Friends,
I am taking a brief break from my meanderings in Luke’s gospel to address the tragic events that occurred in Kirkwood on Thursday, February 7. I will warn you before you proceed that this subject matter is difficult and I am offering very direct comments that some may find hard to swallow.

Matthew 5:43-48
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Not many of us have ever come face to face with the kind of evil that traumatized the city of Kirkwood last Thursday evening, February 7, when a gunman shot and killed a Kirkwood police sergeant outside city hall, and then proceeded to enter the city council chambers, murdering four more people and wounding two before he was fatally shot by police officers responding to a distress call. Those who were killed included two city council members, the city public works director and another police officer. The mayor and a reporter from the Suburban Journals were also wounded in the attack. Places like Columbine, Colorado come to mind and I guess we assume something like this will never happen in our hometown.

To compound the tragedy, two brothers of the assailant, Charles “Cookie” Thornton, as well as his mother, issued public statements that fell just short of justifying the shootings. The attack, in and of itself, has devastated our community, but adding insult to injury by minimizing such actions as “understandable” is like throwing gasoline on an emotional fire that is already burning out of control. People, who wanted to be compassionate, not casting judgment on the shooter or his family, now feel doubly violated. I am witnessing first hand sadness turn to anger and bitterness. I would not be in error to say that many in our community are not only heartbroken, but now feel hatred and animosity toward Cookie and those in his family who seem to be justifying his actions. As one man said, “There can’t be forgiveness while anyone condones this action.”

So, here we are smack dab in the middle of an emotional and spiritual conundrum. On the one hand we are outraged, and justifiably so, that life would be thrown away so needlessly and for some to come dangerously close to suggesting that the city officials had it coming to them. On the other hand, we call ourselves disciples of Jesus and our marching orders are very clear, “I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven … You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Most, if not all of us as believers in Jesus Christ, have at one time or another, found ourselves reminding a friend, “Love the sinner and hate the sin;” but to be honest, not many of us are really in the mood to follow that advice right now. What are we to do?

I certainly do not have all the answers, but would offer three words that may put some of this in perspective. The three words are Lordship, faith and eternity.

Lordship
As followers of Jesus, we have put our faith in him as our Savior and Lord. By this we mean that his sacrifice on the cross pays the price demanded by a just God for my sins and I am saved from God’s righteous wrath. It also means that my life comes under his control. I do not just want the benefit of heaven when I die, but I want to live daily under his redeeming control and direction. My desire is that the Holy Spirit would take over the sinful and broken parts of my heart and renew them to God’s glory. In short, I submit my will to his.

One day Jesus asked his disciples a question, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” That is a fair point! Part of becoming a Christian is about surrendering jurisdiction of my thoughts, decisions, actions and attitudes to my Lord Jesus. I cannot be a disciple and think of him only as my Savior. So, when Jesus commands that I love my enemies, it takes all of the guess work out of the equation. I do not have to look at the circumstances to see if my enemy deserves my love. Most likely he or she definitely will not! Nor do I have to weigh the seriousness of the offense, assuming that I only have to love an enemy up to a certain point. Jesus says to love my enemy. Period. No exceptions. Therefore, I must spend my emotional and spiritual energy, empowered by his Holy Spirit and Word, wrestling my hatred to the ground and choking the life out of it.

Due to the nature of the crime and the attitudes surrounding it, this is not so easy in a situation such as the one we face in Kirkwood. It is not like some kid stole my car or a neighbor had a party that kept me up all night. This was life and death and utterly senseless. However, the command is clear; I cannot pick and choose when I will obey my Lord and when I will not.

Faith
Obeying Jesus in these types of circumstances will take a substantial amount of faith. By that I mean submitting my will to his, trusting that what he has commanded is not only for his glory but for my good and then purposefully living in the moment under his direction. I think it should be noted that Jesus calls us to be perfect in love, just as our heavenly Father is perfect. This means that when Jesus’ influence is in complete control of my thoughts, words and deeds, my life will reflect the perfection with which God loves! This is truly remarkable! My attitudes and actions can be a reflection of his. I can actually begin to see the world as he sees it and experience something truly divine! When my love is unconditional and based on God’s character instead of my emotions, something truly spiritual is happening. I am being allowed a deeper glimpse into the heart, mind and will of God.

