Not What, But Who Unites Us Christians

We Christians talk a good talk, but in reality we don't walk a good walk. We say we believe that Christ is in charge of God's entire house. He is the Son of God after all. In other words, He is the Groom and the church is His bride. He is also the Head and we believers are His body. That makes us all members of the same body. And so, we are members one of the other. It means we are brothers and sisters, members of the same family. Right?

Sounds good, but . . . there are such little matters as race, ethnicity, nationality, language, tradition, culture, sex, education and generation that keep getting in the way. And they are often not little matters. Consider those matters that separate and divide us.

• I'm white, but you're black (race)
• I'm German, but you're French (ethnicity)
• I speak English, but you speak Spanish (language)
• I'm American, but you're Chinese (nationality)
• I prefer classical European style music, but you only relate to African (culture)
• I have had the privilege of a post-graduate education, but you can barely read (education)
• I was born before World War II, but you were born at the end of the 20th century (generation)

How shall we overcome these differences? Is it even possible? Listen to the writer to the Hebrews. He uses the Greek word oikos (translated as "house" in English) to refer to the household of God. With this word he refers to that great host of mankind rescued from slavery to sin and death by the work of Christ. The previous chapter ends by emphasizing that Christ is the high priest who offered himself as the all atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. That's why he is able to help all who are enslaved by the fear of death.

THEREFORE, holy brothers (or brothers and sisters), you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses--as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. - Hebrews 3:1-6 ESV

What brings us together? The answer is not what, but WHO! What we share, says the writer, is our heavenly calling. When we get down to the bottom of it, we are all human, descendants of Adam and Eve. And Jesus united Himself to all of us when He was born of the Virgin Mary by the wondrous working of the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus who binds us into one body. It is Jesus who makes us members of one another. It is Jesus who has made Himself one with those of us who are black, brown, tan, white, yellow, red, with eyes and hair and complexions of all colors. It is Jesus who is Chinese, Malaysian, Russian, Swedish, Mexican, American and every other nationality. Jesus speaks to and in every culture. He puts the children on His lap and humbles the most highly educated with the mysteries and wonders of His creation.

And Jesus did it by doing for us all what we cannot and never shall be able to do for ourselves. He earned for us forgiveness and absolution for all our sins. He is the "builder of a house" with far more honor than the house itself, as the Hebrews writer says.

If you are interested in the so-called ecumenical movement I commend you. We Christians must be ready to acknowledge that we are members of the same household, brothers and sisters one of the other. BUT, please, please, let us not forget what unites us. As I noted above, it is not what, but WHO! Who is Jesus? What did He do upon Calvary's cross? What does that mean for you, for me? What is it that we share because Jesus? Blind Helen Howarth Lemmel put it beautifully when she wrote,

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

• O soul, are you weary and troubled?
  No light in the darkness you see?
  There’s light for a look at the Savior,
  And life more abundant and free.

Chorus: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

• Through death into life everlasting
  He passed, and we follow Him there;
  O’er us sin no more hath dominion
  For more than conqu’rors we are! - Chorus

• His Word shall not fail you, He promised;
  Believe Him and all will be well;
  Then go to a world that is dying,
  His perfect salvation to tell! - Chorus

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/645#ixzz2fky20JIJ

Where Shall We Live?

The sainted Ray Stedman continues his ministry through the Ray Stedman website and the organization that publishes his writings and a series of daily devotions. I appreciate what Ray taught and feel very close to him because of them. Here's what Ray says about the many rooms in the Father's house (John 14:1-14): 

 We must ask, "What is the Father's house?" Most of us take this to mean heaven, for heaven is usually viewed as the place where God dwells, but "heaven" is a very vague term. If we let Scripture interpret Scripture (as good expositors should) we would perhaps refer to a passage in the last chapter of Isaiah, where God says, "Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool," (Isaiah 66:1). This implication is clear that God dwells in the entire universe; that this vast cosmos, of which we are but a tiny part, is the Father's house. "In it," Jesus declares, "are many rooms." The word in Greek for "rooms" really means 'a place to live.' This word appears but twice in the New Testament, here and in Verse 23 of this same chapter. In that verse Jesus says, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

