This just fries their minds. In 40 years of doing this I have had two waiters not get confused or argumentative or indignant. How is it that it gets into the minds of people that one just has to drink with their meal? Are they afraid I’m going to choke to death? I chew thoroughly. It’ll be okay. Are they afraid that if I don’t drink three glasses of cola that I will have room for dessert.You’d think they’d want that to happen. Then again, I don’t order desserts either. An extra helping of vegetables would be nice for dessert.

I should try that sometime. “Would you care for some dessert?” Yes. Bring me a bowl of lima beans. Please. Now I’d really get the look.

But back to drinks with meals. Every now and then I will tell the waiter that I’d like to have a cup of coffee toward the end of the meal. They always forget. And that’s okay. I didn’t want anything to drink with my meal anyway.

Now that would not be so bad except I have to run it with these police officers who are in better shape than me—not to mention a lot younger. That evening, I asked the City Council to consider moving the city limits in one mile for one day next year. They just laughed. I was serious.

While trying to explain how I thought things had been set up the last time I called them, the “customer service” representative cut me off mid-sentence with, “No, uh-uh,” and then continued to not listen to me afterward.

That is unacceptable behavior from a woman who has worked for a Christian company for “8½ years.” Even that was said with an air of derision.

After yesterday’s rude treatment from “customer service,” we will not be renewing or purchasing additional resources. Who needs that kind of “service” or “ministry”? Not me. No, ma’am. Uh-uh.

Matthew 7-9 First off, “Axe and it shalbe geven you.” (Mat 7:7) Tyndale consistently uses “axe” instead of “ask” — at least thus far in Matthew. Perhaps this usage that is so often credited to Ebonics is in its roots, not a West African or Caribbean or even United States slave word, as much as an Old English term that carried over into the dialect of the southern plantations. It is ironic that what some people have denounced as ignorance may actually be highbrow in its origins.

“Even” is used for “evening” in Mat 8:16. This is an out-of-use term even in the Church where it is typically only used as italicized in this sentence. In the English-speaking Church of Tyndale’s time, “even” was the updated spelling of the Older English “æfen.” When you know what “æven” meant, it is easier to understand. Think of it in terms of Christmas Æven or Christmas Eve(ning). Æven or even means eve or evening. Æven was the original term and became “æfnian,” “æfenung,” and “æfnung,” both meaning that time of day that was becoming evening. Since the Anglo-Saxon “æfnen” is related to “æfer” (after), it may simply be that evening is that time of day after daylight.

Another older English term related to “æfen” is “æfentid” or “eventide,” which is similar to words like Christmastide and Yuletide — words that have pretty much fallen out of use even in the Church. “Tide” in those words means a particular point in time or a division of time. Thus the tides are those points in the day when one may expect higher waters at the beach. One may also be “tidy,” referring to seasonal cleaning (Spring cleaning). But I digress. Back to Tyndale.

Another word in this chapter (Mat 8:19) that at first seems related to “æfer” above is “whythersumever.” It comes down to us in the King James as “whithersoever” and in today’s usage as “wherever.” The “ever” part of “wherever” is based on “æfre” and so, I want to make it relate to “æfer,” and it may be somewhere along the line. But whereas “æfer” means after, the “æfre” of “whythersumever” means “always.” So wherever and whithersoever and whythersumever suggest that the scribe in this text promised to always be where Jesus went.

I like the always quality of “ever”; it escaped me when connected with the first part of the compound. Words like eternity seem like they could be related. Maybe evernity was too tough to say.

“Palsey” is a word you don’t hear much, if ever, these days. Tyndale uses it in Mat 9:2. The King James uses “palsy” and the English Standard Version “paralytic.” Palsey seems to be a shortening of the Latin paralysis (paralysis).

Though blasphemes or “Blasphemeth” (Mat 9:3) is falling out of usage, it is still a word many people know in some general sense. What is the etymology? The second word of the compound is easiest.”Pheme” means to make utterance and is related to “fame,” to make a report about someone’s reputation. “Blas” is not certain. It might come from blax, meaning slack in body or mind. If so, then blasphemy would essentially be a stupid comment. And that look into the old puts a whole new understanding of the word.

