Redeemed: How I Love to Proclaim It

There is power in stories. There is great power in great stories. The greatest story every told is that of Jesus. It is the redeemption story. It is THE story of all-time. The story of God’s action, interaction, presence and relationship across all of history with people and creation. What is this story exactly? What is redemption and why should I be proclaiming it? Redemption is:

God’s work to set things right again—to reverse the fall and bring all things back into harmony with his will; to defeat sin and Satan and restore us back to full relationship with him.

It is a vast, historic, all-encompassing story spanning millennia involving known and unknown events and people in all corners of the globe. It is also a living story—playing out contemporarily in all manner of ways in all number of lives. At the center of the story is Jesus, of course. Without him there would be no redemption story at all. So—think about—from before creation and throughout all of what we know as the OT, the story of redemption is evident—God working thru people, places, nations to make his presence known, call people to Him, proclaim his desire for relationship, while foreshadowing the crescendo of the story—Jesus. Then comes Christ who personified the story; living out the very meaning of redemption; personally, demonstrating God’s desire for full, restored relationship with us while paying the price for redemption on the cross and empowering us to live it out through the resurrection.

Read Ephesians 1:3-11 for the apostle Paul’s divine summary of this story.

Then that actually happened as Acts and the New Testament epistles chronicle. Exciting! They were singing redemption’s sweet song as they went into all the world and shared the Good News of the redeemer—Jesus Christ. The grand story of redemption being actualized as people from all lands, all ethnicity and all tongues came to Christ and changed the world. This is the power found in redemption—to renew and bring freshness, healing and new life.

And God continues to act to this day–still working out this eternal story to its ultimate completion when Jesus returns and brings complete redemption to all creation. Yes, it is a huge story, but is also not—for it is also a personal story. We are quite familiar with individuals in the story—Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Ruth, Saul, Hannah, David, Solomon, Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Peter and Paul. God called and worked through them and untold others to move the redemption story along. We remain in it—involved in this continual movement. It is critical that we believe and realize this truth. What God started, what Jesus delivered, and what remains yet completed but promised—the story of the redemption of the world; God wants to be our personal story as well just like as with those before us. They are the collection of witnesses surrounding us and urging us to complete our own redemption story—Hebrews 12. Redemption is to be what defines us; what drives us; what determines every aspect of our life. Redemption is to be that transformative. God did not work through history and send his Son to die for IT NOT TO BE. So, as we proclaim redemption throughout this year. Here is what I hope and pray will happen;

*We will more fully realize the depth and width of God’s love for us and we will more greatly appreciate the lengths Gods went to bring redemption about.

*We will become more aware of the ongoing work of God in Christ as the redemption story continues to play out now around us and in creation. It is about more than me.

*We will more clearly and precisely see ourselves in this story and better understand exactly what that means; and then allow that to finally, completely define us—to become fully integrated into God’s redemption. For us to fully own his story. It is not just a history lesson!

*We will then more completely realize that this changes everything—perhaps most importantly that fully embracing the redeemed identity will reframe how we view ourselves, our purpose and mission; understanding we are only resident aliens here, that this world and all it values is not our home.

*We will then be more encouraged and ready go and proclaim it—to actually share God’s story of redemption thru our story—for there is power in this telling: the power to bring blessed redemption to others. And I mean really tell it; to allow the Holy Spirit to empower our witness to those around us.

*We will then be more able to live in a greater sense of anticipation of Christ’s return and the full redemption of all—to the degree that allows us to frame life and all its challenges as just light and momentary bumps in the eternal road knowing we will be redeemed from them all when Jesus returns.

Why is all of this so significant? Well, it is the eternal movement of God in the world and it is still ongoing. Seeing ourselves firmly within this story and understanding this not just to be God’s will, but the most significant way we can live our life is a game changer. And because it is largely missing among us. That is evident with churches dying and shrinking with what is left of us competing for the same crowd. It is realized in that most in the world remain unconvinced that God really matters beyond perhaps helping us get what we want to keep up our lifestyle.  Fewer and fewer seem to know or care that he actually is active among us—the living God continuing to accomplish his will in difference-making ways in the world. We, the church are not acting as if the story of redemption is the single greatest story of all. Therefore, it does seem like a dusty old history lesson, rather than a continual, living, story of life, renewal and power among us. Yes, we may acknowledge that God is still here, still offers personal salvation and stands by on call when we need him, but we like to write our own stories, thank you very much, and quite frankly resist full integration into his story. Andrew Root in his book, Churches and the Crisis of Decline offers his thoughts on this:

We live in a secular age because we can imagine and at times do live, as though there is no transcendent quality to life at all. Most of us in the West can live our lives as though there is no living God who enters into history and speaks to persons. Westerners hold onto the idea of God (most of us “believe” in God, at least in America) but few of us are sure we can encounter this God.

