We Remember...

Sunday November 11, 2012
Remembrance Day. 

Let me quote from an article in the Toronto Sun:

Since the end of World War I in 1918, Canadians, and millions of others around the world have paused at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to honour the sacrifices our soldiers made fighting for the freedoms that we all enjoy today.  The Great War was a dark period for our young country, claiming the lives of over 60,000 military personnel and civilians, with over 16 million dead worldwide...  As there are no more surviving veterans of WW I, today we rely on the wisdom and words of those veterans who fought in the wars that followed.  They tell us to always remember what those brave souls fought for, and all they ask in return is that we never forget.  That’s why we wear the red poppy, that’s why when we see a soldier in uniform we should stop him or her and say, “thank you”, that’s why we take a pause from our busy lives for two short minutes today to honour that request.

It's a time to remember the sacrifice made by so many, to remember those who died serving their country, and to remember those who have survived, who have served, and may still be serving.  The sacrifice they willingly made, so that we might live, so that we might enjoy the freedom we have, so that we might have life.

READ:  1 Corinthians 11: 23-25

This is a passage we use each week in our church, during Communion (Lord's Supper).  This is a time that Jesus told us we are to gather together to remember Him.  The juice and the wafer are symbols of the body of Jesus that was broken and the blood of Jesus that was spilled out - for us.  We are to remember that Jesus gave up His life, so that if we believe in Him as our Saviour and Lord, we will live forever with Him.  We have that eternal life the moment we become a believer, but we also know we get to spend forever with Him in heaven.  We are to remember that Jesus sacrificed His life, so that we might have freedom from doing wrong, and so that we might have life.  He willingly gave up His life, in order to give us life. 

Today, we remember sacrifice - the soldiers gave so much so we might enjoy so much - some gave their lives so we might have life.  Today we remember sacrifice - Jesus gave so much (His life) so we might enjoy so much - He gave His life so we might have life. 

John 15:13
There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Today, we remember the soldiers... today, we remember Jesus.  Today, we remember sacrifices - and give thanks for those who gave up much so we might have much.

We remember....

WHY? WHY NOT!

Once upon a time, there was a group of people, a family really, who came home.  They had been away a long time, and hadn't been able to return home, but now they managed to do just that.  They came back to a house that had, in their absence, been destroyed.  Distraught, they started talking about rebuilding it, but then, mostly because of opposition, never got around to it.  In fact, they even started saying that they really didn't think it was time to build the house - why, who knows!  Anyhow, I digress... After a while, one of the group decided that enough was enough, that it was time to do something about the house.  He talked to his boss, and his boss had a message for the rest of the family - do it!  Yup, pretty simple, really - get to work and do it!  And because they respected this man's boss, they did get to work, and they did build it.  The boss was so pleased that he helped them out by making things good for them again.  The people were happy, the boss was happy, and they all lived happily ever after...

Okay, maybe that last line is going a bit far, but certainly they lived better than they had.  You see, it was important that they realize what was important, as well as what was important to do.  Sitting around, knowing something needs to be done but doing nothing but talking about it and then trying to justify it by saying perhaps it didn't really need to be done in the first place - well, not a boss-pleasing thing, is it!

The people?  The Jews who had just returned from exile in Babylon. 
The house?  The temple in Jerusalem, destroyed years earlier.
The boss?  God!
The messenger?  Haggai, the prophet.

READ:  Haggai 1-2

Two short chapters, one huge task, one messenger, and one divine message - GET TO WORK!  God spoke to the Jews then, and He still speaks to us today.  Lethargy, apathy, and any other word ending in 'y' that is the opposite of doing something just doesn't cut it with God - His will is for us to do His work in His world, not doing whatever we wish to do or even doing nothing.  DO IT!  This is God speaking... are you listening?  If so, what will you do now?  Because, don't you know, it's time to GET TO WORK!  Don't sit back and ask 'why?' - get off your... well, you know... and move from 'why?' to WHY NOT!  Amen!

 

Mom

I am not having a good day.

I know, we all have them, those days when no matter what we do, nothing seems to happen as it should, or we wish it would.  Days when we can't get out of our own way.  Days when we are ill, or unmotivated, or just plain at odds with the world. 

It's not any of those kind of days.

Today, I am sad.  Today, 5 years ago, on her birthday, my mother passed away.  I miss her.  No, she wasn't the perfect mother, but she was always there - no matter what.  She loved me.  She loved me when others didn't.  She loved us all.  I know she did, and I really miss her.

