We are excited to announce that the youth from Maple Valley Presbyterian Church
are once again coming to Vashon to lead our grade school aged Vacation Bible
School. Through age appropriate games, art, music and a lot of spirit, a week of
“opportunity for Christ” comes to Vashon each summer.

The program’s theme will be “Adventures on Promise Island” with a focus on
God’s lifesaving love shown through scriptures in both the Old and the New
Testaments.

Elementary children from kindergarten through 6th grade will be meeting at the
Methodist Church from 9:30 AM until noon each day. If you have questions or
would like to help, contact us.

Pre-schoolers will be meeting at the Presbyterian Church from 9:45-11:45 AM
each day. Vashon youth under the leadership of Tina Parrish will love & guide our
youngest members through a week of fun & encounters with Christ’s love. Have
questions about this program? Let us know .

You can register several ways! At the door the first morning at either location, at
a registration booth at Strawberry Festival in front of the Presbyterian Church, or
if you’d prefer, you can go online to www.vacationbibleschool.com/vashonisland
and register there. There is a suggested registration donation of $15 for one child
or $25 per family, whichever program or programs are attended. Scholarships
are always available with no application process.

For the sake of people’s privacy, the names and phone numbers of the various VBS coordinators have been edited out of this newsletter.  If you have questions or would like to participate, contact the VICC office at 463-3940.  Thanks!

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” – Romans 7:21-24

Recently I had an email exchange with a friend about ongoing sin in the believer’s life and the “wretched man” of Romans chapter 7.  It is a hotly contested point among Christians as to who the person in this chapter is describing.  Is this man who seems unable to get away from sin a non Christian?  Many believe so, including a favorite Bible scholar of mine, Gordon Fee.  Is this man a baby Christian?  Someone who is born again but doesn’t know how to “yield to the Spirit” and find victory over sin?  This is a common interpretation as well.  Still others take Romans 7 as normal Christian life – saved but in a constant state of failure to live up to God’s standards.  How we view this chapter has significant consequences on how we view ongoing sin in our own lives and the lives of our fellow believers.  Without claiming to have the final authority on the subject, allow me to share my email to my friend.  I apologize for the confusion that naturally happens when one is thrust into the “middle” of a conversation.  I am also leaving my friend and the identity of the Bible teacher we were discussing anonymous.  The teacher will simply be referred to as “X.”  But with prayer and an open Bible, I hope this little opportunity to eavesdrop helps you think more clearly about your own sin, the battle we find ourselves in, and the victory that will finally be ours in Jesus.

And let me counsel you to stop and read Romans chapters 6-8 prior to reading this exchange.  It will make the dialog less confusing.

God bless.

Hey dude

I have been thinking a lot about our brief exchange over Romans 7 the other day. I was not entirely satisfied with my responses to the topic and have been meditating on how Romans 7 relates to “normal” Christian experience.

I still agree that for Paul, Romans 8 is a much more normative description of the Christian life than Romans 7. In fact, even Romans 7 has to be read with Romans 6 in mind, where Paul declares that the Christian is resurrected from sin and death and will NOT be dominated by sin. Paul even says that if a professing Christian shows no evidence of this resurrection in his life, he will in fact “die,” which I take to mean eternally. Romans 6 and the first half of Romans 8 make very similar points, 6 emphasizing the effects of the cross and 8 emphasizing the indwelling and leading of the Spirit.

Romans 7 begins by reiterating the Christian’s position as one who is “dead” to the law. Then the rest of the chapter shows how the law in fact kills us. Paul’s present tense, first person language could be taken as hyperbole – he means pre-conversion, Pharisee Saul, or he means immature, baby Christian Paul. I am glad that you and I agree that an unregenerate person could never love God’s law and be convicted of sin the way the man in Romans 7 is. Paul says that with his mind he serves the law of God, which he later says in chapter 8 is impossible for an unregenerate person. Pre-conversion Saul is better seen in Philippians 3, full of self confidence in his ability to follow the precepts of God.

