Rick Henderson

On Earth

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:9-15 (day seven)

Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

This week has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. On Wednesday, I officiated the funeral of a 23 year old who passed away unexpectedly. On Saturday, I officiated the wedding of a former student to a former intern. In the words of the Preacher from Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4, “There is an appointed time for everything […] a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” The difficulty in this correlation is that both of the aforementioned events were appointed. Both were a part of God’s will on earth. It’s easy to see how the joyous marriage of two young Christ followers fits into this plan, but how can we fit an unexpected death into this? Surely this isn’t what He meant by His “will be done” right? The prayer that Jesus asks us to pray is not for us to change the will of God. Rather, it is an invitation for us to participate with Him to see the goodness in His will. Whether it be dancing or mourning, God is good, all the time!

Go Pray

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18 (day seven)

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father. Vs 6

Go pray. There is intentionality in the “Go.” Jesus both taught and demonstrated the importance going off to pray. By going and getting away, it removes the temptation of it becoming a showcase of our righteousness, but it also removes the distractions that might interrupt our connection with the Father.

When you were a teenager, do you remember taking a phone call from a friend and going as far away as possible so others couldn’t hear? In today’s age, that is a little easier with cellular phones, but some of y’all reading this had to get really creative with those calls. You didn’t want to showcase your call for the whole house to hear, nor did you want anyone interrupting that call. When was the last time you made that type of effort to connect with the Father in prayer? How often are there distractions around us that interrupt our time with Him? If Jesus, who is One with the Father, made intentional effort to connect with Him, how much more effort should we be putting forth?

Love

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:33-48 (day seven)

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Vs 48

If Christians were to live exactly as Jesus lined out in this sermon, we would be perfect. Why then are we not? Why are there unhealthy churches? Why are “Christians” often the hinderance for non-Christians finding Christ? The reason lies in the midst of the sermon. We do not love others as much as we love ourselves. Self absorption is at the root of all sins. It invades our heart and impacts how we interact with the world. It becomes “What’s in it for me?” instead of “How does this bring glory to God?” The truth is we can’t be perfect on our own. This self absorption always finds a way to rear its ugly head at the worst time.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us […] made us alive together with Christ […] it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2.

The gifts we receive in the coming days pales in comparison to the Gift God sent us. With that Gift, we can be perfect. Only with the love of God can we overcome the love of self to show the world true love.

Merry Christmas!

Missing the Mark

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:17-32 (day seven)

The Greek word hamartia, that we translate as sin, actually comes from an archery concept meaning to “miss the mark.” It referred to arrows that didn’t hit their target. Sin is when we miss the mark that was set for us by God. Much like the Pharisees whom Jesus is speaking to in this passage, we often pride ourselves in simply landing our arrow in the vicinity of the target, comparing ourselves to our neighbor who shanked his arrow into the woods. Yet, if we are true to the archery analogy, anything short of a bullseye is miss. Even if it was just a little bit offline, it still missed the mark.

Adultery and murder have a wider effect and bigger complications on the community around us than lust and anger respectively, but what Jesus is concerned about is when we get comfortable with the near misses. The heart is where the sin begins, and if our heart is not headed for the bullseye, we may easily find our own arrows headed for the woods.

Let it Shine

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:13-16 (day seven)

nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket. vs 15

In this advent season, we celebrate the incarnation. John tells us that God became flesh and dwelt among us. Hillsong, inspired by John 1, wrote, “Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness.” The Light came to us and purposely surrounded Himself in darkness in order that we could have Light in all of us and the darkness would be exposed and expelled. That is Love!

What is expected of us in return? We are sent out into the world to let our Light shine in the darkness. Which means we need to purposely surround ourself in darkness. Though it is true that if more lights gather together, their cumulative light shines brighter, but how can darkness be exposed if the lights are stagnant? In an attempt to make our lights brighter, we end up hiding them under a basket of comfortability. In this advent season, how might you be able to bring Light to the darkness? What do you need to do to get out of your comfort zone and expose and expel darkness?

