Without Wax

Many years ago when sculpting was a popular form of art, sculptors found a way to rip off their clients even if they made a mistake. If the sculptor accidentally made an error, he was set to lose a lot of money. He couldn’t just hit the backspace button or grab some white out; he would have to scrap part, or even all, of his sculpture and start over. Then someone realized that wax could be melted and used to cover flaws, such as by filling cracks in the sculpture. Once the wax dried the untrained eye could not tell the difference. 

The customer who purchased the sculpture would later find out about the wax. The sun would shine on it, melting the wax and exposing the sculptor’s dishonesty. For that reason, sculptors began to advertise their art as being sine cere, the Latin words for “without wax.” A customer who purchased a sine cere sculpture didn’t have to worry about finding any hidden flaws once he returned home. 

Did you know the Bible tells us to be without wax in our lives? The Latin sine cere was shortened in English into our word sincere. Think about what the Bible tells us to do. In I Timothy 1:5 Paul said his aim was for us to have a sincere faith; in I Peter 1:22 Peter said we need to have a sincere brotherly love; in II Corinthians 11:3 Paul said not to be led astray from our sincere devotion to Christ. There are certainly other passages, but those three indicate that as believers, we should be sincere in our faith, our love, and our devotion to the Lord. 

We need to be without wax. We need to be genuine, not trying to cover up flaws that we want to keep hidden. We need to be the real deal. What people see should be what they get. It might be tempting to try to cover our flaws with wax; we may be able to convince others that our faith, love, and devotion are sincere, but God knows the truth. There is no point in trying to hide our flaws from God. Instead of trying to cover them, let’s work on being genuine. This doesn’t mean we become perfect and free from flaws, it means that we are honest, admitting our shortcomings, and not simply playing a part like an actor. 

Don’t be a con artist when it comes to your faith. Live your life without wax.

Christmas Peace

Waiting is hard, isn’t it? In our fast food society with instant gratification and next day shipping, we are not used to having to wait for anything. The more serious the event, the harder the wait. As a child waiting for Christmas was hard because it seemed like December 25^th would never get here (and as parents we can’t believe how quickly it comes back). But think about how hard it is to wait to see if you got the job you applied for, or to see if the cancer has spread. While we wait it is hard to be still or comfortable because there is something major hanging over us. We need to realize that is how people lived throughout the Old Testament, waiting for God’s Messiah to come. 

From the day that God told Eve her seed would crush the serpent, humans had waited with baited breath for the Promised One. There could be no real peace until He came. That is why in Luke 2 a multitude of the heavenly hosts joined in singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men.” Peace on earth is available because God finally came in the flesh. 

Like the Psalmist who said, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry (40:1)” the world waited in a profound way for the Messiah to come be the Deliverer. The Jews wanted primarily peace from their enemies—whether the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, or Philistines in the Old Testament, or the Romans in the New Testament. We need to understand that peace is more than just the absence of conflict. Peace is more than just national tranquility. As Americans we have not had a real threat of being defeated since World War II, so we might not fully appreciate their desire for national peace. 

But the bigger idea is about us being at peace with God, with fellow man, and with ourselves. Philippians 4:7 says the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We need this peace of God in our hearts and minds. 

First, we need peace with ourselves. So many people walk around feeling bad about themselves because of their faults or mistakes that they render themselves useless in the kingdom work. We need to appreciate the beauty of forgiveness. Hebrews 10:22 says we can have our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. God wipes the slate clean when we confess and repent. We need to do our best to live right, but we can walk upright knowing we are clean. 

We also need to be at peace with others. Leviticus 3 describes the peace offering as part of the law. This was also known as fellowship offerings because they were designed to keep peace with God and others through fellowshipping together. This offering was unique in that the family bringing the sacrifice got to take home most of the meat (normally the priest kept most of the meat). The idea is that the family takes the meat home and have a fellowship meal with other people. The New Testament is filled with commands to be unified with fellow believers, and reconciled if the relationships have gone south. Christmas is a great time to heal hurts. 

Finally, we need to be at peace with God. This is mankind’s greatest need. 2 Corinthians 5:18 says God has reconciled us to Himself. He fills the God-shaped void. We have real peace when we are at peace with God because we were created to be in a right relationship Him. Maybe this Christmas season you need to make peace with God or someone else. 

Forever Homes

Everywhere we look we see people who are focused on taking care of their bodies. Many New Year’s resolutions include eating better, working out, or losing weight. And so we join gyms and start diet plans; we buy creams to smooth our wrinkles, and dyes to color our hair; we lift weights to build muscle, and get braces to help our smile. If there is a flaw, we fix it. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery noted a 173% increase of cosmetic surgery between the years 1997 and 2000, with more than ten million cosmetic medical procedures now being performed annually in this country. I’m not saying that any of that is right or wrong, but we certainly put an emphasis on taking care of our bodies.  

