are beautifully clothed, if the birds have plenty of food, then God is not going to allow you to be utterly ruined. Jesus even challenges them asking, “Why do you have so little faith?” And that, my friends, can honestly challenge us in a lot of ways. 

            Why do you worry that something has to be perfectly done and arranged? Why do you worry that someone has to appear and act perfect all the time? Why do you worry about the politics and culture we live in? Why do you say no to God’s calling because you don’t think you can do it good enough? Why do we worry about people who look, think, and live differently from us? Why do we fill our lives with doubts, fears, and worries at all? Those things are a product or result of the systems of sinfulness in the world we live in, but Jesus challenges us asking, “Why do you have so little faith?” How many of you all have accomplished one useful thing by being worried? Let it go. If the worst happens in life, so be it. I’m just hopeful enough to think that God will love me enough to see me through here or see me through to heaven. If you have worries, doubts, fears, and concerns, let it go. Let it go. 

            And when you let go of that worry, you can find a sense of peace and gratefulness in life. In the prophet Joel’s book, we are told that God will not disgrace the people again. And in light of those promises of restoration and hope, they are told, “Don’t be afraid, O land. Be glad now and rejoice, for the Lod has done great things.” A major theme of both the Old Testament and Gospel for today is this idea of being at peace or at rest. 

            Joel describes it as being glad and rejoicing at the deliverance God has promised. Matthew is even more poetic and gentle. Some translations have Jesus saying, “Consider the lilies.” There’s a strong calming, meditative quality to what Jesus is trying to teach here. There’s a central theme that as we release all of this misery and dread and concern about life, we can find peace and gratefulness in the knowledge and promise that God provides for us. 

            If Jesus were to really, and I mean really, challenge us in these scriptures, I think Jesus would ask us questions like this: what do you think about more during the day—your gratefulness to God or worry about life; what motivates you to do or not do something in life—your faith God will lead, or your fear and worry it will get messed up; what consumes the bulk of your prayer time—fear-filled petitions that lack the faith to support them or exclamations of praise and trust accompanying your requests?

            Finding this sense of peace and gratefulness while letting go of worry is hard. Jesus knows it’s hard for us. Therefore, Jesus reminds us in the Gospel, verse 32, that God already knows all your needs. Ask in faith, then trust in God to provide. One writer notes that surely to goodness, if we can believe that God gives the gifts of life and body, we can also believe God will take care of food and clothing in our lives.

            The Gospel wraps up with a bit of good advice. It sounds a lot like a commandment, but I prefer to soften it by recommending it to you as good advice in verse 33, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and [God] will give you everything you need.” That is actually pretty good advice for living out our days here. Seek the Kingdom of God first and foremost. Live righteously in this world with Christ’s help. Then trust that God will meet your needs. It’s a simple answer for the complex web of fear and doubt in our minds. The trick is turning our minds back to the simplicity of trust Jesus tells us to have. 

            Life may feel like we are “stressed and highly labored” instead of “blessed and highly favored,” but Jesus tells us about the fix for those struggles: consider the lilies and look at the birds. God has provided for them, will not God provide for you, the very ones made in God’s own image and called God’s own children. So, this Thanksgiving I encourage you to let go of some things in life—old habits, ingrained fears, doubts we’ve kept hidden from others—and to find the peace Jesus gives. It’s a simple formula to seek God’s kingdom, live righteously, and trust in God’s care. If we live in that kind of life and mindset, our hearts may be truly filled with gratefulness and praise. 

[1] Senior, Donald. Matthew. Abingdon, 1998. 

 Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/216297207193885

Good Trouble, Bad Trouble

Good and Bad Trouble: Daniel 12: 1-3; Mark 13: 1-8

            A friend of mine says she has two siblings, and the three of them have all assumed a unique role in the family. One is the troublemaker, one is the instigator, and the final one is usually the innocent. And for their entire lives, this is how things have worked out. One gets in trouble constantly. The other one never gets in trouble but is always causing the trouble, and the last one steers clear of all the trouble from the get-go. Now, for today, we’re going to leave to the side the idea of one being innocent because we all know what that means, and frankly, troublemakers are a lot more fun to talk about than people who are perpetually obedient. 

