HE HAS OUR BACKS

I watched a rerun of the Biggest Loser the other night and as usual it was a tear-jerking event (well, for me anyway).  It was a special one that featured ex-athletes, many of whom I have seen on the professional circuit in past years, trying to get ahold of their lives again.  The difference between their current condition and their glory days was stark.  As athletes they were in peak condition and now they were well over 200 or 300 pounds and very obese.  As I watched I was asking the same question that I am sure many others at home and probably the athletes themselves were asking- How did this happen?  How did they go from winning Olympic gold medals, Super Bowls, and Tennis championships to barely being able to walk five minutes on a treadmill.  What had brought them to that point? We will talk about the how later, but first of all we should realize it can happen to anyone.  In the Biggest Loser it is mostly physical, but that kind of  slow but drastic change can also take place in other parts of our lives.

The people on the Biggest Loser had one advantage that we don’t have when we degrade in areas other than physical.  They have mirrors.  They could look in the mirror and see the differences.  None of them got there overnight just like none of us turn flabby in our spiritual life overnight.  Unfortunately we don’t have a mirror to reflect our spiritual condition.  We can’t see where we are or where we were by looking in a magic mirror, but there are some things that can help us see our spiritual condition.

Gaining weight might happen over a period of months or years when we have neglected to push the plate away like we should.  Gaining spiritual flab might also happen over a period of months or years when we have been pushing God away rather than running towards Him. Throughout the journey with the people on the Biggest Loser we heard how they got to where they were.  How seemingly suddenly, but not really, they rolled out of bed one morning and had moved up eight sizes and could no longer tie their own shoes. This morning, however, we will look at how we can avoid spiritual obesity that can just as easily sneak up on us and steal the pleasure that we can have in life.

Let’s pretend we have a magic mirror for a minute- that we can look into it and see our spiritual condition.  What would be staring back at us? The Apostle Paul that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) In other words, if we want to see a spiritually fit person staring back at us, we need to be in the Word of God. One of the early signals that we’re moving away from God is a diminishing desire to study His Word.  Just like someone physically degrading by not eating the right foods, we are not consistently taking in the nourishing food of Bible.  We are caught up in the junk food of the world.

Another symptom that we are losing control of our spiritual condition is a diminishing desire to be around God’s people.  Being around loving, spirit-filled, people of God, gives us accountability, strength and support.  It is like hanging around a gym for our physical well-being.  Being around the right people encourages us to stay on the right track. The right kind of fellowship strengthens us, just as much as the wrong kind of fellowship weakens us. In fact, that truth is repeated throughout the Bible. Ecclesiastes says it this way: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

Finally, if we find ourselves increasingly thrilled over the things of this world, we are probably moving into spiritual obesity. The Apostle John said in 1 John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all this is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father, but is of the world.”  If we replace prayer and service, reading and fellowship, with the things of the world it will affect us.  We cannot eat like we want, avoid exercise, and not treat our bodies right and expect good results.  The same thing goes for our spiritual lives.

So there are remedies against getting out of shape spiritually.  Routine Bible study and church attendance will yield great results.  Prayer and service will help us stay in shape. If we do these things we can be alert to the traps the world sets for us.  Where we put our time will be what shapes us.  Lust, an unhealthy desire for things in this world, can do more to kill a relationship with Jesus as anything I know. Paul told us if we “walk in the spirit…You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16) Peter said it even more strongly “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

That is the unfortunate thing about both spiritual and physical obesity.  People are unhappy, but continue the same habits that keep them there.  People are afraid to give things up because they think that those things give them true happiness, but they usually aren’t happy.  The 1/2 pound of chocolate makes them happy for the moment, at least until they walk by a store window and see their reflection or walk up flight of stairs and have to stop every other step.  The sin that we are involved in seems great at the time, at least until we have a moment of reflection and realize that it’s fun effects were temporary and we are still not content on the inside. Satan’s lie is that the alternatives to fattening foods are tasteless and the alternative to sin is funless.  Both lies, but we fall for them.

So we need to be spiritual biggest losers.  Losers of those things that hold us back and make us spiritually flabby.  If we are in a spiritually fit condition, we will be happier and will finally find a purpose in our lives.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32

I have some breaking news for you.  Some people are difficult to be kind to.  I will wait a moment while you pick yourself off the floor after that “breaking “  news.   Actually, of course, I am being  I am being mildly sarcastic.  We all know that there are difficult people out there.  Looking at our verse for today I don’t  see any postscripts that say, “Be kind unless they are difficult.”   As a matter of fact,  in 1 Peter 3:8-9 it almost says the opposite.

