Did God promise to grant any request made by two or three people gathered in His name?

A few days ago, a post by a Facebook friend caught my eye and stuck in my mind for hours (that’s rare for me for a Facebook post!). This lady was asking for prayer for a baby who is facing a heartbreaking illness. It is good to invite people to pray, and her compassion was obvious.

What stuck in my mind, however, was the claim that her post made about God and his promises concerning prayer. I don’t know if this lady wrote these words or if she was simply sharing them from someone else’s post, but here’s what it said:

“The power of prayer. God says where ever there is three or more gathered in his name in complete harmony he will give them whatever they ask for. So please let’s all be in complete harmony and say this prayer…” What followed was a suggested prayer that we could all pray for this baby.

This claim about God grieved me deeply and stuck in my mind for hours. Why such a strong reaction, you ask? Because the truth is this:

If God made that promise, then he is utterly untrustworthy.

How did I reach that conclusion? Just think about what your own experience has taught you. How many times have you and a group of family or friends all made the same specific prayer request to God, only to see it go unfulfilled? I would suspect we have all lived through that experience a number of times.

Do you see the dilemma that our experience raises in light of that claim? If God did in fact make such a promise about prayer, then he has failed to deliver on it repeatedly. If any other person you know repeatedly fails to deliver on a promise, don’t you eventually conclude that he is not trustworthy? Logically, we are backed into a corner on this one – if God made that promise about prayer, we would be foolish to trust him, because he has failed to deliver on it time and time again.

So we have a crucial question to consider – did God in fact promise that “wherever there is three or more gathered in his name in complete harmony he will give them whatever they ask for?”

This language of “three or more gathered” is found in Matthew 18:15-20. Here is that whole passage, so you can get the context of the whole train of thought:

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

A couple of questions at this point will bring us some much-needed clarity regarding any promise that God is making in these verses. First of all, why are the two or three gathered in this passage? We quickly discover that they are not gathered for any general purposes regarding prayer, but rather for a very specific purpose – to help resolve a dispute that has arisen within the church body. Initially, they are gathered in verse 16 to provide evidence that the claims of the offended brother are indeed true. Then, they are (presumably) gathered with the rest of the church in verse 17 as the church makes a pronouncement regarding the unrepentant brother’s status within the church body (the meaning of “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”).

Second, what would the two or three be asking about in this context (their asking is mentioned in verse 19)? Here, we have to trace the line of thinking from verse 17 forward. At the end of verse 17, an action is prescribed as the end result of church discipline for an unrepentant brother – let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. This statement would refer to the removal of the brother’s privileges and responsibilities within the church body (it certainly does NOT mean anything like “act mean and nasty toward him”).

This act is then referred to in verse 18 as “binding” and “loosing.” Notice then that in verse 19, Jesus begins by saying “again I say to you.” The word “again” would indicate that Jesus is about to refer back to the action at the end of verse 17 in different language than what he used in verse 18. So then, what would the two or three be asking about in verse 19? The most natural answer, based on the context, is that they would be asking God to approve and confirm their decision to remove the unrepentant brother’s privileges and responsibilities within the church body.

Only now can we properly understand the statements “it will be done for them by my father in heaven” and “for where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Jesus is promising that if we take the proper care and caution in overseeing the discipline of the church, God will approve and confirm the decisions that are made through this process.

There is no general promise made here about any and all prayers that may ever be spoken. It’s very important that we don’t conclude that God is making such a promise here. Why is it so important? Among several reasons, this one stands out:

People sometimes lose their faith when they expect God to grant a request and he doesn’t.

This whole discussion thus becomes very relevant very quickly. We MUST make sure that the expectations we have for God are based on what he himself has said in the Bible and not simply on popular sentimentality. Otherwise, we may end up disappointed with God for no legitimate reason, but simply because we have embraced a misunderstanding about him. That is a very sad state of affairs, indeed.

We must be very careful when we start saying “God promised us this…” or “God promised us that…” We do not want to put God on the hook for things he did not actually say! There certainly is power in prayer. May I be the last person to ever discourage people from praying! But we don’t want to find ourselves in a crisis of faith that could’ve been avoided by simply spotting an unfortunate misunderstanding.

What's So "Great" About the Great Commission?--Baptism Sermon

            Words like “great” and “awesome” have lost a little bit of their punch in our language. We use them so often and for so many things that they’ve lost a little bit of their significance. For example, we might eat a really tasty pizza and say, “Wow! That pizza was awesome!” Or on the Fourth of July, we might rig up some kind of homemade bomb and when we set it off we say, “That was awesome!”

            I think it’s kind of humorous to put the dictionary definition of “awesome” into those statements. We’d feel kind of silly saying, “That pizza filled me with an overwhelming sense of reverence!” The dictionary does also mention an overwhelming sense of fear, so that might apply to your homemade bomb on the Fourth of July!

            Because of the way that we use words like “great” and “awesome,” when we talk in church about the Great Commission, we might wonder what’s great about it. Why do we call it the “Great” Commission, anyway? I’d like to give you four answers to that question today as we take a look at the commission that Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 28:16-20.

            The event recorded in this passage is taking place after Jesus rose from the grave. The text says, “Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee [remember that Judas Iscariot is no longer part of the group!], to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.”

            That statement takes us by surprise in this story. What were the disciples doubting? Were some of them doubting whether Jesus had really come back to life?

            Most likely, their doubts were about their worship. The Greek term here includes the act of bowing down to someone, and even though the disciples were coming to understand that Jesus was God and the Messiah, he was also a human being, and the thought of bowing down to a human being would have been very foreign to the minds of these Jewish men.

            So most likely, they were having questions or doubts about what they should do now in the presence of Jesus. “Does he want us to bow down to him? After all, we remember him washing our feet and telling us not to act all high and mighty. What does he want us to do?”

            Jesus doesn’t address any questions of etiquette, but instead he gives them a mission, or we might say he commissions them for a job. Starting in verse 18, we begin to see why we refer to this as the “Great” Commission.

1. It comes from a great authority

            [READ v. 18] The first part of the Father’s plan for Jesus required him to submit to various human beings. He submitted to his parents while he was growing up, then later he submitted to the Jewish and Roman authorities.

            But the days for Jesus to submit to other humans are over. The Father has declared him to be the Lord of heaven and earth, and if only all men everywhere would worship him as such! But many people have not heard that Jesus is their Lord and Savior, or some have heard and they have continued in rebellion against him. And so, there is a need for the commission Jesus gives his disciples in verses 19 and 20.

2. It has a great goal

            [READ v. 19-20] What a lofty and satisfying goal this is, to call people to become apprentices of Jesus – to call them to embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior, then to make that fact known through baptism, then to learn from Jesus’ teachings how to navigate all the ins and outs of life.

            This is the greatest goal to which we could possibly devote our lives. What even compares to it? Accumulating a fortune that you just have to leave behind anyway? A fortune that your kids might fight over or even squander? Grasping for your 15 minutes of fame that might be gone even before you are?

