Repentance

Answer the Call…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Here I sit in the cold. The ice is covering the ground. My truck is iced in and the roads are impassable. There will be no gathering of the body of Christ at Haughton Methodist Church because no one can get there. Even so, we will worship. Worship is not limited to the gathering of the body of Christ, though it is best when the body is gathered.

I thank the Lord that I still have electricity. There are many in the region who are not as blessed. That will be my starting place for worship this morning. That I still have electricity makes it possible for me to post a blog this morning. I suppose writing is a mode of worship, as well.

I’m reflecting this morning on the lectionary passage for the third Sunday after the Epiphany (that’s today!) as part of my worship.

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:12-23 NIV)

Rich stuff, right there! Prophecy. Healings and miracles. Repentance. Wow! What grabs my attention most this morning is “calling.” I see three distinct callings in this passage: the call to faith, the call to discipleship, and the call to ministry.

The Call to Faith    

By Matthew’s account, this is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He’s been baptized by John and led into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days by Satan. He gets the news that John the Baptist has been arrested, so he heads back to civilization to begin his ministry. It is as Jesus begins his ministry that I find the first calling on a person’s life—the call to faith.

The call to faith is the call to change our mind, and it is the call that all of us, at some point, must answer. Literally, Jesus’ first word in ministry in verse 17 is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

The New Living Translation says, “Turn from your sin and turn to God.”  That is the translator’s interpretation of the meaning of repent. The word means “to change your mind,” and Jesus begins ministry with the call for everyone who hears his voice to change his/her mind. It is a call to turn from sin. It is a call to turn from unbelief to belief. It is a call to turn from death to life.

It’s not vogue to talk about sin. After all, we’re all sinners, and we’re not supposed to judge, and if we talk about sin, we might get too close to judging and we’re good Methodists, so we don’t want to do that. Of course, the alternative is also a possibility. We don’t really think we’re sinners. Culture and modern psychology teach us that we’re good people. It’s the “I’m okay, you’re okay” mentality that makes us say we don’t need to repent…we don’t need faith. Or, we think we’re not as bad a sinner as someone else.

When we think of sin, we think of the Big 10—murder, stealing, lying, adultery, covetousness, those types of things. Or, we think rape, or child abuse, or some other crime that’s easy to acknowledge is wrong. Mass shooters and child rapists? Yup, they are sinners. Me? Naw, I’m not a sinner. I’m a (wait for it…) good person!

Sin, though, as the Bible defines it is anything that misses the mark. That’s what the word means—missing the mark. That image should never diminish the seriousness of sin because the reality is there was a mark and we missed it. We miss the mark in so many areas of our everyday life. Surely, we’re not murdering, or stealing, or lying (at least I hope we’re not), but what about the small things that also reflect on our character?

I think about what our Catholic brothers and sisters have called the seven deadly sins—greed, gluttony, pride, anger, lust, sloth, and envy. The belief is that at the heart of all sin lies one of these. I can think of the times in my life I’ve been greedy, and let’s not even get into gluttony knowing how much I love to eat. I could do my own bullet list for each of these, and I come to realize that even still, I’m one who needs to repent as a matter of faith.

Repentance opens us to grace that God desires to pour into our lives. Repentance is our acknowledgement that something is wrong, that something needs to change. I don’t believe any of us can watch the situation in Minneapolis without thinking there must be something wrong with the world–I don’t care what side of the political aisle you’re on.

We must all answer the call of Jesus to turn from our selfish, sinful ways, to consider the claims that Christ makes, and determine whether we will believe, or continue to go down a path that is ultimately destructive to us and those around us. It’s a call everyone must answer.

Just an FYI…refusing to answer is an answer.

The Call to Discipleship

I see a deeper call in this passage this morning. It is the call Jesus gave to Simon, Andrew, James and John in verse 19. Jesus tells them, “Come, follow me…” This is the call to discipleship.

There are a lot of people who answer the call to faith. They consider the claims of Jesus and find them valid, but then just sort of leave the information there and never go deeper in the life of faith. Jesus’ call to these fishermen was a call to a deeper life, a changed life. We might say that if the call to faith is the call to change our minds, then the call to discipleship is the call to change our lives.

If we read John’s Gospel (which doesn’t record this particular episode) it’s possible that Jesus has already encountered Andrew and Simon, and perhaps even John, as well. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. One day, Jesus walked by and John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John the Baptist was saying, “This is the guy I’ve been telling you about.”

Andrew and another disciple scholars believe was John, the son of Zebedee, followed after Jesus. Jesus asked them why they were following him. Let me make a long story short. They hung out with Jesus for a while, then Andrew went and found his brother, Simon, and told him, “We’ve found the Messiah,” and Peter went to meet Jesus. That’s when Jesus told Simon his name would be Peter. Yes, it’s likely they knew Jesus, and more importantly, Jesus knew them, and he called them to a deeper life—to be disciples.

The call to be a disciple is a more challenging call than the call of faith. Jesus said, “Follow me.” It was Jesus’ way of saying, “Do what I do. Walk the way I walk. Imitate me.” The way Jesus was walking was the way of selflessness and sacrifice. Jesus would take the basin at the end of his days, wrap a towel around himself and wash the disciples’ feet, and then go to the cross. 

It was not an easy life to which Jesus was calling these men. Discipleship is costly. Discipleship is about making the kingdom of God the priority of our lives. It is a leaving the old life and beginning a new life of faith, hope and love.

There are a lot of people who hear, and even answer, the call to faith, but fewer are the people who hear and answer the call to discipleship, though the call goes out to everyone who answers the call to faith.

Jesus called ordinary, common, hard-working fishermen. Commercial fishing was hard, dangerous work (still is), and the men who did it were simple, not highly educated, hard-working men who only sought to make a living for their families.

