from Ron Rose
01/12/2009

Preparation

WOW! Last week you helped Faith Notes set a record; more non-subscribers received Faith Notes than ever before, because of your forwarding efforts. What a great beginning to 2009.

Jim pulled me down close and in a desperate, worried voice he whispered, “Is God going to zap me? I’m not sure I’m good enough.”

We talked a long time about God and love and grace and forgiveness. It was our last conversation; 48 hours later Jim punched his transfer from this life to the next.

But, the conversation has lingered in my mind. Since that day I’ve had numerous discussions about what God is like and if any body’s good enough. One friend put it this way, “It seems to me that God just sits up there in heaven and punishes the people who are already having a tough time on this earth.” Another told me, “I think God is power and he uses his power to dominate others. Just look at he Old Testament. He was always angry at somebody, usually his own people.” A stranger at Starbucks added, “And, how about those Ten Commandments… they’re impossible requirements, no wonder he never blesses anyone. No one is good enough.”

“So, where is the good news?”

In the verses before the Ten Commandments, before he gives any commandments, he introduces himself as the God who loves Israel. He wants the best for them. God didn’t sit in heaven making a list of all the things he knows humans beings like to do and then outlawing them. But, he knows us really well. He made us.

My response, “I think God is saying I am the God who loves you. I’m on your side. I got you out of slavery. I’m the best deal you’ve got going. Trust me. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t abandon me. Don’t commit adultery, because if you do, it will unleash destructive power that will slowly overshadow you, destroying you, your families and your society. Trust me. Don’t be stupid.”

Truth is, from the beginning God has known that we have to see love, to know what it’s like…. So he sent Jesus to live here and show us how to love and forgive.

Remember, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever would believe in him would have eternal life…” (right now) Then he added, “I didn’t come to condemn the world I came to save it.” Good News!

We are followers of Jesus and Jesus invested in people… all kinds of ordinary people. They followed him day and night. They gathered on the hillside to listen and marvel—the oppressed, the sick, the outcast, the losers, the lonely and the powerless. They had been denied dignity, value, and hope. He looked into the eyes of friends and strangers alike and announced, “The kingdom of God belongs to YOU!”

They were blessed, not because of their condition, but in spite of it. The discounted and excluded were shocked and stunned. “What did he say?” “Did you hear that?”

Rather than telling them how they’d failed, he declared: “You are the salt of the earth.”

“But Jesus, we’ve been told we are the scum of the earth.”

“You are the light of the world.”

That’s the God I follow. My God is the God of love and grace and forgiveness. And Jesus, he came to show us how to live… right here, right now, not just someday in heaven.

He was and is God’s big show!

Inspiration

Robert looked over the assembly before he stood to deliver the sermon. As he scanned the crowd he opened his heart for the nudge of the Spirit. His eyes focused on a young woman almost hidden near the back of the auditorium.

When it was time to stand and preach, Robert searched the crowd and publicly recognized a few friends. Then he zeroed in on that stranger in the back of the crowd. Pointing a finger in her direction he asked her to stand.

Who would dare embarrass that poor woman? Robert would.

When she stood, Robert asked, “I’m so glad you’re here. God has nudged me to connect with you. He asked me, ‘Do you know her past?’”

The poor woman dropped her head and nearly walked out, but then Robert finished, “No, Lord I don’t know her past.”

God responded, “Neither do I!” (My God chooses to forget.)

Her eyes lifted, her heart emptied. Right there in that crowd, she was transformed. The God of love took the first step… and she was ready for the next.

The Good News Kingdom is here, now! Live like it.

Motivation

If Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount today, who would he speak to? “God bless you who are lonely, redundant, underpaid, infertile, displaced, unemployed, abused—God’s Kingdom belongs to you.” In the past the blind got to see, the lame stood and walked, the outcast lepers were healed and welcomed, and the deaf heard the good news. How about today?

Stand up for the good news this week. God is the most misunderstood being in our culture… Why don’t you put in a good word for him?

It’s still his show!