Loving the Lost

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.  “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:20-24 NIV)

It happened very early on a Saturday morning. I received a call from one of my students.  I immediately knew there was a problem because students don’t call me that early.  He and some other guys had gone camping.  Two had gone out to look for firewood the previous night and hadn’t returned.  Feelings of dread rose inside of me.  They were experienced hikers and the only explanation in my mind was something bad had happened.  

While the student called 911, I sent a text to one of the missing student’s phone, hoping he would respond.  A few minutes later, a text came through—they were safe.  They had gotten lost and, because night was falling, they had had to build a shelter and hunker down for the night.  They were unable to get a cell phone signal, so they were not able to let their fellow hikers know they were safe.  It wasn’t until daylight the next morning that they were able to hike to a point where they had cell service.

When that text came through, my heart leapt in my chest.  They had been lost, and I had feared the worst, but now they were found.  What a great feeling that was!

I am sure the father in Jesus’ parable had similar feelings at the sight of his son.  I suspect the father assumed the worst, so his joy was immense when he saw his son coming down the road towards home.  

Jesus told this parable to highlight the Heavenly Father’s concern for the spiritually lost in face of criticism that He hung out with “sinners.” The spiritual leaders of the day refused to associate with those they deemed living sinful lives.  So when Jesus came on the scene and spent time with them, they were appalled.  

His parable points out the fact, the greater the love for a person, the greater the joy will be when the person is lost and then is found.  So what He is saying in this parable and the others in Luke 15 is that God cares deeply for the lost; thus, so should we.  

The question is, do we care?  Do we care about those in our neighborhood, those we work with, those we know in our classes that are lost?  Or do we succumb to the cultural belief of ‘to each his own’ and just mind our own business?  

Today, recognize the Father’s deep love for those who are lost.  If you haven’t already, begin to pray for the lost in your midst and look for opportunities to share with them the Good News that they are loved by their Father who longs for them to return home.  

© Jim Musser 2018

Repentance: Jesus' Loving Command

“At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’  They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

’No one, sir,’ she said.

‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’” (John 8:2-11 NIV)

This has always been one of my favorite stories in the Scriptures.  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees, full of self-righteousness, drag a woman before Jesus who they claim was caught in adultery.  One question I have always had is, where is the man with whom she was caught in the act?  Was he not, too, deserving of punishment?

They are seeking to test Jesus, to see if He will be faithful to the Law of Moses.  But Jesus knows their hearts and rebukes them in a fascinating way.  After the men drop their stones and leave, the woman is left standing alone.  Given what she had just been through, most of us I think would expect Jesus (in our 21st Century western mindset) to wrap His arms around her and tell her how much she is loved.  Yet, He did something entirely different.  He assured her He did not condemn her for her adultery.  But then He commanded her to change her lifestyle. In other words, He told her to repent.

In much of today’s church, repentance is a forsaken concept.  It has been moved aside in favor of love and acceptance.  Yet, repentance is what Jesus commands of all sinners (Luke 13:1-5).  It is what Peter told those gathered at Pentecost to do if they wanted to be saved (Acts 2:37-38).

Did Jesus love and accept the adulterous woman?  Of course, but if we delve deeper we will see His command for her to repent flows from His love for her.  By definition, sin is going against what the Lord commands.  But He gives such commands because He loves us and wants what is best for us.  So Jesus, out of His love for her, tells the woman to leave her life of sin.  

Today we have been deceived into thinking that to love someone is to accept them as they are, period.  It does sound very appealing, but we must realize Jesus went further.  He called on people to repent of their sins.  And doing so is not condemnation; it is love.

Today, know we are to love people regardless of their lifestyles.  But where sin is involved, we are also to encourage them toward repentance.  This is true love and exactly what Jesus did.

© Jim Musser 2018

The Purpose of Grace

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11-14 NIV)

When I arrived to take my current ministry position, the atmosphere among many Christian students was one of grace and freedom, particularly when it came to drinking and sexual activity.  There was the belief that since you were forgiven, or could receive forgiveness, you could do pretty much anything you wanted.  One ministry had a “kegerator” in their building’s kitchen and students would have weekly parties.  Two other ministries were well known to have leaders who loved to party.  And we had students in our ministry who would come to our large group meetings and, before leaving, would be planning parties for the weekend.  To Paul’s question, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” (Romans 6:1), they answered a resounding, “Yes!”

The fact Paul posed that rhetorical question to the Roman believers indicates the problem of followers of Jesus taking advantage of the Lord’s grace for their own selfish desires has been around since the beginning of the Church.  The German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it, “cheap grace.” 

