Frustrating the Intelligence of the Intelligent

This morning I am continuing my journey of examining the non-rational aspects of the Gospel.  What I mean is that at the very heart of the Gospel is a truth so profound that it offends our rational senses, our thoughts of how things should be, and seems too good to be true.  In life, we usually find out that something that seems to good to be true, is indeed too good to be true, and putting our hope in something like that will lead to disappointment, or worse.  In my choice of reading today I decided to shy away from Paul's logical fare and look at 1 Peter, not that he is illogical, but he certainly writes with less philosophical logic.  

Here are the verses I am reflecting upon this morning -  1 Peter 1:3-12 NIV:

[3] "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, [5] who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. [6] In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. [7] These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith---of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire---may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. [8] Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, [9] for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 

[10] "Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, [11] trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. [12] It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things."

Yesterday I was pondering the types and shadows, the themes that God introduced hundreds if not thousands of years before they were seen fulfilled, and today Peter is writing about the Prophets speaking about something they didn't fully understand or know how it would be presented.  Prophets like Isaiah were writing 600-700 years before Christ Jesus was born, Abraham lived close to 2000 years before Christ.  Each had revealed to them promises and themes that clearly spoke of a future time, and while they would have probably tried to understand what they heard, their ability to logically frame these things was quite impossible.  

I like to look back on the history of the United States to get some idea of the passage of time, for even back to our earliest visit by Europeans, America is not even 500 years old.  Western culture was alive and well in Europe much before this and while much has changed in the 500 years, we find no one from those days predicted, nor prophesied accurately about how our culture would evolve, or the revelations that would come to light in the ensuing years (at least not that I am aware of). There is a popularly known non-religious prophet named Nostradamus, who wrote a bunch of loosely interpreted predictions that have been twisted into all sorts of fanciful fulfillments from everything to the Nazi 1000 year reign to the attack on the world trade centers.  Most were undated and about wars, earthquakes, and other worldly trauma ( I haven't read them, just summarizing recent commentaries) and while this seems interesting we find many similar verses in scripture, which predated his works by hundreds if not thousands of years.  

What makes the Gospel so amazing to me is the utter illogical nature of it!  I have written before of how this Gospel just doesn't match anything we, as humans, would think up for how an all-powerful, universe creating God would enact salvation upon the population of a planet.  We have all sorts of ancient mythology dealing with gods and demi-gods, whether Greek, Roman, Norse, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, or Eastern, and I am unaware of any story that resembles the Gospel of Grace (note: again I am not an authority on any of these ). 

Sorry - I just wonder off down a path that I could keep pursuing, but this draws me away from the focus verses today.  Going back to Peter, He starts out with our "new birth", something which Jesus spoke of with Nicodemus.  We are invited into the relationship with Christ, which results in us becoming a "new creation", one born of the Holy Spirit. While outwardly we look the same in our spirit-man we are transformed.  In this transformative work, which is a free gift (Grace) from God, we become co-heirs with Christ Jesus, the Messiah. Our salvation is from sin and death and our invitation is to live the "heavenly life" that Jesus demonstrated to the world. We access all of this through faith at His invitation.  The Lord laid the ground work for all of this through prophetic verses scattered throughout the Old Testament Prophets and writers, and while they wrote the verses, the authors never could comprehend the fulfillment of these words found in Christ Jesus.  The looked intently into the future and were unable to see the time or nature of Christ.  

We find this best represented by the common thinking of what the Messiah was going to do for the Jewish people.  They were expecting a new king who would reign over all, defeating their enemies, establishing another earthly kingdom. The apostles were so understanding of this Messianic role, that they couldn't understand that Jesus was going to be betrayed, suffer and die, for this made no sense in their messianic understanding. We find even after His death and Resurrection, this thinking evident in the following, "Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”( Acts 1:6 NIV).

Peter is essentially laying out this same message, that this amazing Gospel is true, and even though our prophets wrote about it they didn't understand it, but now we are making it clear to you. The Gospel of Grace requires faith and nothing else.  This faith requires us to step past our logic, past our thinking of how the Messiah should act, or how an all-powerful god would save us.  We struggle with this and Paul writes about the "foolishness of the cross:" in his first letter to the  Corinthians 1:18-21 NIV:

[18] "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

[19] For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 

[20] Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."  

My prayer today is that all those that struggle with the irrational nature of the Gospel would not stumble over this, but that they would lay down their need to understand everything, and accept the unexpected beauty of this Gospel!  God Loves you as you are, has made a way for you to have relationship with Him, offers you the free gift of salvation, and only asks that you believe this truth!   

Oh Lord, break through the walls of intellectualism!  I pray that You would astound us once again, even as You did during your 3 years of public ministry, with unexplainable signs and wonders, miracles and healings that force us to reconsider our thoughts about You and our worldview.

Amen and Amen!

Revelation of Deep Things, Types and Shadows

This morning I felt led to read from the Letter to the Hebrews.  It is always interesting wading through this book which lays out the case for Christ describing the depth of the prophetic preview of picture of Christ that the Lord spoke to them through the prophets and the Law.  Whoever the author was they were clearly intimately familiar with the scriptures and all of the Law, and logical thinking.  

This morning I was reading from Hebrews 7, which establishes Christ's priesthood as better than the Levitical priesthood.  The logic that is being argued is so subtle, and rich, and sometimes too much so.   What I was understanding this morning was the depth and interwoven nature of this imagery as a type and shadow of Christ.  Paul speaks of this in Col 2:17, and 1 Cor 13:12, where he talks about our inability to fully see and understand, a sort of shadow of things to come, or seeing dimly now.  The author of this letter clearly saw things and pulled things together with a clarity that must have been helpful to the Hebrew people.  Moving from the Law to Gospel of Grace was a difficult task, but the author was helping identify the foundation stones that had been laid for this throughout their history, and I find it amazing.  Here is a quick snippet of an example: 

Hebrews 7:11-17 NIV:

[11] "If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood---and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood---why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? [12] For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. [13] He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. [14] For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. [15] And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, [16] one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. [17] For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

These verses represent some of the final verses from three chapters of looking at the priesthood of Jesus. The author started the Letter looking at Jesus as the Son and representation of the Father, moved to Jesus being greater than Angel, Jesus as fully Man, Jesus greater than Moses, then Jesus as High Priest, and finally looking at Jesus' sacrifice, as High Priest.  The author argued all of these through the use of scripture, again pointing to the pre-established pattern that was followed and fulfilled by Jesus.  At times I have written about a finely woven tapestry as a good picture of how God's plan all come together perfectly, and that word picture comes to mind again this morning.  

As I was thinking through this, following the logic of the author, watching how each and every verse highlighted pointed towards Jesus, I had this idea that it was sort of like a long-lost subway map, where all tunnels ended at one point, Jesus.   I guess I could say its a version of "all roads lead to Rome", but an underground version and all paths leading to Christ Jesus.

