It's Only Me

It’s Only Me

“I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:14

We’ve probably all heard the door opening, the questions about who is there, followed by the common response “It’s only me”. And while it might be a reassurance that no one is breaking into the home, I have come to not like, to really not like, that phrase. The reason is quite simple, there are no “onlys” with God; every person the Lord created matters. There are no “it’s only Joe”, “it’s only Kathy”; there are no it’s only anyone; we all matter and we are all needed.

Leo Buscaglia tells a great story about a young girl who does a heroic deed and has a good fairy offer to grant her any wish as a reward. The young girl simply says that she “wants to be happy” after which the good fairy whispers something in her ear and disappears. The story relates that for the rest of her life no one was happier than this girl. When asked about the secret of her happiness, she would always smile and reply, “I listened to the good fairy.” As she grew old, friends begged her to tell them what the good fairy had whispered to her. Finally, one day, she smiled and relented saying “She told me that everyone, no matter how secure they seemed, had need of me.”

In Washington last week, the streets seemed to be a mind boggling collection of roads going in every possible direction and seemingly impossible to navigate. But from the top of the Washington monument, looking down on the city, everything made sense and seemed perfectly laid out. The only difference was perspective. In the same way, convincing people that they matter is at times a real battle. Circumstances send a confusing signal; relationships can seem superficial and disposable; and other people seem to be doing and accomplishing so much more with their lives. But from God’s perspective, our lives are part of a much larger plan and are linked to what God is doing on the earth in establishing His kingdom. Ed Gungor wrote “Because our everyday actions are linked to the Christ story, our lives matter. We each have the opportunity to influence others by participating in everyday life with the eyes of faith.”

If the God who created the Milky Way Galaxy thought it important enough to create you, your life matters. Other people, some you know and some you don’t, need you to be you. No matter what you have been gifted to do, your relationship to the Lord opens the door for you to make a difference in this world. And because of that, please do me a favor; never say “it’s only me.” As I said earlier, there are no “onlys” in God’s eyes, there should be none in our eyes, and there definitely are none in the mirrors we look into every morning!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Hospitality

Hospitality

“Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some
have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.”
Hebrews 13:2

Have you ever stopped to ask someone to repeat a statement, not because you didn’t hear it but because what you thought you heard seemed so incredible and unbelievable? That’s exactly what happened to me during our tour this Tuesday of Mount Vernon, George and Martha Washington’s stately home on the Potomac. The exact statement was something like “these bedrooms were used by guests, many of whom the Washingtons didn’t even know.” The guide answered my request for her to repeat what she said with more detail and my head has been shaking ever since.

In a day when travel was by horseback and carriage and before the first Holiday Inn was constructed in America, showing hospitality to total strangers was a commonplace, everyday occurrence necessitated by the times, dictated by decency, not to mention commanded by scripture. And if the weather was bad, those strangers would be entertained and cared for until the weather cleared up and they could continue their journey. And if they were traveling with slaves, special quarters next to the main house were used to provide hospitality to these additional guests. To show the extent of this common practice of the times, in one year, George and Martha Washington housed over 600 overnight guests in their home at Mount Vernon. And the key point, many were total, complete, never seen before strangers.

Showing hospitality, as the writer of Hebrews enjoined us to do, has become a lost art and forgotten practice. We excuse it because of the busyness of our lives and justify it because of the comfort levels in relationships that we have come to insist on. But the pendulum may have swung too far; we may have drifted too far from a courtesy that often holds hidden blessings in more ways than one. What if in the reaching out to others who are outside our circle of friends, we grow in the social graces needed to fulfill God’s plan for our lives? What if in the extending of ourselves and in the opening of our homes, our paths cross with someone who can help us along the way?

It’s amazing to think that the range of guests at Mount Vernon ranged from statesmen and foreign dignitaries like French General Lafayette to the common traveler needing a place of comfort and shelter in their journey through the colonies. Let’s use this example to open our hearts to others outside our inner circle. And maybe along with that, open our homes to others to show the hospitality that Hebrews says we are not to neglect. Remember, “Some have entertained angels unaware!”

God Bless,

Pastor Joe

Gateway Church

Shotgun

Shotgun

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your
servant …….just as Jesus did not come to be served, but
to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:26, 28

Taking a group of students to McDonalds or Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch always includes one inevitable component – the call of “shotgun”, the laying claim to the front passenger seat to avoid having to cram into the back seat with three or four other students. But that is not the end of the matter as other students quickly follow the “shotgun” call with one of their own, “window seat”, settling for the next best spots in the old Buick and leaving one or two unfortunate students to endure the dreaded back seat bump.

While we can laugh at the antics of high school students, we need to realize that the path to greatness is one of service to others. Jesus taught that the person who wants to be first in God’s eyes needs to become a servant to those around them. He used the occasion of James and John’s mother coming and asking that her sons would sit “one at His right side and one at His left in His kingdom” to offer a teaching on true greatness, one that is so different from the message the world sends us that we have to look out for number one and protect our own interests. Seneca put it quite simply:

“No man can live happily

who regards himself alone,

who turns everything

to his own advantage.