It is a reminder to me that Jesus isn’t necessarily looking for well-educated, well-qualified persons to be disciples. Jesus is looking for willing persons, persons who are willing to hear the call to faith and the claims of Jesus, and then be willing to join him in transforming the world. That’s the call to discipleship, and he’s calling all of us to be his disciples.

The Call to Ministry

I see one more deeper call still as I reflect this morning: the call to ministry. I’m not thinking about vocational ministry, but of service in the kingdom of God. Every person who answers the call to be a disciple is called to ministry. Jesus, after inviting these men to “follow” him, adds that he will “show them how to fish for people.” He gave them a job to do. That job? To tell others the Good News. 

If the call to faith is a call to change our minds, and the call to discipleship is the call to change our lives, then the call to ministry is the call to change the world by telling others about Jesus. Don’t you think if Jesus could call a few common fishermen to change the world, he could call you and me, as common, ordinary and unprepared as we are? Jesus doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. Will we answer the call?

Jesus needs Christian businessmen and women who can reach non-Christian businessmen and women. Jesus needs Christian law enforcement officers who can reach non-Christian law enforcement officers. Jesus needs students, and grocery clerks and doctors and nurses and teachers who will go into the places of their lives and witness to His saving grace. Jesus called these hard-working fishermen to reach their community. He’s calling us to reach our community.

Some of you may be afraid that Jesus’ call means you’ll have to pack up and leave your job and family, so you resist. It may mean that for some of us, but the more likely proposition is that he’ll use us right where we are. If we look at the later life of these fishermen, we find after the crucifixion and resurrection they are back mending their nets and fishing. Most of them never ventured far from home, nor gave up their trades. They did, however, make a difference in the Kingdom because the Kingdom became their priority. Telling others, serving others, sharing the Good News became their priority.

Answer the Call

Jesus is calling us to faith, to discipleship and to ministry. He’s calling us to change our minds, to change our lives, and to change the world. Maybe you’ve already answered the call to faith. But, just in case you haven’t, Jesus is calling you to faith today. Answer the call!

Perhaps you haven’t answered the call to discipleship. You know he wants you to go deeper, but you’ve been afraid of the cost of going deeper so you’ve resisted. Answer the call!

Others of you may have gone deeper and fell in love following Jesus, but have resisted serving because you felt you weren’t capable. You are. I can only offer this advice: Answer the call! It will change your life. It will change the world.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Just More Bad News…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Did the title get your attention? Well, that’s exactly what I wanted it to do. You probably clicked on the link because you thought, “Oh! Let me see what the bad news is!”

Well, the bad news is that your/our social media is leading us to more and more bad news. It really doesn’t matter the platform, either. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter)–the algorithms are all pointing us to bad news. And, we keep clicking and keep scrolling. We get caught in a “doom loop,” and that makes the situation worse.

Positively Negative

The reality is we like bad news. Many years ago, I had a radio executive in one of the congregations I served. I dabbled in radio as a younger guy, so I thought “Maybe it’s time to get back into radio.” I had a conversation with the executive to pitch my idea for a local radio talk show. After a couple of back and forth conversations discussing the idea he eventually said, “Lynn, to be successful in talk radio, you have to be negative. I don’t think you really want to be negative.” That same attention-grabbing negativity that drives talk radio also drives our social media algorithms.

No, I didn’t want to be negative then, and I don’t want to be negative now, but heaven help me, I find myself being more and more negative in my online engagement, and that’s leading me to be more negative in my face-to-face engagements. I don’t like the person I’m becoming as a result of all the “bad news” in my life. It’s messing with my sanctification!

It would be real easy to say, “It’s not my fault!” That’s the easy out. I could blame it on “algorithmic negativity bias” (it’s a real thing–look it up). Look, social media is designed to keep us scrolling. The algorithm learns which posts get our attention–that make us stop, linger or click. Unfortunately, bad news gets our attention more than good news. If we stop and linger on a “bad news” headline, we get more bad news headlines in our feed.

We humans have a survival mode bred into us that means our brains are wired to pay more attention to threats and danger (think “fight or flight” here). So, when we see a negative headline, we naturally pause.

Traditional media understood this long before the brainiacs developed algorithms for social media. Traditional media was driven by two statements: “If it bleeds, it leads,” and “Sex sells!” Social media has simply perfected these mentalities, and we’ve (meaning “me”) fallen for it in a big way.

What really makes me stop on the bad news headline? It’s just my old sinful nature at work, and the Enemy is utilizing social media to draw me away from the holiness to which Christ calls me. Let me say it this way, “Sin has a hold of me and it won’t let go, and now social media is helping it keep its hold.”

Turning Off the Doom Loop

So, the Holy Spirit and I have a little work to do. Yeah, I know the simple answer is to get off social media, but I ask, “This day and age is getting off social media a realistic possibility?” Social media is simply a tool. It is amoral. It is what we do with it that determines its morality.

The first thing I must do to turn off the doom loop is repent. All significant spiritual change begins with repentance. I repent of my own negativity and I’m sorry for all the negative posts I’ve made on social media (and there have been a few more than I care to admit). My prayer is “Change my heart, O God!”

The Lord really does want to change my heart, and as much as I would like a supernatural transformation, He’s asking me to do a little of the work myself. What is He asking me to do?

One, He’s telling me to limit my time on social media. Set a timer if I need to in order to remind myself how long I’ve been online. I need to spend less time online and more time “touching grass,” as they say–more time in face-to-face interactions. It’s a whole lot easier to say mean things online than it is in person.

Two, I need to actively engage with positive content online in order to reprogram the algorithm. That means I have to mute or block or snooze the negativity in my social media feed. When I find positive content I need to share it with others. Simply don’t click on negative headlines. Stop falling into the trap.

Three, I need to get back into God’s Word. I need to spend more time reading and reflecting on God’s Word than scrolling negative headlines on social media.

