Living Hope Church Bible Study

The Servant Comes Softly

2011-12-07T10:47:00.001-07:00

Jesus was born in a manger to an earthly audience of twoparents and some stable animals. TheKing of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One at whose name every knee will bow andevery tongue confess that he is Lord, the one who created all things by theword of His mouth – entered this world in near complete anonymity. A handful of foreign wise men were lookingfor Him, and one hillside lit up with the glory of God around some surprisedshepherds, but that is about it. TheServant of God came softly.

No other anticipated earthly king came this way, butJesus was no earthly king in need of contrived pomp and circumstance. And despite this being a surprising turn ofevents, it turns out that we knew He would enter this world in thisfashion. Isaiah told us that, “He willnot cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street” (Isaiah42:2).

It is telling that Jesus came this way, but why? The answer, I believe, lies in the nextthought:

“a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burningwick he will not quench” (Is 42:3).

Why did Jesus come quietly? Because I am a bruised reed. I am a lamp with nearly no oil left and whoseflame is near extinction. Jesus camequietly because that is what the human condition demands – a God who enters theworld we actually live in to bring the healing and justice we actually need.

Broken and bruised people do not need more failedpromises, failing people or coercive political regimes. They need a Savior. The world can wear down the strongest amongus and even those with a seemingly unlimited reservoir of patience andendurance come to the end of their strength. Jesus comes to strengthen and restore. But it isn’t just a restoration for a single lapse of judgment orstrength for one difficult season in life; it is a healing of our verynatures. Jesus comes quietly because we need quite inthis cacophony of noise from false idols. Jesus comes gently because we long for a gentle, saving hand. Jesus comes meekly because we need a strong,stable, kind hand untouched by the corruption of our world and our sin.

And though we are faintly burning wicks, God’s Servantwill not faint.

“He will not grow faint or be discouraged” (Isaiah 42:4).

God knows we grow weary in this world and falter in ourfaithfulness, so it was necessary for a Servant who would not faint to come andcomplete his will. We lose our strengthand resolve – He never will. We losesight of justice – He will unfailingly bring it to all.

For this Servant to be unfailing and faithful means thatno circumstance will turn Him away from accomplishing the will of God. Not even abandonment by friends. Not even betrayal by one of His closestdisciples. Not even the bloody andbody-breaking death of the cross. Noneof it causes him to “faint or be discouraged” because He will bring justice toall the earth and salvation to whosoever will believe.

The Servant comes softly, dies an unjust death, and risesfrom the dead as Lord of all.

God's Servant Described

2011-12-05T16:00:00.001-07:00

Isaiah 42:1

The Lord stands as the Judge in a dramatic courtroomscene. All the idols and gods of thisworld are brought before Him to decide if they have the power to foresee thefuture or to bring to pass the things they say will happen. Every promise of salvation, power and meaningthat is not from God is brought before him and every one of them failsmiserably. Every idol of this world is exposedas incompetent and impotent – they cannot do what they claim and lack the powerneeded to fulfill their promises. So, itturns out, “they are all a delusion” (Is. 41:29).

So the next step is a dramatic one: “Behold my servant,whom I uphold.” God takes our attentionoff the constant failures of this world to His Man, His will, His Servant – HisSon, Jesus Christ. In direct contrast tothe manufactured gods of wood and stone (and marketing and circuitry), Godwants us to consider and understand how His Servant will be different. And it is the difference between the lightand the dark, between the false and the true, between life and death.

To begin with, God’s Servant is upheld by His power. Every other false god may claim a certainkind of power or potency, but all of them fail to have the divine power withinthem. Jesus is not just the Servant ofGod, He is the very presence and power of God among us. He is, as Isaiah says elsewhere, Emmanuel –God who is with us. We cannot escape thereality of the power of God because it was the literal presence of God on earthin the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Servant is God’s chosen to perform His will. God knows we fail and falter even when we areat our best as we live out this life of a disciple, so His chosen Servant willnot fail. We are faithless, He will befaithful. God’s desire for this worldwill be done, and it will be accomplished through the Servant.

And surprisingly enough, the Servant is the focus of God’sdelight on earth. Early in Jesus’ministry, He went to John the Baptist to be baptized and it was one of the raremoments in the New Testament when the heavens opened and God spokeaudibly. He said, “You are my beloved Son, in you I am wellpleased.” God delights in his Son; Goddelighted in the birth of his Son on the first Christmas day.

And the Servant will be lead by the power and wisdom ofthe Spirit of God. Jesus told thedisciples that the Spirit of God would be their comforter and guide in alltruth and the will of the Father. Itturns out he knew the same Spirit. If wereturn to Jesus’ baptism, we see God the Son rise out of the water, God theFather speak His delight, and God the Spirit descend upon Christ in the form ofa dove – a wonderful image of the Triune God in harmony. We read nearly the same scene in Isaiah42:1. God the Father speaks of Hisdelight in the Servant, God the Son, upon whom God the Spirit will rest.

We cannot ascend to the Father through any achievement,speculation or desire. We cannotconstruct an ideology, a movement, or a program that has the power to guide andheal the human condition. Every one ofour hand-crafted idols is a false hope, so we need a true Savior. Because we could not ascend and become likeHim, He descended and became one of us. Because we live in the visible and material the invisible and immaterialGod stepped into human flesh taking on the form of a servant.

In the birth of one infant on the first Christmas day weare able to behold the Servant of God.

The Ambition of the Call

2011-11-29T14:21:00.001-07:00

Romans 15:20

Every disciple is a called disciple. Every follower of Christ is called to livefor Christ. The Christian is not justsaved from an eternity apart from God, but is saved to live a life like Christ’swhile here on this earth. God calledeach believer to follow Christ. And Godcalls each believer to do something for him, to live a certain life for him, tobecome a certain kind of person for him. And this calling is not just for the special disciples, the intellectualor the super-spiritual. If you are achild of God, you are called by God.

As Paul wraps up his letter to the Romans, we get aglimpse into his calling. And thoughmany of the specifics of Paul’s calling are unique to him, we learn a lot aboutour calling as we learn how Paul approached his call. The way he treats the life God gave him givesme insight into how God wants me to treat my life with him.

“And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel” (vs20).

Paul’s calling – to preach the gospel where it had neverbeen preached before – was the driving ambition of his life. In fact, it was the reason he had beendelayed in visiting the Romans. Apparently he had planned to go Rome several times, but was unable tobecause he was waylaid by open mission fields. Paul wanted to preach the gospel; Paul loved to do what God put him onearth to do, and in this context of Romans it is easy to imagine an exciting andfulfilling life for Paul. But when wepeel back the call itself, we see something else.

Acts chapter 9 tells us the story of Paul’s call, howPaul was persecuting the church, how God knocked him off his donkey, and howGod used Ananias to deliver His message to Paul. Just days after Paul’s conversion, Godexplained the call in his life this way, “he is a chosen instrument of mine tocarry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For Iwill show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16).

From one point of view, this call seems hard if notimpossible. And it does so happen thatPaul endures severe hardship in the service of this call, and eventuallysuffers martyrdom for preaching the gospel. But from another point of view – the one that dominates Paul – the callingis a pleasure, a joy, a glory, even his life’s ambition. When Paul writes the Romans and calls hislife’s work his “ambition,” he has already suffered greatly, but it is as ifnone of that matters. The call to preachthe gospel, to do the thing God put him on earth to do, far outweighs thetrials that come with the work.

The word he uses for “ambition” is telling. It is a kind of love. In fact, it can be literally translated as a “loveof honor.” Paul loves to do what Godcalled him to do. Paul considers it hishighest honor to be called by God to proclaim the gospel and he will do ituntil there is no breath left in his body.

We often shy away from our calling because we are afraidof what God will make of our lives. “I’llgive you everything but…” or, “do with me what you will, just don’t make me a…” These all too common reactions miss the logicand the power of God’s call. God madeyou and formed every corner of your being. In the end, only he can make of your life everything it was intended tobe. Your calling is nothing to be afraidof. We cannot consider it drudgery. We must make it our ambition – our honor anddriving love – to do what God called us to do.

The Virtue of Giving Thanks: The Consequence of Humility

2011-11-22T16:13:00.001-07:00

Colossians 1:12

Christ told us that “out of the abundance of the heartthe mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). Inits full conversation, that verse is aimed at hypocritical Pharisees who wereattacking Christ by attributing the work of God to Satan. Their hearts were corrupt, so their mouthswere necessarily corrupt. Though theyput on a show of purity and religiosity for all to see, they were rotten attheir core and ended up blaspheming the God they said they so deeply loved. The condition of their hearts literally came outof their mouths.

The mouths of the humble will naturally expressthanksgiving to God. Paul, a man full ofthanksgiving, expressed himself this way to the Colossians: “May you bestrengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all enduranceand patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you toshare in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:11-12).

His expression of thanksgiving here is utterly dependentupon the work God has done for him. Pauldid not deserve the inheritance God gave him, and the most influentialmissionary in the world did not work his way into God’s favor. Paul tells disciples to thank God in the sameway. We have been made children of God;He has done the work of qualifying us to live in His kingdom. We are thankful for God’s work, not ours.

Humility is a way of looking at the world, God, and ourplace in it. If we think we are the mostsignificant thing in the world, or even one of the most significant things,humility is not a burden we bear. If webelieve God is the most important thing in all of time and space, then we areon our way to understanding our proper place in the world and the properattitude we need to take toward others. When God is primary, He is the source of my salvation and I amthankful. When I am primary, Godbenefits from my presence on earth. WhenGod is primary, I am thankful for the gifts of creation, family, friends, work,and so much more. When I am primary, allthese people ought to be thankful for me.

Pride collapses our world. We become self-consumed as our eyes areturned inward on our own perceived greatness, our own needs, and our ownwants. We become self-idols, lookinglike statues with heads bowed, not in worship but in self-adoration and self-absorption.

Humility opens our world as wide as the greatness ofGod. Our eyes can now gaze outward andupward as we can give thanks to God for all He has done and all He has givenwithout the fear of losing the importance of ourselves. In fact, the humble soul freely gives thanksin all things, finding in thanksgiving a divine valuation of all things. People are no longer valuable to the degreethey are useful to us, but in the degree to which they are valuable to God. The objects of creation are no longer meansto serve our selfish ends, but become beautiful objects displaying thehandiwork of their Creator. The humbledisciple is able to see the world through the lens of thanksgiving.

The abundance of the prideful heart is a small, darkworld. The abundance of the humble heartis a joyous and expansive thanksgiving. It is the humble disciple who sees God more clearly. It is the humble disciple who gives thanks toGod for all He has done.

The Virtue of Giving Thanks: An Antidote to Arrogance

2011-11-22T14:37:00.001-07:00

Romans 1:21

We don’t give thanks for things we believe we have doneon our own. If we were not given anyhelp, than what are we to give thanks for, and to whom should we givethanks? A pattern of thanklessness likethis is not a surface problem; it betrays a deeper issue – the problem ofpride. We are the source of ourstrength. We are the beneficiaries ofour own cleverness and intelligence. Wehave taken care of ourselves just fine.

