New Year's Thoughts: A Preacher's Wish List

Revelation 21: 1-6

To sort of quote a song, So this is New Years, and what have you done?

What do I wish for New Year's? As a preacher, I don't wish for praise. I don't wish for control. I don't even wish for a positive review from my DS or the Board of Ordained Ministry.

I wish for faithfulness. I wish for commitment. From myself and my people. I wish for God to make all things new. I wish for people to come to Sunday School and Bible Study. I wish for faith to not just be a Sunday thing, but a Monday through Sunday thing.

I wish for families to worship together. I wish for churches and Christians to remember that as we have done to the least of these, so have we done to Him.

This is a New Year with so much potential, so much hope. How will we use it?

What do I wish for? Faithfulness. Dr. Barry Bryant, one of my seminary professor would quote Wesley as saying, “Do not tell me you are a Christian. I shall follow you for six weeks, observe your life, and then I will tell you if you are Christian.”

Faithfulness. That is what I and every preacher have on the top of our wish list.

Christmas: December 3

Old Testament Lesson

1 Kings 17: 17-24

Elijah comes and stays with a widow woman and her son. She only has enough food to last the two of them for a short time, yet the Lord performs a miracle, and the food never runs out. Today, her son dies, and she gets mad at Elijah, saying his presence caused this to happen. He takes the boy upstairs prays over him, and he is brought back to life. She says, now I know you are a man of God. That stuck with me. Now I know. The miracle of the food never running out didn’t convince her. The fact that Elijah told her about being fed by ravens didn’t convince her. It wasn’t until something near and dear to her heart was brought back was she was truly convinced. So it is for us as well. It is all well and good for us to watch Billy Graham and see thousands get saved. It is nice to hear testimonies in church about how folk’s lives are changed by God. But, are we convinced? Have we experienced God in our own lives in powerful ways? Have we seen God bring to life our own heart or the heart of someone what we love? It wasn’t until God made a personal imprint on her life that she believed. What about us? Do we believe in God personally because of what He’s done for us, or is God more of the just the guy up in heaven that watches us. It took a change in her life for her to believe. What does it take for you and me to believe?

New Testament Lesson

3 John 1-15

Hospitality is important, but is it something that is so easily forgotten, especially in our busy age. Jesus stands at the door and knocks, but we have to let him in. Jesus sent out the apostles and told them to stay only where they were welcomed, and if they were not, to shake the dust off their feet. He said as you have done the least of these, so have you done unto me. Acts of kindness and hospitality are the very heart of what it means to live a holy life. These simple things might not get you put on the front page of the paper, but they are the heart of the holy Christian life. God doesn’t always ask us to do what we think of as great things, He asks us to be faithful. But in these “small” acts of kindness, we find the great grace of God.

Gospel Lesson

John 4: 46-54

In this text, the father of the sick child took Jesus at His word and he was healed. Right before that, Jesus had said that it would take signs and wonders for people to believe, but this man took Jesus at His word. What a wonderful reminder of what faith looks like. Faith is believing; even without sight. So often, we tell God, just a sign, and we will believe. He has given us His word; He has given us His son. He has given us example after example. When will we take Him at his word? When we will believe simply because He has said? Trust daily in Him and His word. Know that He is faithful and true. Know that the same Jesus that healed this son is the same Jesus that through the power of the Holy Spirit walks with you and me each day. Trust in Him, trust in His word. That is the heart of faith.

What sin does

It takes a wonderful child's toy like Mr. Potato Head and turns it into Darth Tatar!!! Max Lucado said that God hates sin most of all because of what it does to His childern. I guess even His potato like children. 

Christmas: December 29

Old Testament Lesson

2 Samuel 23: 14-17

In this passage David desires to have some water from the well near Bethlehem. Bethlehem was his home, the land where he grew up. Some of his men hear this wish, and they go and break through the line of the enemy go and get him some of this water. They bring it back and give it to him, and then the text takes a turn that we don’t expect. David doesn’t drink the water. In fact, he pours it out, before the Lord. What does this mean? Why did he do that?

David was a revered leader among his men and his nation. A leader is someone that doesn’t tell folks to respect of follow them; people just know to follow that leader. And leadership has with it responsibilities. A leader must care for their followers. A leader must respect and value their followers. If you treat those beneath you with contempt, they will not follow. David values his men. And, he also wanted that water. But, he valued his men more than he wanted that water. He poured it out to the Lord as an offering to honor what his men had done, but he knew that their lives were more important than his desires. As Christians do we value other people as much as we value our desires? Or are we more concerned with getting what we want, having our needs met, having our desires fulfilled than we are with the needs and the lives of others. Jesus said to be the greatest we must first serve. Are we willing to be a servant? Are we willing to humble ourselves? Are we willing to consider others before we consider ourselves? That is how we find life. Not in getting what we want, but in laying down our lives for God and for each other. Jesus said there is no greater love than this, that you lay down your life for your friends. That is the path to true life; life that comes from God. David laid down his desires for his men. We will do the same?

New Testament Lesson

Revelation 1: 1-8

Revelation is a double edged sword. To those that believe, it is great news, the Lord is coming! Everything will be as it should be! He is making all things new! So, for the Christian, there is much hope within this book of the Bible. But, it is also a book of woe for those that do not believe. In this text, we see these two thoughts. He is coming, and for those that have been washed in the blood, that is a blessing. But it also says that everyone will see him, including those that pierced him, and the world will mourn. So, we see in one text praise and mourning. Praise from those that believe, mourning from those that do not.

