Your Story

Every person you have ever met has a story. By “story” I mean the events that have occurred in their lives which have led them to the place where they are currently. These stories come in a variety of styles. Some are success stories. Others are stories of ruin. Some are inspirational stories. Others make us glad we have our own story and not their story. Yet for all the differences in stories they all have one thing in common. They are all lacking…

 

It does not matter what one achieves in life – there is always more. It does not matter how far someone has fallen in life – it could have been worse. Every story lacks because our individual stories are incomplete until we encounter God’s Story and have our broken story remade by His Story.

 

God’s Story has literally shaped the world in which we live – for the good. God’s Story gives us hope when everything around us seems to be crumbling down. God’s Story guarantees us that one day things will be made right again. Indeed, God’s Story is where we can find hope, healing, and purpose for our individual story no matter what it currently looks like.

 

It is undeniable that, no matter how good your story is, it is still littered with difficulty and heartache. It is also undeniable that, no matter how bad your story is, there is still hope. A beautiful reality is that your current story (no matter whether it is “good,” “bad,” or “broken”), once changed by God’s Story, just might lead to a ministry which will bring hope, healing, and purpose for countless people. It is a mystifying way in which God works as He continues to undo the effects of sin on His creation – at times one story at a time.

God's Story: The God Who Meets Us [3]

Today is, officially, the last time you can greet someone with “Merry Christmas” until next December 25^th. If you are still greeting people with Merry Christmas, you have more than likely received more than one strange look. 

A funny thought occurred to me just now. What if Christians, who know the Church Calendar, would lovingly answer back, “Yes, and Merry Christmas to you,” when greeted by someone who simply says “Hello,” or “Good to see you” during the Christmas Season (especially as days seven and beyond come and go)? Would it be newsworthy? Would a “War on the Christmas Calendar” news thread begin on our news stations when people do not respond in kind? OK, facetious part of post now done; moving on...

On this last day of this Christmas Season, we will briefly reflect on a common story heard when people start to follow Jesus. The story, which is wonderful and I praise God for them, basically says someone’s life was “a mess,” and then they met Jesus...after this encounter their life got “straightened out,” and here we are. Again, I am thankful for stories like this. They show us how God meets people where they are.

Yet we need more (and more) of another type of story. The type of story we need to hear more of goes something like this... “my life was great and I ‘had it all’...and then I met Jesus and He turned my world upside down.”

I know there are stories like this, we just need more of them – especially in our culture where pursuing the American Dream is so prevalent. After all, Jesus is not merely Savior; He is also Lord.

What I mean is the “my life was a mess until I met Jesus” story has a Savior bent to it. Yet the, “my life looked like the epitome of success until I met Jesus...” story has a Lord bent to it.

This reality does not make one story better than another. Nor does this reality mean Jesus is more Savior than Lord or vice versa. Jesus is both, and we need a growing realization of both if we are going to truly follow Him – wherever He leads us.

Interestingly, while I said the “my life was a mess” type of story has a Savior bent to it, the aspect of Jesus is Lord/King is not absent from this story. E.g., there are ways citizens of a kingdom behave – because their King says so (and this is bigger than morals).

Likewise, the “my life was great until Jesus ‘messed it up’” type of story has a Lord/King bent to it. Yet it is not devoid of the reality of Jesus as Savior. E.g., the person who has been rescued by Jesus (saved) had been deceived by the cultural influences around them. While they need a King to submit to rather than their own wants and desires...they also need to be saved from the hole in which they live (perhaps after having dug it for themselves).

Yes, Jesus is Savior and Lord. If your picture of Jesus does not include both....then something is askew, and you are not following the Jesus of the Bible.

And let us not forget that on this Epiphany Day we remember how the magi came to see a toddler Jesus; the One who, as a baby, was born King of the Jews (Mt2:2) as He would also save people from their sins (Mt1:21) some two years earlier. A significant aspect of this is those magi were Gentiles – not ethnically Jewish. Praise God for revealing the mystery hidden for ages through Jesus at the visit of the magi (as non-Jews worship Him – cf. Mt2:11), as it became crystal clear that God was undoing the effects of sin on all of His creation – including those who are not ethnically Jewish. I, for one, am very glad for this truth.

