Jesus tells us what to expect right up front. This is not a democracy, it’s a theocracy. This is not about comfort, but the Cross. This is not about self, it’s about suffering. This is not about clinging, but trusting His lead and letting go.
I woke up this morning feeling the burden of this week laying heavy upon my shoulders. I felt that I needed to just be quiet before God before jumping into my daily responsibilities. I drove down to Richmond Beach and heard His still small voice instruct me to observe all of the movement around me. The limbs of the trees were swaying in the gentle breeze. The wind was providing quite a ride for the parasailing man below on the sound as the waves rolled in onto the shore. People were jogging and walking on the trails above and below me. A commuter train was chugging along on the tracks that run along the beach park. A few seagulls soared in the sky and I was taking it all in. After observing all of this it was as if the Lord said to my hear, “This is not hard for me. I’m not even breaking a sweat. All of these things are going on all around and you aren’t responsible for any of them, but I am. The things that weigh heavy upon your shoulders are not too heavy for Me. In fact I have asked You to do these things so that we can do them together. After all, I am not your employer first, am Your Father”. This brought so much rest and peace to my soul I was able to enter into my day with a great sense of expectation and humility. The expectation that was up to something great and I was going to do it with Him. The humility that realizes I was never able, nor meant, to do any of this on my own n the first place. Then the test came on whether or not He was truly n the drivers seat or not. As I was studying at Starbucks a women came in who studies here a lot and mentioned she had a headache and didn’t know how much studying she would actually get done today. I had recounted an almost identical scenario yesterday in my Sunday sermon as an example of a time when I was not obedient and didn’t pray for the person on the spot when I knew I was meant to. She then mentioned it again a half hour later and asked me what she should do. Everything in me screamed to just suggest an aspirin, but my Fathers voice was driving me in a different direction. So, I said, “I can pray for you?”. She said, “That would be great.”. So, surprising her, the other folks around the table, and myself I prayed a prayer for her healing in Jesus’ name out loud, on the spot. I’m believing God is touching her even now as she has not left yet as she was planning to do.
Thank You Lord for leading me in this way. You are in control and You are going to show me how to do this life You have called me to!

Now, that sounds pretty awful that so many will cheer at the death of the two witnesses in the last days. Why do they cheer? Well, these witnesses were shining a light on their dark behavior and calling the people of the world to account. No one likes that! They were pricking their conscience instead of scratching their itch: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Tim 4:3). It has always been this way even with the prophets of old: “Speak unto us smooth things; prophesy deceits.” (Isaiah 30:10). The only thing more annoying then an itch you can’t scratch is a problem you don’t want to fix. G.K. Chesterton put it this way: “It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem”. I would add that the reason we can’t see the problem is because we don’t want to look. It’s not hard to ignore the truth, the pricking of our conscience, in this day and age. Every 60 seconds: Apple sells 925 iPhones, redbox rents 1400 movies and 2 million people watch online porn. With so many avenues for instant gratification and information saturation we don’t need to hear anything but that which supports our lifestyle and choices. Just like I can create a music channel on Pandora that only plays the style and type of music I want to hear, so too, truth is customizable, and we have created our own channels of truth. Anyone that comes in and makes us listen to something else we have not chosen will not be welcome. In this light, it’s not hard to understand how people could cheer at the death of the two witnesses. They were simply disconnecting a channel they did not enjoy.
The problem is still there though, even if we don’t want to recognize it. For example, my ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) light in my Jeep Grand Cherokee keeps lighting up on my dashboard intermittently. I know my breaks and pads are good because I just recently had them checked out by a mechanic, but he told me that I had to take it into the dealership in order to address the ABS light. I don’t want to. The dealership is always more expensive. I don’t have any extra cash or time. Besides, if my brakes and pads are fine, what’s the point? Its probably nothing. Then I decided to do a little google search on the ABS light and came across this statement: “If the ABS light is on it is indicating a problem with the ABS system, not the mechanical braking system. Your brakes will still operate but not the ABS. So basically you’d need to go back to the old fashioned way of pumping the brakes. You’ll probably need a new ABS sensor. I wouldn’t drive too long without getting it fixed because you may inadvertantly revert back to your familiarity and just stomp the brakes resulting in them locking up when you expect them to operate as normal”. Then as if that wasn’t enough to motivate me to action this next comment by a different source sent me over the edge: “Get it checked. ABS does not normally get used unless you are braking very heavily. ie == emergencies! So, you probably don’t actually know it’s not working. It’s only your family’s lives at stake……”. Ouch! Consider my conscience pricked! Now, I have been looking at that light for so many months now that I could just choose to ignore these words of wisdom and warning and change the channel. Over these past few months I have driven by the dealership that could help me solve my problem, but did I ever pull in? No. Why? It hasn’t been a major issue. I’ve been getting along just fine while totally ignoring the ABS light. When I actually think through the cost of addressing the problem versus the cost of not addressing it, I become thankful, rather then resentful of that little orange light. It could mean the difference between keeping my boys safe while driving them to school one morning and possibly losing the people most precious to me. So, as this old year passes and this new year approaches I choose to embrace the ABS light. Not only will I not ignore the words of truth around me, I will seek them out. I won’t resent the correction. I won’t live in the assumption of my own “rightness”. It is the path of humility that says, “These lights in my life are telling me something I need to hear even if I don’t want to”. This is the path of Christ.

