The Christian Life Marathon

I have been thinking a lot about the Boston Marathon this week, for obvious reasons.

And it struck me how it is so much like our Christian life in the world today.

Life is never a short sprint, it is a long-distance grind, with hills that must be climbed and curves that must be negotiated...

...and, every now and then, a bomb blast explodes abruptly in our midst and throws everything into chaos around us.

Our Christian Life Marathon also has a starting line, a finish line, and a Fellow Runner who matches our pace, step-by-step through the whole course.

Interestingly, the writer of Hebrews chose the analogy of a race to illustrate these similarities in his own way...

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...Let us fix our eyes on Jesus...Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."  (Hebrews 12:1-3 excerpts, NIV)

The runners in the Boston Marathon didn't carry anything with them that would "hinder" them in any way...

...they dressed lightly
...they ate lightly
...they wore lightweight shoes

They wanted to run as far and as fast as they could so they could run well.

In our Christian Life Marathon, we need to strip away everything that "hinders" us too, so we can run well.

That means we must get rid of all of those things that weigh us down during our Christian run...

...guilt (God not only forgives, He forgets)

...perfectionism (you don't have to be perfect for God to accept and love you, Jesus was perfect for you already)

...anger (which hardens your heart not only towards the object of your anger, but towards God as well)

...worry (which crowds out God from your life)

The passage from Hebrews also says we must throw off the "sin that entagles."  Failing to do so is like trying to run the Boston Maraton as a "three-legged race" or a "sack race," which, of course, is quite impossible. 

If you tried it you would be constantly getting entangled, losing your balance, and falling.

No one ran the Boston Marthon that way, and neither should you run your Christian Marathon like that either.

You need to throw off sin that entangles you by taking it to God in confession...seeking His forgiveness...and working to "sin no more."

Hebrews also reminds us that the Christian Marathon, like the Boston Marathon, takes perseverance. 

Hard work.  Determination to succeed.  Dedication to the cause.  An ability to overcome hardships and setbacks victoriously.

The kind of "perseverance" talked about in Hebrews is the kind that keeps you moving forward with hope...with expectation...that you WILL MAKE IT to the finish line.  That you will, eventually, be able to raise your arms above your head and say, "I made it!"

At this year's Boston Marathon, runners and spectators were forced to endure the "opposition of sinful men."  The result was harm, and hurt, and death.

Jesus had to endure the same when He ran His own Christian Marathon here on earth.

And there may be times when you will need to endure it too.  Times when the crises and serious problems in your life are like bombs blasting away at your faith and knocking you off course.

But you CAN do it.  You can overcome.  You can get back on course.

Because, as a Christian, you have a power that is greater than your own.  Someone who has run the same race you are running, and did it perfectly.  He is your Example, and He can help you.

The secret is to keep your eyes on Jesus.

When you do, you can persevere without growing weary or losing heart.

Those runners and spectators in Boston have not grown weary or lost heart.  As a matter of fact, they have come up with a new slogan:  "Boston Strong"

As a Christian, you need to be "Jesus Strong."

For you, Jesus is the "starting line" of your Christian Life Marathon...He runs with you step-for-step all along the course of your life...and He stands at the "finish line," where He will celebrate with you as you raise your arms over your head someday...

...because you have run well.

And you have run into His outstretched arms.

National Anthem as a Hymn

In a time such as this, our National Anthem sounds more like a hymn to me.

See what I mean by clicking on the link below...from the first sporting event in Boston after the bombing, a Bruins game.

http://youtu.be/lbHMRpdk3_4

Boston strong is USA strong!

Boston, 4/15

I feel like I have been punched in the gut.

Punched by a bad guy who was hiding around a corner in a dark alley.

Punched when I least expected it.  I never saw it coming.  And it put me down for the count...

...all because of what happened in Boston yesterday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. 

I find myself wishing it was all just a bad dream...bombs going off in the midst of a happy throng of people who were there to cheer on friends and family members running in the race.

Innocent bystanders.

Hurt, maimed, killed.  On a beautiful day.  A day that held such promise for so many. 

That is, until the awful explosion rocked the ground in Boston, and shattered windows for miles around, shattering lives at the same time.

Immediately my mind flashed back to another beautiful day in another major U.S. city...that city and date were New York, 9/11.

