Short devotion: An Obsolete Word - Matthew 1:21

Matthew 1:21  “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

            As far as the world and the post-modern church is concerned, sin is an obsolete word. Decades ago, people understood that sin was something more than just a mere mistake or a foolish choice – it was a deliberate defiant act against God’s Word, which had eternal consequences. To sin was to put yourself under God’s judgment and expect His wrath. It was a word that people feared because it revealed to them the terrifying prospect of being damned forever. Sin severed people’s souls from God.

            These days, sin doesn’t appear to have any fearful aspect for us. We either take Christ’s saving ability for granted or we disregard the whole concept of sin. Most folks opt for the latter because it’s far easier to live life without being burdened by a religious standard or a faith morality. It’s much more convenient to excuse our sinful ways as being deeply personal and no one else’s business. In fact, some folks say, didn't Jesus tell us ‘not to judge others lest we be judged ourselves?’ In other words, they believe that what Jesus was expressing was a moralistic free-for-all where every individual was free to choose to do whatever they wanted and that no one else could condemn them for it.

            If Jesus actually meant that, then He didn't have to go to the Cross to die for our sins. If Jesus truly believed that everyone could make their own choices and no one else could judge them, then He didn't have to be crucified for our calamities. You see, Jesus went to Calvary because He was absolutely certain that sins have dire eternal consequences if they are left unconfessed, unrepented, and unredeemed.

            The world and the post-modern church may like to do away with the word sin, but they cannot deny that this has become a sinful world or even a sinful church. Sin still separates people from God and it needs to be forgiven through Jesus Christ. As it states in today’s verse, He was born to save His people from their sins. Without Jesus, we cannot get back to God. Without Christ in our hearts and lives, we cannot be restored to His Kingdom. Just because we don’t like a word or feel that it is antiquated, archaic, or irrelevant, does not mean that it does not exist. Sin Separates us from God, Isolates us from His grace, and Nullifies our consciences into a misguided denial that could ultimately cast us away from God forever. As C.S. Lewis once gravely remarked, “There is not one person in Hell who did not choose to be there.”

Questions for personal reflection

What are the major sins in my life? Do I take Christ’s grace for granted or do I truly repent of them?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You died for our sins for that was the only way in which we could ever be forgiven. We know that the world hates the word sin and that Your Church is often accused of being judgmental, narrow-minded, or even bigoted when confronting sin. Forgive us for our own failings, faithlessness, and fearful ways. Grant us Your grace and give us the courage to change our lives by living according to God’s Word. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message or have questions, please contact him by email at Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s Good Friday drawings called “Sin Bearer.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Sin Bearer.

Christian Devotions: being a Christian - Luke 12:57

Luke 12:57  (Jesus said)        “Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?”

There’s a lot of talk these days about Christians being too judgmental. We’re criticized for trying to live according to Christ’s words and sometimes those accusations sting us personally. Consequentially, some people of our faith are afraid of appearing to be judgmental in the eyes of others, so they’ve stopped making judgments altogether. Instead of being the leaven in society in order to change the world for the better in God’s eyes, we’ve become stale. We would rather be respected by others in society, instead of respecting Christ’s own words. We want to be considered broad minded and open rather than following Christ’s sacred and singular way. And even when our church pastors or Christian teachers mention this, we close off our ears, hearts, and minds to any questioning of our choices or to those suggestions that we are walking on the wrong path.

Jesus also had to deal with this in His own day. He was frustrated by the lack of judgment His people were making with regard to their faith and everyday choices. They could work out what kind of day it was going to be by looking at the color of the sky in the morning, but they couldn’t discern that Christ was among them, challenging their ways, and confronting their choices. Even though the signs of the Messiah were all there before them, they didn’t accept Jesus as the Anointed One. They wanted Him to be shaped according to their plans, their needs, and their beliefs.

“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?” Jesus frustratingly exclaims. In other words, you know what is right, so what is stopping you from choosing it?