So, how about it church? Who is up for changing that—for singing redemption’s sweet song? Who is ready for some radical renewal? Who is in need of transformative restoration? Who is sick and tired of the same ole, same ole? Who would like to see God break out boldly into the world around us? It is all about redemption! Redemption of hearts and souls; redemption of broken relationships; redemption from sin; addiction; fear; loneliness; anger; lostness. This Is the story; this Is the song.

Give thanks to the Lord, for his is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. (Psalms 107:1-3)

The Wokeness of the Gospel

Theologian N.T. Wright has an enlightening statement about our current “woke” culture. He observed that it is trying to produce the gospel multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, socially just community only without the gospel. To me this is exactly it. It is not difficult to observe that some of the woke agenda has a kingdom of God element to it. Eradicate racism; sexism; poverty; in order to create a more just and equal community? Sure thing. Scripture has long been advocating for just that (Proverbs 31:8-9; Isaiah 1:17; Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 7:9-10; Matthew 7:12; James 1:27 to name just a few). But without the gospel (Christ) at the center, it has and always will fail. Too many self-serving agendas interfere; noble ideas become corrupted by power; injustice actually happens, incredibly enough, in the name of justice. We may be witnessing some of that even now. So, I believe, the answer is not going to be found in more laws or politicians or advocacy groups or God forbid, violence. (It certainly has not been found here so far—instead these only seems to produce more of it).

The answer, I believe, has and always will be Christ. Now, I realize to many this either sounds completely naïve or totally out of touch with any reality they have experienced with church and Christians. And I will admit that so often the church has failed to live up to our calling in this regard, but that has never been Christ’s fault. (Again, our own self-serving tendencies get in our way—no one is immune to that.)  Why Christ is the true answer is that his agenda is fully others-serving. It is fueled by a truly unconditional love that even has enough space to love (not eviscerate) enemies. It is an approach of respect not condescension. It turns the other cheek, not striking back harder and faster. Christ’s agenda is not to cancel anyone (even if there may be reasons), but to redeem (Bible word for reclaim, help, seek mutually beneficial solutions, etc.) everyone. The community he desires is the design of heaven. One in which all nations, tribes, peoples, languages come together in mutual respect adopting that agenda as the kingdom of God (Isaiah 2:2-4; Daniel 7:14; Micah 4:1-3; Revelation 5:9; 7:4).

The Apostle Paul writing to one of the very first churches, struggling to implement such a kingdom approach in the face of racism, sexism and injustice (slavery) informed them, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). This idea of oneness is essential to creating this kind of community (and honestly why churches have failed to consistently do so). Out of diversity, Christ calls us to unite. But how? How could first century Jews and non-Jews after centuries of hostility born out of vast cultural differences and embedded suspicion lay that aside and actually find oneness? Again, the answer was Christ. Admittedly this is not an easy answer because it involves surrendering and very few of us enjoy that. But Christ isn’t asking us to surrender our individuality or the rich diversity that formed us, as much as he is asking that we rearrange all of that in order to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). So, what we surrender is what hurts us most–like our prejudices, our pride, our anger, our bitterness, our self-serving agendas, our destructive behaviors, our haterd, our cynicism, our narcissism, etc. and replace that with his values of love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, selflessness, kindness, compassion, gentleness, goodness, joy, peacefulness and hopefulness. This does reshape and redefine, first exposing to us our own contributions to the problems, while then, offering us a way to emerge from them as a better person—because of Jesus. But never does Christ ask us to deny our heritage, our ethnicity, our culturally unique diversity. Rather that is part of the beauty of his community—we become one together within that diversity and even celebrate aspects of it, while we celebrate him as the reason why it can even happen. (Another early church struggled in this journey and again it was the Apostle Paul who wrote to encourage them in the pursuit, while recognizing the difficulties of merging cultures—see Romans 14, It is fascinating read outlining how unity in diversity can co-exist). This community can then serve as a witness to the world; a place where folks of all nations with diverse customs and backgrounds can be accepted; a place where people of all color and language can find common ground, mutual respect, and justice; all because we follow the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. It is a true alternative community devoted to each other, seeking to “honor one another above ourselves” (see Romans 12:10).

