Don't Forget Your Jewelry

Not many days go by in our house that we don’t mention jewelry at least once. Part of that is because Heather really, really likes jewelry, and she wears it so well 😊

            The other part of that is that we are blessed to work with Premier Designs, a company that promotes biblical truth, the inherent worth of all people as God’s creation and beloved, and strives to enrich the lives of everyone they come into contact with. Training meetings and award ceremonies are more like a praise and worship time with Scripture, testimonies, music, prayer, and lots of excitement.

And, they just so happen to sell jewelry, too.

            So today I came across this little gem in Jeremiah, “does a young woman forget her jewelry?” (Jeremiah 2:32).

(Nice little “gem” pun, right?)

            I have read Jeremiah several times. This is one of my favorite Old Testament books of the Bible, so Jeremiah and I are like old friends, we know a lot about each other and have shared a lot together. I know this verse has always been right there in the 2^nd chapter, but today I just really noticed it.

            Now context is important, I say this every time I am sharing God’s Word with others. And the context here is that Jeremiah has been called by God as a prophet to go and tell the people of Judah that they need to change their ways. They have become lazy in their actions, indifferent in their relationships, cold in their worship, and have turned their backs on the God who created, provided, cared for, and sustained them. So, the Lord goes through a list of things that the people have done, and one of those things is that they have forgotten Him. They have become so busy with their own lives, their own agendas and their own goals, that they have neglected their first great Love.

            To show how crazy this should seem to them, God asks Jeremiah, “does a young woman forget to put her jewelry on before she goes out?” The obvious answer for Jeremiah to that question would have been, “Absolutely not!”

            And the same is true for my wife and these great jewelry ladies we have met over our last year with Premier. When they get together there is a lot of bling going on!

But today I looked at Heather’s jewelry sitting on the table. This has helped make an impact in many lives, and most of them I will never know the stories of personally.

            The people of Judah had gotten too busy with other things.

            We know how that is too.

            So they had forgotten.

            We know how that is too.

            I am not making an excuse, but I know it happens. Life gets busy and there are some days we are just trying to hold on for the ride and not get slung off. Maybe we feel that way at times because we are forgetting.

            I wonder if every Premier lady (and Premier man…and everyone else for that matter) could put on their jewelry each day and use this as a time to remember. Remember your first Great Love. Remember you are created in the image of God and you are greatly loved. Remember the One who hung the stars and spoke creation into being is the One who cares deeply for you and desires your love, worship, and relationship. Remember that today you will be given an opportunity to bless others. Remember that God is in control, and part of that means we are trusting in Him first.

            I wonder if this will help us to not forget?

            “Will a Premier lady forget to put her jewelry on?”

Absolutely not!

            But put on each piece as a time of worship, a time of preparation, and a time of remembering who you are.

---

[i] https://www.premierdesigns.com/gettoknowus.html

Pragmatic Problems and Persistent Prayer

Here is a picture of one of my problems.

Actually, this is much prettier than my real problems. This was an illustration from a sermon I preached for a Johnson City District United Methodist Women gathering last month. I had several of these "problems" that I laid on the rail of the alter at the end of the sermon, trying to make a visual connection with what laying our troubles before the Lord looks like, compared to just laying them there while we were at church and then picking them up again when we left.

Last night Heather and I were talking about prayer. Well, we were talking about death. Another friend from our home church where she grew up, and the first United Methodist Church that I had ever attended, passed away last night from cancer. Death and prayer are often closely related topics. Heather had mentioned that I am always saying to pray about a problem, then leave it there at the alter. But there are times in Scripture when we are told to not stop praying, and she prays daily for her own dad, who is with the healing power of Jesus, battling cancer in his life.

Here is what I think about this. I am not a renowned theologian, just a man seeking to better know Jesus daily and to live this crazy life with some sort of purpose and passion while showing love to as many people as I can. Maybe you have different thoughts, and if so please share them with me. We are in this together.
So here goes....

Jesus tells a parable found in Luke 18:1-8 that we call the "parable of the persistent widow". The story is about a widow who went to a judge to get the justice she deserved in a certain legal matter. The judge really didn't care about the woman or her needs that much, but she didn't give up. She went back day after day after day after day and brought her request to the judge. Finally the judge agrees to give her what she wants. Then Jesus says that if that uncaring judge gave the persistent woman what she wanted then "will not God give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night?" Here is what is really interesting about this. Jesus opens the parable by stating this is an example that we should "always pray and never give up" (18:1), and ends by asking, presumably based on this persistent, faithful, and expectant model of prayer, "When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on earth?" (18:8).

