The one who helps us

Romans 12:10 New Living Translation (NLT)

10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Love and affection are the answers to helping people. We should take delight in others as God has taken delight in us. In helping people we should let them know about the love of Jesus who works in our lives to help us overcome any problem. We may struggle with the problem for a while, but sometimes that is God’s way of letting us sink to our lowest point so we know the only one who can help us is Jesus Christ.

Can alcoholics overcome their addiction? Seattle's Downtown Emergency Services Center doesn't seem to think so. It's spending $11 million on permanent housing for homeless alcoholics.

Seattle taxpayers were fed up with spending $50,000 per alcoholic, every year, on recovery programs, prison, and emergency room visits. The solution is 1811 Eastlake, a housing complex that accommodates 75 alcoholics. The residents are allowed to drink all they want, and they don't have to be in a recovery program—as long as they're off the streets.

Bill Hobson, the program's executive director, believes most alcoholics can't change. "Once you're an alcoholic, you're always an alcoholic," he says, citing the example of an alcoholic who got drunk 10 minutes after leaving a detox facility he had been in for two months. Hobson and his group reject the transforming power of Jesus Christ and believe some people are beyond hope and help.

[Chuck Colson, "Bottoms Up: Is Change Possible?" Breakpoint newsletter (12-15-06); submitted by Jerry De Luca, Montreal West, Quebec, Canada]

Consequences of Freedom

Galatians 5:13 New Living Translation (NLT)

13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

In Christ we have been given the freedom to live life without the fear of the penalty of sin, which is the condemnation of hell. So we are free to sin if we choose, but choosing to sin does have earthly consequences. So we need to be careful in our choices. If we are to use our freedom, use it to serve one another out of love for our Lord and Savior.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is the youngest signal-caller ever to win a Super Bowl. He is a rising superstar in the NFL and has been the recipient of a number of endorsement opportunities. However, as of June 2006, he also has a new perspective on freedom.

In July of 2005, ESPN reporter Andrea Kremer asked Roethlisberger to explain his decision to ride his motorcycle without a helmet:

ESPN: It's not the law in Pennsylvania to wear a helmet. Why don't you wear a helmet?

Roethlisberger: Because you don't have to. It's not the law. If it was the law, I'd definitely have one on every time I rode. But it's not the law and I know I don't have to. You're just more free when you're out there with no helmet on.

Unfortunately, Roethlisberger was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in June of 2006, less than one year later. When a 62-year-old woman failed to yield at a Pittsburgh intersection, Roethlisberger was thrown into the windshield of her Chrysler Town and Country. His bike was totaled, and emergency surgeons spent over seven hours repairing a broken jaw, a fractured skull, missing teeth, and several other facial injuries.

After being released from the hospital, Roethlisberger apologized to the fans, his family, and his team for risking his health (and life) unnecessarily. In another interview, he was no longer focused on taking advantage of his individual freedom: "In the past few days, I've gained a new perspective on life. By the grace of God, I'm fortunate to be alive." He also added that, if he ever does ride a motorcycle again, "it will certainly be with a helmet."

[David Slagle, Atlanta, Georgia; source: ESPN.com]

Questioning God

Romans 11:33 New Living Translation (NLT)

33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

The Bible tells us it is impossible for us to understand the decisions, actions, and ways of God. Yet we challenge God and call into question the things that happen in this world even going as far to say, “This has to be God’s fault.” We forget about our own sins. We also forget there is Satan who is out to destroy what he can of this world.

It is not uncommon for people to shake their fists at God in the midst of tragedy and suffering. The Bible includes the stories of righteous men who questioned God for what they considered poor management of creation.

But Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers has taken his complaints to court. In October 2007, Sen. Chambers sued God for "causing untold death and horror" in the form of "fearsome floods…horrendous hurricanes, [and] terrifying tornadoes." Furthermore, says the senator, God has wrought "widespread death [and] destruction" and terrorized "millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

Chambers filed the suit to make a statement about the American court system. Outraged by a recent lawsuit he considered frivolous, the senator intends to demonstrate that "anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody." His motion against God, then, is tongue in cheek; Chambers, who has a history of antagonism against Christians, has no vested interest in his suit against the Almighty.