Significantly central to this happening is—it is not our own self-will or determination that will drive this (because as noted—this always goes sideways and not occasionally, but every time), but his will—and that is what makes all of the difference (Matthew 6:10). The tricky part is actually surrendering to it as we redefine our primary identity in Jesus. We constantly have to work at that—and it is the reason why this community will not be perfected and fully functioning until Christ’s returns and makes it so (Revelation 21:1-5), but in the interim we can try, can’t we? We can let Christ lead us to become more mature, better reflecting his will. We can strive for our churches to more fully embrace and model the biblical ideal of community. We can create welcoming places in the name of Jesus that offer a glimpse of what a true multi-racial, multi-cultural, socially just community feels like absent of political and other self-serving agendas. We can push back against the divisive, anger-inducing narratives currently driving the hatred and suspicion, with a message of acceptance and hope in Christ Jesus. Why not? What do we have to lose? What are we gaining by holding on to grievances; targeting others who do not look or think like us as enemies—weaponizing social media and other outlets to strike our blows? We are only doubling-down on our collective grief and failures. Instead, it is time for us to “speak a better word” (Hebrews 12:24) and double-down on Jesus. Unless I am misreading—it appears our culture is screaming out for much of what he stands for. They just do not know which way to look. How about truly surrendering our self-will to him for once and moving aside a bit to allow his light an opening to illuminate his Way? Wokeness could take on an entirely new kingdom meaning.

Death–I Understand It, But I Don’t

If the title may sound a bit confusing, there is a good reason. Often confusion is a consequence of death leaving us with more questions than answers. I have lived it and seen it frequently in others—even the most prepared and informed of others. Death is what it is—an enemy will all shall face.

And that part I do understand on one level. Death is a consequence of sin—the fall of man along with the brokenness of the world. This is how the Bible frames it in the creation narrative (Genesis 3:17-19). Since that fallen moment it has become part of the corrupted earth—an accepted but hardly welcomed part of life. Scripture plainly states that it is coming for everyone (Hebrews 9:27). When it comes it brings separation, heartbreak, and mourning—especially when unexpected. Death is part of Satan’s arsenal. It plays a major role in his desire to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). The wonderful heavenly news however, is that death does not have the final say. God has countered death with life. The empty tomb does not just provide the optics for this, but also the guarantee. Death will ultimately and completely be eradicated by Christ (1 Corinthians 15:26). This promise; this reality provides us hope and confidence that death does not have the final victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-56)—that in Christ Jesus it will not “sting” us in its forever form. Perhaps with a most mature understanding of this theology, we could even reach a point in which we consider death differently as it brings us one step closer to being with God (as the apostle Paul discussed in Philippians 1:21-23). Certainly, knowing all of this should lead to an embracing of the apostle John’s urging of remaining faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10). Yes, I do understand how the Bible presents death—the cause, the consequences, the remedy, the theology. From a “head” perspective I get it. It is just with the “heart” I struggle.

I struggle when children die; when young mothers are taken away from their children; when fathers leave far too soon; when murder invades lives and brings destruction far beyond just the act itself; when families are devastated by death. It all seems so unfair; so unjust; so uncalled for. I cry out—how long—to God (I am not the first: Psalm 13; Habakkuk 1:2; Revelation 6:10); how long until Jesus returns; completely defeats death; eliminating all injustice along with the pain that accompanies it?

These are the yearnings and questions of my heart and at times, they override the understanding in my head. So, I understand death, but then again, I do not. Unfortunately, this is the tension in which I will continue to live because I will continue to live—until death comes for me—in this broken-down world. Of course, Jesus understands that, having entered this brokenness with me (Hebrews 4:14-16). So all I can do on those occasions when no theology will sooth my pain is to cling to him; trust; not give up; and double down on the hope found in him. What other choice do I have? What other approach makes any sense? How else can I handle it? If I allow death to defeat me now, it will surely defeat me then.

I think perhaps all of this is what Paul had in mind as he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15: 58 to conclude some of his thoughts on this topic:

So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. (ERV)

“Never wasted”—above all I do not want the enemy to come only to realize that my life was wasted. This makes death all the more tragic. My head and my heart will likely continue to be in tension over death, but I want both to belong to Jesus even as I deal with the pain and the questions.

