Plain Vanilla

Romans 1:16-17

My friend Mark attended the Harvest Crusade in Anaheim, California. He told us about it at church tonight.

Mark is very eloquent. He is my Sunday school teacher, and he does a good bit of public speaking, so he is very skilled at painting word pictures and can be quite animated as he speaks. He described some of the people attending the crusade. Some of them were not your stereotypical church folks. "There was this one guy who looked like a pretty rough character, but when the praise music started, he stood with his hands raised and was just lost in worship."

Mark said something that captured my imagination. He said, "It wasn't anything fancy. Just a plain vanilla presentation of the gospel." Thousands came to Christ.

The Apostle Paul said that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And that in it the righteousness of God is revealed (Romans 1:16-17).

It's just that simple. We as Christians are not obligated to sway anyone or convince anyone of anything. We are simply to present the gospel: John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

It doesn't even have to be that much. You can just say something like, "Jesus died for your sins." Then simply bear witness to how He saved you and what He has done in your life.

It is so simple. It is "plain vanilla". We are the ones who make it so complicated.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30.

Thank You, Father, for saving me. Thank You that You made a simple Way to restore my relationship with You. Thank You for the good news of Christ Jesus.

God is AWESOME!

Torn

Mark 15:37-38

In Jewish culture, tearing clothes is a sign of mourning a death. There are a lot of examples of this in the bible. Job tore his clothes when he got the news that his children had all been killed (Job 1:18-20). There are literally thousands of other examples of the tearing of clothes to mourn in the bible.

In the temple was the tabernacle. God's dwelling place. Around the tabernacle was a veil. God's robe. When Jesus took on all of our sins and God turned His back on His Son (John 1:29 & Matthew 27:46), God was grieved and wounded. Then Jesus died. God tore His robe. (Mark 15:37-38).

Thank You, Father, for Your grief. Thank You that in Your grief came our salvation. Thank You that You can turn such grief into inexpressible joy.

God’s Robe

(Matthew 27:51 and Isaiah 53)

He knew suffering
He knew affliction
He came to break our sin addiction
He is the beloved Son
He is the despised One
He took on my sin and put on my pride
He is the Advocate spoken of by Job
He poured Himself out and then He died
God limped away and tore His robe

God is AWESOME!

The Rock of Offense

1 Peter 2:4-8

Jesus is so much more than that little baby in the manger. He is so much more than the sacrificial Lamb. (Revelation 19:11-16 and Colossians 1:15-17)

People who do not believe find it offensive when we say that there is only one way to heaven (John 14:6). They become angry when confronted with the truth of their sin. When the light of Truth shines into someone's life, and their mask is torn away, they come unhinged. At the mere mention of Jesus' name, nice, smiling people form a scowl on their faces. They show their true colors for just a moment. They stumble. (Isaiah 8:12-15)

I read in 1 Peter 2:7-8 that for those who do not believe, Jesus has become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. I had to ponder this for a while. As I rolled it around in my little head, a thought began to take shape.

We (I say we because all of us are in the same boat (Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:1-9)) generally don't like to hear the truth about ourselves. It is that pride that so easily ensnares us. Pride is the sin that will sneak up on us. When you think you have done so well in resisting temptation and treating everyone as you would have them treat you, it is then that pride will try to enter your mind and produce sin (Genesis 4:7). It was pride that got Satan booted out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14).

Truth knocks at the door, Truth begins seeping in through all the cracks, shedding light on everything that is dirty. Truth holds out hope. Truth offers to clean up that which is dirty, to make it new, to restore everything. Pride wakes up and hears the knocking. "I can deal with it myself, thank you very much!"

Truth offends people because there is nothing you can hide that Truth can't find. Offended people become angry. Anger takes away focus, reason and balance. Without those three, a stumble is inevitable.

Jesus is Truth. The world offers a lie that sounds better than Truth. The world offers multiple ways around The Way and says that there is no Truth. So some exchange Truth for the beautiful lie (Romans 1:25).

But there is still the pesky Truth. Every time they try to step over it or go around it, they always manage to catch their toe on it...the Stone of Stumbling.

God is AWESOME!