Is Your God Too Small?

Veteran preacher, Haddon Robinson, told the following a few years ago: “H. G. Wells was no friend of the church, but sometimes he served us well. Years ago in the New Yorker, he told a story about an Episcopalian clergyman. (He could have told it about a preacher from any denomination.) This Episcopalian bishop was the kind of man who always said pious things to people. When troubled folks came to him, he found that a particularly helpful thing to say, if said in a right tone of voice, was, ‘Have you prayed about it?’ If said in just the right way, it seemed to settle things.

“The bishop himself didn't pray much; he had life wrapped up in a neat package. But one day life tumbled in on him, and he found himself overwhelmed. It occurred to the bishop that maybe he should take some of his own advice. So, one Saturday afternoon he entered the cathedral, went to the front, and knelt on the crimson rug. Then he folded his hands before the altar (he could not help but think how childlike he was).

“Then he began to pray. He said, ‘O God--’ and suddenly there was a voice. It was crisp, businesslike. The voice said, ‘Well, what is it?’

Next day when the worshipers came to Sunday services, they found the bishop sprawled face down on the crimson carpet. When they turned him over, they discovered he was dead. Lines of horror were etched upon his face. What H. G. Wells was saying in that story is simply this: there are folks who talk a lot about God who would be scared to death if they saw him face to face. “

Robinson’s observation about this priest reminds me of a book J.B. Phillips wrote many years ago titled, “Your God Is Too Small.” We should consider whether our view of God is smaller than the view contained in Scripture.

As we have considered the early chapters of The Story in Genesis and Exodus, we come across some amazing looks at God. The early revelations of God should cause us to consider whether our view of God is big enough — or if we would be scared to death if we saw him face to face. The discussion is a critical one to have because one day we will see God face to face.

Here are some observations the early chapters of the Bible make about God:

• The Bible opens with these words: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” That ought to tell us everything we need to know about how big, how majestic God is. God then created every aspect of creation. If God could do that, he is indeed beyond our comprehension.
• Noah experienced a God so great that he can cause the entire earth to be flooded, yet he saves one family with whom he reestablished the human race.
• Abraham believed in a God so great that he went when God called him to a place that he knew nothing about. Then when called him to sacrifice his son, he believed that God could even raise him from the dead.
• Joseph believed in a God who could turn his horrible circumstances into events that would save God’s people.

Those are only a few glimpses of God from the opening of God’s Story. We will see much more about God. Make sure your God is not too small.

Goals For The Story

This week I have read two opposite views of how we can look at a New Year. Comparing them, reminded me that each of us has to determine how we will let the Lord work in us each year — and, in reality, each day.

I will give you the second one first. It is the Peanuts strip for January 2. Lucy and Charlie Brown, with coats and hats on, are out in the snow. Lucy does all the talking: “I hate this year! Everyone said things would be better, but they’re not! I don’t think this is a new year at all…. I think we’ve been stuck with a USED YEAR!!”

The first one was in an email that arrived in my inbox on New Years Day. The email recounted this piece of history: In many doorways of the Roman Empire there was a depiction of a god with two faces pointing in opposite directions. Janus was the god of transitions. He looked ahead and he looked behind--to the past and the future. He was a kind of doorkeeper, a minder of the gate. And so our calendar's first month, January, is named after him.

On January 1 of the new year we look behind, and we look ahead. We have an opportunity to decide how we will view 2013. Do you feel like you have been stuck with a used year, or do you see the new year as a transition? We can look behind and see where we have been, but mostly we need to look ahead and see where God is leading us. Where will God lead you in 2013?

As you know by now, we will go through The Story — the Bible story — this year. As we consider together as a congregation the rich, multi-faceted story of the Bible and how it all comes together as one dynamic story, we have an opportunity to see the Bible in new way. As we do so, we can experience our walk with God in new and powerful ways.

On December 30, I disclosed in my message that there are three goals I would like each of us to accomplish as we consider The Story together. Let me review them in writing for you:

(1) Know the Story. I hope that by the end of this year, you will have a better understanding of the Bible and how its various pieces connect to one another. I hope that when you hear the main characters of the drama that unfolds in the Bible mentioned that you will be able to place them in their place in Bible history. I hope that you will know the unfolding story of the Bible well enough that you could summarize it for someone in ten minutes.

(2) Read the Story. There is no better way to know the Bible than to read it. One way to do that this year is to read the corresponding chapter in the book, The Story, for each week’s message and study. Each chapter presents that week’s scripture in a story format. Beyond that, I hope you will begin to read the Bible as a regular practice in your life if you do not already do so.

(3) Live the Story. We will use two terms during this year to reflect on God’s Story: Upper Story refers to the great unfolding drama of God’s work in the world that is revealed in the Bible; Lower Story refers to how each of the characters in the Bible and how each of us live our lives in light of God’s story. I hope you will work at letting every part of your life reflect God’s work within you.

Don’t make this a “used year.” Make it a year in which you look forward to how God can use your story to continue telling his Story.