Yeah, I’ve got a lot of work to do, but with the Holy Spirit’s help, perhaps I’ll come out on the other side a better person. Perhaps the holiness I desire will make its way out in the interactions I have online and in person. That’s my prayer, anyway…

Because I’m just tired of all the bad news…

Until next time, keep looking up…

Mid-life Mayhem…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

No! Not me. King David…you know? King David of Israel. It had to be mid-life mayhem. Some call it a mid-life crisis. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about David’s tryst with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 & 12), and his subsequent cover-up. Here’s how the encounter begins:

11 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

According to the biblical chronology, David was somewhere between ages 49 – 56 when this event occurred (see here).

So, all week long I’ve been asking myself, “How could David do such an obviously wrong thing?” I mean, seriously, he is God’s anointed one, a “man after God’s own heart,” the poet of Israel, the one who was/is the foreshadow of Messiah. How does he fall, and so obviously and precipitously? It just doesn’t make sense. What could it be?

I thought, perhaps, it was boredom. Here’s David lounging around in the spring of the year, sleeping until afternoon, hanging around an empty palace (all his warriors are off at war). The proverb “idle minds are the devil’s playground” is true. Perhaps if David had been productively occupied, say out with his warriors, this might not have happened.

Maybe David had a sense of entitlement at work. You know? He was thinking, “I’m the King. No one says ‘No,’ to the King. I can do what I want.”

While it is true that Israel was governed by the Mosaic Law, and the Mosaic Law was very specific concerning the act of adultery, I wonder if David saw all the surrounding kings who WERE the law in their kingdoms, and thought, “I can make my own law,” or thought he wasn’t subject to the law. Yeah, it’s a stretch, but I’m trying to make sense of it all.

Some have suggested that it wasn’t a sin for David to be with Bathsheba. Under this line of reasoning, David instituted the practice of issuing a “conditional divorce” to soldiers going off to war in case they were lost in action so that their widows would be free to re-marry legally. Uriah was conditionally divorced from Bathsheba because he was at war. According to this reasoning, David’s sin wasn’t adultery, it was the murder of Uriah and its cover-up. I’m not sure I buy it, but it is an interesting perspective.

I’m not justifying David’s actions with these excuses. Just trying to understand his actions. Nothing justifies David’s actions. Nothing justifies our sin. Suffice it to say that this episode in the history of Israel and the life of David stands as a cautionary tale for all of us. May I share some of the cautions I’ve noticed as I’ve reflected on David’s actions?

Caution #1: Everyone is subject to the power of sin.

No one (not even David) is perfect. David had a human heart (even if it was one after God’s own) just like the rest of us. As the Apostle James reminds us:

14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1: 14 – 15 NIV).

Yes, David (up to this moment) has been the foreshadow of Jesus Christ, but this moment is the pivot of David’s life. Before this moment, the biblical writers portray only the triumphs of his life. He is anointed as king. He wins mighty victories over his enemies. The nation writes songs about him and celebrate his victories. He becomes king, and a good one, too. He shows mercy to his enemies. He reunited the Kingdom of Judah and the nation of Israel. He is riding high in Israel.

Events after this encounter are recorded as pure tragedy. He loses a child (the child born of this tryst), he has a son rape one of his daughters. Another son kills that son. Children revolt. David flees. He gets old and dies. Literally, the triumphs of David’s life turn to the tragedies of David’s life, and this is the pivot point.

Before this moment, David is (appropriately) compared to Jesus Christ. From this moment, David is contrasted to Jesus Christ, and we discover that even David needs Jesus, for even he is subject to the power of sin.

Even the chronicler of 1 & 2 Kings saw this as the pivotal event of David’s life:

5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite (1 Kings 15: 5 NIV).

Caution #2: Sin destroys everything.

David’s family fell apart. Uriah lost his life. Bathsheba lost her family and a child. Sin, this sin, destroyed it all.

Yes, David repented of his sin (see 2 Samuel 12 and Psalm 51), but repentance doesn’t negate the consequences of our sin. We are left with pain and grief caused by the brokenness of sin.

Yes, salvation in Jesus Christ saves us from the penalty of sin (Romans 6: 23), and he (along with John Wesley) says we are saved from sin’s power (Romans 6: 14), but nowhere does the bible indicate that salvation in Jesus saves us from the consequences of sin.

Caution #3: Everything is not enough.

David had it all. He was famous. Fame didn’t satisfy him.

David had success. He had won great victories on the battlefield and reunified the nation. He had brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. Success didn’t satisfy him.

David had great wealth. Kings from surrounding kingdoms were paying him. tribute money and he was adding his wealth to the treasury to build the glory of Israel–the Temple. His great wealth didn’t satisfy him.

He had everything, yet he wanted more.

The blessings of the economic realities of the United States of America has created a very comfortable environment for all of us. Our success has left us wanting more, more, more. In all our pursuit of more, we are moving further and further away from the Lord. We’re busy chasing anything to fill the emptiness only God can fill.

Caution #4: Anything might be legal, but not everything is moral.

David may, in fact, have seen himself as the law of the land, and by a simple edict established anything as legal. But, just because something is legal doesn’t make it moral. When man’s law and God’s law come up against each other, God’s law will win every time. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But, ultimately, God’s law will prevail.

Perhaps David had already experienced this reality. We know that Genesis 2 is explicit in God’s plan for marriage–a man and woman become one flesh. Yet, David had 8 wives (at least 8!). Yes, it was legal, but legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, gay marriage may be legal. Legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, abortion may be legal. Legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, gambling may be legal. Legal doesn’t mean moral.

Yes, it may be legal for the United Methodist Church to seize all the property of the local congregation. Legal doesn’t mean moral (Yes! I went there!)

Finding Jesus.

As I always do, I need to find Jesus in these Old Testament accounts. Where can I see Jesus in this unfortunate episode in David’s and Bathsheba’s lives?

Well, Jesus is certainly present in their genealogy. Matthew’s Gospel mentions Bathsheba in Jesus’ family tree, so there’s the literal sense in which Jesus is present.

