sacrifice

Jan

2023

Eager to connect others to Jesus

We point others to Jesus, sharing what we have seen in him

[For the second Sunday after Epiphany]

Bible reference to read: John 1:35-46

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In the book, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior (1986), Max Lucado told of a teenage girl who ran away from home to the big city. (See “Runaway Daughter” for the full story.) Her mother put pictures of herself throughout the city, with this note on the back of each photo: “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.”

Sometimes it’s the simple messages, spoken with love, that mean the most. The same can be said about our outreach to others in Christ. Church researcher Win Arn and his organization surveyed more than 10,000 people, asking how they came to faith in Christ and membership in their churches. They found that:

3 to 5 percent reported that they simply walked in and stayed.
3 to 4 percent listed a church program as what drew them to church.
The pastor accounted for 4 to 6 percent.
Special needs were listed by 2 to 4 percent.
Visitation by church representatives accounted for 1 to 2 percent of church members.
Sunday school brought in 3 to 6 percent.

That leaves about 75 to 85 percent of lay people in churches that weren’t drawn by one of those things. How did they become part of the church? They say friends or relatives are the ones who connected them to Christ and church (Christianity Today).

That says something to each of us. It’s not the person with the theology degree. It’s not the person with years of training who has the best chance of reaching those you care about. It’s you, each of you. We are eager to connect others to Jesus, knowing that relationships built on Jesus are relationships that always endure, that never end. We point others to Jesus and his love. We share with them what we have seen and experienced in Jesus.

We see this process in action in the heralding work of John the Baptist and the calling of Jesus’ first disciples. John the Baptist, preparing the way for Jesus, pointed people to him and said: “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” John used a simple description that meant much to the people of his time. In the religious context of Israel, a lamb was an animal for sacrifice. It was a payment for sin that God had said he would accept. Lambs brought to the temple for sacrifice were regular reminders of the hope the people had, awaiting the Anointed One they were expecting God to send. The Messiah would be the ultimate sacrifice, the one to stand in the place for all people. His life and his sacrificial death would atone once, for all. When John called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), the meaning was clear to all who heard him. Jesus is the one designated by God the Father as “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Jesus is our substitute. Jesus is the sacrifice. Jesus is our Savior.

If we are to communicate the message of Jesus to others, this is something for us to keep in mind. Our message need not be a deep doctrinal treatise full of points and subpoints, with footnotes and a bibliography of all our research. The central gospel message is very simple: Whoever you are, whatever you have done or whatever you’ve become, it doesn’t matter. Jesus gave himself in love for you. He loves you now, still, and always. So please come home to him. That simple message, spoken in love, is powerful. Each of you can give that message to those you love and those in your circle of acquaintance. You can point to Jesus just as well as any prophet or preacher could do.

What was the reaction when John the Baptist pointed to Jesus? We’re told what at least two men did. Two disciples (Andrew and John, son of Zebedee) heard John say this about Jesus, “and they followed Jesus” (John 1:37). Notice that John the Baptist was glad to see those who had learned from him go to follow Jesus. He wasn’t trying to gain a following for himself. Those of us who know Jesus aren’t focused on how many people we can get to follow us into our own particular churches or ministries. We simply want to connect others to the joy and truth we have found in Jesus. We want others to follow Jesus too, wherever he might lead.

Image attribution: TheHymnSociety.org

Andrew right away “found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’” (John 1:41). Jesus gave Simon a new name, “Cephas” (in Aramaic), or Peter (in Greek) which means “rock.” Jesus was going to be the rock of stability and hope for Simon Peter as well as for Andrew and for all whom Jesus would call. When you come to know the solid ground of faith that is found in Jesus, you want everyone else to know the same. Being brought to Jesus means to be drawn up “out of the miry bog,” the sinking sand of all the false hopes in this world, and have our feet set upon a rock, making our steps secure (Psalm 40:2). Andrew was urgent about sharing that with his brother.

The same urgency to lead others to Jesus was felt by Philip, the next apostle that Jesus called. When Jesus found Philip and said, “Follow me,” right away Philip found his friend Nathanael and told him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote. … Come and see” (John 1:44-46).

