Full of Grace & Truth - The Lion & The Lamb

When they got engaged, I had a feeling that their marriage wouldn’t last. He had come from a home where there was turmoil, hers was a stable and loving home. He had served in the military and was a disciplined, ordered, even regimented individual. He expected the house to be clean and straight and for dinner to be ready when he arrived home from work. She had more of a free spirit and if the house got cleaned and dinner got ready that was okay, if not, that was okay too. He listened to old time country music, which was not her cup of tea. She wanted to be in church every Sunday and sang in the choir and he thought church was for Christmas, Easter, weddings, and funerals. In fact, they couldn’t have been more different. I know that we’ve all heard the expression that opposites attract and I think there is a level of truth to the notion that we are attracted to the things in others that we admire or would like to be ourselves. However, when it comes to values like what’s good and what’s bad, what’s acceptable and what isn’t, what deserves importance or priority and what doesn’t, the rubber has to meet the road or we’re in trouble. They did end up divorced several years later, to no one’s surprise, because they were just so different and had so much going against them from the start. For marriages to work, the values have to match and there need to be some common thread of interest on top of that as well.

On the surface, The Lion and the Lamb would seem to be polar opposites as well. In fact, one is a known predator and the other is... well, dinner. What in the world do they have in common?

Fallout-In A Broken World, Decisions Have Consequences... Correction

Fallout - In a Broken World, Decisions Have Consequences - Who to Follow

Jesus launched His earthly ministry with a two-word invitation, “Follow Me.” He didn’t quote any scripture; He didn’t ask them if they wanted to go to heaven; He didn’t hand them a tract; He didn’t tell them that He was headed to the cross to pay the debt for their sin; He didn’t even tell them that He was the Messiah, only the invitation to drop what they were doing and follow Him. He invited them not into salvation or even into the kingdom, just into a relationship with Him. He had little to no reputation at that point, no miracles had been performed yet, only having been baptized by John the Baptist. So why would these guys drop what they were doing, leave their jobs, families, and futures to follow a virtual unknown? I believe there were two reasons that are still reasons people will still do that today, and the first is this: They recognized that there was something different about Him, something distinctive, something that was out of the ordinary and something that peaked there interest as to what made this guy worthy of at least some of their time. Did they recognize that He was God or even from God? I don’t think so but something about Him drew them in, something about Him was contagious. The second reason, which is also still very common today, is that they were basically unhappy, unfulfilled, bored, and simply marking time in jobs that were, on their own, meaningless and mundane and wondering if this is as good as it’s ever going to get for them.

Could the efforts of today’s Christ-follower learn somthing from His example? I believe so. In inviting others into a relationship with Jesus, should we first be inviting them into a relationship with us? In essence giving them a window into our lives as they “follow” our model, our example, our sample of Christianity.

Who we follow after matters because if others are following our example, there are and will be consequences to making the wrong choice... perhaps even eternal consequences.

Fallout - In a Broken World, Decisions Have Consequences - Purity

When we hear the term purity, most of us think of either innocence and naivety or of the opposite of that, something that’s impure, like an affair or sexual addiction of some type. My guess is that most would think of the latter, in part because of how inundated we are with the exposure to sexual advertising and the fact that the pornography business is a multi-billion dollar industry. However there is plenty of impurity to go around. Have you ever been around someone with an impure mouth? And, of course before something impure can be blurted out of someone’s mouth, it must first originate in the mind, and for that matter any sexual impurity originates in the mind as well. So how do we guard the mind against impurity? We talked last Sunday about our eyes being one of the input avenues to the mind and the same is true of our ears as well. As the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out and that’s certainly true when it comes to seeking and maintaining purity when it comes to our minds, our hearts, our speech, and our behavior.

In this week’s edition of Fallout, we’ll examine together what the triggers are to impurity and how to see them coming so that we can defend our minds, mouths, and behaviors when those temptations and opportunities arise. And, believe me when I say that it’s not a matter of if but when we find ourselves face to face with those situations.

