Cookout

Let’s kick summer off right. Let’s talk about a cookout.

But, nay, not just an ordinary cookout. A true feast. A banquet. With giant smoked turkey legs and everything. And here’s the good news, you’re part of it right now, even as we speak. So grab a Chinette plate, your plastic fork and enjoy.

To set the scene, let’s take a look at Luke 14: 15-24, the Parable of the Great Banquet.

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ “

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

“ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ “

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ “

Ah, now that’s a cookout, isn’t it? Invite everyone and anyone, no matter who they are, except those who told the master (in not-so-many words) “Sorry...I’m kind of busy.”

Which is precisely what I’m getting at. Because you are taking part in that very feast right now. You haven’t told God you’re “too busy” or have better things to do. Instead you act like the servant who goes out and finds people to serve. You lead an outreach at church. You care for an ailing family member. You pay for a stranger’s lunch. You....are taking part in this feast. And I don’t want that very key point to pass you by.

Because for a lot of us, we serve with a sense of duty. Because our hearts lead us to unquestionably “go for it”. Or it’s just something you do and don’t think twice about it. But I don’t want you to miss the big point and realize what your acts of grace, kindness, love and charity really are – a place at a Great Banquet being thrown by God Himself.

Sadly, I’ve missed out on that point many times when doing an outreach and don’t ever want that for you. Not anymore. So if this “60” plants a seed in just one person’s brain and they realize that serving is being part of the best cookout ever, then it's done its job.

Tomorrow, instead of trying to make the Hispanic Outreach perfect, I’m going to focus more on Who makes it perfect. Instead of paying for someone else’s order at a fast food joint thinking about my minor sacrifice requiring me to skip the fries, I’m going to just be grateful they get to share the fruits of the feast.

So this summer, enjoy your own “cookouts”. Whether you invite friends for burgers and dogs or serve a stranger so they may know about God’s bounty.

But never – never – miss that one simple fact. That we all get to enjoy a place at the table of God’s feast.

Good

So even the news is tired of the news.

Tired of economic misery and misbehavior. Tired of reading the words “more layoffs” off the teleprompter. Tired of reporting yet another economic scandal.

NBC Nightly News has now turned its once weekly exposé, “Making a Difference” into a nightly feature with news anchor Brian Williams earlier this week looking dead into the camera and saying, “Please keep sending us your stories of kindness in these uncertain economic times”.

Oprah Winfrey seems to have had enough too as she dedicated an entire show and a large part of her website to “Heroes in Hard Times” which focused on peoples’ acts of kindness both big and small. Other news outlets are following suit, just looking for something uplifting to report. Anything. A cat battling an oscillating fan. Sure, we’ll report that.

The one similarity I see in all these stories (the cat one excluded) is that the people doing the acts of generosity simply used what they had to help others. Their time. Their talents. The roadside motel they just bought, the unused church gym or, in one case, the equity in a dump truck to help a total stranger buy back her foreclosed home.

In every case, every single one, the “hero” said they didn’t feel like a “hero”. They were just doing what needed to be done. The laid off construction worker donating her time to tutor at an after-school program. The unemployed dancer teaching inner-city kids ballet. The lady who calls area hotels asking for old bedding they would otherwise just throw away she now collects and donates to area homeless shelters.

Some see it as an upspring, an almost a new ideal in hometown America. But in the Bible it can be clearly seen, time and time again. Acts of greatness done for the greater good. Simply because they needed to be done.

Take David for example. He defeated Goliath with the tools he already knew how to use for the good of others. He had emerged extremely skilled with his sling after years of being a shepherd. And note that while King Saul, the Israelite leader and the tallest of all the Isrealites, was afraid to face Goliath, David sprang at the chance to go after the Philistine.

Why? Because – and this is important – while all the other Israelites saw Goliath as a giant, David saw him simply as a mortal man defying God. And David, knowing God had been preparing him for this very day, shunned the need to use the king’s armor or brandish a sword. There he went. Alone. No frills. Nothing fancy. Doing something he‘d done a thousand times before. He just picked up his all-too-familiar sling and kept one thing in mind: Hit the mark and this will all be over.

The last words Goliath heard were, “...it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” Seconds later he lay there, dead, as his army fled.

And that is what I want you to know, God is training you, or has trained you, with gifts and experiences so you yourself can play the role of hero for His greater good in the life of someone else. Ok, sure, maybe you slay the giant. Or maybe you pay for a struggling mom’s tank of gas. Maybe you donate your yard sale earnings to charity. Maybe you go visit folks in a nursing home. Maybe you...got another idea? Good. Go for it.