Whether you come in your ugly Christmas sweater or your best dress, we invite you to bring your friends and family to our very special Christmas & New Year’s Celebration services.

Christmas Eve celebrations at 4:15 pm & 5:30 pm.
Christmas Day at 10:00am.
New Year’s Day at 10:00 am. (brunch to follow)

Download: New Hope 2011 Come As You Are Christmas Invite

Paul’s greetings were always warm in his letters to the churches, but you can tell there is a special place in his heart for folks at the church in the city of Philippi. Just the mere thought of them caused him to smile, pray, and thank God for these relationships in his life. He knew that even when he was far away they were spreading the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the city. He knew they weren’t perfect, but were being perfected. That God was working in their city was a true because God was at work in them.

Sometimes road or bridge improvements seem to take forever and often seen as a major inconvenience. It means major detours that are often confusing. It means planning ahead because our normal routes or routines are disrupted. I have often ended up lost when following detour signs due to road construction simply because I was used to the old way of travel. In the back of my mind though I know its going to be worth it. When it’s all said and done the road or bridge will be safer, smoother, and improved.

As I looked at the 100 or so servant leaders that showed up to our Annual Volunteer Christmas party at the YMCA I couldn’t help but feel exactly what Paul is expressing here in his letter. I was overwhelmed with joy and gratefulness for these partners in the faith. Each of them serve tirelessly and faithfully throughout the year extending the love of Jesus in practical ways through and to each person that walks in through the doors of the church. In fact new people keep walking into church because they show Jesus where they wake and work as well! We are a bunch of imperfect people being perfected by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives! If a person was able to see what was going on in the spirit they would see many detour signs, bright yellow “God At Work” signs, arrow signs with lights pointing in new directions, large and small machinery doing messy but necessary work in our lives. Sometimes it’s noisy and loud. Sometimes what’s going in our lives is frustrating and seems like it’s going to take forever. Sometimes we wish we would have never started the improvements in the first place and would have just settled for the potholes and broken bridges that had become characteristic of our lives prior to Christ’s intervention. It’s easy to stand back and look at the roads and bridges of others and think they have it much easier then we. It could be that area of their lives has already been repaired and we simply don’t see the section of the road God is working on currently. When we feel this way we must simply remember Paul’s encouraging words: “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”

Lord, I am so thankful for this amazing group of people you have called into community with. I love seeing the work You are doing in their lives and mine! As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another would you encourage each and every one of them who wish that they were farther along or that everything was “back to normal”. Remind them that You are at work and are making us more like Your Son Jesus. No matter how dusty, dirty, and detoured things look right now, You will not leave us in this state. You will complete that which You have started and in the mean time we can each wear our large “God At Work” sign as a badge of honor!

