A Simple Faith

man, i was really blown away by the insight god revealed through his word this week!

• imagine for a moment you are mary…young…secretly pregnant…told by an angel that the child you are carrying was god’s baby…crazy!
• you know, without a doubt, that the penalty for sex outside of marriage is steep…maybe even death
• or if things went really, really, well, you could probably count on being divorced and abandoned by your young husband
• you face the public disgrace and humiliation for you and your family
• and the prospect of being completely ostracized from your community is something more than just a possibility!

this is a bad situation…really bad.  there is no question that she could have:

• been swallowed by self pity…and cried “why me?”
• been inflated by thinking that she knew what was best for her life…and argued with God
• been focused on her discontent…and complained
• let her intellect and human logic overtake her…and doubted
• been consumed by her fear…and ran 

instead, she cried these deep and passionate words of faith: 

“i am the lord’s servant…may it be to me as you have said” – luke 1:38

here is the heart of our christmas message:

•  like young mary, our faith is neither blind nor ignorant…it recognizes the craziness and unpredictability of a sovereign god and says, “may it be as you have said”
• like this young servant, our faith is neither self-centered, nor self serving…faith is not about us.  it is not my faith…as if i can shape and mold and define faith as i choose…”may it be as you have said”
• like this unwed, pregnant, scared teenager, our faith is to see beyond circumstances to the ultimate “big picture”…the one that god sees…so that we can say, “may it be as you have said”
• like this humble, child-follower, our faith resonates above logic and intellect…defining it and giving substance and meaning to our thoughts and fears and reasons and excuses…overtaking them with a simple statement of faith:  “may it be as you have said”

what do you think?

Raising the bar on generosity

honestly, i had an entirely different sermon planned for this past sunday.  as i was going over it late saturday afternoon, i felt compelled to change it.  we call that preacher prerogative.  maybe it was the holy spirit prompting me to change.  maybe it was just my uneasiness.  maybe it was just conviction.  

i had planned to preach some final words on money and giving, but i didn’t want to.  don’t get me wrong.  i don’t have a problem in the world with preaching and teaching about money.  stewardship of resources is one of the most important parts of discipleship…maybe the single most complicated part of following christ in the 21st century western culture.  

in the end, i guess i still did preach a lesson on giving.  just not the one i had planned.  i preached one that was more important.

figuring out how to be faithful followers of the simple king in the midst of a narcissistic society pushes the best of us.  greed, opulence, comfort, self-centerdness, and the pull of unmet want can be overwhelming.  but in the midst of it all, we have the call to faith.

not just any faith.  but faith in the one who took five loaves and two fish and fed multitudes.  faith in the one who took something small and multiplied it.

here’s the lesson to remember:  when we follow the savior, giving never depletes our resources.  it replenishes them.  simple as that.

1 John 5:1-13

at the end of this text, john writes about the real foundation of our personal faith.  it is astounding in its simplicity and profound in its depth…

Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.  And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.  (10-13)

there are three pillars of practicality of our faith.  the first is that anyone who believes that jesus is the son of god has a testimony.  we have a story that is just a valid, just as real, just as credible as anyone who walked with jesus 2000 years ago.  if you know jesus, your life has been radically changed.  you didn’t get a better life.  you got a new life.  new lives speak volumes.  its a story worth telling.  its a story worth hearing.  what’s your story?

the second pillar is that we received the gift of eternal life.  unending, unlimited, undefinable life…right now.  eternal life doesn’t begin when we die.  it begins whenever we receive it by faith.  without an understanding of this theological jewel, there is no radical transformation.

the final pillar is assurance.  we can know we have eternal life.  we can grab it…hold it…possess it.  we can live our lives with absolute confidence and assurance that eternal life is ours.  it is the life jesus promises.  it is the life he died for.  it is the life for which he promised his holy spirit.  now.  right now.

do you have this assurance?  if you don’t, why not?  what needs to change?  get busy.