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” 

When the verse says not to repay “evil for evil” or “reviling for reviling”  it is actually saying that there will sometimes be people who do evil and reviling things.  I know that is no surprise to you either.  But as we look at the above verses we realize that God has left us very little wiggle room when it comes to showing kindness to others.

According to a traditional Hebrew story, Abraham was sitting outside his tent one evening when he saw an old man, weary from age and journey, coming toward him. Abraham rushed out, greeted him, and then invited him into his tent. There he washed the old man’s feet and gave him food and drink.

The old man immediately began eating without saying any prayer or blessing. So Abraham asked him, “Don’t you worship God?”

The old traveler replied, “I worship fire only and reverence no other god.”

When he heard this, Abraham became incensed, grabbed the old man by the shoulders, and threw him out his tent into the cold night air.

When the old man had departed, God called to his friend Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, “I forced him out because he did not worship you.”

God answered, “I have suffered him these eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure him one night?”

We may not have thrown someone out into the night lately, but how many have we turned out of our lives.  How many have we decided were not “worthy” of our time and goodness.  There are many ways we can turn people away without physically removing them.   We must know that if God has tolerated them for this long we might be part of the plan to bring them kindness.    It did not say in the story above, but is it possible that  God could have said to Abraham, “What came of the man I sent to your door tonight.  He has been turned away by so many, but I knew that you love me, so you would love him also.  How did it go.”  Boy,those would be harsh words for Abraham to hear from God- for us as well.

A few years ago we were on our way back from a camping trip and our oldest son and his family were following us in their car.   We passed  a young man walking the opposite way along the road.  He was wearing some raggedy clothes and carrying a well-worn backpack.  I did not think much of it as we see many young people  along our highways and byways in this day and age.

I looked in my rear view mirror and our son was pulling off the road and making a u-turn.  I pulled off the road and waited for them to return, thinking maybe one of the kids tossed a hat, a toy, or maybe a brother out the window.   We waited for a bit and along they came and our son pulled over behind us and jumped out to see what the matter was. 

Chris said, “Did you see that guy back there.  He didn’t have any shoes.  I didn’t need mine to drive, so I went back to see if he needed them.  It was great.  They fit.”   Well, I was really proud of Chris, but realized that I had not even noticed that the man was shoeless.   Even if I would have, I am not sure I would have stopped.  I learned a lesson that day.  Don’t just glance at appearances because God might just send a need my way and I need to look with that in mind.

Today on my way to town I was in a left lane with about thirty cars packed bumper to bumper because the right lane was closed ahead.  I have a pet peeve and sure enough it came to pass.  I huge truck came barreling along in the right lane passing all the cars in the left lane dutifully staying in the open left lane.  That man in the speeding truck had to rely on the kindness of at least one driver who was willing to ignore  an obvious infringement of etiquette and let him in.  Well, up ahead the man got his break and someone let him in.

Allegorically speaking, that is what we are called to do in today’s verses.   We are called to be kind whenever possible to the irritating, the obnoxious, the difficult, and even cruel.   After all, they are the ones who may need kindness the most.

“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”  Ephesians 6:10

We have all had tough times and in the midst of those we have had others who have tried to encourage us to “be strong.”  Although the counsel is certainly not bad advice, it is often easier said than done.  It is much like the PE teacher who runs his kids, lines them up, and then says, “Stop sweating.”  Some things seem a bit out of our control.  After all, if we could just “be strong” we probably wouldn’t need encouragement to do so.

Paul is advising the Christians in Ephesus (and us) a much more practical way.  Rather than a glib “Hang in there,” he is actually telling them from whom they can draw their strength other than reaching “deep from inside.”  He is saying that they need to focus not on the problems, but on The Lord, and from Him they will be able to draw strength.  When Paul wrote to the Philippians he reminded them, as well, that they “… (could) do all things through (Christ) who gives (them) strength.”  (Philippians 4:13)  Paul does not just give encouraging words but encouragement through solutions- that is truly encouraging.

