One New Thing

2015 is here. A new year, full of new possibilities and fresh starts. It’s our annual mulligan; a do-over to begin anew. We all want to start a new year off on the right track, but what’s more important is staying on the right track for the long haul, not just for the first week or the first month. It’s a time to think about who we are and where we are and what we are going to do.

               Check out these words from Isaiah 43:18-19:

               “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

               I wonder if God speaking to any of us today saying, “I am going to do something new in your life right now”. Maybe you have made a New Year’s Resolution, and if so that’s awesome. But here are some New Year’s statistics: 40% of New Year Resolutions are broken by the end of January, and 75% of Resolutions are a thing of the past by Dec 14^th. I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news or say that nothing can change, and I’m not completely sure why New Years Resolutions don’t stick, but it might have something to do with the perspective, with the good intentions behind the wanting to change something in a New Year. Good intentions just won’t get you there. Good intentions are ‘me-focused’. What we need to see changes have to be ‘God-focused’. It is God leading the initiative of change, God calling something new and something to change. So I believe that if God is speaking something new into our lives this year, that maybe God is the One that will show us what One Thing to focus on.

               We all have areas of our lives we would like to change in 2015. For some of us these areas could compile a notebook filled page to page. But instead of focusing on all of them at once, what One Thing is God speaking to you about today?

               Here are some questions to help you determine your One Thing in 2015:

1.      What One Thing do you desire from God?

In Psalm 27:4, David writes, “One Thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple”.

2.      What One Thing do you lack?

When Jesus was answering a question from a man about what is needed to inherit eternal life, Jesus summed it up by saying, “One Thing you lack. Go and sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come, follow me.”

3.      What One Thing do you need to let go?

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

4.      What One Promise do you need to claim?

In Psalm 56:9 David again wrote, “This One Thing I know, God is for me!”

 

Take this week and answer these four questions for yourself. Prayerfully let God show you His One New Thing for 2015 that He wants to do in your life. Tell God your desires, acknowledge what you lack spiritually and a change that needs to be made in your life, let go of your past, your regrets, your bitterness, and claim the promises that God has laid out before you in a New Year, and be ready to experience the One New Thing that God has planned for you.

Christmas day is here...so now what?

 

Christmas day is here! The decorations, tinsel, lights, presents, and carols that have been leading up to this day have done their job. The celebration of the Advent season has led us to the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

               OK. Now what? Please do not take my question irreverently, in no way do I mean it that way. But really, what do we do now?

               If the anticipation leading up to Thursday morning had been all about unwrapping a present, then it’s over. There is nothing more to look forward to for another 365 days. But if the focus has been about celebrating Emmanuel, God with us, then it’s just the beginning. If the focus has been on looking back to the first Advent of Jesus and looking forward to the second Advent of Jesus, then we are in the middle of the mission right smack dab in between two Advents.

               The gospel of Luke recounts the life of Jesus from His birth to His death, and culminates in His resurrection. In the fourth chapter of Luke, we are told of the time when Jesus came into His public ministry. He attended a synagogue meeting, sat down, and read from the prophet Isaiah (chapter 61):

               “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then Jesus added, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

               In other words, all these prophesies about the Messiah coming just took on flesh and blood and became real. And the realness of it all is named Jesus.

               And from here Jesus began His short public ministry of teaching and healing. I view these verses as Jesus’ mission statement. This was why He had been born in Bethlehem 30 years earlier. This is the “why” as to why He had come. So let’s check it out a little closer.

-        Proclaim good news to the poor

The poor here does not just mean poor as in having no money (aka “broke”), but that could be part of it. But part of it has to do with humility, and loving others as yourself and not putting an emphasis on only the me-things of life. The poor here is more like when Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. Do you remember that verse? (Hint- look in Matthew 5) Jesus said that they will receive “the kingdom of heaven”.  these ‘poor’ are the ones that have been broke down by society, by family, by religion. They are ignored and living on the fringes. These people may have even gotten to a point where they have given up on God, but Jesus came to say, “God hasn’t given up on you!”

-        Bind up the broken hearted

There is a saying that time heals a broken heart. I don’t believe that. I have had my heart broken, and time didn’t heal it. Time added some resentment and bitterness, but time did not heal. But Jesus did. Jesus offers to bind up the broken pieces of broken hearts and broken lives and put them back together with His love.

-        Proclaim freedom for the captives

Now this doesn’t mean that we make a jail break for anyone currently incarcerated. But this does mean that there is freedom in Jesus for anything that is holding you captive. You are free in Jesus. This doesn’t mean that you are free to do anything you ever want to do, but it does mean that you are free to do anything that God is calling you to do, and that nothing will hold you back from who you are in Christ. Nothing will hold you captive to what Jesus has set you free from—no thoughts, no desires, no addictions are more powerful than the freedom that you have been given in Jesus.

