Walk With The Christ

Ephesians 5.1-2
5.21.06 DBC

Walk With The Christ

*“Just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Paul)

We, my family, are at the exciting time of witnessing baby Sophia’s first steps; there is an air of great anticipation in the Breedlove household concerning this matter! She is pulling up on the coffee table, beds, and couches to brace herself; she then lets go to stand and applaud her efforts. She is learning to walk; but she still prefers primarily to crawl, nevertheless, she is thoroughly now mobile!

The Scripture writers use walk as a metaphor for one’s lifestyle, behavior, and conduct. Long ago Jeremiah spoke God’s admonition to his people (the Jewish people):

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls . . .” (Jeremiah 6.16)

Initially, there are a few things I want to explain about Paul’s words to the Ephesians before us today. Paul first encouraged the Ephesians Christians to follow the example of God in Christ and then to continue (walk) in that way of love.

* Christianity, one’s commitment to Christ, is an initial decision and an ongoing journey; it is an initial first step of faith in Christ and an ongoing active belief, lifestyle, and pursuit of God’s purpose in our life (Christlikeness).

Watchman Nee, a Chinese believer and pastor that was imprisoned in China for teaching and preaching Christianity, outlined the book of Ephesians as Sit, Walk, and Stand. Nee first noted the believer’s position in Christ; we are seated in the righteousness of Christ.

The Apostle Paul referred to believers as “dearly loved children.” When one first makes a decision to trust and commit their lives to Christ, the scripture teaches that the Christian is then hidden in Christ; When we first trust and commit our lives to Christ, Jesus becomes our righteousness and forgiveness.

Jesus does what we can’t do for ourselves; he becomes our holiness and perfect righteousness. We are forgiven and justified from our sin in and because of Christ.

Because God the father declared Jesus as his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased, when the believer is in Christ, God sees not our sin but Jesus’ righteousness. Jesus’ holiness, obedience, and selflessness are then imputed onto the one who trusts and commits their life to him.

The believer is not to stay static, however, we are called to walk in Jesus’ example and righteousness. In Christ, God does for us what we can’t do for ourselves but then once we receive Christ in our lives God then offers us his very Spirit to live and walk in Christ’s example of love, holiness, and towards selflessness.

The way of Christ and therefore the way of Christianity is sacrificial and selfless love.

So, if you are going to commit your life to Jesus and walk in his steps what will such a life look like?

Tony Campolo tells the story of a new Marine recruit that began his training at Paris Island:

“He was one of those young men who seemed to be a bit out of step with the norm, and he easily became the subject of ridicule for those picking on off beat people.

In the particular barrack to which this young marine was assigned, there was an extremely high level of meanness. The other men did everything they could to make a joke of the new recruit and to humiliate him. One day, someone came up with the bright idea that they could scare the daylights out of this young marine by dropping a disarmed grenade onto the floor and pretending it was about to go off. Everyone else knew about this and they were all ready to get a big laugh.

The hand grenade was thrown into the middle of the floor, and the warning was yelled, ‘It’s a live grenade! It’s about to explode!’

They fully expected that the young man would get hysterical and perhaps jump out a window. Instead, the young marine fell on the grenade, hugged it to his stomach, and yelled to the other men in the barracks, ‘Run for your lives! Run for your lives! You’ll be killed if you don’t!’

The other marines froze in stillness and shame. They realized that the one they had scorned was the one ready to lay down his life for them. And so it was with Jesus [and the way and example for all who would follow him]." (Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story, 21.)

If then Christianity is a Journey, to where is the Christian headed and how do we make this journey?

It is both an internal and (I believe) external destination albeit closer than we commonly think of it as.

God in Christ by his Spirit is moving and transforming our very being from one of sinfulness to one of selflessness. Paul says that the way of love is the way that Jesus gave himself up as sacrifice.

So while we trust in Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness in our live, we too are then called to be willing to make and grow in the same journey of sacrificial love, life giving faith, and ongoing pure trust.

*On this way we are called to Journey; in this faith we are called to walk; this Christian belief we are to live out in our daily lifestyle, and we are not alone.

God Spirit is always with the believer. And God has blessed us with one another. You are my brother and sister on this journey. I’m your brother on this journey and together let us walk with the Christ!

