March 25, 2015

Point Others Toward Jesus

 

"He must become greater; I must become less."

-- John 3:30

John the Baptist understood his role. He was to point others toward Jesus. Period. We're to do the same.

Several years ago a woman with flowing red hair joined our church. She came to us through a mandatory recovery program. We fell in love with her joy and the way the Spirit seemed to flow through her. She was so determined to make it this time. She wanted to remain a recovering addict rather than fall back into addiction like she'd done several times before.

We prayed for her and with her. We all wanted her to succeed so badly. Maybe she has. She graduated from the program and moved on to live with her son in another state. But I've always had this niggling doubt that began with the last Sunday she was with us.

I didn't realize at the time that I probably would never see her again. Her Sunday school teacher was out of town and that class was told to join other classes that day. I invited her to join ours. She couldn't. She was almost in panic mode. She was "loyal" to her teacher. She couldn't possibly attend another class, even for one day. I assured her -- repeatedly -- that it was okay.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that her allegiance, her grasp on recovery, was tied not to Jesus but to her teacher. That couldn't last, not just because she was leaving, but because other people can't save us, especially not from ourselves.

We want to save others. We do. And we want credit for it. We have the best of intentions. We want to be good friends, good caregivers, good people. But our goal should be to point others toward Jesus and we can't do that if we're taking credit for ourselves.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Do Good Despite Fatigue

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. -- Galatians 6:9

Fatigue slowed my steps and colored my words. I was overwhelmed by needs and was ready to just give up. Who could possibly do it all? And why should I? Others vowed they would help and, yet, where were they?

It was one of those times when I would have sat down and cried if I hadn’t been so tired. Know what I mean? I think most of us have seasons like that. We know they won’t last but that doesn’t make the journey any easier.

I’ve no one to blame but myself. It was my idea. Well, no, actually it wasn’t. It was God’s idea. And it’s a good one. This ministry aimed at helping those who are older or really sick was needed. People were falling through the cracks. It was becoming more a matter of who you knew as to whether you received help from your church family or not. And that is never a good thing.

It started slowly. We had a list of names and a few volunteers. Then a few more names and a few more volunteers. The needs were simple. Organize yard work. Send out cards. Host a small birthday party. Make a few phone calls.

And then they weren’t. Because people who are sick sometimes get sicker. And people who are older sometimes get less mobile. And word gets out that you’ll help, and you will. And then there are more needs than people and there you are, trying to juggle it all and knowing deep inside that whatever you do just isn’t enough.

That’s where I was at. I sat down with my pastor and told him someone else needs to take over. Someone who can devote far more time than me but someone who also has a heart for people in need. Because that’s what it’s all about. Helping people when they need it most.

But first you have to see the needs. It’s amazing to me that so many people simply don’t. One man is an almost full-time caregiver to a wife that is battling lung and brain cancer. The “almost” is because he has to continue working to provide insurance and support them both. And yet their Sunday school class didn’t consider the need for food deliveries. They were quick to help when I mentioned it, but they hadn’t thought of it before.

And then there’s the older gentleman lovingly caring for his wife as she slips further and further behind the curtain of Alzheimer’s. People had offered to sit with his wife but he’d always said no. “How do you know if people really mean it,” he asked me. So I gathered a list of names and phone numbers of people who really meant it and gave it to him. Something simple that will make all the difference in the world to him.

We are not to get tired of doing good. We are to cast our cares onto Jesus, knowing He is strong enough for both of us. But we are also meant to share the burdens and tragedies and trials of those around us. All of us. Love our neighbors. Do good where we can. Even when we’re tired and weary.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Get Off The Sidelines

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

-- Mark 8:34-35

What does Jesus look like to you? I’m not talking about physical looks, though that can be an interesting discussion. I’m referring to what you see Him saying and doing in the world we live in now.

Do you see Him feeding the hungry? Comforting the sick? Protecting the children? Defending the poor? Welcoming the sinners? Or do you only see Jesus on His throne, welcoming us all home to a glorious reunion?

The thing is you can’t have one picture of Jesus without the other. His death on the cross paid the price for our sins but it doesn’t excuse us from action when it comes to helping those Jesus holds near to His heart.

How do we do that? Sometimes we’re so busy looking at the big picture -- the mission trips abroad, the homeless shelter in the city, the food drive at church -- that we miss the smaller things that touch the lives of those around us.

People see Jesus when we show them what His love means. We can preach the words day after day but nothing speaks louder than a friendly hello, a kind word, a meal, a visit, a ride to the doctor’s office. That’s where faith turns into action and people see that Jesus is real, alive and active in our lives and theirs.

