The Ascension of Christ

Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53

Today is Memorial Day weekend.

We remember those who lived before us, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. There are many we remember who led us to faith in Jesus Christ, who helped us to make sure of our salvation, who loved us so much they would not let us get out of this world without coming to Jesus Christ.

One day, perhaps, there are people in your life who will look back in time and see you as that person who did not let them get away from Christ. They will look back and see that you loved them so much you would not leave them alone before they came to Christ. Who will you lead to Christ? Will you lead anyone to Christ?

Memorial Day was originally established to remember the dead from the Civil War. Later, it became a special day to remember fallen soldiers, sailors, and airmen.

As we remember those who shed their blood for our freedom, it is critical that we remember the One who died for all of us, whose body was broken and blood was shed for all of us. It is appropriate, you see, for today the church celebrates the Ascension of Jesus Christ to Heaven.

We know the story…

Jesus has been back with the Apostles after His temporary death and permanent resurrection. He is back with his new, glorified body, His new body that will never grow old, will never rot, will never die. He has visited them several times, taught them, breathed on them His Holy Spirit, eaten with them, redeemed Peter, broken bread with them, and asked Thomas to put his fingers into the hole in Jesus’ side that the spear made and to touch the marks on His wrists where the nails were driven. Jesus has amazed them all simply because He is there, alive!

Luke tells us that about what happened that final day when He ascended to Heaven…

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Have you ever noticed that it takes an open, curious mind to understand Scripture because it so often goes against what the world teaches us?

He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

In Luke’s second book, the Book of Acts, Luke expands this speech a bit. He tells us that Jesus said:

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Meanwhile, they walked outside Jerusalem to the nearby suburb of Bethany just over the Mount of Olives, the little village where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived, and He blessed them.

While He was blessing them, He was taken up into the air and disappeared among the clouds.

The disciples were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

And so the disciples worshipped Jesus and went dancing back into town with great joy. Then, they went every day to the Temple and praised God for the next week and a half.

We look at the Ascension as an important part of the Jesus story, for the disciples – now known as Apostles – explained the event to us. In Ephesians 1, Paul tells us that

“[God] raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. “
This is the last time the assembled disciples saw Jesus on the earth. They were confident that Jesus had been seated at the right hand of the Father, to judge the living and the dead someday. It is recorded that Paul and John each saw Jesus again – Paul on the Damascus road in his terrifying, blinding encounter with Jesus, and John when he received his heavenly vision that led to the Book of Revelation.

But what would have happened if Jesus had not ascended to Heaven? What would have happened in this world if Jesus had stayed on earth with the disciples?

I’ve thought about that for a while and my answer is not what you’d think. I know most people would think – hey, Jesus would have eventually taken over Jerusalem and begun ruling from there. The world would have been grand!

But I don’t think that is what would have happened. God the Father has great wisdom and never does the second-best thing. I think Jesus had to ascend to Heaven, or nothing much would have happened.

Imagine this:

Jesus stays in the Jerusalem area. His disciples gather around to hear Him teach…and…that’s just what happens. The disciples never become apostles, because listening to Jesus speak is just so doggone interesting.

You see, Jesus is speaking the Words of God. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus IS the Word of God. Once we begin to listen to Him in earnest, it’s like eating peanuts or Lay’s potato chips – we can’t stop listening because He knows everything and knows how to teach deep truths to us.

In John Chapter 14, Jesus Himself says that He has to go to the Father so He can send us the Holy Spirit. The disciples and us had to receive the Holy Spirit so we could become apostles, going out to proclaim the Word of the God and the Gospel of Christ. He had to leave so we wouldn’t hang around, so we would go into the world.

You know, the Word of God is so interesting that there are truly some people who spend their careers trying to understand everything, all the depths found in a single book. A few weeks ago, my wife Saundra met a seminary professor who is one of the world’s experts on the Book of Numbers. His career is focused upon the Book of Numbers. I don’t know about you, but I think I’d choose a different book, like Acts or Revelation, but to each his own…

Yet this guy does little or no evangelism. He simply writes articles for journals read only by other seminary professors. He is so much a disciple that he isn’t an apostle. He is fascinated by that one book of the Bible.

Now imagine that Jesus was here and he could talk and listen to Jesus day after day. He’d never leave the building!

Unfortunately, that is what happens to many people. They become so much disciple that they never become apostles. Perhaps you are one of those people…You’re like a guy who spends his days reading automobile service manuals and can tell you which spark plug is used in a 1974 Ford Pinto, but has never changed a spark plug. You’re like a woman who reads recipe magazines day-in and day-out but can’t cook Kraft macaroni-and-cheese. You’re like a friend of mine who pitches like Charlie Brown but can tell you the 1971 batting averages of Willie Stargell or Roberto Clemente. A permanent disciple is worthless. You have no fruit!

Jesus has left the planet, so what’s your excuse? Why have you become a permanent disciple, ever learning but not proclaiming?

Perhaps our problem is we understood Moses better than we understand Jesus.

We love the Gospel when we hear it. We cry with joy when we understand we have been forgiven of everything we ever did wrong. We weep when we first “get it” that Jesus died for us and would have died just for you or me if we were the only people who had ever done wrong, He loves us that much.

But we soon forget it. We go back to the Law of Moses. We take on that burden of the Law again. We look into Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy and we forget that Jesus fulfilled the Law through His death and thus we are ok. We look at passages in Paul and think we have to develop the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, etc – when it clearly says that these are the fruits of the Spirit, what comes naturally when we follow the Spirit, but we grow scared and believe we have to work harder to have our love, joy, peace, etc. And so we forget about what Jesus did for us.

And we are particularly good at teaching others about the Law, but we rarely teach people the Gospel. Folks, almost everyone in America knows the basics of the Ten Commandments, and everyone has broken those commandments repeatedly.

What people need to hear from us, from us who are filled with the Holy Spirit, from us who are supposed to be Apostles is the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

That Gospel is really very simple. It has five key points:

First, except for Jesus, no human is perfect. We all have broken the moral law repeatedly – which moral law? It doesn’t matter. Tell me your personal code and I guarantee you have broken it at one time or the other.

Second, God hates those who are in sin, who break moral codes, who are in rebellion to God.

