Sunday Shorts: Lay Down

John 10:15 Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. (NIV)

            I’ve sometimes heard and read some post-modern preachers say that Jesus didn’t sacrifice His life on our behalf. They question Christ paying the price of our sins because God’s justice demanded it. They also express the thought that His death was accidental and was never intended to happen. I wonder where they get their notions from and feel as though they’re just parroting something that a seminary teacher, lecturer, or professor once stated. They are fully convinced that they are right and people like me are totally wrong.

            I question their ideas because scripture, like today’s highlighted verse, plainly states that Jesus Himself declared He was willing to lay down His life for the sheep; in other words, Christ clearly expressed His readiness to die for His flock, which is not some 19^th century theological notion created by revivalist preachers, but is a First century teaching that the Apostle John must have heard directly from the lips of Jesus.

            I have known several shepherds in my lifetime and have seen how devoted they are to the wellbeing of their livestock. At this time of year, they are constantly watching over the ewes who are producing lambs and spend many hours tending to their needs at a very vulnerable time for both the ewes and their young. Without that commitment and watchfulness, the sheep would perish, so it’s no wonder then that Jesus talked about being the Good Shepherd to His followers, but He also took His pastoral care a stage further by stating that He would lay down His life for them – that’s not just good shepherding; it’s great shepherding.

            There can be no reason for Jesus saying He would lay down His life for His sheep other than sacrificing Himself on their behalf, even on our behalf. It may be theologically fashionable for some folks to reject this notion, but it does not eradicate the fact that Jesus did what He said He would do. He laid down His life on the Cross at Calvary in order to save His sheep and satisfy what God required. Why? Because the sheep, including us, could do nothing to save themselves from the wrath of God.

Point to ponder: Do I believe Jesus laid down His life for my sins? If not, what can I do to save myself? If so, am I willing to accept Christ as my Savior today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, without Your sacrifice, we could never do enough to placate God or be restored to God’s favor, love, and kingdom. Help us to understand and accept that You laid down Your life for every one of us by enabling us to receive You as our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

May 02 devotional - Shame Game - Mark 15:17-18

Mark 15:17-18  They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” (NIV)

            Some historians believe it was called ‘The King’s Game.’ Before important prisoners were crucified, the Roman guards would abuse the condemned person and add to his misery by performing a cruel and brutal pageant of mockery and shame. The victim was dressed up as a king of the local region before whom the soldiers would mockingly bow and then beat the person senseless. They did this to disgrace the condemned person and to satisfy their own sadistic nature. Instead of giving their victim a last meal, they made his final hours one of cruelty and despair. The guards robbed him of any final chance of dignity or comfort. It was a wicked and atrocious way to die.

            Even today, these things still happen to prisoners of war and political detainees. We may sadly remember the degradation, torture, and abuse that our own troops carried out against prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, just over ten years ago. Many of us were appalled when we saw the inhuman indignities that were carried out against powerless prisoners. It brought shame to our country and was strongly condemned by other nations around the world. It reminded me that no matter how sophisticated our weapons have become or how smart we train our military, helpless people can still be wickedly abused because of the vile and base nature of those with power.

            When I read about what Jesus endured before His crucifixion, I am appalled by the brutality and often weep at the wickedness. I wonder what Jesus must have been feeling inside of Himself because the very people who were mocking and assaulting Him were the exact same ones He came to die for. As each painful second passed, I ask myself, “How did He do it?” I know why He did it – He did it for me and you and them – I just don’t know how He managed to endure it all for my soul’s sake and the world.

Point to ponder

What do I feel when I read about Christ’s unjust injuries and degradation? Am I truly grateful for all that He endured?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You suffered for our sake and yet we still take You for granted. You purchased our salvation with every bruise and wound You received. We can never repay the debt we owe You; we can only wonder at Your courage and cling to Your grace. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can read the church website at www.erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s Good Friday drawings. It is called ‘Killer of Prophets.’ If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Cross.

Short devotion: Blue Jays - Romans 5:17

Romans 5:17  For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

            This morning when I drove into the church parking lot, I was surprised to see a flock of blue jays hopping on the grass in front of our Fellowship Hall. They were feeding on something, but as there were no berries on the trees, I wondered what they were eating. As I watched a few of them fly away, I saw that they had small white cubes in their mouths. I quickly realized that they were feeding on the Communion Bread from last Sunday morning!