With regard to Romans 7 being Paul in past tense, as a baby Christian, something just stuck in my craw about that. I will agree that the main point of Romans 7, which everyone (even people who believe it describes pre-Christian Saul) acknowledges, is our inability to keep God’s law. Because of our weakness, the law only condemns. And I agree that in Romans 8 Paul immediately states that God did what the law could not do – he condemned sin through the death of Christ and fulfills his law in us by the leading of the Spirit (and I take this leading to mean overall pattern of life, not “I think God just told me to ____.”).

But I think the reason that Romans 7 is where it is, right between Romans 6 and Romans 8, is to acknowledge the fact of our ongoing weakness. The resurrection of Romans 6 benefits us, but it is CHRIST’S resurrection. The Spirit in Romans 8 is defeating our flesh, but it is GOD’S Spirit. In Romans 6 and 8 both, the obedience is ours but the power is not. And in both chapters, to not be “dead to sin” or to not be “in the Spirit” both mean DEATH, not fewer jewels in the crown. This leaves us with a powerful dilemma regarding ongoing sin in our lives, and seasons of abject failure. Even the most Spirit-filled among us are still sinners apart from Christ (“in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing…).

Does this mean I think Romans 7 is supposed to be NORMATIVE? No, I think Romans 7 is sad reality. But Romans 7 is not supposed to be where our focus lies – too many Christians gloomily dwell there and even use it as an excuse not to repent. But if you didn’t have Romans 7 you would have no explanation for ongoing sin in the Christian life. Romans 6 promises victory, and Romans 8 promises moral victory despite suffering from the slings and arrows of an obedient life. If we didn’t have Paul’s honest confession that left to himself he would fail, and at times really DOES fail, then each time you and I sinned we would have to question either 1) our share in Jesus’ death and resurrection [6] or 2) whether we do have the Spirit dwelling within us [8]. And the previous promises of Romans 1-5 would cause us to think we need to get “re-saved” or justified all over again.

So I think that X is basically right – that Romans 7 is not how we’re supposed to expect our lives to go, but that Romans 7 DOES describe the struggles of a believer (who is perhaps not relying on the Spirit at all in that present moment – which is different than not being “in the Spirit” in the sense that Paul means in Romans 8 – in that chapter this is Paul’s way of saying a person is “born again.”). But I think that creating a dichotomy between Carnal Christians and Spiritual Christians (a la 1 Corinthians 1 and Galatians 6) creates categories where Paul rather has degrees in mind. And he clearly is aware that any Christian in any moment could be tempted into sin if not careful, since he counsels the “spiritual” among the Galatians to “keep watch” on themselves while counseling wayward brothers.

Not sure this helped, and I know I am standing in a slightly different place as you and X (big surprise!!), but I thought our conversation and friendship merited a more thought out response. If you like sermons, John Piper has an amazing little series on Romans 7 free on his Desiring God page. It’s called “Who is this wretched man?” or something like that. But this was not me pitting my favorite preacher against yours. This was the product of my own prayers and meditations, though undoubtedly influenced my many people…

God bless, bro.

Mike

**The John Piper series I refer to is actually called, “Who is this Divided Man?” and I recommend it heartily.  www.desiringgod.org.  – MI**

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 (ESV)

Sin is selfishness.  When I used to volunteer with the youth ministry called Young Life, we would explain sin as “sIn” or living with “I” in the middle.  Human beings, as sinners, are inherently selfish.  Even Christians, regenerated by the indwelling Holy Spirit, still have an old selfish nature that is ready to take control given the chance.  And because we all, saved or not, are so driven by SELF, we naturally tend towards the enslavement of one another.

This might sound like a harsh statement.  What about all the nice, passive, even timid, people?  Well, they’re selfish too.  Trust me.  For the most part I am pretty shy, and I can tell you for a fact that I am also VERY selfish.  There is a way that I think life should go, that church should go, that my home should be, that my marriage should be, that my friendships should be, that my financial situation should be, etc.  And where other people are involved in whether my own personal “visions” of how things should go happen or not, then you can be certain I have a list of desires and demands for them.  They may or may not ever know that I think they should be living, acting, or speaking differently, but it doesn’t matter.  Given the ability to control them, I would.  And so would you.