The reason I saw it as tunnels was that from the surface, it could totally be missed, and largely not understood or even suspected.  The author was uncovering each instance (theme) and bringing it to light, and identifying the stops God had inserted along the history of the people.  Some of the "tunnels" went all the way back to the time before the Covenant of the Law, showing the master plan of God.   Hopefully that is a helpful image.

Why am I looking at all this deep logic, these types and shadows?  As I was reading these verses, I was just realizing that God's plans, His rich tapestry of purpose didn't end with Jesus.  We are in a time of further revelation of God's move on the earth,  things hinted at in the New Testament, but clearly not revealed in perfectly understandable imagery.  God is continuing to create, continuing to move, continuing to reveal, for there is no end to the increase of His Kingdom and its expansion (Is 9:7 & Dan 2:44) and it goes on forever. We are now in the time of Jesus' continued ministry on the earth, through His church, and one could say all that is being revealed and brought to light now is the further revelation of the majesty of Jesus!  In fact, this theme comes up later in this letter to the Hebrews 13:8 NIV:  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Let us not think that the revelation of things long hidden or spoken is finished, for we are continuing to live out the revelation of God's plans, present in our lives.  We are His representatives now, bringing to light His word, and His intentions in these days!  We are partnering with Holy Spirit to bring further Glory to Jesus, who represents the Father.  We are co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17), and God's Kingdom is alive and present on the earth!  

My prayer today is that my eyes and understanding would be opened.  Paul prayed the following in his letter to the Colossians 1:9-12 NIV:

[9] "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, [10] so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, [11] being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, [12] and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light."

Paul again prayed something similar in his letter to the Ephesians 1:17-19a NIV:

[17] "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. [18] I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, [19] and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

Yes Lord, release Your wisdom and understanding, increase our knowledge of You and Your ways!  Help us to understand the deeper things, that we might be lifted up in our minds to grasp the greatness of You!

Amen and Amen!

Buckets and Understanding

This morning as I sat down to pray, I was reminded of a couple of verses I was thinking about a few days ago.  Here are the verses - Mark 9:2-10 NIV:

[2] "After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. [3] His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. [4] And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 

[5] Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters---one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” [6] (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 

[7] Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 

[8] Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 

[9] As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. [10] They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant."

While I have read about the Transfiguration many times, and have quiet a few reflections on it, the verses that caught my eye this morning were verses 9 & 10.  It is such an interesting mention of a seemingly passing comment that Jesus made and the apostles focus on that rather than the experience they just had with Jesus!  

It is understood that John Mark was writing this Gospel, which was based on Peter's witness (There is still plenty of disagreement as to the actual authorship, but don't let that be a distraction) and apparently Peter's recounting of Transfiguration is represented here.  His mention of their not understanding what "rising from the dead" meant, is really an important point.  We find a similar verse later in this same chapter, where Jesus clearly tells them about his coming suffering and death and rising from the dead, and again we are told,  "But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it." ( Mark 9:32 NIV).

I greatly appreciate these comments for they show the humanness of the apostles, and I think they help us to see some of their humility.  Peter didn't need to recount these details to John Mark, but they stood out as important points!  We are unable to fully grasp the depth of their unknowing, or lack of understanding, but it must have been great for them to keep mentioning it!  We struggle to fully comprehend, because for us, we already know the story and have had it passed down for generations, so it seems a bit absurd that their lack of understanding keeps getting mentioned.

We know that God had raised people from the dead in the history of the Jewish people, and it was always a wonder, but it was definitely a well known miracle.  The two I know occurred with Elijah,  the widows son - 1 Kings 17: 19-22  and a dead man thrown on his grave - 2 Kings 13:21.  To further research, I  looked at the Greek language used in Mark 9:9 and it is pretty straight forward, so the uncertainty probably ins't from understanding the meaning of the words Jesus spoke.  

I think the issue is that Peter and the rest of the Jewish people had a firmly entrenched understanding of what the Messiah was going to do when he came to save them, and dying and rising from the dead wasn't part of that understanding!  The statements of Jesus, while about as clear as they can be (“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” - Mark 9:31 NIV) and yet they just couldn't grasp that He could actually be saying this about Himself, for it did not fit their understood narrative.  

As I was writing this, I was reminded of a couple who were expecting a boy to be born (I don't remember why they thought that) and the wife went into labor.  When the baby was born the man saw his child and started freaking out because his son didn't have male genitalia!  The doctor calmly assured him that these type are known as girls.  The point being that if we think something is absolutely true, and then are confronted with something is conflicting, it can cause confusion, doubt, and even a serious questioning of one's understanding. Growing up in the pinball age, we would say this caused one's mind to "tilt", or just stop functioning for a while.

A couple of days ago I was reflecting on the issue we have with trying to rationalize God's ways and thoughts, and the problem with making that attempt.  We are rational beings, so it is understandable that we try, but God is Majestic, Glorious and Holy beyond knowledge.  We try our best but we will never fully grasp Him, and yet God provides a way forward.  Paul writes his prayer for the Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV:

[16] "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, [18] may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [19] and to know this love that surpasses knowledge---that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Our hope of knowing God is found through the power of the Holy Spirit, someone the apostles had only been introduced to prior to Pentecost, but not yet been filled fully.  While they were following Jesus, their understanding of God, which comes through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, had not yet been fully breathed upon, or at least that is my opinion.  

It does make sense in a way, the only way to know God is to be in relationship with Him, to be connected to Him, to hear His voice and understand His words. In the same way that we can never fully understand another person by just reading about them.  Even people that we have known for years can totally surprise us.  Our thoughts are often at odds with our actions, and it is only in fully experiencing and understanding both, that we can hope to know someone really well, and that is speaking of another human, not God.  

Taking this a bit further, we are all triune beings, and the paragraph above is just dealing with 2 of our three natures, our body (actions) and mind (thoughts), but does not address our spiritual nature.  I think that Jesus was speaking truths into their spiritual nature, and while they probably felt the conviction in their spirits that what Jesus said was true, their minds just couldn't comprehend what the words meant.  

I know there have been times when I felt something occur in the Spirit, and I could not understood it in my mind.  This is essentially what Paul is praying for the Ephesians.  He is praying that their inner being (spirit man) might be strengthened and enlightened to know "this love that surpasses all knowledge."  Isn't that an interesting point?  There is a point past all knowledge, and it exists in and through Holy Spirit pouring into our spirits.  In other words, it goes past rationalization and the understanding found in our mind!

In my experience with the Lord, I have found that He will speak a word to me, and I might think that I grasp the meaning, but will find out later that I had only grasped the smallest portion of understanding.  To put it in another context,  learning Math is much more than addition and subtraction, they are a small bit of understanding of a much greater field of understanding.  In the same way, I think our understanding of God's words and purpose is always (this side of eternity) a small bit of understanding of the fullness of what God means.  