I do not know why I never stopped to figure out what “publican” means (Mat 9:10) but it is simply one who collects the public revenue. I also never thought about “righteous” until I saw “rightewes.” (Mat 9:13) The word is a combination of right and wise, the first meaning “just” and the second, “manner” or “way.” So if you are righteous you act in a just manner.

Matthew 5-6 Mat 5:2  Jesus opened his “mought” to teach. Interesting how the sound switches from the hard ending to today’s soft “th” ending of mouth.

Mat 5:3 mentions the “povre in sprete.” Elsewhere spirit is spelled “spirite” (Mat 3:16). I like how the Old English carries over that Latin lack of the letter “u.” Thus poor is “povre” and I’m guessing the reason for our word “poverty.”

Evil is spelled “yvell” in Mat 5:11. The modern usage is fortunate for Evel Knievel or he might have been known as Yvell Kyngeyvell.

Mat 5:28 is the familiar “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust,” but Tyndale puts an edge to that lust but saying, “whosoever eyeth a wyfe.”

“But yf a man geve the a blowe on thy right cheke, tourne to him the othre.” (Mat 5:39) I wonder if this is whereby we get tournament — as in the knights turned at each run of the jousting. So I just looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary and see that tournament is based on “tourney,” meaning not only to “joust” or “tilt,” but literally “to turn around.” So it may be that a tournament is not so much about the turning of the knights on each run but the turning of the knight in the saddle as the lance hits him.

Tyndale’s English emphasized the silence of “h” at the beginning of some words. In Mat 6:16, he spells hypocrites “ypocrytes.” How do you imagine it was pronounced! (That wasn’t a question, all ye people  who say “herb” instead of “erb.”)

“He shall lene the one, and despise the other” has me buffaloed. (Mat 6:24) For the moment.

Let’s see if today’s P90 workout doesn’t also stump me.

I’m reading through the New Testament over the next 90 days. At the same time, I’m doing P90X. I’m calling the combination P90X². Today’s reading is Matthew 1-4.

This program is a tail kicker too. And I don’t mean the New Testament reading part either. I’m reading the original Tyndale verion of 1526 (predating the King James by almost 100 years). It has some fun, archaic English. But it is nothing to read compared to doing level 3 cardio of P90X (I can’t find the level 1-2 DVD). I hope as the next 3 months go by it gets easier to do.

Matthew 1-4 Usage and a few words of interest in this 1526 English NT… Mat 1:1 says “Jesus christ.” I wonder if this was common usage or if the publisher (The British Library) carried over typos in this reprint. I’ll have to keep my eye out for consistency. It is probably that they carried over the old rushed typography since “Mary” is capitalized in Mat 1:16 but it is “mary” in Mat 1:18.

Mat 1:23 says “which means” in modern English but Tyndale says, “which is as moche to saye be interpretacion.” Nice. Even the King James merely says, “which being interpreted is,” less than a century later.

Jerusalem is spelled as I just did, as well as “Jenrusalem,” and “Jury.” There are other examples of spelling/typographical differences or downright errors too but these suffice for example.

Let me be the first to thank the legislature for driving the smokers out of the bars and onto the public sidewalks here in Graham, NC. While my wife and I were walking tonight, we turned the corner at the courthouse on Elm St. and headed up Maple St. Just around the corner there is a bar where nine patrons are clogging the sidewalk outside the door, smoking. So what do we have to walk through before we even realize what is happening? That’s right; the smoke the government wanted to protect us from. It wasn’t bothering me a bit when it was in the bar.

I don’t understand. Everybody in there is likely smoking anyway. And if they don’t want to be around smokers, they wouldn’t go in the bar to begin with. We, however, are outside on the public sidewalk, trying to be healthy. Who suffers? The cigarette smokers? No. Us.

Come on, North Carolina. I understand what were trying to do. But guess what? You failed.

When Mary was growing up, she was mobile. Her family moved a lot. After she married Laird Allender and moved into 218 East Madison Avenue, after quite awhile, she wanted to move again. But there she stayed for half a century. Some time after Laird died, she married Gene Cutshall and Mary finally got a new house. To be sure, a condo. But she moved. Since then she moved to Oakwood Village—another new home. Mary was finally getting her wish. Then she moved from Oakwood Village to…Oakwood Village. By now Mary was needing some skilled care. Then she needed some additional care and moved again within Oakwood Village. Three years ago, Mary decided to move to North Carolina and did so. For a woman who always wanted to move and never did, she sure seems to have moved a lot. In fact, she seemed a bit nomadic, pitching her tent first here and then there. Hers became a very different lifestyle than living in one house for 50 years.

