PLEASE, NOT A HOLY LIFE
Pastor Jeff Wood Sept. 20, 2015 I know a man who was hired by a company right out of college. After a few years he was called into the office of his supervisor’s supervisor. There he was asked if he would do an MBA on the company’s dime. But that was not all. After the degree the idea was that he would go to one company plant in this one state. After eighteen months, another plant in another state. Following these two stints, be VP at one small division of the company. Then VP of the medium division. As he walked out of that office he realized he hadn’t been saved from unemployment with this business but he had been selected to a place and a role. The passage we read today says we were not just saved but were selected to a place and a role. It bears the name holy, a holy life. We pray. Paul is writing to Timothy from prison. These are perhaps his last recorded words before dying. So they are flavored with that kind of heart. II Tim. 1:1, 7-12. 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. And vs. 8, there are different translations but the message gets to us if we read, ‘A holy God has issued to us a holy call to a holy life. I know I am supposed to, because I’m a church guy, be excited about a holy life. But the truth be told, I don’t know that a holy life sounds that exciting … at least, to me. It’s in league with the boy who said he didn’t want to go to heaven. Why? It’s eternal and that means long therefore heaven was sounding to him like a, really, really long church service. I get that. I love you and I love church but a kajillion years of 10 am to 11 am on Sunday morning?? No, I don’t think so. Holiness sometimes come to me like that. If we did a man on the street interview over at Country Ham and Eggs or at the Sebastian High School and asked for quick word associations with “holy,” I’m guessing we’d get, “Holy cow!” But eventually someone would say, “Holier than thou,” or moralistic. This makes the case that we have appetites for chicken wings, fast cars, happy families, and European vacations, … but holiness? What has happened to our sense about holiness is not unlike what has happened in san Antonio where I used to live. The town grew up around the Spanish mission on the San Antonio River that we know as the Alamo. There is it is today in downtown. We think of downtown as the center but actually the way the city has grown and developed, lopsidedly to the north, the true geographic center today is miles north of downtown. There’s been a shift. Words and their meanings do the same. But I want to go back to origins of the word holy in the Bible so we can capture its goodness and not be leery of a holy life, the one we are made for and called to by God. We’re going to zero in on four words or phrases in this passage and the first is promise. Right at the beginning of our passage we read of “the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.” The life we are called to is a promising life. A promising dinner is not a sticky clump of a few grains of cold rice. It’s thick chili with sharp cheese and onions along with hot cornbread covered with real butter. We’re talking sumptuous. The great paradigm of saving and calling in the Bible is in Exodus. God saves the Hebrew people from slavery and calls them out Egypt … calling them out of slavery and into freedom (mark that word) in the _____ land. What kind of land? the promised land. Joshua and Caleb spy it out and say of it what? That it is – boring and puritanical? No, a land flowing with milk and honey. That sounds full (flowing) and almost sensuous. I can still remember Dr. Gerry Hawthorne, my first Greek professor, there on the 2nd floor of Blanchard Hall. He could give the best 60 second devotional. One day he talked about how he loved the word, “Yes.” He loved hearing his girlfriend say yes to his proposal of marriage, his wife say yes that they were pregnant, his examiners say yes to his dissertation’s success, his interviewers say yes to him having a job at the college. And, then, he said, “Guess what? I Corinthians 1:20, all the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus.” Whatever else holy is it is wholly promising. The next word or phrase is set apart. In verse 8 and 9 the actual word “holy” is used. Holy at its root actually means separate like a separate category. And the verb separate means to cut. Think of It as in “a cut above.” A fine garment we say is a cut above the rest. With the butcher we talk about a fine cut. It means different, special. We’re called to something that is a cut above. Here’s a way to think of it. Vacations are not ordinary days they are special or a cut above. Holidays … holy days are not same ol, same ol, … they are special. One day that is said to be holy is the Sabbath as in keep the Sabbath for it is holy. Holy in what sense? The Sabbath is patterned after God resting on the 7th day having just made the world. He saw it was good, good, good, good, … good. Then he finished and he rested. Was he tired? No. Did he not like working? Seems like he did like it. But if you have been building a boat for six days and finally finish it, what do you do on the 7th – rest in the sense of napping? No, you stop working on it and go out and play with it! Holy is a cut above and delightful. Some Hebrew and Greek dictionaries define holy and what I have been saying as “awesome.” Like, “This is awesome.” The seraphs in the Bible, these flying creatures, full of eyes, around God’s throne, … sing forever, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The Bible says something twice for emphasis as