Victory over the Demonic

Victory Over the Demonic

Matthew 8:28-34

When Harrison Ford was thrown into a pit full of venomous snakes in a Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, I almost had to turn it off. For me, that has to be listed among the ultimate horrors. I heard a true story about someone falling out of a boat into the middle of a gang of water moccasins. The fury of the snakes churned the water. There was no hope for survival. The anger of the snakes and the poison of their venom is horrifying.

I imagine the fury of the demons taking residence in the two men in Matthew 8 to be something like that. The Bible describes them as so violent that no one wanted to pass their direction. And when Jesus did, they ran out to oppose him.


“‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’” they shouted. ‘Have you come to torture us before the appointed time?’” (v.29) There is a time appointed for their eventual destruction, and they seem to know that. That time will be when God brings his kingdom in power and destroys all evil. What bothers them is that Jesus has come now, before they perceive the end time to be here.

The demons seem to assume that until the end of time when they will be subdued, they have free reign to wreck havoc and destruction. Thomas Long wrote, “They mistakenly believe that, until that last day, they have unfettered license to wreck destruction. They can torment as many souls as they can inhabit, wreck as many institutions as they can infiltrate, cause as much pain and sorry as they can imagine.” (Matthew, 97)

How surprised they are that Jesus shows up before the expected time. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. They didn’t just ask. They shouted. They are in rebellion. They are disrespectful. They recognize Jesus as the Son of God, but they don’t honor him for it. They yell at him. Jesus casts the demons into a herd of pigs who rush into the water and drown. The shocked pig herders run into town and report what Jesus has done to the pigs and the demon-possessed men. The towns people come out to get a look for themselves, and then they ask Jesus to leave.

Three things stand out in this story as particularly significant. One, very little detail is spent on the demon-possessed men. Mark describes only one demon-possessed man, but explains how he used to cut himself and break the chains that had been used to bind him. He was a crazy man totally out of control. He had no peace. But after the demons were cast out, the man was calm, he got dressed, and he conversed calmly with Jesus (Mark 5). No such details are given in this story about the men. The focus is not on what Jesus can do for them or us. The focus is on the incredible power of Jesus to conquer even demonic forces.

Two, the story shows Jesus power over the dark realms. We have seen Jesus’ miraculous power at work all through this chapter. He heals a man with leprosy, so he has power over physical ailments. He heals bodies. Secondly, he healed the servant of centurion, showing his interest in and concern for those outside of Israel. Next, he healed Peter’s mother-in-law and a host of others who came to him for care. After the healings, Jesus’ miraculous powers are turned upon nature when he stills the watery tempest. Then, lest anyone think the span of Jesus authority and power has been exhausted, he shows his complete mastery over the demonic. He casts out the innumerable demons.

Three, the people of the region reject Jesus. They don’t really even know who he is. This is Gentile territory so there is no way they can really know him. But, even in Israel the people are uncertain about Jesus. Interestingly, the evil spirits know who Jesus is! The Son of God! The identity of Jesus was revealed first by demonic forces. But, sadly, instead of getting to know Christ, the people cast him out. “Like many communities before and since, this town prefers the demons they know to the power of God they do not know.” (Long, Matthew, 98)

Four, the time of God’s defeat of evil is NOW! The Kingdom of God has already been revealed in power. We can take comfort and confidence in knowing that the kingdom is with us already.


Warren Baldwin

Producing Positive Change

Producing Positive Change

In Appreciative Inquiry Mark Lau Branson says health and dysfunction live side-by-side in every system. We want health to prevail, but it doesn’t always. Sometimes negative attitudes and behaviors overwhelm the positive, and a spirit of doubt, suspicion, and anger prevails.

Branson says it is possible for a church to get back on a more positive course, and how it is done has to do with how an organization perceives itself. It’s self-perception is it’s sense of how things are and how they are supposed to be, it’s reality. Branson mentions ten factors that influence how the members of a system create it’s sense of reality. I’ll discuss three here.

One, what we focus on becomes our reality. The standard approach to solving difficulties and to promoting growth and change in most systems is problem solving. The trouble with this approach is we focus on problems. We identify them, study them, and contemplate solutions for them. During all this time we are focusing on the problems, granting them our time and energies and thus, by default, making them the object of our focus.

This can be seen in someone in a system (business, church or family) becoming unhappy with the leadership or an activity. They talk to other members of the system about it, making it an issue for them. News of the dissatisfaction spreads through the system, eventually reaching the leadership. Management meets to discuss the dissatisfaction and related problems issuing from the original one, namely, gossip and its negative consequences, spreading discontent, loss of respect for leadership, and the rising popularity of the one who started the whole process. The focus of the entire company is now concentrated on the problem and “problem” personality, elevating the dysfunction of the organization to the level of reality.

The second factor is related to the first one: our language becomes our reality. Our words and speech express what we are focusing on. If our focus is on problems, our speech will give expression to our thoughts. Without intending to, without even being aware of the dynamic, our language continues to feed the perception that the overriding issue in our system is burgeoning problems. And problems continue to compound.

Leadership now feels the pressure of member dissatisfaction and growing negativism in the system. Meetings are characterized by stress over the problems and the press of needing to find solutions. Anxiety overwhelms everyone present. Without a doubt, the focus and language of this group is creating their sense of reality: problems.

Another factor is that organizations are heliotropic. Heliotropic is a botanical term referring to a plant’s inclination to grow toward the sun, it’s energy source. People in groups are the same way. They gravitate toward whoever or whatever produces heat or energy. A disgruntled member of the system who is actively promoting discontent is a definite source of energy. It doesn’t matter if the energy he is producing is negative, unproductive, unethical or even wrong. The fact that he is generating heat means he is going to get attention, and his behavior will help shape the sense of reality for the organization. Everyone, both those in his corner and those who oppose his opinions and behavior, can all become consumed by the negativism of this person.

By the time leadership can begin to address the initial complaint, a pessimistic undercurrent has permeated the whole group. Suspicions soar. Everyone becomes judgmental and edgy. Small groups develop in opposition to each other. Workers are discouraged. This is not a healthy environment. But it is the reality.

A biblical example of this problem occurring in the spiritual community can be seen in the wilderness wanderings of Israel, where complaints against God’s provisions and Mosaic leadership resulted in the rebellion led by Korah, Dothan and Abiram. By the time the festering wound of complaint became public, these men led a contingent of 250 people against Moses. (Numbers 16).

The same factors that produce a toxic atmosphere in a family, church or business where members are unhappy and critical can also produce a healthy environment. The leaders cannot allow the current negative spirit to determine the organizational reality. They must rise above the current spirit, envision something more beneficial, and use focus and language positively, allowing these heliotropic factors to produce the new sense of reality they desire.

First, the leaders must refocus the attention of the members from the negative to the positive, from dysfunction to health. This can often be accomplished by using a system called “Appreciative Inquiry,” that is, a series of questions leaders ask of members that draws out their image of when and how the organization was operating at its best. “What are your best memories of this organization? Who was involved? What did we do? How did we do it? What were the feelings and the emotions of everyone involved? Just the asking of the questions may be enough to alter the focus of the people from the negative to the positive and cause them to start imagining a more congenial working environment again.

Next, the language of the leadership must reflect the positive focus they are trying to instill. To dream of a more positive environment but continuing to use defeating speech (talking about all the things that are wrong) is counterproductive. Leaders must speak of the desired outcome as if it is a current reality.

If leaders of a church ask members about a time they remember the body functioning well, and they hear talk about mission emphasis and youth devotionals encouraging faith, they might do well to think about reviving these activities. Members who recall these past functions might even be involved in the planning and reorganizing of them. The organizational stage will be a time for continued positive recall and discussion, allowing language to continue the healthy focus. Newer and younger members also involved in the planning will ‘catch’ the rebirth of the positive feelings. Announcements can continue to use language to promote a healthy atmosphere.

The combination of focus and language will hopefully (prayerfully!) promote a heliotropic response, with people leaning toward the source of energy. If the negative energy (grumbling, complaining, criticism) is replaced with something healthier (positive recall, working together toward a common goal, wider member participation and planning), members will be drawn toward that energy, and will get caught up in that spirit.

