What Does it Mean to be Saved?

Please take a moment and listen to my talk on Biblical salvation.  What does it mean to be "saved" and born again?  Why does it still matter so much in this day and age?

Click here and find out: The Nicodemus Effect




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Why Do We Worship?

In one of my recent ministry classes, the teacher asked a rather simple question.  Why do we worship?  It was one of those moments where I suddenly remembered that weekly worship at church was one of those things many of us take for granted.  We often don't question it anymore, especially if we have grown up in the church all our lives.  It is just something we do each Sunday.  

I believe the act of worshiping our creator is one that should come naturally and fluidly.  It is a heartfelt exchange between the adoration of the Father, and the needs of His children to be in communion with Him.  As poor luck would have it however, life often gets in the way.  There are sometimes situations where people may disagree over the individual components of a worship service.  There may be times when we argue over what a particular seasonal service should look like.  “I want five hymns instead of four for Easter,” we might hear.  Or perhaps there are even disagreements about more mundane things like whether or not someone can bring a cup of coffee into the sanctuary during the service.  All of these things are usually propagated by well meaning people of course, who care very deeply for how and why churches do the things they do.  

It also occurs to me that some people are not fortunate enough to identify the need for worship in their lives whatsoever.  Though we are built for it, I have a feeling that many people incorrectly identify this longing to give glory to God as a need for acquiring more material possessions or status.  The history of humanity attempting to substitute God for other things has lead to misery down through the generations, and in the Bible this is known as idolatry - a scenario where we put other things in our lives ahead of God’s rightful spot at the top.  This is just as common among the ‘churched’ folk as it is the unchurched I think, and something we must always be on our guard to watch for. 

            But what compels us to give our time and energy to something so peculiar as the Sunday morning service?  Surely we are designed for this type of communion, as I mentioned above.  But what keeps us coming back week after week in light of all these differing ideas  about order of worship, preaching styles, etc?  After reading an interesting article by the United Methodist Church about worship this past week, I allowed some time for the S.L.I.C.E. methodology to sink in.  This is an acronym of course, and it stands for sacramental, liturgical, indigenous, connected, and embodied.  In my opinion, all of these are basically ways in which us mortal humans use our gifts and bodies to give back to God.  In this way of thinking – worship may just literally be an act “of the people” corporately giving back to God what is already His.  Namely, filling that ‘void’ inside of us that cries out so desperately to be satisfied through properly placed adoration. 

            The article talked about ways to evaluate success in the realm of worship also.  It mentioned that Sunday morning attendance is often not the best indicator as to whether or not a church’s worship plan is vibrant and alive.  There are too many external factors that play into attendance (is it a holiday weekend, are people traveling, what is the weather like outside, etc.).  But the fascination with quantifying success through numbers is so very tempting.  It is often how we judge things in other areas of our lives.  For example, a concert was a success if it was well attended.  A college sports program is healthy if large crowds bring in money for the school.  You get the idea.

            But yet we still plan all week long for the “big show” on Sunday.  We still do it happily in most cases – indeed in a perfect world – attending the worship ceremony is also vital to our own secular contentedness as well.  The church meet-up becomes a place to call home … a place to share the very gifts that God has blessed us with in the first place.  It should feel right doing so; if it doesn’t, then something is wrong.

            We worship because we have to.  The human creature cannot be at peace unless he or she is focusing on something outside of their own desires.  Many have tried to live the selfish, inwardly focused life, and have been miserable doing so.  It is a quick fix approach that doesn’t hold up over the long run.  Worshiping God, however, fulfills something inside of us that we cannot get elsewhere.  It reveals and brings to the surface that inner thing for which God has stamped all of us – His image and His likeness.   

Really, how else could we return the favor but through living, vibrant worship?  What else could satisfy us?  What else could satisfy Him?



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A God of Surprises

I have noticed one very curious thing when it comes to listening and observing other people.  Namely, that we often like to put things into categories.  This need to label or name something comes naturally I suppose, as we tend to do it all the time.  God told the first man (Adam) to name all of the animals in the book of Genesis, and we have been classifying and categorizing things ever since.  

I believe that this tendency to categorize things ramps up when that thing is either scary or unfamiliar as well.  I have heard it said that "if you can name it, you can conquer it."  There is probably some truth to that.  Once we can safely explain something, then we know what to expect.  And once we know what to expect - we can put that thing (whatever it is) into the proverbial box.  

But are we able to do this with everything?  What about when it comes to spiritual matters?  Many who have come before us have tried - no doubt very diligently - to place Christianity in a box.  To classify it as just another belief system, and file it away on a shelf somewhere next to Islam and Buddhism maybe.  

The question then as I understand it, becomes 'is the Christian tradition just another theory, or is it something different?'  Or if you like, we may phrase the question like this: can we put God in a box and make Him predictable?

