Ask, Seek, Knock

 Read Matthew 7:7-8

We begin this year and this series on the words of Jesus with something not so restrictive—no thou shalt nots.  We begin with something not too sacrificial—no real pain involved.

We begin with something that seems to be mostly about us.

Jesus began what we label as chapter 7 with counsel against condemning judgment.  He concluded this short pericope with some interesting words—don’t cast your pearls before swine.

That’s an interesting one.  How about don’t expend your best on something of no value.  In context, it would be quit wasting your time and energy finding faults in others and work on yourselves.

But how do we work on ourselves.  We know from last week that we are to put the words of Jesus into practice and this week those words are ask, seek, and knock.

Here is the scripture again.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Jesus tells us to participate in our own success.  Think about what you need and ask him for it.  He wants to give you what you need.

He tells us to seek.  That means to go after the thing that we have asked him for—put some effort into this. We are collaborating with God in getting what we need.

We are not just recipients. We are also participants.

Finally, he says to knock.  There will be a time to realize the thing that you asked for and have been seeking.  Don’t wimp out at the last minute.  You found the door to what you seek, now knock.

Ask, seek, knock seem reasonable, but what if we ask for something that isn’t what we need? It’s good to read beyond these two verses.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

The basic reading reminds us that if our kids ask for something good, we won’t give them something bad or burdensome. There is, however, more to these scriptures. 

The heart of these scriptures tells us that if we who can’t figure out which way is up can give good things to our kids, don’t you think our Father in heaven knows what we need and what to give us?

So, if we ask for something that doesn’t get us closer to God, the answer might just be, to ask for something else.

Spend a little time figuring out just what we ought to be asking for in the first place.  If you need a church term for that, then call it a time of discernment.

Do you remember when God told Solomon to ask him for what he wanted? Solomon said, I'm only a kid. I need wisdom and discernment.

God told Solomon that because he had asked for something other than what would be selfish gratification, God would grant him what he asked for and would add status and wealth.  He told him that if he would obey his commands, he would be given a long life as well.

Solomon knew what he needed.  He asked God for what he needed.  What he asked for was not to gratify himself but to enable him to serve God in the position that he had been given.

Spend a little time discerning what we should ask for.  Then ask.

Once we know we have asked God for something we need, then pursue it. Go after it. Participate in your own success.

Salvation is a gift. It is 100% from God. Discipleship requires our participation.  Seek after the thing that you told God you needed.

Don’t be surprised when you come to the door that when opened gives you what you need.  Don’t hesitate. Knock!

Knock and the door will be opened to you. Be ready for God to give you the things that you need just because your realized that you need them, you put some real effort into seeking them, and when the time was right, you completed the process and knocked on the door.

How do we put these words of Jesus into practice?

We want to draw near to God.

We want to be known as his disciple by our love.

We want to take good news to the world—at least part of it.

We want to realize the fullness of life that Jesus promised.

So, figure out what you need to draw closer to God or to be known by your love or to share the good news, and ask God for it.

Then start doing the things you need to do to realize what you asked for.  Expect that God is also working to make this happen. We are participants not just recipients.

When the day comes that you can realize the very thing that you asked for and sought after, seize the day.

What then?

Repeat. Ask, seek, knock.

There is always something that we need as we draw nearer to God. There is something that we need to be better known as his disciple by our love. There is something that we need to take the good news to the world.

So, ask, seek, and knock.

God wants to give us good things. In fact, he will likely give you more than you asked for. He is a generous God.

So ask for things that draw you closer to God.

Ask for things to help you do the things that he told you to do.

Some requests may be more complicated than others. Asking for God’s peace and seeking it and receiving it, might be something that comes in the moment of asking. It seems like you don’t even have to seek or knock.

If you think you need a 4-year degree to do what God has called you to do, that’s probably going to take a few years and continued prayer.

If you think that you want to be a United States Marine, spend some time in discernment before you ask to make sure that is where God wants to use you. Once you begin that journey, you will need a lot of seeking.

Understand that you will have trouble in the world. We are told to take heart—to take courage—for Jesus has overcome the world.

In this world full of trouble, God wants to give you exactly what you need, and more.

So, ask, seek, and knock.

 

Amen.

Ask - Seek - Knock

 Read Matthew 7:7-8

We begin this year and this series on the words of Jesus with something not so restrictive—no thou shalt nots.  We begin with something not too sacrificial—no real pain involved.

