It's Not About "Deserve"

Since its release on June 2, I have had the opportunity to see "Wonder Woman" three times.

The first was at the Portage 16 in Portage, Indiana. (They should name one of the sixteen screens after our family for all the movies we saw and popcorn I ate there over the years.)

The second was in Houston at the Studio Movie Grill near our home. (I'm working on earning my dedication plaque at this theater, also.)

The third viewing was in Panama City Beach, Florida, on a visit to our newly married daughter and son-in-law. (Yeah, it's been a well-traveled and eventful summer.)

Aside from finally viewing a DC superhero movie that didn't disappoint, I also appreciated a message in "Wonder Woman" that communicates the clear message of the Gospel.

This message revolves around the theme of "deserving."

In one scene, WWI soldier Steve Trevor and his two friends offer this toast: May we always get what we need. May we always get what we want. May we never get what we deserve.

One might think that this is just a throwaway dialogue to lighten the mood, but there may be more to it than that.

Later in the movie, a conversation between Steve and Diana (aka Wonder Woman) revisits the theme of "deserving". When Diana questions why Steve is so determined to help people who don't deserve it, he responds, "Maybe it's not about deserving. Maybe it's about what you believe."

Diana, who is still trying to make sense of a world that she has only recently entered, ponders that thought.

Then, in the lead-up to the climactic battle scene against Ares, the god of war explains that he doesn't cause mankind to be warlike. He merely whispers ideas and then allows people to respond as they will. His argument is that people tend to choose the evil over the good.

And in the final battle, he punctuates that point when he shouts at Diana, "They don't deserve to be saved!"

In response, Diana echoes Steve's words, "It's not about deserve. It's about what you believe. And I believe in love."

I can hear the voice of Satan, the Accuser, in Ares' words. Satan levels the same accusations against humanity as Ares did. The devil doesn't make us do anything, although he certainly whispers his lies into our willing ears. We, however, choose how to respond. Because of our inclination to choose the evil over the good, we don't deserve to be saved.

Nevertheless, Jesus responds that it's not about deserve. It's about love, His divine love for us undeserving ones.

In the church, we call that grace, when we get what we don't deserve.

We didn't deserve a Savior who would suffer and die for us on the cross. We don't deserve Jesus' forgiveness when one of His followers assures us that we are absolved of our sins. We don't deserve a place at the altar to receive the body and blood of Jesus for the remission of our sins.

But it's not about deserve. It's about love. Only through Jesus' undeserved love can we have a new life with Him.

In a sense, Steve's toast with his friends echoes the prayer Jesus taught us: Give us this day our daily bread. (May we get what we need. May we get what we want.) And  forgive us our trespasses. (May we never get what we deserve.) Amen.

Water in the Name of Jesus

“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”

According to Matthew 25:35, that’s what Jesus will say to the righteous gathered before Him on the Last Day.

Well, if Jesus commends giving water to the thirsty, that’s good enough for me.

That’s why our congregation, Messiah Lutheran, Houston, TX, has cases of bottled water with our church’s name and website address on the label, to give out to folks who are thirsty.

Our Congregation President, John, and I did just that at the May 4th Golf Tournament hosted by my local Kiwanis Club.

He and I spent time with about 90 golfers from across the Houston area and gave out free water at the Messiah tent at the first hole.

After the event, John and I decided to give out the remaining water bottles the next day at Memorial Park.

We found ourselves a shady spot alongside the running path and in a matter of 45 minutes we gave out 80+ bottles of water.

One fellow that we met had finished his run and sat down to enjoy the water and the shade. He took note of the Messiah name on the label and asked us about our church and its location.

One woman, when offered a bottle, replied, “What’s the catch?” John assured her that, much to her surprise, there was no catch at all.

That simple gift of water put smiles on lots of faces on a warm Friday afternoon.

An Easy Thing to Do

Approaching a stranger with the words “Let me tell you about Jesus” is very intimidating, let me assure you. It’s so intimidating that I don’t do it. Ever.

But to ask a stranger who’s walking or running past you, “Would you like some water?” is an easy thing to do.

When Jesus commends the righteous in Matthew 25, He doesn’t say, “You preached the Gospel,” or, “You knocked on strangers' doors.”

He says, “You fed, you gave water, you clothed, you cared, you visited.”

Those are all easy things to do. Every one of us, no matter our age, is capable of offering such Christ-like care.

