Vested Interests

Recently 33 miners were found alive after a gold and silver mine collapsed in Copiapo, Chile, trapping them for over two weeks, 2300 feet underground.  What’s interesting is that Chilean officials are currently worried about their weight as they wait.  The miners may not get out for possibly four months while a tunnel is drilled through solid rock.  While they wait it’s imperative that they maintain and reduce their weight.  Officials say the miners will have to be no more than 35 inches around the waist to make it out of the tunnel.

I’ve got to tell you, if I went down in a mine with a 40 inch waist, and that mine subsequently collapsed, and knew I had to shrink 5 inches just to get out, I would be extremely motivated to drop me some lbs.  In fact, I’m waiting for some clever entrepreneur to see this as a weight loss tool like no other and market the “drop the weight or you wait, wait, wait” weight loss campaign.

There are two things I would want if I were one of those miners: hope and help.  I would never want to lose hope that my rescuers were coming, and I’d want someone to help me if I was tempted to eat one too many Twinkies.  This reminds me of a couple of verses: “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. ²⁴ Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (Hebrews 10:23-24, NLT).

I read this funny story recently.  It seems the chairman of the board of a company called one of his employees into the office to inform the man he was being promoted to Vice President of Corporate Research and Planning.

Of course, the fellow was extremely excited, but asked for a slight title change.  He asked to rather be the Vice President of Corporate Planning and Research.  “Why would you want that?” asked the chairman. “It seems a little picky.”  “Because,” the man said, “our organization uses abbreviated job titles a lot, and I don’t want be known as VP of CRAP.”

You know, I don’t want to be the VP of CRAP either.  Ephesians 4:1 has four powerful words that really say it all, “… live a life worthy …”  Translation: don’t settle for crappy living.  Live beyond yourself.  Serve somebody.  Put Christ front and center.  Ask forgiveness when you fall.  Be thankful when you succeed.  Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Can you believe the day we had last Sunday? It was cool to see 38 people lined up on the beach of Lake Michigan, waiting to go public with their faith in Jesus. And when we entered the warmish waters of Lake Michigan each person’s name was loudly proclaimed as someone who is a follower of Jesus.

It reminds me of Matthew 5:16 where Jesus says, “… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” As the baptisms were taking place there were people strolling by, watching from the pier and watching from their boats and from the beach and there we were, the church, being a bold witness for Christ. We were basically shouting, “Hey, anyone who wants to know, we are Christians and we’re proud of it! You can be one too.” Congrats to everyone who was baptized on Sunday—may your light ever continue to shine.

On a recent trip, my three year old daughter named our GPS Jalapeño … you know, like the pepper. I don’t have any idea why she named it that, but we all thought it was funny, so the name stuck. Most of the time, I like Jalapeño; she often offers very sage advice. But occasionally she gets on my nerves, specifically when she starts pointing out my flaws. I don’t particularly like to hear, in that little robotic smarmy voice of hers, “You are now over the speed limit.” It’s not that I go over the speed limit that often; I’m a pastor for goodness sakes. But on that rare occasion when I do, I really don’t want to be reminded of it.

And why doesn’t Jalapeño note the bad behavior of all the other people who are going over the speed limit or generally driving like maniacs? Their flaws are just as bad or worse than mine. I don’t like it that she is focused only on me. Its funny isn’t it? If we want, we can always find someone who is doing worse than we are. It’s fairly easy to point to someone a little meaner, a little cheaper, a little less loving. One of the hardest things in the world to control is the urge to compare.

The Bible talks about this in Romans 14:10-13, “Now then, who are you to judge your brother or sister? Why do you look down on them? We will all stand in God’s courtroom to be judged. It is written, ‘You can be sure that I live,’ says the Lord. ‘And you can be just as sure that every knee will bow down in front of me. Every tongue will tell the truth to God.’—(Isaiah 45:23) So we will all have to explain to God the things we have done.” (NIRV) You and I will be judged for what we’ve done … no more, no less.

