We are currently in a series on Psalm 23 at church, and this coming Sunday I am giving the communion reflection. I typically try to tie my reflection to both the text for the message and the explicit gospel message of the table. The phrase in the psalm we are focusing on this week is from v. 4, "Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art
with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." (KJV) (Side note: typically I am
not a fan of the KJV for various reasons, but the poetry is captured so well in the old language)
Here are some of my thoughts on what I would like to say:
One of the things I love most about Scripture is its honest portrayal of life. The Bible does not present lofty theological ideas that our disconnected from the reality of life. It does not present people who are superhuman. The Bible is God's story of his love for and redemption of fallen, broken, messy, yet beautiful people. The Bible presents life as it is - full of amazing triumph and horrific failure, bad news and good news, love and hate, beauty and messiness. We see this portrayal very clearly in Psalm 23. Life is filled with "green pastures" and "quiet waters," but we must also go through the "valley of the shadow of death." Maybe you have just been through, or are currently in, or may soon face a moment where you feel as though you are in the darkest valley. You have long forgotten the perspective of the peaks behind you and you can't see the ascent out of the valley ahead. And the temptation in these moments is to begin to question the character of God. Does he truly love me? Is he real? Is he truly present in this really dark place?
When we find ourselves in this dark place, questioning God's love and presence in our lives, there is one sure place we can look to regain perspective. When we wonder if God could truly understand the depths of our pain, the darkness of our situation, we must look up to the cross of Christ. This is the place where we see that God truly does understand our pain and he is willing to go with us to the darkest places. He enters into our pain, our brokenness and messiness...and promises us hope, peace, and redemption. He is redeeming the fallen broken world and working all things together for his good and holy purposes.
We can know that Christ will lead and guide and comfort us even through the valley of the shadow of death and he proved it by enduring the suffering of the cross for our sake. He proved his willingness to be present with us in the messiness of life when we left heaven and came to earth. That is costly grace and that is what we remember, proclaim, and celebrate as we come to the table this morning to receive the grace of God through his broken body and shed blood.
Faith Through Hearing
The purpose of this blog is to declare the glory of God through Christ-centered teaching, reflection and conversation.
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 (ESV)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, December 10, 2012
Jesus: Example to Follow OR Righteous Life Graciously Shared?
Christmas is a time for celebrating the truly remarkable
reality that God took on flesh and lived among us. Stop and think about that
for a moment…God, who created the entire universe, is so gracious and loving
that he left the perfection of heaven and entered into the reality of human
messiness in a new way altogether. God was, of course, involved
with his Creation from the beginning, but the Incarnation was unprecedented and
remains the unique claim of historical Christianity…fully God and fully human.
Unfortunately many are quick to fast-forward the story from
Christmas to Easter - Jesus was born and then he died on the cross to pay the
penalty for sins. But this is not the complete story; this fact alone is not
truly good news. If this were the complete account of the gospel, we would be
left with a clean slate but still incapable of keeping the righteous standards
of God’s law.
In between the birth and death of Jesus a lot happened. How we approach this in-between period is just as important as how we understand the significance of his death. Therefore, the essential question we must wrestle with is: Was Jesus’ life primarily our example to follow – OR – was it the fulfillment of a life we could never live?
In between the birth and death of Jesus a lot happened. How we approach this in-between period is just as important as how we understand the significance of his death. Therefore, the essential question we must wrestle with is: Was Jesus’ life primarily our example to follow – OR – was it the fulfillment of a life we could never live?
Here is what it looks like to place the primary emphasis on
his life as one to follow: We place our faith in his death to wipe the slate
clean (reset button) but then we are left with the challenge of following
Jesus’ example in fulfilling the law. Jesus gets us started – but we must run the
race. Jesus cleaned the slate for you, now you just have to refill the ledger
as best you can by following the “W.W.J.D.” principle. I would suggest that at
a functional level this is the paradigm for many Christians. However, this is
simply not good news at all!