Praise God for the Miracle of the Incarnation. May we be increasingly shaped by it as 2014 progresses. May we be able to look back on 2014 (and grow to realize in the moment as well) and see a combination of how Jesus both “straightened out” our lives and “messed them up” for God’s glory. And may we desire no other way.

God's Story: The God Who Meets Us [2]

God moves first; He always has and He always will. Last time we saw this truth in the life of Abraham in chapter two of The Story. This time we will move onto another important truth we must place alongside the reality that God meets us where we are – the truth that God tests us.

Now, we may not know whether an issue we are facing is a test from God, or an attack from the forces of evil, or merely fallout from our own learned habits and desires. Yet, in the big picture, knowing this is not the issue. The issue is being faithful. 

For example, Abraham took matters into his own hands (was not faithful) and went the culturally acceptable path of having a child with Hagar rather than trusting God would provide a child for him and Sarai through her womb (cf. Genesis 16). I am not a world religions expert, but it is commonly held that Ishmael (the son Hagar bore Abram) is the patriarch of the Arab nations, and therefore Islam. Hmmm...that decision has not panned out very well throughout the course of history, has it?   

And so as God’s plan for redeeming humanity progressed, He needed to test Abraham to know whether or not he was trustworthy (cf. another lack of trusting God in the last post). We see this test in chapter 22 of Genesis. In what is an unthinkable and unbearable test in our eyes, God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son – the son of the promise no less. By all accounts Abraham was willing to go through with the sacrifice (cf. Genesis 22:9-11), but was stopped by God at the last moment. The result of this test was, “now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son...” (Gen22:12).

In order to keep this out of the realm of theological debate, let us simply focus on what is agreed upon by all (I think), the fact that God tested Abraham. This is important for us to not only grasp, but also to accept, because by and large we live in a culture that does not like to believe God tests people.

Many in our culture prefer to think God wants their life to be sheer bliss and enjoyment, for people to have their best life now, to be healthy and wealthy, and never have anything bad come their way. One of the many problems with these beliefs is they are not historically true of those who follow God – let alone Biblically true. 

Yet I want us to move beyond the mere fact that God is a God who tests us. I want us to realize there is no way Abraham would have been able to pass the “Isaac test” when he first started following God (and I do not mean because Isaac was not born yet). This is because Abraham’s faith, like anyone’s, was in its infancy when he first began to follow God.

Basically Abraham had to learn to quit taking matters into his own hands and learn to trust in God. Abraham needed to spend time walking with God. Abraham needed to learn of God’s faithfulness and provision in order to be in a place where he could trust God with the life of his son (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19). 

So what about you?

• Is your faith (trust) in God able to handle more adverse situations now than it was at the start of 2013?
• How have you tried to take matters into your own hands this past year?
• How has God met you where you were this past year? 
• What decisions have you made, culturally acceptable or not, that have had a negative impact on people? Remember, God is bigger than your mistakes...but your mistakes still have fallout.
• Are you aware of possible ways God has tested you this past year? 
• Do you look at difficult life situations as an opportunity to grow in your ability to respond faithfully moment by moment? Or do you wish and pray away difficulties?  
• Are you following Jesus more closely at the start of 2014 than you were at the start of 2013? What is your evidence?

I have heard it said that a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. What a simple, yet profound statement.

And once again we come back to the Christmas Season – the Miracle of the Incarnation. Quite often in our culture we love to hear stories about how someone’s life was “a mess,” and then they met Jesus, and things got “straightened out.” I am thankful for these stories. After all, Jesus showed us – concretely – that God meets people where they are.

Yet there are other stories I long to hear...yet those will have to wait for another post – perhaps on the last day of Christmas as we embark on a new year together.

God's Story: The God Who Meets Us

The events covered in chapter two of The Story, titled “God Builds A Nation,” revolve around Abraham and his family. In this, and a follow up post, I will draw on two aspects from the sermon from 9/15/13.

