What Are We Doing Here?

Fifty-2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God

         I doubt I am the only one who has ever wondered what am I doing here. What is God’s will for my life and am I living it? These sorts of questions have weighed heavy on me in the past and while I have more peace about it now – still I wonder if I am spending my life-time appropriately.  I am encouraged by people I read about in scripture who appear to have been regular folk living a life that might be considered ordinary but then - God stepped in to ask something of them - something beyond their everyday.

The sermon Sunday was about such a person- Abraham, We looked at key points in his life - moving from Genesis 15 through chapter 21 in the scriptures. Abraham fulfilled God’s purpose for his life by being faithful and was used by God in great ways. The minister said Abraham's story tells God's story (one of creation - fall- redemption and recreation) summarized in four points:

1.   God fulfills his promises. 
Abraham was promised a son and that he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5). Abraham received the son God promised. This was a foreshadowing of the promised redeemer (Jesus).

2.   God’s saves people by faith and makes them righteous. 
Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4:18-22) - today it is faith in Jesus that saves and makes us righteous in God’s eyes (Romans 4:23-25).

3.   God’s eternal mission continues.
Now through the church-we are called to be a blessing to others.

4.   God promises to be with us (leading, guiding and providing) until the end of time.

It was the third point that the Holy Spirit used to address the question I posed in the paragraph above. In the words of the minister he said “Our purpose is to be a blessing--to bless others in order that they get a little taste and vision of God”. This touched me. It somehow lifted an assumed responsibility (one not necessarily recognized) - to fulfill some mission or special purpose about which I have been unclear. Instead my purpose is to bless someone(s). It sounds so simple because it is simple. Like when Jesus suggested that ‘a cup of water offered in his name…’ can be suffice (Mark 9:41) and comes with a promise - that the person offering the cup ‘will not lose his reward’. 

There is magic and power in this along with joy and a sense of freedom, because blessings come in many forms-there is no ‘one’ or ‘right’ way to bless another person. This fulfills the charge to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). In blessing others we are blessed. I'd say this answers the question about what we are doing here-wouldn't you?

 (P.S. I will be on vacation for the next couple weeks...I will not necessarily have internet connectivity--so I will resume this when I return.)

Fulfilling the Great Commission

Fifty2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God

The sermon was titled “God’s Assignment for Your Life” and the minister asked those present if had we personalized the Great Commission and were living out God’s mission for our lives.  The scripture text for this sermon was Matthew 28:16 -20:

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The three main points from the sermon were:

• ·       God gives us the power to complete his mission. God enables and fulfills in accordance with his will. Believe in his power & honor him with worship.
• ·       The plan – God gives us the plan to execute (see verses 19 & 20) - we are told to “Go and make disciples” and follow him where he is at work.
• ·       Teach people to observe and obey-as the gospel is taken to the ends of the earth. And know that He is with us until the end of the ages.

This sermon took me back to my early years of being a Christian when, under the inspiration of the Great Commission, I went to graduate school to get a degree in community health nursing hoping that in combination with an undergraduate degree in nursing and experience working as an RN – I would be well qualified to work in the mission field overseas. But that was not what followed next. In fact other than a short term medical mission trip to Guatemala twenty years ago - I have never been on a mission trip.  

Recently I met two young women who are getting ready for missions abroad. One leaves this week to go to Cambodia and the other one is raising money to go on the World Race—leaving in January to travel to 13 or 16 countries over the course of a year. These are passionate individuals who want to serve God and other people in an effort to make Jesus known unto the ends of the earth. I applaud them for their faith, commitment and courage.

One thing that really spoke to me in the sermon Sunday was the explanation the minister provided regarding the “go” part of the Great Commission. He said “go” translates to an “as you are going”. This means in our everyday lives we are to make the most of the opportunities God provides with people that cross our path. As simple as “the person who is in front of you today” is what the minister said. There is no shortage of humanity to whom we can “go” to who has yet to hear the gospel or come to faith. After all, Jesus said the “fields are ripe unto harvest” (John 4:35).

Unrelated to the sermon but seemingly relevant to the subject of the Great Commission are the two scripture verses;

Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Romans 11:25: “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

Is it possible that Christ's return is connected to the fulfillment of these two verses? Is it pointless to pray "Lord come quickly if we are not busy about sharing the good news and making disciples? 

(See for additional information: Roman's 11 - Barnes Commentary)

Breath of Life in Three Acts

Fifty2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God

The bible text for the sermon last Sunday was John 20:19-22. While it was being read out loud, the Holy Spirit directed my attention to the word “breathed” in verse 22. Breath and breathing is essential for physical life. The average number of breaths a person takes each day is 23,040. Like the beating of our hearts, we breathe without thinking about it unless of course we have asthma or other respiratory condition. 

The scripture reveals a significant correlation between breath, breathing and our spirit-being.  Consider the following:

         I.  When God created humankind and he brought them to ‘life’ with his breath. Genesis 2:7: “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” To breathe is to be alive. We can live a period of time without food, a briefer time without water, but we cannot live but minutes without air.

II. Breath is as connected with spirit life as much as it is with physical life. We see this in Jesus' death. Luke 23:46: “Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.” As our breathing ceases - so departs our spirit (soul) from the body.

III. Following his resurrection Jesus delivered what his heavenly father had promised – the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49); “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace is with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”  And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22). Today as Christians we too receive the Holy Spirit - not in the same manner as the disciples did, but to the same end - which among other things serves as a deposit, a guarantee of our belonging to God (Acts 2:38, Ephesians 1:14).

There is no disputing the relevance of breath to our human existence. It may sound overly simple—but giving thanks for each breath (and heart beat) that keep us alive maybe be the simplest prayer of gratitude one can offer up. One way to do that is with “breath prayers”- a way of connecting prayer with breath. See this website for more information about these sorts of prayers (Breath Prayers).

In closing-perhaps Job said it best: “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4)

Amen