Sacrifice

Philippians 3:8-9 - "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

In that powerful verse in Philippians, Paul lets us know what he considers a winning formula for the game of Life. He says “If I can lose all things” I win the game. In fact, he calls all the other stuff “rubbish.”

This week we begin exploring eight ingredients in a “with-God” (Immanuel) life: celebration, study, pilgrimage, submission, prayer, obedience, confession and sacrifice. We begin with “sacrifice.”

Benjamin is studying great religions in his 5th grade class and this week had a test on Buddhism. I’m always impressed with Fairfax County’s schools because when I was in 5th grade, my knowledge of Buddhism extended as far as the joke “Q: What did the Buddhist say to the hotdog vendor? A: Make me one with everything!” (Ha!) According to Benjamin’s material, one of Buddhism’s primary tenants is that we all suffer, and that the reason we all suffer is because we all have “wants.” The more we can remove ourselves from “wanting,” the less we will suffer, and the closer we will come to some sort of enlightenment. (I know there are much more complex explanations of Buddhism, but the 5th grade version is a good place for my intelligence level.)

As Christians, Paul reminds us we are very strange people because we’re not about working towards a life void of suffering. In fact, we are people who are looking for opportunities to “suffer” on behalf of Christ. At first glance it looks similar to the Buddhists’ attempts to eliminate wants, but Paul reminds us it is more than this. We are consumed by a “want,” a desire to be like Christ! We sacrifice all things, not as a trade off to balance some cosmic energy, but so we can experience increasing enlightenment as Christ lives in us.

This week we will look at the first space in the with-God game of Life …the space that says, “sacrifice all you have.”

Mark

A Three-Dimensional Jesus

After nearly three months in the book of Numbers, it’s good to return to the New Testament and talk about Christ every week for a while. We will be looking at Christ in the book of Luke and focusing on his upward, inward and outward reach in life. As Martin Luther King reminded us last week, most people are content to concentrate on one dimension of life. He called it the length of life, and it’s the part that involves being a better person: better at our jobs, better at our various roles, more self-disciplined. It’s an inward focus to make ourselves better, and if we are not careful, we can become convinced that’s all there is to mastering life. It’s the stuff that most New Year’s resolutions are aimed at…losing a few pounds, getting more organized, exercising, etc.

Yet, there is more to life than just length of life, more than just an inward focus. There is an outward and upward aspect to life, too, which is crucial. We need to look no further than the life of Christ to see perfect examples of how a complete person might integrate those things. Jesus was amazing in how he was able to keep all three aspects in harmony…the inward, the outward, the upward. For the next several weeks we will be looking at Jesus in the book of Luke to see how he integrated these three aspects of life to be the most complete person who ever lived.

Mark

Daddy, Who is the enemy?

Over the Christmas break my family and I visited one of the most popular destinations in Washington D.C.—the Steven F. Hudvar Hazy Air and Space Museum. It’s an impressive place. The building opened in December, 2003, and provides enough space for the Smithsonian to display the thousands of aviation and space artifacts that cannot be exhibited on the National Mall. The Hudvar Center, along with another building on the National Mall, showcases the largest collection of aviation and space artifacts in the world.

Toward the end of my visit I overheard something that I won’t forget. As I stood in front of a Bell UH-1H Iroquois, one of the most effective helicopters ever created, I overheard a little girl ask her dad a question. She was probably about five or six years old. Both of them stood about two feet away from me. While holding her dad’s hand and looking curiously at the massive Vietnam copter, the little girl asked, “Daddy, what is that for?” With little hesitation, and without taking his eyes off the copter, the father replied, “It’s to defeat the enemy.” The little girl then asked, “Who is the enemy?” “Well, at that time,” the father explained, “it was the Vietnamese.” The little girl didn’t answer and they continued on to the next display.

I couldn’t help but think of how a Christian ought to respond to such a question. Who is the enemy, really? What does the Christian religion say about the identity of the enemy? Touring the Hudvar Center, one cannot help but be impressed by the incredible technological advances our country has achieved in the last hundred years. At one end of the museum was a small glider built in the early part of the twentieth century; a symbol of the simple achievements of the first aviators. At the other end of the museum sat a massive space shuttle, used to experiment with entering and exiting the atmosphere. It was surrounded by numerous other rockets, satellites, and space suits. The Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Sixty six years later Neil Armstrong is walking the surface of the moon. The rapid pace of technological advance is astonishing.

What is more astonishing is that, regardless of such a Herculean advance in military technology, human beings remain incapable of stopping human hatred. Hiroshima and Nagasaki may be the perfect example of how technology submits to the will of its creator. Unfortunately, technology is inhibited by the moral shortcomings of the human condition. Don’t get me wrong, technology maintains peace for millions each day, through the force of military coercion, and this is a political good. But technology cannot get at the root of the problem with human beings: it cannot conquer evil.

This is where the Christian view of evil provides a more realistic and nuanced account of what is actually wrong with the world. Unlike the father’s answer to the little girl, the enemy is a much larger and menacing reality whose defeat requires a power that military might cannot produce. The enemy is not the Germans, the Vietnamese, the Russians, or even the Wahhabi Saudis of the Middle East. The enemy, according to the Christian religion, is evil with its expansive kingdom of unruly characters: Satan the father of what is false, and the instigator and tempter of man; human persons, with their disposition inclined toward the domination of others and the exaltation of the self, barely able to see what is true and good. The children of evil are those who buy its program of lies and therefore become full of hatred and fear. Hatred and fear causes people to perceive their fellow humans as the ultimate threat. This makes us race to create bigger and better killing machines. If our country is to firmly grasp the hand of peace and justice, especially in a war on terror, the "enemy" must first be recognized as the evil that it is. This vice-producing evil is what we must speak of when asked by the little boys and girls, “Who is the enemy?” To not do so is to ignore the overall illness of man and treat its symptoms of hatred and fear as the primary problem

Matt

Yes, for All

While putting away holiday decorations at the beginning of this year, my son and I talked about the meanings of several of the ornaments we had made to decorate our tree. The snowflakes helped us to remember that God washes us whiter than snow. The sparkling, gem-covered crowns reminded us that Jesus is the King of kings. Then Aaron held in his little hand the wooden cross he had painted blue (of course!). I asked him, "What does that help us to know?"