The apostles couldn't grasp that the salvation of the Messiah was a salvation of their very souls, and the enemies that were going to be defeated were sin and death.  They were thinking in the physical realm of the Romans, and God was moving at a much deeper and greater level!  Jesus was speaking of Spiritual truths, and the apostles minds were mired in the natural realm and rationalized understanding.  

I was thinking of the number of times that Jesus said the same thing, and to me that speaks of God's patience and understanding of our struggles.  Jesus knew they couldn't grasp these truths, yet He spoke them into their minds and spirits, that they might fully understand post Resurrection and Pentecost.  I am encouraged that Jesus knows just how much we struggle, a recent term a friend used was bucket-head!  We struggle to get beyond out own understanding, and sometimes that is where we stop, yet the invitation is beyond, into the reaches of love that surpasses understanding!

Maybe we need to take the buckets off our heads so we can see and understand, and hold them out to be filled by the Holy Spirit!

Oh, that we would be strengthened in our spirits to more fully know our Lord!  That we might see beyond our buckets of rationalization, and lean into Holy Spirit, asking Him to bring enlightenment and deeper understanding of His love, His perfection, His ways, His purposes!

Oh Lord help us!  Oh Lord, strengthen our inner beings!  Fill us to the measure of all the fullness found in You Lord!

Amen and Amen!

Theology and Rationalization: When God Makes Our Brains Hurt

Last night we were visiting with friends and we were talking about the church and theology and such.  It was a wide ranging conversation covering topics like Calvinism, Arminianism,  Catholic and Protestant theology, Predestination and Free will, Transubstantiation, Western influenced thought, the struggle we have as humans understanding God, always wanting to understand things, and at times deriving theological beliefs using logic and rationalization.  We covered lots of ground.  Suffice it to say that it was an engaging conversation.

During the conversation I was describing the reason for the Great Schism (when the Church split between the West and East in 1054AD) and how one of the issues was how a certain word was understood concerning the Holy Spirit.  I was looking up a reference to the Great Schism, as I couldn't remember the word and exact points on the Holy Spirit, and found a quote that summarized some of our conversation.  Here is the quote: 

"Roman Catholicism rationalizes even the sacrament of the Eucharist: it interprets spiritual action as purely material and debases the sacrament to such an extent that it becomes in its view a kind of atomistic miracle. The Orthodox Church has no metaphysical theory of Transsubstantiation, and there is no need of such a theory. Christ is the Lord of the elements and it is in His power to do so that 'every thing, without in the least changing its physical substance' could become His Body. Christ's Body in the Eucharist is not physical flesh."

— Lossky 1969, p. 87

My point in quoting this is not to bring up a theological point nor attack any denomination.  I grew up Catholic and don't have an issue with Transubstantiation, nor the idea that the Eucharist being Christ's Body.  I have no problem with the Church being the Body of Christ, nor with Christ indwelling me.  I am not making a point about the theology so much as the use of rationalization to explain God.  As far as I understand, God is God and He can do anything He wants to do!  He set the rules and order of the Universe in place, and yet if He wants He can momentarily "bend" that order. A Theology professor I had in college explained it something like this, "Don't try to figure it all out! I tried and my brain snapped!"  God is literally unknowable in His Glory and Majesty, in His thinking and ways!  One of my absolute favorite verses that describes this is found in Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV:

[8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

We, in our human-centric view, think that we can explain God, or understand God, and one of the things I really like about the Eastern Rite church is that they are ok with NOT understanding everything about God.  They embrace the fact that some of the revelation of God is mystery!  He is beyond knowing, yet He helps us to know Him!  He is the creator of the Universe, yet He became man!  His Kingdom is ever increasing, and yet He has recorded His Word in written form.  He is perfectly Loving, Just, Fair, Merciful, Awesome and Humble all at the same time.  God exists outside of time, and we struggle greatly to fully grasp that vantage point and perception, for we are on that timeline and can only look backwards.

If we just look at the miracles and signs and wonders performed by Jesus and the apostles, we find great examples of the unexplainable nature of God.  How, specifically, did Jesus walk on water?  How did a few loaves and fish feed thousands?  How did dirt and spit become eyes?  How did a body shriveled from 38 years of paralysis suddenly become whole and allow the man to dance and leap, without ever learning to walk (this was done in the name of Jesus!)? How did the sun stand-still, or the earth go dark for 3 hours?  All of these defy rational explanation, and we must learn to be ok with that fact! 

God is bigger than we can comprehend!   I pray that we might learn to free ourselves from having to understand it all!  I pray that we will allow the Lord to unsettle our rationalization, and expand our revelation!  I pray that we will allow God, in our lives, to be beyond our understanding!  I pray that our relationship with God will allow our mind to be offended and yet grow in our love of Him!  I pray that our need to control and understand will be laid down and we will embrace God in all His revelation, even that which we don't understand!  Finally, I pray that we will give grace to all our brothers and sisters in the One Body of Christ to have different ideas, and thoughts than we do, for who can fully understand everything perfectly?

May the Lord bless you and open your heart, mind and spirit to know Him more!

Amen and Amen! 

 

Love, Our Life's Melody

This morning I felt led to the following verses - 2 John 1:3-6 NIV:

[3] "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love." 

[4] "It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. [5] And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. [6] And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

My recent focus on the New Commandment that Jesus gave us to love each other, is here the primary focus of this letter of John.  He goes on to warn against anyone that is not bringing this truth or preaching that Jesus didn't really come in the flesh.  This is essentially the whole focus,, and encouragement to continue to walk in this truth, in this command!  

I do love that John does not lose sight of this singular command and call.  

I so appreciate Paul's focus on the importance of Love found in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV:

[1] "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."

Our first and foremost activity and characteristic should be love.  It is foundational, and should be the purpose behind all our actions.  It should be the melody of our lives, and our lives together should be in harmony with all those whole follow the Lord!  Our daily walk should be filled with love, emanating love, exuding love! 

Oh Lord, forgive my judgmental, frustrated and impatient ways!  Forgive me for allowing my focus to be me, and my wants and needs, rather than love.  Help me to embrace You command to love one another!

Amen and Amen!

Let Us Love One Another!

The last three days I have been stuck on these verses from Paul.  These have been verses that I come back to over and over again, helping me to maintain a right focus and mindset.  Here are the verses - Philippians 2:1-8 NIV:

[1] "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. [5] In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 

[6] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 

[7] rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 

[8] And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death---even death on a cross!"

Every time I read thee verses I am reminded of the significance of the people around me, and really of every person.  Paul's encouragement is really just an extension of Jesus' new commandment found in John 13:34-35 NIV:  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

This was so important that Jesus reiterated the command two more times in John 15:12,17 NIV:

[12] "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." 

[17] "This is my command: Love each other."

I just did a quick review of the words "love one another" in the New Testament and I was actually a bit blown away by the consistency of this message.  Here are several of the times it is used:

Romans 12:10 NIV: "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."