But is pride a problem? Can we be legitimately proud of ourselves without negativeconsequences? Arrogance, as it turnsout, has deep and character-forming costs. Arrogance is the stance that God is not necessary for the work of mydaily life. I may believe that God cansave the day when things get really complicated, and I probably get angry withhim when things don’t go my way, but outside of the extremes of life I havethings under control and don’t need God’s intervention. But a point of view like this one turns usinto people without faith, heart, and the intellect God wants for us.

Paul describes the corruption of a thankless life: “Foralthough they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him,but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts weredarkened” (Romans 1:21). These samethankless people are later described as becoming, “foolish, faithless, heartless,ruthless” (Romans 1:31).

There are severe consequences to a person’s soul andcharacter if they are not able to genuinely thank God.

Thanking God for the simplest of things is a great placeto start. God, the Creator, put the sun,moon, and stars into the sky. He createda cycle of light, water, plant and animal life that makes life itself possiblefor each of us. The very air we breatheis a gift from the hand of a wondrous, powerful and loving God. We thank God for fresh air, for the warmth ofthe sun, for a beating heart, and for an attentive mind. And when we do, we begin to notice how dependentupon God we are for every moment of life.

Thanking God for the skills and talents he gave you isanother good place to begin. God warnedhis people that when they entered the Promised Land and became prosperous theywould be tempted to think that they had “done all these things” (Deuteronomy8). They would get past the difficultiesof creating arable farm land and the first years of vineyards and crops, and inthe shadow of their labors in the sun they would think that their hands hadgiven them everything they needed. Butwho gave them hands? Who gave them theknowledge they needed to tend to the land properly? Who removed the giants in the land? When we thank God for both our abilities andthe fruits of our labors, our attention moves from our hands and minds to theGod who formed them and filled them with His grace.

From thanking God for the things around and in us, wewill want to move to thanking God for Himself. We will want to begin naming the character traits of God and thankingHim for each and every one. He is my Provider. He is my Lord, Redeemer, Savior andFriend. He is my Wonderful Counselor,Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is the Only Wise God. At each thunderous attribute, pause inthanksgiving, allowing the Holy Spirit to fill you with Him, and to overflow inthe thanksgiving of praise.

A heart and mind filled with this kind of thanksgivingsimply does not have room for the squalor of arrogance. It is too busy being overwhelmed with thegreatness of their God.

For Christ Did Not Please Himself

2011-11-21T15:33:00.001-07:00

Romans 15:1-3

Christians come in every possible variation, color, andbackground. And when we come together asthe church we are intended to leave all the non-essentials at the door and livein unity under Christ. At least that isthe ideal. It is how God is constructinghis church, but we, the bricks of that construction, often get in the way. Our differences divide us too easily. We may gather in a vague sense of the supremacyand Lordship of Christ, but we are often far more taken with our pew-mate’s differenceof opinion on the color of the pews than with our mutual Savior. Our pettiness ought not be. It should not be the thing that defines thebody of Christ. Instead, Christ shows usa much more excellent way.

“We who are strong have an obligation.”

Among our differences, Christians come in all degrees ofmaturity of lifestyle and faith. Somehave found a deep sense of intimacy with Christ and a strong understanding oftheir life of liberty and God-honoring behavior. Others are still young or relatively immaturein the faith and stumble easily at the lives and opinions of others. When Paul mentions the “strong” and the “weak”to the Romans he recognizes the reality of weakness among Christians but placesan obligation on the strong. They areobliged to bear with the failings of the weak and live so as to please them inGod’s goodness instead of living to please themselves.

The mature believer views the body of Christ as anopportunity to tend to the good of their weaker brother or sister’s life inChrist, and to make an effort to build them up. Paul’s vocabulary about building up the other believer is vivid – it meansto erect an edifice, to build a house, to edify. In this way of living with each other inChrist, the disciple continues to learn what it means to view the other as moreimportant than themselves. As Paul putit to the Philippians, Christ’s way of thinking was to view you as more importantthan himself, and we ought to think the same way. And in a relationship where one believerlearns to love the other in spite of differences over non-essentials, we learnto enter another’s life as a builder instead of a destroyer. We can actually be a part of God’s work intheir lives to raise them to maturity in Christ and intimacy with theirHeavenly Father. Isn’t that a bettervision of the body of Christ than a group of grumps quibbling over meaninglesslegalistic jots and tittles?

“For Christ did not please himself.”

The reason for our behavior is always grounded inChrist. In order to explain and justifythis radically selfless view of harmony in the church, Paul makes the ultimateappeal for the Christ-follower – this is how Jesus actually lived. His incarnation was for our good: he “madehimself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness ofmen” (Philippians 2:7). His life was for our good: “For even the Son of Mancame not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). His death was for our good: “hewas wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah53:5). His resurrection was for our good: “I came that they may have life andhave it abundantly” (John 10:10). Theway Christ lived his life on earth 2000 years ago has profound consequences inour lives today. It gives us our reasonsfor behavior and practical grounding for our relationships.

Christ lived his life among us so that we might have hislife. Do we live with each other in thesame way? Does the life of the churchmean it is easier for God’s people to find God’s life?

God's Loves, God's Hatreds

2011-10-10T15:59:00.000-06:00

Romans 12:9

One of the fundamental transformations that takes placein the hearts and minds of disciples of Jesus Christ is that they learn to lovethe things God loves and hate the things God hates. While it may be easy and even common for usto reflect on and talk about loving the things God loves, we don’t always takeinto account the things God hates. Muchless do we meditate on hating the same things. The maturing disciple learns to both love and hate, but only in thefashion and image of God’s loves and hatreds.

“Abhor what it evil; hold fast to what is good.”

If we are sensitive to it, Scripture is full ofdescriptions of God hating evil and injustice and loving righteousness. Psalm 45:7 describes God’s faithful peopleand ultimately the Messiah by saying, “you have loved righteousness and hatedwickedness.” The very character of JesusChrist is marked by God’s love and God’s hatred. Jesus taught the things God loves, touchedthe people God loves, lead the life God loves, and taught his disciples tocontinue in the same way of life. But bythe same token, Jesus had some uncomfortable things to say about the behaviorsand ideologies God hates, and the hypocrites that perpetuated them.

To abhor, or to hate, is to see the vice or evil in athing, a behavior, or an idea. To love(or as Paul puts it, “hold fast to”) is to associate with, to promote as goodand valuable, and to even sacrifice for something or someone.

How do we learn what we ought to love and hate? The loves and hatred of God. Learning what God loves becomes our moralcompass – it is our matter-of-fact command to love. A disciple is willing to surrender theirfleshly loves and hatreds and let them be transformed by God’s point of view onthe matter. Every disciple comes to Godwith a set of loves and hatreds given to them by the world, and all of themmust be surrendered. And as the discipleis surrendered and submitted, their obedience to command becomes the very pulseof their desires. Our loves becometransformed so that we willingly and naturally love the way God loves and werighteously hate what God hates.

In becoming these kinds of disciples, a distinctionbecomes clear: God loves people and hates the things that destroy them. Scripture says that I was an enemy of God inmy sin, but God loved this sinner so much that he entered flesh, lived amongus, died on the cross because of my sin, and rose again for my life. The transforming disciple learns to viewhumans – even our enemies – in the same way. Our enemies cease to become targets for our cursing and wrath, andbecome potential recipients of the grace and forgiveness of God.

In this we see that the love of God necessarily includesthe hatred of sin – otherwise the cross of Christ is a superfluous act oftorture and death. Sin is a destroyerand needs to be destroyed. Sin is hatedby God and ought to be hated by his disciples so much so that they are ready tosacrifice themselves for the love of sinners. Only in this way can the disciple of JesusChrist learn to love what he loves.

I Beg of You, Be Disciples

2011-09-26T15:23:00.000-06:00

Romans 12:1-2

There are people who have made a mark on this world, notbecause they were powerful or wealthy, but because they were faithful followersof Jesus Christ. Often they shook thestructures of their time for the single reason that they were people whobelonged to the Kingdom of God instead of the kingdoms of this world. And even though many of them faced (and stillface) the persecution of this world and the fate of martyrdom, they are theheroes of their stories. Theirdiscipleship was stronger than earthly might, and their lives shine brighterthan the candles of kings and kingdoms.

The difference is discipleship. And Paul pleads with us to be disciples ofJesus Christ.

“I appeal to you, therefore, brothers.”

Paul’s appeal is strong. This is Paul’s deep desire for followers of Jesus Christ. This is, in many ways, his life’s work forthem. What Paul wants more thananything else for these followers of Jesus Christ is that their lives wouldreflect the image of Christ to an ever increasing degree.

When Paul writes to the Roman Christians he appeals tothem to be disciples in a culture not made for Christian disciples. The empire of Rome was not built aroundmaking it easy for Christians to deny the state gods and religiouspractices. When someone converted toChristianity, the rest of their lives became harder. And, of course, we all have the images ofChristians in the Coliseum in our minds as we think of Rome and religioustolerance. And yet, Paul pleads withthem to look more like Christ instead of less.

While Paul pleads with Christians to become disciples, hetells us it happens by the mercy of God. Discipleship is first and foremost a matter of engagement with God. We do not strive and achieve to make our wayinto discipleship and the image of Christ by fixing the small, loose ends ofour lives or tidying up the messy corners of our personality we haven’t gottenaround to fixing yet. Discipleship is alifestyle of engagement and surrender to God. The disciple surrenders what is destructive and engages with God inorder that his Holy Spirit can, by his power, build in him the virtues ofChrist. It is complete surrender; it isconstant engagement. The disciple learnsto turn their attention to Christ more often than not, and in the end, theirattention can be completely occupied and colored by the presence and wisdom ofGod.

Discipleship is not a 12-step program or a formula thatcan be applied in each and every situation. It is a daily decision to belong to God; and that daily decision canturn into a lifestyle, and that lifestyle really can turn into the life ofJesus Christ. Paul has already told usand the Romans that God has predestined each and every believer to be conformedto the image and likeness of his Son, Jesus Christ. Paul now pleads with each and every one of us– present yourself to God so that you may begin to look like, act like, andthink like, Jesus Christ.

Discipleship is a new life and it is a life availableonly through the powerful mercies of God. Please, I ask of you, follow Jesus Christ.

Provision in the Desert

2011-08-30T16:11:00.001-06:00

Deuteronomy 8:1-10

In this life temptation will come. It is inevitable. It is the very nature of the world. But not every season in life and not every temptation is the same. There are unique temptations that come in the difficult and desert seasons in life. We struggle with things we are not able to overcome and over issues we feel are noble but don’t seem to bring anything but pain. We feel as if God has abandoned us or may even actively be against us. These are real seasons in life with God, and can be some of the most difficult, but God has some things to say about the temptations of the desert.

Though the language is stark, it is nonetheless true – God led his people in the wilderness and even tested his people through the trials they faced there. Moses says, “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness , that he might humble you, testing you” (vs. 2). In the desert God’s people faced some very real and difficult things, beginning with hunger and thirst. Adding to the natural difficulties is the fact that God did the leading into the desert with a few things in mind for them including humility, obedience and testing.

The inclusion of humility here is powerfully instructive. They were the children of generations of slaves and had spent their entire lives wandering in a barren wilderness. Do they really need humility? Hasn’t life been difficult enough on them? It turns out, however, that God’s most-used descriptor for them is not “humble,” but some form of “stubborn” or “stiff-necked.” Neither the ignominy of slavery nor the difficulty of the desert made them humble. Humility is not a function of our physical or material position in life, but of the position of our heart with God. The most destitute can be proud; the wealthiest among us can be humble.