Beyond that, though, I see God’s sovereignty at work in all the brokenness of their lives. God’s will is accomplished (salvation comes through Jesus) even though David is disobedient and sinful. There is hope for me yet. All my broken, sinful attitudes and actions will not thwart God’s plan. For that I am grateful.

What a testament to God’s grace! It’s all grace, and Jesus came so that we might know the grace of God up close and personal. Repentance is grace. Forgiveness is grace.

What a great lesson to learn in mid-life (or at any other point in life). It’s a lesson I’m learning a little past mid-life, but I pray that I AM learning it.

Coming to understand the depths of God’s grace opens us to a new (or renewed) gratitude for Him. No, it won’t necessarily change my circumstances, but it will change my perspective and attitude. It can, literally, give me new life–God’s life in Jesus Christ.

Oh, that I should be so blessed.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Failure Doesn’t Have to be Final…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

The church where I pastor (Haughton Methodist Church) is reading the Bible through in a year. I made the commitment to the congregation that if they would read the Bible through in a year, then I would preach from one of the passages they read over the previous week. So far, except for one week, I’ve kept that commitment. The weekly readings have become my lectionary for the year.

This week, we read Matthew’s account (Matthew 26: 69-75) of Peter’s denials of Jesus. I love the Apostle Peter. One reason I do is because Peter’s journey through life (and faith) so greatly reflects my own. Peter’s is a life that experienced many transformations, and I believe there is something for all of us to learn, even in Peter’s (seeming) failure. I think Peter’s life reminds us that transformation is an on-going thing. It’s never a one-time event. That’s kind of what the whole “sanctifying” grace idea is about.

Sanctifying Grace

Let me focus on sanctifying grace here just a moment because I believe I see it at work in Peter’s life in these moments. In John Wesley’s understanding, God’s grace is real (primarily) in three distinct ways—prevenient grace, justifying grace and sanctifying grace.

Let me try to illustrate: I went to the heart doctor this week. Whoopee! The price of getting old, I suppose. The doctor informed me that I did, in fact, have a heart problem. Prevenient grace is like going to the heart doctor and finding out there is something wrong with your heart. There is a dawning awareness that something has to change…that transformation is needed.

Justifying grace is that moment when we come to embrace the reality that something is wrong with our heart, and that we’ll embrace the prescription offered by the doctor. A better analogy would be discovering you need a heart transplant (prevenient grace), and actually submitting to the surgery necessary to get a new heart (justifying grace), but hey, I don’t need a heart transplant so…

Sanctifying grace is learning how to live with your new heart condition. The diet has to change. The exercise routine has to change. There may even be a few medications involved (there is!). If we’re going to honor the gift we’ve been given, we have to stop doing the things we did before and start doing new, healthier things.

What does any of that have to do with Peter? I’m glad you asked.

Peter’s Tale

Peter’s life was filled with transformative moments. He walked on water (Matthew 14). That is a transformative moment. Yet, Peter had such small faith that he couldn’t sustain it.

Another transformative moment came when Jesus changed Peter’s name and called him “the Rock” (sorry, Dwayne Johnson), yet almost immediately after, Jesus rebukes him and calls him satan (Matthew 16: 21 – 23). Talk about whiplash!

Still another transformative moment for Peter came on Mount Herman when he witnessed Jesus transfigured, and Peter wanted to build three shrines for Moses, Elijah and Jesus (Matthew 17: 1 – 13).

Perhaps the most transformative experience of Peter’s life was his denial of Jesus. It’s interesting that the most transformative event is also considered Peter’s greatest failure.

Peter, who was ready to die for Christ, had a change of heart (a transformation?) when confronted by a young lady around a campfire.

His world had been turned upside-down when Christ was arrested…and yes, this same Peter who would deny Jesus three times was the same Peter, who at the time of Jesus’ arrest, cut off the ear of one of the Roman guards. Brash, daring, adventuresome…yet, humbled under a colossal failure.

God would, however, use Peter’s colossal failure to transform him into a disciple who would change the world. There is hope for me yet! Failure doesn’t have to define us. Failure doesn’t have to be final!

Let me share three brief lessons I learn as I survey Peter’s failure.

Temptation

First, temptation gets us all sooner or later. Peter, who walked on water, saw Jesus transfigured and even had his mother-in-law healed from her sick bed (wonder what he thought about that?) gave in to the temptation he faced.

Call it fear, call it peer pressure, call it whatever you’d like to call it–he was tempted and he succumbed. What’s worse, Jesus had warned him that it was going to happen. Peter, in his brashness, said, “Never, Lord!”

Never say never. Temptation will get even the best of us. Temptation will get us when we least expect it in the most subtle ways.

What a stark contrast between this Peter, cowering before a servant girl in a courtyard, and the Peter who would grab the sword and cut off a soldier’s ear.

It’s a good reminder that battlefields (spiritual ones) are everywhere, even in the most mundane places. There are battlefields even in the quiet, routine moments of life.

Lying

A second lesson I learn is lying gets easier with time. Peter denies Jesus not once, or twice, but three times, and with each denial he takes one step further away from the Truth.

Lie #1–“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lie #2–“I don’t know the man!”

Lie #3–“Dad-gum it, people (I didn’t want to use the language Peter probably used), I told you I don’t know that man!”

This is a moral failure in the worst sort of way. Seriously, lying to protect your own skin? How low can you go? Wait! Don’t ask. You might get the chance to find out. Friends, the truth matters. It always matters.

From Failure to Faith

One final lesson I learn (perhaps the most important one) is that faith comes after failure. Look it up in Merriam-Webster. Faith comes after failure (cute, huh?).

Peter heard the rooster crow and he was immediately reminded of Jesus’ previous warning. Matthew tells us that Peter wept bitterly. Peter could have chosen to wallow in this shame and his failure would continue to define him for subsequent generations, but we know that is not what happened.