            That leaves us the troublemaker and the instigator. It is easy to assume that both are generally bad. And, in fact, usually when someone makes trouble, it’s not a good thing for those around. That’s not always necessarily true, though, for it was the late John Lewis who taught about “good trouble” which challenges things which are sinful, unjust, or cruel in society. Likewise, we all want to blame the instigator for trouble. There’s an old saying that “those who stir the pot ought to lick the spoon,” and usually what’s in the pot in the saying is none too appetizing. However, again, an instigator is not always bad, for Jesus instigated trouble for the cleansing of the temple, when challenged by the pharisees, and at other times when he saw that human made rules caused cruelty and suffering. 

            So, what good can come from being an instigator of trouble? Does something in the scripture give us this answer? I think it is safe to say that at times Jesus could be a bit of an instigator. His words and teaching ruffled the feathers of those around him. Here the disciples are praising the beauty and majesty of the Temple. Jesus could have simply agreed, saying, “Yep, they are nice.” Instead, he pushes and challenges his disciples by saying that the buildings are nice, BUT “they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another,” in verse 2. Certainly, this was not what the disciples were expecting. 

            But it’s not the only time Jesus was provocative with his words and actions. Each time he is questioned by the Pharisees, Jesus tells a parable or asks a question which humiliates them. On the Sabbath, Jesus breaks the law to heal folks in need and practically dares the leaders to say something about it. Jesus instigated not for the sake of causing trouble but to challenge what was sinful in the world around him. By contrast he warns the disciples that many will come in his name claiming to be the Messiah, and many will be victims of this religious swindling. 

            Those who come to teach false doctrine, to redefine who Jesus is in terms of a personal or economic agenda, those who remake Jesus in a form or fashion he is not—they are instigating pure trouble. It was John Hagee, in fact, who said that Jesus will not come back as a white, Southern Baptist preacher in a grey suit. And yet many of our churches still confuse nationalism and Christianity, politics and power with faith, and human society with the Kingdom of God. Jesus instigated trouble to challenge us to stop thinking in terms of what is around us, and instead, to think in terms of God’s purpose and God’s kingdom. 

            As we’ve heard, trouble can also be good or bad. I’m sure all of us are well-acquainted with what bad trouble looks like. And I’m absolutely certain I have no troublemakers at all in this congregation. I tease, but it is the truth. As a pastor I’m extremely blessed with you all. But I’ve seen other churches where troublemakers toiled endlessly to bring chaos and selfishness into a place intended to be holy. Many of you have lived that same awful experience with houses of worship that felt more like the Temple filled with pharisees than a church filled with people supposedly following Christ. It’s unfortunate and only serves to run people away from a faith which is meant to bring wholeness and a loving embrace from God and God’s people.  

            But there are times where trouble is good. If we think back to Jesus at the Temple in the Gospel of John, he arrives to see money changers, animal sales, practically a full farmers market of religious stuff. People were supposed to come for worship bringing their best sacrifice to God, not bartering for something somewhat suitable at the half-done ancient Wal-Mart in the Temple courtyard. Jesus makes a whip and drives people from this place calling it a den of thieves and decrying the desecration of a place intended to be holy. Truthfully, Jesus was causing trouble—big trouble in the Temple. But it was good trouble because it pushed away the sinful actions of the people and called on them to live more for God instead. 

            Jesus describes all manner of trouble to the disciples including the destruction of the Temple, wars, threats of wars, earthquakes, and famines, all bringing trouble and tribulation on the earth, but the ending is not a nightmare of trouble. Jesus adds, “This is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” Birth pains? Trouble can lead to something good, or something new? Well, Daniel also seems to echo this idea. Daniel’s prophecy talks about a time of great anguish, but Daniel also talks about great rescue and of new life for those who live in faith.

Trouble can lead to a new and often better way of doing things by changing up bad habits and old ways of being that lead to a sinful staleness in our faith and turmoil in our lives. A friend of mine was the organist at a church. For years, the church had been neglecting maintenance of their pipe organ, and for years my friend had been fixing it as best he could while begging for some money to repair and maintain it. Those pleas fell on deaf ears until one Sunday he made a little trouble. 