            No goal could possibly be greater than this commission, and this commission also serves as the marching orders for the church. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What should our church really be focused on?” there’s really no mystery to the answer. We are to make disciples of all nations, lead people to be baptized, and teach them how to live a life that’s based on the commandments of God. Now sure, some of the details will be different for different churches based on where they’re located and the resources they have, but our common goal is laid out right here, and it’s as plain as day.

3. It has a great scope

            Notice that Jesus told them to make disciples of all nations. Previously, in Matthew 10, Jesus had sent the disciples out on a short-term preaching tour, and at that time he had told them to stay within the boundaries of Israel.

            But now there was to be no such restriction. Since Jesus has all authority on earth, all the inhabitants of Earth need to hear the offer of peace from their crucified and risen King. The Gospel is not a message for Israel alone, but for all people. There is also no room for prejudice or racism in our efforts to spread the Gospel. The offer of salvation is made to all people, and all people need to hear it.

4. It comes with a great promise

            After giving his disciples this commission, he gives them this promise: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

            In may seem ironic that after giving this promise, Jesus left the Earth and returned to heaven just a few days later. But by doing so, he made it possible to be with all of his disciples all the time – at the same time, no matter where they might be. Remember that Jesus’ physical body could not be in two places at once any more than yours or mine can.

            But after returning to heaven, Jesus sent his Spirit upon his disciples on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit has come to live in every believer since that time. So Jesus has certainly made good on this promise, and he will continue to do so.

            The Spirit’s presence within us is a wonderful reality of the unity that we enjoy with Jesus through faith. Baptism is a wonderful picture of that unity as we symbolize the fact that through faith, we have died, been buried, and have been raised to new life with Jesus. Let us celebrate with those who choose to take this important step.

Sharing the Gospel Clearly--Life with God Series

            In some ways, communicating with other people is easier than ever these days. If I need to get a hold of you about something, I have close to ten different ways to do that. I can meet with you in person, send you a letter, send you an e-mail, or call your home phone. If you’re not at home, that’s no big deal, because I can call your cell phone or text you or video chat with you or send you a Facebook message.

            But ironically, communicating about important matters is just as hard as ever. One of the keys for good communication is to have your message crystal-clear in your own mind. If you’re confused about what you want to say, then there’s very little chance that you can make your point clear to someone else.

            With that thought in mind, we’re going to take a look today at what the message of the Gospel truly is. Last week, we talked about finding the boldness to tell others about the Gospel, but the truth is that we will never feel very bold until we have the essence of the Gospel clearly defined in our own minds. So first, let’s talk about what the Gospel is not, then we’ll look at a passage that tells us clearly what it is.

What the Gospel is NOT

1. It is not the entire story contained in the Bible

            As Christians ourselves, we know that Christians are familiar with the story of the Bible from Creation all the way to the Book of Revelation. The Gospel is not that entire story, however—it’s a much smaller slice of that story. When you’re sharing the Gospel, then, it’s not necessary to tell the whole story of the Bible. That’s nice to know, because it makes the thought of sharing the Gospel a little less daunting.

2. It is not an explanation of how Christians think or behave

            Sometimes we get in conversations about why Christians do or do not do certain things, and while those are good conversations to have, we need to realize that talking about some part of a Christian lifestyle is not the same as sharing the Gospel. So if you explain to someone why Christians don’t use the Lord’s name in vain, that’s good—but it’s not the same thing as sharing the Gospel.

The Heart of the Gospel—1 Corinthians 15:1-8

            So what is the Gospel? The Apostle Paul reveals the heart of it in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 [READ].

            These verses present two main claims about Jesus, which form the heart of the Gospel. For each claim, there is also a piece of evidence or proof given that establishes the truth of the claim. The first claim is that Christ died for our sins. The proof of this is that he was buried. The second claim is that He was raised on the third day. The proof of this claim is that he appeared to many different people.

            It is the claims mentioned here that form the heart of the Gospel. The proofs are important, of course, because they tell us that the claims are true, but when you are sharing the Gospel with someone else, it’s not entirely necessary to emphasize the proofs unless the other person asks for some reasons to believe the claims. And so, it is these claims about Jesus—that He died for our sins and then was raised—that form the core of this message that we call “the Gospel.”

            Notice two other details from this passage—details that also form a central part of the Gospel. Paul stated in v. 3 that it was Christ who died for our sins. This little word reminds us of what people must believe about Jesus in order to be saved.

            Remember that the word “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. In fact, it’s not part of His name at all; rather, it’s a title that describes who Jesus is. The title “Christ” means “anointed one” or “chosen one,” so Paul’s usage of the title here reminds us that it wasn’t just a mere man who died for our sins—it was God’s chosen one. And why was Jesus God’s chosen one? Because He was in fact the Son of God—fully divine, just as God the Father is divine.

            So this truth must also be communicated when we share the Gospel. The only reason why Jesus’ death had any benefit for us at all is because He was the Christ—God’s own Son, designated (or anointed or chosen) to be the Savior of the world.

            And how is it that we receive the benefits that Christ’s death and resurrection have provided for us? That’s what Paul told us in vv. 1-2—“which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.” We receive forgiveness for our sins simply by receiving it from Christ—accepting Him for who He is, and resting in what He has done for us.

            This picture of “standing” upon the Gospel is a helpful one for explaining what it means to accept Jesus in faith. As far as my confidence of being forgiven is concerned, I take my stand entirely upon these facts—that the Son of God died for my sins and was raised on the third day. I stand on that foundation and no other. I don’t have one foot on Christ and one foot on my own good works—no, I have both feet planted firmly on Christ.

So these verses in 1 Corinthians 15 give us the heart of the Gospel. Christ, God’s chosen one—the very Son of God—died for my sins and was raised on the third day. I receive forgiveness for my sins simply by receiving Christ—in other words, taking my stand upon what He accomplished for me. That is the heart of the message that we desire to share with others so that they can be saved. But how might approach the actual act of sharing that message?

How Can We Share the Gospel?

            Obviously, there are many different ways that we can share this message. The variety is just as wide as the variety of people we meet and the variety of conversations that we have. Perhaps in your life you have memorized certain ways of sharing the Gospel, such as the Romans Road. These can be good and helpful, but above all, it is most important to simply have the heart of the Gospel clearly defined in your own mind so that you are free to share this message in a variety of ways.

Telling Your Own Conversion Story

            Today, though, I would like you to think about how you could share the Gospel in the context of telling your own conversion story. I’d like to suggest this thought for two reasons.

Why share your story?

1. Our culture places a high value on a person’s life story/personal perspective.

            Now, our culture does take this respect way too far by saying that I can decide what’s true for me from the context of my life story, and you can decide what’s true for you from the context of your life story. That’s going too far, but nevertheless, our culture does consider it a virtue to show respect for another person’s life story or personal perspective, so we can use that fact to our advantage.

2. Sharing your conversion story is less intimidating and is not directly confrontational

            It is less intimidating in part because it is a more natural conversation. We talk about our lives with lots of friends and acquaintances all the time. We talk about what we did over the weekend, where we grew up; we talk about our hobbies. So when we talk about our conversion stories, it’s a pretty natural step from the kinds of conversations that we have all the time.