Now, we add another city and date to that infamous list...Boston, 4/15.

Right now, we ask the same questions we asked back then...

Who?
Why?
How?

And...What kind of person could do such a thing?

I don't have an answer for that one.

What happened is so beyond the pale of reason that, even if law enforement officials eventually identify a perpetrator and can offer some type of motivation, however mislead and off-the-wall, it will still stretch our ability to understand even a particle of it.

In the end, it goes beyond human explanation and understanding.

It is better dealt with on a spritual level, I think.

On a spiritual level, in view of this tragedy, and linked in our minds with 9/11, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Colorado, Columbine, and even going all the way back to Oklahoma City, we have to admit that evil exists in this world simply for evil's sake.

We must admit that Satan works in and among people to leave a trail of destruction in his wake, and in the process, creates a path to doubt about God's role in these tragedies.

Doubt about His ability to stop or change these attacks before they happen.

Doubt about Who is really in control, and how much control He really has.

As Christians, we cannot allow Satan to win this battle for our minds and spirits.  We cannot allow even these most horrible events to shake our faith in a good God who wants only good for His children.

Instead, we need to stay strong in Him.

We need to have confidence that, even what Satan means for evil, God can turn into good.

It happened on the cross.

And it will happen again as the smoke clears in Boston.

There will be stories of life-saving miracles that took place yesterday, even as the ground still shook.

There will be stories of amazing recoveries from devastating injuries.

There will be stories of support and strength given to those who lost a loved one in these blasts.

There will be heroes identified who ran into the face of danger and death to help others.

And for those of us who are believers, there will be a day when nothing like this can ever happen again...

...a day when Jesus reigns during an eternal Kingdom, when there will be no more tears, no more sickness or hurt, no more evil, no more Satan.

Only love and kindness and goodness and joy and peace.

In that assurance, we can always find our victory.

As I wrote on a facebook post yesterday...

Time to grieve again.
Time to be angry, again.
Time to seek answers, again.
Time to pray for the victims, again.
Time to hope that it just won't happen again, again.

When Christ comes again, it will never happen again.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Amen.

I Wish I Had Said That!

I am so inspired sometimes when I read well-known Christian authors' books or iconic Christian preachers' sermons.  The thoughts they had!  The words they used!  The concepts they communicated!

When that happens, I usually say to myself, "I wish I had said that!"

One example is the excerpt below from preacher and author Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest) which has such wonderful insights about prayer...

I wish I had said that:

"The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer.  It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial -- that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray.  But Isaiah implied...that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.

Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other.  Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying.  Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work.  Are we worshiping God or disputing with Him when we say, 'But God, I just don't see how you are going to do this?'  This is a sure sign we are not worshiping.

When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic.  We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do.  We don't worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ.  And if we are hard toward God, we become hard toward other people.

Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray?  Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?

...Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him.  Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work -- work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls.  Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever."

So, prayer is not just giving God our list of needs each day.  Instead, it should be an act of worship, where we remember how amazing He is, give Him the glory for everything, praise Him for answered prayer, and SEEK HIS WILL for everything else.

Amen to that!

Pain, Thirst, and Lazarus

I had to go to the hospital emergency room yesterday because of an awful pain in my lower back, side and abodomen.

It was the kind of pain that takes over your whole body and mind.

In other words, it was the kind of pain that made it impossible to think about anything else other than how much pain I was in...

...and made me act in ways that were uncharacteristic.

Like beg my wife to make the doctors give me something for the pain.

Like beg the nurse to make the doctors give me something for the pain.

Like beg the doctors to PLEASE give me something for the pain.

You know you are not yourself when two different nurses in the emergency room ask you to "please be quiet."

Later, I tried to explain to them that, as a preacher, I am a verbal person and so I verbalize everything, even my pain!

The other problem I had to deal with was a thirst unlike any thirst I had ever known before.  Maybe it was the stress...maybe it was the pain...maybe it was the physical problem I was experiencing.  Maybe it was a combination of "all of the above."

I don't know.

I only know that I was in excruciating pain, and I was excruciatingly thirsty.

Here's the rub...the doctors and nurses would not allow me anything to drink...at all.  They needed to run certain tests on me that required I not drink.  There was also the possibility that I might have needed surgery, and I couldn't drink beforehand.