Being a 21^st century Christian and living a cosmopolitan world is difficult, but who ever said it was going to be easy? When faithful people judge what is right, the world is always going to complain that we are narrow-minded and spiritually closed: yet isn’t that why Christ was crucified? He was totally misunderstood, became unpopular, and was finally executed for daring to judge what was right – perhaps this is why we find it so hard to do the same.

Questions for personal reflection

What makes me a Christian? How different is my lifestyle from my non-Christian peers?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You have called me to be a Christian and to judge what is right. Help me not to be fearful of my peers when they attack my faith or ridicule my religion. In Your Holy Name, I 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 a Good Friday crayon drawing of John’s called “Passover.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5259/5394517049_ef741c1bdf_b.jpg

Free Devotions - Intervention - James 5:20

James 5:20     Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

“Don’t be judgmental!” “Only God can judge!” “You Christians are always judging others.”

If I had a dollar for every time that I’ve heard or read that somewhere, then I’d be a rich person today. People want to live their own lives and make their own choices, but when a pastor, a church member, or a faithful Christian points out the foolishness or danger of such decisions, they’re often met with those kinds of aggressive answers.

Now people can say what they want against Christians, but Christians do have a responsibility of helping and encouraging people to change their lives, especially when their life style choices are self-destructive, sinful and selfish. The world may criticize Christians for being judgmental, but in many cases Christians are actually displaying discernment and trying to help sinners turn from the error of their ways. It may not be popular, but sometimes Christian intervention stops a person from further injury, addiction, or isolation.

I know that for me it took Christ’s intervention and real supportive Christian people to enable me to overcome my alcohol addiction. They knew that I was an alcoholic, even although I would not admit it to myself. But rather than say or do nothing, my Christian friends held me accountable for my foolish decisions and eventually enabled me to win my battle against drinking alcohol. I may have thought that they were judgmental at first, but when I overcame my addiction I realized how much their tough love, confrontational care, and true discernment of my self-inflicted situation had challenged and changed me.

Christians should not be afraid of being called ‘judgmental’ when dealing with self-destructive sinners or sinful behavior. Sometimes God places us in-between those people – family & friends especially – and the negative consequences of their selfish choices. Intervention is not easy to do or maintain, but if it is successful (as in my case) then it does indeed save the sinner from death and covers over a multitude of sins.

Perhaps there’s someone in your life who’s near and dear to you but their lifestyle decisions are drastically affecting their relationships, work, and future. Evil triumphs and addictions destroy when good people say and do nothing. Don’t be afraid to speak out and ask the Holy Spirit to grant you the right time, place, and words to say what needs to be said. In years to come, that very same person you are confronting may truly thank you for turning his or her life around.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we let the world diminish our gifts of discernment because we don’t like to be thought of as being judgmental. You however dealt with people straight-forwardly and candidly when it came to confronting sin. Help us to help those who need to be challenged in order to change. Grant us the presence of Your Holy Spirit in our lives to lovingly and compassionately intervene. In Your Holy Name, we steadfastly 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 of a poster that I designed with regard to overcoming alcoholism. It’s entitled “Alcoholic Aurora” and depicts empty drinking glasses against the back ground of the rising sun. The message reads: “ALCOHOLIC AURORA – when the Sun rises and your spirit doesn’t.”

You can view a larger version of the poster here: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1292/1071957099_1c477987be_o.jpg

Sunday Sermon: What Must I Believe? John 3:16-18

I cannot imagine Evelyn and I ever giving up our children for anything in the whole world. At the moment, both our daughters are in New York City for the weekend and will be returning home later today. They’ve both grown up in Knoxville and this church, and through the attention, love, and care that they have received from Erin Church, they are now beginning to discover who they are and what God wants them to become. They might roast their parents’ hearts from time to time, but we would never give them up or sacrifice them for anything in the entire world. And I’m certain that every parent in this sanctuary would heartily agree when it comes to their own sons and daughters. We all love our children dearly and we would all give up our lives for them.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

But God works in mysterious ways. He deeply loved Jesus His Only Son and God was well pleased with His life, ministry, and mission. And yet, when it comes to making a final choice between saving His Son from the agonizing death on the Cross and saving the world from sin, God chooses the world. Instead of rescuing Jesus who loves Him completely, God chooses to save the world that totally disrespects Him. Rather than shield Jesus from the shame of Calvary, God sacrifices His Son for a shameful world.