-        Release from darkness for the prisoners

Advent and Christmastime are seasons of light. And then on Christmas day we celebrate the light of the world that has come in this long awaited Messiah. There is a light in your dark tunnel, and if you don’t see it today then keep moving until you do.

So back to our question, once Christmas is over, now what?

If you’ve ever been poor, if you’ve ever felt poor in spirit, if you’ve ever been brokenhearted, if you’ve ever been held captive, if you’ve ever felt like you’re living in darkness, then the Good News is that Jesus came for you. Go look in the mirror. That’s the reason Jesus came. You are the reason Jesus came. You are His mission.

So what now? Live, that’s what. Live your life for the One who came here for you, and let Him shine through you.

 

A Light on the Longest Night

It’s official. Christmas is here. Downtown Jonesborough, TN has been transformed into a Hallmark greeting card picture with wreaths, greenery, bows, sleds, and the courthouse tree is adorned with lights and has been officially lit. Yards are decorated with colored lights, and the greens have been hung in churches and houses. Even some radio stations have been playing only Christmas music for the last week, and will continue to do so through the end of the month.

               Yep, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. Lights are twinkling, stores are bustling, and music is playing. All reminding us of the hope, peace, love, and joy of this special time of the year. A time where we look back to Bethlehem and remember the first Advent (coming) of Jesus, and also look forward to His second Advent. There is excitement in the air every December.

               But for some people, this joyous time of the year is also clouded with sorrow and pain. How do you revel in the celebration when your heart is still hurting from recent loss of a loved one, or the financial burden your family is weighed down under, or the doctor’s diagnosis? While the Hope of Christ is still paramount in these situations, for some people the Christmas season brings a series of divergent feelings and emotions.

               How, as Christians, and the church, can we offer the Hope and Joy while also acknowledging the pain and suffering? Many churches have begun holding a “Longest Night Service” to address the needs of their people during this time. This service is held on or around the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year, and consequently the longest night of the year.

               And in the midst of making our lists, checking them twice, decking the halls, and dashing through the snow, we can all feel a little worn down during the holiday season. We know the Reason for the Season, and yet we go and do until we are sometimes relieved when “it’s over”.

               If you have ever felt that way, I want to offer a few verses that can serve as your Christmas Psalm this year. Let’s read Psalm 80 together. Now, let’s look at verses 3, 7, and 19 again. Here they are from the NIV:

               3- Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

               7- Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

               19- Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

               The common theme in the psalm, which was written as a song set to music, is the chorus; in particular the words “restore us…that we may be saved”.

               To restore something means to put it back to its original condition. Maybe you have restored an old car, or an old piece of furniture, but there the restoring is talking about us, in particular our soul. Often times we seek God’s restoration when things have gone bad, when we need to be put back to the ideal of how He created us. Other times we seek God’s restoration when we are so physically and mentally worn down that there is nothing left inside of us, we’re empty. But what if we didn’t wait until then to seek God’s restoration? What if this was our daily prayer this season, asking God to daily restore and fill and re-create us? I think this could change how we live this season of Advent. And perhaps we could all spiritually benefit from embracing the Longest Night of 2014, knowing that there is a Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome this Light (John 1:5).

               For those in our community that are interested in a “Longest Night Service” of reflective, prayerful, and meditative worship, Telford United Methodist Church (1775 Old State Rt 34) will hold a “Longest Night Service” on Monday December 22 beginning at 5:30PM. There will not be any of the traditional Christmas hymns during this service, but rather a time to turn to the Lord in honest and open conversation through prayer, Scripture, and a congregational response of lighting candles, as we remember these words of Jesus:

               “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

              

A Thanksgiving Psalm

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. A national holiday set aside where we, as Americans, are reminded to pause and give thanks for what we have. We often picture in our minds Native Americans and English Pilgrims sitting down to eat a huge meal together. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national holiday, a day that Lincoln declared the day to be a day of “thanksgiving and praise to our beneficient Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”.

               And so today some of us get a day off from work, schools are closed, and we feast on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Of course we can’t rest too long, Black Friday shopping begins the day after this day of thanks, and some stores are even enticing us by opening up Thanksgiving day for their celebrated and long-awaited Black Friday Deals. And so we buy, cook, hurry, stress, eat, buy some more, and eat some more.

               I wonder if this is what President Lincoln had envisioned for this day when he proclaimed a national holiday back in 1863. Of course as Christians we recognize that every day is a thanksgiving day. Every day we celebrate that what we have are gifts from God, and should be used to bring Him glory and to help others.