So, what does a person do when they feel like they are dying of thirst, but no one will allow them to have a drink?

They try to make a deal.

At least, that is what I did.

I knew my wife had a bottle of water in her purse.  I tried every trick I knew to convince her to give me a drink.

I told her my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth.

I told her I would do anything she wanted me to do around the house.

I told her I would love her more than ever.

I told her I couldn't swallow.

I told her I was dying.

It all fell on a deaf ear.

She was having nothing to do with it.  And I was getting no water from her.

Basically, I was desperate.  I just wanted some relief...any kind of relief...from my pain and my thirst.

And it made me think about a story in the Bible.  The story of a rich man, and a poor man named Lazarus.

Lazarus was a beggar who "longed to eat what fell from the rich man's table."  The rich man "was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day."

One day, both of them died.

The rich man went to hell and Lazarus went to heaven.

Here is how the scene is described in Luke, chapter 16...

"In hell, where he was in torment, (the rich man) looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So (the rich man) called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in the water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'"

Let me tell you, after my experience in the ER last night, I can definitely relate to the rich man in hell.

His unrelenting agony and thirst perfectly describe the way I felt.

But, in reality, what I experienced was only a trifle compared to what people in hell actually go through there.  Their pain is much greater than mine.  Their thirst is much greater than mine.

After last night, I can hardly get my head around that thought.  To think that anyone's pain and thirst could be worse than I knew...

...not just for a few hours like me, but for eternity.  It is just too much for me to handle.

In my case, I had compassionate doctors and nurses trying to help me, and a loving wife.

People in hell have Satan.

Enough said.

It boggles my mind.

And it convinces me that I want NOTHING TO DO WITH HELL!

Praise the Lord that I get to go where Lazarus went when I die.  I get to be with Abraham too.  All  because I have been forgiven by Jesus, my Savior, who died for me.

Will you be there too?

By the way, I did finally get some ice chips to help me with my thirst.  I did finally get some pain medication to relieve my pain.

The diagnosis was a kidney stone.

Not sure about that...but I feel much better today.  Back to normal, if there is such a thing.

I hope none of you ever has a pain like mine, a thirst like mine, or a kidney stone of your own!

Scars

I played football for about ten years in my younger days...and I have the scars to prove it!

I also have a scar on my left knee from an accident I had when taking out the trash. 

I have several scars on my face (go figure), from flag football in college and getting hit by the door of an industrial dishwasher during a summer job in high school.

If I were bald, you could even see a scar on the top of my head from the time I hit myself with the sharp side of an axe when I was a kid.

Basically, you can tell my life's story from tracking my scars, because they all say something about me.

Something that is unique to me.

Something that identifies me as me.

Maybe that is why Jesus used His scars to identify Himself to His disciples after His resurrection.

When they wondered who He was, He showed them His scars.

He said, "I am who I am, and I have the scars to prove it!"

On the evening of that first Easter day, the disciples were huddled together in a locked room, hiding from the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman guards and fearing for their lives.

Suddenly Jesus appeared to them out of nowhere...

"They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them...'Look at my hands and my feet.  It is I myself!'...When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet..."  (Luke 24:37-40, excerpts, NIV)

How did Jesus finally prove to them who He was?  He showed them His hands and feet.  In other words, He showed them His scars.

How did He finally prove to "doubting Thomas" who He was?  He showed him His scars.

There, in the palm of His hands, they saw scars from the nails that had held Him on the cross.

There, on His feet, they saw scars from the nails that had caused Him so much pain.

The scars of a sinner, even though He had never sinned.

So, why was He scarred?

He was scarred because His scars were really their scars...and our scars.

When you look at the palms of your hands, are there nail scars there?  There should be.

When you take off your Easter shoes and socks, will you see nail scars on your feet?  You should.

But you don't see them because Jesus is scarred with your scars instead of you.

What if Jesus received a new scar every time you sinned?

What if He felt the same pain, all over again, in His hands and His feet every time you sinned?

If that were the case, when you get to heaven, would you recognize Him because you recognize YOUR scars on Him?

Would you recognize Him because you recognize the pain which YOUR sins caused Him?

The good news is that He has forgiven you if you have accepted Him as your Savior.  Through His love for you, He has forgotten your transgressions.

