FAMILY CAMP: July 12-15 or August 9-12

Sound View’s family camp is designed for folks who love the outdoors, and want a chance to retreat with family and friends. Come enjoy a weekend in the beautiful Northwest where all your meals are prepared for you, the dishes are done, and the fun is guaranteed! Let’s start with food: excellent food, and lots of it! Next we toss in some adventure: archery, boating, swimming, crafts, ropes courses…you get the idea! Woven in throughout everything is fellowship, worship, teaching, and laughter! There’s something for everyone at camp, if you just want to sit back and watch the energetic ones go nuts, or if you prefer to get in there and mix it up during activities and games, even if you’re somewhere in the middle, come enjoy Sound View’s most popular event!

To sign up: All campers/families set up an on-line account at www.SoundViewCamp.com Choose either “Family Camp” date.Family Camp normally costs $85 per person with a $320 maximum for a family. However, WPC wants to help First-Time Attendees get away this summer…Sign-up through WPC, using the scholarship code, chehaliswpc11, and we’ll pay up to $150. When registering, enter the code, and then enter the following cash discount that applies to your family:

First-time attendees:

Family of 4 or more: $150 (Was $320…Now only $170!)

Family of 3: $100 (Was $255…Now only $155!)

Family of 2: $ 70 (Was $170…Now only $100!)

1 Person: $ 35 (Was $85…Now only $50!)

For returning families: Apply a $50 discount

This 4day/3night family getaway at a steal of a price…We don’t want anything to stand in your way from taking advantage of this opportunity!

*Additional need-based scholarship money is available.

Philippians 4:2-9

The New Testament in a Year sermon series

Rev. Brian North, Westminster Presbyterian, Chehalis, WA

May 13th, 2012

This morning’s passage contains some magnificent words of both challenge and encouragement for anyone who is in a position of leading others toward Jesus. This is woven throughout these verses, though perhaps most explicitly in the final two. Listen/follow along:

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:2-9). If you will let them, these verses can be influential and even foundational in your leading of other people toward Jesus.

Now, maybe you don’t think of yourself as leading others toward Jesus. Maybe you don’t think of yourself as leading anyone toward anything. But you are. Dan Allender is the president of The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and has written a fantastic book on leadership which I’ve quoted from once or twice before. The book is called, “Leading with A Limp” and these are the opening paragraphs of chapter two: “A leader is anyone who has someone following her. If anyone looks to you for wisdom, counsel, or direction, then you are a leader. If there is one little girl who looks at you and says, “Mommy,” then you are a leader. If there are fourteen high-energy boys holding aluminum weapons and screaming that they want to be the first to hit the ball that rests on a rubber T-ball frame, then you are a leader.

It takes only one child grabbing at your finger with a small, sometimes-trembling hand to signify that you are a leader. And from your child’s birth to the day you pass from this earth, you will continue to make life-shaping decisions as a parent. And of course it’s not just parents who lead with such power and influence. Anyone [emphasis his] who wrestles with an uncertain future on behalf of others—anyone who uses her gifts, talents, and skills to influence the direction of others for the greater good—is a leader.

No one is a mere follower. If you are a follower of God, for instance, then you are called to lead. Every believer is called to help someone grow in maturity—and such is the core calling of a leader.”¹

I believe he is right, and I believe that the last couple verses of today’s passage give great wisdom on leading. So there is basically one point I want to make in regards to this passage that I want to highlight, and it is this: God has put you in relationship with your children, or grandchildren, or whoever it is, for the purpose of leading them into a relationship with Jesus Christ, and He has given us everything we need to lead well.

I want to share a story true that that highlights this. This comes from a pastor of a church in Portland, where some close friends of Gwen’s and mine are members. I will tell it in third person form, but he told it in first person, because this happened to him. Here’s what he shared with his congregation a few months ago:

In 1983, Jay Barber, the pastor, was driving to Northern California for a ministry conference. He was taking his family van – one of those ones that were common in the early ‘80’s that had the captain’s chairs that swing around, and a bench seat in the back that collapses down into a double bed. And as he was driving along, the alternator light started blinking. He still had a long trip ahead of him – he had gotten as far as Cottage Grove, OR (just a bit south of Eugene). He saw a billboard sign for “Uncle Bud’s Chevrolet,” which advertised the best service department around. Jay decided that perhaps it was providential, and decided to get himself to that shop and see if they could help. So he found his way to the shop, and pulled in. They said they’d take a look at it as soon as they could, though there were a couple people in front of him, and it would take a little while. So, he left his van and went into the lobby to wait. He had accidentally left his brief-case at home (remember, 1982, before laptops, smart-phones, and so forth), so attending to work responsibilities while he waited was impossible. So he sat down and picked up a magazine and read through it while he waited.

Eventually, the van was fixed, and he continued on to the conference. A week later, he headed home from the conference, back to Oregon. As he was driving through Weed, California, at the northern end of the town, he saw a couple of people hitch-hiking at the on-ramp to I-5. It was very cold, with snow on the ground, and they were holding a blanket that was wrapped around something. Although Jay had a personal policy never to pick up hitch-hikers, for some reason he slammed on his brakes and pulled over. He presumed it was a man and a woman, perhaps trying to get home. He had driven past them a couple-hundred yards before coming to a stop, and as he pulled over and then backed up toward them, he saw them running to him.

He stopped, slid into the back of the van and opened the side door to greet them. When they arrived at the side of the van, he was surprised to find that it was two men. And he wondered what he’d gotten himself into. As they approached the van, one of the men thrust the bundled up blanket into his arms. Jay looked down into the bundle and could see by the light of the overhead lamp in the van, that in that blanket was a small child. A little girl. Maybe 18 months old or a little younger.

As he looked into her face, he says that terror struck his heart. Her face was blue. And without even thinking about it, he cried out, “This child is dead! This child is dead!” One of the two men began to cry and scream hysterically. Jay found out later that he was the father of the child. They climbed into the van, and Jay immediately began shouting out orders to the men. “Get her out of the blanket! Take off her cold and wet clothes! Just rip them off! Take off your coat, your shirt, get her up against your skin! Lie down on the bed in the back, get on top of her! Get her warm! I’ll get you to the nearest hospital at the next off-ramp.” Jay didn’t realize it at the time, but the exit that had been just before that on-ramp where he picked them up was the last one for almost 29 miles. There was no hospital until Yreka. He kept praying, “O God, save that precious little girl.” And the sub-prayer was, “O God, get me out of this mess!”