Peter’s journey defines for us our response to our own failures. This moment of bitter weeping is significant. It marks the beginning of Peter’s repentance. Regret is a painful emotion, but it can also be a catalyst for transformation. When we are confronted with our own failures, we have two choices: we can either sink into despair or allow our brokenness to drive us back to God.

In Peter’s tears, we see a heart that is broken but not hardened. Unlike Judas, who also experienced regret but fell into hopelessness (Matthew 27: 1 – 10), Peter’s sorrow leads him toward restoration.

Restoration

Remorse, repentance, restoration. That’s God’s plan for our failures (moral or otherwise). All of it is a gift of God’s sanctifying grace. I’m reminded of the words to the old hymn of the Church “Grace Greater Than Our Sin:”

“Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that is greater than all our sin.“

Peter, this Peter, who failed so greatly would go on to become the great leader of the early church, and would eventually give his life for the cause of Christ. His failure did not define him. Neither should ours.

Step Into Your Calling

One final point I would make…and it gets sticky here…our failures do not disqualify us from God’s service. Many would argue that point, depending on the particular failure, but I would say, either we believe in grace, or we don’t. We either believe in forgiveness, or we don’t. We either believe in restoration, or we don’t (ask the Prodigal Son).

Yes, one can be restored to ministry, but remorse and repentance are requisite. Peter wasn’t restored immediately. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus was intentional in alerting Peter of His resurrection. Jesus told the women at the tomb, “Go tell the disciples AND PETER…(Mark 16).

And, in John’s gospel, we find Jesus coming to Peter and the other disciples after His resurrection to fully restore Peter (John 21: 15 – 19) to leadership among the disciples.

This is a hard one to swallow, for sure, and it needs its own blog to unpack, but the reality is that Christian discipleship is hard work. It’s ugly work. It is, however, necessary work. And, there is no greater work that needs to be done.

This is a hurting world full of hurting people, both inside and outside the Church. This hurting world needs the message of grace in Jesus Christ. This hurting world and these hurting people need the message that failure doesn’t have to be final…now…or ever!

Until next time, keep looking up…

Praying for the USA…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

Please don’t mistake me for a Christian Nationalist (although some probably will), but I am reminded this morning of the words of the Psalmist:

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33: 12 – 22 NIV)

Now is not the time for followers of Jesus to point fingers and ascribe blame. Now is the time for us to pray.

For my left-leaning friends, President Trump is not Hitler reincarnated and he is not an existential threat to our democracy. Stop saying he is. Please!

For my right-leaning friends, President Trump is not the savior nor the Savior of America. Stop treating him that way. Please!

Rather, as followers of Jesus, let us pray for our nation and our leaders. That’s what we’re instructed to do:

2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,… (1 Timothy 2: 1 – 3. NIV)

Here is the question I have for my left-leaning friends: Did you pray for President Trump while he was in office? No? Then, shame on you! Are you praying for him now that someone has attempted to take his life? No? Then, shame on you!

Here is the question for my right-leaning friends: Are you praying for President Biden while he is in office? No? Then, shame on you! Are you praying for him now that the evidence of his cognitive decline is irrefutable? No? Then, shame on you!

Yes, I have my political biases and my political preferences. I will express those (although I’m guilty of occasionally expressing otherwise–yes, I repent) on Election Day at the ballot box. It makes us good citizens when we do.

In the meantime, I’ll recognize that President Trump was God’s man for God’s time (for whatever reason he was) while he was President, and I will treat him with the respect he deserves. I’ll also recognize that President Biden is God’s man for God’s time (for whatever reason he is) while he is President, and I will treat him with the respect he deserves. And, I will pray for them both…and their families…and our nation.

July 13, 2024 was a sad day in American history regardless whether we are right-leaning or left-leaning. Let us not, as those who say we follow Jesus, add to the division in our nation by joining in the expression of hateful political rhetoric (though both President Trump and President Biden make it so easy to do so). It is unbecoming of a disciple of Jesus, and it gives the Church a black eye when we do (guilty again–and again, I repent).

So, my rant is over. Will you join me in repentance? More importantly, will you join me in prayer?

Until next time, keep looking up…

“Value-Added” Faith…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

It is always good to be with friends! I met a friend for coffee this week and the course of the conversation soon turned to our common journey of vocational ministry.

My friend mentioned a sermon he recently heard that challenged him. After our conversation, I was challenged, too.

A Moment of Conviction

Well, challenged is not really the correct word. Conviction is more appropriate in this case. The message of the sermon my friend heard, and the subsequent course of our conversation, centered around the nature of the gospel we have preached in our years of ministry.

It basically comes down to asking, “Have we preached a ‘value-added’ faith?” What do I mean?

“Value-added” faith is, in essence, coming to Jesus for what we can get out of it. Need a better marriage? Come to Jesus. He’ll fix your marriage. Want to be a better parent? Come to Jesus. He’ll make you a better parent. Financial problems? No worries! Follow these six biblical principles and soon your financial problems will straighten out. You get the picture.

Get Jesus…and this is the value He will add to your life!

And there was where the conviction came in! I am guilty of preaching a “value-added” faith. I also must confess that I didn’t do it occasionally, I did it often.

Enough with the Excuses

Don’t get me wrong, I have several excellent excuses. First, of course, is my desire to be relevant because if the preacher isn’t relevant, what good is he? How many sermons and sermon series have I designed based on topics rather than scripture? Too many, I’m afraid.

I looked back through my preaching calendars over the years. Here are the titles to a few sermon series I preached:

  • Breaking Bad (Circumstances, Decisions, Attitudes, Relationships)
  • Connected (Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter [X], Texting)
  • Faith and Politics (Culture, Leadership, Role of Government)
  • Inside Out (Series on mental health)

I also looked back through the files for sermon titles. Again, here is what I found:

  • Learning How to Love
  • Living in Shades of Gray
  • Practical Advice for Surviving the Season
  • Priorities of Life
  • Racing is Life

There are too many others to list here, but you get the gist. They are all designed to speak to the value of having Jesus in one’s life. The routine was choose the topic, find a passage or two of scripture and craft a sermon that would be “relevant” to the congregation.