Romans 13:8 NIV: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law."

Galatians 5:13 NIV: "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love."

Ephesians 4:2-3 NIV:  "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. [3] Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

1 Thessalonians 4:9 NIV: "Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other."

Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, [25] not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another---and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

1 Peter 1:22 NIV: "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart."

1 Peter 3:8 NIV: "Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble."

1 John 3:11 NIV:  "For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another."

1 John 3:23 NIV: "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us."

1 John 4:7 NIV: "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

2 John 1:5-6 NIV:  "And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. [6] And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

I find my heart strongly moved by this theme, this command, this encouragement!  we can get so caught up in so many things, but I believe the simplicity of this command, that we would love one another, should be always be forefront in our minds, and evident in our actions.  We must bring this back to the qualifier of Jesus new command, that we love the way He loved!  That we would love one another in humility!

Oh that the Church would be known for its love!  Oh that the Kingdom of Heaven would advance in love!  Oh that the love of God would sweep across this world!!

Amen and Amen!

A Cursed Generation?

This morning I felt led to read from Matt 11, and while a couple of my favorite are found at the end of this chapter, my mind was drawn to the following verses 0 Matthew 11:16-24 NIV:

[16] “To what can I compare this generation? 

They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 

[17] “ 'We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' 

[18] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' [19] The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” 

[20] Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. [21] “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. [22] But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. [23] And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. [24] But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

The theme of the verses above is the lack of repentance, and it has to do with control and judgment.  Looking closely, the youth Jesus is referring to are the ones playing the songs but others are not responding the way they want them too!   In other words the others are not acting as expected.  Jesus continues on and says these people don't like John and his fasted lifestyle, and say he has demons, while they accuse Jesus of being a drunkard and a glutton.  Neither John or Jesus followed the religious norms of the day, and the people rejected them.

Jesus goes on to say that people of certain towns refused to repent, or change the way they thought about God, in the very face of miracles, and signs that Jesus worked. It is interesting how Jesus spoke about the generation (vs 16), and I wonder if there is something to that?  I know from my days in education and youth ministry, that there were certain classes (kids from one grade) that were difficult and others that were great to work with, and this seems to be a larger perspective that Jesus is addressing.  We have generational titles these days, like the boomers, the gen-X, gen-z, and we like to group all of those people together and judge them accordingly.  In similar ways we like to categorize people by their political beliefs, their gender, their sports teams, their race, or any number of other labels.  The one thing I know is the Lord, while aware of these groupings, never treats us from only that perspective.

If we look at the generation comments, one could think that Jesus was condemning them all.  In fact, later in Matthew's Gospel Jesus lays some heavy wood to the generation saying - Matthew 23:33-36 NIV:  “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? [34] Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. [35] And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. [36] Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation."

One could think, after reading these statements, that the whole generation was being condemned, and yet it was this same generation that experienced the coming of the Messiah and salvation exploding into the world through Jesus' sacrificial life!   One could make a point that this generation was the most cursed and the most blessed. God is perfectly just, merciful, compassionate and holy all at the same time.  The very generation that crucified the Lord, was invited into the Kingdom.  The very apostles who abandoned Jesus during His passion and death were redeemed, released and empowered as His witnesses!  Later on we find Saul, one of the lead persecutors of the early church converting and becoming Paul, one of the greatest evangelists of all time!  The Lord never gives up on an individual, generation or people group!  He is always at work drawing, inviting, and saving!

Our invitation today is to turn away from our selfish, or worldly mindsets and turn towards Him!  The Lord will never turn His back on us, regardless of how selfish, self-focused we become, or even if we deny Him or attack Him.  As I was writing these last sentences I was reminded of the great songs found in Revelation 5:9-14 NIV:

[9] "And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. [10] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 

[11] Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. [12] In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” 

[13] Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” 

[14] The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped."

The invitation today is for us to turn to the Lord, and join this heavenly worship with our lives poured out in worship of the Lord!

Amen and Amen!

Holy Saturday Reflections

This morning I was reminded of a few reflections I have written over the last several years on Holy Saturday. I was going back through my journal and thought these two were helpful, and while similar, eahc focused on a bit different theme.  Hopefully you find them helpful!

From 2015: 

Today is Holy Saturday, a day of anticipation for the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.  However this morning I am meditating on the first celebration of this day, the day when it really happened.  Jesus died on Friday around 3pm (the ninth hour) and was buried later that day.  Here are the verses describing his burial from Matthew 27:57-61 NIV:

[57] "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. [58] Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. [59] Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, [60] and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. [61] Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb."

Those are the last verses of chapter 27, and verse one of chapter 28 starts with the first hours following the sabbath.  We find the same thing in all four Gospels, no real mention of the day after Jesus death (Saturday or the Sabbath).  I have spent quite some time thinking about those days and years in Jesus' life where there is no Gospel commentary, and I think it is important for us to at least go there in our thoughts, for these days (and Holy Saturday especially) represent those days when God is silent.  

I find the silence of God quite unsettling, and I am sure the Apostles and disciples were greatly troubled that Sabbath.  All their ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams about what the Lord was going to do appeared to have died when Jesus died on the cross.  They knew He was the Son of God, or at least the Apostles did, and yet He died.  They truly had not grasped what Jesus had been trying to tell them, that He had to suffer and die.  We are told over and over again in the Gospels that the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when He was talking about his coming death.  I believe that is a indication of what they were dealing with that Saturday, as remembered by them when they wrote the Gospels.  I believe they were experiencing complete and utter despair, complete confusion, grief, fear, failure, and even betrayal.  If they gathered for the sabbath, which it appears they did for they were all together the following day, than it was likely a very quiet gathering, each caught up in their own thoughts and sorrow.  

I wonder if they went through the motions of celebrating the sabbath?  The Sabbath was a day of sacred assembly, considered holy to the Lord.  They were not to do any work, cook or even light a fire in their homes.  They were to be reminded that the Lord created the world in six days and on the seventh day rested.  They were to turn their eyes and hearts to God.  Instead, I can just imagine them gathered together and feeling like everything they believed was now in question.  Jesus had come proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom of God, demonstrated  the reality of that Kingdom by healing the sick and diseased, raising dead people, cleansing lepers, healing the blind and deaf and casting out demons.  They had been convinced by all these signs that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, and their paradigm and thoughts of the time of the Messiah didn't have any room for Him dying and leaving them alone.  Yet He was dead.

It is amazing how much changed in just a few short days.  They had witnessed Jesus' triumphant arrival in Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, people shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Luke 19:38).  Less than a week later, Jesus was dead, and they "were together, with doors locked for fear of the Jews." (John 20:19).  They were afraid that the same thing might happen to them as happened to Jesus.  One of their own had betrayed Jesus, Peter had denied Jesus, they had almost all abandoned Jesus when He was crucified.  It was not a happy or joyful group of people.  All of their hopes appeared dead, laying in the tomb.  All of the personal sacrifices they had made to follow Him were probably now running through their minds.  They were likely thinking that they hadn't signed up for this, and wondering how they could go back!  