But it looked pretty hopeless. He found out later they had stood at that off-ramp for nearly three hours. The girl had been restless and crying at first, but slowly quieted down and became still. They presumed she had just fallen asleep. But she was dying. As Jay sped down the freeway, praying every mile of the way, he began to hear the most beautiful sound in the world. The little girl began to whimper, and then a full scream and cry came from her voice. She was alive! She was going to live!

As they continued to drive, he found out that the father and his friend were from Corvallis. The young man had only recently even discovered that he was the father of this child. He had also gotten the news that the mother, who had moved to Texas, was going to prison, and that unless he went to Texas to get the child and claim her as his daughter, she would be placed into long-term foster care. So this 21 year old young man and his buddy decided that they would hitch-hike all the way to Texas and get the child, and then hitch-hike back to Corvallis where he would care for her.

Jay says that he has lost touch with the family, but that he often wonders what has happened to that girl. She would now be about 30 years old. He wonders what happened to this baby girl, whose life was saved through what might seem to be a series of coincidences, but he believes is through the providence of God.

You are put into the lives of your children, and grandchildren, nieces and nephews – and not just the really young ones, but the ones who are grown up, too – you’re not in relationship with them by accident. It’s providential. And you can lead these people – and others – to faith in Jesus Christ, so that they would be saved, too. In fact, that’s the calling that’s upon our lives that we see in verses 8 and 9 of today’s passage.

Paul makes two statements that illustrate this for us, when he writes: “Think about such things” and “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard in me.”

First, he says to “think about” these things that are true and honorable and pure and pleasing, and so forth. The word Paul uses here that gets translated “think about” has a deeper meaning than the English conveys. The word is Logezomai (la-gee-zoe-my). It means to reckon, compute, calculate, to take into account. In other words, you don’t just think about it for a time, and then dismiss it, but rather you factor it in to who you are, you take it into account in your life. So this stuff that’s noble and right and lovely and praiseworthy, and so forth, is to be taken into account in our lives, to actually become a part of our lives because this stuff matters.

The second point comes from Paul’s statement about putting into practice what we’ve received. Paul writes, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice” (Philippians 4:9). Now, when we read that, some of us might think, “Gee, that seems kind of pompous of Paul to hold himself up as a model. Why doesn’t he point them to Jesus as their model?” Well, Paul does exactly that throughout the letter. He’s always pointing people to Jesus, and he did that when he was with them as he lived among them in Philippi and the church began. The point is that: We can live in such a way that in and through our lives people would see Jesus Christ. Like Paul, our lives can be so Christ-like that when the people we lead and influence – such as children – emulate us, they will also become Christ-like.

Let me ask you: Would you like your children or grandchildren to read this sentence if it were written from you to them? In other words: Could you say to them, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you”? Is that the kind of life that you’re living? I know there are things in my life – most of them in the past – that I don’t want my kids emulating and putting into practice. Is your relationship with Jesus Christ that prominent and that important? Have we modeled for them the facets of the Christian life?: Spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible reading, and regularly participating in worship. Have we modeled for them what it means to love God and love our neighbor? Do our lives bear the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control? Those are the kinds of things that are true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise, as Paul writes in today’s passage. And if we think about those things, if we factor them into our lives, and then put them into practice: then our lives will be worthy of being emulated; We will be leading well, as we lead people to Jesus Christ. In fact, we’ll first find that we’re leading ourselves to Jesus first…and then others. And it is my prayer that we would do that in our parenting, grandparenting, uncle-ing, aunt-ing, friending and in other relationships, too. Every one of us is leading people in those relationships, and others. The question is, are we leading them toward Jesus, or not? Let’s live and lead so that we are. Let’s put things into practice, as Paul puts it, so that our lives would reflect the love of God and point people to Jesus Christ.

By the way, I left out one part of the story: remember that magazine that Pastor Jay read while he was waiting in the lobby of Uncle Bud’s dealership while his car was fixed? It was all about what you needed to know and to do to treat hypothermia. You think that was just coincidence? No. That was the providence of God. And it’s by the providence of God that you are in relationships. And God gave him exactly what he needed, and he received what that magazine had to say, he thought about it, took it into account in his life, and then put it into practice – exactly as Paul tells us to do. Let’s receive what God has given us – the Bible, our faith, prayer, our church and so much more – and let’s put it into practice and lead well. Because we are each leading someone, probably even several people – whether they are our kids, grandkids, the children of the church, our co-workers, neighbors, and so forth… your life is pointing them and leading them and we want to lead them to Jesus Christ. And so I pray that you are encouraged in doing exactly that in your life, today and always. Let’s pray…Amen.

Ephesians 6:10-20

The New Testament in a Year sermon series

Rev. Brian North, Westminster Presbyterian, Chehalis, WA

May 6th, 2012

Every morning you and I get out of bed and at some point we get dressed in our clothes for the day. Besides covering up our bodies which aren’t fit for public display, our clothes protect us and keep us comfortable. They protect us from the rain, the wind, the snow, the sun…they keep us warm, they keep us dry. We need to put clothes on. No one would walk out of their house without clothes on their body.

 And in this morning’s passage, Paul encourages the church in Ephesus, and now us, to put on more. Covering our physical bodies isn’t enough. There’s something more to put on that gives us spiritual protection and makes us ready to face the day and live as Jesus Christ calls us to live, because there’s a spiritual battle going on in our lives and in our world.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Paul describes this spiritual battle in the first part of today’s passage. He says in verse 12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We may be tempted to write Paul off as living in an age gone by, an age that was more superstitious and this isn’t relevant anymore. We might read the stories of Jesus casting out demons and think, “Oh, that was really just a medical condition and they didn’t know any better. We’re more enlightened today, we can explain all this stuff away through science and so forth.” Quite frankly, I believe that to dismiss the spiritual dimension so off-handedly is a grave error to make.

I remember in the summer of 2001 hearing a sermon that greatly influenced my thinking on this topic of spiritual warfare. Walter Ray was serving as the interim pastor at the church I grew up at, and where Gwen and I were both serving on staff, too. He shared a story from earlier in his pastoral career of getting a phone call from one of the members of his church. It was the husband of a woman, and this husband was very distraught and upset. He said his wife wasn’t behaving or acting normally, and he thought she might be possessed. He wanted Walter to come over and see her for himself and see if there was anything he could do.