In addition to humility, they needed to learn where their source of all sustenance came from. Moses says that God did these things, “that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (vs. 3). They wandered in a desert where there was no bread, so God provided bread from heaven. They had no meat, so God sent quail. There were no water supplies easily at hand, so God cracked open a rock and water flowed. There were no major cities along the way where they could buy new clothes for the ones that were wearing out in the wilderness wanderings, so God kept their shoes and clothes from growing thread-bare. These needs were met, not by what we might recognize as normal or natural means, but by the voice of God commanding that their needs be met.

Possibly the deepest fear we face when we wander through a desert is that we simply will not be taken care of, that our needs won’t be met. We are accustomed to working to pay the bills and applying our own skills and talents to our lives so things go as smoothly as they can. But when we are met with the barrenness of a land with no food or water, our abilities run out quickly. And often this is the only place where we learn – really learn – that the voice of God is our only source of provision.

And then we know that the abundant provision of the Promised Land is the voice of God working to provide for his people. “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land” (vs. 7).

To drive the point home, when he was hungry after forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus Christ rebuked Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread by quoting from Deuteronomy 8. Jesus refused the bread of temptation in favor of the food that can only come from the voice of God himself.

Hope

2011-08-22T11:14:00.001-06:00

Romans 8:23-25

Hope is a powerful desire deep within every human being. All of us hope for the better, the good, the resolution of tension and difficulty. All of us anticipate and work for the betterment of our own conditions and those of the ones we love. Hope is such an important part of the human make-up that its loss is devastating and often fatal. When a human gives up hope, or has enough of their hopes dashed, all meaning and purpose to life can slip away.

In Romans chapter 8 Paul speaks of the Christian’s hope of the glory of God and the kind of hope we have in a broken world. If the glory of God is far greater than the suffering and pain in this world (vs. 18), then what does it mean to hold onto the hope of this glory in a decaying and difficult world?

First of all, it is undeniably true that we groan under the weight of this world. “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (vs. 23) And though we groan, we do not suffer meaninglessly; we have the foretaste of the glory of God living and breathing in us. We have the firstfruits now of the feast of God’s glory to come because the children of God have been given the Spirit of God. We know there will be complete forgiveness because the Spirit is at work forgiving now. We know there will be a complete transformation of the human soul because the Spirit is at work transforming now. We know there will be a complete healing of body and soul because the Spirit is at work healing body and soul now. We know the feast is coming because we are eating the appetizers.

And into this hope, Paul says, you were saved. (vs. 24) We were given a firm and true hope when we became children of God.

False hope is a dangerous and manipulative tool. Because every human being is built to hope, there are people and ideologies that will play on that hope and destroy lives, draining them of every effort and energy in order to get their way. These people and ideologies promise the world and simply do not have the power or intelligence to make good on their promise. In false hope, human lives are utterly ruined.

But the hope of God is founded on the truth and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When you were saved you exchanged all the snake-oil of this world for the truth of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. His kingdom will come and his will will be done on earth just as it is in heaven, and followers of Jesus Christ partake in that kingdom here and now. Just as false hope ruins lives, the true hope of Jesus Christ restores them. It gives meaning and redemption even in suffering and pain. It provides the taste of the glory of God in a world that causes so much groaning.

It is true that we “wait for it with patience,” (vs. 25) but we can wait in truth and security because we know the power and the glory of God. God has not orphaned us here in this world – He has sent his Spirit to be a Counselor, Teacher and Guide, and even the firstfruits of the glory of the kingdom of God.

Lose every hope you have in the people and structures of this world. Do not lose your hope in the truth and the power of the kingdom of God. For you were given this hope when you became a child of God.

The Death and Life of Baptism

2011-07-26T10:17:00.001-06:00

Romans 6:1-4

The freedom and forgiveness in the Christian life can sometimes be misunderstood as an excuse to continue in a life of sin and rebellion. And what is true today, it turns out, was true in Paul’s day. Paul had to confront the notion that if God’s grace is a good thing, then we need to continue to sin so God has more chances to display his forgiveness. This idea displays a radical misunderstanding of what God does to the human heart, and, surprisingly enough, baptism proves Paul’s point.

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (vs. 3)

In certain parts of the early Christian church baptism was a rite that was earned and not simply given away. When a person became a Christ-follower, instead of being immediately baptized they were put through a sometimes lengthy process of education and life transformation. The church needed to be sure the convert knew what they had done and that their life reflected that change. Only when they were sure of these things did the church allow baptism.

While very few churches would treat baptism this way today, this practice highlights what is being demonstrated in the act of going under and coming out of the water. It is true that one of the clearest symbols of baptism is that our sins are washed away – we go into the water as a sinner, we come out a forgiven and cleansed child of God. But Paul takes us a couple more steps down the path of what the act means. As it turns out when we go into the water we are participating in the death of Jesus Christ. We lie in the grave with him, as it were. As Christ died, so we die.

And we die to a way of life. The life ruled by my dysfunctional passions and severely limited abilities has gone away in the death of the believer in Christ Jesus. I am dead now to sin.

But death is not all there is. As we go under the water and die with Christ, so we come out and now live in the new life that Christ offers. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, so now we can “walk in newness of life.” (vs. 4) It is telling that Paul does not say here that Christ rose from the dead that we might live with him for all of eternity. Though that is true, the point here – the point of baptism – is that we walk in the resurrection life here and now.

The resurrection life is not just about what happened to Jesus Christ 2000 years ago when he walked out of the tomb, and it is not just about what happens to the believer when they die and go to be with him. It is also about what I do when I wake up every morning. It is about the power of God living and breathing in his children so that we may live his kind of life in this world. We die to sin and we come alive to the life of God.

If you were put in that early church where they required a developed knowledge of Jesus and evidence of a transformed life, would you be baptized by now?

Unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

2011-05-23T14:33:00.000-06:00

Romans 1:16-17

Paul has never been to Rome, but he is anxious to visit. He is looking forward to encouraging the church and to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. He hopes, more specifically, that there will be a harvest among his brothers and sisters in Christ and among the Gentiles. Paul knows the gospel is powerful when it is shared among believers, and powerful when it is shared with people who don’t yet know and love Jesus Christ. In fact, under no circumstances is Paul ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When Paul writes this letter he has already been around most of the Mediterranean world preaching and receiving mixed results. In some places he is heartily received by an excited set of new believers. In some places he is barely noticed, and in some places he is run out of town on a rail or stoned. But in all places Paul is unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The gospel of Christ is true, powerful, beautiful, transformative, holy and glorious – all on its own. It is all these things without my help or contribution. The gospel is untarnished by human error or cultural corruption. Though it steps into our lives and histories and has the power to change us, we cannot change it. The gospel does not need my help to be attractive, my strength to stand in our world, my intelligence and cleverness to be true or triumphant. It is not within my abilities to make it what it is and always will be – the power of God for salvation.

There is no good reason to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But there are a lot of bad reasons.

It might be peer pressure of some sort. The crowd I find myself in may be put-off by Jesus’ story, or they may find it a quaint belief for some small set of people who don’t have the wherewithal to stand on their own two feet. We may even recognize that the crowd we want to fit into looks down on what they think is the childishness or lack of sophistication of the gospel. They are all wrong on all counts, and these are bad reasons to be ashamed.

I may simply be a spiritual sloth – a lazy bum when it comes to my relationship with God. How is this being ashamed? Will a lazy believer stand for the truth of their belief when the pressure is on? What about when there is a better offer from another point of view? Will they know how to address the skeptic who confronts them or the pains of life when they assail them? They won’t, and while the spiritual sloth may carry their faith lightly on good days, they will drop it quickly on the hard ones. Laziness is a bad reason to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul writes these words maybe 15 years before he is able to actually visit Rome. We know Paul backs up these words with his deeds when he writes them. But when he actually gets to Rome – when his wish of visiting them is fulfilled – he arrives in chains. By then he is a prisoner for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When he raises his hand to hug his friends they are in shackles. Paul lives unashamed of the gospel and arrives in Rome unashamed of the gospel.

There is no good reason to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the very power of God himself.

My Introduction

2011-05-09T16:14:00.001-06:00

Romans 1:1-7

There is a lot we can learn about the Christian life from the way the apostle Paul introduces himself in his letters. Though these sections often feel like simple boiler-plate, they contain far more than inconsequential pieces of information about Paul. They become doors of insight into some of the goals of the Christian life. They challenge us to be able to introduce ourselves in the same way with the same level of authenticity.

“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.” Paul likes describing himself as a servant, the word means a willing slave, to Jesus Christ. We cannot confuse his sense of servanthood with our notion of slavery, however. When we encounter the concept, we tend to think of people carried across the world against their will, and the best thing we could do for them is set them free. The best thing for Paul, as far as Paul is concerned, is his willing slavery to his Savior. Paul has subjected himself to Jesus Christ as a servant on purpose. Have I?

“Paul…called to be an apostle.” Paul is called. This means God has done something with Paul. For most of us it could be said that we are doing something with ourselves, but that leaves us in the position of being subject to our own shortcomings and failings. A calling by God means there can be a divine purpose for our being and our doing instead of just my purposes for being and doing. As Paul will make clear over and over, being called by God means we are called to salvation for occupation. God does the work of making us His own, and then we are to live for and work for Him.

Paul is an apostle. In its simplest form, the term means he is a messenger. Paul travelled the Mediterranean world taking the Gospel to people who had never heard. And though Paul is one of the original, and probably unique, apostles, we are not exempt from the task. Before his introduction is over he tells his readers that “we have received grace and apostleship” (vs. 5).

Paul also addresses all of his readers, as he does in so many of his letters, as saints. He says the Romans were “called to be saints” (vs. 7). If we conjure up images of “saints,” our heads might be filled with half-remembered paintings of people with halos, and stories of special devotion to God under harsh and trying circumstances. And though those people may legitimately be saints, such images have the unfortunate effect of separating the rest of us from the calling of saint.

Paul says you are called to be saints – every one of you. If we strip away the caricatures, we see that people called to be saints have a new life running through their veins that is not tarnished or overcome by this world. We see that people who are called to be saints are anchored and secure in Christ. Saints are not people whose lives are free from storms, but people whose lives are safe and secure in every storm. And people who are called to be saints are not sedentary – they change things for the Kingdom of God.

You are called to be a saint. Anything less is beneath your dignity. Anything less is beneath who God created you to be.

The God of Fear and Mercy

2011-04-28T14:08:00.000-06:00

Habakkuk 3:1-2

The prophet laid his heart – his broken and frustrated heart – out to God. Habakkuk saw evil and injustice around him and prayed for God’s presence and justice. In his anger the prophet cried out, and in His wisdom God responded. The first two chapters of this intense little book are a back-and-forth between the prophet and his God about where God is and what a holy and good God will do with a world like this. At one point God tells Habakkuk that He will indeed show up, but the prophet won’t like it when he does. But the prophet remains steadfast in his desire to hear from God and continue his “complaint.” But something changes the prophet’s perspective – God speaks, God explains, and God shows who He is.

And as a result, the complaining ceases and the prayer begins.

