Your Move Pt 3 – “Pay Attention to the Tension”

Listen or watch at www.thecreekside.org/message-series

 

Here we are in the third week of the four part series, “Your Move,” and we are talking about decision making. Specifically we are asking four questions that will help us make the best decision when don’t EXPECT to make a decision or perhaps when we don’t WANT to make a decision or when time is short. We are learning about this through the stories of actual people as recorded in the books of the Bible. This topic has been relevant for thousands of years just as it is today, because we all have had to make decisions and we all have decisions we’d like to go back and change. There are contracts we wished we hadn’t signed, people we wish we wouldn’t have trusted or dated or married. There were opportunities we passed up that we wish we could go back and take. And there are steps we took that we wish we could un-take. Relationships, jobs, business ventures, investments, personal matters, cars, houses, other purchases – these all fall into the decisions we’re addressing. These decisions are hard enough, but the unexpected or the rushed decisions are often the hardest. 

 

So the first week we asked the very telling question, “Am I being completely honest with myself?” Another way to ask it is “why am I doing this, really?” This question is meant to help us filter through all the baggage and emotions and become as transparent as possible with ourselves and our motivations. It may be the hardest question. That’s why we must learn to ask it FIRST. 

 

Then last week Pastor Angelo did a great job with the second question we should ask in these unforeseen circumstances of decision making, “What story do I want to tell?” Through the story of Joseph’s life in ancient Egypt we learned that our life story is being written with every decision that we make. And if we are wise we will learn, as Joseph did, to consider what story our life is going to tell and let that define the present decision as well as our future ones. This is not easy, especially with decisions we didn’t expect nor want to make. But it is critical that we use wise decision making in all of life.

 

There are two more questions we will add to the mix – today and next week. But all of these questions have some of the same issues surrounding them – our humanity. Let me explain what I mean. Often we lean toward a certain choice or option, latching onto it emotionally because it seems to offer us one of three things: pleasure, power, or profit. These things appeal to the basest part of our humanity – we call it our heart. When we have to make quick or unexpected decisions it is this base, our heart, that often kicks in first. The problem is, as the writer of Proverbs taught us in the first week, our hearts are deceitful and exceedingly wicked. Not to mention that no one can control or tame them. Our hearts will always move us towards pleasure, power, or profit. This is the internal struggle we have every time there are decisions to be made. Thankfully there is hope. And today we are going to talk about that part of the human condition and how to temper it with hope. Today’s question is this -  “Is there a tension that needs my attention?”

 

There’s no need to define “tension” is there? I didn’t think so. We all have it. We all sense it. It is not unfamiliar to any of us. Tension can cause mental issues, emotional issues, and physical issues. But tension is not all bad. Tension can be an asset. It can warn us of danger, call us to positive action, or keep us from making…bad decisions. That’s the part we are most interested in today.  When we have to make a decision, especially in a rushed or unfamiliar environment, we NEED tension as a checkpoint. You know what I’m talking about.  You think you’ve got a handle on the answer and you’re ready to pull the trigger, yet there might be a little something in the back of your mind that wants to hold you back. There’s a little question mark somewhere and that produces tension. THIS is a tension that needs our attention. What do we do with that? 

 

And there are many times we lean toward a specific option or choice and we sense a degree of tension that’s rooted in a moral or ethical issue. We might think of it as a “red flag,” or “a twinge of conscience.” Something doesn’t seem exactly right and this makes us hesitate. Sometimes we don’t sense the tension until someone else makes us aware of an issue involved. Or we might be aware of the tension, yet try to discount or ignore it. No matter what, whenever we face such tension, it’s best to pause and allow it to rise up and become as “big” as it can possibly get. Otherwise we might end up at a place we later regret. We let it get big by considering all the potential results. We take time to consider the whole issue in a logical manner. We’re so easily tempted to disregard the tension because we get emotionally attached to a certain option or choice. That emotion acts like adrenaline and adds momentum to the direction we want to go. That’s why we need to force ourselves to pay attention to the tension.

 

In 1 Samuel 24, an incident in the life of a young man named David illustrates this kind of tension. You remember David – the little shepherd boy? Right? One day while David was tending to his father’s sheep one of the servants came to get him. A prophet of God had arrived and wanted to meet all his father, Jesses’, sons. David was the youngest and initially overlooked by his own father. But, in the end, it was David that this prophet anointed with oil and declared to be the next king of Israel. Then they sent him back to tend the sheep. Nothing changed for young David until the the Philistine warrior, Goliath, challenge Israel’s army to a duel. There were no takers – until little David arrived. The Bible said God had empowered him in a special way to defeat this giant – and so he did, with one smooth stone and a slingshot.

 

The current king of Israel, King Saul, liked the boy. Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David became fast friends. Saul made David a part of his army over time. But as David’s exploits under Saul’s command became more and more famous, Saul became more and more jealous. He was prone towards violent outbursts with spears and things, directed at the young man who faithfully served him. Finally, the situation became so bad, that David had to flee for his life with the help of Jonathan, King Saul’s son. David became a fugitive in the land despite his private anointing by the prophet and the promise that he would one day be king. That scenario did not seem very likely.

 

Now David had a group of guys from the army that believed in him and followed him into exile. Their loyalty was unsurpassed and they were called David’s Mighty Men in the Bible. One day while they were being hunted down by Saul and about 3000 men, they were hiding in some caves. The army was passing through the area looking for the fugitives. That’s where our story really becomes relevant to our question of today, “Is there a tension that needs my attention?” Let’s read this story.

 

1 Samuel 24:1-8

1 After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had gone into the wilderness of En-gedi. 

 

2 So Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the wild goats. 

 

(I guess that must have been a pretty well known place to get mentioned here.)

 

 3 At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. 

 

And, yes, I know that if you are a boy, between the ages of 9 and 49, this is the only part of the sermon you will remember. Because you’ve never heard someone say, ‘relieve himself’ in church before. So there you go, now you’ve heard it, let’s move on.

 

But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave!