            It’s also a less intimidating approach because it’s easier to remember. We can all remember our conversion stories because we lived through them. If you’re trying to rely on a memorized presentation, though, there’s always that fear that you might forget the next verse you’re supposed to quote!

            Also, sharing your story is not directly confrontational. Someone might dismiss your story, but they can’t really argue with it. They might say, “I’m glad that’s worked for you,” but they can’t honestly say, “You’re lying! You didn’t find comfort in the Gospel during that hard time in your life!”

Two Ways to Structure Your Story

            Even though you know your own conversion story well, it can still be helpful to think about how to share your story. If you have even a very simple outline in mind, it can help you share clearly and make sure you emphasize the Gospel. Let me suggest two different outlines that might be a good fit for your story.

1. For an older conversion or dramatic conversion

            If you were saved a little later in life or you had a very dramatic change when you were saved, you might structure your story like so. First, share what life was like for you before you were saved. Highlight some of the problems that the Gospel solved for you. Perhaps you dealt with a lot of hopelessness or shame, or your lifestyle was very destructive toward yourself and others.

            Then, talk about when you accepted Christ. At this point, you would be careful to mention those claims that form the heart of the Gospel—that Christ died for our sins and was raised on the third day.

            Finally, you would describe how your life has changed since you accepted Christ. At this point, you could touch on how Christ has made all the difference for the problems you mentioned before—He has given you hope, He has taken away your shame, He has empowered you to change in ways you never thought possible.

2. For a younger conversion or less dramatic conversion

            For some of us, we don’t have much to talk about when it comes to our pre-conversion years because we were saved at a young age. Yes, maybe we lived like horrible heathens, but then we turned six and got saved! There’s not much for us to share about our life before Christ, so what we want to emphasize is how life with Christ has made all the difference.

            Here’s how we might approach our story, then: talk first about the grand sweep of your life. You might highlight some particular highs and lows, joys and sorrows. If the person you’re talking to is going through a struggle that you’ve faced, then naturally you might want to highlight that fact.

            Then, bring it all back to Christ and the Gospel. Explain to them that through it all, what Christ did for you has made all the difference. And of course, this is where you would emphasize the core claims of the Gospel about Christ’s death for your sins and His resurrection.

            However you share it, the Gospel is a message worthy of being proclaimed, because it tells of a Savior who is worthy of being praised. As the Scripture says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news (Romans 10:15)!” And good news is precisely what we have!

            So let us never be ashamed of the Gospel! Whether others realize it yet or not, it is good news for their souls. And how will they realize it if we do not tell them?

What to Say to God When You Pray--Life With God Series

            We all know that communication is very important in relationships, but sometimes our communication with others can be hindered by nothing more than that nagging feeling that we just don’t know what to say to them. Every one of us has avoided conversations at times because we felt like we just didn’t know what to say to that other person, or if we did have some thoughts in mind, we didn’t know how to express them in just the right words.

            As we’ve been learning in this series recently, we have a cycle of communication in our relationship with God – he communicates with us through the Bible, and we communicate to him through prayer. As with all of our other relationships, our efforts to communicate with God through prayer can be hindered by that same old feeling that we just don’t know what to say.

            Fortunately for us, Jesus has given us a model prayer that teaches us the kinds of thoughts and statements that we should express to God when we pray. By getting more familiar with this model prayer, we can get a better understanding of what we should say to God when we pray. So today, we’re going to take a look at what we usually call “The Lord’s Prayer,” as it is recorded in Matthew 6:9-13.

A Striking Observation

            Once you find that passage in your Bible, if you will just take a glance over the page on which it’s written, you might notice something rather striking about this model prayer – it’s not very long at all! The Lord’s Prayer only takes about 25 seconds to read out loud, and that’s if you read it carefully with great expression!

            Now it could be that this model prayer is short because it is, after all, only a model, an example. We know that these verses don’t say everything that Jesus wanted to communicate about prayer because he had more to say about prayer at other times in his teaching.

            But it could be that the length of this model prayer is meant to teach us that our prayers don’t necessarily have to be very long. I believe we get the same impression when we remember what Jesus had to say back in verses 7-8 [READ Matt 6:7-8].

            Notice the main point of these verses – a multitude of words does not make our prayers more effective, so we should not think that they do. We don’t need to drone on and on because our Father knows what we need before we ask him. These observations have led me to think that it is okay – and perhaps even preferable – to keep our prayers short.

            This thought may not be earth-shattering to you, but I’ve got to tell you, it’s been very challenging to me. To be honest, I think I’ve spent most of my life believing that effective prayers have to be long prayers – in other words, if I want to have any chance of God answering my prayer, I need to make it long.

            I don’t know when or where I picked up that idea, but I can tell you, it really has affected my prayer life. For a long time now, I know I’ve thought that if I want to truly have a “good” prayer time, I’d better be prepared to pray for at least 20 or 30 minutes – the longer the better, even if I wind up repeating myself, and even if I find my mind wandering a lot during that time.

            But as I’ve started to reflect on Matthew 6 and some other passages of Scripture, I’ve started to think that a much better principle to follow might be this:

When you pray, say what’s on your heart, then say no more.

            At times, you may have many people that you’d like to pray for in the same prayer, or you may have a heavy burden that you need to bring to God. Those prayers will naturally be longer, and of course, there’s nothing wrong with that! But at other times, you may simply want to say “thank you” for a small blessing or you may need to confess a sin that you’ve become aware of. I believe we should feel free to simply say those things without feeling like we have to make a 10-minute production out of our prayer.

            Effective prayers are not necessarily long prayers. When you’ve said all that’s on your heart, that will suffice. Don’t drone on with half-hearted words just because you feel like your prayer needs to be a certain length. Say what’s on your heart, then say no more.

A Well-Balanced Prayer Diet

            Now I do believe that The Lord’s Prayer mentions the kinds of thoughts that we need to express in our overall habits of prayer. We don’t want to neglect any of these thoughts even though we may not include all of them in every single prayer we pray.

            To help us remember these thoughts, I’d like to tie The Lord’s Prayer together with a commonly used acronym that serves as a helpful memory device. It’s the acronym ACTS. As we go through this acronym, please don’t think of this as a hard-and-fast outline that each of your prayers must follow. Think of it more like a guide for a well-balanced prayer diet. You can achieve a well-balanced diet for your body even if you don’t eat foods from every food group in each meal. Likewise, you can have a good balance in your prayer life even if you don’t touch on every part of this acronym in every prayer that you pray.

A—Adoration

            The letter “A” in this acronym stands for adoration. That word refers to statements that express our praise to God or our love for Him.

            In The Lord’s Prayer, we find adoration expressed in the statements, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” The Lord’s name refers not just to the title that we might use for Him, but to His reputation and His fame as well. It’s similar to when we say, “So-and-so is really making a name for himself.”

            “Hallowed” is not a word that we use often. We may use it at times to refer to the “hallowed grounds” of a battlefield, and we mean that that location has a sacredness to it and is worthy of special honor because of its history.

