My Mother's Day Sermon

Below is the text of the sermon I preached at Lansdale Presbyterian Church on Mother's Day, May 10, 2009. Forgive the goofy grammar and syntax in places... I write these things as I hear them in my head.

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Text and Opening Prayer
Our text from Scripture this morning is from the Gospel of Mark... the tenth (10th) chapter... verses 17 – 31.

The Story of the Rich Young Ruler
This passage in Mark's gospel is often referred to by its main character who has come to be named “The Rich Young Ruler.” That name is actually a composite of information found in all three places in the Synoptic Gospels in which this story is found. It is the story of what looks like a chance encounter – of a conversation between Jesus and a certain man that happens just in the nick-of-time, and of a convenient teachable moment between Jesus and his disciples.

A Chance Encounter?
It looks like a chance encounter, but it wasn't. It happens at this time and in this place in the providence of God as Jesus is leaving this region of Judea. You see, he's going somewhere. Only days later, he'll arrive in Jerusalem. He'll be greeted along the road from Bethany and Bethpage by throngs of people covering the road with palm branches and the very clothes off their backs, and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” Just days after that, he would be betrayed by one of his own, arrested on trumped up charges, tried in a kangaroo court, tortured and beaten, and forced to carry the instrument of his own suffering and death.

He Was Going Somewhere
He was going somewhere... he was going to the place where he would willfully endure the wrath of God. He was going to drink the cup that had been prepared for him, and to be baptized with the baptism that had been prepared for him, as he would tell James and John a little later in Chapter 10. He was going to secure for his people eternal life in the kingdom of God with his own blood. When we see this story in that context it becomes all the more striking because it means that this story is about more than a rich man and some terminally confused disciples. It means that this man and these disciples, in the final days of Jesus life on earth, still needed to know a few things about the kingdom of God. They were mistaken about how they were going to live forever and who was going to do that, and those errors needed to be dealt with. They needed to know, and so do we.

Digging into the Text
So, let's look at this text. In verse 17 of chapter 10, Mark tells us that as Jesus was starting on his way, a man appears to ask Jesus a question. In a vivid picture of words, Mark tells us that this man ran up to Jesus, and then fell to his knees, and asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” They say that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and this man certainly knew how to make an entrance. We can't help but see here a serious man – active, engaged, religious – one who is concerned enough with spiritual things – one preoccupied enough with the condition and direction of his life – to seek out this great teacher, dramatically gain his attention and ask, with reverence and respect, the question that obviously grips his heart. Later on in the passage, we learn that he is a man of considerable wealth. Thanks to Matthew we know that he was young, and Luke tells us that he was a ruler of some kind – most likely, he was a member of a local council or court. The image is unmistakable – this is a guy with a lot going for him – an earnest, passionate, successful man – but a man who, despite all of his attributes, still comes to Jesus wondering if, on some level, something is missing.

The Rich Young Ruler's Question and Jesus' Response
“Good teacher,” he says, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”, he asks in verse 17. Or as Matthew states the question, more revealingly, “what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?” Notice that Jesus' answer is directed at this man's use of the address, “Good Teacher.” “Why do you call me good?”, Jesus asks. “No one is good – except God alone.” This man has come running up to Jesus thinking, “If there is anybody who can tell me what I have to do to assure my place in heaven, then it is this great man.” Jesus' reply is essentially, “Son, there is no human teacher who can give you such advice. No such advice exists, no such teacher exists, and furthermore there is no one here who is that good, including you! Watch who you are calling good. Only God is good.

If you think you can live forever by being good, then you don't need me to tell you what you need to do, and you don't need any individual revelation from God – he has already given you the commandments, just keep them.” Verse 19 – “You know the commandments,” Jesus says. “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” “Teacher,” he replies, “all these I have kept since I was a boy!” It is as if the young man is saying to Jesus, “But Teacher, I know all of that. I have closely adhered to those conditions since I first learned them as a boy. Surely there is something more! There must be!” What are we to make of this exchange?

God Looks At the Heart
You know, as I was writing this sermon, there was one verse of Scripture that I kept seeing over and over in situations and in conversation. It is 1 Samuel 16:7: 'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Jesus, because He is God, could see what we can not see. Because He is God, Jesus was not required, as we are, to slowly and sometimes painfully unearth and interpret the endless layers of sin... pride... longing... insecurity... doubt... fear... hope... and self-righteousness that we human beings show to the world to mask what is in our hearts. Jesus immediately saw that there was indeed something missing with this man, but it was something far greater than this man had ever imagined.

