Woodruff Road Christian Church Sermons

This may come as a surprise to some, but probably not: I’ve been told more often than I care to admit to “Act my age.” 99% of the time it is because I was doing something that was determined to be below my age-level.

As more and more responsibility has come my way, the opportunities to act below my age level are getting less and less. Which is lame.

I want to make a quick point to the Body of Christ today: STOP ACTING YOUR AGE.

Seriously. The world has enough people gripped by consumeristic fears, shady schemes, and anxiety about adulting. We need more child-like wonder, joy, dancing, and enthusiasm about simply living.

Matthew 18: 1 – 4 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Do you hear the seriousness in Jesus’ voice here? He is tenderly holding a child and laying down an eternal truth about Heaven that should smack us adults right in the face. If we DON’T become like children we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

He said “NEVER.” Like never-ever. Acting our age has gotten us into more problems than we can probably count. We mask it with serious words like responsibility, or need… But we’re really just offering excuses as to why we worry, why we lack humility, why we ignore some basic commands found in the Bible.

The wonder of belief gets muddied with adult things. Have we put ourselves in serious danger of missing Heaven because of those worries, anxieties, angers, grudges, and the hopelessness that invades too many adults?

Stop acting your age. Experience belief through the eyes of a child – and see Christ in a brand new way again. We may miss out on something big if we don’t.

Have you ever asked yourself about how far God’s grace really goes? What about how long eternity is? What about this question: “If I were the only person left on earth, would He still have died for me?” Well, if you haven’t asked yourself these questions, do so now and try and come up with a serviceable answer……. I’ll wait.

Do you have something in mind for these? Here’s how I would quickly answer: God’s grace is boundless. Eternity is a really long time, more than long enough to get that puzzle done. And yes, absolutely, 100% yes.

Now lets ask a question that hits a little closer to home: “Does God really want/expect/require _________ from me?” This morning we spent a little time in the Beatitudes, so lets just use them. Does God really think I’m blessed when I’m mourning?

Yes.

Does God really want me to be a peacemaker? Does God really mean it when He wants us to be pure in heart?

Yes.

Does God really want me to consider persecution a blessing?

Yes, absolutely, 100% yes.

Isn’t that asking a little too much of us? Well, if we fully expect boundless grace, eternity, and unrequited love and sacrifice from God it seems He can ask that of us.

This is not new business here – Israel, God’s children, had some messed up ideas for equity in the God/Man relationship too:

Micah 6:6-7 NLT What can we bring to the LORD? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? [7] Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?

This escalates into the ridiculous very quickly, from sacrifices on the normal level to things no one could ever offer: rivers of oil and thousands of rams. They even go so far and accuse God of making them all like Abraham and sacrifice their Isaac.

God, are you asking too much of us? Esther faced that question I’m sure as she and those around her fasted before approaching Xerxes’ throne. Ultimately she understood her life was on the line either way (Esther 4:16)

I do not believe for one second that God wanted Esther to die, nor do I believe God wanted the Jews in Persia to be wiped out by Haman’s silly plan. I believe God is.

And what God expected was a faithful response regardless of circumstance. Is that too much to ask of us?

We act like it is sometimes. Lets finish Micah 6 and see how much God is asking of us: 6:8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Do justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God.

All the sacrifices in the world would pale in comparison to faithfulness of this magnitude. If every breath from us was just and true, every action merciful and compassionate, and every step in step with God our lives would glow and there would be no denying our citizenship (in Heaven).

Is it too much to ask of us to remain faithful when circumstances don’t go our way? No, absolutely not, 100% no.

2 Peter 1:3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Thats what it looks like – everything. We have been given everything we need for living a godly life.

So what is our excuse?

I love that Peter is the one writing this. Peter who wrestled with foot-in-mouth syndrome, Peter who spoke before thinking, Peter who had the guts to reprimand Jesus.