 

So here’s the scene. Saul and his thugs are out searching for David and his men – really out of jealousy not out of justice. And King Saul calls for everyone to stop so he can, how should we say, take care of business? Hey, he was a middle aged man at this time and they were traveling, so that necessitates a stop! That means everyone else had to stop and wait for the king. And where do they stop but at the very cave where David and his men were hiding. How perfect is that? I mean, the planets have all aligned, the stars are pointing the way, fate has set up this moment. There’s practically an epiphany right before David’s eyes. What are the chances that Saul would need a cave at that moment? And what are the chances that this would be the cave that David and his men were hiding in? And what would be the possible odds that Saul entered the cave, completely alone, far enough back that David had better access to him than Saul’s own men did? It’s pretty staggering. So, like all good friends and soldiers, David’s men got involved – verse 4,

 

 4 “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the LORD is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” 

 

You can feel the electricity in the air. David now has the opportunity to make a decision he didn’t ever think he’d have to make. His heart is pounding, his men are prodding him, and the heaven’s have declared his victorious ascension to the throne. Think about it. Saul, the first King of Israel, enters a cave in his royal robe and crown. A few minutes later David comes out in the same robe and crown with King Saul’s head in his hand for effect. THAT’S a story worth telling. That’s the way things happened in those times, anyway. Why WOULDN’T God let things happen this way for the man He sent His prophet to anoint as the future king? Why wouldn’t this be the perfect situation? Saul is the King, David kills the King, David becomes the Kind. The armies bow in awe of David and the Kingdom is secured without additional bloodshed. How could this NOT be the plan? Emotion and circumstance is a hard thing. Friendly encouragement in the name of God is hard to ignore.

 

But what if this is not the plan? What is the guarantee that David walks out of the cave as a victor and is declared king? What if he just becomes known as the guy who KILLED the king. What says that the army will bow at his feet and follow him? What if they simply turn and kill him in defense of the rightful king of Israel? There are no guarantees. Despite all the signs, despite the stars aligning, despite the encouragement of his own men, there are NO guarantees that this is the right move. So, because David is attuned to what God is up to, there is this tension that wells up within him just as he is crawling up to kill King Saul. And he changes the plan mid-course.

 

So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.

 

“Noooooo.” You can hear the collective groan of his men. “How could you let him slip through your fingers? Are you a man or what?” “God promised you would be the king!” Those are the sounds of a well intentioned, deceived hearts. Then, in their eyes, it gets worse.

 

5 But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 

 

Now they’re rolling their eyes at him, “You’ve got to be kidding! You feel guilty for cutting a piece of his robe? You really need to get some mojo back.” 

 

6 “The LORD knows I shouldn’t have done that to my lord the king,” he said to his men. “The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the LORD’s anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him.” 

 

David’s conscience was correct. In those days even his act of cutting off that piece of robe was seen as an act of treason. He HAD attacked the king, even though he did not kill him or harm him. David knew that this was not the time or the place for the changing of dynasties, so David chose to pay attention to the tension. His men still could not believe it. They said to him, “Man, if you’re not going to do it, we will. Let us at him. Then they can’t blame you. Let them blame us!” I’m not sure how Saul didn’t hear all the commotion and arguing even if they did whisper. But David wouldn’t let them kill Saul. He knew the right thing to do. He CHOSE to pay attention to the tension.

 

7 So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.

After Saul had left the cave and gone on his way, 8 David came out and shouted after him, “My lord the king!” 

 

And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him.

 

Then David said to him, “King Saul. I’m not your enemy. I don’t know who you’ve been listening to but you have nothing to fear from me. God made you the King. And I honor you as the King. See this piece of your robe? I could have killed you, but I didn’t. Please believe me and spend you time ruling Israel instead of chasing someone as insignificant as me. Let God judge between us and let that be that.

 

1 Samuel 24:16-20

16 When David had finished speaking, Saul called back, “Is that really you, my son David?” Then he began to cry. 

 

17 And he said to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. 

 

18 Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the LORD put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn’t do it. 

 

19 Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the LORD reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today. 

 

20 And now I realize that you are surely going to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule. 

 

Not too many chapters later in Samuel’s book King Saul is in a battle and the enemy archers shoot a barrage of arrows at the Israeli army. One of those arrows found King Saul, passed through a separation in his armor and mortally wounded him. Not wanting to be killed by the enemy, Saul fell on his sword and died. THEN David became King – arguably the greatest King to ever rule Israel. So that’s the story. While a fugitive on the run from King Saul, David was handed a perfect opportunity to kill him, but his conscience prevented him from doing so. Instead, David put the matter almost entirely into God’s hands, leaving the cave with only a scrap of cloth.  

He let his conscience prevail. He paid attention to the tension.

 

One of the pastors I most admire in the world, Dr. Charles Stanley, made this statement one time. It’s become a clarion call for people all over the world. He said, “God takes full responsibility for the life wholly devoted to him.” That’s something David believed, as evidenced by his actions. He trusted God for the outcomes of his life. 

No, he didn’t leave strategy and advice behind. He didn’t stop thinking logically about the situation. This was one of many decisions that he, like us, either didn’t want to make or didn’t think he’d ever have to make. In the end, when the decision had to be made, he listened to his God-given conscience; he paid attention to the tension.

 

What do you think would have happened if David had killed Saul? Where would he have been by this chapter? Would HE have been the one the arrow wounded? Would God have honored him as the anointed king if he has surreptitiously murdered Saul? The decision to pay attention to the tensions in life is not easy. In fact, it is quite hard at times. But, compared to the enormity of the unknown, isn’t it better to fight through the urge to avoid the tension and begin to address whatever questions surround our decisions? Actively working through tension is an act of faith for a follower of Christ. Your willingness to address the tension of a situation – at work, at home, with a co-worker, a spouse, with your children, whomever – your willingness is an act of faith that God really is in control, that God really does know more than we know and that God really does have our best interests at heart. 

 

Whether we expected to make a decision or not ACTUALLY becomes irrelevant. The only relevant thing is will we listen for that still, small voice of God’s Spirit to guide us through the tensions of life? Will we pay attention to the tension? When we fail to do what David did, we risk being left on our own by God. But instead of taking that risk, and especially since we can never really know the future, we need to entrust our lives to the only One who does know the future. God cares about you and your family even more than you do. God cares about growing your faith and loves to give you wise direction. Lean on Him. Ask Him.

 

So starting this week, here’s what I want us all to commit to doing – actively doing

 

1. Before we finalize our decisions, it’s wise to ask ourselves, “Is there a tension that needs my attention?” 

 

2. Let the tension become as big as it can get, so we can fully consider it before making our decisions.

 

3. Trust God to give you the wisdom to make the best decision.

 

Asking that question, following these steps, allows us to avoid making decisions that we might later regret. And we all know about that, don’t we? Let’s pray.