Jesus tells another parable of a persistent friend that is found in Luke 11:5-13, which also ends with an equation that we serve a Good Father who will take care of His children and takes pleasure in giving them what they need ("need" is a key word here, not want, and not anything and everything).

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (11:9-10)

There is obviously something here as Jesus was teaching us to pray with faith and to pray with persistence. To not give up and to not stop praying.

Jesus also said, as recorded in Matthew 6:11 "give us this day our daily bread". So there is an indication this prayer is as daily as the need for eating is daily. Jesus modeled this frequently with his disciples by getting away by himself to pray.

And there is one of my favorite verses, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "pray continually".

So how does this tie in with leaving your prayers at the alter? Well, I would say you leave the problems and worries that you are praying about at the alter. Leave the feelings of anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and fear at the alter. And then keep praying about the situation. But pray with the faith of one who is asking his or her Father for a gift. Pray expecting something to happen.

"But when he asks (for something in prayer), he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6).

And keep praying, and don't give up. And if perhaps the answer to the prayer is "no", then talk to your Father about that. What is He wanting to do in your life that is different and better than what you had asked for. I think is what the apostle Paul was referring to in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul refers to a "thorn" that he has been dealing with, but never specifically says what it was. And Paul prayed about it. In fact he said, "three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me", but God didn't do that. I don't think Paul gave up after three times praying about, that isn't consistent with what Jesus taught us about prayer. But I think Paul got his answer, and in his case the answer was "no", so Paul went on knowing that God had a bigger plan and purpose in place than perhaps he could see at the time.
God's dream and purpose for you is beyond the confusion of today.

So don't stop praying. Pray continually. Pray in God's will. Pray for His will to be done and that you are in line with that. Pray expecting something to happen. Pray and give thanks for what God will do that you just haven't seen yet. Pray thanking God for what He is doing now that you just aren't seeing right now.  Prayer is good. Prayer is our life source to our Life Source. Stay connected.

But leave the other stuff at the alter. The stuff that is weighing you down and causing you to forget who (and whose) you are. Leave those hangups and problems at the alter. Lay 'em down, and walk away. That is baggage you don't need, and were not intended, to carry along in life.

So for me, that's the difference between pragmatic problems and persistent prayer. What do you think?

Clean Plates and Clean Slates

Years ago when I played baseball I was a catcher. I got to play not because I was a good hitter, in fact I was normally about 30 points below what would be considered an "average" batting average. I played because I was good defensively. I knew the fundamentals and was good at them because of the hours I spent having baseballs bounced into the dirt so that I could block them with any part of my body, anything to keep the ball in front of me.
I was also good at talking, so I could usually calm down a frustrated or nervous pitcher, occasionally get in the head of an overzealous batter, and always have a good chat with the man behind the plate.
Even with everything going on in a game, I always made sure that the umpire and I were on good terms, because he was the one calling the pitches. I also made sure that he always had a good view of the plate. Most umps had their little ump-brush that they would use to brush dirt off the plate before each inning, but I would wipe the corners of the plate at least after every batter. I wanted the umpire to see just how big and how wide that plate really was, and maybe if there was a pitch just off the corner a tad that he would call it a strike, because after all that plate was clean and white and wide.
As we are coming into a season of Lent, I have been thinking about home plate a little more.  Lent is a 40 day time of the year leading up to Easter Sunday (you don't count Sunday's in the 40 days because every Sunday is a ""mini-Easter" where we are celebrating our risen Lord). Most people think of Lent as a time to give something up, like chocolate or cussing. I know a lot of kids who want to give up school and homework for Lent, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Some people try to pick up something for Lent, like starting a good habit such as exercising or eating healthier. All of these are good things, especially the giving up homework idea, but they don;t really capture what Lent is about.
That's why I've been thinking more about home plate.
See, during a baseball game the plate gets dirty, there is dirt that is blown, kicked, and swiped onto it. Not because anyone wanted to intentionally cover up home plate with dirt, well, maybe there are some batters that want to do that, but that isn't the norm. Home plate gets dirty because there is a game going on, and there is dirt everywhere in the infield, and during the course of the game dirt gets on the plate.
The important thing for me as a catcher was to see the dirt and to get the dirt off when the plate got dirty.

Psalm 51 was written by David after a time that there had been a lot of dirt in his life. And with the help of a man named Nathan, David recognized the dirt. He also recognized the fact that he couldn't get rid of the dirt that was already there, and that he needed God to do that, but he also needed to keep other dirt from getting into his life where he was able.

"Wash me thoroughly...cleanse me" (Psalm 51:2)
"Purge me...and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7)
"Create in me a clean heart" (Psalm 51:10)

This Lent, allow God to create a clean heart and a right spirit within you. The word "Lent" comes from a Latin word for "spring", so maybe a little spring-cleaning is in order spiritually.

