Friday, April 27, 2012

The Biblical Theology of Stewardship...

This week, we are addressing a tension and frustration that can arise when it comes to money, finances, and treasure. Where we get off track, frustrated, and in trouble when it comes to finances is when we try to fulfill roles and responsibilities that belong to God, or ignore or fail to fulfill responsibilities that belong to us. So, in Psalm 50, we are looking at what roles and responsibilities are God’s and what responsibilities are ours when it comes to money and finances. We looked at the reality that when it comes to our role and God’s role in money, possessions, and treasure, is that we can find ourselves falling into some faulty theology. We looked specifically at the faulty views of prosperity theology and poverty theology.

While both prosperity and poverty theology find no support in the Bible, there is a third theological view when it comes to our role and God’s role in money, possessions, and treasure that is clearly supported by the message and teachings of the Bible. And that third theological view is called stewardship theology. Stewardship theology maintains that, when it comes to treasure, God is the owner and we are the manager.

And when we embrace what the Bible actually teaches about stewardship theology, spiritually mature followers of Jesus view wealth and possessions as a responsibility to be managed. When we embrace stewardship theology, generosity and giving is driven by the mentality that “I give because I love God and want to respond to the generosity of Jesus by being generous”. So our giving is motivated by a delight in God.

And when we embrace stewardship theology, the management of the money, possessions, and treasure that they have is motivated by a prayerful and responsible recognition that God is the owner and that we are the managers of the money, possessions, and treasure we possess. Because, when it comes to treasure, God is the owner and we are the manager.

So which theological view of how God and money relate and interact with humanity are you holding? Prosperity theology, where God is our spiritual Santa Claus that we use in order to get what we really worship, which is money, possessions, and treasure? Poverty theology, where we interact with money, possessions and treasure out of duty rather than delight?

Or stewardship theology, where we view God as the owner of all and embrace the role and responsibility that we have to manage all that God has given us in a way that reveals and reflects Jesus and God’s generosity to the world?

Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Faulty Theology of Poverty...

This week, we are addressing a tension and frustration that can arise when it comes to money, finances, and treasure. Where we get off track, frustrated, and in trouble when it comes to finances is when we try to fulfill roles and responsibilities that belong to God, or ignore or fail to fulfill responsibilities that belong to us. So, in Psalm 50, we are looking at what roles and responsibilities are God’s and what responsibilities are ours when it comes to money and finances.

Yesterday, we talked about the reality that when it comes to our role and God’s role in money, possessions, and treasure, is that we can find ourselves falling into some faulty theology. We looked specifically at a faulty view that is referred to as prosperity theology. Proponents of prosperity theology maintain that God desires that everyone prosper financially and physically as a result of their spirituality. Prosperity theology maintains what is called a “name it and claim it” mentality when it comes to money, possessions, and treasure.

However, there is a huge problem with prosperity theology. And that problem is that any theology that is true to the Bible must be able to have Jesus fit into that theology. Because, when you look at the definition of a spiritually mature person in prosperity theology; that a spiritually mature person is wealthy, with good relationships and without pain or anxiety, that definition excludes Jesus. When you look at the tenets of prosperity theology, Jesus would not be able to fit into their theology. And if Jesus cannot fit into your theology, then your theology is faulty.

Today, I would like for us to look at a faulty view that is referred to as poverty theology. Proponents of poverty theology maintain that the love of money is the root of all evil in the world. For those who embrace poverty theology spiritually mature followers of Jesus view wealth and possessions as evil and corrupting. So, if someone is wealthy materially or financially, it is due to the fact that they are either unsaved, spiritually immature, or have the sin of greed and covetousness in their life.

For those who embrace poverty theology, generosity and giving is driven by the mentality that “I give because I must”. So giving is motivated by duty to God. And for those who embrace poverty theology, the management of the money, possessions, and treasure that they have is absent of gratitude to God because money and possession are evil. Poverty theology actually flows from an ancient heresy called asceticism, which viewed the physical and material as evil and the spiritual as good.

There is a huge problem with prosperity theology, however. And that problem is that throughout the Bible we see individual after individual that were wealthy that were used by God in powerful ways to advance His Kingdom and enhance His reputation. In the Old Testament there was Abraham, there was Job, there was King David and King Solomon, all of whom were wealthy and used by God in powerful ways to reveal and reflect His nature and character to the world.

In addition, nowhere in the Bible is the money, possession, or treasure mentioned as being evil. You see, money is amoral. It is neither inherently evil nor intently good. It is what we do with money that determines whether it is leveraged in a way that is morally good or evil.

While both prosperity and poverty theology find no support in the Bible, there is a third theological view when it comes to our role and God’s role in money, possessions, and treasure that is clearly supported by the message and teachings of the Bible.

Tomorrow, we will look at that third view...


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The Faulty Theology of Prosperity...

This week, we are addressing a tension and frustration that can arise when it comes to money, finances, and treasure. Where we get off track, frustrated, and in trouble when it comes to finances is when we try to fulfill roles and responsibilities that belong to God, or ignore or fail to fulfill responsibilities that belong to us. So, in Psalm 50, we are looking at what roles and responsibilities are God’s and what responsibilities are ours when it comes to money and finances.

Yesterday, we saw a man named Asaph reveal a timeless truth that provides clarity about our role and responsibilities when it comes to money, possessions, and treasure in that when it comes to treasure, God is the owners and we are the managers. The timeless reality is that we never really own anything. We only manage God’s money, possessions, and treasure for a period of time. We are only on earth for a finite period of time and, when our time on earth is over, all of the money, possessions and treasure that we accumulate while on earth stays here.

But what can tend to happen when it comes to our role and God’s role in money, possessions, and treasure, is that we can find ourselves falling into some faulty theology. Throughout history, when it comes to theology, which simply means the study of the nature and character of God, human beings have tended to fall into one of two extreme and faulty views of how God and money relate and interact with humanity.

The first faulty view is what is referred to as prosperity theology. Proponents of prosperity theology maintain that God desires that everyone prosper financially and physically as a result of their spirituality. Prosperity theology maintains what is called a “name it and claim it” mentality when it comes to money, possessions, and treasure. In other words, if you just have faith, you can ask God for material or physical blessings and He will provide. All you need is faith. “Just name it by faith and you can claim it by faith”. Those who embrace prosperity theology will refer to themselves as being “word of faith communities”. 

For those who embrace prosperity theology, spiritually mature followers of Jesus are wealthy and possessions are a right that one receives as a result of faith. So, if someone is poor materially or suffering physically or emotionally, it is due to the fact that they are either unsaved, spiritually immature, or have sin in their life. For those who embrace prosperity theology, generosity and giving is driven by the mentality that “the more I give by faith, the more I will get because of faith”.  So giving is motivated by faith in what they will get from God. And for those who embrace prosperity theology, the management of the money, possessions, and treasure that they have is driven by a carefree attitude that is focused on consuming all that they have been given by God.

However, there is a huge problem with prosperity theology. And that problem is that any theology that is true to the Bible must be able to have Jesus fit into that theology. Because, when you look at the definition of a spiritually mature person in prosperity theology; that a spiritually mature person is wealthy, with good relationships and without pain or anxiety, that definition excludes Jesus. When you look at the tenets of prosperity theology, Jesus would not be able to fit into their theology.

Prosperity theology maintains that the spiritually mature will be blessed financially, yet, when we read the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, we discover that Jesus was poor. Jesus was born into a lower, working class home of a carpenter and lived His life as poor itinerant preacher who was homeless and dependant on the support of others.