The truly good news of the gospel is that Jesus not only
died on the cross to pay the penalty for sins, but he also lived the perfect
life – fulfilling all the righteous requirements of the law (something none of
us could do). His perfect life of righteousness is credited to the account of
all who place their faith in him. In other words, Jesus not only hit the rest
button but he also filled in the ledger for us. Almost everyone believes that
Jesus was a great moral example to follow – this is not scandalous and
life-altering news at all. What makes the gospel so beautiful to those who
believe, and so offensive to the pride of those who reject it, is that Jesus
did for us what we could not do for ourselves – completely from beginning to
end.
Does this mean there is no need for the law? Absolutely not.
The law is still God’s blueprint for human flourishing. The law contains that
which brings God the most glory- and therefore is for our good. But the law
cannot save us – it only judges and condemns us. We cannot follow the law good
enough to enter into, walk in, our complete our salvation. That entire process
was fulfilled in the birth, life, death and resurrection of our Savior who came and is coming again! My prayer for you this Christmas is that the complete work of Christ will satisfy all your deepest hopes and longings, bring peace to all your worries and insecurities, and bring depth, love, and life to all your relationships.
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Gospel Sword & Battle Prayer
CLICK HERE to download my latest sermon
"The Gospel Sword and Battle Prayer"
Part 6 of 6 - The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:17-20
September 9th, 2012
South Suburban Christian Church
"The Gospel Sword and Battle Prayer"
Part 6 of 6 - The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:17-20
September 9th, 2012
South Suburban Christian Church
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Reflections on Waiting
Today is a day of waiting. I don’t like waiting.
In fact, I don’t think any of us like waiting very much.
Just look around next time you are in line at the supermarket and observe how
uncomfortable people are with waiting… incessantly checking their smart phones,
fidgeting with items in their cart, glancing at pointless magazines.
Right now I am in a season of waiting. I finished seminary
in May and enjoyed a nice summer of relaxing and visiting friends and family. Now
I am waiting for the right opportunity to serve in pastoral ministry. It is
certainly not an idle waiting, but waiting nonetheless. Did I mention I don’t
like waiting? There are certainly more job boards to check, contacts to be
made, emails to be sent, and lines of the resume and cover letter that could be
tweaked. But today I pause for a moment to reflect on waiting.
Sometimes I wonder why it seems that we have to wait on God
so much. If God is all-knowing and all-powerful and present everywhere, then it
seems that He should be busy all the time and we should never feel bored
because we are constantly trying to keep up with Him. Deep down I know that he
is always acting redemptively in the world, and that he never slumbers nor
sleeps (Ps. 121:4),
but even in that he sometimes calls his people to a time of waiting. I think of
the Israelites wondering in the wilderness for an entire generation, waiting
for God to act on their behalf. I think of Israel waiting for hundreds of
years of (relative) prophetic silence for the arrival of Messiah. I think of
the disciples waiting for three long days, wondering what went wrong.
Throughout the Scriptures, the people of God have been
called to seasons of waiting. I take comfort in the fact that many of them
engaged that calling as poorly as I am. They wavered in their trust in God.
They acted impulsively because they tried to take matters into their own hands.
They struggled to find joy and were restless and discontent. I am like those people;
I am one of those people.
The good news is that God is faithful even when his people
are not. God has demonstrated his faithfulness time and time again. He is at
work in the world and he is at work in my life. Again I resonate with a line
from Scripture, “Lord I believe, but help my unbelief!” (Mk. 9:24)
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
CLICK HERE to download my latest sermon
This sermon was delivered at South Suburban Christian Church (Littleton, CO) on July 29, 2012.
"The Parable of the Wedding Banquet"
Kingdom Theology According to the Parable
Matthew 22:1-14
Friday, August 3, 2012
Morning Prayer
O LORD GOD,
Teach me to know that grace precedes, accompanies,
and follows my salvation,
that it sustains the redeemed soul,
that not one link of its chain can ever break.
From Calvary's cross wave upon wave of grace
reaches me,
deals with my sin,
washes me clean,
renews my heart,
strengthens my will,
draws out my affection,
kindles a flame in my soul,
rules throughout my inner man,
consecrates my every thought, word, work,
teaches me thy immeasurable love.
from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers
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