So Walter went over to this couple’s house, and he spoke with the woman. She was clearly not herself. Her voice wasn’t her own – it sounded totally different, unlike any voice he’d ever heard. The things that she was saying weren’t the kinds of things she normally said. For instance, at one point she said to him, “Do you see that phone over there?” “Yes,” Walter replied. “I can make it ring. Do you want me to make it ring?” Walter said, “No,” although by this point in the conversation, he had no doubt she could do it. After carrying on like this for a little bit, Walter finally prayed out loud, “Evil spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave this woman and this house now!” And at that moment the woman looked at Walter with clarity in her eyes, and spoke to him in her own voice, and said, “Hi Walter. What are you doing here?”¹

I remind you, this is a Presbyterian Pastor – we Presbyterians aren’t generally predisposed to these kinds of things. Walter had his Doctorate degree, in addition to his Masters degree. He’s a smart guy, with a stable mind. And I can also assure you, after working with him for about 16 months at that church, he was not given to exaggerations or lies. The only logical explanation is that what Paul writes here, is still true today. Some “cosmic power of this present darkness…[a] spiritual force of evil [from] the heavenly places” inhabited her for a period of time. Truly, the problem wasn’t the woman – flesh and blood was not the enemy, as Paul writes. They never are. Rather, it’s a spiritual battle that is being fought.

Now, not every manifestation of evil is going to be so explicit. In fact, mostly, it will be much more subtle – which is all the more reason to stand firm. (Isn’t it usually the unexpected stuff that knocks us over?) But the goal of the evil one is always to sweep us off of the sure foundation of Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul says in verse 13 (By the way, just to remind you, this is the verse that gives us the name, the time, and the purpose, for our Wednesday night discipleship ministry), “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). The goal is to remain standing firmly on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

And so to protect us from spiritual attacks, and to stand strong, Paul writes that there is a spiritual outfit to put on – the armor of God. The presence of the Roman military was strong, so this would be something they were very familiar with, and we can probably envision, too. But this isn’t something that we can fabricate on our own, it comes from the ord. And I want to touch briefly on each piece, and what it means for us.

First, there’s: The belt of truth. The belt might not seem like much, but it was an important piece of the soldier’s armor, because it held everything together. It kept the tunic in place. The tunic was like a shirt that then hung down below the waist. The sword was also held securely in place by the belt. Paul associates it with “truth.” And: Just as a belt holds everything together for the soldier, everything in the life of faith is held together by the truth of God. If God is not true, if his word his not true, if his son is not true, if his Spirit is not true, if his Church is not true, then everything falls apart. So truth is important, and when we’re grounded in the truth, we are able to move freely and confidently, much as the soldier was able to as his belt held everything in place.

Second is the breastplate. The breastplate is what protected the most vital organs of the body – the heart and lungs. Paul associates it with righteousness. When a person is clothed in righteousness, they are protected; they are above reproach. Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, God makes us and sees us as righteous. But living into that righteousness so our lives reflect the spiritual reality that God sees is just as important. And so Paul is saying that when we live righteously, we are protected. We protect our spirit, we protect our faith, we protect our relationship with Jesus. In other words, we protect what is truly vital.

Next, Paul speaks of wearing shoes “that will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.” In seminary I did an in-depth study of this whole passage on the armor of God and wrote a lengthy paper on it. This particular verse about the shoes is one of the most uncertain verses in the New Testament, as far as determining exactly what Paul means. As a result, translations vary widely. The Greek reads, “And having put on shoes your feet with firm footing of the Good News of peace.” You can see, it’s missing a word or two that could help clarify the meaning. Now, shoes normally are associated with walking and so a lot of English Bibles incorporate that into it, giving the verse missional and evangelistic tone. The problem with that is that leading up to this, Paul says three times to take a stand, and to stand firm. And this whole passage is about spiritual self defense more than it is spreading the Good News (though we will see an exception to this in the last item). So Paul probably means this more in that sense, and the idea is to protect our spiritual footing so that we can remain standing on solid ground.

Fourth is the shield of faith. One of the most dangerous weapons of their day was an arrow or spear that had its tip dipped in tar and set on fire, and then thrown toward the bad guys. Spiritually, Paul is comparing this to temptations that come our way. They get lobbed into our lives and hit us, trying to knock us sideways and get off track from where Jesus is leading us. And like one of those flaming arrows, that can be lethal. To defend against those things, they had shields – not the small round ones you might be thinking of, but larger ones that could cover the whole body when crouched down behind it. And Paul compares that shield to faith. It’s a very apt metaphor, actually, because: Those temptations are an assault on our faith, and it takes faith to trust God’s leading and provision to steer away from them. In other words, the antidote to temptation and sin is faith.

Fifth is the helmet of salvation. Paul says in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). We Christians talk all the time about inviting Jesus “into your heart”…and that’s certainly true. But without the engagement of the mind, it won’t stick. The mind is crucial to trusting God for our salvation, and Paul is saying here that we have to protect it.

Lastly is the sword of the Spirit, which Paul says is the Word of God. In their day, there were two different swords that a soldier might carry. One was long and used primarily for defensive purposes, the other was short and used primarily for offensive reasons (makairos). But of course in a pinch, you’d use whichever one you had for whatever purpose you needed. The word used by Paul here, however, refers to the short sword. It’s the one element that is clearly not primarily for defense. And he equates it to the Word of God. Paul is not the only one to compare the word of God to a sword. The author of Hebrews writes in 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword (Same Greek word, for the short sword), it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). God’s Word certainly protects and defends us…but it goes on the offensive, too. It penetrates the soul, it judges thoughts and attitudes. Sometimes the truth of God’s word and what it tells us about ourselves is painful – like getting pierced or cut. It opens us up to show us our true spiritual condition.

All of this put together is the armor of God, and it serves to protect us in our spiritual battles. We put it on through prayer, through a relationship with God through faith in Jesus, through being immersed in his Word, through sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and through the support of the community of sinners saved by grace known as the Church.

Paul demonstrates the “praying on” of the armor of God, and the support of the church in doing that, in the last few verses, when he asks them for prayer for himself. It’s not by accident that he spends several verses talking about spiritual protection, and then asks them to pray for him. They go hand in hand. It’s like he’s giving them an opportunity to put into practice what he’s just been writing about.

