The Church of Jesus has taken some hits over the past few years, and some of those hits are deserved. When the Church lives in ways that do not reflect the life of Jesus, we come across to people as hypocrites and phonies. When our attitudes and words don’t reflect the heart and mind of Jesus, we can’t blame folks for not respecting us.

In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus gives us what is referred to as the great commandment: “You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…You shall love Your neighbor as yourself.” This about sums it up, doesn’t it? In John 13:35 He drives it further home when He says to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We live in a distracted and preoccupied world. How can we possibly attract people to Jesus when they don’t care about Him at all? Volumes have been written in answer to that question, but in the end we don’t need books; we need for our lives to be so saturated with the love of Jesus that it flows in everything we do. People are watching our lives just as we are watching the lives of others. What do that see when they see us? What image do we leave with them?

May God help us to live lives of love, real love, Jesus’ kind of love; Sacrificial self-giving love; Love that reflects the forgiving and restoring love of God.

Here is a good word: LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Some reflections upon being the Church

I would like to think the following is true. What do you think?

Being the people of God is a marvelous wonder.

We live by faith and stake our lives on our faith being rooted and grounded in Truth, as that truth is realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

We do what we believe God calls us to do and we live on the basis of the integrity we see in God revealed in Jesus.

We take the Bible seriously and read it as divine revelation.

We take creation seriously and seek to be stewards of the world into which God has placed us.

We take people seriously and love them the way God has loved us.

We take justice seriously and seek to make a fair playing field for people of all races, creeds and colors.

We take morality seriously and seek to lead lives that reflect the goodness of God.

We take ethics seriously and seek to live honorably and nobly in our spheres of influence.

We’re not perfect but the One who is has taken hold of our hand and is leading us forward.

We may make mistakes but the One who doesn’t lives within us holding us to a strict accountability that leads us to admit it when we fail, face it down, own it, and then to do all we can to get it right.

We seek to live in response to God and not in that place of micro-managing God.

We seek not to bring God down to our brain’s ability to comprehend Him, but to allow God to expand our capacities up so as to live in His infinite and creative imagination and power.

In the end, we are just folks who have become captivated by what we see when we look into the eyes of Jesus. In response we have joined up with Him, taking one step at a time into the future. It is an awesome journey and quite a ride.

LET THE RIVER FLOW
Ezekiel 47:1-12

For a few years now I’ve been thinking about Ezekiel 47 where the prophet is shown a vision of a trickle of water flowing from the sanctuary altar underneath the doors of the temple, and out into the desert. Every five hundred yards the trickle of water becomes deeper and deeper until it is a mighty river and flows so forcefully into the northwest end of the Dead Sea that the salty waters are forced back and for the first time fishermen will fish along the shores of the sea that once was dead.

Of this scene, Ezekiel is told, “everything will live where the river goes” (vs. 9). In fact, all along the river, on both sides, “will grow all kinds of trees for food” (vs. 12). We learn that the leaves of these trees “will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from
the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing” (vs. 12).

Ezekiel also learns that where the river does not flow there will not be life. He is told of “swamps and marshes” that “will not become fresh; they will be left for salt” (vs. 11). Whatever the river touches will flourish with life. Whatever is untouched will continue in deadness and lifelessness.

So, the prayer of my heart these days is LET THE RIVER FLOW. Let its headwaters be the altar in the sanctuary of God, and let it make its way into the desert places around us where trees of God bear fruit year round, and where the leaves of those trees bring forth healing.

As I read and re-read this vision I can’t help but think of some other passages of Scripture. For instance, Psalm 46: 4,“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High.” In John 4:14 Jesus says “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." And, in Revelation 22:1-2 we read, “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

The water of life, the River of God, is flowing and “everything will live where the river goes” (vs. 9). It starts at the altar but it doesn’t stay at the altar. It flows from the sanctuary into the dry and parched places where life is desperately needed.

Open the doors of the sanctuary and let the River flow from the altar of God.

In her book, He Sets the Captive Free, Corrie Ten Boom writes of a time when she was seeking to witness to a murderer who was in prison for his crime and would most likely never be released. She didn't know how even to begin to reach out to the hardened man, so she simply prayed this prayer: "Lord, help me to find a way to his heart."

Lord, help me to find a way to his heart. This might just be the best prayer in all the world when it conies to being present for Christ as a witness to the Good News. People have no responsibility to us to listen to the story we tell. People have no perceived personal interest in our story that would necessarily move them to give us their time, a time in which we could love them and live out the story of Jesus before them. Others are as busy in their lives as we are in ours so why would they stop what they are doing and give us their valuable time? Looking from their perspective, I can't think of a good reason. Therefore, Corrie Ten Boom's prayer may just be the order of the day: Lord, help me to find a way to his or her heart.

