One of the core values of Branches Church is to be authentic. Real people, real lives, real Jesus is a catch phrase we’ve committed to so we might never become an isolated group of religious people who are irrelevant to the community around us. This week’s blog is dedicated to that core value. We have a long way to go but we are committed to getting there…one person, one conversation, one event at a time.
When [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)
This kind of compassion is rare. Oh, we talk a good talk about it. We even expect it from others to do something about (name an injustice). This kind of compassion that Jesus was moved with comes from more than an emotional response to an injustice. This kind of compassion comes from deep within a person, from the core of who we really are.
This kind of compassion causes a young man or woman to forego starting their career until after they’ve joined the Peace Corps or a mission assignment for their church. This compassion causes the cancer survivor to give their time to fundraising for a cure. This compassion moves a family to spend time on a holiday volunteering for others at the shelter instead of sleeping in and staying home. This kind of compassion is more than words.
It’s no wonder we often avoid it. Who is comfortable with such an emotion that comes from so deep within us that it causes us to change our schedule, re-evaluate our leisure time, ask our family to sacrifice, or give up our Saturday to-do project to go across town and do something for someone else? Yeah, rare.
There are three things that will get you a job: having the talent, or ability; having the desire, or want to; and having the schedule, or time in your life for it. Any one of which, if missing, will take you out of the running for said job.
The same goes for compassion. We have the ability to see injustices, we have the ability to see needs, and we have the ability to see those who need help all around us. But if we took a look at our desire to do something about it, to actually be moved with compassion about these things, it involves more than seeing – we have to have the desire, or want to.
If we were to admit it, we really spend more of our effort complaining about what we see than being moved from deep within to do something about it. We may feel we can do nothing about it, it may seem like too big a problem, or it seems hopeless, or we don’t feel qualified, or their opinion and worldview is different than mine, or it’s against my religion…or whatever.
The ability to see the weary multitude like lost sheep, and the desire to do something about it if moved to compassion, causes us to change or adapt our schedule to accommodate the needs. This is the fruit of compassion.
The conclusion of Jesus’ compassion as Matthew recorded it?
He said to his disciples (the church), “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
Nobody really wants to know of your personal convictions or beliefs by hearing complaints of what you see around you; that’s wearying. Show me your schedule, show me your compassion, show me that you not only see it, but you are willing to use who you are with what you have and put it on your calendar!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Seeing Their Faith
The house where [Jesus] was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for one more person, not even outside the door. And he preached the word to them. Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” – Mark 2:2-5
I love the line that Mark uses when he writes, seeing their faith. Jesus obviously had to of heard the commotion put into tearing a hole in the roof, He saw the sick man, He knew there was a needy person there, this was all happening right above His head and in front of him. But what caught Jesus’ attention, as well as Mark’s observation, was the faith of the four guys.
Four unnamed guys, four men who could have been home doing chores, hanging with the kids, at work getting more done, taking their wife out to lunch, working on their own needs.
God knows that there are hurting people, broken people, and sick people inside and outside of the church. That’s why Jesus came in the first place! What was it He said His mission was; “…to preach Good News to the poor…to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19)
If we want to get God’s attention, it is better suited for us to show Him our faith than to try and show Him our troubles. He already knows our hurts and pain and dysfunctions and injustices; that’s why He sent His Son in the first place. It’s when we skip placing our faith in His Son that puts us in a faithless posture and turns us into a consumer with needs. He sees our need, our sickness, our helpless state!
Apostle Paul said, “This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
This is a given to God’s children but…
“It is impossible to please God without faith.” (Hebrews 11:6)
So, as we at Branches Church are being real people living real lives in relationship with a real Jesus, we can know our needs are being met by God who loves us and sees us and knows our need; but does He see our faith?
What we do to get others who are sick and hurting and helpless into the presence of Jesus so they can hear the Word may cause a commotion, a bit of interruption for those in the room, a bit of awkwardness as we may set someone in front of Jesus in an unconventional way…but it will get the Lord’s attention as He sees our faith so that the kingdom of God can grow!
I love the line that Mark uses when he writes, seeing their faith. Jesus obviously had to of heard the commotion put into tearing a hole in the roof, He saw the sick man, He knew there was a needy person there, this was all happening right above His head and in front of him. But what caught Jesus’ attention, as well as Mark’s observation, was the faith of the four guys.
Four unnamed guys, four men who could have been home doing chores, hanging with the kids, at work getting more done, taking their wife out to lunch, working on their own needs.
