Friends, today we celebrate the first Sunday in the Lenten Season in the Church. Lent derives from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, meaning “lengthen,” and refers to the lengthening days of spring. I’m sure each of us would like to see more daylight.
During this time, as it is each year, even each day we live, we come to a decision, a crossroad in our journey, whether we seek the world, or Christ, seek treasures on earth or heaven, seek to be served, or to serve. This same battle has plagued humanity to date.
In todays reading from the Pauls Letter to the Romans, we find a very protruding statement that seems to cut the fat away from the meat so to speak, to get in the center of it all. “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth, he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.
So, what are we hearing from this? This is the root for all to learn and come to Christ and be saved! Its coming to him with humility, child like faith, but I want to ask you, is there a distinction between who can and who will come to Christ? Is there exceptions to the rule? Are we seeing a distinction between saved and the unsaved? Rich or Poor? Black or White? Just and the unjust? Listen further in what Paul is saying, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Who can come to Christ? Who can be saved? Who can be used to do God’s work? The short answer is everyone, including you. Doesn’t matter how old you are, how much hearing loss you have, how many fingers and toes you got. If we are to answer Gods voice, we will be used.
From a very fond Hymn, “Here I am Lord” by Daniel Schutte, that was originally derived by the Roman Catholic renewal music resulting from the Second Vatican Council, has the very profound refrain stating, “Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.” So the answer is ‘Yes’, it is you that he is calling, and ‘Yes’ he will lead you.
But are we willing? Are we willing to go above and beyond, or just enough to get by? To be saved, Paul is telling us very clearly that our Salvation comes from God, but it starts with our choice to believe. Now this is where we draw a line into the sand. How can we believe even when we don’t understand. That’s the whole point of faith! The Psalms tells us, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.”
So why all this talk about Distinction and the Christian Life? I wanted to emphasize a biblical principle that each of us can relate to. The Christian life should be spent learning to discipline ourselves not to put our aches and pains, our needs front and center, not to ask “What good can God do for me at this moment?” but rather to more frequently ask the questions like, “What does God want me to do? How can I play a role in Gods work? What can I do for my Church and fellow man?
Church itself is not a technique for getting what we want out of God. Rather it is the primary way God has chosen to get what God wants out of us! Church is for us to commune with God! Jesus tells us “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” God graciously called each of us NOT saying, How can I help you, but come, follow me! With all our flaws, faults, past history, short comings, ugly looks, sloppy words, medical problems, everything! Come as you are! Yet, still people neglect the obedience God sets before us. As it once was stated, “We should be busy bending our lives to God.” When we gather together as a church body, not just physically in a church, we are not simply to praise God and go home feeling better, we are to become better to obey the heavenly Father, creator of heaven and earth, savior, redeemer, the alpha and omega, beginning and the end, prince of peace. We are designed to serve God and each other period. We are designed to do work!
If you read scripture, it tells us God is no respecter of a person. He does not favor one for the other, based solely on our value, looks, wealth or any other perspective, apart from our personal and spiritual choice to follow him.
Could you just imagine, coming before Almighty, Heavenly God, creator of all things, including yourself, and for God to tell you, ‘Your not accepted!’. That would be rather painful wouldn’t it. And if you think more about it, how the cultures of the world is a few hundred years ago, even to date, treat each other differently for different reasons. Think how our salvation would be on shady group, if God acted the same way. If God was to rule by emotions and feelings only, to govern by who is more popular in stature, tithing and physique. How unstable a foundation we could live boldly the Christian life when even though nothing we do is ever good enough, but that is NOT the case. God accepts us just as we are! “Just as I am, without one please, but that thy blood was shed for me!”
I want you to also think about the steadfast principle of knowing, God is the same yesterday, today and forever, as found in the letter to the Hebrews. Then, Jesus gives us a very precise definition in the Gospel of John about who he is, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” The same then as today.
A young boy told a story about his dad used to tell of a man who bragged that he had been a Methodist and Presbyterian and was now thinking of leaving the Baptist church to become a Charismatic. The boy said my dad wished him luck one day and the man seemed puzzled, thinking his pastor would fight for his membership. Dad explained to the young boy that he didn’t see any harm in changing labels on an empty bottle. In other words, his spiritual vessel, no matter where he went, was empty. He was trying to fill it up by some earthy ways of doing things.
Thousands seek to escape life’s boredom through modern fads and isms. Someone has said: "The religion of China is Confucian: the religion of America is confusion." Men wander in a wilderness of cults seeking lasting satisfaction, but never finding it.
The Prophet Micah tells us “How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger.”
Letter to the Galatians tells us “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.”
I want you to ponder on the statement ‘No Distinction’ for a moment, and think about how important that is for you.
All the spell binding statements of anger, gestures of self pity and even words of down right neglect that comes from our mouths at times. Yet, God forgives us as we are!
From our behaviors of turmoil towards our fellowman, inexcuseable self inflicting pain and suffering from bad choice and even deliberate manipulation of situations to gain yourself favorable results which may include lying, cheating and stealing. Yet God forgives all of them in our lives, and accepts us as we are. From plain old fashion white lies, to tremendous murderous rampages, we serve a God of mercy and grace. And its this mercy and grace that has No Distinction, as long as those who call upon the Name of the Lord, will be saved.
Paul’s letter to the people of Corinth tells us “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
In closing friends, I want to challenge you to reflect and respond on what distinction we have in doing Gods work, by will, pleasure and delight. As we know today that there is not distinction of who comes to God, we all have a choice to make, and then respond. Let this be a time to refresh.
James Polk
I felt the love of an angel today,
For the first time since I walked away.
I've felt guilt and shame for so many years,
But the angel freed me of that through my tears.
I cried to him and confessed my sin,
I opened the door and let him in.
The angel greeted me with a smile,
He held me in his arms and said, "It's been awhile."
He said, "My child, it is going to be alright.
No longer will you cry yourself to sleep at night,
All those times when you were full of fear,
It was I who pulled you through; I have always been near."
He said, "I have loved you since the beginning of forever,
And my love for you will stop never.
My child, I am always there,
All you have to do is come to me in prayer."