Chapter three is not the continuation of a complaint, but a psalm of prayer and worship. Not only is it something the prophet writes to express his personal reaction to the glory and power of God, he writes it for the whole congregation to sing. The “Shigionoth” is likely a form of music, and at the very end Habakkuk notes, “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.” We are all supposed to sing this prayer together because we all live in the same world, are beset with the same kinds of frustrations and evils, and because we all worship the same kind of glorious and powerful God.

The prayer begins with Habakkuk telling us where he now stands with God. In the beginning he stood in complaint against God crying out to the heavens without any response. Now he tells us God is great and deserving of our fear and awe.

“O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work O Lord, do I fear.”

In essence, Habakkuk says, “I have heard about you and have seen what you can do, and now I am afraid of you.” It is entirely appropriate and right for the believer to realize the God they worship is worthy to be feared. He is not a small and swayable god who exists to do nice things for us and to make everything “OK.” He is the God who can level mountains, dry up seas and destroy entire empires. We need to relearn how to come to God with the right sense of fear, awe and reverence. The right worship of God necessarily includes reverence.

But He is not an arbitrary tyrant in the sky who cannot be approached. Habakkuk does not move from an expression of the fear of the Lord to a plea to an oppressor. Instead, he turns to God in prayer for his people. This revered God is a God who hears His people’s prayers.

“In the midst of the years revive it.” Habakkuk prays that God will, even now, bring life to a rebellious and dead people. May it be today!

“In the midst of the years make it known.” Habakkuk prays that God will make himself and his work known in a world that rejects and ignores his counsel. May it be today!

“In wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk will behold the ravaging destruction of his people. It will seem that wrath will have the last word, but he prays that God will remember and return in mercy, as he in fact does. May it be today that the mercy of God will prevail, many will come to know him, and his glory will be seen!

The Law of the Lord is Glorious

2011-02-28T13:44:00.001-07:00

Psalm 19:7-11

There are times when a passage of Scripture is so well known to us, that in reading it we may lose sight of the context or the passage that follows. The opening praise of Psalm 19 is so catching it is easy to miss the lines that follow. It is gloriously true that all of creation sings the wonder and praise of its Creator. It is no less true that the law of the Lord is itself glorious.

This passage looks at the law of God the way we may rotate a crystal under a light. With each turn we see a new facet, a new color emerges. David rotates the law of God under a light and with each turn of phrase we learn something new and beautiful about the ways and precepts of our God.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

There is nothing lacking in the law of the Lord. If we are searching for wisdom, meaning and truth, there is nowhere else to go. And since each human has an insatiable longing for God, it is only He who can quench that thirst.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

All God says is completely trustworthy. When we trust in the ways and wisdom of men, the wise become foolish. When the simple trust in the absolutely sure and steadfast word of God, they become wise.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

We look for joy in all the wrong places. We return again and again to the empty and leaking wells of this world, when obedience to God’s precepts provides true joy.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening our eyes.

They are pure the way light is radiant. We cannot see in the dark – there is no light for our eyes to use. But when the light shines, our eyes work the way they were created to work and we see. The commands of our Lord shine on our lives, and in obedience we see.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

Our reverence can be measured by the thing we revere. To be in awe of empires and political schemes is to have a small and unrequited awe. But the fear of the Lord is fear rightfully and eternally placed. He is greater than and will outlast every human endeavor. Thus, the fear of the Lord is right and eternal.

The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

My rules are not true. Your rules are not true. Neither are ours righteous for they are by necessity stained with our sin and short-sightedness. The rules of the Lord are not easy and comfortable to follow, but they are true and wholly right. His rules do not always fit well with what I want to do with myself, but they are my only source of true, righteous and moral guidance.

These laws and ways are to be desired more than any other thing.

Relearning Obedience

2011-01-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

John 21:1-14

As the disciple John closes his gospel, he notes that Jesus revealed himself to his disciples in a particular way. The story of the great catch of fish is not just a filler between the resurrection and Jesus’ restoration of Peter, it is a deliberate act of revelation from Jesus to his disciples. And it is a revelation that happens through a simple, but consequential, act of obedience.

None of us are naturally tuned to happily and consistently obey the will of God. We naturally obey ourselves and the easy inclinations of the flesh, and learning to obey Christ is work that cuts against the grain of our nature. We often misunderstand obedience to God as a wearisome and life-destroying task, so we are wrongly prejudiced against it before we begin. But this fish story teaches us that obedience is in truth an amazing thing. Obedience is revelation about God, it is the entrance into his will, and it is the source of his power and the work of his kingdom. In all, the call to obedience is God’s invitation for us to join in his work and his will.

They fished all night and caught nothing. Like everywhere else in John’s gospel, work in the dark is fruitless. But just as the morning begins to dawn and light strikes the seashore, a stranger becomes visible and tells them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. Amazingly, these frustrated and professional fishermen do it. And as soon as they do, an empty net becomes full and a fruitless night becomes a fruitful morning.

As soon as the fish are in the net, John sees something. He cries, “It is the Lord!” (vs. 7) They didn’t recognize Jesus until after an act of obedience. And the revelation here is the result of an act of obedience – obedience shows us God.

Obedience is a teacher. When we obey God rather than our own ways, we learn through experience that his ways are higher than ours and his power is greater than ours. The professionals were failing under their own power on the sea. Disciples brought in a net full of fish by obeying a simple command.

After Peter swims to shore and the remaining disciples pull in the catch, they all stand before their risen Savior. He has already prepared them breakfast: “When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.” (vs. 9) The disciples caught 153 large fish, and Jesus didn’t need a single one of them. This causes me to wonder, why the great catch of fish? Did they catch fish to provide Jesus with something he didn’t have? Were they bringing him something he couldn’t get on his own?

Was their act of obedience an act of giving Jesus something he lacked or something they lacked? Was their obedience about what he needed or what they needed?

We obey God because he is our Lord and we are his people. But we also obey God for our own sake – to fill our lack and to meet our need. Our obedience is God’s way of filling us with himself and bringing us into his work in his kingdom. He had already caught the fish he needed to feed them. They needed to learn that obedience brings them into the work he is already doing.

Obey the word and will of God today and you will find a Savior ready and waiting to fill you with his abundance.

Earthly Power, God's Will

2010-11-03T14:22:00.001-06:00

John 18:1-11

The scene is about as dark as it could be. In the middle of the night Jesus is with his handful of disciples and followers in a garden praying. Then the betrayer Judas arrives with both Roman and Temple soldiers armed to the teeth to take Jesus into custody. The night is dark, the prospects seem bleak, and there is almost nothing the disciples can do about it. But there is something Peter decides to do about it.

Just a couple of hours earlier at dinner Peter proclaimed that he would follow Jesus wherever he went, even if it meant going to his own death. Peter found his moment. He drew his sword in the face of possibly hundreds of professional soldiers and made his way toward the closest unarmed man he could find. Peter struck, the ear was severed, and Jesus put a stop to the whole thing. When Jesus healed the servant’s ear, he not only healed the physical wound, he healed the damage Peter did with his sword. To put Peter’s action and Jesus’ response in context, we should back up a minute before Peter puts his hand on the hilt.

It is important to see who was in control of the arrest. When Judas and his band arrive, Jesus “came forward” and asked them who they sought. He clearly wasn’t put off by the posturing of power. When Jesus identified himself with, “I am he,” all of them rocked back on their heels and fell over. Not even a group of armed, professional soldiers could stand in the presence of the breath of God. Just the mention of his name blew them down. Jesus was no unfortunate martyr caught in the gears of injustice. Jesus was in control of the cross and he was in control of the arrest.

While the soldiers and Judas recovered their feet Jesus said, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” Earlier Jesus prayed that he had lost none of the disciples except the one who had already betrayed him, so this moment is a fulfillment of his own prayer. Jesus is arrested and his disciples, including the impetuous Peter, go free. Jesus is not only in control of the arrest and the cross, he is in control of his disciples. In the face of overt and aggressive armed persecution, not a single disciple faces a fate outside of God’s will. And that brings us back to Peter.

Peter’s impulse was to draw his sword in the face of swords. He wanted to protect Christ with all the human strength he could muster. His impulse was to fight earthly power with earthly power, and his impulse was exactly wrong. Jesus, on the other hand, was interested in another power and asked Peter, “shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” Earthly power was of no consequence in a garden full of soldiers and swords: the most powerful and important thing that night was the will of God.

The Kingdom of God is not about the assertion of my earthly power or our earthly power – it is a matter of the will of God. In the face of everything this world brings against Christ and his people, the most powerful and important thing to the disciple is the will of God. Christ was in complete control of the cross, and Christ is in complete control of his child.

A New Commandment to Love

2010-08-23T15:53:00.001-06:00

John 13:34-35

On the night Jesus was betrayed, he washed the disciples’ feet, identified Judas as his betrayer, and gave them a new commandment about love. The command to love each other as he loved them comes at an interesting moment in the Gospel story. After washing their feet, Jesus’ betrayer leaves the room to sell him for money, and after giving the command, Peter’s forthcoming denial is revealed. The command to love each other with God’s unique kind of love is sandwiched between satanic betrayal and the denial that comes from well intentioned, but ultimately frail, humanity. Christ’s love is never seen so clearly as when the background is so dark.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (vs. 34-35)

In one sense, there is nothing new about this command. The Old Testament tells us that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:34). During his life with the disciples, Jesus repeated these commands in what we sometimes call the Greatest Commandment – we ought to love God with everything we have and love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). So, if there is nothing new about God commanding his people to be people of love, what is so new about this commandment to love?

First of all, the context becomes the standard. The cross is looming just ahead of Jesus: he is distressed and troubled by all that will befall him in the next 24 hours, including both the physical torture and the betrayal and denial of beloved friends. This is God in flesh being betrayed by a friend, and yet Jesus washed his feet and served him bread. Up to the last minute before Satan enters Judas and Judas leaves the room for good, Jesus reaches out to him in love. This is God in flesh surrounded by well-meaning disciples but frail humans who nonetheless are going to fall before they rise again to become his church. And in it all Jesus places his kingdom in their hands. When there seems to be no good reason for Jesus to love his disciples or command love one to another – on a night as dark as this – Jesus commands love. The cross becomes the standard.

Second, the person becomes the standard. This is not human love. This is not human love to the maximum sustained over a long period of time. This is not “true love.” This is nothing any human or any group of humans can muster or imitate, because it is a love that comes from the heart of God himself. Jesus is clear just hours before he will die on the cross for them that he alone is the standard for this love: “just as I have loved you.” Jesus must become our example of and source of love.

And finally, the disciples become the bearers of this love. John the disciple said in one of his epistles, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). Jesus has ascended into the heavens and we are now the love of God to this world and to each other. If we follow his example, we are marked by our love – we are distinguished and recognized by our love. We are not recognized just as good people or perpetual do-gooders. We are recognized as people who belong to this Jesus Christ.

This command to love is utterly unique in that the cross becomes the standard, the person Jesus becomes the standard, and we the disciples are becoming the examples here and now of this love.