Third, God gave us a second chance. He sent His Son Jesus to pay the penalties for all we have done wrong, for all our sins. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins.

Fourth, to prove Jesus was God walking around, God the Father raised Him from a real death, where he was seen by over 500 people.

Fifth, Jesus has promised that all who choose to follow Him will have eternal life with Him one day and are declared “not guilty” by God the Father. We who follow Jesus have been forgiven by God the Father. There is no need to fear death or God’s wrath ever again. Just follow Jesus!

You know, I’ve been your pastor almost four years. When I first heard about you, I heard from other pastor’s I know that you were a good church. (Believe me, churches gain reputations among pastors!)

I can say what Paul said about the Ephesian church:

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

A couple of weeks ago, another pastor was here for the COME event. He commented on how many people greeted him, how helpful everyone was, how welcoming you all were. And I know there were people from both churches here that day.

Paul continues:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

That’s why we offer so many classes. We need to know God better!

Continuing, Paul said to the Ephesians:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Folks, we look around at each other and think, “I’m a pretty good Christian.” But have you really taken this hope of eternal life down deep in your heart, deeper still into your gut, down to the tips of your toes? Do you really grasp that you will live forever and ever, that this life is nothing compared to eternity? Try taking a calculator and dividing the 100 years of this life by the billion years or more you will live with Jesus in eternity. It is less than a second is compared to your earthly life. We need to allow our understanding of eternity to drive our behavior on earth:

The eternal life is what counts, not what your employer did to you last Friday.

The eternal life is what counts, not what your sister said to you yesterday.

The eternal life is what counts, not what the President did or didn’t do last week.

The eternal life is what counts, not the size of your paycheck.

The eternal life is what counts, not the look on your co-worker’s face.

The eternal life is what counts….Bring your best friend to know Jesus and they will be with you in eternity.

The eternal life is what counts….Bring your grandchildren to know Jesus and you will play baseball with them in eternity.

The eternal life is what counts…Bring your rotten neighbor to know Jesus and you will have another friend in eternity because of the power of God.

God’s power of resurrection is real and vital to us.

Paul tells us “that power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

This world will end. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, a process started to give everyone a chance to change their ways and choose to follow Jesus. For us, that process was:

 

1) Believe in Jesus, 

2) be baptized, 

3) begin following Jesus’ commands and example as disciples, 

4) become apostles who bring others to believe in Jesus so they can have a chance to change their ways and choose to follow Jesus.

The disciples became apostles a week later on the Day of Pentecost, which we celebrate next week.

Hundreds of people saw Jesus peacefully ascend alone to Heaven that Ascension Day. Paul and John saw him years later. Others have seen Jesus throughout the centuries… saints, ordinary believers, non-believers who became believers…but He has never stayed on the earth since that day. His home is with the Father in Heaven until His return at the end of the age as described by John in Revelation 19, a return that will be much different in style and emotion. John wrote:

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Can you imagine a winepress where people are put in instead of grapes?

Work with me, church! Let’s do what we can to make sure and certain that no one is left standing in this area to face this army of heaven, to be trampled over by those horses and have their blood shed like a winepress by that sword and scepter! Let us be apostles to our friends, our neighbors, and our families, helping them to bow voluntarily in gratitude before they are forced to bow down before the King of Kings.

It is time to pray today. Give up your hurts and fears and emotions to the King of Kings as you stand or bow down before Him. Pray for your friends. Pray for your families. Pray for your neighbors. And pray for yourself, that you may hear the Word of God and the Holy Spirit guiding you into a glorious future with Christ.

And from our memory of the Civil War comes a hymn that was sung by both sides, a hymn with imagery drawn from Revelation: The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;

His truth is marching on!

May God grant you a vision of your purpose and guide you into a form of ministry that you may go and serve the Lord! Amen !

Graduation Sunday

Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:8-20; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21

There comes a time when we move on from one place in our lives to another place in our lives. We put away our toys. We leave home taking our books and pencils, our clothing, and our food, our mothers cry, we meet new people, we make new friends, we leave behind pets, our fathers give us words of advice and we walk out that front door into a new world. I speak, of course, of the end of childhood and the beginning of kindergarten or pre-school.

And the same thing happens when we graduate from high school and again when we graduate from college. A chapter in the book of our life closes, our mothers’ cry, our fathers give us words of advice, and we move onto a new life.

Graduation day.

Jesus’ disciples had a graduation day.

It was Thursday evening of Passover Week in Jerusalem. The disciples had assembled in a large upper room in a wealthy person’s home – whose home it was remains a mystery. It was like a private dining room, the lamb had been roasted, flat, unleavened bread was baked, red wine was ready, and perhaps some other foods were present – bitter herbs, brown roasted eggs, green herbs, an charoset, a mixture of fruit and nuts and honey that looked like mortar and tasted wonderful.

Jesus started the evening differently, for He took off his outer garments and then washed his disciples feet of the dust and dried animal dung that accumulated on feet walking in Jerusalem in those days, when donkeys and sheep and goats and dogs walked through the streets in a world before cars and trucks. Jesus washed his students feet of all that grime that evening, for He had a key lesson He still needed to teach, the lesson that the disciples should act as the lowliest servants for each other. If Jesus, the teacher, would stoop so low as to act like the lowliest slave for the sake of his students, perhaps they would also remember and do the same for each other – and their students someday.

They gathered around a table for dinner, not seated as we do these days, but lying on low couches and blankets spread on the floor. And they began the ceremony, speaking of the food that was present and remembering the ancient meaning, but when they got to the bread, Jesus changed things.

He said, “This is my body which is broken for you. Eat this. Every time you eat bread, remember me.”

And then, when the third cup came, the cup of Redemption, he passed the cup and said, “This my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, remember me.”

And the disciples must have looked at him as though he had grown a second head on his shoulders, right there beside his existing head. But they remembered…

And Jesus pointed out that one of them would betray him and soon Judas left the table in haste. Jesus pointed out that Peter would deny even knowing him that very night and Peter protested. But Jesus insisted that Peter would fail him, and before morning the disciples understood.

That evening, that dinner, was the disciple’s graduation donner. Jesus said many things to them that evening. Our John reading is just a portion of what they heard. Let’s look at it, for it gives us good advice whenever we move from one place in our lives to another place.

