Matthew 13:45-46

On an episode of the TV show The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon discovers that Penny has gotten him a Christmas present. Angered, he reminds Penny that the "foundation of gift giving is reciprocity" and that she hasn't given him a gift, she's given him "an obligation." He says that he now has to go out and purchase for her " gift commensurate value and representing the same perceived level of friendship" as that represented by the gift she's given him.

His solution is to purchase three gift baskets (of various sizes) of bath products. His plan is to see what her gift to him is, excuse himself from the room, give her the appropriate gift basket, and return the other two baskets to the store. What happens, though, is that Penny has gotten Sheldon a napkin that Leonard Nimoy has used and autographed. Sheldon notes that he now not only has Nimoy's signature, he has his DNA.

After excusing himself, Sheldon returns with all three gift baskets, barely able to carry the weight. "I know, I know," he wails. "It's not enough!"

And that's the problem, isn't it? We don't know how to react when we get really good gifts. When the gift is that good, no response is good enough. Certainly a plain "thank you" won't cut it. There is no bath product cornucopia that can balance the scales when Leonard Nimoy's DNA is on the other side, and there doesn't seem to be an adequate response when Jesus' death for our sins holds that place, either.

Many of us Christians spend our lives trying to reciprocate for Jesus' gift to adequately say thank you. But if we turn a big enough gift into an obligation, we are crushed by it.

Let's acknowledge from the beginning, then, that this is a gift that tips the scales forever. Let's treat the gift like a child would, with excitement and joy, and go play, remembering that even our most heartfelt gratitude is not commensurate with His life-giving gift - liberating us from the impossible burden of repayment.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

Psalm 40:1-2

Psalm 40 was made popular by King David long before it was made popular by U2. "I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry". This is the first step in a beautiful, poetic, and short description of the story of God's action in human life. This is the trademark of human life - waiting and crying. That might sound dark to some, but to those who have lived through it, who are familiar with grief, struggle, and tribulation, the psalmist has connected to our very core with his first line.

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry." The psalmist suggests a God who hears our cries and then springs into action. It's much more than a sympathetic ear: He stoops to us.

As is so often the case, however, God goes above and beyond. He doesn't merely stopp to hear our cries; He rescues us from our despair.

"He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God" (vv. 2-3). Here, the psalmist is describing the profound result of the human interaction with God. As always, just as it is God who stoops to those of us who cry, God is again the actor here. He drew me up...He set my feet...He made my steps...He put a new song in my mouth. Our action is to wait and to cry. God's action is to stoop down and rescue. We go from existing in the pit of destruction and the mud of the swamp, to having our feet set on a rock, our footsteps firm, and with a new song on our lips.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

Galatians 1:3

In his Commentary on Galatians, Martin Luther makes a beautiful observation in response to Paul's letter-opening prayer, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (v.3). Luther says that Paul chose those words carefully, and that those "two words (grace and peace) contain all that belong to Christianity." He says that "grace forgives sin, and peace makes the conscience quiet."

Despite our efforts to achieve peace through a host of other methods - sound financial planning, righteous behavior, whatever - Luther contends that Paul's claim is that true peace can only through grace. He says elsewhere that our "quest for glory can never be satisfied. It must be extinguished." In other words, there is no plane to which you could ascend at which you couldn't imagine being more peaceful. The grass is always greener, and all that.

The fact is that, because of Christ's saving work, we actually have been given peace through grace. Luther goes on to say that although the words are simple, "during temptation, to be convinced in our hearts that we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God by grace alone is the hardest thing." And this is true to human Christian experience, right? When faced with a situation, to accept that our standing with God is secure even if we make the wrong choice is next to impossible. This is why our consciences are so often troubled. We just flat out can't really believe that God will be graceful to us, and we therefore cannot have peace. 

This is why it is important for Paul to begin his letter by wishing the Galatians grace and peace through God and Jesus Christ. This is why it's important for all of us to hear it every week, every day, every minute.

Today, let us begin with grace and peace. Peace is the thing that, left to our own devices, we would spend all of today seeking. Instead, let us remember that, in Christ, true peace is already ours, through grace.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

Luke 13:6-9

What should a farmer do with a fig tree that doesn't bear figs? Well, he should cut it down, right? That ground can be used for some better use, some plant that will actually bear fruit. When Jesus tells the parable of the barren fig tree, though, the tree has an advocate. A vinedresser speaks up for the tree and offers to personally care for it for a year. He tells the owner of the vineyard that if there are still no figs next year, he will cut down the tree.

Don't you get the feeling that the vinedresser knows better? He knows that with some love and attention, that the tree is going to bear fruit. Some people see only the law in this little parable: if you don't bear fruit, you risk being thrown out of the garden. Have you ever felt this way? That God is the owner of the vineyard and He comes around every day to inspect the fruit that you are - or aren't - producing? Are you terrified that, one day, you'll be found lacking and cast out of the garden? These are very common sentiments. It's important to note, though, that this isn't what happens in the story.