Let's have a clean plate and clean slate as we prepare ourselves during Lent. Not just that we are preparing for Easter, though that is part of it. But more importantly that we are prepared daily for the return of Jesus, that we are living our lives in line with what we say we believe, that today could be day! And that we are ready.
Live into a Holy Lent over the next 6 weeks, and know regardless of how dirty home plate may be, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Because God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is God.

Grace&Peace this Lenten season,
Michael


Be Real. Be Loving. Be Involved.

Blessed are those who mourn....

Blessed are the poor in spirit....

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).

The sermon on the mount in the gospel of Matthew begins with these words from Jesus. I preached a sermon yesterday on this but each of these blessings that we call the "beatitudes" is so rich and so great that I thought I would pass along some thoughts on each of these eight blessings in verses 3-10.
Maybe these can help guide us this week. Maybe you will find yourselves in them, or perhaps you will sense where God is leading you in them. So, let's look at that first one, the one about being "poor".
We don't want to be poor in anything. Being poor means that you don't have what others have. And normally we look at this as a bad thing, we often want what other have. Or we think we deserve things that we don't have. But the Beatitudes are a system of blessings in reversals. For each of these "blessings" in Matthew 5 Jesus is flipping the table on what is perceived the cultural and societal norm.
So He begins here, with being poor. But not just poor financially. Poor "in spirit". To be poor in spirit means to be empty of oneself.

The Message paraphrase writes this verse this way, "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule".

I understand that. I know what it means and what it feels like to be at the end of my rope. There is nowhere left to go, there are no other options, there is not much time left of holding on. Somethings gotta give! Somethings gotta change!
And that's when it does, or at least it can.
When we empty ourselves of ourselves and see "poor" in spirit not as a bad thing, but as a beginning thing. Being at the end of the rope doesn't have to be the end.
Being at that end can be the liberating beginning!
It is there we finally realize that we are not in control. It is there that we finally realize that if we let go of this thing we have tried to have a white-knuckle grip on, that we are in the hands of an almighty and all-loving God.
And when we let go and empty ourselves He begins to fill us. But we are filled with some different things than we were before. And some of those things are the following verses in these beatitudes that we will get to later.
But first there is a blessing for those who are poor in spirit....the kingdom of heaven.
Wow, talk about a role reversal there! You go from poor and empty to receiving the kingdom. And this is not a future when you die we all go to heaven type of blessing. It is in the here and the now. Today! If you will accept the blessing.
The kingdom of heaven is something Jesus spent a lot of time talking about, and something that I have spent a lot of time reading and praying about. And here is what I think. When we empty ourselves of ourselves and become this vessel for God to fill up we begin living a new life in this kingdom come now. Not fully and completely, of course. The full arrival of the kingdom will usher in a time of no more pain, no more death, no more tears, where the Lord is our light and there is no sin or darkness. But what I mean is that when Jesus said "theirs IS the kingdom of heaven", I think he meant it.
So that's our blessing today. Living a life in the kingdom for the King today. To be filled up with what we need to live this kingdom life with kingdom values.
So be #blessed today, and be a blessing!

Sermon URL: https://www.facebook.com/TelfordUnitedMethodistChurch/videos/1254662261247058/

The Invitation

               I love getting invitations. Well, most of the time I do. Sometimes I get those emails or phone calls that state that I am being invited to take part in a brief survey because my opinion is extremely valuable. Then about 3 hours the “brief” survey is over. And I have been invited to attend those free vacations, with the only caveat being I have to sit through a very brief low-pressure sales presentation for their time share company. Often these are neither brief nor low-pressure. Each year I also get “invited” to attend a consultation with our Johnson City District Committee on Ordained Ministry. Of course I am not equating this time with the dCOM to time share pitches or unwanted telemarketers, I am just saying that some invitations are more enjoyable than others.

               Like a birthday party invitation. Those are usually good. Well, unless you don’t really know the person that well, or if you have no idea what kind of gift to buy. Or if it’s one of those invitations from your child’s elementary school class where they have to invite every single child in the class so you have no idea who the parents are or who you’re going to be hanging out with while wondering why people still scheduled birthday parties at places like Chuck E Cheese (no offense Chuck, I am just using you as an example). OK, so maybe all birthday party invitations aren’t the best.

               But wedding invitations, those are always great! Right? Well, unless it’s one of those Saturday outdoor weddings in August. Hot, hot, hot and humid. Of course these never start on time, because the bridal party is inside the air conditioned oasis of our party building while you sit melting in a chair that is leaving little sweat rings under your backside. And of course these over top once in a lifetime wedding events try to bring in every element of art, dance, drama, and music so that the entire event with snacks before and dinner after lasts hours…or days. OK, so maybe all wedding invitations aren’t that great.