I want to share a true story that ties all of this together. If you think that all roads lead to God, that there’s no evil, that there’s no such thing as spiritual warfare, if you don’t think that spiritual protection is needed… or that it is maybe only needed in those rare, obvious situations like the possessed woman I talked about earlier, then listen to this true story. A Christian leader — we’ll call him Steve –was traveling recently by plane. He noticed that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and moving his lips. The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown hair, and Steve placed him at fifty-something. Guessing the man was a fellow-believer, Steve leaned over to engage him in conversation. “Looks to me like you’re memorizing something,” he said. “No, actually I was praying,” the man said. Steve introduced himself. “I believe in prayer too,” he said. “Well, I have a specific assignment,” said the man with the goatee. “What’s that?” Steve asked. “I’m praying for the downfall of Christian pastors.” “I would certainly fit into that category,” Steve said. “Is my name on the list?” “Not on my list,” the man replied,² with the implication that he was on someone else’s list. My friends, spiritual battles are a reality, and sometimes they’re subtle and hard to spot – like that one.

And so we need the prayers of the community, and we need prayers for protection. We need the armor of God. Many of the battles we face in life have spiritual undercurrents, and we may not even realize it or want to acknowledge it. But those undercurrents are there. So pray on the armor of God whenever you think of it. Maybe make it a spiritual discipline that you do regularly, such as each morning when you get dressed. Pray for protection for yourself. Pray for your family. Pray for your pastor. Pray for your neighbors. Pray for your enemies and those who persecute you – you know, Jesus tells us to do that! Because Paul is right, whether you want to believe it or not, “Our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 3:12). And so we turn to Jesus Christ, who has conquered the final step of evil – death – and we depend on him to protect us now and always, as we put on the armor of God. Let’s pray…Amen.

Ephesians 1:1-14

The New Testament in a Year sermon series

Rev. Brian North, Westminster Presbyterian, Chehalis, WA

April 29th, 2012

Have you ever had something in you that you just couldn’t wait to tell someone, and when you finally got the chance, the words just burst forth out of your mouth, and you couldn’t stop talking? I see the women know just what I’m talking about, but most of you guys look like it’s never happened to you. Well that’s what happened to Paul in writing today’s passage. He wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus, and he wrote it while he was in prison in Rome. And he is so anxious and excited to get these words out of him and into their hearts and minds, that once he gets past the initial greeting in verses 1 and 2, the next twelve verses are all one big honking sentence in Greek. It’s a sentence that wouldn’t win any awards for grammatical perfection. Fortunately, most English Bibles give us these verses in six or seven sentences so we can follow along better. But I think this shows how important these words are, how important this message is, and that Paul wanted to make sure he got all written down before something interrupted him.

And so these are important verses. And: This morning’s passage from Ephesians contains a message that is highlighted by seven words in particular. And that message and these seven words can change your life. These are seven words that describe the action of God.¹ God is not passive. He is not asleep at the wheel. He’s not sitting around waiting and twiddling his thumbs – if God even has thumbs to twiddle. These are seven verbs that describe the action of God, and in doing so, describe who God is. And that can change your life. Listen/follow along to today’s passage, Ephesians 1:1-14.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

We’re going to just dive right in. The first word to notice is “blessed” (verse 3). We see this when Paul writes, “God…has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God blesses us with every spiritual blessing. This is what God does. He blesses. He doesn’t curse. He doesn’t condemn. He doesn’t put down. He doesn’t belittle. He blesses. That right there can change our whole attitude and outlook on life, because some of us have never thought of God as blessing us. But that’s what he does, and only He can do it: because they are heavenly blessings. They are spiritual in nature. The next several verses then outline some of the ways that God blesses. If you were to outline all this, “blesses” would be Roman numeral “one” and then the rest would be items “A”-“F” underneath it.

So: The second word is “chose,” and the third is “destined” or what in many English translations is “predestined.” You are “chosen” in Christ, Paul says. In fact, you are chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world.” You see, it’s not a matter of us choosing God, but rather of God choosing us. The fact that God would choose us is a wonder and a blessing. For us to choose God would not be nearly so wonderful. But for Him to choose you and me, is wonderful and amazing.

Doesn’t it make you feel good to know that God chose you? If it doesn’t, then you might be having a hard time believing that God has chosen you. But he has. And when that actually sinks into us and we believe it and know it, it feels really good. I remember when I was a fifth grader, the boys in my class liked to play football at recess. In order to make up the teams, two guys would be designated as captains, and then they would choose their teammates, alternating between the two. Whenever I was chosen, it always felt good. It didn’t matter if I was one of the first to be chosen, or one of the last…it always felt good. And it’s the same with God. Jesus himself says to the disciples in John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). And he says the same thing to you and to me. He chooses us.

The third action word, as I mentioned already, is “predestined.” It is very similar to “chosen,” so I won’t go into a lot more here about that, but: Notice what we’re predestined for: adoption as God’s children through Jesus Christ. In other words, through faith in Jesus, God adopts us as his children. The idea of adoption is easy to kind of gloss over and presume we know what it means and all of its implications. But let’s pause and think about it for a moment. A person who is adopted into a family becomes one of the family members – treated no differently than anyone else in the family.

When we adopted Elliott two years ago, he became a part of our family just as much as our biological children. He is our son, he is our kids’ brother, he is a grandson and cousin. He lives in our house, eats our food, and takes vacations with us. He receives our affection and attention, and is cared for just as much as our other children. When Gwen and I leave this earth to go to glory land, he will receive an inheritance along with our other kids. It may not be much…but it will all be equal.

Paul is saying here that we are predestined to be adopted as children of God. And much like those fifth grade football teams at recess, God chooses everyone who wants to play. John 3:16 says that Jesus died for the sins of the world. 1 Timothy 2:4 says that God desires all people be saved. 2 Peter 2:9 says, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God chooses and predestines all. Not everyone chooses God back. Not everyone lives into God’s will. Some say “no” when the adoption paperwork is presented to them, or choose to leave the playing field when God calls them onto His team. But God’s desire is that all would join his family. And that includes each of us. Maybe your family situation is bad. Maybe you had parents who didn’t love you well. Maybe you and your siblings fought a lot. Maybe you were a rebellious child. Maybe you never felt “chosen” by your parents, even rejected. But God does not reject you. He has chosen and predestined you that through Christ Jesus you would be adopted as His child.

How has he done this? Through his grace, which he “bestows” upon us in Christ Jesus (verse 6). And this (“bestows”) is the fourth verb to highlight in this passage. His grace is a blessing that He bestows upon us through Jesus Christ. Paul says in verse 7 more about what this means. Namely: that through the death of Jesus Christ we have redemption, we have the forgiveness of our trespasses. In fact, what’s really cool here is that this word for “bestowed” or “given” is “charis” which is the Greek word for “grace.” So if we were to translate it a little more literally, we would say that He “graces” us with His grace. That’s a lot of grace.