These bodies, though, are only temporary. On those reality shows where people buy houses or renovate their existing ones, they often speak of getting that “forever home,” that place that meets all their needs, and from which they will never have to move again. I like to think of our bodies that way. The ones we have now are good and serve their purpose, but we are in the market for a forever home—a perfect body.

Paul compares the body to a house that is only temporary. Remember, he was a leather worker and tent maker by trade, so he was very familiar with this concept. These tents were intentionally temporary, and were used by soldiers and nomads (most famously by the wandering Israelites during the Exodus). One day, though, these tents will be exchanged for a house with a foundation. These bodies will be exchanged for perfect ones. In II Corinthians 5:1 Paul wrote, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  

These reality shows always ask, “What are your must haves in a house?” Some need a fourth bedroom, an office, proximity to work, a mother-in-law suite, or a finished basement. What are your must haves for a body? One that never gets sick? One that will never slow down or wear out? One that will never die? No problem. God can give you that forever home, and once you move in, you will never be on the hunt for anything else ever again. 

In the meantime, that does not mean that we throw up our hands in futility. Just because we cannot be perfect here does not mean that we are not supposed to use our bodies for the glory of God while we wait for our perfect ones. In verses nine and ten of the same chapter Paul says, “For whether we are home or away (meaning in these bodies on earth or absent from them in heaven), we make it our aim to please the Lord. For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of things done in the body…” 

In the twin passage where Paul discussed this same concept—I Corinthians 15–he gave this conclusion: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (v.58).” 

It is great that we can look forward to living in our forever home—our glorified bodies. But we must never do so at the expense of the present. We must make it our aim to please the Lord, and be always abounding in this great work.

Taylor's Gift

One of the hardest things in life is when someone else’s ends too early. Saying goodbye is never easy, but when a tragedy comes that was unforeseen, that only adds to what is already a terrible situation. Todd and Tara Storch found out just how difficult sudden loss can be when their teenaged daughter Taylor died during a family vacation. She was only thirteen, and should have had many decades of life ahead of her, but her first day on the ski slopes of Colorado proved to be her last. Her father and brother watched in horror as she lost control and slammed into a tree, which was the last thing she ever did on earth.

There were two things she did before that accident that helped to bring some hope to the family. First, she became a follower of Jesus, so her family took comfort in knowing their little girl was in heaven. And second, she lived her life in such a way that her parents knew organ donation was something she would have wanted. Taylor always put others ahead of herself, so when her parents were asked if they would be willing to donate Taylor’s organs, they initially balked, but then decided it is what she would have done if given the chance.

In their book Taylor’s Gift, Todd and Tara recount how, over time, they were able to meet each of the recipients of their daughters organs. This is such a rare privilege because many families choose not to meet the donor’s family. There was Jeff, the rancher in Colorado who received one of Taylor’s kidneys and her pancreas; there was Patricia, the nurse in Arizona who received Taylor’s heart; there was Jonathan, a biker in Colorado who received another kidney and her liver; and then there was Ashley, a teenager in South Dakota who received Taylor’s eyes in a corneal transplant. Her parents got to look into the beautiful blue eyes of their daughter again when they met Ashley, and they took comfort in meeting Jeff and Jonathan, but when Tara got to use a stethoscope to hear her daughter’s heart beat inside of Patricia, they really believed their daughter lived on.

They started a ministry called Taylor’s Gift (taylorsgift.org) to help with donation research and to promote awareness of organ donation. Since February 14^th is donation awareness day, I wanted to take a quick minute to share their story and encourage readers to consider becoming a donor if your health allows. But besides that, I wanted to take a minute to give praise to Jesus, whose death makes life available to all who accept the gift. Imagine someone on the transplant list turning down a perfect match. That would be crazy! It is just as crazy to refuse the free gift of salvation that Jesus made available when He died on the cross. He’s a perfect match, and He offers new life to all who put their trust in Him.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, and behold, the new has come.”

II Corinthians 5:17

The Horizon

Charles Spurgeon once told the about “the man who preached so well and lived so badly that when he was in the pulpit everybody said he ought never to come out again, and when he was out of it they all declared he never ought to enter it again.” The pastor is rightly expected to practice what he preaches, but the admonition to holy living is not limited to the man in the pulpit; all Christians should understand they are called to live a life that is set apart. 

That is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers to “come out from among them and be separate…and do not touch the unclean thing (2 Corinthians 6:17).” The Greek work translated as separate is haphorizo, from where we get our English word horizon. While we may typically think of the horizon as referring to something off in the distance (as in “something good is coming over the horizon”), that is not what the word means. According to the dictionary, horizon is “the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.” The horizon, then, is what separates two things. 