One of the things I love the most about this time of year is all the aroma’s that fill the air! For instance I am journaling right now in a Starbucks and am surrounded by the wonderful medley of smells attributed to espresso, peppermint, and egg nog! Cyndi has been baking like a mad woman at home. When I walk into the house and smell the cranberry almond loaf or the pumpkin banana raisin walnut loaf or cookies of various kinds my will power against carbs is dealt a fatal blow. On Saturday at the Operation St. Nick (operationstnick.org) outreach we gave out 170 free Christmas trees to families in our city. My nostrils were filled with the wondrous smell of pine as we cut, carried and tied trees to the roofs of cars and trucks of those who came. According to this scripture there was another aroma that day that was even stronger then that of the Christmas pine. It was the aroma of sacrificial giving! This is how Paul explains this concept of a spiritual aroma in the book of Philippians chapter 4:18 “And now I have it all – and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end.” God smiled on Saturday when He saw a group of average men and woman laying down their days, their time, their energies, their finances, their hearts at the foot of the Cross. Christ who took on our skin, sin, and shame on Christmas morning set a pattern for living that can only be followed by those who live after the spirit rather then the flesh. What does pictures with Santa, gingerbread houses, cookies, hot chocolate and Christmas trees all given for free have to do with the Aroma of Christ? You only had to look into the eyes of one of the 700 or so folks who came that day to know this was more then a charitable donation! This was Christ in action! Multiple stories filled the day of tear filled eyes and smile filled faces who couldn’t believe churches would do something like this… with no strings attached but multiple opportunities for relationship offered! I don’t know about you, but that sounds an awful lot like the free gift of grace we know through Jesus Christ! I’m so glad Operation St. Nick happened at the beginning of December so that I could take a big life changing whiff of what the Christmas season should smell like. All the Christmas trees have been given away this year, but I have much more to give away both big and small! Will you join me in making this the best smelling Christmas our friends, family, neighbors and strangers have ever known?

Paul had dictated the letter, but now wrote the salutation in his hand to prove the genuine authority from which these words came. There were already counterfeits of his letters being circulated with his name attached to words not authored by him. He gives the church in Thessalonica the assurance they need to know these words are straight from his heart and from the heart of The Master Jesus.
In a day and age of identity theft and fraud it has never been more important to put your signature on that which is original to you. My signature is more then how I sign my letters or, to be more accurate, enter my password clearance to access personal info. My signature is the very essence of who I am and what I do. My signature represents the few things that I do well, that God has wired me to do, that make me come alive inside. Pastor Wayne Cordeiro describes it as our 5%- that which only we can do and cannot be delegated to anyone else. My folks spent Thanksgiving with us this past week and I essentially begged her to make her signature pumpkin pies. She hand rolls the crust and my Pop helps her make her custard filling. She didn’t just make one or two, she made eight! I couldn’t have been more excited! If someone tried to pass off a Mrs. Smith’s pumpkin pie as a Mrs. Burgess’ pumpkin pie I would know they were pie frauds as soon as I looked at the crust. There is a dear sweet lady by the name of Pat who attends New Hope Seattle. She has, every since I have known her, loved the color red. Her walls are red in her home, her car is red, her nails are red, her hair is red, her clothes are red. If you are describing her to someone new at the church you would no doubt include the fact that she gives great hugs, has a beautiful smile and she wears red. Red is her signature color. If someone was describing a women to me at church and telling me it was Pat and did not use red as one of the descriptives I would think they were probably color blind or confused. We just recently participated in our 7th Annual Turkey Toss at New Hope. This is that annual opportunity to send frozen fowl through the air and take home said bird if you threw it the farthest. Well, Kalene has won the women’s category for three years. One big reason is that she knows what her signature move is. While everyone else deliberates whether they should toss overhead, underhand, with a running start or at a standstill, Kalene just goes for it with a forceful focus that no can deny. All of these examples are simple ways of recognizing that each of us has a signature to put to the end of our day to validate how it was spent and ultimately how our lives were lived in our out of the purposes of God! Steve Jobs said it this way: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” He also said, “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter… Going to bed saying we’ve done something wonderful… That’s what matters.” Does anyone in the world wonder what Steve Jobs’ signature product was?
Lord, may I authenticate the signature of Your Son on my life by not wasting a moment of the time you have given me by trying to compare myself with someone else’s signature. This frees me up to rejoice in the unique calling and characteristics you have designed in others and to also be free to be me! I’m free to be the occasionally corny, often smiling, sometimes crying, always dreaming-out-loud big guy You have made me to be! In this way any forgeries, counterfeits or insecure attempts at being something I’m not will never make it off the ground. I may have a very sloppy, Doctor-style signature, but it’s mine!
Regardless of what else I accomplish in this life, may the greatest signature move in my life be this: “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14)