First, we will look at how the God of the Bible is a God who meets us where we are at. In other words, God does not expect us to figure everything out, or get rid of all sin in our lives, or drop our friends, or anything like that before we come to Him. If these things were the case, no one would ever come to God. Yet a sad reality is how these, and similar false beliefs, are what keep many people in our culture away from God.

While it is often said in jest, there is some truth behind a person joking about showing up in church and having it burn down. I am not saying the building would burn down. Rather, what this reveals is a false perception shared by many (even many in The Church) that somehow we have to be good enough for God to have anything to do with us – let alone love us.

However, let us consider Abraham. Did you know that after God called Abraham (named Abram at the time) and he left all he knew, that Abraham did not trust in God and took matters into his own hands by lying to preserve his life? (And this was no small lie as it momentarily jeopardized God’s plan to work through Abram – just think if Sarai had become pregnant by Pharaoh...)  

Now, we could make a biblical case-study for how you can lie and be materially blessed (seriously, read about it in Genesis 12:10-20), OR we can see God is a God who meets people where they are. Although Abraham responded in faith to God’s call, he still needed to trust God more. Thankfully God is big enough to work in spite of our imperfections. No doubt about it, Abraham’s life was not all in order...but God still pursued and worked through him.

So what about you?

One thing the Christmas Season shows us – and yes it is still Christmas until January 6^th – is that the God of the Bible is a God who meets people where they are. After all, Jesus left the riches of heaven to invade the slums of earth and meet people, from all walks of life, right where they were. This was certainly an unexpected twist in God’s Story. But when it comes to God...it seems we ought to expect the unexpected.

God's Story: Which God? [4]

OK, so this is seriously the last post on the issue of “Which God?” – for now. The next post will be different, likely moving on to chapter two of The Story. Yet I must do one more for a few reasons, one of which is how it ties in nicely to the season of Advent.

If more people read the Bible and gained a better understanding of God’s Story, they would be truly amazed at the amount of grace and mercy present. It is practically everywhere.

The distinction between some “god” and YHWH God has already been established. The God of the Bible does not operate how people often expect Him to function. We already Him pursue Adam and Eve in the midst of their rebellion. Yet to illustrate this again let me ask you this.

Why did God kick Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden?

Quite often people say Adam and Eve were kicked out because they sinned. Or they were kicked out because God was punishing them. However, what does the text say?

If we read the Bible this is what we see:

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. [Genesis 3:22-24]

Did you catch that? The reason God kicked them out of Eden was to keep them from the tree of life. In other words, He could not bear the thought of Adam and Eve having continual access to the tree of life, and therefore living forever, in a distorted relationship with Him.

We need to be honest; the fear of death is real. Many people are so terrified of it that they do not talk about it, refuse to go to funerals, and try and “move on” with life whenever death interrupts their daily plans. I do not think it is a stretch for you to think of a few people who would gladly eat of the tree of life as long as they had access to it.

To be clear; I am not insensitive to those who have lost loved one – whether in the distant or recent past. The truth is, losing a loved one hurts. And that is OK…it is one of many signs that a life had significance; that the person mattered.

However, we need to trust God on this one. Knowing that an eternity with a distorted relationship with Him is not an eternity worth living, in His mercy and grace God bars His children from something that would be harmful to them. He bars them from the tree of life.  

Yet notice he bars them. The text does not say He destroyed the tree of life, which was intended to be for the good of humanity. No, God merely made it off limits until the other bookend of God’s Story occurs – the new heavens and new earth. In the new heavens and new earth God’s people will once again have access to the tree of life (cf. Revelation 2:7; 22:2,14,19), and there will be no more death.

Can you imagine it? No death (nor no anything of a lot else – Rev21:4), because the Kingdom of God will have come in its fullness.

And this is where Advent comes in. Advent is an entire season leading up to the Christmas Season. And on the first Sunday of Advent (this past Sunday – 12/1) the focus was on the return of Jesus…when everything is made right in the new heavens and new earth.