I think at times we can just gloss over these events and days, because we know Easter is coming, we know that Jesus rose from the dead the very next morning.  It is great to read stories when you know the ending, not nearly as much fun to live through the midst of the story without the benefit of knowing how it will turn out.  I think if we are honest with ourselves, none of us ever wants to go through these types of times, and we don't like to be around people who are going through them, for they are painful to behold and experience.  We don't like pain, and yet we all deal with it.  It is so much easier to just ignore the pain in other peoples lives, than to wade in and be there with them in their pain.  Personally, we tend to try to escape our pain, either trying to deaden it, run away from it, or stuff it so far down in our hearts that is doesn't show up for months or sometimes years.   

The point, in going here in our minds, is that Easter (and by Easter I mean the victory of the Lord over sin and death, and the opening of the way to the Father) really does occur, in our own lives as well as it did that first Easter.  No matter where we find ourselves, or what sorrow we are dealing with, Easter will occur. Jesus is alive and will show Himself strong.  He has vanquished the enemy and will destroy his works in our lives.  It is when  God is quiet that all Heaven is about ready to break loose.  God will not abandon us, forsake us, betray our trust or leave us.  He will come.  He will rescue us.  He will pour out His Holy Spirit.  He will break the chains that bind us.  He will walk right into the rooms where we are hiding with the doors locked.  He will breath on us.  He has a better plan than  we can ever imagine.  We have likely greatly underestimated His ability to do good in our lives. 

So let us be encouraged when God is silent, because He is coming, and He has something great planned.  Let us not give into despair, but rather put our hope in the one who has paid the ultimate price for our lives.  Let us be with our friends and family who are in pain and sorrow, whose hopes and dreams and lives appear destroyed and dead.  Let us console them with this truth - Easter is coming.  Let us wait for Easter morning together.

Amen!

From 2019:

This morning , I thought it would be interesting to meditate on the Sabbath day following Jesus’ death on the cross.  This is a day that we know nothing about, as it begins shortly after Jesus’ burial, with the Jewish Sabbath starting at Sunset, and proceeding to the following sunset.

In Matthew’s Gospel, we actually have some verses pertaining to this day, but nothing that talks about the followers of Jesus.  Matthew 27:62-66 describes the fact that the Chief Priests and Pharisees went to Pilate and asked him to have a guard stationed at the tomb, to make sure that Jesus’ followers didn’t steal His body to try and fake the resurrection. In Mark’s Gospel this day is found between the last verse of chapter 15 and the first verse of chapter 16, “When the Sabbath was over”.  In Luke, we are told specifically that His followers, especially the “women who had come with Jesus from Galilee” (Luke 23:55-56) had rested on the Sabbath day, in accordance with the commandment.  Luke then moves right to the beginning of the first day of the week, following the Sabbath, and again, other than the fact that they rested, we know nothing. Finally John’s Gospel, as well, is silent about this day.

So, why my meditation?  I personally think that the silence of God in certain situations reveals much to us about our own mind-set and beliefs.  It is in the silence of God that our faith and trust is tested.  In my life, there have been times of transition, times of change, times of difficulty and what I want more than anything in those times is a sense of purpose, direction and a ‘word from the Lord’.  The thing that I have found, is more often than not, God is quiet in these times.  I don’t believe it is some cruel streak in God, where He holds back the very thing I think I need more than anything.  Instead I have learned that His love and faithfulness are every bit as active in those quiet moments as any other times.

In retrospect, He has always been at work in the background, and that I was too unaware to realize it.  God is a perfect, and so is His timing.  What I want is advanced notice, what God wants is for me to trust in His faithfulness.  My tendency is to slide immediately into unbelief, He wants me to learn to have faith, and stand (Eph 6:13-16).  Thus, I have opportunity to grow.

When I think about the disciples and Apostles of Jesus, resting on the Sabbath following His death and burial, I imagine it was the darkest of days for them.  Just earlier in the previous week, Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, being heralded as the coming King, riding along on the back of a donkey, and now he was dead and buried, and all of their ideas of their future at His side were shattered.  It is clear from the Gospel’s that despite Jesus repeatedly warning them of His impending death that they just didn’t get it.  They continued to believe that as the Messiah He was going to be seated on David’s former throne and restore Israel as God’s people, complete with their national pride, freedom and identity restored.

It is my belief that Instead of glory, they were experiencing the depths of despair.  They were likely gathered together, as would have been their custom on the Sabbath, and they were probably all just shell-shocked from the last 2 days.  I am sure there were tears, and sorrow, real grieving for the loss of the most important person in their lives.  They had committed somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years of their life to Jesus, following Him everywhere, living together and always His was the direction they followed, and now there was only silence, dead silence.

I think that they might have been racking their brains, trying to remember what Jesus had told them concerning His death and rising from the dead. I think they probably bounced back in forth from wild hope in remembered words, to stunning silence and despair as they remembered his beaten and bloody body. I think they were probably all dealing with His death individually as we all do when a loved one passes.  I am sure everything they said or did reminded them of Him, and that would just revisit the pain of their loss.

I think this was one of the darkest days of all time, for the Light of the World had come, and was lost.  The long awaited Messiah had been revealed, and now He was dead.  Their hope for restoration and revival, God’s blessing and visitation was lying dead in a tomb.  We like to say “its Friday, but Sunday is coming” as a reminder that the joy of His resurrection is following close on the heels of the loss of His death, but the Apostles and disciples didn’t know this, didn’t understand it, and didn’t believe it.  The Gospels recount several times where Jesus told them exactly what was going to happen, and in every one of those times, the writers make a very specific note that His followers didn’t understand what He meant.  I believe this is indicative of the fact that they were all remembering that dark day, that day of shattered dreams and ideas.

So for us, what can we gain from meditating on this dark day?  I think for me the important thing is to look to God, to His word, to His character, to His promises regardless of the circumstances.  I believe that His desire for me is to learn to entrust myself to Him, taking His guidance and direction, and trusting that He has a bigger perspective that I am not seeing. 

I am learning to trust in Him, regardless of how difficult and confusing the circumstances are at present.  I am learning that He knows my circumstances, my weaknesses, my struggles, and He has made a way in spite of them all.  I am learning that He tries to prepare me,  although most of the time I don’t understand Him, or mis-interpret what He means.  He loves me, desires the best for me, and knows the exact time, the exact place and the exact reason for each and every encounter and experience.

Like His followers, I can choose to move forward, even as the Ladies did the next morning.  They weren’t expecting His miraculous resurrection, but they were taking the next logical steps which put them right in the Lord’s path, and into the glory of His resurrection.  Sometimes, all we need to do is to just get through the day, look to Him, and trust that tomorrow will be a better day, and one that we will encounter Him!