The law of God should lead us to a revelation of His grace. When presented in the context of relationship, Gods laws are food and drink that reveal His love and care for us and His desire for our very best. Instead of inviting people to the table to commune with God, His laws were and are often presented as impossible burdens to bear, which they’d are apart from Gods help. But, it wasn’t Gods help the Pharisees were leading people to. These religious leaders, instead, placed themselves in the place of God so that the people were dependent upon them. Jesus goes on to warn of this when He says: “And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them-Christ.”(Matthew 23:10 MSG)
Having just finished with Thanksgiving I am really relating with the “free feast” vs. “forced slavery” picture Jesus is painting here. In fact it reminds of a true story I heard recently. A man was often invited to stay for dinner at his fiancées families house after his long days at work. He enjoyed this opportunity to be with the family until one day he was presented with a bill from his soon-to-be sister-in-law. He naturally inquired what this bill was for. She then explained that this was a careful estimation of the food he had consumed over consecutive dinners at her families house. As would be the case with most of us, this man was totally caught off guard. Once he regained his composure he informed his fiancées family that he was under the assumption that his invitation to their family dinner was with their full compliance and favor. His partaking of meals was not meant to be an inconvenience or a means of taking advantage of their hospitality in any way. He told them that if this was the case he would simply not eat when he visited with them in the future. It sounds like the family realized this billing system was a “little” harsh and are granting him a free food pass of sorts. I laughed out loud when I heard this story at the sheer absurdity of charging someone for a dinner you had invited them to enjoy. I then thought about all the money I could make if I sent bills to the folks who were at my house for Thanksgiving. “Let’s see… that was two plates of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. A charge for the two slices of pie. An extra $1 for the inordinate amount of whip cream used. An extra labor charge for needing to get the turkey back out for you for your late night sandwich. Finally, a liquor surcharge for that glass of wine you imbibed. Adding all of that up it comes to…“. Can you imagine receiving a bill for a meal you thought was free? It wouldn’t matter how good the food was or how great a time you had with the host family, you would not want to ever return. I wonder how many people feel that way when they get Gods law without Gods grace? How many feel like they arrived at church or ventured a spiritual conversation with a friend, hungry for some hefty helpings of hope and purpose, and instead walked away with a bill they could not pay for something they thought was supposed to be free? My Life Pacific College professor, Barbara Middelbrook, put it this way- Rules minus relationship equals rebellion. People all around the world are walking around with heavy bills they cannot pay for laws they cannot obey outside of a grace-filled relationship with Christ. Like the fiancée in this story, they keep showing up to church because they want relationship with this faith family, but they have stopped eating long ago, after the first bill of burdens was presented to them. Meanwhile, Jesus has a piping hot fresh feast of grace and mercy waiting for all who can get past the itemized bill writers of religion and into sit instead around the table with Him! Initially folks might not want to sit down at this table, afraid of what this opulent feast before their eyes might cost them. They know they have spent a life time in debt and even though this looks like what their soul has been craving, they know there is no way that they can afford it. Then the host, Jesus, with compassion in His eyes and a kindness in His voice says the words that cause every hesitation to disappear: ”Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG). This meal, as it turns out wasn’t free! It was the costliest meal any of us have ever eaten and yet the bill was already paid in full before we had ever tasted and seen and how good God truly is to us!
For those of you who are still intrigued by the idea of billing your dinner guests, here are some fresh stats you can use to justify the bills you will send out:
Classic Thanksgiving Dinner Costing More in 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 10, 2011 – The retail cost of menu items for a classic Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the basic trimmings increased about 13 percent this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Walmart news release on the cost of Thanksgiving Dinner
AFBF’s 26th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $49.20, a $5.73 price increase from last year’s average of $43.47.