Lord come quickly.

Why Get Out of Bed?

Is it just me or is anyone else weary of the doom and gloom? Of course, the virus is a real thing—a threat that has done much damage and continues to challenge us all. And according to most news outlets it will never leave us, always plague us, forever change everything. It makes me nervously wonder, is there no small hint of light at the end of this tunnel? Not if you scan the headlines.

But not to worry, if it is not the virus coming for us, it will be the murder hornets—expect some to buzz menacingly by any minute in droves or whatever bunches of murder hornets are called. In case you escape that, I saw today that hurricanes are intensifying and once again we will face one of the worst-ever-in-all-of-history hurricane seasons.  If nature does not doom us, maybe it will be something horrible the president does or congress does (or do to each other) or the meat shortage or the lack of toilet paper. A good friend just wrote an article on why us preacher/pastor types are going to soon come crashing down due to COVID induced pressure.

As I process all of this, I quickly realize—I got no chance! Maybe I just need to pull myself away from binging Netflix, hop in my truck, grab my mask and hand sanitizer and drive off into the sunset (at least gas is cheap right now). I mean, why even get out of bed? It is like we all are having Alexander’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day—every day–without end.

As you may have gathered, I am not the most patient of people. And yes, I do realize my blessings—of health, of family, of home, of friends, of job. But honestly, the gloom, despair and agony (Sa-lute! If you get this reference) is quite enough, thank you.

I Need the Assembly

To top it off, we cannot yet gather for worship. Oh, how I miss the assembly! I will refrain from launching into a theological discourse on its design, significance and firm biblical foundation and just say—I want to hear my brother’s and sister’s voices in praise to God; I so desire the encouragement and strength that comes from being together; I miss the folks that sit near and far from me in the pews; I miss the energy that is generated from our gatherings. I need it. Livestreaming is good and all that, but it is a stream that is getting a tad shallow for me, right now. I keep praying that soon and very soon worship together can happen again.

I do not know when that may be; I know we must be safe and use caution; I realize all of that, but I still miss it. I long for the time when we can reassemble; not be afraid to embrace; to sing with all of our hearts; to be family again. But I keep hearing it may never again be the same. I so pray not. If not, I think I will move to Australia.

Think on These Things

Okay, maybe not. Instead I need to somehow counter the gloom and doom; to detach from whatever screen is numbing me with troublesome headlines and projections of forever depression, recession, oppression, repression, digression, etc. and find a balance—some good news for a change. Thankfully, I have some help here. I am thinking specifically of the apostle Paul’s statement in Philippians 4:8. Instead of fearing hornets and hurricanes, it would help if I dwelt on what is true, what is noble, and what is right and pure. Instead of binging some dystopian TV show, it would lift me to embrace what is lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Of course, all flow from the goodness of God—and that is a game-changer even in a pandemic. Maybe that is why Paul also says in this text to “Not be anxious about anything.” (But have you seen the latest numbers on the virus?) Instead, he continues, “but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (4:6). That is a whole lot of positive to think on. Thank you, Paul! Maybe, just maybe it will drive out the thoughts of hordes of hornets coming to get me. Maybe, just maybe the peace of God, which passes all understanding will define my days and not the doom and gloom.

Why get out of bed? There are all kinds of true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy reasons. I just have to clear my head and heart and remember them. Oh, I also have to remember that I probably won’t find them on the news or on most tik tok videos. I will find them, though, in the God of peace. Nothing can separate me from him, by the way, not even viruses, hornets, or hurricanes.

Soon and very soon Lord! I really do not want to move to Austrailia.

 

To the Preacher

In my preaching journey I have made numerous mistakes, but I have also learned a few things though along the way. Call it growth or survival, but I have managed by God’s generous grace to make it so far. I would encourage anyone who has the giftedness and passion to pursue a life of ministry. The church needs to continue to develop and produce solid preachers.

If preaching is your call; if serving God and his people through ministry is your passion–God bless you! We can use you, but please give all diligence to make sure your life and approach to preaching is healthy. Some of the best advice I ever received was simple and biblical–just continue to read the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) and allow the Holy Spirit to guide and speak to you through these letters. They contain sound, divine instruction for the preacher of God.

