Love Bears Burdens

Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

How does Paul pack so much into one sentence? How do you carry each other’s burdens? The law of Christ Paul is writing about is from Matthew 22, ³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  In short, love God and love others with a love that can only come from a soul transformed by God.

It’s early in the morning but God has had me awake for a few hours now. It has been a time of prayer that could be described at times as wrestling and at other times as praise. But it’s all been good. I’ve gotten to pray for families in transition. Transition is never easy – selling homes, leaving friends behind and finding new friends and churches. Relationships that are deep are painful to uproot. I love these families and ache for them in this process. My Lord, show me how we can come alongside them and carry their burdens.

Father, strengthen Christians in Kenya, Pakistan and Egypt. They are under great attack. Have mercy on them Lord and protect them. I pray for my friend with dengue fever in Papua. I love this brother and am so encouraged by the way he selflessly loves so many. Yet my heart is grieved for him in his pain. Lord give him relief and heal him.

And there are so many pastors in this local area that are loving their congregations as well as the people of the community. I pray, Father, that you will strengthen them and that they will not grow weary in well doing. Oh my Lord, as we pray for and minister to our neighbors show us how we can love them well and carry their burdens.

These still watches of the night have me praying for my children and the children of my friends and neighbors – that they will have a passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ… just as he has and will continue to passionately pursue them. Father let them be satisfied with nothing less than knowing you well and walking close.

If we are to bear one another’s burdens we have to love. And if we love we will have to carry each other’s burdens. Such love demands relationship and therein is the risk isn’t it? For with relationship can come great joy, something we all long to experience but those same relationships can bring great pain… and nobody wants that! The only way to keep from such pain is to avoid relationship altogether. I pray for those experiencing pain and brokenness in relationships – that you, Father, would bring about reconciliation and healing. Soften hard hearts, open blind eyes, give courage to love again and faith for repentance. Father, you have showed what real love looks like. Love looks like Jesus. It looks like the reality that Jesus is living in us and through us.

Jesus, thank you for carrying our burdens.

Anchored in Grace,
Harrison

John the Baptist and Uncle Si

     He might not have been everyone’s cup of sweet tea but John the Baptist would have fit right in with Uncle Si and the gang at Duck Dynasty. I'm guessing there is some relation, maybe. From the moment he was born to a couple that was way past child-bearing years, John was a reminder that God and his grace were a very present and dangerous reality. He should have been named after his father, Zechariah but God said to name him John which means “God given grace”. Grace had no place in their world of tight order and religious law! To a world desperately trying to reach God, this impossible birth of a boy with an impossible name shouts into their world that God is coming down. He is coming to rock their paradigms, destroy bondage, liberate captives and paint their slums with joy.

     With his beard, camel coat and diet of honey and bugs, he would be relegated to the status of outsider – way outside outsider. But he could not be ignored. Neither could his message. God is coming. Jesus is coming. And he is bringing with him a dangerous grace.  I know such dangerous grace is scary. It unsettles our perfectly ordered world. But do we really want a tame God that fits neatly into our world? Really? I remember thinking I wanted Jesus to come take up residence in my world – in my way of life. How egotistical and foolish! What I needed was for Jesus to transform my world. BAM! Transform it Jesus with your presence, love, holiness, mercy and grace.

John the Baptist and his message of coming grace crashes our party the way Uncle Si would crash a gathering of Presbyterian pastors*. But rest assured, neither one would be ignored!

Anchored in that dangerous grace,
Harrison

*full disclosure - I am one of those Presbyterian pastor ;)

That's grace. That's love. That's Jesus.

I was replacing the a/c compressor on my jeep last week. Now I am known to make a mess at things like that and this was no exception. I somehow managed to spill Freon and compressor oil all over my hands. And not just a little bit! I was dripping with it! Desperate, I looked around for a towel or rag or paper towels, anything to wipe it off and there was nothing. The oil dripping off my arms stained my clothes and the floor – really everything around me was impacted by my mess. Standing in my garage, I turned around and spied the kitchen door. I knew that on the other side of that garage door was the answer to my problem – complete with warm water, soap and towels. But I was stuck. Grabbing the kitchen door knob, I tried to turn it – urghhhh - no success. My hands were so grimy and oily that I could not open anything at all. There was no way for me to get clean without some outside help.

Our souls are kind of like that… because of sin, our souls are so grimy and oily that there is no way for us to get clean without Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God isn’t waiting for us to get clean before we come to him. Just the opposite… Christ comes to us while we are still messed up and, by his death, makes us clean. And all because of his love for you and me! That’s grace. That’s love. That’s Jesus.

The freedom to fail and the opportunity to succeed

I don’t remember the man’s name but I remember what he did. He had a white boat with red seats and he had a boatload of patience. I was an eight year old boy that had never even seen a ski when this man took it upon himself to teach me. First, get the skis on and then hold on the rope. Sounds easy enough, right? Ouch! The boat pulled that handle right out of this skinny boy’s hands! The man circled the boat around and tried again. And again. And again. And again. Maybe ½ day later, perhaps only an hour, I finally got up and fell in love the sport. By the time I left home for Auburn University, I was skiing sunrise to well past sunset – trick skis, slalom, occasionally barefoot. I don’t remember that man’s name but I do remember that on that day he gave me freedom to fail and the opportunity to succeed.

Where can you do the same?

·        In your business
Delegate patiently and with constant encouragement. Give your co-workers the tools they need and the opportunities to use them and watch them grow.

