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In 2005, British rock band Coldplay released the hit song, Fix You…

When you try your best but you don’t succeed,
When you get what you want but not what you need,
When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep,
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face,
When you lose something you can’t replace,
When you love someone but it goes to waste,
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home,
And ignite your bones,
And I will try to fix you.

The song speaks of the loss, frustration, stain, scars, and pain that we struggle with in life…

And how there are things in our lives that need to be fixed.

We try to fix ourselves.

We try to fix our families.

Doctors try to fix our medical issues.

Counselors try to fix our heads.

Everybody tries.

Except God.

He isn’t trying.

He does (fix us).

“I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of destruction, out of the sticky mud. He stood me on a rock and made my feet steady. He put a new song in my mouth…” (Psalm 40)

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time…” (Romans 5.6)

My 1968 VW Bus restoration project ended in failure.

I wasn’t able to finish what I started.

The Bus didn’t get restored.

It was stuck in the garage for years…

Until my dad reclaimed his garage space…

Then the Bus got left outside to rust away in the rain.

My restoration project may have ended in failure—but God’s restoration project won’t.

He won’t fail you.

He will finish what he started.

You won’t get stuck in the garage for years.

You won’t be left outside to rust away in the rain.

Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, “God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?” (Hebrews 13.5, 6 MSG)

Ashley stopped by to talk with me.

She was visibly upset, already crying before she said anything.

She blurted out, “Nobody will let me be a new person! They’re all think I’m still boy-crazy like I was in 8th grade…”

Ashley explained how she felt trapped by her past. She was convinced that everyone saw her only for who she used to be, and not for who she is now.

At the time, I was a new youth pastor. I wasn’t around when Ashley was in 8th grade.

I didn’t know what happened then. I only could see what was going on right now…

And I was surprised by what Ashley was saying.

I’d never heard anyone talking disparagingly about her or her past.

I would never have thought she had a bad reputation.

I didn’t think she was boy-crazy.

I sensed that whatever happened in the past had chipped away at her confidence, worth, and significance.

Because of that chipping away, she was now expecting it—looking out for it with a suspicious eye.

Innocent comments and conversations confirmed what she was already convinced of.

She “knew” that people saw her as dirty, didn’t like her, and wouldn’t accept her.

I knew what I had to do.

I had to interrupt the chipping.

I told Ashley a different story about herself.

I told her that people didn’t see her that way.

I told her that she was valuable, significant, of incredible worth.

I told Ashley that she was popular and funny—that people wanted to be her friend.

I told her that she belonged, fit, and was right where she needed to be.

I told Ashley it was time for her to see herself differently too.

It was time to interrupt the chipping.

Part of being a Christian is to interrupt the chipping…

Our job isn’t to chip away at the honor, worth, significance, and value of others.

Our job is to restore and build-up—to give value and honor.

We’re on the building team, not the demolition crew.

We’re value adders, not value diminishers.

We interrupt the chipping.

And we tell a new story.

“We have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5.16-19 NLT)

I bought a 1968 VW Bus for $300 when I was in high school.

It was a project—a real fixer-upper.

The engine was in bad shape, so asked my mechanic to put in a bigger, better engine.

The mechanic’s bill: $1200.

Expensive.

I decided to tackle the bodywork and paint myself.

I sanded the entire vehicle down to the metal, inside and out.

I started using lots of Bondo (a putty for patching-up dents and holes).

And this is where I got stuck.

The bus was nowhere close to being ready for paint.

Parts were scattered everywhere and I couldn’t remember where most of them belonged.

I had no idea how to finish the project.

I didn’t have the resources.

I was out of money, expertise, and motivation.

It was time to put the bus project on hold.

Eventually, I came to the realization that I could never complete this project.

I sold my sanded-down, disassembled VW Bus…

For $300.

It’s frustrating and embarrassing to think about it.

I was overly ambitious and optimistic.

I was in over my head.