            After each Communion service, our church elders dispose of the extra bread and wine by emptying the cup’s contents on the grass, as well as scattering the small squares of bread on the lawn. Eventually God’s creatures come and feed on the elements – insects, birds, and small animals. Today, however, was the first time that I have seen any of them actually taking Communion!

            Grace is a wonderful gift that we’ve been given through Christ, so that we may dwell with God in His Eternal Kingdom. Seeing the blue jays feeding on the bread crumbs reminded me of the simple way that my Heavenly Father nourishes me with the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation.

            May you experience the richness of God’s grace and the blessing of His goodness today.

Question for reflection

What does Communion mean to me? How have I experienced God’s grace through it?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of grace that You purchased for us through the giving of Your Body and Blood. We know that we do not deserve such a bounteous blessing, so we are humbly grateful for what You have done and what we have been given. In Your Holy Name, we cheerfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s Blue Jay drawings. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Blue Jay.

Church devotion: In Christ Alone - Romans 5:18

Romans 5:18  Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

            The other day one of my Facebook friends sent me an article concerning my denomination, the PCUSA. It was about our Committee on Song’s rejection of the beautiful contemporary hymn, “In Christ Alone.” It was expected to be included in the new hymnal, mainly because congregations like my own love to frequently sing it. However, it was rejected by the PCUSA committee because the original writers of the hymn, Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, would not allow the lyrics to be changed.

            The original song contains the lines:

“Till on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied.”

The Committee proposed an alternative:

“Till on that cross as Jesus died

The love of God was magnified.”

Some members of the Committee were repulsed by the idea of God being wrathful; the original lyricists would not permit their words to be changed because they believed it would change the entire theology of the whole song.

            It’s moments like this which cause me to question the road that my denomination is traveling down. We seem to take great offence of being reminded that we are sinners, condemned by a just and holy God, in need of total and absolute salvation. If we do not acknowledge or understand the depths of our sinful depravity which is offensive to God, then we will never accept the need for salvation from our sins.

            I admire Getty and Townend for their insistence on keeping to the original lyrics; I deplore the Committee on Song for having surrendered Reformed theology and replacing it with New Age mentality. It’s a sad day for the church when we go into denial about the wrath of God, the gravity of which sent Jesus to the Cross instead of ourselves.

            As a much better pastor than I will ever attain to be once wrote, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Discipleship.

Question for personal reflection

Do I honestly believe that my sins have no eternal consequences? Do I really feel as though God will forgive me of anything through repenting of nothing?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, we stand condemned as sinful creatures under a holy and perfect God. Without You, we would have no forgiveness; without Your bloody sacrifice, we could not be redeemed or restored to God. In You alone, we have salvation. Keep us from taking Your grace for granted by reminding us of the terrible cost. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of my 2013 Easter drawings called “Outside a City Wall.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7027482543_2af1a2c5f8_b.jpg

Maundy Thursday Devotion - Be Diligent - Hebrews 6:11

Hebrews 6:11  We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 

Diligence is a word that I like. I came across it in Elementary school when my teacher pondered whether I or a girl called Sandra should be awarded a special prize for diligence at the end of the school year. Sandra ended up getting the prize because she deserved it more than I did. When I understood what it represented – hard work, discipline, and determination – I knew that she was more worthy of the award.

Christians are called to be diligent faithful people. Holding on to our hopes and maintaining our beliefs involves a lot of hard work, spiritual discipline, and determination, especially in today’s secular society. What was once an easy path to follow has become an arduous uphill climb. Being a Christian is no longer an acceptable way to live for most people. In fact, Christians are now becoming soft targets for ridicule and rejection. We have to fight all over the globe to maintain our rights to worship freely. We have to be more determined and disciplined in our Christian ways if we want to safeguard the faith for the next generation of believers.

An example of this can be seen with what’s happening to Holy Week and Easter. More and more people want to celebrate Easter as a Spring celebration. They want to turn it into another commercially driven holiday with toys for kids and parties for adults. Christ’s sacrifice is set aside and the Cross is diminished. Sadly, some Christians are succumbing to this relentless peer pressure so that Holy Week just becomes another burden of busy-ness, instead of a week long time of sacred reflection, heartfelt contrition, and sincere service to Christ.

