I recently was listening to K-LOVE and heard the song by Todd Agnew called “Joy Unspeakable.”  It is really inspirational.  In actuality, the lyrics were originally written by written by Barney Warren in 1900.  Some of us grew up singing the hymn.  The phrase “Joy Unspeakable” comes directly from scripture and can be found in 1 Peter 1:8 which says, “You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” 

What I notice right off about that scripture is what it has to say about the source of joy.  The source is the reality (or truth) of Jesus Christ.  The joy rises from our love of the Lord and our belief in him.  Basically, if you believe in the Lord Jesus, joy unspeakable happens. 

But, the scripture may also cause us to consider what is not the true source of our joy.  Our joy is not caused by other people.  (Do you need others to cheer you up?)  It is not caused by possessions.  (Are you happy only when you get the things you want or think you need?)  It is not caused by circumstances …one’s health  …one’s treatment by others …one’s opportunities or surroundings.  (Do you struggle to have joy unless things in your life are according to your desires and preferences?) 

I must ask myself from time to time... “am I deriving my joy from the right source—my belief in and my love of Jesus?”  If not, it’s time to adjust my “joy-valve.”

Here’s what I mean by “joy-valve.”  My swimming pool filter can draw water from the skimmer or draw from the depths.  When the valve is set to draw from the skimmer trash can flow into and through the system.  I have fished out twigs, grass, leaves, all kinds of bugs, and even small animals (squirrel, mouse, mole, bat, etc.) .  On the other hand, when the valve is set to draw water from the depths it is pure and cool.  Let me relate this to joy by asking this question: are we trying to draw joy from what we “skim off the top” in life , or what we draw from the depths?

When we base our joy on the kinds of things that flow in to our lives we can be very disappointed and sad (because bad things are bound to come our way).  But, when we base our joy on the deep things of Christ we can have joy unspeakable in spite of the circumstances.  Our contentment comes from the unchangeable things of God—salvation in Christ, a personal relationship with God, grace for living, and the unwavering hope of heaven.  Speaking personally, these are things the world didn’t give to me and the world can’t take away. 

There is one more observation I must make about joy while we are on the subject.  Joy is not “joy” until it is expressed.  I looked up the definition of the word “joy” in the American Heritage Dictionary and here is what it said: “Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.” In other words, if the feeling is only bottled-up inside it isn’t really joy… at least not yet.  Joy is the “expression or manifestation of the feeling.” 

It is kind of like a can of insulating foam, maybe you’ve seen them in the hardware store.  The chemical substance inside the can makes foam to fill cracks and crevasses between interior and exterior walls, but only when it gets out of the can.  Some people have the raw materials for joy inside of them in the form of a relationship with Jesus Christ.  However, you would never know it by looking at their faces or listening to their conversations.  In contrast, some others have Christ Jesus, the source of joy, in you and it is oozing out all over the place.  I sure hope that I fit into the latter category!

Jeremiah 33:11 says, "There will be sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms. There will be the sounds of people bringing to the house of the Lord their offerings of thanks to the Lord. They will say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endures for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD.”  

Let’s hear it for joy!

On a recent talk show, the host mentioned that something was a "sin" and the audience snickered in response. Whatever your thoughts about sin, if you consult the Bible you will pretty much come to the conclusion it teaches that sin and God don’t go together. There is no deceit, no evil, no darkness at all in him. God is truth; God is good; God is light. By his very nature God is perfect--but unfortunately we aren’t.

The surprise teaching of the Bible, however, is that this holy God, in an incomprehensible act of love and mercy, sent his only son to our earth in the person of Jesus to show us the way to live, and also to suffer the penalty we deserve for our sins. Jesus takes on himself the punishment we had coming, which is far more serious than we like to think.

In Isaiah 53 the prophet is looking ahead to the sacrifical death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary and says these words:

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." 

Christ’s suffering and death on the cross was nothing less than Jesus taking your punishment and my punishment. Why? Because to a holy God, sin is a serious matter--deadly serious.  But, God is serious about loving us back into relationship with him, as well.

