June 9, 2016

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13

When Jesus called Matthew, the tax-collector, to be one of His followers he bent the minds of his other followers and blew the minds of the religious establishment.

What message was Jesus sending by His choice of Matthew as a disciple?

I want to offer four insights into becoming a follower of Jesus. I will share the first one this morning.

BEING A SINNER DOES NOT DISQUALIFY YOU FROM FOLLOWING JESUS IT IS A PREREQUISITE!

One of the most insidious lies perpetrated by the Evil One is the notion you be "good enough" to come to Jesus.

Jesus, Himself, twice in this portion of Scripture dispels that notion:

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

Have you ever thought to yourself when you are ill, "I need to get healthy so I can go and see the doctor?"

Of course not! 

You go to the doctor BECAUSE you are ill and you want him to help you get well again.

That's exactly the point Jesus was making when He was rebuked for calling an evil tax-collector to be His follower.

"For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

If you had to be righteous in order to become a follower of Christ there would be no followers of Christ! 

Those in this story who THOUGHT they were righteous were the ones who failed to become followers of Christ. The Pharisees and the Sadducees and other religious leaders stalked Jesus and shadowed Jesus but they never became followers of Christ. They became critics but not followers because they not only saw themselves as righteous they saw themselves as MORE righteous than Jesus!

Think of a person in Scripture who became a follower of Christ who wasn't a sinner at the moment they began following Him. Good luck on that project!

I was a sinner when I heard the call of Jesus to follow. So were you!

Aren't you glad that being a sinner doesn't disqualify you from become a follower of Jesus?

Aren't you glad you can bring your spiritual illnesses to the Great Physician?

Aren't you glad Jesus came to call you into His fellowship and out of your sin?

The Call

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him." Matthew 9:9

When you think about the I.R.S. what thoughts and emotions are stirred within you?

Okay, let me up the ante!

Just the other day the I.R.S. admitted they indeed targeted some 320 conservative or faith-based organizations to bully and harass leading up to the 2010 and 2012 elections despite testimony to the contrary by the previous and current I.R.S. Directors.

Those feelings of frustration or disgust you are feeling will help you imagine what was going on in the mind of those with Jesus when He issued the invitation to follow Him to a tax collector.

There are several huge things happening in this simple interaction between Jesus and Matthew. Unpacking those and discussing them will be the gist of our message this coming Sunday at FredWes. But, let's get a head start on it.

1) Notice the simplicity of the call.

2) Notice the subject of the call.

3) Notice the surprise of the call.

Jesus looked directly at Matthew, the despised and dastardly tax collector WHILE he was in the process of collecting taxes and said simply, "Follow me!"

He didn't say, "Keep the commandments, Matthew!"

He didn't say, "Go get baptized, Matthew!"

He didn't say, "Go to the synagogue, "Matthew!"

He didn't say, "Repay everything that you have stolen from the taxpayers."

Jesus just invited Matthew to follow Him! And Matthew did follow Jesus!

That is how simple being a Christian is supposed to be. But before you protest, "Brad, that's just too easy! You are "dumbing down" the Gospel let me ask you, "Are you following Jesus?" 

If so, "Are you finding it easy to follow Him or are you struggling with it?"

Pastor Ben Wikner puts it this way, "When Jesus speaks about following him, the more common word that Jesus uses combines the prefix indicating “union” and the word meaning “path or road”, which also means “voyage or journey”. So when Jesus says, “Follow me” he is saying “join me in my path, my journey.” It’s the idea of walking with Jesus, being near to him. It’s highly relational and communicative, but with the clear understanding that Jesus is the leader; he is setting the course. So what does it mean to follow Jesus? Following Jesus is…what being a Christian is all about (1) This is the most basic command; it encompasses all the others. If we follow: we love, forgive, serve, etc. To be a Christian is to be united to Christ, to walk with Him, to imitate him. a. If you boil down Christianity to it’s essence, it’s about Jesus. If you boil down the Christian life to its essential element, it’s about following Jesus. Everything else flows out of following Jesus. Do you want to simplify your Christian life? Follow Jesus. Do you want to live in God’s will? Follow Jesus. Do you want ultimate meaning and purpose? Then follow Jesus. (2) Our tendency is to want to live according to a list or by a set of rules. We can get so caught up trying to follow Christianity (the religion) that we forget to follow Christ. And when it’s about Christianity (religion, rules, and lists) more than about Christ (relationship, communion, and discipleship) we will focus on doing and not doing things, rather than on walking with Jesus. a. For example, consider our call to holiness. Holiness is good, even necessary. However, if holiness is understood through the lens of the religion of Christianity, it inevitably becomes about doing good things and not doing bad things. It becomes a checklist of rules through which we determine if we (and others) are living holy lives. This mindset breeds self-righteousness and self-condemnation. It leads to a spirit of judgment toward others. Because of this, the call to holiness will be undermined, even rejected, giving way to license – we are free in Jesus! b. We must not reject holiness, but rather, rule-centered religion. The right way for holiness and sanctification to flourish in our life is to follow Jesus – his way, his path – in growing our relationship with him. If we get this right, the Christian life follows."

