Colossians 3:12-17

"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 

"Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.  And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."

Woe to Me!

In Matthew 23, Jesus delivered his harshest rebukes, not to sinners nor to His disciples, but to the religious leaders of the day:

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’  You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?  You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’  You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?  Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.  And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.  And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.  And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’  So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!”

There is another “Woe to…” in the New Testament that speaks not only to the religious teachers of Jesus’ day, but to all of the rest of us, be we charged with the responsibilities inherent in the pulpit, or in the layman’s lifestyle evangelism.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul writes:

“Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.”  (1 Corinthians 9:16b)

The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, must be preached in word, behavior, attitude, and action at all times.  To emphasize any other aspect of the Bible at the exclusion of the Gospel message is bad theology at best, a diluting of the Gospel as being “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16b).”

Society and culture are ever changing and evolving, but the Gospel stands firm throughout all the seasons and ages.  As Paul exhorts Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-6,

Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.  They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. 

Preach the Gospel!  Proclaim the “good news that will bring great joy to all people (Luke 2:10b)!”  May it never be said of us, “Woe to you!”

In Christ,
Pastor Joe

The Simplicity of the Gospel

Jesus was fiercely hated by the religious leaders of the day because He publically and directly confronted them on their hypocrisy. They had distorted and added to the message of God so much that it had become a heavy burden upon those who would try to live it (Matthew 23).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is SIMPLE, yet radical, in that it challenges us to the very core of our being. It is the antithesis of worldly wisdom and systems. Rather than being 'me-oriented,' it is 'others-oriented.' It is offensive to all those who believe that life and eternity should be merit-based. Rather, it informs us that the way is narrow -- we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven with our "stuff," be it our sin, be it our accomplishments (Matthew 7:13-14).

Most importantly, it constantly brings us to a place of recognizing our spiritual poverty -- we simply cannot do it on our own, but need God. He has freely given us His love, His grace, His mercy, His kindness, His forgiveness, and His compassion. We cannot earn it, work for it, strive for it -- it is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Yet, the ONLY condition to receiving these things is how we walk in relationship to others, and this is an area where the Christians you reference tend to lack. Jesus said (in relation to love, forgiveness, mercy, etc.), "Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8)." He illustrated time and again that those who refuse to forgive others as they have been forgiven will not be forgiven (Matthew 6:15; 18:21-35).

What is the Gospel? It simply means "Good News." What is this Good News? It is that, through Jesus Christ, God has made us right with Him (Romans 1:16-17).

It is written that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21).

“And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced (Romans 10:8b-11).’”

Anything else complicates and compromises the beautiful simplicity of the Gospel.

Love in Christ,
Pastor Joe

Be Perfect?!

In our continuing sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount, we have worked our way through Jesus’ discourse on the law of Moses, and concluded Sunday’s message with the closing words posed by Jesus in Matthew 5:48 --

“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. “

After a lengthy discourse in which Jesus addressed not only the outward letter of the law, but also the evil intents and inclinations of our hearts, the reader finally arrives at verse 48 with a self-condemning heart, understanding that perfect righteousness is far beyond the flesh’s own doing.  If His prior words set the bar out of our immediate reach, then the summation command, “Be perfect,” places the bar completely out of  the bounds of the universe itself.

Impossible to attain.  Yet, there it is.

So, how does one become perfect?  Let’s look at two means by which perfection is NOT attained:

• Human effort does not make one perfect.
  
  Galatians 3:3 - "How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?"
  
  (for the best commentary on this verse, read the entire book of Galatians; Paul articulates the futility of human effort)
  
• The law does not make one perfect.
  
  Hebrews 10:1  - “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.”
  
  Hebrews 7:19 - "For the law never made anything perfect."
  
  (again, for the best commentary, nothing beats the Bible itself; the book of Hebrews speaks to this subject at length)

'Perfection' comes from God alone.

• Romans 12:2 - "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
• Colossians 4:12 - "Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God."
• Hebrews 10:14 - "For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy."
• James 1:2-4 - "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."
• James 1:21-25 - "So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. 22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."

Perfection is a process.  We will never be perfect in this life time, yet He works perfection in us as we yield to Him; just as we can never become righteous by our own efforts, yet “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).”

By God’s standards, nobody could ever achieve perfection, or even be qualified to receive salvation.  It is impossible.