Our response should obviously be one of immense gratitude. Who can imagine such a huge favor being done, especially when none of us is deserving of it? Logic also says that understanding the sacrifice required of God should bring us forever into agreement with him regarding sin. After grasping the lengths to which our Lord went to forgive us and make possible a renewed relationship with himself, we can no longer view sin in a casual way. It’s not something to snicker or giggle about. Sin is a serious matter-­deadly serious. It always has been and it always will be.

If you want to think of sin as innocent fun, modern, freeing, exciting—"it's my business and nobody else’s"--just understand that God's view concerning it is quite different.           

That's something to think about!

        Let me share with you a personal testimony.  My story begins at the age of eight when I returned from a mid-week prayer meeting and knelt down in front of an old black sofa and asked Jesus Christ to take away my sin and come into my heart.  The context of my decision was a loving, Christ-centered family that had followed the call of God to be involved in home missions work for the Church of God in Anchorage, Alaska.  My parents, Rev. and Mrs. Paul Kendall, not only taught my brother Gary and me about the Lord Jesus Christ, they modeled his love, his message, and his passion for people who are far from God.  Thus, a lifestyle of following God was something I became keenly aware of even as a young boy.

 

            As a family, we moved to the Midwest (Kansas) and like many teens, I entered into a stage of life when I needed to test some of the boundaries and take ownership of my own faith.  It would be an exaggeration to say that I fell into gross sin by the world’s standards, but I clearly was walking in “the broad road that leads to destruction” (Matt. 7:13).  These were the hot and cold years when I wavered between what I knew to be right and what I felt like doing to gratify myself.  I was living with self on the throne and I needed a fresh experience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            That fresh experience came when I graduated from High School in Kansas and was contemplating what I should do with my life.  I had a scholarship offer from a state university to study pre-law but was feeling no peace about that career choice.  At a summer camp I vividly remember sensing the Lord directing me to attend Gulf-Coast Bible College in Houston, Texas (now Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City).  A clear and specific calling had not yet emerged but I knew that I wanted to use my life for the Lord in some way.

 

            Wise, compassionate counselors and teachers at the college helped me crystallize my calling to full-time Christian ministry.  God specifically confirmed his call on my life one day when I was reading Matthew chapter 10.  In this passage Jesus sends his disciples out on a missionary journey, “As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' …freely you have received, freely give.”   I felt the Holy Spirit quicken the words of Jesus into my spirit and my calling to ministry was firmly established; it has not been something I have doubted since that day.

 

            In his great wisdom, God knew that a helpmate in ministry would be needed and he brought a beautiful southern belle from Mississippi into my life by the name of Kristel Daniels.  After dating two and a half years we were married in 1983.  She likewise felt the call to ministry.  Together we made our first home in Anderson, Indiana as I embarked on my seminary career at Anderson School of Theology.  She worked at the Mass Communications Board of the Church of God as I hit the books.  Many wonderful relationships for both of us were formed during those seminary years.

 

            While living in Anderson, my wife and I made it our goal not only to learn about ministry, but also to be vitally involved in ministry.  It was a great blessing that the North Anderson Church of God (now Madison Park Church) under the leadership of David Shultz offered us so many opportunities to explore ministry pathways.  The people of the church were also very welcoming of a new addition to our family, our firstborn son, Ley (pronounced “Lee”).  Our children certainly have kept—and continue to keep—us grounded and in touch with the struggles and joys of families everywhere.

 

            Having graduated from the School of Theology in 1986, we followed the call of God to an associate pastorate in Shreveport, Louisiana.  It was in “Cajun Country” that our second son, Bryan, was born.  After a couple of years of “getting our feet wet” in full-time ministry we were invited to come back to Anderson to fill a position of Associate Pastor of Youth and Christian Education at the South Meridian Church of God.  It was in the midst of this ministry assignment that our youngest son, Collin, came along.  Some of our fondest memories relate to those long, grueling days of youth ministry where so many impressionable people where at a crossroads in life. One of our greatest joys has been the significant number of young people who have answered the call of God in their own lives to full-time Christian ministry. 