Pastor Rob spoke the other Sunday about victorious living, which is so critical to living that abundant life we all want. We want to believe that abundance means having more things, more trips, more money in the bank. But abundance comes when we have a purpose for living. That’s when we’re happiest, he said.

It’s when we come to understand that anything we share, we’ll regain. Refusing to reach out, to give, is refusing the power of Jesus in our own lives. We have to deny ourselves, our desires, our possessions, to gain true happiness. Because faith in things won’t last but faith in the actions Jesus inspires will.

When you surrender your life to God, He turns it into something beautiful, Pastor Rob said. And yet we hold back. We wait for someone else to step up, someone else to go first, someone else to make time. And all the while He is calling us to His side.

This morning I’ll be going to different Sunday school classes asking for volunteers to carry meals to a couple that faces unbelievable challenges because of her devastating illness. And I’ll ask for volunteers to pray for one teenager in our church each day. Simple things really. But I have to wonder how many people will make the effort, the commitment, to take action where they are simply because they can.

Jesus didn’t call us to sit on the sidelines. So what are we waiting for? The game is going strong but we need more team members to really light the way.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

People Need Your Time

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. -- James 4:17

Sometimes we know exactly what we’re supposed to do. And we don’t do it. We may feel a little guilty. We may lash out in justification. We may clam up and refuse to talk about it. But we know.

Today is the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Do you remember the horror of that day? Do you remember how people clung to each other, vowing to remember the lessons and always put people first?

Time dulls our pain, especially for those not directly impacted by loss that day. We forget that putting people first means giving of our time when we’d much rather just give a little money.

Lately I’ve been recruiting volunteers to help people in need. I’m really not asking for much, just an hour or so every four to six weeks. Most folks spend more time than that in front of the television every night. It’s amazing how many people squirm, look away, and just don’t step up.

I realize that actively helping others just isn’t something others feel comfortable doing. I do understand that. I also know that few things are as rewarding as reaching out to people in need.

Many months ago I started a group at our church designed to help those we tend to forget. We don’t mean to. It’s just that when people can no longer attend church, either because they’re too sick, too feeble, or they are caregivers, then we don’t remember them. It’s usually a slow thing that happens. Nothing intentional at all. But it hurts just the same.

People associate the church -- God’s people and NOT the building -- as representing Jesus here on earth. As it should be because He does live in the hearts of all Christians. So when we neglect people in their darkest hours they feel like God has forgotten them. He hasn’t. We have. But when you’re hurting it’s really hard to distinguish between the two.

We know what we’re supposed to do. We know. We just don’t want to. And that is a sin.

How many of you just got huffy with me? How many just stiffened into your defensive posture? Well, I’m talking to you.

Life’s moments are measured by the lives that we touch. Not the big things, though those can be important to. But in the small things we do for each other: the casserole taken to a sick neighbor, the ride to a doctor’s appointment for an elderly friend, a couple of hours of childcare for a mother in desperate need of some alone time.

What is God calling you to do today? What are you waiting for?

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Storm Relief Reveals God’s Love

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

-- Matthew 5:14-16

It was a hauntingly familiar scene. Power truck after power truck after power truck lined Interstate 10 headed west toward the areas suffering from Hurricane and Tropical Storm Isaac. It is a measure of storm damage and human spirit.

These workers will spend numerous days, and possibly weeks, away from home and families to help people they don’t know. They won’t be alone. The Red Cross and other relief organizations were geared up as well. It’s the sort of thing you probably don’t appreciate until you’ve been in need.

Of course, some people just don’t understand. One man in Tallahassee was totally unconcerned about those without power or those facing flood waters. “As long as I’ve got power, I don’t care about anybody else,” the man said. I could only shake my head in disbelief. Where is his heart? Not with Jesus apparently.

Jesus told us to let our light shine out into the world. We’re to represent Him as we walk this earth. I know without a doubt that Jesus is with those who are hurting right now. He is there in the darkness. He is present in the flood waters. He is comforter, defender, strength and compassion. And so much more.

And we must do the same. Those people who go out into the storm give of themselves. Even those who get paid. Because it’s no vacation to work seven days a week for way too many hours. You push yourself forward because people need what you can do.

Memories of Ivan and Katrina will always be with me. I helped move Penske trucks and vans for weeks. We were so tired some days that all we could do was get a hotel room and sleep until we were refreshed enough to go again. And we had to go again. Because people were depending on us.