Whatever the case, I encourage you to go out there and do it - and do it now. Remember, nothing flashy or fancy. Nothing that takes a committee or “group approval” to make happen. Because simple things can lead to God-sized results. A lady gets her house back. A diabetic gets the treatment he needs to survive. A single mom gets fresh bedding for her kids. And on and on.

Heroes? Maybe not. God’s fingerprints? Absolutely.

Hero

Meet an unlikely hero - Moses.

We tend to mythicize the people in the Bible and forget that the key players we read about were real, flawed people just like us. We get caught up in the romanticized Renaissance paintings and the stained glass portraits and forget they too had their doubts in themselves and, a lot of times, in God. Doesn’t matter who you look at – David, Jacob, Paul, Abraham, Jonah – they all, each one, had their shortcomings and their all too human flaws.

But God worked through them in spite of themselves. Including Moses.

Ok, I know when we think of Moses we tend to envision the Charlton Heston version with white beard and flowing hair blowing defiantly in the wind standing atop a mountain thundering out the declaration, “This...is the Word of God!” But let’s it back it up a bit. Between killing the Egyptian and the Red Sea opening up, Moses’s life was pretty much in the toilet. Because it’s here we find Moses tending sheep. Not even tending his own flock, but his father-in-law’s. The most boring, looked down upon job at the time. And he’s leading these sheep not into lush pastures along scenic vistas, but to the far side of the desert. Not exactly a postcard moment.

But this is where Moses’s life is right now. He’s got nothing but time on his hands. Nothing to go back to. Nothing to look forward to. In a sense, he’s kind of in his own desert, biding his time.

Moses. The human. Broken. Wandering. Wondering.

And this is where the roller coaster ride begins. Moses, minding his own business, notices something peculiar, a bush that’s burning but not burning up. He may have watched this bush burn for hours before curiosity got the best of him, and he had to check it out.

And you all know this part. God talks to Moses, tells him that He’s heard His people suffer and He’s going to make things right. He’s going to rescue them. He’s going to bring them up. He’s going to bring them into a land of milk and honey. It’s the best pep talk ever known to man, complete with it’s own catch phrase, and all Moses needs to do is go tell Pharaoh all this and God will deliver His people.

Moses’s reply? “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring out the Israelites?” In other words, “Sorry God, I’m a nobody”. The next verses play out like a kid learning how to ride a bike while deathly afraid Dad will let go of the seat. Seriously, read it for yourself, it’s almost comical. This Moses, who’s been tending sheep in the desert for years is approached by God to end the suffering of His people and Moses comes back with arguments, reasons, probably even a pie chart or two why he’s not good enough to carry out God’s plan. Even after God gives him three miraculous signs as proof (plus a burning bush), Moses tells God “I can’t pull this off.” Instead (and this is the part I love) Moses starts giving God suggestions who would be better suited for the job.

Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

So lemme ask you this, ever been “Moses” in your own life? Felt a leading, a nudging from God to do something and in turn give Him all the reasons why you’re the most unqualified person in the world to do it? What about the hopes and dreams on your heart? Do you find a way to talk yourself out of pursuing them because you find yourself lacking?

It’s ok, we all have. And you’re right, on your own you may be inadequate. But God isn’t. Now is the time, if God has been leading you, to work with Him on something bigger than yourself. For you trust Him and go for it. To not give God reasons you can’t, but consider all the reasons He can.

Because He will lead you out of your own desert. And onto much better places.

Small

Sometimes we just get so wrapped up in the world and all its problems (and ours) that, I don’t care if you go to church every single day and are in ten small groups, we get wrapped up the “bigness” of it all and consumed by how seemingly small we are. And we're left with that nagging feeling we're unable to really do anything about it. Any of it.

But, know this, it doesn’t phase Jesus. Not one bit. In fact, I think he enjoys showing His people who is in control. There are many examples of this throughout the Bible, but one of the best is in John 6: 1-14. I know you know this passage, probably by heart, but read through it again. I want to point out a couple things.

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus sets up the this scene just to prove a point to his disciples. In pure Jesus fashion, there is a problem, a big problem, and Jesus approaches it by asking a simple, casual question, “Gosh, how are we going to feed all these people?” His disciples response? Well, they kind of freak out. Note Phillip’s reply, “...eight month’s wages isn’t enough for each person to have a single bite!” Like I said, they freak out a little. Hey, don't we all.

So that’s the set up. Jesus is again against the impossible. I can almost hear one of the disciples muttering, “We...are in trouble.” while another looks around for the quickest escape route. And it’s at this point Jesus does His thing. With what? Read through the passage again. With a (small) boy. With five small loaves of bread. And two small fish.