 

Dear God,

 

I readily admit that I like to be independent. I like to make my own decisions. We all do. Would you help us take this step of faith to question the tensions we feel and rely on you to direct our decisions.

Thank you for knowing the future and being willing to guide us through it. Thank you for loving us that much. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Blessing:

May the peace of Christ that surpasses all human understanding guide your hearts this week. And may the power of the Holy Spirit within you, given you the power for each decision you face.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 

Your Move Pt. 1 – Really?!

Listen/Watch On Line Here

I’m really excited about this new series. I know I say that every time, but it’s true. This series is very, very practical. These next four weeks we are going to talk about what to do when making decisions you didn’t want to make or didn’t plan to make And we are going to learn four questions to ask to help you make these kinds of decisions. There will be one each week and we will review and add on each successive week. Decision making is a fact of life. Part of our LifeGroups is people sharing their stories. We learn from one another’s life and journey. Everyone’s story is a sequence of decisions that brought the situation to fruition. As we listen to one another the thought comes to mind, “Wow, that was a huge decision, but they had no idea how big a decision it was until after the fact.” 

When we hear those stories, if your anything like me (no offense) but all the what if’s of those decisions fill our mind…good or bad. What if they hadn’t done that? What if they’d waited? What if we never met and this story never impacted my life? The possibilities are endless. Many of these stories tell of decisions that are defining moments – they and we didn’t know what hung in the balance. We didn’t and don’t know the significance of those decisions. It’s like watching your kids make decisions, they can’t see the result. They have limited or no experience in so many areas of life. So we have the advantage to learn from the decisions others have made in life. 

History teaches us the importance of decisions. Take for instance George Washington. He could have been King. The people wanted to make him king, but he decided, that in the best interest of this fledgling country, that two terms as a President would be better. But what if he hadn’t? History would be completely different. How about the Generals of Adolf Hitler? They could have stopped him early on if they had known or could have seen ahead, but they had no idea what that madman had planned. And by the time they had an idea they were too afraid or calloused to do anything about it. Our decisions have far reaching consequences that we cannot see, especially those we never planned to make or have to make quickly.

Life is a sequence of these kinds of decisions: How do you decide? How do you see the results? We are going to learn four questions to help us in these unforeseen circumstances. The first one is the hardest one – “Am I being completely honest with myself?” Some people won’t even consider this question. It’s too hard. It’s too threatening. “Am I telling myself the truth about why I’m inclined to go this direction?” But it is a very, very important question. Because here’s what I know about you and I know it about me – you are an expert at selling yourself on something you really want to do whether you ought to do it or not. Yes, that’s why you laugh. You are an expert at selling yourself on something. Buying stuff, selling stuff, moving stuff – we all know it’s true, it’s easy to do and we do it too much.

Here’s an example we can all identify with, especially in light of New Year’s resolutions. It’s easy to talk yourself out of exercise and into dessert. “Well, I got home from work later than I planned, so I can start tomorrow.” “I didn’t have dessert the last 3 days, so a little here is okay.” “She went to all that trouble to bake for me, so I’ll work out extra later this week.” “I certainly don’t want to insult the host!” Do you know what drives that type of decision making? No, not chocolate. We feel compelled to convince ourselves of the option that has the most emotional appeal. The heart wants it, so the heart tells the brain to go find some reasons, then we start believing our own made-up reasons. It’s quite the arrangement. You laugh, but if this were not true, we would all be healthier and wealthier. You would have more money and less weight. We would all own a lot less stuff and have more deep relationships. How many ways can we say it?!

Our biggest problem in decision making is that we are not on a Truth quest, we are on a happiness quest. “What will make me happy? Brain, go find me happy things today.” Every decision we justify and start to believe our own stuff – I think that’s called a delusion. Take for instance marriage – people get married and divorced for the same reasons, “He makes me happy,” “she doesn’t make me happy anymore.” People start and stop habits of all kinds because of this, “I like the way it makes me feel. I DON’T like the way it makes me feel.” Self-delusional, that’s what we humans really are! And it’s all our own fault, because we don’t ask this question, “Am I being completely honest with myself? Am I telling myself the truth about why I want to make this decision? Why am I doing this REALLY?” We don’t ask this question because it is convicting and uncomfortable. But, as they say, “No pain, no gain.”

There’s another thing that makes this difficult. And it’s not meant to be insulting, but some of us will take it that way. There’s something wrong with you – and with me. Yeah, there is something wrong with you and with me. So, our lesson today centers around a man named Jeremiah. And he’s going to tell us, through the words God inspired him to write to Israel some 3,000 years ago, what exactly is wrong with us. When that happens, I believe we will all begin to see the importance of the first question we have posed today.

Jeremiah was a prophet around 600 B.C. to the Kingdom of Judah. You can read all about him in the book of Jeremiah, but also in the book of 2 Kings 24. He was a prophet during the time that God was judging the nation of Israel. God and Israel had a covenant. God had said, “If you obey me and follow me I will bless you. If you reject me and go your own way I will abandon you,” really meaning, you will live out the consequences of your choices on your own. That was the nature of their relationship. 

Now let me add this before you get the wrong idea – that was THEIR relationship and agreement, not ours. We don’t live under the covenant where God takes off every time we disappoint Him or fail to follow Him. We live under the covenant of grace – forgiveness given us by Jesus death and resurrection. They lived to please God so that God would be happy with them. We live to please God because we are grateful for His forgiveness and for letting us into God’s permanent family. That was just to clarify the difference between then and now. 

Around 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Egypt, and on his way back to Babylon he conquered all of Israel as well. Nebuchadnezzar set up a local king named Jehoiakim to take care of local stuff. Jehoiakim was not a real king, however, he was a subjugated king. He couldn’t make too many decisions on his own. He had to answer to Nebuchadnezzar. So God sent the prophet Jeremiah to Jehoiakim to explain the truth of the situation, “We are in this situation because we rejected God. So God has put Nebuchadnezzar to rule over us until the time that we decide to return to following God. And until that time, you would do well to just live with it, because the main issue is NOT who the king is. The main issue is who are we going to worship, the pagan gods or the real God? Just do what Nebuchadnezzar asks and one day God will rescue us.”