"Jesus died on the cross," he replied.

"That's right. He loves us so much that he died for our sins."

"Mommy, did Jesus die on my cross?"

At the time I told him that Jesus didn't die on that little cross but on a much bigger one in an earlier time and a place far away from where we live. When he's a little bit older he will be able to grasp the answer I have now looking back. Yes, he did indeed . . . on yours, on mine, on everyone's . . .

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ~Isaiah 53: 5-6~

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. ~2 Cor. 5: 14-15~

CTL

Wise Men Still Seek Him

Not too long ago, we had a bulletin board downstairs in the fellowship room which, near a shining star, simply stated, "Wise Men Still Seek Him." I have sent out holiday cards with the same message. The evangelistic aim of such a statement is quite clear, but I've realized that the message speaks to believers as well.

1 John 2: 5-6 states: "But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." We begin with learning about Christ, studying scripture, and then we must move forward. Put into practice what we have heard (James 1: 22-27). Be still and know (Psalm 46: 10) and then go (Matthew 28: 19-20)!

To be imitators of God (Ephesians 5: 1), to be like Jesus, requires time spent with Him. Not ceasing with time spent in the Word, but being willing, walking, working jars of clay to be used for His purposes and glory (2 Tim. 3: 16-17; Matt. 26: 39b; Isaiah 40: 31; Eph. 2: 10; 2 Cor. 4: 7; Phil. 2: 13; 1 Cor. 10: 31).

I know that my relationship with God is to come before everything else in my life, even good things, but do I live my life this way? What ought to be a no-brainer for the Christian—loving God above all else—is a spiritual struggle. There's always so much that demands our time and even appears "urgent." Still, don't we make time for what we deem most important? As a church family we are desiring to better reach out to those around us and share Christ's love, telling how much the Lord has done for us and how he has had mercy on us (Mark 5: 19). This is a great time to examine priorities and pray for wisdom, so that we fully live for him who died for us (2 Cor. 5: 15). Seek Him first . . .

CTL

‘Tis the Season to Reciprocate!

"Thanks for the gift!” We will all be saying that a few times in the coming weeks. A few weeks ago we paused for “Thanksgiving” as we thanked God for his bounty. Now the season is upon us where gifts abound, and we find ourselves thanking others for their kind gifts to us. It’s tough, isn’t it, to accept a gift without your mind immediately racing to the thought, “Oh, I did not get them something this good!” or maybe, “I got them something way better than this!” or worse yet, “I did not get them anything at all.”

Many times this season of giving and receiving is overshadowed by the desire to keep it all even. It’s not really about “giving” so much as “reciprocating”. We work hard to give others something equal to what they gave us. If we don’t pull this off we feel horrible. In fact, it’s actually sort of unacceptable, awkward (can I say even rude?) in our culture to give someone something really nice if you know they could never match it. That’s why we often make rules for giving … “Let’s set a $20 limit,” we say. That’s partly because we want to limit spending, but it’s also a way to ensure no one shows anyone up by getting something nicer than the next guy or gal.

With all this reciprocating going on, it’s hard to remember our relationship with God this Christmas is nothing like that. He gives this gigantic, extravagant, priceless gift of His son, and we stand there with nothing to give back! It’s embarrassing when you think about it. Humiliating. Makes you want to run and get Him something just as nice…then you realize you can’t afford it and you’re not as creative, and you’d just fall short.

One group of people in our culture is not bothered by the unspoken law of reciprocation. Children. Before we get too tied up in the burden of reciprocal gift giving, we need to pause and look at kids this Christmas. Kids, especially younger ones, aren’t affected by the whole “equality-in-gift-giving-fear” that grips the rest of us. They know that they can’t match the wealth and giving power of adults so they don’t get burdened by it.

What’s the best thing your kids can do when they open a gift? I’d say it is to smile and genuinely love it. To squeal and say, “Just what I wanted! Thank you! Thank you!” It’s nice, very touching, when they take their money (money you gave them) and buy you something in return…but the very best thing they can do is just love the gift…and be filled with Joy!

Mark

From God our Heavenly Father / A blessed Angel came; / And unto certain Shepherds / Brought tidings of the same: / How that in Bethlehem was born / The Son of God by Name / O tidings of comfort and joy, / Comfort and joy / O tidings of comfort and joy

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”

Great Christmas Gift Idea

I'm about to help you out here with an amazing idea for your Christmas shopping. You know that nagging problem of what to get for the personwho has everything? Well, this should solve that one. I bet they don't have their very own tree in Uganda. Click on thelink below and you can buy one, get a cool Christmas card you can plant (yes, a card you can plant when you are done) and it will grow flowers (no kidding) and you get an ornament that will have a number on it marking the GPS coordinates of your tree in Uganda. (Better click on the link below if you want it to make sense.) The Kibo Group is a non-profit that I run along with a friend named Clint Davis. You can read about Kibo at our website http://www.kibogroup.org/. We make no money off this, take no salaries...the money goes to plant trees.

Check it out... its a unique gift idea and it really can make the world better. Merry Christmas!

The Mvule Project

http://www.kibogroup.org/mvuleproject.html

Mark