Me.

In charge.

Uh oh.

The best way that I can describe this transition is:

sksimants=George W. Bush

mdsimants=Barack Obama

eksimants/cesimants=Glenn Beck

Well…. maybe not Glenn Beck, but definitely one of the (slightly) less crazy FoxNews commentators.

Yeah….

“That’s not how mommy does it.”

Nope.  I’m not mommy.  I am ill-equipped to be mommy.

“When mommy’s here she…”

Is your mommy here?  No.  So Daddy does….

You get the picture.  Dad’s you’ve all been there, so I know you can relate.

At any rate…. that’s so not the point of this post.

The point is this.  My kids blew me away yesterday with the lesson they taught me.

We were getting in the car to leave.  I was dropping the kids off at Nana’s and then was headed to Youth at the Church.

We get strapped in.

Shut doors.

Turn the key.

NADA.

Nothing.

Zilch.

Not even a remote attempt at starting.

Dead.

As a doorknob.

While I go into panic mode, the kids sit peacefully in the back.

I hear a soft voice: “God, please help our car to run.”

I get them out of the car, and begin to check the things I know to check.

Papa is on his way to the rescue.

The kids are staring at the frantic daddy through the front door.

And, I learned later, were praying.

On a whim, I put the key back into the ignition.

Turned the key.

Started right up.

Turned it off.

Again.

And…

Again.

About the time that Papa pulls up, the car is working great.

As we load the kids into Papa’s car, I hear eksimants tell Papa that her and cesimants had been praying for the car.  She was almost in tears at the goodness of God to answer prayers.  She told Papa that she was so glad that mommy and daddy had taught them to pray.

I was humbled and convicted.

As I drove to the church, I stopped to repent of my unbelief and my attempts to go it alone.

The kids did exactly what we have taught them to do in all circumstances.  They prayed.

I did what we as humans do in all circumstances.  I fretted and tried to go it alone.

I’m so grateful that their way worked and mine did not.

Folks, prayer works.  In every case.  In every circumstance.  PRAY.

Thanks, kids, for teaching me what I’ve been trying to teach you.

When all else fails.  When you can’t see the end of the tunnel.  And when you are on the mountaintop of victory.

PRAY!

We were in San Juan, Puerto Rico about four years ago.  We were in a taxicab.  Our driver had one arm and one leg.

Seriously.

One arm.

One leg.

From what I could tell, he wasn’t much good in the eyesight category either.

He drove.  We prayed.

Spiritually, that’s how I have felt here lately.

I’m merely a passenger.  My Father God is the driver.

I’m riding.

He’s driving.

Sometimes it feels a bit like He is driving with one leg and one arm.  Like the car is a bit out-of-control.

Well, it is.

It is out-of-MY-control.

And it’s good.

As we allow the Father to drive, we become more in-tune to the miracles that He is constantly performing.  We view more clearly His work.  We learn what the Proverbs mean when they say that the “Fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom (seeing things through God’s perspective and acting on it).”

See, to allow God to drive (without us backseat driving) is to Fear Him.  It is to say, “I love You, so I will do what You say.”  It is saying, “Not my will, but thine.”  It is to say, “Show me where You are working, and let me join in.”

It’s beautiful.

It’s scary.

It’s incredibly exhilarating.

So, yes, I do realize that the automobile looks like it is careening out of control.  Yet, I remain content sitting here quietly in the backseat and letting Him take me wherever He determines the next stop will be.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve been thinking about this question all day.   Not so much about how I would answer it, but rather how will my kids answer it in about 20 years.

In other words, what is the legacy world-view which I am implanting into them.

eksimants and cesimants look out over Tulsa from a hotel room.

My prayer for my kids is that their world-view is truly global.  I want them to understand the plight of the world’s problems.  I want them to understand the prayer needs in even the remotest of countries.

Even before sksimants and I felt a call to the nations, we had begun training eksimants and cesimants to see the world as a giant playground.  We wanted them to view it as fully accessible to them.  There is no where they can’t go.  It’s a wide open world inviting them to come and explore.

More importantly, though, we want our kids to understand that the world needs a Savior.

