THANKSGIVING--A RERUN FOR TODAY

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

Every great story reruns in cycles throughout history. For instance, the original story of thanksgiving has to do with the pilgrims who escaped bondage to be free here in this country. This story is not original at all. There is a great story several hundred years prior to the pilgrims. It’s known as the Exodus, when the Jews were led out of bondage into freedom by God through the leadership of Moses.

The main event that set the Jewish people free is called the Passover. God’s death angel was sent through the country of Egypt to kill the first born. Only those who had applied the blood of a lamb over the doorpost were “passed over” and their lives saved. So, the Jewish people to this day celebrate this feast as a time of moving from bondage to freedom.

The story continues today. We all have issues that bind us and weigh us down from the past. What we’re looking for is to be free.

Well, Jesus fleshes out the answer today to our freedom. His answer began way back at the time of the first Passover and it’s all tied up in a couple of agreements.

The first agreement was made through Moses, when God gave him the Law. The Jewish people entered into an agreement with God to keep His Law and become a blessing to the world. Every Jewish Passover dinner throughout the centuries has celebrated this agreement as they remember that what God did for them in setting them free.

About 800 years after the Exodus and the giving of the Law of Moses a prophet by the name of Jeremiah ministered to the Jewish people. Through Jeremiah God revealed that there would someday be a second agreement. Whereas the Law of Moses was written on stones, the second agreement would be written in the hearts of man.

A little over 600 years later Jesus was celebrating the Feast of the Passover with His disciples. And, at this dinner He fleshed out this second agreement with these early disciples. The Christians call it “communion”, but Jesus referred to it as a covenant supper. He was actually making a covenant (an agreement) with His disciples to be connected until He returns. He was also leading them into an agreement with one another to be connected in Jesus. This covenant supper was a powerful experience for these disciples. And, if we properly understood it as an agreement with Jesus and with one another, we might experience the same kind of dynamic.

So, what’s your story? How does your story recycle this same story-line of the Exodus and Passover as well as the early celebration of the pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving dinner?

It’s all about being free! So, what is it that has had you in bondage throughout your life or most recently in your experience? Whatever it may be, Jesus wants to film a rerun in your life. He wants to forgive you of those bad choices and entanglements and set you free.

Listen to Luke’s words in the thirteenth chapter of Acts: "Therefore, my brothers and sisters, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

Today on this Thanksgiving holiday you have lots to celebrate. You are forgiven and you are free. I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel absolutely whole and acceptable before the Lord. To me, that’s Thanksgiving!

GRATEFULNESS FROM A WILD MAN

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

In Mark 5 Jesus encounters a frightening man who had a wild reputation around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. I’m sure this man was the subject of many campfires, especially with the kids. Let’s check out what happened in this encounter:

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name don't torture me!" For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many."

Well, Jesus cast the many demons out of this man and into a herd of about 2000 pigs. The pigs ran off a sharp cliff into the sea and died. (I normally point out that this is the first mention of “deviled ham” in the Bible, but I won’t.) The demonized man was completely freed from all of his oppression and evil shackles that made him seem out of his mind. Note what happens next.

When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well.

This man who had been harassed and controlled by the demonic world had experienced a total transformation—inside out! He was scary before—out of control, shackled, rags for clothes, roamed in and out of tombs, kept hurting himself, yelled with pain and anxiety and was basically homeless.

Then Jesus apprehended him through this encounter. The transformation speaks for itself when he is described as “sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.” He was so grateful for this “Jesus make-over” that he wanted to follow along beside him the rest of his life. Note what happens.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.

NOTE what Jesus tells him. He said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went to his people, telling his story of transformation through Jesus throughout all of the region of Decapolis. Now, the text says, “And all the people were amazed.

I think the application for us is that one of the best ways to show your gratefulness is to go home to your people—family and friends—and share your story of transformation with them. You don’t have to preach, just go home and share what’s happening in your life through your encounters with Jesus.

Now, there may be one problem here. If you aren’t experiencing Jesus, then you may not have anything to share. So, first go to Jesus and ask Him to touch your life in a fresh way.

GRATEFULNESS OF A PROSTITUTE

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

In Luke 7:36-50 a fascinating scene occurs between a very religious man by the name of Simon and an unrighteous prostitute who is anonymous. Let’s take a look at it: When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." 
"Tell me, teacher," he said. "Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."

Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

The contrast here is clear. On the one hand, you have a self-righteous Pharisee who sees no great need that he has before God and therefore it doesn’t occur to him that he ought to feel grateful to God. Then on the other hand, you have a sinful woman, a known prostitute in the village, who is passionately attending to Jesus out of a deep feeling of gratitude.

The central idea here is forgiveness. Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and he also came to give His life as a ransom for many. In every one of the four Gospels you will find this same sort of scene where Jesus is forgiving those who are broken and in need.