As we experience Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Silent Saturday and Easter Sunday, let’s try to keep them diligently, spiritually, and reverently.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, as we head into the last three days of Holy Week, keep us diligently focused on You. Prevent us from being distracted and allow us the joy of knowing Your glorious Presence in our hearts, our homes, our churches and communities. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions of today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest Good Friday drawing called “Celtic Christ.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/5639780862_23d72e2ce9_b.jpg

Holy Week Devotions: Just Like Us - Proverbs 12:21

Proverbs 12:21           No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

Today’s verse from Proverbs expresses a religious idea that was prevalent in Old Testament times: the good are blessed by God; those who are evil befall all kinds of disaster.

During Holy Week, we are constantly reminded that this is not true. Christ, who was entirely good, was not protected from the pain and ignominy, suffering and shame that He endured. Instead, because He was all good, He was humiliated and wounded, abused and executed, tortured and sacrificed by people just like us. Had we been there in Jerusalem during Christ’s last week, we would have joined the mob and condemned Him.

On that day of infamy, all manner of harm befell the Righteous One. On that day, the wicked had more than their fill of bloodlust and anger, vengeance and hatred, fanaticism and bigotry.

The question we need to ask ourselves today is this: are we any different from Christ’s abusers, or does this most sacred and holiest of weeks in the year become life changing and truly meaningful to us?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, help us to take time out from the busy-ness of our tight schedules and lay aside a worthy portion of our time to think about You, Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter. Keep us from being distracted and enable us to remain focused on You. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions of today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Holy Week drawings. It’s called “New Day” and is a Maundy Thursday/Easter sunrise picture. If you would like to see a larger version of this, please visit the following link: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/5622811365_440f59a85b_b.jpg

The True Cost of Freedom

As I drove home late last night, I listened to a news report on the car radio. It was all about some legal aliens in California who were complaining that the process to become naturalized citizens was too slow. About a million of them had applied last year and they fully expected to get their citizenship in time for this year’s Presidential elections. Because of the sudden increase in the number of applicants, the bureaucracy was swamped. In order to cope with this, about three thousand new jobs with the INS has had to be created. And the price for the process has now been increased from $475 per person to $650.

Podcast version here

Applicants were told that it would take about a year before they would be contacted, so now they are protesting about the time involved, as well as the costs to become a citizen. They also feel as though they are being victimized because they will not get to vote in November. They are demanding that things be changed in their favor.

When our family decided to become American citizens, it was our way of saying “thank you” to the people and nation that had embraced us as legal immigrants. We knew that it would cost us a lot of money and we understood that it would take a great deal of time. We were just so happy to be given the privilege and special opportunity of doing this. We never took it for granted. We never demanded it as a right. And we certainly didn’t grumble about the amount of time it took.

Two years later, we stood in the local courthouse and proudly took our citizenship oaths. Friends from church were there to witness the event, and we felt very privileged to have received such an honor in our lives. It was a wonderful occasion and a remarkable threshold in our lives. It was not a decision that we have ever regretted, nor have we ever taken our liberties for granted since then.

Bible Verses of the Day
Numbers 11:4 - 6 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

Those protesting applicants in California must be very selfish people. They remind me of the grumbling Israelites in the wilderness. Everything was provided for them by God – their food, their survival, their deliverance – and yet the Hebrews still complained about their treatment, about how long they were traveling, and about how they longed for the good old days. God gave them everything they needed and yet they still wanted more.

The path to citizenship is worth every dollar spent and every day of waiting. It should never be an easy process and applicants should show more respect to the wonderful nation that is bestowing citizenship upon these legal aliens. Sometimes the best things in life are not free; sometimes we have to be patient before we receive them.

For us Christians, becoming a servant in the Kingdom of God is the same thing. The high cost of Christ’s sacrifice bought us an everlasting opportunity to be restored to God’s love. To get there, we need to surrender ourselves to Jesus and submit our lives to His Authority. We cannot take it for granted and we must not demand it as a right. It only comes to us when we yield our hearts, minds, and souls to Jesus, by accepting Him as our Savior, Lord, Judge, and King.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to give our lives to You in ways that will honor Your mission and glorify Your Father in Heaven. Prevent us from taking You for granted and keep us from misinterpreting Your sacred words. Help us to place our hearts into Your Hands, and our souls into Your Spirit. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.