Prosperity theology maintains that the spiritually mature will be blessed emotionally and relationally, yet, when we read the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, we discover that Jesus was ridiculed, rejected and scorned. Prosperity theology maintains that the spiritually mature will be blessed physically, yet, when we read the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, we discover that Jesus was beaten and crucified.

So did Jesus not have enough faith? Did Jesus have sin in His life? Was Jesus spiritually immature? You see, Jesus would not fit into the prosperity theology’s definition of spiritually maturity. And if Jesus cannot fit into your theology, then your theology is faulty.

Tomorrow, we will look at another faulty theology when it comes to money possessions and treasure...

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

When It Comes To Treasure, God Is The Owner, We Are The Managers...


This week, we are addressing a tension and frustration that can arise when it comes to money, finances, and treasure. Where we get off track, frustrated, and in trouble when it comes to finances is when we try to fulfill roles and responsibilities that belong to God, or ignore or fail to fulfill responsibilities that belong to us.  So, in Psalm 50, we are looking at what roles and responsibilities are God’s and what responsibilities are ours when it comes to money and finances.

Yesterday, we saw a man named Asaph, who was being used by God to confront the Jewish people for selfishness and rebellion that was arising in their lives, explain that the Jewish people did not need to be corrected because they were failing to show up for church. The Jewish people did not need to be set straight when it came to their worship activity for God. Then, if that was the case, what was the problem? Asaph reveals the problem for us in verse 9:


"I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds.”For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. "I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.


In other words, God is explaining to the Jewish people “My issue with you is not your acts of worship. My issue with you is the motivation that is driving your worship. You are not offering your sacrifices and offerings to Me because you recognize that your selfishness and rebellion requires a sacrifice that atones or provides a covering for your sin and rebellion. You are not offering your offerings out of thanksgiving to Me because of who I am and what I have done in your life. Instead you are offering these acts of worship because you think that I am needy and dependant on you to provide something for Me. But, here’s the deal. I do not need to take any of your animals for my sake, because I own everything. You do not need to give Me anything, because I am the One who has given you everything you have”.


You see, what the Jewish people were guilty of was thinking that God was dependent upon them.  The Jewish people were offering worship to God as though He needed animals to be provided for Him and they were afraid that they would experience God’s judgment if they did not provide for Him. The Jewish people failed to recognize that the purpose of these acts of worship was to fulfill their responsibility that flowed from their selfishness and rebellion against God. The Jewish people made a fundamental mistake that we can make today, which is that they Jewish people thought that they were the owners and that they needed to fulfill the responsibility provide for God in order to meet His needs. And God wanted the Jewish people to clearly understand that they needed to be set straight. The Jewish people needed to have a correction in their perception when it came to their role and responsibilities. God then proceeds to set them straight in and correct their misperception in verse 12:


"If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats?


In verse 12-13, we see God, through the Psalmist, set the Jewish people straight when it came to their roles and responsibilities through a statement and a rhetorical question. First, God makes a bold and blunt statement: “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, For the world is mine and all it contains”. In other words, God is saying, if I was hungry, I would not need to tell you so that you could go down to the store to buy Me some food to eat. I am not dependant on you to provide for Me, because I own it all. If I was hungry, I am quite capable of providing for Myself.”


 God then asks the Jewish people a rhetorical question designed to reveal the ridiculous nature of the motivation that was driving their worship of God. "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats?” In other words, God is saying, “Do you even know who I am? I am a Spiritual Being; I do not eat food and I do not need to eat food in order to survive. I have existed for all eternity, before the universe even existed and I was able to survive without you”. You see, God wanted the Jewish people to clearly understand that He owned everything. God was not dependant on the Jewish people and their acts of worship in order to survive. Instead, the Jewish people needed to come back to the reality that they were totally dependent on God for their survival. The Psalmist then closes this section of this psalm of worship by revealing the motivation that should be driving their acts of worship in verses 14-15:


"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me."


To understand what Asaph is communicating here, we first need to define some terms. When Asaph refers to sacrifice of thanksgiving, this phrase, in the language that this letter was written in, refers to thanksgiving in the form of praise. When Asaph refers to vows, he is referring to an oath or a promise that one makes to another. So when Asaph calls the Jewish people to pay your vows to the Most High, he is calling the Jewish people to keep the promises that they had made to God. The psalmist is saying “what God wants from you when it comes to worship is that you offer up praise and thanksgiving to Him as your provider, your protector, your rescuer, and your deliverer. What God wants from you when it comes to worship is that you are faithful to follow God’s word and keep the promises and commitments that you make to Him. God wants you to recognize that He is the all powerful and self sufficient owner and provider of everything that you have.”

You see, the Jewish people failed to recognize that they were to worship out of a response of their desperate need for Him and to bring Him glory as the owner of everything. The Jewish people failed to recognize that their worship should be a response of thankfulness for His activity in their lives. And it is in this Psalm that we are able to discover a timeless truth that provides clarity about our role and responsibilities when it comes to money, possessions, and treasure. And that timeless truth is this: When it comes to treasure, God is the owner and we are the manager.

The timeless reality is that we never really own anything. We only manage God’s money, possessions, and treasure for a period of time. We are only on earth for a finite period of time and, when our time on earth is over, all of the money, possessions and treasure that we accumulate while on earth stays here. But what can tend to happen when it comes to our role and God’s role in money, possessions, and treasure, is that we can find ourselves falling into some faulty theology. Throughout history, when it comes to theology, which simply means the study of the nature and character of God, human beings have tended to fall into one of two extreme and faulty views of how God and money relate and interact with humanity.

Tomorrow, we will look at the first of two faulty theologies when it comes to God and money...

Monday, April 23, 2012

The Tension of Handling Treasure...

This week, I would like for us to address a tension and frustration that can arise when it comes to money, finances, and treasure. To understand the nature of this tension and frustration, however, we first need to understand how prevalent money is in our day to day lives. You see, virtually everything that we do on a day to day basis involves the use of money. It isn’t that much of our life involves the use of money; much of our life revolves around the use of money. If you do not think that is the case, just take a minute and consider this question: What do you do in your day to day life that does not involve money? Is there anything that you do on a day to day basis that does not involve money? Where and how you live, what you do and don’t do, what you wear, what you eat, how you travel, all involve money.

And because virtually everything that we do involves and revolves around money, we are continually making decisions when it comes to how we handle money, finances and treasure. We have roles and responsibilities when it comes to money and finances. The tension and frustration, however, that we can experience when it comes to our roles and responsibilities, usually surface in one of two areas. The first area that we can experience this tension and frustration is when we fail to recognize and fulfill the responsibilities that we have when it comes to money. The second area that we can experience tension and frustration is when we fail to understand what responsibilities are ours and what responsibilities are God’s when it comes to money and finances.

You see, God has certain roles and responsibilities that He retains when it comes to money and finances, and there are roles and responsibilities that God has delegated to us. Where we get off track, frustrated, and in trouble when it comes to finances is when we try to fulfill roles and responsibilities that belong to God, or ignore or fail to fulfill responsibilities that belong to us.

 So, what roles and responsibilities are God’s and what responsibilities are ours when it comes to money and finances? We find the answer in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in our Bible called the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms is a series of prayers and worship songs that were used in worship in the temple that were written down, recorded and preserved for us by God. The Psalm that we are going to look at this morning was written by a man named Asaph. Now Asaph was the Chris Tomlin of the Old Testament. Asaph was an outstanding musician during the reign of King David who was appointed to be the worship pastor at the temple.