Together, Hand in Hand

If we should find ourselves,
Together on the same path,
Let me take your hand,
And you take my hand,

Do you hear the cry,
Of the coyote under the red sky,
Take my hand,
I’ll hold your hand,

When darkness covers us,
When the star’s glory breaks
Don’t let go of my hand,
I’ll hold your hand,

Lonely cry,
Draw nigh,
Reach out in the night,
Hold my hand tight,

Such a hard path,
A lonely path,
Misunderstood,
Sunder mood,

Reaching and rescuing,
Seeing and hearing,
Under red skies,
In front of approaching night,

Hold my hand,
I’ll hold your hand,
This lonely path we tread,
I’ll hold your hand,

Such a deadly path,
With incalculable math,
Encroaching darkness,
Pursuing sadness,

Do you hear the cry,
Of the coyote under the red sky,
Take my hand,
I’ll hold your hand,

If we should find ourselves,
Together on the same path,
Walk while holding my hand,

I’ll walk the way with you in trust holding your hand.

Hearing The Christ

1 Samuel 3 & John 3.5-8
5.14.06 DBC
Hearing The Christ

Here’s an amusing salute to motherhood I found somewhere online and then arranged it into a Letterman like top Ten:
Top 10- YOU KNOW YOU’RE A MOM WHEN
10. You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal. 9. As you cling to the high moral ground on toy weapons; your child chews his toast into the shape of a gun.
8. You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "NOT in your good clothes!"
7. You hide in the bathroom to be alone.
6. You have time to shave only one leg at a time.
5. You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.
4. You hire a sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, and then spend half the night checking on the kids.
3. You use your own saliva to clean your child's face.
2. You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job," but you know you wouldn't trade it for anything."
1. Your kid throws-up and you catch it.

Not sure that the previous (top ten) had anything to do with our text today; just wanted to share it with you on this Mother’s day. Our Text Today, however, focuses on Samuel hearing the voice of God. Last week we talked about seeing the Christ and today we consider what it’s like to hear the Christ. In both regards, seeing and hearing Christ, we ponder what it’s like for a natural person to develop a spiritual perception.

How can a Christian live the Christ-like life and become like Christ?
How do we sense and perceive God in this world?
How can one look at this world, its people and frustrations, through the eyes of God? How can one hear from God in a land of great distraction?

Samuel grew up to be a great man of God- because he heard from God and listened to and obeyed what he heard. The text says that he “he grew, and the Lord was with him and . . . none of his words [fell] to the ground.” (1 Sam 3.19) A curios thing came to me as I thought about this text this weekend, why did the young boy Samuel hear from God and not the old priest Eli?

Maybe Eli grew up hearing from God as a young boy and could offer Samuel advise so that Samuel could hear: “ . . . if [God] calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” (1 Sam 3.9) Maybe Eli did hear from God at one time in his life and remembered what is was like but somewhere along the way of his life he stopped being able to hear God’s voice, leading, and will for his life. We are left only to speculate about Eli’s life and past, for the scripture just doesn’t give much background on Eli. Let me suggest two possibilities of why the boy Samuel could hear God and not the old priest Eli.

Maybe Eli stopped hearing God because he no longer wanted to hear what God had to say to him. Really the only thing we know about Eli is that his two sons were corrupt and did not know God. Eli’s fault seems not just that his sons were corrupt, but he continued to let them serve in the place of God. Therefore, maybe Eli at some point in his life let his apathy and favor toward his own corrupt sons outweigh his devotion toward God; and every time God spoke to him about him or his sons, Eli choose ignorance and indifference instead of hearing and listening to God.

Frederick Buechner very aptly says that, *“We avoid listening for fear of what we might hear.”

Is it that Eli could not and would not hear what God was saying to him concerning his sons? Maybe we don’t hear from God because we don’t want to listen to what he would say to us concerning our lives. A word from God alive to us would hamper and affect our lives. Our natural person, our sinful inclinations, prevents us from hearing and listening to God.

So if one is to hear from God, then it must be done from a different posture than what we are normally use to. There must be a willingness to hear and obey what God says before God will entrust his Word to one. God will speak to one who will listen and obey; and so Samuel says to God, “Speak, for your servant hears.” (1 Sam 3.10) Or in other words: “God speak to me, I am willing to hear what you have to say and I am willing to listen to and follow what you say no matter what it will mean in my life.”