Jesus is speaking, beginning in John 14, verse 15:

“If you love me, keep my commands." 

Where ever we are in this life, whether at home, at college, or in the workforce staring our own family, if you love Jesus, keep His commands. In this place you have learned about Jesus, you have learned many of His commands. Hopefully, we have all learned to love Jesus at least a little bit. Perhaps the hardest part of graduating is when we leave a place and have to recognize that even though we are not in this place, we still should follow the commands of Jesus, for if we love Jesus, we will show this by keeping His commands.

But why should we love Jesus?

In our world, for most of us, it is much easier to live properly when we are at home. At home, there are many people and forces operating upon us to keep us heading in the right direction. Mom and Dad are there with advice; they are also there with disapproval and perhaps punishment if we do stupid things that will harm us in the long term. More than anyone else, our family sets for us what our path in life will be – those who study such things tell us the best predictor of whether or not we will smoke is whether our parents smoke, the best predictor of whether or not we will drink or do drugs is whether our parents drink or do drugs, the best predictor of whether we will finish college is whether our parents finished college, the best predictor of our lifetime income is our parents’ income, the best predictor of our mental health is our parents’ mental health. And the list goes on and on and on. Those we love are the ones whose ways we will follow.

The Bible also talks of generational sin – sin that goes onward four or five generations. A family of murderers murder, a family of thieves steal, a family of abusers abuse. And so on. And there is one key way to stop generational sin: to follow Jesus, to love Jesus more than the ways of our family, to follow Jesus rather than those members of the family that are trapped by that generational sin. Jesus can break the bonds of that sin, He can set us free from the demons of our family, He will give us a clean break – if we will love Him and follow His commands. He will set us free.

But it is not enough to be set free. Once we are free from our slavery, we must know which way to turn on a daily basis. And so Jesus gives us help…

He says:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

As the disciples moved onto a new life without the physical presence of Jesus, they learned to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit walked with them… and if you’ve been baptized, the Holy Spirit walks with you, as a counselor, an adviser, a teacher who will never lead you down the wrong path.

You may have noticed that we always repeat the same prayer here before we begin our scripture readings. 

Holy Father, This is Your Word for my life at this time and in this place. Today I am a new creation in Christ, and I believe that He has a Purpose for my life. Open my heart to the working of Your Word and Your Holy Spirit, that I may be transformed into Your new creation. Amen

That prayer is largely drawn from The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. Part of that prayer is a request that our hearts be open to the working of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. We would all do well to remember this prayer and repeat it whenever we open our Bibles, whenever we prepare to listen to scripture, whenever we jump on biblegateway.com – which has many different Bible translations and can bring the Word of God immediately into your presence if you have your computer or smartphone with you.

For we want to be changed for the better by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We naturally make mistakes, walk down blind alleys, meet up with the wrong friends, and generally fall off the path to holiness. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit lead us back to the path of Holiness – if we remain open to their working and guidance.

St Augustine, perhaps the wisest of the church fathers, said he thought of sin as "wandering far from home". If you want to avoid sin, if you want an abundant and joyful life, if you want eternal life, follow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit back to home. Even though you may be on the other side of the planet, even though you may be in the most terrible trouble, even though you may have fallen into the most horrible sin, the Word and the Spirit can always lead you home.

Never believe that Jesus has left you or given up on you. That is one of Satan's favorite lies. Jesus said:

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
We all go to places where we feel we are alone – at least at first glance. We all feel alone when we sit down at a test, we all feel alone when we go for an interview, we all feel alone when we are facing death - our's or a loved one's. Yet Christ is there with us, the Holy Spirit walks beside us, and the Word of God is in our head in a Universe which has been made by God the Father, who loves us. No matter how far we wander from home, the Three–in-One God is there. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Because they loved Jesus and followed His commands, the disciples have changed the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our world is much better than the world of the Roman Empire, the world which crucified the early Christians and fed them to lions, a world without hospitals, a world without surgeons, a world without food pantries and clothes closets and orphanages and many other forms of charity. But there are many problems still remaining in this world…drug addiction, hopelessness, violence, greed. Sin is still present…but now we have hope, for each of us who believes in Christ, who loves Jesus, who follows His commands …including the command to make more disciples and baptize them…is blessed. We shall live eternally, free from the shackles of sin, led by our great teacher, Jesus Christ, into a new way of living.

But we have to graduate. Someday, we have to graduate.

Eleven of the twelve disciples graduated. One did not. Judas did not love Jesus but only saw the worldly benefits of following Jesus….for a while, then Judas chose thirty pieces of silver over Jesus. And then, Judas betrayed Him. And so Judas failed.

The other eleven graduated between that evening, that Last Supper, and the Ascension that came a month later. They stopped being disciples, which means students – and became apostles, which means “Those who go out and proclaim.” After three years, they graduated.

Most of us have been listening to men and women teach about Christ for many years – many years more than three. I’ve been teaching you for almost four years.

When will you graduate?

When will you begin to bring the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ to other people?

I know a man who studied history for six years in college. He works as a waiter. Although he put in the time to earn two degrees in his subject area – and knows much about world history – he does not do anything with his knowledge of history. No one is made the better for his knowledge, no one gains anything, the world is not improved by his knowledge, for he does not share it with anyone.

It reminds me of a story I once heard about the Amish farmers. The Amish operate their farms the old-fashioned way – they have both animals and plants on their farms. The plants feed the animals and the people, while the animals have a product that fertilizes the land for the plants. We call it manure.

It seems there was a farmer who collected manure. He had many animals who made the manure and the farmer made a huge manure pile. He was constantly talking about how large his pile of manure was, and it continued to grow, because he did not spread his manure pile over the rest of his land, he did not spread it to fertilize the land for his crops. And so after a couple of years, his crops began to do poorly even as his manure pile continued to grow. His land grew unproductive, rundown, and dying. Eventually, he went bankrupt, for he had no crops to sell – but he had the largest pile of manure in the county.