 

            For several years my wife Kristel and I had believed that the Lord was preparing us for the Senior Pastorate.  In 1994 that dream became a reality when we were called to pastor the First Church of God in Nappanee, Indiana.  While we were there God blessed us immensely through the people of First Church and we felt privileged to have helped the church grow and break new ground in God’s Kingdom.  But, as we began our seventh year of ministry in Nappanee, we sensed a stirring within us that eventually led to another adventure in ministry…

 

            In September of 2000 we began serving the Shartel Church of God in Oklahoma City.  Our hearts were drawn to this congregation that had recently experienced some difficulties and the exodus of nearly one-third of its membership.  We felt as though we were being called to a ministry of congregational healing in Oklahoma.  Though these kinds of ministries are never easy, we believe that God has used us to accomplish purposes that may only be revealed on the other side of eternity.  One significant accomplishment in the eight years of ministry in Oklahoma City has been the completion of the Family Ministries Center.  We were pleased to see that the church responded so enthusiastically to the “Forward in Faith” Capital Campaign that—in the span of three years—the amount of funds brought in to complete the building more than doubled the initial pledged amount.  This was accomplished without a hindrance to the general ministries budget of the church.  While there have been bumps as well as blessings along the way, we are thankful to God for the opportunity to have served in the “Sooner State.”  Our two older sons (Ley and Bryan) continue their collegiate educational pursuits in Oklahoma.        

 

            Some time ago, I was reading in my Harper Study Bible from my college days and I came across 1 Peter 2:2-3 “Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”  While a college student, I had written in the margin, “God… I know how much a baby cries for milk—help me to want You that much!”  Now, many years later I can truthfully say that I still want God “that much!”  My passion (and theme verse) is “to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).  Not only that, my hunger is to see people far from God come close and claim Christ as Lord and Savior.  My desire is to help people grow and work together in the Kingdom, utilizing their spiritual gifts.  I want to be a force—and assist others—making a difference in the world to God’s glory.  Presently, my wife Kristel, Collin and I reside in Lee's Summit, Missouri and enjoy serving the Woods Chapel Church of God.  We look forward expectantly to whatever adventures of the Spirit that are awaiting us. 

Before we leave the month of July, I wanted to interject this thought on freedom. 
It is a poem written by Kelly Strong entitled: Freedom Not "Free."

I watched the flag pass by one day,

 It fluttered in the breeze;

 A young Marine saluted it,

 And then he stood at ease.

 I looked at him in uniform,

 So young, so tall, so proud;

 With hair cut square and eyes alert,

 He'd stand out in any crowd.

 
I thought ... how many men like him

 Had fallen through the years?

 How many died on foreign soil?

 How many mothers' tears?

 How many pilot's planes shot down?

 How many died at sea?

 How many foxholes were soldiers graves?

 No ... Freedom is not Free.

 

 I heard the sound of Taps one night,

 When everything was still;

 I listened to the bugler play,

 And felt a sudden chill;

 I wondered just how many times

 That Taps had meant "Amen,"

 When a flag had draped a coffin

 Of a brother or a friend;

 I thought of all the children,

 Of the mothers and the wives,

 Of fathers, sons and husbands ...

 With interrupted lives.

 

 I thought about a graveyard

 At the bottom of the sea,

 Of unmarked graves in Arlington ...

 No ... Freedom is not Free!

Why did Jesus turn water into wine for his first miracle? (See John 2.)  Did he find water too bland and distasteful?  Not likely.  Was his mother acting as host and he simply wanted to avoid her some embarrassment? Possible—but again, not likely.  Did the disciples want a buzz and so they pressured Jesus into it?  Ah… No!  What then?  Most who have studied the passage carefully believe that the story is used in the same way that Luke uses the story in chapter 4 where Jesus delivers his message in the synagogue in Nazareth. 

 

The story goes like this: “On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:16-21). 

 

The italicized text is a quote from the prophet Isaiah about the coming of the Kingdom of God.  When Jesus announces that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy—the Messiah in the flesh—he is making it clear that a new reality is present on earth.  Luke uses this story first in his Gospel account to establish the fact that Jesus is the “Anointed One” and the Kingdom is present in the form of Jesus.  This is “good news,” really Good News, as Luke (and Isaiah) declare.  It is cause for celebration… which calls us back to the story in John. 