The “Cash for Clunkers” initiative was wildly popular a few months ago. You know, it was the deal where you could trade in any old junker car for a new automobile and the government would subsidize the new purchase. Basically, you could trade something of very little value, a rusty old bucket of bolts, for something of much greater value, a shiny new ride.

That perfectly describes what happens when we give our lives to Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Anyone who believes in Christ is a new creation. The old is gone! The new has come! I can trade my dilapidated, sin stained, purposeless life for a brand new, consistently forgiven, purpose-filled life. That’s quite an upgrade.

Look at what the Bible says about those of us who’ve taken God up on this offer: “God chose you to be his people. You are royal priests. You are a holy nation. You are a people who belong to God. All of this is so that you can sing his praises. He brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9, NIRV). Rejoice my friends; if you’ve chosen to follow Christ, you’ve made the deal of a lifetime.

Romans 12:1 says, Therefore, I urge you … in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. The motivation for living right is found in that little expression, “in view of God’s mercies”.

A couple of weeks ago while I was on vacation with the family at my mother’s, I found myself doing a lot of chores—the majority of the work was done under her house. For three days I was in the crawl space making repairs, hooking up some lights, and while I was down there, I notice a sewage line that needed to be replaced. So day three consisted of me helping a real plumber replace 40 feet of cast iron sewage pipe.

Lest you think it was easy work, let me remind you that there are often reports of herds of aggressive and poisonous snakes and rats and brown recluse spiders in places like that (yes, I said “herds” though I think broods, swarms or legions would have been applicable as well). Basically, I was taking my life into my own hands being down under there. And with the oppressive heat and humidity of Kentucky, I calculated that I sweated away about 10 pounds a day under there—I’d come out from under there and you could hardly see me I was so gaunt. It was scary, it was dirty, it was smelly and it was hard.

Now let me ask you, did I do that because I had to? Did I do that because it was fun? Did I do that to get away from the kids and/or crazy relatives? Nope. In view of my mother’s mercies of putting up with a smart-alecky, inconsiderate, unthankful teenage son; that was my motivation. I owe her. I weighed 10lb, 11oz at birth; I owe her for that if nothing else. For the thousands of hours of worry I’ve caused her, for the tens of thousands of meals she prepared, for the tons of my laundry she’s washed and the countless skinned knees she doctored. That’s why I did it.

As I’ve grown older and as I’ve become a father, I understand more fully the sacrifices my mother and father made for me. In view of mother’s mercies I felt privileged to serve her. In Luke 7 there’s the story of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet with an alabaster jar of extremely expensive perfume. Subsequently, much is made of this “waste.” However, Jesus makes a poignant point when he says those who have been forgiven much, love much. What are we willing to do in view of God’s mercies?

A few weeks ago I brought up the topic of family origins and family crests (a.k.a. coats of arms). I noted that the Vest family name is a topographical name for someone who lived to the west of a settlement, or for one who had migrated from further west. Its origin is probably Norwegian or German. Being from Kentucky, I suspect we might have had a couple of bootleggers and gun runners in our family tree. I fear the authentic Vest crest has the picture of a guy running a still on the front with a shotgun in the background; that would be a testament of our heritage.

In Christianity, we have a “crest” by which we’re recognized—the cross. When your crest of choice is a method of torture, such as the cross, you know you are a radical people. This too is a testament of our heritage. Recently I read this incredible verse, “I am ready not only to be jailed in Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

Paul said this just before his final trip to Jerusalem. Before that time, several people warned him not to go—they prophesied that great danger awaited Paul in Jerusalem … and they were correct! The truth be told, they offered him incredibly wise counsel. However, Paul understood God’s plan for his life, and he wasn’t about to do anything other than God’s will. Christians have always been bold people. I pray that when we see a cross, we’ll be reminded of the heritage of Christ following men and women who have gone before us and have given their lives for their faith.

I had the great honor of speaking at my daughter’s Baccalaureate service the other night. The only problem was that our graduating daughter, Amaris, missed most of it. You see when we got to the auditorium she found out she was supposed to be wearing cap and gown, which she was, in fact, not wearing. So she quickly jumped into my van and sped home to retrieve those items. Unfortunately, she ran out of gas on her return trip. She was close enough to walk back to the house and drive her car to the event—only making the last couple of minutes. Overall, she missed most of what her father had prepared for her and her classmates.