Another excuse is that I thought (or was taught) that in order to reach people with the gospel, sermons had to address a “felt need” in the listener (congregation). Actually, “felt need” and relevance are close cousins as you can see from the sermon and series titles above.

A “felt need” can be:

  • Financial security
  • Stability
  • Love
  • Peace
  • Stress (worry)
  • Loneliness

Again, the routine was to discover a “felt need”, find a passage or two from scripture and craft a message that would address that “felt need.” Sometimes it worked. Often times, it didn’t.

No matter how many times I sought relevance or addressed a felt need, the congregation always left pretty much like they came–at least time and reflection has proven it to be so. The Church in culture has been on the decline for generations. I’m not so sure that it isn’t because we preachers of the gospel have too often chosen relevance over honesty, felt needs over accountability. Perhaps it is only part of the reason.

I don’t mean to insinuate that my friend does that, or indict any other pastors. I speak purely from my own experience, and the conviction is mine and mine alone. Although, as I’ve conducted a few Google searches I can say there are a lot of sermons on the internet that, based on the title, are seeking the same end.

Having acknowledged my fault and repented of my failures, may I share a commitment for the future?

A Call to Surrender & Sacrifice

I believe what the Church (and the world) needs now more than ever is an honest, simple presentation of the Gospel. The world and the Church need to hear the Truth in a simple, straightforward way. I am reminded of the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our  lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call.” (The Cost of Discipleship, 99)

Bonhoeffer only echoes the words of Jesus to the ruler in Luke’s Gospel:

22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22).

Or, of what Jesus told His disciples (also in Luke’s Gospel):

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? (Luke 9:23-25).

The call of the Gospel, the call of Jesus Christ, the call to discipleship is a call to die to self, a call to surrender, a call to sacrifice. I fear I have not preached that enough. I fear that I have not lived that enough. I fear that is part of the reason the Church is where it is in culture today. I am heartily sorry for my part in bringing the Church to that place.

The message of the Gospel is self-surrender, not self-help. I’ve yet to see a “self-surrender” section in any local bookstore. Surrender and sacrifice are not popular topics in today’s culture. Perhaps those topics will be a little more relatable if I untuck my shirt and wear skinny jeans while preaching them. Yeah…perhaps not (this body wasn’t made for skinny jeans!).

This blog has gotten way too long, so let me close with my commitment to do better in my preaching. I’ll do my best to “give ’em Jesus.” He’s relevant enough. I’ll trust the Holy Spirit to do His work if I do mine.

Until next time, keep looking up…

The Pastor’s Heart or Prophet’s Voice…

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I’m approaching a milestone birthday, and no, I’m not going to say which one, but as it approaches I must confess that I’ve struggled greatly over the past few years with finding a balance between a pastor’s heart and the prophetic voice that is part of a preacher’s calling. The older I’ve gotten, the more I hear the prophetic voice dominating my reactions to things I see and hear around me. I find myself often wanting to stand up and shout, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”

I often justify my reactions by the fact that one of my seminary professors many years ago said to me, “Lynn, you have the gift of prophetic utterance.” Then, he added, “That won’t often sit well with congregations you will serve. Find balance.” In recent years, I think I’ve lost that balance (if I ever had it).

I’ve actually probably never had balance. I’m going to admit that I’ve always tried to err on the side of the pastor’s heart. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, until I acknowledge the reason I did: approval addiction. I wanted to be liked more than I wanted to be obedient. I wanted to be a “successful” pastor more than I wanted to be an obedient disciple. The older I get, the more I realize that I need to call my own self to repentance. The older I get, the more I realize how much grace I need…and how much grace I’ve been shown. Helps to strengthen the pastor’s heart, but if I’m not careful it can quench the prophet’s voice. Lord, I need balance.

I think the prophetic voice is more predominate these days because I’ve been separated from the body of Christ. No, I haven’t left the church. I’ve preached plenty of times in plenty of places, but Vanessa and I haven’t called a single congregation home for a long time. I don’t count the two and a half years we served a small congregation (wonderful congregation, wonderful folks, good friends). It was where we attended worship, but time and distance prevented us (me) from investing ourselves in the life of the congregation in ways that form deep connections that nurture the pastor’s heart. That’s totally on me, not the congregation.

I admit. I was running a new business and I was investing way more time and effort in that enterprise than I was in nurturing the congregation. For that, I owe them a sincere apology. They deserved better. It was during that time that I sensed my preaching moving toward the prophetic voice, and I lost a sense of the pastor’s heart. See, if you try real hard, you can justify anything, but just because something is justifiable doesn’t mean it is justified. Then again, maybe I’m just getting older. Maybe it’s just that I’m suffering from GOMS (grumpy old man syndrome), and I don’t feel the need to be liked as much.

Of course, it could be that I look around me and see our culture and the church coming off the rails. I mean really, who would have thought…even 10 minutes ago…that we’d be having a cultural conversation concerning sex change operations for children? FOR CHILDREN! (<<<<<that’s me shouting in my most prophetic sounding voice). Or, that Congress would be holding hearings on the matter and having trouble deciding if it is “gender-affirming care,” or “genital mutilation.”

The prophetic voice in me wants desperately to shout that the practice of sex change operations for CHILDREN is getting awfully close to the Old Testament practice of child sacrifice. The prophetic voice in me wants to shout Genesis–

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

Genesis 1: 27 (NIV)

Let’s start the debate there and see where it leads us. There are just some things in this world that are immutable. Maybe we need the prophet’s voice to remind us.