 

Jesus’ first miracle takes place at a wedding—a celebration.  It’s a party, for lack of a better term.  And, it is expected that people will eat, drink, and be merry.  If the wine runs out (it does), Jesus will just make more (he did).  All this again begs the question… WHY?   Because Jesus is here!  He has come to save the day.  He has comes to proclaim good news.  He delivers us from the poverty of the soul.  He frees those who are in bondage—all kinds of bondage.  He causes those who are blind to see and those who are oppressed to be delivered.  He declares that “this is the day Lord’s favor comes to you!” 

That, friends, is worth celebrating.  That is good news.  You shouldn’t even need wine to get happy over that… I know I don’t.  It’s the kind of new reality that should joyfully shine on our faces and bubble out of our mouths.  

2 Corinthians 5:7 states "we walk by faith, not by sight."  This raises the question, "how's our faith walk going?  Are we walking the walk of faith with a brisk, confident stride?  Or, are we struggling to put one foot in front of the other when it comes to faith?  Perhaps, like me, you’ve heard the statement “it takes money to make money.” The same idea may apply to faith.  Faith is the currency of our relationship with God.  He expects us to bring some faith to the table.

 
In Hebrews 11:5-6 we read that “He (Enoch) was known as a person who pleased God. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

 

 

So, are we bringing some faith in God to the table? And, what kind of faith is God looking for?

 

Francis MacNutt describes faith as: “chutzpah that is nerve/brass, extreme confidence in action (cf. the woman who touches Jesus' robe).  It is not blind faith but confidence or obedience to the promises of God, trust in the character of God.  Like Abraham, we set out for an unknown promised land. The faith lies in setting out on the journey, not in being sure of exactly where we are going. We believe that God is faithful, provided we do what is in our power, and that is to pray. Faith is simply obedience and the willingness to risk; not an absolute certainty about what is going to happen on the journey.”

 

We can say that the faith God is looking for is stronger than optimism or wishful thinking; yet, it is different from absolute certainty. John Wimber used to say it should be spelled R-I-S-K. Faith involves element of making ourselves vulnerable, sticking our necks out, running the risk of being made to look foolish. It is living in the light of a different reality than the one we see.

How much you got? Fortunately, we don’t have to have a lot of this risk-taking faith.  Obviously, the more we have the better.  But, we don’t have to start out with a bunch to begin with.

Jesus replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you” (Luke 17:6).

So, bring to mind your biggest challenge… do you have the faith to trust that God will see you through?  Even a little bit of faith?  Not blind optimism that God will work things out exactly as you see fit (that may not be faith, but foolishness), but belief that God will work things for the good.   Faith is trusting that God will work things out in the best way even if it differs significantly for how you or I think things should work out.

I believe that whatever you may struggle with today, God is already at work preparing an answer.

“THE FAITH I HAVE”  by Dauri Richardson

When life is full of troubles and stress.

I feel like my body and soul need a rest.

I go to my lord on my knees in prayer.

He gives me strength to forgive and care.

He causes my life to make more sense.

I feel like my troubles are not so intense.

He gives me love I don't have to earn.

The faith I have, is what I give in return.

Jesus only asked you to believe in him.

Because of faith life's trials seem less grim.

Jesus’ love cannot be measured.

And, the faith I have is my greatest treasure.

“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?’” 

Luke 9:23-25

 

When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set aside, and you don’t hurt or notice the oversight and you don’t sting from the insult of being forgotten, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy for Christ, that is dying to self.

When your good actions or thoughts are spoken of as if they were evil, and your wishes are ignored, and your advice is disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even to defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence, that is dying to self.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, or any annoyances, and you stand face to face with waste, foolishness, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus endured it, that is dying to self.

When you’re content with any food, offering, climate, society, environment, any solitude, any interruptions by the will of God that is dying to self.  When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works for praise and approval, when you can truly love to be unknown, that is dying to self.

 
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit, and feel no envy or jealousy nor question God when your own needs are far greater or in desperate circumstances, that is dying to self.

When you receive correction and instruction from one of less authority or someone who is under you, and can humbly submit inwardly, as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, that is dying to self.

 

Are you dead yet?  In these days, the Spirit will bring us to the cross that I may know him, being made like him.