In the course of these latter day moves, especially this past year, Mary has done a lot of sighing and moaning and groaning. Her 87-year-old house had become a burden to her. She hurt. She was immobile. She couldn’t do for herself. And sometimes she let you know about it. Mostly though, she remained content—after having several grandchildren and great grandchildren, and a couple of great-great grandchildren—to wait on one more great-granddaughter…and to wait on one more new house.

When she lived with Laird, there were no guarantees they would ever move. Indeed, I suppose the opposite may have been true. She probably felt there was some guarantee that they would never move away from Madison Avenue. And really, why would you want to? I mean there are so many great things about that place and the people who made it a home for all of us. Some of the grandkids have been on Facebook… Did you ever think the word Facebook would show up at Mary’s funeral? Well, it has and I am happy to be able to share some of their memories of that house with you.

the alley right next to the house, the creepy basement, Aunt Susies 60’s posters, the player organ,….too much to write it all down. I’ll miss you MawMaw. You were always there for me. I love you.

Mama and Papa’s basement was the only basement that didn’t creep me out (the attic was a different story). I used to sit down there and talk to Mama while she ironed. I remember her ironing sheets and I couldn’t understand why anyone would iron sheets. She said it made them softer.

Jergens lotion in the “one” bathroom, plastic on the dining room chairs and plastic runner/rug on the hall carpet leading to the room with the “davenport” (wasn’t the davenport a hard leather?- it sounded like plastic when you sat on it Also loved the front porch and Loved the the upstairs- got to play with Aunt Susie’s barbies! Millions of collectable plates- playing the piano (which is now at my house) and the organ. And of course, the holiday staples…pineapple cream cheese on celery and grandma’s famous chocolate cake.
her class reunions every year, her pecan pie, her beautiful bows for presents, done with much love, her socks with the little balls, her lists to do for each day, washing on Monday…washing machine and hand washings….ironing underwear and sheets, rolly pies, her love of the Cincinnati Reds, her crummy decks of cards for solitaire

MTV(they had cable; we didn’t), Doctor Who (I only watched it there), lots of elephants, PawPaw’s pipes, the front porch, the davenport (what’s that again?), the air conditioned attic (where we slept while visiting), dad’s comic book collection (why it was there I still don’t know, it’s my moms mom), one bathroom

MawMaw passed away today. It’s hard when things like this happen. I decided to think about all of the good things that I associate whit my grandmother: Archway cookies, Pringles, sour cream cookies, pudding with the skin on top, double broiler frosting (that’s for you, mom), home made ice cream

No doubt, you have your own memories of that house and home. So did Mary. As great as these memories are though, they are as nothing compared to the mansion that has been guaranteed to her by God. These past many years, God has been preparing Mary for a new house. In this house, she needs no skilled care because she will hurt no more. She needs no aid, prosthetic, or wheelchair because she walks on glorified legs. She needs no counselor to assuage her fears and tears because she lives forever in the presence of a Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God.

What is mortal has been swallowed up by life. This life is real and eternal. It was guaranteed to Mary by him who never breaks his promises and I can assure you she never wants to move again. Mary has walked through this life pitching her tent by faith, not by sight. Now she walks by sight with God outside of time in a glorified body. She will never pull up stakes again. Here’s why: her resurrection body is glorious for no other reason really, than this: that spiritual body allows her to be in the immediate company of Jesus. And so, she will never, ever again want to move. She is happy, having gained the guarantee of God.

Some people would say that it is a sad thing that Mary and others have to suffer decline. The Corinthian Church was saying the same thing about the Apostle Paul. He said that while the outer nature is wasting away, the inner person is being transformed daily. The things that so many of us prize—youth, health, and happiness—will eventually be destroyed one way or the other. So all that truly matters is the inner person. This body is transient, even fleeting. The inner being is eternal. Those who are hidden with Christ in God will have their decrepit, decaying outer nature replaced with an eternal glory beyond imagination.