Jesus used such focus and language to create the reality he desired for his followers. “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. (You are) a city on a hill. Let your light shine before men” (Matthew 5:13-16). Such powerful metaphors redirected the theological and social expectations of fishermen, tax collectors and other ordinary men to envision and actually produce a spiritual revolution. The power source they produced by their commitment to Jesus and submission to the Holy Spirit shook the earth with new hope, possibility and reality, the aftershock of which is still felt today in all of us who confess, “Jesus is Lord.”

Warren Baldwin

Ministry to Youth

MINISTRY TO YOUTH
Dan Stockstill, Ph.D., Harding University

Note: The following notes are from three sessions on youth ministry that Dr. Dan Stockstill presented at the Harding University lectures, Sept. 2010. I am presenting the notes here as I wrote them down - in a very simple, outline form. I hope they are useful. And thanks to Dan for his great class.

_____________

The challenge for teens - they don’t know how to grow up. What is adulthood? There is no definition. It is subjective. It is not discussed in detail in scripture. It is an assumption.

Many churches see the ministry of the youth minister ending at high school graduation. But, where do they go next? Many churches do not have a college ministry, and they may not feel like they fit in the adult class or programs.

When does a teen become an adult? "I am an adult when I say I am an adult." We may say they are adults when they are ready to accept the privileges and responsibilities of this life stage.

Alvin Toffler -

Historical periods -

1) Agrarian Wave - 3,000 BC to 1700 AD
The male became an adult when he could run the farm
The female became an adult when she could bear offspring and manage the home.
Adulthood was achieved when one could function as an adult.

2) Industrial Wave - 1700 AD to 1950
Adulthood - when you could get a job.

The Agrarian model was communal - running a farm contributed to the larger clan.
The Industrial model is individualistic - stand apart from others.

In the Industrial model you buy a house, but not on the farm. You have separate living arrangements. Also, there was a move from barter to money.

3) Informational Age - 1950 - 1990
Information is key.
Education now emphasized. The GI Bill gave a new perspective on what it meant to be an adult. A watershed event was mandatory high school education (1875?). In 1904 the word adolescence entered the English language.

In the Agrarian model everyone had to farm. The value was in having children, because then you had other hands to help on the farm.

The Industrial era saw the development of an upper elite. The elite had education, leisure and time to think. These privileges were for only a small percentage.

In the Information age, the longer you go to school, the longer you put off adulthood.
High school - college - graduate school.

In the Agrarian model you had to toil or perish.

4) Digital Wave 1990 -
Industrial wave - accumulate information
Informational wave - control of information
Digital wave - information is for everybody.

What does it mean to be an adult?
When they want to be.

How do we help them?
Extend family support until they can make decisions.

In our culture what defines adulthood? Independent decision making, responsibility, managing finances, relationships (how they are formed, maintained, kept)

The Generations
GI Generation
Boomer
Buster (Gen X) - in the middle
Millenials - about age 30
Digital - about 8 years

The Industrial approach no longer applies.
This model segregates and separates; divides and conquers.
When used in churches this segregates and separates by age, grade, gender, etc.
Smaller churches group a wider array of ages by necessity.

A mission - reach the ones that don’t fit.

Our definition of adulthood affects how we interact and what we expect.
Ministry that segregates creates competition.
Isolation by generation creates generational competition over resources, time and recognition.

System - when one part suffers it all suffers. It takes a village to create a community where it is safe for a child to become an adult. Loving, nurturing. This environment doesn’t exist elsewhere.

The model of youth ministry for the last 40 years has been to keep good kids, good kids. We have had activities, trips for them. The unspoken message is that kids go on mission trips, to youth rallies, etc., but adults don’t - "This is what I do as a teenager, but it is not what adults do."

Teens go on mission and fun trips. But, from about age 15 to 25 many of them become inactive. During the years 25 to 35 many become active again, but often in other religious groups. We must build intergenerational bridges.

Questions of Adolescents (but, is really true of our whole life):
1) Whom Am I?
2) What is my community?
3) What is my purpose?
When we are young we ask these questions in the security of the home.

Congregations must ask these questions of themselves, too. Must ask about our identity, community, and purpose in ministry.

Interaction - invite people to mission trips who are not part of the teen generation.
Kids want to be respected.
What do we owe the kids at church? Mark 3 - Jesus asked, "Who is my family?"

How divisive can we make our body? How do we do outreach to connect with those not in our church? What we win them with is what we win them to.

The pursuit of a youth group is not necessarily the pursuit of a youth group in Christ. If a youth group is valued only in the box - class, devotional, leading singing - it is not big enough for a kids to give their lives to. Christianity is not defined by the box.

We need to concentrate on what goes on outside the box - ministry to the world. That will make what goes on inside the box more relevant.

Who is weak? Weary? Wounded? What are we going to do about it? If we focus on the box - our own little group - that is self-serving. It promotes narcissistic values. The end result of narcissism is self loathing. They end up hating what they should love.

Images of church/worship:
1) Water station in a marathon race. Refreshing.
2) Family meal - talk about your day. But you don’t spend your whole life at the table.

Adulthood is not the certainty of a final decision, but the certainty of direction.

Are we giving teens tools to
1) Handle their questions
2) Place them in community?

The single most significant cry of teens over the last 60 years has been "I’m lonely!"

Most teens feel like an island in the sea. If they feel that way when they graduate high school, they will not be an island in the sea, but a boat in the sea, blown about. (Who knows to what they will be tossed and finally feel connected?)
Stuff today - like plastic. Not quite as good as the original stuff, like Facebook.

Three key questions of pre-adults
1) Who Am I
- Giftedness
- Becoming
- Christ’s

2) Community
- God
- Authority
- Same gender
- Opposite gender

3) Pursuit of purpose
- Mission
- Sustaining
- Equipping

How you define adulthood has a lot to do with how these questions are answered.

Be patient and persistent
Are challenging a cultural norm
Will take extended energy before change that norm.

How do we help young people become adults as God intended them to be?
Cultural norm - minor/adult. Age limit. Not always valid.
An adult who is weak or immature may need more legal protection than a minor.

The church must encourage and equip.

WHO AM I?
1) Giftedness.
The age of the individual and connection to the body may not be otherwise where we expect them to be.
Giftedness is not an arrival but a process.
Grow like Jesus. In one year, will we be more like him?
Governing question - what can I do to please him?

2) Becoming
Purity, community, sin

3) Christ’s
Be more serious in how we do church.
It is Christ, first, last, always.

COMMUNITY
1) Authority
All of our authority is reflective, none inherent.
We all answer to God.

2) Relationships
Same and opposite gender.

PURSUIT OF PURPOSE
1) Mission - pursuing what God has left us to do.

2) Sustaining - supporting those doing mission - uphold their hands.

3) Equipping - getting people ready.

Generational segregation leads to generational competition. How overcome?
1) Listen to one another’s stories, so they become our stories.
Kids should hear stories of grandparents - dating etc.
Teens would be amazed at struggles of grandparents.

Find ways for table time to be table time.
This is more important than the number of songs and efficiency of delivering.
Hurts, helps, challenges that brothers and sisters have faced, are facing, will face.
Share stories. Start with our stories.
[Blog article - Granparents - tell your stories to your grandkids]

2) Organize the learning of life skills.
Find projects to work together. Not church supporting teens doing it, but church doingit together as a group - young and old. Can be highway cleanup.
When people work together, they begin to work together.

Think about intentional bridging.
Mix and match instead of segregating.
Parents and teens open Word together.
Family devotions - can’t jump start. Equip.
Everyone in congregation has something to do. Ex. A 4 year old can pick up bulletins lying in pews.

Tom Sawyer - getting people to do job. How?
1) Make it appear it takes someone special to do it.
2) They invest themselves to make it work.
3) He projects an image they buy into.

IF WE MAKE IT A PROGRAM WE WILL DESTROY IT.

Do not be negative, be positive.
Not a public speech, but a personal connection. "I need help with this."
Thousands heard Jesus, 120 (or 12) changed the world.

Mentor. Mark 3:14. To be with him, 3:6
Try to get adults to help teens.
Get teens to help adults. Prayer.
(Tutor sewing. Make bags for single moms)
Find something for everyone. Good at counting? Count kids on a trip :)

God’s grace is without limit, his gifts are without limit.
Gifts - find someone who is good at finding people’s gifts.

Things we can do immediately
1) Integrate teen and parents of teens. Small groups.
2) "Teen explosion" - break up. Have to sit with someone you normally don’t.