All of us have agendas.  All of us have scripts for the people around us that we may or may not be trying to make them follow.  Usually the only thing keeping us from trying to control each other is fear of confrontation.  I have interacted with godly leaders, sensitive Spirit-filled women, drug addicts, teenagers, and children, and had them all try to manipulate me (and sometimes succeed).  Leadership types tend to be pretty straightforward, but usually rely on intimidation or fear of failure to get their way.  Sensitive, passionate people rush up to you with the question, “You know what would be just great?!”  Addicts tell lies like chess players move pieces – they’re trying to get somewhere specific at your expense.  Teens and kids have their tricks too.  And it is all because we humans view the world, naturally, through our own eyes, and sinfully, with the assumption that what we want is what should be.

But Jesus Christ’s goal for humanity is for us to be set free.  Biblical freedom is both a freedom from and a freedom for.  By shattering the power of sin in our lives on the cross, Jesus has set us free from guilt, fear, punishment, and despair.  He has also set us free from the otherwise sadly necessary cycle of continued sin (cf. Romans 6 with Romans 1:18ff).  In his resurrection from the grave, and in sending the Holy Spirit into our lives, God has also set us free for love, service, worship, and a joyful selflessness.

So next time you find yourself frustrated with the people around for just not being the kind of people you need them to be for your personal desires to come about, stop and ask yourself whether you might be trying to enslave them rather that encourage their freedom.  And next time someone comes up to you with a clear and definite agenda in mind for you (stated or unstated), ask yourself how you can serve them for Jesus’ sake instead of being enslaved by them for their own sake.

God bless.

In my devotional reading this morning, one of the portions I read was God’s instructions to Moses and the Israelites on how they should build the tabernacle (Exodus 25-30).  As I read through the detailed instructions, I found myself skimming instead of reading.  After all, this Old Testament Law stuff isn’t really relevant for the Christian today, right?  Earlier in the week I had been reading some of the more behaviorally-oriented laws regarding loyalty to Yahweh and just treatment of others.  Those laws had obvious New Covenant application.  I could contextualize those commands and make application to my life without too much mental contortion.  But what does the design of the lampstand in the tabernacle have to do with me today?

The author of the book of Hebrews instructs us that the reason God gave such elaborate and specific details regarding the tabernacle and its furniture was because the tabernacle represented heavenly realities.  The tabernacle was supposed to be a visible sermon about Jesus and what he would one day accomplish.  That is an awesome truth.  Really, it is the primary truth that we need to take away from reading even the “moral laws” of the Old Testament.  The Law points to Jesus.  The ceremonial laws point to the person and work of Christ.  The moral laws point to God’s intentions for humanity, giving us both a guide to live on and the knowledge of our need for forgiveness through Jesus.

But something else stuck out to me this morning as I read these verses: It matters to God how we worship him!

Though the Mosaic covenant was a “type and shadow” of the covenant Christ brings, it was still intended to reveal God and his character to God’s covenant people.  And for 1500 years, the Old Testament sacrificial system and tabernacle/temple rituals were how God’s people approached their Lord.  So the entire worship structure of the Law tells us about who God is and what he cares about.  One thing this teaches us is that God cares how people worship him!  He gives specific instructions.  He goes into as great of detail about the worship utensils and practices as he does any other aspect of covenant life.  So how does this apply to the Christian today?

There are several ways Christians have approached this reality.  I can think of a few…

1. God still expects people to relate to him under the conditions set forth in the Mosaic covenant so far as they can be kept without an actual physical temple in Jerusalem. Paul deals with this issue straightforwardly in Galatians, and the book of Hebrews goes into even greater detail as to why Christ has fulfilled, surpassed, and replaced the Mosaic covenant.  The New Covenant has fulfilled the expectations of the Old, so simply going back to Mosaic worship practices won’t do if we want to worship God in a way that pleases him.