As it relates to our faith, it is also important for us to remember that there is a very distinct purpose behind Jesus’ command to love our enemies. Peter writes this in the first chapter of his first epistle,

6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

I believe that such a trial as we are facing today will be used by God to give us a purer trust in him. As a community of believers in Jesus living in Kirkwood, we are undergoing a trial that is testing our faith. By faith, we will love our enemies even in the face of senseless violence. By faith, we will speak peace into a situation filled with turmoil and anger. By faith, we will not only grieve with our hurting friends, but we will look for ways to be God’s agents of grace to everyone in this situation, no matter who they are or what they think. By faith, we will love our enemies and walk through the fire of this testing, knowing that on the other side is a more tried and true faith that will sustain us until the day we see Jesus!

Eternity
That brings me to my final point. If we are going to love our enemies and glorify Jesus in these hard times, we must have an eternal perspective. When Jesus calls us to be like our Father in heaven, I believe he is calling us to look at the big picture. There is no way, this side of eternity, we will ever understand why such a terrible thing happened. We cannot go back and undo the events of last Thursday evening, February 7; nor can we repair the damage done by the bullets and subsequent words that were spoken. We can, however, remember that this is not really our home, but only a wisp of wind on the current of eternity.

Someday we will see more clearly. On the other side of death, when we are with our Lord forever and all the tears have been wiped away, our perspective will grow exponentially. Until that day, we must not lose sight of that hope. There are people in our community right now who are grieving without the love of Jesus. Families and individuals in our neighborhoods have no eternal vantage point; they only know hurt and confusion. It is a time for humble and gentle disciples of Jesus to put away the temporary and in faith take up the mantel of eternity, bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to bear on the hurt and pain in our town.

May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit equip us by his Word to live under his Lordship and by faith, with an eternal perspective, love everyone in this community with the same love that Jesus has shared with us. It will be a long and arduous road, but let the journey begin.

Only By His Grace,

Tom

Greentree Community Church

Luke 4:1-2
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

All three of our children have had the same experience with me and the swimming pool. During the summer of their 2nd or 3rd year, when we were at the local cement pond (see Beverly Hillbillies), I would make them take off the orange “swimmies” they wore around their upper arms and stand on the edge of the pool where the water was waist deep for me but perilously deep for them. I would then stand just out of arms reach, hold out my hands and offer only one option: “jump!”

My purpose in this exercise was not to terrorize my kids although each of them to varying degrees was a bit nervous. Rather, my intention was to teach them to trust me. Now my children are not dumb and all three of them were well aware of the fact that if I did not catch them, they would be in immediate peril. However, after some coaxing, each of them eventually made the “leap of faith” and each of them ended up safely in my arms. The rest of the story is, as all parents know, I spent the rest of our time at the pool responding to my child running back to the edge of the water calling out, “Daddy, catch me!”

Upon a brief perusal of this text, it seems odd to me that immediately after the Father declared his profound delight in his Son (see Luke 3:18-22), he would lead him into the desert for the most demanding test of faith anyone has ever experienced. Jesus was completely alone from a human perspective and without even the most rudimentary necessities of life. Not only was Jesus without physical nutrition, but he was also in the ongoing presence of complete and unmitigated evil. The devil dogged his every step, continually tempting him to disavow his trust in his heavenly Father. Again, at first blush this seems to be inconsistent with the love God had just expressed towards his Son.

But upon closer examination, I believe something much more significant was taking place. Jesus was about to embark upon a three year journey that would culminate at the cross. These times would be marked by hardship and challenge. The Messiah would be confronted with unbelief and abuse. His closest friends would at times love him dearly and, at other moments, deny, reject, and even betray him. The loyalty of the crowds who expressed faith in him would be fickle at best and eventually turn to hatred (Jesus’ own home town friends and neighbors tried to throw him off a cliff!). His enemies would look for every opportunity to trip him up and in the end would rig a farce of a trial and murder him.