3) Be willing to learn from others. "I want to learn your songs" instead of "I want you to learn my songs."

God sets the orphans and widows in family. (cf. Psalm 68:6)
Mentoring - woman-teen girl; man-teen boy
The only work is to pick a mentor. Do stuff together. Whatever the lady wants to do with the girl, or man with the boy.

On new kids who are destructive to the building - "If we let them abuse our stuff like they abused Jesus, then we are starting to live like Jesus."

Everyone is worth something and Christ paid the cost.

Dan Stockstill

Mentoring

Working from some of the suggestions by Dan, I have begun setting up mentoring relationships in our church between adults and teens. Some of the following materials and ideas are to be shared in a meeting with the mentors before they begin meeting with their mentoree. I’m still working on this, and will make changes/additions as they develop.

For mentoring program:
1) George Smythe article on respecting teens
2) Mentoring purpose statement
3) What mentoring is:
4) Mentoring form
Date _______________________
Nature of visit ___________________________
To commend ______________________________
To be concerned about _____________________________

(3 on a page)

5) Assessment form
Name of Mentor _______________________________________________
Name of Mentoree _____________________________________________
Number of visits _______________________________________________
What were some good things about your visits:

What are some things in the life of your mentoree that we need to encourage (e.g., pursuing their education, work habits, relationships, self-esteem, etc.)

Mentoring
1) All good kids. Not trying to help them overcome criminal orientation (that we know of)
2) Light-hearted, fun. Just trying to get to know them better; connect.
3) Guidelines:
A] Lunch, dessert in your home, attend sporting event together.
B] Talk. Some openers -
How was your day?
What is your favorite sport? What do you like about it?
What is your favorite subject in school? What do you like about it?
Have you thought about going to college? Where?
C] Key off of their answers for further conversation.
Tell part of your story.
If they talk about struggling in school, tell them about a struggle you had in school.
If they are heart-broken over a relationship, tell them about a dating struggle you had.

Baptism and Identification

BAPTISM AND IDENTIFICATION
Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus came to John to be baptized and John was reluctant to do it. "I need to be baptized by you," he said. "And you are coming to me?"

I understand John’s hesitation. John baptized for repentance and the remission of sins (Mark 1:4). Of what sins did Jesus have to repent? What sins did he have to wash away? None. So why be baptized?

John felt confused and unworthy. "I need to be baptized by you!" John is a great guy! He proclaims the Word. He is the forerunner of Jesus. But is he worthy to baptize Jesus? He didn’t think so.

Jesus said: "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness" (V.15). "It is proper" means God wants it. It is to "fulfill all righteousness" means it is doing God’s will. But why, if Jesus has no sin? In his baptism Jesus is doing something important in relation to his Father and to us.


Jesus is identifying with God and his purpose for life.

God always calls for his people to declare their allegiance to him. "Chose you this day whom you will serve ..." (Joshua 24:15). God gives his people numerous ways to identify with him - the moral laws, ceremonial laws and cleanliness laws. All of these were for his people to tell the culture around them, "We belong to God." Anyone in the gentile nations could look at a faithful Hebrew and say, "They don’t live like us. They live for their God." That is identification.

Jesus’ baptism did that. Jesus was saying, "I belong to God. I humble myself to his will and his ministry for me." It was bold commitment and humble obedience. God responded with lavish praise to his son’s baptism:

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (16-17).

Humble obedience pleases God whether it is rendered by Jesus or by us.


Jesus is identifying with his people.

In baptism Jesus identified with everyone else who was baptized. "Jesus thereby shows his solidarity with his people in their need."3

Jesus’ ministry was one of humble obedience. He walked among people and bore their struggles. He wept with them, struggled against the religious establishment with them and listened to them. Jesus healed people. He bore their sin on the cross. Jesus also took on the humble, obedient nature of a servant in baptism. He had no sin and no rebellion but he identified with sinners and rebellious people.

To fulfill all righteousness Jesus was baptized. Jesus was the unique son of God, born of a virgin. He was a powerful worker of miracles and the triumphant king. Jesus was also a humble, obedient servant. Jesus’ humility and obedience beckons us. Jesus calls us, even today. "Follow me. I obey the Father. You, too, can obey the Father."


Our baptism.

John baptized people for repentance and remission of sins. Later, Jesus’ baptism would be for this but would include the dispensing of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16). Today in baptism we receive the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit. In baptism we experience what Jesus did.

Like Jesus, when we are baptized we identify with God. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon him. When we are baptized the Holy Spirit comes upon us (Acts 2:38). When Jesus was baptized he was identified as the son of God. When we are baptized we are identified as sons of God (Gal. 3:26,27).

Secondly, when we are baptized we identify ourselves with other followers of God (Acts 2:41; 1 Cor. 12:13). We don’t live the Christian life alone. We identify with other followers and live in community with them.

The Optimist, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs all have initiation rites for new members. The ceremony welcoming new members has nothing to do with the cleansing of sin or recognizing passage from rebellion to humble submission to God. But their initiation ceremony does offer a chance for the new member to identify himself to and with the group. After learning about the club a person may decide, "I want to be a part of this group." The initiation ceremony becomes his or her opportunity to officially identify themselves as a club member.

Members in these clubs receive a pin and new member packet recognizing their status in the club. Jesus’ baptism accomplished that ... and more. Jesus received the accolades of heaven: heaven was torn open, God manifested himself in the form of a dove that descended upon Jesus, and the voice of God spoke affirmingly. Now, all who so desire can have fulfilled in their hearts what Isaiah prayed for years ago: "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down ..." God has torn open the heavens and he has come down in the form of Jesus, the dove, and the spoken word. The dynamic for this revelation of God is the baptism of Jesus.

I’ve never performed a baptism where the heavens opened, a dove descended, and the authoritative voice of God spoke from on high. But I know from scripture that any baptism today performed as scripture teaches is no less significant in what it offers to our lives: identification with Jesus and his people.

Addendum

The following story isn’t about baptism, but it is about identification. I think it captures some of the thought of what it means to identify with Christ and others at a deep level. To identify with us, Jesus not only submitted to baptism, he submitted to emptying himself and leaving heaven to dwell for awhile on earth. He deprived himself and suffered for the sake of those he was seeking to redeem. Some of that is captured in the following story.

John Austin is 13 year old living in Hong Kong. Last week he was in a bike accident and received a corneal scratch. His eye bled and he had to go to a top pediatric ophthalmologist. The doctor told John’s parents that the scratch will heal and the blood clots drain. The blurry vision will go away and John will eventually see clearly again. But there is more to the story.

As John was suffering with his painful eye he received a text message from a Japanese girl and classmate of John’s. She wrote,"I know I am not a Christian, but I want you to know that I have been praying for you."

John Austin was thrilled and told his mother, "You know Mom, as bad as this is for me, it would sure be worth it if my friend came to know Christ because of my pain."

I would say this young man knows something about identification with Jesus and his people. He is willing to suffer for the kingdom, like Jesus, and he is willing to suffer for the redemption of others.

I think the Spirit of God must still be saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." Anytime we so identify with God’s purposes and God’s people the heart of the Father is pleased.

(You can read about John Austin's story at Everyday Adventures in Faith).

Warren Baldwin

Where is God When I Need Him

WHERE IS GOD WHEN I NEED HIM?

"God did this to me," the teenage boy on crutches told me.

Ben (not his real name), was born with horribly deformed legs. Every other part of his body was healthy and fully functional, but his legs wouldn’t support him. They were bent and twisted, and if he tried to stand without the aid of crutches he lost his balance and crashed to the floor.

Ben was good natured and cheerful most of the time, but when he talked about his legs his disposition changed visibly. "God did this to me," he would say, with an angry growl in his voice.

"How do you know it was God who did this to you," I asked naively. I wasn’t so much trying to counter his accusation against God as I was trying to learn his reasoning.

"My dad told me," Ben replied. "My dad says that if God was good and loving he wouldn’t let something like this happen to a person. It’s God’s fault dad says, and now my dad doesn’t believe in God."

Ben’s youth minister intervened at this point and redirected his negative thought pattern and speech. He said, "Ben, you don’t really believe that about God. Your dad is angry about what happened to you and he is giving you these criticisms." That ended the conversation.