2. It matters how we worship God because the Christian liturgy/sacraments mediate grace directly upon those who participate in them. This is, of course, the classical Roman Catholic position on the liturgy, or worship service.  The church dispenses grace by means of the sacraments (the Lord’s Supper, baptism, etc.) and thus participation in the service and partaking of the sacraments causes a person to receive a new measure of grace.  While this perspective may not be an obvious temptation to those of us who attend VICC, some of us probably do believe that our stock goes up with God merely because we have faithfully gone to church this week – even if we slept through most of it! This error might also apply to those who believe that the Spirit can only move with power if the order of worship happens in a certain way – as though the Spirit is not at work in our praying, giving, and listening to the Word unless someone cries or gets a chill down their spine.

3. Because we are in the New Covenant, God has no commands or expectations of us regarding how we should worship him. Because there is no temple except the people of God gathered and filled with the Spirit, and because we are not under law, it could be easy to assume that the New Testament principle of worship is to just do whatever makes us feel close to God.  While the emphasis on the freedom given to us in the gospel is good, this approach overlooks the fact that although the covenant has changed, God has not. (It also fails to realize that the new Testament does actually give us guidance on how to worship God properly.)

So if we are not under the Mosaic covenant, if we are not dependent upon rituals to receive grace, and if we are not left entirely to our own whims and wishes regarding the worship of God, where does that leave us?  It leaves us with a rich and guided freedom to enjoy God on our own and when gathered together as his church.

1. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  Because right worship of God is no longer tied to the temple in Jerusalem, Christians are free to rightly worship God in whatever place they find themselves.  To worship God in spirit and truth (or in the Spirit and in truth) means, at the very least, to worship God from our hearts and with our lives.  To worship God in my spirit (or in the Spirit) is to worship God from the inside out, from the new heart that God has given me when he made me born again.  So true worship is love.  And worship is also “in truth,” because I do not want to be like the Pharisees who honor God with their lips but not with their lives.  Worship starts the week before I get to church and keeps going after I leave.  Worship even includes paying my bills on time and being a faithful husband to my wife.

2. Worship should include faithful observance of the ordinances. Jesus left the church two wonderful pictures of his work on our behalf.  He gave us baptism, which symbolizes the new birth of the believer through Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 6).  He also gave us the Lord’s Supper, or communion, which allows us to declare Christ’s death for our sins and the unity he gives us as we accept one another in him (1 Corinthians 11:17-32).

3. Worship should include regular confession of our sin to God (1 John 1:8-9).  Taking communion is not only an act of obedience, it is also a confession of our need for Christ’s death to save us from our sins.  When we worship God, whether the service gives a specific place for it or not, we should be sure to take time (preferably toward the beginning of the worship service) to confess our faults to God and receive his forgiveness.  Far from being a “religious” thing to do, this both keeps us humble as we regularly acknowledge our shortcomings and keeps us hopeful as we regularly remind ourselves that forgiveness really is ours in Jesus.

4. The Word of God should be the center of the worship service (1 Timothy 4:13, James 1:21).  Worship is a dialog with God.  We of course speak to and sing to God, but God should be the one doing most of the talking.  God speaks by his Spirit, and he speaks through us often as we pray, but the primary place that God speaks is through his written Word, the Bible.

5. Worship is participatory, and should include all the members of the congregation (1 Corinthians 12-14).  God wants all of us involved in worship, connecting with him.  This does not mean that every person gets to talk or sing or lead in prayer in every service, but God does want the church as a body to worship him, and room needs to be made for the various gifts to flourish and operate.  Even if God is not gifting you to “do something” in the service, your personal participation through prayer, singing, and attention to the Word is immensely valuable to him.

6. Worship should be sensitive to others (1 Corinthians 14).  When we exercise our gifts in the worship service, we should not get so “lost in God” that we cause the people around us to stumble or struggle.  It has been said that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and he will not “make” someone stand up in the midst of a church service to disrupt and create confusion.  Each one of us, as we worship, should be connecting with God personally.  But when we stand up to do something in the service, it should be with the good of the people around us in mind.  Closeness with God need not draw attention to itself.