Jeremiah, as God’s prophet, is trying to get the nation to turn back to following the one, true God. That’s his only concern. But after a while, Jehoiakim get a little big headed and he gets tired of sending taxes to and taking order from Babylon. He decides that “I’m the King, I don’t have to take this anymore.” So he was going to raise an army and overthrow the Babylonian rule. And Jeremiah tried to warn him, “Dude, this is a really bad idea. God has put King Nebuchadnezzar into power and you will not be able to overthrow him.” But Jehoiakim wouldn’t listen – he was too puffed up and self-convinced. Jehoiakim launches an attack on Babylon. It was like a toy army taking on the U.S. Marines, and they were quickly squashed; Jehoiakim was thrown out and Zedekiah was put in his place by Nebuchadnezzar. 

Nebuchadnezzar tells Zedekiah – I’m the King but I’ll let you rule over Judah and pretend to be the king as long as you send me taxes and a percentage of all the crops. But remember, I’m the real King. So a couple of years go by and Zedekiah begins to think, “What would make me happier, being the pretend king or being the real King over Judah?” He decides to make an alliance with Egypt and plan to overthrow Babylon. Jeremiah hears of this and goes to Zedekiah to say, “This is a really bad idea. It’s a bad idea because you cannot win. God is judging the nation, and until we return to worshiping God we are being punished. Don’t do this! It’s not a matter of how big your army is, it’s all about who is on your side – and God is on Nebuchadnezzar’s side right now.” 

But Zedekiah had already convinced himself, sold himself, on the glory and success of this plan. Jeremiah kept coming around and warning him to the point that Zedekiah had him thrown into a well to get him out of the way. Jeremiah continued to prophesy even out of the well. Can you imagine walking by and hearing, “Repent, repent!”  “This is a dumb idea!”    “You can’t win!”    “God is not with you!” Then Jeremiah gets kidnapped from the well and taken somewhere else. (The prophet’s life was rough because they usually only brought bad news.) Anyway, Zedekiah refuses to listen and goes ahead with his plan to attack Babylon because that’s what made him happy. Do you know the results? They squished their enemies between their toes – they being the Babylonians. Zedekiah is captured, his family is killed before his eyes, his eyes are gouged out and then they take him to Babylon to be put on display as an example to anyone else who might decide to rebel against King Nebuchadnezzar. It was not a good idea to rebel against Babylon. But Zedekiah wouldn’t hear it and couldn’t foresee it because he was not completely honest with himself.

During that time of history, Jeremiah watched these kings make all sorts of bad decisions. He tried to warn them over and over again. And they ignored him over and over again. This was the period of time in which he wrote the whole book of Jeremiah. In these writings he makes a statement describing something that’s true of you and me, just like it was of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. He makes this statement about the human heart (we call it the soul – our thinking, our decision making and our emotions) and why it cannot be trusted. Here it is - 

Jeremiah Jeremías 耶 利 米 17:9

9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked (beyond cure). 

9 Más engañoso que todo, es el corazón, y sin remedio; 

9 人 心 比 万 物 都 诡 诈 ， 坏 到 极 处 ， 

That means that your heart, your children’s hearts, your momma’s heart, (“No, not my momma!”) your grandchildren’s hearts, your spouses’ heart – don’t get off focus here, this is about you – the human heart is the most deceitful of all things. And, get this, it’s incurable! It’s desperately wicked. It’s beyond fixing! I know that sounds harsh and unbelievable, but just look at the world around you. Look at the politicians, the salespeople, the dictators. Take a look in your school, at your work or in your family – it’s true. And, most importantly, take a look at YOUR own heart: what do you think about? What decisions are you making for you and you alone? What emotions have you so wrapped up that you are willingly or unknowingly blind to the truth? The Amplified translation really fleshes this out in a way that I think is helpful - 

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! 

Every time we make a decision we have to remember that we have the ability to deceive ourselves. Jeremiah said, “deceitful,” not dishonest. There’s a huge difference. We’ve all met people who were so dishonest that you knew that the moment you met them. People you’ve met and you just knew they were lying. But deceit is a whole other thing. Deceit means I’m going to take a little truth and little bit of untruth and mix it all together, so that when you make a decision you won’t really know what’s true or not. Flat out lies are fairly easy to see. Deceit is so much harder. And deceit is what Jeremiah says our hearts are expert at. Our hearts will fool us with half-truths and justifications to make the decision our heart wants us to make, based on what will make it happy. That’s why our hearts sell us on some of the dumbest ideas imaginable, only for us to look back and say, “I should have seen that coming.” Your heart, as wonderful a person that you are, is deceitful and it is beyond cure. And if that wasn’t enough, listen to how he finishes this verse - 

Jeremiah Jeremías 耶 利 米 17:9

9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked (beyond cure; incurable). Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?

9 Más engañoso que todo, es el corazón, y sin remedio;  ¿quién lo comprenderá?

9 人 心 比 万 物 都 诡 诈 ， 坏 到 极 处 ，谁 能 识 透 呢 ？

Who can know it? Who can figure it out? Who can even know themselves? It reminds me of college when our professor said he’d be offering a course in the Psychology of Women. And we, being the brilliant 19 year olds that we were, wondered what man was arrogant enough to believe they had figured that out?! Well the heart is the same way. How arrogant it is to think we can figure out or heart. How ridiculous to think that you, above and beyond anyone in all of history and in all time, could figure out your own deceitful heart. This is why we look back at purchases we’ve made and say, “What was I thinking? Why did I ever do that?” Or you look back at relationships and wonder, “What was I thinking? Why would I think that, say that or do that?” You look at your business and the decision that cost you a good partner, or brought you a terrible one and you wonder, “Why did I ever choose him or her? How could I be so foolish? How could I be so dumb?” 

And Jeremiah answers us this way, “It’s because your heart – your mind, will and emotions – is deceitful, incurable and basically unknowable.” And if you don’t take time to ask this question, “Am I being completely honest with myself” then your heart will simply run in the background, looking for the things that make you emotionally happy, looking for reasons to justify the things you treasure and value and running your life on the autopilot of selfishness and self-indulgence. Just like we talked about last fall – 

“The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be and end up being, and it is stored in your wicked, deceitful heart.”