Peter was probably the least-equipped person chosen as a disciple, and yet here we have him writing about how well equipped we all are for living a godly life. It is truly amazing the change and growth that we read from Peter.

I’d like to ask him (among other things when I get to meet him in Heaven) how this verse relates to his rejection of Jesus after the arrest. Do the two relate? I imagine Peter had all sorts of excuses why he denied Christ that night – maybe one of them being: “I’m not prepared to….. ” Or “I didn’t think we’d be expected to….” Or even “He never told us we’d have to…..”

And then after many years pass he writes this – eliminating all excuse for not living a godly life. God gave us everything we need: Jesus. Because of Jesus this world has nothing to throw at us.

So what is our excuse?

* Fear? Conquered. * Hopelessness? Defeated on the third day.* Rejection? We’re accepted by One greater than all the world.* Reputation? Whose name are we wearing anyway? (Christian?)* Rules or Regulations that tell us we can’t? What law or regulation or administrator is greater than the Fruit of the Spirit? (hint: none, against such things there is no law).

No excuse stands against Peter’s statement at the beginning of his second letter. Esther discovered the same principle when faced with something much huger than reputation or rejection. God had placed her exactly where He needed her.

He has done the same for you too.

God is.

That is enough. And that has given us everything we need. No more excuses.

Esther 4:13-16 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. [14] If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: [16] “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”

In today’s sermon (02/16/2020) I mentioned that tripping can’t stop us on our journey. Just because we trip, or have a hiccup in the plan, or fall on our face does not mean the plan is a failure. Every step we take contains a risk for a fall. That applies to us as individuals AND as the Church.

We are going to trip. There will probably be somebody standing by waiting to say something helpful like “I told you so…” or “Have a nice trip? See you next Fall!”

With or without that person, tripping is almost always embarrassing. Whats the first thing we do when we trip? We look around to see if anyone saw us. If no one was looking, we’re safe….. until we think about it later.

Maybe thats the worst part of tripping – remembering that we tripped. I can list off all the times I’ve messed something up, and will struggle to name more than a few things I’ve done well enough. The trips always jump to the front of the queue.

Do you wonder if Mordecai spent time after the fact beating himself up for not saluting Haman? I mean, thats a small thing that lead to Haman literally trying to wipe out the entire nation of Israel. Part of our lessons on the context of the book of Esther shows that Mordecai’s lack of respect to Haman did not stem from a “I won’t bow to a human… only God” source of reverence. Mordecai was faithful in service to Xerxes, the king, to the point of saving his life and alerting him to a plot to kill him. Mordecai was fine serving a human king, he just didn’t salute Haman’s authority – probably due to the family line of each man. (Mordecai – Saul, Haman – Agag).

This seemingly little hiccup on the journey of Israel in captivity lead to a major mess. If anyone should’ve felt like he needed to bury his head in the sand out of shame, it was Mordecai. Instead, he got up and kept moving forward.

Mordecai, flawed and imperfect, remained faithful in a time when it would have been easier to run, to hide. The vengeance of Haman would have caught up to him, no doubt. But I imagine there was a small voice in the back of his head telling him to “get while the gettings good.”

I sincerely hope our trips and falls do not lead to the decision of genocide of an entire nationality. I’m not sure any of us have quite that level of influence (thankfully!). But I’m convinced that when we do have our trips and falls in the daily mess of life there are times we’d be content just lying on the ground instead of getting back on our feet and risking another misstep.

Rejected when inviting someone to church? Never ask again. Ridiculed for standing up for what you believe in? Never stand up again.Pushed aside for acting with integrity? Act like everyone else.

Having to take the narrow path requires faithfulness and endurance. It is not trampled flat, with tripping hazards swept aside. The path is narrow and less traveled for a reason.

The narrow path does not serve our comfort. It serves others. The narrow path does not promise an easy journey. It promises the right ending. The narrow path is not one that we can stop and start on at our own convenience. It does however have an amazing system for refueling and refreshing us on the journey every Sunday morning.