I know it is somewhat of a cliché, but there is truth in the saying, ‘Friday might be here, but Sunday is coming’!  God’s provision and purpose are true, and He is faithful!  Let us trust in Him, press through this dark day, and believe that we will encounter Him anew, and fresh!

Amen and Amen!  Come Lord Jesus!

Stop AND Check

This morning I felt led to read from 1 Chronicles 12.  Normally when I read something I haven't read in a while, I will read before and after the section to get better context as to what the Lord is doing in that section.  Sometimes the verses the Lord quickens to me, are in the surrounding verses, as is the case today.  The chapter 1 Chronicles 12 has to do with all the men that joined David in Hebron, once Saul took his own life.  While interesting, the verses that caught my eye were from chapter 13, as there was a bit of a narrative that developed as I read these verses, and the previous chapters.  Here are the verses - 1 Chronicles 13:1-7 NIV:

[1] "David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. [2] He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. [3] Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.” [4] The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people. 

[5] So David assembled all Israel, from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. [6] David and all Israel went to Baalah of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim---the ark that is called by the Name. 

[7] They moved the ark of God from Abinadab's house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it."

In the preceding chapters, David had conquered Jerusalem and made it his city, and all of Israel had rallied to him to support him as their king.  Literally tens of thousands had joined him, and everything he attempted was successful, and the author noted, "And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord Almighty was with him" (1 Chronicles 11:9 NIV).  This statement in large part sets the stage for the verses quoted above.

Although the Lord almighty was with David and he had a heart to bring back the Ark of the Lord, something that had not been done by Saul, it was clear that he did not confer with the Lord!  Instead, in the verses quote above, rather than seeking the Lord he conferred with his officers and the peoples, asking if it seemed good to them to embark on the initiative to bring back the Ark.  

From the outside, and even internally, everything looked great!  He was leading a vast army that the Lord had drawn together, was successful in everything he did as the Lord almighty was truly with Him.  Because of His Love and honor for God, he wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel!  His heart was truly set on the things of God.  When questioned about bringing back the Ark, everyone agreed with him that this made great sense, and they followed his leadership!  David must have really thought that he was the right guy, at the right place, at the right time, and because of his successes, that God was clearly with him, which He was!   What a perfect and fulfilling time that must have been!

Into this awesome season something changed, it appears that David started thinking that God was with him, rather than the fact that He was following God's lead. It seems that he saw the Lord's blessing as a vote of confidence and backing from the Lord, as if the Lord's favor gave him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, and God would bless it.  I have unfortunately seen this type of thinking get many Church leaders into trouble, and if they stay in that mindset long enough, falling into sin that destroys their ministries! 

The story continues on following these verses where a man loses his life and in front of all of Israel (verse 5 above), David's mistake is made evident.  David, apparently realizes his folly and spends the next few months inquiring of the Lord and scriptures to make things right.  The Lord is merciful, but Uzzah did lose his life, and David was humiliated in front of all of Israel. 

This was a painful lesson and David appeared to struggle with this type of thinking throughout his life, and in that way I certainly resemble him. I am constantly just plugging along, enjoying the Lord's blessing and favor, and just figuring that the Lord loves me and will bless me.  I am surprised when something doesn't go well, and when I bring it to prayer the Lord will say something like, "Well that didn't go well, would you like to know what you should have done?"  I often forget in my daily walk, to bring things to the Lord, to seek His will and purpose and plan!  I have a free will, as do  we all, and I often exercise that freedom poorly.  sometimes the things I am doing seem right and wise, and even God oriented, but if I am not inquiring of the Lord, I am setting myself up for trouble.  

God, in His mercy, gave David another chance and this time he got it right, and the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem! David lost 3+ months of enjoying God's presence because of the mistake he made as the leader of Israel.  David learned from his mistake and in 1 Chron 14, we see David going to  war with the Philistines and each time inquiring of the Lord, and winning great victories.

My encouragement today is to make sure that I am actually asking the Lord His opinion on my thoughts and plans.  He does have a plan and is willing to share it with me, I just need to ask!  I am encouraged that God, in His great mercy and compassion knows my ways and is always there to provide guidance and correction, and encouragement to move forward in Him!  I am encouraged to stop and check with the Lord, even when it seems like a good idea, when others agree, and when my desire is to honor God!  He always has a perspective and often times a much better plan, and I just need to learn to seek Him and trust Him. I need to remember that I am serving Him, not the other way around!

Amen and Amen!

New Treasure

I am thinking of continuing my study of the "new" things announced by Jesus, or found in the New Testament.  I am continuing on Matthew's Gospel, and the next mention of something new is "new treasures".  The verses below provide context for Jesus' comment n the last verse, which provides my focus this morning - Matthew 13:44-52 NIV:

[44] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

[45] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. [46] When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

[47] “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. [48] When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. [49] This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous [50] and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[51] “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” they replied.

[52] He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

That last line really makes me stop, "new treasures" has such a mysterious and enticing sound to it (maybe its just me!)!  Jesus is clearly laying the groundwork for new revelation, new understanding and expanding the description of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is His most mentioned topic, and yet something we rarely hear from the pulpit.  I think it is critical that we understand His teaching on the Kingdom, for that was a key theme to the good news He was proclaiming. 

Interestingly, Jesus is speaking here of those that are learned in Law, the original Greek "grammateus" would be translated scribes, who normally would be grouped with the Pharisees, and yet here Jesus is speaking of them becoming disciples "matheteutheis".  The Greek help defines this as "helping someone to progressively learn the Word of God to become a matured, growing disciple (literally, "a learner," a true Christ-follower)".  I love that He is laying out an invitation to the learned to become students again, this time of Him and the Kingdom of Heaven.   We sometimes think that Jesus was at war with the Pharisees and such, but He loved them and came to save them just as much as any sinner.

The application here, for us, is to recognize two things.  First, being a disciple requires learning new things, a new discipline.  This is a progressive work, one that takes dedication and application.  We are following Jesus, and we must learn and apply His teachings that we might represent Him to the world.  If we aren't applying ourselves to study, one could argue we aren't embracing discipleship.  Secondly, there is treasure in the Old Testament, and we must not exclusively read from the New Testament. There is much to be learned and understood about the Father in Old Testament, and we must be willing to bring out the treasure from those books.

Finally, the new treasure relates to the revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven.  We would be well served to really study the Kingdom, as described by Jesus, for He is imparting critical understanding to those that will listen and learn.  In the preceding verses, Jesus was speaking about the Kingdom of Heaven, and clearly that is the context of his final statements.  Summarizing His first two descriptions, the Kingdom of Heaven is of greater worth than everything we possess.  When Jesus went through the land, He pronounced the Good News of Kingdom of Heaven being present or at hand, and then demonstrated this reality by healing and working signs and wonders.  This is our call too, so we must understand the Kingdom, learn the ways of the Kingdom, so we can demonstrate this new reality to those in the world.  This is clearly part of the "new treasure".

