Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right. 36You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him. 39We are witnesses of everything He did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging Him on a cross, 40but God raised Him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen. 41He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” (Acts 10:34-43, NIV)
Isaiah 42:1-3 describes for us what true servant leadership is. That leadership is expressed most fully in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Acts 10:34-43 goes into a bit more detail about how that happened. Peter’s speech about what Jesus has done for us is delivered to those gathered in the house-hold of Cornelius, a Roman centurion whom Peter visited after receiving a vision from God that commissioned him to preach the gospel to Gentiles and not just to Jews. To all those at Cornelius’s house who want to know more about this saving gospel, Peter explains the major events of Jesus’ ministry: Jesus was baptized, anointed with the Holy Spirit, performed works of mercy and miracles which freed and healed those who were oppressed, was crucified by hostile powers, was raised on the third day, and appeared to his disciples, commanding them to preach the message of saving grace and tell his story. So here we have a 360° picture of what a life of servant leadership looks like. It is empowered by the Spirit, brings justice and healing to those oppressed by sin and sorrow, and witnesses to others about the saving grace of Christ. (that witness needs not be verbal, though it can be, and certainly is in this passage). Peter continues the theme from Isaiah 42:3: servant leadership looks out for the lost and the least. And he sets that theme in the midst of the whole wonderful symphony of the love of Christ, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). There was such love for us in the heart of the Triune God that Jesus was willing to endure the ultimate humiliation in order that we might be freed, healed, and given justice. Jesus is our model. May God’s grace empower us to follow it. Contemplate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and His amazing love for us. Then find one simple way to show that love to the next person you encounter. Lord, help us accept Your love for us, a love without breadth, depth, width nor length. Fill us with the joy of those freed from sin and oppression. And teach us how to show Your love to others. Amen! 7As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the One about whom it is written: ‘I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’” (Matt. 11:7-10, NIV)
Last week, we saw that, while in prison, John the Baptist’s disposition shifted from the confident prophet who said “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) to the uncertain one who sent his disciples asking “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:5) Jesus addressed his doubt by sending the disciples back with miracles that they had seen with their own eyes. In today’s passage, Jesus shows us what it means to be human, what it means to affirm the dignity of humans but not to stop with cordialities of affirmation – to also affirm the dignity of a person’s calling and value. We do not know if John’s disciples heard what Jesus said in verses 7-15. But even if it they didn’t, what Jesus said would not have been any less true about John. If they did hear it, the disciples went back to John with more than miracles and signs pointing to Jesus. They did not simply go back to John and remind him who Jesus was, they reminded John who John was also. Jesus asks the crowd a simple question, “When you went out into that wilderness, did you go looking for someone wavering and doubtful? Did you go looking for someone of nobility because of their appearance?” Jesus answers his own question, “No. You went into the uncertain wilderness to find someone certain that they were supposed to be there because they were sent by God.” Jesus calmed John’s doubts about whether Jesus is the One by using miracles. But doubts about Jesus always mean or lead to doubts about ourselves; doubts about our own identity. Jesus reminded John that he was the prophet, in language that sounded awfully similar to John’s language about Jesus: “This is the one about whom it is written” (Matthew 11:10). In one statement Jesus affirms John’s value and ironically ours also: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11) Moments of doubts and uncertainty will arise in life. One only needs to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, take a couple of missteps or hard steps from previous missteps. It is conceivable that we might doubt His presence. But if John, the cousin of Jesus, called to be the forerunner of the Lamb of God, baptizer of the Son of God and present at the Trinity’s involvement can be affirmed while he is in prison, then surely Jesus can remind you who you are and your value also. You are not a reed shaken by the wind; your doubt does not make you worthless even if you are in a proverbial or literal prison. Even if you’re the least by someone’s standard, in the Kingdom’s standard, you are still great. Father, remind us of what we know is true about your Son. And help us to be disciples who look for your Son, the sovereign One, the glorified, reigning, King over all creation in all glory, Jesus the Christ. Amen. 4-5I’m not trying to get my way in the world’s way. I’m trying to get Your way, Your Word’s way. I’m staying on Your trail; I’m putting one foot in front of the other. I’m not giving up. (Psalm 17:4-5, MSG)
In Psalm 17:3, David shows us his willingness to invite God to drop by unannounced. David makes the case that when God visits him in the middle of the night, God will find someone who’s not trying to get his own way in the world’s way, but instead is following in the steps of God. Psalm 17:4-5 is about what God will find when God drops by. For me, the notion of not working toward our own way in the world’s way feels particularly relevant during this time. Perhaps, you are like me, in the times we live in, all I can think about is how badly I want to get my way. Like, I really, really want my way to prevail and I want my vision to prevail. Of course, I’m not the only one who wants my way. Lots of people think differently from me and they want their vision of the future to come true just as much as I want mine. Maybe my sense of how hard it is to not want my way in the world’s is why I find David’s confidence in his own motives so striking. Now, we know from elsewhere in Scripture that David is a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). He really loves God and does his best to follow God. So, did David have some special ability to pursue the way of God instead of his own way in the world’s way? I wonder if David’s ability to focus on following God has less to do with a kind of specialness and more to do with his step-by-step faithfulness. David describes himself as putting one foot in front of the other in order to follow the way of God. For this goal, David tells God that he’s not going to give up. He’s committed. We too can walk in the way of God by focusing our energy on the step-by-step faithfulness that David describes in this prayer. So, what does that