Philippians 2:3-4

“Live Your Word by Looking Out”

Series: “One Word that Will Change Your Life”

We all are familiar with that loveable cartoon cat, Garfield. Well, actually loveable may be too strong of a word. As much as we may hate to admit it, what attracts us to Garfield is the manner in which we identify with his “me-first” attitude and his ability to keep others at arm’s length (or perhaps in his case, paw’s length).

In a recent Garfield cartoon, Garfield is lounging in a comfortable chair on a cold winter’s day when he suddenly sees his dog friend Odie at the window peering in. Garfield says to himself, “Poor Odie, locked outside in the cold. I just can’t bear to see him like this. I’ve got to do something.” And just when you think, Garfield is about to step outside of character and do something compassionate for someone else, Garfield proceeds to get up from his chair to close the curtains, nothing more!   

Garfield has looked out and recognized a need in his vicinity, but he never bothers to address the need. He remains content to stay focused on himself.

Now, you may be thinking, “Well, that’s just a cartoon. Nothing of the sort would ever happen in real life, certainly not from any of us humans.” I’m not so sure. We humans can be self-absorbed at times, so focused on ourselves that we can turn a blind eye and cold shoulder to those around us who could stand a little attention.

To be theological about it, such self-centeredness is the essence of sin. You see it early on in the book of Genesis with the story of Cain and Abel. You remember their story. The offspring of Adam and Eve, Cain had become angry when God found favor with his brother Abel’s offering but not the one he had brought. As a result, Cain did more than pull the curtains on his brother Abel; he took his life. It wasn’t long before God came to call Cain to account for his sin. “Where is your brother Abel?” God asked Cain. And Cain’s answer has become immortalized in everything from movies to community foundations: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9b) Cain’s response was a flimsy cover for his inability to see how his self-centeredness stymied God’s redemptive purposes and serves even today as a wake-up call to what is at stake in our faith journeys when we take the time and go to the trouble of looking in and looking up, but then never bother to look out.

This morning we come to this last step in the process of discovering the one word that will change your life. As you recall, we began by “looking in” – by taking the hard step of confronting that place in our hearts that is “deceitful and beyond cure,” to use the prophet Jeremiah’s language (Jer. 17:9). Then, last Sunday we talked about the next step of “looking up” so that we might lift our focus to God and find God moving in our direction to show us the possibilities of what can happen once we trust the great need of our life to Him. But this morning, we conclude with the recognition that until we come to a place where we are ready to live out our understanding of how God is at work to change our hearts, we are like Garfield at best and Cain at worst – we are riveted upon ourselves and in no place for God to work through us to make life better for others. The whole point of discovering the one word that will change your life is to do so in order that God might use you as an instrument of His peace in the place to which He has called you.

That was the Apostle Paul’s message to the church at Philippi, a church that Paul had established in the course of his second missionary journey to the region of Macedonia, which is today the Northern section of Greece. Paul’s wrote his letter to the Philippians from a Roman prison, which I would think would give a person a lot of time to look in and look up. But what impresses me about Paul’s perspective here in Philippians is that it also reflects a lot of “looking out.” In other words, Paul is concerned that the Philippians prepare themselves so that they “may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ and filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9)   

In this section of Philippians, Paul turns his attention to how, to use Genesis language, the Philippians are “their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.” His primary concern is that they relate to one another, that they “look out” for one another, with the mind of Christ. And what does that look like? “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.”

In a day where people too often pride themselves on running over others to get what they want in life, can you imagine the difference it would make if there was a group of people who took a different approach, one that directed them to take the one word that God had shown them to make their lives better and to live it out so that others might find the same help and hope? Can you imagine the difference Mountain Brook Baptist Church might make for the cause of Christ if we took that approach?

Harry Emerson Fosdick was one of the great preachers of the last century. His church, the Riverside Church, on the banks of the Hudson River, was one of the great churches in America during his tenure. It would have been considered a megachurch in his day. But on one occasion when interviewed about the success of his church in terms of the size of its membership, Fosdick had a telling response. “If Riverside continues to grow in its membership, such growth would indeed be a great thing.  But if Riverside makes the surrounding community a better place to live and work, then that would be an even greater thing.” In other words, what makes a congregation great is not so much its size as the influence it exerts on the community around it.

So, let’s bring that thought closer to home. Imagine for just a moment that some anti-congregational flu virus has made its way into Mountain Brook and this Mountain Brook Baptist Church suddenly was no more. What would be different in Mountain Brook?  What would be missed?  How does our church’s witness exert influence on this community and in what ways do we really matter? All of those important questions ultimately are answered by how seriously we as believers in Jesus “look out” into the community to bear witness to our faith.

Would you be willing to take that last step in the journey of discovering your “one word” this morning and “look out” at how God might focus your life in a way that would bless others?  Would you be willing to think less of yourself and more of others? Would you be willing to go about your everyday activities with an eye toward shaping the world for the glory of God?

If not, what excuse could you possibly offer?  You’re too old?  So was Abraham. You’re too discouraged?  So was Elijah. You’re too impulsive? So was Simon Peter. You’re too doubtful?  So was Thomas. You’re too ill? So was the Apostle Paul. We could look throughout Scripture for people who could have come up with all manner of excuses, and some who tried, but in the end God worked through each of them in ways that served His Kingdom purposes.   

And God will do the same through you, if only you will finish the journey of discovering your “one word” by looking out to see where God might lead you to focus your efforts by looking to the interests of others.

I love the story of the mother who was preparing pancakes for her two boys, Kevin, age 5, and Ryan, age 3. The boys started arguing over who would get the first pancake, as if there would be no other pancakes forthcoming. The mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “Boys,” she told her sons. “If Jesus were sitting here, you know what he would say to his mother?  He’d say, ‘Mother, let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’” The mother then silently patted herself on the back thinking that she had seized a teachable moment, until she heard the older brother turn to his younger brother and say, “Ryan, you be Jesus.”