But it didn’t end the conversation in my mind. Many times I have wondered what I would think about God if my legs were weak and twisted and couldn’t transport me across a room. What if I had to lie on my back and wrestle for 30 minutes every morning just to put on pants, shoes and socks, because I couldn't stand up? Would I blame God? Would I ask, "God, where are you when I need you?"

In fact, I have asked that question a few times, in emergency rooms, in counseling sessions, at funerals. "God, if you are going to make an appearance to offer healing, insight and comfort, now is the time to do it! Please give us a sense of your presence!"

Why does it seem like those times we need God the most, for our ailing bodies or hurting spirits, he isn’t around? Jim Dobson offers insight into this question in his book, When God Doesn’t Make Sense. Our ability to believe or not believe in the care and presence of God is often a matter of perception. "Because (some sufferers) don’t ‘feel’ his presence, they can not believe he cares" (p.66). But is our feeling an accurate reflection of reality?

In Luke 24 two disciples were discussing the recent death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Their faces were downcast, sad, because they were obviously disappointed that Jesus died. Their hope of the new kingdom perished with the apparent failure of Jesus’ mission.

A third man, a mystery guest, joined this duo. Together they walked, talked and sat down to a meal. After a prayer by the mystery guest the eyes of the first two men were opened and they recognized their visitor as Jesus.

How many times have we cried out to God in anger and frustration over our deep need, wondering where God was, and all the time he was present in a very personal way? Perhaps his presence was mediated through the prayer of a friend, a handshake, a hug or pat on the back. But he was there.

Our feelings are not a good gauge for determining if God cares. God does care and he is present in the lives of his faithful sufferers, whether a teenage boy with crippled legs or a young mother and father praying fervently for their child. God is as real in our lives as Jesus was to the disciples on the Emmaus Road, even if our perception doesn’t always allow us to see him. Pray, and be faithful, and one day our eyes will be opened.

Warren Baldwin

No Honor in His Own Country

No Honor in His Own Country
Matthew 13:53-58

Amazed

The hometown boy does good. That seems to be the people’s immediate response to Jesus’ return home. Verse 54 says the people were "amazed" at his teaching.

As a preacher, I would love such a response from an audience! I’m often tickled if the audience is tolerant. These people listening to Jesus are amazed!

The home town people ask questions that indicate they are amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" They are obviously impressed. People in other places have been amazed at Jesus all along. They marvel that he teaches as one who has "authority, and not as their teachers of the law" (Matt. 7:29). They bring their sick and ailing to him to be healed. The people of Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth, have heard of these stories, and they are amazed.

Amazement can be good. It means we are positively impacted by something, and hopefully that something is a good thing. If I am amazed by the cover of a book, I will likely buy the book. If I am amazed by the look and smell of a chicken leg, I’ll likely sink my teeth into it. That, of course, is if the chicken leg has been fried or barbequed. So, hopefully the people of Nazareth are amazed at Jesus in the sense that they are ready to buy into his ministry, they are ready to sink their teeth into the lifestyle he is calling them to.

But, they ask some other questions in verse 55. "Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Marry and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?" Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"

Amazement can be felt in a positive way, where we are immensely impressed and want to share in the experience of that which amazes us. But it can also be experienced in a negative sense, where we are repulsed by what we see. Verse 57 indicates that may be the sense in which the people in Nazareth are amazed at Jesus: "And they took offense at him."

Skandalizo

The Greek word behind offense is skandalizo. From this word we get our word scandalize. It is translated as offense or stumble in the N.T., meaning the people take offense at Jesus, or they can’t see him as he is really so they stumble over him. Jesus knows this is a possibility for many people, so he warns against allowing it to happen.

"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." Matt. 11:6

"This very night you will fall away (stumble) on account of me." Matt. 26:31

The Bible allows only two responses to Jesus: faith and obedience or unbelief and rejection. Everyone is confronted with these two options. To delay a decision is a mild form of rejection. To take Jesus lightly is a form of rejection. Jesus came to make war on the power of darkness and hell. We are either in his camp, or we not.

Stumbling Over Jesus

Skandalizo means to take offense or stumble. People stumble over Jesus for several reasons.
One, they simply don’t know who he is. Jesus is the son of God come in the flesh. He is the savior of mankind. He taught great lessons and performed miracles. But behind this public persona is more than a miracle worker. There is the light of heaven.

Two, they are looking for someone else. Many of the first century Jews were looking for a political leader, not a spiritual savior, so they stumbled over the real Jesus. Some people today make the same mistake. They look to Jesus to teach principles of success or give them better self-esteem. They don’t want to hear him say, "You will die in your sins."

Three, some hate him. Many of the leaders of Israel did. "They hated both me and my Father" (John 15:24). "They hated me without reason" (John 15:25). Jesus makes demands of our lives: that we renounce sin and follow him, that we love others and serve their needs. The leaders of Israel liked position and prominence. They were not ready to confess sin and serve the downtrodden, so they responded to Jesus with hatred.

Four, they don’t know the seriousness of sin "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The second death is eternal separation from God (Rev. 21:8). Jesus’ mission is to save the world from that eternal separation. He came to redeem us. If we fail to realize the seriousness of sin we will never take Jesus seriously.
Why did the people of Nazareth stumble over Jesus? Why did they take offense at him? Maybe a combination of factors. They knew Jesus as the carpenter’s son. They may have had different expectations of a messiah. They may not have been serious about sin. Either way, they weren’t ready for the savior when he came back to their village. And they stumbled.

Jesus then said, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." (V.57).

Will Jesus Find Honor Today?

Jesus did not find honor among his own people in Nazareth. Because of that, "He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith" (v.58). Did the people of Nazareth have people who were hurting? Sick? Demon possessed? Lost? They lost out on the redeeming ministry of Jesus because they would not honor him. They wouldn’t recognize Jesus for who he was and follow him, and they lost out.

Will Jesus find honor among his people today? Will we continue to seek him through scripture? Worship his Father? Will we pick up a towel and serve the needs of others? Will we seek him for salvation?

Revelation

In the book of Revelation Jesus visits another hometown - his churches in Asia. Jesus visits seven churches. To some of them he announces benedictions - he blesses them for their faithfulness and righteousness. To some he delivers a message of stern judgment. Here is part of his message to one church, Ephesus:

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Rev. 2:4-5).

This church lost its first love. Some think the "first love" is their love for the other brothers in Christ. Actually, I think that is the "second love." The first love must be for God and Christ who bestow life upon us. These Christians are still functioning as a church: they are meeting, singing, opening the Word, and enjoying potluck dinners. But their activity is not centered on Jesus Christ. Somehow they have moved away from Christ, and even though they are saying and doing things that look and sound very Christian, the have actually lost their love for Christ.

Karl and Maxine could boast 41 years of marriage together. Unless you knew them well. They lived in the same house for 41 years and shared the same last name, but that was the extent of the marriage. Karl was an alcoholic and refused to quit drinking. Maxine didn’t believe in divorce, so she stayed with him. But they lived in separate rooms in the same house. She fixed his meals, but they ate at different tables. They rarely even spoke to each other. Maxine’s sister told me, "They don’t really have a marriage."

On paper they are still husband and wife; in reality, they are as far apart as if one lived in New York and the other in L.A.

On paper, we may be united to Christ, we may be part of a church, we may count ourselves among the redeemed. But have we lost our love for Christ, as Karl and Maxine lost their love for each other? Do we think we live in a relationship with him that is really only a shell? To the church that lost its love for Christ Jesus told them, "Repent and do the things you did at first, or I will remove your lampstand from its place." He would remove them from his community.

What did the church in Ephesus do at first? Verse 2 says they worked hard and persevered; they did not tolerate wickedness and they tested the sermons of even the most respected preachers; and they endured persecution without growing weary. Jesus calls them to return to this faithfulness.

Three Thoughts

1) We honor Jesus by acknowledging his grandeur as the Son of God. There is no one beside him. So we listen to him, obey him, abide in him.

2) We honor Jesus by remaining faithful to our calling. We labor in his name, serve others, worship faithfully, study the Word and teach it to others. When trials and hardships come, even in the church, we hang in there and don’t grow weary.

3) We honor Jesus by staying together. We are the church, and that means we are a body or family, and we don’t allow anything to fracture the body. We are Jesus’ neighborhood, his community, his hometown. And even with the faults and problems we can find in it, it is still home.

