The Soil and the Seed - April 7 Readings: Joshua 19-20, Luke 8:1–15, Psalm 44:8–14, Proverbs 10:17-18

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When we gather to worship, we get cleaned up, dressed up, bundled up (when that is needed) and head to church. But getting ready for church ought to involve more than a shower and some clean clothes. There ought to some spiritual preparation that takes place as well. 

We have a lot of farmers in our fellowship. I'm no expert in agriculture, but I do know that preparation of the soil is important before planting takes place when the ground thaws in a few months.

Before you sow the seed, you prepare the soil. 

The same thing is true with going to church. Every time we gather, there will be some seed sown. We will sing songs about God's glory and grace. We will pray together. I will preach God's Word from the pulpit and most of you will attend a Sunday School class as well. According to the parable Jesus told in Luke 8:4-15 (also recorded in Matthew and Mark) every time God's Word goes out, a seed is sown, whether at Southern Hills or another church, in personal Bible study or any other form. 

The question is, what kind of soil is your heart? 

Jesus described four kinds of soil, each representing a way that someone responds when the seed that is the Word of God is sown. Some people are hardened soil and refuse to hear or receive the Word. I hope (and believe) that we have very few who will be at Southern Hills today who are hardened against God's Word. Why would you come if you were? 

But there are also two other kinds of soil that do not allow God's Word to produce its harvest. First, there is rocky soil, which does not allow the Word to go down deep and establish roots. Such people receive the Word with joy, intending to do what it says. But their roots are shallow and as soon as they get out into the world, the Word in them begins to turn brown and die. On Sunday it all seemed so great but by Monday the joy had faded and the Word was too hard to follow. Far too many Christians are rocky soil. 

Far too many of us are soil filled with weeds and thorns. We receive the seed of the Word and it begins to grow, but suddenly weeds sprout up to choke out the Word and prevent it from produced a harvest within us. The problem is not with the soil, but the fact that too many bad seeds have been sown along with the Word. Seeds of materialism and greed, of immorality and impurity, of self-centeredness and pride. The worldly seeds produce thorny plants that choke out the work that the Word is meant to accomplish. 

But what we need to be is the soft, clean soil - ready to receive the Word of God and let it root deeply within and bring its harvest in our lives. We must open ourselves to the Spirit of God that he would till the soil of our hearts until we are ready to listen and obey, until we are ready not just to hear the Word, but to let our lives be changed by it. 

As you ready yourself on the outside today, don't forget to ready your heart as well, to take some time to allow God's work within, to prepare your heart to be the right kind of soil; soft and ready to receive God's Word.  

Lord, till the soil in my heart so that I might receive the Word and it may have the harvest in my soul that you desire.  I repent of my resistance to your Word and my divided concern.  Fill me and transform me by the renewing of my mind with your Word.  

Grace Is for Sinners - April 6 Readings: Joshua 17-18, Luke 7:18–50, Psalm 44:1–7, Proverbs 10:15-16

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Perhaps the most amazing part of the story told in Luke 7:36-50 is the fact that Jesus was invited to dine in the home of a Pharisee. That kind of welcome was seldom extended to Jesus by the religious leaders. But this one invited him in and Jesus went. He dined with sinners; he dined with Pharisees. It was all the same to him.

Things got uncomfortable quickly. As they were reclining and enjoying their meal a woman came in, one who was known as a sinner. Of course, every person in that town other than Jesus was a sinner, but this woman's sins were known by all. It is probably that her sins were of the moral variety and that everyone knew about them - though that is just a guess.

The Pharisee was scandalized that such a woman would enter his home and wash Jesus' feet, anointing them with fragrant oil. But Jesus used her situation to make a point. He told a story about two men forgiven of debts. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. Then Jesus asked a question of the Pharisee, named Simon.

So, which of them will love him more?

The obvious answer is that the one who is forgiven more will love more. Jesus forgave the woman (shocking all around by that act) and insisted that she would love him all the more because her sins were great and her forgiveness complete.

This is a simple but profound point. It is not about how good we are, but how good our God is. It is not about trying to maintain a facade of sinlessness, but about casting ourselves on the mercy of God. A good Christian is not one who never sins, but one who consistently repents and relies on God's grace for everything.

