I Have Been With You...

Okay, so we're a bit late to start the Easter season at The River... but Hey, better late than never, right? Over the next five weeks, we'll hone in on the implications of Resurrection Sunday... this week's focus is on God as a personal being.

Here is the text relating to the sermon/discussion this Sunday: 2 Samuel 7:1-17

 Is God personal? I mean, you hear it all the time, right...

"I don't have a religion... I have a personal relationship with God."

But what does that mean, exactly? This morning at our bi-weekly men's breakfast, affectionately known as "Nude Pagan Society"(actually it's New Canaan Society), the question came up this very morning... Just exactly what does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? Can He be seen? (Not by anyone I know.) Can He be heard? (Only in subtle ways that could be construed as subjective.) Is He my friend? (Uh... perhaps in a sense, but then again, how can mere humanity and an eternal, self-existing, unfathomable being of sheer power become buddies?) Are we equals? (Oh, heck no!) Does He love us wacky humaniod creatures... even in our sinful, self-destructive, and utterly stubborn fickle-ness? (Yes... according to the Bible, He loves shamelessly, sacrificially, emphatically, and relentlessly!)

So how does the jumbled chex-mix of descriptions and questions above answer our initial question... is God personal? If so, how? What exactly has to take place in order for us to "get personal" with the Creator of the universe? Is it something we do as humans? Does it have to come from God? Where do God and people have to intersect in order to establish some form of relationship with one another?


I have a definite answer... at least it's my answer. Are you ready? Here it is...


I don't know.


Really. I don't know. Its' a deep mystery beyond my ability to understand, much less articulate. I guess the biblical answer is grace... that is, unmerited favor.


God, in His mercy, somehow determined to love us... all of us... for reasons that boggle the human mind. As such, He reaches out to us, and offers to forgive our sins, and restore us to our pre-Adamic righteous standing before Him. Though we are born into this life completely lost, wandering, bound up, and dying in our sins... nevertheless, He unilaterally comes to us and offers to free us from the prison of flesh. He offers life... He offers freedom... He offers salvation... He offers all of Himself to those who will listen. There is only one catch beyond the willingness to accept the gift. Just one, simple, relatively small requirement in order to fulfill our part of the covenant: Walk by faith... that is, trust Him with all of who you are, obey His commands, and release your life - all of your life - to Him, in order to be molded shaped into His image... by His Spirit.


That's what David did. David was a man after God's own heart.


Was David perfect in everything he said and did? Heavens no.


But was David "perfect" in his passionate love of (and passionate willingness to align himself with) God's ways? Oh yes... most definitely! David had a "personal relationship" with God. David had amazing faith in the goodness and trustworthiness of the Lord of Hosts. In all he knew how to express it, David went all out for God every moment of every day. And God loved David's heart!


David was a violent, murderous, cheating sinner of a man who deserved death... just like the rest of us. But instead, God gave him a full life... real life... eternal life. That's just what friends do!


Is God your friend? Does your heart beat with the Lord's? Does He love your passion for the kingdom? Does His favor (unmerited favor) rest upon you as it did so powerfully on David? 


If so... then good for you!


If not... why not? Is there something God needs to do first...? Or do you need to look deep within your own heart, and ask what is interfering with your "personal relationship" with Him? He wants to speak to you, you know. He wants to reveal Himself to you in profound new ways. He wants to bless you beyond your ability to imagine. But He won't force Himself. Instead, he patiently waits for you to return, and seek His face. He's in no hurry... In fact, He's got all the time in the world.  :-)

Redeemed

This week's blog posting is - and the sermon will be - by Paul Goebel. Thanks to him, I am able to take a week off at The River. Thanks, Paul!

Text: Colossians 1:13-14

Broken, a mess, dead in sin, a sinner, lukewarm, rascal, empty, unrighteous, distant from our Father…the list goes on. These are all terms I’ve heard used by pastors and others referring to us as Christians in our walks of faith. While much of it might be true at a certain level, I believe that we often can use these definitions as a means of justifying the behaviors that would be consistent with these terms. “If I’m broken, then sin can’t help but overcome me”. As broken people, sin, and distance from our Father, Savior, and Spirit, becomes justified actions when we consider ourselves as sinners. 

Ruth, Leviticus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, and numerous (really numerous) references in Paul’s writings essentially tell us what Paul says in Colossians: “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption…”

So, we are no longer broken, we are no longer dead in sin, we are no longer unrighteous if we truly believe in Jesus. We are REDEEMED now, not tomorrow, not when we die, not at some point when we truly grow up. Jesus did not die “halfway” to save us from death, he was “all in” and died completely to save us. Therefore, we are not partially redeemed, we are not lukewarm, we are no longer broken, if we truly believe in Jesus, we are 100% and completely WHOLE. Not redeemed some of the time and not redeemed others, not redeemed when we come to church, not redeemed just when we pray. Every breath, every moment, every day, we are redeemed in Him.

It is time to start thinking and acting like whole followers of Jesus. It is time to take the strength and consistency of redemption into every day, every moment, every relationship. It isn’t time to think of ourselves as broken, the urgency of redemption and salvation tell us to live as redeemed followers of Christ, this day, this moment.

When I think of myself as broken, I am broken and so tempted by sin. When I consider myself redeemed, my decisions and actions change completely. The strength that comes to me when I decide that I am redeemed is truly amazing, truly life changing. It changes the way I look at life, the “filter” is completely different. It makes me realize that, even though my body is broken, sick, dying, diseased, and finite, my spirit is fully and wholly ALIVE in a risen Savior. What a truly simple and beautiful realization that is.

