Talking Points with Pastor Lucas: Trust and Inspire

Joy is hard to come by these days. It’s easy to become disheartened and worried. We ask, “Where has all the joy gone?” We see another sad story in the news, wars and unrest around the globe, civil unrest at home, and the never ending partisan political infighting.

It’s easy to lose hope, not just for the American citizen, but for every last man, woman and child on the face of this broken planet. Far too many people are walking around with glum faces, seeing only the dark and lonely places. It’s like the Pout Pout Fish from the children’s book I read to my kids that says:

Deep in the water where the fish hang out; Lives a glum, gloomy swimmer with an ever present pout; And all he can say is, I’m a pout pout fish with a pout pout face, so I spread the dreary wearies all over the place.

That’s what it feels like these days. The dreary wearies are all over the place. Everywhere we turn it seems like there’s bad news, unrest, division, and hatred. In fact, we’re now living in a “cancel” culture. One wrong move, one wrong statement, one wrong belief, and you are cancelled! In other words, condemnation is all around.

Throw in a pandemic and societal unrest and watch the chaos multiply. We’re told to trust the science, trust our doctors, trust politicians, trust the police, and trust the government. Yet, confidence in each is at all-time lows. Which means trust is at an all-time low. When there is little trust, there is no shared meaning or positive movement forward. Kindness is replaced by suspicion, love is replaced by power, and hope is covered by darkness.

In the face of it all, we long for some Good News. We’re tired of all the condemnation. What we want is some positive motivation. Yes, we want some divine inspiration!

The message of Jesus Christ is just that. In the Gospel there is a compelling story that brings mountains of joy and oceans of hope. At its core is the message that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). The divinely inspired, infallible and inerrant word of God, testifies again and again to the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting! Because of our sin, He stood condemned in our place. Yet, by His cross, He cancelled our debt.

This is more than simply a point of INFORMATION. Jesus is about more than mere moral EDUCATION. He brings unending and eternal INSPIRATION. He is full of love and grace. He brings every reason to trust Him and follow Him into a world of hurting and needy people.

At the heart of this inspiration is the mind-boggling goodness of the Good News. It’s the understanding that joy in life comes from Christ’s presence in your life. This means joy is far more than the fleeting and arbitrary moments of happiness. Happiness is nice, but happiness comes and goes. Joy, however, is lasting and capable of being present when you are anything but happy. And when you have this divine source of joy, it inspires others with hope and compels them to action, when they see Jesus Christ at work in you.

You see, amid all the dreary wearies of this world people want some joy. They want something that when you hear it you can’t help but respond with exuberant JUBILATION because it is so replete with utter INSPRIATION. So, let’s test that thought. You want joy? You want hope? You want inspiration? Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

There is something utterly invigorating about the joy of the resurrected Christ. No, He doesn’t promise you a rose garden, but there is something immensely powerful about a Savior who walks through death, comes back to life, calls you by the Gospel, baptizes you in His name, wraps the arms of His Holy Spirit around you and says, “I know you. I know you inside and out, and I love you. I laid down my life for you. You are mine!”

            Yes, the resurrected Jesus is on the loose, running wild, pouring out His Holy Spirit (Pentecost is June 5), speaking His Word of grace, baptizing babies and adults. He is ever at work inspiring young and old by His word of truth, bringing joy, and feeding the spiritually hungry with His presence under bread and wine.

That’s the Gospel! It’s the Good News. Jesus loves you day in and day out. Amid every failure, flop, and fault of your life, you live under a banner that says, “It is Finished!” Christ has conquered. He shed His blood. He’s paid your price. He forgives your sins. You can trust Him. And when you trust Him, it frees you to love others and serve others in His name.

People may ask, where has all the joy gone? We answer, “It’s in Christ!” Amid all the dreary wearies of this world, the light of Christ shines brightly as a beacon of JUBILATION and beam of INSPRIATION. We trust Him. He inspires us. Joy is present in our life. As a result, we in turn inspire others so that they might trust in Him. Alleluia! Christ is risen!  

Pastor Woodford