  In Psalm 50, we see Asaph, moved by the Holy Spirit, write a worship song that confronts the Jewish people for selfishness and rebellion that was beginning to surface in their lives. In verses 1-6, Asaph begins by painting a courtroom scene in which God is summoning the Jewish people to hear the charges against them. Asaph explains that God is the Creator and Judge of the universe who is ever present and ever aware of His creation. And as Creator and Judge, God was summoning the Heavens and the earth as witnesses to testify as to what they have seen from the Jewish people when it came to their rebellion. After summoning the Jewish people and the witnesses to the courtroom, Asaph reveals the charges against the Jewish people that God would be judging. Charges that are recorded for us in Psalm 50:7:

"Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. "I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

Asaph begins by telling the Jewish people what they were not guilty of. As the One who had entered into a covenant relationship with the Jewish people, God was not reproving them because of a lack of worship activity. When Asaph refers to sacrifices and burned offerings, he is referring to the sacrificial offerings that the Jewish people were required to complete two times a day. In the Jewish sacrificial system, there were two times every day that sacrifices were made to God for the sins of the people, one early in the morning and one in the in the late afternoon at 3 p.m.

The sacrificial offerings involved animals who were offered as a substitute to pay the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that had been committed against God. The burnt offerings were expression of worship and thanksgiving to God. You see, the Jewish people did not need to be corrected because they were failing to show up for church. The Jewish people did not need to be set straight when it came to their worship activity for God. Then, if that was the case, what was the problem? Tomorrow, we will see Asaph reveals the timeless problem for us.

In the meantime, is there anything that you do on a day to day basis that at some point does not involve money?

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

How We Handle Our Treasure Reveals What We Treasure...

Yesterday, we discovered that Jesus talked about the subject of money and finances five times more often then He talked about prayer and faith. We than asked why did Jesus talk about money so much and began to look at a section of perhaps Jesus most famous sermon that He preached on earth. In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus explained that we are to store up for ourselves treasure in Heaven because the treasures of this earth our temporary.

In addition, Jesus explained that we spend money and invest in the things that we are devoted to. Followers of Jesus who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Him respond to all that God has done for them by investing in God’s kingdom mission because they treasure God above everything else. You see, the reality is that we can tell what we love by looking at where our treasure goes. Today, we will see Jesus use a metaphor to hammer His point home in verses 22-23. Let’s look at it together:
"The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

To understand the metaphor that Jesus uses in these verses, we first need to understand what Jesus is talking about when He refers to the eye as the lamp of the body. When Jesus uses the word eye, He is referring to our spiritual eyes and what they focus on. This is important because our bodies follow what our eyes focus on.

I learned this principle first hand during a mountain bike trip outside of Kingman. During my ride, I approached a steep downward section of the trail that was covered with baseball sized rocks. Now sometimes when mountain biking, you come to situations where you realize that you have lost control of the speed of your bike. And as I gained speed down this section of the trail, this was one of those times. About ¾ of the way down this decline, there was a boulder that came up to a person’s knee. Now I knew that I did not want to hit that boulder. But as I came closer to that point on the trail, I was coming closer to the boulder.

As you have probably guessed, I hit the boulder square and went head over my handlebars down the rest of the hill. And if that was not bad enough, the bike proceeded to fall on top of me and follow me down the hill. Needless to say, my body was covered with scrapes and boulder rash. You see, because I was focused on the boulder so as to not hit it, my body actually steered the bike toward the boulder.

And that is Jesus point here. We follow what we are focused on. When Jesus uses the word clear, He is referring to someone who is motivated by a singleness of purpose or focus. Jesus provided that focus in verse 19 when He commanded that we store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven. Jesus point is that when our spiritual eyes are clearly focused on storing up treasure in Heaven our whole body will be full of light.

But what does Jesus mean when He states that our bodies will be full of light? The phrase to be full of light conveys the sense of being illuminated by something so as to reflect that light toward others. So in essence, Jesus is stating that when we are focused on storing up treasures in Heaven, we will reveal and reflect Christ to others. We will reflect Christ’s generosity. We will reflect Christ’s desire to love and serve God and others through the money, possessions, and treasure that we have while we live life on earth.

And as we reveal and reflect Jesus to others, the result is that we advance God’s Kingdom and enhance God’s reputation. Followers of Jesus who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Him are able to make a fundamental shift from asking the question “What honors me?” to the question “What honors God?”

Jesus then contrasts the person who is singularly focused on storing up treasures in Heaven with the person who is focused on storing up treasures on earth. In verse 23, Jesus speaks of the person whose eye is bad. When Jesus uses the word bad, He is literally referring to someone whose spiritual eyes are unhealthy or sick. This person’s spiritual eyes are clouded by greed. This is a person who is focused on making and spending the money, possessions, and treasure that they accumulate on themselves to advance their kingdom and enhance their reputation.

Jesus then explains that the end result of having spiritual eyes that are unhealthy due to being clouded by greed is that the person is described as being full of darkness. To be full of darkness conveys the sense of an absence of Christ-likeness in a person’s life. Jesus ends verse 23 with the phrase if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. Jesus point is that the person whose life is clouded by greed and selfishness and that focuses on storing up treasures for themselves on earth is full of spiritual and moral darkness as well.

Now, I don’t know about you, but sometimes we can find ourselves trying to have it both ways, can’t we? I can find myself tempted to try to have my feet in both worlds, so to speak. So, can’t we do both? Can’t we store up treasures on earth and in Heaven? Jesus provides the answer to this question in verse 24:
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Jesus, in verse 24, makes it clear that we cannot serve two masters. When Jesus uses the word serve, He is referring to someone who acts in total allegiance and total commitment to someone or something. Jesus point is that you cannot be totally committed to two differing options. And here we see a second reason why Jesus talked so much about money, possessions, and treasure. You see, we cannot serve God and money not only because of the reality that we follow what we are focused on.

Here we see that we cannot serve God and money because we will serve what we are devoted to. The timeless reality is that God and money, possessions, and treasure compete for our total devotion. You will either be totally devoted to God, or you will be totally devoted to money, possessions, and treasure. That is Jesus point.

You see, God uses money to reveal who we love and trust more. God says “Do you love me? Do you trust me? Do you love me more than your money? Do you love me more than your possessions? Do you love me more than your treasure? Do you love and trust me enough to handle your money and finances according to my principles, or are you going to handle your money finances your way?”

And it is in this section of this famous sermon that we see Jesus reveal for us the timeless answer to the question “why did Jesus talk so much about money? And that timeless answer is this: Jesus talks about treasure because how we handle our treasure reveals what we treasure.

I think that Jesus had no problem talking about money because Jesus knew that how we handle money reveals our spiritual condition. Jesus had no problem talking about money because how we handle money reveals who or what has our heart. Because, this morning, the timeless reality is that we spend money on what we love. We follow what we are focused on. And we will serve what we are devoted to. You see, God does not want something from us; God wants something for us. God wants for us to experience the relationship with Him that we were created for.

So here is a question to consider: What does how you handle your treasure reveal about what you treasure? Because, as Jesus stated, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And the timeless reality is that God and money, possessions, and treasure compete for our total devotion.

So what does your checkbook say about what or who you treasure?

Monday, April 16, 2012

Why Did Jesus Talk About Treasure?

