“OPEN DOOR POLICIES: God’s Surprising Strategies for Getting Sinners Back Home”
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
When a wayward child wanders far from home, how does a loving parent pursue them without driving them further away? One thing that parent does is let the child know that there is an ongoing open-door policy. The child knows they will always be welcomed back home. Likewise, when we wander from God, he always keeps his door open for us. But God doesn’t just passively wait for us to return. He lovingly pursues sinners in ways that make them long for home.
In the Church Year, we have come to the season of Lent. The word Lent comes from an old English word for spring: “lengthen,” when the days grow longer. For over 1400 years the Church has set aside the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter as a time of repentance and renewal. In this 40-day journey to the cross and tomb, we will see the surprising strategies our heavenly Father uses for getting sinners back home, close to him and the loving care he offers.
God’s Glory Is a Different Glory It was a unique gathering, the one on the Mount of Transfiguration. Not all of the Twelve disciples were there. Just three handpicked by Jesus – Peter, James, and John. Those three, plus Jesus, plus two more men long dead, Moses and Elijah. It would have been quite a group to stand around with and have a chat!
When we get together with friends we might reminisce about our moments of glory. That tournament in high school we came back and won by just a point or two in the last seconds. The time our child won a spelling bee. Maybe a brief moment of fame from appearing on a game show or exchanging words with a celebrity. “Glorious” moments are fun to talk about.
Jesus, Moses, and Elijah could have brought up Moses’ high point of raising his staff and leading the Israelites across the Red Sea. They could have also recounted . . . . Elijah’s unique and amazing journey to heaven at the end of his life accompanied by a chariot of fire and horses of fire.
The moment of glory on their minds was different. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Jesus’ departure was his exodus. That’s the word there. “Exodus.” In the first exodus God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt. Now Jesus’ exodus in Jerusalem – his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven – would free his people from sin and eternal death. As Paul writes to the Ephesians: …6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace (1:6-7).
Jesus’ glory would take suffering. Glory, suffering, and deliverance through forgiveness and eternity go together for him. His suffering was glory, because it brought good for the world. Our most glorious moment is not ours. It’s Christ’s.
Of course, we can have fun remembering with friends and family big moments of accomplishment. We can also reminisce with joy about God giving us his grace through Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Who knows who might be listening and wonder about this “different” glory in our Savior?
God created family as a loving support system in faith and in all areas of life. It is, and we thank God he gave us family as a blessing all the way back to perfection of the Garden. In the imperfect world of sin we now inhabit, however, that blessing can be twisted into what it was not intended to be. We can even experience the unfortunate truth of the saying that those who are closest to us can be the ones who hurt us the most.
The early patriarchs of the faith had their share of family conflict. There were land disputes between Abraham and his nephew Lot. The half-brothers Isaac and Ishmael were the subject of controversy as to which one was the heir of the promise. Jacob and Esau famously fought for their father’s blessing, and were separated for about 20 years. Some of the same continued in the generation of Joseph and his brothers.
It’s true that Jacob, Joseph’s father, favored him over his other sons, which was not a wise . . . . parenting strategy. It led to jealousy and anger at the young Joseph.
But it certainly did not justify the actions of Joseph’s brothers. They allowed their anger to reach a boiling point. One day they were out alone in the fields with Joseph and decided it was time to end it all. The first suggestion was to kill him and pretend it had been a wild animal. The more “reasonable” brother, Reuben, finally convinced them to sell Joseph as a slave. What a terrible thing to do to their own flesh and blood, especially with Joseph being at the tender age of around 17! Joseph was off on his own in the foreign land of Egypt, as a slave, with no idea how his life would go.
By God’s grace Joseph did not let anger or revenge become his driving emotion. He knew and believed the Lord was with him in all things and faithful to his promises (Genesis 39:2). He still saw God’s purpose in his life. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20) He realized in faith that ultimately God was the judge. Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? (Genesis 50:19)
God’s mercy to him brought about a forgiving reunion and reconciliation some 13 years later. 14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him. (Genesis 45:14-15)
None of our family challenges take away from the wonderful blessing of family life under the Lord. It does point us to the ongoing need for forgiveness, whatever the situation, just as God gives us ongoing forgiveness in Jesus Christ, our Savior. There’s no better place to practice this than in family.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
A worldwide goal of all people is to find a happy and blessed life. It’s also clear there are countless different ways to go after it.
You can find plenty of churches now that will preach to you some form of “Blessed are the rich, the well-fed, those who are laughing, and regularly praised for who they are.” That’s really just churches imitating the ways of the world and trying to give the people what they want.
What a shocker to read that Jesus puts all those words and phrases of earthly comfort into the category of “woes” (Luke 6:24-26). If your life is filled with ease because . . . . you are not following Christ faithful to his actual teachings, woe is you! You can’t expect God to consider that to be a blessed life or shower you with heavenly treasures.
Blessed instead are the poor, the hungry, those who are weeping, and the insulted (Luke 6:20-22). Very contrary to what anyone would think without God’s Word to guide them.
This is all true when it is because of the Son of Man (v.22). Even though we’re not here to pursue earthly riches, we don’t want to be confused on the other side by these verses. Struggles or poverty or sadness in themselves are not commands of Christ to his disciples, or in any way meriting the reward of heaven. Put simply, just suffering doesn’t open heaven for us.
