God's Invitation

God’s invitation…
What do you call your dad? What did you call him when you were a little child? That’s really the heart and soul of what this verse from Romans 8 is getting at. Paul tells us that we have been given a bold spirit by God. It’s a spirit that invites and encourages us to come to him and cry out to him in good times and bad. But what do we cry? What are we supposed to call him?
Early Jewish thought was that God was distant, far off, so far above us that we couldn’t possibly be close to him. Paul knows this and reminds us in this section that God is closer than you may realize. Not only did God come to us in the person of his Son Jesus, but he now comes to us with an invitation to a very close relationship – that of a father and a child.
Being a young father I’ve taken time recently to listen to what children call their earthly fathers. The answers vary from the simple daddy to the endearing papa to the homemade words for dad that I can’t even figure out how to spell.
I really like the Message translation of this verse: This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?"
I remember vaguely when I was a child calling upon my father with the loving and childlike Daddy! But somewhere along the line I got “too old” for that. “It’s just not cool to call him daddy anymore – he’s dad.”
God invites us to never lose the feeling of childlike faith. He wants us to be comfortable resting in his warm presence. He calls us to cry out to him when life stinks and to invite him into our celebrations when life is going well. He wants us to think of him not as a distant father but as our loving daddy and present papa.
As you prepare for worship this week, invite God back into your life as your loving daddy. Even if your earthly father was a poor example of a loving daddy – you can still fall into God’s arms be loved by him – NO STRINGS ATTACHED! Anything that needed to be done to earn his love was already done when Jesus went to the cross. Jesus earned your place in God’s family! Welcome sister. It’s good to see you brother! Be loved by Papa today.
Prayer
Papa we love you and today we just need to know how much we are loved by you! Show us that love because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Help me to remember that you are my daddy! AMEN

Church Collection Agency?

So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. 2 Corinthians 9:5

Wow – what a bold statement by Paul. He’s sending the church’s collection agency to prepare the people for the gift they promised. Could you imagine that in your church?
I could just see it – one Monday afternoon the board of elders or some other group in the church shows up at your doorstep and says, “Hello – we’re here just to remind you of your pledge to the church and to let you know that our collections department will be showing up in a week to collect that amount. Be joyful and remember your gift is to the Lord.”
This is a bit of an exaggeration I know. But that’s kind of the message that Paul is giving here. He is sending an entourage of people ahead of him so that they are prepared to give their big gift. He doesn’t want them to be caught off guard. He wants them to be joyful and generous with their gift.
We’re not sure what the gift is and it really doesn’t matter – the point of Paul’s message is about the heart! I’m astounded by the number of people in churches across the country that feel like they have to participate and support the mission of church because it’s their duty. That’s no fun! As a pastor I can’t even do that. I’ll never give to church or participate in its ministry because I have to! There’s no joy in a mandate!
That’s why in the New Testament we hear that Jesus fulfilled the laws for us perfectly. Now we’re not bound by the mandate any longer! We’re not forced to support and participate. Now it’s an invitation. It’s a part of our faithful response in worship. So rest easy – we’re not sending out the collection agency! On the contrary we’re celebrating the generosity of our God! We’re celebrating how great God has been to us and how he collected our debts from Jesus on the cross. Now we are free to reflect that same generosity through our participating in worship, our gifts and offerings, our time spent in the word, and our witness given in our own little mission fields. Be generous today – not because I said so but because Jesus was generous to you!
Prayer
God we come before you today to collect your mercies and grace! Thank you for collecting our debts from Jesus. Help us to reflect your attitude of generosity as we worship you today wherever we go! AMEN.

The Joy Box

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:7

I’ve heard of a pastor who doesn’t take offerings. They don’t pass the plate. They don’t even have a time of offering anywhere in the worship service. They don’t have offering plates. Instead they have a series of boxes scattered around the worship space called Joy Boxes.

These boxes are places where people bring their praise to God through joyful offering of their treasures. Make no bones about it these are what we call offerings but they are done way different than most of us are used to seeing. You see the biggest difference is what happens when someone praises God through their offerings. Most people in our modern context will give out of compulsion or to help pad the church budget a bit. But in this case people give out of joy for what God has given them.

When people place their offerings in the Joy Boxes, they generally will give out a loud “Woo Hoo!” This is an act of praise and worship to God. It’s astounding to see (and hear!) the joy in people’s hearts as they give back to the Lord. These people get it! They get what generous living is really all about.

Today look around you for ways to give God your worship and praise. As you prepare for Sunday worship, pray about what God would have you praise him with this Sunday. Maybe the church you go to doesn’t have a Joy Box but you can still give out a loud “Woo Hoo!” when you write out your offering check or when you set aside that portion of your income as your praise to the Lord.