The Pharisees could not experience the love of Jesus because they thought they could gain God's favor on their own. This sinful woman found grace because she knew she needed it. You and I must draw near to God and resist sin, but we must also realize that we will often fall, and that there is unlimited mercy, grace and forgiveness in Christ. It is sinners, those who kneel before the Savior, admit their sin and repent of it, who find the forgiveness they need.

Father, I thank you for your grace. If it were not for grace, I would be undone. I admit that I have no good by which to commend myself to you. I seek your mercy, your grace and your power. 

The One Who Conquers Death - April 5 Readings: Joshua 15-16, Luke 7:1–17, Psalms 43, Proverbs 10:13-14

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The ancient world was not an easy place for any woman, but for one woman from Nain, a town southeast of Nazareth, life had been particularly brutal. She was a widow and that likely meant poverty. But she did have one thing in her life, her son. Though her husband was gone and she would have no more children, this son would carry on the family name. But tragedy struck. We don't know if he was sick or met some kind of accident, but the widow's only son died. I cannot imagine the grief and sorrow that this woman felt.

Then Jesus came by. The Jewish people did not embalm bodies and therefore buried their dead within a day. The whole town turned out for the burial, and the procession was making its way out of the city gates toward the tomb. Jesus happened by at that moment. Just at that moment - seemingly a coincidence, but we can see the hand of God's sovereignty in the timing.

When Jesus came by, everything changed. He stopped the procession and told the bereft mother, "Don't cry." (Luke 7:13) Don't cry? What a thing to say to a widow burying her only son! But Jesus was not telling her to deny her pain, he was promising her that he was going to undo what was causing it.

Jesus spoke to the dead man (Luke 7:14) and said, "Young man, I tell you, get up." Gnaw on that bone for a minute. Jesus walked up to a dead man and spoke! He did no CPR, no hocus-pocus, nothing but words. But the words of the man from Nazareth were so strong, so powerful, that the young man woke up, sat up and started talking.

Jesus handed him back to his mother. There was no more need to tell her not to cry - at least not tears of sorrow. The rejoicing was great in Nain that night, and no one could stop talking about the man who broke up the funeral.

When Jesus came by, everything changed! Despair turned to hope. Death gave way to life. Joy overwhelmed sorrow.

How often do we deal with life's challenges and hardships as if we were on our own? On her own, the widow was in a hopeless place. But when Jesus came by, she had hope and joy; she had a son! Death became life. Whatever we are facing we can know this - Jesus is here! He spoke to a dead man and he came alive. His word is powerful and active! He speaks and things change.

Serving Jesus does not mean we will never see hardship or that they will magically go away. But it does mean that we can expect Jesus to come by and speak his power and grace into our lives, to sustain and empower, to encourage and uplift, to strengthen and to protect.

Think about it. Jesus walked up to a dead guy at a funeral and spoke. When he spoke, the dead man came back to life. Is there anything going on in your life that is going to intimidate someone like that?

It is a happy coincidence that in 2015, this passage is our Easter Sunday reading. Remember that the resurrection is a work of God that is ours through Jesus Christ our Savior. He lived the perfect and sinless life we couldn't live, then died on the Cross taking the penalty for our sins. He was buried and then rose again on the third day. Exalted to the right hand of God, he now offers life to all who believe in him.

Lord Jesus, come by! I need you every day - your strength, protection and encouragement. Without you, life would be bereft of joy and hope, but you change all of that. 

For the Downcast Soul - April 4 Readings: Joshua 13-14, Luke 6:27–49, Psalm 42:4–11, Proverbs 10:11-12

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There is something inspiring about overcoming odds, defeating Goliath, dreaming the impossible dream and accomplishing what no one ever thought you would. But repeated failure, hardship, oppression and disappointment can suck the hope and joy out of life. 

David was always facing some kind of great obstacle. Sometimes, he defeated them in the power of God. Sometimes, things fell apart and he had to deal with hurt, grief and pain. He poured out that pain to God, lamenting the evil in the world and how it was crashing down on him.