It is easy to see the struggle.  The truth is, when we sin, we can be forgiven (I John 1:9) No sin, be it drunkenness, sexual immorality, or any other you can think of, is beyond the reach of God’s grace.  But, as Paul clearly states to the Romans and to Titus, the ultimate purpose of grace is to lead us away from sin instead of further into it.  Typically, the church falls into one of two traps, emphasizing obedience over grace or emphasizing grace over obedience.  The former is legalism; the latter is Bonhoeffer’s cheap grace.  And it is difficult to keep the balance, as two millennia of church history will attest.  Yet, we must attempt to do so.  

As I began to understand that our students had veered into “cheap grace” territory, I confronted them with these words from Paul (as did other campus ministers).   The purpose of grace is not to condone sin or to allow us to maintain living as we please, but rather to instruct us on how to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live lives that are self-controlled and honoring to God.

Today, know that God’s grace covers your sin.  But don’t use this wonderful gift as an excuse to do what you please.  That just cheapens the gift and misses the point of it all together.  

© Jim Musser 2018

Desperation

“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ‘I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’

‘No,’ they answered.

He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ 

As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.” (John 21:1-9 NIV)

Not long after my first wife announced her intention to leave our marriage, I made appointments with the couples that we had led in a Bible study. I carried with me a written statement because I knew I wouldn’t be able to tell them of our pending divorce without something written. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do in my life, along with informing the entire group of more than 100 students of the situation and my impending sabbatical in order to deal with the emotional aftermath. I was broken and desperate.

As I have looked back on that time more than 15 years ago, I consider it to be one of the more spiritually significant events in my life. I was at the absolute bottom emotionally, which led me to a reliance on the Lord. At that moment, it seemed I had no where else to turn, so I turned my attention fully to the Lord.

Peter found himself in a similar emotional state. He had denied knowing the Lord three times in a matter of hours (John 18:16-27). Jesus was crucified, but had risen and was now alive. He had appeared to Peter and all the disciples, but then hadn’t been seen again. Peter didn’t know what to make of the events over the past several weeks, so he did what many of us would do—go back to doing what he had been doing, get back into a familiar routine. So, he went fishing.

Yet, what he and the other disciples who joined him found was yet more misery, not less. After a full night of fishing, they had caught absolutely nothing. Not one fish had found their nets. As dawn appeared on the horizon in the East, they were exhausted and discouraged. I am guessing at that moment they had reached the bottom. They were at a point of desperation. 

Then the voice of a stranger pierced the early morning light and offered some advice: “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” The thought must have seemed ludicrous to them since they had been fishing all night. Yet, they were desperate and hungry, so they did what He suggested.

In the days following Jesus’ last appearance to them, we can assume they were just trying to figure out what was next for them, and their return to their old job of fishing indicates they had failed to figure it out on their own. But once their last attempt to do something, anything failed, there were no answers. They had come up empty and had reached the end of themselves.

This is why I believe they were open to the Lord’s crazy suggestion to throw their nets out one more time. When we’re desperate enough, we’re open to almost any idea that might possibly help us.

As with all of us, it took the disciples awhile trying to figure things out on their own before they turned to the Lord. That is our nature, isn’t it? While we are comfortable enough, we try to do things on our own. It is only when we run out of options that our hearts open up to the Lord’s help and guidance.

Today, recognize the Lord often allows us to try to figure out a particular dilemma on our own in order for us to fail and reach the end of ourselves. Then when the time is right and we are open to His leading, He will make His presence known and lead us out of the situation in which we find ourselves. It’s not that desperation is required. He is always present to assist us, but typically we have to reach the end of ourselves before we are open to His help.

© Jim Musser 2018

Do Not Be Ashamed

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.  And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.  That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.” (II Timothy 1:7-12 NIV)

At the time Paul wrote his second and final letter to Timothy, he was imprisoned in Rome and was facing certain death.  He wanted to make clear to his spiritual son certain things before he was executed.  One was not to cower from or be ashamed of his identity as a follower of Jesus.  It was a dangerous time for Christians.  Rome was stepping up its persecution of believers, the Jews were not at all fond of this burgeoning spiritual movement, and the culture of the day viewed followers of Jesus in two extremes—either as hapless fools or dangerous interlopers.  It was a time when many believers were losing their courage, as Paul personally experienced (1:15)

So Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of the Gospel or those associated with its message.  Instead of avoiding the suffering that comes with proclaiming the Gospel, he encourages him to embrace it. While the world may be coming against believers, Paul tells Timothy there is no reason to be ashamed because he has confidence in the Lord.  He had given his life over to the Lord and trusted Him to protect his soul and spirit.  It had to be his soul and spirit to which he was referring, rather than his life, because he knew he was about to die.  

Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)  I think Paul had this promise in mind as he wrote to Timothy.  