God’s Great Passion is to Be With You

Some movies start at warp speed. Case in point: Star Trek. From the opening scene to the end it barely lets you breathe. If you slip out for popcorn you were sure to miss something important. And yet, people did.

That’s not me. I don’t want to miss anything in the movie. I want to be there when the movie starts. Try getting to a movie at least 20 minutes early sometime. Never done that? Then next time you go to a movie look around and spot the person that is in the prime seat—dead middle, eye level with the center of the screen. That’s what 20 minutes early gets you. Popcorn and drink in hand, nothing will move this person from their secured spot for the duration of the movie.

That’s where you need to be for God’s story. Its opening scene also starts with a relentless pace that doesn’t let up. The first line reads, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Right off the bat we find the main character in the story is not you or me. It’s God. And the rest of The Story will unfold out of the nature and person of this character. Just ten words in and there is enough action to leave you breathless.

It doesn’t take long to find out what God’s great passion is. Birds? Nope. Animals? Not quite. Sun, moon or stars? Bright guess. No, in Genesis 3:8 we find that God is walking in the Garden with Adam and Eve in the “cool of the day.”

Sounds nice if you are in a hot, humid climate, doesn’t it? And yet the “cool of the day” is not the focus. God is, and he is near. He is right with Adam and Eve. And he is right here with us. His simple vision for his creation was to spend time with them every day, to take a walk with them. God’s supreme passion is to be with us.

Some of you have lived your life with the idea that God is some angry cosmic kill-joy who sits in the heavens and watches you, waiting for you to make a mistake so he can zap you. Or, you feel he is distant and doesn’t care or has simply forgotten you.

But from the beginning he has shown us this is not the case. He wants to be with you. He has not forgotten you. In fact, this might be the perfect time for you to go for a walk.

Writing Your Life Chapter Into The Story of Life

If you think Genesis is just a band from the ‘80’s . . .

If you think it was Dr. Dolittle who took two of each animal into a big boat . . .

If you think an epistle is a woman married to an apostle . . .

. . . you may need to know more of The Story.

You may be a bit intimidated by the Bible. You’re not alone; many people are. And no wonder, its pages mention odd names like Jehoshaphat and Nebuchadnezzar. It contains accounts from places you probably never heard of, like Sinai and Samaria. And it seems to be made up of a lot of different, seemingly unrelated stories. But it really is one big, exciting story.

You can see it easily if you open your Bible to the beginning and then flip all the way to the end.

The first words found in Genesis 1:1 read: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Then, if you turn all the way to the back of the book, Revelation 21:1, you find, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away . . .”

In the beginning God is creating the heavens and the earth. At the end he is creating a new heaven and a new earth. So the big question is this: “What on earth happened between the beginning and the end of the Bible?” If you can answer that question you will have uncovered the one seamless story of God.

Why not read God’s story with your family next year? Studies indicate if the extent of your child’s exposure to things of the faith is a only weekly visit to church or Sunday School, the likelihood is very great that when she graduates and leaves home her relationship with the Lord will turn cold.

However, if you as a parent engage your children in the experience of reading and discussing the Bible, chances go up astronomically that they will remain strong in their faith after leaving home. You don’t have to be an expert or have all the answers. You just have to be willing to experience it with them.

Get involved in The Story of God. It will forever transform your life and your family’s life. Every day God is seeking to guide you, forming sentences that flow into paragraphs that over time write the chapter of your life––a life committed to knowing him better.

Will you choose today to take your life chapter and make it a part of the Big Story of what God is doing on earth?

Beginning in January, Westwood will begin a thirty-one week adventure as a church to learn the Story of the Bible and to connect that Story to our stories. My messages will take us through the Story of the Bible. Our children’s, youth, young adult, and adult classes will study the same section of Scripture that I preach on, and our weekly Bible studies will also dig into those passages.

The Story

Beginning in January, Westwood Christian Church will begin a thirty-one week adventure as a church to learn the Story of the Bible and to connect that Story to our stories. My messages will take us through the Story of the Bible. Our children’s, youth, young adult, and adult classes will study the same section of Scripture that I preach on, and our weekly Bible studies will also dig into those passages.

Randy Frazee, who developed the idea for The Story, wrote the following about his family story:

“If you simply judge books by their covers, you might pass this book by. Its title is Ozark Childhood: Stories from a Simpler Time and Place. There are a few faces on the front that are surely unfamiliar to you and an author whose name you would not recognize. On the back cover is a picture of the author who, with his white beard, might remind you of Santa Claus.

“And maybe he is. You see, this book of mine is a valued gift. I was hooked as soon as I started reading the ‘Acknowledgements’ page. (Don’t laugh. Some people read the obituaries in newspapers; I read the Acknowledgement pages in books.)

“I was hooked when I saw the names of people dear to me. Raymond and Gladys Elkins—my deceased grandparents. Betty Elkins Brown—my mother. Bill Elkins—my uncle who has also passed away. Sara, my aunt. Dave and Jody, my cousins. And the author, David Elkins, my uncle.

“This is not just any book; this is a book about my family tree. The stories would probably not be of any interest to you, but they are to me.”