We begin with something that seems to be mostly about us.

Jesus began what we label as chapter 7 with counsel against condemning judgment.  He concluded this short pericope with some interesting words—don’t cast your pearls before swine.

That’s an interesting one.  How about don’t expend your best on something of no value.  In context, it would be quit wasting your time and energy finding faults in others and work on yourselves.

But how do we work on ourselves?  We know from last week that we are to put the words of Jesus into practice and this week those words are ask, seek, and knock.

Here is the scripture again.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Jesus tells us to participate in our own success.  Think about what you need and ask him for it.  He wants to give you what you need.

He tells us to seek.  That means to go after the thing that we have asked him for—put some effort into this. We are collaborating with God in getting what we need.

We are not just recipients. We are also participants.

Finally, he says to knock.  There will be a time to realize the thing that you asked for and have been seeking.  Don’t wimp out at the last minute.  You found the door to what you seek, now knock.

Ask, seek, knock seem reasonable, but what if we ask for something that isn’t what we need? It’s good to read beyond these two verses.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

The basic reading reminds us that if our kids ask for something good, we won’t give them something bad or burdensome. There is, however, more to these scriptures. 

The heart of these scriptures tells us that if we who can’t figure out which way is up can give good things to our kids, don’t you think our Father in heaven knows what we need and what to give us?

So, if we ask for something that doesn’t get us closer to God, the answer might just be, ask for something else.

Spend a little time figuring out just what we ought to be asking for in the first place.  If you need a church term for that, then call it a time of discernment.

Do you remember when God told Solomon to ask him for what he wanted? Solomon said, I only a kid. I need wisdom and discernment.

God told Solomon that because he had asked for something other than what would be selfish gratification, God would grant him what he asked for and would add status and wealth.  He told him that if he would obey his commands, he would be given a long life as well.

Solomon knew what he needed.  He asked God for what he needed.  What he asked for was not to gratify himself but to enable him to serve God in the position that he had been given.

Spend a little time in discerning what we should ask for.  Then ask.

Once we know we have asked God for something we need, then pursue it. Go after it. Participate in your own success.

Salvation is a gift. It is 100% from God. Discipleship requires our participation.  Seek after the thing that you told God you needed.

Don’t be surprised when you come to the door that when opened gives you what you need.  Don’t hesitate. Knock!

Knock and the door will be opened to you. Be ready for God to give you the things that you need just because you realized that you need them, you put some real effort into seeking them, and when the time was right, you completed the process and knocked on the door.

How do we put these words of Jesus into practice?

We want to draw near to God.

We want to be known as his disciple by our love.

We want to take good news to the world—at least part of it.

We want to realize the fullness of life that Jesus promised.

So, figure out what you need to draw closer to God or to be known by your love or to share the good news, and ask God for it.

Then start doing the things you need to do to realize what you asked for.  Expect that God is also working to make this happen. We are participants not just recipients.

When the day comes that you can realize the very thing that you asked for and sought after, seize the day.

What then?

Repeat. Ask, seek, knock.

There is always something that we need as we draw nearer to God. There is something that we need to be better known as his disciple by our love. There is something that we need to take the good news to the world.

So, ask, seek, and knock.

God wants to give us good things. In fact, he will likely give you more than you asked for. He is a generous God.

So ask for things that draw you closer to God.

Ask for things to help you do the things the he told you to do.

Some requests may be more complicated than others. Asking for God’s peace and seeking it and receiving it, might be something that comes in the moment of asking. It seems like you don’t even have to seek or knock.

If you think you need a 4-year degree to do what God has called you to do, that’s probably going to take a few years and continued prayer.

If you think that you want to be a United States Marine, spend some time in discernment before you ask to make sure that is where God wants to use you. Once you begin that journey, you will need a lot of seeking.

Understand that you will have trouble in the world. We are told to take heart—to take courage—for Jesus has overcome the world.

In this world full of trouble, God wants to give you exactly what you need, and more.

So, ask, seek, and knock.

 

Amen.

 

Matthew 7 - Part 5

 

Read Matthew 7

There are a whole bunch of people among us who think that they have learned how to play the Christianity game who might be in for a big surprise at the final buzzer.

Who among us wants to hear, “I never knew you” from the Lord Jesus Christ?

