Dear Friends,
At our house, we are all fans of the 1987 film The Princess Bride. I assume you are as well and that by now you’ve seen it at least a dozen times.
We have been known to, on occasion, recite dialogue from the movie to one another.
For years when I would leave for a big meeting at work or at church, Mary Ann would wave goodbye to me and say “have fun storming the castle!”
I’ve been known to put my hands over my ears and during a conversation and say “I’m not listening!”
Of course, we have all tossed around an occasional “inconceivable.”
At one time or another, we’ve said to another family member “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
And on more than one occasion, someone in our family has grabbed a plastic sword, assumed a steely gaze and said “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Who hasn’t been to a wedding and said “Mawage is wot bwings us together today.”
Or tumbled down a hill, crying out slowly “As…. you….. wish……”
It’s that last quote, spoken over and over again by Westley, the farm boy, to his beloved Princess Buttercup, that came to mind as I was thinking about evidence that confirms the reality of our love for God.
In the movie, Westley is the Princess’s hired hand who responds to her every command with by saying “as you wish.” The narrator informs us that every time Westley said “as you wish” to the princess, what he was really saying was “I love you.”
Of course, it’s Jesus who connects for us the relationship between real love and service. “Whoever has my commands and keeps them,” Jesus says, “he is the one who loves me.”
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
In other words, we say to God “As you wish.” It’s one way we express our love for Him.
Do you love God? How do you know if your love for Him is real?
Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes a profound observation about the true test of our love for God in one of his sermons on Romans 8. You remember that the Bible there talks about how God’s Spirit helps us in times of hardship and suffering by praying interceding on our behalf with groanings too deep for words. In those times when life is so especially hard, the Bible reminds us that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose.
It is in the midst of those times of groaning, of suffering, that’s Lloyd Jones says it becomes especially clear to us and to everyone else whether our love for God is real. He says that one of the best ways we can discern in the moment if our love for God is real is by our reaction to adversity.
In the end, real love for God is not is not based on whether you have warm sentimental feelings for Him. It’s not even clear whether our love for God is genuine when we experience His goodness or His blessings and we respond with gratitude.
Tim Keller picks up on Lloyd-Jones’ premise that adversity is the best test of genuine love for God, saying that it is in the midst of trials and suffering where we can see whether our confidence and trust in God, and ultimately our love for Him, is real or not. Keller says “If you love God for who He is in himself, you make a commitment and you endure difficulty. But if you are using God for what he gives you, you bail out when suffering comes.”
God’s promise to bring beauty from ashes and to work all things for our good is a promise He makes only to those whose love for Him is real. He does not obligate Himself to bless those who rebel and reject and ignore His word or His ways.
The genuineness of our love for God is forged in the fire of adversity and suffering. When trials come, do we turn toward Him with humble dependence and trust in His steadfast love, in spite of the hardships we’re facing? Or do we turn away and grumble, questioning in our hearts why a good God would not make our pathway always easy and gentle? When trials come, are we prone to acting like petulant children who scowl and pout, and who say to their benevolent and wise parents “you don’t love me!” every time they aren’t pleased by their circumstances?
When the path is hard – when it leads you through a fire swamp where there if lightening sand, quicker than quick sand, and where you might come across a rodent of unusual size (the notorious R.O.U.S) – the response of the mature follower of Jesus is “as you wish.” Which is another way of saying to Him “I love you.”
When the path that I feared
Is the way He has set
And I long to give in and retreat
Still to Jesus I hold
As I face every step
For the Lord He will give me His peace
When the road that I tread
Fills my heart with despair
And it seems that my grief has no end
Still to Jesus I hold
Who will walk with me there
And the Lord He will give me His strength
This Sunday, I’ll give you an update on our progress toward our $100,000 building fund matching gift opportunity. There is good, encouraging news to share.
Have you prayed about making a special gift this month to help us match the recent building fund gift we received?
No matter how big or how small, a special gift this month would enable us to continue the needed work for additional parking at Redeemer, along with other improvements we want to make to our property as we continue to explore adding new space.
Simply note your gift is for the building fund in the memo line on your check or use the drop down menu on our website if you make your gift online.
Tomorrow night (or tonight, if you’re reading this on Thursday) at 7:00, the Redeemer Men’s Institute meets for the first time.
We’ll meet in the big classroom in the back of our education wing. Every man, young or old, is welcome to take part in this nine-month long program. I hope you’ll plan to attend.
And guys, it’s time to register for the fall men’s breakfast. (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=5b13f15b62&e=fbb0a4052b) It’s two weeks away, on Saturday morning September 28.
The fall Women’s Bible Study of the Gospel of Mark starts next week. You can attend on Monday nights or Tuesday mornings. Click here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=70f7f3661d&e=fbb0a4052b) to sign up or to find out more.
Over and over again in the New Testament, Christians are identified as servants of God. Is that how you see yourself? When everyone from the Apostle Paul to James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus embraces the title for himself and for others in the church, and when the book of Revelation designates that those who are sealed for salvation are the servants of God, we should probably stop to consider what that means for us as His followers today. We’ll do that on Sunday.
See you in church.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Pastor Bob
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