               Now, before you think that I have just gone all cynical on invitations, I am just trying to make a point. We like to be invited to things, that is part of our human nature. We want to be included.

               In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus tells a story about a wedding. This parable was used to illustrate that we are all invited into the kingdom of God, but that not everyone will come. The incredible irony is that while we are waiting for an invitation to something this weekend, we have already been invited to relationship with Jesus. And for many people reading this column, you have already accepted that invitation. But that’s not all there is. Now we get to invite others.

               The end of the first chapter of the gospel of John deals with invitations. Jesus was an inviter. His famous pick up line was “follow me”. And it is still is. And people did, and still do. But my favorite invitation from Jesus was to two disciples of another teacher, John the Baptist. One day they saw Jesus walking by and John said, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. So naturally these two guys are curious so they follow Jesus, just walking behind him following.

               So Jesus asks them what they want. They say they want to see where He is staying. And his answer is, “Come, and you will see”.

               That’s the invitation. Come and see. Come and see what Jesus is doing. Maybe you’ll get that invitation you’re waiting for, maybe you won’t. But you have already been invited into relationship with the One who takes away the sin of the world. Your invitation is one of relationship. Have you accepted?

God is with us...still

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old is gone, the new is here!” –

2 Corinthians 5:17

                “Christmas is over”.

I have heard that from a lot of people this past week. Some have said it with a sigh of relief and others have mumbled it with a twinge of sadness, like a friend that has gone away and won’t be seen for a whole year. Some of you may have had your tree taken down and decorations packed up the evening of December 25, and others of you may be waiting as long as possible to un-decorate.

The reality is that Christmas isn’t over.

Technically we are still in what is called “Christmastide” (yes, those 12 days of Christmas from the song are a real thing from Christmas through Epiphany, which is January 6). I know that the season of Christmas is ending, and that eventually all of the decorations will have to be put away, but that whole “Emmanuel—God with us” idea doesn’t get packed away with the stockings and tree skirt. God is not in the manger anymore, God is in us.

God is with us, still.

Even when we might think Christmas is “over”.

And here we are into a new year. But with the new year comes many of the same old things. The same debt, the same worries, the same illness, the same doubts, the same addictions, the same concerns. There is no New Year Resolution big enough for these. So we focus on the things we think we can fix on our own. A Google search for this year’s top Resolutions has “Exercise” topping our wish list with 37% of Americans and then “losing weight” a close 2^nd with 32%. The reality is that many gyms bring in ‘temporary’ equipment for the month of January only. The reason for this is something that we all know all too well. Come February the resolutions are gone.

God is with us, still.

The new creation has come.  This means that we have been created new. But it’s not just a one-time thing that happened in the past. It can be a daily newness in life. A daily refreshing from the presence of God with us. A daily recreating of who we are in Christ. A daily resolution that we are not trying to achieve with our own good intentions, but placing in the capable hands of Jesus.

The old is gone. This means that our old habits, old selfishness, old worries, old addictions, old regrets, old doubts can be gone with our old self. This takes a daily focus on the newness in us so that the oldness doesn’t slip back in.

My kids used to love to play in the mud. And when they did they would get really muddy, cause that’s just what happens when you play in the mud. Not that playing in the mud is a bad thing, I am just using it here metaphorically. Anyway, their clothes would be muddy, their shoes would be muddy, they would just be a muddy mess. When I got them washed off and cleaned up I wouldn’t put them back in those muddy clothes, I would dress them in clean clothes, and wash those muddy clothes (or throw them away—but don’t tell Heather I ever did that). The same is true for us. That oldness in our lives shouldn’t be something that we keep putting back on every day. If we are really made new in Christ, then we should be wearing new clean clothes, not the same old dirty stuff. There is a beautiful picture of baptism there also. The washing away of the old under the water and the rising up of the new clean person.

The new is here!

I think we can live a fresh new life in Christ Jesus. But I think it’s really hard to try to do that alone. I don’t advocate New Year Resolutions. If you want to read the Bible in 2017 that’s great! But you don’t need a New Year Resolution to do that. Just do it. But I do think that being part of a church is important to this new life, to help keep the newness in the oldness out. So if you’re not part of a church family to help you in this new 2017, then check out the list of local churches that is listed in this paper. There really are people here that want to help you, and there are people here that need to be helped by you. We’re all in this together.

So, Happy New Year! Enjoy it. Live it. Love it. And maybe even go play in the mud…just don’t put those muddy clothes back on ;)