That’s what happens when you hear part of your story. Something that seems lifeless comes to life. Something that looks dull becomes dynamite, firing up your heart and igniting your imagination. You are reminded that you are part of something bigger than you are, that began before you and will continue on after you.

That is why God wants you to know his story. It’s found in another book. He wants to take you into his house where he has framed photos of your ancestors––folks you may not know––lining the walls of his house.

Stories of a family patriarch named Abraham whose faith was as great as any. A matriarch named Ruth with courage that would make the most hardened warrior proud. A stubborn Jonah and his improbable fish tale. Impetuous Peter and his big mouth. Persistent Paul and his adventures in preaching.

Yet who he wants most of all for you to meet in his story is his son. He desires for you to look long into the eyes of Jesus Christ and hear his claims that what he began in the first chapter of creation he will realize at the last chapter of the New Creation, where a perfect people can live in a perfect place with their perfect Lord.

The perfect place is on the Storyboard. The question is, “Are you?” You can be there when you find your place in His Story.

The Amazing Names of Jesus

On November 25, I will begin a Christmas sermon series on “The Amazing Names of Jesus.” Bill Crowder writes the following about this theme:

 

“During World War II, my father-in-law spent 18 months in a prisoner-of-war camp. In the camp, loudspeakers often played music, including a song entitled "Lili Marlene." Somehow it gave him hope, and he fell in love with the beauty of that name. Years later he gave that name, filled with personal significance, to his only daughter—my wife, Marlene.

 

“Names are like that. They have great importance in human relationships. Nowhere, however, is a name more important than in our relationship with our God. In a way that sets Him apart from all others, He ties His name to His reputation and introduces Himself to us as ‘God with us.’"

 

This series of sermons is about the amazing prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 about the birth of Jesus, where the prophet, 700 years before the coming of Jesus, described the One whose names reveal his importance to us. 

 

Jesus is given his name by the angel that spoke to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 and told him to give his son the name Jesus, “for He shall save His people from their sins.” The name means “the one who saves.” The New Testament tells us why it is important to honor the name of Jesus:

• It is the name by which we must be saved — Acts 4:12.
• It is the name that establishes the tone for everything a Christian does — Colossians. 3:17.
• It is the name at which, one day in the future, every knee shall bow — Philippians 2:10-11.

There are numerous names for Jesus throughout the Bible that describe his character and the scope of the ministry of the One who saves us. Among those descriptions are the amazing names in Isaiah 9:6. Those names clearly point to his human birth and his divine nature. As we examine those names through December, we will once again meet the One whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.

Loving the Story of Jesus

I consider preaching to be an adventure. For me, each adventure in preaching is better than the last one.

I hope my journey preaching through Luke this year has been an adventure for our congregtion. It has been for me. I have preached through Luke before, but this year I discovered new things in Luke about Jesus that I have not seen before. I hope our people have discovered some of those things too.

We will end our time in Luke after two more messages on November 11 and 18. One of those messages will be from Luke 23 on Luke’s telling of Jesus’ trials and crucifixion. The other will be from Luke 24 on Luke’s account of Jesus’ resurrection and his appearances after his resurrection.

As we near the end of this adventure in Luke’s Gospel, I have been thinking about how preaching through the book has impacted me, how I hope it has impacted our congregation. I have pondered these things as I have been preparing for a ministry opportunity that I will have this coming Sunday, November 4, at another church, Waupaca Christian Church.

I have preached at Waupaca Christian Church nine times and have assisted the congregation on mission and vision planning. The last time I preached there was in 2007 on the occasion of ordaining their first elders since the congregation was planted. Now they have asked me to return as they ordain the first person out of the congregation to enter fulltime ministry.

As I have been pondering and praying over what the Lord would have me say to the church and to the man being ordained, I could not help but reflect back on our congregation’s adventure in Luke’s Gospel this year. As I have preached through Luke this year and observed new things about Jesus, I have fallen in love with the story of Jesus all over again. I have been in love with the story of Jesus for as long as I can remember, but this year I relived it and was once again refreshed by it.

It occurred to me that for a church to send people into ministry and for a minister to go into ministry and continue to be effective, they must continue to fall in love with the story of Jesus. He must continue to be new and fresh and exciting to us. If we fall out of love with Jesus and his story, we really have no reason to follow him as our Savior and Lord.

So on Sunday, the Waupaca church will charge Jeff Brookins to “preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2. As we do so, I will have the opportunity to challenge both he and the church with what that charge means for the preacher and the listener.

One of my challenges will be this: Learn the story of Jesus and keep it fresh in your life. When you become discouraged, when ministry is hard, when sin is about to take over, when you are ready to give up, go back to the story of Jesus. Fall in love with that story again. Let it wash over you and let it refresh you, because it is the story of God’s grace coming to offer us salvation.

And at Westwood Christian Church, as we finish the story of Jesus from Luke’s Gospel, we will take on another part of God’s story next year: the story of the Bible, how it all fits together from the Old Testament through the New Testament, and how it impacts our lives. I will share more with you about that next month.