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!