As a culture, we tend not to look forward to April 15th because April 15th is tax day. April 15th is normally the deadline to pay your federal and state income taxes. This year, because April 15th falls on a Sunday, the deadline has been moved to April 17th. Yet, whether it is April 17th, as it is this year, or April 15th, as it is most years, the weeks and months leading up to April 15th are referred to as tax time. This is a time of year when we tend to try to get a grip and wrap our minds around our finances. And for many of us, this is a time of year where we attempt to make adjustments and commitments in an effort to be better off financially on April 15th of 2013 than we are on April 15th 2012.

So for the next six weeks as a church we are going to spend our time together talking about the subject of money and finances. Now a natural reaction for some to the idea of spending time in church talking about the subject of money and finances is to push back, to resist. For some, one of their major objections to the church, and to Christianity in general, is that you believe that the church just wants your money.

For others, they believe that you should not spend our time in a sermon series talking about money because they came to church to hear about what Jesus and the Bible has to say about important spiritual issues like forgiveness, like faith, like prayer. Or, there are those who think “why should we even bother talking about treasure, about money about finances. I mean, does it really matter how I handle my finances? Is how I handle my finances that big of a deal when it comes to my relationship with God?

I believe that how we handle our money and finances is a big deal. I believe that it is a big deal because of how Jesus talked about money. You see, Jesus talked about money and finances. As a matter of fact He talked about money a lot. In the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in our Bibles, there are 500 verses where Jesus talks about prayer. In addition, there are 500 verses where Jesus talks about faith. And every Sunday morning, at some point, the word faith is mentioned on this campus. By comparison, Jesus devoted 2,350 verses to the subject of treasure, to money, and how we handle it. Jesus thought that the subject of money and what we did with it was so important that He talked about money almost 5 times more than He did prayer and faith.

But why did Jesus talk so much about money? This week, I would like for us to spend our time together looking at a part of perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached. And it is in this part of this famous sermon that we see Jesus reveal for us the reason why how we handle our treasure is a big deal when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. We will also discover a timeless principle about how the way that we handle our treasure impacts how our day to day lives reveal and reflect Christ. So let’s look at this section of Jesus famous sermon together, beginning in Matthew 6:19:
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

As Jesus delivers one of His most famous sermons, which we call the Sermon on the Mount, we find Jesus focusing for a second time in this sermon on the issue of money. Jesus tells the crowds that they are not to store up for themselves treasures on earth. Now it is important to understand that this was not a suggestion; Jesus here is giving a command that we are not to be storing up treasures on earth. This phrase conveys the sense of storing up so as to accumulate something. The point that Jesus is making here is that we are not to be focused on the accumulation of treasure. Jesus is commanding the crowds listening, and followers of Jesus throughout history, not to center our lives on money, possessions and the treasures of this world. Jesus uses a play on words that literally means do not treasure treasure.

But why not treasure treasure? Jesus gives us the answer in the second part of verse 19 when He talks about moths and rust destroying and thieves breaking in and stealing. Jesus point is that when we store up treasure here on earth, we are storing up what is temporary. This morning, we are only on earth for a finite period of time and, when our time on earth is over, all of our stuff stays here.
The timeless reality is that you never really own anything. You only manage God’s stuff for a period of time and then He gives it to someone else.

But not only are treasures on earth temporary, Jesus points out that treasures on earth are easily consumed by the things of the world. Just as a moth consumes cloth or rust consumes metal, or a thief consumes our money, possessions, and treasure by stealing, the things of this world are consumed by the world.

Instead of focusing on the accumulation of money, possessions, and treasure on earth, Jesus commands us to accumulate for ourselves treasure in Heaven. Instead of focusing on making deposits in our earthly bank accounts and retirement funds in a way that is focused on building a kingdom of money, possessions, and treasure here on earth for ourselves, Jesus commands us to make deposits in our heavenly bank accounts. Jesus points out that when we accumulate treasures in Heaven; when we make deposits into our heavenly bank accounts, those investments cannot be consumed by the things on earth. Jesus point here is that while treasure on earth is temporary, treasure in Heaven lasts for eternity.

But why is Jesus coming on so strong? Why does Jesus feel so strongly that He would command us to store up for ourselves treasure in Heaven? We find the answer to this question in verse 21. Let’s look at it together:
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In this verse, we see Jesus reveal the reason behind His command to store up treasure in Heaven. Jesus here is revealing for us the timeless principle that our desires and devotion is revealed by what we invest in. This timeless principle is incredibly important because of how Jesus defines spiritual maturity. You see, Jesus defines spiritual maturity not by how big of a kingdom that we are building for ourselves here on earth in terms of money, possessions, and treasure. Instead, Jesus defines spiritual maturity in terms of the heart. A person who is involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Christ will be growing in one’s love for God and in one’s love for others.

Now a natural question that arises here is “well Dave, that sounds great, but how does one define and measure one’s love and devotion to God and others?” If you are here this morning and that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that you are asking a great question. It is a great question to ask because we cannot simply peer into another human beings heart and measure love, can we? So how do we measure our love for God and others?

Jesus point in this verse is that we invest in the things that we are devoted to. Followers of Jesus who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Him respond to all that God has done for them by investing in God’s kingdom mission because they treasure God above everything else. You see, the reality is that we can tell what we love by looking at where our treasure goes.

So, I have a question for you: When you look at your checkbook, what does it say about who or what you love? Where does your money go? What are you investing in?

Tomorrow, we will see Jesus use a metaphor to hammer His point home...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

An Unusual Request That Changed History...

This week, we are looking at two individuals that we usually do not talk about on Easter Sunday. Yet, it is these two individuals that actually make it possible to tell the Easter story. Yesterday, we continued to look at a conversation that Jesus had with a man named Nicodemus. In that conversation, we saw Jesus clearly and simply communicated the essence of the message of the gospel.

Jesus explained to Nicodemus that the person who places their confident trust in Jesus life death, and resurrection will not be separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion, but will experience forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for. And that is the good news of the gospel: God loved, God gave, so that those who believe and place their confident trust in Jesus would receive life in relationship with Him.

Now you might be thinking “I am still having a hard time buying that God is like this. I still see God as being like a cosmic cop around the corner waiting to bust me. The idea that Easter is about God’s love for me and desire for relationship with me is hard to accept”. If that is where you are, just look at what Jesus says next:
"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
If Jesus was communicating this in the language that we use in our culture today, these verses would sound like this: "Nicodemus, God did not send Me as the Messiah to the earth in order to judge all of humanity, but that all of humanity would have the opportunity to be rescued from their selfishness and rebellion. The person who places their confident trust in Me is not condemned. However, the person who refuses to place their confident trust in Me is already condemned because of their selfishness and rebellion. Everyone is condemned and the reason that they are condemned is because I have revealed Myself throughout all of human history and all of humanity has responded by rejecting and rebelling against Me. They want nothing to do with Me because I expose the selfishness and rebellion that is in the center and core of their being. Everyone is already condemned because of their rebellion and I have come to rescue those who trust in Me from condemnation. And everyone who places their confident trust in Me and live in relationship with Me reveal the reality of My transformational intervention and activity that has brought them into relationship with Me.”

Jesus wanted Nicodemus to clearly understand that all of humanity stands condemned to an eternity apart from God as a result of our selfishness and rebellion. Jesus wanted Nicodemus to clearly understand that rescue from selfishness and rebellion was not based on what we did for God, but in trusting in what God was doing through Jesus, who entered into humanity as the culmination of God’s Divine plan to provide an opportunity for forgiveness and restoration.