Mary was guaranteed this glory. God placed in her his Spirit as earnest of his pledge. Many people look upon the Spirit as only power or emotion. But here Paul thought of the Spirit of God in terms of that quiet confidence that is the Christian’s. It is the undeniable presence of God’s Spirit that produces slow, inner renewal and in the end, total, glorious transformation.

This is what your sister, your aunt, your mom, your mawmaw, great grand, and great-great now knows in eternal reality. Life in this fleshy tent involves suffering by faith. We must suffer with confident endurance, knowing that resurrection awaits us who believe. The aches and pains of this material existence try to conceal the inner transformation and make us give up hope. Mary did not give up hope. Here is how I know; it’s a personal story that you should know. During the last hours, Susan had been called in to the nursing home because they thought Mary was failing. We had been up there twice the night before and then again around five o’clock Monday morning. We sat with her a few more hours when, around eight o’clock, I needed to run home to say goodbye to my sister who was visiting from out of state. I had no sooner gotten down the interstate when Susan called to say Mary was gone. I turned around and came back and Susan reported this story of Mary’s last moments. Susan once again took her mom’s hand and said, “It’s okay, mom. Jesus said, ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.’” At that very instant, Mary stopped breathing. I know Mary knew. Now you know, if you did not know before. She never gave up the inward hope, despite the outward decline.

Mary had something to look forward to because she had someone to look forward to. As much as she longed to see again her parents, her twin and other siblings, Laird, Gene, and others, the real yearning was to be with her God. She yearns no more. She aches no longer. She is with Jesus in glory, for to be with Jesus is glory.

Mary is all moved into her final, glorious house—one that Jesus has been preparing her whole life. If this is not true, he would never have told her so. It is finished. She is moved in. Mary’s moving days are over.

PDF –    Audio

“I Can’t Get Up”
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
March 7, 2010

Let’s see how many of these commercial slogans you can remember. Nike says, “Just…do it.”

Reebock, on the other foot, says, “Life is not…a spectator sport.”

Nissan says, “Life’s a journey…enjoy the ride.”

L’Oreal: “Because I’m…worth it.”

Toys R Us: “I don’t want..to grow up.”

UPS: “What can Brown…do for you?”

Smith Barney: “We make money the old fashioned way. …We earn it.”

MasterCard: “There are some things money can’t buy. …For everything else there’s MasterCard.”

Army: “Be all that you…can be.”

Hallmark: “When you care enough to…send the very best.”

McDs: “You deserve…a break today.”

Burger King: “Have it…your way.”

Wendys: “Where’… the beef.”

Sprite: “Obey…your thirst.”

And from Life Call: “I’ve fallen and…I can’t get up.”

Many times I have found the great problem of faith for Christians is that when they fall down they can’t get back up. I wonder why that is since I have never had a problem with this…well…problem. I am not saying that I do not fall or sin. Everyone does that, including your pastor. And if you say you have not sinned then the Apostle John says you are lying to yourself. (1 John 1:10) Everybody sins; even Christians. It’s like that bumper sticker theology says: “Christians aren’t perfect; they’re just forgiven.” But is that really true? Maybe some Christians never get back up again when they fall down because they do not truly comprehend their state before God.

I do not have a problem with this; I know who I am. I know how God looks at me. And so, I have always been able to get back on my spiritual feet and walk with God again. Ever since I was a boy I knew that God loved me for the sake of loving me—not because I was a good boy. I understood the reason he came and died for me was because I could not do it on my own. Mark is still a boy. He has not grown up as much as he would like to have at this point in life. I am pushing 60 now and you would think I would be more mature by now. I am not. As a result I still stumble when I would have wanted to be the man—God’s man. So I get back on my feet and journey on, confident that God still shows up for our garden walks even when I have been disobedient. He still showed up to walk with Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit. He knew they did it but he still showed up. This makes me wonder if their banishment from the garden was as much about not wanting to be with God as it was the result of disobedience. But our first parents were focused on themselves and whenever we do that, we are headed for a fall.