Undoubtedly there is more that I could say about New Covenant worship, but this seems like a good place to stop.  I have already gone longer than I intended.  God bless….

By Mike Ivaska, Associate Pastor

When going to church has become a normal part of your life, it can be easy to forget just how un-comfortable walking into a church for the first time can be.  Whether someone is a believer or not, visiting a new church can be an adventure in awkwardness.  This being the case, the responsibility really lies on us, the regular attenders, to make visiting our Sunday morning worship service an enjoyable, or at least bearable, experience.

1. BE ON TIME TO CHURCH! Visitors will look online or in the paper, see that our service starts at 10am, and will then actually assume that this is true.  Visitors generally make a point of being punctual, because they assume it would be rude to walk in late.  If they walk in five or ten minutes early to an almost empty sanctuary, any discomfort they had about visiting this church will have doubled (to say the least).

We at VICC are particularly guilty of showing up late to church.  Some are regularly twenty or more minutes late!  ”Island time” has infected us to the core, and we staff members might be the guiltiest of all.  Of course, those of us involved in the service are always in the building early, but we have made it a habit to wait until a sufficient number of folks have arrived to start the service, usually about 10:10.  Out of respect to our Lord (whom we’re there to worship), to each other (whose time we’re otherwise abusing), and to our visitors (who have overcome their jitters to check us out), the staff is committed to beginning our worship services at 10am sharp every Sunday from here on out.  Be on time (or even a little early!) so we can enter God’s presence corporately, joyfully, and in numbers.

2. Don’t assume that because church feels warm and welcoming to you, it does to the new person. It is undeniable that VICC feels like family, and the church sanctuary feels like a big family room….at least it does to us.  When worship is over, the sanctuary is always a flutter of conversation.  Circles form as people begin developing pockets of conversation.  This is a beautiful thing.  Many churches empty out immediately following worship.  In some churches, people who worship together often do not even know each other.  But during these social times at VICC, make sure that you are not overlooking an opportunity to make a new face feel welcome.  Sometimes that “pressing question” can wait.  Say hello to the new couple or the visiting family.  Introduce them to someone else in the room.  You don’t have to make it elaborate, or fawn over them.  Just be friendly, and if they seem to want to talk, stick around and talk with them.

3. Pray for them. I don’t mean out loud, weeping, laying hands on them and crying out to “Abba Father” in a trembling voice!  (Unless they ask you to, of course…)  I mean, say a little prayer for the new face in the room silently to God.  Do it right when you notice them.  Pray the sermon touches them.  Pray God speaks to their hearts.  Pray they feel welcome and comfortable.

4. Realize you can’t always control how people feel. Nichole and I know a family that has visited churches several times.  Whenever they visit a church, invariably the pastor and his wife will go over to them, greet them, and make polite conversation.  Believe it or not, that has actually bothered them.  They always felt, until recently, that this somehow meant they were being judged.  The same goes for people who have not been to church for a while.  ”I missed you” sometimes sounds like “You’re a terrible sinner” to their ears, but that might have more to do with their own guilty conscience than with the person who sincerely has missed seeing them at church.

Another man I know, after visiting my father’s church, wrote an angry letter to the church board because only the pastor spoke to him when he visited.  This might have been the fault of a cliquey congregation, but I think it also goes back to a man who was looking for a reason to be frustrated.

In conclusion I think it is worth remembering that God alone saves, the Word of God alone transforms lives, the Spirit of God alone draws men and women to Jesus, and the Cross of Christ alone takes away sin.  However, since our worship services on Sunday are public events (and the gospel message is a public message!), every one of us who believes is a host or hostess in the house of God.  Let’s make sure our guests feel welcome.

**This will also be an article in the Vashon Loop**

We’ve all heard the phrase, “My body is a temple.” It comes from the Bible, indirectly at least. The New Testament (the part of the Bible that was written after Jesus) talks a lot about people being God’s temple. But only in two places does it refer to an individual’s body being that temple. Jesus referred to his own body as “this temple” (John 2:18-22) and in one place Christians are told to avoid sinful sexual behavior because their bodies are temples (1 Corinthians 6:19). Otherwise, when the New Testament uses the metaphor of a “temple” it always refers to God’s people gathered together.