I never knew you!

But, but, but I played the game according to the rules.  I gave some money.  I sang some songs.  I did more of my fair share of pew time.  I was even awake for a lot of it.  I memorized John 3:16. And I paid the price of admission!  Let me into heaven.

I hope that none of us hear those words:  I never knew you.

We long to hear:  Well done good and faithful servant.  How could we miss the boat?

Jesus said that the one who puts his words into practice is like the one who built his house upon a solid rock foundation.  Storms and rain and winds and Oklahoma heat and cold would come and go but the house would still stand.

The house built on the sand is the one that represents the person who knew what Jesus told him to do but didn’t really have time for that sort of thing right now.  They knew what it meant to take the yoke of the Master, but they still had some real livin’ to do.

The house built on the sand looked as good as the one built on the rock foundation, but the storm would separate them.  The one built on solid rock would stand.  The one who put the Master’s words into practice would endure the storm.

The one who knew the memory verse but never thought to put it into practice sees his sham of Christianity fall to pieces. The one who found countless reasons not to follow Jesus but to criticize his faithful instead will realize that his insurance doesn’t cover building in the flood plain.

But, c’mon.  I did the stuff.  I paid the price!

Perhaps thinking that we paid the price is why we put off professing Jesus as our Lord.  When Jesus becomes our Lord, we take his yoke.  We learn from him.  We put his words into practice.

When we realize that Jesus paid it all, then we trust him and follow him and serve him as Lord.  He is King of kings and Lord of Lords and until we get our hearts and minds wrapped around this, we can still make Christianity an academic exercise.

Do you know why so many people leave the church?  They have their laundry list of reasons, all of which they would say Jesus validated, but the real reason is that did not want to exercise.  They did not want to put into practice the command and counsel of our Lord because making him Lord kicked them out of the ruling seat.

Jesus is Lord.  When he says go then we go or we go and make excuses why this church is not the place for me.  Today I will use excuse #244.

You know the joke about prison jokes, right?

One day this young guy gets thrown into prison and during his first night of incarceration, he hears inmates calling our numbers.  One would say 117 and laughter would reverberate throughout the cell block.  Another would whisper 222 and the laughter went on for ten minutes.

One day during lunch, the new inmate asked an old timer about the numbers and laughter.  He explained that people had been locked up so long that everyone had heard all of the same jokes a hundred times so they were all assigned numbers.  You didn’t need to tell the joke, just call out the number.

That evening after the first couple of numbers had been called out and laughter ensued, the new inmate garnered his courage and call out 42. 

There was dead silence for about 5 minutes.  Finally, a voice in the distance said, “Some people can tell ‘em and some can’t.

We should just as well start a numbering system for why people leave church congregations.  But I will tell you that most of the time, people just don’t want to put the words of the Master into practice.

You have heard it all of your lives—diet and exercise.  Consume the word of God and put those words into practice.

There is a group of people today that I like to call Christian Tourists.  I don’t want to ignore the direction at the beginning of this chapter, but sometimes we get enough of the splinters our of our own eye that we can spot a Christian Tourist.

What is a Christian Tourist?

One who checks out the sights of Christianity but decides that discipleship doesn’t fit into his or her comfort zone.  See also arm chair Christian, sidelines commentator, and salt without saltiness.

Maybe the term lukewarm also applies.

We are to take the yoke of our Master and learn from him.  We are to take what we learned and put it into practice.  We are to build our house on solid rock.

A tourist doesn’t want to heed the counsel of any local authority.  For us to put the words of Jesus into practice, he must be Lord of our lives. 

Jesus is our authority.  Jesus is Lord.  His words govern our lives.  We put them into practice because he is our Lord and we have taken his yoke.

Because he is Lord, we do build our houses on solid rock.  We do put his words into practice!

We will never hear our Lord tell us that he never knew us.

Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord!

Amen!

Matthew 7 - Part 4

 

Read Matthew 7

This is the age of Horse Hockey and I’m not talking equines on ice, though that has a ring to it.

I am talking about so many twisting the word of God to suit their narrative.  What happens is that people decide how they believe and then twist the word of God or try to connect certain scriptures with nonsequiturs and other logical fallacies hoping that nobody notices.

Sometimes they are very good at operating in stealth mode.  They come in sheep’s clothing but they are wolves seeking to destroy. 