And to make sure that we know it’s a lot of grace, Paul then says in verse 8 that God has “lavished” his grace upon us (verse 8). This is the fifth of these verbs. So he doesn’t just bestow a little bit on us, but rather he lavishes us as he graces us with his grace. That’s really a lot of grace, and it’s His will and desire to do that. God is a lavish God. A few weeks ago when we had the ice-cream social after church, I went up to get my ice-cream, and the person helping me asked if I wanted whip cream on my ice-cream. I said, “Absolutely!” He then started to really lavish me with it by pretending to spray me all over with it. He didn’t actually do that…but it’s a picture of our generous God who does in fact lavish us with his grace in Jesus Christ.

We know this to be true because of the sixth verb, that he has made this known to us. He has “made known” the mystery of His will (verse 9). This is another blessing, because it isn’t something we have to guess about. We don’t have to hunt around for his will, which is to lavish us with his grace, and to choose us. Rather, he makes it all known. You know how kids like to play “hide’n’seek”? We’ve all played that game. The people who are hiding don’t reveal themselves. The person who’s looking has to find them. That’s not how it works with God. This isn’t spiritual hide-n-seek. God has made known his will. It’s a mystery in that we don’t fully understand it…but the basic concepts, the stuff that we need to know has been revealed to us. And it’s been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul says in verse 9 that his will is “set forth in Christ.” If you want to know God’s will, then know Jesus.

The seventh and final verb is that God “gathers up” all things in Him (verse 10). This is kind of a summarizing verb of everything here. And it shows us again that God is the one who takes the action. He gathers up, and he does so in his timing, and according to His plan. This has a real cosmological sense to it, as Paul says that God will gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. You’ve probably sung the children’s song, “He’s got the whole world in his hands…” It’s completely true; it’s what this verse here is telling us. And that includes you. He’s got you in the palms of his hands. That alone is a huge blessing and all we need to know about God. So when we are in Christ Jesus, God gathers us up.

So there are three things for us to take away from this passage. First, these seven verbs tell us some amazing things about God. He is a God of blessing. That’s his nature, to bless his creation. He does that through choosing and predestining us, through bestowing and lavishing us with his grace, through making known His will, and through doing it all in his time as He gathers up all things. These all describe God taking the initiative, acting on behalf of people like you and me, and we should be very grateful for that. Being on God’s team isn’t up to us to initiate. He does it, and He wants you.

The second thing to take away from this is that all of these blessings are intended for people, including you and me. Now, that might in some ways be very astonishing and shocking. Some of us can’t fathom that God would bless us in all these ways, or that he would even want to. We simply don’t feel worthy of all that. And in fact, that’s true. None of us are worthy. But that’s not the point. That’s taking too much credit, and trying to give ourselves too much power. God’s will doesn’t change because we feel unworthy of Him. And that’s Good News! God still chooses us. God still graces us. God still lavishes us. God still makes all of this known.

Some of us here this morning have no idea about the grace of God. You’ve thought of God as distant, as angry, as someone who didn’t give a rip about you. But we see from this passage, especially from these seven words, that God is a God of abundant grace that he has lavished upon each of us. You don’t have to choose God and wonder if he’ll turn his back on you. Rather, he chooses you. We may have turned our backs on him. We might have run off and squandered everything he’s bestowed upon us and taken advantage of his generosity and provision…but like a lost child, God welcomes us right back and will continue to love on us, because He predestines you for adoption into his family. The part we play is to to put our faith in Jesus Christ. Did you notice how Jesus Christ was central to all of these actions of God? It’s in and through Jesus Christ that God blesses us in all these ways.

And so the third thing to apply to our lives is that we do have a part to play. It’s a two-fold thing. First: We respond in faith by trusting Jesus Christ. Deep inside, all of us long to receive all God’s blessings – to be lavished, to be chosen, and so forth…but some of us have never put our faith in Jesus Christ, through whom all these blessings come. That’s the part for us. That’s the step we have to take. Paul touches on this in verse 13, “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, [you] were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.” Believing Jesus is the first step of response. So if you’ve never responded to God’s grace and put your faith in Jesus, there is no time like the present.

The second part is to take action as God does. I think the adoption metaphor works well here. You know, Elliott may not look like any of us in his family…but he’s starting to act like us. We’re rubbing off on him. In our case, that isn’t all good, of course. For instance, he’s picked up some bad habits that come from Gwen.  Just kidding, of course…but he repeats words we say, he likes the foods we like (like salsa; hot dogs with BBQ sauce), he enjoys the activities we enjoy – like going for walks, bike rides, reading books, playing in the back yard, and skiing. And you know what’s really cool? He loves Jesus, and knows Jesus loves him. At night, when I rock him before putting him in his crib, I’ll sing “Jesus loves me” to him. And at the end, he’ll look at me and say, “Jesus loves me” and pat himself on the chest. A few nights ago he looked at me, patted me on the chest, and said, “Jesus loves daddy.” There are some good things that are rubbing off on him, and he’s starting to act like us.

And you see: You are predestined to be adopted as God’s children, through faith in Jesus. And when that happens, we start to “look” more and more like him. Not physically, just as Elliott won’t look more like us physically, but in our behavior…in our action. We can bless people. We can bestow grace on them. We can lavish people. We can make God known to them through our actions. That’s what Jesus does.

So: These seven verbs tell us about who God is and how He acts. And that changes everything, including your life and mine. If your life hasn’t been changed by God, it’s not because He doesn’t love you or doesn’t want you. He does. He chooses you, he predestines you, lavishes you with his grace. You can leave here this morning knowing that in your heart and responding to it. We can receive that gift, and all the blessings that flow out of it, by putting our trust in Jesus Christ. And as we move forward from there, we have the opportunity to take action as he does, letting others know that they too, are blessed. Let’s pray…Amen.

Galatians 3:21-29

The New Testament in a Year sermon series

Rev. Brian North, Westminster Presbyterian, Chehalis, WA

April 22nd, 2012

Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:21-29).

