HCLM BLOG

We talked about Peter this morning.
He was sort of the de facto leader of Jesus’ inner circle.
His story is encouraging for me…

a fisherman who will try almost anything, Peter left his job to follow Jesus. There were no obvious guarantees that would pan out, so that was probably a pretty big decision. Then he was always the one who would answer questions and found the nerve to walk on water. All in all I get the feeling he was a cool guy.

but his story really gets interesting toward the end of the Gospel story. Just after Jesus is arrested and taken to a trial, Peter is recorded as denying to a girl first and then a crowd that he even knew Jesus. He was either embarrassed of Jesus’ arrest, or afraid they would arrest him too or both. The guy who would try anything totally let Jesus down.

but the same thing that makes the story interesting is the thing that makes it encouraging because just after the resurrection Peter has the courage to preach. Not just a nice little sermon, he stand in front of thousands of Jewish believers at the temple in Jerusalem and announces to them that they killed the savior of the world. Wow. from afraid/embarrassed  in front of one girl to indicting a whole crowd of thousands.

I read that has the change the resurrection of Jesus can work in somebody.
Today, it’s encouraging to know the resurrection might work that sort of change in me.

Sunday we talked about
Jesus giving us the authority to forgive folks of their sins.
Not just big holy absolutions, forgiving can be simple:

“You know, you don’t have to let that define you.”
“Remember you don’t have to feel guilty anymore.”
“You don’t have to keep making that same decision.”

I’ve been thinking about that, and this one story came to mind.
Jesus forgave this guy his sins and the people were offended because only God could forgive sins and to presume to know God’s mind or speak for him was not cool.

So there are several reasons “theologically” why we are able to speak out what belongs solely in the perogitive of God but, the point for today is this: God trusts you.
He trusts you enough to lend weight and authority to the words you speak.
Jesus told his followers: whatever you forgive on earth it will be forgiven in heaven, and whatever you do not forgive will not be forgiven.

As I drove home yesterday I thought man, we are kind of a big deal.
Our words carry the weight of heaven!
Think about that as you sit at your desk and eat your lunch and watch t.v. today
You are an ambassador of the Kingdom of God that’s kind of a big deal, and your words carry weight.
So you have to make a decision…what will you say?

this morning,
this sentence came out of my mouth:
no emotion is wrong.
the more I think on that the more committed to it I get.
no emotion is wrong.

I am thinking about that famous list describing the life we have access to through Jesus. It starts with emotions: love, joy, peace. Then I remember that the one who lived and died for me came through every emotion: he scooped up little kids, he wept at death, he cried in stress, he acted in anger, he was moved by love, he spoke in frustration…

All of that comes because he was so present in each of his moments. He was with people, and felt as they did.
The more people I know, and the more I learn to be with them in life, the more emotions I feel.
This week just randomly ended up super-emotional: deaths, births, jobs, stresses, fears. But the cumulative affect of that is not draining, it makes me feel more alive.

So, what am I saying?
I’m saying we were meant to invest in people and projects and to feel everything that comes along with it. Good and Bad.
That’s where life happens.

the other day I shared some words that came to mind in the midst of prayer.
the words were super-encouraging at the time but looking back I kind of wondered why.
they sort of just said, suck it up and do it.

I was mentioning that to Stephan.
I said, “it was super encouraging but I don’t know why? why is suck it up and do it encouraging to me?”
He came back right on point. He said, “Cause God is calling out what’s in you, it like ‘pick up you mat and walk’”

He was talking about this story.

Jesus looks down at a paralyzed man and tells him, “Quit making excuses. Get up and walk.”
One cool thing about Jesus is that he’s not an overbearing leader.
I mean, he doesn’t do everything for folks.
Jesus will give you everything you need, then tell you to get up and do it.

He knew he’d given that paralyzed man what he needed to walk.
and Stephan was reminding me that Jesus had given me what I needed to do the work in front of me.
the “suck it up and do it” talk was encouraging because it meant, God knew I had what it takes.
hmm…

What can you suck it up and do?

(We lifted this post from Pastor Ben's DowntownCredo.com blog, cuz we're tight like that.)