            So “hallowed be your name” might be paraphrased as “may you receive the unique honor that you deserve.” It’s a statement that expresses how valuable we believe God is, and that He’s worthy of our love and honor. These are ideas, then, that we want to regularly express to God in our prayers.

C—Confession

            The “C” in this acronym stands for confession. In this model prayer, Jesus teaches us to confess our sins to God when he says, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Notice how Jesus ties this aspect of our relationship with God together with the way that we treat other people. Tuck that thought in the back of your mind for now, because that idea is going to be the subject of another sermon soon to come. We’ll talk about how our relationship with God is affected by the way that we treat other people.

            For now, I want you to remember that this model prayer is given for people who can call God “Father.” In other words, it is given for followers of Christ – Christians. This little observation would teach us that even after we have become born-again, there is still a need for us to confess our sins to God and ask him for forgiveness.

            It’s not that we’re asking him to save us all over again or to adopt us into his family all over again. The reality is this – when we are born again, our relationship with God moves out of the courtroom and into the living room, because we are his children now, we’re family. And as with any family, we have a need to ask for forgiveness when we have done hurtful things that bring grief to our family members.

            And so, we need to confess our sins to God when we become aware of them. If you sense that you are not regularly aware of your sins, ask God to give you a greater sensitivity toward your sins. If we ask God to make it clear to us when we have sinned, I think he will be happy to answer that prayer.

T—Thanksgiving

            The “T” in this acronym stands for thanksgiving. Ironically, we don’t find the words “thank you” in this prayer, although we can certainly see gratitude peeking out from between the lines of these verses.

            Other passages of Scripture make it clear that we should offer thanks to God in our prayers. For example, Philippians 4:6 says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Colossians 4:2 likewise says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

            If we would keep this thought in mind, we would find ourselves with numerous opportunities every day to say thank you to God. In fact, this could be a good way to carry out the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.” If we would offer a very brief prayer of thanks to the Lord as our various blessings come to mind, we would find ourselves saying thank you quite often.

S—Supplication

            The final letter in this acronym stands for supplication, which is just a fancier word for “making requests.” This may be the most humbling truth about prayer – we are invited to bring our requests to the Lord. It certainly makes sense for us to speak statements of adoration, to confess our sins, and to thank the Lord because after all – we are speaking to our superior, our Creator and Savior. The fact that he is willing to hear our requests is an example of sheer grace.

            We see supplication communicated in the three statements of this prayer: 1) your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; 2) give us this day our daily bread; and 3) and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

            Notice how the first statement of supplication is based on promises that God had already made. He had already promised that he would establish his kingdom of righteousness in this world; he had already promised that one day his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. So Jesus was teaching us that some of our requests at least should be informed by and fueled by the promises that God has made in the Bible.

            So for example, we can request that Christ would return soon; we can request that God would show us how his strength is made perfect in our weakness; we can request that God would make his presence with us clear to us, since he promised that he would be with us always. Knowing God’s promises, then, gives us an important base of knowledge that should influence what we ask for in prayer.

            As far as the other two examples of supplication, notice how they give us a balance between our physical needs and our spiritual needs. We need to pray about both kinds of needs without neglecting one or the other. Sometimes our physical needs can feel so urgent that they dominate our prayers and leave us with little energy or concentration to pray for our spiritual needs. On the other hand, it might feel selfish at times to pray about your own physical needs when you remember the great spiritual needs of so many people all around you.

            The goal would be to not get off-balance in either direction. Remember your physical needs and remember your spiritual needs. Remember your own needs and remember the needs of others.

            So by learning some lessons from this model prayer, we don’t have to remain tongue-tied whenever we pause to pray. With these thoughts as our guide, we can simply say what is on our hearts, then we don’t have to feel pressure to say more, as though God has a minimum word count requirement for our prayers. With Christ’s example before us, may prayer become more delightful to us all the time.

Christmas Blessings from Unexpected Sources--Luke 2:22-38

            Our news outlets are all abuzz these days with stories about who the President-elect is appointing for various government positions. Everyone is asking, “Who does he want by his side? Who is he selecting to help him carry out his plans? Who does he believe he can trust?”

            As people who desire to serve God and do his will, we would do well to ask the same kind of questions about him. Who does he know he can trust? What kind of people does he select to help him carry out his plans? If we want to be used by him, what kind of people should we be?

            We’re going to answer those questions today by looking at a couple of lesser-known characters in the Christmas story – a godly man named Simeon, and a devoted prophetess named Anna. These believers make only a brief appearance on stage in the Christmas story, but even that brief appearance is enough to illustrate for us what kind of person God delights to use to do his will.

We find their story in Luke 2:22-38. Before we jump right into that text, let me put these stories into context for you by pointing out two striking features of the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel.

Two Striking Features of Luke 1-2

            The first striking feature of these chapters is that God is communicating. Now you might think, “What’s so striking or unusual about that?” It’s striking because of the historical timeframe of these events in Luke 1-2.

            These events mark the end of a 400-year span of time that is known as “The Silent Period,” because during that time, God had not been giving any new communication to mankind. Many people don’t realize this, but 400 years elapsed between the time of Malachi (the last prophet of the Old Testament) and the birth of Jesus. During those years, God had not sent any more prophets to the people of Israel – as even the Jewish people acknowledged in their own historical documents!

            So for all of those years, there had been no new communication or revelation from God. Then all of a sudden, there was a great burst of communication from God to his people, as we read about in these chapters. We read about three angelic visitations to various people, and we read about several people being moved by the Holy Spirit to make prophetic statements. So out of silence, there is all of a sudden a great burst of communication.

            The second striking feature about these chapters is that God is communicating through and to people whom their society would not have expected to hear from God. Every character we meet in these chapters was one or two steps down the social ladder of their time. Whether it was their age, their income level, their occupation, their marital status, or a physical defect, every one of them had some factor in their lives that would have placed them in a lower social standing in the eyes of other people.

            Yet here they are, hearing from God and being called to play important roles in the fulfillment of God’s plan. What was it about these people that caught the attention of God? Why were they entrusted with the parts that they played?

            The common denominator that unites all of these characters is obedience to the commands of God. Even though their obedience may have been imperfect – as in the case of Zechariah, who doubted the words of the angel – it was nevertheless genuine and from the heart. So we learn, then, that it is obedience that God looks for when he selects those whom he will use to carry out his plans. We see this obedience exemplified clearly in the lives of Simeon and Anna, so let’s take a look now at their stories.

The Story of Simeon

            Speaking of obedience, the stories of Simeon and Anna come about because of the obedience of Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary. They crossed paths with Simeon and Anna when they obediently went to the Temple to carry out everything that the Law of Moses called them to do. Let’s read about this [READ 2:22-24].

            Let’s briefly make sure we understand these details of the Old Testament Law. When a child was born in a Jewish family, the parents were to appear at the Temple after a certain period of time to offer sacrifices to the Lord. The Law called for them to offer a lamb and a pigeon or a dove. If they were poor, however, they could offer two birds instead of one bird and a lamb. We can see in verse 24, then, that Joseph and Mary were giving the offering that was allowed for poorer folks.

