God’s love

Seeing Clearly

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  John 12:20-21 ESV

Recently I realized that I needed an updated eye exam and glasses. Road signs were appearing slightly blurred and reading had become a real chore. Finally, I made an appointment with a local vision center and a couple of weeks later happily walked out with a brand-new set of glasses. What a delight it was to easily read again, and the road signs now stood out crystal clear. When I read today’s passage, I think that maybe the disciples needed something like my eye exam and new glasses. Greeks had come looking for Jesus and those kinds of people were not at all who they were comfortable with. That morning as they had followed Jesus along the road, they had heard shouts of praise from the crowd and walked over palm branches that had been laid in the path. Then, while their heads were spinning from the pace of events, some Greeks came looking for Jesus. “Greeks!” Philip thought. “Oh no! We had to deal with those Pharisees, then the Samaritans, but now Greeks!” Philip, being unsure of what to do decided what many of us do in pressure situations: He passed the buck!

“Hey Andrew, there are some Greeks here who want to see Jesus. What do you think?” he asked. Andrew being no more certain of what to do than Philip, passed the buck again: this time to Jesus, “Jesus! You won’t believe it. Now there are even Greeks who want to see you. What are we supposed to do with Greeks?”

Jesus’ answer must have puzzled the disciples. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25

Today is no different. All around us are people we are not comfortable with. They come from faraway places, don’t speak our language and don’t even like our food, but they want to see Jesus. Passing the buck is not an option. Instead, Jesus said that we must be like a seed planted in a garden that dies before it grows. His plan is for us to surrender our plans and goals to Him, before He shows Himself to others through us. Then, when we turn in our old set of glasses and put on His Gospel lenses, we will begin to see people as Jesus does, and as a bonus we will see Jesus for ourselves more clearly than ever!

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I’m Rita! Get off My Land!

/ pastorpete51 / 13 Comments 
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:19 KJV

“Private property”, read the sign by the edge of the pond. “No hunting fishing or trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!” But just feet away from that sign, a stranger sat, fishing pole in hand on the little dock. As the farmer’s wife approached, she smiled and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I always fish here.” The man responded with a shrug. “I have permission from, Rita”

“Really?” she responded with a quiet chuckle. “Well, I’m Rita. I don’t know you – so get off my land!” This true story which happened just up the road from us, reminded me of today’s verse. Just like that guy, most of us often explain our faith by saying something about God’s love. “Jesus loves you.” Or “God is love.” These phrases roll easily off our lips, but in our daily lives sometimes we are a lot like that guy fishing in someone else’s pond. We know about God’s love, have heard there are some amazing benefits in it, but we have never actually met the owner! Paul tells us that the love of Christ is something that is far beyond our understanding, but the good news is that God wants us to experience it. He has seen us fishing in His pond, has come down to talk with us, but unlike our neighbor, He didn’t come to throw us off His land. God came to earth as a man, so that we could meet Him, and so that His love could be lived out in ordinary circumstances of our lives. He is not only here to throw us off the property, but rather to give us a fishing license if we will put our faith in Him. We might be trespassing on His property, but He isn’t looking to prosecute us to the fullest extent of the law. Instead, God is fishing for our hearts, and He invites us to come to know Him today!

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What Does Jesus Mean by Love?

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. John 15:14-15 ESV

The phrase, “I love you Lord” often used in the lyrics of our worship songs and hymns, though not unknown, was one rarely used by the disciples of Jesus, or even of the Lord Himself. Peter, Matthew or James didn’t get up in the morning saying things like, “Good morning, Jesus. I love you!” Most of the time the disciples were too busy asking questions about what they were to do next or arguing about who was the most important among them. Jesus Himself also spent most of His teaching talking about the Kingdom of God and showing love rather than just talking about it. That all sounds foreign to us who have spent a generation being told we must tell the people around us that we love them on a daily basis. Now, of course, the Bible also tells us that, “God is love” (See 1 John 4:8). At issue is not whether we really love God or not, but on what that love ought to look (and sound) like. Jesus tells us in today’s verse that love, doesn’t just mean saying, “I love you, I love you, I love you.” Love means laying down our lives for Jesus, and for each other, just as He gave His life for us. On the cross as God was revealing the deepest meaning of love through Christ, He didn’t once say, “I love you.” Instead, Jesus promised eternal life to a thief, offered forgiveness to his killers and asked His disciple John to take care of His mother. The lyrics of this week’s hymn do start out with “My Jesus I love Thee” but they also go much deeper into the what and why of that love. In his sermon this Sunday our pastor mentioned that we often gloss over the commands of Jesus and that we forget that He commanded many things. (He counted 38 commands of Christ). The kind of love that mattered to our salvation was a dying love, that chose the nails, the crown of thorns and the cross over comfort, freedom and popularity. The words that we sing about loving Jesus, loving God and thanking Him for Heaven are all great, but they must be coupled with a love that is too deep for words. The love of God is a message that can only be written with the ink of our actions. So, as John tells us in his letter, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree
I love Thee for wearing
The thorns on Thy brow
William Featherstone 1864