Right in the middle of service the organ had a cipher. Now a cipher means a smaller pipe has gotten dislodged or stuck open somehow causing the wind to be pumped into it constantly. Imagine a high-pitched flute, wide open, with an endless air supply squealing constantly through the middle of service. The pastor turns and asks my friend, the organist to fix it. He decides it’s time for some trouble, so he makes a big scene of climbing up into the chamber where the pipes are and clanging and banging around for 10 minutes making the worst racket possible. Finally, the squeaking stops. The next day, the church leadership voted in an emergency meeting to fully fund an organ repair. What they didn’t know is that to fix a cipher, you only have to pop the loose pipe back into place and all is well…takes about 5 seconds. 

In our lives there will be instigators and troublemakers. Some of them come to make life difficult, painful, and burdensome. But there are some wise troublemakers and instigators in our world who see that in the example of Jesus, sometimes we have to rock the boat a bit to push society towards what is just and holy. Sometimes it is that very act of causing a bit of trouble that can lead to the birth pains of a new and better way of living—a temple more attuned to God, a society more just in its treatment of God’s children, a people less selfish and more focused on Jesus as the Savior and holy example for us here. If we follow Jesus and never challenge the world in which we live, what, exactly, are we doing with our faith and God’s call? May we follow the example of Jesus and make a bit of good trouble in this world, but may we also follow that trouble with the Good News of God’s love and peace. 

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1087427975422265

A Message to the Church: Final

Philadelphia--The Church Triumphant: Psalm 27: 1-5; Rev. 3: 7-13

            Have you ever just had one of those weeks where you just want to crawl into a hole and hide from the entire world? Whether it’s a long day, bad week, deep sadness, or just an overwhelming sense of tired, I’m sure we’ve all had those moments. Or maybe it’s lasted even longer than moments. It’s a familiar, yet unsettled place to be in life. Writer Walker Percy in The Moviegoer gives a good description in the title character. It feels like just as you’re about to go into a deep, peaceful sleep, being jolted right out of it by a litany of “what if’s?” Those “crawl into a hole” days can leave us feeling depressed and defeated. I’ll be a bit vulnerable for a minute with you. In my lines of work I deal in the church with death, heartache, decline, disappointments, counseling people at dark moments in their lives. And I deal with horrific cases of abuse, suffering, neglect and the misery of financial ruin of elders and adults who are profoundly disabled. Then I come on Sunday mornings and summon some kind of last vestiges of the Holy Spirit I’ve got to give you something positive in what can be a hard, cruel world. 

            As we know, people make up our churches, and often all of our personal struggles can spill over into our church lives. It’s normal. It’s expected. We come here as we are with baggage, pain, regrets, whatever feelings that sometimes we can and sometimes we cannot hide. A friend of mine said that sometimes as the people of God and as the body of Christ we live in a place of opposition against us and torment within us. The churches in Revelation lived with these struggles, whether false prophets, their own sin, the spiritual blahs, oppression and opposition, all of the faced some kind of trouble, and that trouble threatened them to their core. Except for one…this church at Philadelphia somehow held firm.  

            What was different here? It’s the only church to get a good report with no criticism or warning, only commendations were given. First and foremost, they had faithful endurance. John’s repot says in verse 10, “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you,” and in verse 11, “Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.” It’s often hard (and somewhat disheartening) to say to someone in the midst of their struggle, “Just hold on and get yourself through it.” Nobody wants to hear that the fix for their troubles and heartaches is “to just suck it up and deal with it.” 

            But the more I ponder on those words, there are two things which softened the impact: first, we often don’t have much choice about what we face. In this world we will trouble, is the painful promise offered in the Gospel of John. Philadelphia was not spared all the world’s trouble, for Revelation says, “You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.” They also had to persevere at some point in their existence, so the church was not completely spared all the trouble of the world. The old saying is that there are two guarantees—death and taxes, but I submit to you there’s a third one that at some point we will face trials which shake us deeply in our spirit and soul. And the hard truth is, we will have to endure through it. 

            But the easier truth, the second realization I have found, is that endurance and perseverance do not have to be struggled with alone. God says to the church at Philadelphia, “I will protect you from the great time of testing.” God adds that all who are victorious will become pillars in the Holy Temple and will be citizens of God’s kingdom, a kingdom of peace and love with no end. That is a promise given to us in holy covenant from God, that with faith, there is a mighty presence of one who loves us, leads us, guides us, and walks with us when the darkest of days descend upon us. 

