Firsts in Faith

I have seen a lot of firsts. I remember the first time the keys to the car were tossed to me and I went to see my friends. I remember the first time I played a trumpet solo in middle school band. There was my first time to the beach, first visit to Tweetsie Railroad, first cup of coffee, and the first time I went swimming without “floaties.”

Learning to Sing....

This is one of those times when I wish there was a recording for you to hear. After all, God created us with five bodily senses through which we experience, appreciate, and live life. It would be much more effective if you could hear what I am about to describe to you for the sound of it has been one of joy, wonder, worship, and innocence.

Learning to Walk

I simply forgot how wonderful it was. Walking that is. Over the last several months, admittedly, I slipped out of the routine and habit of taking a morning walk after taking the kids to daycare. There was one morning when the rain was coming down and I decided not to walk in the rain. Then, the next morning I was running late and had somewhere to be so I did not walk. I arose the third day with intentions of walking but the plan was derailed before even leaving the house. By the fourth day, the train of thought was, “Andrew, you have not walked all week, why start back now?”

Living What We Believe

We all do it. We really do. It does not matter our age or station in life. It does not matter our income or our vocation. Now, admittedly, this could be just about anything. It could refer to the need to eat and drink. We could be referring to breathing. But the truth is, there is something else we all do and it comes as second nature as breathing and eating and drinking.

Room for Reconciliation

When opening the door to the girls’ closet, our eyes are directed straight ahead. There, hanging on the shelving, is an organizing rack. It could be used to organize any number of things from hats to hair-bows to folded clothes. Ronna has chosen to use it to organize the closet in two ways. The first way is it separates Annlyn’s dresses and hanging clothes from Eva’s. Though this will one day be a problem, right now each of them receives half the space in the closet. The other organizing use of the rack is for shoes. The compartments on the rack are the perfect size to store shoes, boots, and flip-flops.

There are an even number of “cubbies” in this organizer which means each of the girls has their own space for their shoes. Again, this will likely one day be a problem, but for now it works. At least it works most of the time. It can be frustrating to open the door in the morning, after all we are trying to get ready and out the door for the day, and the shoes that were once nice and neat and organized are shuffled around. One of Annlyn’s tennis shoes is sitting beside one of Eva’s red sparkly shoes. Eva’s boot is on top of Annlyn’s flip-flop. You walk into the closet to get the pair of shoes you’re looking for, and it is hard to find because it is all mixed together. Then, when we get home for the day, Ronna or I will go to the shoe organizer and separate the shoes out once again, making it easier to find what we’re looking for. The funny thing about this is, though, the girls know exactly where their shoes are. If we ask them to get a certain pair, they are able to go right to them. The shoes are organized in such a way they know where everything is even if they are not separated.

Our culture spends a lot of time, energy, and money on keeping things organized. We buy file boxes for bills, shelving for tools in the garage, and shoe organizers for our children’s closets. We download apps to our phones, tablets, and computers and buy day planners to keep ourselves organized. We live in a world where we like to put everything in it’s place and keep things separated out the way we want them.

But what about in our Christian faith? Do we ever try to keep things so separated and divided out that we do not like for things to touch? Do we live in such a way that we compartmentalize our souls giving God His room and asking God not to move over into other compartments? Do we allow the truth of the gospel to permeate all areas of our lives, our hearts, and our souls or do we wish to keep it in the “Sunday cubbie”? The temptation for us is to carry the practice of closet organization into our Christian lives. But is this the way God has called us to live? Is this what the gospel is meant for?

One of the great theological aspects of the gospel is what we call “reconciliation.” Paul preaches, teaches, and writes to many of the congregations in his ministry about the reconciliation with God that is offered to us by the cross. The more I think about, study, and reflect on Paul’s theology, I am convinced that reconciliation with God is central to his understanding of the good news of Jesus. In the opening portion of his letter to the Colossian congregation, Paul quotes an early Christian hymn:

“For in Him [Christ] all the Fullness was glad to dwell and through him to reconcile all to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, through Him – yes, things on earth, and also the things in the heavens” (Colossians 1:19-20, Kingdom New Testament).

To be reconciled is to no longer be separated. To be reconciled is to have two parties pulled into line with one another once again. We can see that by the cross, God was pulling us to Himself. Once we were distanced from God and in need of reconciliation, but through the blood of Jesus, we have been brought near to God in the most real way (Ephesians 2:11-13).

This is all well and good and sound theology. But the temptation is to make the reconciliation of the cross about something that takes place between me and God. We keep it as something that is purely spiritual and theological. Some will go so far as to say it is a legal, justifying transaction. However, when we stop to think about what Paul says in the passages referenced above, we come to see there is much more going on than a spiritual reconciliation with God.

There is an earthly dimension to this as well. To the Colossians, the message is about reconciling things in heaven AND things on earth. To the Ephesians, the message is about reconciling Jew and Gentile to birth one new man in Christ Jesus. Therefore, the good news of reconciliation with God is transferred to the relationships we share on earth. The gospel not only opens the door for us to be reconciled to God, but for us to be reconciled with our fellow human beings.

March 5 is the first Sunday of Lent. During this 40-day season, it is the practice of the church to focus on the cross. To meditate on its power, to scorn its shame, to embrace its message. Therefore, beginning the first Sunday of Lent, we are going to walk our way through Paul’s letter to Philemon. This small letter tucked inside the New Testament is a powerful and living example of the reconciliation of the cross being extended to personal relationships. The title for the series is “Living the Cross.”