Embrace Diversity

One of a few Scriptural texts relating to the sermon this Sunday at The River: Acts 10:9-48

Embrace Diversity.

Hmmm... kind of sounds like a bumper sticker you'd see pasted on a '68 VW Van, or a 2011 Subaru Outback, or an '89 Ford Fiesta, right? In other words, it sounds like something a whacked-out liberal, weed-smoking hippie would tell people: Embrace Diversity, Co-exist... or yes, even Love Wins.

(Okay, so not all Subaru owners are hippies!) Anyway - before I get waaay off track - the point I want to make in all this is that Jesus of Nazareth embraced diversity in a profound way... a long, long time before Woodstock and Zig Zags and dreadlocks came along. As the Son of God - Creator of all things and all people - Jesus loved everyone in the whole world. He was even willing to suffer at the hands of evil men and die to show us just how much he loves humanity. How much more of an "embrace"can you get than stretching your arms across a rough-hewn, wooden instrument of cruel death?

As far as I can tell, Jesus only saw people in one of two ways: those who hungered and thirsted for God, and were desperate for the Lord... and those who  didn't and therefore weren't. As for any other demographics, Jesus didn't seem to worked up about whether they were Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, man or woman, sick or healthy, young or old. The only unit of measure he used was hot or cold (and varying degrees of lukewarm) in terms of their faith in the Father. Some of us seem to come to the realization that we're sinners in need of a Savior, and some of us never do. It's perplexing to me how we could be so utterly messed up and not cry out for help... but that's the reality we live in.

Now dont' get me wrong - Jesus came to reveal God to the Jews, the chosen people of Israel first. But that didn't stop the Lord from healing a Roman Centurion's servant, or discussing worship with a Samaritan woman, or healing a Syrophoenician woman's daughter.  All humans are made in the image of Almighty God... and all of us are given the opportunity to accept the gift of grace that is continually offered to us in a soft, still voice... the voice of the Holy Spirit. No threat, no coercion... just an offer to salvage us from our pride leading to eternal death.

But, here's a question worthy of pondering...

What is the difference between embracing diversity, and compromising our biblical beliefs? What is more important... "tolerating" everyone in the name of peace and respect? Or holding firm to our desire to agree with God when he calls something evil, and when he calls something good? In other words, is it more important to embrace diversity no matter what? Or embrace the Truth of God's Word no matter what?

The following quote was pulled from the website, embracediversity.net

EMBRACE DIVERSITY

was created in 2002 to spread a positive message of tolerance for all people, regardless of their race, class, gender, religion, politics or sexual orientation.In an increasingly connected yet diverse world, understanding other cultures and perspectives is more important than ever.

Man, I want to "embrace" that philosophy... I really do. And at The River, we adhere to that basic principle in our desire to remain "eclectic". Within some degree of reason, everyone is welcome to come to our worship services and explore their faith in Jesus Christ. However there's only one problem: If we're not wise and discerning, the philosophy of tolerance can elevate people and/or lifestyle over and above God's will for his special creation.

God loves us where we are... he really does. But, as you've probably heard before, he loves us too much to allow us to stay there! He wants more for us than what society wants for us. He wants to set us free from sin... lead us to a new life set apart for his glory. He wants to give us new desires, new dreams, new passions, new ways of worshiping and serving... Basically, he wants to transform our heart, renew our mind, and enliven our spirit to walk in deep fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

There is SO much room for diversity within the Law of God's Spirit. Humanity is so utterly complex and beautiful. Some of what we are together is God's mysterious design of unity in the midst of diversity... and yet some of it is sin... varying forms of pride, selfishness, angst, violence, inaccurate understanding of identity, propensity toward toxic activities and relationships... anything that falls short of God's glory is what Jesus came to rescue us from.

So how do we do it? How do we embrace diversity without embracing sin? How do we welcome people walking in darkness into our community of light? Put in modern vernacular, how do we love the sinner but not the sin? How do we honor God without alienating the culture around us in which we live? How do we preach the good news to sinners if we write them off as unworthy of our time and/or respect? How does a church community embrace diversity without compromising our deeply rooted beliefs about sin and salvation?

Would a Muslim feel welcome at The River? If so, why... because we talk to him or her as a person loved by God...? a Father-inspired creation...? A sacred life in need of the Way and Truth and Life? Or would that Muslim feel judged...? awkward...? Unwelcome? How about a Mormon? Or a Wiccan? Or a heavily tattooed, 300 lb. guy with 54 piercings on his body? Or someone who smells like urine? Or someone with bad teeth and horrendous breath? Or...

Would we embrace diversity then? Or would we all of a sudden become "churchy" in our attitude? Would we seek to know them even though they're obviously different...? Or stick to our friends and hope they eventually go away? Would we invest ourselves in them at all... or write them off as trash?

... Or, in the name of tolerance... would we embrace anyone and everyone... and never dare come to the place where we truly show them love by confronting the ways in which they are falling short of God's glory? Never discern, and therefore speak up about a lifestyle and/or system of belief that keeps them residing in darkness?

Oh, God... please help us - both as individuals and as a corporate body - to love what you love, hate what you hate, preach what you preached, invest in what you invested in, fight against what you fought against, and love all people in the way you loved and continue to love all of your people. May we saturate ourselves in your word, remain in fellowship with you, stick close together in Christian community... and collectively... love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.