How Will You Celebrate the Fourth?

Get your picnic baskets ready! Don’t forget the sparklers! It’s the Fourth of July! But wait . . . It’s Sunday, too? Yes it is, friends. This year the Fourth falls on a Sunday, and I think it is very appropriate to worship before we go on our picnics and family gatherings. Oh, I know, you only get so many weekends off and want to spend time at the lake. Well, why not take a break from your lakeside activities and join your brothers and sisters at church as we celebrate our country’s independence.

Over 234 years ago, men of faith and conscience gathered to discuss the possibility of a country ruled by the people, a country whose people were not limited by lineage, whose people could choose how they would worship, who could determine their own futures. These men believed that, quite possibly, the people of the colonies could be united for this specific purpose.

This weekend we will celebrate the results of that gathering, the Declaration of Independence, a document that declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The movement today is to minimize the involvement of faith in the founding of this country of ours, and yet, even the constitution speaks of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” There were men from many spectrums of faith, but in the writings by many of these men, a common thread appears, that of trust in and reliance on God.

When you celebrate the Fourth this weekend, I hope you will take a moment to remind your children what we are celebrating. Although we will have fireworks, we are not celebrating pretty lights in the sky. And although we will have music, we are not celebrating the skills of those who play instruments to entertain us. We are celebrating the birth of a country where for over 200 years we have enjoyed freedom.

Celebrate the United States of America! Fly your flag and shoot off your rockets and firecrackers! But please remember to take a moment to give thanks for the blessings we have received because of the Fourth of July, because of the men and women who risked their lives and livelihoods to bring this Union into existence. And take a moment to thank the God who has made all this possible.

We are citizens of a great country, and as such, we are required, by God, as long as we are here, to be faithful citizens, to uphold the ideals of freedom and to pray for our leaders. As Christians, we are also responsible to our first citizenship, that of the kingdom of God.

As a citizen of the U.S.A., I am called to vote my own ideals and to participate in government.

As a citizen of the Kingdom of God, I am called to vote and participate in the government as I am able, lifting up the ideals of faith and the truths of God.

As a citizen of the U.S.A., I have the right to “Life” and “Liberty.”

As a citizen of the Kingdom of God, I have the privilege to receive life from God, to find happiness, joy, and peace through my relationship with God, from whom I have received liberty from my sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. Because of these great blessings, I am called to serve as an ambassador to this world, letting others know about the freedom offered to them, as well.

As a citizen of the U.S.A., I have the right to the “pursuit of Happiness.”

As a citizen of the Kingdom of God, I have the responsibility to discern the difference between happiness for the moment and true joy that comes from knowing God. I am commanded to maintain the priorities of the gospel so that my life will be an example to those with whom I live and influence.

How will you celebrate the Fourth? I hope you will take some time to truly give thanks to God for the blessings you have received from God’s hand. Go to church this Sunday. Come casual so you can get to your picnic right away, but first take time to celebrate true freedom, the freedom from sin.

Blessings,

Mary Kay Glunt, Pastor
Ebenezer Presbyterian

What Were You Expecting?

If it weren’t for 94 degrees with a heat index of 98, this would have been a perfect Father’s Day! After church we took my husband out for dinner. We had a great time together as a family. This evening, I thought about my own father, who has been gone for 3 1/2 years. Time flies, but the memories remain. Thank you, God, for the love of a good Dad.

Mind you, although he was a good one, my dad wasn’t perfect. In fact, I attribute many years of counseling to the fact that Dad was a perfectionist. When I got a “B” on a test, he asked why it wasn’t an “A.” If the dishes weren’t cleaned right, the whole shelf of dishes went back into the sink. You get the picture. And when I was a teenager, Dad wasn’t overly expressive of pleasant emotions, pretty much just the disappointed ones. I just wanted to know he was proud of me (which I did find out later in life).

Now that I’ve confessed my dad’s shortcomings, let me say this: I believe that a large degree of our interpersonal conflicts come from the problem of expectations. What you expect of me, what I expect of you, these are all personal ideas that we place on one another. When you don’t react the way I expect you to, I am offended, saddened, or frustrated. But unfortunately, I’ve created a scenario that have I never shared. How can you know how to react if I never tell you what I expect?

