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The Hard Work

“Where else can you go and talk about Jesus to people who are coming to learn about Jesus?” mused my wife, Peggy. She was speaking about our Friday night Bible study through International Friendships (IFI), a ministry to international students pursuing degrees at American colleges and universities, many of whom know little, if anything, about Jesus when they arrive. She had a great point, yet I had an answer for her: Kairo Prison Ministries, “a short course in Christianity” for incarcerated men and women. For here also, seekers find answers from sharers, and in these answers, new life. Quipped one young Kairos volunteer to his wife, “I feel like I’m cheating!” But what we don’t see is all the groundwork others have toiled to lay before us.

As the denizens of Sychar made their way toward Jesus, He observed to His disciples, “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”1 Did you catch it? The hard work in the Kingdom of God is not in the glorious reaping, but in the laborious sowing. Wrote Paul to the Corinthian church, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers.”2 We are one body on one mission with one gospel, and each of us works as the Spirit leads us.

Among the “hard workers” in this Samaritan village was one unlikely woman who dared to tell others of her encounter with a thirsty Messiah offering living water. Then what about you — who were they who did the “hard work” of sowing Scripture seeds in you, and how long did it take for those seeds to germinate? Who were they whose joy, peace and contentment shone too brightly for you to ignore? Who patiently abided your rebellion and capably answered your arguments? It took time, didn’t it? Time and people.

Sometimes we feel like we must carry the entire evangelistic load by ourselves. This makes us feel too overwhelmed to act or too discouraged to continue. But God’s model is that we do the hard work together. So toil cheerfully. There will be a harvest of life, and we will rejoice as one.

“Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’” John 4:36-37 ESV

Father, You bless our lives with everlasting Kingdom purpose. Grace us to hear Your call today, and strengthen us for the work You have prepared for us to do. Be glorified in Your church. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 John 4:38 NIV
2 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 ESV

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The Engine Roared

Occasionally, I stop by NAPA to purchase some fuel injector cleaner. (It is far less expensive to prevent buildup than to clean clogged fuel injectors.) And it strikes me that on these shelves are enough parts to build an engine that roars. But there they sit, each tucked away inside of its own cardboard box, and huddled up with other parts exactly like it, all of them doing nothing. I realize the purpose of an auto parts store is not to build a new engine, per se, but to equip mechanics for repair. Still, it’s a little ironic, isn’t it?

A team of 46 men just completed a Kairos Prison Ministry Weekend, and it was a picture of the body of Christ at work—each one assuming his assigned role in and among the others, and all converging to share the love and forgiveness found in Christ Jesus. Leaders led, servants served, and musicians ushered us into praise and worship. Table family leaders facilitated discussions — “listen, listen; love, love” is the Kairos slogan — opening the hearts and mouths of the 42 residents in attendance. Then there were the men and women who supported the Weekend from outside the walls: the bakers who baked over 4,000-dozen cookies and the pray-ers who, in half-hour shifts, covered almost the entire 3½ days in intercession. It was a picture of the body of Christ: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”1 For “God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”2 What happens when everyone functions in his/her capacity? Consider these inmate testimonies . . .

“I was hateful and spiteful. I didn’t nor couldn’t abide Christians. I have torn Bibles apart and spit on Christians. Now I have found an unconditional love I never expected.”

“This is awesome, so beautiful. I’m still locked up physically, but inside I’m free.”

“I came to this weekend very angry and hateful. I had asked God before to change me. I had asked him for a family. Now I’m looking at the whole bunch of people who are my family.”

“God has a plan for every one of us. I didn’t understand this until I got here (prison). I was stuck to addictions, but God sent the police, a judge, and then prison. This weekend is step 1. Tomorrow is step 2. I will strive to be a better person because of God.”

“I’ve changed! I’ve changed! I’ve changed!”

“Around here, we’re known by our number or our last name, but you [volunteers] called us by name. Thank you for giving us our names back.”

There were many amazing testimonies, and surely more unspoken. The body of Christ came together, each as called, and the engine roared.

Father, “Here I am! Send me.”3 Yes, show me my role in Your body today, and send me. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV
2 1 Corinthians 12:18 ESV
3 Isaiah 6:8 ESV

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He Who Advocates for Me

Imagine my brother Eric’s disappointment upon receiving an “F” on a high school English test. The fact that much of the rest of the class also failed the test assuaged neither his disappointment nor his dread of telling our mother. As it turns out, however, he didn’t have to, thanks to one classmate, Jane Bloggs1. Jane was argumentative by nature, and so she went to work, pleading her case to the teacher. She argued one point so convincingly that Mr. Sanford said to the entire class, “If you said [thus and so] to this question, mark your answer as being correct.” The young lady proceeded to debate her next contention, successfully gaining another concession from the teacher. At this point, Eric’s grade improved to a “D.” His resolute classmate was not finished, though—she continued to assert her case so effectively that, by the end of the class, Eric’s “F” had become a “B+”!

God does not want us to “fail,” i.e., by sinning, but John assures us of this: “if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”2 On our own, we could not even approach God to plead our case, but being faultless and guiltless, Jesus has right standing before God, and it is He who advocates for us. Moreover, this “one mediator between God and men . . . gave himself as a ransom for all.”3 He has taken our sin upon Himself and given us, in exchange, His righteousness.4 And He pleads on our behalf before His Father, “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”5

Then who can fail us? Or “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”6 He who advocates for us now is the very one who reconciled us to God, once for all. Yes, He intercedes for us now, and He always will: He is “able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.7 We are saved from condemnation, and we always will be. For in Christ, there is no “F”; there is no failure.

Jesus died to pay for our sin, He rose to overcome our sin, and He lives to intercede on our behalf. Our God is the initiating God, so let us trust His character and rejoice in His love. And in this truth, serve freely.

Father, thank You for desiring our salvation and sending Jesus to procure it. We live forever in Him because He forever lives to intercede for us. This is love; this is You. And we are Yours. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Name has been changed for this post
2 1 John 2:1 NIV
3 1 Timothy 2:5-6 ESV
4 2 Corinthians 5:21
5 1 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV 
6 Romans 8:34 ESV
7 Hebrews 7:25 NASB