in “Verily, verily.” Here it is thrice, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m all ears”? It means they are focused and ready to listen. The seraphs are literally all eyes. All these eyes, many of them, big and full and they cannot get their fill, enough. They are saying of the one who is holy – “Awesome, awesome, awesome.” And implied is “More, more, more.” Whatever else holy is it is wholly a cut above and awesome where we want more. Next word – “unearned.” Vs. 9 and 10. “… a holy life -- not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.” Holiness involves our decisions but it is not something we earn or achieve. If we do work at it and earn it and achieve it at some successful level, do you know what happens? We end up holier-than-thou. Sanctus is Latin for holy. It is related to sanctimonious. If you try and try and try and try to be holy … and you succeed, you end up being sanctimonious. If this holiness was gotten by trying, we would have to keep trying, trying, and trying to keep it going. If we don’t succeed, our life is worried. How am I doing? How am I going to get it? Am I going to lose it? Redouble your efforts. And whether you are successful or not, you are exhausted. You end up sanctimonious or sorry, sanctimonious or sucking wind. But this called-to-life isn’t gotten by effort. Somebody gave me a Kindle once. It was so cool. I could have saved for one. I could have bought one. I could have bartered for one. I could have performed for one. But one of the delights about it, one of the surprises about it, one of the gifts about it … was that I didn’t save, exert, barter, or perform for it. One of the gifts about it that makes it so special is that it was a gift. A paycheck is great. But I earned it. A gift is awesome. Whatever else holy is it is wholly unearned, wholly gift. The final word is “unending.” Vs. 10. “Jesus who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” I do have an appetite for living forever. I hate us getting old. I hate us having a hard time getting out. I hate us moving away to be nearer to family because it is difficult to manage. I hate saying good bye to loved ones at a funeral. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. We’ve just talked about wages and gifts. And what’s the opposite of sin? Holy. What is the opposite of death? Life. So the wages of sin is death but the gift of God or the gift of holiness is life. CS Lewis put is so superbly when in his Chronicles of Narnia stories he spoke of Narnia as a land which had been, under the white witch’s rule, always winter and never Christmas. This life, forever life, good life … just out of reach. Always winter, never Christmas. Until Christ comes. Then it is CHRISTmas. On that day we tuck our children into bed and they are happy but a little sad it is over. What do we say? All good things must come to an end. Here is the good news in Jesus Christ – the truly good things do not come to an end ever. Always Christmas in Christ. The holy life, whatever else it is, is wholly that, wholly Christmas, wholly unending. Scott Wesley Brown has a song, “Please don’t send me to Africa, I don’t think I have what it takes. I’m a man and not a Tarzan. I don’t like lions or tigers or snakes.” That’s a call to be missionary that he doesn’t want. We do not need to sing any like song about the call to holiness. It isn’t like caster oil good for you. It is a call to a promising life, an awesome life, a gift full life, an unending life. My friend who was hired by the company out of college. Did go on and do all that he and the company laid out for him. He didn’t stop at VP however. Today he is the president and CEO of Hon Industries. What a destiny! And guess what, believer, eye has not seen or ear heard what God has prepared for those who love him! If you would like to talk with someone about this message or your spiritual life, or to have someone pray with you, the pastors and elders of the church would welcome your call. [email protected] www.welovefirst.org www.facebook.com/welovefirstsebastian
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The Heart of Worship is the Heart
Pastor Jeff Wood First Presbyterian, Sebastian Sept. 13, 2015 I received a wedding announcement in 1995 from Ed Fortenberry and his bride-to-be, Norma. It invited me to the wedding in Brazil. There was to be an afterward reception also in Oakland, CA. As I was reading the announcement I got the words, I got the message, but I didn’t get “it.” I didn’t get “it” because I had no idea who Ed or Norma were. Down at the signature at the bottom of the invite, in parenthesis, was this message: “In 1975 at Honey Rock Camp you were my counselor and I said that if I ever got married, I would invite you to the wedding and well, a promise is a promise!” Pretty neat, huh? I realized that my experience reading the announcement is like many of our experiences with church and with worship in particular. We get the words that man and woman’s chief end is to know God and enjoy him forever. We get the words that central to church life is worship. We get the words about worship being “worth” plus “ship” or being into something really worth it. But do we get “it”? We get perhaps sit down, stand up, sing, pray, pass the plate, … but do we get “it” as in the guts of worship? Today I want to take us to a passage that helps us get “it” with respect to worship. If we are going to do it, may as well get “it” so that it is strong and good. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these words: Luke 7:36-50 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. [37] When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, [38] and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. [39] When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner." [40] Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. [41] "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. [42] Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" [43] Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. [44] Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. [45] You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. [46] You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. [47] Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." [48] Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." [49] The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" [50] Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth; and from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. Honey Rock Camp got me to thinking about a pretty significant incident that happened to me there. It involved the director of this mega camp in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. We called him Bionic Buddy because his bio-motors always ran fast. I remember Bionic Buddy on cliff tops of the Porcupine Mountains with his navy blue stocking cap on those fall rock climbing days. I remember Bionic Buddy behind the wheel of the large green supply trucks. I remember Bionic Buddy in front of the class lecturing. There was a relentless to him and he was always demanding we live as stewards and caretakers of the camp and its values. Buddy was part of a memory I will never forget. One particular trip I led was through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Moving from lake to lake was mostly a matter of portaging, hauling canoes overland down a trail to the next lake. On one occasion we had two lakes chained together by a whitewater river. I wanted to let the group shoot the short stretch of rapids for a bit. I studied the water, decided to run it first, and then we’d know about it for them to run safely. The whitewater was fun, especially after the flat water of the lakes, and all was going exhilaratingly well until the very last rock and then something happened. The fella in the bow, his name was Gator, leaned too hard and in we went. Once in, I was astounded at how deep and ferocious the water was. From that moment on at a cellular level I have a very sober respect for water’s power and how we might misjudge it. I would covet for all of us, something similar with God … an experience with him such that at a cellular level we would have a sober respect for his otherness and power. Going into the water shouldn’t have been a problem except we broadsided the canoe on the rock with the gunnels and thwarts upstream (ie, the open part of the canoe was capturing all the force of the river in it). In an instant that canoe was wrapped like a horseshoe around the rock. All I could think of was our rule about each leader being personally responsible for camp gear. All I could think of was my $50/week salary and how the whole summer earnings had just instantly disappeared in replacing a camp canoe. I carried the weight of that for many a day and then came the moment back in camp headquarters when I met Bionic Buddy for equipment inventory. “Buddy, I lost a canoe. Wrecked it. I’ll pay for it somehow.” He looked me in the eye and said, “It’s okay, I’ll take care of it. I can handle it better than you. Now get out of here.” I’m grateful to Bionic Buddy to this day. He took care of my debt. Grateful to this day. When it comes to worship we are talking about power, about personal regard, about being with someone who absorbed a debt we couldn’t handle. Let me tell you another story from that era of my life. It involves a young man named Jamie. Jamie was a prodigy. I had seen him play the piano in a college which among its many departments housed one of the finest conservatories of music in the Midwest. I had seen him play that piano before an audience of 2500 people and he had played it such that the instant the final note went silent, the entire assembly arose as one in fevered applause. I was privileged to have Jamie as a friend. I don’t remember how we met and the story I want to tell you about him really doesn’t have much of a plot line to it. Jamie lived in the home of the college’s German professor. This elderly woman had a grand piano and Jamie could practice there without distraction for hours on end. This story simply brings up the memory of Jamie inviting six or eight of us over. The wonderful living room was a welcome change to the dormitory rooms. Real furniture. Real lighting. Real plates. And we sat enjoying coffee and cookies while Jamie played and played. Oh, the pleasure at having this good company of this good friend in this good setting. I was awed at his awesome ability and I was awed at this awesome friendship and hospitality. This is another dimension of worship – awe, ability, friendship, hospitality. I am moved in my heart when I think of these things and the truth is that worship is a matter of the heart. The passage we read this morning obviously has a lot of heart in it. It’s about worship and the heart of worship is the heart. This woman’s heart knows the personal connection, the forgiveness of debt, the awe of his love, the hospitality of his touch … which I have just been talking about. Her heart also tells us more about worship. Picture a heart with its four ventricles. Her heart’s four chambers tell us this. First, there is the chamber of a heart prepared for worship. She came with an alabaster jar of perfume. It’s very important to realize that she does not show up with this perfume in order to buy Jesus’ forgiveness but she shows up with this perfume to thank him for the forgiveness he has already given. Jesus says of her to Simon, ‘She loves greatly because her many sins have been forgiven.’ But the thankfulness has generated the thought, “How can I show my thankfulness?” What token can I bring? She’s given it some thought. Gals, let me ask you, “On your anniversary do you like it when your guy shows some forethought about how you’re going to celebrate and what he is giving you or do you prefer it to be just thrown together and a sort of afterthought?” You don’t need to answer. I think I know. And, you know, the quality of that experience generally is not only deeper for the wife but for the husband as well. Exodus 23:15 has these words, “No one is to appear before me empty-handed.” That means giving it some thought, doing some preparation. Maybe you could think about kneeling beside your bed each Saturday night and saying, “Lord, prepare my heart for worship through the night.” And if you want to add, “Set the preacher on fire tomorrow,” that’d be good too. Second, there is the chamber of a heart submissive for worship. Look at her posture – she stoops to his feet. She is behind him. Look at her actions – she is wiping his feet. She wasn’t there to criticize or to analyze or to say, “Jesus, you’re lucky I’m here” (as we human beings sometimes do). Hers was a submissive, surrendered, sacrificing place. She is pouring out this perfume. It came in a stone jar and when you broke it open and that was that. You used it. The dollar value of this was discussed at another point by Judas. Very expensive. Submission, surrender, sacrifice. You know that sacrifice and sacred go together? When you go to a battlefield where there was a great sacrifice of life, we speak of that as hallowed ground. Sacrifice and sacred. David said, ‘Far be it to me to sacrifice what has cost me nothing.” (2 Sam. 24:24) What’s your heart’s posture as you come into worship? Let’s check our egos at the door. Let’s ask for a love that wants to give gifts to God that come from way down inside of us. Third, see the chamber of her heart expressive in worship. She literally let her hair down. We say that someone for the idea of being honest, being yourself. She kissed Jesus’ feet. She wept. That’s expressive. Let me ask the guys this time. “Guys, do you want your gals cool, calm, and collected with respect to you all the time? Do you want her playing her cards close to the chest?” You don’t need to answer that one either. I think I know. You want a sense of really being loved and having a real person with you, not one who is aloof or putting on airs. When there is mind and emotions, not just voice but facial expressions, touch. David worshipped once before the ark … with exuberance. He danced. He did it in casual clothes. (1 Chron. 15:27ff) This woman is doing the same with tears and kisses. People looked askance at David for doing this. Stay dignified or “let’s all keep our self-respect and ego’s intact.” But this is a place for humility and authenticity. Decorum is appropriate but so is letting your hair down. By the way this made this woman, like David, subject to a critical eye. This time it was the critical eye of Simon. If you get into believing you are in the presence of God in worship, if you get into believing that he wants your devotion, if you get into giving it to him in wholehearted ways, it won’t surprise me if you’re going to find someone being a little critical. But guess what?? She wasn’t there, the woman wasn’t there, for Simon. She was there for Jesus. Find a way each week to be yourself in your heart before God, to surrender, to submit. Finally, see the chamber of her heart expectant for God. This is really the hardest for me to prove but I have hard time seeing this woman come into Jesus presence and not believe that she expected Jesus to notice her, to touch her back, to say something to her (all of which he indeed did). Would she really come thinking, “He’ll just keep on with his business with party and all”? No. Do you come to worship expectant that the living God is speaking? Someone once said that even a broken clock is right twice a day. So even if the church is off kilter, the service is off kilter, even in the most broken of services, there is something at least twice that can be for us. Or if I ask you to go over to my office and look around, you go in there one way. If I ask you to go over to my office and look around for the $100 bill I put in there for you, you go in there another way, don’t you? There is something for you with Jesus in the act and experience of worship. The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please him. Do you have faith that he wants to touch you, speak to you? The Bible says that we must believe that he rewards those who seek him. (Heb. 11:6) Do you remember an old TV commercial for Starkist tuna with Charlie the tuna with good taste. He was always trying to impress Starkist with his savoir faire and his sophistication. And they would say to him, “Sorry, Charlie, Starkist isn’t looking for tuna with good taste but for tuna that tastes good.” In terms of God and us, the worship that tastes good has to do with the heart – personal, thankful, awed, prepared, submitted, expressive, expectant. Let’s ask God to work in our hearts and receive his heart and to make our hearts great with worship. If you would like to talk with someone about this message or your spiritual life, or to have someone pray with you, the pastors and elders of the church would welcome your call. [email protected] www.welovefirst.org www.facebook.com/welovefirstsebastian What a Letter Can - Do Another Look at the Little Book