            Now if the child was a firstborn son, a special financial offering was also supposed to be given. Firstborn sons had been given a special place in Israel ever since God used the deaths of the firstborn sons of Egypt to free the children of Israel from slavery.

            So Joseph and Mary had come to the Temple to comply with everything that the Law of the Lord had called them to do. Their obedience brought them into contact with a godly man named Simeon [READ vv. 25-26].

            Let’s make sure we don’t overlook this token of kindness from the Lord. God did not have to make any promise like this to Simeon. His plans could’ve rolled along just fine whether Simeon was alive to see any of it or not. But God kindly blessed Simeon with the opportunity to see the beginning of the salvation that Simeon had desired to see for so long.

            Simeon responded by praising the Lord and giving testimony about God’s promise [READ vv. 27-32]. Those final statements reveal that Simeon truly did know God well. He understood something that many of his countrymen struggled to understand – that the coming of God’s chosen one, the Messiah, was not just a gift for the Jewish people but for the entire world. Simeon knew that even the Gentiles were loved by God, so they too stood to benefit from the coming of Jesus.

            But this was not all that Simeon had to say, and his next words would take on a rather somber tone [READ vv. 33-35]. Wow – those are some heavy words to hear, aren’t they? No wonder we don’t find these words of Simeon on the front of Hallmark cards around this time of year!

            Yet perhaps we should remind ourselves of these words around Christmas, and perhaps we should encourage others to take heed of them as well. During the Christmas season, we tend to emphasize nothing but happiness, nothing but joy. But the Christmas narratives in the Bible are not so exclusive. The Bible will not let us forget for a moment that the blessed baby of Bethlehem is also the crucified Christ of Calvary.

            Jesus did not come into this world just so we could have a holiday about a cute baby. He came so that the thoughts of the hearts of mankind might be revealed. It is a very humbling thing to have the true nature of your heart revealed, and so naturally, we are going to respond one of two ways to this – we will either trust Jesus and embrace him to save us from the sinfulness of our hearts, or we will reject him and oppose what his teachings reveal about us.

            That is what Simeon meant by “the fall and rising of many in Israel.” For some people, Jesus has become the cause of stumbling and a fall into the disaster of rejecting God. For others, he is the one and only reason that we have arisen from underneath the burden of sin and stand confidently before the Lord today as his forgiven children.

            This is the message that we must proclaim all throughout the year – Christmastime included! The Holy Spirit knew exactly what he was doing to move Simeon to speak those words at that time, and he has preserved them for us in precisely this place so that we will know from the very beginning of Jesus’ story that we must make a choice of how we will respond to him.

Simeon responded with praise, because he was a man who was already obedient to God. Anna was just the same, so let’s read about her response now.

The Story of Anna

            [READ vv. 36-37]. These details highlight just how devoted Anna truly was. She had made a decision early in her life to devote herself to worship, fasting, prayer, and undoubtedly serving others as well.

            She was widowed from a very young age. Luke tells us that she had lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin. Jewish girls at that time typically got married when they were around 13 years old, so we can guess that Anna was around 20 when she became a widow.

            What a difficult thing to deal with so early in life! Anna could’ve chosen to get remarried and there would’ve been nothing wrong with that choice at all. But instead, she decided to devote herself to worshiping God, and she invested her life and that purpose for 64 years.

            You can imagine her joy, then, when she learned that the Savior had been born. Let’s see how she responds [READ v. 38]. Anna the prophetess became one of the first evangelists, we might say. And notice who she spoke to – “all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

            That phrase highlights an important principle for how to be the kind of person whom God uses to carry out his plans. How do we follow in the footsteps of such faithful people as Simeon and Anna? Where did they find the spiritual strength to be righteous and devout, and to serve the Lord with such devotion for decades on end?

            We find that the key lies in eagerly anticipating the fulfillment of God’s plans. Notice how verse 25 said of Simeon that he was, “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” And in verse 38, we read that Anna was among those who were, “waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Those phrases both refer to the plans that God had revealed in the Old Testament. Simeon and Anna believed the word of God, and they knew that if God said something was going to happen, it was as good as done! So in that confidence, they anxiously prepared themselves to be ready for the fulfillment of God’s plans.

            That’s the kind of active response that Luke has in mind when he says that these two godly saints were “waiting.” This is not the kind of waiting we do when we are on hold on the telephone with the insurance company – where impatience builds with every moment and our attitude sours and we begin to lose confidence that someone is ever going to pick up.

            No, we’re talking about the kind of waiting that children do on Christmas morning when grandma and grandpa are coming over with presents. This is “standing by the window” kind of waiting; this is “so anxious I can barely stand it” kind of waiting. This is when we are so confident that God will fulfill his promises that we shape our lives to make sure we are ready when that day comes so we don’t miss out on the tiniest blessing that we otherwise could have had if we had been ready.

            That is the kind of waiting that can sustain us until the day comes when God fulfills his promises. It’s the kind of waiting that the prophet Isaiah referred to when he wrote, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:28-31).”

            If the holiday of Christmas teaches us anything at all, it teaches us that God keeps his word! He said he would send a savior, and he did. He also has said that Jesus will come again to this world, and so he will. So we must ask ourselves, “Am I ready?” We prepare ourselves for that day by embracing Jesus as our Savior from sin by faith, and then as God’s adopted children, we live in obedience to his commands so that we will be fully prepared for Christ’s return, without any reason for shame and anxiously awaiting his kind rewards and the blessing of living with him.

Speaking to God in Prayer--Life with God Series

            When I play board games, I’m the kind of person who likes to play as an individual. If a game is designed for me to have a teammate, that’s fine—I can live with that. But sometimes, I find myself at a gathering that has 12 people, but we have a board game that only allows for four players. Now what? Some of you don’t mind just pairing up with another person, but I would rather bow out and watch everyone else play than play with someone as a team.

            The reason for that is pretty silly, to be honest—when I think I have a winning strategy, I get so stubborn that I don’t want to have to work with anyone else! They may not see the obvious superiority of my strategy, and they may have the audacity to suggest a different plan!

            Playing a board game as an individual is one thing, but there are some activities in life that simply require partnership and cooperation. Communication is definitely in that category. We’ve all been in one-sided conversations before, and we can all attest that they are a far cry from real communication. Communication truly is a two-way street; it involves sharing and receiving. If only one person is truly interested or active in a conversation, communication simply will not take place.

            In the last couple of weeks, we’ve learned that God communicates to us through the Bible. Today, we’re going to start talking about how we communicate to God, and that is through prayer. Along with obedience, prayer forms a major part of how we respond to what God communicates to us in the Bible.

            Since prayer does form a major part of our response to God, it’s just like God to give us plenty of teaching about it in the Bible. Today, we’re going to start taking a look at the model prayer that Jesus gave us which we often call “The Lord’s Prayer.” We’ll take a close look at the Lord’s lead-in to that prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, and in that lead-in we will find the roots of fruitful praying.