Jesus’ disciples increasingly understood this truth, culminating in the question, “Then who in the world can be saved?”

“Humanly speaking, it is impossible,” Jesus responded.  “But with God everything is possible (Matthew 19:26).”

Want to be perfect?  Then don’t hide your weaknesses, but boast in them, for God says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9a).”

Love In Christ,
Pastor Joe

Stress! Crisis!

Did I get your attention?  I titled this post as such because I am currently working my way through week three of my final term of college before I graduate in June with my Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science.  Having long since completed my core requirements, as well as the courses for my major, I’ve been able to finish out my last two terms with electives.

Last term, I chose “Dynamics of Family Relationships” and “Managing Conflict.”  This time, I’m taking “Stress: Its Effect on the Family” and “Crisis Intervention.”  While these four certainly lend value to my overall major, they’ve proven to be very relevant to my life over the past five months.  I love how God repeatedly has led me to take classes that He knew would have direct application to the circumstances I’d be in when I took them.

My extended family is currently walking through some challenging medical/aging issues which I will refrain from going into here.  Having said that, each one of us within our family system has been faced with extended stressors and a looming feeling of borderline crisis.

This is where our walk with Jesus comes in to stark clarity.  It’s easy to profess faith, hope, peace, and joy in Him when all is going well; yet, when the storms of life come raging, we tend to lose our bearings, and default to ‘crisis mode.’

I’m reminded of a story in Luke 8:

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out.  As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger.

The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm.  Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”

The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”

It’s an inescapable fact of life that storms will arise.  In the middle of life’s crises, though, remember…

He’s in the boat with us.

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27)

“For God has said, ‘I will never fail you.  I will never abandon you.’” (Hebrews 13:5b)

“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)

“Jesus said ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) – (Thanks, Kevin!)

Love In Christ,
Pastor Joe

I Obey the Law

Over the past couple of weeks at church, we have been making our way through the Sermon on the Mount.  We began with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), followed by a study on being ‘salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).’  Just this evening, I finished preparing for tomorrow’s sermon on Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus’ mission statement regarding the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets.

This particular passage of the Sermon on the Mount is deeply personal to me, as it has been a subject that has been “in my face” for a long time.  The exact circumstances as to how and why I came to dive headfirst into the topic are unimportant; what is important is that I wanted to make sure that when the time came to touch upon this topic from the pulpit, that I did so with as much of an objective understanding of the Scriptures regarding law as possible.

One of the biggest misconceptions that people have about those of us who hold to the Gospel of grace as being superior to the law of Moses is that we are then ‘lawless.’  Such talk implies that, believing ourselves no longer bound to obedience to the law, we consider God’s grace as a ‘license to sin’.

This, of course, is foolishness.  As Paul wrote in Romans 6:15 - "Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!"

I won’t go into a discourse on law here, other than to say that the tension between law and grace was significant even in the 1st century church.  One cannot read many passages of the New Testament without encountering the contentious topic again and again.  There are many books, articles, websites, commentaries, etc. written on the subject, but the Bible speaks best for itself.  If you’re interested in learning more what the law controversy is all about, I encourage you to start with Acts 15, Romans, and Galatians.

I’ll close with one short verse that speaks my heart so concise, yet so eloquently:

"But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ." – 1 Corinthians 9:21b

Love In Christ,
Pastor Joe

“Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus”

I recently watched this video that has been making the rounds on the Internet, and thought that I’d share it here.

“Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus”

“See because religion says do, Jesus says done
Religion says slave, Jesus says son
Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free
Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see
And that's why religion and Jesus are two different clans
Religion is man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for man
Which is why salvation is freely mine, and forgiveness is my own
Not based on my merits but Jesus's obedience alone
Because he took the crown of thorns, and the blood dripped down his face
He took what we all deserved, I guess that's why you call it grace
And while being murdered he yelled
"Father forgive them they know not what they do."
Because when he was dangling on that cross, he was thinking of you
And he absorbed all of your sin, and buried it in the tomb
Which is why I'm kneeling at the cross, saying come on there's room
So for religion, no I hate it, in fact I literally resent it
Because when Jesus said it is finished, I believe he meant it”
~ Jefferson Bethke,
”Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus”

What is true Biblical religion?

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - James 1:27