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Thomas A Kempis once wrote when talking about the saints of old:

“How great their zeal and their love for spiritual perfection! How brave the fight they waged to master their evil habits! What pure and straightforward purpose they showed toward God! By day they labored and by night they spent themselves in long prayers. Even at work they did not cease from mental prayer. They used all their time profitably; every hour seemed too short for serving God, and in the great sweetness of contemplation, they forgot even their bodily needs… Strangers to the world, they were close and intimate friends of God. To themselves they seemed as nothing, and they were despised by the world, but in the eyes of God they were precious and beloved. They lived in true humility and simple obedience; they walked in charity and patience, making progress daily on the pathway of spiritual life and obtaining great favor with God. They were given as an example for all religious, and their power to stimulate us to perfection ought to be greater than that of the lukewarm to tempt us to laxity.”

As we explored Sunday, Ephesians 5.15-16 calls us to “look carefully then how you walk” and to “redeem the time because the days are evil.” As the week has gone on I hope you have taken the opportunity to do exactly that.  As I was reading through The Imitation of Christ I came upon the quote above and it struck a chord deep in me as I thought about the early church fathers and saints that Thomas A Kempis is speaking of.  While the whole quote grabbed me, I wanted to pull out several parts that could revolutionize our lives if we redeemed the time in our lives.
Toward God :
“Pure and straightforward purpose”
“They did not cease from mental prayer”
Serving God :
“They used all their time profitably, every hour seemed too short”
“They lived in true humility and simple obedience”

Stop for a moment and think.  If you were to prioritize your life what is the order that you think it should be in?  What is first?  God? Your family? Your job?  Your car? Your favorite sports team? Success? Your house? Your lawn? Your stuff? Your kids? Your spouse? TV? Facebook? Email? Internet? Video games? Gossip?

Now stop and look carefully at how you walk, how you live.  What is the priorities of your life? How much time do you spend on the “other stuff” in life? When you have free time and you say God is first or your family is first or second, is that what you spend that time with? Or do you spend hours working from home? Or watching TV? Or making your lawn the best on the block? Or fixing up an old car? Or playing video games? Or talking on the phone about the latest gossip? As you stop and look carefully at your life are you really pursuing what you say with your mouth is the most important things to you?

Now go back and look at the quote above. I would propose that God should not be number one on your priority list, rather He should BE your life.  For as a follower of Jesus Christ, you have put off your old self, and have put on your new. You were buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk a new life.  A life with the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Everything else makes up how you live, but God is now your life. So look carefully at how you live.  Certainly we all have to work daily, but as you work do you “not cease from mental prayer?” Do you live with the “pure and straightforward purpose” that God has created you for? Do you live in “true humility and simple obedience”?  And at the end of the day have you fully redeemed the time, using all your time profitably?  As a husband or wife have you lifted up and loved your spouse each day in the way that God has called you to?  As a parent have you encouraged and loved your children each day in the way that God has called you to?  As a friend, as  a neighbor, as an employee, as a boss, as a stranger, as an enemy have you demonstrated Jesus Christ so that you are viewed as precious and beloved in the eyes of Christ? For me, the answer is no.  For many of us, the answer may be no as well.

Please don’t dismiss this as an ideal that was accomplished easily by great and Godly men a lot time ago. For they too waged a fight to battle their evil habits and desires. And please don’t dismiss this as merely a guilt trip, for that is not my intent, for I too struggle to redeem the time in my own life.  And please don’t dismiss this as something that you cannot accomplish, for through the power of God’s grace, and His Spirit that dwells in you, you can and you will.  Instead understand that I write this in love and may you see that: “Their power to stimulate us to perfection ought to be greater than that of the lukewarm to tempt us to laxity”

So may you look carefully at how you walk and redeem the time.
May you learn from the saints of old and embrace Christ the way that they did.
May you resist the laxity of the lukewarm and the world, and live in true humility and simple obedience.
May you live a life with pure and straightforward purpose for the one who redeemed you on Calvary.

John Piper once said:
“Light exposes the dark. When light gets near a dark thing truth happens. Things are seen for what they are. The deceptions and half-truths are blown away…Wherever the light of truth and love comes, darkness flies away. Therefore it is one of the great callings of the followers of Jesus to let their light shine in both ways: to do good deeds and to expose darkness. The aim is partly negative: reveal the error hidden in the darkness, but mainly positive: to bring people to love the light and be made light in the Lord Jesus.”