The Roots of Fruitful Praying

            If I had to sum it up, I would say that the roots of fruitful praying are to pray in a manner that fits with what our God is like. We must pray in a way that is befitting the kind of character that God has, as He has revealed it to us through His promises and actions. In that light, we find two attitudes in Matthew 6:7-8 that could give us a disease in the very roots of our prayer lives if we don’t watch out for them.

Diseased Attitudes About Prayer

1. God can be manipulated into answering my prayers

            Notice the warning that Jesus gives us in Matthew 6:7 – “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Let me focus here not so much on what these non-Jewish people did, but on what they thought – they thought their prayers would be heard because of their own actions. Their confidence for answered prayer was not in their god, but in whether or not they did things in the proper way.

            In this case, Jesus highlighted the practice of offering long, drawn-out prayers, but the actions could be anything. He could’ve mentioned offering the proper sacrifices or demonstrating sorrow in a visible way like cutting yourself, because those were also common practices among the Gentiles.

            This attitude toward prayer is a hallmark of false religion. There are many examples of this notion that I can make my prayers effective by my own actions. Consider the Muslim habit of prayer, for example. They believe that their prayers will be effective if they offer them at precisely the right times of day, facing the proper direction, and with the proper order of standing, kneeling, and bowing. Or we could consider Hindu practices, such as crawling for miles to a temple in order to show your sorrow over your sins.

            Whenever I start to think that I can force God’s hand by something that I do, I am catching a disease at the roots of my prayer life. Yet it’s very easy to slip into this mindset. I might think to myself, “If I just get down on my knees and stay there until my knees are raw and my back aches, then God will see how serious I am about this prayer business, and he will answer my prayer.” Or I might think, “If I can just work myself into tears about this, then God will see how desperately I desire this request, and he will give it to me.”

            I have a friend who preached at a church one time, and during the course of the service he prayed a prayer from the pulpit. After the service, the elders of that church were furious with him because he didn’t end his prayer in the way that they thought was necessary. They told him that he had to end his prayer with, “In Jesus name I pray.” They thought his prayer wouldn’t be effective with any other ending.

            My friends, let me be clear about this – when God grants us what we request, it is not because of anything we have done, but simply because of what God is like. He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He is willing to answer prayer because he is good, not because we have made him cry “Uncle!” by using the right postures or the right phrases.

Remembering what God is really like is the key to avoiding the second diseased attitude.

2. God needs to be convinced to care about me

            The Lord continued his teaching on prayer by saying this in verse eight: “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” In their religions, the Gentiles had no reason to think that their gods really cared about them. Perhaps their gods kept tabs on them, but there wasn’t really a notion of personal concern or affection.

            For that reason, their prayers were more like uninvited interruptions, and if you’re going to interrupt your god and make a request, it had better be good, right? You had better speak eloquently, or you better offer lots of compliments. Or better yet, you might try to butter him up by offering some gifts or making some vows.

            But what a drastically different situation we face when we pray to the true and living God – the God of the Bible! As Jesus reminds us here, he is our Father, and one way he demonstrates that is by keeping up with our needs – anticipating them and knowing them before we even realize that we have them!

            When we go to God in prayer, we are like a weary traveler who stops at a home to ask for shelter only to find that the table has already been set for our arrival! The bedsheets have already been turned down in expectation of our visit! Prayer is not a means to convince God to care about us because he already does!

            When we feel like God needs to be convinced to care about us, the result is that we will not pray about very many things. We will consider most things to be too insignificant to merit God’s attention, so we won’t pray about them. Consequently, we will miss out on a multitude of opportunities for God to strengthen our faith by showing his faithfulness through his compassion and care.

            We know God cares about the “big” problems in our lives. We know he cares when we are diagnosed with a devastating disease, or when we receive that eviction notice – but does he still care when we’ve lost our car keys for the third time in a week and we have to get to an appointment? Should we think that we have an invitation to pray even about that, or should we feel like it would be an interruption?

            I’ve certainly had my ups and downs with battling this prayer disease, but I can tell you that when I have chosen to pray to God about the “little” things, he has so often delighted my heart by showing me that he cares. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve prayed that we could find a child’s blanky at bedtime! And you know what? We still have their blankies!

            I remember a time a few summers ago when I was briefly working for Matthew over at United Suppliers. I was driving a delivery truck, and I usually had to leave pretty early in the morning to make my deliveries. On one particular morning I arrived at the warehouse and for some reason, my key simply would not unlock the door! It was like someone had changed the lock; I just couldn’t get in.

            Because it was so early, I didn’t want to call Matthew and bother him, so I said a prayer something like this: “Lord, I really don’t want to have to bother Matthew right now, but our customers need this delivery. Would you please help me get into the building?” I don’t know if an angel came and straightened out my key or something, but I put it back in the lock, and that knob turned as if it had just been freshly oiled!

            When we fail to pray about the little things, we miss out on so many opportunities for God to show his concern and to build our faith. God cares about you, and he even cares about the little details of life. You don’t have to convince him to care, so go to him with all of your concerns.

Now that we have dismissed these diseased attitudes about prayer, we might be left asking ourselves…

What is Prayer All About?

            If prayer is not a way to make God work for me, what is it all about? If it’s not a method to convince God to care about me (since he already does!), then what is its purpose? If it’s not even a tool to inform God about my needs (since he already knows them), then what is it really for? By remembering that prayer is part of a cycle of communication, I think we can readily see one purpose.

1. It is a way to express my love to God

            Even if you know that someone loves you deeply, it’s still good to hear it again, isn’t it? And even if I’ve expressed it to my loved ones a thousand times, it’s still good for me to say it again – “I love you!” Expressing your love has an interesting way of expanding your love. When you express your love to God, it reinforces that love and builds it.

            When you pause to pray, that choice communicates that you value your relationship with God. Even if you don’t speak the words “I love you,” your actions demonstrate it. Expressing love is a healthy and vital part of any relationship, and prayer is one of the ways that you can express your love to God.

And when we think about what God wants to build in our lives, I think we can see another purpose for prayer.

2. It is a way to express and cultivate humility in my heart

            Whenever you pray to God to thank him for something or ask him for something, that act is a tacit admission that you cannot live this life on your own. Praying to God reveals that you understand your need for him; praying to him even about the little things in life demonstrates that you know you need his power and intervention every moment of the day.

            Perhaps more than anything, a lack of prayer should be seen as a symptom not of busyness or forgetfulness, but of pride. When I do not pray frequently, my actions express that I believe I can make it through most of life just fine on my own. In those moments, I am treating God more like a safety net than a shepherd, as if he is simply something for me to fall on when I’m in trouble rather than a kind master whom I have to trust for every need in my life.

            I’m starting to think that the main reason that God answers prayer is this – because prayer expresses humility, and God has promised to give grace to the humble. James and the Apostle Peter both remind us that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Because God is good, he delights to respond with kindness and grace toward those who humbly approach him.