Americans are deeply individualistic. Our entire culture, even in its current “postmodern” form, is a product of the Enlightenment. In a lot of ways the Enlightenment was a really good thing. Almost every one of my personal assumptions about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is the result of the intellectual revolution that we call the Enlightenment. The autonomous, critically thoughtful individual was the icon of the Enlightenment. And without this rugged individualism we would not know most of what we know or have most of what we have. But in the process of tossing off the authority which hampered this freedom and discovery, modernism (the age that was dawned by the Enlightenment) also tossed off community.

By going inside ourselves (or off by ourselves) to find personal truth, meaning, and freedom, we have shut ourselves off from one another. Even where “community” exists, it is usually a “community” of individuals. We gather in groups to find meaning in peer acceptance. We gather into groups as a means of furthering our own self created identities. Most community today is a rallying around a cause or a hobby.

When Jesus called men and women to himself, his goal was that he be the center of the community he was creating. That is why the main activity of Jesus’ followers when they gather together is prayer and worship. Even though Jesus is no longer physically present with us, he is present with us by his Spirit as we pray, study the Bible, and sing together. And it is the presence of the Spirit that makes our gatherings “a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5).

There are many believers in Jesus, and many disconnected spiritual seekers, that have sworn off church or “organized religion” for one reason or another. Some get frustrated by running into political opinions that differ from their own. Some become disillusioned when they realize that forgiven sinners are still sinners and not the “saints” they expected them to be. Others think church is too quiet and boring – or too loud and chaotic (which might be your opinion of our church depending on the Sunday that you visit). Sometimes the Christian message winds up not being the message you wanted it to be, and so you decided not to stick around.

But I have found that if I am really looking for God and if I am really looking for community, I can’t decide ahead of time what God and community are supposed to be like. If I am really looking for God, and am not just looking for myself, then I have to be prepared for him to surprise and possibly even offend me. If I am looking for community, and am again not just looking for myself, then perhaps I need to be ready to run into people who aren’t quite like me, who might not vote like me, and whose imperfections at times really, really bother me. But I have also found that when I am actually seeking God, and not myself, I find him. And when I actually make room in my own heart and life for God’s people, I find a community of people – a temple of the Holy Spirit – among whom I have a role to play and who themselves have a role to play in my life as well.

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. . .” – Acts 2:4

“For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. . .” – Acts 2:39

“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. . .” – 1 Corinthians 12:13

“. . .maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  For there is one body and one Spirit. . .” – Ephesians 4:3-4

It is easy for us to view our relationship to the Holy Spirit in individualistic terms.  I have accepted Christ, I have been born again, I am Spirit-filled (as opposed to you!).  But the New Testament emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit is corporate in nature – meaning the focus of the Spirit’s work is to make us one with Christ and with each other.  The Spirit makes us a body.

Every list of gifts in the New Testament (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11) is given in the context of an exhortation to Christian unity and love.  Too often today, we view the work of the Spirit in terms of me and my gifts.  We also allow the work of the Spirit to become divisive among us.

The early church was charismatic in nature (meaning the sign gifts were a regular part of Christian experience).  As history progressed and Christianity became more settled, this aspect of life in Christ was obscured.  Occasionally there were revivals of apostolic experience, but for the most part the church operated without a strong emphasis upon the miraculous.  The Spirit was still at work, however, regenerating hearts and illuminating minds to understand God’s Word.

With the Pentecostal revival of the 20th century (and its various precursors among the Methodists and higher-life groups), the charismatic dimension of the Spirit’s work gained a toe-hold that this time would not be shaken loose.  But within the Body of Christ, a new rift was created.  There were now two distinct ways of viewing the Spirit’s work in the believer and the church.  Does the Spirit work silently, invisibly, “bashfully”?  Or does the Spirit shake things up?  Is the church to worship God “decently and in order”?  Or are we to allow the Spirit “free reign” in the service to do whatever we feel he wills?

