Righteousness for Tomorrow

In the last few weeks a couple of people have asked me, "What is righteousness?" Their question is reasonable. After all, I spent five weeks delivering a string of sermons encouraging our congregations to embrace righteousness. While we learned a lot from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), righteousness was never defined. Neglecting to define righteousness was not an oversight. I intentionally left righteousness undefined.

Our study of the Sermon on the Mount drifted slightly from conventional interpretation. Matthew 5-7 is best understood as Jesus’ first discourse on discipleship. Our study was a bit more specific. Focusing our attention on Matthew 5:1-20, we studied these teachings of Jesus in search of words that would encourage us to embrace righteousness—an essential characteristic of discipleship. We learned that Jesus taught with divine authority (5:1-2). Comfort came to us to learn God offers the promise of blessing to those who embrace traits of righteousness (5:3-11). And, we realized that a sense of purpose (5:13-16) and a life of meaning (5:17-20) could be experienced by individuals who follow Jesus Christ towards the righteousness that glorifies God and builds the kingdom of heaven.

In a recent interview in Relevant, comedian Zack Galifianakis said, "I don’t necessarily live for the future, and I find that for those who live in the past, their best days are already over." Galifianakis may not model righteousness, but his words are applicable. We follow Jesus Christ because our hope is in him. Our best days are not in the past; our best days are yet to come. The lives we once lived do not distract us; rather, our hope is the eternal life that Jesus Christ makes available to us today—a life that will be fully realized in the future. And, so, we find encouragement in the teachings of Jesus Christ and we are motivated to embrace the righteousness that he taught knowing that he leads us to a better tomorrow where we will rest in the presence of God.

What is righteousness? Follow Jesus Christ, for righteousness can only be realized in him.

Seizing Opportunities

Seizing Opportunities:
A Reflection on "Outliers: the Story of Success," by Malcolm Gladwell

In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Galdwell writes, “Outliers are those who have been given opportunities—and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.” This statement serves as a conclusion to Gladwell’s argument. He refutes the notion that “successful people” have a natural or superb quality that enables them to succeed. While natural ability is significant, Gladwell argues there are other factors that are just as significant to an individual’s success. In particular, he shows that unique opportunities resulting from a person’s month or year of birth, age, culture background, and social status allow people with natural ability to emerge as “outliers.” Those individuals who are “most” successful are innately gifted, privileged with unique opportunities, but most importantly, they have the strength and the presence of mind to seize the opportunities that suit their gifts.

I just finished reading Outliers. I believe it is a good book because I was engaged by it. Gladwell persuaded me to reconsider not only my understanding of success, but also how an individual achieves success. While Gladwell suggests that success is contingent upon uncontrolled opportunities, an individual will not be successful if he or she fails to seize those opportunities. There is a responsibility that falls upon the individual. He or she has to be willing to work. An individual must put forth effort, invest a considerable amount of time, and nurture their talents if they hope to turn their opportunities into success stories.

I do not think you have to search too far into Scripture for support of Gladwell’s argument. For example, consider Paul. Paul was born at just the right time; he was already in his early adult years at the time of Jesus’ death. Somehow or another, he acquired sound knowledge of the Hebrew scripture and possessed a keen understanding of Hebrew tradition (after all, he was a Hebrew among Hebrews). Unlike anyone else, Paul experienced a unique encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Yet, the success of Paul’s ministry is not wholly contingent upon the opportunities specific to him. By the grace of God, Paul was effective as a minister because he was willing to put forth effort, to invest a lifetime into his work, and to nurture the talents God gave him. His willingness to respond to the opportunities God presented to him and his faith that God would supply him with strength that enabled Paul to emerge as an “outlier.”

If you have the time and if you are interested I encourage you to read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers. Even if you are unable to read it, I hope you are encouraged by his insight: An individual’s success is contingent upon many factors. Some factors cannot be controlled, but there is one factor wholly depended upon us. If we ever hope to turn our opportunities into stories of success we must be willing to seize them.

First Response

One of the most well known Biblical stories is Israel's flight from Egypt. A series of crazy, unexplainable, and bizarre events, the story begins with Moses encountering God in the form of a burning bush. God calls Moses to be a leader among Israel; their calls to God have been heard and God intends to deliver them.