Overwhelming circumstances? Jesus comes through using three small, ordinary items to do, not just the impossible, but the unfathomable. And He could have left it at that. Fed the people. Preached a little and headed on to the next town. And it would still have been amazing. But – and this is key – Jesus being the Great Teacher told his disciples to fill up baskets with what was left over after everyone had had their fill. In the end, they loaded up twelve baskets of abundance. Twelve. Why twelve? Perhaps Jesus wanted his disciples to each carry a basket to the next stop to hammer home the point and leave no doubt – that He takes on our impossible and leaves His abundance.

So this week, come up with some areas in your life where you feel you feel you're too small or life is too big for you to handle right now. And then pray, honestly and openly, that Jesus demonstrates how He can work in your life to conquer the impossible. To show you He is in control. So you can experience His abundance in your life. And carry it with you always.

Day Four

Welcome to Day Four.

The day after the big Easter extravaganza. After the pageantry and the triumphant choir. After the pastor’s declaration of the Good News which was met with a round of jubilant cheers from the congregation.

Yes this is Day Four, the real start of the journey. And that’s exactly what it is – a journey. No fanfare. No infectious songs resonating in your head. No “church high” to keep you pumped up. Now is when the real work begins. To start walking day by day in an honest relationship with Christ. As of today, you’re not walking alone, you’re walking with him.

And that is hard.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a new Christian or been one for decades, it’s the journey itself that is so, so difficult. Because life gets in the way and tries to wear you down until you’re right back where you were, if not a little worse off. You make a commitment to have some quiet time each day. Or read a small passage in the Bible every morning. Or subscribe to a daily devotion like “The Daily Bread” with the very best of intentions of sticking with it. Yet, just like the dusty treadmill in the corner of your basement, the self-help financial book that you never finished reading or that closet you keep swearing you’re going to reorganize, it becomes less and less of a priority.

And in a month, maybe two, you find you’re right back where you started. Just kind of “there” spiritually. “Blah” and unfulfilled. Still craving to know what Jesus is all about. Wishing you could have even something moderately resembling a relationship with him. Or maybe, you simply want to know if he’s real.

So what do you do? You get honest. With yourself and God. You don’t worry about what you’re not or where you are in life. Sure, life’s taken you on some bad rides and beat you down. And you’ve had your own share of missteps along the way. Don’t worry about it. The Bible is full of people like that. And that’s exactly why God chose them. He always picks the unlikely, the marginalized, even the screw ups to prove His point. That He is real. The He is in control. And that He is still at work today.

And all he wants is a relationship – a real, open, honest, continuous relationship – with you.

So, us being honest and all, here’s the million-dollar question to start off your journey: what is it you really want out a relationship with Christ? Take a minute to think about that. Be honest and don’t just give the typical Sunday School answer here. Dig deep and tell God what you’re looking for. What do you really want out of this relationship...this journey?

Then (and remember, we’re being honest here) what can you put into that relationship right now? Ten minutes a day? Half an hour a couple times a week? Your lunch break on Wednesdays? A bi-weekly small group? Whatever it is, it’s ok. Because five honest minutes building a solid relationship with Christ is far better than a distracted hour in a small group. This is all about you and God, not trying to look good to others or doing all “the right things”. And certainly not about checking something off a to-do list.

Got those two questions answered? Good. Now walk. With him. Baby steps at first. Don’t expect too much from yourself right out of the gate. And if it takes some time and some work to find your unique rhythm as to what works best to have that honest, open time with Christ, don’t worry about it.

Just don’t quit. Keep walking. Keep going. Just walk with him. A little more every day. Until your simple walk becomes a journey. A journey you’re sharing with him.

Day Two

Let’s go back. Before marshmallow eggs. Before the Easter Bunny. Before little girls wore festive bonnets.

Let’s go back to the day after Jesus was crucified. And the day before his resurrection. That, Day Two, is a day that’s rarely spoken of but the one I’m most intrigued by.

Here’s why: Imagine yourself as a follower of Christ in that time. Maybe you’ve been around him. Maybe you’ve heard him speak. Maybe you were a leper, a widow or a begger for whom he had performed a miracle. What if you were one of the masses that saw him do miraculous things. You heard him, in person, say radical, yet Godly, things. You saw Him preach and something inside of you just believed in Him.

“This is the guy...this is truly The Messiah.”

And yet today, on Day Two, He’s lying there in a tomb. Left to rot and fade away.

Now, let me ask you, where is your faith today (“today” being Day Two)?

Is it lost? Is it teetering? Are you having second thoughts about Him? Don’t forget, he’s risen others from the dead, yet He himself is dead. How does your mind process this?