“The cost of this year’s meal remains a bargain, at just under $5 per person,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman, a rice and cattle producer from Texas. “The quality and variety of food produced for our dinner tables on America’s diverse farms and ranches sets us apart from our contemporaries around the world. It is an honor for our farm and ranch families to produce the food from our nation’s land for family Thanksgiving celebrations.”

The AFBF survey shopping list includes turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and beverages of coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10. There is also plenty for leftovers.

The big ticket item – a 16-pound turkey – came in at $21.57 this year. That was roughly $1.35 per pound, an increase of about 25 cents per pound, or a total of $3.91 per whole turkey, compared to 2010. The whole bird was the biggest contributor to the final total, showing the largest price increase compared to last year.

“Turkey prices are higher this year primarily due to strong consumer demand both here in the U.S. and globally,” said John Anderson, an AFBF senior economist.

In addition, “the era of grocers holding the line on retail food cost increases is basically over,” Anderson explained. “Retailers are being more aggressive about passing on higher costs for shipping, processing and storing food to consumers, although turkeys may still be featured in special sales and promotions close to Thanksgiving.

Yearly Averages
1986 – $28.74
1987 – $24.51
1988 – $26.61
1989 – $24.70
1990 – $28.85
1991 – $25.95
1992 – $26.39
1993 – $27.49
1994 – $28.40
1995 – $29.64
1996 – $31.66
1997 – $31.75
1998 – $33.09
1999 – $33.83
2000 – $32.37
2001 – $35.04
2002 – $34.56
2003 – $36.28
2004 – $35.68
2005 – $36.78
2006 – $38.10
2007 – $42.26
2008 – $44.61
2009 – $42.91
2010 – $43.47
2011 – $49.20
“Although we’ll pay a bit more this year, on a per-person basis, our traditional Thanksgiving feast remains a better value than most fast-food value meals, plus it’s a wholesome, home-cooked meal,” Anderson said.

A gallon of whole milk increased in price by 42 cents per gallon, to $3.66. Other items that showed a price increase from last year were: a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, $3.03, up 41 cents; two nine-inch pie shells, $2.52, up 6 cents; a ½ pint of whipping cream, $1.96, up 26 cents; one pound of green peas, $1.68, up 24 cents; a 14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing, $2.88, up 24 cents; a dozen brown-n-serve rolls, $2.30, up 18 cents; three pounds of sweet potatoes, $3.26, up 7 cents; and fresh cranberries, $2.48, up 7 cents.

A one-pound relish tray of carrots and celery declined by a penny to 76 cents, while a combined group of miscellaneous items, including coffee and ingredients necessary to prepare the meal (onions, eggs, sugar, flour, evaporated milk and butter) decreased in price, to $3.10.

“Demand for U.S. dairy products has been strong throughout the year and continues to influence retail prices, as demand for higher-quality food products grows globally,” Anderson said.

He noted that despite retail price increases during the last year or so, American consumers have enjoyed relatively stable food costs over the years, particularly when adjusted for inflation.

