Biblical Illuminations

The Mustang Life: Living a Life as an Ambassador of Christ

In 1 Cor 5:20 Paul writes, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us."

An ambassador is a representative of his homeland, his king, or his president. Christ was an ambassador of the Father, and he represented His Father both by speaking the words of the Father ("These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." John 14:24) and doing the works of the Father ("For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me." John 5:36).

In the same way we are ambassadors of Christ, and we must represent Him both in word and deed.

A few weeks ago I was driving down Route 3 from Augusta to Belfast, and I noticed the car in front of me - a bright, shiny red Mustang with two signs printed on the back. The first sign was the name of a driving academy and a telephone number. The second sign had three simple words: "DRIVE THIS MUSTANG!"

It was quite a contrast to the driving academy in my hometown; their cars are nondescript, uninteresting vehicles, and if the academy put a sign on their cars that said, "DRIVE THIS CAR", everyone would laugh.

And I thought, "The car represents the academy in two ways: The sign represents the academy in words, but also, the car itself is a representative of the academy. People who see the Mustang will know all the information they need to contact the academy, but it is the Mustang itself that is the real advertisement. People who see this car will say, "That is the academy I want to go to!"

In the same way, we must be the "advertisement" for Christianity both in our words, and in our lives. Our words tell others about Salvation which is to be found only in Christ. But our lives must be an advertisement for Christianity as well; when people look at our lives, they ought to say, "That's a life that's a cut above the rest, and if that's what Christianity is, I want that!"

The words and the deeds must go hand in hand. One without the other is pointless.

Handle with Care: A Bible Lesson on How We Treat One Another

Last fall my friends Ben and Melissa added a little baby girl to their family. I was excited for the news, and waited impatiently for the day they would invite me to come see little Ziva. As we were sitting around chatting, and watching the baby doing baby-ish things (that is to say, not much of anything but make faces and noises). Ben said, "Do you want to hold her?"

I said, "Well, yeah!"

I have to admit, it had been a long time since I'd held a newborn in my arms; most of my friends have passed the age when they're adding children to the family, so opportunities to hold newborns are far and few between for me.

As I cradled Ziva in my arms, I thought, How different this is from the way I hold my nephew who is four years old! Little Ziva is so fragile compared to Elias!

And I remembered a word that crops up in the Bible from time to time: gentleness. Colossians 3:12 tells us to clothe ourselves with gentleness. Galatians 6:1 instructs us that when we confront someone caught in sin, we must do it gently.

And what does that tell us? It tells us that, like newborn babies, human beings are all fragile. Not, in most cases, physically fragile, but spiritually fragile and emotionally fragile. How we treat one another is a reflection of our understanding that, as Psalm 103:14 says, we are formed from the dust of the earth, and there is nothing more fragile than that.

As a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet - A Lesson in Service

I was recently reading John 13, and it occurred to me that maybe I've been taught this passage incorrectly all my life.

It seems as though I grew up with the notion that there was a servant who traditionally came and did the washing of the feet, and that for some reason or another, this servant never showed up.

It seems as though I grew up with the notion that the disciples sat looking at one another with expressions of disdain, wondering which of them would choose to take on the job of that servant, and that Jesus, seeing that none of them was willing, stepped forward and did the job.

Perhaps I was never taught those things; perhaps I just assumed them. Or perhaps they were simply implied in the teaching I received.

Regardless, upon re-reading the text of John 13, I'm not sure those assumptions are reasonable. In fact, there is no mention of a servant who didn't show up, nor is there any mention of any disciples thinking about who was going to wash the feet.

When we imagine the passage that way, I think we do a discredit to the demonstration of servant-hood which Christ was giving his followers. I don't think Jesus waited long enough to see if one of the disciples would volunteer. I don't think he even waited long enough to find out if a servant would show up. Maybe a servant did show up, and was horrified to discover that Jesus was already doing his job for him!

Because no good servant waits to see if someone else will do his job for him. The servant dives in without hesitation, because the job needs to be done.

The scripture tells us that he simply got up from the table and did the job. And perhaps, as much as the fact that he was willing to do it, the fact that he did not seem to hesitate ought to be a lesson and an inspiration for me. "As I did for you," he tells us, "you do for one another."

Don't wait for someone else to serve. Dive in first, and get your hands dirty before anyone else even has a chance to get started.

