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Ministries
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Since this is July, and July is the heart of baseball season, I thought I'd take a quote from one of the greatest baseball legends of all time, Satchel Paige. He was banned from baseball during the prime of life because of his race, yet played some type of professional baseball from 1922 until 1965; over 40 years. One of his famous quotes about how to stay young says, "don't look back - something might be gaining on you" The Apostle Paul told the church in Rome that they didn't have to look back to see who or what was gaining on them. But he said it in this way "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." Those are beautiful words. Jesus has got our backs covered. If we belong to Jesus, we are free. Two weeks ago, as the floor was being installed here, we shared our worship with Friendly Isle Christian Fellowship and the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church youth group next door at Lanikeha. The following day someone told me that one of the adult guests went outside to smoke down by the bathrooms during worship. Ha na! The next day I received a morning's devo from John Fischer "Smokers and sinners." I want to share it with you: "A smoker in a non-smoking environment is a little like a sinner in church. Both smokers and sinners gravitate together. They hit it off immediately. They know the traits, and can spot another one of their kind without any trouble. They don't mind being outcasts as long as they can have some company… (Sinners always have to sneak around non-sinners.) It almost seems that smokers and sinners have more fun. They accept each other at pretty much face value. There's little to prove. Both can be outspoken about their dependencies and pretty raw about the realities of life. When smoking used to be allowed in the back rows of an airplane, it was always a noisy, happy group back there. Made me feel a little envious. Smokers and sinners also share a level of condemnation from an increasingly non-smoking (and in the case of the church -- non-sinning) culture. What's alarming about this is how easily the comparisons can be made, and how much the church resembles a non-smoking public. We need a smoker's church -- a place that welcomes sinners and makes them feel at home. In such an environment, no sneaking is necessary, and there is no condemnation, because we all know what we deserve. I don't know about you but I want to be around the smokers. Non-sinners aren't going to be able to come along side and relate to anyone. Besides, is anybody really not sinning?" I think that's a great question… The author received a bunch of mail saying that he was supporting addictive and unhealthy behavior. That got me thinking. When Jesus was alive His group was more like Paddler's Inn on Friday night than the Bishop museum on Saturday morning. Jesus was often criticized for being a friend of sinners. Sinners like you and sinners like me. And wherever Jesus went, there were parties as people were freed. There seems to only be a few reasons that we don't experience the joy and freedom that comes with knowing Jesus. The first is pretty basic. If you don't have the Spirit of Jesus Christ in you, you don't really belong to Him. We can refuse to reject His gift of forgiveness. We believe that our lives are OK and that we really don't need or want Jesus butting in to how we are living. But when we close out Jesus, it's like polishing the handcuffs that keep us a prisoner. Another way to miss out on the freedom from Christ is because we don't think we're good enough. We think that God could never really love or free someone like me. But the good news of the Bible is that Jesus can give every single one of us a new life and a freedom and can give us new life. We tend to see that message for non-Christians, for the unsaved. But the beauty of God's love is that He can reach in and jump-start our lives with His power each and every day. Speaking of new life, did you see the story in the news about the people who were held hostage in the Columbia jungle for over 5 years? Their captors were duped into loading them on to a helicopter filled with Columbian soldiers who were pretending to be someone else. I closed last week's message on freedom about what it looks like to feel free, asking people to recall the looks on their faces before their transfer and once they learned they were no longer captives. After 5 years of being chained in the jungle, when they were told they were free they wept with tears of joy. It would be inconceivable for them to go back into captivity. But many of us who believe in Jesus do just that. We let ourselves
get trapped again. The new church in Rome struggled with that too. So
Paul advised them how to keep their freedom. He told them to watch where
they were aiming their minds and their lives. Follow along in verses
5-6 with me. It is important where we focus. I can remember when we first moved in to Kamiloloa. Suddenly we had this great view and could see the reef and see whales jumping in the deep blue. We got a few pains of binoculars so that we could zoom in on the whales. We would say, "WOW! Look at that pod jumping!" But most of our visitors didn't know how or where to look. And they had so much trouble focusing the binoculars that they couldn't see anything. So first we would point them in the right direction because it is hard to see a jumping whale from the mountains. Then we would show them that they needed to look through the small end to see things clearly. Then we would help them learn how to adjust the binoculars to bring things into focus. Finally we would re-position them to look at where the action was happening. That is so much like our relationship with God. If we look for love in all the wrong places, or if we focus on the things of the flesh, guess what we will experience? Death. But if we aim our lives towards Jesus and learn to focus on Him, the Bible says we will experience the newness of life that He has made ready for us. Actually you only have to be a Christian for a short time to realize that even though Jesus takes away the penalty for your sin and its power over you, we will all still struggle with bad habits. Tommy Lasorda, the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager, describes his battle with bad habits: "I took a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, stared at it and said, 'Who's stronger, you or me?' The answer was me. I stopped smoking. Then I took a vodka martini and said to it, 'Who's stronger, you or me?' Again the answer was me. I quit drinking. Then I went on a diet. I looked at a big plate of linguine with clam sauce and said, 'Who's stronger, you or me?' And a little clam looked up at me and answered, 'I am.' I can't beat linguine." Now this message isn't about merits of smoking or of eating pasta. It isn't about why you should or shouldn't forgive your brother or sister for how they have wronged you. It is about being free in Christ. Condemnation is often the poison that keeps us from growing in Jesus. I want Grace to be a place where we can say, "WOW! Look at Jesus!" while we are all learning how to focus on Jesus. It's about not condemning and giving space as we encourage each other to grow in Him. One of the challenges of bad habits is that our hearts condemn us when we fail. What you believe about yourself is that you're worthless, there's no hope for you, and all of your actions amount to nothing. Not true. God values us so much that He would not let us stay condemned. That's why He sent His Son. Late in his life the apostle John had some really great insights about
this very subject Whether it is our hearts or others that attack us, God has an answer. He says, "Turn to my Son. He will not condemn you. Let Him give you rest for your soul." Then He says one more thing, "now that you are free from sin, don't live like you are in chains." Let's pray We praise You Lord Jesus for these reminders that it is Your work, not ours, that takes away our sin and makes us new. Speak to our hearts; remind us that there is no condemnation for those who are in You and help us focus on how to love one another. Help remove the barriers that have us wanting only to love people who agree with us. Give us the hearts to love even those who are different, who hide a plate of linguine or even sneak down to the bathroom for a smoke. Make us a church rooted in Your love and joy-- that welcomes sinners and makes them feel at home. We ask that You do this all because of Your great love for us that has freed us from all condemnation. AMEN |
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