I WONDER WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE

by Steve Dunn

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them."

- Luke 2.3-7 NIV 

How many times have you read these words or heard them spoken over the years of your lifetime? As a Christian since an early age and a pastor for 43 years, my answer would "beyond memory or measure."  There are many voices and faces in the Christmas story; but there is one face you do not see or voice you do not here, yet that person played a major role in the Nativity Story.

The Innkeeper.  At some point he must have said, "We have no room" and so Mary and Joseph had to find shelter in a cave used by the domestic animals.  And when Mary's water broke in that unlikely and uncomfortable place, a baby was born and placed in a manger.

I wonder when it began to dawn on this nameless innkeeper that something extraordinary had happened on his establishment's grounds.  Was is it when those shepherds began singing in the courtyard?  Was it when the curious began to visit the mother and her new baby?  Was it when three astrologer Kings overwhelmed his courtyard with their entourage?

I wonder what he felt. Embarassment? Shame for his decision?  There is no historic record that would allow us to verify any answer.

What I wonder more about is "what would I have done?"  I am a practical man; sometimes a little too business-like.  I am a man who is busy and make too many decisions on the run.  I am a man who in the daily demands of life can lose track of the presence of the Holy.

Fortunately God understands our frailities and or sin.  In fact, that is precisely why he took on flesh and moved into the neighborhood.  Why he subjected himself first  to the humility of a manger and ultimately to the shame and pain of the Cross.

I pray that I would be so focused on Him, expecting Him, that I make room for Him in my life.

© 2014 by Stephen L Dunn

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THANKSLIVING

BY STEVE DUNN

In just a few hours, I will be celebrating one of my favorite holidays-Thanksgiving.  Dianne and I will be in northern Kentucky with our children and their families to share a day that my nation has wisely set aside to encourage its citizenry to do what my God has called me to do everyday.  To give thanks.

It is a simple holiday made complicated by overcrowded airports, the delicate balancing act between the dinner table and the Big Game on the big screen TV, and the rush to finish everything so that a place can be claimed in a Walmart parking lot for Black Friday's bargains (or is now, Black Thursday Evening),

Nonetheless, God's Word teaches us that we are to be thankful people--thankful for those who bless, thankful for what we have been blessed with, and thankful to God Who ultimately provides it all.

Colossians another twist.  Our thanks in not expressed simply in our words and prayers--but in how we live, how we work.  Thanksgiving is not relegated to a day.  It is a way of living.

Living in thanks to the God Who gives us life and calls us to share in His work.  Thanksgiving is ultimately at its fullest through thanks living.

WHERE WILL THEY SEE JESUS?

BY STEVE DUNN

"They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." = John 12:21

Recently I came across this little vignette on-line.  "This morning, Jocelyn took a little Bible I have. She opened it, flipping page after page. She looked up at me and said, "Mom, I know this is the Bible. I know Jesus is in here. I am looking for his picture."

Every day there are people who are looking for Jesus.  Some out of need.  Some out of curiosity.  Some out of a desire to meet the One that so many of us call Savior.  Some out of s desperate need for a Savior.

Where will they see Jesus?

They might see him in the Bible, if they know to open it.

They might see him in a vision, but that is rare and would be unlikely.

There was a day in history that they could walk up to a disciple named Philip and then be ushered into his physical presence.  But that day has passed.

No, God intends people to see Jesus in the lives that our surrendered to his will and are living according to His purpose.

Just as God revealed himself to the world through taking on flesh--what we call the Incarnation; he continues to use incarnation to let people see him.

Only that incarnation is in us.

When people see your life, hear your words, experience your embrace, observe your actions--do they see Jesus?

That's what God intends.  Is that what you are doing?

FALSE HUMILITY

BY STEVE DUNN

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." - James 4:10 New Living Translation

I was greatly blessed by the sermon. The preacher had reflected deeply on the passage, he had framed his point in a clear and compelling key phrase.  His content reflected a respect for the Bible from which he had drawn the truth.  He had challenged me directly and yet had left me with a sense of what could happen if I let God help shape my response. He would have made his homiletic professor proud.

Then he blew it.

"I really appreciated today's message and thank you for sharing it."

"The Lord did it, not me," was his smiling response.

The response may have been ecclesiastically correct but it rang with false humility.  He acted as if he had nothing to do with its design and its delivery.  I found myself walking away thinking, he wasn't truthful.  It was enough to make me wonder about the truth of his content, as well.  Was he really speaking from the mind of Christ to deliver a message to God's beloved?

We sometimes make a mockery of humility by acting as if we are simply spiritual automatons, puppets of the Almighty.

God works in and through us.  He has blessed us with gifts and passions, experiences and understandings.  He empowers us for fruitfulness.  What He requires of us is commitment and obedience.  In other words, God works in us and through us.

That's the reality that is at the heart of true humility.   It is rooted in the authenticity of genuine relationship with Him. The preacher would have been more authentic (and therefore more helpful to me) if his answer had been, "Thank you, I tried to do my best with what God gave me." I would have someone who was submitted to the God Who had gifted him instead of making it sound like he was just a mouthpiece.

 

FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

BY STEVE DUNN

“… be filled with the Holy Spirit.” – Ephesians 5:18a

      We often make statements that to others appear as self-deluding.  When I was growing up, such statements were greeted with the comment, “You are full of it.” (We will have to stop there because the etymology of that expression refers to something very nasty that you are full of.) But for Christians, being full of something refers to being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
 

     Some Christian groups use this command as a code word for a specific kind of religious experience or as a litmus test of a certain type of Christianity that they believe to be superior to all other forms of Christianity.  I tend to disagree with both usages but that is a theological issue beyond the scope of what I want to say today.

     We fill our lives with many things — jobs, family, and even religion.  All in pursuit of happiness or fulfillment or meaning.  But those things are often delusions because they are expressions of a delusional belief that say, “It’s all about me.”  For too many our highest aim is self-satisfaction not significance.  We believe our lives have meaning when we get to be who we want to be.

     Such an attitude ultimately requires us  to ignore our neighbor, be indifferent to our community, and abandon any true responsibility for our world.

      The one true antidote to this outcome is not saturate our lives with self but to let the Spirit indwell us shaping us and empowering us to be people whose lives are immeasurably and whose impact brings God’s wholeness to all.

(C) 2014 by Stephen L Dunn