Earlier this week as I sat down to begin preparing for the message, I read the passage a few times, trying to sort out what exactly Paul is saying. As I always do, I decided at some point it was time to get some help. This week, that was especially true. The first book I turned to had this statement as the opening sentence in regards to this section of Scripture: “This is one of the most difficult passages that Paul ever wrote.”¹ So after I read his statement, I thought to myself, “Why did I have to pick this passage?” Of course, I knew why I picked it: because of verse 28, which reads: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” It is one of the most well-recognized statements in all of Paul’s writings. And as we go through the New Testament in a year, I thought I would be remiss not to spend a Sunday on this verse and the context around it so we can understand it more completely, and what these verses mean for us today.

In Galatians, Paul is contrasting two ways of being found righteous and holy in God’s eyes. One is being justified by works through upholding the law and doing everything right in it through self-justification. The other is by God’s grace justifying us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, with that justification being appropriated to us through faith in Jesus Christ. So it gets couched as a “law” vs. “grace/faith” kind of argument, with the clear and obvious choice being to live by grace and faith. Paul makes the point that there is freedom living by grace through faith. That’s the main point of Galatians.

Now, whenever the law is discussed by Paul, or by Jesus for that matter, it gets a little tricky because of various factors. For instance, what is meant by “the law” varies from conversation to conversation, as the word often had three or four similar but different, meanings. In Galatians, Paul is referring to the Old Testament “rules for living” that are found in the first five books of the Bible, especially in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. So at least that is settled. Then you also have the fact that some facets of the law – like food purity things – get canceled post-resurrection, while other facets of the law – like the 10 Commandments – are still in effect. Then, with Paul, there’s also the confusion that he talks about the law in different ways. What does the law do? What is its role? To what can we compare it? A concrete, one-definition answer to those questions would be nice. But that’s not what he gives us, which only adds to the confusion.

For instance, in verse 23 he says the law “imprisons and guards us” and then in verse 24 he says it was our “disciplinarian.” Additionally, on one hand, he makes it sounds like the law is at odds with faith, as though they’re mutually exclusive and opposed to one another, but then he goes to show how they work in concert with one another. No wonder people find this so difficult to comprehend.

So, put on your thinking caps this morning! This is our one shot at Galatians in this series of messages, and while today’s passage focuses on verses 21-29, we will also touch on themes that are woven throughout this letter. And in the process, let’s see if we can understand these things and see how it all applies to our lives. First, one role of the law is to show people their sinful nature. Sin did not originate with the giving of the law. Sin existed before the law. But the law shows where we are slaves to sin, and how it chains us down; it makes us aware of the limitations sin puts around us, rather than living in the freedom of God’s grace.

It’s like this: Imagine a yard where a dog is heavily chained. The dog, however, is fast asleep, and so he does not realize his bondage. Later on the dog may eat his food, still chained, but as the food is close to the kennel his chain is not problematic, and so he is still unconscious of his bondage. But soon comes the owner of the dog, who, forgetting the chain, calls the dog. The animal springs up, eager to reach his master. What happens then? All his efforts are vain, and now for the first time he feels the problem and restraint of his chain. It is similar with sin and the law.² Like the chain, our sin is there, whether we realize it or not. The law makes us aware of our it and in that sense it imprisons us. That’s good; we need to know that the chain is there. And that’s one thing that it does.

The second point is that the law serves as a “disciplinarian,” (paidagogos [pie-dog-oh-goss]) until we come to faith in Jesus Christ and are justified by faith. This comes from verse 24. A “pie-dog-oh-goss” was a family servant whose job was to deliver the children of the family from home to school and back, safely. And part of their job was to protect the child – to keep the child from harm, to steer them from temptation, and so forth. They were like one part nanny, one chauffer, and one part referee. (In many ways, not that different than a parent – just add one part cheerleader, and you’ve pretty much got it!) And Paul is saying here that the law does that for us; that’s one of the roles it plays.

In fact, let’s stick with children as an example to further illustrate it. When kids are young, they have a hard time grasping the idea of faith in Jesus. They can’t get their minds around the idea of God in the flesh, living, dying, and rising for us. I’m not sure we totally get it, even. But what do we teach our kids to help them along until they can profess faith? We teach them a lot of stories about Jesus, of course…but we also teach them a lot of the law: Love God. Don’t steal. Tell the truth. Use God’s name properly, respect your parents, and so forth. Those things all come straight from the O.T. law, and serve as “disciplinarians” that ultimately lead them to Jesus and when they can put their faith in Him. And so Paul is saying that the law plays that same role, like the servant taking a child to school and keeping them safe in the process. So the law takes us to Jesus Christ, delivering us safely into His arms.

Now, he says in verse 25 that for those who are in Christ Jesus, we’re no longer subject to a disciplinarian. It sounds as if we don’t need the law. But this doesn’t mean we have lawless living. Rather, he goes on to say a little later in Galatians that we’re guided by the Holy Spirit. And when we’re guided by the Spirit, we will live holy lives. So, for example, in 5:19 he says that if we live by the flesh rather than the spirit, our lives will be marked by fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, dissention, factions, envy, orgies, drunkenness, and hatred. Those are all things that the law speaks against. They’re not set aside in this freedom that grace gives.

Now, here’s the thing, and this is the key part in understanding all this: the law is powerless to do anything about our sin. The law shows us our sin, it “disciplines” as we seek to live up to the standard…but ultimately, it can’t fix the problem. (That’s the third thing to glean from this passage: that the law can’t make us holy.) Paul makes this point with what we might call a “rhetorical statement” in verse 21. He knows that the statement he’s about to make simply isn’t true; it’s contrary to the truth, and he knows it. He says, “For if a law had been given that could make alive [that is, lead to a right relationship with God], then righteousness would indeed come through the law.” But that isn’t the case. Righteousness does not come through the law; all it does is show us our unrighteousness.

Let me ask you a couple questions that illustrate the point. When you get up in the morning, at some point you look at yourself in the bathroom mirror, right? And so the mirror shows us our pale skin, or our face that needs shaving, or our hair that needs brushing (we won’t talk about the rest of the body!). But do you then rip the mirror of the wall and use it to apply the make-up? Does the mirror brush your hair or shave your face? No. It simply shows you how much more make-up you need, or how much more brushing and shaving you need to do. And by the way, you all did a good job looking in the mirror this morning! You look sharp!) The law is limited in the same way. The law in and of itself does not bring about righteousness. It simply points out the lack of righteousness in a person’s life.