The heart (the soul) runs in the background of our psyche like a virus on a computer or like a trojan gathering and dispersing information – you may not know it’s there, but really, it’s controlling everything. Our hearts are focused on what we have put in them – values, principles, treasures, money, power, emotions. The heart will manipulate us and fool us into making the wrong decision as often as it is able. We must be on alert. 

This is especially important when it comes to making quick decisions or decisions we don’t want to make or didn’t think we’d have to make. The intensity of a decision, the immediacy of a decision, is often a hot-bed for the heart taking over rather than a rational and spiritual seeking of God’s will. We will often fool ourselves a thousand times before we ask the question, “Am I being truly honest with myself?” “Why am I doing this, really?” We’ve all watched successful people, who seem to have the whole world by the tail, and suddenly they self-destruct. And you and I think to ourselves, “What happened? Why would they do that? If I had that much money, if I was that famous, I wouldn’t have made that decision.” But the truth is, you would – you will, and I would – I will, because we are emotionally pulled by our hearts to do whatever makes us the most emotionally satisfied. So instead of getting healthier and wealthier we continue to eat and spend emotionally. Instead of living for God and for others, we continue to think about us and ours. Instead of living responsible in or relationships, we live in the moment and just hope we don’t get hurt again. That’s what a wicked heart leads us to. 

It’s seems kind of hopeless doesn’t it? What a great way to follow up last week’s call to vision and action, huh? Yet nobody’s really flinching and saying, “That’s not true at all.” That’s because we know it IS a problem. We all know how quickly we can convince ourselves that our decisions are great. We all know that we were born with this ability to deceive and justify ourselves and our actions. This is why the question is so important. I’m going to give you a little exercise in just a minute. But before that you should know that if you ask yourself this question here’s what you will experience. This question is both liberating and terrifying at the same time. 

It’s liberating because, if you will ask yourself that question, it will allow you to stop the lie. Any time you carry a lie it grows and gains energy and power over you. The reason we lie to ourselves is that the lie that gives us energy and power to push ahead and do what we’ve put our heart to. But, if we admit that we are lying to ourselves, that energy and power is diminished and we lose the momentum in making a bad decision. This is a biblical principle that is used every day, around the world, to help addicts quit using. This principle is used every day, around the world, to help gamblers quit gambling.  This should be a step in all of our lives, to help us recover from whatever sin and delusion controls us – when the power of the secret, the power of the lie is broken, the forward momentum towards destructive and selfish behavior is slowed. That’s what makes it liberating to ask the question, “Am I being completely honest with myself? Why am I doing this, really?”

At the same time this question is terrifying; terrifying because it makes you accountable – to you. Notice we have not said today that you have to admit to someone else why you are doing what you are doing. We haven’t told you to go into a confessional relationship and spill your guts. YOU need to be honest with YOU first, and that’s a scary thing. There will be no more excuses. If you ignore the truth you know for certain, then you are really in a predicament. Don’t you hate violating your own principles and standards, even when no one else knows? Yes! We all hate that. We don’t want to be wrong in our own eyes, much less God’s. It is a terrifying thing to be honest with your motives and actions. But it will free your life like nothing you have ever seen before. It will liberate you decision-making by giving you a clear picture rather than a rose-colored picture. “The reason I want to move is so my family has a better opportunity at school. The reason I want to move is the neighbors are bad.” “No, the real reason I want to move is that I’m insecure and I want people to think I’m successful or wealthier than I am or more connected than I am.” That’s the truth. And that can be terrifying.

The reasons why we think certain things or behave certain ways is important. “The reason is…I’m just lonely. The reason is…I want my dad’s approval. The reason is…I think I’m not pretty enough or smart enough or whatever enough.” We manufacture in our hearts and minds, reasons to justify all sorts of things. And it can be and probably will be terrifying to come to grips with reality. “Maybe NOW I’ll be happy if I let him move in. Maybe NOW my father will be proud of me. Maybe NOW people will think I’m successful.” But none of that is true. It’s all manufactured by our deceitful hearts – it’s all a figment of our happiness quest rather than a Truth quest. There’s great news, though. Absolutely the best news you will ever hear. When you face the terrifying reality of this question, ” Am I being completely honest with myself?” That is when you open your heart to God’s…amazing…grace. That’s when you’ve come to terms with the fact that you cannot cope on your own, you cannot power your way through this – but God can. 

If you really want to deal with those heart issues here is your assignment- you need to get alone, face a mirror and ask yourself the question. There’s something powerful about speaking the truth out loud. It’s not like magic or casting a spell, but our ears often penetrate our brain when our eyes won’t. Hearing makes a huge difference. When we really listen it’s like a slap on the back of the head – “Hey! Wake up!”It will liberate you. It will set you free. You will learn to quit lying to yourself. You will learn to tell yourself the truth. And then, when you hear yourself trying to convince your mom, your dad, your boss, your spouse of something, you will begin to hear the real reasons. “The real reason I want to move is…. The real reason I want to go to that school is…. The real reason I want that job is…. The real reason I filed for divorce is…. The real reason we’re moving in together is.” That is the heart issue – “what’s the real reason?”

The first 3 steps in any recovery program, and frankly in anyone’s step to knowing and serving God, are “I can’t. But God, you can. So please, go ahead.” I can’t! God, you can. So, please God, I know I’m delusional. I know I’ve been lying to myself. I know I can’t be good enough or do enough to earn your love or the approval of people, so please, God, go ahead. Take over my life and my heart. Those three steps can help you kick a habit, break and addiction or stop a cycle of destructive living. But they can also bring you eternal life. 

You say, “what do you mean, Tim? How?” When we face the reality of our own selfishness, self-deception, self-motivation and sin, God invites us to admit it – “I can’t (fill in the blank) – go on, be honest, be happy, work out my own payment for my sins. But, you, God – you sent Jesus to pay for my sin by dying on the cross. And you raised him from the dead to prove he was ENOUGH to pay for my sins. So, right now, right here, I’m saying to you, God – “I can’t. But you can. So go ahead:” forgive my sin, be my leader, show me how to love you and others – honestly.”

Now THAT’s worth the terrifying possibility of self-examination, isn’t it? Eternal love and life in the future; forgiveness, strength, peace and purpose for life right here and now. So, are you being completely honest with yourself? Why do you do what you do – really? I hope today is a new beginning for all of us in some arena of our lives. And if you decided to take these steps towards God today – the Bible says that your faith in doing so makes you a child of God. I’d love to know that and pray for you as you begin your new journey of faith. So let me know, and I will join you on that journey. Let’s pray.

