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The Indescribable Gift - Dec 7, 2008 by Pastor Lance
The Report of Jesus Arrival - November 30, 2008 by Pastor Lance
Strong Foundations - November 16, 2008 by Pastor Lance
Jesus Feeds The Five Thousand - November 9, 2008 by Pastor Lance
By Pastor Lance
A father delivered a speech.
My son, Shay, cannot learn or understand things as other children do.
Shay and I walked past a park, where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball.
Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?"
I knew most boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but I also understood if shay were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked for guidance, then said, we're losing by 6 & we're in the 8th inning.
I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."
In the bottom of the 8th inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by 3.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield.
No hits came his way, but he was obviously ecstatic to be in the game and on the
field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, 2 out, bases loaded, potential winning run on base & Shay is to be up next. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.
Everyone knew a hit was all but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how
to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped to the plate, the pitcher moved in to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the grounder and could have easily thrown him out at first.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball, beyond the reach of the 1st baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to 1st! Run to 1st!" Never had Shay ever made it to 1st base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled .
Everyone yelled, "Run to 2nd, run to 2nd!"
By the time Shay rounded first base, the right fieder had the ball .
He understood the pitcher's intentions and threw the ball over the 3rd-baseman's head.
Shay ran to 2nd as the runners ahead of him circled toward home.
Shay reached 2nd base, the opposing shortstop, turned him the direction of 3rd base, & shouted, "Run to 3rd!" As Shay rounded 3rd, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay, run home!"
Shay ran home, & was cheered as the hero who won the game for his team .
That day, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, those boys
helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world. I take that a step further, I beleive those boys followed a prescription for worship.
We see it in the life of the ultimate worshipper David the song writer of the bible.
David, like those boys celebrated another in worship , considered others better than himself in worship, became undignigifed in worship, his own agenda did not matter as he became humiliated to exalt another in worship.
Clearly we see it as we come to 2 Sam 6:16-22. (Read it)
In vs 21 David is getting reamed out for celebrating with all his might before the Lord.
I love the old song, when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus will sing and shout the victory”.
No doubt that will be a day of celebration, but the sad part is many live it as tho
that it won't be until we get to heaven.
David didn't wait, he celebrated in the here and now-he had the best of times, & the worst of times, yet he celebrated the Lord.
Heb 12:1-2 says Jesus too faced it all, the best and the worst of times but for the joy set
before him endured the cross, enduring its shame.
He celebrated in the here and now.
As Phil 4:4 says rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice, there will be times we are undone, before the Lord, but in spite of it worship rejoicing in the Lord, before the Lord.
For it's like the story of the wealthy man who collected art, from Picasso to Raphael.
Then his son went to war and died in battle while rescuing another soldier.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door.
A young man stood there and said, Sir, I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life.
He saved many lives that day, and was carrying me to safety when he was killed.
He often talked about you, and your love for art, I'm not a great artist, but here.
The father took the package, it was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man.
He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man eventually died & there was to be a great auction of his art.
On the platform sat the painting of the son.
The auctioneer pounded his gavel, we'll start the bidding with this picture of the son.
People shouted, We want to see the famous paintings. we didn't come to see that, We came for Van goghs, Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!"
But the auctioneer persisted. "Who will start the bidding? The son! Who'll take the son?"
Finally, a voice from the very back of the room .
It was the gardener of the father who'd died, I'll give $10, being poor, it was all he could afford.
"We have $10, who will bid $20?"
"Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters."
"$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.
They wanted the worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!"
A man in the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection!"
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I'm sorry, the auction is over."
When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a stipulation in the will .
I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned.
Whoever bought that painting of the son gets everything!"
Much like the auctioneer, God's message today is: whoever takes the Son gets everything.
We have that to celebrate Eph 3:14-21(read)
David worshipped with all his might, he understood he had God and in God he had it all, and in that, in spite of all the world handed him, he celebrated in worship in the here and now.
Beyond that look at vs 18-19(read)
In the name of the Lord almighty thru his worship others were pulled into worship.
He blessed the people in the name of the Lord almighty as he worshipped.
We are called to Worship personally but there is a corporate mandate in worship whereby we are led into worship of God with each other by and thru each other as well.
Anne lamott shares, Ken Nelson is dying of aids, disintegrating before our very eyes.
He came a year ago with a Jewish woman who always comes but she doesn't believe in JC.
Shortly after Ken w/ aids started coming, his partner died of the disease.
Ken told us then Jesus slid into the hole that the loss had left and has been there ever since. Ken has a totally lopsided face ravaged and emaciated but when he smiles he is radiant.
...He says that he would gladly pay any price for what he has now, which is Jesus and us.
There's a woman named Ranola who's been standoffish toward Ken.
She has always looked at him with confusion, when she looks at him at all.
She was raised that his way of life, that he is an abomination, it's hard to break thru.
I think she and a few other women at church are a little afraid of catching the disease.
But Kenny has come to church almost every week for the last eyar & won almost everyone over.
He finally missed a couple of sundays when he got too weak and then a month ago he was back, weighing almost no pounds, his face even more lopsided, as if he'd had a stroke. Still he talks joyously of his life, his decline, of grace, of how safe and happy he feels these days.
This Sunday, we sang Jacob's ladder which goes every rung higher higher,
while ironically Kenny couldn't even stand up.