What do you do when light shines on something that you have tried to keep in the dark?    We’ve all had things and in many cases, sadly enough, we still have something.  But what do you do? Are you like a rat, who hides in the darkness and when light exposes it, it scatters, running back into the darkness, staying out of the light at all costs, dwelling in darkness? Or are you like a rainstorm, who when light breaks through the darkness and the turmoil, it ends and the light reflects off creating something beautiful in the form of a rainbow?

Paul breaks this out so well in Ephesians 5:7-10 (emphasis on verse 8):
“Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light. (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”
Notice several things.  First, Paul doesn’t only say that we were once in darkness. He says we once were darkness.   Second, we are not only in the light, we are light in the Lord.  And finally, you are children of light, so live like children of light.

You see, when we try and hide our sin from God and from people, we also hide them from ourselves.  What starts out as seemingly just hiding something in the darkness, quickly drives us deeper into the darkness until we become a part of it.  Think about it…you hide it, then you have to lie to keep it hidden, then you try and justify it to make it easier to hide, often times you continue in it, lie some more, justify some more until pretty soon you think it is OK or you have accepted it.  No matter what it is, sexual immorality, materialism, coveting, drunkenness, anger, hatred, idolatry, stealing, lying etc etc, what may have started out seemingly small pushes into becoming part of the darkness that we dwelt in.  And when the light comes, we run from it.  When the light shines on us we scatter.

But now as Christians, we are no longer darkness but now we are light.  We are actually the light of the world in Jesus Christ! We are to take His word, His light, that broke through the darkness and shined on us and reflect it in the darkness of this world.  We are called to live as children of light and were can know that we are living as such if there is goodness and rightness and truth radiating off us. And things things are absolutely beautiful, the light rescues people from the darkness.  The light is all that is right in the world.  The lights removes the darkness and allows us to become as we were created to be…in the image of the true light!

But sometimes I wonder why the world scatters when the light comes.  If it is so wonderful, so redeeming, so beautiful, so completing, why do people run?  What do they scatter? I think in many cases it’s because we misunderstand what it means to be the light. In the quote above Piper reminds us that as the light we are to expose and reveal the error of the darkness. As children of the light, often times we do that in such a holier than thou, judgmental, unforgiving and unloving fashion.  And those of the darkness run away. For many of us, as we read this, our minds leap to someone we know or have seen standing outside a concert or event that reminds us of this.  But the truth is we all do it. Maybe we don’t call down condemnation and judgement on people, but some of us decide who we shine the light on and who we don’t think is deserving. We pick and choose when we are going to be the light and when we are going to “hide it under a basket”.  We are unloving to those who are not like us, unforgiving to those we think wronged us.  Sometimes in “trying” to be the light, we actually discover that we ourselves still have things in the darkness.

But we are called to be the light, which is more than just exposing and revealing the darkness, it is being the light.  It is being forgiving no matter what emerges out of the darkness.  It is being loving, despite race, gender, sexual identity or any thing else.  It remembering that we are the children of the light and a reflection of the light and we are to draw out the darkness, but remember that it is the true light that transforms. For the first step is coming out of the darkness and into the light and then the true light removes the darkness and renews and refreshes and redeems and purifies and glorifies and that is what keeps the darkness out and the light in and creates more children of light.  Not us, we are called to be light in a dark world, not to save but to reflect.  For Jesus Christ alone saves.

So may you come out of the darkness and into the light.

May you allow the true light to redeem and live in you, removing all darkness.

May you live as children of the light reflecting His promise, His glory, His love to all.

I just wanted to apologize for not posting the last several weeks.  With Grace’s arrival and all that has been going on, I wasn’t able to make time for it. My apologies.  I will be posting a new blog tomorrow and will consistantly update this each week going forward.  My hope is that these blogs are able to spur you on further from when we worship together on Sunday mornings!

Thank you all for all your prayers and all that you have done for our family!

Christ In You, the Hope of Glory,
Ben

Greetings!
Grace and Peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ!