What is it that God might say to you today that you’ve not been willing to hear or listen to? Maybe its that person you’ve had a falling out with and you’ve refused to talk with for an extended length of time; Or maybe it’s that one place or thing that God is leading you toward, and it’s not desirable to you because it would turn you comfortable life upside down.

It is true that much of what God would say to listening ears today would perhaps not be comfortable to hear. Sometimes the places he would call us to go might not be comfortable places and the things he calls us to hear are sometimes are not easy things to hear. *When God does speak, however, we can rest assure that whatever he speaks to one who will listen will be words or loving warning, life giving hope and salvation leading.

*So to hear from God, One must be willing to freely hear and heed what God is saying.
1.Admit your need to hear from God.
2.Be willing to hear and obey what God says.
3.Turn you direction toward God and diligently pray (seek) for ears to hear what God would say to you.

Secondly, Maybe Eli stopped hearing God because he was so distracted with the superficial and therefore out of tune with the supernatural.

God is Spirit and he is supernatural.

God and God’s ways are not of this world;
God and God’s words are not set in worldly natural tones or wisdom;
God and God’s words are Spiritual and supernatural.

A natural-minded Nicodemus could not understand what Jesus the Christ was saying to him. Jesus Said to him,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh [the natural] is flesh [natural], and that which is born of the Spirit [supernatural] is spirit. Do not marvel that I said you must be born again. [a willing posture to hear from and obey God] The wind [the Spirit of God] blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born [super naturally] of the Spirit.” (John 3.5-8)

The times that I am not hearing from God I can usually count on one or two things:
1. I’m not listening for fear of what I might hear.
2. I’m not hearing God because I am more infatuated with the superficial things of this natural world and life than I am with the supernatural and everlasting truths of who God is and what He wants for my life.

What does God sound like? And when will I know that it is his voice and not my own conscience?

It use to be, in the Old Testament age, that God would speak from outside to an individual. Now, under this New Testament age, God can be within his creation and a person; God’s Spirit speaks from within a person.

When I hear from God it is all at the same time outside and within my being, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.” God’s voice, his visions, and dreams he gives me our as light as a feather and heavy as the entire universe.

Hearing the Christ is a spiritual act only able by spiritual ears. Hearing the Christ is only possible where there is a voluntary willingness and love toward God. Hearing the Christ and receiving his Kingdom are internal and supernatural realties.

Seeing The Christ

Genesis 16.7-13; 21.8-19; Mark 8.22-30
5.7.06 Dellview Baptist Church San Antonio

Seeing The Christ

Today’s message has eluded me and taken a very different route than what I had anticipated several weeks ago in my initial preparation of it. Initially, I had thought about speaking of how both our physical and spiritual sight is limited? I wanted to talk about how we are all only temporary able to physically see what we see; that our physical sight, if we live long enough, will eventually fail us.

I also wanted to talk about how our spiritual sight can be out of focus. In the process of developing the message, however, four questions about spiritual sight came to my mind and that is what I feel led to pursue with you this morning.

How does God see me?

In our OT reading this morning we observed how Hagar, Abram and Sari’s Egyptian maidservant, was given to Abram by Sari in order to conceive a child; that happened and Sari grew jealous and bitter and began to mistreat Hagar, so Hagar fled away (probably out of fear for her life.)

The Angel of The Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ?) finds the lonely, fearful, and grieved Hagar and addresses her. Hagar pours out her heart about all that had happened.

Then Hagar, after hearing from God in her most desperate moment, utters one of may favourite confessions of God in all of Scripture:

“You are the God who sees me.”

Have you ever been at this point in your life? Are you there now, wondering if God really sees you and knows all that your up against?

A great comfort that we have from God is that he does know us? He knows our shortcomings, he knows our fears, and he knows all that we’re up against. He knows us and he sees us. He loves us and longs to be with and in us.

You just might be at spot in life today where you need to know that God does indeed see you and all that your up against.

How Do I see others?

Hagar’s story continues, Genesis 21.8-19, as she is sent away once again by a jealous and bitter Sarah.

Whenever Sarah looked at Hagar she did not see an equal, fellow woman, or mother of Abraham’s son Ishmael; rather, whenever Sarah looked at Hagar her blood boiled and she saw her own inadequacies and curses, and not a child of God.

Sarah did not see God in Hagar. What about us, how do we see others?

What do we see when we view those around us in this church and our daily lives? What about when we consider our enemies? What do we see in the least of these and special needs among us? What do we see when we view an illegal alien among us in San Antonio, TX? How do we view our culture’s elderly?

