A Little Barbecue Sauce

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.   --Matthew 11:30

When my son was a toddler, he used to call my wife's way of eating a hotdog or hamburger as eating a dead bun. To explain, I have never seen my wife eat ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise on anything. She does not like the taste and that is just how God made her.

She often gets hassled by well-meaning friends, "Have you tried salad dressing?" To which she replies, "Yes I have. I don't like mayonnaise or salad dressing." Actually, she also eats her lettuce salads plain as well. Recently, in the last five years, she has begun to add just a little barbecue sauce to her hotdogs and hamburgers.

Last Sunday, I greeted a young lady at church who often feels pressured to be something she is not. I told her she just needs to be herself. Just seek to please only the Lord; perform for an audience of One. She quickly responded, "Yes, I need to find that rest." Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." God does not expect us to be someone else. God does not expect us to try to please everyone else. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It's hard enough just to be yourself and what He wants you to become; but that's all He asks us to do.

The Apostle Paul tells us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1). We are to present our bodies to God not to someone else. We are to present our own body not someone else's body. Philippians 3:14 says "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul was seeking to be all that God called him to be, not what others wanted him to be.

As Jesus lived this human life on earth, He sought to please His Heavenly Father. Sometimes the people loved Him, and sometimes the people hated Him. But, His Heavenly Father was always pleased with Him. God said at Jesus' baptism, "This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

What is the major issue causing you distress, today? Do you feel rejected and criticized by other people?  Are you made to feel subhuman because of your unique qualities? Remember who made you and who loves you most. John 3:16, "For God so loved you that He gave His One and Only Son" for you. You are loved and accepted by God because of Jesus Christ.

God created us in His image. We were not a mistake. Seek to become everything God created you to be. We need to be considerate of others and their feelings and needs, but seek to please the Lord only in everything you do . Be yourself and maybe even try a little barbecue sauce, but remember that the Lord's yoke is easy and His burden is light. Jesus has already done the heavy lifting and paid for our redemption on the Cross. Come to Him and find your rest.

Weep with Those Who Weep

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.    —Romans 12:15

One of the greatest examples of suffering is Job. Job lost all his wealth, his family, and finally his health. When three of Job’s friends heard of his terrible misfortune, they got together and decided to go console and comfort him. “When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:12-13).

Job’s friends got it right for about a week. They sat in silence and wept with their friend. When they decided they could weep no longer, Job’s so-called friends tried to comfort him with words. They tried to explain Job’s suffering with the clichés and wisdom of the day. They believed Job was suffering because he had sinned and was getting what he deserved. The book of Job gives little explanation for the meaning of suffering except it was not Job’s fault.

In the New Testament, Jesus addressed the confusion about suffering in two ways. First, Jesus taught it. In John 9, when the disciples asked Jesus if the man was born blind because of his sins or those of his parents, Jesus replied, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (9:3). Also in Luke 13, Jesus spoke about two tragic events of the day, the collapse of the Tower of Siloam that killed eighteen people and some Galileans who were executed by Pilate. Jesus teaches that those killed by the tower and Pilate were no worse sinners than anyone else.

Suffering and pain come to everyone. Frequently, it can be traced directly to stupid choices and/or the direct result of sinful behavior. Although, many times, as described by Jesus and experienced by Job, there is little or no explanation. Bad things happen to everyone. Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people.

Secondly, Jesus addressed the issue of sin and suffering by His life, death, and resurrection. God created a world where sin, rebellion, and suffering were possible. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, death, pain and suffering corrupted our world. God, Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, entered our world of pain and suffering. On the Cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Mark 15:34).  Jesus died for our sins and sin’s punishment.

God promises to filter our suffering through His screen of grace and love. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God will not let us be tested more than we can bear and always makes a way out. The Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Through His resurrection from the grave, Jesus promises a day when suffering, death, and pain will end. In heaven, all the wrongs of this world will be made right.

Until that day, how do we respond to suffering? As Christians, we are told to weep with those who weep. We do not question their morality. We simply get down in the dust and grime of their pain and weep with them. We love and support those going through suffering with the love of God in Jesus. Are you hurting today? Whether you can feel it right now or not, God really does care, and many of those around you do, too. 

Lift Up Your Heads

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.    —Luke 21:28

This week has been full of frightening news. In addition to the normal (did I say normal?) senseless shootings, bombings, and explosions, the DOW Jones industrial average fell 1,879 points in a seven day slide partly sparked by concerns about China’s failing economy. Many fearfully ask if this could lead to a worldwide economic collapse. Is this be the beginning of the end?

Additionally, in my own life, I am working on another “Hot Topic” sermon about the Blood Moon phenomenon. The Bible tells us that there will be signs in the heavens above and the earth below before Jesus Christ returns. Three verses speak about the moon turning to blood before the end of the age (Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, Revelation 6:12). Over the last two years (2014-2015), four total lunar eclipses, named a tetrad by NASA, will have occurred. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon passes completely through earth’s shadow. The sun’s rays are bent around the earth’s atmosphere leaving a red, sunset glow on the moon. The last of these blood moons will occur on September 28^th, during the Jewish fall feast season (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles). Some believe these to be significant precursors to the return of Christ.

The people who should be most concerned about the end of the age and the return of Christ, the unbelieving world, are either oblivious to all of these things or merely shrug their shoulders nonchalantly. On the other hand, the people who should be most excited, born again believing Christians, appear the most fearful.

During Jesus’ last week on earth before His death, He taught the disciples about the future. In Luke 21, He warned of nations rising against other nations, earthquakes, famines, fearful events, and great signs in the heavens (vss. 10-11). Jesus also predicted, “People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (21:26). But Jesus’ word to the disciples then and believers today is, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (28).

Many prophecies about the return of Christ and the end of the age are accompanied by words of encouragement. Rather than being fearful, Christians should be encouraged and lift their heads up high. Our deliverance, the Risen Lord, is returning to take us home to Himself. 1 Thessalonians 4 describes the situation for believers still living on this earth when Jesus returns, “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (17). We are immediately instructed, “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (18).

Friends, we live in perilous, dreadful, and exciting times. If you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ, now is the time to call upon Him. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, come into your life, and make you the child of God He intends you to be. If you are already a believer, lift up your head and rejoice for your salvation is just round the corner. These things are already beginning to take place. Stand firm, rejoice, and lift your heads up high. Maranatha!