All of this would occur under the overarching plan of his Father to bring salvation to this lost and dying planet. If redemption was going to succeed, it would only be because there would be an unbreakable trust between Son and Father. Family members would think him a lunatic; his closest friends would abandon him. In the end he would be completely alone, except for one person, his heavenly Father, and even then for several hours on the cross, his Father would turn his back. It is within this context that we understand the confidence Jesus had that the directions he was receiving were rock solid! No less than perfect obedience would win our salvation, and therefore nothing less would suffice than 100% conviction in his Father’s will.

So, we find Jesus in the wilderness. Alone, but not alone; without physical nourishment, but feeding upon the Word of God; being tempted to abandon his trust, but rejecting the foolish notion that his Father was unworthy of his confidence. It is the love a father demonstrates when he purposefully puts challenges and obstacles in his children’s paths, because he knows that when they trust and overcome, they will be stronger and the bond between them will only grow more complete. In the end, the desert was the final step of preparation for the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not fail to believe in his Father and for that, you and I should be eternally grateful!

As a disciple of Jesus, what opportunities do you have today to trust in your heavenly Father? What temptations, challenges or spiritual trials mark your path? Remember your daddy is not far away. He has not forgotten you and his treatment of you is neither arbitrary nor intended for your harm. His plan is for you to grow in faith and be transformed into the image of his Son and that happens in the desert experiences of our lives. You may feel alone but he is right there with you. It may be hard, it may feel almost impossible, but as the Apostle Paul learned through many spiritual contests, “Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:39).

Go ahead, step up to the edge and jump. Your Father will catch you every time even in the deep water!

Only By His Grace,

Tom

Greentree Community Church

Luke 3:21-22
21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

I have been coaching youth hockey for almost 17 years. I started coaching because my boys wanted to play hockey and I wanted to spend time with them at the rink. This is the first year that I am coaching a team without one of my boys playing. I have a great group of 11 & 12 year-olds and I am having a blast. I tried to figure out why this season was so much fun and it dawned on me that I do not have the pressure of coaching one of my boys.

When you coach as a dad, you must be careful that you treat everyone fairly. You do not want any of the other moms and dads thinking that you are giving your son preferential treatment. But the other side of the coin is you have to be careful not to be too hard on your child. If they have a tough game, you have to treat them with the same kindness you would show any other player. As a dad coach, you cannot try so hard to look fair, that you are more demanding of your own child than you are of the other players.

I mention this because I have noticed in hockey and life in general that little boys and grown men live for the approval of their father. I bumped into a woman last night who told me how angry her 14 year-old son is because his father never gives him affirmation. I cannot explain this to you, nor do I know why God wired us this way, but boys need unconditional love from their father and when it is lacking, the ramifications can be spiritually and emotionally disastrous. The next time you are at the rink or ball field, watch the kids playing and see how often they look to the stands to see if their dad is watching. Observe young players coming off the field and watch their body language as their dad says “good game” or chastises them for not playing well and you will know what I mean.

At the same time, when a young man has a healthy and intimate relationship with his father, the positive impact can also be astounding. In the Luke passage we have today, Jesus has yet to begin his public ministry. John has been preparing the way and we are about to be introduced to the life and work of the Messiah. But, as yet, Jesus has not walked on water, fed the multitudes, healed the sick, cast out any demons, turned water to wine or raised the dead. He has not preached the Sermon on the Mount or driven the money changers out of the temple. In Luke 3 he has no disciples and is simply another face in the crowd around the Jordan River. For all we know he has been working in a carpenter shop in Nazareth since we last saw him in the temple as a boy of 12.

Yet when Jesus comes up out of the water the words that greet him are words of unmitigated delight. “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.” This is truly amazing. He did not say; “You are my Son, now get out there and show them what a real Messiah looks like.” No admonitions about his coming ministry or challenges to live up to Dad’s good name, just unpolluted adoration because Jesus was his Son. Jesus was the apple of his father’s eye, not because of what he did, but simply because of who he was. He belonged to the father and the father belonged to him and the love and intimacy was profound!