               Psalm 100 is often one of the most quoted Psalms this time of year. Today I encourage you to read it slowly. And on Thanksgiving Day, read it with the family you are gathered with. And if you are alone, read it aloud anyway. Because the focus of the Psalm isn’t on how many people you’re eating turkey with, or how many Christmas presents you can get a deal on this weekend. In fact, the focus of the Psalm isn’t on you (or me) at all. The focus is on God. But there are some verbs I want us to recognize. Here, let’s read this together:

               “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100- KJV)

               I normally don’t read or preach from the King James Version very often, but there are some passages that the beauty of these words seems more pronounced in this text. Maybe it’s because this is the way that I memorized them when I was a child. And those beautiful words have stuck with me. If you don’t usually read from the KJV, then read this is in the translation you prefer. After all, the best Bible translation is the one that you actually read daily.

               Now, back to those action verbs (they are underlined in the passage above). All of these verbs are things that we are told to do:

-        “Make” – sometimes we all seem to be making a lot of noise about something. Is your noise (your words and actions) joyfully proclaiming Jesus?

-        “Serve” – It’s not about whether you are serving the lunch or being served as a guest. It’s about serving the Lord. And when we do that, we will always be aware of ways that we can serve others in His name

-        “Come” – the word used here in the Psalm is an image of kneeling before the King. Bow down as you slow down. There is no greater place to be than in the presence of the Lord (which will make you want to sing praises to Him—and those noises all sound joyful regardless of your pitch!)

-        “Know” – We ‘know’ lots of things; some are important (like your spouse’s birthday), some don’t benefit us daily (like some algebraic equations we had to know for tests in school), and some we know because we are interested in something (like the Pittsburgh Steelers have played in 8 Super Bowls and won 6 of them). What matters most is knowing that God is God; Creator, Savior, Redeemer. Everything that we are not, and everything that He is.

-        “Enter” – Almost everyday you can see a sign that reads “Do Not Enter”. God’s desire is that we all enter into Him through the Jesus (John 14:6)

-        “Be Thankful” – the focus of our Thankfulness is grounded in God (note there is no mention of being thankful for turkey, family, friends, or Black Friday shopping deals here---being thankful is about knowing God)

-        “Bless” – we tend to ask God’s blessing on people and events, buildings and budgets. We ask God to bless us, our family, and our country. But here we are called upon the bless the source of the blessings! We bless His name (or praise His name) through our worship, which includes the serving Him (and others in His name), coming to Him, Knowing Him, and Entering into His presence with a thankful heart

Maybe you love Thanksgiving Day with all the family, football, food and hustle and bustle. Maybe you dread Thanksgiving Day because it reminds you of a loved one who has passed away. Maybe you ignore Thanksgiving Day because you seem to have so little compared to so many others.

This Thursday let’s try to live those verbs in Psalm 100. It will change how we view this day, and every other day that follows. Because God is good…all the time!

 

 

The Big Reveal

My children are not good at waiting. Waiting in line, waiting to be seated, waiting for their turn in the bathroom. And of course waiting on Christmas. It would be nice to think we outgrow our impatience, but I don’t think we really do. Some things change, like waiting on my birthday is not quite as much a big deal as it was forty years ago, but in many ways I am still not good at waiting…waiting in line, waiting to be seated, waiting on my turn in the bathroom, and of course waiting on Christmas.

We all probably (hopefully) still have some leftover Halloween candy, and turkeys are already on sale for Thanksgiving. But department stores have been preparing for Christmas for weeks now. Decorations are ready for display, and shopping lists are ready to be made, events await to be scheduled. There are many preparations being already made for Christmas. And with good reason, there’s only 42 shopping days until Christmas! And sometimes that’s where our focus is this season.

Advent (which means coming or arrival) is the Christian season of four weeks that lead up to Christmas day, the day that we celebrate the advent of God with us through the physical birth of Jesus, the Messiah and anticipated Savior. This is also a reminder of looking forward to Jesus’ second Advent, the time when our Lord will return.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9 is a great place to plant ourselves to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This beginning part of the letter both gives thanks and praise, and looks toward (and back to) Advent.

Advent is a season of preparing, but it is also a season of waiting. Like the Christians that Paul wrote to in Corinth, we are waiting for the ultimate revealing of Jesus. “..as you eagerly await for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Corinthians 1:7b). Waiting for the bridegroom to return for his bride, which the early Christians thought would happen soon. So they waited. And so we also wait.

 And while Christ has not been revealed fully yet, there is a daily unveiling of His presence among us even now. Perhaps when we are waiting with hands busy serving others and eyes fixed on Jesus we are seeing glimpses of His revealing. And we wait with a knowledge that He is always with us. We wait for Him who was here all along. But we wait to see Him as we truly is, so that we may ourselves as we truly are, revealed through Him. And so we wait. Here are a few questions to help us here:

“How am I waiting today for Jesus?”

“In what ways am I seeing Christ revealed today?”

“How am I revealing Christ to others today?”

How we answer these questions might reveal something about how we are waiting. May we be blessed in our preparing and in our waiting this season.