That’s why the Jewish faith became such a works-based righteousness: The law pointed out all the flaws and set the standard for holy living, but it was still up to the people to achieve those standards. God’s grace is still evident because we need our sins pointed out to us – that’s an act of grace because ignorance is not bliss – but accomplishing complete and total righteousness was up to each person to do. And that took a lot of work. Then to make matters worse, they tried to turn the law into a tool to make them righteous – like rubbing a mirror on your face to shave the whiskers. And so they added to it, and set up all these extra rules and regulations…and pretty soon they were relying on their works and on the law to be made righteous and holy. All God asked them to do was to offer an animal sacrifice – an unblemished lamb – as atonement for their sins. That was the price to be paid to be made righteous. But they turned it all into so much more.

But then comes Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world – as John the Baptist says (John 1:29). Jesus is the hero, the once-for-all sacrificial lamb. His death on the cross atones for our sins. Righteousness is made complete through him. That’s why Jesus says he’s come to “fulfill the law and not to abolish it.” And that righteousness, that forgiveness of sins, becomes ours through faith in Jesus Christ. When it comes to the comparison of living by works and the law or living by grace and faith, Paul is saying that the clear winner is to live by grace and faith.

The result of this is that we’re all on the same playing field, we’re all identified as sinners, and anyone can receive the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The life of faith, and Paul highlights baptism as one of the signs of putting our faith in Jesus…that life is open to anyone. There are no requirements, no exclusions, no “have-to’s” in who can come to Jesus Christ, which leads him to write, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The divisions that we have a habit of setting up between people are no longer boundaries for coming to Christ, and in fact once we are in Christ, there is spiritual unity among us. Righteousness is no longer based on what we do, but on what God has done – we’re all in the same place. Clearly, Paul does not mean that Greeks are no longer citizens of Greece, or that women turn into men or vice-versa. Master and slave relationships were still were a part of their culture, too. But there is a spiritual equality and unity that now exists, and it’s all because they are one in Christ Jesus.

Is the law thrown out the window? No. It still shows us our sin, as I mentioned earlier. But with hearts of gratitude, knowing that Jesus’ death on the cross washes us clean, we no longer have to live up to the letter of the law in order to be righteous; rather, we get to live up to it because we already are righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. We get to live more like Christ, who fulfills the law. On one hand, it’s a subtle difference. But on the other hand there are huge implications, as everything is turned around. And in that turning around there is great freedom.

Maybe this will help to understand, and then we’ll wrap things up. A week and a half ago, my son Blakely had his class spelling bee. Getting him to study for the spelling bee was a challenge. It was like he was living under the law, because his mom and dad said he had to study this list of words and work on it. It was a chore, an obligation, and a burden. Then: he won! Granted, he worked to earn it, but for a moment, let’s allow that victory to symbolize God’s grace in Jesus Christ. (And really, honestly, it was an act of grace that he won!) Each of the nine 4^th grade classes at his school did the spelling bee three times, so there were three winners in each class. Those 27 winners then competed in another spelling bee against each other in front of the other 175 4^th graders and parents and so forth. And in preparation for that second contest, Blakely was much more eager. Rather than something he “had” to do, it became something he “got” to do. It was the exact same word list, but now there was freedom, because, you might say that he had reached a certain level of “righteousness;” he was on the other side of grace. And now he wanted to work on the words. In fact, the night before the second spelling bee he wanted to stay up as late as we’d let him, studying words. I stayed up with him while everyone else was in bed, going over the words, and he acted out each word – like “science” (inspect while spelling) and “volume” (remember, everyone else was in bed asleep – start quiet and get loud). The freedom with which he was living in that moment was night and day compared to spelling the exact same words a week earlier.

And it’s the same for us in regards to the law. It’s still there. The mirror still hangs on the wall, and it’s Jesus gazing back at us. But now, thanks to the grace of God: There is freedom. There is unity. Not because of what we’ve done, but rather, because of what Jesus Christ has done. We can still check in the mirror to see what part of our lives need shoring up. It’s not that we have no standards. But we are freed up to live holy lives, led by the Holy Spirit, to demonstrate the forgiveness we’ve experienced.

So, lose the chain and live in freedom with your brothers and sisters in Christ, but check the mirror. And let Jesus clean you up so that you live a life of righteousness, shining the light of Christ brightly wherever you go. Let’s pray…Amen.

1 Corinthians 8:1-12

The New Testament in a Year sermon series

Rev. Brian North, Westminster Presbyterian, Chehalis, WA

April 15th, 2012

Scripture passage:

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints— and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you —so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have (2 Corinthians 8:1-12).

I have a calendar on the wall in my office that has a different saying each month that comes from church signs. The saying for last month read, “When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing.” Depending on how you read it, that’s either really good, or really bad. The fact is, we’d probably all like that to be said of us in a good way. We’d all like to be known for our generous giving and generous living. If you aren’t sure you want that reputation, then consider the opposite, which is to be known as living miserly and selfishly. That’s not a reputation that anyone wants to have. The difficulty comes in actually living generously, because to live generously is to live selflessly, and that’s always hard. A well-known quote on the subject of living generously says, “We’d all like a reputation for generosity, and we’d all like to buy it cheap.” That probably hits home for a lot of us, and it reveals the painful reality of our spiritual condition when it comes to living generously. Unfortunately, a lot of times Christians are not known for their generosity. I worked as a waiter for about 6 years in college and graduate school, and it was well known in the restaurant business that the worst tippers were the Sunday brunch and lunch crowds, when restaurants were filled largely by people going out to eat after church.

This is further illustrated in a story about a man who had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. Visitors had to be limited and he was not to be excited. While in the hospital a rich uncle died and left him a million dollars. His family wondered how to break the news to him with the least amount of excitement. It was decided to ask the preacher if he would go and break the news quietly to the man. The preacher went, and gradually led up to the question. The preacher asked the patient what he would do if he inherited a million dollars. He said, “I think I would give half of it to the church.” The preacher dropped dead.¹

Christian generosity should not be so surprising. It ought to be – and can be – a way of life. And in today’s passage we see one of many examples and exhortations that are throughout the Bible that show us how to live generously so that it won’t be surprising to others.

Now, just by way of reminder and background for us: Paul is writing this letter to the church in Corinth, a church that he spent two years or so establishing and getting off the ground. A few years later he writes one letter to them, and then a second one, from which we read this passage. And here, he highlights for them the churches of Macedonia, a region to the north of Corinth, which included the churches in Philippi and Thessalonica. All of these are churches that God raised up through Paul’s ministry.