Pastor Jeff Wood The same passage of the Bible can be preached in different ways. Last week we took a little look at a little book and today we will take another look at the same little book finding another message from God therein. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit then, these words: Philemon Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, 2to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. 8Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul--an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus-- 10I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. 12I am sending him--who is my very heart--back to you. 13I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. 15Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good-- 16no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. 17So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back--not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. 22And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. 23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. 25The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth and from his fullness have we all received grace upon grace. I heard tell of a woman who was very wealthy and well-known in her community. She had commissioned a book to be written covering her ancestry. The author uncovered in his research some details that were not flattering and which she, of course, found distressing. One of her great grandfathers had been a convicted murderer. He was eventually executed by electrocution at the infamous Sing Sing prison. Hearing this she pleaded that this black spot in the ancestral tree not be included in the volume. But the author said its omission would be too conspicuous. “Write it, then, in a way that it doesn’t sound so bad.” That’s what she asked. Being the nice guy that he was, the final version came out this way: “One of her great grandfathers occupied the chair of applied electricity in one of America’s best known institutions. He was very much attached to his position and literally died in the harness.” Sometimes the truth hurts, doesn’t it? Sometimes we go to great lengths to hide it, don’t we? And there are different kinds of hiding. Part of my boyhood was spent on the island of Guam. It is out in the Pacific and one of the interesting things about many of the islands is that there are many vestiges of WWII – rusted tanks, grown over artillery guns, and dark caves (holes where un-captured, fugitive soldiers had hidden themselves). I remember learning about George Tweed who hid for two years plus while the Japanese occupied the island. But even more intriguing was, after returning stateside from Guam, learning that a Japanese soldier was discovered who had been hiding out on that island long, long after the war had ended. We lived there in the early 60’s so this meant that he had hidden for more than 20 years. He didn’t know the war was over. He thought that only this particular island had fallen and he didn’t want to surrender. He thought that boats with the loudspeakers, and jeeps with the loudspeakers, announcing the war to be over was just a ploy. So he hid and hid and hid -- Not, in this case, a hiding of a black mark on the family tree but a literal hiding of himself. Sometimes the hiding is more mental, psychological, social … something like shame. Once when I was little, maybe five or six years old, our family was traveling. My parents stopped to have dinner with some of their friends from some time before my sister and I had come along. In the play time before or after dinner, down in the basement with their kids, we found some matches. I, more than the others, got into playing with them. I lit them. I burned a little piece of paper. I tried a tiny tip of the curtain. I tried it again and suddenly the whole curtain seemed to be on fire. I tried to hit it and then within a moment or two one of the kids had run upstairs. Parents came downstairs. I remember them trying to knock this wall of curtain down. I remember the fire department arriving. I remember lots of smoke and a pretty messed up basement. But I mostly remember sitting in the front seat of my parent’s truck as they asked me, “What happened?” I was so afraid, with all the flashing lights and the firemen, with whatever the consequences might be that I just said, “I don’t know.” It was me. I knew. But I said, “I don’t know.” I even wanted to say, “It was me.” But I didn’t have the strength, I didn’t know how, so I said, “I don’t know.” Have you ever been there? Been in hiding, not admitting what you know because of your fear and shame? Hiding. Hiding. Maybe it’s why your last job ended. Maybe it is that, while we say on our resume we got that degree, actually we didn’t. Maybe it is something about your heart … its confusion, its hurt, … its waywardness. That’s what we try to keep out of everyone else’s view. What is striking in the Philemon letter we read is that Onesimus moves, we don’t know how fast or slow it was, from a hiding place in all its dimensions to an out in the open place. In fact, so open that he was then and is on display now through a public letter. How did that happen? Some of us have been hiding in different ways and moving from an embarrassed, crimson place to a humble, free place. From a half-life to a life is what we need. How does it happen? Another child related