The call to Matthew was an invitation into a relationship with Jesus and Jesus was God in the flesh. Jesus wasn't calling Matthew into observing rules or participating in religious rituals He was calling him into a relationship where Jesus would lead and Matthew would follow.

The call to Matthew should give you hope that there is no one who is outside of or beyond the call of Christ to follow Him. No one is more despicable than a tax-collector and Jesus called a tax-collector to become His follower!

If you, like the other followers of Christ and like the Pharisees, are troubled by His calling of Matthew that says something troubling about you as a Christ-follower.

Doesn't it?

Will you work through your outrage long enough to honestly and humbly consider this question, "Am I following. Am I REALLY following?"

June 7, 2016

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

If I were looking for a good illustration from the Bible of what it means to be "poor in spirit" I would point you to the story of the Prodigal Son.

This foolish young lad bought into the notion that being rich in material possessions was the essence of happiness. So, he coaxed his father into letting him have his inheritance in advance and he took the money and ran as fast and as far as he could from the rules and restraints of home to a place where the pleasures of self-indulgence would be his boundless!

But he ran out of loot before he ran out of lust and when he did, his party time friends decided it was time to depart! Suddenly his quest for happiness left him humiliated, hopeless, and hungry.

Finding himself in an urgent need for lunch money, he took the only job he could find feeding pigs in a pig sty. Here is a young man who was destined to own his father's farm now feeding hogs for a farmer far less compassionate than his father.

His hunger didn't stop before the paycheck started and the foolish lad found himself longing for the slop he was he was giving the swine. Surrounded by hogs and knee deep in mud and slop he began to think of home. His mistreatment at the hand of this farmer refreshed his recollections of how well his father had treated those who fed the pigs back home.

Showing sudden signs of common sense, the son reasoned that if he was going to slop hogs he may as well try to hire on with his dad. Without giving two weeks notice he waded through the mud, around the pigs and over the fence to return to his father with the little bit of strength he had remaining. Luke 15 records the reunion that happened when he met his father on the dusty road home:

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate."  Luke 15:21-24

What is particularly noteworthy is the spirit of the son's plea to his father. Several key phrases give indication of his "poorness of spirit":

1) "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you....."

2) "I am no longer to be called your son...."

He left as a son but was returning in hopes of becoming a servant. 

This is where it gets good!

We he came home properly poor, that is when he became prosperous! 

His father lavished on him full privileges of a highly favored son! The robe of righteousness, the signet ring of authority and the sandals signifying sonship! He finally found the happiness he had been looking for but it wasn't in the way he had expected.

What a vivid illustration of what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit....."!

Being "poor in spirit" is not just about humility. Humility assumes you had something to be proud of. Being poor in spirit is about depravity, confronting your absolute spiritual depravity and then confessing it to your Father. That is your one chance at happiness!

June 6, 2016

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31

I want to begin this article by wishing my beautiful bride, Barbara, Happy Anniversary - for the 29th time!

Yep! Today is our 29th anniversary! Time REALLY does fly when you are having fun. And we have a ton of fun!

When people meet me and then meet Barbara, they wonder how someone like me was able to end up with someone like her. That is a typical reaction, and honestly, I understand because I wonder the same thing!

Being married to a pastor is not easy.

Becoming an instant mother to three children was not easy.

Moving away from family and adjusting to a new role in a blending family was very difficult.