Unmovable and Unshakable: Trees that put down deep roots

Recently I saw something that reminded me of the importance of having roots that go down deep: a toppled tree with very shallow roots.

On top of North Sugarloaf Mountain in New Hampshire, the trees can't put down their roots very deep...presumably because the soil is so rocky. There's probably a granite slab a couple feet under the soil. The result is that instead of putting down deep roots, the tree's roots spread out just under the surface.

When the high winds come (and believe me, they get very high winds in the White Mountains!), even though the tree is alive, it has no stability in its roots to withstand the blast. The result is tragic for the tree; it simply tips over, exposing the underside of its very shallow root system.

I began thinking then of how very much like us this tree is. For us, it is tempting to put down very shallow roots in our lives. Why? Because shallow roots are easier. They don't require as much work.

They don't require us to put off what we want in order to gain what we need. They don't require us to choose obedience in difficult circumstances, only the easy ones. They don't require us to choose honesty even when we know it will hurt us. They don't require us to choose compassion over unkindness. They don't require us to choose humility over pride. They don't require us to choose a strong work ethic over laziness or procrastination. They don't require us to have patience over grasping what we want now. They don't require us to choose generosity over selfishness.

For many of us, life is more about finding what is convenient, fun, and enjoyable, rather than choosing what is right no matter what the circumstances, and no matter what the cost. This is the way of shallow roots. If I choose the easy way over the right way, maybe no one but me will notice that I'm not living the way I should...but when the storms come, I won't be ready for them!

Remember this: a tree cannot wait for the storm to come before it puts down deep roots; then it is already too late. Put down deep roots now, so when the storm comes, you'll be unmovable and unshakable.

Mountains, Music, and Paintings: A few of my favorite things

If you've been following the content of this site for very long, you've probably noticed by now some of my hobbies, because I do write about them from time to time. I like to play the violin and the guitar. I like to climb mountains. And I like to to paint.

Interestingly, each one of these hobbies has, in some way, changed the way I view the world.

Because I like to play music, whenever I hear music, I don't just sing along with it, I notice how it is structured. I notice the timing, the bass line, the percussion, and a lot of things that I never would have noticed before I starting learning to play a musical instrument.

Because I like to climb mountains, I can't even drive down a country road without noticing every single mountain in the distance, and being amazed by their beauty. Strange...before I started climbing, I never even noticed those mountains.

And since I've started up painting again, I can't go anywhere without noticing the brilliant, vibrant colors all around me, and thinking things like, "What color paints would I mix together to get that particular shade of blue?" or "I wonder if this scene would make a good starting point for a painting?"

(Of course, sometimes my hobbies overlap, as is the case with these paintings... Mount Washington from Brimstone Corner

Acoustic Guitar)

I think it's interesting that each of my hobbies has, in one way or another, heightened my awareness of the world around me. I didn't start climbing mountains because I always thought the mountains were so beautiful. Nor did I start painting because I noticed and understood color and structure and composition.

No, it was the other way around. My appreciation for mountains, my understanding of color, and of beauty - these things came after a lot of hard work on my part. The work came first, and then the understanding and the appreciation.

You might not have realized it, but the Christian life is very much the same way. I occasionally hear Christians pray, "Reveal yourself to me," but really, that's sort of a lazy prayer, because Jesus already told us the circumstances under which He reveals Himself to us:

John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

If we want to more deeply understand God, and the work He is doing in this world, it doesn't just happen. It happens because we have his commandments, and are doing them. And we are doing them because we love Him.

The work comes first, then the understanding. I never would have come to such a deep appreciation for mountains without first putting a backpack on my shoulders and doing some very hard work. I would never have understood music so well if I hadn't spent so many hours doing tedious scales and exercises.

Do you want to understand God? Do you want Him to reveal Himself to you? Don't just sit around waiting for it to happen. Put your nose to grindstone and actually do his work, follow his commands. Yes, it's hard work. Yes, it is sometimes discouraging, and yes, there are sometimes a thousand different things you would rather be doing. But do God's work with the same stubborn determination that a musician practices his scales, or a hiker keeps on climbing, no matter how tired he gets.

In the long run, the benefits are worth it, because bit by bit, God reveals Himself, His character, His love, and His work to us.

And that's more wonderful than the tallest mountain, the most beautiful song, or the most magnificent painting.