Dear Father,

I’m amazed at how self-deceived I can be. I think we all have that sense when we examine our hearts closely. I’m even more amazed that you want to help us overcome that deception with the Truth. Thank you for giving us direction and forgiveness, hope and faith, to grow as people and as your children. 

 

What the Future Holds – a paradigm for missional communities

Welcome to 2012 – the year to end all years and perhaps end the world as we know it – that is if you believe the Mayans or other doomsayers. No matter what the outcome it IS a NEW year, and it is full of opportunities to live life to the fullest. I hope that what we talk about today will inspire your life and direct the fullness you hope for in 2012. We are going to talk about vision today, and in particular the vision I, as your lead pastor, believe God has given me to share with you. If you have been at Creekside a long time you will obviously know some of what we will talk about today. Hopefully it doesn’t take much observation to know what we are about, why we exist and how that plays out in our activities and beliefs. But there is a general rule of thumb in all organizations, businesses or groups that seems to be proven true over and over again – “vision leaks.” And we will address that during this morning’s message.

 

We start with this from the Bible, and I’m going to read it for you from several translations just to emphasize the importance and nuance of these words - 

Proverbs Proverbios 箴 言 29:18a - 

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish…   

18 Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint…

18 When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.

18 Where there is no vision, the people are discouraged…

18Donde no hay visión, el pueblo se desenfrena…

18 没 有 异 象 （ 或 译 ： 默 示 ） ， 民 就 放 肆 ；

When there is no forethought, when the future is unclear; when divine guidance is uncertain or ignored; when direction is questionable or unknown – people go crazy, become disillusioned, discouraged, unfocused. Sometimes it means a dream or a cause or a group DIES from a lack – lack of vision, lack of drive, lack of purpose, synergy, etcetera. Someone has to receive the vision, flesh it out and explain it to others. Others have to understand and accept the vision for it to grow and come to fruition. The fact is, though, that a lack of vision causes all kinds of problems.

Sometimes there is no vision to start with – it is a total LACK of vision: no plan, no dream, no problem to solve or solution to offer. When this is the case there is nothing to get excited about and nothing to accomplish. Sometimes there is just NOTHING to grab onto.  Where there is no vision there is no leadership. Where revelation and insight are missing – people get bored and even discouraged. 

But sometimes the lack of vision is caused by people’s lack of acceptance. Not all people will be inspired and enticed by every vision, revelation or plan out there. They don’t like what they’ve heard so they don’t join in. Or, if their “in” already, they move on to do whatever it is that fits them and makes them happy. This happens in companies, families, organizations and churches. People move on to the path that benefits them the most or meets their felt needs. When people don’t accept vision they SHOULD move on. We are all bent a certain way, believe certain things and have plans for the future; and it doesn’t always mesh with those around us. That’s okay. It’s a part of life. And, as we all know, life has its seasons.

Sometimes there was a vision, a great cause or purpose; there was a mission to fulfill, a problem to solve, but over time strength and enthusiasm fade. People are overworked, overcommitted; leaders often get pulled in too many directions and soon the clear objective and driving force of an organization, family or business leaks dry. It’s the responsibility, the job, of those in charge to remind the group why they exist and what the future holds. You can’t plug the holes of vision completely, but as a leader you can continue to pour into the people around you and refill them…and you must…vision leaks.

This applies to families. This applies to your work as a manager or project leader as well. No matter who or what you are in charge of, even yourself, you must remind and be reminded of your purpose and goals, your vision and mission. You must recharge yourself and rest from the busyness of life; refocus your heart and mind on God and His will for you and yours. Because there is this natural tendency to fade out slowly when there is no effort to push forward and grow – spiritually, emotionally, physically and corporately. The second law of thermal dynamics cannot be overcome with complacency – the universe is moving from order to chaos, the law of entropy dictates the decay of all things. So, it’s up to the leader to push forward and refill the leaky bucket in whatever context you find yourself.

Creekside Community was begun with a prayer that God would move in the hearts of His people on the west side of Katy. The year was 2000, and there was almost nothing but farms in this area. Each week I would drive the 7 mile x 2 mile circuit of 1463, 1093, Katy-Gaston Road and Katy-Flewellen, praying that God would bring churches to this area as it grew. It never occurred to me that we would be a part of that prayer. But you are, and I am, we are together. In May of 2008, as I was driving and praying, I clearly heard a Holy Spirit of God say in my spirit, “You are one of the people you have been praying for. I want you to start a church.” I questioned God, out loud. But the answer came again, “You are one of the people you have been praying for. I want you to start a church.” Needless to say it was a strange thing to ponder. I already worked for a church in Katy. I was happy and successful in that ministry. But I will admit I was restless, having sensed for some time that God might be up to something.

So after talking and praying with my wife for many months, and after speaking with my pastor, we began the process of figuring out exactly what this church would look like, how it would function and, most importantly, what the vision would be. As 2009 began, God planted in our hearts this vision: to create a church that unchurched, dechurched, skeptical and seeking people would love to attend. We didn’t want to be grandma’s church. We didn’t want to be “First” anythings church. We wanted to be a church for people who didn’t “do” church. We’d been around church all our lives, but chose our closest friends more from the community than from the organized religion. And that’s the kind of church we wanted to start. A place where relationships were primary, where community was foundational and where anyone could come and explore their faith at whatever point of their faith journey they find themselves.

About a month later, in March of 2009, God clearly added a mandate to this vision. Katy had grown from a small town of mostly white and hispanic people to a large city of 300,000+ with 220 people groups and 70 languages being spoken. And God said, “You need to reach across those ethnic lines, cultural lines, socioeconomic lines and any other barrier that keeps people from knowing that I love them.” This was definitely a catch – I’m white, my wife’s white, we’re middle class – but we do love people. We agreed this mandate to reach out was from God and so incorporated it into our vision statement: 

“Our vision is to create a multi-ethnic, cross-cultural church that unchurched, de-churched, skeptical and seeking people from any walk of life would love to be a part of.”

This has been our drive from the beginning. There were meetings, development, coaching with mentors; fundraisers, departures for our former church and much prayer and sweating. This was a new adventure. This vision did not carry with it any guarantees – success, provision or continuance. This was a pivotal moment in many lives to do a new thing, to follow a possibility and to fulfill a vision that we believe came from God.  And out of those time together we developed together a mission to focus us and values to drive every decision we would make in the future. 