But Barbara has faced and conquered each and every challenge that arose during those two and one-half decades. And she has done it with grace.

When you take the marriage vows seriously, as we do, and when you hear that verse saying, "two shall become one flesh" you wonder what that means, exactly.

Of course, the physical image of it is pretty clear. And it is good!

But the spiritual and emotional, and even psychological implications of "two becoming one" are more mysterious - and a bit frightening. How do two sinful, strong-willed, selfish, stubborn and scarred people meld into one? Is that really possible?

Indeed, by the grace and mercy of God - IT IS! Through the power, and patience and presence of the Holy Spirit - IT IS!

That is what makes 29 years so amazing! We have become one! We are each better individually because we are together. I see many areas of my life where I have grown because of her. And she can point to a few where I have helped her!

It is pretty amazing that - not unlike God - the one who knows me best loves me most! I look forward to our daily routines. We miss each other during the day and get excited at the thought of coming home and being back together each evening. On Mondays I begin getting excited about our Friday dates!

Quite amazing this "two become one" relationship that God ordained for marriage. In His mystical math "two become one" when they lose themselves in a Third! His marriage math is God + Man + Wife = ONE!

How's your math?

How's your marriage?

June 5, 2016

“While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”  Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.  Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.”  Matthew 9:18-26

“What determines your reality? How do you decide what is real?”

That is a very important question. You need to have a very good answer. Over the next few posts I want to share some examples of people whose faith shaped their reality. They believed what they believed more than they believed what they saw. Christ was more real to them than their circumstances.

Two great examples are shown in these several verses from Matthew 9.

The local synagogue leader – and position of respect and influence in any community – came to Jesus bearing news that was all too real, his beloved daughter laid dead at home. But he made an amazing statement, ““My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”

Wow! Here is a guy who should have been grieving but instead – he was believing! This dad refused to let death have the last word with his daughter. Though there was nothing he could do he knew that Jesus was in town and was convinced that Jesus WAS the Son of God. So his thought process went something like this – Jesus is in town. Jesus in the Messiah come from God. God is the Creator and Giver of life. Therefore, Jesus is connected to the source of life and He should be able to raise my daughter from the dead. THAT was his new reality – his faith in Jesus.

Since he believed so strongly in Jesus, Jesus was able to believe in this guy and He arose to follow this fellow home to raise his deceased daughter. But before they made it to the end of the block a woman with a debilitating blood disease took her opportunity to touch the Master’s garment. There is an important reason she reached for the hem of his garment and I recommend you do some research on it.

Matthew reveals what she was thinking as she reached to touch Jesus, ‘She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’” Her affliction was real, but her faith was more real. She had a faith that changed her reality. She came with a disease and went home completely healed.

Jesus and the synagogue leader then sped their way to his home. As Jesus entered the house He saw the evidence of a death – mourners and music. Speaking to them, Jesus ordered them to leave. Mourners are for the dead and this girl was not going to be dead. That caused them to mock Him because they were locked into a different reality than He was.

After the commotion was stilled, Jesus went to where the daughter was laid and He proceeded to raise her back to life in respect to the great faith of her father. The father’s faith became reality. By letting Jesus have the last word, death did not.

So, I ask you, “Does reality shape your faith or does your faith shape reality?”

June 4, 2016

"Then He said to them all: "If anyone would come after me......." Luke 9:23a

I am so encouraged to read the call of Jesus to those who would desire to be disciples!

Notice whom He addesses:

"He said to them ALL".

"If anyone will......"

Anyone can be a follower of Jesus Christ. You don't have to be wealthy or well educated or well adjusted. You just have to be willing! Consider this story from Brooklyn Tabernacle, a great church in metropolitan New York City:

Jim Cymbala preaches at a church in the slums of New York. He tells the following story: It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie and sat down and draped my feet over the edge. It was a wonderful service with many people coming forward. The counselors were talking with these people. As I was sitting there I looked up the middle aisle, and there in about the third row was a man who looked about fifty, disheveled, filthy. He looked up at me rather sheepishly, as if saying, “Could I talk to you?” We have homeless people coming in all the time, asking for money or whatever. So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed of it, “What a way to end a Sunday. I’ve had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here’s a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine.” He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I’d never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I’d talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn’t inhale facing him. I asked him, “What’s your name?” “David.” “How long have you been on the street?” “Six years.” “How old are you?” “Thirty-two.” He looked fifty- hair matted; front teeth missing; wino; eyes slightly glazed. “Where did you sleep last night, David?” “Abandoned truck.” I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit cards. I fumbled to pick one out thinking; I’ll give him some money. I won’t even get a volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don’t give money to people. We take them to get something to eat. I took the money out. David pushed his finger in front of me. He said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.” I completely forgot about David, and I started to weep for myself. I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me. See how easy it is? I could make the excuse I was tired. There is no excuse. I was not seeing him the way God sees him. I was not feeling what God feels. But oh, did that change! David just stood there. He didn’t know what was happening. I pleaded with God, “God, forgive me! Forgive me! Please forgive me. I am so sorry to represent You this way. I’m so sorry. Here I am with my message and my points, and You send somebody and I am not ready for it. Oh, God!” Something came over me. Suddenly I started to weep deeper, and David began to weep. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there. He fell against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him, and there we wept on each other. The smell of His person became a beautiful aroma. Here is what I thought the Lord made real to me: If you don’t love this smell, I can’t use you, because this is why I called you where you are. This is what you are about. You are about this smell. Christ changed David’s life. He started memorizing portions of Scripture that were incredible. We got him a place to live. We hired him in the church to do maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed. He was a handsome man when he came out of the hospital. They detoxed him in 6 days. He spent that Thanksgiving at my house. He also spent Christmas at my house. When we were exchanging presents, he pulled out a little thing and he said, “This is for you.” It was a little white hanky. It was the only thing he could afford. A year later David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ. The minute he took the mic and began to speak, I said, “The man is a preacher.” This past Easter we ordained David. He is an associate minister of a church over in New Jersey. And I was so close to saying, “Here, take this; I’m a busy preacher.” We can get so full of ourselves.

The call to discipleship is to "all" or to "anyone who will". That means even people like David can follow Jesus! Or, people like you and me.

June 3, 2016

"The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Psalm 23

Even though things are getting crazy around the world and you may wonder which will collapse first, our culture or our economy you can still be sure the future is your friend if the Lord is your Shepherd.  He is a personal Shepherd. He knows you intimately and loves you unconditionally.

Not only is He a personal shepherd, He is a powerful shepherd! When you think of a powerful superhero you think of a Batman, or a Spiderman or a Superman, you don't think of a shepherd. But you should! Jesus as the Shepherd is not just powerful, He is seven-fold powerful! What do I mean by that?

Our Father has many, many names in the Hebrew bible (some say as many as 144!), each describing a different aspect of His greatness and power — from Adonai (The Lord; mentioned 360 times) to Yahveh (“I am that I am”; mentioned 6,800 times). Jehovah is an Anglicized translation of Yahveh. In Psalm 23 we see seven of the names of God that show us that our Shepherd might just BE a superhero!

1. “The Lord is my Shepherd”

"Jehovah Rohi" (The Lord is my Shepherd and my Guide) – “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will GUIDE you into all truth” John 16:13.

2. “I shall not want”

"Jehovah Jireh" (The Lord is my Provider, so I do not want) - "He supplies all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19

3. “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters”

"Jehovah Shalom" (The Lord is my Peace — my calm in the midst of a storm) – “Now may the God of PEACE Himself sanctify you completely” 1 Thess. 5:23.

4. “He restores my soul”

"Jehovah Rapha" (He is my Healer) – “And by His stripes we are healed” 1 Peter 2:24 (and Isaiah 53:5)

5. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”

"Jehovah Tsidkenu" (The Lord is my Righteousness; in Him I have right standing with God) “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in Him” 1 Corinthians 5:21.

6. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me”

"Jehovah Shammah" (“The Lord is There”; He is our Ever-Present God) - “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” Hebrews 13:5.

7. “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”

"Jehovah Nissi" (“The Lord is my Banner,” my standard, He covers me) – “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a STANDARD against him” Isaiah 59:19.

“You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Amen!

The future is your friend when this God is your Shepherd! He is powerful times seven! There is nothing that can come against you that will be more powerful than Him! When this Good Shepherd is for you, who can be against you!

Sure sounds like a superhero to me!