More Than Bread

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In John 17, Jesus knowing that the cross is near, prays one final time...one final time he lifts his dreams upward as a prayer.  Notice what his dream for us is: He didn't pray for our success; He didn't pray for lives of comfort and safety; He didn't even pray for our happiness. The dream in the heart of Jesus was that we would be one heart. He prayed we would be one, that we would love each other... so that we could change the world.

 The first day of Lent is called Ash Wednesday. It seems a bit ironic that Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday would happen on the same day, but perhaps it sets the stage for our journey, better than we could have imagined. Ash Wednesday is a reminder of the frailty of life. It’s a reminder of the cross. Valentine’s Day is a reminder of the life that comes from love, the love that comes from the cross. So perhaps the best thing each of us could do this first day of Lent is to simply say, “Jesus here’s my heart. Guard it. Make it whole. Help me to forgive and love others as you have forgiven and love me."

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It's not enough to be a people with the book, we need to be a people of the book. Listening to, learning from, and leaning into the Words of God. My goal and prayer for this podcast, "More than Bread" is simply that we would get into the book, listen, learn and lean into it with all our might. That's all.  It's that simple.  Read the book, or listen to it and listen for the voice of God. Do you realize how the words in this book have the power to shape your life, and shape our culture. Why?  Because when we give our ears to the Words of God, we thrive! 

 

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The book of Philemon reminds us that when we encounter the gospel of grace, everything changes. Everything that was past is long gone. We are created anew, given a new name and a new identity. And as a new creation, a people of grace, we forgive. The forgiven forgive. It’s what we do. The dead are brought to life. The useless become useful in helping others find grace. We are no longer runaways, we are adopted children of God, with a seat at the table. Through Christ, we have become who we were created to be.

Philemon is also a reminder that not only are we like Onesimus in need of grace, but like Paul and Philemon we will be given opportunities to forgive and restore other Onesimus’ in the world around us. In many ways, what the letter to Philemon does is give us a guide, a roadmap to grace, a roadmap to community. Paul turns the runaway around, back to Philemon, back to Christian community, back to a spiritual home.  Philemon gives me hope that culture can be changed one heart at a time.

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Let me ask you a question, “What is your name for God?” Hmm, you mean like a  nickname? Like big daddy in the sky? No. You may not be aware of this, but in the Old Testament, the one true name of God (sometimes pronounced Jehovah or YHWH) was too holy for people to speak out loud.  But even though they would not say the one true name of God, they did call him by other names.

They usually gave God a name when they had an intense, encounter with God.  Or they would give him a name that described how He was at work in their lives.  For example, The All-Sufficient God, The God Who Heals,  and The God Who Provides were some of their favorite names for God. But certainly if you asked the first people of God, the Israelites, one of their most important names of God was Jehovah Mephalti, the Lord my Deliverer.  This was how they first experienced Him and it forever changed their lives. The God Who Delivers... that's what He thinks about slavery.

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What is your name for God? A basic idea that underlies the entire Old Testament is that God can be known by His actions in the world. This thought goes all the way back to the exodus experience, when God delivered His people from slavery. During the exodus, the
Hebrews came into relationship with God, they knew God because He had acted in history to deliver them from slavery in Egypt. His actions revealed who He was. He is the one who delivers us from slavery. The Israelites understood that God's actions in the arena of human history were not just illustrations of God's power to a watching world, He was "making for Himself a name." 

He was revealing His character as the one saves, the one who delivers us. And that name held true when Jesus came; the God who delivers...

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Epaphras wrestled in prayer. That was Paul's description of this man. He was always wrestling prayer for his friends. He was doing the hard work of travailing on their behalf. Like Jacob in the Old Testament wrestled with God; he would not let go until God blessed him. For whom are you wrestling?

I'm not saying there's something wrong with casual normal prayer; those occasional God, bless-em quick prayers. I'm just saying that travailing prayer is no more casual than giving birth. Wrestling is no more a quick easy moment, than it is out on the mat. But travailing prayer will change the world. I have little confidence in great sermons as the means of reaching people's hearts; but I have great faith in that simple Christian man or  woman, who will weep her eyes out over those who do not know Jesus. We can't travail about everything, but perhaps sometimes, we should travail about something. 

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What does it look like if I am devoted to prayer? Well, being devoted to prayer, doesn't mean that prayer is the only thing you ever do; just like being devoted to a job, or a cause or a spouse, being devoted to Lynn doesn't mean all I ever do is hang out with Lynn. That wouldn't be good for Lynn! But if I am devoted, there isn't much in my life that my devotion won't touch. Right? Being devoted to Lynn will cause me to give myself to her in many different ways. It will shape my decisions, shape my day. It will bring her to mind often.  

There is a practice of prayer that looks like devotion. That practice won't be the same for each of us and it won't be the same in every season. But it will be noticeably different from not being devoted to prayer!

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In Colossians 3 as Paul is wrapping up this section of scripture, you will hear him say more than once, "Whatever you do, do it in the name of Jesus." That's so comprehensive. Anything that you do; everything that you do; whatever do or say, do it for Jesus, like Jesus. What does it mean to live in Jesus name? .Today we understand that idea of doing something in the name of someone. We are doing it to honor them., doing it like they would do it. In the Bible, a person's name has to do with his or her character. So doing something in Jesus' name means to do it in his character. It means doing it as Jesus himself would do it if he were you. 

But what is really striking here is the comprehensive nature of what Paul says. Whatever you do or say; I mean what isn't included in whatever? It's basically asking the question, what would Jesus do if he were me?

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There is something so amazing about being chosen. Whether you are chosen for marriage or adopted into a family, or hired for a job, or chosen for an award, to be chosen fills our heart. But to be chosen by God? Beyond amazing.

So often when we bring up the topic of being chosen, people  want to push it into a theological discussion of when God chose and what God did and what we do and the order of who does what when... in order to be saved. And I'm not saying that's  unimportant. It's just not the most important. If you call upon the name of Jesus and choose to give Him your life, you will be in Christ if you are in Christ, you have been chosen.

 He chose you because He loves you and He loves you just because...so live like you are chosen! 

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One of the ways we identify people is by labels right?  In fact, sometimes we wear labels on our clothes in the hopes that it will say something to others about our identity.  But we also label people.  We have economic labels, theological labels, and political labels. We have labels for how someone looks, or thinks. We have sexual labels and intellectual labels. The labels help us decide who to chose and who to reject  But here's the deal, if you are in Christ, if you are a Jesus-follower, your label is...

"Chosen By God." 

You have value.  You belong to someone. We're not God's second-hand car, or His dirty old boots.  We are His special treasure, chosen.  Make no mistake we weren't chosen because we were special, but we are special because we were chosen.

Are you living like you are chosen?