Shoes and Good News

This past week has been a unique one for me in ministry.  In addition to the regular activities of an ordinary week, of which preparing to preach on Sunday morning is probably the most important and most time-consuming, I also preached three funerals.  Two of those funerals were in our church building and one was a graveside service, and in all three I was at the cemetery for the burial. Three different groups of families and friends, grieving losses that were completely unexpected, plus one group of people gathered together for worship on Sunday. The one thing that joined them all, from my point-of-view, was that they heard the good news of Jesus proclaimed to them.

The picture is one of my "work shoes" this past week. From left to right: Tuesday, preaching from John 20:30-31; Friday, from Luke 15:1-7; Saturday, from Psalm 121; and this morning, from John 1:1-5. The Gospel presentation from those sermons was stronger in some than in others, again, from my viewpoint, but it was there nonetheless. The essence was that we are sinners in the presence of a holy God, and the only hope we have for rescue is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Romans 10:14-15 Paul writes:

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

My present calling is to be a pastor on a reservation, and so in Paul's words I have been sent here in order that people may understand the good news of Jesus and call on Him for salvation. Those are the shoes that cover my feet as I do this work.

But the greater truth is that all people who have faith in Jesus should grow as followers of Him, preparing for that moment when in the telling of their faith story they become the means that God uses to open someone's eyes to see the glory of their Savior as they come to faith in Him.

I showed my shoes because, frankly, no one wants to see a picture of my feet. But those shoes cover one pair of feet that are carrying the good news of Jesus to a world that desperately needs it. And by God's grace, be it in your home, your neighborhood, or across the globe, your feet can do the same. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

...and Thankful

Thursday night, a bit after nine, and the house is quiet.  Everyone else is in bed and probably asleep.  It reminds me of last Thursday.  I wasn't at home then but about 130 miles to the west, spending the night in a community center in Beclabito, NM.  The five of us staying at the center had run either a marathon or a half marathon that day, with another one coming up the next morning, and so Thursday night we were focused on getting rested and ready for Friday morning.  We were taking part in something called the Four Corners Quad Keyah and planned on running our same event on Saturday and Sunday as well.  For me it meant four marathons in four days.  From Thursday morning until I headed for home Sunday afternoon my plan was to either be running or resting.

After finishing the fourth marathon on Sunday I stopped to get something to eat on the drive home.  I was at Lotaburger, awaiting a bacon green chile cheeseburger and posting about the event to a running group on Facebook.  One person expressed her congratulations and asked how I was feeling.  My reply was "Tired. Hungry. Happy."

Tired was to be expected, given all the running of the past four days.  My plan to rest included having one more day of vacation and running much shorter distances for a few days.  And I would seriously address the hunger issue as soon as my burger was ready. 

And happy?  The long weekend of running had ended much better than I had expected it to.  I ran very well each day.  I ran a bit faster than last year in conditions that were a bit worse.  All-in-all it was a good end to the competitive aspect of running in 2017.

And while I easily felt those three things in response to the question, over the drive home and in the following days I realized that I had left something out.  I also felt thankful.

I was thankful for my wife, who managed a complicated family schedule while I was gone.  I was also thankful for her encouragement of my running over the year, and in particular the last two months when I focused on this event.  I was thankful that my training had gone well and that this year has been relatively injury-free.  I was thankful that many years ago I came into a sport in which I was physically and temperamentally well-suited for. 

I could list a few other things related to last weekend that I am thankful for, but the point I want to make is that thankfulness requires an object.  In some of the things above the object is quite clear.  I am thankful for my wife's encouragement and I can tell her directly.  But other things, say being injury-free?  Do I thank my leg?  Do I thank my brain for advising to back off when my hamstring acted up?  Ultimately, the act of giving thanks extends outside of human existence, to God.

In February I am going to begin preaching through the Gospel of John, who begins with these words:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

In the poetic language of John's prologue, the Word is another way of saying Jesus.  Traced back far enough, everything we can see, know or experience comes from and through Jesus. 

It is easy, and nearly second nature to see that the big things come  from Him and to give Him thanks, things such as salvation, my wife and my family.  I'm still working on the lesser things, the things I am tempted to think come from my own efforts and perseverance, such as last week's running event, or the heart that continues to beat steadily whether I'm running or blogging.

All things are made through Him, and all thanks and praise is due Him. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Birthdays

Birthdays have been on my mind lately.  Looking back, we made a trip back to Milwaukee at the end of November to join my mother, family and friends in the celebration of her 80^th birthday.   And looking forward, our youngest child will be eight at the end of the month.  In a fashion similar to my mom, our daughter is busily making plans for a celebration.  And being a pastor, and this being the month of December, Christmas is on my mind, the day that Christians celebrate as the birthday of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Birthdays have been on my mind, and none with more importance than the birthday of Jesus.  

Our first Christmas card came in the mail today, and inside it was this verse, John 1:3.

“All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”  

John packs an awful lot into that single verse.  He tells us that in the entire world, in the entire universe, and for all of the universe’s history, there isn’t anything that came into existence apart from Jesus.  Everything that is, and everything that ever was, is and was because of Jesus.  

My daughter, my mom, the people of the church I serve, the countryside where we live, the stars I see in the night sky.  All things, in all times.  Because of Jesus.  Absolutely no exceptions.

And at Christmas we remember that Jesus, who brings all things into existence, entered our very world in a body, a body that was fully human in every way.  We could say that every person is unique, but Jesus, as a living, breathing human, was unique in a way that was distinct from every other person.  For is it was only Jesus who came into the world to be the Redeemer of the world.  It was only Jesus who could take the sin that separated individual people from God, and through His death restore sinners to wholeness with God.  

The life of Jesus is the only life that truly makes a difference in the world.  Great people come and go.  They do great things, sometimes things that are still felt for centuries after they lived.  But only one person lived on earth in such a way as to make an eternal difference.    

Unlike my mother, or my daughter, who have certificates stating the precise day of their birth, we don’t know the actual day or year of Jesus birth.  So we pick the 25^th of December, and on that day we remember and celebrate, with joy and thanksgiving, the one birthday in all of human history that truly has significance.  

May it be your joy to know Jesus as your Savior and celebrate His birth this year.