The Condition of His Heart
Jesus could instantly see the condition of this man's heart. He could see that this man was mistaken about the nature of the kingdom of God. Jesus knew that this man had approached him as merely the best human teacher he had ever seen. He knew that this man thought the keys to the kingdom of God could be found in doing good. He knew that this man simply didn't understand that there was more to the commandments than outward adherence. He knew that this man already thought he was pretty good, and that one big act of goodness could put him over the top and into eternal life. And what better counsel could there be for such an act of conspicuous goodness than the best person this young man had ever seen? This man thought he had the kingdom of God figured out... but he couldn't have been more wrong. He thought he that if he did enough things on the outside that God would count them in his favor... but he couldn't have been more wrong. He thought that he wanted eternal life enough to be willing to do whatever was necessary... but he couldn't have been more wrong.

He Looked At Him and Loved Him
But, despite all of that, what is so striking here is what Mark tells us in verse 21. Mark gives us perhaps the most beautiful, exciting words in this whole passage when he writes, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Jesus looked at him, he saw him for what he was, and loved him – agape – a love of which only He is capable. And it is because he loved him that he showed him that he wasn't capable of any act that was good enough to earn his way into God's kingdom. Because he loved him, Jesus had to show him his utter lack of goodness and his need for something much more. Because he loved him, Jesus had to show him that his goodness was only skin deep and that this rich man was bankrupt before God. Because he loved him, Jesus had to show this rich young ruler – this picture of vitality, action, success, devotion and determination that he was nothing but a shadow... that though he came running in body, he was really paralyzed in spirit... that though he dropped to his knees in reverence, he stood proudly in his own heart... that though he was eager to hear of goodness and piety, he was deaf to the true nature of God's salvation and to his own eternal need... that though he was the picture of life, that he was dead in his trespasses and sins.

And because he loved him, Jesus pointed this man toward himself. He pointed him toward the one who had come so that the deaf might hear, the blind might see, and the crippled might get up and walk. “Come, follow me” Jesus says in verse 21. Follow me to Jerusalem. Follow me to Golgotha. Follow me to the empty tomb. Follow me to see that you really do need one supreme act of goodness to inherit eternal life, but you can't do it. Follow me, and you will see that I will do it for you.

Not About Being Good
You see, the kingdom of God is not about being good. We need to know, like the rich young ruler, that there is no amount of good that we can do to secure eternal life for ourselves. We need to know that our problem starts not with our actions but with the heart from which those actions proceed. That's why Jesus, in verse 21, puts his finger on the rich young ruler's wealth. “One thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven.” His purpose was to show him that in his heart he loved something more than eternal life. While his actions indicated obedience, his heart was rebellious, and when push came to shove, he would choose what he wanted over eternal life. The problem was in his heart. His wealth would keep the rich young ruler from following Jesus to Jerusalem, and his love for his wealth was a symptom of the greater disease of his sin. No amount of good works could change the heart – only a cross could.

It is About Being His / The Gap
The truth is that the kingdom of God is not about being good, it is about being His. The summer after my junior year of college, I went on a summer-long missions project with Campus Crusade for Christ in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. There were 34 of us from colleges across the country there that summer. We worked during the day, and at night and on the weekends tried to tell the thousands who came there, that there was a God who loved them. We all lived together in a house a block from the beach, and there was a man that summer who drove a beat up old Pinto and stood on the corner of our street and Route A1A with a sandwich board that read, “Repent of Perish! The Kingdom of God is Near.” We knew he was there, and he knew we were there, but that's about as far as it went.

Well, this man had a large painting that he used to set up on a chair on the corner. The painting depicted a canyon with flames erupting from some deep bottom, and on one side of the canyon was the world with intricately painted scenes of war, and fighting, and scantily-clad women and all manner of sin, and on the other side was a bright light and throngs of people in white walking and kneeling. Laid across the flaming canyon was a cross and there were groups of people running across it. Quite frankly, this picture and this man gave me the creeps back then, and to be honest they still do, but there's one part of all of it that I keep tucked away, and it is that cross bridging that canyon.

Bridging the Gap
Folks, no matter how hard he tries, man in his own power can never draw near to God. Our sin created a gap between man and God that we can not bridge. We desperately need God to draw near to us, and that is what He has done in Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God isn't about being good, it is about belonging to the one who bridged the gap between God and man. It is about belonging to one who gave His life as a ransom for many. It is about acknowledging in faith that Jesus really is who He said He was, and renouncing the thing that Jesus came to deal with: our sin – and believing that without Him, there is no hope of eternal life. The rich young ruler needed to know.

