Good Morning my Friends! What a week-end, and I am still sky-high! Saturday the Saint Louis Wind Symphony (STLWS) hosted our second conducting workshop in conjunction with University of Missouri-St. Louis, and it was a rousing success. There were ten music educators who participated in this clinic with Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel, Commander/Conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band in Washington D.C. (Ret.) as the clinician, and the STLWS as the performing ensemble. Then yesterday Colonel Gabriel was guest conductor for our subscription concert that featured Dale Underwood, saxophone virtuoso and former Principal Saxophonist with the U.S. Navy Band in Washington D.C. as guest soloist. What an event!! When there are two musical legends such as Gabriel and Underwood sharing our stage, it brings out the very best in everybody. And the STLWS, in their true fashion, played magnificently! I could not be more proud of that organization.
So you may be asking, “what does the above scenario have to do with today’s blog?” Well…as you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts to coordinate in an event like this. And in the midst of all of yesterday’s set-up and brief sound check, there came to the fore one particularly “needy” personality who has the capacity to bring out the worst in anybody…including me! As I observed her asking for extraordinary “special care” from one of our concert hosts, I saw the look of exasperation on the victim’s face. Later when I was apologizing to her for the encounter I observed, she began regaling me with her previous experiences with our “needy” personality. Immediately I joined the gossip-fest, and we were off and running!
So you may be saying to yourself, “What’s the big deal? We’ve all had experiences like that.” And I would say, “Yes, we all have…especially when we give in to our flesh, which is our human instinct. But the point I want to make is this: we are called to rise above the “human instinct” and let Jesus light shine through us. (Matthew 5:16) And this is certainly a challenge for all Christ-followers because our actions are always on display. Believe me when I say… a world of non-believers is very observant of what “we” (as Belivers) do and what “we” say. And as I have pointed out on many occasions, people would much rather see a sermon than hear a one. In other words our actions, as well as our words, reflect the state of our hearts.
As Christ-followers we are well aware of the “big sins”, but it would appear that sometimes we tend to “overlook” the list of sins enumerated by Apostle Paul in Romans 1: 28-32 or in Galatians 5:19-21. While it is easy to feel self-righteous about not lying, stealing, murdering, taking the Lord’s name in vain or participating in adultery or homosexuality, we forget that that list also includes such “venial sins” as gossip and covetousness. And the great equalizer is Apostle Paul’s statement at the end of Galatians 5:21, “…Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.” In other words a sin is a sin.
Romans 3:23 points out that “all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” The good news for Christ-followers is the sin issue is a non-issue now because of Christ’s finished work on the Cross. The penalty was paid for the sins of all mankind, past, present and future, so because we are in Christ, our sins “ARE FORGIVEN AND WILL BE REMEMBERED NO MORE!” (Hebrews 8:12) That’s good news alright; in fact that’s GREAT news! But do we still continue to fall short of God’s glorious standard? Absolutely!
So with the sin issue behind us, the challenge for Christ-followers now is how to live the life we are called to live in a way that brings honor and glory to God and furthers his Kingdom here on earth. The difference now is our motivation for changing our lives. We are no longer trying to earn God’s approval because of our works. We don’t need to do that because when God looks at us now, he sees us covered with the blood of Jesus. In His eyes we are Saints, meaning set apart. (The New Testament uses the term “Saint” 67 times and in every instance it refers to Believers…those who are in Christ!)
There is a weighty church term that reveals the process of growing and maturing as a Christ-follower. That term is Sanctification, and I promise you it will be a conversation-stopper if you try to insert it in every-day conversation. There are numerous references to the term: 1Thessalonians 5:23; Colossians 1:5,27; Colossians 3:4; and 1John 3:2. These are all “wordy” passages, so I will hopefully simplify the content. Sanctification means a practical progressive holiness we develop in our life as we wait for the return of Jesus Christ. In other words, we are called to mold our life in a way that reflects the life modeled by Christ when he was here on earth. And what did Jesus teach and model? Love, mercy, compassion, grace, forgiveness, service to our fellow man, and standing on the Truth of God’s Word.
Living the life of a Christ-follower is a process, and it begins at the very conscious level of the mind. Galations 5-17-18, 22-23, 25 describes the process. “The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to your sin nature. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
God’s salvation plan is not only about forgiveness of sin and eternal life, but it also equips us for living the life we are called to live right here and now in this fallen world. The indwelling Holy Spirit empowers us to accomplish tasks and grow in ways that are greater than what we could have produced of our own volition. In fact, that is how we fulfill the truth of the phrase I hear frequently: “Let go; let God”; or “I’m just going to turn it over to God.” To be perfectly candid, I have often wondered what people are thinking when they use those phrases. Do they expect God to solve the dilemma they are experiencing? Then when it is fixed, expecting he will let them know in some tangible way to “get back in the game?” The truth is, the Holy Spirit doesn’t fix anything for us; He empowers us to do the fixing. It is in that process that our growth and maturity develops.
When we are facing a dilemma, we call on the Holy Spirit to empower us by giving us wisdom, insight, patience, courage, strength, perseverance, whatever it is we need to solve our problem in a way that brings honor and glory to God. This IS the Sanctification process. We are consciously trying to become the person God created us to be, and we are using Jesus as our role model. Will we fall short of God’s glorious standard? Sometimes. But the only error we can make is to not get up and keep moving toward our goal. This is the process that prepares us to share in Christ’s glory, because “when he returns, we will be like him.” (IJohn 3:2)
So the whole purpose of mentioning the incident of engaging in gossip yesterday is this: I was immediately corrected by the Holy Spirit. As soon as I walked away I thought, “Danny…that was not very honoring to God. That wasn’t the person he wants me to be.” But did I beat myself up about it? Did I think, “What a wretched man I am? I just can’t measure up! I know God is really ticked off at me again!! No. None of that, because I know who I am in Christ. I’m unconditionally loved; I’m forgiven” I worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes; I am the righteousness of Christ; I am his Child; and I’m a Saint…a Saint who sometimes falls short, but a saint none-the-less.
And none of this is because of anything I did to earn it, but because of what Christ did for me on the cross. All I had to do was accept God’s Gift of Grace and then it becomes a matter of me saying, “Holy Spirit, that is not the person I want to be, and I know it is not the person God wants me to be. Please give me your wisdom and strength not to fall into the same trap the next time because I want to bring honor and glory to God in all that I do.” Then I pick myself up and continue trudging down the road of Sanctification. It’s all part of His plan for us to begin experiencing his Kingdom on Earth right here and now.
If you’re not with me, jump on board, because there is no plan like God’s plan.
Feel free to respond to this posting, and please share it with your social media friends.
May God Bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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