Will You Get into the Wheel Barrow?

John 20:19-31

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2020%3A19-31&version=NIV;TLB

 

 

On June 30, 1859, Charles Blondin became the first man in history to walk on a tightrope across Niagara Falls. On the days following this amazing feat, The Great Blondin made many other trips which included death defying stunts such as walking on stilts, cooking and eating an omelet, carrying his manager piggyback and pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with 350 pounds of cement.

 

Apparently there was quite a crowd of spectators cheering him on as he performed his various stunts. Upon completion of pushing the wheel barrow across he asked the crowd if they thought he could carry a man in the wheel barrow. They roared with approval. But when he asked one man to get in… he declined.

 

What we truly believe is the very foundation of why we do what we do.  The man who declined to get into the wheel barrow had been cheering fervently for The Great Blondin, and apparently believed that he could do exactly what he said. But when push came to shove, he didn’t really believe it.

 

James 2:18 states, “But someone may well argue, “You say the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good works are important too, for without good works you can’t prove whether you have faith or not; but anyone can see that I have faith by the way I act.”

 

Our actions are the window to what we believe. For most of the disciples to believe, it only took seeing Jesus in the flesh with the holes in his hands and in his side. But for Thomas to believe, he had to put his finger in the holes and his hand into Jesus’ side. What would it take for you to believe?

 

Jesus called his disciples to action. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you”. In the same way, Jesus is calling us to action. Do you believe enough to take a risk and step out on faith? To do something that makes you feel uncomfortable? To do something that seems impossible? Jesus is calling you to do just that!

 

Will you get into the wheel barrow?

 

 

Let’s See, Where Was I?

Colossians 2:6-15

 

 

Have you ever started to do something; been distracted by something else; and then forgot what it was that you started to do in the first place? They say that women can multi-task better than men. “They” being women. Personally, I don’t know if this issue is a gender thing, an age thing or just a thing; but it happens to all of us.

 

Paul was concerned for the Colossian believers that they might get distracted. He warned them to, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

 

He also reminded the Colossians about what it was like before the circumcision of their hearts. That is, about their evil desires and being dead in their sins; but also how Christ had changed them.

 

"When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls.”

 

Just like with the Colossians, there are many distractions that tempt us to lose our focus; forget what it was that we were doing. We get caught up in the details of living; the struggles, the pain, the temptations; and we forget.

 

So how do we get back on track; regain our focus; remember what it was that we were doing in the first place? Paul had this to say:

 

“And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.”

 

“For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ.” Let me repeat that. “You have everything when you have Christ and you are filled with God through your union with Christ”.

 

Therefore, how do we get back on track? We need reminders. We need accountability. We need to grow in Christ. We need to refocus.

 

Let’s see, where was I? What was I doing? Oh yeah, I was following Christ when I got distracted; when I started looking elsewhere to find purpose and answers; when life knocked me down and I turned to my old ways to deal with it.


But now I remember: “I have everything when I have Christ, and I am filled with God through my union with Christ”. I think I’m good to go now.

 

 

 

What More Can We Ask For?

Colossians 2:6-15

 

  

Close your eyes and think of a time when you felt ecstatic; when life felt like it couldn’t get any better. Was it one of the following?

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Your first child or grandchild was born.
2. Your wedding day.
3. The day your children graduated.
4. Making a big sale or getting that promotion you worked so hard for.

 

What you thought of may have been one of these or something else. The fact is, that this world makes a lot of promises it can’t keep. Do you remember this jingle from 1970? “When you say Budweiser, you’ve said it all.” That’s a bold statement that would seem to indicate that Budweiser can give us fullness in our life.

 

God promises fullness of life. In the Living Bible verses 9-10 read like this: “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ.”

 

“In Christ you have been brought to fullness” so that “you have everything when you have Christ”. Life can’t get any better than this. God promises it.

 

And yet, life pulls at our hearts to seek the fullness that we so desperately desire in other ways. Oftentimes, it is something good that our human nature distorts like our career, our possessions, church or even our family. Or it can be something like drinking or drugs, sex, gambling or other addictive behaviors.

 

God has given us freedom to experience His fullness. Verse 11 reads: “When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls.” And then verse 14 states: “He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.”

 

Blaise Pascal is credited with this quote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

 

God has created us to experience the fullness of Jesus in our lives. What more can we ask for?

 

(Tomorrow there will be another posting on these verses with a completely different theme. Be sure to read it.)

 

 

How Do You Measure a Year?

 

John 15:1-17

 

“How do you measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

In 525,600 minutes -

how do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?”

 

These are the opening lyrics from the song, “Season of Love” from the play Rent. Ultimately, this song is asking how we use our time; our talents; our treasure. How do we find purpose and meaning in our life?

 

In some ways, these lyrics parallel Jesus’ words in today’s passage. “I am the vine; you

are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”  Jesus is calling us to bear fruit. He is calling us to invest our lives in those around us. And he is asking us how we will measure our fruit.

 

But life can be long and difficult at times. It is hard to invest in others all the time. People are so frustrating. Jesus gives us a hint of how to be consistent in bearing fruit. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

 

To use another metaphor, bearing fruit is not an individual sport. It’s a team sport. A player on a team needs to listen to the coach, do what they say; not just to get playing time, but to be a better player, to help the team win. To produce fruit we must remain in the vine.

 

To bear fruit doesn’t require you to be a pastor or a missionary. As my pastor says each week, “We are all ministers”. We are ministers not just when we do church activities, but at work, at home, driving in the car, talking to the neighbor or even going through the drive through at McDonalds.

 

“525,600 minutes!

525,000 journeys to plan.

525,600 minutes.

How can you measure the life of a woman or man?”

 

That’s a lot of minutes to do something with. What will you do with your minutes this year, or today for that matter? How do you measure a year in your life?