Contrition is a five dollar word with a practical
nickel explanation. Webster defines it as “the state of feeling remorseful
and penitent.” A synonym for it is the Christian word “repentance”. The key
of repentance is to understand that it is a two-part expression and commitment.
It is feeling remorse for our sins and in asking for forgiveness we commit our
lives to living more Godly going forward. If we don’t understand the importance
of both parts of repentance, then our lives continue on the “hamster wheel” of
sin with little hope of our lives growing and fulfilling the purpose God has
for us.
Forgiveness – 1 John 1:9 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
Penitent Commitment – Romans 12:1-2 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Confession leads us by the Word of God to recognizing our sins and subsequently our need for forgiveness. Genuine repentance brings us to know we stand in need of a salvation that we cannot earn on our own. This human journey we are on here should bring us closer to God in our lives. With that as our foundation then sin can simply be defined as anything that puts distance between us and God. Sin can be things we do that harm ourselves or others as well as things we may not do ( omit ) that result in harming ourselves or others.
Our forgiveness then is based on our confession of
faith in Jesus Christ and that confession brings forgiveness. With our sins
removed from our lives we are free to live a full life for God without the
weight of yesterdays wrongs holding back the presence of Jesus in our lives
today. Our commitment in repentance brings us to God in prayer that we may live
a full and pleasing life for him.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
For
a few weeks we are going to look at the order and structure of the Church. How
it is seen by us and how God views it and has engaged us for His purpose as His
Church in this world.
I will use a
simple to follow set of descriptive words that are each a part of the Worship
experience. When they are put together represent it represents God’s collective
Church here in this world.
We will call
them the The C’s of Christianity – Confession, Contrition, Covenant, Community,
Connection, Church
You
will notice in this order that Church is last. That is not a slight on Church
or a random listing of these tenants. Each are results from a very thorough
review of how God empowers our lives for Him. We will discuss the importance of
that order as we go through them. I hope this discussion will be of value for
you in your daily life.
C
#1 – CONFESSION
Think
with me on the make of automobile you own, the shoes you are wearing, the
appliances in your home, the type of coffee you drink, your favorite authors ar
any of the popular things in your life that have meaning for you.
With each of these you can freely express why you are loyal to a certain brand or make and model. You share over coffee, visits and in casual conversation what these things mean to you and how you support them. You make a “confession of faith” in them to others because you have experienced enough of them to know they are of value to you and may therefore also help others.
Our faith is no different but for some reason it is so much more difficult to share. We find ourselves in awkward feeling places when thinking of sharing our faith. One of the areas where we could use some help would be in the “hands on” part of our faith. When we share our confession of support in a car or house appliance we have faith in them because we have used them, we are familiar with them and we can communicate that support by our experience. Sadly in most of our lives our personal relationship with Jesus Christ is not strong enough so we just are not comfortable to share our faith with others. Jesus said if we cannot do that ( Confess Him before Men ) then we do not have a relationship with him – Then if we think of why we don’t have a relationship with him the heart of the matter comes to light for us – “where your treasure is there will your heart be also” – where do we spend our valuable resources that God has blessed us with ? In the study of His word and talking “ prayer “ with Him we build a relationship with Him. That experience over time allows us to share His presence in our lives with others. Our confession becomes a real and active faith not just a verbal commitment that we cannot support. When faith is present in our lives and we are open and willing to tell others about our faith then our confession ( Peter at Ceserea Phillipi )_ becomes a foundation for God to continue to build His Church in our bodies.
8 Then Peter, filled with the
Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
Only a few weeks ago we welcomed in Pentecost and the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can guide, comfort and encourage us in our every day lives. One of the results we discussed was the filling of the spirit in our lives always produced results. Those results you will remember will benefit us and others when it fills our spirits and lives. Once the Spirit provided healing of the cripple beggar and Peter’s subsequent sermon in Acts 3, he and John were arrested and questioned as to how they healed the cripple man. Peter takes this opportunity again, to proclaim the power and gospel of Jesus under the Holy Spirit. We find the marker here of Peter’s strength in the Holy Spirit and his direction of the gospel to the rulers of the people and the elders of Israel. We often tend to look only at what is right in front of us and miss the larger opportunity. Peter did not wait to determine how to best communicate to these people of different backgrounds and cultures. He brings them in Acts 4 to the heart of the Gospel in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers and emboldens Peter to use God’s miracle of healing to know he is safe to take the Truth to the elders of Israel, that includes some of the main ones that presided over Jesus mock trial. The scriptures record here that while the leader’s hearts are hardened there are others that hear him and believe. God provides His spirit in our lives to empower and embolden us to generate results in the lives of others. God’s power and provisions will never fail. If He brings us into a situation where we know His spirit is present then He will always provide a path for us to witness to others. May we like Peter be willing and able to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our efforts.