An Extravagant Act of Worship

2010-08-02T15:24:00.002-06:00

John 12:1-8

At the very beginning of the Passion Week, Jesus enjoyed a private moment with his friends and disciples. Jesus returned to Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, and reclined at the table with Lazarus, recently raised from the dead. Getting ready to eat a meal together we have a man who just walked out of a grave and a man on his way there. But during this time, something both shocking and prophetic happened. Mary opened a bottle of extremely expensive perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet with it. Her act, which is an act of worship, as shocking and extravagant as it is, is something we need to learn to do.

There is a lot to learn about the act, the ointment and the reaction. The act is unusual, extravagant and even uncomfortable. Feet were usually washed by servants and not the lady of the house, and they were always washed with water, not perfume. Too add to the uniqueness of the moment, Mary lets her hair down in a display reserved for the intimacy of husband and wife and wipes his feet clean. With all that it is, Mary’s act is one of service, submission and ultimately, of worship.

Even the perfume tells us something. That type of perfume would have been rare in her world, as it (“spikenard”) comes from a plant that grows in the mountains in India. And Judas is good enough to tell us it is worth about “300 denari,” or what would have been an entire year’s wages for the average worker of the day. The perfume is rare, likely a family heirloom, and very expensive.

In this act of worship, Mary literally pours out the best of what she has on Jesus. In her act we see that there is nothing not worth “pouring out” on Jesus. The perfume became practically useless as it soaked into the ground, but it served the greater purpose of anointing Jesus’ feet as an act of worship for a Messiah on his way to the cross (12:7).

The act and the ointment tell us something. The complaint is probably even more instructive. At this moment of extravagant worship and service Judas breaks in with a complaint wrapped in pious practicality. The perfume was rare and expensive and now soaking into the dirt. Imagine the number of meals we could have purchased for the poor! But in retrospect, John makes sure we know that Judas was not being genuine – his was a corrupt heart that cared nothing for the poor, and would have liked the sound of 300 coins ringing in the money bag.

Because of the corruption of his heart, Judas mistook an extravagant yet appropriate act of worship for a waste. Without putting it into these exact words he responded to Mary by saying, “Jesus may be worth a lot, but not that much!” For Mary, there was nothing else she could have done with the perfume that was worth more than pouring it out on Jesus. For Judas, worshiping Jesus was a thing to be limited; there were things and objects in this world worth more than he was.

Here is where the story becomes hard for us: Mary is the example, Judas is me. I need to learn to worship Jesus the way Mary did – nothing in my life has greater value than when I pour it out on him. But more likely than not, my day-to-day decisions betray a different point of view. Have I learned to squeeze worship into the other “nice” things I do? Are there things in my life too valuable to me to pour them out on Jesus?

If Mary had decided to save the perfume for herself, this moment would never have come to us. But because she worshiped Jesus with it her act has served as an example for centuries of believers. If I keep my best for me and their normally “practical” purposes, nothing of eternal value may come of them. But if I pour them out in extravagant acts of worship, what can God make of them?

There May Be Blood

2010-05-17T10:56:00.001-06:00

John 6:60-71

Has anyone ever promised you that following Jesus would be easy? Maybe Jesus would fulfill your wildest dreams and make everything in your life go smoothly if you simply asked him into your heart. Though I believe it is true that life with God is the only “life abundantly,” I am also convinced that it can be life’s greatest challenge. Jesus doesn’t promise us ease in life, but he does promise us life. After all, what do we expect becoming disciples of an innocent and executed man?

The early disciples of Christ learned this in dramatic fashion during an extended conversation about the bread of life. Jesus turns the conversation from the topic of eating the bread of life, Him, and receiving eternal life, to eating his flesh and drinking his blood; a shocking and even odd metaphor in any culture. And it isn’t an option.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life...” (vs. 53-54)

At this point, it is only natural to wonder who this guy is. The crowd wonders about his stance on cannibalism, and his disciples are muttering among themselves that this is a hard saying. And it is a hard saying! Into a world full of religious options, this man says he is the only path to salvation. Into a Jewish culture with a well established set of expectations regarding the Messiah, Jesus comes claiming all those rolls and rights, but doesn’t look at all like what they expected. And to cap it all off, apparently, there will be blood.

The Gospels are full of crowds who both follow and reject Jesus. It is not uncommon for a crowd to gather because of the miracles, hear Jesus teach, and then split into groups of devotees, hangers on, and outright enemies. At this point in John 6 something relatively unique happens. John doesn’t remark on the crowd’s rejection of Jesus. It looks more like this:

“When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’....After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” (vs. 60, 66)

His disciples reject him. It looks like it will be too hard to follow him – to go through what it will mean to “eat” his flesh and blood, to associate so closely with Jesus that it will be like he is in them and they are in him. But there is one notable if not surprising exception.

“Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’...” (vs 68)

This is a profound moment of clarity and priority for Peter and the rest who stayed. It is less important that Jesus might be hard to follow. It is less important that he will say and do things that may be hard to accept. It is less important that blood might be shed in following Him. It is more important that Jesus has the words of life.

The disciples who walked away from Christ that day chose what looked like the easier path, but lost life abundantly and life eternal. Peter’s life did not become immediately easy or perfect, but in choosing to follow Christ come what may, he found God’s life.

Knowing God

2010-05-10T12:36:00.001-06:00

John 7:1-18

Jesus is a controversial figure. Divisive, even. And I speak of the Jesus of Scripture, of course. The “nice guy” Jesus of our culture is not only uncontroversial, he isn’t even interesting. He wants everyone to get alone, he is OK with other gods, and he loves you just the way you are. But when we come into contact with the Jesus of Scripture he immediately divides the room. And such is the case with the story of John 7. Jesus reenters Jerusalem for another feast of the Jews and even before the people know he is there, they are divided about who he is.

If we put ourselves in the places of the people in Jerusalem trying to figure out who Jesus is, we are presented with a real problem. There are those who say he is a great teacher, those who claim he is a rotten teacher. There are those who go so far as to say he is the Messiah, and those who want to kill him for blasphemy. One way or another, Jesus was not – and is not – a boring figure.

So how are we to decide who Jesus is? Are there better or worse ways to understand who he is? If we put it another way, if our spiritual formation depends on getting Jesus right, how do we get him right? In the course of the conversations in chapter 7, Jesus gives us at least two answers to this question. The first is all about our desires.

“If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.” (vs. 17)

If our wills are pointed in the right direction, Jesus promises us that we will come to a deeper and more accurate understanding of God and a more intimate relationship with him. If we can understand our will as something guided by our most powerful desires, if our desires are healthy our relationship with God will become healthier. And we have already seen this truth in action in John’s Gospel. In chapter 5, the Jewish leaders cared more for their Sabbath laws than the healing of a life-long paralytic, so they not only missed Jesus, they decided to kill him. The first story of John 7 involves Jesus’ brothers as mockers and tempters. As such, they completely missed who Jesus truly was. In contrast, after hearing a very difficult conversation about what it would mean to follow Jesus, Peter proclaimed that there was nowhere else for them to go. He would follow Jesus no matter what followed. That decision didn’t make Peter’s life perfect, but it did mean he found Jesus.

The second way is through our glory.

“The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” (vs. 18)

As our example, the Son of God, the second member of the Trinity, God in flesh, lived for the glory of God and it resulted in the truth of God here on earth. I, a simple and broken human being, am tempted on a regular basis to replace God’s glory with my own. Through my daily life of taking care of people, tasks, and self I become habitually caught up in me and my life. But we learn through Christ that glory is a glimpse into who does and does not see God.

If Christ’s life on earth was lived to the glory of God and he is known because of it, how much more will I see, experience, and reveal that life if I live for the glory of God.

An Impossibility, A Questions, And An Action

2010-03-29T08:54:00.001-06:00

John 6:1

Jesus and his disciples are on the shore of the Sea of Galilee with a large crowd of people who have followed him almost all the way around the lake. On the side of a mountain there, Jesus teaches all day long. As the sun gets low in the sky, the large crowd has grown hungry and there isn’t a convenient way of feeding them quickly. The large crowd has turned into a large need, and in the face of it, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, What are you going to do?

“Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?”

Jesus poses the problem in purely human and natural terms: bread and money. Philip answers Jesus honestly and openly by noticing that none of them have the money it will take to feed the crowd. He essentially says that nearly a year’s salary is not enough, and we don’t have anything like that. Philip hasn’t given a bad answer – he simply recognizes what Jesus wants him to see, that the need is impossible to meet.

“He said this to test him for he himself knew what he would do.”

While Philip does the math, Andrew looks around to see how much food he can scrounge up. He comes up with a boy with 5 barely loaves and 2 fish and recognizes how insufficient they are to the task laid before them by Jesus. One sack lunch will not feed the crowd.

Both Philip and Andrew take note of how impossible the task is, but Jesus is testing them, he is pressing them to see things differently. I like the way the Message paraphrases that sentence, “He said this to stretch Philip’s faith.” In their hands with what they are able to provide, the massive need before them will never be met. But Jesus wants them to see things through a different lens – through what is possible through him.

What happens next is the twist in the story that makes all the difference. In fact, the lesson goes by so fast, we are apt to miss it. After having the crowd seated on the grassy hillside (remind you of Psalm 23?), Jesus does something that is the lesson. The action is the point of the story.

“Jesus then took the loaves…”

Jesus literally took matters into his own hands and the crowd was fed to overflowing. Everyone had everything they could eat and there was enough left over for each disciple to carry around a basketful of more bread than they began with. Jesus took everything the disciples and the crowd could give him, which was totally insufficient to the task, and fed to overflowing.

It is beautiful what Jesus can do with what humble and submitted people give him. We cannot meet a single need in our own power, but Jesus can satisfy them all.

The lesson Jesus teaches his disciples from the first question to the moment when they pick up the leftovers is that we can never meet people’s needs – their deepest and truest needs – with our own power. We are always insufficient to the task. But these gifts and these goods placed in the hands of the Son of God makes all the difference.

In the hands of Jesus, all can be fed.

God Loves the World

2010-01-27T15:45:00.001-07:00

John 3:16-21

How would you finish the phrase, “Love is…”? We could, and we often do, put all kinds of things and people into that sentence. We use “love” to apply to a radical array and variety of items in our lives. I love a well made mocha. I also love my wife. I love hiking in the Colorado Rockies. I also love my friends. Because we use this word to apply to so many different things, we often lose sight of the power and meaning of love. Sometimes, when a word means almost anything, it comes to mean almost nothing.

So, what does it mean that “God so loved the world” that he gave his one and only Son? John uses a powerful word for love here, and we ought to look at it in at least three ways. This love is attention. When we have a deep love for someone or something, it consumes our attention. They are on our minds often if not all the time, and we are interested in their well-being and their condition. To love a thing is to give our attention to a thing.

This love is also attachment. When we love a thing, a person, or an idea, we will attach ourselves to them. We will rearrange our lives and prioritize our time so we can be with, or think about, or do for those people. My heart, my mind, and my life will attach themselves to the things I love.

This love is also sacrifice. We sacrifice for the things we love. And we sacrifice to the degree we love them. I will sacrifice money for a good meal. But there are people in my life for whom I would sacrifice my life.

God so loved the world that he gave all these things to us. He has lavished his attention upon us in the form of his Son. Christ came to reveal the will and heart of the Father in his life among us. God also attached himself to this world through the incarnation. Jesus took on real flesh and bone and lived a human life as God with us. And then God sacrificed for us out of his love. Jesus suffered real betrayal, humiliation and pain. Jesus really did die a torturous death upon a cross, forsaken by his closest friends. It cost God to love us.