All of these individuals were disciples Jesus was going to train to be apostles. They would be leaders of the church that Jesus was establishing. But do you notice? They did not wait to complete their years of seminary training with Jesus before they started sharing the good news about him. Sharing the joy and salvation of Jesus is not something you have to wait until you’re an “experienced” Christian or a trained church worker before you can do. Any of us can be active in sharing Christ’s joy daily with others.

I once was part of a congregation that wanted to do outreach to their community, so they formed an evangelism committee. The committee’s first decision was that they needed to train for the task. It was a noble thought, but the committee kept training and training and training, in a room by themselves at the church, for month after month. They never felt like they knew enough, never felt confident enough to go talk about the faith with others. So while they had gathered with the intention of being an outreach committee, they never actually got out the door. They kept convincing themselves they weren’t ready yet.

We do better if we think of the familiar song, “This Little Light of Mine” as a picture of our witness for Christ. If you are holding the light of the gospel in your hands, like holding a candle, when does that candle start giving off light? As soon as it is lit. A candle that has been burning a long time does not necessarily burn brighter than one that has just begun to burn. You can be shining your light all around your neighborhood right now, day by day. Sure, you can also keep training (as Jesus’ first disciples did) to gain greater understanding of the truths revealed in Jesus. But you need not wait to be a witness until you have some sort of degree or certificate in theology. You know what Jesus has meant to you. You can share that news and point others to him, as Andrew did with Peter, as Philip did with Nathanael. Each of them shined their light right away, and lit up another flame.

What Andrew and Philip did was nothing extraordinary. They simply shared what they had experienced in Jesus with a family member, with a friend. What we do for our friends and family and neighbors need not be anything more extraordinary than that. Share with them. Invite them. Simply introduce them to Jesus and what he has meant in your life. Like Andrew, like Philip, we have found the Christ, the Savior. He has made us his disciples, his followers, his friends—a relationship that will last forever. May God’s Spirit be with you and me as we share with others the good news we have found in Jesus. As the apostle John (one of those early disciples of Jesus) later said, we tell others “what we have seen and heard so that [they] also may have fellowship with us … [and] with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ … so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:3,4).

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Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Feb

2021

God so loved the world

Valentines’ Day focuses attention on love. Traditions say that a priest named Valentine stood up for love and marriage at a time when Rome’s emperor had banned weddings, insisting men be devoted only to their military duty (History.com). Love binds us to each other.

The love we share with one another, of course, is a reflection of God’s love, “for God is love” (1 John 4:8). On this day to celebrate love, let’s look at what may be the most well-known statement about God’s love, John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Let’s ponder that passage a word or two at a time.

God – the Author of life (Acts 3:15), the originator of love. It was he who created us; it is he who sustains us. As human beings, we reach for all sorts of gods, things to believe in. We make ourselves into gods, thinking we have within us all that we need. But ultimately God is who he is, the one self-sufficient Being and source of all existence. “In him we live and move and have our being,” as Paul pointed out to an Athenian audience from their own poetry about the highest deity (Acts 17:28). The true, eternal God is not some inanimate force floating about in the universe. He is our Father who has deeply personal connections to us and concerns for us.

God loved. Love that comes from God is not merely a sentimental feeling. When we speak of love, our feelings can be short-lived, shallow, even selfish. When God speaks of love, he tells of something pure, profound, and lasting. God’s love is not swayed by our appearance or actions. God is committed to caring for us despite how we appear and how we behave.

God loved the world. Every person, every individual, rich or poor, young or old, thin or fat, wise or simple, high or low–God loves all. God doesn’t limit his love to those who look good by human standards–or by divine standards. Thank God he doesn’t, since all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are full of wrongdoing and God knows it. Yet God has loved us and has given his love to us all.

God so loved the world–so much, so greatly, so amazingly, that he gave. We tend to think of relationships as give and take. If I’m going to give to you, I expect also to receive something in exchange. But God simply gave. No strings, no conditions, no ulterior motives. He just gave. He gave lovingly of himself, ever so painfully of himself, not for his own gain but for ours. He needed nothing; he already is and has all things. We needed everything, and God gave. He gave so that we might share in what he has.

