Blessings,

Maurice

 

House Church, Good Deeds And "The Least Of These . . ."

 

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You , or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the rigtous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:31-46)

 

The Worst Show On TV

 

Given the state of affairs in our culture today, choosing the "worst" show on television is a challenge - so many viable candidates to choose from. I used to think that the worst show was "Will & Grace" for its depiction of the gay lifestyle and normal, even humorous ("Hey, we're just like everybody else. We can even laugh at ourselves.") But now that Will & Grace is mercifully off the air (but living on in syndication) I have a new candidate. I've now concluded that the worst  show on television is ABC's "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition." Maybe you've seen it. Each week Ty Pennington (who makes Hammy the Squirrel from "Over The Hedge" look tame) and his crew choose a needy family from somewhere in America and literally transform their lives by building them a new home. The stories are always heart wrenching, and I have yet to sit through an episode without crying like a baby! It's wonderful, which makes it terrible! Why? Because it is a beautiful prime time example of what the Church should be doing, but isn't (You should have seen the one in which they took on a Pastor's family after he died suddenly leaving a widow & children). Is it a fantastic idea? Yes! My only question is this: Why didn't we think of it first? Why must we wait for unbelievers to stimulate (or "provoke," see below) us to do what Jesus Himself already told us we should be doing "to one of the least of these" ?

 

In other words, where are our "good deeds".

 

What Good Deeds Are You & Your House Church Doing?

 

In recent days and weeks, the Holy Spirit has had me meditating on not only Matthew 25:31ff, but most recently upon the whole idea of Christians and "good deeds". A simple search for the phrase "good deeds" in my E-Sword Bible program produces 11 verses where those words occur together. I'll let you do your own study, but after reflecting on these passages, here are the impressions I came away with:

 

1. In some way which you and I don't fully understand or appreciate we will be judged by the Lord for our deeds, whether good or bad (John 5:29; 2 Corinthians 5:10) Most of us want to believe that when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ He will judge us for such things as our outstanding Bible studies, our matchless men's conferences, our generous giving, our faithful service teaching that Sunday School or serving on the church committee. But based on this verse, I am coming to the slow realization that many of us are in for a rude awakening.

 

2. Our deeds, whether good or bad, will eventually become evident, like the inevitable fruit of a good or bad tree. (1 Timothy 5:25) What good fruit are you and I producing? What about our house churches?

 

3. There are people who profess (literally, homologeo - "confess") a knowledge of God (i.e., they know all the right words & "Christian speak"), but their deeds deny Him and contradict their words (Titus 1:16). At the end of the day, we must decide which to believe. Their words or their deeds (fruit). Scripture seems to lean toward deeds over words. Why? Because over time, what we do is a function of who we are.

 

4. Christians should be models of what it means to do good deeds (Titus 2:7). Are we? Am I?

 

5. Christians should be zealots for good deeds (Titus 2:14). Yep, the Greek word really is "zealot". So, I have to ask myself. Am I a zealot for good deeds?

 

6. Doing good works is something Christians should be "carefully concerned" for (Titus 3:8; 4:14). The Greek verbal structure of Titus 3:8 is tortured, I assume to make and emphasize this point, namely, that doing good deeds is something that we as Christians need to be genuinely concerned about.

 

7. As Christians we need to give serious thought ("contemplate") to how we can "provoke" each other to love and good deeds. The word "stimulate" doesn't do the Greek justice. The Greek word paroxumos communicates the idea of provoking to the point of sharp disagreement. (Hebrews 10:24) For example, if, by my writing, I "provoke" you (yep, even to the point of making you angry) to do the right thing, then I've done my job and consider myself blessed.

 

8. As Christians we need to express our "wisdom and understanding" with good behavior and good deeds. When the Off Broadway Family Outreach was feeding 300 people in Larry Whiston's front yard in the West Central neighborhood of Spokane I had the opportunity to put my "great wisdom" and seminary education to work barbecuing hot dogs for people who genuinely looked on it as "tube-steak a la Maurice with a side of chilli."

 

Now, at this point some theological wag would remind us that good works don't get you into heaven. Very true (and that's probably a good thing, since, if such good works were required for entrance to heaven, fewer of us would apparently be going!). Salvation is, indeed, by grace through faith. But on the other hand, the teaching of Scripture appears clear that people confessing a "knowledge of God" and laying claim to personal salvation and citizenship in the Kingdom of God will be zealous for, engage in, practice and produce good works. May I offer a controversial paradox (an unresolved tension). Let me state it this way: Good works won't get you, me or anyone else into heaven. But without them our entrance is questionable.

 

Good Deeds & Incarnational Truth

 

In their excellent book, The Shaping of Things To Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church, authors Frost & Hirsh talk about the difference between "invitational" or "attractional" Christianity and "Incarnational" Christianity. They stress the need for the Church to move from being "invitational" (inviting people to come to our outstanding programs) to being "incarnational," taking the Kingdom of God out to where people are, and on terms which they understand. In another separate ground breaking book, Postmodern Pilgrims, author Leonard Sweet declared that the Church needs to become "EPIC". He argued that in our Postmodern culture Church needed to adopt four primary characteristics. It needed to become experiential, participatory, image-driven and community-building. The ink was scarcely dry on the printed page before this had been interpreted to mean that churches needed state of the art sound & video systems, stages for plays rather than pulpits, snappy powerpoint visuals, contemporary music and more. But when all was said and done, EPIC church had become little more than traditional church on steroids. . . plus a bistro. While none of these things are bad or wrong (please read that statement AGAIN!) they miss the point. EPIC churches were still based upon an invitational & attractional model of Christianity rather than an incarnational one.

 

Incarnational Christianity Methodist Style - "Soup, Soap & Salvation"

 

 

Almost a year ago I attended (inadvertantly) a meeting for an upstart coalition of ministries and organizations which feed free meals to those in need in Spokane. I was an amateur among pros (and still am). They were considering the possibility of forming a coalition to approach local area restaurants about donating surplus food that might otherwise be thrown away. I made a few suggestions about approaching businesses and was asked if I would like to serve on the food rescue committee. For reasons I couldn't articulate at the time, I agreed, and thus began a journey that has quickly become incarnational for me. Now, a year later, I serve as the unpaid Executive Director of Feed Spokane. My artistically gifted wife (fortunately our children inherited her genes!) designed the logo. We are now building a strategic partnership with the Spokane Chapter of the Washington Restaurant Association to rescue surplus food that would otherwise be thrown out from local area restaurants, and we have a successful pilot program currently underway. We are preparing to launch an awareness drive entitled "40 Days of Ending Hunger In Spokane" and hope to enlist churches and volunteers to move the project forward. Feed Spokane has the potential to revolutionize how those in need are fed in our community. And it has the potential to open the door to further ministry among "the least of these." Why does God have me here, and why am I doing this? Apparently because, in spite of his vast house church expertise (sic), Maurice still has much to learn about doing "good deeds" and what it means to live out incarnational Christianity. Right now, Feed Spokane could use your help to grow & expand. If you, your house church, your traditional church or your ministry would like to become involved in this opportunity to do "good deeds" and to live and minister incarnationally, please let me know. I would welcome your company on this journey.

 

Miracles Follow The Plow