            The Psalm for today is one that speaks to this powerful presence of God in difficult places of life. It’s one I often go to when my own mood is a bit sour and unpleasant. It says to us that God is our light and salvation, and because of that there is no reason to be afraid. God is strong in our weakness like a fortress protecting us from danger. God will keep us from being devoured and ruined by the evil around us, through love, through a community that joyfully embraces us, and through helpers who stand beside us. Even if all the powers of evil and hell attack us when our spirits are most fragile, we can be confident. Why is this so? We can sum up the words of verses four and five to say, because God’s presence never leaves us. 

            There are two promises within this that can also speak to us. Romans 8:28 (often quoted in such times) says “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to [God’s] purpose for them.” But a less quoted, and I think more powerful promise is found in Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unjust. [God] will not forget how hard you have worked…and how you have shown your love…by caring for other believers, as you still do.” 

            God remembers. All of that pain, struggle, and difficulty of life, God remembers and is present with us. A lady I worked with for a number of years talked about how hard winter could be. Her office did not have a window at the time. She would roll her eyes and say that for five whole days a week she arrived at the office while it was still dark, and when she left the office, it was still dark. After a few days it almost felt like there was no sunlight at all. She said it always caused a bad case of seasonal affect disorder which is similar to depression. And, of course, cold weather only made it worse. For a whole week there was this horrendous dark and depressive state that she lived and worked in. 

            But on Saturday morning, she got up just before sun-up, and wrapped up in a big blanket in the all-window sunroom. She had her book and a good, hot cup of coffee, and she waited. In just a few minutes the darkness was pierced by these brilliant rays of sunlight, and for an entire morning she was bathed in the bright, golden rays which cast out the darkness, the struggle, and the suffering of the week. 

            Maybe that’s a bit how the church at Philadelphia felt. Through whatever they had persevered and held on to overcome by faith, they could see this bright dawn just breaking before them. It was a dawn of hope, of peace, coming from the protection of the very God in whom they’d kept their faith without wavering. Philadelphia was an earthquake-prone area, so I imagine that just after that light of hope broke forth in their lives, they set about rebuilding brick by brick, stone by stone until the church was strong again. 

            We know that in life we may face death, taxes, and probably some kind of personal suffering or struggle. In fact it’s almost a guarantee. And it’s true there’s often no way around it causing us to have to bear through life’s pain and struggle. But even as we know this will come, God’s protection and ever-present help will be with us. God’s promised presence was known in the words of the Psalmist. God’s promised presence was known in the letter to the church at Philadelphia, and God’s word gives us that same hope: yes, indeed, there is victory in Jesus. 

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/903284717019554

A Message to the Church Part 6

Laodicea: Lukewarm at Best—Hosea 6; Rev. 3: 14-22

            I read an article in The Atlantic the other day that said something like this: 2020 was a hard year to pastor a church, but 2021 is even harder. Masks, common meals, social distancing, hymn singing, physical touch, temperature checks…all have the potential to cause disagreements and fights. But if I were honest with you now, the absolute hardest part of this has not been COVID protocols. It’s really people. Now, that sounds severe, but it’s not meant that way. Let me explain a bit. Imagine, as a pastor, I had to spend the bulk of 2020 telling people NOT to come to church because it wasn’t safe. That’s literally the opposite of my job. But, how do I now go back and say, everybody needs to be in church not watching at home. We need you back! How do I authentically say that? Worse than that is this wavering sense of commitment our society is finding towards anything and everything.  

            A friend of mine the other day talked about his office returning everyone to the physical location. He said, “I’ve spent over a year working from home, I do not want to go back into a cramped little office again!” And the truth is, I don’t blame folks, and I really don’t have an answer. The pastor of St. David’s Episcopal in Virginia, who wrote the article I mentioned, noted that their attendance went from about 130 pre-COVID to around 60 now. Some of this is still fear, and I completely understand that with no judgment. But some of it is also a change in how we live in society. With all the technology, we’ve learned that physical presence is maybe not as important as we once thought, and that can lead to both good but also dangerous outcomes. 

