How Do I Let Go?

 

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (Philippians 3:12-15 ESV).

 

Perhaps one of the most difficult questions we face in our lives is how we can “forget” those things that keep us from going forward in our growth in the grace of God. In one of his books, Max Lucado tells a story about the late champion boxer Muhammad Ali taking someone to his barn where he stored his trophies and awards. Standing in the doorway, he pointed to his many trophies and said, “It ain’t nothing.” He had come to the conclusion that when all is said and done, his accomplishments meant very little. Centuries earlier, the apostle Paul looked back on his life and on all the things he had been proud of, and he said, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss. I consider them rubbish.” Paul said this not because he had a debilitating disease like Muhammad Ali but because he had met the Lord Jesus. He was ready to let go of whatever was behind him so that he could serve the Lord and live by the power of the risen Savior.

 

The act of letting go has much more to do with going forward rather than “forgetting” the past. Even in the cases of deliberate and destructive pain inflicted on us through others, we must learn how to simply let go. There is no doubt that these things may have seemed critical at the time, however, continuing to dwell on them only keeps us from going forward. It is as if we get stuck. We become mired in the “slough of despondency” (John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress).

 

The Apostle Paul gives us a critical process to be able to move through the muddy ruts of the past. He says, “…but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers” (v. 13). Notice there are two principles here. First, he intentionally “presses on.” Even when you are bone tired and ready to quit, you mentally command yourself to take another step, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Second, he acknowledges our ability to do this because we belong to Jesus, “he has made us his own”. What we cannot do on our own, we can do with Him. That is how we let go, and go forward.

 

Why Me, Lord?

 

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:39-45 ESV).

 

The context of our reading today is the encounter Elizabeth had with Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was utterly amazed. She could hardly believe what was happening to her. Not only was she expecting a child in her old age, but she also had the awesome privilege of meeting the mother of the Lord Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, she exclaimed, “Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” As we continue our series looking at some of the most commonly asked questions concerning the Christian life, today we consider one of the most common, “Why me?” Usually we ask that question when something has gone wrong. However, our reading goes in the opposite direction. Elizabeth’s life had gone wonderfully right; however, she couldn’t understand why.

 

I’m sure all of us have asked this question at one time or another for a variety of reasons. Something unexpected happened in our lives, and we could not help asking, “Why me?” We tend to ask this question especially when things go wrong. Maybe we have lost someone we have loved. Perhaps we have had to deal with a physical disability, or we were diagnosed with a terrible illness. We may have lost our job, or our business may have failed, and the question was right there: Why me?

 

But there is a more important question. It is at the heart of Elizabeth’s declaration. It is at the heart of the Gospel. Why should we be blessed, even in the difficult experiences of life? Why should we have the privilege of getting to know the Savior? Why should we be so privileged that the Lord should come to earth for people like us, who did nothing to deserve his coming? Why would God pay such a great price to redeem us from our sin? We do well to ask, Why should we be so favored? Let us stand amazed that God should love us so much that he sent his only Son to bring us back to himself and give us eternal life. His love is truly inexplicable!

 

Happy Birthday, Kyle !

 

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psalm 139:13-17 ESV).

 

David is the author of our reading today. It is one of my most quoted passages in the Old Testament. It speaks directly to the incredible gift God has chosen in creating each of us uniquely designed for His purpose and our good. Since today is Kyle’s birthday. For those of you not familiar with my family, he is my oldest son.  As is my custom, I thought I’d write a few words about that day. By the way, the picture I’ve included is one taken in Tennessee. Kyle and I were fly fishing for rainbow trout. It was one of those picture perfect days, even though I was the only one of our group to catch a fish. On the way home he reminded me of a wise saying my Dad often used with me when I felt like the time was wasted because we didn’t catch anything. He said, “You know, I remember someone telling me when I was young that’s the reason they call it ‘fishin’ and not catchin’.” There were plenty of times I used that with him in our outings, which were numerous!

 

It always amazes me how often we feel disappointed that an experience didn’t turn out just the way we thought it should. Perhaps our expectations were not fully met, or we experienced less than we thought we wanted. Truthfully, on that day my only regret was that he didn’t catch his first Rainbow and I assumed he might have been disappointed. With him sharing playfully, though wisely, that old adage, I “caught” something much better than a fish. It was just another example of the incredible plan of God in all the little things of life with each of my sons.

 

Children are no mistake or accident. The day of their birth was long ago determined by God as the psalmist wrote (v.16). Children are a blessing or gift from God not unexpected and they should be given thanks for to God. In fact, I believe it is one of the greatest joys God could give to us. As you think of your children and/or grandchildren, please remember they are gifts of God. Even when the challenges seem insurmountable, God is developing great good in your life through them. Happy Birthday, Kyle… thanks for the great joy you bring to me every day!

 

What Happens When We Die?

 

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:25-27 ESV).

 

Having been a pastor and counselor for decades I have also been a part of many discussions surrounding the topic of death. I have often been asked “What happens when we die?” In fact, some of the time I have been confronted with such serious doubt about any life after death that I have often gone back to the Scripture in our reading today. The context is the tomb of Lazarus and the grief of his sisters as they ask Jesus why He wasn’t there to prevent their brother’s death. They believed Jesus had the power to heal; they simply struggled with the finality of death.