We moved trucks so that relief organizations could have a way to get supplies to hard-hit areas. We transported vans from a railway station in Mississippi to a staging area in Mobile so that the Red Cross could reach rural areas that were desperate for food and supplies. And we comforted people trying to salvage what they could, packing it away in a truck for a trip to drier ground.

We did what we could, knowing it wasn’t enough. When people are hurting and you can’t make it right for them, it’s never enough. But I’d like to think they knew people cared and that they found comfort in that.

Just as I pray people find comfort in the sight of utility workers headed toward a storm area. Or the church volunteers grilling hamburgers and hotdogs for folks who have no way to cook their own. Or the animal relief workers who remember pet food and chew sticks. Or the laundry trucks. Or, well, you understand. We remind people that God cares every time we do what we can, where we can, for people who are hurting. It’s really that simple.

Monday, August 27, 2012

God Uses Our Weaknesses

These (trials) have come so that your faith -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. -- 1 Peter 1:7

God uses ordinary people. That was the message from Pastor Rob yesterday. God uses people like you and me. Well, there goes that excuse that you’re not smart enough, talented enough, gifted enough, or whatever your excuse usually is for not stepping up and out into God’s will.

See, God doesn’t want to use us for our strengths. That would be too easy and, frankly, it wouldn’t accomplish a great deal. People can’t relate to your strengths. They use the same excuses that you and I use: he could accomplish that because he was smart, talented, gifted, etc.

No, God wants to use our weaknesses. That’s where we can really help people. Think about it. When your teenager is breaking your heart, are you more likely to listen to someone who’s been there or to someone who has never had children? You listen to people who have been where you are right now.

I know. It’s hard to do that. Our instinct is to close up and not let others into those vulnerable places of hurt and failure. We want to gloss over the details and make it sound better, easier, than the experience really was.

And we want to hide our role in whatever happened. It’s just so much easier to blame others for our own hang-ups and mistakes than it is to take responsibility for our part, our choices, in whatever happened. But that doesn’t help anyone -- including us.

So how do you help others with your past experiences? Pastor Rob gave three ways. First, be humble. Nobody wants to listen to a know it all. And everybody knows that none of us really have it all together. We may be -- hopefully -- working on it. But we don’t have all the answers.

Secondly, it’s important to be real, transparent and vulnerable. I know. We already admitted that we’d rather avoid all three of those. But when you share your story -- the real, unedited story -- you end up not only helping others but healing yourself.

The last way to help others is not to lecture. Don’t tell others what or how to do whatever it is you’ve decided they need to do. Nobody likes that. All you can do is share your own experience and let others decide how best to live their own lives.

God wants us to use our weaknesses, our failures, our hurts, habits and hang-ups, to help others. Are you willing? He’s calling you today. What are you waiting for?

Monday, May 7, 2012

Crazy Excited To Serve Jesus

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. -- Proverbs 31:8-9

She was “crazy excited,” she said. She and her husband, along with their two children, were headed to a large city for a new assignment. They were going to be working with the homeless.

Wow, I thought. That would be an awesome ministry. Reaching out to help people who truly are in need. Challenging, of course. But also so very rewarding.

This young woman has spent the last several years serving as a youth pastor. Her husband was a pastor at a church an hour away. Now they’ll be serving together and reaching a needy population. I sense a church mission trip heading her way.

Missions, you see, aren’t just for other people. And they don’t always involve going to another country, living in rustic accommodations and communicating with people in a different language. Oh, those types of missions take place and are worthy and wonderful.

But each of us have mission opportunities right where we are. I spoke to this delightful young woman at the site of a yard sale to benefit missions. The youth were helping set up. I was delivering donations. All proceeds go to missions projects. Everyone who donated items, volunteered their time or purchased items (and maybe gave a little extra) helped missions.

So do those who collect food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and other items for the elderly in our area. Or those who visit the lonely. Or the sick. Or the shut-ins. Those who collect school supplies for children. Those who prepare meals for the unemployed. I could go on and on.

Recently one church began another church -- in a park. Because some people won’t come into a building and sometimes they’re the ones who need Jesus the most. Of course, we all do, but you know what I mean. When you are lost, hurting, addicted, without hope. Jesus is your hope. But first you need someone to tell you that.

Jesus called us all to reach out to those around us. He did. Jesus always made time for those who came to Him for help or those He happened upon who needed help. That’s what missions are all about. Reaching beyond ourselves and touching the lives of others.

So give yourself a little “crazy excitement” today and give something of yourself to someone else who needs a large dose of Jesus in his or her life.