I am sad, yes, but somehow I need to 'get past that', but only in the sense that I also know something that makes me joyous.  My mother, in the last month of her life, came to understand and know Jesus as her Saviour and Lord.  As a child, my mother attended Sunday School and church - not so much as an adult though.  But we went from time to time, and I know she had a faith of some sort.  We never really discussed this, even when I became a pastor... until the first week she was in the hospital, the last month of her life.  We talked about faith, and heaven, and how she was just so tired of being sick and really wanted to rest.  We talked about God and what He meant to each of us.  She was ready - to know Jesus as Saviour, and to go home to be with Him in heaven.  She seemed... well, so ready, and in that time, I learned so much about what it means to long for home, for heaven. 

For that, I am joyous.  Still sad, but also joyous!

Someday, we will all die - that's the physical death we will all experience as humans.  But there is life after death, and not in some 'reincarnation' sort of way.  If we come to know Jesus as the Saviour of our lives, and accept Him as that, He has promised we will be with Him forever.  In other words, we will die on earth, but we will live forever in heaven with Him. 

Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus.

You see, the eternal life God gives us is free - we don't deserve it, we can't earn it, and we can't do it ourselves.  God is gracious to give us that gift of life, now and forever with Him - we just have to believe and accept Him as Saviour.  You might say it's not rocket science, so to speak - it's that easy.  God wants us all to live with Him forever - you, me, everyone - but it's up to each of us to make that personal decision for ourselves. 

My mother made that decision - almost 72 years after her birth, but in time to be able to 'go home' to heaven, to spend forever with the Saviour she came to know and love on her deathbed.  I am so grateful that God gave her and I the opportunity to share and for her to be able to accept the gift of life eternal.  After she became unconscious, it would have been too late.  After she died, it would have been too late.

If you are reading this now, it's not too late, because you are alive and able to understand about this amazing gift God is... well, just dying to give you!  If you don't know Jesus as your Saviour, know that He wants to have that relationship with you.  Know that He wants to spend forever with you.  Please know that.  And not only know that, but do something about that.  Talk to God about it, email me (pastor@mckernanchurch.ca), or speak with someone you know to be a Christian.  But please do it know, before it might be too late.  God so wants you to know Him, love Him, and spend forever with Him - my mother knew that, even though it took her almost 72 years to "get it", and now she is with Him in heaven.  For that, I am truly joyous!

I am not having a good day because I miss my mom.  But I wouldn't want her to be here, in physical pain, and not being in God's presence, just because I want her here.  She is with God today.  I know that. 

I guess I'm not having such a bad day after all...

Who?

I saw this picture on Facebook today, and I was struck by both the simplicity and the profundity of the message.  I mean, if we take just a minute and think about the implications of it all, it's huge - and scary, and daunting, and oh so many other huge things!

Read:  Ezekiel 33: 1-9

A watchman... someone looking out for people so they won't be destroyed.  A watchman (or watchperson, if you wish)... someone who wants others to have what they have and so is ever mindful of the urgency to tell them about what they have!  A watchman... you and me... yes, that's what I said - you and me!  We are watchmen, people who have something to share, something huge that others need to know about, and others need to have, and so we share it, right?  All the time, right?  After all, we are responsible to do this, right?  Right?

There's a great passage in the Bible (New Testament) that also addresses this:

Romans 10: 14-15
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?  As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

How indeed!  You see, it's like you know someone is in danger, and so you tell them about it, you warn them.  Why?  Because you don't want them to be in danger, you don't want them hurt.  So if we know that living life as a believer in Jesus, accepting Him as our Saviour and Lord, means spending forever with Him, and we don't bother telling anyone else about it - ever! - then what?  Well, those we don't tell may never hear what they need to hear in order to be in a relationship with Jesus and to spend forever with Him in heaven.  Can we say ouch!  We are watchmen, watchpeople, and as such, we indeed have a responsibility to share what we know and live, with... well, basically everyone who breathes!  It's that simple!  And if we don't... well, Ezekiel makes it pretty clear the result. 

This is not meant to frighten anyone, but to encourage everyone.  This is not meant to make us feel obligated, but to allow us to exercise our basic privileges as believers.  Do we always do it?  No.  Should we always do it?  Yes. 

Now the biggie:  Will we always do it? 