The story's intensity escalates as God delivers a series of plagues upon Pharaoh and his people. At the same time, the drama nature of the story evolves as God further reveals Himself with each action God takes. After failing to acknowledge God, Pharaoh finally wises up and releases Israel from slavery. Israel begins their flight from Egypt when Pharaoh has a change of heart. He sends his army to retrieve the weary nation. With Pharaoh's army on their heels, Israel's hurries to escape their past when their route dead ends at the Red Sea. They nearly give themselves up when Moses stands before them and exclaims, "Do not be afraid, but stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." (Ex. 14:13-14) What amazing words! All of have similar moments when we need to be reminded that "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." After speaking these words, Moses is instructed by God to lift his staff in the air, to spread his arms wide, and to command the sea be parted. We all know what happened next-- Israel passed through the parted sea on dry ground just before the waters returned crashing upon Pharaoh's army.

What a miraculous story. Not only is it dramatic and suspenseful, but it is one of the most significant events in story of God. This historic event is one of the first times that God was made known to the world. God revealed Himself to be merciful and loving, but also present and active. We all would be changed by this event, because with this special moment in history God was made known in a new, meaningful, and personal way.

There is a reason I remind you of this story today, beyond its significance as a divine act of self-revelation. Following the drama of their escape from Egypt, we hear "Then Moses and the Israelites sang (a) song to the Lord." (Ex. 15:1) Their first response to God's mercy and love, His presence in their lives, and to the divine-self revelation they had encountered was to sing a song of praise to the Lord. Their first response was to acknowledge God...something the Pharaoh struggled to do.

Throughout our lives we all experience blessings. Some of the time we experience God's mercy and love, other times we are aware that God is acting on our behalf, and then there are those very special moments when God reveals Himself to us in a unique and meaningful way. No matter what those times may be, I hope we can be bold enough to acknowledge God. I pray we will admit that our blessings have come from the hands of the Lord. This does not mean you have to always sing a song. Simply, our first response should be to praise the source of all blessings; we should acknowledge God.

Evangelism: Mission or Education?

I've been doing some work on the church budgets recently. While forming one of the budgets I decided a good first step would be to categorize the different areas of the church's ministry. I figured this would give us a clearer understanding of where we were spending out money. I came up with five categories: 1) Worship, 2) Program, 3) Mission, 4) Operating, and 5) Other. The reason for "other" is because we are United Methodist, which means we have to place "apportionment" somewhere.



With my categories formed, I began sifting through the different line items and expenses putting everything in what I believed to be their rightful place. Utilities...that goes in operating. Children Ministry...that goes in program. And, so it continued for a while until I got to "evangelism." I paused for a moment. I was confused. I could not figure out which category "evangelism" should fall under! So, I've begun to think a little on evangelism.

While I do have some sarcastic thoughts as to "why" we evangelize, I currently have two competing views:

1) Evangelism should go in the "Mission" category- We evangelize because we want to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others so that might come to inherit salvation. It is a selfless act that we perform to serve God by serving others.

2) Evangelism should go in the "Program" category- Evangelism is a service to others, but at the core of evangelism is the spreading of message. In other words, evangelism is educational. The aim is to promote/share a message that we believe to be the truth. It is, therefore, educational and should be categorized "program."

Okay, the real issue is not where the money should come from to support evangelism. The real issue is misunderstanding why we evangelize. Are we serving others? Are we promoting our belief by educating others? Is it the both or something else?

Where does "evangelism" belong?

Done and, umm, Done!

Completing a sermon with time to spare gives me such a great sense of satisfaction. It is Thursday, not even 5PM, and I'm like, "What's up, sermon? I just owned you! I wrote you in...hmmm...like 2 hours." Of course, the real satisfaction comes from the realization that I have not done much of anything except allow the HS to do its thing. When the words do come to you it is amazing because it feels like God is breathing on you.

This sermon is the last of a five week series. And, in a way, writing these sermons has been the same. I keep seeing God revealed a little more with each word I write on my notes.