So in college I read this sociology book. It was somewhat long and complex but one thing it said was that they tried capitalism in Europe, before America was discovered, and it didn’t really catch on. Something like, people weren’t incentivized by more money. I mean they couldn’t get them to work longer by paying them based on what they produced. The guys on the farms would work just long enough to get what they needed than go home early.

Did you hear that? They weren’t interested in making more money, “Just enough to pay my bills, then I’ll go home and enjoy what I have. Thanks.” What!?

I remembered that when I saw an author on the news this morning talking about his new book: Happy. Pretty ridiculous title if you ask me. But the guy had a phd. so I listened. He had decided that true happiness took three things: pleasure, meaningfulness and…(I must have stopped listening after meaningfulness because I can’t remember the third thing). He said happiness is deep. Pleasure by itself is easy to get, but also easy to lose. It needs to be attached to something larger and more meaningful. Maybe it’s not hard to guess, I like that idea.

It left me wondering about when we became incentivized by money. That sociology book from college had an answer, but I’m guessing the answer is less important than what we do now. We’ve got to discover how to connect pleasure to meaningfulness in life. I know people who have: a friend who sells insurance doesn’t do it to pursue the momentary pleasure of making more money, instead he knows he’s helping people prepare for the future and protect what they have. His job becomes fulfilling.

It’s got me thinking this morning about what in my life is a grasping for momentary pleasure, and what is building for lasting happiness.

-Pastor Ben

This morning I did that thing where you’re thinking, “I should call that person” then you’re like, “Shoot, I’ll just call them right now.” So I did. I called a friend of mine from school.

He lives in Wisconsin (I don’t know why. I told him it was cold and flat, but people don’t listen to me). They live in a house they bought almost two years ago. He said that would be the longest they’ve lived in the same place in almost 10 years. He was marveling and the relative permanence of his life.

Megan and I had a similar experience recently. I mean we’ve lived places for two years, but whenever we moved we would save the boxes. We knew we’d be moving again and didn’t want to have to look for boxes. For six years, three states, and six moves we’ve carried these same boxes. Six weeks ago, as we packed up our house in Sanford, we realized this is the last time for these disintegrating cardboard containers. As we unpacked in Orlando, each one was stacked in the carport, and then out to the trash. It was a cathartic experience. We got to throw out the boxes. 

As I said that, “we threw out the boxes” he chimed in, “hey I still have boxes stacked in the garage…I should throw out the boxes.”

It was exciting to get to throw out the boxes, but we are realizing the reality now of our relative permanence. It means committing yourself to a place, investing in people and engaging in their lives, not just your own.

I wonder if you’ve ever thrown out the boxes. I mean committed yourself to a place. Put forth the energy and emotion it takes to make some roots. If Jesus is a role model for you, then making roots will include serving the town you live in and the people you share life with. It would mean connecting meaningfully with other followers and loving your neighbors. It takes work but hey, we’re not going anywhere we might as well throw out the boxes.

Chris and I have been talking about how much he's enjoying leading children's worship. He has some good thoughts one why he likes it, and it's affected how he thinks about service. It's changed from a task to a joy. Rather than paraphrase, I thought I'd give you him in his own words.

I had a long conversation with a Lake Mary Police officer today.

1. I'm working on a bible study that goes with psalm 37:4. This is cool_God will give you the desires of your heart. As we learn to live like Jesus we find we have every thing we want. Scripture doesn't tell us to squash our desire, just to wait on the Lord to give it...I'm waiting for the fall weather. What are you waiting for?

I've been reading Wesley the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before bed. Some nights he's more into it than others. Last night we got to a part where the Lion and the oldest boy are standing at an overlook and they can see much of the land down to the ocean on the horizon. C.S. Lewis is a good descriptive writer and he describes how beautiful the land is as the sun sets the clouds and rolling hills change colors. Then the Lion (a God figure in this children's story) tells the oldest boy that he is going to be king of all he can see, and that just on the horizon is an ancient throne on which he'll sit. It's the position he was born for and it has been waiting for him. It sounded pretty adventurous for a kids story.