In Psalm 42:6, he says, “My soul is cast down within me.” We do not know the source of David’s angst here, but he was pursued by Saul, opposed by great enemies, betrayed by his closest friends and watched his own family crumble after his sin with Bathsheba. There was a lot of junk in David’s life and sometimes the clouds covered the sun and darkness gripped his soul. 

In verse 7 he says, “All your breakers and your waves have swept over me.” Ever been to the beach when the surf is up? Wave after wave breaks over the shore. That is how David describes his life. It was no single wave that had him down in the dumps, but one thing after another was crushing him, again and again, until his strength was depleted, his joy gone, and all hope vanished.

But, he knew where he could go for strength. Verses 5 and 11 are the refrain in this song. 

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

When there is no hope in the world, there is still hope – hope in God! In the midst of his pain and suffering David affirmed his faith. “I shall again praise him.”  God would once again become his salvation – the one who sustained and delivered him.

Maybe this is a time of great victory and growth for you. Praise God. But perhaps some who read this are, like David, in a time of failure and defeat. Discouraged, wondering if you will ever win the battle, if things will ever turn around, you are tempted to despair. We need to personalize the words of this psalm to address ourselves. 

Why so discouraged or depressed Dave? Why do you live in this turmoil and stress? Hope in God - he is big enough to handle all your hurt and your pain. Lift your praise to him, the Savior and Sovereign Lord of your life! You have a big God who loves you and will never give up on you!

Lord, I thank you that you are bigger than my pain and my failures. May my hope always be in you, my salvation and my God!

God Loves Losers - April 3 Readings: Joshua 11-12, Luke 6:1–26, Psalm 42:1–3, Proverbs 10:9-10

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Jesus clearly did not follow the first rule of leadership - gather competent, intelligent, and visionary people around you to be key leaders in your organization. In Luke 6:12-16, Jesus chose his Twelve - the men who would be the key leaders of the church he came to establish. 

Among the Twelve there were no rich, powerful men. There was one tax collector, but no one liked them. There were no academics, none of the intelligentsia. There were fishermen. Stinky, grungy fishermen. There were none of the nobility, the upper crust. These were Galilean peasants, a political rabble-rouser or two, and absolutely no one who was powerful, talented or capable. By every human measure Jesus made a huge mistake when he chose the Twelve. No one could build something significant with this collection of losers and misfits. 

But that says a lot about the Kingdom of God. The work of the Kingdom is not about the ability of those who serve the King, but the ability of the King himself. Jesus did not choose his key leaders based on what they could do for him but based on what he planned to do through them. 

The Twelve demonstrated throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus that they did not have what it took to be great Kingdom leaders. At every turn they misunderstood Jesus, failing to grasp his purposes, the principles of servant leadership or his relentless march to the Cross. 

It was not until 50 days later, when they were praying in the Upper Room that the Spirit filled them and transformed them. These talent-limited social rejects turned the world upside down in the name of the Savior who chose them. And throughout it all it was clear that the reason for their success had nothing to do with the leadership abilities or talents. It was all about Jesus and the fullness of the Spirit. 

This is good news for us. God chooses ordinary, normal folks to do his extraordinary work. He does through us what we could never do in and of ourselves. In fact, it is when we realize our own incapacity that we can begin to walk in the power of God. 

It was no accident that God chose average (perhaps below-average?) people to be the pillars of his church. They would depend on him and give him glory. We must do the same. We need not be rich, beautiful, talented or creative to serve the Lord. We just need to be obedient. Faithful. Willing. Submissive. Devoted. Regardless of who we are, what we have or what we can do, we can be significant servants of Jesus Christ when we realize it is not about us and it is all about him! What he has! What he can do! Who he is!

Father, I have nothing to offer you except my body as a living sacrifice. It is you strength I need, not my own. It is your ability, not mine that matters. Use me, Lord. 

The Church is for Sinners! April 2 Readings: Joshua 9-10, Luke 5:17–39, Psalm 41, Proverbs 10:7-8

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Bart and Beulah were in despair. Their entire family was sick, a sickness they didn't understand, that had held on for months, even years, and just seemed to get worse all the time. Nothing helped. They moved several times to find a climate that might suit them. They changed diets. They exercised. But no matter what they did the sickness in the family just grew worse. 