And when you offer the food, the water, the clothing, or the care, and are asked, “What’s the catch?” you can respond that there is no catch, that you are simply doing what Jesus taught you to do.

The Dreaded Four Horsemen

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These imposing and dreaded figures have been woven into the fabric of our popular culture.

Cover of Teen Titans #37

World Championship Wrestling had its Four Horsemen, including wrestlers Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. Marvel Comics has a character named Apocalypse who always has four proteges, his Four Horsemen.

I first encountered the Four Horsemen at the tender age of eight in Teen Titans #37 back in 1971. (You can find out about the story at this link.)

Regardless of their pop culture presence, the Four Horsemen of the Apocaplypse come to us courtesy of Revelation 6.

In this chapter, the Lamb Who Was Slain has been given the Scroll with Seven Seals. As he breaks each of the first four seals, a horseman comes forth. They can best be described as personifications of tyranny, bloodshed, famine, and death.

As they wreak their havoc on the earth they illustrate sinful mankind's desire to dominate the weak, shed the blood of the innocent, and exploit the poor, all of which lead to death and the grave.

The ravages of these Horsemen are all too familiar to us. All we need do is watch the evening news. Stories of oppression overseas, violence in our neighborhoods, and corruption in our cities weigh us down with despair. "Will it ever end?" we cry in desperation.

Even the saints in heaven express their impatience. As the fifth seal is broken, the souls of the martyrs ask, "How long until our blood is avenged?" How long, O Lord, will Your Church on earth suffer at the hands of its enemies? How many more must die for the faith?

And then comes the end. The sixth seal is broken and creation as we know it is torn to shreds.

Close the curtain. Dim the lights. The show is over.

Revelation 6 is a chapter that causes people to not want to read Revelation. It's bizarre in its imagery and frightening in its content.

But what appears on the surface to be a picture of hopelessness transforms into a picture of hope when we remember one important detail. Jesus, The Lamb Who Was Slain, is the one breaking the seals. None of the events that follow the breaking of the seals are outside of the authority that the Father has given to His beloved Son (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Four Horsemen released by Jesus operate under His sovereign lordship. They are not "running out of control." They are under the control of Jesus.

The souls of the martyrs are urged to be patient. Although more martyrs will be added to their number, each of those deaths is precious and even costly to their Lord, who shares in the persecution of those who make up the Church, the Body of Christ on earth (Psalm 116:15 and Acts 9:4-5).

Even the earth's destruction, which was foreshadowed in the darkness and earthquake of Good Friday (Matthew 27:45-54), will result in the New Creation where the followers of Jesus will enjoy an eternity free from suffering and death.

So do not despair.

Far from a vision of hopelessness, Revelation 6, and the entire book for that matter, speaks God's final Word of comfort, hope, and victory.

Jesus Himself promises the crown of life to those who are not shaken by the events which must take place but instead remain faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10).

To the Angel of the Church in Sardis...

In my devotional reading since Easter I have been taking a slow journey through the Book of Revelation, one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Chapters 2 & 3 consist of letters that Jesus dictates to John to be sent to seven churches in Asia Minor, or modern day Turkey.

In these letters Jesus has positive things to say about most of the churches He addresses, things for which He can commend them. But most of them also have glaring problems. Jesus diagnoses the problems and prescribes the solutions for each individual congregation. He calls them to repentance and promises an eternal blessing to "the one who overcomes."

As I read the letter to the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6), I recognized characteristics of a church in need of revitalization. The church needed to rediscover its mission to its community.

The characteristics that marked the church in Sardis included:

• Being near the end of its Life Cycle (“You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”)
• Not doing all that it could be doing in mission (“I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.”)
• Needing to recall its mission and repent of its complacency (“Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.”)

The church in Sardis is typical of many churches today that are in need of revitalization. I have been privileged to serve two such congregations.

I say that I have been privileged because revitalization ministry is exciting and, dare I say, even fun! That doesn't mean that it's easy, but anything worth doing well is rarely easy.

My best memories of ministry have come as a result of watching a church change from an inward to an outward focus and from being survival-minded to being mission-minded.

I have witnessed God's Spirit at work to move people beyond their comfort zones into ministry and mission that they never thought they could do.

I have watched men and women light up with a passion for discipleship when they see Jesus' work being done through them.