The Disciples Needed to Know
The disciples needed to know too. They too were mistaken about the kingdom of God. They were under the impression that what you did or even how much money you had would give you a leg-up on eternal life (which was a common superstition in those days about rich people), but Jesus was quick to dispel that notion. In verse 23, Mark writes, “Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.”” The disciples were amazed by Jesus' words. So amazed were they, that Jesus repeats them and expands upon them through the use of hyperbole to say that it is easier for an enormous animal like a camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. In exasperation, they say to each other, “If the rich man can't be saved, then who can?” Jesus' answer is at the same time devastating and glorious. “It is impossible for man on his own merits or efforts to be saved. But God is the God of the impossible.” The disciples needed to know that the field is level at the foot of the cross. No one has a head start, nobody gets special treatment... we all start from the same place of fallen-ness and sin and it is impossible for us to leave that place, but God in Jesus Christ came to redeem that place. It is not about who you are, it is about who He is as Savior and Lord of your life. It is about God doing what was impossible for us to do. The kingdom of God is not about being good, it is about being His.

Application
So what difference should this make in our lives? Well, I would submit to you that the way you enter the kingdom of God is the way you are to live in it in this life. You enter the kingdom of God not because you are good, but because you are His. You enter the kingdom of God by faith in Christ's work, not by the virtue of your own. Faith in his work on the cross to pay for your sin. Faith in his incredible love. Faith that He is God, that what He says is true, and that because of the cross He can be trusted. That is the same way that you are to approach each day of your life.

A Little Bit...
You see, there is a little bit of rich young ruler still left in all of us. Each of us tries each day to make it on our own. Each of us tries to be great in our own eyes. Each of us wants so badly to be sovereign in our own lives. Each of us wants to be worshipped. Each of us wants to think that life is all about us, but it isn't. We try to bring all of that into our thoughts, our relationships, our callings, our responsibilities, even the things we do at church, and we wonder why after a while it seems like there is something missing. We're missing the cross! We're trusting in ourselves and not looking to God in faith. We're forgetting our Creator, and forgetting faith and pouring out the grace of God onto the floor.

Pride and Despair
Through reading God's Word, and through the godly counsel of those who have helped me in my own struggles, I have come to see two ways in which we do this. Think about this for a moment: When you are tempted to find your happiness, your purpose in life, or your place in the world in the great things you do, that is not faith, it is pride. When you do that, you worship yourself and not Jesus, the God of the Universe who came near to you and poured out his grace in your life. You need not to look at yourself, but to look up to the cross– repent of your sin, accept the forgiveness that has been purchased for you, and believe by faith that the only thing you have to boast in is that you know Jesus. Or, when you are tempted to wallow in despair over your failures, your inadequacies, your challenges in this life, that is not faith, it is pride frustrated. You want to worship yourself, but you don't see anything to worship, so you hate instead. You need not to look at yourself, but to look up to the cross – repent of your sin, accept the forgiveness that has been purchased for you, and look in faith to Jesus who gave his life for you, who has not condemned you, who began a good work in you and has promised to finish what He started.

This Means You... And Me
So many of us do this... I do, and I'm only beginning to understand it in my own life. But if you belong to Jesus, then he will not allow you to stay that way. He'll break you of it and it'll hurt, but through His Word, His Holy Spirit and His Body, he'll never let you forget that He's behind it, that He loves you, that it will be OK someday, and that you'll be left with more of Him.

Conclusion
Yes, there 's a lot to learn from the rich young ruler. I was this man once... and I've got news for you... so were you. I was once a man who couldn't help living the way this man did... and I've got news for you... so were you. I was once a man who believed he was sovereign over his own life... and I've got news for you... so were you. But then, Jesus came near. He came near and drew me to himself, and showed me my sin, and gave me the faith to ask him to forgive me. He opened the kingdom of heaven to me... not because I'm good, but because he loves me, and I belong to Him.

"Mom died last night..."

Mom passed away this morning. Dani, my sister, called me at home this morning in tears to tell me. I had gone home last night to spend the weekend. When I left I hoped that Mom would survive until I returned. Before I left her bedside, I kissed her on the head and whispered my love to her. I said, "Ask Jesus to come take you home, Mom. He'll forgive you if you ask him... if you haven't already. I love you."

I'm glad I did that.

A strange and scary day...

When my sister told me over the phone that Mom had died, a strange mixture of grief, relief, confusion and disbelief swept over me.