It only took a few days for Peter and John to find the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that God provided on Pentecost. The text in Acts 3 finds them in a normal day of observing the practice of prayer at the 3:00 o’clock hour of the afternoon. God moves here through Peter to empower him with the Holy Spirit and to demonstrate that the power of God is available and effective anywhere not just in the temple where they had come to worship. The Church today can find some valuable examples of God’s purpose in these verses. We can see how God provides opportunity for us to share His word with others in the most taken for granted and normal parts of our day. Peter and John’s focus on the beggar’s potential purpose in life instead of the need the man sought to fill. It helps us see the purpose that we each live for Him as His Church in the world today. We look at Peter and John and can draw many parallels for our purpose today that would help us serve God in a more powerful way. The challenge with that thought is it can lead us to misplace our purpose in life by trying to bring our faith level to a healing level like Peter. Peter’s words are a great thought for us “ Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee:“ The Church has many competing priorities and challenges today but the TRUTH comes to us from these words and the realization that the Church can no longer say it has no silver and gold. We also can no longer say “ Rise up and walk.” Instead of feeloing limited by this we might find a better start in our daily lives to look at how similar we are to the Beggar. We often are stuck in the same day to day normal life and we have been there so long it seems like the right place to be so we only look for our needs to be met by God. God however in the power of the Holy Spirit has a purpose for us and he would love to bless us today with a grace that exceeds all of our expectations. He wants to take this “cripple” life we have been living and make it one of power and influence. He wants to give us a life we never thought spiritually was possible so that we can tell others about Him. Remember before going out as the Church that we are beggar’s by our human nature. We stand in need of salvation and we can bring nothing to it from our lives but we have the promise of everything in Jesus. Some days we get what we want, some days we get what we need and every day in Grace we get far more than we ever imagined.
We often keep the death of Jesus in our rearview mirror. Our faith tells us that it is historically both a literal and spiritual truth yet we are not forced to be on one side or the other of his actual death. It creates a unique paradox for Christians because Peter’s words are as applicable to us today as they were to the actual people of Jesus day. God’s purpose and foreknowledge brings Jesus to us each day in many ways and through many people that we meet along our way. We may either find someone that shares our faith and has an experience we can share together, or we may find someone in need of finding God’s purpose in their lives. Either way we hold the life of Jesus and the opportunity to share Him or to steer clear of him in the presence of lost and evil people. The question that comes to us from Peter’s sermon is are we aware that on any given day we have the opportunity share Jesus or put him to death. While that is not a literal choice, that we can easily separate our actions from, it can be a lost opportunity in not speaking for Jesus we spiritually allow His death by not fulfilling our purpose. The reality for us all is that on any given day, under circumstances of the moment we will find ourselves on both sides of this question – not that we lack sufficient faith but we are all too human and weak in our ability to discern our path without God’s guidance. The important thing for us to keep in mind is that we acknowledge God’s purpose is far beyond our ability and we continue in faith each day to let Him live in all circumstances through our lives.
God provided the Holy Spirit thru Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost. The result recorded by Luke in Acts 2 was the first sermon in this present Church age by Peter. Those that heard the message that day with an open heart were convicted of their sin and eternal lost nature which left them asking Peter “ What must we do to be saved ?” This is the question that comes to us when we realize that despite our best efforts we cannot live our lives with God and the presence of the Holy Spirit as our guide. Peter’s answer to the listeners that day is as clear today as it was when he spoke the words “ Repent and be Baptised….” For the forgiveness of sins. When our hearts are initially convicted of our lost state as sinners the one convicting us is the Holy Spirit. Our response in a confession of faith in Jesus Christ allows us an open path to God to seek forgiveness of our sins. That confession and exchange opens our heart for the presence of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the promise Peter gave us in verse 39. It is what moves us thru the 2 steps of repentance – forgiveness and commitment. Asking God for forgiveness of our transgressions and in commitment to live a better life going forward. The grace in forgiveness finds its purpose in how we live each day in the power of the Holy Spirit. That power is what initially brings us to a confession of faith. It is the power that brings us to the waters of baptism to wash away the old grip that sin has on our lives and to come forth from the waters of baptism as a new washed clean spirit into a new life. May that promise be made real in our lives so that our lives become a call to others for the same promise of salvation.
4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
Freedom is a powerful and yet strange word. For
some it brings the thoughts of really being free, free to live and go about day
to day life with the power of liberty that freedom brings with it. To go out
and make their own way and accomplish much in the free world that they know. For
others it is a solemn reminder that freedom can be taken and given by those in
power and can be here today and gone tomorrow based on circumstance. It means
to grip so tightly what freedoms are available that nothing feels like free
choice but merely the choice of bad over worse simply based on ones circumstances
in life. I have, as always, included here for Independence Day our countries
Declaration of Independence and Freedom from July of 1776.
I think it should be a positive document for all
Christians to read and think on in the light of both its application on its
adoption but also the power it still allows us today. It is a very real fact
that while this document declares the freedom of a new nation not everyone in
the nation itself was free at that time. To compound the challenge the document
clearly outlines a respect and reliance on God for the establishment and
provision for this new country. This nation is one of the youngest in the world
at only 243 years of age and yet the wealthiest and post powerful on this
earth. We can debate many events along the way but we have made much progress
on both freedom and liberty and as a world leader in so many areas our greatest
enemy is the one we face in our own mirrors each day.
