As you Wish 2

I've been in Florida for a week, so blog posting didn't get done. I took my laptop with me and convinced myself that I would keep up with it, but that turned out to be a pipe dream. I didn't do church work on vacation. Novel idea, right?

I want to followup on two ideas shared in your comments last week: how busyness effects servanthood, and how we tend to get enslaved to various things in life.

First, I think that its easy to put off being a servant of Jesus until a better, less stressful and hectic time in our life. We say: I'll get serious when the kids are older, when my job gets less demanding, when I reach a certain stage in life or status in my career. My observation is that this moment never comes. Every stage of life is filled with its own preoccupying challenges. Pace of life issues seem to be imbedded in our DNA for the full 80 plus years of our existence. We've drunk the koolaid that "busier is better," and "more activity means a fuller life." We have been striken with a virtually incurable syndrome: CMI. (Cram More In)

Somehow we need to learn to be servants NOW. Somehow we need to find peace and rest and sanity NOW. And as some of you suggested that often means saying NO. You can't have it all.

By trying to not miss out on anything we might miss out on the most important things. Perhaps in the spiritual realm less is more.

Secondly, there are many things in life that enslave us: career ambitions, visions of being the perfect parent, our imagined lifesyle goals, fun on the weekend, thrills and excitement, having a healthy body, the need to appear successful, the winning of someone's approval, etc. Obviously not all these things are completely bad, but slavery to them crowds out other things including God.

Bob Dylan wrote a song, "You've gotta serve someone." God seems a better choice to me.

What is it that you serve that you wish you could break free of?

What would you like to say"no" to in order to gain extra time and space?

As You Wish

This week I was fascinated by the number of people in the New Testament whose primary self-understanding was that they were servants of Jesus. All the writers of New Testament books called themselves servants, as did several other people like Tychicus, Epaphras, and Phoebe. "Servant" was a very common title for believers in the early church, maybe the most common title.

This seems odd to me. Who would really want to be a servant? In the first century servants were basically slaves. They did the bidding of the master. When the master said "jump," they said "how high?" A servant would dutifully clean the house, cook the meals, and care for the master's property. A servant was not free to do whatever he/she wanted. The servant was owned and controlled by the Master. Sounds pretty horrible to me.

Yet, first century Christians were honored to be considered servants of Jesus. They proudly wore that label, and saw it as a badge of distinction.

This week I'd like you to imagine that you have a new nametag that you will wear all week. The nametag will say "Honored Slave of Jesus."

How would this self-perception change the way you live and operate this week? How would it effect your prayer time and Bible reading? How would it effect the way you relate to your family, co-workers, and neighbors? How differently would you manage your time? What would change?

"As you wish" was Wesley's constant response to every request Buttercup made to him in the Princess Bride. What would change if that was your response to everything God asked of you this week?

Servant Husbands 2

One of the interesting aspects of the Ephesians 5 passage is the instruction that wives are to respect their husbands, while husbands are to love their wives. It has been suggested that respect (men) and love (women) are the deepest needs of the respective genders, and to receive these from a spouse creates the optimal environment for a relationship to flourish..

The failure to nurture your spouse's deep need can produce a negative spiral. A wife who does not receive love from her husband will often respond back to him in ways that are disrespectful. This hurt will then cause the husband to withdraw even more of his love/nurture, and the death spiral can spin worse and worse.

The solution is for one or both partners to start giving/trying in the husband-love and wife-respect way of operating. Then a positive upward spiral can occur. It all goes back to putting your spouse first, and getting eyes off self.

Does this concept seem valid for your relationship? Have you experienced the downward spiral? What are the conditions that bring it on for you? What helps you break the cycle?

Servant Husbands

In Ephesians 5 Paul says three things that were radical in the male dominated, hierarchical culture he lived in. He says:

1. Submit to one another
2. Love your wife
3. Love your wife as your own body

This way of honoring your spouse was foreign to most first century marriages, but it reflected a consistent New Testament emphasis that required Christians to "serve one another in love." In marriage this means that husbands are to serve their wives, look after her interests, support her, care for her, spend time with her, listen to her, show her affection, honor her, speak highly of her, sacrifice for her, etc.

And, in the short term, it probably means to not forget Valentine's Day! (Next Sunday!)

Husbands, in what ways have you successfully served your wife in the past? What are your successes in this area?

Wives, what are the things that your husband does that make you feel special and served?

Links in the Chain 2

We have finished the sermon series on Faith Everyday. We have said that we would be wise to build a home environment that makes Jesus central and actively teaches the faith and spiritual values. Some of us have done this in a big way, and others may have arrived late in the game and therefore not really made much of an emphasis on this. So, I'm going to ask you...

1. What faith practices in your home have proved effective in teaching spiritual values to your kids? Have you done anything different or unique?

2. Were there faith practices that you tried, but didn't work out with your family?

3. What faith practice would you like to try, or wish you had tried in your parenting?

Links in the chain

Timothy and Esther Edwards were a common colonial couple living in Massachusetts in the early 1700s. They were ordinary in many ways. But one thing about them was unique: they were passionate about raising their eleven children for Christ. So, just like Deuteronomy 6 challenges us to do, they "impressed the faith upon their children," and talked about it "when they were sitting at home and walking along the road, when they laid down and when they got up."

With this kind of spiritual nurture, the Edwards family left an amazing legacy. Their son, Jonathan Edwards, grew up to become the most notable preacher of his generation. And then over the next five generations descendants of Timothy and Esther Edwards included 14 college presidents, 100 college professors, several judges, dozens of preachers, 60 physicians, 60 authors, and over 100 lawyers.

Timothy and Esther were the initial link in a chain that extended a massive spiritual influence far into the future.

A similar thing could happen to you.

Psalm 78 tells us that we are to tell our children the stories of the saints who have come before us. We are to tell our children about Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, the prophets, Jesus, Paul, Wesley, ML King, Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, etc. These are the spiritual giants who have gone before us. We are to pass on their stories of faith, and become a link in a historical chain of faith. And we are to live in such a way that our children's children will be telling our story of faith someday as well.

Who are the spiritual heroes in your past? Perhaps a devoted Christian grandparent or parent or an aunt or uncle?

Who in the Bible has been a hero to you?

Who in church history has inspired you?

And finally, what about your life will your children be telling their children? What spiritual influence do you hope to have?