Family Likeness - An illustration on being like Christ

Recently I had a chance to visit with Nate, a young man who used to travel with me and run my sound system when I went out to preach, sing and do ventriloquism. We were reminiscing about some of the things that used to happen when we were "on the road" together, and we recalled that it was not uncommon for people to say to Nate, "We sure do appreciate you and your dad coming today."

To which Nate would reply, "He's not my dad."

Frankly, I never saw much resemblance between us, and since I was only thirteen years older than him, I found it a bit disconcerting that people would think I was old enough to be his dad.

The day after I visited with Nate, day I took my nephew Daniel to a basketball game that our local Christian Academy was competing in. During the half-time break, I took Daniel to the concessions stand, so Daniel could buy a cheeseburger. When the lady behind the counter gave us our food, she said, "Here's your cheeseburger, and here's your dad's french-fries."

Once again, I don't think there's that much resemblance. But those two back-to-back events started me thinking about family resemblances. Do you look like your father? Your mother? What about your brothers or sisters? Do your children look like you?

Did you know that the Bible has something to say about family resemblance? It's true!

Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God," and "the firstborn over all creation." Think about that for a moment. God is Spirit, and as such, we cannot see him. But when Jesus Christ came to earth, he came as a man with a physical body. So what does it mean that Jesus is the "image of the invisible God?" That he physically looks like God the Father? Of course not! There is a "family resemblance" between God the Father and God the Son, but it is not a physical resemblance.

When Jesus came to earth, it was so we could see and understand the character of God. When we look at Jesus, when we read of His life, His deeds, and His sacrifice, we are seeing the character of God being lived out perfectly.

But that's not the only thing that the Bible says about family relationships. In II Corinthians 3:18 we are told, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image" Nice little progression, isn't it? Jesus is the likeness of the invisible God, and we – we are to be transformed into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, when people look at us, they ought to be able to see our family resemblance to God Himself!

What do you think? Is your character like the character of God? Or does it leave a lot to be desired? How does your character change to be more like His? Well, the answer is right in the verse: we behold the glory of the Lord. How much time do you spend looking on Jesus Christ, through reading of Him in God's Word? Take time each day to read of Him, and allow yourself to be transformed more and more into His image.

Context! An Illustration about Colors and Context

Just for fun, let's begin today with a short test of your eye-brain coordination. Ready?

Take a look at the image above, which is just a tiny snippet of a photograph I took recently. What do you think it is?

While you're pondering that question (and no fair scrolling down the page to see the full image!), here's a bit of "housekeeping" I need to take care of. If you are a subscriber to this site, you should update your feedreeder to a new feed address. After this post, the feed will no longer be at feedburner.com; instead it will be here: http://feedproxy.google.com/BiblicalIlluminations.

So update your feed reader (clicking the link above will help you with that process), or you might miss out on future sermon illustrations and Bible lessons. I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.

Okay. Housekeeping over. Back to the question at hand. Did you guess that this is a close-up of a bit of sky? Or maybe the ocean? If you guessed either of those things, you were wrong.

Actually, that is a closeup of a snowy field. Amazing, isn't it? Who knew that snow was so dark, and so blue! A little bit later on I'll show you the actual photograph, so you can see it in context.

And really context is the issue I wanted to talk about today. This year I picked up an old hobby that I left behind years ago...painting. (You can view some of my artwork here: Glimpses of Eden.) Because of that, I've been paying a lot more attention to light and color than I normally do. I've found that there's an interesting difference between what your eyes see, and what your brain interprets.

Here's the picture, so you'll have something to look at while you read:

When your eyes view the bottom of the picture, they see dark blue, but somehow between what your eyes are seeing, and what your brain interprets, you don't consciously think that you're looking at something that's grayish-blue; your brain says, "Oh! A white, snowy field!"

In fact, if you compare the color of the field (even the part that's not shadowed by a tree) to the color of the house, you will realize that there is nothing white about what you're seeing!

What a difference context makes. And context makes a huge difference in the way we read and understand scripture as well. This is why, as I've been traveling to churches this year, I've been encouraging people to read God's Word in such a way that they get the big picture - the full context of what God is saying to us. When we only read it one verse at a time, we can easily be deceived into thinking it says something that it really doesn't, just as you might have been deceived by the little snippet of a photo at the top of the page.