In addition here are a few things I have discovered as essential for healthy ministry. I have at times failed in all of these. That is one reason why I share–maybe you can avoid my mistakes:

• Preach Christ first and foremost. The Corinthian church had assorted and competing agendas at work within it. The apostle Paul’s solution was to focus primarily on the cross and simply “preach Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). We will never go wrong following that example. Lifting up Christ in our ministry and preaching will create the kind of atmosphere in which churches will be healthy, will grow, and will represent the kind of kingdom community God desires. Preachers should avoid the snares of other agendas–they can be divisive and counterproductive to the work of God and the church. We all need to make sure our preaching is anchored in Jesus as we speak truth in love.
• Don’t Bash the Church. All too often I hear a negative focus when it concerns the church–even from among the ranks of preachers. Sure we have all been there–our church is not where we think it should be; we are frustrated by lack of passion, growth and involvement; maybe the church has even hurt us, but bashing the Bride of Christ accomplishes nothing constructive. Certainly we are to–as Scripture teaches–reprove, rebuke, exhort, but nowhere on this list is to tear down and harm. Just because our church is not exactly what we want it to be, there is no reason to attack it and those in it. God sees his church–even with all of our faults–as radiant. So should we. I get that we all need to vent–preaching is fascinatingly frustrating, but guard against the kind of bitterness which can lead to tearing down instead of building up. God detests that (see Proverbs 6:16-19).
• Love the Brotherhood. This is a biblical mandate (1 Peter 2:17). It speaks of the broader love for God’s people everywhere–not just those in your church. Once I asked a brother preacher about another congregation in his city. He replied in what I considered to be a demeaning tone, “We are not like them.” I understood. His church had a more progressive outlook. He considered the other congregation too restrictive and old school, but aren’t we all saved by the grace of God? Shouldn’t we love the entire brotherhood of believers and lift up one another in Christ? Too often I sense a spirit of competition between churches and even between preachers. As Paul taught the Corinthians, we are all “of Christ” (See I Corinthians 3:23). We may not always agree on all things but in love we should do our best to accept each other in Jesus (Romans 15:7). This should be the kind of welcoming, healthy spirit we desire in our churches.
• Do not disqualify yourself (I Corinthians 9:27). Paul spoke in this text about personal integrity–about living the lifestyle to back up the calling. While we do not claim perfection, own up to mistakes, and rejoice in the grace of God, we as preachers must be careful to “watch our life and doctrine closely” (1 Timothy 4:16). All kinds of minefields exist to undermine our credibility as ministers of the gospel. From sexual sins to being irresponsible with words, money and time–we must be on guard. Lazy preparation and preaching is never a good look. We must be alert to allowing some unhealthy agenda to overtake us. It is true that on occasion we may be unfairly held to a higher standard than the rest of the church, but to a degree it does come with the calling. Perhaps this is why Scripture says it is not for everyone (James 3:1).
• Be Patient. One of the very most difficult challenges in ministry for me personally. I want it done yesterday, but the church simply does not operate like that–and usually for the best. Impatience in ministry can do damage to people and churches. So we have to learn how to operate in our church setting to implement ideas, build consensus, seek input and council, inform and share while bringing folks along with us. That takes work and time, of course, but it is well worth it. Typically the outcome is far better than imagined. Learn to be longsuffering and your ministry will be strengthened as a result.
• Don’t Grow Stagnant. Just like in other professions–there are peaks and valleys in preaching. Our challenge is to never tarry too long in the valley. We must strive to stay fresh in our spirit; in our preparation; and in our outlook. Make sure to make time to read, to consider the scholarship of others; to find places of encouragement. We cannot preach from an empty well.
• Be magnanimous (see Philippians 4:5)*. Ministry and conflict; ministry and disappointment; ministry and failure; ministry and hurt all do happen together. It is just a given that in ministry, you will take some lumps–sometimes fairly and sometimes not. All of us in ministry know preachers who have been unjustly treated and have a few stories of our own. However the natural way to react to these is not usually the best way. Rather we should learn to be magnanimous–to forgive and, at least from our perspective, do our best within those situations to be led by the spirit of Christ. It is always better to be generous with God’s grace than to be vindictive, return hurt for hurt or to allow bitterness to take root. Being magnanimous gives God the glory and defines our ministry as being led by him.

I love preaching and preachers! To us all I say–don’t lose heart while we do our best to “discharge all the duties” of our ministry.

I will conclude with a text from 1 Timothy that I referenced earlier. I think it is a fitting way to conclude:

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.  Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (4:15-16)

May God bless our ministry for him.

 

 

*Thanks to Cecil May III for helping me see this text in a better way.