The great beauty of this Faith, if one takes a moment to consider, is that life is actually about God—not about self. If I act like life is about me then I am in big trouble. If it is about what I can do or cannot do, I am in a serious mess. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” I understand. I have the same problem Paul had. But Paul journeyed on. I walk on too—despite my ups and downs. What will you do?

So now that I have loosely established that we are all sinners, let me just come out and say it: We are saved by grace through faith and not by works of the flesh or the Law. It is not what you do. It is what Christ did for you that saves you from eternal death and damnation. All you have to do is accept that in faith and God’s grace has you covered. But does that mean you should just go on sinning so that grace may abound to you more and more? Paul says at the beginning of Romans 6, “Heaven forbid!”

In our text today, Paul says that the Hebrews were very much like us. They were baptized; they ate and drank spiritual food and liquid. Or perhaps it is that we are like them. If either is true then we are in some trouble whether we follow prescribed religious practices or not. The reason for this is that we are sinners just the same as the wilderness wanderers of old.

So God looked out for the Hebrews, as he does for us. He provided for them and encouraged them on their journey. But he became displeased with some of them. The result was their deaths. There are some things in life that will kill us if we persist in doing them. In fact, Moses and Paul do more than suggest that there are some things over which God will strike us down. We may think we are excluded from being concerned with our sins. We may indeed be taking God’s favor and grace too lightly, “sitting down to eat” and drink at his banquet table…but “rising up to sin.”

In the previous chapter, Paul had written about running the race in a manner that you will be able to finish. He does not say to run it in a way that you beat everyone else to the tape. But he does say to run so as to win the prize. In our case that would be eternal fellowship with God—not a gold medal. Unending friendship with Jesus is our reward if we run with God’s Spirit to the end of this life. Now you can still run to the end of the race if you fall down. In fact you can fall down many times and still finish the race. But you can’t finish if you don’t get back on your feet and run through the pain and the humiliation until the race is completed.

Let me tell you about a few of my models in this regard. One, since the big game was last night, number 42 comes to mind. Several games ago, Lance Thomas suffered a deep tissue bruise to his leg. Everyone thought it would sideline him for a few games but he played through the pain. Do you think he is happy now that he did?

The televangelist Jimmy Swaggart was busted for sexual crime many years ago. Well, he was caught anyway but he could have slunk from the cameras and never faced what he had done. Instead he kept on preaching. Now I am not a Jimmy Swaggart fan. But I applaud him standing back up when he had seriously fallen down on the job. I commend the kind of attitude that says I am a loser but I am not only forgiven, I am called and I will not stop preaching until God stops me.

Jim Bakker, another TV Christian, was busted for economic crimes and went to prison. But in prison, he did ministry and started a more low key, Bible teaching TV show after he got out of prison.

Peter is another good model. At the brazier, he repeatedly denied being a student of Jesus. He insisted that he did not even know the man. That is worse than Lance Thomas turing his back on Coach K. It is unthinkable. But Peter did it. If that were you or me would we get back on our feet and go out to tell people about the Christ we had denied? Peter did; and he became a world-changing Apostle. He did not stay down because his life was really not about Peter.

I am impressed by the tenacity and the thirst and these people who are willing to play through the pain and minister through the humiliation. We should learn from their examples and press on despite the injury of sin because it is not about our proclivity to sin. It is about God’s propensity to love us and be gracious. Should you try harder? Absolutely. Should you give up because your efforts have not yielded the kind of results you have wished? No. Absolutely not. Press on.

You should not expect that you will always stand on your own two feet though. “Take heed,” the scripture says. You just might fall. Some of us think we will never fall because we do not sin or because we are so religious. Watch out! There may be a loose rug in your future.

What is it though that the Apostle is warning us about? What is he saying could be our fall? The answer is clear. Idolatry. In verse seven he says we should not be idolaters, which in its purest sense is simply desiring evil, as it says a verse earlier. Then in verse 14, just outside the text today, he says it again: “flee from idolatry.” Sure, sexual immorality is a huge problem, especially when it becomes idolatry. Veneration of anything or anyone before God is idol worship. That is why one needs to get back on their feet when they have fallen and walk again with God. Did you put him second just now? Put him first now. But take heed: temptation will come again.