But he sang away sitting down, with the hymnal in his lap.
And then we were to sing his eye is on the sparrow.
The whole congregation had risen-only Ken remained seated, holding his hymnal in his lap
as we began to sing why shouldn't I feel discouraged, why do the shadows fall?
Ranola watched Ken skeptically then her face began to melt and contort like his( it reminds me when I watch nascar) she went to his side, bent down, lifted up this white rag doll. She held him next to her, draped over against her like a child while they sang and it pierced me”.
Like David she pulled another and myself another into worship as she
celebrated the life of Jesus in Jesus thru Jesus for Jesus, beholding Jesus.
Eph 5:21 says," SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER OUT OF REVERENCE FOR CHRIST.
As we become undone before the Lrod in worship, as we talked @ last week, understanding he is the king of kings and the lord of lords-holy, to be revered, we also need to let go of ourselves in worship to lead others into worship. .
As Phil 2:3&4 say,"DO NOTHING OUT OF SELFISH AMBITION OR VAIN CONCEIT BUT IN HUMILITY CONSIDER OTHERS BETTER THAN YOURELVES .
OUR ATTITUDE SHOULD BE THE SAME AS THAT OF CHRIST JESUS". That is worship.
Which leads to the truth that David celebrated God and pulled others into worship, but he was also like the lady I just mentioned - unafraid to be humiliated in the process.
To be undignified(story of college student who came in shabby and knewlt down before the pulpit crosslegged-elder with cane/ oh no)
David describes worship in vs 22 as being humiliated in his own eyes.
He took off his royal robe & stooped to the level of a commoner he was not afraid of what people might think or that he might be disregraded because he no longer was in the position of authority.
His wife got all ticked at him because he had abased himself.
And essentially what he says is quit taking yourself so seriusouly and God not seriosuly enough.
Often we take ourselves too seriosuly and we do not take God seriously enough.
He wasn't a king before the LORD his God… he was a servant. THAT'S what disturbed Michal.
David had debased himself – stepped down from his regal position to embrace a
lesser position in the sight of Israel, and that offended her.
I love what it says in act 2:41,” the aposltes left the sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been
counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name .
They had worshipped because they had been humiliated for the name of Jesus.
Until we are in that place before the Lord, humiliated before the Lord, we sin in
Worship- prov 21:4 haughty eyes and a proud heart... are sin.
Let me read from ezek 28, it says talking of the devil himself,
“you were ithe model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden the garden of God every precios stone was your covering the sardius, topaz and daimond, beryl onyx and jasper sapphire turquoise and emerald with gold, the workmanship of your timbrels and pipes and this also refers back to ezk 26:13 songs and harps was prepared for you on the day you were created .
That is saying satan himself was created as beauty and music in himself. It goes on, you were the anointed cherub who covers, the angel at the mercy seat, on the holy mountain of God, the one endorsed to enter the holy of holies, the chief worship leader.
You were perfect in your ways but vs 17 your heart was lifted up, your eyes became
haughty you got proud, you were not in a humble state or humiliated state befoe the lord.
Perhaps now we see why David says if you think it was worng for me to shed my royal robe, my dingnity, let me tell you something I will be humiliated in my own eyes, in fact vs 22 I will become even more undignifed than this, ..
Ps 10:4 “in pride the wicked does not seek him in all his thoughts there is no room for God”.
When I lived in Banff often you'd see guys climbing the mountains but the higher on the
mtn the smaller they look, the higher we get on God , the smaller we become.
David ran in the streets without his robe, dancing before God but what concerned his wife was that it was before the people, she was embaressed.
We too may be embaressed to come to an altar, lift our hands, cry out amen, say praise God, sing loudly, cry a tear, prostrate ourselves, whatever, below our dignity perhaps but that is worship.
David the ultiamte worshipper of God said I will become even more undignified.
It is not coincidence as Matt Redman says that hallal the word we get hallelujah
from means to be clamoroursly foolish or mad before the Lord....
Kristy Overton says, it's time to expand our def'n of undignified.
We say it's about being so driven to worship God that we lose sight of what men think.
It certainly is that, but being undignified is about regularly making God-
centered, self-humbling choices in every aspect of our lives.
When people ask what I do, they are hoping to hear something that justifies 8 yrs of undergraduate and graduate education...
They want to hear… a 5-year plan that includes a mortgage (in the nice part of town) .
Instead, I work a volunteer job, I earn a living. Starbucks is always hiring. I'm OK.
Now that is undignified, I know because of the uncomfortable silence that follows.
I have disappointed them and they have no ready polite response.
They wonder why I am settling for a small life when I could really make something
of myself; I wonder if they are living for something greater.
When you dedicate 2 years of your life to overseas missions, that is undignified.
Having to ask everyone you know for money so that you can—that's undignified.
When you pass up a promotion to spend more time at church—that is undignified.
When you are the only virgin in the room, and everyone knows it—that is undignified. When you are forced to answer questions with “God will provide”—that is undignified. When your primary job is a slave of Jesus,” a slave life is unselfish, unglamorous and uncertain. A slave's time and energy is spent doing what benefits the master with no regard for his needs.
Worst of all, a slave is never off-duty, it defines and consumes one's life-that's undignified
Let us pray!