What would you honestly be feeling? It’s hard, I know. And after the shock and horror of Jesus being beaten, mocked and crucified, Day Two creeps in and the realization hits you – Jesus is dead. And you’re left to either still believe in Him or let doubt take over.

Now here comes the heavy part, for a lot of us it’s Day Two everyday. We struggle to believe things will get better. We know Jesus can cure, can enable, and make us whole again. We’ve read about it, maybe even seen it for ourselves. But where is He today? Is He really still alive? Where is He when we struggle with our jobs? With our marriages? To simply make it through the week?

We struggle just to hang on, to cling to something lined with truth and hope and pray that Jesus is still alive. That He still works miracles. That He still heals. And most importantly, that He can work in our lives like He worked in others.

For you, I want to tell you one thing – Day Three is coming for you. Know that. Own it. Don’t let doubt and cynicism creep in. Don’t let your past dictate your future. Because, please believe this, your Day Three is coming. Your own resurrection. Your own miracle. Your own “walking out into the light when everyone else had you pegged for dead”.

Because Jesus did rise on Day Three. He fulfilled the prophesies and His own promises to His followers. He showed the stark contrast between life in Him and trying to live in the world. He showed once and for all that nothing – not even death – can stop Him or derail His plans.

And yes, He does have plans for you.

So this weekend between your observation of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter, I want to encourage each of you to spend some time on Saturday thinking what it would have been like for you personally over 2000 years ago. On Friday, they took your Messiah away, tortured and beat him until he bled out. And today, Day Two, you have no knowledge of what’s to come. Are you still believing in Jesus? Or having your doubts?

Do that and let me assure you, when you hear the Good News on Day Three, it will mean more to you than it ever has before. Be more “real” and deepen your faith. So you can experience your own Day Three. And know Jesus is alive and walking with you every day from here on out.

Gauges

Mile marker 62. An hour outside Cincinnati. That’s when the oil pressure gauge in my truck started to flutter.

And I started to pray.

Now, I know it’s easy to dismiss someone else having car trouble. I’ve done it, we all do it. But when it’s you in trouble, well, well, well, that’s a whole 'nother story, isn’t it? And no matter how many Clint Eastwood films I’ve memorized, or Steve McQueen DVDs I own, I was doing everything I could to keep my cool.

Even though the engine was running fine – it sounded fine, it felt fine, no huge plumes of smoke coming out the exhaust pipe – the simple fact that that one single gauge wasn’t working right had me sweating. And praying. Hard.

After 15-20 minutes of borderline panic, I’d simply had enough and said, “No...I’m not going to be afraid. No, no, no. Not going to do it”. And I started praying if God wanted my truck to break down, for me to be even more behind at work, for me to rack up yet another tow charge and repair bill, well then fine, it’s His deal. But I didn’t think so. And all I got back was a soft, “Keep going...this is what having real faith is all about.”

“Real faith”. Uh-oh. Because my faith pretty much stinks. All God was asking me to do was to keep driving and have faith I would make it home ok. And all I wanted to do was bail.

Because faith is tough. We pray. We hope. We try to do the right things and hope we’re doing what God wants us to. But, for a lot of us, we keep looking for gauges in our life to “see” if everything’s ok or not. Which is the rub, because God is more interested in what we do in faith than acts of obedience or being “good”. It’s tough, trust me, I know. Sometimes it’s the hardest thing we can go through.

Just how important is faith to God? Check out Hebrews chapter 11. The first couple verses set it all up right out of the gate, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”

And what follows those verses is a laundry list of biblical “All Stars” as well as a description of how their faith led to their eventual greatness. Abel. Enoch. Noah. Abraham. And the list goes on and on. What’s interesting is the author makes sure to list the adversity each person went through first, then how their faith lead to their eventual success. Much more than simply saying “faith is good”, the author makes it crystal clear by listing first the struggle, then the glory. Check it out for yourself, I think it’ll really inspire you.

So here’s the deal. What I want for you, as well as myself, is to be more open with your faith, your white knuckle faith, in God. Sure, it makes you vulnerable. Open to failure. Takes the “control” out of your hands and gives it back to God. For some of you, it may be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, and that’s ok. But know this, God honors those who have faith in Him (again, read Hebrews 11). If He’s nudging you to do something in pure faith, it can be scary, it can be completely outside your comfort zone, and, it can be the best decision you ever made.

And He will get you through it, every single time. That’s what I learned. So then next time, you’ll be able to not look at your own gauges to “see” if everything is ok but instead, step out in faith to say, “Ok, God, I really do trust you. Let’s do this...together.”