May 6, 2010

Our First Lesson for this upcoming Sunday comes from Acts 14, where we find the Apostles Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, speaking to the people. Paul looked directly at a man in the crowd whose feet were crippled from birth - the man had never walked. Paul saw that this man had faith to be healed and he told the guy to stand up. The man miraculously jumped up and began to walk. When the crowds saw this, they thought that their Greek gods had come down to them in human form, they thought that Paul and Barnabas were Zeus and Hermes in human form. The people in the crowds responded by wanting to sacrifice to them. When Paul and Barnabas realized what the people were doing and who the people thought they were, they were not happy and rushed in to clear things up. Here's what Paul said to them: "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them." (Acts 14:15)

Have you ever heard the theory that who you are is really just a product of every person you have met in your life and every situation you have encountered? This is one of the arguments that the psychologists use when they are trying to argue the nurture side of the 'nature vs. nurture' argument. The other side of the coin is the nature side of the argument which says that you are who you are because of what you inherited from your parents. It shouldn't be surprising that when the people of Lystra saw Paul perform a miracle that they immediately thought he was one of their gods. After all, they had 2 out of 2 strikes against them. By nature they were sinful and in opposition of the one true God, and by nurture their society taught them to put their trust in a false god - in the Greek gods.

Like the people in Lystra, many people living in our country today have the same 2 strikes against them. By nature we are all sinful. Psalm 51:5 tells us "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." By nurture many, who aren't "religious," follow a false god that is maybe more subtle than the Greek gods, but will leave them no less damned. Our country has an environment and a culture that teaches and champions putting yourself in the #1 position. What kind of power can you gain for yourself? How much money can you gain for yourself? What have you done for yourself today? When you boil it down, many unbelievers in our country are really making themselves their god, which is without question a clear violation of the First Commandment.

The outcome will not be good for those who follow their own nature and for those who follow the world's nurturing. The outcome will not be good for those who don't exclusively follow the living God. In Deuteronomy we are told to "Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land." (Deuteronomy 6: 13-5). Maybe the unbeliever won't be destroyed now, but the day is coming when - as Paul tells us "...we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.' (Romans 14:10b-11 & Philippians 2:11)

Back to our story... Paul is telling the crowd at Lystra who was about to sacrifice to him - stop! Barnabas and I have the same nature as you. We too are only human. We too are sinful. But, here's how we are different - we have the good news, and now we are trying to bring that good news to you. "Turn from these worthless things to the living God" Paul was telling them, as he put it in his letter to the Romans, " Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed..." (Romans 12:2a) Don't follow the nurturing of your world any longer- be transformed by the good news.

Making ourselves our #1 priority is worthless. Making the living triune God (Father Son & Holy Spirit) anything BUT our #1 priority is worthless. If all the other gods (small g) that we can have are worthless - as worthless as Monopoly money, then the Living God is priceless - more priceless than all the wealth in this world. In fact - our Living God created the world, which includes all the wealth in the world.

Recently the company that I work for was sold. Unfortunately many of my co-workers are now my 'former co-workers,' as entire departments and the jobs that go with them have been moved to an office in Plano, Texas. So far my department is staying put, and with it my job, but a couple of the guys I work with were talking about what they might do if we are eventually shown the door. They brought me into the conversation and asked me what I would do. To attempt to lighten the mood, this is how I responded: "Oh, I'm actually independently wealthy. I just do this for fun." We all chuckled. But you know what? In a way, we as Christians are independently wealthy. Our wealth is independent of how much stuff we have accumulated or how nice our stuff is. Our wealth is independent of how many zeros are behind the numbers in our bank accounts. Our wealth is independent of any worldly situation we find ourselves in. Our wealth is independent of any other standard of wealth that the world has - which in the end are all worthless. Our wealth is in the good news that Paul and Barnabas were trying to share with those in Lystra.

The Psalm writer David tells us in Psalm 144: "Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace." (Psalm 144: 11-12) This is the good news that Paul and Barnabas were attempting to share, this is the good news that we will want to share. God did send his son Jesus to deliver and rescue us from the nurturing of the world with all its lies and deceit, so that we can now be His children who are like "well-nurtured plants," growing in the Lord. We are by nature poor sinful creatures, but praise be to God that we are now also independently wealthy, as we are now being nurtured by the living God!

Dear God,

Help remind us that putting anything but you in our #1 position is worthless. Help us to turn from all that is worthless to you who are priceless. Please continue to nurture us, so that when we stand before the final judgment seat we can be declared innocent because of what Jesus has done for us. We really are independently wealthy! Give us an extra dose of ambition to get out there, like the apostles Paul and Barnabas, and share the wealth! Amen!