 

“Whoever claims to live in him, must walk as Jesus did.”  1 John 2:6

 

 

Mother’s Day is upon us and it’s a shame that it sometimes takes a holiday to cause us to think about the kinds of things we should routinely be thankful for.  In this case, it is a wonderful wife and companion—the Mother of our three boys. I found something Kristel had written down sometime back.  It goes:

    “Yesterday morning I sensed my high school-aged son was going through something, but he had not expressed what it was. Then, last night, I began to quiz him on what was going on. He began to share with me how the day before, when he and all his friends came back from lunch, he looked across the parking lot and a funeral was taking place at the church whose property was adjoining the high school. Some fellow students were upset because they had been inconvenienced when they couldn’t find a parking place. This, in turn, made him very frustrated and distraught. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “Mom, that kid will never have to worry about finding a parking place again. He will never have the chance again to go to lunch at Subway with his friends.” 

    Perhaps the emotions he was feeling at school got misplaced on to some innocent kids when he became angry at their childish behavior and selfishness, but I told him what he was actually experiencing was God trying to talk to him. I began to share how God can speak to us in everyday moments and I told him not to let the experience pass him by.” 

There’s nothing more to the story except to say that I can’t express in words what it means to me to have a partner in life who is sensitive to the voice of God.  To parent our kids along side of a mother that points consistently to the Lord Jesus Christ is a great blessing.

Sunday, May 9^th I will have the double blessing of being together in worship with both a wife (Kristel, who is a fabulous mother) and my own mother—Ruthie Kendall—who taught me from an early age how to listen for the voice of God in my life. 

 

Ladies… you are simply “the best!”

With the NFL draft upon us, I’ve got a true story for you. there was a professional football player who had made quite a reputation for himself. Even so, his head didn't swell, and he never forgot his alma mater and the help he had received in getting him to where he was. That's why, when his old college coach came and asked him to help with some recruiting, he was more than glad to do what he could. Looking for some guidelines, the football player asked, "Can you tell me, Coach, exactly what kind of player are you looking for?" The coach thought for just a second and then he replied, "There are all kinds of football players. You've met most of them. For example, you've seen the guy that when he's hit hard, he stays down." The professional player interrupted and said, "I'm pretty sure we don't want that guy, do we, Coach?" "Nope, we don't want that guy."

"Then there's the player that when you knock him down, he gets up but when you knock him down a second time, he stays down." "We don't want that guy either do we, Coach?" "Nope, we don't want him, either." The Coach continued. "Then there's the fellow who, when you knock him down, he gets up; and you knock him down again, and he gets up; and every time he's knocked down he keeps getting up." "Now that's the kind of player we're looking for to play on the team, isn't it, Coach?" This time there was no hesitation in the Coach's response, he said: "No, we don't want that fellow either. I want you to find the player who's knocking everyone down. The guy who knocks down all the others... that's the guy we want."

Now, if I did a poll of ordinary people, and if I asked them, "Who is Jesus in that story," and if they answered honestly, I'd get some interesting replies. For example, there are some folks who would say, "Jesus is the fellow who, when you knock Him down, He stays down… not a tough guy at all. He’s a turn the other cheek type, you know."

 

Then, there are those who would jump to the conclusion that Jesus is guy who got knocked down time after time – by the Pharisees, by the Chief priests, by the Romans – but each and every time he was knocked down, he got back up.  In fact, some would say that the Easter story is the quintessential “down--but up again” story… that even though they killed the Lord Jesus on the cross, he rose up again on the third day.  The only problem with that view of things is that it still makes Jesus a victim.  

No.  The truth is, the story of the cross and the resurrection is the story of the God who did the knocking.  Satan had things well in hand.  We humans, despite all of our best efforts, could never live up to a standard worthy of existing in the presence of a Holy God.  His pure holiness would destroy us, and our sins, in a burst of holy, consuming fire.  His immutable justice would cast us out with all of our short-comings and filthiness even on our best day.  Romans 3:10 echoes the words of the Psalmist, “there is no one that is righteous, no not one.”  You, and I, and all the others that have preceded us are stained with guilt.  Satan knew it.  (He’s been knocking us humans down since the dawn of time.)  