Followers of Jesus have been called to be the horizon—completely separate from the world. I believe the church never has more to offer the lost world than when the church looks least like the world. Pastors in particular and Christians in general seem to be embracing this tendency to look like the world instead being the horizon. But separation isn’t limited to just the negative; it is not only about what we are separated from, but also what we are separated to. In Romans 1:1 Paul introduced himself as an apostle “separated unto the gospel of God,” and it is the same word haphorizo again. We need to be the horizon, separated from this evil world, and set apart in a positive way to live our lives for the Father. Let’s be that something good people can see over the horizon.

What are they Saying about You?

I heard an old story about a man waiting in line to use a pay phone (remember those?), and he could not help but overhear the one-sided conversation of the man in front of him. The gentleman on the phone began his call this way: “Hello, I have a lot of management experience, and I was calling to see if you are in need of a good, honest manager for your company…oh, I see. You already have a good, honest manager. Sorry to waste your time. Bye.” As he hung up the phone a smile spread across the face of the would-be-manager.

Curious, the man waiting for the phone had to find out why this other gentleman seemed happy by the news. “Excuse me,” he said. “I couldn’t help but hear your conversation. I expected you to be dejected when you found out that company wasn’t hiring. Might I ask why you are happy about it?”

With a grin, the other man answered, “I am the good, honest manager. I was just calling to make sure my job is safe.”

If you were to disguise your voice and call your boss from a different number, what would he say about you? Imagine if the manager heard something like, “As a matter of fact, we are looking for someone. We have someone right now, but he is lazy, he shows up late, leaves early, and takes two hours for lunch. Besides that, we can’t trust a word he says.”

Are you a good, honest employee? Let’s go even further. Are you a good, honest person? What are people saying about you behind your back? As ambassadors for Christ, we need to make sure we practice what we preach, that our lifestyle matches the message we proclaim. Paul told the Corinthian Christians that his goal was to live right in their eyes. One translation says he was, “taking pains” to live right before them. Can you say the same?  

For we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man.

2 Corinthians 8:21

The Great Exchange

I just turned 32 a few weeks ago, and recently I have become keenly aware of the difference between being in my twenties and my thirties. Any athletic activity takes a heavy toll on me, and checkers is the only game I can play without getting winded. Many of you are older than I am, and you are looking forward to receiving your glorified body—one that doesn’t creak and crack when you stand up, and that has no artificial parts. We have this promise to look forward to:

“He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body…(Philippians 3:21)”

Let that thought sink in. The same kind of body that will be good enough for Jesus for all eternity will also be what we receive. Jesus will take these old, vile bodies, and exchange them for a glorious body like His. That truly is a great exchange, but it is only possible because of an even better exchange that already took place.

Jesus is the one who knew no sin, yet became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are the ones who “have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” And yet, if we choose to put our full trust in the work of Jesus on the cross, God is willing to clothe us in the righteousness of Jesus.

Jesus, who is righteous, took off His righteousness and put on our sin. We, who are unrighteous, can take off our sin and put on the righteousness of Jesus (Romans 13:14). When I die I will go to heaven, not because of anything righteous I have done, because that is just filthy rags in God’s sight. When God looks at me He sees Jesus’ righteousness, because when He looked at Jesus on the cross He saw my sin.

If you want to exchange your vile body for a glorious one, you must first exchange your sin for Jesus’ righteousness.

Cheerful Givers

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and this time of year it is common to use sermons, devotions, and blogs to ask the audience, “What are you thankful for?” While there is certainly nothing wrong with that, as I have done that myself many times, I want to take a different approach. Instead of asking what you are thankful for, I wonder how you are showing your gratitude.

When we focus being thankful (which is important!), we are focusing on what we have been blessed with, but we also need to focus on what we are giving away.

Paul told the Corinthian Christians that “each one of you should give, not begrudgingly, nor of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver (II Corinthians 9:7).” Giving is not something we should be forced into to please someone else, like parents or pastors; it should be done to please the Lord, because He loves it, and to please others, because He loves them.

The word cheerful comes from the same word that we translate as hilarious. This doesn’t mean that giving is funny, but that our giving should come from a happy heart. It pleases God when it pleases us to give.

We should give of our tithe (and offerings) to the church, as well as to those outside the church who are in need. We should give of our time in the church by teaching, singing, serving, or driving, and we should invest time outside the church in the lives of others. We should give of our talents to disciple believers in the church and to make the world outside the church a better place.

We also need to give the gospel. Take the good news of Jesus’ salvation to the lost and dying world around you. If you are giving of your tithe, time, and talents, than the world will be quicker to receive your talking about Jesus.

Most importantly, if you have not yet been saved by God, then you can cheerfully give Him your heart. All who call out to Him as Lord can have their sins forgiven, and God will cheerfully give you salvation.