Fallout - In a Broken World, Decisions Have Consequences - Treasure

Decisions have consequences. Choices have consequences. Indecision and refusing to choose also has a consequence. It would seem, as we examine the values our culture lives by today, that someone else should bear the responsibility for the circumstances that my decision or indecision has caused because it can’t be my fault. Right? After all, I was the victim of either bad information or not enough information. Personal responsibility, it would seem, has gone the way of the 8 track tape player. I was taught that if you borrowed something from someone, you should return it in better shape than you got it and, if you damaged it, you either get it repaired or get them a new one. I realize that in the “use it and toss it” culture we find ourselves in today that what I was taught is now either rare or non-existent because that approach is wrapped in personal responsibility.

If we are ever going to deal effectively with this problem, we are first going to have to realize that we are in a world that is broken. It’s broken socially and morally, but those two are true because it is also broken spiritually. It’s not broken in the sense that it can’t function but rather in the sense that it functions and reasons based on a broken set of values, a broken set of principles. Principles that put me at the center of my universe where I set in a seat that entitles me to all that I deserve.

The problem with that human condition is that when the Fallout to my decisions or choices occurs, especially if that Fallout points back to me, I’m devastated and at a loss for how to respond or move forward. That’s what our new series of teaching will address as we grapple with the truth that In a Broken World, Decisions Have Consequences, there will be Fallout. In our first edition we’ll deal with the Fallout of whom or what we treasure and whether the value place on that Treasure is wise or lacks wisdom.

4 Unbreakable, Unreturnable Gifts - Home

Back in the early fall I was doing some cleaning on my porch and discovered a Martin’s nest on the side of my chimney. Martins build their nests largely out of mud with a little grass mixed in to help hold it together. The little ones were coming and going but never getting too far from the nest. I started to take the hose in my hand and just blast the nest down but thought better of it so I got a ladder and removed the nest in one piece and set it down into the top of a bush next to the porch several feet away. I continued with my cleaning while watching to see if the Martins could find their way back to the nest. It didn’t take mamma Martin very long to locate the nest in the bush but the little ones kept darting up and down from the ground up to where the nest used to be on the side of the chimney. So mamma went one by one to her barely flying offspring to get them to follow her to the new location in the Holly Bush subdivision. Try as they might on their own, the little guys just kept revisiting the same place over and over again on their quest to find their way back home.

Similarly, today and tomorrow, many will be flying or driving on their way to get home. And even though they may reside at a place somewhere else that has become the daily place they come home to, it’s still not Home. Because home is where the memories are made, it’s where the roots have been put down and it’s where our loved ones are, whether that’s mom and dad, grandma and grandad, or brothers and sisters. Whether it’s Christmas time or another holiday, birthdays, weddings, funerals, or something else, we are all reminded regularly of home and make the trek back there from time to time.

Here’s something else to consider in our search for home: If you are a born-again believer in Jesus, you have probably already discovered the insufficiencies in what we call “home” here in the fact that, at its best, our earthly homes are empty shells compared to the home that awaits us that He has prepared. That’s the gift of home that we should all be longing to get to because it’s the one that fits us the best.

4 Unbreakable, Unreturnable Gifts - Joy

There are a lot of things that bring us joy -- a wedding, the birth of a child, a raise or promotion to “that” job, many find joy when they are able to retire. Then there are less significant things that bring us joy like attending a party with friends, a concert featuring our favorite artist, and around here at least, the Vols having a 10 win season and going to a respectable bowl game. Please understand there is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling joyful about any of those things but if that’s where our joy stops we’re really missing out on where genuine and lasting joy is found.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come,

Let earth receive her King.

Let every heart prepare Him room.

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing!

Does reading those words bring any joy to your heart? They do for me, and it’s not just about celebrating the Christmas season with joy in our hearts. For me, it’s about the Lord coming down and the earth receiving her King. That’s because I continue to be amazed at the fact that God, in His sovereign perfection, wants to have anything to do with us at all. You see I may not know you but I do know me and how little I have to bring to the table in terms of kingdom value and that, my friend, humbles me... and brings me joy at the same time. I hope that realization is a little eye-opening for you also. This Sunday we continue 4 Unbreakable, Unreturnable Gifts with our look at Joy