Marriages fall apart for this very reason. The wife has ideas and expectations for her Prince Charming: how he will treat her, how they will spend their days, how he will respond to her thoughts. But she hasn’t told him what she expects, and he is a guy who comes from a different family and background, and so he fails on many fronts. Then again, he isn’t innocent. Old Charming has his own list of rules about how he wants Cinderella to treat him, too. He just hasn’t published them so she can fulfill them, and she falls short, as well. Without communication, their relationship is doomed from the beginning, but it doesn’t have to be.

Jesus was the alternate example of such a lack of communication. Remember how, when his followers started to push him to take over, Jesus consistently—sometimes gently, sometimes not—reminded them that His kingdom was not the same as the one they expected. Jesus spoke clearly about what He expected from His followers and what He was willing to bring to the relationship.

If Jesus could express his expectations, why can’t we? Often, we hold back our personal wishes and dreams because we are afraid of rejection. If I tell you what I expect, then you might decide I’m not worth the trouble. So I tuck it inside and then get angry when you break my unwritten rules, not even giving you the opportunity to know what “my rules” were. We set each other up for failure.

You speak to me in a way that hurts my feelings, so I get hurt and angry, but say nothing to you about it. Of course, then the anger festers, and when you do it again, I explode, or worse yet, hold it in even longer.

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over” (Matthew 18:15).

In most cases, while you are sitting and smoldering, the other person doesn’t even realize they have done anything wrong. I cannot hold you responsible for something you didn’t even know about! Communicate!

I finally decide to communicate, but I come with the assumption that you meant to offend me. One of my seminary teachers called these “presuppositions.” I come to the discussion having already decided how we got there and what your intents were. The Bible talks about this, too.

“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

When we judge one another, even going so far as to “know” their motives, we are taking God’s place; we are professing to be all-knowing. In our conflict, I must first examine my own heart and motives to be sure I’m not unfairly judging you. This isn’t making excuses for the other person, but being honest. Then, when I speak to you, it is in the spirit of mercy and grace that I have received from God myself.

I give and give and give, but you don’t respond the way I want you to. Big issue in counseling, and yet, in most cases, we are the ones being unhealthy. Many women, and men, as well, have this mistaken notion that if we do more, then she will notice, then he will be grateful. Sorry, friends, but that just isn’t so.

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7,8). Okay, this passage relates to giving in the church, but the concept is applicable to relationships as well.

Each of us chooses what to give, but when I go beyond what I have been asked to do, I have chosen to give beyond what was expected; therefore, I have no right to be angry if you don’t fall down at my knees and adore me!

When we choose to give out of a heart of love, not for ulterior motives, we find grace. We are rewarded by God, not by others. Therefore, I must examine my own intents or needs that cause me to continually need your approval. Am I giving in this relationship because I truly love you and love God and want the best for you? Or am I giving in this relationship so I can feel better about myself? If this is the case, then I will never be strong enough to feel accepted emotionally by anyone else, and no one will ever be able to please me.

It all comes down to this: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31,32).

Find your value and your purpose in Christ. When I recognize God’s love for me, I am better equipped to love others and to forgive them. So remember, communicate your expectations, confront (in love), don’t judge another’s thoughts and heart, and give as you have decided to freely, not just to earn my acceptance. These simple steps will strengthen our families, our churches, and our community.

Blessings,

Mary Kay Glunt, Pastor
Ebenezer Presbyterian Church
revmkg@sbcglobal.net

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New Life, then . . .

The gospel reading this Sunday told about the widow of Nain. Jesus traveled to this area, and upon entering the town, he saw a funeral procession. A widow followed, mourning her only son as the townsfolk carried his lifeless body to be buried.

No mother should have to bury her son, but especially in the days of Jesus. When this widow lost her only son, she was almost guaranteed a life of poverty and want because she no longer had anyone to provide for her.

The writer continues, telling us that Jesus, having compassion on the woman, went to the casket, opened it, and told the young man to get up. And he did. What an amazing miracle. Now those who try to explain the Bible away will probably tell you that this young man wasn’t really dead, but rather was in some kind of coma-like situation. Even if that was so, which I don’t believe, waking the young man up from his sleep—medical or eternal—is still a miracle.

How many of us have stood by the side of a family member or friend, loved one or even someone we didn’t know very well, and prayed for God to do such a miracle? How many times have we bargained with God that if only God would heal this person . . . Well, you know how that goes.