And with that, Jesus conversation with Nicodemus was over. A little less than two and a half years later, Jesus fulfilled the prediction and promise that He made. Nicodemus cautiously objected and was ridiculed by his fellow religious leaders as they planned to kill Jesus. Nicodemus watched as Jesus was arrested, tried, convicted, and handed over to the Romans, who lifted Jesus up on a pole, a cross in order to be crucified.

Now crucifixion was the most humiliating form of punishment ever devised. Death on the cross was usually reserved for condemned slaves, who were considered the lowest form of humanity. This was a death that was reserved for the worst criminals and for enemies of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire used crucifixion to send a simple yet powerful message- don’t mess with the Roman Empire.

And the message was delivered not simply by the humiliation and suffering of the crucifixion. The message was communicated after death by crucifixion as well. Family members and friends were not allowed to have the bodies of those who were crucified for treason or revolt. Instead, the Roman government allowed the dead and decaying bodies to remain on the crosses, where they would be ravaged by wild animals and the forces of nature. As a matter of fact the phrase “food for the crows’ derives its origin from what would occur after a crucifixion. This was the ultimate humiliation.

After being ravaged by animals; after decaying for days or weeks, the bodies would then be cast into a common grave, or worse yet, in a garbage dump, never to be claimed or have a proper burial. So what should have happened to Jesus was that, like so many other false Messiahs and political insurrectionists, his body should have been left to rot and then be thrown away into a garbage dump or common grave, where He would have vanished into obscurity. But that is not what happened to the body of Jesus. We discover what happened to the body of Jesus after His crucifixion in John 19:38:
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
John introduces us to a man named Joseph of Arimathea. In another account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible, we learn that Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin who had not consented to the decision to hand Jesus over to be crucified. John tells us that Joseph, like Nicodemus, had demonstrated a timidity and caution when it came to following Jesus.

However, after Jesus death Joseph of Arimathea did what would have been considered almost unthinkable. Joseph approached the most powerful man in the Roman government in Israel, the man who had personally condemned Jesus to death as an enemy of the Roman Empire, and asked for his body, a request that was almost never granted. Can you imagine the courage it must have taken to enter into the presence of Pilate and then ask for the body of a person whom he had just sentenced to death as an enemy of the state?

Pilate, who had previously questioned the motives behind the religious leaders desire to kill Jesus, but was too much of a people pleaser to do what was right, responded to the courage of Joseph of Arimathea by granting his request. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus then went and retrieved Jesus body from the cross and prepared the body for burial. Joseph, being very wealthy, had already acquired a tomb in preparation for his own death that was located in a prime and popular area. Joseph of Arimathea decided to take the tomb that he had purchased for himself and instead use it to bury Jesus, which is exactly what he and Nicodemus did.

And because Joseph of Arimathea had the courage to ask the most powerful person in the Roman government in Israel for the body of Jesus; because Nicodemus and Joseph had the courage to take the body from the Roman government instead of allowing it to be discarded in the trash or a common grave to vanish into obscurity and give Jesus a proper burial in a tomb located in a prominent place, we have the evidence of an event that happened in history that radically and forever changed how human beings would relate to God.

Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, other women helped prepare and bury the body of Jesus. Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, there had to be a guard sent to guard the tomb where Jesus was laid. Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, there was a tomb to be empty on that first Easter Sunday witnessed by many. Because of Joseph and Nicodemus, we know for certain that Jesus died on the cross, was buried dead as a doornail in a tomb, and was raised from the dead.

And because of Joseph and Nicodemus, we can have certainty today that God is a promise maker and a promise keeper, and that all humanity has the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for as a result of Jesus life, death, and resurrection.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

An Unusually Clear Message of Rescue...

This week, we are looking at two individuals that we usually do not talk about on Easter Sunday. Yet, it is these two individuals that actually make it possible to tell the Easter story. Yesterday, we met a man named Nicodemus, who had an unusual encounter with Jesus. In that encounter Jesus explained that entering into a relationship with God was not something one one was able to do. Instead, to be born again is something that the Spirit of God does to you.

In the same way that you have been brought into the world physically in a way that resulted in you entering into a relationship with your earthly parents, you also have to be brought into a relationship with God by the Spirit of God. And just as no one can control the wind, no one can control the activity of the Holy Spirit and what He does in bringing people to the place where they are brought into a relationship with God. Today, we will look at what Nicodemus says next, in John 3:9:
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
In other words, Jesus asks Nicodemus “Are you not a pastor to the Jewish people? Are you not one of the most educated and powerful people in the Jewish nation? How is it that you are unable to wrap your mind around what I am saying? Nicodemus, I am telling you that this is what the Bible says and that we have been saying this all along, yet the religious leaders that you represent have missed it all along. And if you are having a hard time understanding the simple earthly illustration that I gave you so as to trust Me, then what are you going to do if I really start unpacking what the Bible and we have been saying?”

To understand why Nicodemus was having such a hard time wrapping his mind around the significance of Jesus words here, we first need to understand how Nicodemus believed one entered into a relationship with God. You see, Nicodemus, and the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus day, believed that it was what you did for God that made you right with God. They believed that it was your performance for God that determined whether or not you were able to have a relationship with God. Nicodemus grew up and lived his entire life trying to do things for God.

And now Jesus was telling Nicodemus that everything that he had learned, lived by, and was teaching others was wrong. Jesus was telling Nicodemus, and the Jewish religious leaders of the day that they had missed what it meant and how they could live in relationship with God.

Maybe you can totally relate to Nicodemus. Maybe you thought that a relationship with God was based on what you did for God. Maybe you thought that it was your performance for God that determined whether or not you were able to have a relationship with God. Maybe Jesus statement that a relationship with God is something that you cannot achieve apart from the Spirit of God has caught you off guard. Maybe all your categories about God have just been blown up. If I have just described you I just want to let you know that you are not the first person to experience that because that is exactly where Nicodemus was at.

After blowing up all of the categories that Nicodemus had when it came to God, Jesus answers the question that drove the religious leaders to send Nicodemus to Jesus in the first place. That question was this: Who did Jesus think He was and what authority did He think He had to say and do what He was doing. We see Jesus answer that question in verse 13:
"No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
Jesus explains to Nicodemus that He alone can speak authoritatively on how one is able to be brought into a relationship with God, because He alone is the Son of Man. Jesus here bring Nicodemus back to a section of a letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7:13-14, the prophet Daniel predicted and proclaimed that the Messiah would come from Heaven to usher in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus then reminds Nicodemus of a story in that is recorded for us in a letter in our Bibles called the book of Numbers. In Numbers 21:9, we read the story of an occasion where the Jewish people selfishly rebelled against Moses and God. God responded to their rebellion by sending poisonous snakes to kill those who were involved in the rebellion. The Lord commanded Moses to make an image of a bronze serpent and lift it on a standard so that it would be visible to all. Moses then explained to the people that those who trusted that God would heal them if they looked at the serpent would be healed. All those who trusted in God and looked at the serpent that was lifted on the pole were healed, while the rest of the Jewish people who failed to trust God but continued in their selfishness and rebellion died.

Jesus then takes this Old Testament story and explains that this story was a foreshadowing of what would happen to Him. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that just like the bronze serpent in the wilderness, He would be lifted up on a pole and that everyone who placed their confident trust in Him would be brought into a relationship with God. Jesus then makes a statement that is probably the most familiar verse in the entire Bible. And it is in this single verse that we see the core message of the good news of the message of the gospel.