For those of you who don't know I have been preaching a series on Matthew 4:1-11, "The Temptation of Jesus." We have been learning to apply Jesus' responses to our own lives. Here is the spoiler: "If you ever feel you have wandered into the wilderness Jesus urges you to respond in three ways. First, listen for God's Word in prayer and through scripture. Second, choose to remain faithful and ask God for strengthened faith not an outward sign of God's presence. Finally, continue to worship God alone and serve God always. The Good News is that there is another side to the wilderness where you will find God awaiting you."

You know what I mean?

In Need of Nutrition

I apologize that it has been so long since my last blog. Things have been fairly busy for me, but that is an excuse. I actually miss sitting down to reflect on the my faith. Reading scripture and writing your reflections can be a fun and formative experience and for that reason it is a spiritual discipline I need to better develop.

I was asked the other day why I had not updated my blog in a while and, as I said, I felt like I have been too busy. I started reading Matthew the other morning and I came to the story when the Devil temps Jesus. The Devil temps Jesus encouraging him to turn stones into bread. Jesus responds, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" I paused over this verse for a moment and it became very clear to me what is going on in my life.

The last few weeks have been busy, but they have been really fun, as well. The only problem is that I have not protected my quiet time. I have allowed my newly busy schedule to justify my failure to spend time reading Scripture on a regular basis. The majority of my Bible reading is sermon preparation. Sadly, I have not maintained a discipline of reading and praying on a regular basis.

Jesus reminds us that the words of God are nutrients for our soul; they strengthen us and they grow us. I realize writing a blog would be difficult without having spent time reading Scripture, reflecting on it, and praying. So, my goal is to be more disciplined in keeping a regular quiet time and my prayer is that the nutrients of God's word will grow me. After all, we are blessed that God is actively participating in our life and desires to be in a relationship with us. Why wouldn't we want to be filled by the nutrients of his very words?

Bloggin' about Boggin'

I have just begun a sermon series on Ephesians. The third verse reads, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." We are all blessed. We are blessed in Christ. In him we all discover that God has chosen us to be His children. Our blessing is God. And, in some way, I believe all our blessings point us back towards God.

It is easy to overlook our blessings. Often, they are plainly in front of us. We just fail to acknowledge them. I guess it is easy to get distracted by life and the routine we have established. We get so bogged down in living that we fail to remember that we are alive. That is a shame, because life is a blessing. Life is a blessing because life is a gift from God.

While overlooking our blessings can be easily done, often times ignoring our blessings is more difficult. Today is my birthday, so I am especially appreciative for my life. I am not just blessed to have a life. I have been blessed with the specific life that God has offered to me. The other night I was reminded of how awesome a life God has given me. I was visiting with some members of the Hampton church as they celebrated their daughter's birthday. After dinner, a couple of the youth decided they wanted to go 4-wheeling. When I heard "4-wheeling" my eyes got real big. "Dang," I thought. "I want to do that!" So, I asked if I could join and was lucky to be included.

I've had a few people remark that Hampton is in the middle of nowhere. I am learning, though, that sometimes you have to go nowhere in order to get somewhere. Ephesians tells us that God has blessed us in Christ in the "heavenly places." I used to think that Heaven had to be some far off place. Like, maybe, another world away. As I said, sometimes you have to go nowhere to get somewhere. As I slowed down the other night I realized that God has blessed me again. He has tucked me away in a community that lives in a little piece of Heaven. As we went 4-wheeling through acres and acres of corn fields and bean fields I began to be taken over by the beauty and simplicity of God's creation. Whistling down long dirt roads I smelt the freshness and perfection of the world that God shaped with his hands. As we road through the woods, ducked under low branches, and road over make-shift bridges I was reunited with the adventurous spirit God breathed into me as a boy. I was reminded that I was alive in a world created by an amazing God. I remembered that with this life God has given me (and all of us) and opportunity to get to know Him simply by living and loving the lives he has given us.

Before turning around and heading back towards the house, we came to a cemetery in the middle of a field. "Seriously?" I asked the girls. "This is where you decided to take me? A little creepy...Don't you think?" We turned around and headed back towards our lives with the awareness that there is a final resting place at the end of every journey. This life is a blessing. It is also temporary. Let's not bog down in minor details or be distracted by routines. Let's choose to live it and love it while we have it.