N.T. Wright wrote, "It is within the church, even when the church isn’t getting everything quite right, that the Christian faith ... is nourished and grows to maturity. As with any family, the members discover who they are in relationship with one another." (Simply Christian, p.213)

We honor Jesus together, by staying together, worshiping together, working together. But first, we honor him by recognizing him as the son of God, confessing him, and being washed in his name.

Warren Baldwin

Lonely Shepherds and a Baby

LONELY SHEPHERDS AND A BABY
Luke 2:8-14

I remember three announcements of births about to happen
- one at a friends house
- another when we woke up one morning
- another when I was painting an outside door jam.

Each episode is burned in my mind. Certainly everyone here has similar recall of the day the special babies came into your home.

This birth announcement in Luke 2 has some unusual features to it.
1) It is the announcement of a king’s baby. This was a special announcement in ancient times. Nearly everyone had children that they birthed or adopted, but only rarely was their a birth from a kingly family. That was news.

2) The announcement of the king’s baby was not delivered in the usual places. Normally the announcement of a king’s baby would be made in prominent places to prominent people. This announcement is made to shepherds living and working in obscurity.

3) The king had messengers to make his announcement, and they were always human. This messenger is an angel.

4) After the announcement of the king’s baby, there would be cheering and celebration. Think in our own lifetimes of the announcement of royal births in England. It was a cause for immense celebration for the people of that country. In the Luke 2 story there is celebration, also, but notice who does the celebrating: "A great company of the heavenly host" (v.13)

Here are four similarities with some differences between the birth announcement of this baby and the birth of any king’s baby. But there is something that stands out as unique in this story: the angel and the heavenly host praised the baby. They sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests." (V.14). This was truly unique.

And don’t forget the shepherds.

The shepherds were standing by watching all this. I can only imagine their reaction. They were normal guys watching sheep. Late into the night they probably muttered something about being hungry, wishing they could be at home, and even making a career change. Then, without warning, the glory of the Lord appears, an angel appears and makes his announcement about the King’s baby, a great company of heavenly host appears praising God, and then the angels left.

If you were a shepherd there, what would you think? What would you do?

When the shepherds heard about this special birth they did three things.
1) They went to investigate. V.15-16

2) They told others about baby Jesus. V.17

3) They worshiped God. V.20.

The shepherds learned something about this special child: he was the son of a king, but not any king. He was the son of the King of Heaven. This was God’s son. And that changed everything. It changed the shepherds. It can change us.

I worship a crucified and resurrected Jesus. Paul told the Corinthians, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Cor. 15:3-4). This is the Jesus I worship.

But this isn’t the Jesus the shepherds saw that night, not yet. They saw a baby, and the baby led them to worship God. Matthew 2:11 says that when the Magi, or Wise Men, saw baby Jesus, they worshiped him, the baby.

We may feel uncomfortable today worshiping the baby since we have the crucified, resurrected and ascended Jesus.

But let’s not forget the miracle of the birth, and let’s not forget to marvel at what God has done.

When the angel and heavenly hosts praised God they said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Peace. The very presence of Jesus, either as a baby or a crucified savior, is to bring peace.

In ancient times the announcement of a king’s baby would often mean a cessation of hostilities between warring parties. The announcement of Jesus’ birth came with the announcement of the ending of hostility. Peace.

It is the death, burial and resurrection that ushers in our salvation.

Of this Charles Hodge wrote: "Salvation is atonement not attainment! Man is spiritually bankrupt! He cannot even pay the interest let the alone the principal!"

We need the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus to save us. We have not a prayer with out it!!

But we also need this story of how Jesus came into our lives. As a baby. In a manager. To poor parents. Because this story brought such hope to lonely shepherds. And it can bring hope to lonely people today.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Warren Baldwin

Does Jesus Care?

HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS CARES?
Luke 4:38-44

We sing a song at church entitled, "Does Jesus Care." A couple of stanzas are:

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained, Too deeply for mirth and song; as the burdens press, and the cares distress, And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed, To resist some temptation strong? When for my deep grief I find no relief, Tho my tears flow all the night long?

Chorus: Oh yes he cares; I know he cares, His heart is touched with my grief; When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.

That song was written in 1901 and it is a classic.


How do we Know if Someone Cares?

We still ask today, "Does Jesus care? Does he know my pain and suffering? Does it matter to him? And how do we know if Jesus cares?

There are 4 ways I know someone cares for me.

One, when they are friendly to me. It can be a simple greeting or handshake, perhaps asking, "how are you today," that demonstrates friendship and care.

Two, when they are not condescending. Have you noticed how some people have a knack for communicating, "You’re dumb" or "You’re not worth my effort"? It may be how they don’t look at you when shaking your hand, or how they ignore your greeting, or scoff at an idea. Even if that person is shaking my hand or saying "Hello," it is hard be believe they care.

Three, when they respect me. That means they honor my needs, desires, or opinions. They might not agree with them, but they don’t ridicule me because of them, either. Or, they don’t try to sell me on their idea without first giving due recognition to what I think. Respect communicates care.

Four, when they are willing to help. When someone helps, especially with a joyous spirit or disposition, it communicates so clearly that they care.

These attitudes and behaviors communicate care. If someone does them for me I know they care, and if I do them for someone else they can know that I care. Simple acts that communicate clearly, "You matter to me."


Does Jesus Care?

I think we can know that Jesus cares by the same methods we judge each other by. Look at the story of Jesus in Luke 4:38-44 and notice how he treats people he meets.

One, he is friendly and not condescending. Jesus was in the home of Peter’s mother-in-law visiting. The Son of God could have chosen to dine and visit wherever he wanted! He chose common people to fellowship with.

Two, he listened when they explained to him that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick. Even with all of his ministry work Jesus wasn’t too busy to hear of another need.

Three, he respected the needs of others. The mother-in-law, but even more. Once the word got out where Jesus was the house he was staying in was deluged with more needy people (vs.40-41). The sick and demon possessed came for help, and Jesus respected their needs.

Four, he helped. He was able to help by providing healing. He even rebuked the evil spirits. (v.41)

One reason people followed Jesus is that he was able to do great things. But another reason is that he was simply a caring person. People are attracted to those who care. And I hope that knowing Jesus cares will attract you to him.

I have a number of friends right now who are suffering. Some have lost a grandparent. Some have lost a parent. Some have children who are ill. Some are out of jobs. All are hurting. One thing I hope they all understand: Jesus cares.

What does knowing Jesus cares mean for your life?

Warren Baldwin
Aug 23, 2009

READING HEARTS

READING HEARTS

As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. —Proverbs 27:19

Samaria was off-limits to self-respecting Jews. The Jewish population there mixed its blood with Gentiles, rendering it unfit for the covenant people to spend time there. Most Jews traveling from Judea in the south of Israel to Galilee in the north took a lengthy detour around Samaria rather than soiling their feet in the dust of Samaria. But Jesus was different. He traveled into the heart of the country.

Jesus met a woman there steeped in her Samaritan heritage. She told Jesus, "You Jews say we should worship in Jerusalem, but our people worship on this mountain." She stood up to Jesus. She knew the Jewish disdain for the Samaritans, and she was willing to share some of her own with Jesus.

You can get angry reading this story in John 4. There may have been people with credentials to stand up to Jesus, but this woman didn’t have them. First, her moral life was a shambles. Jesus pointed out to her that she had five husbands, and the man she was living with now wouldn’t even share his name with her. Secondly, her spiritual life was barren. She brazenly admitted that her worship was as adulterous as her personal relationships: "Our people worship on this mountain," she said.

I read ignorance and brashness in the Samaritan woman’s demeanor and speech. I don’t know if I would have continued the conversation with her. But Jesus is on a spiritual mission. What kind of candidate is this woman for becoming a disciple?

Jesus read something different in her brashness. He read honesty. Underneath the repeated rejection by men, the shallow spirituality, and the vanity of her nationalistic pride was a purity of spirit that even many of the religious leaders lacked. Preachers were often rebuffed by Jesus, challenged, even attacked. But not this woman. Jesus stuck in there with her, countering her objections, and disclosing his own heart.

Jesus revealed something to this woman that he refused to reveal to the arguers and debaters of the law. Risking personal disclosure Jesus told her, "I who speak to you am he" (the Messiah, John 4:26). Crowds pursued Jesus. Pharisees pestered him. The court interrogated him. Everyone wanted to know, "Jesus, who are you?" The woman never asked, but Jesus told her, "I am the Messiah?" I wonder, "Why tell this woman?"