Let’s all be Jesus. Let’s all have the attitude that was also in Christ Jesus. Let’s do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Instead, let’s look out into the cold darkness that has enveloped our world and let’s illumine it with the light of life. Let’s become our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers; for only when we look to the interests of others for Jesus’ sake will the interests of everyone be met, including our own.

Psalm 123:1-2

Nature is full of odd but fascinating occurrences. Why certain species behave in specific ways is one of life’s great mysteries, though when we bother to ponder such behavior occasionally leads us to understand a bit more about ourselves.

For example, did you know that if you put a buzzard in a pen six to eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the buzzard, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner? The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground, with a running start of ten to twelve feet.  Without space to run, the buzzard will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.  The same is true with other species, like bats and bumblebees.  Given space at the top, none of these creatures will see the means of escape at the top.  Instead, each of them will seek a way where none exists, until they will completely destroy themselves.

Now, before you think less of buzzards, bats, and bumblebees, consider how many of us humans are guilty of the same mistake.  We spend untold amounts of time and energy on the problems and frustrations all around us, never realizing that the answer to how we contend with them is right “above.”  Every now and then we all need to look up to find some answer for the heartaches and headaches that are killing our souls.

That was the Psalmist’s counsel to God’s people in his day.  The 123rd Psalm is the fourth psalm in a quintet of psalms called “the Songs of Ascent,” which in and of itself suggests an upward trajectory.  Most students of the Psalms think that the passage reflects the journey of pilgrims from all over the Promised Land journeying to Jerusalem with the words of these psalms upon their lips and in their hearts, perhaps even as they climbed the very steps of the Jerusalem temple.

Here, in this part of the Psalm we have before us this morning, as the people of God approach the heavenly throne of God, they lift their eyes to where God’s Presence abides and pray for mercy, grace, favor, and strength.  “I will lift my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven.  As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of the female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.”   

This Psalm is a model for those who have had it with life.  For those who have experienced more than their share of ridicule and contempt, abuse and disdain, these words of the Psalm invite us to cast our gaze upward to a God who loves us not because of who we are, but in spite of who we are.  It calls us to contemplate the difference God’s mercy and grace can do to transform our pain and frustration.   

Pay attention in particular to its emphasis on the eyes.  “I lift up my eyes to you.”  “As the eyes of slaves look to their masters…(and) as eyes of the female slave look…to her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God.”  In other words, the Psalmist is challenging us to lift our eyes deliberately above the circumstances that surround us, which at times appear so hopeless and foreboding, and instead cast them upon our God, who has come down in Christ Jesus to be with us in the midst of our despair to give us the direction that we need to make it through those hard times to a better place and a better day. 

I look at this psalm and see the emphasis on the eyes and I can’t help but think of the old children’s tune that so many of us first learned in church: “Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.”  Why does that simple tune still resonate with so many of us after all these many years?  Might it be that we know far too well the difficulty of seeing our way forward in such a dark and troubled world?  Might it be that too often we lock in on the ways our prevailing culture gives us for finding direction in such a chaotic and confusing day so that like the buzzard and the bat and the bumblebee, we keep bumping into barriers and roadblocks that not only keep us from the life we yearn to know, those barriers and roadblocks actually suck the life right out of us?  Might it be that we have been duped into believing that looking beyond ourselves to God for help is a sign of weakness and frailty and that “real” men and women just need to buck up and try harder?   

So, how is that working for people today?  Your presence this morning would suggest that it’s not working for you.  Your presence in this place of worship is a witness to your desire to be lifted above not just the trials and tribulations taking place all around us but also the flimsy solutions and failed promises the world offers so that you find a way to live in the face of your difficulties with a sense of transcendence and power.  It’s a testimony to your hope that God might look down upon you and be very present in the midst of your adversity, drawing near to lead you down a path less traveled from the one most people are on today – a path that would bring you God’s immeasurable joy.

As I mentioned at the start of the sermon, we’re presently in a series titled “One Word that Will Change Your Life.”  The premise of the series is that far too many of us live distracted, unfocused lives so that we lack clarity on how we are to move forward into the future.  We may know in our heart of hearts what is the one area we most need God to be at work, but we have yet to look to God because we haven’t come to a place where we are absolutely certain that God will accept us as we are.

That’s why this particular Psalm is so important.  It reminds us that God doesn’t lead by guilt and shame; God instead leads by mercy and grace.  Indeed, God’s response to our prayers for guidance and direction in life reflects God’s heart to show us a way forward that isn’t marked by obligation and drudgery.  Instead, God’s response is a show of His mercy.  God doesn’t have to reveal to us anything in life.  God is not bound in any way to help us see what lies ahead.  But because He cares for us and wills good for us, in response to our pleas for direction in life God opens a way where a way didn’t seem possible; we only have to look up to discover it.  We only have to look up in order to discover it.

Can you do that this morning?  Can you make a commitment to cast your gaze away for a brief moment from the cable news channel and the stock market ticker and the social media feeds, and can you take the time to attend to God and what God wants as the focus of your life?   

When our son, who is now in his thirties, was just a little boy, he had this unique way of commanding our attention.  If he had something he wanted to tell us or something he needed to know and he wanted to make sure that Judy and I were locked in on his concerns instead of the gazillion other things we may have been dealing with at the time, he would take his little hands and he would place them on our faces and turn them in his direction until we were eyeball to eyeball and completely incapable of seeing anything but his big, brown eyes.  

Sometimes we wonder if our concerns are too little for God to be bothered with them.  Sometimes we wonder if God has bigger issues to deal with and doesn’t want to be disturbed by our seemingly small affairs.  Sometimes we wonder if our anxieties and distresses are so far down on the list that even God will never get to them.   

But the good news of the Gospel is that God has shown His willingness to draw near to us by revealing Himself to us through His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the ultimate act of mercy.  So, God is always present to us; that is not in question.  The only thing in question is, “Are we always present to God?”  We aren’t when we give our focus and cast our gaze to everything but the God who has reached down to us with nail-scarred hands to take our little lives and show us His full glory.

