THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS

Even though Christmas day is past, it is a good thing to think about the meaning of the birth of Christ, just as Mary pondered all those things in her heart. (Luke 2:19)

This may surprise you, but the purpose of Christmas is missions. Jesus was the apostle, or missionary, sent to us by God. Hebrews 3:1 reads,

"Therefore, holy brothers and companions in the heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession."

But this verse assumes that if you ponder His mission, you must recognize that we are also united in this heavenly calling. All who come to Him are called.

Most of us hold dearly to the promise of Romans 8:28.

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God:"

And you know I did not quote the entire verse here. The verse concludes,

"those who are called according to His purpose."

That's you. You too are called. This does not necessarily mean you are called to stand in the pulpit and preach. It may not mean that God is sending you to Bangladesh. But God has a specific purpose for your life. And your calling is crucial to the Kingdom of God.

Listen for His calling. And pray that He will be glorified as you do whatever God has called you to do. Pray that God will touch the lives of people who live and work around you, that they might receive Jesus who was sent to them at Christmas.

PURPOSE 2

PURPOSE  2

It seems strange to me that so many people are trying to live without thinking about the purpose of their lives. Of course that casts them onto the mercy of their glands. Last week I pointed out several things like comfort and pleasure that are illegitimate purposes for life. This week I will surprise you with two more possible purposes that are often less than God's plan for us.

Success is not necessarily God's purpose for your life. I should say short term success or success as we see it may not be God's will for you. Of course, a major problem with success is trying to win the wrong race. But in fact immediate or short-sighted success in the right area may not be the right goal either.

Let me give you a complicated illustration. Those of you who are directly involved in ministry, whether professionally or as a committed lay person can easily be confused about this. We rightly seek to reach as many people as possible. That is success. But let me call your attention to Jesus in John chapter 6. Our Lord ran off thousands of people who believed in Him, by telling them they would have to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Can you imagine anyone in the church growth movement condoning that kind of preaching? I can hear some of those whose doctrine is soundest saying something like this to Jesus. "Okay, if you have to say that, express it in more acceptable terms." And frankly I'm not sure they would not be right some of the time.

But here we have our Lord, preparing to send His followers to reach the ends of the earth giving us an example of running people away by what He said and how He said it. All I can say is that Jesus showed us that pleasing God was more important than growing the church. So it is more important for us to be in tune with God than it is for us to work at what we assume God wants us to do.

Now of all these things I am helping you to think about, this final conviction of mine will surprise you most. Striving for righteousness is not the ultimate purpose of your life. If I had thousands of readers I would possibly be running most of you away like Jesus did in John 6. But I ask those of you who will listen, at least to show how wrong I am, to consider some things.

You can strive for righteousness in ungodly ways. The Pharisees did it with great zeal. You can try to be righteousness in human strength. If you do that you will sometimes become discouraged and give up altogether. At other times you will succeed enough in your own eyes that you will fall into the trap of the devil who fell from heaven because of his arrogance.

You may also strive to be righteous so God will owe you. You may say, "Since I have done all this, God will have to accept me." Or you might resent God, saying, "What's the use? I went to church; I was sincere; I did my best, but this bad thing still happened to me."

You are putting your faith in your righteousness. And your righteousness will send you to hell. You need to repent of your righteousness, and seek the righteousness that Jesus bought for you on the cross.  

So of course I am not quite saying the ultimate purpose of life is not being right with God. Certainly His will is true. But you can seek righteousness with the pride and self-centeredness of a Pharisee.

All true righteousness comes from Jesus who justifies the ungodly. From Him we receive a righteousness we could never achieve. In fellowship with Him we come to desire and delight in righteousness, but we are not righteous to be saved or so God will give us a good life. We hunger to do what is right because we know it pleases God who saved us even though our best efforts were foolish and filthy.

Jesus cried out for the highest purpose for us in John 12:28. "Father, glorify Your Name!" Are you crying out for God to work supernaturally in your life to bring glory to His name?

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PURPOSE 1

One of the greatest tragedies that is sweeping the modern world is confusion and therefore corruption of purpose. In how many areas of life have we confused our purpose and so lost all hope of fulfillment?

IS COMFORT YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE?

In John 12:27,28 Jesus said,

"Now is my heart troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"

Purpose was crucial to Jesus. But do you realize what our Lord said here? His purpose was for His heart to be troubled. It was necessary for Him to come into the hour of trouble to redeem us. What is your purpose? Is it to avoid trouble or heartache?

Your God given, soul satisfying, purpose is not comfort. Jesus said He would send us another Comforter. But the Holy Spirit is to be with us in trials. If your purpose is comfort, finding it will bring boredom rather than satisfaction.

WHAT ABOUT PLEASURE?

The purpose of your life on this earth is not pleasure either. God created pleasure. It can be very good as a side dish. But it makes a terrible main course.