I was in bed when the call came. I was trying to fend off my son, who likes to crawl into bed with us on Saturdays and fidget until we get up to watch cartoons with him, when I thought I heard the phone ringing downstairs. My wife got the phone. "It's your dad," she said, looking at the caller ID. I knew what was coming before I said a word.

I drove up here to NJ this morning. The house was full of people when I arrived. My Uncle Junior (Dad's brother) and Aunt Carol, Aunt Janet (Dad's sister) and Bill, Dani, Dad and Mr. Blanco. Mr. Blanco (Tony) is a dear friend of my dad's and my mom's. He was the superintendent of schools here in town until around the time I graduated from high school. My mother loved him a lot, and he was a good friend to her for many years. I was so glad that he was here for my Dad, and it would have pleased my mom greatly.

Aunt Mickey came too. Aunt Mickey is my mom's dear friend (her name is Lillian, but we've always known her as Aunt Mickey). She has been driving up from South Jersey two or three times a week for the last month bringing more food than we can eat. Mom loved spending time with her and so did we. When she arrived this morning, she was already in tears. "Thanks for letting me come," she said. I hugged her and whispered through my own tears, "You're family. You always have been and always will be. We don't call you Aunt for nothing."

Mom was in the room off the kitchen where she has slept for a couple of years now, and where she spent most of the last month. The funeral director had waited until I arrived to make preparations to take her body away. He gave me, and the rest of us assembled, the chance to say goodbye. It felt so very surreal to see my mother lying there with no breath of life in her. I kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "I love you. I'll see you again."

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A friend reminded me of something yesterday. There is nothing that prepares you for death, especially the death of a parent. God didn't intend it to be this way. I really believe that. He didn't intend for us to experience the profound pain, shock, terror and emptiness that death brings with it. He created us to be with him for all eternity, and never to feel as if we are all alone in the world. He created us to be filled with the joy and awe of His presence, and never to feel as if we are hollow, empty and spent.

Mom said on a number of occasions: "I don't know how people face cancer and face dying without faith in God." I'm with her on this one.

Signs

It came in the mail one day -- a envelope from my mom with her regular supply of grocery coupons clipped from the Sunday paper. A year or so before, she and I had talked on the phone about how expensive things were getting at the grocery store. I proudly told her about how I had gotten pretty good at using coupons. From then on, she sent me an envelope about once a month stuffed with coupons, always with a little note attached signed by "The Coupon Lady."

But this envelope was different. She had written in the same elegant, flowing cursive that I had known since I was old enough to read, but it was wobbly this time. The difference leapt off the page. It was as if the floor had given way under my feet. This sudden feeling of cold and dreadful sadness swept over me. It was a sign. Somehow, I was able to deal with all of the other physical changes that Mom's cancer had inflicted upon her -- the missing hair, the painful walk, the weakness, the times in the hospital when she looked so beaten up -- but this one really scared me. I counted on that handwriting. It was part of her, it had always been the same, and now it wasn't, and it really scared me.

About 10 days ago, I had the same cold and dreadful feeling. They say that parents and children have a special hearing for the particular voices of the other. So much so that in the densest noise a parent's voice or a child's cry can cut through the din in a way that no other voice can. Mom had weakened to the point that her voice became raspy and thin. Once again, the floor gave way beneath me. Here and there, her voice would clear and I found myself clutching inside to those times when her voice was what I had always known, and hoping for one more word.

I had no idea how much a part of my life, my sense of security, and my sense that all is and would be right with the world that my mother's voice and handwriting were. I know now.

Changes...

Things are happening so fast. It used to be that I could measure changes in my Mom's health in years. Earlier this year, I started to notice that with each passing month she could not get around as well or eat like she once did. I noticed that she napped more.

Around Thanksgiving, I noticed a big change in her health. She could barely walk even with her walker, she was unsteady on her feet, and there were more and more things that she did not eat because they made her sick. It was around that time, that her skin became very jaundiced. She went into the hospital for a week needing a procedure to unblock a duct in her liver. When she came home, we were told that the cancer had been attacking her liver for some time, that it was responsible for the blockage, and it was time to make Mom comfortable. Since then, she has declined from week to week, and now day to day.

A few weeks ago, though she stayed in bed most of the time, Mom could sit up on the couch, watch TV, file her nails, drink her favorite tea, and have a conversation. She could push herself up to her feet though she needed a wheelchair to get around. After a week, while she still got out of bed to eat at the kitchen table, she needed to be lifted up and carried to her wheelchair. She slept much more, she ate less, and she was starting to lose the coordination and strength in her hands to do even simple things like use the remote control or grip a glass. Over the last couple of days, she's declined further -- she's rarely awake for more than a few minutes, and she's gotten so thin, frail and small. She's so very weak, and in a great deal of pain. It is a struggle for her to lift her head, say hello or even smile.

I know what's coming next -- when days turn to hours and then to minutes and precious seconds. I know that she may not be able to do tomorrow what she did today, and with each day a little more of Mom slips away.

A Long Road: My Mom

I'm not really sure how to start this post. Until now, I have used this blog to occasionally comment on politics, sports, and spiritual things. It has also been a repository for some other writing that I have done in recent years... sermons, stories, etc. But, on the advice of a dear friend, I'm going to put this space to a different use now.

My mom is dying. There, I said it. She has been battling cancer for over 18 years. Two weeks ago, after prescribing countless treatments and guiding my mother over so many obstacles, her oncologist said something I had long feared - "I'm not winning anymore... The hardest thing for an oncologist to know is when to stop," he said. With that, I knew. I knew that my Mom was going to die soon. I knew that the pattern she had so often followed in her long fight with cancer -- aggressive treatment requiring painful, physical sacrifice, followed by a long recovery and an eventual return to an active life -- was not to be this time. No matter what new treatment she had to endure, she had always gotten better. She isn't going to get any better this time. My mom is dying, and it hurts.

So many thoughts have crossed my mind over the last several weeks, and I want to preserve them and share them. Thank you for reading. Pray for me, for my family, and for my mom.

Palm Sunday Sermon on Acts 9: 1-19

Palm Sunday Sermon on Acts 9: 1-19

Here is the text of the sermon I preached on Palm Sunday. The text is Acts 9:1-19. I preached this message for the first time about 4 years ago, and I revisited the text on Palm Sunday. The text really opens our eyes to the sovereignty and love of God in election and in His pursuit of his children.

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Acts: Where We Are Now
This is an interesting point in the Book of Acts because we are about to see the Gospel go forth in a powerful way. Jesus said that his disciples would be his witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and to the uttermost parts of the earth. After the death of Stephen, the church is scattered into Judea and Samaria, and with Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch a chapter or so before, we begin to get a foretaste of the next mission field. It is just at this time, that we are re-introduced to the church’s arch enemy, Saul. Saul, who threw men and women who confessed Christ into prison, who stood by in approval as Stephen was stoned to death… this world-class Jew, this major-league Pharisee, this scourge of the church, was about to become God’s newest messenger.

Acts 9 Overview
So, let's take a look at him. The picture we get of Saul in this passage is of a man consumed by his own zeal. He is a man obsessed with ridding the earth of the followers of the Way. Their destruction is like the very air he breathes… at this point, it is what he lives for. Saul here seeks permission from the high priest to take his obsession on the road. As we see later on from Ananias, Saul's name and his reputation precede him to Damascus, his next hunting ground. His zeal for God has become a murderous pursuit, and God was about to meet him in the midst of his pursuit. Along the road to Damascus, he and his companions are stopped in their tracks by a blinding light, but only Saul hears the voice of Jesus say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul knew well enough that the voice and the light meant he was in the presence of deity! “Who are you, lord?” or “Who are you, sir?” Saul asks. Now, I would imagine that Saul was about as terrified to ask that question as he was to hear the answer. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Here, in one sentence, Saul’s life is shattered and recast… “Jesus is alive... He is God… and I have been persecuting God!” Blinded, with the words of Jesus fresh in his mind, he is led by the hand into Damascus. After 3 days, he is visited by an obedient, but most likely petrified, Ananias who, despite all he’s heard, baptizes Saul and restores Saul’s sight.

God: The Real Story of Saul’s Conversion
This story is often recalled as “Saul’s Conversion.” There may even be a heading that reads that way in your Bible. But, the real story here, or shall I say the really great story, is not about Saul, or conversion, or perhaps even faith, but about the object of our faith… the God to whom we desperately need converting from a life of sin and death. At the center of any conversion, is God… who enters our dark world, finds us in our sin, and at precisely the right moment, in the fullness of time, calls us home. This is the really great story of Acts Chapter 9.

The God Who Seeks
So, please notice first, The God Who Seeks. Verses 3 and 4 say this, “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”” The first thing we need to know about this God who brings about our conversion is that God seeks us! It is God who confronts Saul. Saul was going to confront these “followers of the Way” in Damascus, but it was Jesus, the Way himself, who confronted Saul on the Damascus Road. Saul did not enter God’s place… Jesus entered Saul’s place.