God knows that there are hurting people, broken people, and sick people inside and outside of the church. That’s why Jesus came in the first place! What was it He said His mission was; “…to preach Good News to the poor…to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19)
If we want to get God’s attention, it is better suited for us to show Him our faith than to try and show Him our troubles. He already knows our hurts and pain and dysfunctions and injustices; that’s why He sent His Son in the first place. It’s when we skip placing our faith in His Son that puts us in a faithless posture and turns us into a consumer with needs. He sees our need, our sickness, our helpless state!
Apostle Paul said, “This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
This is a given to God’s children but…
“It is impossible to please God without faith.” (Hebrews 11:6)
So, as we at Branches Church are being real people living real lives in relationship with a real Jesus, we can know our needs are being met by God who loves us and sees us and knows our need; but does He see our faith?
What we do to get others who are sick and hurting and helpless into the presence of Jesus so they can hear the Word may cause a commotion, a bit of interruption for those in the room, a bit of awkwardness as we may set someone in front of Jesus in an unconventional way…but it will get the Lord’s attention as He sees our faith so that the kingdom of God can grow!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Act Like the King!
When you are the king, or the coach of a team, a department leader at work, or a dad, a husband, a mom, a wife, a mentor, a local or national political leader, any position that gives you a kingdom to influence and take care of, you are there to use your God-given place to benefit others. But with King David, there were times he used his influence, position, and resources for selfish purposes rather than for the people.
This week at Branches we looked at what it took for King David to act like the king. It took a tough talking friend and a guilty conscience, both of which he was willing to listen to.
David didn’t go to “king school” to learn how to do this leadership thing God had called him to. No. God had taken him from tending sheep in the pasture and selected him to be the leader of His people. (2 Samuel 7:8)
This shows loud and clear in two particular instances: when David’s son Absalom is killed by David’s army for trying to overthrow the kingdom and when David disobeys God by taking a census of Israel. Both scenarios show David being able to be the king by remembering that he is the shepherd. It’s an attitude adjustment that affects his behaviors.
As David is weeping uncontrollably over the death of Absalom, his friend, Joab, comes to him and challenges him to act like the king. He says that the people that David is king over are afraid to come back home again because his sadness makes them feel as if they have done something wrong in eliminating David’s opposition. “You make us feel ashamed of ourselves.” (2 Samuel 19:5)
Here is the king, thinking that all is about him, all should be for him, and all should go his way – I’m the king, all should go well for me! It doesn’t. Getting everything to go our way doesn’t make us the king, or the dad or mom, a good coach, a benevolent leader, an effective mentor, or a thoughtful husband or wife. How we respond to not getting our way can lead to being a good king, the dad or mom whose advice is sought after, a good coach, a benevolent and influential leader, an effective mentor, and a cherished wife and respected husband!
When Joab confronted his friend David with his selfish attitude I believe David might have finally remembered that he was there for the people in the same way he was there for his sheep years earlier. It hadn’t been that long ago when he had stood before King Saul and said he was willing to go out and face the giant Goliath with confidence because he had faced the lion and the bear that were after his father’s sheep. Having defeated them he knew he was able to defeat this giant too.
Later, when David chose to fall into the hands of a merciful God for his punishment for sinning against God’s command not to take a census of Israel rather than fall into the hands of his military enemies, he is astonished at the devastation that the people of Israel are under for his sin. 70,000 people are dead in three days by the hand of the death angel that God had sent. By the time the angel had reached the outskirts of Jerusalem, David makes an extraordinary statement: When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent sheep – what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.” (2 Samuel 24:17)
Here again, David had learned how to act like the king by remembering that God had made him a shepherd. A shepherd not to rule over the sheep but to take care of them.
A shepherd can take one of two attitudes in their work. The sheep are there to build up and get me what I want or, the sheep are there for me to nurture so they can be all they are able to be. The end result is that the shepherd gets the sheep to market and that is ultimately why it is done. But the attitude in approach to how they are brought to that point changes everything.
That is why the apostle Paul writes to us this:
“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.” (Philippians 2:3-7)
This is Jesus being a good shepherd; a good king. He is here on behalf of others. He had the right to descend to earth and demand obedience, submission, and conformity – he is God, all things were created by him and for him, he gave us life itself. (John 1:3-4) But Jesus chose to humble himself on behalf of others, give up his rights, live as human as the rest of us, and pave the way for a right relationship with God for us all! “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
So we can see the precedent laid out in the Old Testament Scriptures with the life and attitudes of David, and Paul setting up Jesus as our example of humility in how to treat those in our sphere of influence. Our thoughts, attitudes, and actions are to become more and more like those shown by Christ. As we reflect honestly on our lives, can we be humble enough to admit our faults, let alone the complaining of someone else’s? When we realize, like David, that we are to act like the king, we can then begin to use the experiences we’ve lived, the knowledge we’ve gained, and the understanding of our relationship with a gracious God to influence others – not demand their conformity to our thinking, beliefs, and convictions.