And in this love we see the will of God. We become shockingly aware of what God wants when we pay attention to his love. We, his creation, were separated from him and lost in our brokenness and sin. He saw the chasm and initiated reconciliation through giving us his Son. Paul says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:6-8). The disciple Peter says that God’s will is that none should perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

But just as we learn of God by his love, we also learn from our loves. The problem is not with God’s love, but with ours. Jesus is clear that though the light came into the darkness, people did not receive him because they loved darkness rather than the light (John 3:19). The shocking thing is, our love of darkness is just as deep as God’s love for us. God loves (agape) the world, but humans love (agape) darkness.

So then, where is my mind naturally drawn? To whom and what am I naturally willing to attach myself? What do I naturally sacrifice for? Just as God’s love drives him into our lives to reconcile us to himself, our loves, when they remain in darkness, blind us to the gift of God.

But that is not the end of the story, because, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son to us that we might believe and not perish, but have everlasting life. God loves the world.

Why Does God Care?

2010-01-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

John 2:1-12

Have you ever wondered what God cares about? What is it that catches his attention? What in this universe moves God? After all, he is the Creator, the Author of all time and history, and he knows the position of every atom and molecule in the universe. He sees the beginning from the end and all of human history is simply a glance for God. There are a lot of grand and magnificent things for God to take care of and large sweeps in human affairs for God to pay attention to. Have you ever wondered if God really does take notice – and care – about the microscopic scope of your life?

Jesus’ first miracle in John’s Gospel is a telling glimpse into these questions. And not only does it begin to tell us what kinds of things God cares about, but more importantly, it shows us why he cares about them.

Jesus, his disciples and his mother are invited to a wedding in Cana in Galilee. They travel a few miles from the tiny and humble hamlet of Nazareth to the tiny and humble town of Cana. Like the small villages around it, Cana is obscure, simple, and even poor. From the very start there are very few people here to even behold the glory that is the miracle Jesus is about to perform. Then, when the wine runs out, Jesus and his mother have a conversation about what needs to happen. Though he gently rebuffs her for placing expectation upon him, Mary responds with the right kind of surrender and faith by telling the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.

Then, in this small town at an anonymous wedding celebration, Jesus is left alone with a couple of servants and a handful of young disciples. And it is there, in the back hallway of the house that Jesus performs the first of his miracles.

Though Jesus is teaching his disciples something deep and meaningful about him and his mission on earth, there is no getting around the simple fact that there is also a wedding that needs saving. Jesus saves the groom and his family embarrassment and even shame by quietly turning 180 gallons of water into wine.

I struggle from time to time over the care and attention of God. Of all the things and people in this universe, can it really be true that God not only sees me (is simply aware of my presence the way I am aware of harmless spiders in my basement) but that he cares (more deeply than I care for my own family)? Then I read a passage like this one and am reassured that God reaches even into the simple and humble recesses of life and is ready to perform the miraculous. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from my Father’s attention, and in his eyes, I am worth more that many sparrows.

But John also tells us why Jesus works wonders in the humble estate of my life. After a miracle performed in an out of the way town among only a handful of unimportant people, John says, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

Why is Christ at work in even my life? Every ounce of his activity in my life is designed to reveal the divine splendor and the eternal power and might of my God. He does not work in and through me so that the world might see me – it is so the world around me may see the glory of my Savior and that they might place their trust and confidence in him.

Every moment of my life is pregnant with the glory of God.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2009-12-16T17:57:00.001-07:00

Luke 2:1-21

God’s extravagance and humility are shocking. The King of Kings, the Son of God and Son of Man incarnate, the Savior of all humanity, was born into human flesh in an anonymous stable in a small town to the fanfare of the smell of sheep and donkeys. The most important birth in human history happened when and where almost no one was watching.

Joseph and Mary were at home in Nazareth during the final weeks of the pregnancy until the decree came from Rome that sent them on the sixty mile trek to Bethlehem where they were too late to find good lodging. They went from a warm four walls with family to a room intended for animals. And as Luke tells the story, it is almost as if the birth simply comes:

“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (vs. 6-7)

Everything about the birth of Jesus Christ leads us to the emptying, or the humility, of God. Paul tells us that Jesus, though God, did not count equality with God something to hold on to, but he willingly emptied himself and took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:5-7). The author of Hebrews tells us that because God’s children all share in corruptible flesh, the Son of God took on that same flesh to destroy the one who frightens us with death, the devil (Hebrews 2:14-15).

The birth of Jesus Christ happens in a way completely disconnected from and completely unmoved by the whims and trappings of human power. We seek our stability and power in what the kingdoms of this world tell us is power, but Jesus shows us a better, a deeper and more stable way. Though the most powerful man on the planet, the emperor of Rome, sent Joseph and Mary packing, God had – and still has – his way.

But the extravagance of God? On a nearby hillside there were a handful of common, ordinary laborers doing their job in the middle of the night. And it is to these shepherds that God decides to give maybe the clearest and certainly the most magnificent revelation of the significance of that night. While they watched their flocks by night, an angel materialized and lit up the hillside.

“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” (vs. 9)

It didn’t end there. After another minute or two, God sends an entire choir of the heavenly host to sing the glories of God and the reasons for the birth of their Messiah. Now that is the right way to announce the birth of a King!

But who was the audience? Bethlehem is just a couple of miles from Jerusalem. If God simply moved the angelic choir over a couple of hills, all the population of Jerusalem would have heard the news. Instead, God opens the sky and pours forth his extravagant glory upon a handful of simple shepherds.

We might be tempted to think that was a waste of angelic effort. God didn’t think so. God spoke and the shepherds responded by going to see Joseph, Mary and the baby, and by telling everyone the saw about the glory of God. God didn’t need kings and princes – He needed willing and humble shepherds. There is no effort wasted declaring the glories of our God.

Behold Your God of Might: Isaiah 40

2009-12-07T15:17:00.002-07:00

Isaiah 40:10-11

In this chapter, the prophet responds to the really bad news he presented to the king in chapter 39 – the people of God will suffer at the hands of their enemies. In that context of distress, the beauty and grace of chapter 40 is arresting. We don’t expect the greatness of God to be extolled, but it is. And it is an incredible entrance into the character of God and our understanding of him in difficult times. In our passage, Isaiah extols the might of God:

“Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him;…” (40:9-10)

Growing up in Pentecostal circles meant I was privy to services and small groups where we prayed for miraculous things to happen, and from time to time, they did. I have prayed for people who were healed, we heard the stories of miraculous events, and every time it was both natural and right to praise God as a God of might and power. When we see God show up in these miraculous ways, it is easy for us to repeat after Isaiah, “Behold, the Lord God comes with might.”

But that is not the context of Isaiah 40. Instead, God’s people are experiencing a time of waiting in which they will suffer at the hands of their enemies and it will likely be a very long time before they see the kind of might and power that will free them of their political burdens.

Though it is easy and right to praise God as mighty and powerful when we experience amazing things, it is necessary to praise God as mighty and powerful when we don’t. God’s might and power never fade or change through the seasons of our life and our guard against distress and fear is to proclaim him as such in all circumstances. To complete the picture drawn by Isaiah, it is important to see what kind of God of might we are to behold.

“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” (vs. 11)

More often than in the great miracles, we experience a God of might as he tends to his people day by day. It is in the normal humdrum of the average life that the God who created the universe leads his people in might. Isaiah’s image is of God carrying a rod in one hand and clutching a lamb close to his chest in the other.

Behold your God of might.

God is greater than “the ordinary.” He is more present than our sense of his absence. His light shines through the fog of our routine. Our Shepherd clutches us close while we pay absolutely no attention to him.

We can begin to cultivate a sense of this kind of God by simply repeating with the prophet that our God is a God of might who shepherds us through every moment of existence. We find what Thomas Kelly called a “subterranean sanctuary of the soul” where his presence is always strong and where his light is always shining.

A Whale-Sized Grace

2009-10-12T09:04:00.001-06:00

Jonah 1:17

When we think about the story of Jonah, we usually think of one thing – a big fish. In all of our children’s Bibles, for example, the story is told through the lens of the fish. And even though Jonah’s story is short, in actuality, the fish only has three verses dedicated to it. There is much more to Jonah’s struggle with God than a whale’s gullet, but his three days and nights in that submarine gastronomic miracle focused the prophet. When we pay attention to the role of the fish in Jonah’s life, we learn quickly what it really is – the grace of God.

“And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (1:17)

God did this to Jonah. It wasn’t a strange or lucky coincidence; it was a deliberate action on God’s behalf. God “appointed” -- or called, or arranged, or caused -- this fish to show up at this place at this time to have his prophet for breakfast. Jonah even sees this pitch-black stomach for what it is, “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me” (vs. 3). It was God’s doing, and Jonah is OK with that.

God put Jonah in the fish’s belly to get him back on the right track – to restore a right relationship between himself and his rebellious child. The fish was God’s means of getting hold of his prophet’s heart and mind again, and because it is Jonah’s way back to God, it is God’s grace. It is dark and dank and putrid, but it is God’s grace. It is odd and unique (Jonah must have uttered that common prayer, “Why me?” while sliding down the throat), but it is God’s grace. It is literally the darkest, deepest, and loneliest pit a human could be in, but it is God’s grace. It strips Jonah (literally and figuratively) of every earthly thing that distracts him from his God, but it is God’s grace.

Any act of God that is intended to bring me back to him is an act of grace and mercy. Even this is God’s love. When we think about receiving the goodness and grace of God, we normally think about, and certainly want, the nice stuff. We long for and seek for God’s niceness to us. And to be sure, there are seasons of life full of blessedness in our lives with God and with others. But there are other seasons when God does different kinds of things with his people.

When we look for the grace of God, are we ready for it to swallow us?

When it does, we can now turn to a formerly rebellious prophet who prays with the faithful who have travelled this path before him. We now learn from Jonah a positive lesson we have yet to learn – what it means to live with God in the darkest places in our lives.

“When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple....But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (vs. 7, 9)

When the darkness closes in and when our life faints away, we can now look to and pray with Jonah. “Lord, I thank you! I will sacrifice everything for you, and give you everything I am and everything I have. Salvation belongs to my Lord!”

Prayer, Praise and the Uniquely Christian Life

2009-09-21T08:46:00.001-06:00

James 5:13

The Christian life is a unique life. Following Jesus changes everything for us – at least it should change everything. This doesn’t mean we leave our jobs and families and live in communes in the forest. It means that the lives we lead are forever and irrevocably changed. As James closes his epistle, he wants to make sure his readers are left with a set of important thoughts ringing in their ears. The life he described up to this point transforms the way we view pain and suffering, the way we value and treat others, and the way we use our tongues, to mention just a few things. Now it is time for the final set of exclamation points on the descriptions of this uniquely Christian life.

Is anyone among you suffering? We know James’ readers are suffering; we know our neighbors are; we know the reality of suffering in our own lives. The question is not hypothetical, and James’ answer should unsettle us a bit. It is exactly when things go out of our control that our natural impulse is to DO something and not just sit around and take it. We want to take events and people into our own hands and rework the situation so we and our loved ones can avoid the pain we are in. James, however, says the most important thing we can do in the most complicated and confusing seasons of life is pray. Prayer is not the Christian’s back-up plan; it is our constant source of strength.