Knowledge – particularly the knowledge of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit – is like manure. It does little good when it is kept in a pile. The man or woman who spreads the Word of God throughout their neighborhood fertilizes their neighborhood with goodness, with niceness, with joy. The ones who hoard the Word, like the farmer who hoarded manure, eventually find their neighborhood to be rundown, unproductive, and dying.

Graduate, my friends! Graduate from disciple to apostle!

Here’s something that might show us what graduation can mean…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6K-TIoYqk

That is one way a group of people can graduate from disciples to apostles. You know, it is very difficult to be an apostle and remain inside a church building.

Take the Word of God, take what you have learned and become apostles. There are churches suffering around the state because there are not enough pastors. Two-thirds of the people in this county do not have a home church. There are thousands of children and youth in this county that have no idea who Jesus Christ is. Ask them and see the vague answers you get. You can teach them and proclaim the Gospel and the Word of God!

The entire world is suffering for lack of the fertilizer that is the Word of God.

Today, I’d like to ask you to speak with God. I’d like you to ask God to show you what you should do with your knowledge from years in church, your wisdom learned over the decades, your understanding of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that has been hard-won. I’d like you to ask God how you and some friends could make a real difference in this world.

And then, contact me, visit me, or see me or your pastor to discuss how you, with God’s help, can accomplish the ministry that God has asked you to accomplish.

Would you pray today and ask the Lord of Creation to give you a vision for what you are to do?

Establishing Love and Respect in the Family

Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14

Welcome to the fourth sermon in this series of four sermons – Developing a Joyous Family – Advice for Christian Parents and Grandparents. Today is “Establishing Love and Respect”.

The world tells us to never admit our faults, but to tolerate any behavior from our children. We are told by the world that religious ideas are all opinion and therefore all are equally true. We are told by the world that holding onto our convictions is wrong, for it shows that we are inflexible. Yet the Word of God, the Words of Jesus Christ, the words put down in the Bible disagree. The key to love and respect, you see, is wisely knowing which parts of us should bend – and which parts should be inflexible.

Our Gospel reading today is one of the most important parts of the Bible. Jesus is speaking to His disciples during their celebration of the Passover Meal. Jesus has washed the disciple’s feet, explaining to them that they must act as servants for each other, and for those who will come into the kingdom. He then predicted Judas’ betrayal and Judas left. Perhaps even more heart-breaking was his prediction that Peter, his leading disciple, would deny even knowing him that very night. Even Peter, His most ardent follower, would deny knowing Jesus – and Peter had known Jesus face to face for three years. Is that why we also deny knowing Jesus in our daily encounters in the world? Does it upset us that we are more like Peter than like Jesus?

Of course. And understanding our weaknesses is the first key to earning Love and Respect in our families.

Recognizing that we are still more like Peter than like Jesus, claiming great faith, but chickening out when faced with chances to speak boldly of that faith to our friends, our neighbors, and our family. And when we recognize this and admit this, our children and grandchildren will recognize that we are worthy of love and respect, for most people respect those who know and admit their faults more than those who have faults and pretend they do not.

The people around us, especially our close relatives – they know our faults. If you want to build their respect, let them see us as we are…men and women trying to follow Christ, trying to become Christ-like, but constantly looking in the mirror, trying to understand where our image of God which we are does not match up to the perfect image of God we see in Christ.

We love and respect the one we have seen climb and slip and climb the mountain more than the one who simply arrived on the mountain top by helicopter.

That is why we love and respect Peter. We have seen his failures and they are our failures as men and women who are trying to follow God. We respect and love him the greater for the fact he sunk into the depths but came back from those same depths.

And so we come to our reading. Jesus speaks to them…

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Every time we begin to think that the Eleven core disciples were men of great wisdom and intelligence, the Gospel writers remind us that wisdom came later, after they had spread the Gospel for decades. At this time, having followed Jesus for three years, some of them still didn’t have a clue as to who He was and what He was saying. This is particularly comforting to me when I am confused and mixed up about what path I should take as a man, as a father, as a husband. I look at Thomas, totally lost that evening as Jesus talked about going away from this world, about going to God the Father, about Jesus’ upcoming death and resurrection. Thomas – and this was 10 days before he became known for his doubts – Thomas was confused and mixed up about what the plan was. He didn’t even realize that Jesus was talking theology here – Thomas needed a road map…

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

If Thomas wanted a clarification, he wasn’t getting it that evening. Jesus was on a roll, teaching deep truths that people today still don’t understand…

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

In our world, there are many people who believe there are many ways to know God. Jesus was not one of those people. Jesus was very clear that it was His way or the highway. While Jesus loved every person, Jesus also did not tolerate the idea that other ways could get you to God. Are you trying to find the way to God? It is through Jesus. Are you trying to find Truth? It is found in Jesus. Are you trying to find a way to truly live, to live abundantly, to live forever and not find death and destruction? Jesus is the only way. Those are not my words as an intolerant Christian, they are not teh Apostle Paul's words, they are not some seventeenth century theologian's words. Those are Jesus’ words.

We will go a long way toward getting love and respect in our families if we follow this example of Jesus. Jesus loved everyone. But Jesus insisted that certain ideas are right and other ideas are wrong. Have you ever heard that a certain person was “a man of conviction?” If we truly believe that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”, then to earn the respect of our families and wise people around us, we need to act like Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”, not “a way, a truth, or a way to live.” Respect comes when you know what is right and do what is right, no matter the cost. Love comes when you teach others the same – all people, regardless of who they are.

Well, now it was Philip’s turn to get confused and ask for some simplicity. And that helps me, for I often need help leading my family. I don’t know which way to turn, I don’t know what I’m seeing, my children often aren’t the people I learned they were when they were young, for people change as they grow older. The girl I taught to play chess now is the mother of four. The girl I carried on my shoulders is now a mother of three, the young, fearful woman I married and who was scared she had harmed my computer when she touched the keyboard and it beeped at her is now a master of Photoshop and Word, a deep, sophisticated pastor who teaches a hundred people a week how to grow closer to the Creator of the Universe and the only thing she fears is that same Creator of the Universe. Change happens, the world is complex. Sometimes, I just want simplicity and stability in my life, in my family, in my relationships. Just like the disciple Philip…

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

But Jesus wasn't allowing us to keep a false simplicity. 

