Monday, June 24, 2013

To Be A Witness and A Martyr

Mike Hosey, Elder
Pastor Sammy Nelson, our guest speaker last Sunday, preached a sermon in which he introduced us to the greek word "martureo" (pronounced Mar-Too-Ray-Oh) found in John 15:26-27.

Depending on the translation that one uses, this word is rendered in English as either "to bear witness" or "to testify."

It shares roots with another greek word.  That word is "martus" (pronounced Mar-Toose).  From martus, we derive our English word "martyr."  A martyr is one who has willingly died for his or her beliefs.

Pastor Sammy pondered why this relationship existed between these two words.  Let's see if we can figure it out.

I'm only aware of this word (in this exact form) occurring twice in the new testament. Stephen in Acts 22:20 is called a martus, as is faithful Antipas in Revelation 2:13.

Interestingly, the word simply means "witness."  Which is to say that it means, "one who has knowledge of something, or one who can confirm something."

So how did it come to mean a person who dies for his or her beliefs?

The reason may lie in what it means to be a witness for Christ.  Obviously, being a witness means to proclaim his word with our mouths (Matthew 28:19-20). But it also means to proclaim his word with our lives.  Consider the teachings of Jesus in Luke 9:24-25. In those verses He tells us we must not only be willing to deny ourselves, but to give up our very lives - if not our actual physical life, then certainly our old sinful life.

Can you think of any greater confirmation for a man's love or commitment than the giving up of his life for the object of that love or commitment?

Apparently, enough Christians in  the early church died witnessing about Jesus that the simple word for witness became the word for one willing to die!

Faithful Antipas gave his life in a world that hated Christ (Revelation 2:13). Curiosly, he was given the label "faithful martyr," -- a label he shares with Jesus (Revelation 1:5)!

Would any of us deserve the label faithful martyr? In what ways do our lives testify of Jesus?

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Are You Salty Enough?

Mike Hosey, Elder
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There are at least three places in scripture where Jesus declares salt good.  And in characteristic style, He wants us to seek out and decipher the meaning of that declaration.

In Matthew 5:13 He tells us that we are salt, but he doesn't define for us what that means.

In Mark 9:50, He tells us to have salt in us, and then in that very same sentence commands us to be at peace with one another. But again, He provides no definition for what saltiness is.

As I was reading His third use of the salt metaphor in Luke 14:34-35, I was stricken by how He tells us that "unsalty" salt isn't good for the soil or for the  manure pile.  Huh? He doesn't say that it isn't even good for the soil or the manure pile - as if they were the last places one would use salt. He says it as if salt is commonly used in those places.

I began to wonder if there were uses for salt other than those normally cited to illuminate these verses.

Usually, the major commentators teach that because salt is a common preservative, and also a powerful flavor enhancer, that Jesus must mean for us to be preservatives in society, and to enhance the goodness of the world.

But would Jesus want us to preserve the fallen world, or to enhance the flavor of sinful humanity?

To be honest, I'm not sure.

However, as I delved into this brackish spring of questions, I learned that in the days of Jesus, salt was used as a fertilizer. When spread correctly, it encouraged crop growth.  It can also be used to boost the fertilizing capabilities of manure!

So is Jesus telling us to be fertilizer for those seeds that have fallen on good ground (Matthew 13:8)? Is He telling us to put special fertilizer in us (Mark 9:50) so that we may grow to live peacefully with one another?

Or perhaps he is telling us that our character (Matthew 5:1-12) and our sacrifice (Luke 14:25-33) are necessary elements for kingdom growth.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A Father's Teaching


Mike Hosey, Elder

I've been a father for 17 years, and in that time I've done some teaching -- occasionally on purpose.

Here's an "on-purpose" moment. When my daughter, Emily, was six, she began cutting her hair.  She did this twice in two months. The second time, she removed a cereal bowl's worth.

So my wife threatened tangible punishment. Then one afternoon, while her mother was out, and after her hair had grown back, I found her cutting her bangs. 

"What are you doing?" I firmly asked.  "I'm cutting my hair," she sweetly replied. 

"Didn't your mother tell you not to do that?" I questioned. 

"Don't tell her," she said nervously.

"Honey, I don't think I'm gonna have to. I think she'll figure it out."

"Ok Daddy, but just don't tell her," she implored. 

"Don't do it again," I decreed without promises.

She played until her mother returned. When she heard the front door open, she scrammed to her room and closed her door with a muffled thump. Later, I noticed her hiding and watching us.

"What's up sweety?" I asked.

She whispered, "Come to my room with me." 

I followed.

"I need to find something to put on my forehead. I need something that will make my hair look like eyebrows," she said with a distraught flurry of hand motions.

It took a lot not to laugh!

"Have you tried a hat?" I asked. 

"I don't have any hats," came the quivering reply. 

"Well, I don't think a hat will help anyway, honey," I said in all honesty. 

"Should I just tell her?" She asked. 

"I think you should."

She did. Punishment was administered. 

She came to me crying. "What's wrong, honey?" I asked. 

"I told the truth, and she punished me anyway!" 

I explained that had she lied, she'd have gotten doubly punished, and that its best to just fess up and take your licks.

Thankfully, she understood.

But I must admit that most of my teaching has been by unintentional example. Some of it good. A lot of it bad. I can tell you from experience that the example stuff sticks better!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

What Has Love Got to Do With It?



Mike Hosey, Elder

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In English, the word "love" is horribly misused and perplexingly overused.

Mostly we use it to refer to a  kind of affection - that is to say that we use it to describe pleasant, gentle feelings of kindness or liking.   

But nearly everyone realizes that love is not just about good feelings. After all, we don't always have good feelings about our spouses, or our children, or our friends, or any of the people that we know we are supposed to always love.

In fact, one of the things that many people have trouble with in Christianity is the precept to love God before and more than anything else (Matthew 22:37-40).

They ask, how can a person love God more than their spouse or their children?

Part of their difficulty comes from their definition of love.  At its core, love is not a matter of affection. It is, instead, a matter of commitment.

Try this out: re-read all those passages in the Bible that reference love. Replace love with commitment.

For God was so committed to the world that he gave his only son . . . (John 3:16). You shall be committed to the Lord your God with all of your heart . . . (Matthew 22:37). Greater commitment has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

The idea is not to always have pleasant feelings about God, anymore than loving your spouse in marriage means to always have pleasant feelings about him or her. Consider that God's hatred of sin in humanity must mean that "love" in John 3:16 isn't about pleasant feelings.

Imagine if we applied this truth to all our relationships. What if we said we were committed to God instead of saying we loved him? How would we measure that? What if we said we were committed to our church, our marriage, or our friendships? How would we measure that? What if instead of saying we loved our neighbors as ourselves, we said we were committed to them as we are ourselves? How would we measure that?