Then, I remember when the pastor’s heart was more real to me, and I consider the circumstances and issues that bring a child and his or her parents to such a decision and I want desperately to show compassion and empathy and grace. I want desperately to understand what brought them to this place so that I might in some way be in ministry to them, to lead them to the Truth in Jesus Christ. And, I realize that can never happen until there is a deep relationship that is formed between us. That relationship can only be formed in the context of community…the community that is found in the church.

I need a church home. We all do, really. Without a church home, I know the prophetic voice will increasingly dominate my calling and I’ll continue to see the pastor’s heart diminished…for the worse, I think. For those who aren’t pastors/preachers, without a church home you’ll likely grow more cynical and self-centered (but maybe not) as you get older. Just another sign that we all need grace…and balance.

So, Lord, I’m looking for balance…balance between the prophet’s voice and the pastor’s heart. If it’s true that I have both, I don’t want to lose either. May the Holy Spirit guide us all to the place of full obedience so that we might be perfectly balanced in the center of His will.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Somewhere Between Holiness and Hell…

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We are in the season of Lent. Lent is that 40 day period (okay 46–but Sundays don’t count) between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday that began historically as a time of spiritual preparation as early converts were prepared for membership in the body of Christ. It was also a time when those who had separated themselves from the body of Christ were reconciled through confession and repentance.

I’m struggling with what it means to “observe a holy Lent,” which we Methodists are invited to do on Ash Wednesday.

I can’t say that I like Lent. I don’t like Lent because I am convicted by how un-holy I can be.  I am convicted because Lent calls me to reflect on the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, and as I consider his response to temptation, I realize my own failure in places that I’d rather not reveal here.

Confession

This time of reflection necessarily leads me to this whole idea of confessing my sins in the face of all those failures. Oh, I’ve got lots to confess, too.  I am reminded of a story I heard of four pastors who often met for a friendly gathering. During the conversation one preacher said, “Our people come to us and pour out their hearts, confess their sins and needs. Let’s do the same. Confession is good for the soul.”

In due time all agreed. One confessed he liked to go to movies and would sneak off when away from his church. The second confessed to enjoying cigars and the third confessed to enjoying card playing. When it came to the fourth one, he wouldn’t confess. The others pressed him saying, “Come on now, we confessed ours. What’s your confession?” Finally he answered, “It’s gossiping and I can hardly wait to get out of here.”  I really don’t like Lent because it causes me to reflect and confess, and that’s just awfully painful.

And then, there’s just the whole idea of self-denial.  I actually have to give something up?  Come on, now!  You can’t be serious?  I enjoy my coffee, or my diet coke, or my red meat, or my…well, you have to fill in the blank, because I have too many of my own blanks to fill in (whoops! There’s another confession!), but you get the idea.  I just don’t see the need for self-denial, after all.  God has blessed me greatly, and doesn’t God want me to enjoy these blessings?  But because I’m a company man, and I want to at least appear holy, I acquiesce and I practice the Lenten observance by reflecting and praying and confessing and giving up.

A Land Between Holiness and Hell

What I come to discover through the observance of Lent is that I live life in a land somewhere between holiness and hell. I long desperately for holiness, but hell is so much easier.  I discover that one who is truly holy cannot help but enjoy the blessings of God—blessings like love, joy, peace and contentment.  I discover God’s grace poured out in a thousand ways in the most unnoticeable places, and I learn to say, “Praise the Lord!”

The observance of Lent reveals to me that what I counted as blessings (material possessions, health, good success) are more fruits of my own labors than they are God’s blessings, and the reality that any and all of those “blessings” are transient in nature—here today and gone tomorrow.  It causes me to wonder if there were no material possessions, no good health, no great success, would it affect my trust of Him?

I realize just how hollow I can be, and somehow, by some mysterious means in this realization, I am drawn closer to Christ (isn’t grace amazing?), and I don’t seem quite as hollow as before, somehow perhaps even a little more holy.  Forget that I was drug kicking and screaming to the observance. The Spirit has done His work—somewhat akin to the terrible tasting medicine we received when we were children.  We hated it, but it worked.

So, I invite you to observe a holy Lent.  Pray more deeply, reflect more seriously, confess more faithfully, and deny the comforts that shape us. Do so kicking and screaming, if you must, but be prepared to see the Spirit work and draw you closer to Christ. That is what Lent is about, you know.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Deferred Maintenance…

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The countryside is dotted with churches in disrepair. I’ve seen them. As a District Superintendent for the United Methodist Church, I saw several churches that were abandoned and left to deteriorate. I also visited lots of churches that weren’t kept very well. What brings this to my mind is the fact that we’re dealing with many issues of maintenance that need attention where I serve as pastor. But, I’ve visited others where the building was falling down around the congregation and no one noticed. The congregation is so accustomed to the peeling paint and dirty carpet that they no longer notice it. They haven’t taken the time to fix the faucet in the bathroom, and the Sunday school literature, well it’s only twelve years old, but it’s still useable, so…

We just don’t take care of our buildings the way we should. What’s that got to do with Lent? Shouldn’t we be talking about repentance and prayer and other spiritual disciplines? Yes, we should, and that’s exactly what I’m talking about. The description of those run-down buildings gives us a good idea of the state of the Temple in Jerusalem when the prophet Joel was young man. Centuries of misuse and disuse had caused Solomon’s once magnificent structure to look more like a building in the slums than in the upscale section of Jerusalem. As Joel grew, there was a turnaround. Later, this dilapidated building was cleaned up and refurbished. After the remodeling, the offerings and sacrifices were restored and Temple life returned to normal. Well, almost.

The prophet Joel wrote the words of his prophecy because there was still a problem. The turnaround in the nation wasn’t complete. Everything looked good on the outside, but there really hadn’t been much of an internal change with these people. God wasn’t looking for an outer change as much as he was looking for an inner one.