If you are not sure you buy the Jesus, Bible, church, thing; if you have had Christians share “the gospel” with you but found yourself walking away confused or found the message filled with big 50 cent theological words that you did not understand, I just want to let you know that I am glad you are reading this. I am glad you are reading this because, in this verse, we see the gospel most clearly and simply put. I am glad you are reading this because while you have the freedom and every right to reject and walk away from the message of the gospel, I want to make sure that you walk away clearly understanding what you are rejecting. And this may be the first time that you have had the opportunity to clearly see the good news of God’s message of rescue through the message of the gospel. So let’s look at this verse together:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
In this verse, we see Jesus reveal for us we need to know and what we need to do in order to enter into a relationship with God. First, Jesus says for God so loved the world. This morning, God sent His Son Jesus to earth not because He was mad at the world; God is in love with the world. Jesus then tells us that God did what people, who are in love, do. God gave. God sent His Son Jesus because He loved the world.

You see, while God created humanity to experience a relationship with Him and a relationship with one another, all of humanity selfishly rebelled and rejected that relationship, instead choosing to love ourselves and do things out of that selfish love that hurt God and others. That selfish love and rebellion is what the Bible calls sin. God responded to that selfish love and rebellion by giving what was closest to Himself to rescue what was furthest away. God’s love and interest in us was made known and shown in the most powerful way when He sent His unique, one and only Son to earth, who allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

Jesus then explains that God loved and God gave so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish. Now this little phrase believes in, in the language that this letter is written in, literally means to entrust oneself entrust to someone with complete confidence. To trust is a lot like sitting on a stool, while I can say that I believe that a stool can hold my weight, it is only when I sit on the stool that I demonstrate that I trust the stool to hold my weight.

And for the person who believes, trusts, and follows Jesus, Jesus explains that they shall not perish, but have eternal life. Now eternal life is not simply living forever. You see, everyone lives forever; we are created as eternal beings. The question is not whether or not you are going to live forever, the question is where are you going to live? When Jesus uses this phrase, He is revealing to Nicodemus that the person who places their confident trust in Jesus life death, and resurrection will not be separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion, but will experience forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for.

And that is the good news of the gospel: God loved, God gave, so that those who believe and place their confident trust in Jesus would receive life in relationship with Him. Now you might be thinking “I am still having a hard time buying that God is like this. I still see God as being like a cosmic cop around the corner waiting to bust me. The idea that Easter is about God’s love for me and desire for relationship with me is hard to accept”.

If that is where you are, tomorrow we are going to see what Jesus says that addresses that skepticism...

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

An Unusual Confrontation...

Regardless of whether or not you buy the whole Bible, Jesus, or church thing; regardless of how often you have attended church in the past; regardless of the fact that you may feel like you do not know and do not feel that you can ever know about whether or not the Bible or church is real or relevant; regardless of all the bad experiences that you may have had with Christians and churches, we all have seen a cross attached to a building or around someone’s neck. We are all at least somewhat familiar with the Easter story. We are at least somewhat familiar with a garden, a courtyard, a hill with three crosses, a tomb guarded by soldiers, an empty tomb found by women.

And, if you have gone to more than two Easter services in your life, you usually expect to hear that same old and somewhat familiar story told once again. You know, the story about an earthquake, angels, and an empty tomb. Or maybe you expected to look at a familiar passage that defends the truth of the resurrection by the Apostle Paul. This Easter, however, as a church we spent our time together meeting two individuals that we usually do not talk about on Easter Sunday. Yet, it is these two individuals that actually make it possible to tell the Easter story. As a matter of fact, in many ways these two characters from the Easter story actually saved Easter.

These two characters and the role that they played in the Easter story, allow us to be able to stand here some 2,000 years later and confidently say that Easter is about an event that happened in history that radically and forever changed how human beings would relate to God. So let’s meet these two characters and the role that they played in the Easter story, in an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John, in John 3:1:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

John, the writer of this account of Jesus life, introduces us to Nicodemus, who he tells us was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. The Pharisees were a leading group of Jewish religious leaders during Jesus life on earth. Nicodemus was also a part of the Sanhedrin, which was the Senate and Supreme court of the Jewish nation. John tells us that Nicodemus came as a representative of the Jewish religious leaders one evening in order to have a conversation with Jesus.

At this point in Jesus life, Jesus was approaching rock star status. Jesus had begun to perform miracles; He had recently turned water into wine at a wedding reception. Jesus had also recently entered the Temple courtyards with a whip, turning over tables and driving out those who were financially exploiting people who came to worship God. And when asked about why He had drove out and destroyed all the kiosks where they were making money; when asked who He thought He was that He would even think to do such a thing, Jesus replied by saying that if they destroyed the Temple, that He would raise a new one in three days.

You see, for the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus was doing and saying things that were hard to understand and explain. They were having a hard time figuring Him out. And, worse yet, from their perspective, people were connecting with Him and His message. Jesus was becoming very popular. Large crowds were gathering around Him wherever He went. These religious leaders had questions that needed asking and answered. So these, leaders got together and decided that someone would need to confront Jesus and get answers to their questions. These leaders wanted to know who Jesus was and selected Nicodemus to go on their behalf to find out.

Nicodemus, wanting uninterrupted time with Jesus and privacy for fear of embarrassment by Jesus, approaches Jesus at night in order to get the answers to their questions. Nicodemus carefully approaches Jesus with a very respectful greeting. This greeting, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Jesus, it is a well known and generally accepted that you are a teacher that God has sent to us, because the miracles that you are doing could only be done by the power of God. We recognize that you have come as God’s messenger with a message from God”.

However, before Nicodemus could even ask what that message from God was, Jesus takes control of the conversation with a statement that John records for us in verse 3:
Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

When Jesus uses the phrase kingdom of God, He is referring to God’s royal reign. You see, the Jewish people were looking for a Messiah; a rescuer that God had promised would someday come to rescue and deliver the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. Jesus tells Nicodemus that, in order to be a part of this kingdom with the Messiah, one must be born again. This little phase, born again, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to be born from above. We see John record Nicodemus response in verse 4:
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"

At this point, Nicodemus is totally caught off guard. Nicodemus had a list of questions that he was supposed to ask Jesus, but Jesus has just blown up that list of questions and replaced them with a whole new set of questions. And while Nicodemus asks a question about the improbability of a physical rebirth, Jesus responds by blowing up some more of Nicodemus theological categories in verse 5:
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
At this point Nicodemus is probably thinking to himself, “Why does He always have to talk that way? Why does He always say things like that?” Jesus statement, if communicated in the language we use today would have sounded something like this: “No Nicodemus, you cannot enter into the womb again, you cannot be born from above because of something you do. To be born from above is something that the Spirit of God does to you. In the same way that you have been brought into the world physically in a way that resulted in you entering into a relationship with your earthly parents, you also have to be brought into a relationship with God by the Spirit of God. Nicodemus, you should not be surprised at what I am telling you. It’s like the wind. The wind moves throughout the world every day. And no one has any control over the wind. The wind does whatever it desires. The wind starts when it wants to start; the wind goes where it wants to go; the wind ends when it wants to end. Just as no one can control the wind, no one can control the activity of the Holy Spirit and what He does in bringing people to the place where they are brought into a relationship with God.