The 13 percent increase in the national average cost reported this year by Farm Bureau for a classic Thanksgiving dinner is somewhat higher but still tracks closely with the organization’s 2011 quarterly marketbasket food surveys and the federal government’s Consumer Price Index for food (available online at http://data.bls.gov/)

Farm Bureau volunteer shoppers are asked to look for the best possible prices, without taking advantage of special promotional coupons or purchase deals, such as spending $50 and receiving a free turkey. Shoppers with an eye for bargains in all areas of the country should be able to purchase individual menu items at prices comparable to the Farm Bureau survey averages. Another option for busy families without a lot of time to cook is ready-to-eat Thanksgiving meals for up to 10 people, with all the trimmings, which are available at many supermarkets and take-out restaurants for around $50 to $75.

The AFBF survey was first conducted in 1986. While Farm Bureau does not make any scientific claims about the data, it is an informal gauge of price trends around the nation.

A total of 141 volunteer shoppers from 35 states participated in this year’s survey. Farm Bureau’s survey menu has remained unchanged since 1986 to allow for consistent price comparisons.

Please note: Included are tables with historical information about AFBF’s Thanksgiving Dinner survey.

Item 2010 Price 2011 Price Difference
16-pound turkey 17.66 21.57 +3.91
Milk, 1 gallon whole 3.24 3.66 +.42
Pumpkin pie mix, 30-oz. 2.62 3.03 +.41
Whipping cream, ½ pint 1.70 1.96 +.26
Cubed stuffing, 14 oz. 2.64 2.88 +.24
Green peas, 1 lb. 1.44 1.68 +.24
Rolls, 12 2.12 2.30 +.18
Sweet potatoes, 3 lbs. 3.19 3.26 +.07
Fresh cranberries, 12 oz. 2.41 2.48 +.07
Pie shells (2) 2.46 2.52 +.06
Misc. ingredients 3.22 3.10 -.12
1-pound relish tray (carrots and celery) .77 .76 -.01
TOTAL 43.47 49.20 +5.73

30

Contacts: Tracy Taylor Grondine
(202) 406-3642
tracyg@fb.org Cyndie Sirekis
(202) 406-3649
cyndies@fb.org

Peter was just rebuked for allowing Satan to use him to try and dissuade Christ from facing the Cross. He told Peter very clearly, “You have no idea how God works”. Then he promptly addresses all the disciples and makes it clear what it looks like to follow God and it involves something most of us avoid: suffering and self-sacrifice. Jesus says He will show us how to embrace suffering. Um, I’m all for embracing love and joy and peace, but suffering? Can’t I keep more of a hearty hand shake or even a pat on the shoulder relationship with suffering? The idea of embracing suffering sounds very uncomfortable, inconvenient, and pretty much a major downer. Jesus doesn’t stop there though. I mean that would have been enough to wrestle with, but then He offers this truth- I won’t really know myself until I am sacrificing my self. He makes it very clear that this is “His Way”. So, for all the talk of following in Christ’’s footsteps I have to ask if I really am? No wonder we have so many insecure confused Christians who have no idea who they are or what they are supposed to be doing with their lives! We have been selling a half-baked Gospel that requires forgiveness from Christ but doesn’t require the suffering and self-sacrifice necessary to follow Him! The virtual bookshelves are filled with self-help stuff that has us examining ourselves and taking clever psychological tests, but Jesus is inviting us into an intimate relationship with Him that goes much deeper then most of us want to go. Whether its Luke with Yoda, the hobbit with Gandolf, or Rocky with his grizzled trainer, none of us want the suffering and self-sacrifice required to defeat the dark side, face the fires of Moldor, or win the fight in the ring without going down. If this is
Christ’s way, then it was really never optional in the first place.
Lord, I am convicted. Because this Thanksgiving I am happy to thankful for my family, friends, food, a roof over my head, bills mostly paid, an incredible church, and Your presence in my life, but if this Scripture is any indication, I have a lot further to go. True thankfulness is able to praise Your name in the midst of the suffering and self-sacrifice because it recognizes You are personally leading me and shaping me and loving me through it. This is Your way and completely opposite of mine. But I want to know You and know who I am in You and so therefore must follow You…. Even to the Cross.