In this particular scene this prostitute breaks open a very expensive jar of perfume and worships Jesus’ feet with it. Jesus takes the opportunity to make His primary, life-changing point—people are in desperate need of forgiveness. And, Jesus came to reach out to the broken, hurting, poor and spiritually bankrupt within society. But there is more to this story than just another broken person restored. This story revolves around her appreciation of being forgiven. It’s important to note that both characters in the parable Jesus shares are forgiven of their debts—one more than the other. Those who are forgiven little have little appreciation and gratefulness.

Since she was forgiven of much, she had this great need to thank Jesus in any way she could. She was indeed grateful while Simon, the man who had it all together, was not filled with gratitude, because he had not experienced this same level of forgiveness. In fact, Simon was too good, too righteous to see his need for Jesus and therefore had no reason to adore Him and thank Him.

Now, notice something here. Yesterday, we discussed the 10 lepers—pitiful outcasts of society—who were healed of their leprosy, but only one was grateful enough to thank Jesus for his healing. Today we are working with a prostitute who is unusually grateful for the transformation in her life because of Jesus.

Do you see the theme developing? Jesus is the great physician who is seeking out sick people—those who don’t have it together. He is not looking for those who believe they are all together. In fact, that is where Jesus finds the most opposition

So, I don’t know about you, but when I think of Jesus’ approach all I can say is “Over here Jesus, I am a crippled man who is in need of you.” Once I came to this understanding and stance, I find myself filled with gratefulness through and through. How about you?

GRATEFULNESS IN THE LIFE OF JESUS--10 LEPERS

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

During this week I want to pursue a study on those who were grateful to Jesus in the Gospels. In each case we’ll see something special being taught about us. Let’s begin with the story of the ten lepers. It is found in Luke 2:11-19.

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

So, here are 10 men who were suffering from leprosy. They reached out to Jesus, asking Him to have pity on them. Jesus promptly healed all 10 of them. Now this must have been an amazing thing to be ostracized with this horrible disease and then be totally healed from it. In fact, by tradition the Jewish leadership taught that when the Messiah comes, He will be able to heal the lepers. Now, Jesus, the Messiah not only heals one, but 10 at one time.

The shock to Jesus about this entire matter was that only 1 out of 10 bothered to come back to Jesus and thank Him. Only 1! He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him. But there is a further shock to this story that I believe Jesus wanted to magnify a bit. This man who was healed of leprosy and returned to give thanks to Jesus was not a Jew. He was a Samaritan—a much maligned and disregarded people at that time.

There are two things here I want to emphasize:
FIRST—This grateful man is maybe the only non-Christian (Samaritan) out of the group of 10. Jesus receives anyone who will respond to Him.
SECOND—This grateful man was not made whole by being healed of his leprosy. He was made whole by his faith in Jesus. His heart was bent toward Jesus.

So, what I make of this for us is:
1. Jesus is responsive to those who are grateful.
2. Jesus is just as approachable for the non-Christian as He is the Christian.
3. Jesus is looking for a heart that is bent toward Him. He’s looking for someone who might be interested.

How is your heart toward Jesus? Are you grateful to Him for what He has done on your behalf or are you in too much of a hurry to say, “Thank you!”

TWO PRIMARY THEMES

FOR AUDIO VERSION CLICK HERE.

What are the themes being pushed in your church, local fellowship or your favorite media preacher?
• Evangelism and reaching the world?
• Prayer in schools?
• Moral depravity of our society?
• The 2nd Coming of Christ?
• Worship?
• Prayer?
• Bible Study?

In the book of The Acts of Jesus there are two constant themes that under-gird all that is going on as the new fellowship around Jesus is launched into action. I find this emphasis by Jesus and His disciples to be most important for us today. To ignore these two themes may be short-circuiting spiritual life in the US church today. The two primary themes are the kingdom of God and the person of Jesus. Check out these three passages in Acts:

FIRST—In the opening chapter of The Acts of Jesus we are told about what Jesus taught the disciples in the 40 day intensive He had with them before He ascended into heaven. In Acts 1:3 we read: After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive (That’s the person of Jesus). He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God (and here is the kingdom).

SECOND—Philip spoke to the Samaritans about these same two themes: But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God (That’s the kingdom) and the name of Jesus Christ (and the person of Jesus), they were baptized, both men and women.

THIRD—Then finally in the last chapter of Acts we see Paul hosting the many visitors who came to be with him. He was very careful to teach these same two messages. Listen to this: They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God (Kingdom), and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus (Person of Jesus).
Then, a few verses later Paul is described in this way: He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

Have you noticed how many themes, challenges, urgings and pleadings we receive from our churches and studies in a given week? If we tried to apply even most of it, we wouldn’t be able to do so. There’s just too much! This is why I like the simplicity of the two themes Jesus and His disciples held together.

Maybe if we put our emphases upon simply the person of Jesus and the kingdom of God, just maybe we might experience the same things as the early church. Maybe focusing in this way is what we are desperately longing for. Maybe this is all we really need—Jesus and His kingdom. Maybe this is why Jesus made such a big deal about it when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else you’re concerned about will be provided.” JESUS AND HIS KINGDOM.