Hunger of an Infant

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 5:1-12 (day seven)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

In the moment of this writing, an infant is fast asleep in my arms. As this blessing from God sleeps so soundly, I know it is only a matter of time before he wakes and will begin to wail. His crying is a signal, a literal cry for help, and the only way to cure it is to give him what he wants: milk!

Questions begin to race through my mind. Do I crave righteousness like this? Do I wake up with a longing and yearning to be spiritually nourished? Do I have a one track mind to find the One who can give me what I want? Will I make sure that everyone around me knows Who I need? Even if I try to satisfy my hunger with other things, nothing quite quenches my desire like the Bread of Life.

Self-promotion

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 6:11-18 (day seven)

Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

As we wrap up this series, we are reminded that Paul was warning the Galatians of legalism. Though we may not struggle with the exact same problem, (circumcision) the root issue that Paul addresses is rampant in our culture: self-promotion and self-preservation.

The legalists here were not promoting a bad thing, but the reason for the promotion was ultimately to make themselves look better. It’s often subconscious, but if we aren’t careful we can do the same thing. Our acts of service, posture of worship, and even our prayer requests can become a performance to showcase ourselves instead of the glory of God. We self-promote and self-preserve hoping that others will perceive our actions as holiness. We think that these things we do today might result in jewels added to our crown in heaven. The truth is there will only be one crown worn in heaven. Whatever crown you had put on your head will fall off as you bow before the King of Kings.

Share the Load

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 6:1-10 (day seven)

There is an important sequence in the story line of “The Lord of the Rings.” Samwise Gamgee has been a faithful companion to Frodo Baggins on his journey to Mordor to destroy “The One Ring.” Yet, the ring begins to come between them. It is visibly evident that the weight of the ring is taking a toll on Frodo. Sam, the good friend that he is, offers to share the load and carry the ring for a bit so Frodo can have a break. Frodo, under the the spell of the ring, believes that Sam is selfishly trying to take it for himself, propelling an argument that sends Sam back home. Frodo proceeds on the route by himself and is unable to bear the burden alone leading to his capture.

We know Tolkien was a devout Catholic. I believe he wrote this scene with Galatians 6 in mind. The ring is very clearly a symbol of sin in our own lives. We often believe that our struggles are internal, but what we don’t realize is that as much as we try to keep the pain to ourselves, it will eventually bleed over into other places and impact our relationships. We have been created and designed by God to be dependent on others. Anytime we try to bear our own load, it will almost always lead us to more pain and more problems.

Spoiler Alert: Sam didn’t go home. He followed Frodo at a distance and rescued him. This is the importance of community. Be more like Sam. Be like Christ.

Practice Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day seven)

those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. vs. 21b

Upon reading this list, I find myself in conviction of missteps in my own life where I succumbed to the desires of my flesh. What about you? Does that mean that we will not inherit the kingdom of God? It would seem as if the very legalism that Paul is attempting to extinguish is being fed kindling. We feel as if when we commit one of these sins we have committed an unpardonable offense… or that is what the enemy would want us to believe. When we think we are unredeemable, we lose our hope and will to endure. The game changer here comes down to “practice.” In this instance, practice does not make perfect but is the road to condemnation. The grace of God allows us to recognize that the flesh has not won the war and we can repent of our missteps. By the work of the Spirit and the evidence of His fruit, we can pull ourselves up out of the practice of sinning through the practice of praying.

Slippery Slope

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:1-15 (day seven)

A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. vs. 9

One bad apple spoils the barrel. It only takes a few degrees to get off course. We have heard these idioms time and time again, but the truth of the message is important to hear often. If we allow ourselves to compromise on our ideals in even minuscule situations, it begins a slippery slope that could lead to total corruption. We are not saying that going 75mph down 281 on my way to church this morning will lead me to apostasy, but it is a calling for us to think about the places where sin and other disruptors have a foothold into our lives. The Galatians in this instance found themselves immersed in a battle with legalism that threatened their entire trajectory as a church. It is important that we look for these areas in our own lives and solidify our theology, so that we do not fall into corruption individually or corporately.