Believing in the ending, God’s promised ending should be enough for us to persevere down any road. Even if that road leads us to a cross. If we over-value this world, we will keep looking for paths that serve us and...

I confess, I’ve been very negative about Esther’s story for a very long time. There are many details about the characters and their actions (reactions, really) that just rub me the wrong way. They are NOT examples or heroes, in the same way Samson is NOT a role-model.

But there is something about the story that we just can’t let go – the movement and love of God in the darkest of times. I know we do not get any hints of God’s work from the original author, but we KNOW that God is there and working.

Why am I restating this? Because the dark times are coming, if they aren’t already here. They look different for each person, but we know that this world is a broken place and the darkness will come.

As a child I hated the dark. Bad things happen at night. My mom and I were mugged walking out of a grocery store at night, in the dark area of the parking lot. All the scary movies and stories take place in the dark. Hope seems to ebb and become too feeble to sustain in the dark. The world is full of darkness and deep shadows the creep over us.

When your mind finally gets quiet, the noise of the day passes – where do you go? Too often we wander into the darkest of places.

Esther’s story tells us one thing: even when it is darkest and the outlook most bleak – God is.

When the only hope looks like a young teenager without any royal experience having to place her life on the line to simply walk into the same room as the king – things are pretty bleak.

When the only hope for the line of Christ remaining is a new law from Xerxes saying the Jews could take up weapons against those wanting to attack them – things are pretty bleak.

When depression rears its head; When loneliness shadows our eyes from seeing others around us; When hopelessness makes giving up look like the easy route; When the dark comes – God is.

God is.

He hasnt moved. He will not move. When it seems there is no word, no miracle imminent, no great message – God still is.

Hear the Psalmist’s cry from the dark:

Psalm 130:1-8 NLT From the depths of despair, O LORD, I call for your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. I am counting on the LORD; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word. I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn. O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows. He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.

God is.

Ours is a different kind of narrative. 

You might think that with all the setup for our sermon series on Esther (3 weeks now) we would 1) at least have made it out of chapter 1; and 2) that we would have actually talked about Esther. 

We’ve done neither. 

There is good reason, so let me explain. Esther’s narrative is different, which we have been very clear about. There are all the elements of a good story: tension, heroes, villains, fear, doubt, and ultimately a victory for the protagonist. In other words, it has all the elements of the story we would want for ourselves. The difference lies in the fact that Esther’s story is a part of our Bible, the story of God’s redemptive purpose for mankind. This takes her story outside the realm of television drama or the popular fiction shelf at the library and places it in the middle of how we build our theology. We are intended to read Esther and gain a vision of God from it. It is my conjecture that we do, clearly. 

Esther starts off as the Girl-Next-Door. Noteworthy because of her looks, but aware enough during the captivity to keep her head down and stick to a low-profile. Her life was business as usual until business became anything but usual. We have to assume she and her family kept to their Jewish roots and identity as strictly and religiously as they could in Persia under Xerxes. We also assume that if she had not been chosen, if still alive, she would have joined those returning to Jerusalem and Judea after their time in Babylon was over. 

I’m sure, 100% sure that most of us can relate to the lifestyle Esther was living, and the hopefulness she had in regaining her freedom from the mess of Persia and Babylon. We are in a secular world, mostly keeping our head down and going about business as usual waiting for relief and freedom and the words “Well done good and faithful…” For the majority, the practices of Christianity, faith, and religion are on par with Western standards. We run the routes we’ve been prescribed to satisfy our need to be connected with family, culture, work, church, and God. Just like Esther, we plug away hoping things do not go completely sideways and we wind up in the king’s harem. (sidenote: I don’t think I’ve ever had that specific worry… but lets just pretend shall we)? 

For the most part that works for us. Hear me: This is not a bad thing. Life is hard. Life is busy. Life is complicated and lots of preachers (me included) are quick to demean and diminish, then interject how we think the life of Christians looks (in our opinion) and how wethink it should look. 