So which god; a perception of a god formed out of isolated verses and personal experience? Or the God who took on flesh and came to earth as Jesus?

What a glorious day it will be, when Jesus returns and the fullness of the Kingdom of the God of the Bible is here. There will finally be true peace in that day. And in that day what God’s Story says so clearly, if we have ears to hear, will come to fruition. God’s Story says sin, death, and the current state of this world will not have the last word. No, God has the last word. This is His Story – period.

Maranatha – Come Lord Jesus! 

God's Story & Black Friday

Long before the day after Thanksgiving became known as Black Friday, there was another Friday that was black. On that dark Friday, over 1,900 years ago, an obedient Son laid down His life to ensure that His Father’s Story – which includes His will to dwell among people in an unhindered relationship again – would not be thwarted by anything ever again.

Jesus, whose name means The LORD (YHWH) is salvation, was brutally executed. The forces which control this world – and keep it in darkness – deceived people into killing the Prince of Peace. Yet in a beautiful twist of irony so majestic that it could only be found in God’s Story, the servant who laid His life down was raised back to life and is now enthroned as the King above all kings…and the whole world groans, longing for His return when He will make things right. 

Wow, there is a lot that needs explained in the above paragraphs...but I want to keep this short. Therefore I will cut to the chase.

What bearing does that black Friday have on the Black Friday that is now less than 48 hours away? I would say a lot... Yet if I expounded on even some of the “a lots,” this would not be short. So, while it is true that Jesus died because of the sin of humanity...it is also true that we do not grasp how far that sin reaches its ugly hands.

It certainly shows up in greed, and while other descriptors could be used to describe these Black Friday disasters, greed certainly is applicable.

But alas, in order to keep this short, I am not going to rant and rail against Black Friday (like I kind of did last year). Yet more importantly, in order to turn one of the evil one’s weapons against him, I am going to say the following (by the way, the cross gives us the opportunity to turn every weapon of the evil one against him). If you plan to go Black Friday shopping I am not going to try and talk you out of it. However, I do want you to consider – and actually do – the following…   

1) For whatever amount of money you save on Black Friday, give a sizeable portion of that to something like The BigDent [www.bigdent.org]. The Big Dent is a Christian organization that works with microfinance to help people in the two-thirds world with a small loan. This loan is then paid back, which provides more money to loan to other small businesses. This is a way the cycle of poverty can be broken. Oh yeah, you do not even have to fund the whole loan if you did not save that much…but there are so many on the list – with varying amounts – that you may be surprised.

Here is another one that extends beyond Black Friday.

2) For whatever amount of money you spend on your “Christmas shopping” as a whole, give a portion of that away to a local charity. What we do at New Life Christian Church, in Emporia KS, where I preach is this:

We encourage families to at least “tithe” (give 10% - they can give more) of whatever money they spend on Christmas gifts back to the church. We then take this money and send it to The Voice ofthe Martyrs [www.persecution.com] in order to help persecuted Christians around the world. This help does take the form of a Christmas Care pack – but these care packs are much different than what many in our culture would think. This year they are going to Nepal, and $25 will provide a backpack, a children’s Bible, school supplies, a sweater for school, socks, and shoes. 

While I am sure there are other better ideas out there somewhere, that is not the point. The point is people today can harness an aspect of our culture’s Black Friday and be a light shining into the darkness for others in great need. Nice huh? In other words, turn a weapon of the evil one – i.e., grossly disproportionate wealth – against him by diverting some “savings,” and even planned expenditures, to help others.

There, how’s that for short? Oh yeah, even if you are not a Christian and are reading this blog, please feel free to give to the above organizations. I think if you checked into them your heart would break for what those they help experience. However, if you want to give to a local charitable organization instead, I have no problem with that. 

The reality is, the black Friday over 1,900 years ago does have profound implications for the Black Friday in less than 48 hours. To not consider those implications is less than Christian – if you are a follower of Jesus that is.  