Paul said that God chooses to place the treasure of the gospel in clay pots (2 Cor. 4:7). People are those clay pots. We are the vessels that carry the message of salvation to lost and dying people. We take the message of hope to a homeless man, a pregnant teenager, a crippled vet. We embody and proclaim the message of forever to people who can’t see past today.

But certainly, there are some vessels more worthy of bearing that message than others! In Jesus’ day and ours, there are people who are bright, moral, and decent. They surely qualify as the fine china that should bear the treasure. But Jesus picked the five-time divorced, spiritually confused woman at the well to disclose his nature and bear his message to the rest of her Samaritan village. Into this common clay pot Jesus poured himself.

"As water reflects a face, so a woman’s heart reflects the woman." Jesus can read the hearts of people. He could read the heart of this woman; and behind the pride, ignorance, and degradation, he saw something redeeming: honesty. Jesus read this woman without judgment or condescension. He knew her story and still offered her the opportunity to bear the treasure of the Gospel. She did. Every person we meet, even a woman at a well, is a potential vessel for God to store his treasure.

Warren Baldwin
From "Roaring Lions, Cracking Rocks and other Gems from Proverbs." Due out hopefully in August.

NOBLE AND HUMBLE

NOBLE AND HUMBLE

Most of us are comfortable with people who are like us. From social groupings in a community to the high school cafeteria, you will notice that people of similar educational levels, income, political views, and social strata tend to gravitate toward each other. Rare is the person who can move with comfort and ease among the various groups.

Jesus was a person who could do that. He was comfortable with saint or sinner. He could speak with ease to the educated head of the synagogue or to the disfellowshiped sinner who was cast out of that religious setting. He could dine with the Rabbis or the Reprobates.

Jesus was himself in any setting. He could rebuke a sinner and tell her not to sin anymore, or he could rebuke a preacher and tell him he was a hypocrite. He could engage a Pharisee wanting to know more about his work and mission, and he could engage a tax collector or woman of ill repute who needed his work and mission.

Many of us adapt our speech and behavior to fit different groups. We have regular speech and religious speech; regular behavior and religious behavior. A youth group member suggested a certain movie to watch. Another teen said it was too sensuous and wouldn’t be appropriate to watch with a church youth group; he would save it to watch with his worldly friends. I was at first appalled at the brazen inconsistency in his behavior; today I marvel at his honesty about it. Many adults do the same as this teenager, but with less honesty.

Jesus didn’t fit speech or behavior to a certain group; he was always the same. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). Jesus was always the same because he had integrity. In every setting he was the light, he was the offer of abundant life, he was the door, he was the good shepherd. With saint or sinner, royalty or commoner, Jesus was the same.

Jesus was the same because he knew his purpose. God sent him to redeem a fallen world. Though Jesus walked the path of man, enduring all of his struggles and temptations, Jesus could never give in. Too much was at stake. Nothing less than the redemption of the world weighed upon his shoulders.

Jesus could move with ease among different groups of people because he was so committed to the purpose God had for him. Leadership and power might tempt him, but that was not God’s call for him, so he never gave in. Jesus could enjoy the food and laughter of the tax collector and common sinner crowd without joining in their treachery or misbehavior. He was tempted in all points as they were, yet without sin.

His incredible inner strength with all people and situations came from remembering his purpose for all people. He belonged to everybody, yet would be controlled by no one. Thus he could walk among the various groups of Israel, offering comfort, sharing the Word, healing, forgiving and teaching, and he gained an audience.

Jesus "was to be all his life one of those men of the people whose natural nobility allows them to meet all men as equals." (Daniel-Rops, Jesus and His Times, p.113). He was the Son of God yet he could and did meet all men as equals. He condescended to the lowly and the upper crust, and met them where they were, on their terms, and made his offer of life.

As I study Jesus’ life and consider the impact it makes on us, I’m struck by his nobility and humility. The confidence in his purpose and the flawlessness of his life produced his nobility; his love for people and willingness to meet them anywhere gave him his humility. As we attempt to walk in his footsteps, I pray we can do so with the same nobility and humility that he did. We carry on his mission of extending ourselves in the name of the Father to a fallen world. Nothing less than the redemption of the world is at stake. Let’s pray that God makes us fit for the task.

Warren Baldwin

LIVING BIBLICALLY

LIVING BIBLICALLY

A couple of years ago A. J. Jacobs set a commendable goal: he was going to dedicate an entire year to live biblically.

A. J. is Jewish and was raised as a secular Jew. So, he didn’t know many of the stories, the deep principles or the ethics of the Bible. He was going to study them and live them as best he could for a year.

Trying to following biblical custom A. J. wore white clothes and didn’t cut his beard. His appearance garnered quite a bit of attention.

His experiment required some significant behavioral changes for him. A. J. said he was particularly susceptible to gossip, lying and coveting, so addressing these issues in his life was a challenge.

Forgiveness was a big issue, too. In an interview with Leadership (Winter, 2008, p.17) magazine A. J. said, "Paul says that love does not keep score. I disobeyed this literally because, before my year, I had been keeping score of my wife’s arguments with me. Any time I would win an argument or she would make a mistake, I’d always jot those down ... in a little file so that I could remember them. The Bible taught me to get rid of that. I showed my wife the list, and she just laughed at me. Her response was amusement mixed with pity that I would even need to keep such a list."

A. J. was a workaholic, so the biblical teaching on Sabbath rest was a challenge for him, too. "The Sabbath is a great thing," he said, "because the Bible is saying you can’t work. You can’t check e-mail. You have to spend the day with your family. It’s a real smell-the-roses type of day. I found it to be a day for joy, for just really reconnecting with my life and realizing that work is not everything. I loved it, but it was a huge struggle."

A big lesson A. J. learned with his experiment is how much he sinned. He said, "That was a little disturbing, but once you start to pay attention to the amount that you lie and gossip and covet and even steal - I was taken aback and that was a real eye-opener. I don’t steal cars, but even something like taking three straws at Starbucks when you only need one, that could be considered stealing. I became very aware of taking other people’s things without asking."

This man’s story impressed me. He was not religious before undertaking this experiment. In fact, he says he started out as an agnostic, and still isn’t totally convinced of the existence of God. But, he had periods when he believed, and still holds value in the idea of the sacred. Here is what he said, "I believe there is something very important about the idea of sacredness: prayer can be sacred, the Sabbath can be sacred, family is sacred, rituals are sacred. That was a huge change in perspective for me." Sounds like A. J. is moving toward belief.

He hasn’t converted to Christianity yet, but A. J. did say, "I never did make the leap of faith to accept Jesus as my Savior. As I read the New Testament, I more tried to live by his ethical teachings, which did change my life."

I am impressed that this man who grew up in a secular environment and was an agnostic dedicated a year to living consciously, purposely and intensely as a man of God. He disciplined his thoughts, he managed his mouth, and he scrutinized his intentions in accord with the Bible. If it pricked his conscience to take more than one straw because it didn’t seem totally honest, he would only take one. And he said the experience changed his life.

For those of us who do profess Christ, would it change our lives to live consciously, purposely and intensely as the people of God in every aspect of our lives?

Warren Baldwin

Lord, I Want to See

Lord, I Want to See
Luke 18:35-43

My friend invited me into his dorm room at Harding Graduate School. He opened the door and walked in, holding it open for me to follow. "Over here," he said, as he led me through the apartment to his desk.

Something was different. As he shuffled through the papers on his desk, feeling them gingerly with his finger tips, I strained in the darkness to see what he was doing. Why doesn’t he turn the light on, I thought. Then I felt silly. My friend was blind.

Braille, seeing eye dogs, and other developments have aided the lives of the blind in modern times. They can read through their fingers. With eye dogs they can navigate even the largest and busiest of cities. Sometimes surgery can repair damaged eyes, or even replace eyes, allowing some blind people to see.

Life hasn’t always been that way for the blind.

In ancient times blindness not only darkened the eyes of the people who couldn’t see, it darkened the hearts of those who could. Any serious physical ailment was perceived as a curse from God. "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he is born blind," the disciples once asked. (John 9:3) Their question betrays a popular concept at the time that blindness was the result of sin. The Pharisees make this point when they tell the blind man, "You were steeped in sin at birth ..." (v.34).

