Hearing the Music

Loving Discipline

This Sunday we are going to be following the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. It’s a fantastic story. There are so many angles, details and little plots that happen throughout it, we will not be able to cover it all. Since that is true I wanted to cover one of the characters we won’t spend much time with for a minute. Gehazi.

Gehazi is Elisha’s servant. We know him from different stories throughout Elisha’s story arc (2 Kings 4, 5, 6 & 8 are all places he makes appearances in some form or fashion). He shows great compassion during the Shunammite woman’s story in 2 Kings 4. He plays his role in Naaman’s miraculous conversion as the servant who passed on Elisha’s message when Naaman and his entourage showed up at their door (2 Kings 5:10). Yet he also has his moments that make us scratch our heads, like at the end of 2 Kings. When you read through the whole narrative, and I would highly recommend you do so before we worship together on Sunday, you will notice that the end of the story seems pretty dark. Just as Naaman begins the story with leprosy, Gehazi ends the story with leprosy. What happened?

Gehazi can’t look past himself. When Naaman offers Elisha a payment or gift for his role in his healing, Elisha refuses. He wants God to get all the glory. Naaman insists but Elisha continues to say no. Gehazi doesn’t like this, he thinks they deserve some of that money. He thinks it would be helpful for the work they are doing. Or perhaps he wants a little bonus for the role he played. What his motivations were we won’t know this side of the Jordan. So Gehazi takes matters into his own hands, he tricks Naaman and gets some money and goods out of him.

He is disciplined by God, through Elisha for his betrayal of what Elisha said and what God truly wanted. For God to be glorified alone. This discipline seems sad. It seems to be a dark ending for this servant of Elisha and of Yahweh. Yet we know that this is not the end of Gehazi’s story, he returns in 2 Kings, pointing to the fact that he is disciplined, but not isolated, not outside of God’s love, favor, mercy and grace.

So it is with our discipline. It’s hard to walk through seasons of discipline. Personally I try and shy away from it. When I know I have wronged somebody, and ultimately God, I pretend as if nothing happened. Why? More times than not its because I’m scared. I’m scared of what people will think or do to me. Will they include me in their social gatherings? Will they share information with me? In other words, will I still feel like I am in the in crowd? And these all translate to God as well. 

The message of the Gospel is that King Jesus loves us enough to discipline us AND to keep us close to him. In fact that is exactly what his discipline communicates. I love you, and I want the best for you, and I hope that you see how this discipline will lead you back to me! As Jack Miller used to say, “Cheer up! You’re a worse sinner than you ever dared imagine, and you’re more loved than you ever dared hope.” 

Friends, that is what King Jesus says to his children. Through discipline we experience that love, that mercy and that grace.

_{Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash}

On Mission

The Missions Festival is in full swing. It’s been a joy to see, hear and even taste of other cultures and countries. If you’re like me, exposure to these sorts of experiences and ideas leaves me asking a single question: Why? Why do we consider other cultures and countries? Why connect to them? Why spend our valuable time, and often money, on this sort of thing? Why do we keep doing this? Is it simply to know more, see more, to be more “well-rounded” Christians? I guess what I am asking and wondering is: is there more to these sorts of things than meets the eye (or the occasional taste bud)?

When we look to the Bible to answer this, we get a resounding, "yes". It may not surprise you that mission was at the heart of Jesus’ incarnation and ministry. To say Jesus was “on mission” seems a bit silly to say because it seems so...obvious. However, in an evangelical world that seems to tag “missional” onto just about everything, tagging it onto the life of Jesus is actually a correct fit. Consider what Jesus says early in his ministry: “but he said to them, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose'" (Luke 4:43). Jesus names what he is doing as preaching, as taking “the good news” to different towns; that is his purpose. In other words, he is on mission. Also, consider Jesus’ parting words known as the Great Commission in Matthew 28 to his disciples. He is having them "go, make disciples… of all nations." His value of mission was passed on to his disciples. This certainly isn’t a new theme in the Bible either. God was fully aware of this dynamic when he was sending Israel into the Promised Land. The same can be said for the distinctives God was giving the Israelites in Leviticus about what it looked like to be YHWH followers.

So, let's attempt an answer to the many "whys" that were asked. We are on mission because Jesus takes mission seriously, and as Christ-followers we also take mission seriously. Highlighting the way Christ Church is on mission through the Missions Festival is more than tastes, words and experiencing other cultures, it’s being faithful to our call as Christ-followers in our current context. We are seeking to expose many others, in many other nations, to the saving power that is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

_{Illustration by Lillian Fuller}

Here's to a Hope Filled Year

There is something special about ringing in the new year. No matter if you celebrate in the early seconds or a few hours later when the sun rises. It’s an opportunity to re-new, to re-focus, and depending on how your previous year went, either build on top of it, or start a fresh. There is so much joy and hope that can come at the start of the year. A recent study showed that only 3% of Americans planned to not celebrate New Years Eve in 2019. That means the vast majority of people were celebrating New Years Eve in some form or fashion. It’s safe to say that there aren’t many other events, beliefs, or decisions that bring so many of us together. Hope is contagious.

This week we are going to look at Isaiah’s account of the Holy City in chapter 60. There are so many aspects of the prophets vision that are remarkable. It’s a full account of a city full of goods, commerce, technology, a diverse swath of people, kings and rulers serving the people, gold, frankincense, imported woods and of course, the glory of the LORD. Of the twenty-two verses that portray this Eternal City, it is the second part of the concluding verse that sticks out to me this new year.“I am the LORD, in its time I will hasten it.” To be haste is something our culture is overly familiar with. However not in the same way we are called to think of it here. No, instead we are hasty with decisions, with the way we move about in our work, our family lives, from one activity to another. We hastily look to those in power to free us from injustices, we want hasty decisions that go our way. In other words we live in a fast paced culture that wants us to keep up. 

The LORD says, “in its time, I will hasten it.” The maker of all things, who created the earth and the contents it contains in six days, says…in its time… 

As this new year begins, this is a reminder that YHWH is working. The things we long for, like the Holy City, which releases us from sin, pain, death and the like, are coming. Yet they are coming on the LORD's timing. It’s a call to press into that reality this year, to be faithful in our worship of Him, glorifying the LORD in all that we do and remembering that “in its time, I will hasten it.” It’s right for us to hope and long for that time and place, it will be glorious beyond explanation. It’s also right for us to wait on the LORD's timing. So here’s to a new year, full of God’s grace and glory.

_{Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash}