Idolatry (Part 1)

Israel as a brand-new nation was given very clear direction by Yahweh about who was in charge: "You are not to have any other gods before me" and "You shall not make any images, and not bow down to them or serve them," found in Exodus 20:3-5. These give us much of our thinking about idolatry, and the problem wasn't unique to Israel of course; Paul talks about

"Made in the USA"

Have you noticed how few consumer products are made in the USA? (For my non-US readers, how about for your country?) The Lovely Joanne's company works with a lot of manufacturers who are working to get more jobs back on American soil, in this modern global economy. And with the Fourth of July coming up, American pride is involved too. But for me, there's something

Walking with Jesus

That Sunday afternoon, two of Jesus' disciples were walking away from Jerusalem. They had been sure Jesus was the prophet who would restore Israel to greatness, but now that he had died, they were totally discouraged. Numb with the shock of having their hopes taken away so violently, they could only walk home slowly, still in anguish. Suddenly a stranger appeared, perhaps coming up from behind, and overhearing their conversation. "What's

"God Is" Equals "God Does"

Why did God send his Son into the world? John 3:17 answers that "God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him."  But why did God become

What Brings Joy to the Holy Spirit?

Ephesians 4:30 says "And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live." Last Sunday looking at this verse, we asked questions like what brings grief to the Holy Spirit and why that is. The next interesting question was, "What

An Apprentice of the Carpenter

Preachers talk about "following Jesus" but what does that mean? We could use technical language and give a 100-word definition. But simply, it means to be his apprentice in living. Learning what he does and how he does it, learning to pay attention when he teaches, practicing and getting it sort of right, and practicing some more. Since Jesus was a carpenter, maybe

Singing a New Song - With Some Help

"Let's have some worship before we start our study" often, in church-speak, means playing and singing a couple of songs. Of course, worship isn't confined to singing. Psalm 96 has a lot to say about worshiping God, and some of it is about singing--but there's

Occupy...Something!

My friend Michael Duduit, who writes regularly on preaching and is editor of Preaching magazine, talks about this latest protest movement that started in Wall Street and has since "occupied" a couple of dozen city parks across the nation.  He says there's a better solution than protesting the amount of money somebody else makes or how little attention is given to the average citizen.  Michael says "Here's a better bet: Occupy Worship. Meet the One who alone can satisfy your needs and breach the chasm caused by sin, and the best news is you don't even have to go to New York or any other city to Occupy Worship—you can demonstrate anywhere!"

I like the way Michael thinks.  He reminds us that even if all the money earned by all the investment bankers and all the highly-paid executives of all the companies that are the target of these protests was spread around to the poor, it still wouldn't be enough.  (Not to mention, most of the poor in the US have a thousand times more than the true poor overseas.)  Why not?  Because humanly, we never have enough.  Even those highly-paid executives feel their lives would be better if they just made, say, 10% more.  The solution, Michael rightly says, is to worship.

Now, by worship, Michael and I don't mean to turn on your favorite Christian song or hymn, sing along loudly, and pray.  Closing our eyes and praying doesn't make our problems go away (it doesn't work for Tim Tebow in the backfield either).  No, we're talking a deep, focused, sincere, whole-hearted, whole-life surrender to the One who owns eternity and has already accepted you, dear reader, as his beloved child.  As we've been studying lately in the Beatitudes, a life "in Christ" means we have full access to the blessings of living in the love and acceptance of the Father through the Spirit (John 17:20-23, Col. 1:24-27, etc).  "Christ is in you" says Paul, and he's not talking some metaphysical claptrap or fuzzy idea, but a spiritual reality. 

Life -- real, authentic life -- is lived out in that reality, minute by minute.  Not just "what would Jesus do?" but "Jesus, what are you doing and what would you have me do?"  Offering ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) is what Paul calls "truly the way to worship him."  Focusing on whole-life worship helps us understand that the momentary troubles of this life really are momentary.  We don't ignore them, we work on them with the passion that Jesus had cleaning out the moneychangers (the honest and the dishonest together) from the Temple, in John 2:13-17, and the love he had when he healed the sick and provided bread for thousands. 

Want something to occupy in protest of this world's sickness?  Occupy, and be occupied by, Jesus-in-you, with everything you've got, and watch what happens!  (And come back and tell me!)