Our Great Shepherd
You know, Jesus told a lot of parables, but my personal favorite is found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15, verse 4 through 6, when Jesus tells this parable… “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.”

Folks, all of us have wandered off, following the next blade of grass in life wherever it leads…realizing too late that we have followed our blades of grass into the wilderness, where there is no more grass to eat. But the greatness of the Gospel is that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, went into the wilderness after us. He did not wait for us to come back or march out stern-faced and wild-eyed demanding to know just what we thought we were doing. He took the form of a servant among a people who would eventually hang him on a cross… all for the purpose of finding his lost sheep. He is still doing that today… as He seeks out his children, picks them up out of the wild place in which He finds them, and carries them home – to the boisterous delight of all of heaven.

This is true of those whom God is saving today, and it is true of those of us who already count ourselves among his people. He rescues us from the death penalty of sin, and then continues to rescue us from our sinful nature in this life. My friends, the great thing about Christianity is that we don’t work our way to God. We couldn’t if we tried! The glorious truth of Christianity is that God came to us! Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We did not seek him out… our Good Shepherd went into the wilderness in search of us. It's what my son's Bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible – a wonderful little Bible for children (I highly recommend it!) -- calls His “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love!”

God Went After YOU!
My friends, I ask you, do you believe each moment that God seeks you? If you’re a Christian, you ought to believe it, because it is true. You ought to believe it because it's glorious! You ought to believe it because it's the only way this world makes any sense! You ought to believe it because there is such joy and such freedom and such power in knowing that God is always at work in your life, that He never stops loving you, that there are no limits to his grace. Why? Because Jesus travelled a road – a road not lined with palm branches, but one lined with those who shouted, “Crucify Him!” Jesus travelled a road, beaten and bloodied, carrying the instrument of his torture and death to a place called Calvary so that one day you and I could be with him, along with the penitent thief crucified next to him, in paradise!

If you are Christian today, God sought you out and He did not spare even His own Son to do so. You are here today, because God went after you. You are not adrift in this life, you are not insignificant, you are not unloved, you are not alone, and as a preacher who I like a whole lot likes to say, God isn't mad at you, He's really quite fond of you. He went after you, after all. And when you get down and depressed, and you can't take it anymore, and life just can't get any worse, cheer up! Jesus came after you, He's still after you, and your Good Shepherd knows what you need.

The Damascus Road: The Tip of The Iceberg
Just as He went after Saul. Jesus enters the life of the very person who is probably doing more to destroy God’s people than anyone else, and God turns him into one of the church’s most powerful witnesses. But we would be mistaken if we believed that God did this all of a sudden. We would be missing something if we saw the Damascus Road as the sum total of Saul’s conversion. No, this event, as miraculous and awe-inspiring as it is, is merely the “tip of the iceberg.” You know, icebergs are a lot like some people in that they hide most of what they are below the surface. The visible part of an iceberg, the part that you see sticking out of the water is only the very top, less than 10%, of a mostly submerged mountain of ice. The Damascus Road is merely the final culmination of Saul’s conversion… there is a mountain of life underneath it.

The God Who Works All Things Together
So, notice secondly The God Who Works All Things Together. Look at Acts 9:15… “But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.” God had chosen Saul of all people… and that choice had been in place before Saul was born. In Galatians 1:15, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, himself writes that God had set him apart from birth. As John Piper wrote recently, “This means that between Paul’s birth and his call on the Damascus road he was an already-chosen but not-yet-called instrument of God (Acts 9:15; 22:14).”

Saul’s Life
So, let's take a look at Saul’s life for a second, shall we? He was born Saul, in Tarsus of Cilicia, a city on the southern coast of what we know today as Turkey. He was born a Roman citizen. From a very young age, he was trained in the strictest sect of Judaism, as a Pharisee, under perhaps the most prominent rabbi of his day. He advanced quickly, beyond most his age, and was a rising star among the Pharisees. He half-boasted later that if anyone was going to stake his claim to heaven on following the law it should have been Saul, for he was doing it better than anyone. He, of course, becomes the fierce persecutor we have seen him to be. But consider this… his training was a backdrop for his later work to bring the Gospel to his own Jewish people. When he affirmed in the epistles that “the righteous shall live by faith,” could his years of Pharasaical living be far removed from his thoughts? God allowed Saul to take part in Stephen’s death perhaps to see the way Stephen died. It was not by accident that Saul made martyrs of many in Jerusalem as he witnessed their faith. And Piper provides us with even greater perspective here, when he writes, “Damascus was not Paul’s final, free will yielding to Christ after decades of futile divine effort to save him. God had a time for choosing him (before he was born) and a time for calling him (on the Damascus road). Paul yielded when God called. Therefore the sins that God permitted between Paul’s birth and his calling were part of the plan, since God could have done Damascus sooner. Do we have any idea what the plan for those sins might have been? Yes. They were permitted for you and me—for all who fear that they might have sinned themselves out of grace.” Folks, believe it or not, Saul’s whole life was orchestrated for that day on the Damascus Road so that Saul, reborn as Paul, could go out on many a far flung road and preach the gospel. And God speaks to us in Saul's life of His sovereignty and amazing grace.

