Month: May 2021

Beautiful Simplicity

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For the last couple of weeks we have been talking about our call as followers of Jesus to tell someone else about our faith in Jesus. We’ve talked about the what (connect people to Jesus) and where to start (with prayer). This week, we’re talking about what the actual message we are to share is. We have a tendency to imagine sharing the Gospel is something incredibly complex, because we think of the Gospel itself as complex. The truth is just the opposite. The Gospel is simple and so is our message about it. Let’s talk about just what this simple message is together.

Beautiful Simplicity

One of the life lessons I had set before me fairly often when I was growing up is best summed up by the acronym K.I.S.S. Anyone know what that stands for? Keep it simple…well…you fill in whatever S-word you heard put there. The idea, of course, is that it is better to keep things simple than leave them complex. Simple things are…well…simple. They’re easier to manage. They’re a lighter burden to bear. Simple is just better. Complex never made anybody’s life better.

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Morning Musing: Psalm 71:17-18

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“God, you have taught me from my youth, and I still proclaim your wondrous works. Even while I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me, while I proclaim your power to another generation, your strength to all who are to come.”‬ ‭(CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

When the Social Security Act was first passed into law in 1935, its purpose was to help take care of seniors. The idea was that people who had worked their whole life shouldn’t have to worry about how they were going to be provided for when they couldn’t work anymore. Interestingly, though, the enrollment age was set at 65. The average life expectancy then for men was 61, for women, 63. For most people, there was no real idea of retiring and just being old. They worked until they died. We as a culture don’t have any real idea what to do with age. That’s too bad, because the Scriptures envision something entirely more noble for it.

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Morning Musing: Mark 10:18-20

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“‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus asked him. ‘No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever gotten exactly what you wanted, but felt like there was still something missing? I remember saving my money when I was little to buy a Super Nintendo. My folks wisely didn’t give me any help with it. I saved and saved for months. Then the day finally came. My mom took me to GameStop and I made the big purchase. A brand new Super Nintendo and one game. I played through the game quickly over the next couple of weeks…and that was it. Then it just felt kind of empty. Now what? One of the things we see in the story of the man asking Jesus about eternal life is that sometimes this kind of let down can happen on a much larger scale.

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Morning Musing: Mark 10:17

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“As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I remember when our oldest first hit the “why stage.” He was about three. Conversations with him – as much as you can have a conversation with a three-year-old – became an endless string of questions and answers. One why led to an explanation which led to another why which led to another explanation which led to another why and so on and so forth. So. Many. Questions. When I was feeling good and patient, I would see if I could keep explaining things until he quit asking. Usually I couldn’t. As he’s gotten older, the number of questions have decreased, but the ones he asks now have harder explanations. This is true for all people. We may understand more of how the world works than a three-year-old, but some questions persist. This man asked Jesus one of them.

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Morning Musing: Mark 10:13-15

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“People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The lot of children used to be difficult one. They were generally seen as a drain on a family’s resources until they were old enough and strong enough to contribute meaningfully to the household. Vaudeville-era comedian, W.C. Fields was famous for his rather sardonic quotes about children. For instance, “There’s no such thing as a tough child – if you parboil them first for seven hours, they always come out tender.” Today, the place of children in some circles is so high we can scarcely imagine a world where it wasn’t. In fact, in many segments of our culture, we’ve swung the pendulum so far in the other direction that we are sometimes guilty of creating equal, but opposite, problems for them as we work out our own issues through them. That being said, there’s something wonderful about the wonder a child brings to this world. Jesus agreed. Let’s talk about it.

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