Over two decades ago, I attended the Karrass Negotiating Seminar.  It was an excellent course.  A few months later, I hired one of their instructors to teach 20 key members of our team.  It came at a cost of about $10,000.  It was worth it.  We save $100,000 in negotiations over the next few months and millions in the next few years.

While undergoing the class, I learned just about every negotiating ploy and trick that there was.  I was also taught not to use them, that the win-win approach was the only long-term strategy worth pursuing.

So why did I learn all of these tricks of the trade?  So that I would know when they are being used against me.  I learned them to increase my situational awareness.

I have counseled many a junior officer on situational awareness.  Becoming myopic is to become vulnerable.  Every officer must maintain an overall awareness of the general situation even when focused on a single mission or exclusive task.

You must know what is going on around you.

So too must every Christian be on the lookout for false prophets and false doctrine and those who present a good show but have nothing to show as far as real fruit goes.

Social media has become a safe haven for wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Don’t like the meme until you think through what it represents.  Don’t be sucked into someone’s narrative with a couple Bible verses garnished on an otherwise shady argument.

How do we know that someone is speaking the truth to us?  How do we know that their argument is of God?  How do we know?

Check the fruit.  Inspect the fruit.  Is there even any fruit at all.

You will know if someone is bringing forth a prophetic message by their fruit, but you must be willing to do some fruit inspecting.  Too many are just going along with the crowd and the opposite—seeking to be unique—but neither has bothered to inspect the fruit.

By their fruit you will know them.

Amen.

 

 

Matthew 7 - Part 3

 

 Read Matthew 7

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

If everyone could be a Marine, it wouldn’t be the Marines.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Life is full of choices and consequences and decisions good and bad.

God decided that he wanted you with him for all eternity.  You are his child.  You are made in his image.  You have sinned.

God decided that he loved you so much that he would do everything necessary to remove the stain of sin from your life.  Christ died for me.  He died for you.  By his wounds, by his blood, we are healed.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  Jesus has called us friend.  Jesus gave his life for us.  We are saved.  We are redeemed.

How will we live?

There is a single way to life.  His name is Christ Jesus.  All eternity lies in receiving him as Lord.  He is Savior of all but few receive him as Lord.

You are reasonably free to do whatever you want.  If you spit in the grits you might get punched in the nose, but you are still free to make your choices.

Not every choice we make is profitable.  Some diminish the fruit that we were meant to produce.

Some choices destroy these vessels in which we live.

Some put us on the road to destruction.   But I thought Christ died for all.  I thought he made the atoning sacrifice for my sins?

He did.  His gift is free but will we receive it?  Will we profess him as Lord?

Some want to say the words for a Get Out of Hell Free ticket.  They want Jesus to save them but don’t want him as Lord.  They want to be their own Lord.

They have dissonance in their hearts and minds.  It’s one thing to struggle to live right in God’s eyes and another to wrestle with whether you want Jesus as Lord or not.

Many are playing a game with salvation and eternal life.  Many are playing chicken with making an eternal commitment to live with Jesus as Lord.

Many want to hedge their bets just in case this Jesus thing is too much for them.

Many are on the broad path that leads to destruction.  Remember that even the demons know who Jesus is and it scares the hell out of them.

We have been offered a free gift of life and life eternal in the blood of Jesus but many choose to wait and see, try everything else first, or just joke about hell.

Jesus doesn’t want you to come to him out of fear, but does want you to receive him as Lord.  Many will not take his yoke.

Let’s make this another simple dichotomy.  Jesus is Lord over your life or he is not.

If he is Lord, then you follow him and your serve him and you do it at the expense of every other competing thing in your life.

Jesus is Lord!

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!

In these simple words lie the narrow path and life.

Amen. 

Matthew 7 - Part 2

 

Read Matthew 7

 

A long time ago, when I was filling the pulpit between Jim and Duawn, not knowing that you would have to endure me almost every Sunday in this new century, I used the Janis Joplin song, O Lord Won’t You Buy Me as a parody of our prayers.

Some may remember the message.  Many remember the song.

 

I'd like to do a song

Of great social and political import

It goes like this

 

As an act of mercy to all present, I will read not sing or scream the lyrics.