If we take a deep breath, open our New Testaments, and ask God for fresh eyes to see, I believe that we will experience a more fully-orbed picture of the Spirit’s work.  We will see that God has never left his church and the Spirit has been at work.  Those who never see “signs and wonders” are still blessed by God’s movements.  Those who know what it is to suffer patiently have experienced the comfort of the Paraclete.  But the Spirit also surprises us.  Healings can happen when God’s people are gifted to believe.  Tongues and prophecy sound forth (along with the need for discernment!).

But above all, if it is the Spirit who leads us, we will bear his fruit – the first of which is LOVE.  And love covers a multitude of sins.  Love is patient and kind.  Love does not insist on its own way.  When the Spirit works, God’s people won’t divide from each other if they’re actually following him.  Not that this is always easy.  Messiness happens and forgiveness is part of the package.  But we know that God’s will for the church is that we be one, even as he (Father, Son, and Spirit) is one.  And he works differently in each of our lives.

Let’s pray for God’s people to draw closer to one another today.

“It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him.  And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.  They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.” – Acts 28:8-10 ESV

Paul is on his way to Rome.  He’s appealed to Caesar to escape his murderous accusers in Jerusalem and to get a free passage to Rome (“I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” – Romans 1:15).  After arriving in the capital of the empire, he will make his defense before Emperor Nero himself, the Beast.  Church tradition tells us that Paul was released from custody this particular time, allowing him to follow his heart’s desire and bring the gospel to Spain.  Eventually, however, Paul was arrested again.  Nero would not be so disinterested in the sect of the Nazarenes this time, and Paul would lose his head for the sake of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

On his way to Rome the first time, though, Paul’s ship suffers shipwreck on the island of Malta.  All of the crew and passengers are spared miraculously.  Once on the shore, the people of the island welcome them generously.  However, Paul is bitten by a viper.  The natives take this as a sign that Paul deserves to die.  But protected by God, Paul is unharmed.  After this, Paul heals the chief’s father.  When word gets out that there is a man on the island who can perform miraculous healings, all the sick of the island come to see Paul and be healed.  In joy, the people of the island send them on their way fully stocked with the needed provisions.

When I read this story this morning, I was struck by how similar Paul’s story is here to many stories of Jesus in the gospels.  And, of course, that was Luke’s point.  You see, when Jesus walked on this earth he performed miracles, healed the sick, raised the dead, and pointed people to the kingdom of God.  When word got out that Jesus was in town, a crowd always came out to him to be healed of their diseases.  And here on Malta, Paul is having the same effect on the native islanders.  Paul brought the presence of Christ to Malta.

Today, in our own lives, God might work through us to heal.  He might work through us to speak prophetically.  He might work through us in any number of miraculous ways.  Jesus worked miracles, healed the sick, and spoke with divine, prophetic insight.  He also loved people, told the truth, prayed to his Father, believed the scriptures, and taught others to do the same.  As Jesus’ church, the Holy Spirit works in each one of us to give us whatever gifts he chooses for us to have (see 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4).  And by these gifts, Jesus becomes present to those we lovingly serve.

Unfortunately, not everyone whom Jesus healed, loved, and taught followed him into everlasting life.  That is the hard reality of it.  Some sought him for the miracles but wanted nothing to do with his message.  Perhaps that is why God does not always work the miraculous among us – he knows that either we or our neighbors would focus on the sign and become disinterested in the message.  Not everyone became a smiling, happy-clappy Christian in Paul’s life either.  This is a good reminder that people’s response to our message, for or against, is not proof of our faithfulness or unfaithfulness.  Our actual love and obedience, or its lack, is its own proof.