I you feel like you are in a Sardis situation, in need of personal or congregational revitalization, don't despair. Jesus first calls you to repentance for your complacency and urges you to remember the depths of His grace that you have received. Recalling that grace will lead you to grateful service and mission for others.

He also promises to His faithful disciple, "I will never blot out  [your] name from the book of life but will acknowledge [your] name before my Father and his angels" (Revelation 3:5). You can be assured that you belong to Jesus, and that confidence can liberate you to try new things and dare to step outside of your comfort zones.

Not a Perfect Prophet

Jonah on the beach after being in the great fish

Jonah: The reluctant prophet. Check!

Jonah: The bad luck charm in the movie "Master and Commander." Check!

Jonah: The portrait of Jesus. Whoa!

When Jesus was pressed to give a sign to validate His teachings, He offered only "the sign of Jonah." "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).

Jesus was referring to His time in the tomb between Good Friday and Easter. Jesus interpreted Jonah's time in the fish's belly as a foreshadow of His own resurrection.

This reluctant prophet, however, reveals Jesus in other ways.

A Willing Sacrifice

When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah hopped on a ship headed in the opposite direction. As a consequence of Jonah's disobedience, "The Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up" (Jonah 1:4).

The sailors rightly believed that someone on the ship had angered his deity. When they all prayed to their respective gods and the storm didn't abate, the captain roused a sleeping Jonah and urged him to pray to his god for deliverance.

Eventually, the sailor's cast lots to determine who was responsible for their peril, and the lot fell to Jonah, who had previously explained why he came aboard their ship in the first place.

As the storm grew, the sailors asked Jonah what they should do to him to appease his god. He told them to throw him overboard. Horrified at the notion of consigning Jonah to the deep, the sailors tried to row to shore.

When that failed, they reluctantly cast Jonah overboard. Jonah became the willing sacrifice that delivered the ship and crew from certain death.

That's Jesus on Good Friday. Jesus was the willing sacrifice to atone for the sins of the whole world. He offered Himself in our place so that we would be spared the righteous wrath of God.

The Gift of Faith

Before Jonah was cast overboard, he told the sailors about the God he worshipped, "the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land" (Jonah 1:9). After they threw Jonah overboard, the sailors "feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to Him" (Jonah 1:16).

When Jonah finally arrived at Nineveh (after his time in the fish's belly), he proclaimed that Nineveh (which was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, the oppressors of Jonah and his fellow Israelites) would be overturned in forty days. To his shock, the king of Nineveh declared a time of repentance and Nineveh was spared God's wrath.

Jonah's less than charismatic preaching resulted in repentance and faith for both the sailors on the ship and the citizens of Nineveh.

Such is the power of God's Word to change hearts and lives. Jonah was no Billy Graham, but God worked through his feeble efforts to deliver thousands of people from God's judgment.

That's the soldier at the cross who, when he saw how Jesus died, declared, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" Jesus didn't preach from the cross, but His prayer to His Father at the end of His life as He was commending Himself into His Father's hands inspired faith in the heart of the Roman centurion.

Jonah may have been a reluctant prophet. He may have headed one way when God had directed him another. But God loved Jonah enough to put him in the belly of the fish where Jonah could repent of his disobedience. And God loved the sailors and the citizens of Nineveh enough to work through Jonah's reluctance to call them to faith and spare them from destruction.

Jonah, not a perfect prophet, but still a portrait of the true prophet of God, Jesus.

The Story That Changed History

DC's Legends of Tomorrow is a comic book-based television show featuring superheroes who travel through time to correct aberrations to the timeline caused by supervillains.

The current season's story arc involves the Spear of Destiny, which is the spear that pierced the side of Jesus during His crucifixion. This spear allows its bearer to alter reality, so our heroes are trying to keep it out of the hands of the villains.

In the latest episode, "Fellowship of the Spear," after our heroes have taken possession of the spear, it's revealed that the spear was empowered by the blood of Jesus and can be undone by the blood of Jesus.

The legendary Spear of Destiny

So the answer is clear -- get some of Jesus' blood! But before they can time-jump to the crucifixion, the historian in their group warns them that there are some events in history that are so crucial to the timeline that any change whatsoever can have catastrophic results. He forbids them to travel to the crucifixion of Christ because tampering with the life and death of Jesus is simply too dangerous. They will have to find another source of Jesus' blood.

