wow, its been a few weeks since I blogged (which means I’ve been out of the pulpit for a few). well, its back in the saddle this week, and what a week to prepare for.

still thinking through what happened up at the men’s retreat last weekend. so much to process. we had a great group of guys this year, and the speakers were wonderful. this was the first year we offered an afternoon trek up mt. major, and as you can see from the pic, about 20 guys ripped up the hill and were back by 4pm for the afternoon session. great job everybody! but when it is all said and done, there is that “God moment” that just sticks with you.

for me, the God moment really did center on spiritual gifts (and since that is this week’s sermon, what excellent timing). i had the opportunity for the first time to actually work with the group of guys that put the retreat together. it was what you could call a “teachable moment”. we had guys that were great “idea” people, guys that were gifted “administrative” folks, guys that were dedicated “prayer warriors”, and guys that were gifted in “encouragement”. when it was all said and done, i look back and see how each of these guys was used very uniquely by God to make the retreat happen. so, can i take a second and say to all the guys who served on the committee, the guys who spoke, our worship leader, and all the guys who showed up sunday a.m. with the black eyes from football– well done good and faithful servants.

in 1 Corinthians 12, paul talks about how God gives gifts to the church so that all the aspects of ministry can move forward. the retreat just served to reinforce that great truth– different folks, different gifts, but one Lord, one Savior, one mission.

just wondering. anyone else had that kind of spiritual gifts “God moment”, when the Lord showed you how the right person with the right gift in the right place was used by Him in a great way?

doing a sermon on the crucifixion is really hard for me. i’m reminded of a writer who once described what happened to him in seminary. he said that when he entered seminary, he would read the gospel accounts of the passion and would cry– it moved his soul that much. by the time he left seminary, he could read the same accounts, ponder all the different theological theories of the atonement, think through the different writer’s perspectives– but there were no more tears. Jesus’ death was now an idea to be debated, not a event the moved the heart. sometimes i feel the same way.

what’s interesting is that a couple years ago when the “passion of the Christ” was produced, it kind of rekindled in me the remembrance of what an amazing thing the cross really is. maybe seeing it on the screen was what did it, or maybe visualizing the brutality of what happened to Jesus was what moved my soul. all i know is that i cried many tears during that film.

problem is– i’m not sure i cried for the right reason. for me it was seeing the physical brutality of the scourging and crucifixion that brought the tears. it all seemed so hideously unjust. strange how the gospel writers pretty much ignore the physical aspects of the cross (except maybe for Jesus’ words “I thirst”).  for them and the other writers of the NT, the real horror of the cross was that a holy God would have to encounter that which is unholy (sin). i just don’t think we will every really know what that was like for Jesus. as 2 corinthians says, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us”. to suffer the judgment for the sins of the world, to feel the abandonment of the Father, to “taste” hell for me. can’t say i’ll ever know what that really was like.

in Jesus’ day, it was kinda easy to figure out who the folks were that you stayed away from (the untouchables). samaritans– absolutely (they were half breeds with the wrong theology). gentiles– you betcha (that gang had nothing to do with God’s covenant, and the covenant people had nothing to do with them). also, you had to stay away from the physically “unclean” (like those suffering skin diseases like leprosy).

then Jesus shows up, and starts knocking down some of these barriers. his story of the “good samaritan” is a classic (luke 10). his healing of non-jews was shocking (luke 7). and this week’s message about the healing of the lepers combines both racial and health barriers.  the “untouchables” didn’t seem to be that “untouchable” to our Lord.

which leads to the big question this week– who are the modern untouchables? we don’t have lepers hanging out by the city gates, and there aren’t any “samaritans” around. but let’s get honest for a moment: we don’t need to come out and say someone is “untouchable” to have folks feeling like they are “untouchables”.  all we need to do is operate in a way that makes them feel totally unwelcomed. what do i mean? how about a couple examples: when we assume that all God’s real children agree on political issues, and if you aren’t in the right party you probably aren’t right with God; or when our disdain for all things homosexual stands out it in sharp contrast to our muted voice when it comes to other sexual sins (like porn or sex outside of marriage). we don’t have a list that says these people are “untouchable”, but they often feel that way after interacting with us.

So who are the evangelical world’s “untouchables”? And what is our responsibility to reach out and touch these folks with the love of Christ?

weird isn’t it– i’m doing a “Christmas” sermon in september.  when it says in philippians about Jesus  “who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness”, i can’t help pondering why the manger. for Jesus to give up the glory of heaven and come to this earth, taking on all kinds of human limitations surely would have been enough.

but it wasn’t enough. He came in the most humble of ways. it would have been absolutely fitting for Him to be born into a royal setting, but that isn’t what He chose. instead He identified with the lowliest of folks– a simple carpenter living in an out of the way little village. so i guess the question that i start the week pondering is this– God’s choice of how His Son would come to this world must be important (for He chose it), what exactly is the importance of the manger? There is definitely a message flowing out of that feeding trough. Do you have any thoughts on what it is?

Have you ever wondered why we make the decision in life that we do? what is it inside of us that inclines our will to move the way it does. let’s talk negative for a second. judas! Here is guy who was given the most amazing education in the world. for 3+ years he lived right next to jesus. he listened to Him teach, watched Him interact with people, saw Him do miracles. he even went out with the other disciples preaching the kingdom of God, and most likely did miracles himself. so after all this, what in the world was happening in his heart that when the right moment came, he sold Jesus down the river for a few pieces of silver. the issue for me isn’t so much what he did, but why he did it.

maybe the reason this means so much to me is I always wonder why some people live these really godly christian lives and others don’t– even though they may both say they believe. why the difference??? how come some days i find a lot of power in my life to walk with the Lord and other days not so much. this sunday we’re going to spend a little time looking at the issue of motivation (in Philippians 2:3-11). it will be a time to ponder not “what” we do, but “why” we do it.

so if you’ve had days where you felt particularly strong in the Lord, do you have any ideas as to where that strength came from? what was going on between you and God that allowed His Spirit’s power to truly flow through you??

just wonderin’

ts