It’s the same for us as we seek to observe a holy Lent. God is looking for repentance from us. He doesn’t just want us to say all the right words, and he doesn’t want to simply give us a list of duties to work on, or as we walk this 40 day journey. Outward actions are nice, but if there is no inward change, it’s really all for naught. Jesus says as much in Matthew’s Gospel.

That neglected building, that church that no one is taking much care of, is me. If I take an honest look at my life, here’s what I see?  I can’t say there’s been more good than bad. I can’t say that during this past year, I have been more interested in the things of God vs. the things of this world. In just this past week, I can’t honestly say that the Lord has always taken first place in my heart, but he has slipped through the cracks as other priorities crowded him out? Work, spending time with friends, the television and the computer, even simply “me” time have all taken priority. I am good at scheduling things that bring me happiness…and making sure that I keep those appointments.

But, have I been so busy taking care of the other matters of life that I neglected the church inside of me? Is that building strong, well-kept, and beautiful? Or, is there deferred maintenance that needs attending too? Sometimes, we lock the doors of our hearts, and just expect that our faith will remain intact, and so we can take a little vacation from working hard on our Christian lives, and when we come back, everything will be fine. If we don’t keep up the maintenance, the spiritual building will begin to fall down around us–metaphorically speaking…

Lent is a perfect time to begin that deferred maintenance in our heart. Joel’s prophecy has one word that serves as the beginning of the work–“Return!” If we’ve been away from the Lord for a while, or if we haven’t followed him as vigorously as we know we should, God is holding out an invitation to us: “Return! I want you back!”

God tells us how he wants us to return to him. The Lord says, “Rend your heart and not your garments.” In Biblical times, if a person were really upset over something, they would tear their clothes as a sign of sadness. But many people played a little game with God. When they were confronted with their sin by God’s priests and prophets, they would tear their clothes, they would put ashes on their heads. They’d do everything that made them look sad, and then they would go back to those same sins. The problem was they were trying to cure cancer with a band-aid.

The outward signs of Lent—putting ashes on our forehead, confessing our sins, singing sad songs—are all nice things to do, but they mean absolutely nothing if we are playing the crying game with God, telling him how sorry we are, but returning home to the same life we have been leading when Lent is over.

Joel helps us get into the proper mindset when he prophesies, “return to me with all your heart.” Returning is repenting, but repenting is not simply being sorry for what we’ve done. Repenting is turning from what we’ve done. Repentance includes not doing it again, and repentance starts in the heart. Missionary Gypsy Smith shares the story of the time he spent in South Africa. On one occasion, a handsome Dutchman came into his revival service, and God laid His hand on the Dutchman and convicted him of his sin. The next morning he went to the home of another Dutchman and said to the homeowner, “Do you recognize this old watch?”

“Why, yes,” answered the homeowner. “Those are my initials; that is my watch. I lost it eight years ago. How did you get it, and how long have you had it?”

“I stole it,” was the Dutchman’s reply.

“What made you bring it back now?”

“I was converted last night,” was the answer, “and I have brought it back first thing this morning. If you had been up, I would have brought it last night.”

I don’t know if you’ve ever read through the 95 Theses that Martin Luther nailed to the church door in Wittenberg, but the first of those theses reads, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Repentance is a process that is repeated over and over throughout our life.

During Lent, as we stress our desperate need for repentance, there is a silver lining. There is time for us to come back to God. The prophet says “even now,” with our rebellious past, the Lord still wants us. We talk about doing deferred maintenance, having genuine from-the-heart repentance, and God does something awesome when we come to him on his terms. The sinner repents, and the Lord relents.

Here’s Joel 2: 13: “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” We are hopelessly guilty, and we know it. We look around and see the peeling paint of our hearts. We smell the old, dirty carpet. We see the burned-out light bulbs. It’s all around us. That’s exactly why we need Lent. We come to repent because we know He is a God who relents.

Lent is a  journey toward the cross of Jesus. The cross is where we learn how God can afford to relent. Our deferred maintenance begins on Ash Wednesday, but it finds its full restoration at the foot of the cross.

It’s popular thing to give up something for Lent. Considering ourselves to be more spiritual than someone who isn’t giving up something for Lent is not an appropriate start to the journey, nor is supposing that giving up something puts us in better standing with God. The proper way of beginning is to remember that Jesus gave up everything for us, so out of gratitude we give up something we love for him. It’s an offering of sorts. But, avoiding chocolate or not watching our favorite TV show for 40 days isn’t going to make us more spiritual unless we fill the time with the Word of God and prayer.

God doesn’t command that we give up something for Lent, but if we choose to do so, here is a way that will be a spiritual benefit to us—think of something you really enjoy doing: maybe it’s eating a particular food or drinking a certain beverage. Maybe it’s an activity like shopping or exercising. Maybe it’s staring at the television or computer screen for hours on end. If you chose to give something up for Jesus, then be sure to replace it with prayer, and Bible study. Maybe instead of spending 2 hours watching a basketball game, you go into your room, and read through the Bible, slowly digesting every word, considering how God is talking to you, praying that the Lord speaks to you and makes you a better disciple. Joel ends verse 14 with these words, “I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully.”

We repent, God relents. And when we go into his Word, God opens his storehouse of spiritual treasures to us and gives us gift after gift. The Lord wants to replace the trivial things in our life with real gifts. Gifts like peace in our hearts that can deal with any problem. Gifts like a greater willingness and ability to serve Jesus in our life.

So, let’s start those maintenance projects. Our lives resemble a building that needs some upkeep, and Lent is the time to get to work. Jesus won the ultimate struggle for us. He has fixed us up, and He is fixing us up to make us a glistening, beautiful building in which we will dwell forever. God has made us into a building like that, and now with the Spirit’s help, strive to keep that building up! Let’s not be satisfied with mere cosmetic improvements, but let us plead with the Lord to use His Word to change our hearts to make us a more repentant, more useful servant in God’s kingdom.

Until next time, keep looking up…