The greater darkness the blind experienced was not the darkness of their eyes but the darkness in the hearts of the seeing people. They lived in a world of prejudice and bigotry. In Israel they weren’t allowed in the temple. Parents distanced themselves from their own blind children. Most forms of employment were denied them. Most were reduced to standing on a corner with a cup crying, "Have mercy on me. Please help the blind. Please make a contribution."

Meeting Jesus

The blind man in Luke 18 lived everyday with the helplessness and hopelessness of being blind. He was begging on that fateful day when Jesus happened by.

Hearing the commotion he asked, "What’s going on?" Blindness handicapped his eyes but not his curiosity. "Hey, I hear all this noise and excitement but I can’t see it. Will someone tell me what is happening?"

"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

"Jesus? Is it really you? Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

We know this blind man by the designation "Blind Man," or "Blind Beggar." We don’t know his name. We wouldn’t have known his name if we lived then and walked by him. We might have glanced at his lifeless eyes, his unkempt appearance, his beggar’s cup, and passed by. We might have dropped a few pennies in his cup. Our children might have stopped and stared in curiosity. "What’s wrong with him, mom," they might ask. "Hurry along kids, come on. Just stay away from him." We wouldn’t want the sin of this stricken man to fall upon our kids.

That was probably the attitude of those who led the entourage Jesus was in. When they heard the blind man cry out for help they told him to hush up. We don’t know their words, but I think we know what they said. "Quiet man, Jesus doesn’t have time for you." Or, "Quiet, you blind old fool. Just sit there in your sin." Or even, "Why would Jesus, a holy man, take time for an old sinner like you?"

But the darkness in the man’s eyes didn’t mean there was darkness in his heart. The death in his eyes didn’t mean their was death in spirit. He cried out all the more, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Meeting the Blind Man

Jesus stopped.

A story line that abruptly shifts gears is a sign that something important is about to happen. A movie signals an important event with intensified music. The music or the change in the story all kick our imaginations into high gear. "Pay attention!"

Jesus has just predicted his death (Luke 18:31-34). The disciples are baffled by this prediction and wonder what Jesus is talking about. They walk along to their next appointment with Jesus, probably debating in their hearts, and maybe among themselves, what all this means. Their minds are preoccupied with deep theological thoughts.

Then they are interrupted by the rude and vociferous crying of a blind man who should be quiet. That is what they tell him: "Be quiet!"

But Jesus stops. "Bring him here," Jesus says. They do.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asks.

"Lord, I want to see."

I spent a long time trying to figure out what he might mean by his statement: "I want to see."
- Jesus, there is an olive tree in my front yard that I have bumped into many times. Can you fix my eyes so I can see it?
- Mean kids trip me. Since I am cursed by God they aren’t nice to me. Why should they be if God isn’t? Will you give me sight so I won’t stumble and trip anymore?
- I want to see my mom and dad. They love me. But life is tough in a society that doesn’t like blind people. Jesus, when you heal my eyes you will also heal their hearts.
- Jesus, I want to see a girl. I’ve heard they are pretty, but I’ve never seen one. I want to see the sun shine in her hair. I want to see how a brightly colored dress enhances her beauty. I want to see her smile ... at me. I’ve heard the sneers and snickers. Now I want to see the smiles.
- Jesus, I want to be normal. I want to be able to walk into a crowd and not be ridiculed and stared even. I can’t see, But I can feel the stares and I can hear the snickers. "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Remove that pain.
- I want to see so I can know I am a child of God. Have you rejected me? Do I have less value because I am blind? These thoughts hurt more than blindness.
- Finally, Jesus, I want you to heal my eyes so there can be healing in my heart from the rejection and doubt that assails me everyday.
- Jesus I want to see. I want to see with my eyes and I want to see with my heart.

"Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God." (Vv.42-43).

The Bigger Story

The Blind Man was now the Seeing Man. He could see the olive tree, his mom and dad, and a pretty girl. He would now be normal and fit in with society. His heart would heal with his eyes.

But something bigger happened besides this man seeing with his eyes. He could now see with his heart. "Your faith has healed you," Jesus said. But what was a desperate, hopeful faith before is now a deep conviction. He began to follow Jesus and praise God.

But the bigger story continues. What Jesus did for the blind man he does for all Israel. When Jesus came, Israel was a defeated, occupied nation. Roman legions conquered the area and now rule it with an iron scepter. Israel is not a free nation, she is in bondage.

Since the time of Isaiah Israel has looked for a redeemer to free her from bondage. Isaiah 61 says,
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn ..." (Vv.1-2).

Jesus has come to free Israel from this bondage. The miracles he performed did confirm he was the Son of God. They confirmed that redemption was here. Jesus came to preach good news - that he would heal broken hearts, proclaim freedom, release the blind from darkness, announce God’s favor upon the faithful, comfort the mourners, and bring the vengeance of God.

In keeping with the theme of Isaiah, Jesus said to Israel, "God is here. Follow me. Leave your chains. Leave your darkness. Leave your stale, religious conceptions. Open your eyes. Follow me."

Did people get the point? Jesus announced he was going to die and rise again. His own disciples didn’t understand. Lost in their thoughts they coldly dismissed the blind man. Jesus says, "Wait, this is who I came for. Blind man, come here. You are blind no longer." The blind man sees and praises God.

This is what Jesus came for all of Israel to do: see and praise. See Jesus as the person of God who has come to rescue us from every chain that binds us, and to praise him for his greatness.
The blind man did. Did Israel. Do we?

The real blind people in the Gospels aren’t the blind people. Notice how many of the physically blind come to believe in Jesus. The real blind are those who think they see, who think they know about life, who think they know the Bible, who think they are right, who think they have God figured out, who think God will act sometime in the future and ignore what he has already done and is currently doing. The real blind are those who do not see Jesus.

"Receive your sight."

That is what Jesus said to all of Israel. Some listened, some didn’t.

This is what Jesus wants to say to all of us. Those aren’t just words to give sight to eyes. Those are words to heal hearts, restore relationships, and offer hope and a place to belong.

Jesus asks all of us, "What do you want me to do for you." I hope we have an answer for him.

Warren Baldwin
May 24, 2009

Washing Feet

"NOW THAT I HAVE WASHED YOUR FEET ..."
John 13:12-17; 1 Peter 4:7-11

Friends enjoy doing favors for each other. Friends don’t do favors just to have favors done in return. But, they do know that they will receive favors - because friends do return kind deeds. But with friends, there is never a sense of manipulation. You know what I mean by manipulation, don’t you? A manipulator is someone who does you a favor when it is convenient for them and then, in a short time, calls you back and says, "Remember when I did you that favor? Well, now I need you to return it." After a while people quit accepting that person’s favors, because they always come with a price tag.

Jesus just did a favor for his disciples in John 13. Thirteen hungry men with dirty feet are gathered for a meal. Jesus does the service of taking a towel and basin of water and getting on his hands and knees to wash their feet. He humbles himself to serve them. He does them a favor.

What is the next step? If he is like some people he would say, "Hey guys, remember the favor I did for you? Well, now I want you to do me a favor." But Jesus doesn’t resort to manipulation. He does make a demand: he does place a heavy burden of the Gospel upon them. But it is not manipulation. V.12b-16: "Do you understand what I have done for you? Now that I ... have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." Jesus doesn’t look for any favors to be done for him. His whole focus is ... "I have served you. Now you serve others."

This is a nice saying. Whenever the story of the washing of feet is recited, this part of the story is read. "I did you a good deed, now you do others a good deed." But this is not nice saying. If we think this is nice, we don’t understand it. There is nothing pleasant about it. This is a challenge. A challenge that if we understand and accept, will push us farther than we would ever care to go on our own in ministering to other people.

"I have set you AN example ..." Jesus said. "This is ONE example of my service to others," Jesus said. And his example of service to others continues later in this story. Jesus serves until it kills him. This is not an example of doing each other nice little favors. This is a story about dying for each other. "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

Remember about 20 years ago the plane that crashed landing in Washington D.C.? It was riding low and landed in the water, so not all of the passengers died on impact. It was winter time, and a number of passengers could be seen floating in the icy waters. One man couldn’t be content with just watching from the bank and waiting for boats. He jumped into the water, grabbed people, and swam to the shore with them. He managed to save the lives of several people. Finally, when he came to the bank with the last person, he sank under the water. Exhaustion and cold overtook him. He sank. He drowned. He saved the lives of several people, but he died himself. He lost his own life. "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

Remember almost 8 years ago when planes crashed into the World Trade Towers? While thousands of people were rushing out of the buildings, policemen and firefighters were rushing in. They were going in to save lives. They were going to serve the needs of the people who were trapped inside. Then a horrible thing happened ... the buildings collapsed. Many of the people trapped inside and killed were ... policemen and firefighters who went inside voluntarily. They saved the lives of other people. They served people they didn’t even know. But they died themselves.