The drug epidemic and the sexual revolution that are deadly parasites on our homes, our economy, and all the foundations of society are products of the unquestioned belief that pleasure is the highest human value.

I am aware that many of my readers would already agree with what I am saying. Although I am very pleased if some of you who disagree are reading this. But even those of us who basically oppose such behavior find ourselves tempted, even addicted to internet pornography or some other pleasure oriented problem, because we have been able to indulge in it secretly. I pray for God's deliverance which will certainly require uncovering the rattle snake's nest. Many churches have men's groups where it is safe to confess such things. Pastors may have to find or organize a ministers' group to deal with whatever you need to confess.

But many of us who are free from the most debilitating of these sins are living our lives as if pleasure were more important than anything else. We need to challenge that thinking with scripture, prayer and seeking a higher purpose from God.

IS YOUR PURPOSE SECURITY?

Have you ever been thrilled by stories of risk or sacrifice? They are the bread and butter of TV drama. Would you watch an adventure show in which the leading character never had any higher good for which he was willing to risk or sacrifice? Would you watch the show twice if the hero ran away from every danger in cowardice or cynicism? You would not because somewhere deep in your consciousness you know safety and security are not the purpose of life. I love the statement from Jim Elliott's college journal. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

Jesus concluded with the highest purpose of our lives. “Father, glorify Your name!

I intend to write again next week on this subject. I suspect you will be surprised if not shocked at two things that I say should not be your purpose in life.

GLEANINGS

Are you familiar with the Old Testament principle of gleaning? It is stated in Leviticus 23:22.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap all the way to the edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am the Lord your God."

Landowners, even poor farmers were commanded to take less profit to help the poor and the stranger. The Old Testament book of Ruth paints a vivid picture of gleaning in action.

This is unique among religions. Religions tend to favor the rich and powerful, those who can earn or buy or deserve salvation. But the God of the Bible sides with the poor and disenfranchised. By the gospel we must come to Him as beggars. He receives the spiritually destitute.

In a talk at The 1974 Lausanne conference on World Evangelisation Francis Schaeffer said,

"The Bible does clearly teach the right of property, but both the Old and The New Testaments put a tremendous stress on the compassionate use of your property. If at each place where the employer/owner was a Bible believing Christian, the world could see that less profit was being taken out so that the workers could have appreciably more than the going rate of pay, the gospel would have been better proclaimed than if the profits were the same as the world took and then large endowments be given to missions and other projects."

Okay, how do we apply this principle to our lives? First, I think it is a serious beginning to recognize this truth and start asking the question. How can you apply it in your situation?

And there is a possibility that this blog will be read by some of you who have employees. You could begin asking God to show you how to bring this about.

Others of us ought to affirm companies that pay their employees more than the going rate. I do not know their motivation but the In-N-Out Burgers’ website claims that cook/managers in their restaurants can earn up to $120,000 a year. They need to be held up as a model.

The owners of Hobby Lobby are clear about the motivation of Christian principles in raising the minimum wage of full time employees to $14 an hour. I would like to see companies who do this sort of thing publicly honored. Most of us do not have a large soap box. But you influence more people than you think. I did a little research to verify these figures. But in both cases I was given the information by people who did not have a greater platform than friends and relatives.

All of us relate in small ways to wage earners. For instance, how do you tip in a restaurant. Do you leave a tip for the ladies who clean your motel room on a trip?

I have increased what I tip and not just when the service is especially good. I tip well because I know my waitress might be a single mother struggling to raise her children. I tip because I know that worker works long hours with little compensation, respect, or appreciation. I tip well because I remember that I did nothing to deserve the most important thing in my life. I often ask a waiter if we can pray for him as we pray over our meal. I tip well in hope of removing barriers to the gospel. What can you do that will improve the lives of people who need what you can give?

THE ISSUE OF ABORTION

In this and many elections I have been a one issue voter because I feel so strongly about abortion. My stomach rolls when I think of an innocent baby being torn apart in the womb. I see our nation standing before the Lord and hearing Him say, “Whatever you did or did not do for the least of these.”

However, there is more to the problem of abortion than its legality. My first concern is our society's attitudes toward sex. I don't know how legislation could have much effect that problem. But I would like to see a president use the bully pulpit and other prominent figures in our society use their influence to appeal to Hollywood, fiction writers, and other media to help turn our thinking around. I also think we need to show compassion and give help to teenagers and women in general under the  pressure of an unwanted pregnancy.

And I would also like to see adoption publicly affirmed and promoted. I like the promotion of adoption on soft drink cups at Wendy’s. I think it is interesting that there are so few children available for adoption that couples are paying tens of thousands of dollars to adopt.

I believe abortion is a major issue in America and the world. But we will not have significant impact on it if we are only concerned about its legality.

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HOW TO LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

In a prayer time that I was leading shortly after September 11, 2001 a six-year-old boy spoke up. “We need to pray for the terrorists!” I answered without thinking. “Pray that they will be caught and killed.”