Well the God of the Bible often surprises us I think.  In fact, if we look at one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament, we see just how effective He is at turning the tables on unsuspecting people. The Biblical story in 1 Samuel, chapter 16 talks about how God used Samuel to anoint a new king over Israel.  As the story goes, Samuel visited Jesse and asked him to bring out all of his sons, such that the Lord might choose a new successor to the throne.  God proceeds to reject each of the young men that Jesse brings out.  Once this process was finished, Samuel asks him if there are any more children.  Jesse then sheepishly volunteers his youngest son.  He was embarrassed of him, but he did as Samuel commanded anyway and paraded him out in front of everyone. 

Here is what 1 Samuel 16:11-12 says, "So he asked Jesse, 'Are these all the sons you have?'  'There is still the youngest,' Jesse answered.  'He is tending the sheep.'  Samuel said, 'Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.'  So he sent for him and had him brought in.  He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.  Then the Lord said, 'Rise and anoint him; this is the one.'"

You see, God wasn't interested in those for whom the rest of the world looks upon as fit for duty.  He wanted young David, a simple servant boy tending sheep.  We know how history unfolds from there.  David goes on to defeat Goliath, outsmart Saul, and become king of Israel. Were some surprised by this outcome I wonder?  You bet they were, and probably so was David himself.

Author and scholar N.T. Wright says in his best selling book 'Surprised by Hope' that "Our God is a God of surprises."  And I believe he means exactly what he writes - that God will often surpass our limited expectations of Him in favor of performing that one last miracle, granting a prayer, or in the case of Jesus ... healing marginal people that no one else seems to care about (Mark 1:40-45).  

All of these things are examples of His mercy and grace when it comes to humanity.  

God fits neatly into a box about as well as a square peg in a round hole.  He is sovereign, makes up His own mind, and acts in accordance with prophetic Scripture to surprise and astonish us again and again.  If you asked the average Jewish person back in first century Palestine what he thought about the Messiah, he would tell you that God was going to send a powerful king with a large army to vindicate and restore the Jewish nation.  He would not (at least prior to the arrival of Jesus), tell you that the coming savior would be born in a manger somewhere in Bethlehem, to a poor carpenter, with no power or worldly status to speak of.  

And yet we have the Christmas story as it were, recorded for generations to look at and recount down through the ages.  Yet another surprise from the Father.

I will always remember the time that God woke me up out of my own spiritual slumber.  I was a young man not unlike many others, for whom God was just an idea.  A being that was up there somewhere, who held no real sway or dominion over my life.  I did what I wanted to in those days, with very little thought when it came to religious matters.  

I remember my father once invited me to hear a talk at church given by a man named Wayne Weible.  Mr. Weible traveled the country speaking in churches about God's grace and mercy, Jesus' mother Mary, and some of the healings and amazing things that he had witnessed over the last couple decades.  It was an interesting talk to say the least.  After it was over, there was a chance to come up and purchase one of his books.  

A short line quickly formed at the back of the room adjacent to the sanctuary where he had given his presentation only moments earlier.  I went up and bought a copy of the book and got in line - uncertain why I just happened to have the exact amount of money necessary in my wallet that evening.  When it was finally my turn, I shook his hand and he signed my book.  What happened next was something that will stay etched in my mind for years to come.

As he looked at me, he made a gesture and all of a sudden a very startled look came over him.  He then informed me that he felt a "nudge" from the Holy Spirit to make certain that I received a small silver emblem with the likeness of Mary holding Jesus on it.  As he placed this trinket in my hand, he also told me that many of the people he gives a medal to end up being pastors or priests.  I looked at him stunned, and laughed to myself inwardly as I placed the small medal in my pocket.  

"A pastor?  Me?", I thought as I left the church.  How silly.

As I write this, I am currently beginning my fifth month as associate pastor for a local church several miles outside of town.  This strange event at the church that night happened to me years ago, before I had even the slightest notion that God may want to use someone like me.  But I think about it often.  

God surprised me that day, and I have a feeling it won't be the last time.  What would my favorite author and Christian scholar C.S. Lewis think of this, I sometimes think to myself.  If only he were alive today, I might just ask him.

There is a piece of dialogue from Lewis' book 'The Chronicles of Narnia' where the fictional character Aslan the lion talks with some of the children who have stayed by his side for the duration of the novel.  In the book you see, Aslan is a representation of Jesus; a lion both strong and wise.  Once finished with his conversation, he leaves the children wondering what his next move will be.  They are then counseled by one of the other characters who tells them to remember that Aslan is good, but he is not a tame lion.

I cannot think of a better way to discuss the God of the Bible.  He is good and He is just, but he is not "safe."  To categorize Him as such would be to cheapen what He really is.  He is loving and righteous, but He is not a tame lion.  Our God it would seem, is full of surprises.



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