So, be careful.  “Be careful, little eyes, what you see.  Be careful, little eyes, what you see.  For the Father up above is looking down in love.  So, be careful, little eyes, what you see.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10 

Series: “One Word that Will Change Your Life”

January 28, 2018

In his book Predictably Irrational, researcher Dan Ariely claims that most of us are masters at deceiving ourselves and justifying our actions.  In particular, he writes, we often make our decisions based not on what is right but on what we want.  He gives as an example his own story of buying a car.  “When I turned thirty,” he writes, “I decided it was time to trade in my motorcycle for a car.  But I couldn’t decide which car was right for me.  The web was just taking off and to my delight I found a site that provided advice on purchasing cars.”  He then tells of how he dutifully answered all the questions on the website, after which it was recommended that he purchase a Ford Taurus.  He describes his reaction this way:  “The problem was that, having just surrendered my motorcycle, I couldn’t see myself driving a sedate sedan.  I was now facing a dilemma: I had tried a deliberative and thoughtful process for my car selection, and I didn’t like the answer I got.  So, I did what I think anyone in my position would do.  I hit the “Back” button a few times, backtracked to my earlier stages of the interview process, and changed many of my original answers to what I convinced myself were more accurate and appropriate responses.  I kept this up until the car-advertising website suggested a Mazda Miata.  The moment the program was kind enough to recommend a small convertible, I felt grateful for the fantastic software and decided to follow its advice.”  Then commenting on what he learned in the process, Ariely writes, “The experience taught me that sometimes we want our decisions to have a rational veneer when, in fact, they stem from what we crave deep down.”  They stem from what we crave deep down.

Do you know what it is that you crave in the deeper places of your heart?  If Ariely is correct, it’s hard for us to take a hard look into the mirror of our hearts and see those places that are not what we would prefer them to be.  So, instead of seeing what is actually in our hearts and driving our thoughts and actions, we deceive ourselves into believing that what we see on the inside is something more acceptable, something we can live with.  But of course, the irony of our deception is that we cannot really live with the lies that we tell ourselves, at least not the life that we all yearn to know.  In order to live that level of life, we have to be willing to take the hard look and face the blunt truth.

Taking the hard look and facing the blunt truth is precisely what the prophet Jeremiah was calling God’s people in his day to do.  You know the prophet Jeremiah.  We call him “the weeping prophet” because of how Jeremiah’s heart was broken over the refusal of his people to live into God’s ways and trust God’s protection.  The more Jeremiah reflected on the cause of this disobedience the more he became convinced that the real problem was a problem of the heart.  “The heart,” he declares, “is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9)

We should note a couple of things about Jeremiah’s diagnosis.  In the first place, when Jeremiah spoke of the human heart, he wasn’t speaking solely of the emotional character of the people in his day.  In our current context, any time we hear someone speak of the heart, we think feelings and emotions, as in “Put your heart into it” or “I love you with all my heart.”  To people in Jeremiah’s day, the heart wasn’t just the emotional center of human existence; it was also the center of every aspect of our being – our emotions, our thoughts, and our actions.   

Secondly, the word that Jeremiah uses to characterize the human heart, “deceitful,” is an interesting choice, and an inspired one.  The word comes from the same root stem as the name “Jacob,” which if you remember from the Jacob story in Genesis refers to the tricky, deceitful nature of that biblical patriarch.  It was Jeremiah’s way of saying that there’s a little bit of Jacob in each of us, except for the fact that it’s not others we deceive; it’s ourselves.  We are masters at deceiving ourselves.   

But Jeremiah doesn’t offer a diagnosis without a treatment plan, like the TV commercial with the poor guy in the dental chair, who hears what he thinks is a dentist tell him that indeed he has a cavity, only then to be told that the guy who’s offered the diagnosis isn’t really a dentist; he’s just a “dental monitor.”  Jeremiah isn’t just a “prophecy monitor;” he’s a prophet, God’s spokesperson who’s inspired to help people see and know what at times is God’s uncomfortable truth, which in Jeremiah’s case meant that while the people might be content in their self-deception, God isn’t and He is constantly at work “searching the heart and examining the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve” (Jer. 17:10).  In other words, God is constantly at work to bring to the surface those places in our life we are constantly at work to suppress – not to punish us for our deceit, but instead to invite us to ask Him into those places in order to make them right.

As C.S. Lewis, whom I quoted last week, was quick to remind us, this is actually a good thing; for “it is when we notice the dirt (in our hearts) that God is most present in us.  (Indeed,) the (dirt in our hearts) is the very sign of God’s presence.”   

“Well,” you say.  “That changes everything.”  “If God makes His presence known whenever I take the hard look in my heart in order that my heart may be changed for the better, then how do I go about doing it?”

Here, then, is my suggestion.  It involves three questions: (1) What do I need most in my life?  In other words, what areas of my life require the most change, and why?  In fact, the “why” question is actually more important than the “what” question.   “What” do I need most and “why” do I need it?”  (2) What’s in my way?  What are the things that are keeping me from experiencing this change that I know I need?  And again, “why” am I allowing it to happen?”  (3) What needs to go?  What’s holding me back from experiencing this needed change, and “why” haven’t I already let it go?

These questions actually reflect an ancient Christian practice of “examen,” or scrutiny.  The practice goes back to the desert fathers of the third century, who took the time to spot idols in their lives by asking the question, “How is it with my soul?”  

I’m not asking you to go to some desert in order to engage in this self-examination.  But I am asking you to pull away from the busyness of your life, which is just another way of rationalizing your self-deception, so that you can see what God already sees and then trust it to God’s grace as God has made it available to us through His gift of Jesus Christ.  There is no other way for you to find and enjoy the life you so desperately are yearning to know. 