I was struck by the following thoughts as I watched that scene:

1) Disappointment (slight) that we wouldn't see the portrayal of the crucifixion. That, if done well, could have made for some engaging television.

2) Concern (some) that the source of Jesus' blood would be a descendant of Jesus from His marriage to Mary Magdalene. (Let me be clear on this point: there is no biblical or historical evidence that Jesus was ever married or had children. Nevertheless, the fantasy that Jesus had descendants is the basis for Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code," a novel that caused many of its readers to question the reliability of the Gospels. Thank you, Dan Brown, for nothing!) To my relief, the writers of this episode didn't go that route.

3) Wish (unfulfilled) that they would have included Jesus' resurrection, not only His life and death, in the pivotal nature of His impact on human history.

4) Surprise (pleasant and great) that the writers did, in fact, single out Jesus as the linchpin of the history of the world.

In the course of this series, the time travelers (both heroes and villains) have tinkered with events such as the Civil War, World Wars I & II, the Apollo 13 mission, and the Cold War. They have met historical figures such as George Washington, J.R.R. Tolkien, and George Lucas. However, no significant damage was done to the timeline on those occasions, even though the presence of time travelers caused some alterations.

But Jesus is off limits. I like that!

I'm not going to say that the writers were trying to make a theological point or offering any particular confession of faith. It might just be the opposite, that their plotline is about an ancient relic associated with Jesus, but they wanted to avoid Jesus Himself. So they manufactured a timeline-based excuse to cover their tracks.

Whatever the thought behind the scene, there was a recognition that Jesus is the turning point of history. Followers of Jesus know that to be true. It is so true, in fact, that even those who don't necessarily follow Jesus have to admit that His story, more than any other historic figure, has transformed history.

However, we who follow Jesus believe more than that. We believe that Jesus has transformed not only history, but eternity.

Right Person, Right Place, Right Time

Esther, Queen of Persia

This weekend marks the Jewish festival of Purim. This festival has its origin in the Old Testament story of Esther, a young Jewish woman who lived during the reign of Xerxes, the King of the Persian Empire. (Xerxes is also the big bad in the movie 300.)

On one occasion Xerxes was hosting a week-long banquet with lots of drinking. Being pretty soused, he ordered his beautiful queen, Vashti, to come to the banquet hall to be ogled by his guests. She flat out refused and as a result was deposed as queen. Following her dismissal, the search for a new queen began.

Esther was chosen as a contestant in the "Miss Persia Beauty Pageant," from which the new queen would be chosen. Esther's older cousin, Mordechai, the man who had raised her after the death of her parents, told Esther not to reveal her Jewish heritage, presumably to prevent any discrimination against her. After a year of preparation, Esther was presented to Xerxes, won his favor, and became his queen.

Now, enter the villain, Haman. Haman was an Amalekite, the historic enemy of Israel since the time of the Exodus. Haman also won the favor of Xerxes, who gave him a place of honor higher than any of his other officials. When Haman walked by, everyone knelt before him in respect (or fear). Everyone but Mordechai.

Infuriated by this Jew's disrespect, Haman schemed to have Mordechai hung on the gallows and to have all the Jews throughout Xerxes' Empire exterminated. Xerxes issued a decree to that effect and published it throughout the provinces.

When Mordechai learned of this decree, he urged Esther, at the risk of her own life, to intervene on behalf of her people. He persuaded her that she might have "come to royal position for such a time as this." Esther pled her case before her king and, in an unexpected turn of events, Mordechai was honored by Xerxes and Haman was hanged on the very gallows from which he wanted to see Mordechai swing. At Esther's request, Xerxes reversed his decree and allowed the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies.

To celebrate this great deliverance, the Festival of Purim was established and is observed by the Jews to this very day.

Esther was the right person in the right place at the right time. Even though God isn't mentioned once in the Book of Esther, His fingerprints are all over it. He orchestrated these events not only to deliver His people in Esther's day, but to deliver all people throughout all history. God had a bigger plan at work and would not allow a weasel like Haman to get in the way. God still had a Savior to send, His Son, Jesus, who was born a Jew. Esther's obedience furthered God's saving work for all humanity.

God places each of us where we are to serve His plan and further His purposes. It might include political drama and palace intrigue as it did for Esther. But it probably won't. We may serve our God in ordinary and even mundane ways, but we can serve Him nonetheless. We most likely won't make the headlines. But we can still make a difference.