I lacked the knowledge, resources, and ability to get the job done.

I was unable to restore the bus.

My tale of the VW Bus “project” is one of failure.

Obviously, there is someone else who is better at restoration projects than me.

I’m not talking about cars now—but our fixer-upper, restoration project lives.

God is the ultimate restorer.

He lacks nothing.

He has the ability, resources, expertise, motivation…

He has what it takes to get the job done.

“Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he puts us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be.”
(Romans 3.23, 24 MSG)

I love this.

God doesn’t give up on us.

What he started in us—he is faithful to complete (Philippians 1.6).

We don’t fix ourselves. This isn’t some self-help project here.

God restores, start to finish.

That’s what he does.

I was a mischievous teenager when the pork chop incident happened.

OK, I’m still mischievous—so I guess the real point is: I was a teenager when the pork chop incident happened.

I’d been attending a “youth discipleship class” with some of my friends at the church on Tuesday nights.

We met in a classroom that was used during the day by the church’s private Christian school.

Three of my friends in the discipleship class were African-American. Their parents didn’t attend the church.

One night, we all arrived at the church a few minutes early. They were still finishing their dinner…

Yup, you guessed it—they were eating pork chops.

Before our class started (and before our Youth Pastor showed up), I noticed the pile of pork chop bones.

Inspiration struck.

I grabbed the pork chop bones and put them in the Christian school teacher’s desk, all over, in random places.

The prank gave me a good laugh.

I felt like a proper hooligan.

The next day, the Christian school teacher found the first pork chop bone.

And then she found a few more.

She was furious.

She had a meeting with the Associate Pastor.

The Associate Pastor called in the Youth Pastor.

The Associate Pastor told the Youth Pastor: “Those boys are no longer welcome here.”

He was talking about my three African-American friends.

Nobody knew that I was the culprit.

He assumed it was my three African-American friends because they were the ones eating pork chops.

They were about to get kicked out of the church for something they didn’t do.

The thing is, I was responsible for many other (worse) pranks than that…

Like the time I put a big container of Goldfish crackers in the baptism tank an hour before the baptisms took place.

I’d actually been caught doing numerous hooligan antics at the church before.

But I was still welcome.

Maybe because I was white.

Or maybe because my parents attended the church.

Well, the Youth Pastor couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He wasn’t willing to accept “Those boys are no longer welcome here.”

So he took a stand.

He told the Associate Pastor, “If they’re no longer welcome here, then I’m leaving too.”

Wow! Talk about guts.

He risked his job for three boys who, as far as he knew, were guilty.

He risked his job for three boys who had no one to defend them.

I don’t know all that was said in that meeting. I do know that the Youth Pastor got lectured and threatened.

I also know that he got his way—my three friends didn’t get kicked out of the church.

They were still welcome, because of the Youth Pastor.

I’ll never forget the pork chop incident.

I will never forget what my Youth Pastor, Troy Jones, did for those boys.

He sacrificed himself so that they would be welcome there.

It wasn’t until years later that Troy found out I was responsible for the pork chop incident.

I apologized.

I still feel terrible that I got him in trouble and almost made him lose his job.

I’m also thankful for the incident…

I’m thankful for Troy’s example in fighting to keep the church a place where people are welcome.

“Whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child like this for My sake and in My name receives and accepts and welcomes Me.” —Jesus (Matthew 18.5 AMP).

The church was never meant to be an exclusive club—keeping insiders in and outsiders out.

The church is to be a hospital for sinners, a place where prodigals are welcomed home with open arms.

I went from attending a private Christian school to a public middle school in the 8th grade.

Suddenly I was the “new kid” at school.

I didn’t already have friends at my new school—I didn’t know people there (yet).

Soon, some pot-smoking skateboarders welcomed me, included me, and wanted me to be part of their group.

I wasn’t a big pot-smoker at that time.

I did have a skateboard, but I wasn’t very good…

I couldn’t even ollie (a fundamental trick in skateboarding).