Years ago, when I was a seminary student in Louisville, Kentucky, I came across a remarkable story that had taken place in nearby Evansville, Indiana, which is just down the Ohio River from Louisville.  The story was about a 71 year old man who had his life saved in a most unusual way, a way that involved a truck smashing into his house.  As the story explained it, it was 2:35 in the morning when a driver lost control of a truck on icy pavement, struck the curb, and sailed onto the porch of the man’s house.  The next morning, a utility crew came out to restore electricity to the man’s home and to check for gas leaks.  In the process the crew discovered that the man’s chimney and pipes were clogged up with two feet of soot and leaves, which was causing odorless, poisonous carbon monoxide fumes generated from burning natural gas to back up into the house.  The man had noticed that over the past two years he had been sick with classic flu-like symptoms, including chills, nausea, and headaches, which are also symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.  At times the man would black out.  Then he would come to when he would get out in the fresh air.  Every day it would get worse and worse.  The odds were great that if the truck had not smashed into his house the man would have been dead. 

But the kicker to the story was not simply that the accident led to the discovery of the clogged chimney.  The kicker was that the man whose house was smashed into once worked as a building contractor.  He had spent his working life warning his customers to check their chimney flues every two or three years to make sure they weren’t clogged.  “But somehow or another,” he said, “It never did dawn on me to check my own chimney.”

So, don’t forget to check.  Only then will you see what God sees and be at a place where God’s grace will abound and give you not just what you deserve, but even more.

1 Chronicles 29:14-19

“The Power of One Word” Series: “One Word that Will Change Your Life”

January 14, 2018

In his devotional classic, The Screwtape Letters, the renowned apologist and lay theologian, C.S. Lewis, has the master demon, Screwtape, write letters to an apprentice demon, Wormwood, that offer a glimpse into the world of temptation and how evil can corrupt even the best of intentions, or resolutions.  According to the master demon, one of the most important departments in hell is what Screwtape calls “the Philological Arm.”  In this department Satan employs a team of skilled grammarians who are diligently working away at first eroding and ultimately ruining words, particularly words that the Christian community uses in its conversation and witness, words like “love” and “unselfishness” which these grammatical demons twist in ways that confuse those who need them most.  Their efforts are, according to Screwtape, “a most admirable work” (Letter 26). 

We may not agree with Screwtape (or at least I hope we wouldn’t), but we can certainly understand his reasoning.  Words are indeed powerful things.  Words, after all, have the power to inspire and encourage, heal and console.  Or if used improperly (or even demonically), words also have the power to discourage and drag down, injure and destroy.  What’s most important is for us to choose our words wisely and faithfully so that we can be sure that they become springboards into the good future God has for us to know and not the potholes that deprive us of a hopeful tomorrow.

So, what words have you chosen to live by and how have those words influenced your witness and discipleship?  It may be that you’ve never given much thought to that question but perhaps the beginning of a New Year is a good time to do so since it’s the words that we choose that end up driving our thoughts and our attitudes, our actions and our relationships. 

We see this dynamic at work in this prayer of King David from the book of 1 Chronicles.  Quite frankly, 1 Chronicles is a book in the Bible that we don’t read all that regularly.  We get lost in its opening genealogies and never press past them to the stories that speak to the good future God always has for those whose hearts are fixed and focused upon Him.   

In this section of 1 Chronicles David is down to his last days on earth.  His final focus is on the construction of the Jerusalem temple, a vision of a dwelling place for God that the author of 1 Chronicles insists is more for God’s glory than for David’s.  David’s conviction is that the temple will be an abiding reminder of how God will be present among His people, pledging always to be at work on their behalf.  David has now brought together all the materials that will be necessary for the temple’s completion, materials that correspond to those that Moses employed in the building of the tabernacle during the time of the Exodus.  The only thing left for David to do is to offer a prayer of blessing upon them and the people so that his vision might become reality.

David’s prayer is two-fold.  First, David prays for the people.  He prays that they might never lose focus on all God has done for them.  He prays that they will always remember God’s favor because David knows how easily it is for people to be distracted by the challenges of everyday life and to take God’s provisions for granted.  He prays that they will focus on divine favor.

Then David prays for his son Solomon, who will succeed him on the throne of Israel.  David prays as well for his son Solomon to have a focused heart.  As he had previously prayed, David asks God not to make his son Solomon rich or powerful; he prays for Solomon to be stayed upon God with unwavering focus.  He prays that God would give his son Solomon “the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes, and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided” (v.19).  David had seen from his own journey of faith that great consequences hinge on what is first and foremost in our hearts, because what is first and foremost is what we direct our lives toward and is what moves everything we say and do.   

Unfortunately, focus is something that is in woefully short supply in our present day.  In our present day we tend to emphasize the importance of “multitasking,” which is nothing more than doing a bunch of things at the same time, switching from one task to another in an attempt to get more down by the end of the day.  Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves we’re doing.  “Can I text and drive at the same time?  Of course, I can.”  “Can I watch TV and read the Bible?  Why not?”  “Can I check my email while listening to my spouse or my child or a friend?  Piece of cake.”  But the truth is that our lack of focus ultimately leaves us settling for less than the best.

That’s what a team of researchers at Stanford discovered in a recent study they conducted.  These researchers had originally set out to discover what gives multitaskers what they thought to be a special focus.  But what they learned instead was that these multitaskers were not as effective in their work as they first assumed.  According to one of the researchers, “Everything distracts multitaskers.”  As a result, multitaskers find it difficult to keep and then to retrieve information.  They were even worse at the main thing that defines multitasking: switching from one task to another.  In fact, heavy multitaskers underperformed in almost every area of the study, which led the researchers to this conclusion: “By doing less, you accomplish more.”   

I’m not a researcher but I would amend their conclusion in this way: “By focusing on God, you find the resources you need to enjoy your life more.”

Isn’t that what David is telling the people in this passage?  The Covenant God provides all that we need in life so that we should focus our life upon all that God has made possible and not what we think we may lack.  God withholds nothing that His people require for life.