Our world is not much different than that of the 1st Century in terms of persecution of Christians.  And even in our country, while we are not yet facing the prospect of death for our faith, there is an increasing hostility to those of us who truly believe.  There is pressure from without and within to cower in fear and be ashamed of the Gospel.  It may come in the form of a hesitancy to proclaim Jesus as the only way to God, acquiescence to the cultural narrative that any behavior is acceptable as long as it is not hurtful to someone else, or a reluctance to acknowledge that you are a follower of Jesus for fear of being rejected by friends or family.  In the midst of those fears, Paul tells us not to be ashamed because the God in whom we believe is faithful to protect us.

Today, do not be ashamed of Jesus or of the Gospel.  Rather, rely on the power of the Spirit to make you bold and unafraid of the suffering you might experience because you follow Jesus.  He has promised to protect your soul and spirit and He is faithful.  He will do it.

© Jim Musser 2018

Transformation

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (II Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

I have always enjoyed doing home projects, such putting in new toilets and faucets, painting rooms, anything that transforms my home to look better than it did before. But as my wife will attest, I can easily get frustrated in the midst of a project when things don’t go exactly as planned. Unlike some of the fixer-upper shows on television, my transformations are not accomplished in an hour. They take longer and the problems faced are not so easily solved.

After I surrendered my life to Jesus, these words of Paul were some of the first I committed to memory.  And like most new believers, I often took Scriptures too literally and out of context.  According to Paul, I was a transformed man, a new creation, and the old guy was gone.  But my experience was, in fact, he had yet to leave the building.  This was very frustrating and brought on a lot of guilt.  Was I truly a follower of Christ if I was not completely changed?  

As I matured, however, I began to realize there are two types of transformation.  One is what theologians call justification.  Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the penalty for my sins has been paid. In choosing to submit my life to the Lord, I have been justified. In other words, it’s as if I am sinless in terms of eternal punishment.  Thus, I am a new creation with a new future.  Yet, I still live in the present and deal with that ever-present problem of sin.  

And this is where the second type of transformation comes in.  It is what theologians refer to as sanctification—the process of becoming more and more like what the Lord originally created us to be.  Paul refers to this earlier in his second letter to the Corinthians: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (3:18)  This is the slow, watching the grass grow, type.  

Sometimes, like house transformations, we can confuse the two types of spiritual transformation.  While justification is instantaneous, sanctification is a life-long process.  It can be frustratingly slow, but that is where we daily rely on the grace of the Lord to carry us.  

Today, though you may have once thought following Jesus meant instant transformation, recognize it is in reality a much slower process. Yes, you are a new creation, but the old guy is still in the building.  But don’t worry.  While he still may be hanging around, he’s no longer in charge and change is happening.  Slowly, yes, but it is happening nonetheless.    

© Jim Musser 2018

Carrying Around Our Sins

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9 NIV)

I was at the bank last Friday, Good Friday, making a deposit, when a man carrying a small gift box walked up to the teller next to me. “Guess what I have here,” he said to the teller. “A gift for me, I hope,” she responded. “No. I have my sins. And I don’t know what to do with them,” he said.

Hearing this, I casually said, “Take them to the Cross. You don’t have to carry them around with you.” The teller helping me nodded her head and said, “That’s right!” 

I think the man was a bit taken back by my comment and didn’t say anything, nor did the other teller, but I know they both heard it, and I hope the thought became planted in their minds for further thought later. 

This simple, and may I add divinely arranged, interaction sums up the Gospel message: Jesus died so that our sins would no longer condemn us and enable us to be unburdened by them. The Resurrection proved this was not some ridiculous dream.

Although the man in the bank attended a Good Friday service, he seems to not have grasped the true meaning of what took place on Golgotha two millennia ago. Before that weekend, the Jews had to make sacrifices that would temporarily cleanse them of their particular sins, but which could never completely eliminate them (Hebrews 10:4). In essence, they still had to carry their sins around with them. 

The Cross, however, forever eliminated the burden of doing that. No need to hold onto them. No need to continue carrying the guilt they naturally produce. We can give them up by laying them down at the foot of the Cross. John succinctly explains how we do that.

The truth, however, is, like the man in the bank, we often continue to carry them around with us, still burdened by the weight of their shame. We might claim we are forgiven, but the belief fails to penetrate our hearts. 

Are there sins you have committed over the course of your life that you are still carrying with you, of which you are still bearing the weight of their shame? Then today lay them down at the foot of the Cross. Confess them to the One who longs to forgive, and leave them there, believing in the promise that you indeed have been forgiven with no need to continue carrying them with you or ever needing to look back. You are at last free!

© Jim Musser 2018