Bart had grown up in a family that went to the hospital often, but he never really liked it, so he stopped going when he was on his own. Now it seemed that there was no option. One morning he roused his family, got them all dressed up and loaded up the minivan to head to the nearest hospital, hoping to see if something could be done to help them. 

But the moment they arrived at the hospital they knew something was wrong. People stared coldly, turning away from them. Clearly, they were not welcome. Bart went up to the window and told the lady behind the counter that he and his family needed help. She shook her head. "Oh, sir, I'm sorry, but we cannot let you in. At this hospital we value health and you folks are sick. We cannot have sick people like you around all us healthy folks. We can only remain healthy if we keep sick people like you out of our building." 

Bart and Beulah loaded their family back in the minivan and headed out discouraged. If the hospital wouldn't help them get well, where could they go?  

Absurd? Of course. We all know that a hospital is a place for sick people to go so that they can get well. It is not the healthy who need a hospital, but the sick. It would be absurd, contrary to the very purpose of the hospital, for sick people to be disdain or excluded. Nonsense. 

All too often, though, churches engage in the same kind of absurdity as this fictitious hospital. Churches sometimes become retreats for the righteous - places where good people gather to enjoy the presence of other good people while avoiding all those sin-sick people out there in the world. 

Absurd! The church is meant to be a hospital for sinners not a country club for superior saints!

Jesus ran into this attitude from the Pharisees who harassed him because he dined with "sinners." The Pharisees were strict in their separation from unworthy sinners and were scandalized that Jesus involved himself in their lives. But the Savior made his purpose clear in Luke 5:31-32. 

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Christians are not people who have never sinned, or who are better than others, or whose burden of sin is less than other folks. Too often, that may be the image we present. In reality, we are people who have realized we are unworthy sinners, have repented of that sin and trusted our lives to Jesus Christ. The church is the place where people go to find out who God can fix what sin has broken in their lives, to experience the healing power of God's grace. 

And to make sinners feel unwelcome in the church is as absurd as a hospital that only allows healthy folks. 

Father, my heart is so sinful that sometimes I forget my sin and think that I am better than others. Forgive me for that. May I have a heart of compassion for sinners as Christ did. 

Dealing with Defeat - April 1 Readings: Joshua 7-8, Luke 5:1–16, Psalms 40:14–17, Proverbs 10:5-6

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Joshua was flabbergasted. After the great victory he and the people of God had won over Jericho, they had suddenly been horribly defeated by a little nothing village called Ai. Had God let his people down, forgotten them? Joshua was convinced that God had failed his people and he called out to him for help and understanding. 

He got the help he needed, but it came in a very different way than he expected. Get up off the ground, Joshua. Stop praying and deal with the sin that caused the problem. That was not what he expected. 

But God revealed the source of the problem  - Achan’s sin – and Israel took care of business. It is shocking to our modern sensibilities the lengths to which he went in dealing with this sin, but sin is no small thing in God’s eyes. But there was sin in Israel and it had to be dealt with - aggressively and forcefully. 

Once the sin issue was properly put in the past, there was still the matter of round 2 with Ai. This time, with God on their side and giving them direction, and using their entire army, they went up to Ai and conquered it. God gave them wisdom and power and they won the battle that only days before had brought defeat.

There are some important lessons for us in this story. First, defeat is never final for the people of God. I have lost and lost and lost, but that does not mean that I have to give up. Just because I blew it yesterday does not mean that I have to blow it tomorrow. I do not have to be tomorrow what I used to be.

Second, if I want to change, I’ve got to deal with the deep sins, the heart issues, and the hidden things that have undermined my success. Israel could have gone up against Ai with a hundred different strategies, but until they dealt with the sin in their midst, there would be no victory. I need to let the Spirit speak conviction to my heart and show me whatever there is in my life that might hinder my victory.

Finally, I need to marshal all the power that God has given me and go to battle. When Israel took only a part of their resources, they were turned away. But when they went up against Ai with all of their soldiers, empowered by God, the battle turned. For any spiritual battle we face we must put on the whole armor of God, not just part of it. 

Lord, thank you for never giving up, even when I feel like a failure. Thank you for being faithful and good. Forgive my sins and cleanse my heart that I may walk in your ways daily.