 The question of 'a place to live' is one that has occupied my wife and me for some time. You see, by God's grace and utmost generosity, we have the privilege of two houses we may call home, one in Texas and one in Colorado. I write these words from our Colorado house where we have lived for the past month. To this time, we've not considered this house our 'home', but rather our 'vacation home' where we come for a few weeks before returning 'home' to Texas. We're rethinking where we should live. Should we continue to move back and forth between two houses or finally sell one and settle down once and for all either in Colorado or in Texas? And yes, I know, it is a rare privilege to have two houses.

Regardless of how this all works out, the words of our Lord in John 14 are a great comfort to each one of us who believe in Him—especially for those of us who may not even own one house, let alone two. In all this vast creation, our Lord has a special place reserved just for me. He who has already set up house in my heart (John 14:23), has a plan and a place where He plans for me to be. He has reserved it for me by His cross and resurrection. He has prepared that 'room', that dwelling place, that house, that mansion where He wants me to serve Him forever and ever.

In Christ I have a purpose and a destiny. When I get there I will know with certainty that I have come home! This finally will be my place to live forever. I can hardly wait to get home. As the Apostle Paul said, "My desire is to depart and be with Christ" (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; 2 Timothy 4:6).

Our Family Enters A New Year With Thanksgiving

Last evening Cassie, my granddaughter, and I looked at the Christmas pictures stored on my computer. The photos took us back over the years, back to the times when we first began to gather here in Pagosa Springs. We remembered sharing Christmas gifts, worshipping at Our Savior Lutheran Church, skiing and hiking in the mountains, fishing in the streams and lakes, singing camp songs and roasting marsh-mellows around camp fires and hiking to water falls and overlooks. We've been coming here for more than a dozen years. When we finally built our vacation house here Cassie was a little girl. She's now a grown up young woman about to enter college.

When we built this house, Sylvia and I decided it was to serve as a place for the family to gather for fun and fellowship. Over these years it has been that, not only for our family, but also for many other families and friends. We consider this house and these times together as precious gifts of our Lord. In so many ways, we have seen His hand not only leading us here, but also blessing our times together.

It is good to remember that as another year comes to an end. It's also good to remember the importance of caring for our families. Here's how the Bible puts it:

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8).

The Apostle Paul first spoke these words to young Pastor Timothy as part of an admonition to him to see that the widows of his congregation were properly cared for. That is the first application, but there are others. We all have an obligation to care for those who are of our own house.

We have a beautiful wooden plaque hanging over the door of our Pagosa house. It quotes the words of Joshua, the great leader of Israel following Moses. After admonishing his people to turn from the false gods of the people who occupied the Promised Land, he said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15).

That's the first thing Sylvia and I wanted to do as we set out to care for those of our house. We wanted them to know that we serve the Lord Jesus. By the word house (oikeios in Greek) the Apostle refers both to one's blood relatives and to those who are related because of being born anew into the spiritual family of God, the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). We wanted to establish a pattern, set an example, and build memories of how parents and families pray, worship and live together in Christ.

We haven't done that perfectly. We've made mistakes, sometimes spoken harshly to one another, been very critical of one another and forgotten the importance of providing encouragement and comfort. But we have loved one another and forgiven one another in spite of it all as we shared God's love and forgiveness in Christ. And that is what the Apostle is talking about in his admonition to Pastor Timothy.

Tonight we enter another year, the year of our Lord 2008. We enter it with thanksgiving and praise. We enter it anticipating that in this year Cassie will graduate from high school with honors, Patrick will graduate from university and go on to become an engineer and Shawn and Marian will become man and wife. What else the year holds we do not know. It may be the year Jesus calls another member of our family to be with Him in heaven. It may even be the final Year of this age when our Lord Jesus returns. What a wonderful thing that would be.

Whatever the year holds, we will remember that we are members of our family and members of the great, universal family of God. As we enter this year we give thanks to Jesus for coming to be born of Mary to be our Savior. In this year we will serve Him. And in this year we will provide especially for the members of our house.