You must live for others

if you wish to live for yourself”

Winston Churchill put it this way: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Now those are words to give some thought to! And Jesus modeled the attitude He is calling us to by leaving His place in Heaven with the Father, a place of glory and honor, to “take on the form of a servant.” Whether He was feeding the multitudes or healing the sick, it was with the heart of a servant, one committed to meeting the needs of others. And when, in the hours just before the cross, He took the basin of water and washed the feet of His disciples, he sent His followers, including each of us, a loud and clear message: be a servant to those around you and to those in need.

We want to ask the Lord to give us servant’s hearts. If we are involved in ministry, whether from the church pulpit or the Sunday school classroom, let’s minister with the heart of a servant. If our paths cross the path of someone who needs a helping hand, let’s remember our call to service. The world might try and tell us different, but Jesus made it clear that service to others is the path to greatness. And think, “Who is seated at the right hand of God?” the one who became a servant of all.

God Bless,

Pastor Joe

Gateway Church

Someday

Someday

“Teach us to number our days and recognize how few
they are; help us to spend them as we should.”
Psalm 90:12 TLB

Considering that she was only a young lady, her fear and reluctance at being asked to take such a daring risk was more than understandable. The comfort she enjoyed had come at a price; her time of preparation had required sacrifice and discipline and to chance losing it now seemed almost foolish. The problem for Esther was that she had not been called in to see the king for a whole month and appearing before him uninvited could result in death. Waiting until “someday”, when the king called for her, seemed to make much more sense to Esther.

It’s called by experts “The Someday Syndrome”, and it point to that future time in a person’s life when their schedule isn’t as hectic, when the kids are grown, when they have the right job and more money, or when their circumstances are different. It’s the declaration that someday a person will do the things they’ve always wanted to do, that someday, they’ll enjoy life a little more. I saw it firsthand in my dad’s life. My dad was a hard working man who put in long hours managing Terrace Garden Lanes, a bowling and billiards hall in Rochester New York. And he always talked about what he would do when he finally retired. Like most of us, he had a list of what was to be expected when his “someday” finally arrived. Seeing my dad lose his mobility shortly after retirement, however, taught me a sobering lesson that we all need to consider – “someday” doesn’t always come.

Esther was lucky to have a cousin, Mordecai, who was faithful to speak the truth to her. Mordecai’s response to Esther upon hearing her concerns was “yet who knows whether you’ve come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” In reality, Mordecai was saying “Esther, you’re someday is today”; “Esther, waiting for the circumstances of your life to line up before acting would be a huge mistake.” Mordecai made it clear to Esther that if she remained silent and delayed acting, “someday” would almost certainly never come for her and for her family.

One other problem with “someday” is that it rarely works out as we envision. The key to our success and happiness lies far more in the attitudes of our hearts than in the circumstances of our lives. The person whose favorite day of the week is “someday” (a quote from Kerry Shook) always finds some reason to put off taking the risks and acting upon the goals and dreams of their life. Like Esther, in your life and in mine, the best possible “someday” is today, right here and right now!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Fences

Fences

“Do not move an ancient boundary stone
which was put in place by your ancestors.”
Proverbs 22:28

From the common chain link found in backyards everywhere to the rows of rolled razor wire that surround our prisons, fences come in all shapes and sizes to meet a wide variety of needs. Some are placed around buildings to keep trespassers and would be robbers out, while others are built around backyards to keep a barking dog from chasing cars and neighbors down the street. Our nightly walks and bike rides with Dief this time of year bring that out so clearly as dog after dog runs and barks along the fence line letting our beloved Siberian Husky know that their property is protected by the fiercest 20 lb. canine found anywhere.

The key is to realize that fences are always put there for a reason. Chesterton wrote that “before you remove any fence, always first ask why it was put there in the first place.” The commands of God, areas that He has called us to walk in, or actions that He has warned us to turn away from, are a lot like fences. They have been given as boundaries, not arbitrarily dictated on a whim but established and set up by God for our protection and for our good. Let me give you a simple example: Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. Jesus made it clear in Mark 2:27 that “the Sabbath was made for man”. If you look at the Sabbath as a fence, you’ll quickly see something established by God as He foresaw man’s need for rest and a time to reconnect with his Creator. That’s one fence to be repaired if need be (if we’ve slacked off in any way) but never torn down!

As we begin to see God’s commands and teachings in this light, as fences and boundaries built in love, our whole attitude toward obedience will be transformed. Ravi Zacharias said that “every boundary set by God points to something worth protecting” in each of our lives. The fences around our moral behavior – put there for very good reasons, whether we are married or single. Boundaries established for our finances, from principles about borrowing to faithfulness in tithes and offerings, all carry hidden blessings so necessary in each of our lives. The truth applies in so many areas but the real question is: Have we torn down any fences we shouldn’t have and in so doing left an important part of our life unprotected? If we have, some fences may have to be rebuilt; some areas of obedience reinstituted in our lives. God’s fences – blessings beyond compare – to be so very thankful for!

God Bless & Happy Easter
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church