How does one escape these temptations? One cannot escape being tempted but can escape what she is tempted to do or be. Although, in order to escape, one must be on her feet because the way of escape is to “flee”! In the ensuing verses, Paul seems to suggest that fleeing does not mean white-knuckle determination to simply flee from temptation. The way of escape seems to be a fleeing to something very helpful. Paul refers us to the Lord’s Supper. I do not think he means the elements themselves (which can be another tempting trap) but instead, what the elements tell us. Why do we eat and drink to the memory of Jesus? We have sinned and therefore, the Father had to send his only begotten Son to save us from perdition and himself from an eternity separated from the ones he loves.

Yes, we we are tempted and even sin but God’s intention is that we get back up and continue walking with him. Furthermore, he has provided a way that we can get back up. How? Notice that the spiritual bread we eat is participation in the body of Christ. The spiritual cup set in front of us is a participation in the blood of Christ. In other words, our way out whether we’re up or down is always the grace of God in his Son. This is what the Supper tells us. It is not a religious act; his Supper is a reminder of our need for grace and his unremitting offer.

Do you partake? Are you drinking deeply of God’s grace? Are you getting up and journeying on after you have fallen? Or are you beat down by the sin that so easily besets us, finding in hard or even impossible to get back up again? God is faithful. Depend upon him instead of yourself. Get up. Walking with God does not mean that you never miss a walk but that when you do falter you lace up your shoes and meet God again on the sidewalk of your life. Don’t you hear him calling? “Follow me.” Get up and hit the road anew. “Follow me.”

“Extreme Makeover”
Philippians 3:17-4:1
preached February 28, 2010

(I’m always amazed at how things change by the time you preach the sermon.)

I have only watched the television program one time. But I understand it is pretty much the same episode each time you view. A homeowner is chosen for a complete makeover of their house. And they need the renovation. Many of the houses have gone neglected so long that they are rather disgusting—particularly bathrooms. These houses need lots of work. So the family is whisked away at the program’s expense for a vacation while the house is reborn—sometimes like a phoenix. The house is demolished and then restarted from foundation up.

A week or two later, the family is brought back while the house is obscured by the Extreme Makeover bus. The family and crews are on one side of the bus and the rebirthed house on the other. Everyone shouts, “Move that bus” and it does, revealing the gorgeous new house to the astonished family.

Now I cannot help the feeling I have as the family is taken through the house. Perhaps it is why I do not watch the program. (Besides not wanting to cry at how much better off the family now is; it really is emotional at this point in the show.) The feeling I have—even amidst a kind of grateful emotion—is, “How long will this last?” Will they allow it to fall again into disrepair? That which was once reborn, would it once more become disgusting and even, to borrow an idea from Paul in our text today, shameful?

Paul seems to have similar concerns for the household of God. Would that which was once in a horrible state but had been rebuilt and reborn fall back into humiliation? It is all too easy, isn’t it, for the Christian to espouse proper doctrine but be shameful in her actions? We all know of cases—indeed, we have cases among us now—in which those who would tell us of the greatness of Christ in their lives are living proof that they actually believe otherwise. Oh, yes; rebuild this house and watch me tear it down again! Paul has an answer for these people.

Keep your eyes on me even as I keep mine on Jesus. He says, “Imitate me.” I remember the first time I read that, I thought, How arrogant. Strange, isn’t it? We don’t think it proud if someone says, Look here at how much weight I’ve lost in so short a time. I did it by following these steps and if you do the same thing, if you imitate me, you will lose too. We don’t think it arrogant when someone says, I love what you’ve done with your house. Who did your painting or Who came up with that idea? And then when you’re told how and that you could use that idea too to improve your own home, you don’t think it prideful. You think it is helpful.

Paul intends to help, not make you feel foolish. He says imitate me, not because his life is anything great of itself. This is the same guy who was a prideful murderer a few years before. But now he is forgiven, made by Christ’s grace an Apostle of the Church, and by the power of God able to say to others, If you want the same thing, imitate me. That’s not arrogance; that’s prudence.