D.L. Moody once told this story:

“We built a church in Chicago some years ago; and we were very anxious to teach the people the love of God. We thought if we could not preach it into their hearts we would try and burn it in; so we put right over the pulpit in gas-jets these words — GOD IS LOVE. A man going along the streets one night glanced through the door, and saw the text. He was a poor prodigal. As he passed on he thought to himself, “‘God is Love!’ No! He does not love me; for I am a poor miserable sinner.” He tried to get rid of the text; but it seemed to stand out right before him in letters of fire. He went on a little further; then turned round, went back, and went into the meeting, he did not hear the sermon; but the words of that short text had got deeply lodged in his heart, and that was enough. It is of little account what men say if the Word of God only gets an entrance into the sinner’s heart. He stayed after the first meeting was over; and I found him there weeping like a child. As I unfolded the Scriptures and told him how God had loved him all the time, although he had wandered so far a way, and how God was waiting to receive him and forgive him, the light of the Gospel broke into his mind, and he went away rejoicing. There is nothing in this world that men prize so much as they do Love. Show me a person who has no one to care for or love him, and I will show you one of the most wretched beings on the face of the earth.”

The love of God. We talk about so much and yet so little. The phrase God is Love (1 John 4.8) seems to come from the lips of so many, yet so few understand its magnitude. We throw it around as we celebrate our salvation, our forgiveness, our freedom, our reward that we find in Jesus Christ. We say our thank you’s to God for His grace, for the love that He showed us while we were sinners. We quickly grab hold of it so that can avoid the fires of Hell. And then we keep on living for ourselves. And in doing just this, we will find ourselves standing on the edge of the beach, waist high in the tide, never experiencing the fullness of the ocean.

When we talk about the love of God, specifically as demonstrated through Jesus Christ (the ultimate example of love) we must realize that it is so much more than a ticket into heaven. It isn’t just about rescuing us and saving us; it is about rescuing us and making us whole. Allowing us to live as we were created to live. Giving us love so that we would also love. As David preached yesterday, I found myself reminded that this love of God is so deep and rich and powerful. It strengthens your inner being with power through His Spirit. Because of it, Christ dwells in your heart. It roots us and grounds us in itself allowing us the strength to comprehend its magnificence. It fills us with all the fullness of God. This phrase alone blows my mind. To be filled with God is amazing. To be filled with the fullness of God is indescribable. But to be filled with ALL the fullness of God is unimaginable!

You see far too many of us still cling to a world given idea that “if I obey, then I am loved.” But the love of God is the exact opposite, “I am loved, now I obey.” This is huge! We are now able to take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love! In His love, God didn’t just give us His love He actually demonstrated it! And because of it He now fills us with all of Him so that we can show His love to the world. And there are so many dimensions to His love. He gives us grace, and now we can let go of grudges and forgive. He shows mercy, and now we can overcome and calm our anger. He came for us, and now we can serve others instead of just ourselves. He was perfect, and now we can overcome temptation. He redeems us, and now we can rescue the broken. He is the Word, and so now we can speak it with confidence. And we do this all for the glory of the one who loved us.

May you fully embrace the height, depth, breadth, length and fullness of God’s love for you.

May you grab hold of the power and magnificence of Christ’s love and let it dwell deep within you.

And may you get off the beach and dive into the ocean and experience a life of love for His glory.

F.B. Meyer once wrote:

“He has loved us, not because we were pure, and holy, and lovely; for, in fact, He knew that we were the very reverse. But with the clear prevision of our native sin and unfaithfulness, He took us into covenant relationship with Himself. Not because we were good, but to make us so; not because we were faithful, but to lead us to be so. He has given us all kinds of blessings. But, alas, how ill we have requited Him! We have departed from Him, and grossly betrayed His trust; till He has been reluctantly obliged to leave us to ourselves. But He waits to be gracious; and if we repent and turn to Him, He will say to us, Ammi, my people; and Ruhamah, thou hast obtained mercy.”

Before I go any further I have to admit something…I cry. Yes I know, it is shocking to many of you, that beneath this tough, rugged, manly, stone-faced demeanor is a emotionally charged fella. OK…so most of you aren’t surprised at all, in fact most of you have probably seen me cry a time or two. But I will say that when it comes to crying my wires are a bit crossed. Let me explain…see most people cry when they are sad: at the loss of a loved one, when something horrible happens, even when someone else is grieving. This is a normal and healthy expression of sadness and crying. But usually that’s not when I cry. And honestly I don’t know why.