memory comes to mind. This time I’m not the child. I’m the parent. I don’t mean to embarrass any of the kids, so I’ll not say which one and I will say that what happened is, in my experience, a typical part of growing up. We get home from a trip to the store and I notice one of the kids slip away to his bedroom quickly. The door of their room is closed. When I knock and step in, that child is trying to put away an item that looked like something from the store we had just come from. Something we had not paid for. Something he had just taken and slipped into his pocket We got right into the car. We drove right back to the store. We walked right through those doors. We went right up to the clerk. We said, “We took this without paying for it and it was wrong.” In that case, unlike mine with the basement fire, there was no option to hide, no invisibility cloak, no hole to crawl into. Although there is a severe mercy in being forced into the open, this is not what happened for Onesimus. What happened for him? Jesus met him in the person of Paul the Apostle. Met him, looked him in the eye, through that eye loved him down into his heart, embraced him letting him know that a poorly written page in a chapter of his life, or even a poorly written chapter in the book of his life, didn’t mean that for him that there was not redemptive insight and material there, that there was a larger story to be written. He faced him, embraced him, stood beside him, and then before him and behind him. Then all of that interpersonal stuff got made into something very concrete, a letter. I have files at home that have letters – when the vacuum cleaner breaks I have a letter from the manufacturer that says they will repair it. I have a letter from the IRS that the tax information provided by the accountant is sufficient. I have a letter from this previous employer or that saying that I was a good worker. Sometimes it is good to have a letter, to have something in black and white, to have something that can pass before another’s eyes, to have something … that I just know is there in case I need it. Sometimes people have letters granting the holder safe passage or authority to do certain business or transactions. Onesimus had a letter. It was a letter that spoke for him. It meant that he had someone who pleaded his case for him, someone with authority. This letter further said literally that he had someone who would make restitution for the debts he had incurred, someone who loved him, someone who declared him to be his son, to be his name -- useful. He had someone who didn’t just spout all this into the air. He put all that on record, in a letter, in black and white, for the whole world to see. Sometimes people say I don’t want to put this in writing lest it end up in the wrong hands. Not this one – it’s in black and white. Hard copy. So Onesimus had something he could clutch as he moved over the open road back to his master’s house. He had something he could knock and leave on the master’s doorstep to read before he showed his face. He had something that was in the minutes and could be looked at years later. Yeah, I think the letter helped him come out of hiding. Men and women, what is in your hands when the Bible is in it? Jesus Christ has penned just such a letter for you. “Dear Father, I plead from a position of love between the two of us, for Jeff, Mary, Steve, … (you) … useless as a slave in selfishness and sin but now useful not merely as a servant but more so as a son, daughter. He’s now my brother. Do for him and more what you would do for me. Whatever he or she owes, I, says Jesus, (walking to the table, pointing to the cross) have paid and will pay.” You and I have in this book, a letter to clutch, to help, to show to ourselves when we tremble, to have face us, stand beside us, advance in front of us, and to show to others who are reserved toward us. We have this message from God … to us and for us. Use it to come out of hiding and to advance. It’s like a cookbook. You can read that all day long and starve. You have to do something with it. He gave us a letter. Hold it. Use it. I remember reading a newspaper correction long ago. You know how if the paper has made a mistake, they print a correction. This one read about some Mr. Smith running for congress, “Correction: Mr. Smith has 100% of his family’s support, not 10% as reported in last week’s paper.” Can you imagine?! You read an article of a man aspiring to public office and to the world it is announced that his family is 10% behind him? Do you see this table? Do you see this cross? Do you see this letter to Philemon … and in them know that you have something to hold on to that is Jesus’ letter for you … to God. It all means that he is 100% behind you. This word is full of grace and truth. If you are standing in grace, you can face the truth. Otherwise it can be, ‘You’ll know the truth and the truth will make you flee.’ But standing in grace, we can know it and it will make us free! Friends, the good, good news this morning is that you don’t have to hide. Come out from your running, your dark places, your shame. Don’t be afraid. You have a letter. You have a letter. It is this word of the Lord. If you would like to talk with someone about this message or your spiritual life, or to have someone pray with you, the pastors and elders of the church would welcome your call. [email protected] www.welovefirst.org www.facebook.com/welovefirstsebastian |
Pastor Jeff Wood has been a pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian since 2014.
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