He Moves Heaven and Earth
My friends, God doesn’t do anything on a whim. He has a purpose for this world which he has been working out since eternity past and will continue into eternity. That purpose included Saul and it includes us – and it includes both our faithfulness and our failures. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Therefore, redemption, our salvation, is a carefully orchestrated event… it is not a episode of Mighty Mouse… where out of nowhere when all hope seems gone, here comes Mighty Mouse to save the day! No, God works together every day, every act, every person, every event, every word spoken or withheld, and every influence present or absent to bring his children home.

Markers in Time
Listen to this. In a 2004 edition of his daily, “Slice of Infinity,” devotional, Ravi Zacharias writes the following:
“As I have aged I seem to grow more and more prone to nostalgia. Many of us do this instinctively, clinging to memories past, perhaps looking backwards with the hope of seeing a purpose for our lives. When I travel to India, I make it a point to revisit time and again those significant marking points of my own life. As I recall these moments past but not forgotten, I hear the gentle voice of God very much in the present. And He says, “I was there.” “When you were on your bike contemplating suicide, I was there. When you were but 9 years old and your grandmother died, I arranged for her gravestone to hold in time the very verse that would lead you to conversion. I was there… As we look back on these markers in time, there is a sense of the transcendent, a glimpse of a reality greater than this. Beaming from this reality is the eternal love of God. He was with you then. He is there with you now. And He loves you.”

The Day in the Cemetery
WOW! Those words from Ravi remind me of a story. A young boy was playing in his backyard one day. He was having a grand time of himself when along came his grandfather. The boy’s grandfather called out to him and said seriously, “Would you like to come with me today?” “OK,” the young boy answered, “Where are we going?” He asked. “To the cemetery.” His grandfather answered. So the boy and his grandfather got into the car and off they went. When they arrived at the cemetery, they drove through the tall iron gate and through the quiet maze of gravestones until they finally stopped by the side of the road. They got out of the car, the young boy took his grandfather’s hand, and they walked a short distance away to a particular gravestone where his grandfather stopped. The young boy stood silently. His grandfather stood quietly for a moment, took off his hat and began to speak. “Ann, it’s me,” he said. He continued in hushed words that the young boy could not understand. A few minutes later, his grandfather said softly, “Jack is with me today… Oh Ann… if you could only see your grandchildren… you would be so proud.” A few more hushed words … an Amen… a sign of the cross, and a little sigh… “OK Jack,” he said. “Let’s go home.” Jack took his grandfather’s hand and off they went.

He is With Me!
I was that little boy. The memory of that day in the cemetery, standing beside the grave of the grandmother I never knew, is one that I will never forget. I’ve thought about that day in the cemetery so many times over the years. It is perhaps my favorite memory of my grandfather – my best friend for the first 23 years of my life. After reading this passage in Acts, I now know why that particular memory stands out. That day in the cemetery is one of the first recollections I have of being part of something bigger – of being part of, as Ravi says, “a reality greater than this” -- of being precious in someone’s sight, of a love stronger than any force of nature. That day was God's way of giving me a taste of what He would teach me years later. That He had chosen me, that I was precious in His sight, and that He loved me perfectly. He had orchestrated my whole life, in every part, for the purpose of leading me to Himself. God was with me that day in the cemetery, he is with me today and he has been and will be with me always. As it was with Saul, as it is with me, Christian, so it is with you! God has moved heaven and earth to bring you to himself.

God Uses Us in the Redemption of His People
So, what do we do with all of this? In Acts 9:10-15, we see God call Ananias through a dream to minister to Saul, and then we read that God has chosen Saul specifically to take the Gospel to Jew and Gentile alike. Throughout the Scriptures, we see God seeking and redeeming His people all the while using the work of ordinary people whom He has sought out and equipped for His service. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” He has chosen to use people, like us, to bring others to himself. We have the supernatural privilege of playing a role in the sovereign plan of God.