Tomorrow, we will look at how Nicodemus responded to this unusual conversation with Jesus...

Thursday, April 5, 2012

God's co:mission recognizes that doctrine without devotion leads to death...

This week we are looking at one of the churches that was planted during the book of Acts, called the church at Ephesus. The church of Ephesus was a church that was marked by a confident trust in Christ and a devoted love for Christ and one another. Yesterday, we discovered that the devotion of the church of Ephesus had such an influence and impact that is had turned an entire economic system on its head. As we talked about earlier, there are more letters recorded for us in our Bibles today that were written to this one church than any other church. In 1 Timothy we see Paul write to Timothy, who was the Senior Pastor at the church of Ephesus. Paul provides the reason for his letter in 1 Timothy 1:3-5:
As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Nine years after planting the church, Paul warns Timothy to make sure to confront any doctrine, or what we teach about God, that is contrary to the message and teachings of Jesus and the Bible. The motivation that was to drive such a confrontation was to be from a devotion to God and was to reflect the devotion that the church at Ephesus had for God and one another. A few years later, we see John, who had become Senior Pastor at Ephesus, write three letters to the church. In 1 John 4, we see John say the following:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
A few verses later, John provides additional reasons for his command:
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
Finally, a little over 40 years after the church of Ephesus was planted; 35 years after Paul expressed his thankfulness for the devotion of this church to God and the mission that they had been given in the book of Ephesians, in the very last letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Revelation, we read the following in Revelation 2:1:
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.
Here we see John recording Jesus words to the church at Ephesus. Jesus, whose presence is present at the church at Ephesus, affirms the church for their ability to confront false doctrine. Jesus applauds the church for their tireless efforts to hold out and bear up against those who attempted misrepresent the message and teachings of Jesus. Jesus commends the church for testing those who claimed to be leaders and teachers of the message of the gospel, but were in fact false teachers of a false gospel. Jesus compliments the church for their doctrine; this is a doctrinally sound church that has stood the test of time. However, Jesus has more to say to this church. And it is in what Jesus says next that provides for us a timeless truth that is necessary to embrace when it comes to the co:mission we have been given:
'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place-- unless you repent.
Jesus is straight and to the point: you have left your first love. You see, the church of Ephesus had left her husband; they were no longer experiencing the relationship with God that they once had. Instead, the church at Ephesus was in love with doctrine. The church at Ephesus was in love with the idea of God; the church in Ephesus was in love with the truths about God; but the church of Ephesus was not in love with God. And this misplaced love had eternal ramifications. When Jesus uses the phrase “remember from where you have fallen” this phrase refers to a loss of status or condition that results in eternal ruin. Now you may be here this morning, and you may be wondering “Dave, are you saying that the members of the church at Ephesus were not Christians?” No, I’m not saying that they were not Christians; Jesus is saying that they were not Christians.

Notice Jesus words in verse 5: “repent and do the deeds you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place”. If Jesus was communicating this phrase in the language that we use in our culture today, this phrase would sound something like this: “You need to change your attitude and the trajectory of your life, because you don’t love me. You need to change the trajectory of your life so that your life would be driven by a love and devotion for me instead of a devotion to doctrine. Because, if you do not change the trajectory of your life, if you continue to be more devoted to doctrine than to Me, then I will remove you from being in the position to be the vehicle that I use to reveal Myself and my message of rescue through the message of the gospel to the world”.

And it is the story of the church at Ephesus that reveals for us a timeless truth that is necessary to embrace today if we are to fully engage in the co:mission that we have been given by partnering with God in order to advance His mission as we live our day to day lives in a way that reveals and reflects Christ. And that timeless truth is that God’s co:mission recognizes that doctrine without devotion leads to death.

A church that is not driven and marked by devotion and love of Jesus and one another is not a church. A church that does not reveal and reflect the love of Christ cannot engage in God’s kingdom mission as the vehicle God uses to reveal Christ to the world. And just like at the church at Ephesus, the timeless danger is that we can find ourselves at a place where we love the idea of God and the truths about God without being in a loving relationship with God.

Now that is not to say that doctrine is not important. Jesus makes it abundantly clear that doctrine is an essential and important aspect of the faith. But Jesus also makes it abundantly clear that doctrine alone is not enough. Jesus makes it abundantly clear that doctrine alone is insufficient. This is not an either/or in Jesus eyes. This is a both/and in Jesus eyes. Jesus makes it abundantly clear that a relationship with Jesus and an engagement in His mission requires doctrine and devotion, because God’s co:mission recognizes that doctrine without devotion leads to death.

So do you love doctrine more than you love Jesus? Do you find yourself loving the idea of Jesus and the truth about Jesus more than you love Jesus?

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Devotion of a Church...

This week we are looking at one of the churches that was planted during the book of Acts, called the church at Ephesus. Yesterday, we looked at the birth of the church at Ephesus and discovered that the church of Ephesus was a church that was marked by a confident trust in Christ and a devoted love for Christ and one another. Today, as Luke continues, we see him provide us an amazing example of God’s transformational activity in the church, beginning in Acts 19:11:
God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"
These Jewish practitioners of the occult and magic viewed the name of Jesus like a magic incantation and formula and attempted to use the name of Jesus in order to advance their business. However, they did not expect to have the following conversation with a demon: “I know Jesus, I am fully aware of who He is. And I have heard about Paul; haven’t met him yet, but I have heard about him. You however, I don’t know you and have never heard of you, so who do you think you are anyway?” We then see what happens next:
And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.
These practitioners of the occult and magic got an embarrassing beat down where they are stripped naked and forced to flee for their lives. And as those in Ephesus saw and heard of God’s transformational activity; as those in Ephesus saw the stark contrast between these early followers of Jesus and those who were involved in the occult and magic, Luke tells us that great fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Both Jews and Gentiles, religious and irreligious, recognized that God was at work and that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel could not be minimized or ignored. This message was a message that required a response. And as a result, Jesus reputation was being enhanced and praised. The church at Ephesus was being used as the vehicle to reveal Jesus and the message of the gospel in a way that hearts were captured and lives radically transformed. We see this revealed for us in verse 18:
Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
In these verses, we see Luke reveal for us a community of faith that demonstrated its confident trust and devotion to Jesus and one another in three specific ways. First, we see that these early followers of Jesus were confessing and disclosing their practices. The practices here refer to involvement in the occult and magic. You see these early followers of Jesus devotion to Jesus and one another led to confession and transparency in community. As these early followers of Jesus gathered together in community with one another, they were able to admit and share with others areas of selfishness and rebellion in their lives.

In the Bible, you always see confession involving other followers of Jesus. Yet, so often when it comes to confession, while we may confess our selfishness and rebellion to God, we are much less willing to confess out selfishness and rebellion to others. But why is that? I believe that we are less willing to confess our selfishness and rebellion to others because when we confess our selfishness and rebellion to others, then we have to change. Confession leads to change. Confession removes secrecy and confession forces us to confront and repent from selfishness and rebellion.

Second, we see that this confession and transparency in community resulted in repentance. Simply put, repentance is changing your attitude and the trajectory of your life that is moving away from God back towards God. Luke tells us that these early followers of Jesus brought their magic books and were burning them in the sight of everyone. The loving accountability and encouragement that was empowered by the Holy Spirit resulted in repentance from selfish and rebellious activity that was moving them away from God to a life and a lifestyle that was leaning into God.