I can imagine how these words must of been like water in the desert to those who had only known a religion for God, a ritual around God, but not ever knowing the relationship with God! Or, in using the analogy Jesus employs, it would be like moving from someone clapping off beat and not knowing why finally finding the rhythm and savoring every song and backbeat like it was the first time they had ever heard music! Jesus, is saying, I will provide the backbeat. It’s naturally supernatural! It’s like the surfer feels the rhythm of the ocean and seems to have a second sense about when the wave they have been waiting for is on its way. It’s like a paddling team in a canoe can struggle and strain to make any headway in the water until everyone begins to move in a rhythmic pattern that propels them forward in such a way that the struggle turns into soaring through the water. When every paddle moves up and down with the yell of the “Hut” and “Ho”, six people start moving as one! It felt like that this past Sunday as my worship team and I played a new song I had written recently. As with any song, until each member of the team is playing together the rhythm feels forced and off and the whole song is a struggle. We also had a couple new team members who had never played together including my Pop, who was in town. There was a point on Sunday after we had all practiced together numerous times that we found the groove and it was sweet. At the point in the song each member of the worship team had a smile on their face and the congregation followed suit even starting t clap along (which is not a Seattle thing to do)! The harmonica, the drums, the bass, the vocals, all forming one sound before God and no one wanted to stop! This is what Jesus is inviting us to experience with Him on a daily basis. The narrative in Matthew 12 then gives us some poignant examples of what a life lived in the unforced rhythms of grace looks like! It’s a life lived in a moment pregnant with the possibilities of a life lived out in the presence of Jesus:
1. Choosing rest over ritual: “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant-‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’-you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.” (Matthew 12:6-8 MSG)
Jesus and his disciples were hungry so they ate. This doesn’t seem like a difficult concept unless seen through the lenses ritual. You can’t pick grain on the Sabbath because that’s work according to the well detailed and subsequently embellished Levitical law. If you are tired, sleep. A life where the Lord of the Sabbath is Lord over our days is one lived out in peace rather then stress. Balancing our schedules between work, family, church, recreation is a myth outside of an intimacy with God. He will show us when we we need to spend more time, focus our attention and where and how.
2. Choosing healing over hesitation: He replied, “Is there a person here who, finding one of your lambs fallen into a ravine, wouldn’t, even though it was a Sabbath, pull it out? Surely kindness to people is as legal as kindness to animals!” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out and it was healed. The Pharisees walked out furious, sputtering about how they were going to ruin Jesus. (Matthew 12:11-14 MSG). How often have I encountered need and hurt and pain only to hesitate rather then address it. When someone asked me for prayer recently I felt the rhythm of Gods heart beating in that moment to pray with them. But, instead I thought to myself that it might be awkward and I could just pray for them in the car. As I drove away I realized I had chosen the safety of religion over the immediacy of Gods power in that moment. The spirituality of Jesus is so practical! Someone is in trouble, help them! Its a no-brainer!
3. Choosing relationship over religion: Look well at my handpicked servant; I love him so much, take such delight in him. I’ve placed my Spirit on him; he’ll decree justice to the nations. But he won’t yell, won’t raise his voice; there’ll be no commotion in the streets. He won’t walk over anyone’s feelings, won’t push you into a corner. Before you know it, his justice will triumph; the mere sound of his name will signal hope, even among far-off unbelievers. (Matthew 12:18-21 MSG). Religions makes people feel walked over. It shows people they are signature on a dotted line or a number in gathered crowd rather then a real person. Religion makes people feel manipulated and used. It tells them that if they don’t measure up to an impossible standard they’d will not be welcomed into the group. Contrast this with the above description of how Jesus ministers to people through relationship, how He occupies the streets of our lives: love is the motivation, feelings matter, time is given to build trust, the justice our hearts long to see, the hope we seem to have lost, the family and friends that seem so far off are all drawn in by the light of His kindness. Ron McCollum told me how God had spoken this very thing to his heart. God told him clearly one day while Ron was praying for his neighbor: “If you knew how much I loved your neighbor you would spend the rest of your life making sure he knew it the way you do!”
Relationships reign supreme in Gods economy! This is how we will redeem the time we have been given.
My Pop’s words from his message this past Sunday ring in my ears. I have never been in this moment before. I want to find the unforced rhythms of grace through my relationship with You Lord. I don’t want to miss a beat of Your heart for the ones around me! I choose You and he adventure of the moment over the familiarity of religion, hesitation, and ritual.