            Why would we ever hesitate to pray to a God like that? Why should we ever doubt whether he cares about the things that concern us? He has given us this wonderful way to express our love and our humility to him. May we not be negligent to use it!

Baptism--A Public Step of Obedience: Matthew 3:13-17

            When we study the life of Jesus, we run across some events that we certainly can’t repeat and can hardly even imitate. For example, we read about Jesus telling people precisely what they we’re thinking in their own minds. Despite what our children may think from time to time, we all know that we can’t read other people’s thoughts! We also read about an event like the Transfiguration, when the glory of Jesus’ divine nature began to shine through him and make his body glow. We certainly have no way of imitating Jesus in that.

            But when we look at the Lord’s baptism, we discover that we can imitate him in this through our own baptisms – not in all the details of course, but certainly in the spirit of why Jesus was baptized. So today, we’re going to take a look at the baptism of Jesus to see how we might be able to follow his example.

Setting the Stage

            To understand part of the significance of Jesus’ baptism, we have to place it in the overall story of his life. As you all know, Jesus was born into this world with tremendous fanfare and a number of supernatural events. The angels were working overtime, we remember, as angelic visitors came to speak with Mary, Joseph, and Zechariah, and then a whole choir of them appeared in the sky to announce the Lord’s birth to the shepherds. A supernatural light led some Wise Men from the East to the place where Jesus was, and they referred to him as the King of the Jews!

            And after all of those incredible events, we read about – well, we read about not much of anything until Jesus was around 30 years old! Apart from one story of Jesus demonstrating his knowledge in the Temple when he was 12 years old, the Bible doesn’t record any details about Jesus’ childhood. Apparently, he just lived a quiet and normal life for all those years!

            I have to think that the fact that Jesus lived such an ordinary life for so long must’ve been very confusing and frustrating for all of the people who knew about his incredible birth. Surely for so many years they were on pins and needles, just waiting for amazing things to happen through him, yet here he was, growing up just like a normal Jewish boy.

            Jesus’ baptism was the event that began to change all of that. From that day forward, Jesus’ life was anything but ordinary. It was extraordinary in every way, so the Lord’s baptism marked a major turning point in his life.

            This moment began to take shape when Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, began to baptize some of their fellow Jewish countrymen in the Jordan River. John likely earned his nickname “the Baptist” because what he was doing was so unusual to the Jewish people. You see, the Jews did not use the ritual of baptism for themselves – they used it exclusively for Gentiles who wanted to convert to their religion.

            The Jews thought of the Gentiles as needing a fresh start – a whole new beginning, which is part of what baptism symbolizes. They didn’t see themselves in the same light, however. Sure – they were aware that they committed sins now and then, but they believed their connection to Abraham put them on good terms with God from the moment they were born.

            But John came along and warned the Jewish people that that was not true. If they wanted to be on good terms with God, they needed a fresh start, too – just the same as the Gentiles did. They had to realize that your family tree does not make you right with God – your faith does, so they needed to repent of their sins and express their faith in God.

            So John’s call for the Jewish people to undergo baptism was very unusual. His ministry drew a lot of attention, and the fact that the public was focused on John seems to have been at least part of the reason why Jesus came to him to be baptized as well. Jesus’ baptism served as his coming-out party. This was his big entrance onto the public stage, and with the supernatural events that took place, it made for quite an entrance!

            Baptism is supposed to serve a similar role for us. It serves as our entrance onto the public stage as followers of Christ. When you place your faith in Jesus, that decision begins to transform you, but nevertheless, other people will not know that you have made that decision unless you tell them. Your baptism is meant to serve as your formal declaration that you are a follower of Jesus and that you want to be identified with him.

Matthew 3:13-17

            Let’s take a closer look at what happened when Jesus came to be baptized by John [READ vv. 13-14]. Notice how John initially resisted Jesus’ request to be baptized. After all, John’s baptism was designed for people to express repentance, and he knew full well that Jesus had nothing to repent of!

            But Jesus persuaded him with this reply [READ v. 15]. Jesus knew that it was God the Father’s will for him to be baptized, and this statement is just one of many that highlight the care and concern that Jesus had at all times to carry out His Father’s will. In John 4:33, Jesus described obedience as the very food that sustained his soul: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

            In his eagerness to do the Father’s will, Jesus has given us precisely the example that we should follow. We must also have a careful concern to obey God’s will in everything. Before the Lord Jesus returned to Heaven, he spoke these words to his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit (here is another reason why we baptize – because Jesus commanded it for his followers), teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

            It’s almost as if Jesus could have said, “Teach them to follow my example. Just as I obeyed the Father in everything, teach my disciples to obey all that I have commanded you.” For us, choosing to be baptized is an expression of our commitment to do all that Jesus has commanded us. And with such a public expression should come a new level of accountability with your brothers and sisters in Christ. We should celebrate with this young lady today and affirm the decision that she has made to follow Jesus. We should renew and recommit to our efforts to encourage her and help her learn as a child of God.

            Jesus was very careful to carry out the Father’s will, and on this occasion of his baptism, the Father wanted to make his opinion of Jesus publicly known so that everyone who witnessed this event might begin to understand exactly who Jesus was. Notice what took place after Jesus came up from the water [READ vv. 16-17].

            The Jewish people in this crowd who witnessed these things and who knew the Old Testament well may have had their thoughts turn toward Isaiah 42:1-2, which says, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”

            For everyone who witnessed Jesus’ baptism that day, the man that they saw go down into the water may have just seemed like a young man from Galilee. But when he came up from the water, they had unmistakable signs that this man was unique and special. From this moment on, Jesus’ life would never be quiet or private ever again. These people had heard from heaven that Jesus is the Son of God, and if they followed his life, they would start to learn exactly what that meant.

            God the Father’s declaration from heaven is filled with such love and compassion. It would be a terrible oversight for me not to remind you today that when you accept Christ as your Savior, you enjoy what we might call the “spillover effect” of the pleasure that God the Father has in God the Son. When you are born again, on the spiritual level your life becomes hidden in Christ, so that the deep pleasure that God the Father has in Jesus spills over onto you as well.

            Just because of your new status as a child of God, He takes great delight in you as well. This fact that we are joined together with Christ is also part of what we symbolize through baptism. The act of going under the water and coming back out again symbolizes that we have been joined together with Jesus in his death, his burial, and his resurrection so that now our destiny is tied up in his destiny. Because of what he has accomplished, we are a new creation – dead to ourselves and our old passions and desires and alive to God as his own children.

            May we rejoice today in all that Jesus has accomplished for us, and in how the act of baptism reminds us of that and symbolizes it for us. May we rejoice and celebrate with this young girl who is taking such a great step of obedience and setting a great example for us all!

           

Getting Dressed from Christ's Wardrobe--1 Peter 5:1-5 (1 Peter Series)

            Every so often, I find myself thinking about the first person to try out some dangerous thing—like the first person to jump out of an airplane with a parachute. I wonder—was it hard to find someone who was willing to be the first person to do it? Or how about the first person to go under the ocean in a submarine? What did they have to do to convince that guy to get behind the controls of that thing?