“Creekside Community Church exists to lead people to grow in their relationship to God, others and the world around them through Jesus Christ.”

We are not just a church about knowing God, though that’s of utmost importance. We are not a church that’s just about developing successful and inclusive relationships, though that’s important, too. We decided to be a church that takes the Truth and the example of Jesus Christ’s actions and teachings and incorporates those into ALL our relationships, to be open to people who are different from us and to serve people with the love of God in any way possible. This is how our values became these:

1. Seeing people that others might not see, and intentionally building authentic relationships with them.

2. Serving God and the community, local and abroad, in real and tangible ways

3. Sharing the story of God’s love through relevant Bible teaching and the stories of God’s work in real peoples’ lives.

 

If you have been here for any amount of time, you know that we continually strive together to see this vision, this mission and these values lived out – individually and collectively. I am so proud of your contributions to our community – food, clothing, shelter, financial help and accountability; spiritual community, celebrating and sorrowing together, walking a journey of faith at different paces but together. We cannot lose sight of these great characteristics. We cannot become inwardly focused and self-satisfying. It would be the demise of all God has planned for you and through you. We cannot afford to think, “what about me? what’s in it for me?” The Kingdom of God has always been about others, it’s always been about serving; it has always been about following God’s will no matter what the cost. This is the price of vision.

A few of you have been with us from the beginning – the very first meeting to discuss this possibility. There were about 25 of you from this group. Yet today, you are 85 people strong. You’ve invited your friends and family to join you in serving God and this community of Katy. You have served countless hours doing missions work for the poor, for orphans, for the elderly and the disabled. Your belief in this vision and love for God have taken you to India, Africa, Belize, Honduras, Brookshire, Richmond and next door. There have been 32 people decide to become followers of Christ, 20 people baptized publicly as a witness to their faith and more than half of us meet almost weekly for fellowship and study of God’s Word. You inspire me to keep on going. You challenge me to push ahead and become rather than sit still and stagnate into a “normal” church. YOU are the church – the body of Jesus Christ. You ARE Creekside Community, a group that welcomes all comers, helps those less fortunate than themselves, lives out the life of Jesus in the world around you. You do not lack vision or passion at all. And I’m proud of you.

For the next few minutes I want to talk about our future. And, though I cannot predict the future and I do not want to presuppose on God’s plans, I believe God places ideas and desires in a leader’s heart for a reason – to challenge and inspire. So indulge me as I lay out for you some thoughts and goals for the next year, five years and beyond. All of these thoughts and plans come from your pastors praying, planning and trying to hear from God. Who knows what the process will actually look like or what the timings will be. But here we go!

This April, we will celebrate our two year anniversary. This is a prime moment in the development of an entity like this. As we celebrate that anniversary as a church I believe we can see our average attendance grow from the current 80ish to 100 or more each week. This is a number of critical mass for the growth and success of churches. We would love to create 2-3 more LifeGroups that meet together, eat together, study God’s Word together and share real life together. I see our volunteer base expanding as we begin to split Kids Connection into more age specific groupings, expand our greeting ministry and continue more missions work in our community and abroad. 

Some people are uncomfortable with talking about numbers of people or dollars, but it is a necessary measure of any company or groups growth. We count people because people are what matters to God. He called us to reach people. Jesus reached people. And, if we are not doing that, then we are not accomplishing the vision, mission and values God has given us. We reach people as we serve them and as we invite them to join us in serving others. That implies we do serve and will serve in the church and in our community. It implies that we find value in what we are learning, who we are meeting and what God is calling us to. Inviting others to walk their own journey of faith with us means we are willing to be a little uncomfortable at times, go through the tough conversations and treat one another with mercy and grace: to treat people as Jesus would.

In years 3 – 5 we should plan to take a new step of faith together – finding and purchasing land, developing and opening a preschool and perhaps having a worship space along with that. Purchasing is another uncomfortable thing to talk about when referencing church. Skeptics think that religious organizations are only out to get their money, but for us the reality is, we want to do everything in our power to reach our community with God’s love. Every organization needs money to operate. Non-profit does not mean it doesn’t cost to build or operate. And I am convinced that a biblically based, non-profit but profitable, preschool that can potentially serve up to 50% of it’s students at little to no charge, would be a blessing to those in our communities less fortunate than ourselves. I’m convinced that a 10-12 acres of land and a modest facility available for community events, sports outreach and job training/growth would serve the community in a valuable way. I also believe that helping other like minded groups to establish new churches, serving around Katy or other parts of the world, will expand the Kingdom of God by spreading the love of God in exponential ways. To do this we will need to see our participation to increase to 300 or more, our staff to become full-time in their services here and our giving to grow to support the vision, mission and values.

Charge ahead 10-15 years: I’ll be older, some of you will be WAY older, but hopefully our enthusiasm for God and His community will not have waned in the least. We need to be willing to grow ourselves up to 1500 people, serving thousands more than that around the world, providing food, clothing and shelter on a grand scale. We need to be willing to fund and start churches and missions to reach around the state, just like those who supported us in the beginning. We need to have the foresight, fiscal responsibility, strength, determination and development to continue ministry that far outlives us. Wouldn’t it be neat if our grandchildren learned from us and lived their life serving God and others?! Wouldn’t it be awesome if our church became so diverse in nature that we no longer thought about ethnicities, socioeconomic groupings and colors of skin. Wouldn’t it make living so worth it, if we were to look back in 2025 at 15 years of age, and say, “It was all worth the effort, it was worth the discomfort, it was worth the sacrifices – look at all the people who NOW know that God loves them!” People can forget our names and never give us credit for any part of this adventure, but let’s not let them forget the God…who…loves…them. We live for His fame. Amen.

 

It’s Hard Not to Give It Away

Ok, let’s get the obvious out of the way – Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a good holiday season with all it’s chaos, food, family stuff and minutia. I think it was a great time this year for me personally. There was time to really enjoy the season and contemplate how important friends and family really are. I found myself viewing gratefully the gift of Jesus, the incredible clarity of the Bible and the joy of worshipping with friends and family. It makes it hard not to give it away.