I would argue that this was the unmovable foundation in Jesus’ life. When he faced Satan’s temptations, the disciples’ slowness to believe, the skeptical nature of the crowds, or the rejection of the religious establishment, he never faltered or gave up his course. When he was betrayed by one of his closest friends, beaten and put on a cross, he did not quit or fail to meet the test. He overcame death itself, all because he was firm and secure in the unconditional love and delight of his Father.

Now the moral to this story is not that dads should do a much better job in delighting in their children, although that is not a bad take away. There are plenty of men reading this who do need to improve in cherishing their children. The author is certainly one of the people included on that list! The deeper and more important truth for all of us is to learn that in Christ Jesus, God also delights in us! Because we have a new identity in Jesus (See 1 Corinthians 5:16-21 & Galatians 4:4-7), we have become sons and daughters in whom God delights! He does not love us because we teach Sunday school. He does not rejoice over us because we put money in the offering or help old ladies across the street. He loves us because we are his, because we belong to him!

Most Christians I know do not get this and therefore the church tends to be a mess. I am not sure how to tell you to make this truth the bedrock of your life, but if I could give you one spiritual goal to pursue the rest of your days here on earth, it would be this: Embrace the truth that in Christ Jesus, God delights in you, not because of anything you have done or will ever do, but simply because you belong to him. You are his child!

Only By His Grace,

Tom

Greentree Community Church

Luke 3: 1-6
1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

On Thursday evenings, my sixteen year-old son and I have started a Bible study together. This accomplishes two purposes; it gives us an excuse to go to our favorite hangout and eat spicy chicken wings, without having to share them with anyone else, and it gives me the opportunity to talk to him about some of the questions he has regarding his faith.

Now there are a couple of things about me you need to know in order to appreciate what I am about to share. First of all, I spent my initial 13 years in ministry working with teenage students. In other words, I pride myself on knowing how to talk to teenagers. Secondly, I gain my livelihood from speaking to people about God’s Word and truth. Every Sunday I stand before hundreds of people and confidently proclaim the gospel as man’s only hope for this life and the next. I study hard during the week in preparation and to be honest, when Sunday comes, I cannot wait to get up and share. Some people have stage fright or get nervous talking to big groups of people. Not me! I thrive on the challenge of taking God’s Word and presenting it to others in a way that will impact their lives.

So, there I was last Thursday evening, with an audience of one, munching on chicken wings and talking about God. Last week his question was, “How do you know which stories in the Bible are made up to make a point and which actually happened?” (For example, was Jonah really swallowed by a whale or is that a metaphor for some hidden truth?) I spent time talking about the different genres we find in scripture: poetry, history, theology, etc., as well as the author’s intention, historical reliability and the overall biblical claim to be God’s inspired word. All in all it was a very impressive presentation!

What was less than impressive was the response. Each time I circled back on a point to see if he was tracking with me, I got a relatively blank stare and a “u-huh” grunt. When I tried to ask clarifying questions, I was reminded of a deer in headlights.

• Does this make sense?
• U-huh
• Do you see what I am saying here?
• Yes
• Do you have any questions?
• No
• Having heard my arguments, do you think Jonah was literally in the belly of the whale? (I was defending the traditional view that this was an actual historical event.)
• I dunno
• Is there a way I can explain it better?
• I don’t think so… are you going to eat that last chicken wing?
• No, you can have it. I am going to take a moment and go ram my head through that wall over there.
• Really, why? This is tight.

Now, I do not share this with you to assail my son. He is a typical 16-year-old young man who is slightly less articulate than a desk lamp. This is quite normal! Nor am I ready to quit my day job because I see myself as an abject failure in the arena of teaching theological precepts. The simple fact is - this is a process. We are on a journey toward God’s truth and the road may be a bit bumpy. I am actually looking forward to next week