The bigger issue with which we are dealing is that of finding ways to truly be present for Christ in our world and particularly within our sphere of influence. What does it mean to be here? How shall the Church live in this place at this time? How shall we be a witness to Jesus? These are our "witness" questions.

The Word of Jesus to us is "Go...and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt. 28: 19). But what does it mean to "Go"? How do we connect with people in such away that they will listen to our story and give Jesus a hearing? How do we find the way to the hearts of people?

These are ministry questions worth pursuing.

In a recent Conversation class we talked about how the church has lost respect in the culture and how it is being more and more marginalized. We addressed a question: What are some adjustments local churches might want to consider to regain respect in the culture?

In the discussion it was asked, “Does the Church need the respect of the culture?” We concluded that it does not. The church should go about the business of being the church with or without the respect of the culture. We don’t get our affirmation from culture; we get our affirmation from God.

We’re not out particularly to tick off the culture but the culture needs to know that we are a community of God in the name of Jesus. We are shaped and formed by the One we believe is Messiah, Lord of the universe. So, in fact, we are a community within the community, a culture within the culture.

It is our business to bring the voice of God into the human experience. Whether or not His voice will be heard is an issue that the culture must take upon itself. However, the answer the culture gives will not stop the church from being the church. So, we say, the church does not need the respect of the culture.

We appreciate what the culture potentially can bring into human experience, but we do not bow to culture; we bow to God. With the first church we say, WE MUST OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN (ACTS. 5:29).

Somebody once said that the heart of ministry is simply finding a need and meeting it. I have discovered through the years that usually the need that is found is found by someone who has a heart for that kind of thing. They see it when others may not. It doesn't mean they are more spiritual and that those who don't see it are insensitive. It just means that their giftedness is working like an antenna. What is in our hearts is what we tend to see. An English teacher might pick up a misspelled word in the bulletin when the rest of us wouldn't catch it. A singer would more likely pick up a missed musical note when the rest of us wouldn't even think about it. A mechanic might hear a noise that the rest of use wouldn't hear.

All of this is why a gifted ministry is so important. As each of us function the way we function, we add a dimension to the church that would otherwise go unfulfilled. Some are good in finances, others aren't. Some are good with people, others aren't. Some are good up front, others aren't. Some are comfortable to work behind the scenes; others function well in front of people. Some make great ushers, others don't. Some are great singers, others aren't.

What I am contending for is that the pastor must do what he is called and gifted to do. Each member of the church must do what they are equipped to do. Working together, under the power of the Holy Spirit, it is then that the church is best equipped and prepared to offer a redemptive ministry to a hurting world.

So, the clarion call is to FIND A NEED AND MEET IT. As the pastor seeks to keep the community attentive to God, the Spirit is then free to work in all our lives in such a way that each member of the Body can "use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms" (I Peter 4:10).

The witness of the church – we talk about it, we pray about it, and we proclaim it as fundamental to who we are as a people of God. How well we do it might be a legitimate debate, but that we are a witnessing people is not in question. Yet, what does it mean, what does it entail, and how is it undertaken?

In the 1980s when Cambodians fled their homeland for safety and for freedom, and came to the USA, many of them landed in Long Beach, California. Away from their homeland, in a place where everything was strange and foreign to them, some came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. There are many stories but there is one story that touched my heart, and became, for me, a metaphor as to what it means to be a witnessing people.

It is the story of an old Cambodian man. Through the ministry of faithful followers of Christ, the man came to know Jesus. Something happened in his life that truly changed him and made him a new creature in Christ.

In worship one Sunday his pastor spoke about living for Christ and about being witnesses. The old man felt frustrated. He was old. He couldn’t speak English. He felt helpless, wanting to serve but feeling so inadequate and even out of place. He went to his pastor and explained his frustration. He asked the pastor, “What can I do for my God?” The pastor counseled him to turn that question into a daily prayer, and everyday he prayed, “What can I do for my God, today?”

One day he came up with an idea. He decided to walk up and down the streets of his neighborhood praying for the people in the homes on each street. He didn’t know them, and in many cases couldn’t speak their language. Every day he would keep praying, “What can I do for my God today?” and everyday he would walk and pray.

In time the old man started meeting people, got to know them a little bit, told them he was praying for them that God would blessed and help them; and, he invited them to come his church. Most didn’t but some did, and over the next few years of those who did come to his church, many of them found Christ and joined the church. Some of them were children. They are now adults, active in the church and some of them are pastors in local churches.

WHAT CAN I DO FOR MY GOD TODAY? Not a bad question; not a bad question at all. In fact, it is a great question to ask for disciples of Jesus and for the churches they attend.

WHAT CAN WE DO FOR OUR GOD TODAY? In this place and at this time, WHAT CAN WE DO FOR OUR GOD? Pray it and let God stretch your imagination in His answer to the prayer.