They welcomed me anyway.

And since I wasn’t being welcomed by other groups, these guys became my friends.

Yup, that’s the simple explanation of how I became a pothead.

I was welcomed.

Being welcomed has a powerful impact on us.

So does being rejected.

The church was never meant to be an exclusive club—keeping insiders in and outsiders out.

The church is to be a hospital for sinners, a place where prodigals are welcomed home with open arms.

Here’s what Jesus said: “Whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child like this for My sake and in My name receives and accepts and welcomes Me.” (Matthew 18.5 AMP).

In this regard, I hope the church is more like the pot-smoking skateboarders at my middle school than some of the other groups.

Let’s take our “welcoming” to a whole notha level!

Sometimes we “love” in order to get.

The motivation is selfish—it has an agenda.

There is a different kind of love: one that chooses, prefers, esteems, and gives value and worth to its recipients.

This is “agape” love—God’s kind of love.

God loves us this way, not because he stands to gain something from us, but because he delights in giving value and worth to us.

This is how we should love too.

“My dear friends, if this is how God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.” (1 John 4.11 MSG)

Love is a verb.

It is seen, felt, heard, and experienced.

It is demonstrated, communicated, expressed, and given.

“Love is the best sermon anyone will ever experience.”
—Matthew Barnett

“Loving people where they are today helps them become who God wants them to be tomorrow.”
—Aubrielle Holt

“It’s much easier to find love for people when you’re madly in love with the God who created them.”
—Kelsey Taylor

Being nice to some people can make you feel like you’ve been trying to hug a porcupine (ouch!).

Not everyone returns your kindness with a generous portion of love and appreciation.

Instead of thanking you with a pat on the back, they stab you in the backside with a toxic porcupine quill.

Here’s the deal: the world is full of porcupines…

And porcupines need love too.

Stop and think about it.

Porcupines have a tough exterior to protect themselves.

They’re tired of getting hurt and rejected—so they hurt and reject others.

It’s a sad cycle: hurt people hurt people, get hurt some more… (repeat).

Rather than contributing to the cycle, let’s break it.

Instead of kicking porcupines, let’s love ‘em.

‘Cause porcupines need love too.

Here’s what Jesus said about it:

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’

I’m challenging that.

I’m telling you to love your enemies.

Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.

When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.

This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.

If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus?

Anybody can do that.

If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal?

Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up.

You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it.

Live out your God-created identity.

Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

—Jesus (Matthew 5.43-48 MSG)

I read something from comedy writer Julius Sharpe yesterday.

He said, “If I’m going to obey ‘Love thy neighbor,’ I need to move.”

Funny.

And sad.

It’s funny because we feel that way too (if I’m really supposed to love my neighbors, I’m gonna need some new neighbors—‘cause there’s nothing to love about these ones).

It’s sad because we know the point of that teaching (love anyone and everyone around you) but we’re desperately looking for a way out—an exception clause, a loophole, or an excuse to justify not having to love THEM.

Speaking of loving the unlovable ones…

That’s exactly what God did with us.

He didn’t move away from us because we were unlovable.

He did the opposite—he moved into the neighborhood. (John 1.14 MSG)

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (Ephesians 2.4, 5 NLT)

When we were at our worst, God moved into the neighborhood.

He loved us—even though there was nothing to love.

Maybe we struggle with loving unlovable “neighbors” because we’ve forgotten how unlovable we once were.

We didn’t earn God’s love. We didn’t deserve it.
?We didn’t become the target of God’s love because of how cute, cuddly, and lovable we were.

Nope. We were dead because of our sins.

We were completely unlovable.

And He loved us anyway.

Never forget that.

Because He loved us anyway, we can love others (anyway).

We don’t need to move and we don’t need new “neighbors.”

We don’t need to surround ourselves with cute, cuddly, lovable people.

There are some unlovable people who are really needing some undeserved, unearned love right now.

Will we be in the neighborhood for them?