Isn’t that what Jesus modeled in his own faith journey?  I think of those times when Jesus withdrew from the crowd in order to spend time alone with God and find the strength that he needed to do what God had sent him to do.   

And isn’t that what you need to be pointing toward in terms of your own approach to life?  Doesn’t this notion of “wholehearted devotion” speak to the depth of focus that each of us could benefit from so that we might be more able to see God in every situation and circumstance, especially the challenging ones?  What we therefore must learn to do is push away all the distractions and interruptions so that we might order our lives around the purposes of God for only then will our lives take on meaning and significance, purpose and worth.

Here then is my suggestion on how we might move in that direction.  Instead of making a list of well-crafted and well-intentioned resolutions, I invite you to consider honing in on one word that will give you the focus you need for your life.  Over the coming weeks, we’re going to drill down and look more carefully at how we might discover what that word should be.  The good news is that we won’t need the services of a “Philological Arm.”  Instead, we’ll be looking inwardly to see those places in our hearts that could stand some “wholehearted devotion.”  We’ll be looking upwardly to see how the Holy Spirit might speak into those places that we’ve been reluctant to examine.  Then we’ll be looking outwardly to see how we might reflect the difference God’s Presence makes in us so that God might come to be real to others.  And when we come to the end of this series and you find your one word, the word that God gives you, then you will begin to see that word applying to every part of your life, and it will give you the clarity and the focus you need for the challenges of your busy day.   

You will come to discover that finding your one word will be “a most admirable work,” and one that will change your life by providing you with the “wholehearted devotion” that God has promised always to bless.

Colossians 3:1-2

“Something Needs to Change” • Doug Dortch

Series: “One Word that Will Change Your Life”

It’s come to that time of the year where we begin to give thought to making some resolutions, which as you know is a word that dominates the first of every year.  In his book A Journey to Bethlehem, writer and musician Jason Soroski offers the following definitions of a resolution: “To the musician, a ‘resolution’ is a harmony line moving from a dissonant tone (one that does not fit the melody) to a consonant tone (one that fits). Harmonies can dance and amaze us with varied complexities for a while, but they must eventually resolve.  To the writer, a resolution is the end of a story, the final element of a twisting plot wrought with conflict, finally resolved to an ending where all is well. To the chemist, it is the separation of a chemical compound back into its constituents, or simplest parts. To the statesman, it is an expression of the determined will of an elected body.  To the graphic artist, it is the sharpness of the pixel count on a screen, and the quality of the image produced. By any definition, a resolution is characterized by a return to simplicity, a focus on sharp definition and determination, broken down to its simplest, most harmonious parts.  Without resolution, art, science, government, and life in general all fall into chaos.  Without resolution, there is no foundation on which to stand” (p.25).  Little wonder, then, that we agonize so much over coming up with the right resolutions.

However, in spite of the time and energy we put into resolutions, the jury is out on whether they do us any good, especially in light of the fact that every year while 87% of us take the time to come up with some new goal or resolution, half of us will give up on them by the end of the month.  Why is that the case, particularly when the vast majority of our resolutions are well-intended ones?

Might it be that we make resolutions on the basis of what we can do instead of who we can become?  Might it be that our resolutions are built on a flawed foundation of more effort, greater willpower, and grander goals?  Might it be that while we understand our need to experience significant change in our lives, we neglect the most important part of what that change involves, which is a change of heart?

That seems to have been the approach the Apostle Paul took with believers in the city of Colossae, a flourishing city in Asia Minor.  There’s no indication that Paul personally established the church there, as he did in other significant cities in the region.  The Colossian church was instead established by one of Paul’s associates, Epaphras (1:7-8), whom Paul had commissioned to proclaim the gospel to the city’s inhabitants, and those who responded were predominately Gentiles, even though the city seems to have had a significant Jewish population. 

As you read the letter, you see how these new converts were trying their best to figure things out in terms of how their faith in Jesus played out in everyday life.  On one hand were certain teachers calling for the Colossians to abide by certain rules and regulations that turned their faith into another form of legalism.  On the other hand were other teachers who were emphasizing mystical spiritual experiences that had no connection whatsoever to everyday behavior.  Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.  The Colossians just wanted to know how to live their faith in ways that honored the mystery of God’s transforming grace in Jesus Christ.  Thus Paul writes these life-changing words: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:1-2).

Here is what Paul wanted the Colossians to understand:  Life in Christ works from the inside out.  In order to experience the radical transformations that God intends and that we all yearn to know, it all comes down to where we begin.  When we begin with our minds settled on human standards and expectations, nothing changes, at least not in terms of finding something that enables us to live into God’s holy purposes.  But when we base our lives on the life of Christ, we begin to see everything from a heavenly perspective.  We see life as God sees life, and then find the inspiration we need to let go of some things that are no longer helpful or useful in order to incorporate other things that make us more the people Jesus has redeemed us to be.  But what must change is the perspective from which we view the entirety of our lives.  What must change is our ability to look at life from a “Jesus point of view.”

Can you resolve to approach your life in that sort of way?  Can you make the conscious decision to reject the pressures this prevailing culture seeks to impose upon you so that you don’t buy in to the perspective of “might makes right,” “there’s only so much to go around,” and “he who has the most toys wins?”  Can you have your gaze lifted through the power of the Risen Jesus so that you recognize how your life is “hidden with Christ in God” (v.3) and “when Christ, who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory” (v.4)?  If you choose to make that one change, to see life from a “Jesus point of view,” it will transform every aspect of your life, and it will change it for the better.