We want them to understand that over 153 million children are orphaned.

We want them to understand that almost half the world lives on less than $2.50/day.

We want them to understand that over 1 billion people have no access to clean water.

We want them to understand that there is a vast swath of the world who has never heard the Gospel (also known as the 10/40 Window).

We want them to understand geography, yet as they learn about the nations and their location in the world, we want them to know what God is doing in those nations as well as what prayer needs exist.

We want them to understand that they — just like ALL who profess to be Christians — are missionaries.  They are called to have a world-view that is bigger than their particular city, state or nation.

We want them to have the same world-view that Christ had on the cross.  It’s a world-view that says, your redemption is more important than my life.  It’s the world-view that Paul expressed in Philippians 1:21.  It’s the world-view that Jim Elliot had when he wrote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

When my kids look out of hotel windows, that’s the world-view that I pray we are leaving with them.

Just as quick as that.

Here I was Sunday Morning when I got up:

As I headed out to the patio to dispose of the hair I had collected over the previous six or so weeks, I thought back through the journey.

It had been quite a trip.  We had watched God do remarkable things!

We had seen God pave roads!

And, now, it was over.

Off to church we went to celebrate Easter!  Sunday had come!

Before we celebrated in worship, I had the privilege of  teaching a few 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders all about the provision of God: “Give us this day our daily bread.”  How awesome is that!!

As we worshipped on Sunday Morning, it was a more joyful experience than I think I’ve ever had.  See, the thing about taking a Lenten journey — I mean really taking the Lenten journey by denying yourself of something significant (not just chocolate or sodas or TV or Facebook (seriously?!?!)) — is that when the journey reaches a conclusion at the empty tomb the resurrection somehow seems more real.  It seems more tangible.

Pete Greig in his “Prayer Spaces” podcast on Easter Sunday pointed out how the first to witness the resurrection was a woman with a past.  In her redemption, she became the messenger!  The new covenant begins with a question to a person who hasn’t forever been redeemed.  (Sound familiar?)

I’ve been meditating on Psalm 51 for the past couple of weeks.  There’s a beautiful change that happens between verse 12 and 13.  The Psalmist, now forgiven of sin, has a testimony.

Praise God that with the resurrection …

… comes redemption.

… comes provision.

… comes healing.

… comes mission.

… comes a testimony.

… comes a new life.

… comes forgiveness (and the associated forgetfulness of YHWH).

… come a shave.

I wish I could say that the end was met with some sort of major fanfare, but it wasn’t.  Just a guy on his back patio with a set of clippers.

Well, more than that.  It was met by a thankful and humbled guy on a back porch.  A guy sitting in a red chair, clippers in hand, on a back porch, on a sunny Easter Morning, saying a prayer of thanksgiving and recommitment to God.

CHRIST HAS RISEN INDEED!

Go in peace, to love and serve the RISEN Lord!!

In just a few short hours (44 days later), I will shave again.

The Nazarite Vow period is coming to a close.  It’s over.  We’ve made it.  And, no, I haven’t heard the voice of God saying continue the Vow till Easter of 2012 (or some other obscure year).  Thankfully.

While I’m ready for it to be over, I will never regret these 44 days.

What you may not realize is that the Nazarite Vow corresponded with three other events.

1. The church which we serve (Asbury UMC) was running 40 Days of 24/7 Prayer.  For us, this meant many late nights in the prayer room (aka Trailernacle).  It meant time in the Trailernacle as a family.  It meant a continual focus on prayer.
2. In our Youth Sunday School classes we’ve been studying the Lord’s Prayer.  So, for the past 44 days, I’ve been consumed with meditation on the Lord’s Prayer (and other passages related Matthew 6:19-34, Matthew 13, Psalm 51).
3. sksimants and I have been on a Daniel Fast.

Put those three things together along with a Vow designed to help one seek out the direction of God, and, well, things happen.

Last time, I told you all what we had gotten out of this journey.  What I didn’t tell you, because it wasn’t yet official, is what we actually saw God do for us in the last 44 days.

So here goes.