So you and I have a mission.  We have a mission to bring the Presence of Jesus Christ to the world.  If your gifts are faith and healing, use them.  If your gifts are service and mercy, exercise them.  If your gifts are teaching and encouragement, open your mouth.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” - 1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” – Matthew 6:16-18 ESV

(***Our congregation, along with the rest of the Assemblies of God across the country, will spend this next week fasting and praying for God’s will to be revealed and done in the upcoming year.  The fast is encouraged but voluntary, and any of the pastors can be approached for advice on how to fast or what constitutes a true fast.  On that note, I wanted to share a few thoughts.***)

I remember doing a group study with some guys through the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.  The book is written by an evangelical, charismatic Quaker and is both a “how to” and a “why” book on the classic Christian spiritual disciplines, such as study, meditation (not the creepy kind, though some have recently demonized Foster for this chapter), prayer, and fasting.  The chapter on fasting is very practical, giving a lot of good advice on how to fast and on what to expect during a fast physically, mentally and spiritually.

Well, I decided to fast on the day we were going to discuss fasting.  I am a legalist by nature (that’s why I preach so many sermons about grace – I’m speaking to myself!) and so attempted not to bring up the fact that I was fasting.  We always had donuts and coffee at the study.  I decided coffee was okay, and that the flavored creamer was okay.  The donuts I tried to avoid.  Eventually it came up (I don’t know how) that I was not eating any donuts.  I tried very hard not to tell them I was fasting, because really “spiritual” people who don’t want to lose their rewards don’t tell people when they are fasting…or so I thought.

Eventually I had to tell them I was fasting.  They were giving me a hard time, as guys are prone to do with each other, so I had to tell them something.  After breaking the news, I tried to remain very stoic about the fact that I was fasting.  It was just pride, but I thought I was being “spiritual” again.  They continued hassling me.  I think they could tell I was full of myself and just wanted to pay me back for all the times I had hassled one of them about something (I do that sometimes!).  Eventually, like the mature “spiritual” guy that I was, I got mad at them.  They laughed a little more, enjoying their victory, and got back into the study.  My super spiritual, Holy-Ghost-filled day of fasting had pretty much ended in a flop from my perspective.  The fast didn’t make it past lunch.

Jesus tells his disciples not to make a show of their fasting.  Often I have had a strange twang of guilt when I have had to “confess” to someone that I was fasting.  On more than one occasion I have actually wondered whether I would no longer get the thing I was fasting and praying over since I had squealed on myself.  In my earlier days especially, I was part of a very charismatic Pentecostal congregation which was prone both to legalism and to extreme acts of spiritual self-abuse, all in the name of being “Spirit led” and “staying saved.”  We were often called upon to fast.  I was never taught how to fast, and the fasts were always pretty extreme.  I think they assumed the beginners would go easy on themselves and so never described fasting as anything but eating no food at all for an entire week.  I always failed to complete the fasts.  I also always had to tell someone I was fasting before too many days had passed.  Whenever you are fasting, two or three people will always invite you to dinner or offer you some food.  Just expect that.  And whenever I would tell someone I was fasting, a sudden flood of shame and pride would flow through my veins.  I was working out my salvation, after all, and always felt pretty spiritual compared to most other people.  But I was also afraid of losing my salvation, and so anything that felt like a sin caused me hours or days of terror.

You and I are naturally sinful people.  As Paul points out to us, particularly in the book of Romans, sinful people can never perfectly obey God’s commands.  In fact, that is one of the reasons God gives us commands – so we can realize how little we actually want to live God’s way.  When Jesus calls us to not make a show of our fasting, he knows how prone to pride we are.  But over and over I have seen the flash of guilt go across someone’s face who is fasting because they have to tell me they are to avoid an awkward situation without lying or making an excuse.  I also know that the look of guilt probably includes feelings of pride about the act of fasting, or fear of “losing the reward.”  So here is my advice…

When fasting, be totally up front with people about it.  If they tease you playfully or make a big deal about it, just roll with the punches.  If you feel a flash of pride fill your veins, confess it to God.  Talk about it to him and realize the forgiveness that is yours through Jesus’ death on the cross.  But keep at the fast, and realize that if left to us we would lose every reward.  Let the weakness that the fast exposes make you more grateful for the cross of Christ.  Meditate on the reality that it is Christ’ sacrifice, not yours, that wins the reward and receives that which is asked for.  That, after all, is the whole reason why we pray in Jesus’ name.