We pray to the Creator of the Universe – to the one who spun the universe into existence and holds the expanse of time and space in the palm of his hand. I pray to the Only Wise God. We pray to the God who walked among us in human flesh. He was born, lived and died truly human, and he rose again conquering death and sin. I pray to the Incarnate God. And I pray by the prompting and power of the very Spirit of God within me. I pray by God’s Empowering Presence. This is the uniquely Christian prayer.

Is anyone among you cheerful? We sometimes find ourselves in this season of life – we are blessed, we are happy, we are at peace in our hearts and minds. James tells us the right reaction is to sing songs of praise. Praise is an open door to the presence of God. When God’s people assembled at the Temple in the Old Testament, they we lead in praise and worship to the God who lead them out of Egypt and gave them a homeland. And when the presence of the Lord fell, they praised some more. At the end of all things when we catch a glimpse of the throne room of God, we encounter angelic beings and the redeemed singing songs of praise to God for his majesty, power, justice, forgiveness and mercy. We will, for all of eternity, be caught up in a chorus of praise to our God.

But we can add to James the words of Paul. Right now we may not feel the power, steadfast love and grace of God. We may be walking a different path. To us, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” Praise be to God for the comfort and compassion he gives in the midst of my suffering and pain. Praise be to this God in all seasons of life. Praise is not a seasonal activity; it is my constant response to this God who redeemed me.

If praise is not a part of my life, I don’t know who my God is.

Prayer and praise are consistent and universal activities in the Christian life. They are our constant companions in this uniquely Christian life.

Wrong Expectations

2009-07-07T17:12:00.000-06:00

Malachi 3:13-4:6

In the final conversation between Malachi and Judah, God has a concern or two about Judah’s worship and their conception of him, and Judah has a final shot across the bow of God’s character and behavior. Judah has taken stock of the world around them, tried to relate that to God, and the two just are not jiving. Though some of Judah’s complaints have been ours from time to time, we need to be careful as we learn from God’s answer.

“Your words have been hard against me.” (vs 13)

There is nothing very nuanced about this claim – Judah has said some things about God that are hard to take, or as another translation puts it, they are “terrible” things to say. God’s answer to their “how” is devastating.

“You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape’.” (vs 14-15)

To say that it is vain to serve God would, of course, be a very hard thing to say to God. What they mean by “vain” is not, “arrogant,” but something that is futile, vapid, empty, or meaningless. We can hear their words as, “it is meaningless to serve God!” So what brings a person to this fairly radical conclusion?

As it turns out, Judah concluded their relationship with God was meaningless because their idea of a meaningful relationship was all wrong. In other words, they approached their relationship with God with the wrong set of expectations, and when they were (naturally) not met, they concluded the relationship was a joke. We easily do the same thing, and not just with God. If we enter a relationship with the wrong expectations, we become disillusioned when they are not met. And when this happens, who is to blame? So what were Judah’s false expectations about a relationship with God?

First of all, they expected “profit.” Again, this word is pretty straightforward – it means the gain from labor. They somehow expected that when they did their part in serving God and being good little Judeans, God would be compelled to do his part and reward them with financial and material blessings. To be blunt, this is a selfish way of approaching our faith and it treats God as if we are lords of the universe, and not Him. He is not at our beck and call.

Secondly, they expected that external acts of worship were true religion. They complained that “keeping his charge” and “mourning” were not producing the expected results. They were going through the motions expecting them to be a kind of talisman, a kind of magical incantation that would fulfill their spiritual requirements. But even Christ is clear on this problem: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me” (Matthew 15:8). True and acceptable worship is a natural and inevitable expression of what is in our hearts, not the other way around.

And third, they expected God would kill all the bad guys. They were angry that “evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and escape.” It is natural for us, in the certian seasons of our lives, to express this very thing to God. We are sometimes angry that evil people seem to be getting away with it. God’s answer, however, reminds us of a couple of very important realities. First of all, God sees all things and there really are moral distinctions with God (vs. 18). And as a result, they day is coming when the final line will be drawn in the sand and evildoers will be done away with (4:1-2).

But ultimately, God’s answer to these frustrations and accusations from Judah is his plan of reconciliation through his son, Jesus Christ. Malachi’s final prophecy about Elijah and his ministry of reconciliation is picked up in the Gospels as applying to John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

God’s plan for broken and sinful humanity right now is to send his Son to live God’s life among us, to willingly die on a cross to atone for our sins, and to rise from the grave to give us hope for life eternal. And may I say, thank God!

Worship and the Glory of God

2009-05-13T14:04:00.001-06:00

Malachi 1:1-5

One of the pitfalls of daily life as a follower of Jesus Christ is that we can grow cold to the wonders of God, half-hearted in our devotion to Him, and begin living life at arm’s length from the presence of our Creator and Savior. Malachi writes his book to a nation of nominal and lukewarm worshipers. Other prophets write to an Israel or Judah who are worshiping foreign gods and even sacrificing their children on the idols of pagan deities. Clearly there is something to be corrected there. But Malachi’s audience spends their time in the pews, singing the songs of worship, bringing their sacrifices, and repeating all the right words in service. But the words of Christ are true of them, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt 15:8).

Into a culture where Temple worship is being reinstated, but the hearts of the people are still very far from God, Malachi writes to correct and provoke. Written in a series of conversations, Malachi is a tremendous insight into what God finds important about worship, how his people were blowing it, and what can be done to set it right. And from the very beginning, God puts our focus in the right place.

“I have loved you.” (vs. 2)

What Malachi actually says is more like, “I have loved you in the past, I continue to love you, and I will always love you.” God’s everlasting and faithful love is the very starting point in our understanding of what it means to engage in worship that is acceptable to God. In fact, God’s love for his people is the very cornerstone of his covenant with them. When Jeremiah speaks of the same reality he says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jer. 31:3). Notice who does all the work that makes this unconditional love of the Father possible – the Father!

God is his own reason for, his own grounding for, and his own source of power for his love for you. Only then can it be true that his love is everlasting, and that it continues in faithfulness through the years. If God’s love for you were based on you and your faithfulness, how long would that last?

But we don’t always feel loved, just as Malachi’s people respond with, “How have you loved us?” (vs. 2) God’s people were ripped out of their land a generation ago, made to serve as slaves in an evil empire, and now have the backbreaking responsibility of rebuilding their city, Temple, and culture. They don’t feel loved by God. We all feel this way at some point in our lives, and sometimes we express it in our frustration and even desperation. Here, God answers.

The conversation about Jacob and Esau is about God’s love for his people – it is about God establishing a unique relationship with those who belong to him, and that he will forever honor that covenant and love. God’s answer to the question, how has he loved us? I made your relationship with me possible, and I will honor it no matter what you do.

As a result of this life-giving reality dawning on us (“your own eyes shall see this”), we respond in worship of God’s glory. “Great is the Lord beyond the borders of Israel!” (vs. 5) In his righteousness and holiness, God punishes evil – Great is the Lord! In his grace and forgiveness, God creates relationship – Great is the Lord!

God-honoring and life-transforming worship begins with the recognition of the glory of God, and here we see his glory as a result of his love toward us. He loves even us – those who are not perfect, those who rebel against him, and those who in this life will never love him with a perfect and steadfast love. But to us God says, “I have loved you!”

The Cross Changes Everything

2009-04-06T15:11:00.001-06:00

John 12:20-36

The cross of Jesus Christ changes everything. It is the most important moment in the course of human history, and when seen from its proper view, it is the most important moment in the course of all of creation. Now, that is a radical claim. But it is not mine – it belongs to Jesus himself.

On the week when he entered Jerusalem for the final time, Jesus makes the effort to explain to his disciples and to us what the cross does and how important it really is. After the adulation of the Triumphal Entry and the Greek believers who seek him out, Jesus instructs the disciples about the importance and power of what will happen on Friday.

First, Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (vs. 23). This is an odd way of talking about the most torturous form of death devised by humans. The disciples will be horrified and terrified at what will happen, and Jesus will endure agonizing pain before he actually dies. And yet, Jesus calls it glory! To be glorified means for the honor and praise-worthiness of a thing to be made manifest. The cross reveals Christ’s eternal worth, power, righteousness, and forgiveness. What the world takes to be shame and the ultimate defeat, in fact, reveals the glory of God.

The Cross is Glory.

Then Jesus goes on to talk about the need for the disciples to serve him and to “hate” their lives here in this world. The call of the Christian life is not one where we are asked to follow most of what Christ commands with bits and pieces of who we are. The cross of Christ is a claim on my entire life – all I am and all I have. I am not asked to literally hate myself or life in this world. On the contrary, I am asked to love Christ and place him in his proper place as God, and then everything else will find its rightful and fruitful place beneath him.

The Cross is Discipleship.

Jesus then tells the gathered crowd that he is troubled in spirit and that he could pray for his release from this moment. But instead of praying, “Father, save me from this hour,” Christ prays, “Father, glorify your name” (vs. 27-28). The cross is why he came to live among us. It is his reason for being here and going through what he is about to endure. And, in a profound twist on our usual take on difficulties and trials, it prompts Christ to pray for God’s glory.

The Cross is God’s Will.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (vs. 31). Satan and his power over you will not be defeated 2000 years from now. He will not be defeated at the end of the millennial reign. Satan and his forces will not be defeated the day you die and find yourself in heaven. Satan was defeated 2000 years ago on the cross of Christ. We continue to fall to temptation, listen to the wrong voices, and make the wrong choices. But Satan’s power over Christ’s children was taken care of on the cross.

The Cross is Triumph.

And finally, in response to some confusion from the crowd, Jesus tells them that the light of the world is now among them. “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (vs. 36). Now is the time to believe, because there is only a limited amount of time for any one of us. The cross brings God’s life to bear in the lives of broken, repentant people.

The Cross is Life.

Restore! Gal 6:1-5

2009-03-30T08:43:00.001-06:00

Galatians 6:1-5

It has been said that people in our world love Jesus but can’t stand the church. Several books have been dedicated to this recently, including such titles as, “I Love Jesus: I Hate the Church,” and “Damage Control: How to Stop Making Jesus Look Bad.” When people read about or hear about Jesus, they recognize something there that they find attractive and even beautiful. True, the deeper their understanding of Jesus goes, the more they should understand their need for repentance, but there is something beautiful about Jesus nonetheless. On the other hand, their interactions with Christians have turned them off to Church and commitment to Christ. They like what they see in Jesus, but they know too many Christians.

In all reality, we will never be perfect. The church is not a collection of jewels of perfection, it is a collection of people healing and growing in Christ. But we are too often guilty of eating our young and killing our wounded. Paul goes to great lengths at the end of Galatians to describe a different kind of life that is available to the believer. God’s kind of life at work in his people is more healing than it is wounding, it puts together more than it tears apart, it restores more than it destroys.

Paul begins this application of God’s life by describing someone in one of the most vulnerable positions possible.

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” (vs. 1)

What was once private has become public. What someone has tried hard to conceal has become known. In many ways, this person is now at the mercy of those who know their secret. Thus, Paul calls on the most mature among us. He wants those who are literally “spirit-led” to oversee the management of this brother or sister. And what he says next should come as a kind of thunder clap.