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
One of the ideas that is hard for us to understand is that we really don’t control who loves and respects us. There is nothing much we can say that will change people’s minds about us – but there is a lot we can do. As my son Andy pointed out, "the smallest action is more important than the grandest intentions." And so it is with changing people’s minds about us. We can’t change people’s minds with words as well as we can with actions. Yet words often set the stage for action.

That evening, after the disciples had followed Jesus for three years, listening to His words every day, even seeing His miracles, they were still not convinced that Jesus was God Himself walking upon this earth. They believed that He was sent by God, perhaps as a prophet to speak the words of God, perhaps as a great military leader to set the Jews free from the Romans. But, like many people today, they did not believe that Jesus was of the same divine substance as God the Father. Even though Jesus told them this very clearly several times.

"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

The disciples heard – and yet they did not believe. For if they had believed, they would not have run for the hills when He was arrested a few hours later. Peter would not have denied knowing Jesus if Peter had truly believed that Jesus was divine like God the Father was divine, made of the same God- substance, begotten by the Father, part of the three-in-one Godhead that includes God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Those disciples would not have run if they had believed. They heard all the words Jesus said, they saw the miracles, they had eaten with Jesus daily, and yet they ran because they did not believe.

And so Jesus was arrested, the disciples ran, and Jesus died.

But words can set the stage for what we believe when the actions later happen.

And so God the Father took action to prove Jesus’ words. God the Father, testifying through action to the truth of everything Jesus said, speaking through action to the truth of everything Jesus taught, declaring through action to the Universe that Jesus was indeed the divine God the Son, God the Father brought Jesus back to life.

And the disciples believed.

No matter what you say to your children and grandchildren, no matter what you teach them in words. No matter what you have taught your daughter, no matter what you have taught your sons, nothing will lead to love and respect more than simple actions. Actions tell us what you believe better than words do.

Parents, hug your children. Children, hug your parents. Both of you, tell each other “I love you.”

Be there when they need you. Do what needs to be done. Stand up for your convictions.

Do you believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and they life? Tell your family this today. Baptize your children. Teach them that truly getting involved in the great mission of God is the way to become great in the eyes of God. Show by your actions that sharing the Gospel is critical. Become the man or woman of God that you teach your children to be...and they will be more likely to follow you along that path.

God’s Financial Plan

Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10

Welcome to the third sermon in this series of four sermons – Developing a Joyous Family – Advice for Christian Parents and Grandparents. Today is “God’s Financial Plan”.

Larry Burkett was a financial counselor in the Atlanta area. The story goes that one day, a couple arrived in his office. They said, “Mr Burkett, we have a problem. Here are our bills and our income is only $30,000. We can’t see how anyone can live in Atlanta on just $30,000 per year. We need about $35,000.” Larry looked over their figures and had to agree…he didn’t see how they could live on $30,000 per year.

A couple hours later, a second couple came into his office. “Mr Burkett, we have a problem. Here are our bills and our income is only $40,000. We can’t see how anyone can live in Atlanta on just $40,000 per year. We need about $50,000.” Larry look over their figures and had to agree…he didn’t see how they could live on $40,000 per year.

That afternoon, a third couple came into his office. “Mr Burkett, we have a problem. Here are our bills and our income is only $80,000. We can’t see how anyone can live in Atlanta on just $80,000 per year. We need about $90,000 or even a hundred thousand.” Larry look over their figures and had to agree…he didn’t see how they could live on $80,000 per year.

That evening, he thought about what he had seen. Being a deep believer in God, he realized that there must be a better way. And soon, Christian Financial Concepts was developed by Larry Burkett. Since Burkett went to the Lord, it has been taken over by Crown.org. Some of the ideas in this sermon were identified by Burkett.

There are certain aspects of God’s financial plan for us. Let me introduce them to you through the view of Scripture.

We begin with some basic principles.

First of all, from Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

By virtue of creating the earth, God inherently owns the earth and everything in it. Humans were allowed to work the earth, to take care of the land, the plants and the animals in the land. But God holds the ultimate title because God created everything.

Given this fact, we must adjust our thinking. We do not own anything. God allows us to use the land and everything we find. It is similar to the computer and paper and pencils that you find at your office. We are used to thinking that the company owns these things and they are provided for our use to do the will of our employer. Yet, deeper still, all things are owned by God and provided to us to use to do the will of God.

Do not be fooled by a deed or a title. God owns your car, God owns your home, God even owns everything in the company that gives you a paycheck – and whenever God decides, God can close down the company and give that building, that land, those computers and desks and equipment to another person who will use it more in accordance with God’s will.

Don’t even think about contesting this in a court of law. For we go to courts because they have the power to enforce what is determined to be fact. God has the power to make or un-make any decision of any court if God decides to. Our courts have no power over God.

So the first principle is that God owns everything.

The second principle is that God is wise and good and acts in our best interests – because we are His also.

Hear what David wrote in the 23rd Psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
If the Lord is your shepherd, this means certain things.

It means that the Lord has the right to do with you what he wishes, for he owns you as much as he owns the green grass outside. And a good, wise shepherd never harms his sheep.

On the contrary, the shepherd protects and gives the sheep everything they need….food….water….shelter…protection.

“I shall not want.”

We had three children at home in 1996. That year, our income was about $5,000. The Lord took care of us. We survived. We had a home, we had food and water, we had clothing, we made it through the year. God provided. He provided that year, the next year, which was also a struggle, and He has provided every year since. Each of those three children has attended college and gained a degree or a certificate. You’ve met Andy, who was born the next year. God will take care of you.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.

In ancient times, bountiful food was a marker of wealth. And, even more, oil and wine were markers of wealth, for oil was used for food, for light and heat, for healing. Plentiful wine, a cup running over, wasting good wine, was something only a wealthy person could hope for.

And all of this is provided by the Good Shepherd, the Lord who owns us and leads us. Even our retirement is mentioned in this Psalm.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

What a retirement plan!

So the second principle is that the Lord will provide for us.

The third principle we find is the principle that we are to share our income for the good of the community. In the Old Testament, a tenth of all produce was to be shared. This supported the Temple and the entire tribe of Levi, who were not to work the land, but instead were to be the priests, teachers, scribes and judges of the land. In modern terms, this tenth supported the judges, the police, and the church, including the ministers and musicians, the educational system.

