One foot in front of the other

Well, Merry Christmas everyone!!  I hope you enjoyed some time of celebrating our Savior’s birth, family, and maybe even a little R & R.  But, New Year’s Eve is tomorrow, followed by the first official day in 2015, and for many people, that means “get back to work!”  What happened to enjoying the full season?  After all, this is the time when everyone seems to start making resolutions for the new year, goals to guide their life and set things back on course.  There’s barely a chance to celebrate the end of one year, reflect on the blessings God has given to us, before we’re off to the next year already feeling like we’re behind!  Well, this year, my one resolution is this, “Enjoy the journey as the destination.”

Here’s what I mean.  Take a look at Ephesians 2:10 for a second.  This is after the very famous verses of Paul about how we are saved by grace alone, through faith.  2:10 says this, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do.”  Here’s how I read that…”Enjoy the journey, you’re are doing the work I’ve created for you to do beforehand.”  As Christians we too often become so focused on the ultimate (eternal life) that we forget about what God is trying to show us in this very moment. 

Take the picture at the top for example.  I was on a hike with my son, and I was trying to set a good pace, and use it as a training hike.  But, my legs were tired, I was tired, he was tired, it wasn’t going to be a training hike.  About the time I figured that out, I looked up the hill and this is the view I saw.  I stopped, took a deep breath, and from that moment on, I just enjoyed the hike. That day, the journey was the destination.  No, I didn’t set some outstanding pace, or get a really good workout, but I enjoyed hiking with my son just because it was a hike with my son.  After training for 4 months already for my Hiking Out Hunger trek in May, I needed a hike to just be a hike.  And what a beautiful day it was.

Even as Christian I think we focus so much on the ultimate, or on telling every person about Jesus, or making sure we’re always growing in our faith, or doing whatever…that we often overlook or miss the blessings Christ is putting in front of us to sit back and enjoy.  Maybe the good work He has created us to do that day is just taking the time to enjoy our family, or enjoy a friend, or maybe just enjoy ourselves.  If God didn’t want us on this journey we call life, don’t you think He would have changed that up for us?  Instead, we know eternal life is our reward in Christ, forgiveness of sins and new life.  So, why don’t we just enjoy the blessings we have in Christ today as we continue to live the life God has given us to live. 

I hope you have fun learning that sometimes, the journey truly is the destination as we walk in Christ Jesus!  God’s richest blessings on your new year!

Isaiah speaks…of exchange

My wife loves antique furniture, so, by default, I do too.  Specifically wood antique furniture.  There is just something about a piece of furniture that is decades old, if not a couple centuries, and the events in life it has seen.  Just think of a dresser from the early 1900s, and the daily experiences of the individual and families that used it throughout the years. 

But, we really love antique furniture that just needs a little t.l.c. to bring it back to life, it just needs to be restored a little bit to again bring it back to it’s original beauty.  But, there are times when something finally reaches its end and it needs to be thrown away so that something brand new can stand in its place. 

Take a look at our Isaiah text for today, Isaiah 61:1-3, 9-10.

Today, Isaiah speaks of the beautiful exchange God will make for His people by His grace and mercy.  The brokenness, the messiness, the hurt, the pain, will all be removed, and something new and glorious will be put in its place.  In Jesus Christ, we know this to be true for us today.  He has taken our sinfulness, our shame, our guilt, and buried it in the tomb.  In its place, we now have redemption, salvation, a new life in Him!  This is the glorious exchange that God has made for each of us. 

But, there is also restoration that is taking place in us, through Jesus Christ.  You see, God did not create something bad and ugly.  He created something beautiful and good…it has just been marred by sin.  You were created good and beautiful, just under the power of sin and death.  But, because of the great exchange made in Jesus Christ, you are now being restored by God’s Spirit into the beautiful, good child He created you to be- like a bride adorned for her husband (61:9).

Think about that image for a second.  When a bride dresses for her wedding day, it is something special.  Even on the most special of occasions throughout the rest of her life, she will never look quite like she did on her wedding day.  This isn’t to say she won’t be as beautiful, but there is something special about how a bride dresses on her wedding day, how she adorns herself for her groom.  This is the image Isaiah uses to speak of how God is restoring us in His promised Messiah.  He is restoring us back to the beauty He created us to be, and it is because of the exchange made in His Son Jesus Christ. 

When Isaiah speaks of exchange, it is not for something of equal or lesser value, but it is for something so much greater and beautiful than what the original appeared to be.  Joyfully, we are the recipients of such an exchange!  We rejoice, this Advent season, in a God who promises nothing but the very best for His people, for His redeemed, loved, people!

Isaiah speaks Comfort

This was our theme for this past Sunday, Dec. 7th…”Isaiah Speaks…Comfort”, from Isaiah 40:1-11.  As you can see on the bulletin cover, it could easily be considered the weekend of peace as well.

I would invite you to turn to Isaiah 40:1-11 for a minute.  Okay, go ahead and read through it once.  What did you notice?  Anything stick out to you?

Okay, now read it again…but this time, I would invite you to read it as if you are talking with a friend struggling through a difficult time, whatever that situation may be.