God's Story: Which God? [3]

I bet a lot of people think God is going a “poor” job of running things (feel free to insert whatever expletive you want). Truth be known, I bet you have had a similar thought in your lifetime too. In fact, this truth goes for those claiming to be atheists (perhaps this thought was a step on their journey to rejecting a belief in God), those who are agnostic (perhaps this thought keeps them from trusting in God), and even many Christians. Yep, you read that correctly, even many Christians too.

Yet I will assert that if you are thinking this, or something similar, then you really do not know God’s Story as well as He would like you to know it… So, let us get back to exploring God’s Story together.

If you had someone read Genesis 2:4-3:24 out loud to you, your ears undoubtedly heard a major shift in Genesis 3:1. Yet the shift was not simply that a serpent entered the narrative. No, the shift was from the use of YHWH God to simply god in the text. Not only was this shift on the tongue of the serpent…but on the lips of Eve as well.

Eve, who was in a covenant relationship with God, shockingly bought into the distorted view of God put forth by the serpent…started by the omission of the word YHWH when referring to God. When the serpent used the distant, non-covenant word for “god,” it put forth a deity who was distant and uninvolved – perhaps even uncaring. And Eve took the bait. Sadly many take the same bait today – but I am ahead of myself.

Eve taking the bait is clear as she too calls YHWH God merely god. But she goes further. Not only does Eve not correct the serpent’s words in Genesis 3:1, which is a total trashing of YHWH God’s generous provision in Genesis 2:16-17, she also distorts what YHWH God said. On the lips of Eve are words YHWH God never said, “neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” Again, as far as we know, YHWH God said no such thing. The serpent jumped on this continued distortion of God, twisted things a bit more, and the rest of humanity – in fact all of creation – have felt the brunt of the next decision for millennia.

I like the words of Gordon Wenham as he says of Eve’s comment, “The creator’s generosity is not being given its full due, and he is being painted as a little harsh and repressive, forbidding the tree even to be touched. Indeed, the way “lest you die” follows “touch” suggests that not just eating it but touching it may be lethal.^[1]

After Eve, and then Adam, ate of the fruit, the gig was up. God’s Story says their eyes were opened, and among other things, they hid from “god.” However, who is it that shows up in Genesis 3:8? Yep, it is YHWH God once again (remember the 20x YHWH God is in act two as compared to the four times god is used here). This shift back to YHWH God is significant.

In my sanctified imagination I cannot help but wonder if Adam & Eve were hiding from “god” because since they did not immediately die, they thought He was coming to finish them off. Yet the text says it was YHWH God who came looking for them.

You may scoff at such a notion. But let me ask you. When you are caught in sin (whatever it may be), do you run to God immediately, or do you hide it? Do you run to the Body of Christ on earth (The Church), or do you isolate yourself from community and cover it up? Answer truthfully…because if you do not, you will not be able to appropriate the beauty of God’s Story.

You see, what is so amazing about God’s Story, and learning about God based on who the Bible says He is, is that the God of the Bible is not much like what people expect. I think many Christians cower from God in fear. I think many Christians are afraid and ashamed of what they have done and are wondering how God could possibly love them. Oh He may have loved me in the past…but I have crossed the line this time… Whenever you think thoughts like that, you are thinking of a god, and not YHWH God.  

I say this because what we see in Genesis 3:8 is that, even in the midst of their rebellion, YHWH God moves toward Adam and Eve. Can you imagine that? The Creator of everything, longing to be with the crowning point of His creation so much that He seeks them out while they are hiding from Him – in fear and rebellion.

There is much more that could be said about act two of Genesis. I am not sure I will get to it before moving onto the next chapter in “The Story.” My goodness, I expected to do a short post per chapter highlighting something. Well...

But I want to leave you with this encouragement; before you reject God…or hide from Him in fear…make sure you know which God you are rejecting and/or hiding from. Is it a god formed from a variety of readings and experiences? Or is it YHWH God, who reveals Himself in the Bible (and Jesus - but that is later), who is at work undoing the effects of sin on His creation – which includes you reading this right now. 

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^[1] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, vol. 1, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 73.