There are two prime problems in the Church today. One, people think it exists to help them through some shabby patch in their lives. Two, the Church thinks it’s her job to make of us good people. Children are born and suddenly we think we need to go to church. That’s great. But what if that child dies? Will you want to go to church then or will you stop this God business because it doesn’t make you feel any better. Economic times get tough and people go to church. But if God asks of you an offering—a real sacrifice—making the finances even tighter, how long will you continue in the church game? If you follow the Way of Light and Salvation there is nothing to fear in this life. Leave the fellowship and thought you may feel good sometimes, there is much to fear. Imagine the people who had to camp outside the ancient cities instead of being safe inside its walls.

Worse, what if you came to church because you simply felt the need to be a better person—a good person? The Bible says there is no such thing. Psalm 53:3 says, “there is none who does good, not even one.” Paul wants us to make it into the kingdom of God in heaven. He says that our citizenship is there—not here where we so often want comfort and good feelings over the cross or even simple fellowship. William Law, the 18th century English cleric, said, “If we are traveling heavenward, we are already in heaven.” That’s the idea that Paul has when he says “citizenship.” The word he uses is politeuma and means a colony or outpost. Paul was familiar with this idea of being a citizen of the Roman Empire. He even seemed proud to be a Roman citizen. Though he lived in a far-flung outpost of the empire, he lived as a citizen of the capital city. That is what Paul desires for us, that we act like we’re in heaven already, while we live in this distant earthly colony. But how does one live as a citizen of heaven? Have you ever been there?

When Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk went on pilgrimage to Rome, he was overwhelmed with the differences between it and his homeland of Germany. He found that he didn’t live at all like the citizens there and determined to learn how and enjoy what should have been that most important time in his life. So he watched the lives of the people there to see what they did and how they acted.

Paul offers the same thing to us. He knew how to live as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and offers to show us the ropes. Paul doesn’t want us to imitate him so that we’ll be good people or so that life will be easier for us. He wants us to imitate him for one reason: so we’ll remember to whose kingdom we belong. God intended from before the time of Abram to make us heirs of a great landscape. We need to remember that we were bought with a great price, not that Jesus died so we might feel better about our wretched condition. If you were to feel better…in fact, if you were going to be better, who would you try to be like? If you were going to makeover your life, tear it down (at least the bathroom and kitchen and maybe that ratty backyard that needs landscaped so badly), and renovate it, what would you want it to look like? Who would you want to be like?

Paul offers himself as a model because he had modeled his life after Christ’s life. Seems like a good example to follow to me. Or if not me, perhaps Timothy or Epaphroditus, He says to to “keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example” of the apostles, whom Jesus himself taught to follow his own way of living.

Paul is in tears as he dictates this part of the letter because many had not followed his example but followed their bellies instead. Good feelings and high times were what they really desired even though they said they were followers of Jesus. It brought real tears of regret and sorrow to the apostle’s eyes. He had wanted those people to enjoy their citizenship and fellowship here and to arrive with him at the gates of heaven.

Susan and I have worked pretty hard (in fact some of you have helped us and we are grateful to and for you) to renovate a 90-year old house. In fact, I think we’ll be renovating until the day we die; there is so much more to do. We are glad to live in Graham and want our house to reflect how we feel about where we live. But there are many houses in this and every community where people have no pride in citizenship. This reflects on the whole city and state and country. It would be an extremely extreme makeover to bring everybody’s house up to par.

That is just what Paul is weeping over; he wants everybody’s life to be of apostolic stature. He doesn’t want any nominal Christians in the kingdom. He wants everyone to be gradually, a project and a room at a time, conformed to a higher standard. That begins here in this earthly outpost and must continue until the Lord transforms us totally into a glorious body like his own.

Now that is an extreme makeover. But how is it done? Just as the Roman armies used to stand before their enemies, we in this frontier outpost are to stand our ground against the very personal enemies of our Faith. In doing so, the land is ours. The landscape looks less and less godly today because we do not stand for the Faith. We think that if we vote for someone who looks most like our idea of a Christian—or for that person who promises to give us the most feel good stuff—that we have stood our ground or done the right thing. That has little or nothing to do with it and will result in an extreme destruction (v19) instead of a makeover.

If you would stand your ground in this world… Let’s make it more personal: If you would stand your ground in this country, you must keep your eyes on those who walk according to the examples of Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus. How do you do that? I only know of one sure way to see what their example is and that is in the words of this book.

What example do you see there? Fix your eyes therein. Imitate. Follow. And Christ will make you over to the extreme.