We all know that life will soon return to a more normal pace – whatever that is. The quality and variety of food will diminish. We will see our friends and our family probably less than the previous two weeks. And our grateful, joyous experiences will fade into the normalcy of tolerance and occasional complaining about and to one another. So it goes after the holidays.

I am inspired, however, by and article in the Parade magazine in this week’s Sunday paper. It is called “Up Your Gratitude.” A lawyer explains how during a terrible time in his life he turned to expressing gratitude to the people around him as a way to cope with life’s speed bumps. It’s worth the read if your paper hasn’t already become kindling for a fire or liner for the birdcage. His book is probably good to read as well.

Anyway, my challenge for the New Year is to be more grateful and more expressive of my gratefulness to those around me. I’ll start at home, then shift outward to my work associates, also moving towards my friends and those service people who make my life so great – yes, that means you, Starbucks barista’s at Mason Road and La Centerra, Randall’s and Kroger.

I’ll start right here to give away some gratefulness: Thank you for being a part of my life. Thank you for tolerating my strange sense of humor, moody disposition and overly long diatribes. Thank you for loving my family and helping us continue to pursue those things that enrich our lives. Thank you to my church family, recent and past, for making my decision to start a new kind of church so exciting and possible. Thank you to all my mentors and coaches who have poured into my life when it was empty or close to it. Thank you to my wife and kids, who stick with it through the ups and downs. Who never give up on the possibilities. Who love unconditionally each day.

Finally, thank you, God, for life itself, for eternal possibilities, for earthly pleasures and strength. Thank you for seeing us for who we could be rather than who we really are.
So, Happy New Year. May you find gratitude in each day and may you find it hard NOT to give it away.

Peace Tim

 

Thrill of Hope Pt 5 – The Wise Men’s Story

Listen or Watch this Message Here:

 

Matthew Mateo  馬 太 福 音 2

1Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 

² “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

³ King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 

⁴ He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

⁶ ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 

⁸ Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

⁹ After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 

¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 

¹¹ They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹² When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

It’s here! The day of anticipation has finally arrived. More importantly, the One we have waited for has arrived – Jesus, the Messiah – Savior. How incredible of a day this really is! Over 2000 years after the event, we are sitting here celebrating, singing, and worshiping in awe of this miracle. What a wonder! What a holy moment in this year, as it was then! It’s worth the wait. It’s worth the anticipation and the unknown. And for our characters in today’s scripture it was worth a long, long trip.

There’s a lot we don’t know about these wisemen. First, we don’t really know how many of them there were. Second, we don’t know exactly from where they came. We think Persian/Iran/Irag, but we don’t know. Third, we don’t know why they thought this star in the sky was worth following in the first place – but they followed it anyway. Most traditions say that these were astrologers who looked for signs from God/gods in the stars. You might say they were the first eastern seekers of God. You could say they were considered wise only after they discovered the Messiah, before that they were just ordinary crazy guys headed west on a road trip. 

We do know that they were probably followers of the teachings of a prophet named Zoroaster. His philosophy and spiritual teachings ranged from a multitude of gods to fire and water being base elements of life. Whatever they believed, whatever their motivation, they travelled a long way to find the baby connected to this super bright star in the heavens. They couldn’t help themselves. It was too intriguing an opportunity to pass. So, they packed for travel, packed gifts for the special person they would find, and set out on a very, very long journey.

The book written my Matthew tells us that they came to Jerusalem. So they went to the King of the area perhaps thinking he would be “in the know” regarding this “King of the Jews.” But he was NOT aware, and given the information now he was scared! His job was now at stake and he didn’t much like that. He wanted to know where this “king” was so he could get rid of him. This great Roman king was so afraid that he asked the Jewish religious leaders about the “legend,” the prophecy of this King of the Jews. Learning it was Bethlehem he sent the wise men there to search out the boy.

So the wise men headed to Bethlehem, where the star rose and rested on the house where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus now lived. A year or more had passed since Jesus’ birth. Things had settled down from the time of the angels appearing to Mary, to Joseph and to the Shepherds. The census was almost over and soon they would be moving back to the town of Galilee. Soon they would resume normal life, but not until these wise men came, not until these Magi bowed, not until they offered worship and presents to this baby Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior. They didn’t travel all that way for all that time just to stop in and drop a couple of toys for an ordinary boy. God, himself, had directed them to bow and worship.

Despite their lack of knowledge about Herod, his deep need to maintain power and control and his utter loathing for the Jewish people, these wise men were spiritually attuned enough that God also told them in a dream NOT to reveal the baby to Herod. Living up to their title of being “wise” they left Bethlehem and returned home avoiding Jerusalem, probably sneaking past some soldier/spies Herod had appointed. Taking their lives in their hands to protect the Messiah and to obey the God of the universe, they went on their way, rejoicing at their chance to meet the baby of the star. Awesome.

Now here’s the thing: these wise men were not “followers” per se of the God of this Messiah baby. King Herod was certainly NOT a follower of any god other than himself. Yet God used these people to accomplish the task of finding and honoring Jesus Christ, God in flesh. And that’s not surprising really. For thousands of years before and thousands of year since, God has chosen the hurting, the broken the sinful and the imperfect people of the world to accomplish His work on the earth. God doesn’t need rich or smart people. He doesn’t need pretty or perfect people. God doesn’t need talented or gifted people for anything. God chooses ordinary people. And that’s the great news of Christmas. 

You and I, we are ridiculously ordinary, infamously broken, wholly unholy people – and God sent Jesus for us. The Bible says, “While we were still sinners…,” and that means since we couldn’t do enough good deeds, when our best efforts were still second or third or fourth place, when our passions and desires in life overwhelm our need and cry for forgiveness, God sent His Son, who would grow up into a man, who would die as a martyr and be raise from the dead as the Savior of the world – for the wise men of all ages, for the Herod’s of every time and for you and me. That is the Thrill of Hope we have explored these last weeks. That is the joy of Christmas. And that is the hope we celebrate today in Communion – the body and blood of Jesus, poured out for us. 

You may want to celebrate this ordinance of the Lord today. All are welcome to join us: if you believe that this Jesus is the Savior of the world, if you believe he died and rose again to pay for your sin, and if you accept that for your life, I invite you to dip this bread in the cup and celebrate eternal life this Christmas. This could also be the moment when you make this decision – I DO believe and I WILL receive eternal life today. 

Will you come?