Many of you will remember the famous novel, A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster, the English novelist of the early part of the last century.  In it Forster tells the story of Lucy Honeychurch (an interesting name) who is visiting Italy with a friend.  Lucy and her friend are wealthy English people so that when they check in to their hotel, they ask for what most of us tend to request, a room with a view.  Lucy and her friend want a room that looks out on the beautiful sights of Italy: the marble statues, the beautiful colors, the fine architecture.  But the room they are given is on the wrong side of the hotel so that it doesn’t have “a view,” at least not the kind of view they had asked for.  Their room looks down on the markets and the teeming masses of poor people, which they have no interest in seeing.  Lucy and her friend think to themselves, “What a terrible way to spend our visit!”  That’s the perspective they bring with them into their hotel room.

But in a short time, something changes in Lucy’s heart.  She actually sees the poor people.  And as she does, something happens inside of her that makes her want to reach out to them and help them.  She sees life as it really is, not as she had wanted it to be, and she wants to do something about it.  She wants to bring good to the evil and beauty to the pain and help to the hurting.  And by the end of the novel, Lucy really has been blessed with a “room with a view.”

If you’re here this morning and you truly believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and that he rules in heaven, just as we confess each Sunday through the Apostles’ Creed, and if you believe in your heart that Jesus has given you a new life and a new perspective, a “Jesus point of view,” then today you need to make a conscious decision to live that way.  You need to choose to show that perspective through everything you say and do so that everyone you cross paths with will know God’s love in Christ in the same way that you do.

Can you do that this morning?  Will you do it? 

As I’ve thought about my own life and work in this respect, I’ve come to see one change I need to make.  For 40 years, I’ve been calling people to “invite Jesus into their hearts.”  And while I still think it’s important for everyone to make room in their hearts for Jesus, perhaps the better invitation is to call people instead to “accept Jesus’ invitation to come into his heart.”  Our hearts are impure; his heart is holy.  Our hearts are fickle; his heart is faithful.  Our hearts are flawed; his heart is perfect. 

So, I invite you to join me in resolving to come more into Jesus’ heart in the coming weeks and months; for only then will we escape the chaos and confusion of this fallen world to know a life that is worth living – one that is rich and full in the best sense of those words and everything that we ever hoped it would be. 

December 24, 2017, the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Because the entertainment industry can’t let this season of the year go by without taking advantage of families coming together and running out of ways to occupy the time, they always release new movies around the holidays.  I would imagine that many of you may have already taken advantage of some of the early releases, while others of you have begun making your plans to take in one or two that will come out on Christmas Day.

By far the biggest blockbuster to the point in the holiday season has been the new Star Wars release, The Last Jedi, which came out last weekend and at last count had grossed some $220 million.  Of course, that number will only go up as Star Wars fans flock to see what is being hailed, to quote one reviewer, as a film that “probably does the best job of any Star Wars film of capturing the allure of the Dark Side and the spiritual turmoil that would lead to – and also result from – its embrace.”  Say what you will about the Star Wars series, but that one sentence captures the drama of every Star Wars film ever made, from the first one to this most recent one: “the allure of the Dark Side and the spiritual turmoil that would lead to – and also result from – its embrace.”

Of course, you don’t have to be an avid moviegoer to appreciate that storyline.  We are reminded every day of the havoc that results from when the darkness in any form rules the day.

You’ll remember what happened just this past week at the Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport, when an fire in a Georgia Power underground electrical facility resulted in a power outage that left thousands of travelers stranded in dark terminals and the cancellation of over a thousand flights in and out of the airport. 

Needless to say, it was a real mess, until the power was finally restored, and even now airlines are struggling to get everything and everyone back to some semblance of normalcy.   

These two situations both remind us that it is ever important to be mindful of the darkness and to name it for what it is – a more than minor disruption in the state of affairs that God has ordained and a condition that we must always be endeavoring to avoid, which is a much more difficult task than we might imagine, given how we live in a world where so many are trapped into believing that “everything is wonderful” and “struggles of any kind are just figments of our imagination.”  The fact of the matter is that when you take God out of any equation, circumstance, or situation and all you are left with is pure darkness.   

But the good news of Christmas is that the world’s darkness will not have the last word.  God will have the last word, and God will have it through the Word that became flesh, even our Lord Jesus.

Such is the promise that came to God’s people through the prophet Isaiah at a time when they were mired in the darkest gloom and despair.  You may have noticed that during these Sundays of Advent we’ve been focusing on Isaiah’s message, because while on one hand Isaiah has no problem naming the headaches and heartaches that constitute so much of our everyday existence, on the other hand Isaiah points us beyond those headaches and heartaches to a better day, one that will come to pass when God draws near to His people in the midst of their adversity and defeats the darkness by virtue of His mere presence.  How does the prophet put it?  “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”   

When you find yourself in a place of deep darkness, any light that comes your way always helps you to know how to proceed.

That’s a lesson Virginia Law learned while serving with her husband Burleigh to what was at the time known as the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa.  As she tells the story, at their mission station there were three men who served as night watchmen.  Each man carried an oil lantern.  One night, one of the men brought her a message.  She noticed his lantern and said, “That lantern doesn’t give much light, does it?”  To which the man answered, “No, it doesn’t.  But it shines as far I can step.”  

When you find yourself in a place of deep darkness, any light that comes your way helps you to know how to proceed. 

That is what Isaiah wanted the people to know.  A light had come to them, but not just any light.  What had come to them was a “great light.”  The phrase in the Hebrew means a source of light that is ever increasing, a light that keeps getting brighter and brighter – a joyful light, a productive light, a liberating life, a victorious light.  What the prophet wanted the people to know is that God is always faithful to make a way for His people.  God will not leave us shrouded in the darkness.  God always draws near to us in our hour of deepest need in order to make possible a way forward that helps us to know how to proceed in life.  

Pastor Bob Woods has a great story that reminds us of this signal truth.  A couple in his church had taken their two children, a son who was eleven and a daughter who was seven, to Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico, a national park comprised of over 100 caves.  As the story goes, on one of the tours, at the point at which the tour reaches its lowest descent into the cave, the guide turns off the lights to dramatize how completely dark and silent it is below the surface of the earth.  Suddenly enveloped in the darkness, the youngest child became frightened and began to cry.  Immediately, she heard her brother’s voice: “Don’t cry, sis.  There’s somebody here who knows how to turn on the lights.” 