The following poem, in handwritten form, is said to have been collected among the belongings of a woman who had died in a skilled nursing facility in Scotland. (included in a Clifford Schutjer sermon)

"What do you see, nurse, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you look at me:
A crabby old woman, diminished in size,
Uncertain of habit with far-away eyes?
Who dribbles her tea and makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice, “I do wish you’d try.”
Who seems not to notice the things that you do
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe,
Who, resisting or not, lets you do as you will
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.
Is that your impression, is that what you see?
Then open your eyes. You’re not looking at me.


There’s a person before you, alive in here still,
With opinions and memories, spirit and will.

I’m a small child of ten with a father, a mother,
Brothers and sisters who love one another.
Then a girl of sixteen with wings on her feet,
Dreaming that soon a true love she will meet;
A bride then at twenty--my heart gives a leap:
The wedding--the vows that we promised to keep.
At twenty-five now I have kids of my own
Who need me to build a secure, happy home;
A woman of thirty, my young grow so fast,
Linked to each other with ties that will last.
At forty my young sons have grown and are gone.
My husband’s beside me to see I don’t mourn.
At fifty once more babies play round my knee.
Again we know children, my husband and me.
Then that very dark valley: my husband is dead.
The future without him is something I dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own.
Yet I treasure the love and the joys I have known

I’m an old woman now and nature is cruel.
It’s her joke to make old age appear as a fool.

The body is crumbled. Grace and vigor depart.
It feels like a cold stone has replaced my heart.
But inside this old carcass, a young girl still dwells.
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the years, including the pain.
And I’m loving and living life over again.
I think of the years, all too few, gone too fast
I’ve accepted the stark fact that nothing can last.

Please open your eyes, nurse. Just try once to see
Not a crabby old women. There’s really a ME!"

What do we see when we look at Jesus?

In Mark 8.22-30, Mark records the story of Jesus spiting into a blind man’s eyes and restored his sight. I find the following account of Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ very gripping because of its location after Jesus healing the Blind man.

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” He could have very well asked his disciples, “What do people see when they look (consider) at me?” They replied to his question, “Some say [see] John the Baptist; others say [see] Elijah, and still others, [see] one of the prophets.”

Jesus then asked the disciples, “But what about you . . . Who do you say [see that] I am?” In other words Jesus could have very well asked, “What do you see when you look at me?”

Peter then confessed, “You are the Christ.” Peter could have said, “When I look at you Jesus, I see the Christ!”

What about people today? What about us gathered here this morning? When you look at Jesus, when you consider who Jesus is, what do you see?

Do you see the Christ? Do you see God? Do you see God’s great love for you? Do you see multitudes of suffering and dying? Do you see the least of these? Because these things are what Jesus looks like.

When we see Jesus, when we see the Christ clearly, we will see God’s great love for us and we will see the multitudes of suffering in our world and we will see the least of those among us and in this world; that’s what seeing the Christ is.

Mother Teresa confessed:

“O Jesus- You who suffer, grant that, today and every day, I may be able to see you in the person of your sick ones and that, by offering them my care, I may serve you.

Grant that, even if you are hidden under unattractive disguise of anger, crime, or of madness, I may recognize you and say, “Jesus, you who suffer, how sweet it is to serve you.”

Give me, Lord, this vision of faith, and my work will never be monotonous, I will find joy in harbouring whims and desire of all the poor who suffer . . .”

How can we begin to focus our vision to see the Christ in others and ourselves?

Seeing the Christ in others, among the least of these in our world, in the hurricane evacuee, the homebound aged and nursing home resident, the wondering human far away from home or the illegal alien, requires that we first admit the limited and distorted way we view the people in this world that we live in.

We then must give our eyes (perception) to Christ.

We need spiritual illumination. The Spirit of God only gives spiritual illumination. Scripture, earnest prayer, and the fellowship of God’s people are ways that the Holy Spirit can enable our sight to see the Christ in others and our lives.

Just last week John Garcia and I went to the Rio Grande Valley to spend time with Bertha Whyte (His Hand’s Ministry). Bertha’s penetrating 91 year-old eyes captivated me.

Bertha said that someone once remarked that looking into her Jesus eyes was like seeing the eyes of Jesus. What a marvellous testimony and prayer that would make for all who confess his name.

"Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light." Amen.