And consider the magnitude of God’s gift.

God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. God did not send a servant to do his bidding. He did not send an angel or even an archangel. He sent his Son–the One and Only, the Only-Begotten, the divine Son who is eternal with Father and Spirit. God gave of himself, a gift of unfathomable love. God the Only Son took on human flesh. He lived in our place and died in our place. God “did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us” (Romans 8:32). The incarnate God in Christ “emptied himself …. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death–even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7,8). This was the awe-inspiring extent to which God gave.

And now, everyone who believes in him receives this greatest of all gifts. Again, the gift is for everyone, a benefit available to the whole world. The benefit is received by believing, not by doing, not by some act or decision or sacrifice of our own. The gift is ours simply by receiving faith from God, a faith he instills in us, bringing us to believe in what he has done. We are saved by the gift of God’s grace, through faith which is not our own doing–it too is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). From start to finish, God has embraced us by his love.

Thank God for his love–love that means we will not perish but have eternal life. Thanks to God’s love, we will not end up separated and isolated. We will not languish in loneliness and shame. We are not lost to hopelessness and futility forever. Thanks to God’s love, we have a living, vibrant, endless relationship with God as our Father and Christ as our Brother. We are encouraged daily by God’s Spirit. May we “abide in his love” so that our “joy may be complete” (John 15:10,11).

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Nov

2020

The King who Inscribes his Character on Us

A message for Christ the King Sunday

Our King does not dominate or dictate
Our King invigorates us to be like him

There are a number of churches around the world named “Christ the King.” The Cathedral of Christ the King in Mullingar, Ireland, is reportedly the first church given that name. The Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta is one of the ten largest congregations in the United States. Those are just a couple of the big Christ the King churches. There are numerous smaller congregations too.

I don’t know of any churches named “Christ the Tyrant” or “Christ the Despot” or “Christ the Dictator.” I Google-searched for such names, but couldn’t find any. I did find an opinion piece arguing that Christians tend to view their Lord that way–as a benevolent dictator. But if there are people of faith who take that view, they’re mistaken. Christ the King is certainly not like some military strongman or arbitrary emperor, nor even like a benevolent dictator. Christ is not someone who looks upon us as weak subjects who do his bidding simply to suit his whims. Christ did not become our king by standing above us, pointing out what we must do from moment to moment. Christ became our king by standing with us, among us, leading us in a path we could not have followed without his leadership. Jesus said to those who followed him, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). On the night he said that, Jesus proved his point by getting down on the floor and washing his disciples’ feet (cf. John 13).

Quite clearly, Jesus is the opposite of a tyrant. He won our allegiance by going into battle against tyrants and overlords for us. The tyrant was sin. The tyrant was the devil who accuses and all the demons that torment us. Those are the sorts of rulers that dictate and demand, that control us by fear and guilt. Christ is not like that.

Jesus is also much different from even the most benevolent dictator. Such a ruler believes that he must decide all things for the people underneath him because they are underlings and he is so much above them. Now, it is true that Christ, our King, certainly does know what is best for us. Christ is “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). As high as the heavens are above the earth, so far are his thoughts higher than our thoughts (cf. Isaiah 55:9). But the fact that Christ is superior to us in all things does not mean he deals with us as inferiors. Rather, he comes alongside us and shares his life and strength with us. He invigorates us with his words, his Spirit, so that we become alive in him. We become more and more like him as we grow in our relationship with him.

I have known God-fearing people who haven’t understood this, who haven’t grasped how Christ is seeking to lead them. They trouble themselves over every detail of their lives, searching desperately for some sort of sign from God. “What is God’s will?” they’ll say; “What does God want me to do?” I knew a woman who struggled over the smallest decisions like that. She begged to know what actions God wanted her to take, almost hoping a daily to-do list would appear like handwriting on the wall, so she’d know she wasn’t making any mistakes. In her anxiousness, she once put two pens side by side on the table and asked, “Now, which pen does God want me to use? The blue one or the black one?” That’s going too far in expecting God to direct our lives. Yes, Christ is our leader by night and by day. But Jesus leads us not as though we are blindfolded and he must guide our feet for every step we take. He instills his character and his way of life in us, so that we make our own decisions as the new persons that we are in Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17). It’s an outmoded way, a childish way, to want God to dictate every direction to us, to tell us exactly what to do in every instant. It’s a new way of life, as we become mature in Christ, that we make our own decisions and take actions that flow from the mind of Christ which is in us (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:16).