If the emphasis of this story wasn’t that Jesus raises people from the dead, then why was it included in the gospel? Why did Luke choose to include this story from all the other experiences in Jesus’ ministry and life? One possibility is the truth that God restores wholeness to the lives of individuals.

The widow found herself in a place of poverty and devastation. With no male to provide for her, she would be forced to fend for herself, to find the necessities of life as she could or could not—all on her own.

Her son, as well, was an outcast from the living. As a dead man, even touching him would make the mourners unclean. He was no longer a part of life, a part of the community.

Jesus, in one act of compassion and mercy, restored both of these outcasts to active parts of the town’s life. The son was restored to life, conversation, commerce, relationship, and the mother was restored to status as the mother of this now-living young man. The people, having witnessed this miracle, proclaimed, “God has come to help his people” (Luke 7).

Which is the greater miracle, restoring a person to life physically, or restoring a person to life spiritually? In our culture, of course, bringing someone back from the dead would be the more spectacular miracle, but not one that happens regularly. However, the more amazing miracle, as pronounced in the song, is the amazing grace “that saved a wretch like me.”

No matter the depth of sin each of us experiences, we are each in need of salvation, of restoration by grace to relationship with God. Paul describes this as death: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). It doesn’t matter if you were raised in the church or if you weren’t. It doesn’t matter if you listen to “inspirational” speakers or radio. It doesn’t matter if you give your money to good causes or do good works yourself. The truth is that every person born on this earth is dead because of sin.

This death is not the non-breathing, no-brain-function kind of death. Rather, this death is spiritual, a state of separation from God and from the home for which we were created. It isn’t measured by the things we do but by the condition of our hearts. The prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

It is because of this very gulf between humanity and God that Jesus came to earth and died on the cross, taking the burdens of our sinfulness upon himself. As I’m sure you have heard many times, the Cross is the bridge between God and us, the only way we can enter into God’s presence.

The point of this article goes beyond salvation by grace through the death of Christ, although that is the foundation. I believe that the story of the widow of Nain was provided to show us two things:

First, life comes through Christ, both physically and spiritually. No one can receive eternal life except through Him. Jesus, not the doctors, not the priests, called that young man back to life. Only Jesus can give us life.

Second, when we are given that new life, it is not to be squandered only on the good feelings and giddy experiences of life, but we become indebted to our new Master, to serve God and love Him because of what God has done for us. The young man was not given back to his mother so he could become a celebrity and travel the synagogue circuit, telling his story. His job was to care for his mother, someone who had no other resource.

Last week in Springfield I attended the funeral of a young man, 15 years old, who died from a previously unknown heart problem. As his friends and acquaintances testified of Bryan’s involvement in their lives, a picture emerged of someone who understood these concepts.

Just before his death Bryan wrote to one of his youth leaders that he was so thankful Jesus had saved him. Bryan understood the concept of new life, and he lived it. The letter continued, thanking the youth leader for “challenging us to read the Bible, and to witness, and to pray.” Bryan vowed that when he was challenged to read the Bible for 10 minutes, he was going to read for 20. Challenged to pray for 5 minutes, he would pray 10. Challenged to witness to one person a week, he would witness to one person each day.

Bryan wasn’t perfect, by any means. He was just a teenager trying to find his way through high school. But, more importantly, he had realized the tremendous debt he owed for the tremendous gift he had received. This was seen in the 600+ crowd who attended his viewing and funeral, including the many who testified, “Bryan, you changed my life.”

Read Luke 7:11-17 again. Then, if you have never asked God for forgiveness and new life, if you remain dead to grace because of your own sinfulness, would you pray and ask for that gift of God purchased for you? You will find a peace you have never known and a joy that will carry you through.

Second, having responded to God’s amazing offer of grace, either today or in the past, and being made a new creation, search yourself to find what God has ordained for you to do, how you can make a difference in the lives of those who surround you because of God’s grace.

Make a difference. Live your life to the fullest. May it be the testimony given of each of us when we are memorialized, “You made a difference in my life.”

Mary Kay Glunt, Pastor
Ebenezer Presbyterian Church
revmkg@sbcglobal.net
2533 N. Franklin Avenue
Springfield, MO 65803