When I start out painting, I need to understand the full context of the scene first, and then, after fully understanding what I'm looking at, I can then focus on the details of the colors and the shadows and the highlights.

In the same way, if you plan to study a book of the Bible verse by verse, be sure to take the time to read the whole book first - maybe even a few times. Getting the big picture will help you understand what you're looking at, and it will help prevent you from misunderstanding and misinterpreting the smaller bits.

Once again, don't forget to update your feed reader to the new address for this site's feed: http://feedproxy.google.com/BiblicalIlluminations

Contentment and Snowshoeing on the Ice

This morning I went out snowshoeing. Because we've had a mixture of snow, rain, and freezing rain recently, there were stretches of my trek where the rain had washed down the hill, forming a smooth sheet of ice on an uphill grade.

Now, if I hadn't been wearing my snowshoes, I would have found it just about impossible to make it up that slope without sliding backwards two feet for every foot I moved forward.

But my snowshoes have vicious looking sawtooth crampons on the bottom, that do a great job of digging into the ice and giving me the traction I need.

I didn't slip even once, on my way up the hill, or on my way back down.

As I was walking, I thought of two verses. One of them was a verse I read just yesterday, from the book of Psalms. Psalm 73:18, which is speaking of the wicked, says "Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction."

The Psalm tells us that those who live with unrighteousness might appear to have it all together, they might appear to be on solid footing, but in reality, they're like someone on a sheet of ice without snowshoes. Sooner or later, no matter how "together" they seem to be, they'll slip up, and everything falls apart.

Now, if I were to ask you, "How do you avoid that slippery place?" you might be tempted to answer, "Don't get involved in unrighteousness." That's not a bad answer, but it's actually not what the Psalmist says. In verse verses 2 and 3, he writes:

But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Isn't that interesting? The Psalmist says that it is envy that almost put him on the slippery slope. That makes sense, doesn't it? It is our envy that causes us to take the same shortcuts the unrighteous take in order to reach our goals.

I guess that means contentment is like a good pair of snowshoes. I wouldn't want to be without it!

Make The Roads Straight

Today as I was driving from South Paris, Maine to Gray, Maine, I was thinking about how much more enjoyable the drive is, now that all the road work has been completed. Back before all the road construction, if I needed to go from South Paris to Gray, it seemed as though the drive took forever. The road twisted and turned around every little hill and obstacle along the way. Now it’s much different, and much nicer.

Why do you suppose the road used to make all those twists and turns? A good guess might be that the original road builders didn’t want to build over the hills, and they didn’t have the resources to carve through the hills. So building around was the only option left. Now, as you drive that road, you see rock faces which are a testament to the fact that the road has been carved into the sides of the hills.

As I think about this, I’m reminded of John the Baptist, and the message he was commanded by God to deliver to the people: "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain be made low. Make straight the paths of the Lord."

In the days of John, roads were difficult to maintain through the wilderness – perhaps they were even as awful as our Maine roads during the winter and spring! But what if the king wanted to travel across the countryside? Surely he wouldn’t follow the same dizzying pattern of twists, turns, dips and rises that everyone else followed? No, heralds would go out before him announcing to the people, "The king is coming! Fix up the roads! If it passes through a valley, raise it up! If it passes over a hill, lower it! We want the king to have a perfectly smooth and comfortable trip."

Make no mistake about this: when John said, "Make the roads straight," what he was really saying was, "The king is on His way!" When the king comes to visit, everyone's lives are disrupted. The people understood this, for they asked John, "What do we need to do to get ready for His coming?" John’s answer, though simple and straightforward, was certainly a disruption to the way they lived their lives: Be generous, don’t be a cheater, don’t be a bully, don’t lie about one another, and be content with what you have.

Jesus the King dwells with us daily – does His presence disrupt your life at all? Or do you simply live life as though He is not there at all?

A Clogged Drain - A Lesson About Human Nature

I realize it has been a while since I've posted anything new here. Life has been very busy and hectic the last little while, and may become even more so for awhile. More on that another time!

For now, I do have another illustration of a Bible principle. The principle comes from Matthew 15:11, in which Jesus talks about what defiles a man.

For a change of pace, I've posted this one over on my Creative Writing website: Fifteen Minutes Of Fiction. It can be found at this address: A Clogged Drain.