 

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz

My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends

Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends

So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz

 

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV

Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me

I wait for delivery each day until three

So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV

 

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town

I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down

Prove that you love me and buy the next round

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town

 

We ask for some crazy things in our prayers.  Sometimes we ask for very reasonable things.  Many have prayed for the health of a loved one.  Many have prayed for a job.  Many have prayed for those who have gone down the roads of alcoholism and drug addiction.

I’m not asking for a Mercedes Benz.  I just want my grandma to live a little longer.

I’m not asking for a new television.  I just want to pay the water bill.

I’m not asking for drinking money.  I just want it to rain.

Is God even listening?

How about this approach his throne of grace with confidence business?

How do I know that I am in a his grace is sufficient situation?

Do I take a little wine for my stomach, go to the emergency room, or just pray for God to heal the daily aches and pains?

Sometimes I need more than being told that God’s ways are higher than my ways.  Sometimes, that’s not the answer that I need to my prayers.

Ask, seek, knock—what do I do with these verbs?  I ask all the time.  Sometimes I seek the Lord and his kingdom and his righteousness.  Seldom do I knock.  I know it won’t do any good.  I haven’t lived up to my end.

Really?  Jesus offers an open invitation to God’s blessings.  Do you remember the beatitudes?  Repentance prepares us for blessing.

But can we be blessed in our sin?  Can we be blessed in our apathy or ambivalence?  I meet with people all of the time who want help.  Specifically, they want money but don’t want the yoke that Jesus offers that would give them rest and peace and provide for what they need.

Sometimes what people seek is not what the good plans that God has in store for us hold.  What if the answer we seek would rob us or someone else of abundant life?

What if God answers everyone one of our petitions with a good gift but sometimes we didn’t see it because it wasn’t exactly what we thought we needed.

God gives good gifts!

If your kid was hungry and wanted you to make him some breakfast, would you give him a plate of gravel?  Here, put a little Tabasco on it.  It will go down easier.

If your kid asked you for a fish, would you give him a water moccasin instead?

Who would do these things?

But if we who all fall short of the glory of God can figure out how to give our own children good gifts, how much more will our Father in heaven give to us?

What if our requests amount to asking for a rock when we should be asking for bread?  Would you want God to give you a rock just because you don’t know what to ask for?

Sometimes, our prayers defy what God has told us to do.  If God told you to plant tomatoes but you wanted to plant cucumbers instead, do you expect God to bless your cucumber crop when you have neglected the crop that God told you to plant?

Read the Proverbs.  Tom’s notes summarized much of these quips of wisdom into a simple dichotomy.  There is God’s way and there is everything else.  One of the names for that everything else is wickedness.

Ask for what God has told you that you need. It’s like he said put these things on your prayer list.  I know you need them.  I stand ready to give them to you.

Seek the things of God and his kingdom and his righteousness.  Then expect him to open doors for you as you live out the good plans that he has for you.

Let’s try it this way.  Do to others as you would hope they would do to you and expect God to answer your prayers.  Live by love for God and for each other and expect God to answer your prayers.

Seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness and you will recognize the answer to your prayers when you see them.

Amen.

Matthew 7 - Part 1

 

 Read Matthew 7

And so, we come to some of the most powerful and yet so often misused words in the New Testament.

Judge not lest you be judged.

These are powerful when used for introspection.  They are abused when used as an excuse not to live up to being a disciple of Christ.

The word that we associate with judge is κρίνω (kree'-no).  It is most often associated with a verdict from a court or a judge.  It can be positive or negative.  The word divides and separates those being judged.

In itself, the word has no good or evil to it.  Our counsel is not to sit in the judgment seat.  We are not really qualified to judge another human.  We pronounce neither guilt nor innocence.

We make decisions all the time.  We discern good and evil, better and best, profitable and nonprofitable.  We judge but we are not to sit in the judge’s seat.

We are not equipped to condemn another person. 

Think to how clearly we see fault in others and how obscure our own faults become in the context of our lives.  We know our extenuating and mitigating factors and apply them subconsciously to the point that we can point out a speck of sawdust in another’s eye while being blinded to the lumberyard in our own.

Prescribing how others should live because their lives and choices are before us has become a preoccupation in this country.  We are so myopic in so many ways seeing only that which is immediately before us while oblivious to everything else, especially ourselves.