It’s giving up our “rights” and taking on the attitude of Jesus that we are here to live our life for others - whether they "conform" or not. I know it’s upside down in a world that is obsessed with “rights’ and selfishness…but herein lies the foundation of the behaviors and attitudes of the Christian faith: Do for others as you would like them to do for you. (Matthew 7:12)
To be honest, I have yet to see this evident in the whole of Christianity today. We should start to act like the king!
This week at Branches we looked at what it took for King David to act like the king. It took a tough talking friend and a guilty conscience, both of which he was willing to listen to.
David didn’t go to “king school” to learn how to do this leadership thing God had called him to. No. God had taken him from tending sheep in the pasture and selected him to be the leader of His people. (2 Samuel 7:8)
This shows loud and clear in two particular instances: when David’s son Absalom is killed by David’s army for trying to overthrow the kingdom and when David disobeys God by taking a census of Israel. Both scenarios show David being able to be the king by remembering that he is the shepherd. It’s an attitude adjustment that affects his behaviors.
As David is weeping uncontrollably over the death of Absalom, his friend, Joab, comes to him and challenges him to act like the king. He says that the people that David is king over are afraid to come back home again because his sadness makes them feel as if they have done something wrong in eliminating David’s opposition. “You make us feel ashamed of ourselves.” (2 Samuel 19:5)
Here is the king, thinking that all is about him, all should be for him, and all should go his way – I’m the king, all should go well for me! It doesn’t. Getting everything to go our way doesn’t make us the king, or the dad or mom, a good coach, a benevolent leader, an effective mentor, or a thoughtful husband or wife. How we respond to not getting our way can lead to being a good king, the dad or mom whose advice is sought after, a good coach, a benevolent and influential leader, an effective mentor, and a cherished wife and respected husband!
When Joab confronted his friend David with his selfish attitude I believe David might have finally remembered that he was there for the people in the same way he was there for his sheep years earlier. It hadn’t been that long ago when he had stood before King Saul and said he was willing to go out and face the giant Goliath with confidence because he had faced the lion and the bear that were after his father’s sheep. Having defeated them he knew he was able to defeat this giant too.
Later, when David chose to fall into the hands of a merciful God for his punishment for sinning against God’s command not to take a census of Israel rather than fall into the hands of his military enemies, he is astonished at the devastation that the people of Israel are under for his sin. 70,000 people are dead in three days by the hand of the death angel that God had sent. By the time the angel had reached the outskirts of Jerusalem, David makes an extraordinary statement: When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent sheep – what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.” (2 Samuel 24:17)
Here again, David had learned how to act like the king by remembering that God had made him a shepherd. A shepherd not to rule over the sheep but to take care of them.
A shepherd can take one of two attitudes in their work. The sheep are there to build up and get me what I want or, the sheep are there for me to nurture so they can be all they are able to be. The end result is that the shepherd gets the sheep to market and that is ultimately why it is done. But the attitude in approach to how they are brought to that point changes everything.
That is why the apostle Paul writes to us this:
“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.” (Philippians 2:3-7)
This is Jesus being a good shepherd; a good king. He is here on behalf of others. He had the right to descend to earth and demand obedience, submission, and conformity – he is God, all things were created by him and for him, he gave us life itself. (John 1:3-4) But Jesus chose to humble himself on behalf of others, give up his rights, live as human as the rest of us, and pave the way for a right relationship with God for us all! “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
So we can see the precedent laid out in the Old Testament Scriptures with the life and attitudes of David, and Paul setting up Jesus as our example of humility in how to treat those in our sphere of influence. Our thoughts, attitudes, and actions are to become more and more like those shown by Christ. As we reflect honestly on our lives, can we be humble enough to admit our faults, let alone the complaining of someone else’s? When we realize, like David, that we are to act like the king, we can then begin to use the experiences we’ve lived, the knowledge we’ve gained, and the understanding of our relationship with a gracious God to influence others – not demand their conformity to our thinking, beliefs, and convictions.
It’s giving up our “rights” and taking on the attitude of Jesus that we are here to live our life for others - whether they "conform" or not. I know it’s upside down in a world that is obsessed with “rights’ and selfishness…but herein lies the foundation of the behaviors and attitudes of the Christian faith: Do for others as you would like them to do for you. (Matthew 7:12)
To be honest, I have yet to see this evident in the whole of Christianity today. We should start to act like the king!
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