We entered the 44 days wondering where God was directing us.  We were seeking for direction (hence, the vow).  We knew then that wherever God was directing us would involve a significant life change.  While we still don’t know exactly what that means, we have seen God begin to prepare us for it.

How?

We suspected before Ash Wednesday that God was working on moving us toward some sort of full-time ministry.  As quickly as the first week of this, God confirmed that within us.

That out of the way, we began to point out to God (and He to us) things that needed to happen before that could be a reality.  We felt like God told us to keep praying, believing, and pressing and He would give the rest of the plan, but for now we were to do a few tangible (i.e. financial) things.

God even gave us a specific dollar amount for which to pray.  I remember being in the Trailernacle one night and praying for God to help us (show us how/miraculously provide) pay off one particular student loan — just shy of $19,000.  I felt like God started laughing at me, and heard Him say, “That’s it?  I can take care of that by Easter.  Be serious, here’s the amount.”  He then gave me a dollar amount that is just above our current total outstanding debt (another set of Student Loans and the house).  He told me, “Pray specifically for that dollar amount.”

So, we started praying specifically for that dollar.

A few days later, we made a payment for 1/3rd of the $19,000.

Three weeks later, we made a payment for 1/3rd of the $19,000.

And on Good Friday, we paid the remaining 1/3rd IN FULL.

And to top it off, God gave us 10% more than what was needed (which happens to be the Mexico 2011 budget (almost to the penny)).

GOD ROCKS!!

We continue to pray/believe for the remaining amount for which He told us to pray, and we have total faith (especially after seeing Him provide the $19,000 by EASTER) that He will take care of it.

I’ll have one more post on Sunday morning, but for now here’s the latest mdsimants snapshot (as of Day 43), and a link to Psalm 66:16-20 — “Come and Listen.”

Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!

(Psalm 66:16-20, New International Version, ©2011)

One week remains on the Nazarite Vow!  Wow!  Has it flown by!

The common question that I’ve been asked is “Did you get what you expected from it?”

The answer is “Yes and No.”

There was a part of me that expected at some point in the 40 days of the Vow (and the 24/7 prayer at the church), God would speak clearly about what our exact next steps were to be.  However, He hasn’t–sorta (of course, there’s still a week left and He may wait until next Saturday morning to speak).   He has given pieces of direction.  He has given things to look at/work on/pray about.  And He has told us to keep pressing on Him (Luke 18:1-8) to answer and He will–in His time (assuming there’s no hold up from the evil one (Daniel 10:12-14)).  So, while there haven’t been any loud booming voices, flashes of lightening, or Jesus faces on tortillas, we are more open to hearing the direction, and are ready to follow it when it is given.

And that’s what matters.

While you enjoy the latest picture (Day 39), I’m going to go make some tortillas.

mdsimants on Day 39

Friday night, sksimants and I had the privilege of serving at the Little Rock Compassion Center.  My job during dinner was to rinse glasses and pass them back to my friend Clemente for washing.

Immediately upon my assignment, Clemente began to open up to me.  Clemente is homeless.  He is currently living at the center and is working off a societal debt in the kitchen.  Clemente told me of his family.  How they came to the US from Mexico when he was a child.  How he got into alcohol.  How he had sobered up.  Then, about eight months ago, he lost his mother.  He came to Little Rock to live with his brother, but he started drinking again and is now in recovery after his brother couldn’t take him anymore and booted him out.

Clemente also told me how he had come to know Jesus and was praying for relationships with his two children and his brother to be reconciled.  He also told me that he had–that afternoon–finished reading the Book of Job.

I told him of my love for that book.  How God has used it to work in my life.  I asked him what he learned from it.  He gave me three lessons.

IT’S NEVER AS BAD AS I THINK

Clemente said that losing his mother–his best friend–was the hardest thing ever to happen to him.  He was at the end of his rope and turned to alcohol to be his way of coping with the pain.

Reading Job helped him to realize that others have it worse than he does.  He told me how he watched the faces of the men in the shelter.  They have nothing.  Some of them are completely dead inside.  But he has something to hold onto–faith.

I showed him that the first beatitude is:

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.  With less of you there is more of God and His rule. — Matthew 5:3 (The Message)

Job teaches us this principle: It is never as bad as I think.  As Clemente put it: “Job showed me that even in the worst of times, I can still have faith.”