So, there are no more scars because of you.  No more pain because you fall short.

When you do see His scars some day, they won't condemn you...they will comfort you.

The One whose hands holds those scars will hold you like He held the disciples, and give you what He gave them...joy and amazement.

20/20

I wish I could see better.

Over the years, things have gone from 20/20…to slightly out of focus…to more noticeably out of focus…to blurry…to “I have no idea what it says!”

I started with over-the-counter reading glasses which had a magnification of 100.  Then I upped it to a magnification of 150…and up…and up.

Right now, I’m at magnification 250…and still going.

At one time, I wore glasses only when reading small print.  Then, only when reading all print.

Now, I find myself squinting at other times too, which sends me scurrying for my glasses again…like when I watch TV…or when I sit down to eat.

There is one thing I can see plainly, though…the day is fast approaching when I will need a “real” pair of glasses from a “real” eye doctor.

Which is a real shame, because there is nothing I like about wearing glasses.

I don’t like shopping for them.

I don’t like paying for them.

I don’t like trying to keep them clean.

I don’t like trying to find them when I need them.

I don’t like the way they fit on my crooked head.

I don’t like the way they look on my crooked head.

I don’t like carrying them around wherever I go.

I don’t like it when they break.

And do not talk to me about contacts…I try to avoid sticking things in my eyes, like my fingers, or a little round piece of whatever contacts are made out of.  To me, it seems like putting in contacts would be about the same as putting rocks in my eyes!

Laser surgery?  There’s another whole list of things I don’t like about that idea, so don’t get me started.

I get frustrated because I just can’t see things anymore without glasses.

My eyes can’t do the job on their own.

Thankfully, there are still some things that I don’t need glasses to “see” at all.

Because I don’t see them with my eyes…I see them with my heart.

I don’t need glasses to see a beautiful day.  I can feel it.

I don’t need glasses to see the seasons change from winter to spring.  I can smell it.

I don’t need glasses to see a concert that uplifts my soul.  I can hear it.

I don’t need glasses to see a delicious dessert.  I can taste it.

I don’t need glasses to see my love for my children.  I can express it.

And I don’t need glasses to see how much God loves me.  I know it.

The problem is, we are not very good about seeing with our hearts.  We have learned to see with our eyes only.

We can only believe what we see with “our own two eyes.”

And as a result, we miss so much.

That was the problem Jesus’ disciples had when they saw, with their own two eyes, what happened to Jesus on the cross.

They saw, with their own two eyes, the end of all their hopes and dreams about Jesus being the Messiah, who would establish an eternal kingdom during their lifetimes.

They saw, with their own two eyes, the power of the religious leaders, political leaders, and military soldiers overcome the power of their belief in Jesus.

They saw, with their own two eyes, a man who was bleeding, suffering, and dying.

And they did not know how to handle it.

If only they could have seen with their hearts instead of their eyes that day.

Then they would have seen the Son of God who was not defeated on the cross, but who was victorious there.

They would have seen the sacred Lamb of God who shed His blood on their behalf and accepted their sins so He could also forgive them and offer them eternal salvation.

They would have seen the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy about the coming Messiah and the culmination of everything Jesus had come to earth to do…all completed perfectly according to God’s plan.

They would have seen an empty tomb on the horizon.

And they would have seen hope for the world.

As it was, it took them from Good Friday until Easter Sunday before they could see the cross with their hearts instead of their eyes…

…it would take His resurrection.

Here is how two of Jesus’ followers were changed when they realized with their hearts that their eyes had deceived them…

…they were walking along a road from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the crucifixion when a man came up to them and started a conversation about what had happened.

Although they did not recognize Him at the time, the stranger was actually Jesus…

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their EYES were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

They asked each other, ‘Were not our HEARTS burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.  There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true!  The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’

Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was RECOGNIZED by them when he broke the bread.”  (Luke 24:30-35, NIV)

When you look at Jesus, what do you see?

Is He just a character in the Bible to you?

Is He a crutch that weak people lean on to prop them up in the world today?

Is He a convenient charm that gives people more confidence?

Or, is He the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, the Prince of Peace, the Bread of Life, the Living Water, and the Savior of your soul?

It all depends on how you see Him…

…whether you see Him with your eyes only

…or with your heart.

One may require glasses.

The other requires your life.