Paul encouraged the people of the churches he established to take up a regular collection, setting aside money weekly which would eventually go to believers in Jerusalem where there was a famine and the believers were having difficult times.

And we have the wonderful view of the early church from our Acts 2 reading:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. [Emphasis mine]

So there is held up to us this view that we should take our first two principles – God owns everything and God will provide, and add to them this third principle that we share as needed with people in need.

Notice that while the Old Testament put forth this collected tenth as a mandatory payment, in effect, a tax, Paul and the Book of Acts clarify that as Christians, this is also voluntary, for we are no longer under the law, and we do not support with our tenth a comprehensive government. (For complaints about mandatory taxes, I’ll refer you to your local Congressman, Senators, and the state legislature.)

No, the reason we share our money with the church is because this helps us to remember that we are dependent upon God for our life, that God is in charge of everything, and that God has provided everything we have. And it knits us together as an extended family, in the same way that when we pay for dinner for a friend, we come together and show each other love. Our tithes show our loves for each other and for God.

There is a fourth principle. Biblically speaking, there is an antipathy, a dislike of money lending. Borrowing and lending with interest are spoken against. (Notice that giving someone money without interest is ok – a gift that someone voluntarily chooses to pay back is fine.) We should avoid interest-bearing loans - both giving and receiving loans. Of course, this is very difficult in modern society, so, practically speaking, most of us will have to take a mortgage to buy a house and buy our first couple of cars with car loans, for cars are necessary to be employed for most of us, and, generally speaking, buying a home - if done conservatively - is better than renting after considering the tax consequences. 

What about credit cards? Modern society demands a payment card - so use a bank debit card tied to your bank account.

Finally, there is the principle of saving. From Joseph and the seven fat years to the book of Acts, the idea of saving reasonably for the future is put forth. Always hold onto your seed corn for planting in the spring. Take advantage of your 401k matching contributions – just don’t let your 401k balance control your happiness. Instead, remember that trusting in God gives happiness. And remember the money lending principle when you invest - in today's world, those high-yielding investments actually mean that you are loaning money at high interest rates to somebody. Perhaps a very conservative strategy might be more appropriate.

Fifteen cents on the dollar is a good target for savings, for that means that every seven years, you will have saved a year’s money, even without interest.

And so, from these five principles, we can develop God’s financial plan.

First, we recognize that God owns everything. So stop saying, “It’s mine!” Treat everything we have as a temporary gift given to us by God. Learn deeply the meaning of the expression, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.” And rejoice in the fact of God’s ownership. God is much wiser than we are.

So plan your purchases conservatively, particularly houses and cars - American's two biggest purchases. I know that the bank thinks you can afford a $1000 per month house payment – instead, buy a smaller house and pay $700 per month. It will lower your stress level in the long term. And when times are good, you can put the extra $300 into paying off the mortgage sooner, which has a big effect if you can do it upfront. Do you realize that a 30 year mortgage with a 4% rate means that only about $100 per month of your $706 payment goes toward the principal? That means that if you put $300 extra per month, that $300 pays three extra months of the mortgage. Do this for four months and you've cut a year off your mortgage's back end!

Second, don’t panic. God will take care of you. The Bible is filled with stories of God’s provision, from sparrows to Paul’s shipwreck. Enjoy life – your bank account, your 401k is not what keeps you alive. Instead, it is the love of God for you. When unexpected events happen, trust in God. Look ahead with excitement to see how He will take care of you.

Third, learn to live on less. The quickest way to develop this is to start a “no credit” policy. Pay off your credit card loans, beginning with the highest interest rate. Put a credit card in a safe, but difficult to get to place – some people use a safety deposit box, others simply take a plastic cup, put the credit card in the cup and then freeze the water. That way, you can get to the credit card when you really need it, but you won’t use it to pay for a new dress or to eat out.

Gradually work to improve things by holding onto your cars until they become unreliable. That should mean you’ll go a couple or three years with a car payment on that car. And buy cars that are a little smaller than you’d really like to have – save money that way. If you save this money, eventually you won't have to borrow for your new cars.

As you pay off your debts, gradually increase your church giving so more people can find out about the love of God that you've found. If you gave 3 percent last year, try 4 or 5 percent this year. If you gave 5 percent, try 6 or 7 percent. Over a period of five or six years, work to increase your giving to the full ten percent – or even beyond. I’ve know of 30 percent givers.(The easiest way to figure the 10 percent is to look at your paycheck and drop the right-hand digit. If you are paid $500 per week, give $50. If you are paid $980 per week, give $98.)

And if you are out of debt or almost out of debt, begin saving even more. A good goal to shoot for is to be able to live on three-quarters of your paycheck. That way, if there is an illness, a temporary layoff, or a family emergency, the money you’ve been sending to savings – and even the money you’ve been giving to the church – will become your cushion to help you through that rough time.

Finally, look at your regular expenses. Most phone contracts are still two year commitments. A $100 per month two-year phone contract is a commitment to pay $2400. A $3 cup of coffee each workday is $750 a year. Cutting back from an $8 a day meal at McDonalds to a $5 meal also saves $750 a year.

A few things we’ve found out over years of living conservatively. Even the cheapest food at a fast-food restaurant costs between two and four times the cost of making it yourself. A $1 bottle of water can be refilled from the water fountain many times. My Tracfone costs me about $200 per year instead of the $960 an $80 per month plan would cost – for that, I give up coverage in certain areas like Fairmont, Buckhannon, and Romine’s Mills. Netflix on-demand has hundreds of movies and television shows for $10 per month over the Internet – So I cut cable back to basic basic and saved us $75 per month.

Paying careful attention can allow kids to be potty-trained at age two – and saves all those diaper costs! The library has videos and books for free or cheap rental. Rice and dry pinto beans are the cheapest foods. Open the windows late on summer evenings to capture the coolness. Close them in the mid-morning to hold the coolness and reduce your air conditioning bill.

Also, read Proverbs Chapter 31 for ideas on how to raise your income.