Third, we see that this confession and transparency in community that led to repentance produced transformation and life change. As these early followers of Jesus counted up all of the books that they had burned, they discovered that the price of those books was the equivalent of 138 years of wages for a rural worker in the region around Ephesus.

The church at Ephesus had a devotion to God that led to confession in community, which resulted in repentance that produced a life that was transformed and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this life change and transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit not only impacted the members of the church at Ephesus. God used the church in an even more powerful way, as Luke reveal for us in the verses that follow:
Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. "You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. "Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence."
You see, the church at Ephesus was a community of faith whose devotion to Jesus not only led to life change and transformation in community with one another. The church of Ephesus was a community of faith whose devotion to Jesus led to the transformation of the community of Ephesus. Luke tells us that the silversmith union, led by a man named Demetrius, held an emergency meeting to deal with this new community called the church.

God’s transformational intervention and activity through the church at Ephesus resulted in a change in the economic system that had provided prosperity to the city. Tourism was down; revenue was down. As God’s kingdom mission advanced through the church of Ephesus to all of Asia, people were no longer participating in the idolatrous worship of Artemis. The devotion of the church of Ephesus had such an influence and impact that is had turned an entire economic system on its head.

Now wouldn’t you want to be a part of that kind of a church? Wouldn’t you want to have that kind of impact? As we talked about earlier, there are more letters recorded for us in our Bibles today that were written to this one church than any other church.

Tomorrow, we will look at some of these letters and discover a timeless truth that the church at Ephesus provides us...

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The Birth of a Church...

For the past several months, we have been looking at a letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles called the book of Acts, which records the story of how early followers of Jesus responded to the mission that they were given to be the vehicle that God used to reveal His Son Jesus as they partnered with God to advance His kingdom mission in the world.

This week, I would like for us to look at one of the churches that was planted during the book of Acts. As a matter of fact, there are more letters recorded for us in our Bibles today that were written to this one church than any other church. The book of Ephesians, the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy, and the books of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John were all written to this church. In addition, this church is mentioned in both the book of Acts and in the book of Revelation. The church that I am referring to is the church at Ephesus.

And it is in the story of the church at Ephesus that we discover a timeless truth that is necessary to embrace today if we are to fully engage in the co:mission that we have been given by partnering with God in order to advance His mission as we live our day to day lives in a way that reveals and reflects Christ. To fully understand the story of the church at Ephesus, however, we first need to understand where the city of Ephesus was located and the significance that the city played in the first century.

The city of Ephesus was a port city that was located in the southwest corner of Asia Minor, or modern day Turkey. Ephesus was the capital and the largest city in the Roman province of Asia. The city was a port city that was one of the main entry points to Asia, which made it a leading commercial, political and religious center in the Roman Empire. The centerpiece of the city of Ephesus was the temple of Artemis, which was considered one of the seven wonders of the Ancient world. The temple was four times larger than the Parthenon in Athens, Greece and was the center of idolatrous worship to Artemis, who was the goddess of fertility. A major part of the economy in Ephesus revolved around tourism and worship to Artemis, including the manufacturing of portable shrines and images of Artemis that could be purchased. And even today, you can still view the ruins of the temple of Artemis. As a result, the city was marked by rampant sexual immorality that occurred as part of their worship.

In addition, the city was a regional center for various cultic practices and the publication of magic and their formulas. Ephesus also contained the largest theatre that was ever built by the Greeks, which was capable of holding up to 30,000 people. While largely populated by those who were of either Roman or Greek culture and ethnicity, there was also a large settlement of Jewish settlers who also lived in Ephesus. And it was into this culture and this context that God’s co:mission would have to enter in order to advance into Asia. Luke records for us the birth of the church at Ephesus in Acts 19:1. Let’s look at it together:
It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."

As we enter into the story of the birth of the church at Ephesus, we see the Apostle Paul engage a group of men who had heard of the message and teachings of Jesus. Months earlier, a follower of Jesus named Apollos came to Jerusalem and began to share the message and teachings of Jesus. Apollos shared with these disciples God’s prediction and promise of a rescuer and Messiah from the Old Testament, and then powerfully proclaimed that Jesus had in fact fulfilled God’s promises. However, while Apollos clearly proclaimed the message and teachings of Jesus and that Jesus was the Messiah, Apollos failed to clearly communicate two important points regarding the gospel. First, Apollos failed to communicate Jesus promise that He would send His Spirit to indwell and unite His followers as part of the new community called the church.

Second, Apollos failed to communicate that one needed to respond tot he message and teachings of Jesus by placing one’s confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. Then as followers of Jesus, that Jesus commanded His followers to be baptized as a way to publicly identify themselves as being followers of Jesus who were part of the community of faith.

While this group of men had heard the message and teachings of Jesus, they had only been baptized into John. In other words, they had only identified themselves with their need to repent from selfishness and rebellion. They had not identified themselves with the One who would rescue them from selfishness and rebellion. These men had heard part of the gospel but not the entire gospel. Paul reveals this reality for us in verse 4:
Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men.

Luke tells us that Paul responded to the situation by explaining that the baptism of John did not make these men right with God. The baptism of John was simply an acknowledgement by these men that they needed rescue. Instead it was by placing their confident trust in what Jesus had done for them that these men would be right with God. Luke tells us that that is exactly what these men did. These men placed their confident trust in Christ and then followed the Lord’s instruction by publicly identifying themselves as His followers through baptism. As Paul laid his hands on them and prayed for them, Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit indwelt these followers of Jesus in a way that resulted in them speaking in tongues and prophesying. Now a question that often arises here is “why did these men speak in tongues and prophesy? And is that normative? In other words, should every follower of Jesus speak in tongues and prophesy when they become followers of Jesus?”

To understand why these men spoke in tongues and prophesied, we first need to understand the significance of this particular event and how speaking in tongues and prophesy functioned in the Book of Acts. The significance of this event is that this was the first time that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel had advanced into Asia. God’s kingdom mission had just advanced into a new region of the world. Speaking and tongues and prophesying were sign spiritual gifts that served to confirm and authenticate that this new message of God’s rescue through the message of the gospel was indeed from God and was not something that was simply made up by man. The reason that these men spoke in tongues and prophesied was so that they would be a sign to reveal the reality that God’s new community called the church had now arrived in Asia. And as a result of God’s transformational intervention and activity, the church at Ephesus was born. Luke then records for us what happened next:
And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Here we see the reality, as we have seen throughout this series, that God’s co:mission and message is either enthusiastically embraced or violently opposed. For some, their response to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel was used by God to confirm and set into place the selfishness and rebellion that was already present within them as they reviled and insulted the message and the messenger. For others, however, God’s transformational activity resulted in an embracing of the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. Luke tells us that after a period of two years, the church at Ephesus had grown and had such an impact that all who lived in Asia, whether Jew or Gentile; whether religious or irreligious, had heard the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

Now would you be willing to give money to a church plant that was having that kind of impact? Wouldn’t you want to be a part of a community of faith that was having that kind of impact? The church of Ephesus was a happening church. The church at Ephesus was a church that was devoted to God and to the co:mission that they had been given. Eight years after planting the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote a letter to the church that is recorded for us in our Bibles today as the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians 1:15-16, we see Paul express his thankfulness for the devotion of this church to God and the mission that they had been given:
For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;

The church of Ephesus was a church that was marked by a confident trust in Christ and a devoted love for Christ and one another.

Tomorrow, we will see Luke provide us an amazing example of God’s transformational activity in the church of Ephesus...