Consider the Epistle assigned for this weekend for the festival of Christ the King. The prayer for the Christians at Ephesus remains an apostlic prayer for us today. Notice the emphasis on how the power of Christ works in us and inspires us as he extends his kingdom into our hearts.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you … and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion …. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:17-23).

Christ as king is head over all things for us. That’s not an image of some giant head floating in the air like the Great and Powerful Oz. There’s no false pretense of power with Christ our King. He rules in a way far better than the way any authority in this world operates. Even while Christ is seated high above in the heavenly places, he is at the same time intimately connected to us, like the head to members of the body. His thoughts pulse through us and we operate in unity with him. We are his feet to run out into the world, his hands to extend help and care to persons in his name, to put into practice his love.

Consider also the description of what Christ will find when he returns at the end of time, when he “comes in his glory, and all the angels with him” and “all the nations will be gathered before him” (Matthew 25:31-42). Who are the people he calls his own, who truly have known him?

The king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:34-36).

When Christ says this to his people, what is their reaction? “When did we do that?” They wonder what he’s talking about. Christ’s people do such actions on behalf of “the least of these” fellow members of the human family not because they’re keeping score of their good deeds, not because they’re trying to impress God by their actions. They do such things just because that’s who they are, because the spirit of Christ inhabits them and propels them into action. The people of Christ’s kingdom serve everyone they encounter without thinking, “This is something I must do because the king has issued an executive order.” Yes, the kingdom of Christ has laws, but those laws are designed by our Lord for our good and the good of our neighbors. As we grow in our understanding and relationship with our King, we embody more and more the spirit and compassion and action that he has for all who are in need. We become Christ to our neighbors.

Martin Luther famously wrote on that theme–that we become like “little Christs.” In his booklet On the Freedom of a Christian (1520), Luther wrote:

Since God has overwhelmed me with such inestimable riches, why should I not freely, cheerfully, and with my whole heart do all that I know will be pleasing to him? I will therefore give myself, as a sort of Christ, to my neighbor, as Christ has given himself to me. I will do whatever is advantageous and wholesome for my neighbor, since by faith I abound in all good things in Christ. … We each become a sort of Christ to each other, so that we may be mutually Christs, and that the same Christ may be in all of us; that is, that we may be truly Christians.

Our life as Christ’s people, in his service, is not like serving an earthly ruler who dominates and bullies to get his way, and whose subjects survive by trying to ingratiate themselves with the ruler. We serve as people whose character has been transformed by the grace and goodness of our king. We become his allies in extending the life of his kingdom into a world that has not understood him and operates by principles so often opposite to his.

Which leads to one final point that must be mentioned. We need to take notice of the other sort of approach that predominates in this world. It is an approach not only by the rich and powerful, who lord it over others in positions of power and authority. It’s also an approach adopted by people in general toward authority — including God’s authority. It may work with the powers that be in this world, but it doesn’t work with God. In the Gospel reading for today, did you notice how those who are on the wrong side of Christ respond when Christ says they did not do the things that people of his kingdom do? They say, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you” (Matthew 25:44)? And he will answer them, “Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me” (Matthew 25:45). They thought they had done good things.They thought of themselves as good people. They expected God should be pleased with them, because they had minded their own business and stayed out of trouble. They may even think they had done great undertakings for the King, that they would have an elevated position in his kingdom because of high-powered things that they did. Jesus described such persons in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:21-23):

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”

