A few weeks ago, I was having trouble with our home’s thermostat. It wasn’t working. I checked the manual that came with it and did all the recommended fixes from the obvious to the not so obvious. Nothing. So, I called the 800 number. I was put on hold. Forever. I seriously thought I was forgotten. My call was lost in some sort of “cloud jam.” Just when I was tempted to hang up, a real live person came on the line. I was not forgotten.

This is minor compared to feeling forgotten by God. Have I been forgotten? That is a question that comes from those who are living in God’s story, you, me and Joseph. Joseph had gone from favorite son, to slave, to prisoner for a supposed sex crime he did not commit. He now sits in a prison cell. He had to feel forgotten by God and most likely forgotten by his family. But the amazing thing is that even though he spent day after day in prison, he was part of God’s great story. God was up to something in Joseph’s circumstances for his good and for God’s glory.

Each one of us is part of God’s story. Our lives are chapters in a book of grace. There are chapters that are filled with disappointment and abandonment and feelings of being forgotten. There are chapters where you can literally be in the prison of grief and loss, depression, forgetting your value, and crisis. This is part of God’s story that he is writing. It is hard to see. It is hard to trust that God is up to something good in all your circumstances.  The only way we can trust is to believe that God is almighty in power and that God is our Abba, Father who loves us and is faithful. Maybe you are in a prison of guilt, shame feeling forgotten. Know this: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:15-16) God has not forgotten, he is writing a story that all the circumstances (chapters) of your life are ultimately for your good. We are going to think about this on Sunday as we continue to consider Joseph’s life. Some passages to read and reflect on: Genesis 40; Isaiah 49:12-17; Luke 12:4-7; Philippians 1:6.

Grace upon Grace,

Pastor Verlyn

Something to consider: maybe the story you are telling yourself about your life is not God’s story at all.

The phrase “You have to go backwards in order to go forward” has opened a whole new area of my heart for God to do his transforming work. How can I stop having 10-year-old Verlyn show up? I think you know what I mean in your own life. As a child you experienced something which you then placed a meaning on that experience. To self-protect you develop a habitual way of being. I grew up with a deep sense of shame, that my family and me were not enough. I remember being laughed at many times because we were poor. To self-protect I worked hard and was busy, so I did not have to let anyone into my life. Also, if I worked hard people will think I am wonderful and like me. All I ended up with was a deep tiredness and loneliness and the awareness that not everyone will like you even if you work hard. God has revealed to me a whole new way of living that is healthier and allows me to show up as 63-year-old Verlyn: “I will rest in Jesus, trusting who he says I am, while living wholeheartedly for him.” To go forward in this truth, I had to face some of the negative vows from the past.

Think of what Joseph had to face in order to move forward. He had to face a family culture of lying and secrets. Abraham lied twice about Sarah. Isaac and Rebecca’s marriage was characterized by lies. Jacob lied to almost everyone; his name means “deceiver.” Ten of Jacob’s children lied about Joseph’s death, faking a funeral and keeping a “family secret” for over ten years. All the secrecy and deceit went to a new level in Joseph’s life. He lost his parents, siblings, culture, food, language, freedom, and hopes all in one day. Then while serving as a slave in the home of Potiphar, he was falsely accused of rape and sent to prison for years. All the circumstances of his life could easily have led Joseph to say, “I don’t have a right to exist. My life is a mistake. I am worthless. I will never trust anyone. I won’t take risks. I won’t feel. It is too painful. I am a loser.” Yet, he didn’t. Joseph was aware of his past. He examined it. He thought about it. Then he opened the door to God’s future by rewriting it with God, not by ignoring the past, or rewriting the past, but acknowledging it and being open to God’s grace for a transformed present and future.

Can we affirm the large, loving hand of God through all the pain and hardship of our lives? Joseph did because he had a profound sense of a “Big God.” A big God that is working for our good in all things. In our families of origin and even when we are mistreated. We are going to think about this on Sunday. Some passages to read: Genesis 39; Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17; Psalm 139:7-12.

Grace upon Grace,

Pastor Verlyn

Often our families seem a little messy. We can wonder about God placing us in a particular family in our foundational years of growing up. With the mess, is it possible for us to believe that God was up to something good in those circumstances? It is a mixture: there was positive and negative, there is light and darkness. One way to deal with the past is to pretend it did not happen. Only remember the positive. But even if you try to blot out the “mess” it has a way of creeping into our lives in how we respond today. We learned a “way of being” in the mess, that is not healthy spiritually for us today. For instance, if you were taught as a child to be quiet and never speak, it can be hard for you today to speak up for yourself and say what you believe. The past has a way of showing up in how we respond today. And a lot of this has to do with our families of origin.