You see there is joy in generosity when our giving is a response to what we’ve been given. When our giving lacks joy, it’s because we lacked the perspective that God gave generously to us FIRST! But when you give back to God because you’ve recognized His gifts to you, your joy overflows!

God loves a cheerful giver. Give whatever you can of your time, talents, and treasures but do it with joy in your heart in response to the wonderful gifts God pours out on you! God can do amazing things with gifts given out of love for what He first gave us. Be Joy-filled Today!

Prayer

Generous God – I want to be joyful with my offerings. Help me to see all that you’ve given me today. Highlight your gifts to me so I can’t miss even one of them. Then open my heart to return my praise to you with JOY! AMEN – WOO HOO!

Secret of Success

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4

Jesus’ words here are pretty pointed. You can’t do it alone - is pretty much the message Jesus brings to the people gathered to hear him in this passage. You’re not strong enough. You’re not good enough. You’re not man/woman enough. You’re not generous enough. You’re too selfish! That’s what I hear every time I read this passage.

Jesus says that I can’t bear fruit on my own. I think what he’s reminding me is that I will never be able to see the world around me if my eyes are fixed on myself. This must have been an issue that he saw in the world at that time. And I believe it’s a problem that still plagues us today!

We are bombarded daily with ways to get rich quick, succeed faster, grow our retirement accounts, get ahead anyway we can, work extra hours to impress the boss, be more successful…the list goes on and on. But how do we really gain success?

Jesus tells us that success is measured by fruitfulness. It isn’t measured by our income or our status in society but by the fruit that we are able to bear, not on our own but by remaining tapped into the vine. That’s where we are fed. That’s where we get fueled up for the challenges that life throws our way.

Jesus promises that no matter what, if we remain in Christ – he will remain in us. He will continue to feed us with the power of his Spirit. The secret of success isn’t in the stuff we bring but in the fact that no matter how many times we fall He’s right there to pick us up again! God doesn’t measure our generosity by our offering but by our heart – the heart that seeks him, the heart that longs for more of him, the heart that is tuned in to hear what he is speaking today!

Prayer

Generous Jesus – stay with me today! I struggle at times with the challenge of looking to you for strength. Help me today to lean on you. Be my strength. Show me how to be fruitful for you and your kingdom. AMEN

Entertaining Angels

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

Michael Landon starred in Touched By An Angel, an 80’s TV show in which he played a sometimes faulty, but always helpful, angel. The character lived on earth, looking just like you or me…but with better hair. Not surprising, he was always there to assist others. That’s what angels do, right!? The Bible says, “Are not all angels ministering servants sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14)

But, our verse for today (from the same letter to the Hebrew Christians) might suggest even more. Maybe angels also come so we can serve them. Hebrews 13:2 says that, by practicing hospitality, some Christians have entertained angels without even knowing it.

We usually picture angels as bright beings, with wings, halos, and robes. What if angels sometimes come looking more like us than unlike us? What if they come to serve us by allowing us to serve them?

I can’t be sure if this is how/why God sends these ministering servants. I understand that my pastors in the past have usually interpreted this passage saying that the Greek word for angels used here doesn’t have to mean a heavenly being. Angelos simply means “messenger.”

Maybe the Hebrew Christians entertained earthly “messengers” like pastors, evangelists, or apostles. But, would it be too much for God to send heavenly “messengers”, angelic angels, looking as if they fit in among us, or even looking as if they were misfits among us?

I know that it wasn’t beyond God to send His own Son from heaven to earth looking just like us. In fact, at the end of His life He looked much worse than us – more impoverished, naked, infirmed, and in more pain than any person I’ve met. Of course, Jesus came to serve, not to be served.

But would His angels come, sometimes, not to serve but to be served? I know that when we meet needs, practice hospitality, give generously as God has generously given to us- we abound in joy and our love overflows.

Could they show up with troubles, challenges, and needs for people like you and me to meet? Would God put angels in our path for our sake, so that our love and joy could increase by serving someone besides ourselves? I’m not sure that I’ll know the answer on this side of heaven, anymore than I’ll know how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

The most loving and joyful people I know are the most generous people I know. They’re not without their own troubles, challenges, and needs; but they have been given a perspective beyond themselves that is as much a blessing to them as they are to others. While it can’t be the motivation for selfless giving, it can certainly be a wonderful blessing in return: we get as much out of giving as does the person to whom we’ve given.

PRAYER

Lord, send your angels to serve me, protect me, fight for me, and – if it fits your plan – to present a need that I can meet. Transform me by Jesus’ generosity to be a ministering servant for the sake of others. Let me experience abundant joy and love. Amen.