But for whatever reason, I cry a lot in joy. Especially in movies. Here’s an example that Heather still laughs about today…In the movie Scrooged (the comical telling of the Christmas Carol starring Bill Murray) there is a scene at the end, after Scrooge has been visited by all three ghosts, has changed his ways and is a new man, and has been running through the television studio proclaiming the spirit of Christmas, that he stops and addresses the TV audience. After he is done he feels a tug on his jacket. It is Tiny Tim, the little boy who throughout the whole movie could not speak. Scrooge looks down at the little boy and Tim opens his mouth and whispers “God Bless Us Every One.” And I start crying like a little girl. Heather looks at me as if I have lost my mind. And this happens to me all the time: from when William Wallace yells out “Freedom” in Braveheart to when Lightning McQueen stops a foot before the finish line and goes back to get The wrecked King in Cars. And for a long time I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me…

But I finally figured it out, and it’s the reason that I love the story of Hosea. The reason that I cry when I read it. That I cried as I wrote the second part of the sermon. And that I was trying not to cry as I preached it Saturday night. The reason why I cry when I do is because I weep at the mere thought of Redemption. Because written underneath every story of redemption in life today; whether in real life, in movies, in art, or in whatever, is the story of God’s redemption of us in Jesus Christ. In His coming to earth for us – an unfaithful bride. In our rejection of Him, and our unfaithfulness. In His bloody, excruciating death on the cross to pay the price in full to rescue us. And in His return and pursuit of us to redeem us – calling us home with Him in love as His bride. Not because we have done good, but to make us righteous. Not because we have been faithful, for we have been faithful only to ourselves, but to make us faithful to Him. Despite all our baggage, all our wretchedness, all our pride – He Redeemed Us. This redemption is visible all around us and every time I see it, I cry.
For it is the most beautiful thing I have ever known.

May you see the redemption story all around you.

May you weep tears of joy, for you have been rescued and loved despite your unfaithfulness.

And may you live a life faithful to Him alone who redeemed you.

John Stott once wrote:

“It is as if a great drama is being enacted. History is the theatre, the world is the stage, and the church members in every land are the actors. God himself has written the play, and he directs and produces it. Act by act, scene by scene, the story continues to unfold. But who are the audience? They are the cosmic intelligences, the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.”

On Sunday we talked about God’s manifold (multi-colored) wisdom as a painting. We talked about how painter Bob Ross would create a painting that looks beautiful and complex and finished 15 minutes into his show, yet then add additional “happy trees” and other things to create greater detail, a new perspective and by the time he was finished a painting that was far greater and more amazing than before. In the same way God, in creation, painted a magnificent painting using vivid colors and incredible variations, one in which we as humans have marveled at daily since the creation of time. And while those “sons of men in past generations” thought the painting was through, God continued painting, using the beauty and power in Jesus Christ, to reveal the mystery, a new perspective, the perspective that He had planned all along – that the painting was for all the world. And now he continues to paint, using His people, the church to the joy and amazement of the angels above and the dismay and defeat of the fallen angels below. What a truly sensational painting it is!!!!

And so, while the imagery of a painting captured the Creator’s mastery in the world, as I came across the quote from John Stott above, I thought it captured where we are to go from here. History is the theatre – the wondrous history has built a glorious theatre in which we are to shine. The world is our stage – it is what we are called to be “in” but not of, not isolating ourselves from it, but rather going out to it. God, the Creator, the Ruler, the Sustainer is right there – having written the play long before time began; directing it along that beautiful storyline; and producing it as He sees glory brought to Him. The audience is full of His biggest fans – the angels – cheering and applauding the play as it goes, and His harshest critics – the demons – heckling and hoping that it is a tremendous disaster.

And there we are, His people – the church, the ones He has chosen in this incredible tale, amazed by the history found in the theatre, fully in the world which is our stage, in front of a multitude of rulers and authorities in the highest and lowest places with the opportunity to shine. Not because we are that good, but because we are part of a magnificent story, being guided by its author, in a way that will allow us the ultimate reward at the end of the show. In the end all glory, all praise will be to Him who truly did it all, but for now we are on stage with our lines entrenched in our script, the Holy Scriptures and the spotlight is on us.

May you know that the script of your life was written for you as part of a much bigger story.

May you know it, embrace it, and follow the guidance of the director.

And may you shine in this world, your life always on stage for the glory of God.

My name is Ben Norvig and I am the Pastor of The Acts2 Church in Gretna, NE.  Starting in February, I will be posting a weekly blog every Wednesday to engage deeper into our current sermon journey.  We are currently in a journey through Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

In some cases, the blog may veer off the current journey into a seemingly never-ending rambling rabbit hole, but in all cases it’s primary focus will be to move readers deeper as we strive to Love God, Love One Another and Love All.

Christ In You, the Hope of Glory,
Pastor Ben Norvig