Too often people have the wrong idea, thinking Jesus owes it to everybody to be nice to them. And they also think that if they go out of their way to do things they think God wants, that then they are entitled to extra rewards, sort of like people may think their donations or efforts on behalf of some political leader entitle them to perks and privileges in that person’s administration. But Christ our King doesn’t operate by those principles. Christ calls his people to follow him, not worldly “philosophy and empty deceit” or “human tradition” (Colossians 2:9). We are called to follow the truth according to Christ, whose kingdom is not of this world (cf. John 18:36). So let’s not be confused. Let’s not slip back into worldly thinking, into tallying up our good deeds as though keeping a scoresheet will impress Christ the King, or boasting about where we think we stand with God or how right or righteous we are. Being servants of Christ’s kingdom means setting ourselves aside and simply serving others. Christ established his kingdom by laying down his life for those whom he loved and came to serve. As servants of Christ the King, we carry on in his kingdom and extend his kingdom in the same way. We deny ourselves. We take up whatever crosses we may be asked to carry, and we do all we can to help others carry their crosses too (cf. Luke 29:23-25). As the word of our King tells us, “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). That’s how we serve–and whom we serve–as the people of Christ the King.

Dec

2019

Giving up something for Lent (and more)

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on February 21, 2015.

Giving up ourselves for others

by David Sellnow

Have you given up something for Lent? The history of Lenten fasting dates back to the ancient church. Many Christians continue to observe Lent as a time to set aside things of this world and focus on faith. And nowadays the practice of giving up something for Lent has been adopted by many non-religious people too. 31-year-old David Powers of Los Angeles, disc jockey and band member and medical marijuana seller, hasn’t participated in church since he was in high school. But as a personal thing, during Lent he gives up his own marijuana use. He says, “Lent has been a great excuse for me to take a much-needed break from pot, and I have learned that I really don’t need it to get by. … I think that the idea of giving up something that you love, especially something that isn’t especially good for you, once a year, is a really good idea that everyone could benefit from.”[1]

David Powers’ approach – give up something you love for a while – is a popular approach. According to the ultimate source of truth on what’s happening in the world, Twitter, the #1 thing that people are giving up for Lent is chocolate. Fast food and junk food rank in the top ten also. Oh, and the #2 thing people are giving up, according to Twitter, is … Twitter.[2] So, well, maybe that’s not an entirely reliable source of truth then.

I don’t want to trivialize the habits of those who give up something for Lent in a serious-minded way as a part of a Christ-centered devotional focus. After all, as a very gospel-focused man once said, “Fasting and other outward preparations may serve a good purpose.”[3] But I do wonder if the whole concept of me giving up something for a while to try to be a better me is missing the point of what it means to live a life of faith.

What if instead of me giving up some small thing (like chocolate or junk food) for six weeks, the Lord asked me to give up my whole self for my whole life? What if living as a redeemed and reborn person in Christ meant, in my relationships with others, having “the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5)? That for you it means you “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” but instead you “value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you looking to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3,4)? That is, of course, exactly the sort of life Christ calls us to live as his people —

Christ, who himself came not to be served but to serve;
Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for many (cf. Mark 10:45);
Christ who, as the apostle Paul reminded us, “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).

My brothers and sisters, redeemed people of God in Christ, rescued from our own sinfulness and set free to live in love by the strength of Jesus’ love for us, we are called to give up ourselves, to give up our selfishness, to give up our me-first attitudes … and to do so not just for Lent but for all our days.

The apostle Paul talked about giving up ourselves—putting ourselves in second place in relationship to others—in regard to matters we refer to as adiaphora, matters where there is not one absolute way in which we must view things or do things. In “disputable matters,” as Paul termed them, the important thing is that we give up our own ambition to be always right or always in charge or always getting our way and live in love and consideration of one another.

These are selected verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans (14:1 thru 15:7):

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. …
For none of us lives for ourselves alone,and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. …
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. …
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. . We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” … May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

[1] Gabrielle Canon, Celebrating Lent: Why Non-Religious Millennials are Choosing to Sacrifice,” Southern California Public Radio (March 29, 2013). http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/03/29/36612/celebrating-lent-why-non-religious-millennials-are/

[2] http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/march/what-to-give-up-for-lent-2014-twitter-reveals-top-100-choic.html?paging=off

[3] Martin Luther, Small Catechism – “The Reception of Holy Communion”

We point others to Jesus, sharing what we have seen in him

Giving up ourselves for others

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