I was just thinking, that part of the surprise of Jesus' ministry, was that ordinary people, normal humans, could have access to the treasures from the storerooms of heaven, to the very power that flowed from the throne of God (see Ezk 47:1-12).  I am reminded of Jesus' commissioning the disciples found in Matthew 10:1,7-8 NIV:

[1] Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

[7] "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

This is our call, and our invitation.  We have access to the new treasures, that we might proclaim and demonstrate this Kingdom of Heaven!

Amen and Amen!

New "Wine & Wineskins"

Recently I was thinking about how Jesus brought forth New revelation during His ministry, and I started looking at the times "new" was used in the New Testament, and I thought that would be a good reflection and study theme.  Today is the first focused time on this theme, and I will look to the first mention of "new" in the NT found in Matthew 9:14-17 NIV:

[14]"Then John's disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 

[15] Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 

[16] “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. [17] Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

The "new wine" statement is included in the three synoptic Gospels, also found at Mark 2:21-22 and Luke 5:36-39.  This was clearly an important idea, and my understanding has been that Jesus is essentially laying the ground-work or foundational principals of the New Covenant here.  His ministry was constantly confounding to the teachers and experts of the Law, and the church was definitely going to require a different understanding and way of life if it was to prosper.  

In the Luke version, Jesus speaks of how the people prefer the old wine (See Luke 5:39), and this seems to me to clearly reference the Jewish preference for the Law.  In fact, one of the first real conflicts in the newly birthed church had to do with how much of the Old Covenant Law was supposed to be carried over into this New Covenant.  They had a council in Jerusalem, see Acts 15, and issued a statement recorded in Acts 15:23-28 that essentially limited the carryover to sexual immorality, food sacrificed to idols, blood, and the meat of strangled animals.  The Law and its extras comprised some 600+ items by this point, and we can see how few were actually passed to the New Covenant believers.  Later, Paul showed the latter couple really weren't hard and fast either.

However, after this time there arose the circumcision party, a group of New Covenant believers that started pulling back into the NEW, some expectations from the old.  They were essentially saying they were "better" Christians because they were circumcised.  They were so influential that Peter even became ensnared in this way of thinking. While this is a great example of the "Gospel-plus" ideology, it also represents an old wine skin.  Paul correctly saw this as an affront to the Gospel of Grace, and strongly fought against this type of thinking, ultimately winning the struggle. In my opinion, this is the first of many times the "New Wine" was in danger of being ruined.  

Thinking through the impact of the requirement for circumcision, this would have severely limited the expansion of the Gospel to mostly the Jews.  Even worse it would have destroyed the foundation of the Gospel of Grace and turned it into a Gospel of works, which is clearly not the Gospel Jesus proclaimed, bled, died and rose from the dead to proclaim.  This would just be a reworking of the Old Covenant of the Law.  

In our humanness and weakness, it seems we prefer a Gospel of works over a Gospel of grace.  We like to keep score, we like to judge others, we like lists, and the Gospel of Grace sounds too good to be true!  Put another way, we tend to prefer a covenant of rules over a covenant of relationship. Jesus came proclaiming a new Kingdom reality and a New Covenant, and its key cornerstone was relationship with Him, The Father and Holy Spirit.  The Jews wanted a military leader, a new king with good laws, (or one that fulfilled the Old Covenant Laws), and Jesus came proclaiming a heavenly Kingdom that was primarily established and grown in the hearts of His followers.  There was no geographical boundaries to this Kingdom, nor rite of citizenship, save belief and faith.  His Kingdom was open to all, regardless of race, gender, nationality, or situation.  This was clearly a "New Wineskin" and it caused people to have to think differently. 

I am so grateful for Paul, and his ability to layout the thought and logic, if you will, of this New Covenant, this Gospel of Grace.  He understood it and was able to present it and defend it in such an effective way that we still  can understand it and live our lives embracing this Gospel and living as part of this Heavenly Kingdom.  Paul, clearly helped by the Holy Spirit, provided an understanding of this "New Wineskin" and "New Wine" that flowed within it.  He defended both and provided the clear teaching and understanding required for generations to continue to follow this way of life.  Interestingly, before being names Christians, the followers of this new faith were called "The Way".  This was understood to be a "new way of life".  

My encouragement today is to spend some time reflecting on how this new way of life, this "new wine" and "new wineskin" are applicable to my life.  I am encouraged to spend some time thinking about why we do what we do in church.  I am encouraged to look at my own thinking regarding my faith, to understand where I am allowing old ways of thinking to influence new reality and new revelation.  I am encouraged to look at my own approach to my life as a Christian to see where I might be following a gospel of rules, rather than embracing relationship with the Lord!  Oh Lord, help me!

Amen!

Don't Get In "The Bless Me Boat"

Recently I have been thinking about the Lord, and our difficult times in life.  I think this is actually a very important topic for us to think about and understand so that we do not become offended with the Lord when things don't work out the way we think they should.

Somehow in our modern western Christian thinking, we have developed this idea that Christianity is some sort of "bless me" club, where the Lord's great concern is our happiness, and His favor and blessing in material areas is His primary way of showing His love and affection for us.  This type of thinking can cause us to question God's love when things are not going swimmingly, when we hit a rough patch, or when we encounter difficult times.

The modern "Prosperity Gospel" is a great example of this type of thinking and teaching.  Simply put, this is the teaching that good things happen to people God Loves (the righteous), and bad things happen to sinners.  Without going into much more about this, it is safe to say that Jesus, Paul, Peter and 9 of the 10 other apostles would be considered sinners if one really held hard and fast to this thinking, for clearly bad things happened to them all.

In his defense of his apostleship, Paul writes the following in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 NIV:

[23] "Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. [24] Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. [25] Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, [26] I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. [27] I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. [28] Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. [29] Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?"

Clearly Paul missed the "bless me boat" and in his mind these difficulties were some of his qualifiers for his call and fulfillment of his life as a follower of Christ.  Paul didn't need fur coats, expensive jewelry, fine clothes, big mansions, or a big salary to showcase his "blessed" relationship with the Lord, instead He bore on his body the marks of Christ (Gal 6:17). 

It was not accidental that Jesus grew up in a poorer household, hidden from the lime-light, nor that He spent much of His time ministering in the "backwoods" of Israel.  There is something inherently tied to His ministry and the character of God.  In our humanness, we envision an all-powerful God, who owns all the silver and all the gold (Hagg 2:8), and the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps 50:10-12) as a loving Father who wants to dote on his sons and daughters, and give them good things, and we aren't wrong!  The issue is that we think that difficult times and struggles are from God as well, and a sign He doesn't love us anymore!  We think that God changes His mind and thinking about us based on our behavior!