God is working in the lives of those around us, and He allows us to play a role in His work through evangelism and through the use of whatever gift He has given each of us. I ask you this morning, what is yours? And what are you doing with it? Like most things, God gives us the choice to participate in what he is doing, and if we respond in obedience and faith we can experience something miraculous! If we choose not to, God’s purpose is not thwarted. But, we will have missed an opportunity to experience His work – to experience the peace of faith, the blessing of giving, the freedom of obedience, the joy of sacrifice. Are you fulfilling the role God has laid out for you? Have you sought out, and then sought to use the gift that God has given you? God has a purpose and He has invited us to partake in that purpose… if we step out in faith and obedience we will see His work and experience Him for who He is.

Do You Know Him?
So, on this Palm Sunday, as we remember Jesus entry into Jerusalem, I ask you to consider once again this Jesus who came in search of you and me. Consider once again the “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love of God” that we see in Him. Consider once again the work He has done, and is doing, in your life – where is He leading? What step of faith is next for you? What wall have you been banging your head against time and time again that He wants you to see is really there? Consider again the talents and gifts that He has given you? How are you using them in His service as He seeks the lost? This week, as we look to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Our Lord, look for him in His Word. Look for Him at the Cross. Look for him down the long corridors and in the forgotten corners of your life. As Mary did on Easter morning, you may just find him where you least expect him.

It's Been Way Too Long!

I haven't written anything here in months! Yikes!

Well, I guess I'll try to get things moving again with some disorganized thoughts, recommendations and observations.

- I love listening to John Piper and Steve Brown -- preaching that challenges me and restores me at the same time. Great stuff! Both do a lot with podcasting and are worth some investigation on iTunes or on their websites: desiringgod.org, stevebrownetc.com

- If you've never seen a movie in IMAX, or better yet IMAX 3D, treat yourself. Sure it is twice as expensive as the regular movie ticket, but man what an experience! IMAX 3D is the ONLY way to appreciate Beowulf. I Am Legend in IMAX was positively incredible.

- Rutgers 52, Ball State 30 in the International Bowl. My alma mater ran over Ball State after a befuddling season. I suppose the dream 11-2 season last year spoiled me, but I hoped for 9-10 wins this season. If not for late game failures at Cincinnati and Maryland, this would have been at least a 9 win season with a bowl game. Ray Rice was sublime and I'll have to try to enjoy watching him play on Sundays next year. Hate to see him leave the Banks, but with what he did in the bowl game, how could he stay? Lots to look forward to in Piscataway though -- can't wait!

- I'm hooked on Facebook... ok, now you know! That infernal site is a large part of the reason I've neglected this space for some time. Now, Facebook is useful -- it is a great way to make quick contacts with people and keep in touch, but it has become a seemingly endless repository of brilliant ways to waste time.

- There is no force on Earth that will better unite the Republican party and Republican voters next November than Hillary Clinton. As a corollary, there is no more effective way for the Democratic party to give away the White House and control of Congress than to nominate Hillary Clinton for President. But really, am I alone in saying that I'm already sick of this whole process? Of no less than 15 hard-working, highly intelligent, deeply committed, deeply patriotic, profoundly different, equally interesting Americans prostituting themselves to a media machine which could not be doing them (or us) more of a disservice? Of empty rhetoric and sweeping promises frighteningly devoid of details? Of soundbite debates, endless jabbering by worn-out talking heads, and ridiculous "new technologies" that hinder rather than help, even when they do work on camera?! I don't think I can take another minute of this!

- I would not bring Verizon back into my house at gunpoint!

- I watch way too much TV and it is preventing me from be constructive, productive and faithful.

- Baseball's chickens are coming home to roost, and while this is going to get worse before it gets better, maybe now we can start to get on with the game.

- Whoever came up with the term "Terrible Twos" didn't know what he was talking about -- 2 is a piece of cake... 3 is a whole different ballgame!

- Books I've Read Recently: America at the Crossroads - Francis Fukuyama, Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition - John Geiger and Owen Beattie, American Prometheus - Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin

- Books I'm Reading: The Coldest Winter - David Halberstam, The Enemy Within - Kris Lundgaard.

- Ciao Luciano... The world lost perhaps its greatest tenor in 2007, Luciano Pavarotti. He is one of my favorites. If you can listen to him sing Nessun Dorma without getting goosebumps, there's something wrong with you.

There's more of substance I could say, but it is too late now. Another night...