But above all, remember, deep down in your heart, remember that God loves you. God loves you so much He sacrificed His only Son on the cross to pay for all your sin debts to God. Those fines, those things you’ve done wrong – He already paid those bills. All you need to do is accept the piece of paper that says “Debts paid in full”. That paper is yours when you accept that Jesus was the Son of God, God Himself walking upon this earth, divine Himself, and worthy to be followed. Will you accept His love? Will you accept the waters of baptism and receive the Holy Spirit which will guide you to all truth, including the truth of what is a good financial decision and what isn’t?

Handling the Daily Routine

Acts 2:14, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35

Welcome to the second sermon in this series of four sermons – Developing a Joyous Family – Advice for Christian Parents and Grandparents. Today is “Handling the Daily Routine”.

Every family has a daily routine – more or less. Biblically speaking, there are certain routines that work better than other routines to develop a joyous family. Let’s look at this idea through the lens of Scripture and see what we can find in a story from the day of the Resurrection – for many of us need a Resurrection in our families, our children’s families, our extended families.

That day, two disciples, Cleopas and another man, were walking toward a village called Emmaus, about 6-7 miles from Jerusalem (the Greek tells us that it was 60 stadia. The length of stadia wasn’t fixed – but could have been anywhere between140 to 180 feet, so the distance isn’t precise. Some translations even say, “a Sabbath day’s journey”.

To these men, Jesus was dead. They had been caught up in the great ruckus, the great crowd that shouted “Crucify Him” to Caesar, they had seen Jesus executed. But they had also heard the report of Mary and the women that morning that the rock was rolled back, there were angels who said Jesus was alive, and the report of Peter and John that Jesus was gone from the tomb, but Cleopas and his friend had decided to go home. After the great events of the previous week, they were going back to their daily routine. They were going home where they understood life.

Six or seven miles wasn’t much of a walk to fit young men in those days. You might think of it as a Sunday stroll. A normal days walk when traveling was at least 10, more likely 15 to 20 miles, even 30 miles if you were pushing on. Six or seven miles was a relaxed pace, about 12,000 to 14,000 steps for those who wear pedometers, nothing much to active young men used to walking, not riding in cars, not sitting in front of television sets or computers. Have you ever watched young men outside, men used to playing outside, working on a farm? Six or seven miles is nothing to them.

And so we have the first concept for a good routine. Take it easy. Don’t over-schedule.

Notice what is said about these men:

They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

These men could have pushed it and walked 15 to 20 miles that day, even leaving as late as they did. But they didn’t push it. They took time to enjoy the walk, to talk, to discuss, to ponder the great events of the week. They weren't in a rush - understanding what had happened was more important than making mileage.

In the same way, we harm our joy when we over-schedule our families. We need time to talk and discuss life. We think that learning happens in school, in special classes, during sports practices. But that’s not true. Teaching happens in school, in classes, during sports practices. The learning occurs when we take time to think, to talk, to dream, to imagine, to remember. We learn lying under the shade tree in the summertime, remembering what we were taught about plant biology. We learn sitting on the back porch looking at the clouds, thinking about their shapes. We learn when we put together Lego blocks, when we play with our dolls, when we take time to imagine that the backyard is an exciting land filled with gnomes and hobbits and elves and trolls.

We don’t learn carpentry in shop class. We learn carpentry when we try to build a bench. We don’t learn to sew in home economics, if there still is such a thing. No, we learn to sew when we make doll dresses. We don’t learn computer programming in a 50 minute class surrounded by other students. We learn to program when we sit down on a Saturday evening and try to create a program that draws a smiley face on the computer screen just because it seems like a fun challenge. Every good programmer I know learned almost everything after classroom hours, at home, playing, experimenting on their own projects.

And we also need time to think and talk about God so we can learn about God.

In Deut. 6:6-9, the Bible says:  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.
God asks us specifically to take time to walk along the road and talk about God-ideas with our children. He talks about sitting at home discussing God's commandments. We are told to write them on the door frames of our homes - perhaps we should tape them to our bathroom mirrors today for our children - and ourselves - to read. For there are more important things than “doing” all the time. God is more important than your daily schedule.

So the first thing is to take time. If your time is controlled by your calendar, schedule time to talk, to dream, to learn into your daily routine in addition to all the “doing”. And you will find the peace of God in that time.

But how can we do this? How can we find time? 

We make choices. Band or sports. Dance or volleyball. Pioneer Club or Scouts. Keep life simple. I know the demands – We raised five kids, and had three teenagers at one time. So we simply put them all on the swim team at the same time. We dropped them all off at 4:00 for practice and picked them all up at 6:30 or 7:00. During the other age group’s practice time, they played, they dreamed, they did homework, and they talked to friends. A bit bored, Ian became a student coach. We had sanity at the swim meets because they were always going to the same place at the same time. And we talked about God on the trips.

Simplify and take time to talk about God.

Notice that when Cleopas and his friend took time to talk about Jesus, about God, the Scriptures that Jesus soon joined them. They didn’t realize it at first, but then He showed them things they hadn’t known. …Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

It's amazing. When people start to talk about Jesus with each other, in families, in groups of friends, Jesus shows up and everyone learns more about Him. We always try to keep a Bible in our car, we kept one in our vans so that when a question came up, we could find the answer in the Bible. Now we carry our phones with Bible apps.

And so, evening came as the two disciples walked with Jesus to Emmaus.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

Haven’t you noticed that Jesus will always encourage you to go farther in your walk with Him? Jesus is ready to walk farther, to talk longer, to go the extra mile for you, but we want to stop where there is good food and comfortable beds. We want to stop; He is ready to walk further with us today. Yet He does recognize our human weakness and will stop with us when we are weary.

When we establish our daily routines for ourselves and our children and grandchildren, we have to recognize that Jesus is ready to walk with us whenever we are ready. “Doing” is not the goal…walking close to Jesus is the goal, for it is during this walk, this daily exercise, this daily stroll that we learn who He is.

The two disciples and Jesus stopped at an inn and went inside to eat supper.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

It is during the daily routine of meals that we can learn to recognize Jesus has been with us. This is why Christians pray at meals – to remember that God and Christ are responsible for our very food and drink. 