Herbert Johnson was a fledgling missionary going to school who was assigned a car by the local missions board.  The only trouble was that the car would not start without a push.  Herbert learned to park on hills or at least slight inclines so he could get it going. On occasion he would have to enlist others to help him fire up the engine with a good push. After two years, when he was finally going to go off to the mission field he decided to leave the car to another young missionary and told him the car’s malady and how he had solved the problem through the years.  The missionary looked under the hood and remarked, “It seems this cable is loose,” and he tightened it, stepped into the car, and it started right up.  We are often like Herbert.  We have access to power, but still try on our own strength to get things done.  Paul is checking under our hoods and telling us that if we just tighten the connection between us and God we will have the power to go forward.

We can’t always will ourselves to just “be” a certain way.  “Be happy.”  “Be strong.”  “Be encouraged.”  The effort to do those things on our own can be exhausting.  When we rely on our own efforts and our own wisdom, we are tapping into limited resources. Instead we should be tapping into the unlimited power of a mighty God.  Years ago one of my football teams gave me a wonderful plaque with this verse from Isaiah: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  Isaiah 40:29-31  It has been an encouragement to me every time I have read those words because it reminds me that it is “He” who gives true strength.

Of course, even turning toward God seems beyond us sometimes.  There is a wonderful song that says, “when you don’t know what to say, when you don’t know what to pray,  just say Jesus.”  Christ makes it easy to come to Him; it is us who makes it hard.  We fight through every scenario in our life on our own until we finally give in, lying sweating and out of breath on the coliseum ground, and finally ask God for help.  Why must we reach that point?  Why don’t we ask God to help us before the battle and during the battle, rather than in desperation at the end of the battle.  Only God can give us the power we need to successfully battle against sin, against self, against selfishness, and of course, against Satan.  He awaits our call, armored up and ready to go, stronger than anyone or anything that we might face, not because He has to be ready to come to our side, but because He wants to.

The Word says, “if He is with us, who can be against us?”  Well, the answer is everyone can be against us, but the truth is no one can stand against us.  It would be futile for anyone to try to test our Warrior King who “never rests, never slumbers,” but instead sits on the right hand of God waiting to empower us.  Let’s quit jump-starting our lives with senseless self-effort and instead connect closely to God and let Him move us. That is so much more sensible.

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21

Okay, this way too  long, so I suggest you read it in a couple of settings.  I didn’t want to break it up because there would be a whole week between sections, so it is up to you to. break it up!  Thanks for your patience.

A few years back we had a memorial for one of our beloved church members, David Williams.  It was a lovely time of remembering his life and his almost 50 years with his lovely wife Virginia and their very large family.  If you want to see the memorial,  you can click here to view the whole thing.  Dave’s memorial  led me to remember another Celebration of Life I went to even longer ago.  That memorial was for my good friend James Witt and it was very touching and thought provoking.   James was the  youth leader for our four children at Emmanuel Baptist church years ago (yes, it was in the 80’s!). James was only 52 when he passed and beloved by many. He found out three months earlier what he was facing and so his fight was short, but very difficult. It was, of course, very hard on his nine children and wonderful wife, Lenae. It was also hard on the students in the school that he started and where he taught.  It was especially  difficult for the boys in the Christian Service Brigade that he had started two years earlier.   It was hard on his many friends, as well. In the two-hour service we heard from people in every one of those categories.

The service was held in the Melrose church gym that has been converted into a worship center. It was packed and there was standing room only for some of the latecomers. There was no slide show of James’ life, just testimonies. I don’t think he was too big on technology.

The service started with over a half-hour of his children and a few others combining in different groups and singing all of James’ favorite songs. It was incredibly touching. Amazingly, they all had wonderful voices and could play a variety of instruments. There were also love letters written to James from each of his children, and the love that was reflected in those letters was also reflected on the stage.  Finally, several of the individual children spoke. They all called him “Papa,” and to hear them speak of their respect and love for their papa was intensely moving.

After about an hour of testimony about James’ life, his son Timothy got up and said that James had written and recorded a message for his own memorial a few weeks earlier. Timothy said that they were not going to play it, because is seemed almost morbid in a way. But after the family buried James on a ranch that he inherited last year from a man who James had befriended, they listened to the recorded message and were blessed by it. They decided as a family to play it at the service, so they did.