May we use this anniversary to help remind us that
we were all born as a slave to sin and it rules our lives until the day we
declare our independence and accept Jesus Christ into our lives. From that
moment Paul’s words in Romans 6 bring us much Hope and Power. The power is found
per Paul by considering the power of sin as “dead” in our lives. It can happen
to us but it cannot enslave us for any evil purpose because Jesus died to buy
our freedom and was raised again on the third day to secure our freedom into eternity. It cannot come and go
on the unfortunate wind of circumstances and it cannot be given or taken away by
human means – it need only be accepted by
us in Declaration of Our Independence from sin.
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The
unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,
When in the
Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the
political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature
and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind
requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation. We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety
and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils
are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they
are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government,
and to provide new Guards for their future security.-Such has been the patient
sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains
them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present
King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these
States. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for
the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good
People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are
Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be
totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full
Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and
to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and
our sacred Honor.
We also celebrate those that are serving our country today both here and in foreign lands to protect our freedom to worship freely and live in a free country.
“The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree.” ~Thomas Campbell
In following
on from the last two posts on being filled with the Holy Spirit and having a “Pentecost”
day of our own we have looked at the presence of the Holy Spirit and the room
we need to allow the Holy Spirit into our lives. If we are being filled with
the Holy Spirit and moving in a new direction under God’s guidance, then how do
we know if we are on the right path?
The FIRST thing we need to acknowledge is that the clay jar we make up has a capacity – The Holy Spirit does not.If we allow God the space, He will fill our Jar with the presence of the Holy spirit and the guidance and direction to move us in a new direction.
SECOND we should be mindful of what fills our jar – the world will fill it with shiny new things that the scripture says will decay and pass away but God will only fill it with the Truth and Love of the Holy Spirit that continues to increase in our lives here and in the heavenly treasure that we lay up for Heaven. Have you ever thought about your heavenly treasure?
Matthew 6:19-21 Lay
Up Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
THIRD the results of both our filling and
overflow will be evident in our lives and our impact on the lives of
others. Solomon was clear on the blessings
and overflow God promises –
Proverbs 3:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
Jesus said
the filling and abundance of our hearts would be evident in our lives.
Luke 6:45 New King James Version (NKJV)
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart
brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of
his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his
mouth speaks.
May we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit this Pentecost season, and may God fill us with the desire to serve others from the abundance He provides our spirits.
Once we are open to God’s Spirit and His leading in our lives we will almost always find the challenge of Safety, Risk & Reward. We know God has provided an opportunity for us and we really want to pursue it but we don’t want to let go of our safety net in the familiar old way we have thought and lived before. Our old ways and habits are comfortable to us, they are predictable and offer a degree of safety in the known risk but they also only offer the same results as before. God did not bring us thru the challenges in our lives to see us turn back to the same old way of living and serving. We want to think we can commit to real change yet our Old Nature has a lifetime of pull on us to continue in the comfortable whether it is good or bad for us. We know it and we are comfortable with the risk. When we do decide to allow God to move us in His Spirit we often seek safety in the familiar and want to keep one foot on the shore and one foot on the boat going out in a new direction. That ends, like it always does, and we fall into the water, almost drown and always swim back to the shore ( never to the boat ) to find the old and comfortable and vow to ourselves to just make the old better somehow. Jesus warned his friends on mixing the new and old with the analogy of the wineskins. If our cup is filled with the Holy Spirit our blessings will be moving in a new and positive direction and will overflow into other peoples lives.
Mark 2:22 New Living Translation (NLT) 22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”
From the previous post the results of being filled with the Holy spirit bring positive results to our lives as well as those that we come into contact with. Or to put it another way, if the Holy Spirit fills us it will overflow our clay pot and be out for others to see by how we live our lives. We all think kindly of the filling and the result of our cup overflowing with blessings. Let’s look at a few things that must happen for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and for it to overflow in our lives to others. The first thing that has to happen is that the clay pot ( us ) has to have room to accept the input from God. This may seem like and odd statement but think for a moment how full your life is today of obligations, day to day activities, hobbies, habits ( good or bad ) that have filled your clay jar to the brim and overflowing on you? Naturally then when God provides and opportunity to serve in a new and different way we can’t even consider it because we are overrun with the day to day challenges of life. Before you can be filled with new God has to first nudge you out of your comfort zone and move you to open your heart to something new and different. If you are not willing and continue to struggle it is harder and God may move to make room in your jar by helping you empty out some things so you can move forward. Sickness, Death, Loss of Job, a major change in your life to get your attention and realign your priorities to create some room for His spirit in your heart. Look at all the men in the room on the day of Pentecost had lost in their lives in just the last month – the death of their friend and teacher Jesus Christ as well as the pressure of arrest, conviction and death they all now faced as well. God took away from them a friend they loved and stressed them to the point they would be together hiding from everyone so that they would be open to His Spirit and calling in their lives. Either way God can help us with the space in our cup we just need to recognize His hand in our lives and be open to the leading and filling of His Holy Spirit.