This may be a difficult time for you.  This Christmas season may have come for you at a place in your life’s journey where you don’t know how to move ahead.  Life’s headaches and heartaches have stopped you in your tracks, and your future seems very dark.  Don’t give up on God and don’t give in to the darkness.  Instead, dare to believe the message of Christmas, announced centuries ago by the prophet Isaiah:  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given….And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” 

There is somebody here who knows how to turn on the lights.  His name is Jesus.  He was born to fill the darkness of our souls with the light of new birth.  He was born to shatter the darkness of our world and to allow us to live both now and forevermore in the hope, the peace, the joy, and the love of God’s eternal day. 

One of the things that make this time of the year so special for so many is the way people decorate for the Christmas season. It seems to me that decorating for Christmas has become a “cottage industry” so that people spend more and more money each year on more and more decoration. I can remember when folk would just put a Christmas tree in the front window and maybe a Christmas wreath on the door, and that would be it. But now, houses have lights strung across the roof lines and candles in all the windows and Christmas blow-ups in the yard. It’s quite a transformation that takes place from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

I’ve thought about all the reasons behind this relatively recent spurt in Christmas decorations and I know, like most things this time of the year, there are the obvious economic drivers. For example, who wants to be made to feel like Scrooge when every home around you looks like something out of a HGTV production? At least that’s what all the commercials for those home improvement stores want us to believe. So, we pony up on the decorations in order that no one will see us as anti-Christmas.  

But I think there’s something else at play with all the decorations we’re seeing today, something less commercial and more spiritual. I think there is also this notion that in this season we put out lots of light to dispel the darkness that we have to contend with during other parts of the year, light that is symbolic of what God did in sending Jesus into our dark world to enable us to know the joy of His salvation, which in itself is a transforming joy. The upsurge in decorations may very well represent a desire on our part to see holy transformations take place in our otherwise dilapidated and ramshackle souls.  

That certainly was the desire reflected in this passage before us this morning from the prophet Isaiah. It comes in that section of Isaiah’s prophecy where God’s people have returned from their exile in Babylon and are greeted with a city in ruins. They had expected Jerusalem to be as they left it, but you know what happens when an abode gets deserted and there is no one to maintain it. Things crumble. Stuff deteriorates. Glory fades. Everything seems much smaller than you remember. So it was with the people of Judah, who upon their return to Jerusalem were overwhelmed by the task that was before them – to repair and restore a once magnificent city that now was a shell of its former glory. They felt even poorer and more brokenhearted and chained in a different more stifling kind of captivity.

Into this somber setting stepped God’s prophet to let the people know of God’s coming day when the darkness would give way to the light of unspeakable joy. “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor…to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,” (Isa. 64:1-2) and the new day of renovation that only God could make possible.   

Keen observers will remember that this passage is the one that Jesus turned to that day he was asked to do the reading in his hometown synagogue at Nazareth. Luke’s Gospel records the story. Jesus had returned to Nazareth from the wilderness where he had just experienced Satan’s temptations. He had returned, Luke tells us, “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk. 4:14). Led to this passage in Isaiah, Jesus read from the Isaiah scroll, then rolled it up, returned it to the attendant, and said to the congregation, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v.21).  But the people were not happy to hear him say those words; in fact, they were furious. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son? Haven’t we known him since he was a little boy? Has he done anything here like we’ve heard that he did in nearby Capernaum?” And they drove him out of town, where they also tried to throw him down from a cliff (v.29). People had been missing out on Jesus from the time of his birth in Bethlehem. 

But not everyone missed Jesus. There was Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, who when the Spirit restored his voice burst out in song concerning how his own child would prepare the way for the Promised Messiah: “And you, my child will be called a prophet of the Most High…to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death. The shepherds didn’t miss him, when outside of Bethlehem, the angel of the Lord appeared to them while they keeping watch over the flocks by night and the glory of the Lord lit up the night sky. “Fear not,” the angel said, “for I bring you glad tidings of great joy that will be for all people. For today in the city of David a Savior has been born, which is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:8-12). Old Simeon didn’t miss him when Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus to be presented in the Temple. “Sovereign Lord, now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Lk. 2:29-31). Each of them – Zechariah, the shepherds, and Simeon – saw what so many in their day had missed so that they were all able to live into what the prophet Isaiah had envisioned – the transforming joy of God’s presence and the knowledge of the light of His salvation in the Promised Messiah.   

Have you been able to live into that promise? Is there a joy that abides deep within you because of how you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is ever present? Do you sense these little transformations taking place that bestow upon you a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair? 

It is a choice, you know. We cannot avoid disappointment and heartache; they are a part and parcel of life.  But we can avoid joy. We can avoid joy by allowing setbacks to get the best of us and by not allowing God to draw near to us and anoint us with His joy. But Christmas is as good a time as any to dig deep into the basement places where we’ve tended to shelve our joy and break it out and put it up for all the world to see.

Henri Nouwen was a Dutch writer, professor, and devotional writer of the last century. In an article for the evangelical magazine Christianity Today, he talked about a friend of his, who, as he put it, “radiates joy.” Have you ever known someone like that? Of course, you have. They brighten up every place they go.

In this case, as Nouwen explains, it wasn’t because that person’s life was easy. If anything, it was incredibly challenging. But what revealed his joy was the manner in which his friend regularly recognized God’s presence in the midst of all suffering, both his suffering as well as the suffering of others. Nouwen went on to say that his friend’s joy was contagious. The more he was with his friend, the more it seemed as if he could catch glimpses of the sun shining through the clouds.   