That’s absolutely crazy and if there was an inter-galactic Social Service department, God would be up on charges of child abuse and possibly murder. It’s just not natural, so I guess it must be the divine way that God deals with things. None of us would do it, but God does: which leaves us asking this question: WHY? What so good, so unique, so unusual about humankind that causes the God of all Creation to sacrifice His Son. Why does the Most Supreme Being in the Universe leave His Son on a Cross to die? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t we be the ones sacrificing everything in order to placate, appease, and please God?

Way back in 1972, on Feb 17, on the very same day that President Nixon flew out from Washington to China, the British parliament voted to join the European Union. It didn’t have much of an affect over here, but throughout the British Commonwealth, it was a major decision. You see Britain was at one time at the heart of the British Empire and all its territories like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand exported a lot of their produce to the United Kingdom. When the British Parliament decided to join the EU, it was sacrificing the productivity and economies of Commonwealth countries all over the globe, in order to sustain itself. When I was a child, I can remember eating Canadian bacon and New Zealand Lamb, but when Britain became part of the European Union, they couldn’t be found in the supermarkets or grocery stores. The Mother Country sacrificed its Commonwealth children in order to sustain itself.

When God sacrificed Jesus, He wasn’t sustaining Himself. He was sustaining the world, as wicked and as wayward as it was. In the Good Old Testament days, when God got fed up with sin and sinners, all He had to do was stretch out His arm and smite them. God even tried to destroy the whole world once, flooding it completely, whilst only allowing eight to survive His wrath.

But this time, God fulfilled the plan of salvation by sacrificing His One and Only Son. It’s almost as if He’s stretching His own faith to its absolute limit. After all, is there anything worse than the death of a dear child?

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Let me give you an example of this:

One of the saddest prayers that I have ever heard was voiced by a mother in her seventies, whose fifty year old son had just died of cancer. It occurred in the church sanctuary, during a special mid-week prayer time. The church was open in the morning, to allow people to come in and quietly talk to God. In the background, a tape was played, which included some favorite hymns and contemporary choruses. I happened to be in the sanctuary at the time, doing my own prayers and devotions.

One of the songs on the tape was an upbeat version of Psalm 63. Its repeated refrain was “because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” In the middle of this song, the aged mother made a heart felt cry: “How can your love be better than life, Lord, when You have taken my son away from me?”

It was one of those holy moments when the reality of life confronts the reality of God. The woman’s heart was bleeding with grief, and her faith was being sorely tried. Each time the tape played the song’s refrain, she would ask that disturbing question. When the tape finished, the mother got up silently and left the church sorrowfully. I wanted to reach out and help, but something stopped me. It wasn’t the right time, and neither was it my place to answer a question directed to God.

The following Easter, our church held a Good Friday service. Usually during Holy Week, we held a Maundy Thursday service, but I thought it would be good if we tried something different. When I preached about the Cross that night and talked about God losing His Son to death, and feeling the grief of that separation, it was as if a light went on for the grieving mother. For the first time, since her son’s death, she could relate to God. He shared her heartbreak and knew the emptiness, hurt, and grief that she bore. God’s love was indeed better than life, not because it was holier or more perfect; God’s love was better than life because it was grounded in the reality of pain and suffering, loss and loneliness, sadness and grief.

Some of us may be carrying a grief that continues to hurt us and separates us from God. Perhaps if we remember that God understands our wounds because He experienced the same, it will draw us closer to Him, instead of keeping us at a distance.