There are things that we cannot stop from coming. Our own death and the return of Christ are two them. We can keep from thinking about them, but they are still coming. What thoughts do they bring to mind? Do you long to see your savior? Or are you filled with dread? For the Christian, there is hope in these things. Do we have that hope today? Or are we filled with dread? For the believer, there is hope. For, one day there will be no more sickness, pain, and death. One day, God will restore things to how they should be. One day it will all be right. One day we will be reunited with those that we love. That should make us joyful. The question then becomes do we believe? Do we have faith in him? Are we ready for these things? They are coming; we can’t put them off forever. Are we ready? Are we prepared? We do not know the time or the hour. Will our homecoming be full of tears of joy or sorrow?

Gospel Lesson

John 7: 37-52

Jesus is not always what we make him out to be. He is not always nice. He is divisive. He will cause fights. He will ask us to make tough choices. Verse 43 says the people we divided over Jesus. Like in the Revelation passage, there are two different things held tightly together in the passage. Jesus brings unity and division. There should be unity. He said when I am lifted up I bring all people to me. When Jesus is lifted up, it should draw us to together. We should be unified not only as a local church, but a universal church. All believers, regardless of where they go to church, hold Christ in common. We can have differences over theology, but let us never forget than as John Wesley said, “if you heart has been warmed, then brother give me your hand.”

So, Jesus will bring unity. But in the text, we see him bringing division. Jesus demands that we choose sides. Jesus demands that we show our allegiance. He tells us that we cannot have 2 masters; we will love one and hate the other. Jesus or the world must be our master. We cannot serve both God and the world. We must make a choice. Every day, our lives are filled with choices. Will we serve God? Will we serve the world? We must make a choice. Who will we serve? There will be division over Him. But, at His name, every knee shall one day bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. He demands that choose either Him or the world. Today, whose side are we on?

Ordination Questions!!!!

I'm in the process now of answering questions for ordination in the UMC, and boy is it fun. I started the process towards ordination in 1998 and am in my last year (hopefully) of probationary membership. I am sitting here, praying over the questions and thinking about ministry. About the joys and sorrows of it, about the joys and sorrows of the UMC. It seems like just yesterday I was struggling with answering the call to ministry, and now here I am working on these questions.

Christmas: December 28

Old Testament Lesson

Isaiah 49: 13-23

Tony Dungy has been in the news recently. He is the coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and his son recently committed suicide. He is also a very committed Christian. I saw an interview with him yesterday and he stated that his family was doing well, and that God had given them and everyone that believes great promises for times of trial. He said that God is not there just in the good times, but in the bad times as well. It is not very often you get to see such a public figure make such a strong declaration of faith. I thought of that scene this morning when I read this passage. Israel had been through so much pain, much of it because of their sin, but God promised that He will not forget them, He cannot forget them. Like a parent cannot forget their child, neither will God forget His children. In fact, He will raise them up and use them for the good of the world. God will not forget His children, and has something mighty and amazing in store for each of them. Even in the midst of the pain and lose, He is there. We must always cling tightly to His promise to never leave or forsake us, no matter what life may bring.

New Testament Lesson

Colossians 1: 9-20

When we see Jesus as revealed in the bible, we see God. Some folks say that we’ve never seen God. I guess that is true. But, as Billy Graham said, no one has ever seen the wind, but they’ve seen the effects of the wind. So is it with God. We’ve seen effects of God in lives and in the lives of others, and this world. As Samuel Wesley, John Wesley’s dad, said, “The inner witness; that is the evidence of God.” And Paul reminds us today that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. So, when we see Jesus, we see God. And we see Jesus forgiving. We see Jesus calling folks to repentance. We see Jesus calling all that believe to follow him. We see Jesus binding up the wounds of the broken hearted and calling the self righteous to repent. In Jesus we see just how much out God loves us, and see just how far God will go to save us. God’s arm is always reaching out to us, trying to draw us closer. He is the visible image of the invisible God. What a mighty God we serve, what a loving God. May we not forget how great our God is, and if we need a reminded, may we remember how He has been with us in times past and may we look within His Word to see Him.

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 18: 1-14

Today we see Jesus give two images of faith. The first is a small child. Unless we become like a child, we will not enter the kingdom of God. What a joy children are, especially with faith. They don’t need to have everything explained. They trust. They have faith. They find joy in everything. Life makes us adults cynical. It makes us hard. It makes us bitter. We must lose this. We must recapture the joy of life, the faith of life, the faith of a child. My daughter trusts in my wife and me for everything. She doesn’t doubt; she knows that we will take care of her. How many of us doubt God for everything and then complain if God doesn’t do it the way we’d like. We have to regain that childlike faith. Wesley said salvation is in the end about restoring what sin has taken from us. Above all, sin has taken out trust and joy in God. Unless we become like a child. . . .

And then Jesus shows how far God will go for us. He would leave the rest of the folk to find you and me. He would live the 99 to find the 1. We should rejoice in that; that our God would seek us out. We have a God that looks for us. We don’t find God, God finds us. He is always reaching, always trying to get us to return, but our hearts are often too hard to retune. We have lost that childlike faith. May we recover (or find) that faith and may we rejoice in a God that leaves the 99 to find the 1.

Jeff Reardon arrested!

Jeff Reardon was once the best closer in the Major League. And now, he was arrested for robbing a jewerly store?!? This is strange and sad. I wonder what Lee Smith is upto now a days?