It was wonderfully strange to hear James speaking at his own memorial. He spoke with love and conviction. As was his way, he did not hold back. He knew that even the hardest of hearts would probably not walk out on a dead man speaking, so he laid it all on the line. There wasn’t a person sitting in that auditorium that had excuse any longer. If they had managed to avoid hearing the gospel up to that point in their lives, they hadn’t avoided it any longer. I think the message of hope that he gave while on the cusp of death had an incredible effect on all who were there. There was no bitterness in his voice or words, only anticipation. It was truly beautiful. He ended with some wonderful verses and said good bye “for now.”  I have never experienced anything like it.

After James’ message they opened it up to those who would like to come forward and share a bit. Some of the stories were lengthy (and as usual, some people used it for a personal pulpit time that had little to do with James), but most were just short vignettes about James’ kindness and love. After that a young pastor came forward and told how he had been kicked out of houses of friends and relatives up until the age 18 when James took him in. James would get him up at 5:00 every morning and they would run two miles and talk about the Lord. The young man was eventually saved and became a pastor. It was a very touching story. Well, at that point he gave a hellfire and brimstone sermon. I mean it was an old-fashioned, “I don’t need no stinkin’ microphone” lay-it-on-the-line message. Quite unusual for a memorial, but I guess not for James’ memorial.

At the end about 15 boys went forward in their Christian Service Brigade uniforms (similar to Boy Scout garb) and sang their Christian theme song and gave their motto. So after about two and a half hours, the service ended and we went to the family meet and greet line or the food line. James was a very conservative Christian with some different ideas, none of which offset his deep belief in Christ as Savior, so it was a bit like being at an Apostolic Faith, Mennonite, or Amish gathering. Many of the females wore small head coverings and long dresses and I saw more long beards on the men than at a Duck Dynasty convention or ZZ Top concert. The whole event was what I would call serious but festive. That sounds contradictory, but that is the only way to explain it. Many parts were upbeat, but a person could never escape the feeling that everyone involved was saying, “This idea of Jesus and the afterlife is crucial. Don’t mess up.” It wasn’t that everyone was uptight, but that everyone knew that with memorials comes great opportunity.

The reason I am reliving this beautifully unique memorial is not only because our kids knew James as a youth leader (and afterwards as well), but because like every memorial or funeral it forces us to face our own mortality. There wasn’t a person sitting there that day who wasn’t asking himself at one time or another, “What will my celebration of life be? How will I be remembered? What can people say about me?” There is a wonderful poem called “The Dash” that explains that when a date appears on a headstone it records the year of birth, then a dash, then the year of death. The dates are not the important part, what was important is what took place during the dash. What I heard about James’ “dash” was life of kindness, humility, and conviction. What I mostly heard, however, was about a life committed to Christ, family, and friends.

When an unbeliever dies, people talk about his or her goodness of character (even though it may have been missing). Mourners are more or less satisfied knowing that the person was just a “good guy” during his lifetime. But as Christians we should not be satisfied with just being “good.” Our time here should be marked by our love for Christ and the actions of our life should stem from that love. Our memorials should not consist of the occasional assumption by some that we must have been a Christian because we went to church once in awhile. No one should be able to turn to another in the service and say, “Oh, so he/she was a Christian? I didn’t know that.” Our lives are to reflect Christ, so our deaths should not reveal anything less. When I spoke at my Dad’s memorial, I tried to tell stories of his life, but also tried to express, undeniably, that they were all connected to his love for Jesus. He was a simple man with simple faith, but everyone who met him knew that God was important in his life. He attended church up until it was impossible to do so and was not afraid to defend Jesus, Ronald Reagan, and gun control (in that order), to anyone who had the guts to take on a guy you could not get mad at.

I guess what I took away from Jame’s  memorial is that Christian memorials should be different from secular ones. John said that “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Our lives should reveal Christ more and more each day, so that when we reach the end there should be no doubt who we want to glorify. If our lives reflect just a passing glimpse of who Jesus is and a whole bunch of other “stuff,” even though the “stuff” is good, we will be disappointed in ourselves when see Him face to face. When most people say they want to live with no regrets, they mean they want to pile in every endeavor possible so they don’t miss out on anything. As Christians “no regrets” should mean exemplifying Christ and living for Him as much as we possibly can. We might think that sounds boring, but I don’t think we will feel that way when the family who loved us, friends who knew us, and the Savior who redeemed all say at the end of our lives , “Well done, good and faithful one.” If our lives were books, how many pages would mention Christ’s name? Would there be long stretches, maybe even full chapters, in which He never appears? Is He like the soap opera character that pops in and out of episodes every few months for convenience or is He the leading character on which the story rests?