PICK YOUR FRIENDS WISELY

Who you hang around is important.  Clemente made the decision to move into the Center for one reason: “I had to get away from my old friends.”  His old friends–he told me–enabled him to drink.  In fact, his biggest fear right now is summer–drinking season.

Job taught him to pick his friends wisely.  Job’s friends were not very helpful to the cause of maintaining his faith.  They didn’t really encourage Job to remain reliant upon God.  Instead they tried to get Job to take matters into his own hands.  Granted, not by some evil and wicked means.  As Clemente pointed out they had good intentions.  They had some truth.  But, they didn’t have God.  Clemente had come to realize that his friends had good intentions.  Yet, they didn’t have a God-driven approach. 

You become what you hang around.  So, pick your friends wisely.

GOD IS BIGGER THAN OUR PROBLEMS

The last lesson that Clemente gave me was that no matter how big our problem–God is bigger! 

He told me how he couldn’t wait to get to the end of the book to see what God would say and do.  (I tell you, Job is a great book!  A real page-turner!)  And when he got to the end, he said that he knew that no matter what he was going through God was in it with him and God was bigger.

God would see him through his problems.  He was so excited about how God provided Job with restoration.  That was something that Clemente could latch on to.  God rides out our storms with us, and then restores us on the other side.

I asked Clemente which book he was going to read next.  Without hesitation he said, “Only a fool wouldn’t read Job a second time.”

Job lived on another hundred and forty years, living to see his children and grandchildren–four generations of them!  Then he died–an old man, a full life. — Job 42:16-17 (The Message)

The church in which we serve sponsors a 9th/10th Grade and an 11th/12th Grade Boys
Basketball team. Tonight was a playoff game for our 9th/10th Graders.

I learned upon arrival that we were only going to have five boys in uniform tonight. In
case you know nothing about basketball, five is the minimum you can have on a team and
is the maximum you can have on the floor at any given time.

In the first-half, our boys hung tough against a team that seemed at times to forget it was
church-league ball.

And then, late in the first half, the fear that all of us Asbury fans had hanging in the back
of our minds came into being: One of our five fouled out.

For the remainder of the first-half and the entire sixteen minutes of the second-half, we
played four boys against their five.

Before you try and predict the outcome of the game (and you’re right), let me say this:
These four boys played as hard in the last minute of the game as they played in the first
minute.

It brought to mind 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (MSG):

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one
wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for the gold medal that
tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving
it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top
condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it
and then missing out myself.

Paul doesn’t tell the Corinthian church – and by extension all of us – that they had to win,
rather he tells them to run like they want to win.

Stay alert!

Train hard!

Run hard!

Press on!

Play to win even against insurmountable odds!

These boys tonight played to win. The odds were pretty big against them before we went
down a man, yet they kept pressing on. As the other team pushed on like a golden ring
and a trip to DisneyWorld was on the line, these young men from Asbury kept on playing
to win.

They played out the words of Paul.

As I sat in the stands as one of small cloud of witnesses, I thought about that great cloud
of witnesses in the Hebrews (12:1-3). How they cheer and push us on.

They tell us, “Keep playing!”

They tell us, “Keep running!”

They tell us, “Don’t slack off!”

And we persevere on.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Knowing that He has run the race.

He has finished the race.

He has won the prize.

Yet, we run on. Not to win. Rather to point others to Him.

Asbury men, you did a great job tonight in showing us all how to keep on running.

eksimants Studying the Scriptures

I went up to eksimants’ room a few minutes ago to tell her “Good Night”.

She was sitting on her bed copying Scripture from the Bible into her journal.  The passage was from Luke 21:

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Thinking I would seize on a teaching opportunity (and not realizing I was walking into a learning opportunity), I asked, “What does that story tell us?”

eksimants’ reply:

It tells us that we should give everything we have and rely on God.  If we give everything, then we don’t have to worry about anything because God will take care of it.

It’s like @jaredanderson song: Giving everything to God, becuase He gave everything to me.