Yes, we are responsible for the things we say, but it just doesn't end there - we are perhaps even more responsible for what we do not say, because the consequences are eternal.  So I ask you:

• Who are you going to share Jesus with this week? 
• Who are you going to say something to this week? 
• Who?

PRAYER

God, thank you for speaking to us through the Bible - your Word.  Even if/when we don't want to hear what you have to say to us, because it might convict us or whatever, help us to listen, and then do something about what we hear and read. 
Amen.

Grace-Space

I recently read a book called "UnLearning Church" - quite the read!  I was struck by one comment made in the book, where it referred to what I think all churches should be:

Communities of grace-space.

In John 15:7 (The Message), we see where Jesus said:

Make yourselves at home in my love.

I read these two short comments and thought to myself: "Self, isn't this what church is supposed to be anyhow?"  Seriously, isn't it?  If we make ourselves at home in the love that Jesus has for everyone, then we are at home in the very best environment we can be in, don'tcha think! 

Church is a safe place, or at least ought to be - a place where we can work on the stuff we need to work on, in order to be the people that Jesus wants us to be.  Sounds like a lot, but really it's just stuff - working on our stuff.  And isn't that what grace is all about?  What's grace, you say?  Well, it's God's unmerited favour - it's what God gives to us, even though we may not (read: don't!) deserve  it.  Even though we have done, and maybe even do, things wrong.  Even though we may still do things wrong.  It's a learning process, this journey we call the Christian life - living life with Jesus as our guide.  And in this process, there's God, giving us something that allows us to keep on keeping on despite how we might feel about how we are, or what we've done, or... well, anything!  And churches... well, they ought to be filled with people who have been given grace by God, and so they just can't wait to give it to others!  Hence the name 'grace-space'.  I love it - a place, a space, where we know grace.  Church.  Grace-space.  Oh yea, I'm seeing the same place, aren't you!

Now I'm not naive enough to think all churches have "perfected" being grace-spaces, but I am also not naive enough to think that all churches cannot be grace-spaces.  They can.  They should.  And, God willing, they will.  Because there's a whole world full of hurting people "out there" who need to know God, and to experience His grace - and they need to see it in us and through us.  Right?  Right! 

• Have you experienced your church being a grace-space?
• How have you been able to contribute to your church being a grace-space?

I love the church - the people, the experience, everything.  And I love the fact that church is, or can be, a community of grace-space.  I love that people can come in and make themselves at home in God's love - I mean, how great is that! 

PRAYER

Thank you, God, for giving us the gift of your grace.  Thank you for giving us places where we are able to go to experience your grace - those "grace-spaces" full of people who know you as Lord and Saviour.  Help us to always be vessels of grace for you.
Amen.

Don't be discouraged!

How many of you out there get discouraged?  Are discouraged?  C'mon, put up your hands... higher, so I can see them...  Seriously, discouragement is... well, discouraging, and it often means we don't get things accomplished that we want to get accomplished.  We just don't do well... no matter what...  And it's not a new thing, a 'today' thing, by any means - the Jews back in the Old Testament times experienced it.

READ:  Nehemiah 4

The WHOLE chapter?  Yes... 'cause it's a wonderful example of people getting excited, then getting discouraged, then getting energized, then getting things accomplished.  So NOW go ahead and read the WHOLE chapter, k...

I was reading an article the other day, and it was talking about discouragement - the article stated that discouragement is 3 things: universal, recurring, and contagious.  Universal because we all can become discouraged; recurring because it often doesn't take much to get discouraged again and again; and contagious because if you're discouraged, then others around you might also be discouraged - it just kinda flows out of us and into others!  And then I thought of Nehemiah.  He was a leader of the Jewish people.  They had just returned from being in exile in Babylon, and discovered that the walls around Jerusalem had been destroyed.  They wanted to rebuild so they would be safe from their enemies.  They started out, full of vim and vigour, spit and vinegar if you will, but soon became discouraged.  If we look at Nehemiah 4:6 and then 4:12, we see a world of difference:

Nehemiah 4:6
So we rebuilt the wall until all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart...
Nehemiah 4:12
Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us 10 times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack you".