In the story, the vinedresser intercedes for the barren fig trees. Our fears that our fruit will be insufficient are well founded. But we can cast our hope on the vinedresser, Jesus Christ. He steps in and takes personal responsibility for us. Whatever fruit we bear is, according to Paul in Galatians 5:22-23, the "fruit of the Spirit," which he contrasts with the barrenness we bring to the table.

Today, remember that presence of fruit in your life is not your doing and that you, therefore, cannot take credit for it. But it's also true that the absence of fruit in your life is not something that can separate you from God's love.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

Micah 6:7-8

How do we please God? According to the prophet Micah, the answer is actually simple: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.

Micah cut through all of the God-pleasing practices that were going on at the time and gets right down to the heart of the matter: You want to know how to please God? Don't give Him the usual sacrifices: rams, oil, firstborn children, or even your own body. You really want to please God? Merely act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.

Years later, it'll be said in a different way: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). Different words, same message: pleasing God is about these simple things: act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God (v.8). Simple, right? Of course, God has spent the years between Adam and Eve and John the Baptist being displeased with His chosen people. They rarely do what He wants. They always complain. They have not acted justly. They have not loved mercy. They have not walked humbly with their God.

Apparently, being told how to please God doesn't make us any more able to do it. And guess what? We proudly continue our ancestors' tradition. Act justly? Love mercy? Walk humbly with our God? This life we're living, if we're honest, is far from the perfection that God requires to be fully pleased.

Many Christians believe that the good news is that Jesus enables them to please God. And He does. But the real good news: Jesus perfectly pleased God for us. God did not tell Jesus, "You are My Son, the Beloved; You will give these others the ability to please Me." No. He said, "You are My Son. With You I am well pleased." For those who are united to Christ and clothed in His perfect robe of righteousness, God is pleased with you.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Job 33:28

The Wall Street Journal ran a piece in the wake of Lance Armstrong's confession to using performance-enhancing drugs called "Behind Lance Armstrong's Decision to Talk." which describes a meeting between Armstrong and Travis Tygart, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the man who finally caught up with Armstrong's deception. In this meeting, Armstrong pointed to himself and said, "You don't hold the keys to my redemption. There's one person who holds the keys to my redemption, and that's me." The fascinating thing about this quote isn't the brazenness, it's the common nature of the refrain.

Everyone thinks that their redemption is up to them. Except, maybe, for Travis Tygart. Upon hearing Armstrong's claim, Tygart allegedly responded. "That's (expletive)." Tygart is right: the idea that we hold the keys to our own redemption is total (expletive).

That Armstrong might believe that baring his soul (or, at least, the contents of his medicine cabinet) to Oprah would lead to his redemption is, at worst, cynical in the extreme and, at best, evidence of a woefully weak definition of redemption.

When Christians talk about redemption, we don't refer to a return to a prior state of good standing. Some do, actually, but such thinking, as Gerhard Forde points out in his book On Being a Theologian of the Cross, hinges on the unbiblical notion of a "fall." We imagine that we were once at a certain place in our relationship with God, we messed that up, and Jesus gave us the ability to get back. That is, according to Forde, a theology that "uses" Jesus and the cross to "get" us something, rather than one that sees Jesus and the cross as the end of us, and our resurrection. The truth is so much better. In our redemption - in real redemption - we are saved to a state higher than we ever had before: we are regarded as one with Christ, as God's own Son.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 

John 3:16

While the gospel is very big and very multifaceted, some believers tend to make it a sort of catch-all word for anything that has to do with God. The most common way is in the context of the phrase "living out the gospel." What people generally mean by this is "doing good things for other people." So the gospel must be translated, in this instance, to "good things for others." This is a gross misunderstanding of what the gospel is.

First, gospel is a word that comes from an old English translation of the Greek word euangelion, which means "good news." More specifically, the gospel is an announcement. But it has to be a good announcement. The announcement that you must "love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength" is news, but it's not particularly good if you're a human being like me. Historically, Christians have defined the gospel as the announcement that Jesus has died to save sinners. So the phrase "living out the gospel" makes no sense when the gospel is understood in this way: an announcement of good news.

If you watch newscasts, you know you can't "live out" the news. You can react to it, certainly, and knowledge of it may well influence the things you do. The gospel is the same way. It will, no doubt, impact your life. But that impact is not the gospel. It can't be. It's the impact of the gospel. And it should be noted that the gospel itself does not demand a certain response. It makes no demands at all. Remember, it is an announcement. Hearers of the gospel, from the apostle Paul to the atheist Richard Dawkins, have recommended responses, but again, these responses are not the gospel.

The gospel is that Jesus has died to save sinners like me, and like you.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,