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A student survey conducted at one of our local schools determined that young people see the church as being full of old people and pews. And they think that the pews have to go. There’s some good news in that survey, they didn’t say the old people should go, only the pews.
Think for a moment: How does their perception match reality?
We might immediately begin to defend the pews. They've been good enough for generations. They keep us awake. They haven’t killed anyone.
Or we might be offended that they’ve labelled us as old. We might argue that we’re not nearly as old as our grandparents were at the same age.
We might want to join James and John to ask Jesus whether we should call down fire from heaven and destroy them.
But before we get too defensive, these young people are crying out for the church to recognise and value them. They don’t think the church cares about them, they don’t think we care. They think the church is only interested in the people who’re already involved, which to them means old people.
I wonder whether they’re any different to those of any age who aren’t connected to our churches. Would the whole ‘unchurched’ and 'previously-churched’ community agree that we don’t care. Would they contend that we’re only interested in ourselves.
If we’re so busy polishing and defending our pews then they have to go. If there’s anything in our church that uses up our time at the expense of living our lives for Jesus then it has to go.
Even more urgently we have to go. Not leave the church, the community of God’s people, but go with the good news that because God loves and cares for every single person in this world so do we.
“As you go”, Jesus says, “make disciples of all nations.” Jesus cares about this because he has ‘skin-in-the-game’. He died for each and every one we encounter as we go about our lives.
How do we, as individuals and a church, need to change so that no one in our community will feel that we don’t care about them?
Eternal Hope 34th Day in Lent (Saturday) Read: Titus 3:3-8 “… so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:7 (NIV)
For his birthday, I gave my husband a subscription to the website – ‘My Heritage’. Since travelling to Europe last year and doing a pilgrimage through my family’s heritage towns in Poland and Harz Mountains, Germany and then Mark’s family towns throughout Denmark; even through all the Martin Luther heritage places, we have become excited about knowing more about our family history. Not only finding out their names and places and dates but also trying to find out who they were and about their faith. Why did our families want to travel a long and unknown journey to Australia and USA?
What drove them to leave their families and church? Mark has been able to trace one of his ancestors back to the 1600’s on the tiny island of Ærø, one of Denmark’s islands. Apparently, generations have lived there and grown up on this little island. We are the heirs of all our ancestor’s faith wherever they lived as families. Our faith has been passed down through the faithfulness of our ancestors who are now experiencing the eternal hope of life with God. Our ancestors were not perfect, nor did they have perfect lives and never sinned. But one thing that was passed on is that we are forgiven through the love of a loving Father who sent his Son and heir to suffer for us and bring us justification (forgiveness) for our wrongdoings.
God gave this to us freely because we are His children and he has made us heirs of His kingdom. All those faithful who have gone before us are enjoying their eternal home. We can also read of all the faithful people of God in the Bible. God saved them, not because He had to, but because He wanted all to inherit eternal life. Our God is a generous and loving Father wanting all to come to know Him. Help the future generations to come to know Jesus. They are also heirs, but they just need to know Him. Remember, God’s family extends beyond us… make sure they know!
Prayer: My dear loving Father, you have loved and cared for me before I was even born. Your love extends through generations. Help me to teach my family about the love of a faithful Father. Amen
Blessed Hope 33rd Day in Lent (Friday) Read: Titus 2:11-14 “… while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ...” Titus 2:13 (NIV)
The story is told of a young girl who left work early so she could have some uninterrupted study time right before a final exam in religion class. She studied all night. When she arrived at class in the morning everybody was cramming as much last-minute info as their minds could handle. The teacher walked in and said, “Let’s do a quick review before the test.” They followed him through the review that was laid out on the study guide. As he covered item by item, he finally jumped to issues the young girl had never heard covered in class. Several hands went up, “We never had that information before.”
The teacher picked up the textbook and held it in his left hand and said, “Everything is in the book, and you need to know everything in the book.” Finally, it was time to take the test. The assistants passed out the test and the professor said, “Leave your test face down on the desk until everyone has one. I’ll tell you when to turn your paper over and start.” Two minutes later the class heard, “OK, you may start.” When the young girl turned her test over, every answer was filled in! A note at the bottom of the last page said: “Your Final Exam is now over.
All your answers are correct. You are blessed with an ’A’ on the final exam.” Every student read the same thing and looked up at the professor in utter astonishment! When the professor was sure all eyes were on him, he said, “You passed the test for one reason only – because the creator of the test took the test for you. All your study time, class time and hard work in preparation for this exam did not help you get the “A”. You have just experienced – GRACE.” [author unknown] God does the same thing for us. No matter what we have done in this life to try and achieve salvation, it is all in vain. God has done everything for us through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, so we can have eternal life. Through Jesus we have this blessed hope!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are my Saviour and the Lord of my life. Thank you for your grace and the gift of salvation you have blessed me with. Help me to always remember it is in only you that I have this blessed hope. Amen.
Sanctified Life 32nd Day in Lent (Thursday) Read: Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” Luke 23:42-43 (NIV) ‘Grace drives our sanctification.’
This last year, my husband Mark and I went travelling to the USA to visit family and friends for six weeks. As well as organising what to take, the house also needed to be prepared – friends organised to take out bins, pick up mail, water gardens, pets, etc. The last thing done was closing all the windows, pulling down the blinds and locking the house. While we were gone the air in the house became stale and musty.
The first thing I did when returning home was open all the windows and doors, allowing the fresh air to flow in. I didn’t have to force the fresh air to flow in, it just did! When our lives are open to the saving action of Jesus, the Holy Spirit just flows in and through us. God has set us apart for His purpose to be loved and filled with grace and forgiveness. Sanctification is recognising that our redemption has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ’s actions on the cross, and the Holy Spirit then works in and through us.
We are in Christ by faith, and He is in us by the power of the Spirit. Through all this we have been made holy and set apart as His beloved children. Living in this state with our Heavenly Father is living in freedom. Because we have this power of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to live in a new way as the verse from Titus 2 suggests. This is not a quick and easy process of transformation but takes time as we mature in our faith and in living a holy life.
Our relationships with one another, with the communities in which we live, and with the world, should reflect the love we have of God in Jesus Christ. This comes when Jesus enters our lives in humility and love bringing salvation to all. It is through God’s grace that we are made holy in His sight. Jesus died and rose to make us His people.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for making me holy and sending your Spirit to work in and through my life. May your Spirit also work in the hearts of those I meet and work with. Amen