The Little Things

Today as I wandered over at 9ish to begin my Monday morning routine, I stumbled upon one of the elders steam cleaning the carpet. Last weekend our boiler melted down and threw out soot-laden steam/smoke. By the grace of God, and after a costly repair, the boiler was functional and the facility was warm for our Sunday activities. The only trouble was the meltdown and subsequent repairs had created a nasty residue in front of the door to the boiler, which is, unfortunately in our fellowship space. On Sunday I hemmed and hawed with a few elders about the mess that was cleaned to the best of our ability, but still inadequate. The end result was inaction on my part.
As I walked in today, however, an elder was cleaning the space with care and grace. No one asked him to do it. No one expected him to do it. He just did what needed to be done. It's those little things like this that matter so much to me as a pastor and encourage me. I am reminded that when I try to be flashy and great, that I have missed the point. It is the simple acts of service that really matter.
Once, when a couple of Jesus' disciples were jockeying for positions of prestige and authority in the Kingdom of God, Jesus responded by saying, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as rules lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:42b-45 NRSV). Sometimes the little things, like steam cleaning a mess, really are the big things.

Moving on up and over

For the next few weeks, follow the 21 Day challenge at www.merrillpc.org/21day/.

-Pastor Bill

21 Day Challenge: Developing Spiritual Habits

I have always been very interested in identity. In my teens and early twenties I wrestled and wrestled with my own sense of identity. I marveled at people who seemed to have no care (at least on the surface) for their own sense of identity. I was absolutely floored by my peers who seemed to have a strong sense of identity, even in young adulthood. The question, "Who am I?" is perhaps the most profound question I thought anybody could ask. After all, who is more important to know than one's own self?
Thanks be to God that in college I learned that there was one who was far more important to know than even knowing myself. In some dark days when, God shined his light a desire was placed in my heart to know God. Further, I knew (in the special way of knowing we call faith) that God knew me, all about me, even things I did not know about myself. Even further, as I came to know God more, through faith in Christ Jesus, I would come to know who I am in God's eyes, which is my true identity. Far greater than coming to know myself, I have found that the great question is, "Who is God?"
God did not leave us orphaned as we seek an answer to the great question, "Who is God?" Jesus Christ (and Christ alone I would add) is the revelation of who God is. Jesus, the Son of God, fully God in the flesh, reveals to the world who God is. So to come to know God means coming to know Jesus. Jesus himself said,"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him " (John 14:6-7 NRSV).
So how does one come to know Jesus? What are reliable ways of getting to know Jesus? First, like anyone, one must be in relationship with Jesus to come to know him. I cannot know you and you cannot know me unless we have a relationship, i.e. a revelatory exchange. I must reveal things about myself and you yourself if we are to come to know one another (we will leave the problems of this model aside for now). The same is true for God and as Jesus himself said before, he is that revelatory communication, that information-giving/identity-exposing relationship in the flesh. Jesus is the revelation of God's identity in his being, speech and actions. That's why John earlier in the prologue of the Fourth Gospel is quick to say that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh (1:1; 14).
Now there could be many ways of coming to know the Word made flesh. We could have been one of those people blessed to walk with the savior, but we do not live in that time. We could believe that we receive open and new revelation from God, direct speech with Jesus, but it seems that those who claim such direct lines of communication often do or lead others to do things that seem contrary to who Jesus is as revealed in Scripture. And therein lies the trouble. In other words, the followers of Jesus must have an agreed upon source of revelation to judge whether some insight or idea regarding Jesus is actually true to who he is. We call that agreed upon source, Scripture, consisting of the books of the Old and New Testament. If some idea regarding God as revealed in Jesus is contradictory to the teaching of Scripture (which is admittedly a broad and often vague set of documents), then the followers of Jesus, those who seek to know God through faith in Jesus, can reject it outright. Of course, such processes are best done in a community of believers, i.e. a community of Jesus' followers, so to best avoid misinterpretation.
Now God is even more abundantly gracious than all that. Not only has God given us the gift of Jesus to reveal who God is. Not only has God given us the Holy Scriptures to be THE source without parallel to come to know Jesus. Not only has given us a community of fellow believers to help us all to read and study the Holy Scriptures. Not only all of those things, but God Himself, the Holy Spirit, is present with every follower of Jesus, giving the gift of faith and filling the follower with the necessary gifts and tools to truly come to know Jesus in person through the reading and study of Scripture. Even more, the Holy Spirit gives the followers of Jesus encouragement and strength to live as Jesus lived (Jesus was the full human being, revealing to us also what true humanity is).
So to come to know God, we need to know Jesus. And to know Jesus means to be guided in faith by the Holy Spirit. Of course, this also means joining human action to the divine provision outlined above. We simply cannot get to know Jesus unless we cultivate a relationship with Jesus. That relationship is nothing less and nothing more than pure grace which is ours by faith. Our faith is built up by the Holy Spirit through the study of Scripture, the following of Jesus' teachings and prayer. Jesus said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock" (Matthew 7:24-25 NRSV). To build our house (our identity) on the rock (Jesus) we need to know him and his teachings and DO them. We can only build that house if we know and follow Jesus, if we live as Jesus lived. And we can only live as Jesus lived if we KNOW how Jesus lived.
So here's the challenge. Most of us know that it takes 21 days to form a habit, good or bad. If I do something for 21 days (without skipping a day, because then I have to start over) it becomes a habit. If we want to know God, we need to know Jesus as revealed in Holy Scripture by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Thus, for the next 21 days read the Scriptures at least once a day. No prescription on how much, nor where to read. Rather, just open the Bible and read. I suggest starting with a Gospel, perhaps Matthew or John. Just read the Bible and let the Holy Spirit bring you into relationship with Jesus as you come to know God through him. Of course, reading Scripture is best when paired with prayer (open, simply and direct communication with God), so daily prayer should accompany daily Scripture reading.
If you are interested in the greatest question, "Who is God?" then you simply must come to know Jesus as revealed in Scripture by the Holy Spirit. There is no time like the present to get started and do not be surprised if you come to know yourself in the process.