Thank God, He is nothing like us!  I am so grateful that God is unchanging (Heb. 6:17) and has a perspective of me that is outside of time!  Paul writes that God has loved me (and you) since before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4-5).  If we wonder whether God loves us now, think back to the time you felt his love the strongest, and that is just a shadow of how much He loves you right now.  One of the unchanging parts of His character is His love for each of us. God's perspective allows Him to see the totality of our life, not jus the here and now, and from that perspective He loves us!  In other words, He sees every thing good we have ever done, everything bad, and everything in-between, and still chooses to love us more than we can ever imagine!  In our humanness this just doesn't make sense, and so we listen to teachers and thinking that invents God in our own image, ugh!

Going back to the theme of difficult times, what has me thinking about this is the fact that my honey has been sick for close to two solid months with the nastiest cold, sinus and bronchial infection I have ever seen.  She is taking antibiotics (just finished her third course), doing everything she can think of to get better, and praying constantly for healing, and yet she is sick.  If we had a prosperity gospel mindset, we could only conclude that she has some major sin in her life, and God is angry with her.  Why else wouldn't He be healing her?  

We read the Gospel accounts of Jesus healing everyone that was sick, everyone that came to Him, and we believe He is the healer and this is what He does!  We aren't wrong!  He is the Healer!  He loves to heal, He came to defeat the works of the enemy and sickness is one of those.  He established His kingdom, proclaimed it and demonstrated it, and one of the characteristics of His Kingdom is that healing is available.  As Jesus said to His apostles,  "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.( Matthew 10:7-8 NIV).  

So, how do we understand God's love, His character and willingness to heal, His Kingdom demonstration of healing, His blessing and provision, and at the same time long-term sickness, difficult times, seasons of unemployment or financial difficulty?  This really is one of the oldest questions out there.  The book of Job, considered the earliest of the books of the Bible, is all about these questions.

First, I certainly don't have all the answers, or even many answers!  In fact I probably have more questions than answers.  I do, however, have a relationship with the Lord, and in that relational context I am able to lay hold of some basic truths that are helpful.  We have walked through difficult seasons of cancer and illness, financial struggles, being laid-off, experienced the death of loved ones, and yet have experienced intimate relationship with the Lord through it all.  Even though at times we didn't feel loved, He loved us.  In the same way that in the midst of tiresome and strenuous times at work, when I can barely see the light, or even spare a moment to think about anything else, and certainly am not feeling any emotional love from my honey, I know she loves me.  In the same way, God's love for us is not related to our emotions, or our feelings!  His love transcends all of that!  

I have been in different Christian services where the Lord is healing people all over the place, and at the same time, others are not being healed!  We struggle to explain this, and so we make up theological explanations.  I have often thought of all the other sick people laying by the pool of Bethesda waiting for god to heal them through the waters, and Jesus walks through their midst and just heals the one guy.  Do we believe that God didn't love all the rest of the people in that room?  Or how do we deal with the fact that there were towns and villages that Jesus didn't visit during His ministry, where sick people weren't healed?  What about the guy that is later healed by Peter and John (See Acts 3:1-10) who was put outside the temple every day, is it possible Jesus walked right by him?  Or the blind man Bartimaeus that Jesus just walked by as he was sitting by the road begging?  (That one turned into a healing, but only after the unrelenting calling out of the blind man - see Mark 10:46-52). There are too many examples to list, but it is clear that our simple human explanations fall far short of understanding and explaining the mysteries of God!

God in His manifest wisdom, chooses to take the path of the lowly, seemingly hidden from the world, revealing Himself to those that seek Him out, doing things in ways we would never do, confounding the wise, seemingly foolishly blessing those that don't even recognize Him (See Matt 5:43-48), hiding His kingdom in the hearts of men and women, loving us beyond knowledge, and yet allowing us to choose however we want.  We can reject Him and He still loves us and chooses to bless us!  God, in His perfect revelation of His nature, in Jesus, shows us His character, and suffers and dies for us!  There are countless saints and followers of Christ who have suffered persecution, even death because of their relationship with Christ. Paul writes of the mystery in his letter to the Philippians 3:7-11 NIV:

[7] "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. [10] I want to know Christ---yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."

There is a great mystery that Paul touches in verse 10, the participation in the sufferings of Christ.  I certainly don't understand it, nor the treasure that is found there, but Paul certainly had grasped something that most of us want to run from.  There is something in the heart of God that highly values the sufferings and difficulties of His beloved ones!  His most visible example is found in Christ Jesus, but our Church is full of other examples as well.  

This morning, I am just encouraged to continue to believe in the Love God has for me and my sweetheart, in the midst of anything and everything we might experience.  I am convinced that there is so much more to relationship with Him, than the provision I am blessed with daily.  

My prayer for us all is that we might know the surpassing love of God, as a solid rock of relationship upon which we can stand!   My prayer is that we do not become offended by god when He doesn't do what we want Him to do!  My prayer is that we would discover the treasures that are present in our sufferings and difficulties as we continue to praise God and worship Him in the very midst of our difficulty.

Amen and Amen

The Great Invitation

This morning I was reading through John's Gospel. Yesterday while traveling I was reading through some of my earlier writing and the particular entries were about Jesus representing the Father perfectly.  This morning that theme was once again the focus of my reading.  Here are the verses - John 8:12-19,27-30 NIV:

[12] "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

[13] The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” 

[14] Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. [15] You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. [16] But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. [17] In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. [18] I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” 

[19] Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 

[27] They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 

[28] So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. [29] The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 

[30] Even as he spoke, many believed in him."

The verse that really stands out to me is the end verse 19, where Jesus says, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”   This is such a monumental statement!  I don't think I could say the same thing about my earthly father, for I didn't know him well enough to be able to say that I could represent him in all ways.  I look somewhat like him, have some similar mannerisms, and even have some idea of his heart and mind, but I could never say, if you have known me you have known my Father.

Jesus speaks about the importance of knowing the Father, of His intimacy, and equates this with eternal life, in fact he speaks about Eternal life quite often, and John captured many of those times in his Gospel.  I was just looking at all the verses this morning and think that might be a very interesting study.  He wraps them all into a single statement in John 17:3 NIV: "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."  

Jesus goes on to say that their plan and purpose is for us all to be part of their relationship, and in deep relationship with each other.  Jesus continues on praying for us in His final prayer, as captured by John 17:20-23 NIV: 

[20] “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--- [23] I in them and you in me---so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

I guess the point here is that the level of intimacy that Jesus has with the Father is our invitation as well.  We are invited into this deeply intimate relationship, for the Lord desires us to be loved sons and daughters, those that know Him, who know His love and represent that love to the world.  We are invited into that Holy unity, and that is something that will be a sign to the world of God's love.

There is so much to think upon in these verses, and I clearly have much ground to advance.  As I reflect on this theme I see where I am needing to change how I think throughout the day.  I am so rarely focused on representing the Lord in my daily moment to moment existence.  Lord, I don't know how to do this, but I know You do, and that Your help is all I really need.  

Thank You for Your patience, compassion, love and mercy.

Amen and Amen.