Joseph grew up in a mess. His early life was one mess after another. Yet, somehow in the midst of it, he trusted that God was up to something good in his circumstances. Think of Joseph: his mother died when he was young; he had a father who spoiled him; his brothers hated him; sold him into slavery; his brother slept with his daughter-in-law; he was imprisoned under a lie; he was forgotten and this is just a piece of his life. But this past did not stop him from living in the present and into the future with confidence that God was up to something good.

Too often we get stuck in the past and end up like Miss Havisham from Charles Dicken’s novel Great Expectations. The daughter of a wealthy man, she received a letter on her wedding day at 8:40 AM that her husband to be was not coming. She stopped all clocks in the house at the precise time the letter arrived and spent the rest of her life in her bridal dress which eventually turned yellow, and wearing only one shoe since she had not yet put on the other at the time of the disaster.  Even as an old lady, she remained crippled by the weight of the crushing blow. It was as if everything in the room and house had stopped. She decided to live in her past, not her present or her future. Can we believe that in all our circumstances (even the past) that God is up to something for our good so we can be fully alive in the present and into the future. Can we be open to the unfathomable love of God to receive healing for the past hurts and “mess” of our lives? We are going to think about that as we begin a study of the life of Joseph. Some passages to reflect on: Genesis 37; Hebrews 12:14-15; Romans 8:26-30; Matthew10:26-31.

Grace upon Grace,

Pastor Verlyn 

Reflections for October 13, 2019

Wanda Holloway is the Texas mom who hired a hit man to kill a 13-year-old girl Amber Heath and her 38-year-old mother Verna Heath because Amber made the Jr. High Cheerleading squad ahead of her daughter Shanna. She thought that if both were killed Shanna would be on the squad. The plot failed when the person she contacted for the hit grew a conscious and reported her. The desire for herself to be somebody through her daughter’s accomplishments started in her heart; started with coveting. Coveting is an intense desire for something that someone else has which often leads to pursuing it. Coveting is at the heart of all the commandments. Am I enough? Will I have enough?

The story of the Texas mom is an extreme case, but you and I face the same temptations in our heart. The house that someone else…the car that person drives…the success of a sports team…dance team…band…choir…the spouse of someone else…physical looks…the job…the amount of money made…the other church…the clothes. The list can go on and on. Coveting is in all our hearts. There is a continuum. Coveting starts with admiration, though admiration is not the same as coveting. It moves to desiring which really is still not coveting. The next step is an intense longing for something/someone, that started as admiration and desire, which leads to a complete dissatisfaction with what you have.  Admiration…Desire…Intense longing…Dissatisfaction with what you have…Pursuit. One person described this continuum in this way. You are in the dating stage of life. You admire a certain couple’s relationship. You desire to have the same kind of relationship. Where the line is crossed into coveting is when your heart says I want to have that kind of relationship with that young man or woman not just anybody. Intense longing for that one person leads to dissatisfaction with the one he/she is dating. And the pursuit begins. The heart has crossed the line to bondage; not freedom.

God does not desire behavior modification; he wants heart transformation. He wants us to know that we are at the very root of our lives loved unconditionally by him. This is our identity. In our hearts to know that we are enough and that we will have enough, sets us free to know joyful contentment.  That is what we are going to think about this week. Some possible passages to read and reflect upon: Exodus 20:17; Philippians 4:10-13; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; Hebrews 13:5-8.

Grace upon Grace,

Pastor Verlyn

John Claypool tells the story of a time when he went to camp as a Jr. High student. No one at the camp knew him, so he could literally weave a story of who he was. His dad ran a huge company and made lots of money. His mom won a beauty pageant. He was an A student and star of the football team. He could easily break the Jr. High track record for the 400 in the coming year. These were all white lies, not having much effect on anyone but himself. His dad worked in a factory. Mom was a stay at home mom, while cleaning some homes on the side. She was never in a beauty pageant. He was an average student and athlete, never a standout. Why did he feel the need to tell those lies about himself and his family? Why do you and I feel the need to exaggerate, make up stories about ourselves, try to make ourselves look better than others?

He goes on to tell his story of how he always felt less than others and that he was never enough. It was only when he had a radical experience of the love of God in his life, where he knew in his heart that he was accepted and loved by God as he was, that he began to shed the idea of trying to prove he was somebody. I know the same is true for me and I think probably for you as well. The deep truth of life is that God unconditionally loves us as we are; knowing that we can face the lies of a culture that says we have to be a certain way to be somebody. In Christ we are somebody; we are enough. Knowing and believing this means we don’t have to steal from others, nor lie about them and ourselves.

Basically, lying is about making ourselves look good or saving our skin. Satan, the father of lies, wants you to believe that you must look a certain way, have a certain income, live in a particular neighborhood, wear a name brand, and have a list of accomplishments to be worth anything. If you don’t, you began to steal and lie to make yourself look good to others. We think things such as plagiarism, white lies, cheating, gossip, exaggeration help bolster our self-image. The deep truth that sets you free is that God loved you first; accepted you as you are first. You don’t have to make up stories…you are incredible, and your story is the story of God’s amazing grace. We are going to think about this on Sunday as we reflect on the command, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16) Some possible passages to read and reflect upon: Exodus 20:16; Ephesians 4:14-25; John 8:39-47; 1 Corinthians 13:1-6.