How had Job’s friends misrepresented God in their condescending conversations with Job? How had Job spoken more accurately of God even in the midst of all his despair and doubt? Job’s friends came with all the answers while Job came with all the questions. Job’s friends judged from the outside- if he was suffering it’s his fault for sins he must have committed. This is implying of course, that because their lives were not in tumult that they must be living perfect lives. This kind of “cause and effect” equation always misrepresents God. In fact when Jesus was on the cross everyone assumed it was because of His sin, instead, as Peter writes, because of his perfection that He suffered more then anyone has ever suffered: 1 Peter 3:17″ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! 18 Christ also suffered when he died for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.” Wait, did I just read that right? “It is better to suffer… if that is what God wants”? What gives? Exactly! A good person suffering seems to indicate an injustice but that’s only because we don’t have the big picture and can’t see what God is after in the heart. I do a great disservice to my Lord if I try and answer every question presented to me when a person is going through hard times. Oh, the arrogance of my heart, that I assume I will be able to answer every question in someone else’s life when I can’t answer many in my own! That makes me just like Job’s friend. Contentment in the midst of the questions is the sign that I have truly seen Jesus. The questions may remain, but if I have seen God personally, then they do not contradict His faithfulness or my trust in Him! This is what made all the difference for Job. He had heard of God and served Him, but now He had a personal encounter with Him and all of his questions faded into the background. Did you notice that God didn’t answer any of the questions he had been asking throughout the book of Job? God didn’t give him the explanation regarding Satan’s request to test him that we as readers are privy to at the beginning of the book of Job. It was simply, ” I am God and you can trust me even when you can’t understand why things are happening to you.” Christianity has been guilty of creating pithy sayings and trite summarys so as to set ourselves up as the “spiritual experts”. After all, if we can’t answer these questions, doesn’t that reveal we don’t know what we are talking about? Instead of three well crafted and memorable points in sermon people need to hear how we have walked through a trying experience with God. Psalm 23 does say that He will shepherd us “through the valley of the shadow of death”. This indicates very clearly that we cannot avoid it. He is not leading us around, over, or under… but through the valley! It turns out I represent Christ in the most accurate way possible when I don’t try and conjure up an answer, but instead invite people into the journey and the struggle and honestly portray how He has been specifically shepherding me through!

I was talking with a dear woman recently who asked me to pray for her son. She was naturally concerned as a mother that her son was calling himself an atheist and questioning everything. I told her I would be concerned as well if my sons were doing the same, but that as long as he is questioning, its a good thing. He is still seeking. I tried to encourage her to share with him how God is leading her through her own questions and struggles so that even if he is not attending church right now, he will see how real God is in her own life. This is not easy, but is the most accurate way to represent who our God is! It takes it out of the realm of logical argument and brings it into personal experience. We can’t experience God for someone, but we can certainly invite them into one by sharing of our own. Contentment in the midst of questions is not a denial of reality but an embracing of God’s reality that permeates everything around me. Then, instead of acting as the expert in the lives of others or judging from a perspective that only God holds, I can actually be a source of comfort for others:

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7