We so have the solutions for everyone else that we often forget that we too are a work in progress.  We become hypocrites so easily.  What are we to do?  Work on ourselves first, then try to help someone else with their issues.

What’s the split here?  Jesus doesn’t say but I’m going with 95% of the time working on our own issues and 5% addressing issues with others.  That’s a Tom thing, but if I post it online, it must be true.

OBTW—of that 5% that we direct towards others, I think 99% of that should be prayer for them and the other 1% might be us addressing their shortfalls.

Wow!  That sounds like most of the improvement in this equation comes from us working on ourselves.  I think that’s the gist of it.

The more we focus on the plank in our eye, the more lumber we become aware of that we had not noticed before.

Judge not lest you be judged.

Beware!  These words can be the ultimate excuse. 

I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to judge.  Sometimes, we use these words to look the other way or accept the unacceptable.  Sometimes there is a time to speak to another’s actions.

The apostle Paul gives us excellent counsel here.  Speak the truth in love.  Only the believer who is growing in grace can do this.

Everyone can speak the truth in condemnation.  Some can disguise the condemnation, but it takes Christian maturity to speak the truth in a spirit of love.

It takes Christian maturity not to take the, “I don’t want to judge” excuse as an easy way out.

Sometimes, people can manipulate this verse to subsidize bad decisions.  You are judging me!

When love brings you to talk to someone about spending $100 a month on cigarettes while the kids haven’t had a bath in two months because the water has been disconnected for nonpayment, it’s the one size fits all excuse.

You are judging me!

For the person who does not want to see or hear and know the truth, this is the standard excuse.  For the Christian who doesn’t like confrontation at any level, it’s easier not to say a word and put the unbathed kids out of your mind.

Most of the time we work on our growth as disciples, but when called to help others with their transgressions we use the sound mind that God gave us and the maturity required to speak the truth in love.

This short pericope on judging wraps up with words many know but struggle to understand.

Do not cast your pearls before swine.

Here is the full verse in the New International Version.

Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Some interpretations say this means do not share the gospel with the unworthy.  Wow!  After just being lectured about not sitting in the judgment seat, would Jesus tell us to condemn a group of people based upon our metrics of worthiness?

I’m going to share my interpretation based upon the context proffered.

Do not give your best efforts where they will produce the least return.  The proverbs tell us not to argue with a fool or we will be just like him.  That should be in the Facebook terms and conditions.

So what does it mean?

Don’t argue with a fool—someone has discarded reason in all aspects of his life—that is surely one of them.

How about don’t give an alcoholic $20 to feed his family.  He will likely not make it past the liquor aisle to get milk and bread.  Your best effort would be to deliver some food to the family and talk to the one who needs the Lord to change his life about coming to know Jesus.

How about turning off the 23 hours of commentary that goes with the 23 minutes of daily news and read your Bibles.  How about taking our best time and best efforts and applying them to the things that will produce the best results.

For the person without God, they are as likely to turn on you and destroy you if they can in spite of what you have done for them.

Some of you remember my first I broke the vending machine post.  I make no qualms about the fact that I am direct.  In the course of my lifetime, I have been accused of being tactful twice.  I was acquitted on both counts.

I am direct.  My direct message is that the church is not to be transactional but transformational.  I like to write and use imagery.  I liked the image of the broken vending machine.

We did transactional.  It was casting our pearls before swine.  Now we stick to transformational, at least as much as we can discern as we learn.

What I noted among the 10,000 comments to that post were people who we had helped more than once noting that they could never be a part of that church.  They left out the part about the help they had received again and again.

People stand ready to trample you under their feet.  Many of you made comments on that post in defense of our church.  I asked you to stop.  Our focus must be using our best efforts and resources to produce good fruit and bring glory to God.

Arguing with the ignorant only drags you down to their level and makes them feel good.

Use your best efforts to produce the best results possible.  Be transformational not transactional.  Don’t sit in the judgment seat, but when we must address transgression in another believer, be wise—believe it or not, that means be direct and don’t beat around the bush—and speak in a spirit of love.

For the most part, let’s get the wood out of our own eyes.

Amen.

My fellow Pastors, It's time to do what we are ordained to do!

I sometimes wonder what happened to Christianity in these modern times.  I’m not talking people in the pews, new music or old, words on the wall or spoken only from the pulpit.  I’m talking about the ongoing rant of so many preachers who think it is their unique ministry to condemn sin.  So many of my contemporaries seem to think that we are called condemn sin.