Grace upon Grace,

Pastor Verlyn

God is always first. I have said this often in messages. First in importance, yes, but also first in order. For instance, God has always existed, then Father, Son and Holy Spirit create. God loves first, from that first love, we love. The commandments can be seen this way. They are given because of who God is…first. God is the giver of life. He protects life, nurtures and cultivates life. Therefore, this is what we are called to do, not murder others. God is the ultimate faithful lover; therefore, we are to be faithful lovers, not committing spiritual or relational adultery. God is the first generous giver…it is his nature to give, therefore we are to have a generous spirit and not steal. God is always first. It is from a relationship with the living God that we called to reflect him to the world.

Two questions that I and many others struggle with are: Am I enough? And will I have enough? I believe these are at the root of stealing something that is not ours, whether it is money by all sorts of means, or cheating on a test, or plagiarizing, or shoplifting. The bottom line is taking something that is not ours. If I don’t believe I am enough, I must get things that make me enough. If I can’t afford that piece of clothing which I think will make me enough, I will shoplift it. There is story after story of people who grew up poor, that go off on a mission of making enough so they will never be poor, but their mission includes breaking the law and cheating and swindling others, so they will have enough. If it was settled that I am enough…I am a child of God, loved and cared for and that God who is all loving, powerful and mighty has promised to care for me that I would have enough, the temptation to steal would be faced head on in grace.

The continuum is also seen in this command. At the foundation/start of the continuum is the truth of God’s unconditional love and our identity as a child of God…I am enough…I will have enough…our hearts and minds can wander away…I am not enough…I don’t have enough…we began to think of ways to be enough and have enough…we start small ( a little amount of money…cheat a little bit on a test)…began to move to bigger amounts…cheating others out of their livelihood…farther and farther away from I am enough…God says I will have enough. At any point you can turn and go back to the Father. The effect of taking $10.00 from your mom’s purse is different that embezzling millions of dollars and forfeiting 100’s of families livelihoods. Both are sin, but they are not equal…one is much further down the continuum.  Both require turning back to the One who loves you more than anyone else in the world. We are going to think about this together on Sunday. Some passages to read and reflect on: Exodus 20:15; Matthew7:7-12; John 3:16-17; Isaiah 58:5-10.

Grace upon Grace,

Pastor Verlyn

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) God’s benediction includes human sexuality. It is a good gift from God to be celebrated within the covenant of marriage. Sounds so easy, but the brokenness of human life makes it complicated. Money, sex and power are the three aspects of human life where the brokenness of humanity often shows itself most clearly. When it comes to money I believe, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be faithful stewards. As far as power goes, we   are called to be humble servants. When we talk about sex, as followers of Jesus, we are called to covenant faithfulness. The 7^th commandment is about this covenant faithfulness. “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)

The key, as in all the commands, is to see this command through the eyes of grace. The people are released from slavery: this is how free people love. Love looks like covenant faithfulness. As I did in the command to not murder it is important to see the continuum of the command to not commit adultery. It begins with the same truth: God’s unconditional love…live in covenant faithfulness (with me says God and with one another)…seeing a beautiful/handsome person of the of the opposite sex(this is not necessarily part of the sin continuum away from God’s love; it is part of being human)…instead of letting the seeing of the beautiful/handsome person out the back door of your mind, you begin to nurse this image, fantasize, dwell in it…this is called lust…the heart and mind are absorbed with this person…(which Jesus called sin, just as the act of adultery is sin…remember all sin is sin, but not all sin is equal)…you begin to intentionally engage this other person in conversation (flirting); seeing if there is an opening for a deeper physical relationship…the relationship intimacy deepens…the act of adultery. Each step on the continuum is away from the unconditional love of God. At each step you can stop, turn back to the Father, confess the sin and received forgiveness.  The forgiveness is extended to adulterers if they see their sin, turn back to the Father, resting in his unconditional love. (John 8:1-11) On the continuum if the matter stays in the heart (it still is sin) but the human community consequences are not nearly as devastating as actual physical adultery. One counselor emphasized at a minimum at least 100 people will be affected.

This is a deeply intimate command, which in my mind can only be approached with God’s grace. Issues of sex before marriage, rape, incest, unfaithfulness, sexual abuse, pornography (for women as well as men), same sex attraction, same sex marriage, fantasy and acting out the fantasies are all included in the command. All of them cannot be covered in one message, but what I hope to do is cover some foundational truths in grace.

On Sunday we are going to think about the command, “You shall not commit adultery.” Some passages to read and reflect on: Exodus 20:14; Matthew 5:27-28; John 8:1-11; Hosea 11.

Grace upon Grace,

Verlyn

Verlyn