As he thought about the impact his friend had on him, Nouwen was able to see that while he too knew that there was a sun even on the cloudiest of days, Nouwen’s tendency was to focus on the clouds instead of focusing, as his friend always did, on the sun. Then one day, Nouwen realized that it is always the sun that allows us to see the clouds and he decided on that day to emulate his friend and become a messenger of joy, one who speaks about the sun even on the cloudiest of days so that people might know that the darkness will never overcome the light and life, even at its worst, does not have to rob us of our joy.

The deepest challenge of this Advent Sunday is to recognize the presence of God as a friend “who sticketh closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24) and whose presence in us radiates a most contagious joy. Our greatest need is to open our hearts to what He shows us in the light of His salvation made possible through Jesus Christ and our glad privilege is to understand that there may well be some measure of His joy that we have yet to experience because we have not been willing to embrace fully the anointing changes that the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord seeks to bring about in us.

It’s a choice – one that finds joy in the faith that there is no life too broken or too ruined that God’s restoration in Jesus can’t make new. 

December 10, 2017, The Second Sunday of Advent 

The other day I had gone into one of those big box stores to pick up a couple of items on my Christmas list and as I did, found that I had to make my way by the electronics section.  Most of the time, I pay no attention at all to what’s going on in that section of the store.  But on this occasion I couldn’t help notice the large selection of televisions the store had available and, more importantly, the number of different programs being shown on the various televisions.  On some there was a college football game from last year.  On another was a kid’s program.  On another was an old movie.  I thought to myself, “Why do they have one on this program and another on a different one?”  “Why don’t put them all on the same program?”  “At least that way you could compare the quality of the pictures.” 

As I left the store, I couldn’t help but think how what I just experienced was a parable of the polarized days in which we’re now living.  There’s no consistent message anymore.  There are just various voices, all competing with one another, resulting in a cacophony of sound that brings little, if any, comfort and joy.  And a message of comfort and joy is most definitely something of which so many today are in need, even so many of us who have gathered this morning for worship on this Second Sunday of Advent.

That’s because we live in a day when disruption has the floor.  The glue that once held us together has in recent years lost its grip and people are weary of looking for other ways to hold life together, because, quite frankly, holding life together was something none of us was ever really created to do.  Holding life together is God’s work, and it’s only when we turn a deaf ear to the various voices seeking to pull us in different directions and attend carefully to God’s voice that we begin to know a peace, which as the Bible says, “passes all understanding” (Phil. 4:7).

Such was the message that the prophet Isaiah announced to God’s people at a time when they were in dire need of comfort and joy.  The 40th chapter of Isaiah speaks to a situation where God’s people have just been uprooted from their homes and families and businesses in Jerusalem and transported to a time of exile in Babylon.  Imagine someone coming into Mountain Brook, taking over the US government, and transporting you to Moscow or Beijing or Pyongyang.  Of course, you can hardly wrap your mind around such a thought, but that was the reality in which God’s people one day found themselves.  And so, the questions that were on every heart were these questions, “Does God know that we’re in this predicament?  And does He care that we’re in this place?  And is He able to do anything about it?”  Even if you’re in Mountain Brook, if you’ve found yourself between a rock and a hard place right here at home, those are the sorts of questions you’ve most likely brought with you to church this morning.  “Does God know?  Does God care?  Is God capable?”

And the good news of the Gospel, which was spoken even through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah is, “Yes, God knows; Yes, God cares; and Yes, God is capable.”  He is the Sovereign God who comes with power and is never caught off guard.  He is the God who like a shepherd gathers His lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.  He is the God who always has the last word because only His word lasts forever.  And not only does God reign and care and endure, God also shows up.  God comes down.  God draws near.  And God does all of this just when we need Him most.  All we have to do is open our eyes and open our hearts.  How does Isaiah put it in verse 9?  “Say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’”   

That’s the message we have gathered to concentrate on today.  In the face of a cascade of messages that appeal to our fears or our anxieties or our insecurities or, worst of all, our base desires, the message of Christmas is that God shows up in the midst of our confusion to assert His peaceful purposes.  In the baby born in Bethlehem, God has shown up ultimately and definitively to tower over the chaos of life, which is how the Bible begins in Genesis and how it ends in Revelation.  In the Christ Child, God has not left us to our own devices, but has taken the initiative to comfort us and to forgive us and to empower us for the living of these days.   

The only question that remains is, “Do you want God’s comfort?  Do you desire God’s tenderness?”  If so, then get your eyes and your ears on God and not your confusing circumstances.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed and powerless in the face of whatever things may have come against you, then you really haven’t been looking and listening for God to show up in the midst of your distress.  You’ve been assuming that your distress is greater than God.  But it isn’t.  You’ve been assuming that your distress will last forever.  But it won’t.  You’ve been assuming that your distress will have the last word.  But it will not.   

John Killinger is a prominent preacher, author, and speaker.  Years ago, he was at a speaking engagement in Washington State around this time of the year when he wandered into a little Christmas shop to see if he might pick up a present or two.   You’ve seen these sorts of shops; they are packed from front to back and side to side with all manner of Christmas items.  There were exquisite manger scenes from all over the world.  There were furry-faced elves and jolly old Saint Nicks.  There were sleighs and reindeer of every size and description.  There were nutcrackers and candles and electric lights and angels and little drummer boys.  The shop was bursting with Christmas, with the sound system set on a station playing a medley of Christmas tunes.  It was infectious, thought Killinger.  But then he saw something down in the corner of the front door, where no one could possibly miss it.  It was a small sign that read, “Christmas Spoken Here.”

I can’t think of a better message for our church this holiday season.  I can’t think of a better way to remind one another and to proclaim to our world that our God has drawn near to us in Jesus.  God has drawn near to quell the chaos and confusion that swirl all around us.  God has drawn near to calm our fears and comfort our souls.  Of all the words that we could speak at this time, let us join our hearts and voices together around that one word, for in a world that is on the verge of being pulled apart at the seams, only the word that points people to the baby Jesus and proclaims, “Here is your God!” is the one word, the Word that became flesh, that will ultimately bring peace, even peace on earth and goodwill toward men.