What we can learn from Esther’s story is valuable for both parties: God is. For those in the trenches, God is. For those of us looking down and guiding those in the trenches: God is.

God is working in every circumstance, even when it may look like He has closed His hand. God is at work around us, even in goobers like Xerxes and Haman (or their modern-day equivalents). God is. And that makes our story a different kind of story. Even in the business of life that distracts us, God is. In the mess of the storms, God is. On the mountaintops and in the valleys, God is. 

God is. And that makes all the difference in our story. 

Ok – I spent an entire morning telling you all that Esther 4:11 was the key verse of the book… it’s 4:13.

If you feel so moved – you can now respond to this message…… “Just as I am without one plea…….”

We spent time today (01/19/20) looking at the Book of Esther, which despite the things it lacks (mention of God, prayer, divine command) is a relatable story and seems to resonate with modern Christians.

And that is the big problem with the book of Esther: it resonates with modern Christians.

Overt mentions of God? Robust prayer life? Holy living? Are they missing from your life? We don’t want to admit it, but we’ve gotten comfortable with our story staying casually Christian.

What was Esther doing before being thrust into the spotlight? Hiding. If we look closely we see when when she is IN the spotlight she is hiding. What is Esther’s real name?

Hadassah. (pron HUH-Da-su)  But because of Mordecai’s instruction, she kept that name and heritage hidden.  Does anyone know what the name Esther means in the Biblical text?  Hidden.  Clever, huh?

Will we continue to keep our mission hidden? Will we be satisfied with casually seeking/mentioning/acknowledging God only when it is convenient or life threatening?

If we acknowledge Christ in our Sunday morning schedule, song, prayer, and attendance – are we acknowledging him with our lifestyle when the stakes are a little higher?

Or are we content with staying in the background?

Esther 2:7,10 NLT [7] This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter. [10] Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had directed her not to do so.

I still find it ironic that Jesus told His disciples that He had a NEW command for them…waiting until their ears perked up… then told them to “Love each other.”

I imagine they would deflate a little having just heard again, literally, the one thing they ALWAYS heard and needed to learn most from Jesus throughout His entire ministry: LOVE! He probably could have done the same thing with hope… offering it again and again as something they needed reminded of.

This Christmas we have been looking at one word at a time each sermon that can serve as a foundation for how we, the Church, can and should respond to the Incarnation. The latest entry (12/22/19) focused on the word: Hope.

Hope is a powerful force, with much of our daily lives built upon it. We hope today is a good day. We hope we have enough to retire someday. We hope the diagnosis comes back the way we want. We hope we don’t gain too much weight this holiday season.

Hope gets us out of bed in the morning. Sometimes hope is our only companion when we fall asleep. This season is built on hope. And maybe we need a reminder to hope just like the disciples continually needed reminded to love.

Jesus was not what the world expected Him to be. He continues to not be what we expected Him to be. He came to serve, sacrifice, and save. We tend to want Him to have come to Bless, Bless, and Bless! “Jesus, can you do more of that feeding the 5000 with magic bread and fish thing again?”

We want all the good and none of the transformation. We want all of our “hope” to be fulfilled right here, right now. In other words, our hope is built upon our earthly understandings and expectations. Jesus gave us a new Hope – one of divine perspective.

We set our eyes on things above… We love each other as the sign of discipleship… We sacrifice and submit and give and tithe and work because we want others to be built up and better. Everything Jesus set in place is built on the hope of something better waiting for us Post-Judgement.

This new hope is a revelation to the world. Why would we be so giving? Because we have hope. Why would we sacrifice so much of our time and lives? Because we have hope. Without hope, why would we worship? We hope God is listening.

That is why we can sing “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness…” Because we have hope.

Church, be blessed this holiday season. Find hope in the Incarnation. Peek into the manger and see the One, True Hope.

