Hey everybody,
Just a reminder that we won’t be gathering together this coming Sunday. And though we won’t be coming together, we can still be the church, worshiping Him by collectively taking the time to listen to and obey Him.
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!
Do we live in such a way that reflects that the Lord’s opinion of us is all that matters? Will it be enough to here those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness”? Or do we want more than that? Do we also need the approval of others as well? Or will we play only to the audience of One?
Personally, I’ve found the the most accurate test for this, to see if we play only to the audience of One, is when we’re falsely accused. I’ve been going to church long enough to know that in difficult times, I’m supposed to pray. And most often I do. I’ll usually switch between praying the abject “why is this happening to me?” prayer and the “protect me, save me” prayer.
But my action rarely stops there. I don’t just take it up to God in prayer. I take it up to other people too. I want God and a bunch of someone elses to understand. And so, I try to get other people on my side. I scramble around, trying to get anybody to listen to my side of the story. Often I’ll paint a picture where my accusers look like the bad guys with the hope that I’d look like the good guy.
Now, contrast that with what David did in our reading last week when he was also falsely accused in 1 Samuel 24:1-9. David falls from favor because Saul sees him as a threat to his throne. In response, Saul chases after David with several thousand men. All the while, Saul’s told that David is “bent on harming” him. An outright lie. David then has the opportunity to kill Saul in a cave. But he only cuts a piece of Saul’s robe and spares Saul’s life.
If we simply look at the story in 1 Samuel we’d know the facts, the events in history that occurred but we wouldn’t know what David was thinking, what he was feeling at the time. And that’s where the Psalms come in. It’s believed that David wrote songs, Psalms during this time. I’ll highlight a couple.
In Psalm 140, up to the first three Selahs from verse 1 to 8, it sounds familiar to us. They’re “protect me, save me” prayers. But starting from verse 9, the tone shifts significantly. Suddenly, David wields prayer less like a shield and more like a sword. He goes on the offensive in his prayer. And while this doesn’t sound all that great character-wise, let me put this in perspective. When I go on the offensive, I try to right the wrongs done to me myself. I go around trying to set the record straight. I make the rounds bad mouthing my accusers. When David goes on the offensive, he goes to the Lord to right the wrongs on his behalf. It’s not that time healed all wounds for David. It’s not that David came to the place where we didn’t care if Saul got his in the end. It’s that David trusted that the Lord would act as the judge and dole out the consequences for the wrong done.
And that goes into the other Psalm, Psalm 56. We see a lot of the same themes that we saw in Psalm 140, but what we see even more clearly in Psalm 56 is that theme of trusting in the Lord. In this particular Psalm we see that the opinion that the Lord has of David is sufficient for him. David lives for the audience of only One. While word spreads that David is guilty of treason, seeking after the king’s life, David doesn’t feel the compulsion to go around the country on a campaign setting the record straight. “In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” David only has eyes for the Lord. David came to the place where all that mattered was what the Lord thought of him and he carried that with him for the rest of his life.
Is what He thinks of you all that matters? Because it’s true, He is more than enough. As David later wrote, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” and “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
This Sunday, the 1st, we have off as we’re creating relational space in our weekends and learning as a community how to engage in meaningful relationships with non-church-going people when and where most of them naturally are available: the weekends!
Next Sunday, the 8th, we will all be on retreat in the Santa Cruz area, so there will be no Sunday gathering on that day either.
Things resume on the 15th at Mountain View Academy.
Hi baylight. This past Sunday I talked about a familiar topic that you have heard me mention often before: the power of simple obedience. It is something that the Lord has reinforced in my life over these last three years. I wanted to share with you the slides and quotes I used.
I talked about our global mission summit in the former city of Antioch, Turkey, where Acts 13 happened.
Acts 13:1-3 - 1In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
And here was the purported place they were meeting in (Now called St. Peter’s Grotto) when they heard from God:
And here was the Roman port from which they immediately obeyed the voice of the Lord:
I shared how this was the pattern of spirituality espoused in community that led to mission (I also shared my friend Curtis’ story about the Lord sending out two women missionaries from the house church network in China while he was asleep at 4:30am). The pattern over time is this: Hearing God + a Heart that trust/loves/obeys God = the blueprint for a revolution in God’s Kingdom.
The kind of person God uses is one who will say “yes” to God — no matter what. It is this kind of person that God strongly supports according to …
2 Chronicles 16:9a – “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.
I shared quotes from Bob Roberts, Pastor of Northwood Church in Texas, to help show the process:
And I shared about my life as an example and encouragement to any who doubt this truth. I believe I am living proof that when you obey what you hear God saying, supernatural and transformational things happen.
I see God making people in baylight into this kind of community on this kind of mission with this kind of spirituality of loving and costly obedience. And if we choose to cooperate with what God is already doing in the world, then the sky is the limit. My wish for baylight is that you would also come to know Jesus in this way that goes beyond right beliefs to a living, dynamic relationship.
I closed with Karen Watson’s Last Letter; Karen died in Iraq at the age of 38 and knew God in this way as well. And from heaven above, her testimony also speaks of the grandeur of loving obedience to God.
Dear Pastor,
You should only be opening this letter in the event of my death. When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn’t called to a place; I was called to Him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, His glory my reward, His glory my reward…
The missionary heart:
Cares more than some think is wise.
Risks more than some think is safe.
Dreams more than some think is practical
Expects more than some think is possible
I was called not to comfort or to success but to obedience… There is no Joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving Him. I love you and my church family.
In His care,
Salaam, Karen
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