It’s like the story of the woman with the oil.  Judas told her she wasted the money, because he wanted it for himself.  But Jesus said that Judas was wrong.  He knew that the woman did the best thing for him and for her. 

We should always just give everything.

The beauty of the message of Christ is: when we realize our lives are not intended to be lived for ourselves, we are fulfilled. #NotAboutYou

Christ tells the disciples to take up their cross and follow Him.  He warns them of persecution.  He tells them it won’t be an easy road.  However, when you examine the Scriptures, you find that those who forsook all to follow are living lives that are full and rich. 

Consider the Apostle Paul.  You can read any of the prison epistles (especially Philippians) and find a man who has forsaken all to follow.  He’s in prison.  He’s been shipwrecked.  He’s been beaten.  He could be killed at any minute.  Yet, he writes:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  – Philippians 3:7-11 (NIV)

I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me.  Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:10-13

(And my unrelated, but free, comment: Be careful of taking Philippians 4:13 on it’s own.  It’s not meant to be stand-alone.)

Paul figured out the secret.  It wasn’t about him.  It was bigger than him.  It was about living a life devoted to others.  That’s what drove him and made him content no matter what the circumstance.

By living your life for someone else, then – and only then – will you find true fulfillment.

As a Christ-follower, your very duty is to live a life focused entirely on others.  #NotAboutYou

It’s not about you.  That is the very message of the Sermon on the Mount.  When you read that beautiful passage (Matthew 5-7), you find an undercurrent that runs throughout it.  That undercurrent is Jesus saying, “Hey, it’s not about you, but about living a life devoted to furthering the message of the Gospel.  It’s about living a live of devotion to YHWH.  It’s about living a live that is centered on others.”  Consider this one gem:

You’re familiar with the old written law, “Love your friend,” and it’s unwritten companion, “Hate your enemy.”  I’m challenging that.  I’m telling you to love your enemies.  Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.  When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.  This is what God does.  He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and the bad, the nice and the nasty.  If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus?  Anybody can do that.  If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal?  Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

In a word, what I’m saying is, “Grow up.”  You’re kingdom subjects.  Now live like it.  Live out your God-created identity.  Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.  – Matthew 5:43-48 (The Message)

Live out your God-created identity.  Even the sinners love those who love them.  Christ commands us out of our comfort zones.  He tells us that to follow Him, we have to move outside of where we “fit” and into where we don’t.  We have to live for everyone but ourselves.

Your life then becomes totally about service.  And, that is true YHWH worship. #NotAboutYou

Service.  Living for someone else.  Serving others.  That’s the duty of the YHWH worshipper. 

Consider Jesus’ response to the law expert:

One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “You must love YHWH your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:34-40 (NLT)

Love YHWH with every part of your being.  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

In other words, the only possible way of accomplishing the desire of YHWH for His people is to pour every aspect of your being into loving Him and other people.  Forsaking all others and all else.

Your wants, desires, ambitions, hopes, dreams all take a backseat to the work of Christ.  #NotAboutYou

Until you want only what Christ wants, you are living for yourself.  Being willing to sacrifice YOUR dreams is the beginning of being a Christ-follower.  It’s not about what YOU want. 

It’s about what Christ wants for you.

It’s about where Christ wants you to go.

It’s about who Christ wants you to serve.

Your life can’t be lived in a relentless pursuit of anything other than chasing after Christ.

Jesus tells His Disciples:
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angles.  – Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)

Only when you live for others—totally—will you find joy and peace.  #NotAboutYou

People who live a life of self-centeredness will never know true joy.  #NotAboutYou

Only those who live a life of others-centeredness by dying to self will do the work of Christ and fulfill the command of YHWH.  #NotAboutYou

Like was mentioned earlier, the call of YHWH is to love Him and others with every aspect of your being.  It is to forsake all of you in order to help all of them.  It’s not about you anymore.  It’s about the cause of worshipping YHWH.

YHWH guides us on a path of service and calls it the only true act of worship.  #NotAboutYou

Isaiah 58 gives us a clear and concise picture of what it means to be a YHWH worshipper:

I’ll tell you what it really means to worship YHWH.  Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.  Free those who are abused!  Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless.  Give clothes to those in need; don’t turn away your relatives.

Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed.  Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of YHWH will defend you from behind.  When you beg YHWH for help, he will answer, “Here I am!”

Don’t mistreat others or falsely accuse them or say something cruel.  Give your food to the hungry and care for the homeless.  Then your light will shine in the dark; your darkest hour will be like the noonday sun.

YHWH will always guide you and provide good things to eat when you are in the desert.  He will make you healthy.  You will be like a garden that has plenty of water or like a stream that never runs dry.  You will rebuild those houses left in ruins for years; you will be known as a builder and repairer of city walls and streets. – Isaiah 58:6-12 (CEV)

The act of YHWH worship is an act of forsaking yourself.  It’s an act of taking care of those who are in positions that they are unable to take care of themselves. 

Homeless. 

Poor. 

Hungry. 

Unjustly imprisoned. 

Abused. 

Naked.

YHWH worship is about treating others justly and rightly.  It is about treating people with dignity.

Isaiah 58 concludes with an admonition to keep the Sabbath.  Serve others, but know when to stop, rest, and reflect on the goodness of YHWH.

Christ through His words and deeds of service shows us how to live this life of forsaking all to follow Him.  #NotAboutYou

At the end of his ministry, Jesus, is in a Garden.  He’s praying.  A place comfortable to him and his disciples.  They knew this place.  They knew the peace of prayer in this place.  But….

It’s a dark night.  Trouble is brewing.

Jesus has spent three years serving others.  From things as simple as turning water into wine to as complex as casting demons into swine, in every move Jesus made he served someone else.  He fed thousands.  He walked on water to prove to his followers that he was Messiah.  He slept in the storm to show the Disciples the beauty that is the peace of knowing who is in control.

But….

Thursday night comes.

There’s always a Thursday night in our lives.

A night when we just want to hang it up….

A night when we cry out, “I know you can take this mess from me, but will you?”

Our “Why, God?” turns into a “Do I really have to, God?”

Jesus has hit this evening.

Yet, we see three years of service.   We see three years of miracles.  We see three years of lives forever changed.  We see three guys asleep.

Even in this moment of self-awareness, we see a servant heart.  We hear the prayer, “I don’t really want to, but I will because I know it’s the way.” 

We hear the soldiers.

A Disciple pulls a sword.

Jesus serves.

Even in the moment of deepest trial, he serves by putting an ear back on a servants head.

The acts of service that our Messiah culminated in an ultimate act of service. 

A death. 

A burial. 

A resurrection.

Jesus shows us by his example that life is only worth living when you’re willing to follow the will of YHWH and die.

Forsaking all and following is simply the act of refusing to live for yourself and instead living for everyone else.  #NotAboutYou

Jesus gives the command. 

Forsake all.  Follow me.

There’s a pair of stories.  Bookends almost.  Where Jesus calls and then re-calls Peter.

As Jesus walked beyond the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.   – Mark 1:16-18 (NIV)

Three years later:

“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,” he 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.

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore.  It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 

…

Then he said to him [Peter], “Follow me!” – John 21:3-11, 19 (NIV)

Two stories. 

One man.

A bunch of fish.

More than they’d ever caught.

Miraculous catch.

“Peter, follow me.”

A calling and then a re-calling of a man who would change history. 

There are so many neat things in these stories (for instance, when they arrive back on shore after Jesus asked them if they had fish, Jesus is cooking fish), but let me leave with this one:

They left their nets on the shore and said, “We’re in.”

They followed.

They committed their lives to service.

They realized that a life lived for someone besides themselves was more interesting, fun, fulfilling, and rewarding than a life lived for themselves.

The message of Christ and the worship of YHWH is simply defined as acting upon the realization that it is not about you. #NotAboutYou

So, the call to action for all of us is simply, “Get over yourself and live for others.  Then you will please YHWH.”  #NotAboutYou

It’s not about you.  It’s about a life bigger than yourself.  When you allow YHWH to be that footlamp of which the Psalmist speaks, then you can dream God-sized dreams.  When you dream God-sized dreams, then you can do God-sized things.

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!