Nevertheless, the case raises important questions about God's activity in this broken world. Is God to blame for poverty, warfare, and natural disaster? Chambers seems to think so. To him the facts are clear: there is suffering everywhere, and God is everywhere. Therefore, God must cause suffering. But God's not the only being who is everywhere. So are sinful human beings.

[Brandon O'Brien, assistant editor, PreachingToday.com; source: "Neb. state senator sues God in protest" (Associated Press) USA Today (10-08-07)]

Stepping close to God

Colossians 4:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)

5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

Our lives are to be examples to others. We are to live in such a way people recognize there is a difference in us and that difference is Christ living through us.

David Brainerd, the great missionary to the American Indians, was on one occasion witnessing to a chief, who was very close to deciding for Christ. But he held back; there was some pause or hesitation. Brainerd got up, took a stick, drew a circle in the soft earth about the chief, and said, "Decide before you cross that line." Why this passion and urgency? Because Brainerd recognized that at that moment, that chief was close to God. If he missed that moment, he might never be so close again.

[Bruce Thielemann, "Tide Riding," Preaching Today, Tape No. 30.]

Hope in God

Romans 12:12 New Living Translation (NLT)

12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

In this world we can lose hope when we think about the troubles we face, because we are often placing hope in ourselves. What we are to do is pray and keep on praying that The Lord would provide His hope to us. For it is hope in God that allows us to rejoice and be patient even in times of trouble.

Richard Halverson, former pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland and also the former chaplain of the United States Senate used the following benediction at the end of each service/message for many years in his ministry. It reflects his deep conviction that his church was not only where the congregation met on Sundays, but at each place where they lived and worked through the week.

A Benediction

Wherever you go, God is sending you.

Wherever you are, God has put you there.

God has a purpose in your being right where you are.

Christ, who indwells you by the power of his Spirit,

wants to do something in and through you.

Believe this and go in his grace, his love, his power.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen

Paid for with His life

1 Peter 1:18-19 New Living Translation (NLT)

18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

Christ gave of Himself for your sake. He was willing to take on your sin to save you from the condemnation of sin. It was His precious blood, the sinless blood of Christ.

 

Father Damien was a priest who became famous for his willingness to serve lepers. He moved to Kalawao—a village on the island of Molokai, in Hawaii, that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony. For 16 years, he lived in their midst. He learned to speak their language. He bandaged their wounds, embraced the bodies no one else would touch, preached to hearts that would otherwise have been left alone. He organized schools, bands, and choirs. He built homes so that the lepers could have shelter. He built 2,000 coffins by hand so that, when they died, they could be buried with dignity. Slowly, it was said, Kalawao became a place to live rather than a place to die, for Father Damien offered hope.

Father Damien was not careful about keeping his distance. He did nothing to separate himself from his people. He dipped his fingers in the poi bowl along with the patients. He shared his pipe. He did not always wash his hands after bandaging open sores. He got close. For this, the people loved him.

Then one day he stood up and began his sermon with two words: "We lepers…."

Now he wasn't just helping them. Now he was one of them. From this day forward, he wasn't just on their island; he was in their skin. First he had chosen to live as they lived; now he would die as they died. Now they were in it together.

One day God came to Earth and began his message: "We lepers…." Now he wasn't just helping us. Now he was one of us. Now he was in our skin. Now we were in it together.

[John Ortberg, God Is Closer Than You Think (Zondervan, 2005), p. 103-104]

Death where is thy sting?

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 New Living Translation (NLT)

55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus took the sting of death for us that we may have victory over sin. For sin demands payment, but Christ payed the price for our sins with His death.

A boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon, when a bumblebee flew in the car window. The little boy, who was allergic to bee stings, was petrified. The father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. The boy grew frantic as it buzzed by him. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his palm. There stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he asked. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you." We do not need to fear death anymore. Christ has died and risen again. He has taken the sting from death.

[Adrian Dieleman, Waupun, Wisconsin. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 1.]