That’s Our Grandpa

I went into the classroom of the 3-5 year-olds last Sunday morning to give a message to the teacher, and my two granddaughters saw me. One of them said, “That’s our grandpa!” I can’t tell you how good that felt. Then she got up from the table and ran and gave me a hug. Then my other granddaughter did the same thing. Then each of the other children did the same. Suddenly, I was bombarded with hugs.

That’s what happens when we worship God with enthusiasm and authenticity. We say by the way we live and worship, “That’s our God,” and we run to him. Those watching our lives are drawn to do the same thing. This is what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, that people will see how we live and fall in love with our God.

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

When you live an authentic Christ-like life, people don’t come up to you and ask to be your disciple. They don’t come and ask to worship you. Instead, they are attracted to the one you worship. Your light is a reflection of his light, and they are drawn to God.

This light that Jesus is talking about comes from being with God. David said it this way, “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame” (Psalms 34:5). When we take our eyes off ourselves and look to God, something amazing happens to us. We leave that encounter with something that changes us.

In the Old Testament, Moses’ face actually glowed when he came away from talking with God. We may not experience the degree of radiation that Moses did, but we are changed after being in God’s presence. We stop worrying what we look like or how people perceive us and allow God to take away our shame and give us his radiance.

When the Apostle Paul compared the Law of Moses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he said this, “If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!” (2 Corinthians 3:8-9). The law, at its best, could only show us what was wrong with us, but it couldn’t fix us. The Gospel, however, transforms us and makes us righteous before God.

I know people who live with a constant sense of failure and shame. They relive their mistakes or the mistakes that others have made to them. Try as they might, they cannot get rid of this shame complex that plagues them. God takes it away through the power of the Gospel. For most people it’s not automatic. It happens gradually as we spend time with Jesus and get to know him. Then we become more like him and less like the person we don’t like.

I felt pretty good when my granddaughter ran to me and said, “That’s our grandpa!” David said he would praise God before all the nations. When we do, the nations are drawn to our God.

Psalms 57:9-10

“I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”