 

Several years ago I had the privilege of sharing this text at the memorial of my brother. To some people, the claim of Jesus about life after death might sound like nonsense. They might well ask, “How could any intelligent person think that Jesus’ claim here is true? When people die, they don’t go on living.” Their skepticism would make sense if it were just any of us making that claim. But the person speaking here is Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior. And he later backs up his claim by raising Martha’s dead brother back to life (cf. John 11:38-44). Then, after Jesus himself was crucified, died, and was buried, he showed his power over death by rising from the dead to prove that he is “the resurrection and the life.” (cf. John 19-20.)

 

Through his birth, death, and resurrection Jesus assures us that there is life after death. The grave is not the end for those who die. Death is a stepping stone into eternal life for everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior. The question Jesus asked Martha is a question that we have to answer as well. If we trust the reality of Jesus and His work on our behalf then answering the question of what happens when we die becomes relatively easy. It is a matter of your belief in the resurrection itself. That belief then becomes the cornerstone of faith in eternal life.

 

Where Is God When I Need Him?

 

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Psalm 139:7-12 ESV).

 

Through my five decades of pastoral ministry I have had several funerals of those who have taken their own life. I remember one in particular as the family, understandable devastated, asked many questions. The one most vivid in my memory was whether God with their daughter in the last moments of her life? Was she right with God when she died? She had been a Christian all her life. Was God’s hand still on her? David gives us a clear answer in our psalm today. People often ask, “Where is God during the darkest moments of our lives? Where is God when someone who loves the Lord reaches a point where it seems impossible to go on living?”

 

David gives an answer to that question. God is where we are, even in our darkest moments. If we have ever reached a point where we can’t find a trace of God, he is still there. And when we grope around in total darkness, even that darkness is not dark to God. God never leaves us even in our deepest hurts or in the darkest moments of our lives. The Lord Jesus comes into our darkness to assure us that he will never leave us or forsake us. And sometimes we can see God more clearly when we hurt the most. Carolyn Joyce Carty wrote a wonderful poem describing this truth, “Footprints in the Sand.” The story of the poem shows someone who dies and asks God where He was during the darkest times of trials and difficulty. God shows him his footprints in the sand of his journey. Noticing that there were only one set of footprints at those dark times there were even greater questions. Carty answers the doubt with:

 

"My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

 

The promise of Scripture is unfailing. God does not abandon us during any of the experiences of our lives. In fact, as I look back on some of those dark times in my own life, I now see clearly how it was then that God was most attentive and present. That is our God!

 

Do I Really Need God?

 

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live yon all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. (Acts 17:22-27 ESV).

 

Our question today is another one that is often asked in different ways. For some it is at the root of the declaration of the declaration that “God helps those who help themselves.” Or, it may even be an expression of the philosophy that “we must pull ourselves up by the bootstraps.” Some in our present culture see it even more differently. Recently I had a conversation with a millennial who did not really feel a need for God. He was well educated and had a good-paying job, so he figured, “Why bother with God?” More than 30 percent of the people in North America think the same way and claim to have no religion whatsoever. Their lives are full, and they believe there simply is no need for God, religion, or the church.

 

No need for God? According to the Bible, every human being needs God from the moment we are born until we die. We are dependent on God for every single breath we take and for every step we take. That’s what the apostle Paul said to his audience in the city of Athens, “God . . . gives everyone life and breath and everything else” (v. 25). There was no need for the many gods the Athenians had invented. The God of heaven and earth takes care of all of life for all of us.

 

Whatever we may think, you and I need God more than we will ever know for this life and for the life to come. Ask God today to open your eyes, and receive him as your Lord and Savior. Don’t care how strong or smart you are… bootstraps cannot be used to pull yourself up!

 

Is There Really a God?

 

Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,” calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. (Isaiah 46:8-11 ESV).

 

Today I will begin looking at some of the questions I have been posed with through the years along with the Scriptural answers that have given me a firm footing in answering each of them. The first of these is: “Is there really a God?” It has been asked many times in this way or another, but the premise is always the same. It is rooted in the doubt of a being somehow greater and better than man. I remember a conversation I had with a professor at a university in Texas where I was first stationed as a Student Minister. During that conversation he said, “No offense, but I think anyone who believes in God has a mental health problem. God has no place in a scientific institution such as a university.”

 

That professor is not alone. An article in a church magazine reported that a group of students who were studying theology at a German university were convinced that “neither God nor the church were of much relevance today.” Even though they were baptized members of Lutheran and Reformed churches, they felt that God had become irrelevant. Lots of others through the years have come to the same conclusion: If there is a God, he is far away and no longer matters.

 

About 2,700 years ago God’s people in Jerusalem and Judah felt the same way. Many of their people had been taken into exile, and it seemed that the Lord had abandoned them. But God told his prophet Isaiah to remind them that he was with them every step of the way. Regardless of what anyone might think, God is real. He is here, and he is at work in our world still today. Some 700 years after Isaiah spoke, God proved his presence through the birth of his Son, the Lord Jesus. He “moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message). Don’t think for a moment that God has become irrelevant. Our God is here! “Remember this and stand firm” (v. 8).