Christians may have some disadvantages in accumulating earthly wealth or enjoying the praise of society because we have different priorities. But if we find ourselves in that situation, we are still blessed. We still have God’s gracious reward of heaven through faith alone in Jesus Christ who gave his life for us.
God rearranges our view of being blessed and distressed. What we see and feel naturally as humans can easily trick us. Listen to the voice of the Lord on this one (as well as in any question of life). What a joy to know God’s favor to us has nothing to do with our ease of life or the favorable opinion of others!
The Apostle Paul tells us where our blessing lies: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (v.3). Blessing is in the spiritual gifts of the heavenly kingdom we receive through Jesus Christ. Leap for joy! You are blessed by the Lord.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. (Luke 6:23)
Fishing usually brings out feelings of relaxation, not fear. Maybe you have a day off or it’s the weekend. There’s the soothing rhythm of casting over and over. And if anything bites, maybe the reward of sitting down to a fresh-caught meal and great conversation with friends.
Some fishing is extreme and dangerous. There are fishermen who spend days and weeks sailing through icy seas with little sleep. I just heard about a small group on the East Coast that wades out at night in stormy, shark-filled waters to catch the largest of the striped bass. Not for the faint of heart!
One of Jesus’ early acts was the miraculous catch of fish. But that miracle was really just . . . . the lead-up to a bigger call to “go fishing.” The first disciples, Peter, James, and John, were told they would now “fish for people” (Luke 5:10-11). Peter was filled with fear and awe right before that call: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). He wasn’t scared to be a fisherman. That was his job. But he was afraid to be in the presence of a holy and powerful God.
God doesn’t just go about ministry by himself. He calls sinful people. That can be intimidating to any of us. Why me? Why would I be the one to serve or lead God’s people or share the precious and mighty gospel of Jesus Christ? Fear can be a big hindrance in our personal work for the Lord.
Jesus says to Simon, “Don’t be afraid.” He has redeemed us on the cross. We are fully and completely washed of all sin through faith in him. We can do ministry without the fear that we’re not the right person for the job. God makes us all as believers the right ones to go fishing for people!
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:10-11)
What we speak often comes from somewhere else. Our first words were very likely our best imitations of what our parents said to us. As we grow up we repeat what we hear in class, from friends, from books we read. We develop our own style and original ideas over time, but if we’re honest a huge percentage of the words and ideas that come out of our mouths were, in some way or another, put there by someone else. And that person is probably just repeating to some extent what he or she heard in another context.
When Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, he responded that he . . . . didn’t know how to speak. God, in a dramatic way, reached out his hand and touched {[Jeremiah’s] mouth and said to [Jeremiah]: “I have put my words in your mouth (Jeremiah 1:9).
If we’re to go out and speak on the Lord’s behalf, that has to be the picture. We say what God has given us to say.
It’s dangerous to talk about God’s kingdom, faith, salvation, and forgiveness with teachings that are not from God, even if it’s done unknowingly. Have we ever spoken of “God’s will” more because it lines up with what we want than with the Word? Is it possible we’ve repeated phrases we’ve heard on Christian radio or books or from psychologists without really knowing if they reflect the Scriptures?
Without the benefit of God literally reaching out and putting his Word in our mouths, we know what he would have us do. Open our Bibles! Listen to good preaching. Meditate on the Word. Although church leaders are specifically called to watch over the Bible’s teaching, the whole family of faith also has the responsibility to speak with God’s words.
God has given us his Word. Let that be the message that comes out of our mouths!
“Ouch! That doesn’t feel good.” A manager is told she’s not ready to get a promotion to the next level even though the job is available. A guy asks a girl to dinner and she says she’s not interested. A parent has to live with his or her child being very upset at discipline and refusing to speak. Being rejected is not fun. It’s painful. We almost universally assume right away that we have somehow failed, or that something is wrong with us. Truth be told, that’s a mixed-up perception on our part. Rejection does not equal failure. Sure, there can be some feedback on what we can do better, and maybe we did do something wrong. But it’s not necessarily a problem on our side at all. Maybe we did things right and there are other reasons it didn’t work out. Everyone’s been rejected on some level in life. Does that mean no one has value? We know that’s not the case. It’s just part and parcel of our experience on earth. Maybe we can find a “rejection-free” experience in the Christian faith? That would be nice, but . . . . it’s also not the case. All believers faced people who did not like their faith or the principles God taught them. Jesus, Son of God and Son of man, was rejected. And often. One day early in his ministry he went to his hometown of Nazareth and preached in the local synagogue. Only words of truth and hope. Good news and freedom! The Lord’s favor for all people in the world! The Anointed One from prophecy was standing before them! Who could possibly be upset at this preaching? The Nazarenes sure were. They did not like a Messiah for those who were outside the nation of Israel. Their anger took them to the point of wanting to toss Jesus over a cliff and be rid of him. However, it was not Jesus’ time, so he walked right through the crowd and went on with life. None of their opinions that day changed his teaching or mission. Rejection and criticism of our faith will happen from time to time. That’s not a failure of our following of Christ, and most definitely not a failure of God’s Word and the gospel. We face opposition with the strength of the Lord. We have been fully accepted, forgiven and saved by Jesus, the Anointed One, who preached good news to us as well. Others’ opinions don’t change our commitment to God or thankfulness for his grace and mercy.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. (Luke 4:18)