But, I warn you: reconciliation with other people is a messy and risky endeavor. It mixes up the shoes and puts them in places we might not want them to go. However, they go in places we need them to go to be fully given to the power of the gospel.  When we open the door of our souls, we find the gospel moves to all the “cubbies” inside. While we might like to keep things organized through separation, the God has invaded our space to bring the light of the cross into every aspect of who and what we are.

It is for this reason that Paul describes the work of the church in terms of having the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). This ministry of reconciliation reorganizes our lives around the messiness of the gospel. After all, wasn’t the cross a pretty messy and disruptive view of God’s saving grace? Reconciliation is the reorganizing of our souls around the good news of Jesus’ work on the cross.

I encourage you to join us for this powerful series of sermons through Lent on the subject of reconciliation. Maybe we all need to check our organization skills at the door and let God do the organizing of our souls. Things might end up in a much better place and we will really know where things are.

SDG…

-Andrew

A Love That Is Bigger....

She said it out of the blue and it totally caught me off guard. However, one of the things I continue to learn is that when things appear to have been said out of the blue, they are often said out of the heart. We may think it is random but there can be great intent, meaning, and even power behind it.

I was helping Annlyn get ready for bed the other night. The day had been a good day. The girls told us all about their time at daycare, their friends, what they had for lunch, and how much they enjoyed the green peas at supper. After giving baths, I was helping Annlyn put her pajamas on and she looked me square in the eyes and said, “The world is bigger than our house, right, dad?”

Again, I tell you, it caught me off guard. I was not sure I heard her right so I replied, “What was that, honey? I’m sorry, I don’t think I understood what you said.” And she said it again, “The world is bigger than our house, right, dad?” Turns out I heard her words right but did I hear her. I responded, “Yes, sweetie. The world is much bigger than our house.” She put on her pajamas and ran off to play with Eva for a few more minutes before bed.

As she bee-bopped down the hallway, I began thinking about her question. I began to wonder where it came from and why she said it. I began to ask questions of myself and of God. Something about it stuck with me that night and the next day, and the next day, and even today. “The world is bigger than our house, right, dad?”

To Annlyn, her whole world is in our house. Her family. Her toys. Her clothes. Her dog. Nearly every physical item that is precious to her and her dearest relationships dwell within the four walls of our house. But as I thought about what she asked me that night, I have come to realize what she was saying – though she may not, in her five-year-old mind have realized it. She was saying that there is much more to the world than what I can put into these four walls. There is more to the world than me and my stuff. There are times in life when we need to hear this – and from the lips of a child, no less. The world is much bigger than me, my stuff and the things that are important to me.

As I have thought through what it was Annlyn was really saying that night, I have come to think about love. Love sees beyond the four walls of our own lives into the bigger, broader, and brighter world of humanity. Love keeps our eyes focused on the God who sees all, knows all, and is working to redeem all through the love expressed in Christ Jesus.

During the month of February, our focus is typically on love. Cards fill the stores where balloons reach high enough for everyone to see. Balloons that are shaped like hearts that are complete with an arrow from cupid through them. There are chocolates, stuffed animals, and jewelry that all represent gifts of love.

Love is for sale while the deeper questions that surround love still linger around unanswered. These deeper questions about the foundation of love, the purpose of love, and the living of love are where the heart of the Christian believer should keep us grounded in our understandings of love. It is Annlyn’s question the other night that has had me thinking about these questions and pondering them in my own life.

When we think about the foundation and purpose of love, it seems the answer is very straightforward. Love sees the world as being bigger than our house. Love sees beyond ourselves, our stuff, our story, our belongings, and the things that are important to us. Love sees beyond who we are and what we are doing and where we are going. Love is not love unless it is grounded in the reality that there is a whole other world other than ourselves. Love is not love unless it is unhindered, unleashed, and undivided.

Love does not have an agenda. Love does not seek a reward. Love is not about reciprocity. If love were about those things, then it would be shrunk back to the boundaries of our own lives. But love is beyond all of that. Love is much, much more. Love is much, much deeper. Because love comes from God.

The bible is chock-full of passages that describe the love of God. How “God demonstrated His own love for us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). How God’s love is “wider, deeper, higher, and longer than we could ever imagine” (Ephesians 3:18). How God “will create calm with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). How “God has remembered His loyal love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; every corner of the earth has seen our God’s salvation” (Psalm 98:3). How “God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever would believe in him would not die but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Each one of these passages – and the countless others like them – the realization is that love is always beyond itself. Love gives. Love restores. Love is always about something bigger than our own world. When we seek to walk in the light of the love of God, we are opening ourselves, the very depths of our soul and being, to see beyond who we are, where we are headed, and what we possess. Thus, love pushes us to see things from the perspective of God.

Since that night when Annlyn’s statement opened my eyes, things have seemed different for me and for her. I have been looking up and seeing much more going on. Annlyn – though she likely does not realize it – has seen more as well. The morning after she said what she said, I was walking into the daycare to drop off all the kids. Under one arm was Caulder in his carrier and in the other hand was his bag with bottles, clothes, and what he needed for the day. In front of me were Annlyn and Eva each holding their coats as they skipped down the hallway. Annlyn looked back at me, noticing I was carrying several things and said, “Dad, would you like for me to carry Caulder’s bag?” I said, “Yes, Annlyn. That would be great! Thanks, sweetheart.”

When our lives are grounded, rooted, established, and built on the love of God, we see so much more. We see things we have never seen before. The eyes of our hearts are pulled upward to see a landscape of life where God is at work. Then, we turn our eyes heavenward, and pray with a smile, “The world is bigger than our house, right, dad?”

Love….

-Andrew