            Sometimes when situations are particularly challenging or dangerous, it can be hard to find people who are willing to go first—people who will be out front and in the lead. The Church has found this to be true on occasion during times of persecution. Leaders can become a special target for persecution, so people might shy away from a leadership role or from leading with any real effectiveness.

            These believers that Peter was writing to in Asia Minor may have been facing that dilemma, which is perhaps why Peter’s thoughts turned toward the elders among the people in the passage we’re going to look at today.

Central Idea: To be a strong church in all seasons, each of us must be like Christ—some of us by leading, all of us by embracing humility.

1. Some of us by leading…

            This little word “so” in v. 1 has been fascinating me as I’ve been thinking about this passage. It tells us that what Peter is about to say to the elders is not a diversion from this whole discussion about persecution, but a logical extension of it. What is needed when a congregation finds itself facing persecution? Godly, Christ-like leadership.

            [READ vv. 1-2a] “Exercising oversight” is a summary of what elders are supposed to do, and “shepherding” is a picture of how elders are supposed to do it. The elders of a church are supposed to oversee every aspect of the life of that church. They can certainly delegate some responsibility to others, like deacons or other leaders, but to borrow that famous phrase from Harry Truman, the buck stops here! The elders are finally and ultimately responsible for the life of the church.

            Exercising oversight is what the elders are supposed to do, and they are supposed to do it the way that a shepherd would care for his flock. Shepherding back then was a job that has almost no exact parallel today. The shepherd would literally live with his sheep and look after their every need. Sheep were on the level of livestock, but maybe the best comparison to what that relationship was like is the way that we care for house pets today. We let them live with us and we look after their every need. We develop a personal bond with them and genuinely care for them.

            So elders are not supposed to lead in some kind of cold, detached, disinterested sort of way—our leadership is supposed to flow out of personal concern for the members of our church, built upon bonds of love. Peter then goes on to give three clarifications for how elders are supposed to go about their work.

            First, he writes, “not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you.” It might sound odd to think of an elder serving out of compulsion, but it does happen! For example, men become pastors for a variety of reasons, one of which might be pressure from others. Perhaps grandma has always dreamed of having a pastor in the family, and maybe no one really wants to do that, but one grandson jumps into it out of a feeling of obligation.

            Or perhaps a church’s constitution calls for a 5-man elder board, but only 4 willing elders can be found. What are you going to do then? The constitution says there has to be 5, so somebody might have to be pressured into it against their will. So a man could end up serving out of compulsion, but of course in that scenario his heart won’t be in it, so his effectiveness will be greatly limited.

            Peter’s second clarification is, “not for shameful gain, but eagerly.” A man should serve as an elder not because of what he might get out of it, but because of what he can give to others. An elder might receive financial support if he is also in the position of pastor, but this should not be his greatest motivation. He might also receive honor and praise from others, but he shouldn’t make those things the fuel of his service, either. He should be eager to serve, even if he gets no tangible benefits out of it.

            Third, Peter writes, “not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” An elder should draw people toward Christ by his example, not drag them toward his own agenda through manipulation or pressure. Too many men have looked at the church as a place where they can feed their own appetite for power and control over others, but a godly elder must not be that way. He must remember that he is shepherding the flock of God, not his own flock. The church is not his own little kingdom where he can rule like a dictator—it is the flock of God that is to be cared for lovingly and with tenderness.

            If an elder will serve in these ways, he stands to receive honor from none other than Christ himself [READ v. 4]. The chief Shepherd, of course, is Jesus Christ. He is the true shepherd of God’s flock – the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep, as he said himself in John 10. This fact is an encouraging reminder for elders, because we are not perfect in our role. But despite our imperfections, the chief Shepherd is always on the job overseeing his flock. And if we seek to serve him well in this position, we will receive unique praise and reward from him when he returns.

            So a congregation needs godly leadership to oversee its spiritual life, and this is perhaps doubly important when a congregation faces persecution. Those times can be very uncertain times, and the flock of God needs clear, compassionate, and Christ-like leaders to lead the way. The elders of the church can acknowledge this by leading in the proper way, and the congregation can acknowledge the importance of leadership by following the lead of their leaders!

            [READ v. 5a] Here, Peter is acknowledging the reality that typically speaking, elders are going to be among the older generations of the congregation. So he refers to the others as “you who are younger,” and he calls them to be subject to the elders.

            This does not mean that there should be an unquestioning obedience of the elders or some kind of cult-like following, but it does mean that the congregation should submit to the guidance and oversight of the elders. That decision is a very Christ-like attitude as well, because you may remember that Jesus has submitted himself to the leadership of God the Father. That is perhaps the primary reason that we refer to them as God the Father and God the Son, because of that relationship of leadership and submission.

            For the congregation to follow the lead of the elders is also a very humble response, which leads us right into Peter’s statement about humility at the end of verse five.

So to be a strong church in all seasons, each of us must be like Christ – some of us by leading, all of us by embracing humility.

2. …all of us by embracing humility.

            [READ v. 5b] This word picture of clothing ourselves with humility is so telling. When you see another person, perhaps the very first thing you notice about them is their clothing. Or if you’re trying to describe a person to someone else, one of the first things you might mention is that person’s clothing – “he’s the guy in the red shirt over there.”

            Your clothing is the most dominant feature of your appearance, and likewise, humility should be clear and obvious in the way that we relate to each other. The life of our church should not be characterized by power plays or ego trips but by serving one another and a refusal to think of ourselves as being more important and valuable than others.

            Humility is one of the most obvious ways in which we can imitate our Lord Jesus Christ. Every movement of his life was marked by humility. The decision to be born into this world in the first place was clothed in humility. Philippians 2:6-8 says that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

            Our Lord chose to be born into a family of simple peasants, common folk. Yes, they were in the royal bloodline of King David, but all the trappings of royalty had long since disappeared from their family. Our Lord then spent the vast majority of his life – 30 of his 33 years – living in humble obedience to his parents. And even after he had conducted his public ministry and become such a well-known figure, he could be found on the night before he died with a towel around his waist, washing the feet of his disciples – a task that was typically performed by the lowliest servant in a household. If there ever was a man who was clothed in humility, certainly was our Lord Jesus Christ. Reflecting on his life and actions will help us to know what such a life of humility looks like.

            And according to Peter in our passage for today, why must we clothe ourselves with humility toward one another? Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. How sobering to think that God himself might oppose the life of our congregation rather than support it, but if we are a proud and arrogant people, that’s exactly what we might find! Like the prophet Balaam who set out to curse the children of Israel, we might find God blocking our way to hinder us from moving forward if we are acting in pride.

            At all times in the life of our church, Christ-like behavior must be on full display. That is especially important when pressure from outside the church might be making life hard for us. For some of us, acting like Christ will mean taking the lead by setting the example for others to follow and being the chief servants who are overseeing the life of the flock. For all of us, acting like Christ will mean embracing humility – wearing it like a beautiful garment that adorns everything we do. With spiritual health like that in our church, we can be certain that God will not be opposing us but sustaining us with his grace to do his will.