There was no doubt at the end of the day where James’ loyalties lay. His memorial service was more about life than dying. It was more about heaven to come than earth left behind. It was, from everything I could see, an example of a worthwhile “dash” between two numbers. James died on my birthday, so it is fitting that we remember that there is a “time for life and a time for death,” and in this life we should live for Christ and in that in our death we should meet with Him, and that no one left should have any questions about either. Mark Twain once said that we should live such lives that when we die, that everyone should be sorry, even the undertaker! When famous pastor Donald Barnhouse was going to his wife’s funeral with his young children a huge truck passed them and its shadow covered half the road. He asked his children if they would rather be run over by that truck or by the shadow cast by that truck. Of course they said the shadow because it could not hurt them. He said, “That is the way it is with death. The truck represents the death, but because of Christ’s sacrifice, the only thing that touches us now is its shadow. Death can’t hurt us anymore.”

James’s lamp was not extinguished, he just doesn’t need it anymore so he set it aside. He is in the true light now. As I write the book of my life, I hope it can be entitled, “Jesus and his friend Rick.” I want Him to be the main character. I think we all hope that we will live more for Him than ourselves and that our lives will be undeniably connected in word and deed to “Him Who lives within us.”

“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”  Ephesians 3:16-19

Paul had wonderful apostolic prayers that he prayed for others that are also for us.  Paul understood that not only people around him needed prayer, but he needed prayers himself. The above verses from Ephesians help us to petition for our own needs and the needs of others.

There are some wonderful “whats” in this prayer followed by an even more wonderful “how.”  That is typical of God’s Word.  When He reveals a wonderful treasure to us, He doesn’t leave us hanging, but tells us where to find it and how to use it. In the verses above Paul prays that we will be strengthened 1) by the spirit 2) by being filled with the fulness of God 3) by being grounded in the overwhelming love of Christ.

If we want to experience the fulness of Christian living, we need to experience the fulness of Christ’s love.  In the same stroke of the pen, Paul says that we can comprehend the incomprehensible.  How is that possible?  He tells us that the love of Christ passes all understanding but that if we are filled with Christ, we will have the knowledge of this love. This is an example of faith in God’s grace.  We can’t understand Christ’s love but to understand it, we must receive it and then we will understand it.

In one of his sermons, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” One man shouted, “Suck it out with a pump!” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.” After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, took out a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.”

We cannot get the sin out of our lives by sucking it out of our own accord.  That would break us.  The only way to remove the sin from our lives is to be filled with Christ.  We can only empty ourselves by being filled.  We must allow the filling of the spirit to push the pride, conceit, false ambition, selfishness and other things that are contrary to God’s law out of our lives.

I think some try to empty themselves on their own to make room for the spirit of God.  But we cannot do that.  We must take in the Holy Spirit and allow Him to push those things out of our lives. When we are filled with Him there is no room left for those things of the flesh. Two different things cannot occupy the same space.  If we are filled with the Spirit, there is no room left for our evil desires.  The thing is, we have all the Holy Spirit, but sometimes He does not have all of us. We have all we need to push the evil from our lives, but sometimes we use more energy to hang onto the old things than we use to receive the new.

Charles Spurgeon put it well, “Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without the wind, branches without sap, and like coals without fire, we are useless.”  God has recreated us through the Son and His spirit.  We need not be useless any longer but useful.

A park ranger at Yellowstone National Park was leading a group of hikers to a fire lookout. The ranger was was so focused on the hike, he turned off his radio so there would not be any distractions. After a few hours the group was met by a nearly breathless lookout, who asked why he hadn’t responded to the messages on his radio. A grizzly bear had been seen stalking the group, and the authorities were trying to warn them of the danger.

Any time we tune out the Holy Spirit or ignore the warnings of the Bible we put ourselves and those around us in danger.

The key again, is as Paul says: “Be rooted in love” by “knowing Christ’s love” so we will be “filled with the fulness of God” and there will not be any room for anything else but Him.  Be both emptied and filled today.  Emptied of us and filled with Him.  Only then will our lives be all they can be on this earth.