That’s why God sacrifices His Only Son. He doesn’t want to deal with us at a distance. He doesn’t want us to be separated from Him forever. God loves the world and its entire people, but because we are so prone to be sinful and faithless, deceitful and proud, we end up putting ourselves against God, instead of being for God. And no matter what the circumstances, our background, our culture, our country or tradition, we can’t justify our sins before the Holy, Sacred, Perfect and Supreme Being in the Universe. That would be the equivalent of a flea standing before a wooly mammoth and blaming it for having so much hair, causing the flea to bite. We cannot stand before God and expect Him to hear what we have to say. It doesn’t work that way. The Only Way that we can get God to listen is through Jesus: He is our Advocate; He is Our Savior; He is the One who restores us to God’s favor and love.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

And this brings us to the last point from this passage. Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already – why? Because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son.

A lot of people miss this part of what Christ says to Nicodemus because they don’t want any judgment or condemnation to be a part of Christ’s ministry. They like the ‘love one another’ stuff and look to be accepted by Christ totally. They don’t want to make any exclusive commitment to Jesus as their only Savior and Lord. They also want Him to fully accept their lifestyle choices. And heaven forbid, if any of Christ’s followers ask them to change their ways.

An example of this occurred the other day when NBA star Charles Barkley was asked about his reasons for supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama, instead of Hillary Clinton or any of the Republican candidates.

"I've got great respect for Sen. McCain, great respect, but I don't like the way Republicans have taken this country," said Barkley. "Every time I hear the word 'conservative,' it makes me sick to my stomach, because they're really just fake Christians, as I call them. That's all they are."

"I think they want to be judge and jury," Barkley said. "Like, I'm for gay marriage. It's none of my business if gay people want to get married. I'm pro-choice. And I think these Christians, first of all, they're not supposed to judge other people. But they're the most hypocritical judge of people we have in the country. And it bugs the hell out of me. They act like they're Christians. They're not forgiving at all."

Yes, Christians of all persuasions can be judgmental and unforgiving at times, but when the true word of God is preached and the Gospel gives us an either/or, the world condemns us as being judgmental, unfeeling, and unchristian. But we forget that when it came down to the basics, Christ could be as conservative as anyone. After all, how would you interpret what He says to Nicodemus: whoever believes is not condemned, but whosever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s Only Son – tell me honestly folks: is that a liberal, progressive statement or basically a religious conservative one?

Charles Barkley may have trouble with conservative Christians being judgmental; but I put it to you, he would also have the same trouble with Jesus being forthright about what we must believe.

In the end, we must all make our own choices about what we must or cannot believe, but realize this: at the end, based upon those beliefs, Jesus will decide where we will go. After all, He sacrificed His life so that we could be given a choice. Without Him, we would not even have that opportunity.

In Christ’s Name, Amen.

Impartiality - or How the socially and politically correct thing is not Biblically correct

Audio version here

Leviticus 19:15 Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. (NIV)

I am terrible about judging competitions. I tend to root for the underdog, instead of dealing with things fairly. In the past I’ve judged Halloween costume contests, cutest pet awards, and cake tasting competitions. A couple of years ago, I even judged a Senior High speech contest and found it difficult not to give higher marks to the kids from rural schools. I wanted to be impartial, but I couldn’t disconnect the kids from their backgrounds. I wanted to make up for the deprivations and disadvantages that the poorer kids had. Instead of judging the presentation and content of the speeches, I gave points for effort. When my marks were compared with the rest of the judges, mine’s were entirely different. I was never asked back to judge the competition again.

The Bible warns us about showing partiality or favoritism. If we decide issues between different parties because of who they are and not what the issue is, then we’re guilty of playing favorites. This is anathema to God and something that we need to really learn. In God’s eyes, there are no favorites – all have sinned and are in need of salvation. He deals with people equitably – on an equal footing – and He expects us to do the same. It may not be socially or politically correct, it is theologically sound. God judges us the way in which we judge others. And if our judgments are poor, slanted, or suspect, then He will deal with us according to our own standards, which could mean that mercy and grace are set aside.

Prayer: Lord God, help us to make better choices, decisions, and judgments in all of our lives. Convict us to be fair and to give everyone, rich or poor, wealthy or working class, impartiality. Teach us the practical wisdom behind such ideals. In Your Holy name, we pray. Amen.