Most of us will NEVER be called upon to jump into icy waters and pull people out of the water. Most of us will NEVER be called upon to rush into burning buildings and pull people out of the fire. But all of us are still called to wash feet. To give of ourselves. To serve others. "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

Warren Baldwin

Heart of Leader #1

HEART OF A LEADER: JESUS
Matt. 4:1-11

Everyone who extends himself to lead in some way will find himself or herself challenged. Being challenged isn’t bad. Being challenged simply means that you are being tested.

We may be tested for two reasons.

1) The devil may be testing us to see how strong we are. He may be looking for weaknesses in our style or in our attitudes that he can exploit. Mostly, I think the devil is looking for weaknesses in character. Even with a poor style a leader can still do a wonderful job in the kingdom if he has good character. But, if his style is great but his character weak, the devil will exploit his weaknesses and cause great harm to the man or woman’s life. This will then affect their family, their church, their job, the whole community.

2) The lord may be testing us to see the same areas of weakness as the devil, but with this one difference: God does not want to exploit our weaknesses in style, attitudes or character. God wants to build us up and strengthen us. God wants us faithful for the long haul. Spiritual leadership that goes the distance means our family or our local church can count on us for a lifetime.

Among the qualifications, or qualities, that Paul gives for an elder in 1 Tim. 3 and Titus is that he not be a new convert, and that he has raised his children to be obedient, faithful and respectful. This means that the shepherd has been around awhile. He has been practicing his leadership for decades. True spiritual leaders grow and develop over time. Spiritual leadership is not the fruit of a short course or of a seminar. Those things give us ideas. They introduce us to people we can talk to who know about leadership. But it is the living out every day the principles of our godly walk that builds the character that sustains long-term leadership.

All those who lead sometimes ask, "Why am I doing this?" No one is exempt. No one. Every leader, man or woman, young or old, asks themselves sometime, "Why am I doing this? Am I doing the kind of job God wants? Am I reflecting the heart of God? Am I reaching people ... anyone, someone?" Those questions, and the pain behind them, are part of the training and preparation for being a spiritual leader in the kingdom of God.

Every great leader in the Bible has experienced those feelings. Moses experienced failure in his first attempts to lead. David experienced tremendous success in his early experiences at leadership. Paul was misguided in his early spiritual leadership. But God was at work in the lives of each of these men to prepare and mature them.
The same experiences occurred in the life and ministry of Jesus. Certainly God was at work in his life as Jesus was raised ...
... in a godly home
... attending worship at the temple
... learning the principles, wisdom and scriptures of his Heavenly Father. "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." Luke 2:52

Jesus had to be prepared to lead just as Moses, David and Paul had to be prepared. He had to be taught. But there also came a time when Jesus had to feel the gut-wrenching experience of being on the firing line for God. That is the story of Matthew 4:1-11

I said earlier that testing in our lives could come from God or the devil. Matthew makes it clear where this testing of Jesus came from: the devil. (V.1). In v.3 he is called the "tempter." Being the tempter means the devil is trying to find something wrong in your life. The devil works like a friend of mine, Terry Knapp. Terry used to work as an inspector for oil and gas pipelines. He would crawl through pipes that had been welded together. With a flashlight he would look for any kind of visible flaw in the welding. He studied and inspected every joint, looking for any slight crack or flaw that would allow gas or oil to escape from the pipe.

That is what the devil does in our lives. He looks closely at every detail of our hearts and lives. He is looking for any flaw, crevice or crack in our integrity and character. The very nature of the devil’s work is to analyze you, study you, investigate you, get to know every fiber of your being. He gathers all the data about it. Then, guess what he does with it? He looks at it and says, "Ok, over here, she is structurally weak. She has all the beauty, grace and poise of a young lady, but she doesn’t have her character developed yet. I will send her a young boy who will sweep her off her feet. She will not be able to resist his advances. She will fall for him. He will hurt her. He will undermine the morals her parents taught her. And I will kill her."

The devil looks at the data and says, "Ah, this is a fine young man. He respects his elders. He works hard. He has been taught the way of God. But he hasn’t had the time to mature in the ways of God. He is weak still several areas. Here is what I will do. Fresh out of college I will give him a good job with big pay. He won’t be ready to handle that money appropriately for God. He will spend it on his pleasures. In a few years, he will be spending his money on pretty pictures, then on pretty girls, young ladies who will lure his heart and body away from me. He will forget to worship God. And I will kill him."

That is the work of the tempter. And he does it so well, doesn’t he? "God, you know that man Job? He’s only following you because you reward him. Take away some of his blessings and see what he does." The story of Job unnerves me every time I go back and read it. I am thrilled that Job hung on to his integrity till the end!! I am scared that I would not be able to do the same.
The devil is watching Job, me, my son, my daughters, all of you.

He even watched Jesus to find the crack in the armor, if there was any, that he could exploit. He bided his time. He waited until the right moment ... when Jesus was very hungry. And he said, "Here Jesus, have some food."

There are three temptations in Matthew 4.
1) Food v.3-4
2) Power v.5-6
3) Authority v.7-10

Each of these temptations is an appeal to Jesus to derail him from his ministry for God. Jesus came to be the redemption of mankind. Jesus came to die. But the devil tried to appeal to Jesus’ hunger and desires to get him off track.
- Would Jesus take food from the devil? No, every good and perfect gift is from God, not the devil. Even in his hunger Jesus would not place himself at the mercy of the devil. He would not allow the devil to meet any of his needs. Only God could meet them.
- If Jesus accepted the offer of power, calling on the angels to rescue him, would he go to the cross?
- If Jesus accepted the offer of the devil to receive all the kingdoms of the world, and he had authority over all of them, would he need to go to the cross? Perhaps the devil thought he could convince Jesus that he didn’t need to die, now that he already had authority.

Each of these temptations was an appeal to needs that Jesus had. But Jesus wouldn’t fall for this trick of the devil. Jesus knows that only God can meet our deepest needs. Only God can truly satisfy hunger. Only God has the power and authority to give Jesus power and authority. Jesus knows the devil is a liar and the father of lies. The devil cannot give us anything that is ultimately good. Any gift from the devil is meant to deceive, hurt, and destroy.

Each one of these temptations was an appeal to ego needs that all of us have. We want to feel content in our bodies. We want to feel that we belong. We want to feel that we matter. Human beings will do almost anything to have these needs met.

We sin. What do you think sin is, ultimately? It is the conviction we have that we can meet our needs better than God can. God says, "Here, I give you eyes so you can take joy in the beauty of your wife and children." We say, "No, I will use my eyes to take in beauty that is not mine to enjoy." God says, "Here, I give you hands to do honest work." We say, "No, I will use my hands to do violence, and things that are dishonorable."

Sin is man’s attempt to say, "We can take better care of ourselves than God can." That was the temptation even to Jesus. But Jesus said, "NO!" Jesus’ leadership was challenged. This tempting in the wilderness was Satan’s attempt to derail the ministry of Jesus. He offered food, power, authority, wealth. Men have fallen for lesser things! Jesus maintained his integrity. He stood strong.

And we need to as well. Leadership in the kingdom is leadership for the long haul. Leadership is realizing that God is at work to build our character to be people who can endure the pain and difficulties of leadership and never give up. Leadership is realizing the deceitful work of the devil to derail us. It is to fully trust in God’s ability to meet our needs and not sell out to the devil’s lies. Leadership is being faithful for life.

Jesus was challenged, and we will be, too. We will feel those challenges in our hearts, in our spirit, in our bodies. We will wonder about our preparedness, our abilities. What do we do? We hang in there. Like Moses, David and Paul, we will have failures. Jesus was challenged, but he didn’t fail. We won’t handle things perfectly like Jesus did. But, like Jesus, we don’t have to let the devil win!

Leadership is being faithful for life. We can do that.

Warren Baldwin
10/1/06