Romans 15:12-13 NLT…“The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.” [13] I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Christmas narrative, as we discussed a little yesterday (12/16/19), can be taken away from by the sheer volume of distractions this time of year. Nativity Scenes focus on the unique nature of the physical birth of Christ. Christmas songs tell of all the Joy made available to all the world. And Christmas special upon Christmas special remind us of the family-aspects of the season.

I’m not complaining about any of these aspects of the Christmas season, they’re all wonderful byproducts of Christmas.

But as usual, I want to poke into areas that make us uncomfortable. The Christmas narrative, as told by the Bible is 1) all of the above; and 2) equally terrifying. Christmas as we know it cost much more than the discomfort of the stable and a long-while spent in Egypt for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

Included with the divine levels of peace and joy are events that show the absolute worst of humanity. All of these horrible acts are directed at the innocent, earthly family that surrounds Jesus and Jesus himself. It gets very dark very quickly:

Matthew 2: 16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.

How many children were killed by Herod’s rampage? How many families broken apart? I apologize for going down that road – but Herod is an integral part of the Christmas narrative. He is one part that we cannot ignore.

“Why,” you ask?

It shows just how far God was going to go to save us. It proves our value. Herod, in all his herod-ness, shows the power of the light that had entered the world.

All of it for us.

So be warmed by the Christmas happenings, they are a blessing. But do not forget or be distracted from the cost of Christmas. God gave much, so that we may have much.

Matthew 4:14-16This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: [15] “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, [16] the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.” (NLT)

This is one of those topics that really should not have to be addressed in Church. But again and again, we’ve missed the point and continue to seek definition and identity through other means. I’m talking of course about the word “Blessing.”  

This time of year holds many “blessings” whether you’re a Christ-follower or not. We gather around family, there is a general air of good-will towards men, and gifts fly off the shelves and into fancy wrapping paper fit only for ceremonial decimation on Christmas morning. 

We are quick to call that “Blessed” and enjoy the time of relative peace. That is until someone at the family dinner brings up politics. 

I wonder how we would fare in the actual Christmas narrative… Would we be so quick to throw the word “blessed” around if we were really involved? 

Now, lets be honest with each other… the church answer is a resounding YES! How dare you, blog-writing-pastor, suggest we would not call the birth and immediate ripples of the birth of the Messiah anything BUT a Blessing?!!  

Easy – if it were us we would quit. Plain and simple quit. If you look at the Christmas narrative from our Western Comfort Culture we probably wouldn’t last a day going through what Joseph and Mary went through. 

— Joseph’s reputation was destroyed by sticking with unfaithful Mary. Really, who would believe it was the Holy Spirit that got his soon to be wife pregnant? 

— Mary had to face (or hear about second hand) all the gossip about her faithfulness and integrity. 

— They stuck that out and then had to travel to Bethlehem close enough to the due date that modern doctors would prescribe bed rest and travel restrictions. 

— They got there so late that everything was so full, their reservations were given to someone else… Joseph was stuck taking literally the only place with a roof for his wife who was about to deliver their first child! 

— No mid-wife (unless you count the cow). No clean blankets or hot water. Just a curious crowd of animals to physically witness the birth of the Messiah. 

— The first visitors we have record of were not their parents (newly minted grandparents, no less)… but shepherds. Stinky, poor shepherds. 

— Come to find out, after they get some swanky gifts from the oddly dressed wisemen that the king wants to kill the boy so they have to run……… to Egypt. Remember how long Israel wanted OUT of Egypt? Now their deliverer was back there. 

We would have quit. I almost quit writing those points out. 

In all of this chaos comes the one thing we won’t expect unless we look close: Peace. 

Joseph and Mary raised not one cry of protest – they found peace in God’s promise. 

We find the same peace in God’s presence on this earth. We must stop looking for peace in all the wrong places. This world has nothing to offer us in that realm – only God provides. It may look like chaos, it may look like a season of difficulty… but the peace that passes understanding is here. 

Philippians 4: 4 – 7 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.