Some people pray a standard prayer at mealtime – it is good to teach the youngest children this routine. But as they grow older, begin to vary the prayer, including a wide range of issues in the mealtime prayer – thanks for the good grades on the test, thanks for the beautiful day, requests to intercede for good health, for a strong performance on the paper that is due tomorrow, thanks for the blessing of seeing the songbird at the window. Let your mealtime prayers be a way of teaching your children and grandchildren to see God’s hand at work in every piece of their lives. And if you do so they will develop a spirit of gratitude to God for everything.

But what about the days of struggle, the inevitable days of conflict or difficulty? 

Find the good things to be grateful for, use the prayer time to remind family members of God’s love and their love for each other. Stroll through the prayer on those days when we are most hurried to remind each other that prayer is important, that talking to Jesus at the table is perhaps the most important time in our daily lives. And we, too, will learn to recognize Jesus and God’s influence in the world around us more fully as we do this. When you catch a glimpse of God, there is nothing that will lead Him to tarry around more than your thanks to Him for that brief glimpse.

As you can, consider adding a daily devotion to a mealtime or when you start the car in the morning. It can be as simple as reading a single verse from Proverbs every morning at breakfast or as the car warms up, and then discussing it a bit on the way to school. Grandparents can do this too.

And as you establish this routine with your family, you will experience certain things.

First, there will be resistance. The duration of the resistance, the eye-rolling, the smirks will be directly proportional to the age of your children, with the older ones taking the longest to adapt. So start early – it is easier to build the habit from the beginning.

Next, there will develop a feeling of comfort, a feeling of happiness, a feeling of tradition as the daily routines and ritual truly become routine.

My Grandmother Boley always prayed at family holiday gatherings such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then, when she passed on, Saundra and I took over the load, with the first few years being Saundra’s responsibility because I was still not ready. One year, we could not attend Christmas in West Virginia – we were stuck in Georgia because Saundra could not travel due to a difficult pregnancy. My 7-year-old niece Karli insisted that a prayer was needed, and so the family called us so Saundra could say grace for the family over the phone. Do not underestimate the power of family ritual. Regular ritual plants seeds of faith deep.

And then, as you begin to help the children say and lead the prayers, they will begin to pray far more deeply than you ever imagined. They will take what they have learned at table from you and take it into their lives. And they will see Jesus in their lives, announcing to the world that fact because you have modeled that routine, that normal, that view of the world that says “God is present and accounted for, and we are a family that speaks of that to others.”

But why should we change our routine? Why hassle with change?

That evening, Cleopas and the other disciple asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

When was the last time your heart burned within you? When was the last time you felt like walking seven miles to tell someone something? When was the last time you were so passionate about ANYTHING that you just had to find your friends to share the good news?

We live in our world which is filled with death and destruction, with drugs and drudgery, with depression and doldrums. We look around and our excitement is kindled by a dozen young men becoming experts at putting a ball through a ring held ten feet in the air. We cheer for men just because they can hit a small ball with a stick farther than most men. We have day-long rituals in stadiums that seat 60,000 people so we can get excited about one group of men carrying a leather ball a hundred yards while another group of men try to stop them. And we get excited when our children learn how to do the same, or something similar.

But why don’t we get just as excited that the Creator of the Universe sent part of Himself to earth to teach us, to walk with us, to die in our place so we could live forever? Why don’t we get excited? Cleopas and his companion had just walked seven miles, sat down to eat, and then, without bothering to eat, walked back the seven miles to Jerusalem so they could tell their friends that Jesus was alive and they had seen Him!

Why don’t we get excited?

Has it become routine?

Has it become normal in your life?

Has it become an everyday part of your life, like brushing your teeth in the morning, like having toast for breakfast, like taking a shower, and, oh yes, Jesus rose from the dead to save me from eternal separation from God?

Has the fact that God’s Son died on the cross to save you from hell fire and eternal torment become ho-hum to you?

Think for a moment of that day, that terrible night and day when Jesus did not follow his normal routine, when life did not go the way it ordinarily did, when the people of Jerusalem told their rulers that they wanted Jesus to be crucified, crucified, crucified upon a rough wooden cross.

Think for moment of how the whip felt across his naked back, a whip in which were embedded nails and shards of glass and sharp stones. Thing of the feeling as that whip was jerked across his back, ripping the skin loose. Think that this is what you might have one day felt in Hell if He hadn’t stood up in your place.

Think for a moment of him carrying that 150 pound cross a mile or more, through the streets on his bleeding shoulder. Think of the pain on his back, the sting on the shoulders, the flies buzzing around the bleeding back.

Then feel the pain He felt as those heavy spikes were driven into his wrists and his ankles. Think of the pain as those spikes took up his entire weight as the cross was raised to the vertical and think of the sudden intense pain as the cross dropped three feet into the hole in the ground.

And now there is the embarrassment as his clothes were removed, as he hung there on that cross naked and bleeding, the hot sun beating down upon him, his hands unable to remove the flies that went for the blood running down his back and sides. And now as he is standing there, hunched, one ankle turned in front of the other and a single long spike through them, his calves begin to cramp from the position and the dehydration. You are beginning to appreciate what he did to save us from a worse fate in Hell.

And then, there is that suffocating feeling that comes from not being able to life himself up to catch his breath. He calls to his friend John and to his mother Mary and tells John to take care of Mary. And then he calls out in a loud voice and dies. This is what He did for you and for me that terrible Friday in Jerusalem. Yet His suffering on the cross is nothing compared to what awaits people in Hell, for as much as Jesus suffered, He only suffered one day. The souls in Hell are there for eternity.

But then, because the Father loved Him so much – and us – that Sunday the world changed as Jesus came back to life, saw the women at the tomb, and walked – He did not hobble, he did not struggle, he walked along the road and caught up to Cleopas and his friend and lectured them about how the Messiah had to suffer and then he broke bread with them and they knew who He was.

And because of this, the two of them walked and ran and skipped and jumped and raced each other back to Jerusalem to tell the others that they had seen Him and they announced that Peter had also seen Him and then He was there among them, and He is here among us now, His Holy Spirit present and there is joy in our lives and we shall live forever because of what He did for us!

And that is why we should change our daily routine to teach our children and give them time to learn about what Jesus did, bringing joy to them and to us because we shall live eternally with Him and the Father!

Praise be to God! Give thanks to God!