Did you notice a difference in the impact of the text?  Maybe not.  But, what’s interesting to me, is that when I read it this way, the future impact that Isaiah is talking about became very apparent.  It became very tangible to me the comfort from God that Isaiah is proclaiming to the people.

One of the major rules in helping somebody through a struggle is to shy away from saying things like, “Everything is going to be okay.”  Because, to be honest, you don’t truly know that.  Things could, actually, never get better (in this life).  But, here, in our text, Isaiah is telling the people of God, “Everything is going to be okay.”  This is after he tells King Hezekiah about the pending conquer by Babylon and exile.  Not exactly a good situation for the people of God.  Of course, they brought it on themselves by following other gods and idols, but none-the-less, that is going to be a tough situation.  And Isaiah has the audacity to tell them, “Everything is going to be okay,” !!!

He can do this though, because it isn’t Isaiah’s promise to make, his good news to proclaim.  It is God’s.  It is God’s promise proclaimed through Isaiah.  That’s different than us trying to say, “Everything will be okay” to our hurting friend.  It’s different because we are not the ones in control of the situation.  We are not the ones who can control the outcome.  Isaiah couldn’t control the outcome, he was just relaying the message.

But, this passage brings comfort and peace because it reminds us that God is the One in control.  He’s the One the determines that outcome.  He’s the One that will bring about salvation.

This rings true for us today.  We may not be able to tell our hurting friends, “Everything will be okay.”  But, we can tell them, “God is the One who is in control.  He is the One who has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  He is the One who has come to save us in His Son Jesus Christ.  Yeah, it may be tough right now, but this is only temporary.  We have eternity to enjoy soon enough.”  Which, you might be thinking, how is that going to help my friend in their pain right now? 

What does Isaiah speak to bring comfort to the people of God as the reality of being conquered by Babylon and carried into exile comes to light?  He keeps them looking forward.  He keeps them looking to the fulfillment of God’s promises.  Too often in the midst of our pain we want to focus on the past or even the present too much.  There are times to do such a thing.  But, in the midst of our struggles, the good news is that this time will come to an end (Rev. 21:3-4).  The season of Advent is not only about celebrating what has taken place (the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ), but also remembering what is yet to come (His return to usher in the Day of Resurrection and life everlasting).  Even my favorite Advent hymn, O Come O Come Emmanuel, is a hymn looking to the future, to the salvation that was/is promised in the Messiah. 

So, telling your hurting friend, or even yourself, that “Everything will be okay,” is not helpful.  But, remember in this Advent season, telling them “God will make it right, God will bring them through” is the promise we proclaim, the hope we bring, the comfort we can provide. 

The Light of Intervention.

This past Sunday, November 30th, was the first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday in the new Church year.  Our theme this year at Concordia is based on four readings from the prophet Isaiah.  The text for the first Sunday in Advent was Isaiah 64:1-9, The Light of Intervention.

Go ahead, and read our text for today. 

It’s not really all that uplifting of a text is it?  It’s actually quite rough to try to read through.  I would invite you to read Isaiah 63, the passage just before our text today.  Notice anything?  It would seem that Isaiah isn’t really proclaiming the truth of God’s Word and promises in the most uplifting of situations either.  In fact, it seems, Isaiah is talking to a people of God that has again doubted God, walked in the opposite direction, denied His commandments, and really questioned whether He is even God or not.  So, it’s actually not all that surprising that our reading from Isaiah 64 isn’t the most uplifting either. 

Let me ask you this: has anyone pointed out when you’ve been doing something wrong?  How’d that go?  Most of us get quite defensive and angry when somebody tries to point out that we are doing something wrong, we end up blaming them for going about the whole situation in the wrong way- even if they actually did it the right way.  That’s the problem with an intervention.  Even done to actually save somebody’s life, it always points out to us what’s wrong, in order to bring about redemption of the situation.

In Isaiah 64, the prophet is calling God to intervene in the situation…to stop the bad that is going on, to actually save His people.  Isaiah knows its going to be painful, even for him.  God’s absolute truth doesn’t play favorites, instead it levels the playing field- we’ve all failed.  God’s intervention was going to affect all people, not just some.  But, Isaiah, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, knew that was what needed to be done for redemption to take place.

So, how did God intervene?  Well, He redeemed the people out of Babylon after 70 years in Exile.  But, that wasn’t the ultimate intervention.  That came in His Son Jesus Christ.  That came as Jesus hung on the cross and breathed His last for our sinfulness, and it came when He burst open the tomb on Easter morning once and for all conquering sin, death and the devil.  God’s intervention wasn’t to shame us or make us feel guilty, but to actually save our lives, both here and in eternity.  After all, that is why you intervene right?  To save somebody’s life.  That’s exactly what God has done by intervening in our lives through His Son Jesus Christ. 

In true intervention style, Jesus’ intervention does point out our sinfulness- if it wasn’t real, He wouldn’t have needed to die.  But, it also show’s His amazing love for us- for Him to do what we could not do.  Because of that, in God’s intervention in Jesus Christ, there is always hope.