Paul highlights these Macedonian churches for their generosity. And there are four points I want to highlight for us that will help us to lead God-honoring lives of generosity. The first thing to take away from this is that generous living comes from an overflow of the joy in our lives. Paul writes in verses 2 and 3: “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.” And then he goes on in verse 4 to say that they pleaded with Paul for the privilege of giving this gift. This is not a wealthy group of people, but their joy lead to generous living. Later in chapter 9 Paul writes the famous statement, “The Lord loves a cheerful giver.” These people exemplified it.

A mother wanted to teach her daughter a lesson about generosity. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church “Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. “Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did.”² That’s one way to rationalize it, but it’s not what God intends. What we see here is that the joy that resides in us leads us to give generously, not the other way around.

The question then is: where does this joy come from? How do they have such joy in the midst of their poverty? The answer is in verse 5, where Paul writes that the Macedonian churches “gave themselves first to the Lord, and [then] by the will of God, to us [Paul and his companions].” We see here the second point, that: If we’re going to live generously, we must first give ourselves to the Lord, and then to others. The order is crucial, because the grace of God gives us the joy that overflows to generous living. And when we first give ourselves over to God, we realize that everything we have is His, and not ours. We realize that everything we are is because of Him, and not us.

An event from the life of Alexander the Great helps us to understand this. The story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a hand to solicit an offering from him. Yet the Emperor threw him several gold coins. A courier who was with him was astonished at his generosity and commented, “Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar’s need. Why give him gold?” Alexander responded in royal fashion, “Copper coins would suit the beggar’s need, but gold coins suit Alexander’s giving.”³

Whether it is in fact a true story or not, it illustrates the point well. When we commit ourselves first to the Lord, we realize that our stuff, our time, our lives, our words, our money, our abilities, our talents, our families, our jobs…everything we would claim as “ours”…when we give ourselves to God, we realize that none of it is in fact ours. It belongs to God. We are stewards of it all, and we can give in a matter that is worthy of the one to whom we belong. And we come to that realization when we first give ourselves to the Lord, as the churches in Macedonia had done. It’s very difficult, even impossible, to live with generosity befitting of our Lord when we haven’t fully given ourselves over to Him. But when we do, it frees us up to give in a way that is generous and worthy of Him.

Third, Paul writes in verse 9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” We see here that: Our model of generous living is found in Jesus Christ. God doesn’t just tell us to be generous through giving ourselves to Him. God has modeled for us what it means to be generous through His son, Jesus.

In his letter to one of those Macedonian churches – Philippi – Paul writes a magnificent set of verses that encapsulate this model of generosity. He writes:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8).

Jesus left the perfection of eternity to step into creation, and that is a profoundly generous act. In fact, I have often wondered which was a more painful experience for Jesus: coming to earth, or going to the cross? And I don’t mean that flippantly, because obviously the cross was painful both physically and spiritually. But going from his place in eternity, with all dominion and power, being in very nature God…to go from that to making himself nothing, and taking the nature of a servant, and coming in human form? I mean, that’s generosity at its best, isn’t it? St. Theresa once said something along the lines of, “If you give what you simply don’t need, it’s not giving generously.” Being generous is not just giving what’s left over. Living generously is giving at a level that costs you something. And for Jesus, it cost everything just to come to us in a recognizable form, and then of course the cross was very costly, too. But because of that generosity, Paul writes that we are made rich. That’s called grace. And the way we are made rich through God’s grace is that He makes us spiritually rich. Paul isn’t speaking of being made materially wealthy through Jesus; it’s being made spiritually full. When that happens, we realize that grace meets our deepest needs, we have an abundance of joy because of this grace, and it overflows into generous living just as Christ has given generously. And so Jesus is our model for living generously, of living by grace.

The fourth point Paul makes in regards to generous living is that: We give according to what we have, and not according to what we don’t have. The second half of that phrase might sound kind of silly, but it’s actually straight from what Paul writes, and is very profound because it addresses what is probably our biggest problem in living generously. He writes in verse 12: “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12). So, what does he mean by this?

He means that if we’re always looking at what we don’t have, and therefore giving little as a result, we’re not being generous with what we do have. So, if we’re comparing ourselves to others, or if we’re comparing ourselves to where we wish we were then we’re going to have a hard time living generously. Because, let’s be honest: Unless you’re Bill Gates, someone in the United States has more money than you. But this poverty mentality that says, “I don’t have enough” prevents us from willingly giving what we can. It blinds us from seeing how God’s generosity and grace has been sufficient already, if we would just live within those means. And so then it blinds us from seeing how we can live generously, too. It steals the joy that wells up within us that leads to living generously. J.D. Rockefeller once said, “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.”⁴ Obviously, economic times were just a little different when $1.50 constituted a salary, and not how much you were paid for, what? About 10 minutes of work at minimum wage? But he illustrates the point well: he didn’t live with a poverty mentality that prevented him from giving with a certain degree of generosity.

Peter Marshall was a Presbyterian pastor also served twice as the U.S. Senate chaplain. He once made a statement that might shake us up to have an attitude of gratitude and live with joyful generosity. He said, “Give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving” (Rev. Peter Marshall). You could substitute in other things besides money if you so desired, such as time, grace, service, or whatever. Regardless, the point is that God has appointed us as stewards for all that we need to live generously, and so let’s give according to what we have, rather than waiting for what we don’t have to arrive.

So, to re-cap and challenge us at the same time:

1) Generous living is an overflow of the joy that resides in us;

2) We have that joy when we give ourselves to the Lord first, realizing that all we have is truly His;

3) Let’s allow Jesus’ sacrificial and complete giving of himself to be the model we live up to for our giving;

4) Let’s give out of what we have to give, rather than what we don’t.

When we live like that, we will be living generously. People won’t be surprised at our generosity; rather, it will be considered normative. No pastors keeling over at a generous donation; no restaurant staff resenting the after-church patrons. Clearly, generous living isn’t about giving lots – the people in these churches did not have lots, at least financially. Rather, living generously is about the joy of our relationship with God overflowing into all facets of life so that we live as Jesus lived, and give as Jesus gave. Their joy in Macedonia was overflowing, and in spite of meager abilities, they gave generously. They were living generously.

What a great reputation to have! I pray it’s the reputation that you and I have and that we have as a church, because then the reputation of Jesus will be that He is generous. And the fact is that He is. So let’s live generously, “stopping at nothing” in a good way, so that the world would know our generous God. Let’s Pray…Amen.

Click  for  download of

Registration Info 2012-13

Enrollment Form

Immunization Record

]]> http://chehaliswpc.org/2012/04/11/westminster-preschool/feed/ 0