·        In your family
Give your wife, your husband and your children the freedom to try new things. When the kids start walking, did they immediately run? Of course not! The fell, ran into things and looked just plain clumsy at times. Still we cheer them on as if they had won the Olympic marathon.

They need the same thing spiritually, academically and with chores. I spoke with a man recently that wouldn’t let his small child pray with the family until the child learned how to pray “right.” How sad! After 34 years as a Christian, I am certain that my prayers are rarely if ever completely “right” in my motives yet I read in Psalm 116 that God hears my voice and my please for mercy. Give your children freedom to fail there also. God does!

Let them learn some chores. No, they won’t get the dishes perfectly clean the first time and maybe not the tenth but they’ll get it eventually and in the meantime, just wipe the crumbs off with your sleeve. Let them make up those beds, straighten up that room and stuff everything under the bed for good measure. They’ll learn eventually and in the meantime, you get some help around the house – sort of.
 
·        In your church
God has given to each person spiritual gifts, passions and talents. If you keep everything on your shoulders, you are depriving them of the opportunity to minister and live as God has designed them. That’s partly why we periodically give interns the opportunity to preach at Grace Community Church. We know they are not seasoned preachers but how will they learn if we don’t give them opportunity? Besides, if God can use my preaching, he can use anyone’s!

 ·      In the school
Teachers and coaches, give the kid the freedom to fail and the opportunity to succeed. They might need several opportunities but you get to be a part of that! You give them freedom, confidence, patient instruction and watch what happens!

Regarding academics, don’t tell anyone, but I failed Algebra in the 9^th grade. Not my proudest moment. And I couldn’t even tell you where it wrong because I didn’t understand a single one of those x’s or y’s! It was silly stuff and besides, there was a herd of black and white cattle outside the window that were a lot more interesting than Mr. ____. But two years later I was in the National Math Honor Society and had college scholarships because of it. I remember the teacher that had reams of patience and kept teaching until the light went on in the math side of my brain. Thanks Ray Kelly for persistently giving students the freedom to fail and opportunities to succeed.

Because of God’s grace, you have the freedom to try, to fail and to get up and go for it again.

The Stench of a Skunk

We were crossing the desert country of southern Wyoming. We were in the middle of a western camping trip and enjoying the peaceful beauty of the country. Other than some antelope in the distance there was nothing within miles. Well, I should have known better! Suddenly a skunk poked his head from behind a mound of sand and began to amble across the road.  Did you know that a Chevy Suburban can stop on a dime? I didn’t either but we did! The brakes were squealing and the kids were screaming.  Whew! Group exhale! All breathed a sigh of relief that we had escaped the stench of the dreaded black and white monster. Let me tell you, they might look cute on TV or in the zoo but not when they’re standing 10 feet in front of your truck, giving you the look of death. Suddenly, as if to say, GOTCHA, that wicked skunk looks over his right shoulder, bore right into my eyes with his seedy stare, smiled at me… and begins to raise that cute fluffy deadly tail.  You know what happens when a skunk raises its tail? It’s not good! Did you know that a Chevy Suburban (loaded with parents, 4 kids and pulling a pop-up camper) can go 0 to 90 mph in 4.3 seconds? Yeah, I didn’t either. But let me tell you, our silence turned into a loud scream as I stepped on the gas! We barely escaped the stench of the deadly skunk!

 That’s what sin is like.  We mess with it and get a little too close and even think its cute and tantalizing but unlike the skunk, we can’t escape its stench.  Be fairly warned, sin will always leave some mark on your life.  It’s not pretty.  It stinks and the stench impacts everyone in your life… sometimes even into the next generation and beyond.

 
My friend, hit the gas and run from it! If you are in Christ, sin has no power to master you.

Romans 6:14, We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Anchored in Grace,
Harrison

From a Mongrel to a Duchess

 

 

From a Mongrel to a Duchess

It was a cold day, spitting rain and windy. Still I was out in it fishing. With weather like that, there is little surprise that I didn’t catch any fish! But I didn’t come home empty handed… Moving along the shore I heard a noise from an empty boat shed. Curiosity got the better of me and I moved in to check it out. In the back right corner, something cowered. It was winter on the lake and all the summer residents had long since departed. The only live animals anywhere around were sure to be wild. This one could have been a wounded deer or a rabid coyote! I should have been more careful but instead I went on in. I was 13 year old boy so who knows what was I thinking!? The mass turned out to be a very large yet scrawny, shivering, wet, muddy and matted German Shepherd. She had some open sores and something was wrong with one of her legs. And she was so very scared. She was nothing but a mongrel that many would have just put to sleep. I remember thinking that if she lived, this mongrel would need a name… so I called her Duchess.

It took a while but I coaxed her out, fed her from my hand, bathed her and treated her wounds. Many days passed before she learned to trust me. I never did find out where she had come from. She had been lost and was found, wounded and near death but was now healed and healthy. She had been alone and now had a family. Over time Duchess became a strong shepherd. Instead of being afraid at the touch of her master’s hand, she became ridiculously devoted! She had been a filthy mongrel but within a month, I found her sprawled on the sofa! This mongrel loved the life of a Duchess!

My life is so much like that mongrel’s. With a soul that was lost, matted, muddy and afraid, I was far from God. Yet he pursued me. He came into the dark corner and called me out. He bound up my wounds, healed my soul, gave me a new name and a place at his table. And I am ridiculously devoted to Christ Jesus my Lord!

God’s hand might be strange to you but do not fear his touch. He calls you out of the darkness to give you a place at his table. Christ came that you might have life and have it to the fullest.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Jesus in John 10:10

Anchored in Grace,

Harrison