To her defense, the gas gauge in my van had been acting up, so I really didn’t know how much gas was in that stupid thing. One minute it would show three quarters of a tank, the next it was below empty. In other words, the running out of gas part was sort of my fault. I just assumed the higher reading was the more accurate—it‘s much more pleasant to think you have three quarters of a tank of gas rather than the tank’s empty. It’s interesting to me that we often do that in our spiritual lives. We only see what we want to see, and we sometimes overestimate where we are spiritually.

We notice the occasional act of kindness or word of encouragement we offer and totally ignore our pride, careless words and selfishness—it’s much more pleasant to think our spiritual tanks are three quarters full rather than the near empty. Lamentations 3:40 says, “Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living and reorder our lives under GOD” (Message). The NLT translation of this verse says we’re to, “test and examine our ways.” That seems like pretty sound advice. When we don’t take a good, thoughtful look at our lives, we might just miss what our Heavenly Father has prepared for us, both now and in the future.

Memorial Day weekend is upon us and this particular holiday has a very special place in my heart … but not in the traditional way.  By this I mean no disrespect to those who have given their lives so we might enjoy the freedom we have here in America.  It’s just that five years ago, my family and I packed a U-Haul in New Mexico and headed to Kentucky.  I was broken; leaving ministry in disgrace, my marriage was fractured and my relationship with the Lord was bruised.

As we headed home, I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I certainly had no thought that I would ever be in ministry again; because of my own sin I felt that was forfeited.  I’d had a good run but that was over and it was time to heal my marriage and salvage what little dignity I had left.  That’s when God intervened.  Psalm 3:3 says, “But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head” (NRSV).  When I was at my lowest, when things look bleakest, God lifted up my head.

First, He restored my relationship with Him through forgiveness.  God’s hand was all over our lives and we knew it.  Then God healed our marriage, re-establishing trust; it’s been amazing to watch our relationship grow.  Finally, God opened a path back into ministry through a precious little church in Kentucky.  Memorial Day every year reminds me of God’s goodness to pitiful, broken people like me. 

This Memorial Day weekend, if needed, allow God to lift up your head.  Accept His forgiveness, bask in His love, enjoy his redemption.  If He already has, take the time to be thankful.  Remember, ours is a God of many chances.

My wife, Myriam, is really smart.  I suspect you might have already known that simply by the husband she picked.  But if by chance you had doubts (also because of the husband she picked) let me tell you something she said after last week’s message.  We almost always, every week after our church day is over, talk about what we saw and did at church.  We visit about the K-1 class that she teaches, we talk about the worship part of the service and then I ask her how the message went.

You can’t imagine how important this time is for me.  Myriam is wonderfully wise; she gives it to me straight.  If I say something profound and/or make a good point she’s quick to encourage me with that.  And if I miss on an illustration or weren’t clear on something she gently lets me know.  I relish her feedback.  Well last Sunday in the message I had mentioned that there’s no way for a pastor to know everyone in a church the size of Kainay.  Myriam liked that and then said, “Really, our goal isn’t to have everyone know you; our goal is to have everyone know Jesus.”

That’s good isn’t it?  I love how succinct that is.  Our goal at Kainay isn’t to have everyone know me; it’s to have everyone know Jesus.  After all, you can know me and still spend eternity apart from God in a place called Hell.  But you can’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ and have that happen.  It reminds me so much of Acts 4 where Simon Peter becomes incredibly bold in preaching about salvation in Christ.  He says, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”  Then the religious elites who were questioning them responded, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”  Acts 4:12-13

Our goal is that each person who walks through the doors of Kainay gets to know Jesus because salvation is found in NO ONE ELSE!  For the most part we’re pretty ordinary people with few extraordinary talents.  However, we have been with Jesus, and when a person has been with Jesus, they change.  Our prayer is that everyone has the opportunity to know Jesus the way we do.