            In the letter to the church at Laodicea, the writer again notes that the church does many things, but there is a condemnation. They’ve gotten what I like to call “a great sense of blah.” They’re not hot. They’re not cold. They’re just kind of there and feel kind of “eh” about everything. But there is a little information that truly makes this clear. Many assumed, traditionally, that hot meant good and cold meant bad. This letter, though, isn’t a reference to the figurative church on fire or frozen over and dying. It’s a reference to water supplies. 

            In nearby Hierapolis, there was a hot spring which produced hot water for cleaning or bathing. In nearby Colossae, the water was pure and cold, which could be used for drinking, cooking, and other activities. The aqueduct that supplied Laodicea, though, drew from the hot springs at Hierapolis over 5 miles away. By the time the water reached Laodicea, it was lukewarm—too cold for cleaning and too warm for good drinking. Like the water which supplied the city, the church was not useful. It was neither hot, bringing a cleansing wave, nor cold giving a reviving drink to a thirsty people. 

            They were blah at best, lukewarm, gross. Some folks, I know, like room temperature water. But any good Southerner who has enjoyed the miracle of an icy drink in the middle of July can tell you, a big old drink of lukewarm water will get spit right out. This is where our modern-day church finds itself, caught in the middle of a political and social divide, lost as how to minister to people who have become accustomed to sitting at home away from church, worried that any bold moves will land them on the viral news as being “one of those super-spreader churches.” No matter what the choice is, there is no good answer. 

            Laodicea was also a wealthy city. They had a banking industry, but they are called poor and wretched. The city had a medical school which housed a famous ophthalmologist (or eye doctor as we say), yet they are blind. They had a huge garment industry of wool, but they are naked. Every worldly thing they take pride in is now being yanked away from them by the writer of the letter. You cannot take stock in worldly treasure and expect to be spiritually useful. 

            The writer instead tells them to buy gold and garments which are refined by the fire of God’s love. They are told to get an eye ointment that only God can provide. It’s a reference to the words of Jesus saying store up treasures in Heaven and not on earth where moths and rust corrupt and where thieves may steal all the possessions. They had much, but they had a blah spirit which hindered their relationship to God, and ultimately, a life of the blahs will lead to a church and a Christian’s undoing.

            The same is begged of Israel and Judah in the prophetic words of Hosea. The people have been ruined, but God is still trying to find a way to bring them back, to find that sense of relationship, of usefulness once more. God says to them that they should show love over offering sacrifices. They should know and have a relationship with God over doing the rituals of burnt offerings. But the people have a case of the blahs. They’re happy doing rituals but still living in this ghastly state of being lukewarm, useless, unhelpful, and downright sinful. 

            How does the church overcome its case of blahs? Revelation 3: 19 says, “be diligent and turn from your indifference.” That’s about as helpful as the lukewarm water they’re already being fed, isn’t it? Just will yourself to turn away! Let’s magically be passionate next week. I don’t think that helps. But there is something more helpful in verse 20, “‘Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.” 

            There’s an old, old hymn that nobody sings anymore and there are few videos on YouTube to even watch. It’s called “Who Is That Knocking,” and the second verse says this: “Who is that following after me, troubling my sleep at night? Who is that asking for my poor heart, saying, ‘Come into the light?’ Who is that knocking, calling, seeking, who is that troubling my soul? Surely ‘tis Jesus, asking, pleading, wanting to make me whole.” At some point of living in the blahs, we miss that sense of wholeness, that understanding that we and all of who we are wanted by God, for the kingdom of God, and to live out the purpose God has for us. 

            What are we missing out on because our churches have lost their motivation? Or, an even more convicting question, who is losing out because the churches are still trying to find their motivation. Make no mistake, a church and a Christian can live for a long time being lukewarm, but there is a cost, and it’s a heavy price to pay. Hot water keeps you clean, fresh, and unsoiled. Cold water keeps you nourished, hydrated, and healthy. A lukewarm church is too cold to really make a difference and too warm to truly refresh and hydrate. 

            But just as the writer says to the church at Laodicea, God is still calling us to a holy work which brings grace and salvation, but also seeks peace and wholeness in our communities. If you hear God’s voice and open the door, God will come in and share a meal together as friends. And as you join together with God, you’ll find that the meal looks a lot like a loaf of bread broken and a cup of wine poured out for you and the whole world. With a meal like that, how can you ever feel lukewarm? 

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1451074075275069