But one day God said, “enough… I’ve seen enough of the devil harming and destroying the people I created and love.”  Consulting with the Trinity He said, “what are we going to do about it?”

 

Jesus said, “I’ll go… I’ll pay the price for sin once and for all.  I’ll take everything thing the devil can throw at me straight on… I’ll suffer to fullest extent so that anyone who puts their trust in me will never have to suffer..”

 
And He did.  He died on the cross—the cruelest of deaths.  He suffered unimaginable pain and died an undeserved death for every sin that ever was (or ever will be) committed.  He died for me and he died for you.  In so doing He administered a shocking blow to Satan that still reverberates to this day.  And even though he had broken the devil’s power on the cross, by freeing mankind from the grip and penalty of sin, he said, “It’s not enough… Satan you’re going down again.”  

So, in the stillness of a tomb a strange and foreign sound can be heard—breathing—from within grave clothes?  Suddenly a brilliant, blinding light explodes and beside the place where a broken and bloodied body had once laid, a glorious figure of a man now stands.  But he is more than a man.  He is a king… a King of Kings.  He is a lord… the Lord of Lords.  He is a Lion and a Lamb, a Savior and Servant, both a Prince of Peace and a Conquering Hero.  Best of all, this resurrected Christ has just dealt Satan--that purveyor of death--a blow from which he will never recover.

As Paul reminds us, “Death is swallowed up in victory -- O Death, where is your sting? O grave where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (1 Corinthians15)

 
And since Jesus is the winner, then Satan is the looser!

 
“I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him… and threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore.”      (excerpted from Revelation 20)

 Friends, remember the story that I started with about the football players?  Jesus isn’t the one who got knocked down and got back up.  No, we celebrate the one who did the knocking.  He knocked the devil down by destroying the power of sin on the cross.  He knocked him down again defeating death and robbing the grave of its hold over us.  And, when the serpent tries to rise again the “Player” on our side is going to knock him down so far into the pit that he’ll never get up, never get out, and never give us any grief ever again. 

So how about a big cheer for our Guy!  

 

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Mission staring Jeremy Irons.  He plays a Spanish Jesuit who goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region. Robert DeNiro plays a slave hunter named Mendoza.  To make a long story short, Mendoza kills his own brother in a fit of rage. Only Father Gabriel's guidance prevents his suicide. Gabriel brings Mendoza to work at his mission with the natives, and Mendoza finds peace and asks to become a priest. Later, the church , under pressure, cedes the land to the Portuguese which will allow slavers in again. Mendoza breaks his vows of non-violence and organizes the natives to resist while Gabriel warns him to help them as a priest, instead. 

For me, the most poinient scene in the movie happens when Mendoza is trying to do penance for the killing of his brother.  He is doggedly pulling a large net filled with his armor and weapons through the forest and mud as the party he travels with scales the Iguazu Falls. 

Eventually, Mendoza proceeds until he collapses. One of the Jesuit priests Fielding (Liam Neeson) cuts away the bundle, releasing Mendoza of his penance. But, Mendoza recovers the bundle, re-ties it, and resumes the grueling journey.  Reaching the Guaraní camp, the tribe is alarmed that the priests are accompanied by Mendoza (who had previously enslaved them). A member of the tribe appears prepared to slit Mendoza's throat - instead, he cuts the ropes to which Mendoza's burden is tied and pushes the armor and weapons over a cliff. Finally symbolically relieved of his violent past, and the recipient of the tribe's forgiveness, Mendoza breaks down into weeping and eventual laughter.

What a powerful message of grace and forgiveness. It reminds me of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.  The character Christian is on a journey, carrying a large bundle on his shoulders. Finally, after many experiences, the bundle (burden) drops to the ground, rolls down the hill, and disappears into the empty grave. 

With our recent celebration of Resurrection Sunday, isn't it wonderful and comforting to know that our burdens are stripped away from us and swallowed up in the empty tomb?  This isn't to imply that we don't need to make amends for past mistakes.  However, we are freed from any guilt by the blood shed by our Lord Jesus on the cross, and made to stand victorious over our past by the resurrection!  "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" (Romans 8:1-2).  Celebrate it!  Walk, Run, and Dance in the Light of God's Love and Grace TODAY!