That incident and the real danger of enemies on our door step plunged me into a serious quandary of how to love them. In Luke chapter 6 Jesus gave us a list of specific applications. And while I need to say these directives are personal rather than political, they should affect every area of a Believer's thinking.

Luke 6:27

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

You have to begin by listening. Are you willing to listen to things Jesus says that go against what you consider common sense? Have you considered what good thing God has arranged for you to do for the person who lies about you or opposes something important that you need to accomplish?

Luke 6:28

“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Desiring God's blessing on someone is a foundation of intercessory prayer. I have several lists of people that I pray for every day as a personal spiritual discipline. And from time to time God impresses me to add someone to one of those lists that I just don't like. I have to pray for God to develop His love in my heart for them as I try to ask Him to bless them.

Luke 6:29

“If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.”

This  may be the most practical and difficult application of loving our enemies. And while the command to turn the other cheek, not to mention the ensuing commands Jesus gives us here, leaves us terribly vulnerable, it meant much more than that to the people who first heard it.

Some years ago I went on a mission trip to what you might call a “kiss culture.” Especially in the churches there, men greeted one another with a kiss on the cheek, often on both cheeks.  It did not take us very long to discover that the one receiving the kiss has to turn his cheek. If you did not turn your cheek, you got kissed on the mouth.

We were never comfortable with this custom, but we quickly came to understand the depth of relationship they were expressing. In such a culture turing the other cheek was an offer of relationship. In the case of an enemy, it was a vulnerable offer of reconciliation.

Let me skip down to Luke 6:35,36, a good conclusion to this passage.

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Genuinely loving your enemies requires a work of God in your life. We grow in this complicated and humanly impossible discipline as we spend time in His presence. To love like this you must be a child of the Most High. God must plant His spiritual DNA into your heart.

In a prayer time that I was leading shortly after September 11, 2001 a six-year-old boy spoke up. “We need to pray for the terrorists!” I answered without thinking. “Pray that they will be caught and killed.”

That incident and the real danger of enemies on our door step plunged me into a serious quandary of how to love them. In Luke chapter 6 Jesus gave us a list of specific applications. And while I need to say these directives are personal rather than political, they should affect every area of a Believer's thinking.

Luke 6:27

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

You have to begin by listening. Are you willing to listen to things Jesus says that go against what you consider common sense? Have you considered what good thing God has arranged for you to do for the person who lies about you or opposes something important that you need to accomplish?

Luke 6:28

“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Desiring God's blessing on someone is a foundation of intercessory prayer. I have several lists of people that I pray for every day as a personal spiritual discipline. And from time to time God impresses me to add someone to one of those lists that I just don't like. I have to pray for God to develop His love in my heart for them as I try to ask Him to bless them.

Luke 6:29

“If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.”

This  may be the most practical and difficult application of loving our enemies. And while the command to turn the other cheek, not to mention the ensuing commands Jesus gives us here, leaves us terribly vulnerable, it meant much more than that to the people who first heard it.

Some years ago I went on a mission trip to what you might call a “kiss culture.” Especially in the churches there, men greeted one another with a kiss on the cheek, often on both cheeks.  It did not take us very long to discover that the one receiving the kiss has to turn his cheek. If you did not turn your cheek, you got kissed on the mouth.

We were never comfortable with this custom, but we quickly came to understand the depth of relationship they were expressing. In such a culture turing the other cheek was an offer of relationship. In the case of an enemy, it was a vulnerable offer of reconciliation.

Let me skip down to Luke 6:35,36, a good conclusion to this passage.

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Genuinely loving your enemies requires a work of God in your life. We grow in this complicated and humanly impossible discipline as we spend time in His presence. To love like this you must be a child of the Most High. God must plant His spiritual DNA into your heart.

THE SOURCE OF LOVE

I have been doing research on three books that I am asking God to let me finish. Their working titles are FAITH, HOPE, and AGAPE. From time to time I intend to give you glimpses of each of these books in my blog posts. This is the first.

In the introduction to my book, Joy, I said that whole book was to some extent a definition of joy. That is not the case with AGAPE. In this book I would like to show you powerful elements of love and help you develop genuine love in your life. But love is much more difficult to define. That is primarily because of its infinite personal source. Agape comes from God and God alone.

Look with me at 1 John chapter 4:7 and 8.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Do you get the force of this statement? "God is Love!" "God is agape!"

In the same context verses 16 and 17 say,

"And we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

This gives us a glimpse into the nature of the triune God. Love is not something God developed later. He did not create us so He would have someone to love. Love is the very nature of the infinite God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved one another eternally. The first lines of this poem on John 1:1 reaches for this truth.

In the beginning, from before the beginning

There was God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

In perfect union, eternal love communing."

So verse 19 of 1 John 4 concludes that we love because God loved us first.

Love comes from God. We love out of relationship with Him.