actually look like? Sometimes following God looks like big choices. But so much of the time, following God looks like the daily choices we make. The choices to move toward God, to move toward others, to even move toward ourselves. This is a time when many of us will have a lot of choices. We’ll choose how to face the pandemic, for sure. But we’ll also choose how to talk about it with our friends or how to manage our anxiety fanned by the news. We’ll choose how to talk to our coworkers and our kids and what to talk about. We’ll choose what to post on social media and how to talk to people we interact with in the grocery store. We’ll make choices about how to celebrate or how to grieve. In all of these choices – and the countless others facing us – may we seek the way of God, and not our own. May we walk, putting one foot in front of the other, not giving up on the way of God. Dear God, it’s so easy for me to want to get my way in the world’s way. When I do this, remind me that You invite me to know how good and full Your way is. Help me delight in Your invitation to walk step-by-step as I follow You. Amen. 2When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3to ask Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.” (John 11:2-6, NIV) A young girl who was asked what she thought doubt does to us. She said that doubt pushes her down and makes it feel like she can’t do anything and takes her motivation away. We get clarity from the mouths of kids, don’t we? Doubt clouds what is true. And sometimes, in life, we treat doubt like the game of tag. We all are “it” – doubtful – sometimes, but we we’d rather not claim it. While in a prison John the Baptist came to the intersection of misaligned expectations and reality. Maybe it was the darkness, or the stark transition from yelling at Pharisees in all their perceived inability to being confined within immovable stone walls. Or it could be the painful recognition that his life was coming to an end. Whatever it was, John had gone from “behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) to “are you the one…or are we to wait for another?” This actually should give us great encouragement. If the cousin of Jesus, called to be the forerunner of the Lamb of God, baptizer of the Son of God and present at the Trinity’s involvement, has doubts – if he has moments where he can’t make sense of everything and “if” statements have replaced “this is the One whom I said” (John 1:15) – if John doubts, then just perhaps it will be alright in the life of a believer if we have some doubt too. Jesus could have dealt with John’s doubt in many ways. John’s disciples could have been misdirected and never found Jesus to ask John’s question. They could have doubted John’s credibility because of his doubt and left him to make it on his own. Jesus could have chastised John: “You are the forerunner; you should know the answer to these questions.” Jesus could have responded just by saying “Yes, it’s Me.” Instead, He did what was good for John and for everyone watching who can admit that doubt is a human possibility. Luke 7:21 tells us that Jesus performed miracles in that moment. He cured diseases, cleansed souls, and healed people who were blind. Then He turned to those disciples and simply told them to report to John what they saw and heard. Jesus sent to John more examples of His presence. Inevitably there will be moments in life where the outcome doesn’t align with our perceived expectations of the results. Doubt is a common response when the ironic processes of God occur. We may doubt His presence, but it does not make Him any less involved. The response in those moments is the same as any other moment. Look. Look again and again until you see God. Blessed are the ones who endure, even if they cannot make sense of it. Dear Jesus, thank You that Your presence is not predicated on our certainty that You are here. Help us, Jesus, to be disciples who look for You: the glorified, reigning, King over all creation in all glory. Amen. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
I recently sent off a young sister back to her country. She was a graduate student who came to our church last year and spent a year studying and interning at MSU. During last week’s worship service, she gave her testimony, and shared how God spoke to her through the Saturday sermons and lifted her as she walked through many difficult times in life. Being a pastor, my heart was filled with gratitude and encouragement as I sat in the audience listening to her testimony. (I thank God for using me to deliver His word through weekly sermons to help and feed my sheep). I was deeply touched by God. What moved me most was the sister’s persistence in searching for a spiritual home in a foreign land. She attended church and fellowship regularly in her country, and had plans to be in the United States for only one year. Out of curiosity, I brought the subject up to her during a dinner we shared. In my mind, I could not understand why anyone would insist on finding a local church for worship during the pandemic, let alone just for one year. Besides, it is possible to worship online with her home church. In an unfamiliar place, it is even more difficult to readjust to a new church. What motivated her to search for a church? She shared with me that it was because she once lost “it” and now knows how to cherish “it” fully. Previously, she had spent one year in Australia working and touring. Although she was already a Christian then, her complete focus was on making money, so she did not have any intention to connect with a church, let alone attend worship services. Later, when she found her life a complete mess, with things gone wrong, she had no one to talk to. Only then did she realize that everyone needs a friend, and more importantly, a spiritual home, a spiritual companion, and a spiritual covering. Therefore, no matter where she is, she connects with a local church. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” The Bible tells us very clearly, "Do not stop fellowshipping with the body of Christ," because as soon as we stop, sin and laziness begin to hold us back, driving us to go the "easy" ways, rather than the “right” ways. Brothers and sisters, how is your spiritual life today? Have you chosen to remain in the House of the Living God? The theme of our church (also our church's vision statement) for this year is "Be a Loving Family to a Broken World”. We all know the world is broken, but are you in a loving family? If you have a lot of frustration and dissatisfaction in life, do you first go back to God and examine our relationship with Him and with the church? Ephesians 1:23 says that the church “is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way." We are the church, to which God calls us together to be used to fulfill His purpose. May the Lord help us to see the importance of the church, the fellowship, the relationships and the unity of His body, so together we can build a loving family. After dinner, we gave each other a deep and long hug before we parted. Praise God for this sister who walked into our church, willingly shared her testimony of faith which encouraged many of us and left behind a beautiful friendship. Are you at home today? |
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