Isn’t sin bad?  Yes.

Doesn’t it cause hurt and pain and suffering?  Yes.

Doesn’t God detest sin?  Yes.

Shouldn’t we repent of our sin and live for God.  Yes.  Absolutely, yes!

Then why shouldn’t we devote at least a significant amount of our time to condemning sin?  Because God already did that.  About two millennia ago on a hill called Golgotha, he who had no sin became sin for us and received the punishment for our sins.  Christ died for us.

But if God condemned sin, shouldn’t we follow suit and keep on condemning it?  No, he finished this work.  We don’t need to act is if God missed a few details.  It is finished!

So what are we to do?  Every Christian is to proclaim the good news.  We are commissioned.

All of us are called to live in grateful response to God’s grace—his undeserved forgiveness.

What do we do?  We trust God, obey God, and love God and each other. 

We are to be a light unto a very dark world. 

We are to be the salt of the earth—let people taste the goodness of the Lord when they encounter us.

As pastors, we are called to shepherd the flock in the way of the Good Shepherd not take on the role of modern-day Pharisees.

We are commissioned and ordained—set apart as ministers of word and sacrament—in response to God’s special calling to us.  If we are not listening to God, trusting him, obeying his commands, and walking humbly with him, then what can we expect of the flock?

If we are trying to be God or a better version of the God we find in the Bible, what can we expect of those looking to us of an example of following Jesus?

We need to stop sitting in the judgment seat and start living out our callings!  We need to do what God called us to do not what our human nature—the old self—wants us to do.

We must stop gratifying the old creature and start living as the new creation that we are.

But why would people—pastors—spend so much time condemning sin?  It’s addictive for one and it takes far less courage than doing what we are ordained to do for another.

God told Joshua to be strong and courageous.  That counsel applies to God’s pastors today.

We are told that perfect loves casts out fear.  We should be people of courage not cowards.

But it is so much easier to condemn sin than to love the unlovable.  It is much easier to throw penalty flags than to help someone carry a burden.  Pointing fingers takes less effort and requires less risk than humbly guiding someone to Jesus. 

There is no humility in condemnation.    That’s why condemnation is addictive.  We get a power fix.

Condemnation is cowardly.  Love takes courage.

Does that mean that we accept sin?  No.  It is still repugnant to God and to us.  We are to be holy as God is holy.  That’s our focus.

We are to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

We are to run our race of faith without being distracted by the trappings of this world.

We are not to stir up controversy but deal with falsehood and differences as a workman approved. 

We are ordained not only to lead people to Jesus but to help them seek and live in the Kingdom of God now.  We help them with their trials and even when they are persecuted.  We help them experience their gifts. 

We help them live by faith.

We help them receive the word of God so that it may dwell richly in them and that they may put the words of the Master into practice.

And so many other things—so many things on which we don’t have the time to spend. These are things that God has already taken care of.  To do these things that God finished mocks God.

He commissioned us and ordained us for very specific things.  When we ignore his instructions and replace them with what the sinful heart desires, God is not pleased.

We need to quit condemning sin and get in the rescue business by leading sinners to Jesus.

We need to quit condemning other pastors and start praying for each other.  

We need to shepherd our flocks.

We need to demonstrate what it is to seek justice but to love mercy.

We need to be examples of trust, obedience, and love.

You won’t get the same fix that you do when you condemn someone or something.  You will get something better.  The good deposit that lives within us—God’s own Spirit—can come alive and we can do what we are commissioned and ordained to do.

You might have made it this far, perhaps not if much of your ministry is vested in condemning what God has already condemned.  I might call that the ministerial version of beating a dead horse.

If you did, you might ask—and rightly so—does this short essay not condemn others?  I hope not.  My prayer is that it is an appeal to return to our commissions and callings and leave condemnation alone.

There is a line in the song, Jesus Friend of Sinners, that goes "Nobody knows what we are for only what we are against when we judge the wounded."  How did we go from proclaiming good news to being this century's Pharisees? 

It is an appeal to not cast our pearls before swine.  Our pearls in this analogy are our best efforts. 

 Let’s not use our best gifts, abilities, skills, and passion for what we are not called to do.

Let’s take our best and put it into what we are commissioned and ordained to do.

Amen!