Hmm... what was once excitement now became discouragement.  Why?  They worked long hours, worked very hard, didn't even change their clothes.  They were drained, emotionally and physically, and they were only halfway done!  And isn't that when we, too, often become discouraged - we get halfway to our goal, and cannot for the life of us seem to get motivated to continue.  This leads to... well, you know!  It's like wanting to lose 50 lbs - you lose the first 25 lbs fairly easily, but then... I mean, how difficult is it to lose the rest, or anymore for that matter!  Yup, it's real - discouragement sets in, and it's never a good thing.

Nehemiah 4:14
Nehemiah said, “After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, `Don’t be afraid of them.  Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome".

You know, it CAN be done - discouragement CAN be defeated and we CAN re-energized once again.  How, you might ask?  Glad you did...  GOD.  Yup, GOD.  There's this neat book in the Bible, one the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, and in it, there's this verse that maybe should become the life-verse of each of us who believe in Jesus:

Philippians 4:13
I can do ALL things through CHRIST [Jesus] who gives me strength.

There you go - it's there, in black and white - words to live by. 

I CAN DO ALL THINGS BECAUSE OF THE STRENGTH I HAVE IN JESUS. 

It's not at all about us, 'cause we don't have the oomph to do what we can do if we just let God do it, if we just do it in His strength.  The post-exile Jews realized this, after being reminded by Nehemiah (!), and so they moved forward, building their little hearts out until they had completely rebuilt the wall.  "Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done" - it's not what we can do, but rather what we can do because of what Jesus has done for us!  Yuppers... and that can, and will, drive any discouragement away that we might have!

Ever watch the show "Friendly Giant"?  (I'm dating myself, I know!)  He would instruct viewers to see him by saying to them, "Look up... waaaaaay up".  Well, the Jews, under Nehemiah, accomplished great things because they did His work in His strength!  And that means that, next time you feel discouraged - feel down - look up... waaaaay up... it's there that we find our strength.

PRAYER
God, help us to realize it's not about us, but about you.  Help us to always be seeking you and your strength, in order to accomplish the great things you want us to accomplish.
Amen.
 

Turn! Turn! Turn!

READ:  2 Chronicles 7:14

Max Lucado is perhaps the most widely-read Christian author today; in his book "Turn", he writes:

God simply asks us to turn.  He asks us... to turn from self-promotion to God-promotion ('called by my name'); to turn from self-reliance to God-dependence ('humble themselves and pray'); to turn from self-direction to God-direction ('seek my face'); to turn from self-service to repentance ('turn from their wicked ways').  When will God heal the land?  When people turn back to Him!

Turn.  In other words, change direction.  Turn from self to God.  Turn from "it's all about me" to "it's all about you, Jesus".  Turn. 

In 1959, Pete Seeger wrote a song called "Turn!  Turn!  Turn!", which was covered by a group called The Byrds in 1965.  The words come from the Bible, from the book of Ecclesiastes.  The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, an amazing feat for a song that, as Wikepedia claims, "easily holds the record for the number 1 hit with the oldest lyrics".  But I digress... the lyrics include words such as:

"To everything, turn, turn turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn, and a time for every purpose under heaven"

Turn.  Turn.  Turn.  God's very purpose for us under heaven is to turn to Him, to know Him, to love Him, to do His work, His will.  Turn. 

The writer of 2 Chronicles reminds us that we need to turn.  His words - God's words to the people of his day, and to us today - speak of turning back to Him... but there's an IF...  aarrgghh!  Those IF's...  Listen again to what God says:

IF my people, who are called by my name, will HUMBLE THEMSELVES, and PRAY, and SEEK MY FACE, and TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

IF we recognize God as being supreme and act like we know it - IF we talk to God - IF we look for Him - and IF we stop doing what we shouldn't be doing - then God will forgive us and heal us.  And the "IF's"?  Those are the places where we TURN... TURN from being us-centred, TURN towards God through speaking to Him and looking for Him, and TURN away from doing wrong.  In other words, a U-TURN.  Not a GOD-TURN, but a YOU-TURN!  God says IF His people do this, He will honour that.  God will heal us, God will forgive, us, God will work in us and through us... IF we TURN.

• Which direction are YOU going?
• How are you doing with that direction decision?
• Are you willing to TURN, to give God a chance?

If we do what we are supposed to do, God will do what He has promised He will do - oh, how can we not want to live in that experience?  Turn, Turn, Turn... you'll be forever glad you did!

PRAYER
God, I need your help - I know I need to TURN my life around, and I can't do it myself.  Help me, Lord, please help me.  I want to be the person you want me to be, and do the things you want me to do.  
Amen.