7 Feb 2011: Humility and Grace

It is irritating, sometimes. The very act of talking about ways to do something right can almost in and of itself make you more susceptible to fall in exactly that area.

For about a week, I wrote on the theme of loving your wife. In doing so, I felt good that I was able to come up with what I did, and somewhat unconsciously felt that I was doing a pretty good job of it. Now, there is nothing wrong with confidence; but here is the twist: Life sometimes throws you a curveball. You come across something that makes you struggle a bit with yourself, and that confidence in that thing you feel you did well, at least for me, can so easily turn to over-confidence and a little disregard. Disregard for God's call for me quickly became a bigger issue than that little curveball I experienced before.

Pride and overconfidence would say "I've been doing well. I'm good at this!" Humility would say "I've been doing well. I should keep this up." I find it a challenge to attain and maintain the latter attitude. But if you are anything like me, so do you. To go back and reflect on a previous passage, Paul writes "1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (Ephesians 4:1-2) Completely humble, I think, also means that I can accept my failures and stay focused on the call God has for me. I think when God calls us to bear with one another in love, He also means ourselves. Why is it so much easier to forgive others, but so hard to forgive myself?

Lord, let me accept my failures, not so that I would not continue to care, but that I would be able to stay focused on your mission for me, and be an example of humility for others.

Prayer Request:

Please continue to pray for Todd, that the donor cells would continue to take over his body and that he would be cancer free.

The Talk of Men: 14 Jan 2011

14 Jan 2011

Please read Todd's prayer requests and pray today. Today is transplant day.

Reading: Ephesians 5

Again, I direct you back to the audio sermon files at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons starting 12 Aug 2007, in the 3-week sermon series "The Role of Men".

I began reading this passage in verses 22 and 25, but then looked back to the beginning of the chapter, and immediately stopped short. Yesterday we were talking about courageous love, love that not only risks a loving action, but endures with this love [Thank you Brian].
To relate this to Pastor David's sermon on Sunday, if in talking about this kind of love yesterday, we would be focusing on looking outward. This passage today strikes deeply inward.

Verse 3 is one TALL order:
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

In my experience, guys (I fully included here) are overtly guilty in the area discussed in verse 4. However, as we read further into this chapter, I fully believe that Paul is scaling up in his challenges. First, is this personal purity area. Second, Paul challenges us to live as children of light (verse 9-11) and to understand what the Lord's will is (verse 17). Instead of living in and doing evil deeds, Paul says that we are supposed to expose them and bring them to light. Now, I don't think that Paul intends for us to expose others' sins by "outing" them on a public blog or in front of the church, but rather for one man to sharpen another, just as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). But remember, Paul is still talking to both men and women here, this is not exclusive for us males to be doing. It isn't until verse 25 that Paul addresses the men specifically.

I think that it is no coincidence that Paul only spends 3 verses on the women, and then spend 8-9 verses on the men. As head of the household, there is much more call on the man. And this is where I think it gets really hard. Specifically, Paul commands the women to submit to their husbands. Paul commands the men to die (love your wife as Christ loved the church: What did he do for the church?). What does he mean? Well, how can you die?

Ways to die:
Die (physically), though through the movies we worship, we should be familiar and already comfortable with (Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, etc).
Die to the world.
Die to sin (might be considered the same as the previous).
Die to yourself.
While you may be called to do the first, I think this is the one we shouldn't be seeking out. :) However, step 1 is to die to the world. If we are a Christian, we have already begun the process. But in referring to our wives, I think we are dying ourselves. This is the hardest for me: To be strong, to stand firm, to put my wants and needs behind my wife's needs, all day, every day, and to not cry about it in the process.

My thoughts and questions:
Why is it so dang hard to love her in her love language when I am not feeling like doing it? Why is it sometimes easier to change the oil (something I also don't like doing) than to buy flowers when I am not feeling loved myself?

Do I know my wife's needs? Could I name them? If someone asked me what she needs me to do for her to feel love, would I be able to tell them? Would I be able to say that I regularly do those things?

What are other ways that I should be "dying to myself"?


Changing the subject....


Prayer Requests:
That God would prepare Todd's body for his transplant TODAY.
That God would strengthen Jen, as she is taking care of most of the things at home, while visiting Todd in the hospital.
Pray for a boring and uneventful day.
Pray for the donor cells to completely take over Todd's body.
See Todd's Blog, specifically "T-1: Thankful!".

The Talk of Men: 13 Jan 2011

13 Jan 2011

Reading: 1 Corinthians 16:5-18

Again, I direct you back to the audio sermon files at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons starting 12 Aug 2007, in the 3-week sermon series "The Role of Men".

Based on this challenge that we have before, this fact that sometimes no matter how much we work at something it may still produce thorns and thistles, how do we proceed?

Paul says here in Corinthians verses 13 and 14 that we need to act like Men.
In the NIV it says:
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.

In the ESV it says:
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

I have heard people say to "act like a man in the past", but here Paul is using it to "Act like a man" as some of his final advice to the people of Corinth. Maybe this seems like a simple thing, but imagine if the situation were different. Imagine that you were visiting your spiritual role model or mentor, and as the last thing he said to you before he had to leave (where you would not see him again for quite some time). As his last words, we tells you to act like a man. I would be kept awake at night trying to make sure that I knew what "acting like a man" really was. Wouldn't you?

I you are a clear version-to-version comparator (is that a word?) like me, you would probably compare the words in these two versions and say that, according to the greek translation, to "act like a man" means to "be courageous". The word courageous makes me think of scenes from Braveheart, Gladiator, or Saving Private Ryan, and rightfully so. However, then Paul intrigues us more by following up the comment about being a man with "Let all that you do be in love."

I guess Paul is trying to convey a new kind of manliness: Courageous Love. If you are following along with the sermon series, Matt Chandler talks about loving your wife, regardless of their response. This kind of love would take courage.

Paul later talks about the household of Stephanas, and that such men who have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord's people.


My thoughts and questions:

Some people are not easy to love. Some take quite a bit of courage. Can you think of some people (specifically) that would require such courage?

Some would say that God teaches us the Gospel through our marriage, through our family, through our kids, and through our friends. By loving, regardless of their response, we learn a sliver of what it is like in how God loves us, regardless of our response.

What does loving others, regardless of their response, look like? What form would that love take? Obviously, this would look different with different people. By loving others, regardless of their response, we become initiators of God's love.

Regarding the house of Stephanas, who are the Lord's people?


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Rob