Our natural inclination when someone falls is to mock or shun. Whether to their face of behind it, we are accustomed to looking down on someone, or proclaiming that we are too smart for their too-obvious and atrocious error. We are more likely to gossip about them and build fictional scenarios of their past and evil path that led them to their exposure. We are even more likely to take our new-found position of moral power to control and manipulate. So the thunderous command from Paul is, Restore!

And we do so gently, even meekly. We are to keep diligent regarding our own potential failures and our own brokenness. If we think more of ourselves – if we consider ourselves above the fray or morally superior – we deceive ourselves. If we are not clear about our own frailty, we are lying to ourselves. If, however, I have an honest assessment of how much I need God’s constant forgiveness and grace, we will react in a Christ-like way when a brother or sister is caught. Instead of derision we will react in humility before God and grace toward the fallen.

What do you see when you see a broken soul—any broken soul? What do you see when you see a brother or sister in Christ caught in sin? What do you see when you watch the world tumble along caught in its own sin? Do you see junk? Do you see a wasteland of useless humanity? Do you see a member of your congregation that needs to go?

To be sure, restoration requires that the restored recognize their sin and need for forgiveness. But my job is to give the grace God gave me. My job is to give the kind of forgiveness that requires God’s life at work within me. If you have the opportunity to reach out to a broken and fallen human, restore!

Sons and Daughters of God

2009-03-02T08:31:00.002-07:00

Galatians 4:1-7

When the Galatian believers turned away from the gospel of Christ and began following the false teaching of legalism, they had no idea what they were giving up. Paul strains to make the riches available only in Christ as obvious to them as he possibly can in order to convince them to return to the free grace and life of Christ. In this passage, Paul tells a common story to make his point.

Even though an infant heir is born to his father’s estate, and even though he will one day receive the riches available to him, he is completely powerless to lay hold of that inheritance until the day he comes of age and his father grants him his right. And until that day, he has no different access to the estate than the slaves of the household, even the most trusted of the slaves.

In the same way, Paul says, while we were infants we were enslaved to the basic principles of this world. Before Christ came and changed things for the Galatians, not only were they no better than the infant in the estate, they were, in fact, enslaved by the things of this world. Being a slave to anything is language we don’t like to use, but we have to come to terms with it in order to understand the true state of things between the human without Christ and the moral and spiritual structure of this world.

The things of this world enslave us. Enslavement means coercion. It means your passions and brokenness make you do things you “don’t want to do.” It means they build and shape your desires and as such they cause you to do things. Enslavement means less of me and more of my captor. As my flesh and sinful desires do their work, they become my thoughts, emotions, actions and words. My captor runs me and I fade into the shadows. Enslavement means captivity without hope of freedom. The principles of this world without Christ have no intention of holding onto me for a season and then moving on. This is a lifetime project they are on, and unless something happens I will die enslaved to them.

But there is another option to being an infant or a slave in the household: you can be a son. In one of the more powerful twists in the book, Paul writes:

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (4:4-8)

An infant doesn’t have the power in themselves to become the heir, so their Father needs to do the work. And that is exactly what God did. In his eternal wisdom, God sent his Son, the second member of the Trinity, into this world to live this life in this flesh, to die this death, and to conquer it all for God’s children. Then he sent the Spirit of his Son, the third member of the Trinity, to reside within us to secure our relationship and inheritance. As a child of God, we call our Creator, Abba.

The work of Christ in this life was to redeem us and give us the adoption as sons. Christ bought back our lives; he paid the price necessary to put us back into right relationship with God. Then, and only then, do we become God’s sons and daughters.

God walked through the orphanage, picked you, paid the price, signed the papers, and took you home. You are a child of God, and the riches of his life and presence are available to you now and for all of eternity.

The Name

2009-01-26T08:02:00.001-07:00

Revelation 3:12

Companies and brand names compete for your loyalty by creating a culture of brand recognition and consumer atmosphere. You learn through billboards and commercials that certain kinds of people wear certain brands of clothing and eat at certain restaurants. And then, companies and their marketing firms hope, you will decide to look like and eat like those people in the attempt to have a piece of the lives they have. Plenty of people—especially young people—become loyal consumers of a certain brand in order to have the same cache the people they see in the commercials have.

To put someone’s or something’s name on you is a gesture of loyalty. There is even a level of character imitation when we take a name and put it on. Politicians pass out buttons and bumper stickers hoping you will be recognized as their supporters, even their followers. We often associate with names and movements because we want to become like them.

In Scripture, having a name written on you is not much different. It is a symbol of loyalty, of character development, and even a sign of protection. Maybe the most infamous example of people “taking on a name” is the mark of the beast in Revelation. Whatever the bewildering “666” turns out to be, it is ultimately a mark of intense loyalty and association. Those who take on the mark are making a final association—we will follow this person and this cause come hell or high water.

But that is not the only name written on people. When God promises relationship and salvation from the troubles of this world to the church in Philadelphia, he says this:

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. (3:12)

This name is so important to Christ, he repeats the idea three times. It turns out that God writing his name on his people is not just a mark of relationship and loyalty between them, it is a marker of protection. In chapters 7 and 14 those marked with his name are protected for life eternal with their God. And in a dramatic prophecy in Ezekiel 9, God’s wrath does not commence until his faithful worshipers are protected by having God’s name inscribed on their foreheads.

Look down at what you are wearing. Look around the room you are sitting in. Bring to mind the books you read and the shows you watch. What names have you chosen to associate with? What and whose character are you trying to emulate? Above any and every name is the name of Jesus Christ.

Bearing the name of Christ is the ultimate and eschatological association. Come what may, I will bear the name of my Savior and Redeemer. He will be to me the most important consideration in life and in death. His Word is my final rule of faith and action. His Empowering Presence is my daily food and water. His glory and call will be my guide.

Other names will compete for your attention, your money, your worldview, and for your life. This is why the promise is to the one who “conquers.” It takes effort – even warfare – to faithfully bear the name of Jesus Christ.

Rejecting Christ

2008-11-25T11:57:00.003-07:00

Mark 15:1-20

People reject Jesus for all kinds of different reasons. Some of them are deeply emotional and personal reasons, and some of them are thought through and deliberate. Things were no different when Jesus walked the streets of Judea, and in these courtroom scenes in Mark, we learn why the religious leaders and why the political leader of the day rejected Jesus.

The Sanhedrin were desperate to find something to use against Jesus that would send him to his death. They were so desperate they broke all their normal rules for trial and accusation, concocted false witnesses and searched for any testimony that would condemn Jesus. They finally landed on a misrepresentation of Jesus’ own words, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands” (14:58). The religious leaders looked for and found a religious reason to reject Jesus.

It might sound odd to put it this way, but people often reject Jesus for religious reasons. The threat Jesus posed to them was to their tightly-packaged and self-styled religion. It is true they were trying to be devout followers of God, but their legalism had become their idol and their means of controlling the people. Jesus openly, and sometimes violently, rejected the legalism of the Pharisees. He even did it before crowds of people, changing their loyalties from the scribes and Pharisees to himself. Jesus freed the people from the religious leaders’ monopoly of religious practice.

What is important is that when the Sanhedrin were confronted with the truth, they clung instead to what they wanted to be true. This is a powerful force in the human heart. To be confronted with the truth of Jesus Christ means I need to change. It means I need to come to the realization I am no longer in control, and I am no longer my own lord and master. On the other hand, if I get to set the religious rules and realities, I am much more comfortable. Paul tells us that people will reject the truth because what is false suits their own pleasures (2 Timothy 4:3).

Pilate, on the other hand, was not a religious man. He was a political creature who worked his way up the ladder of power, and eventually took his own life when he has his position stripped from him. What is important for our discussion here, is that he was convinced of Jesus’ innocence. Three times in Mark 15 Pilate presses the crowd and Sanhedrin to make sure they want to condemn Jesus to death. The record of Pilate in the other Gospels makes it even clearer that he knew Jesus to be innocent—his wife even had a dream warning him not to have anything to do with Jesus’ conviction. So what caused him to send an innocent man to a tortuous death? Mark 15:15 provides the answer, “So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd…delivered him to be crucified.”

Pilate, face-to-face with the truth, picked the false path because it was politically and culturally expedient; it pleased and placated the crowd. He chose the path of least social resistance. This is another powerful force in the human heart. It is easier for us to pick our own ease and comfort and the accolades of others over the truth of Jesus Christ. But when we do, there is a high price to pay. When my own desires, ease and comfort are king, I will be willing to bend and compromise everywhere else. Pilate went so far as to send Jesus to his death. I will compromise on all my commitments, including friends, family, career, and even God.

But if I chose Christ, against what is easy religiously and culturally, I gain the whole world. When I lose my soul to him, I get it back. When I accept the truth of Jesus Christ, it sets me free.

Willing Slaves of Christ

2008-11-03T14:08:00.001-07:00

Revelation 1:1

The book of Revelation tends lay in a fog. We may only read it when we get worried about world events, or at the end of our yearly reading program, and it is almost always a frustrating book to try and figure out. It contains odd and difficult to understand visions, dreams, beasts and creatures. Much of what John sees and writes down is in a form foreign to us, and we don’t always know how to go about tackling the interpretation of the book.

This is an odd, though common, irony. From the very start of the book, it is intended to be a revelation of Jesus Christ. Though that word “revelation” is the Greek word for apocalypse, it means to have something unfolded and explained to us. And who or what is the target of that unfolding? It is Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation, for all its uniqueness, reveals Jesus Christ to us in ways the rest of the NT only hints at.

One of the keys to the revelatory nature of this book lies in an important concept John uses twice in his opening thoughts. God reveals the contents of this book to his servants in general, and reveals it specifically to his servant John (1:1). By the time John writes this book down (probably as late as 95 A.D.), the title of “servant” of Christ is loaded with meaning.

This word is a powerful indicator of a believer’s relationship with Jesus Christ. It means to be a “bond slave,” or someone who has willingly become the slave of another. For example, after Peter and John suffer persecution at the hands of the religious leaders of the day, they return to their church and pray. Part of what they say is in Acts 4:29:

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.”

The early church took this title of “willing slave” upon themselves: they were not given it, they took it. And as Paul writes to the various churches, he commonly calls himself the servant, or bondservant, of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1, Philippians 1:1). John also calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. And as such he faithfully writes down all he sees and hears and compiles the book of Revelation.

It is no small thing to say John faithfully wrote down this book. He was the subject of persecution, the people he wrote to were as well, and the things contained in the book are not all roses and rainbows. John was a servant of Christ even when it meant his own (severe) discomfort, and when he probably didn’t like what he was seeing and getting from God.

As such, he stands as an example of what it means for me to be a willing slave of Jesus Christ. It means he is the most important thing to my life and my decisions. It means God is always right and good even when present circumstances are not easy or comfortable. It means I can and should fulfill my calling no matter what that means for my position and place in life. Taking the label of servant means I act as though God is Lord, not me.

And what results? Well, for one thing, God wants to reveal his Son Jesus Christ to his servants through the pages of Revelation. To encounter this Christ through the lens of the trials and difficulty of this world requires a right relationship with him: being a willing servant to a sovereign God.

The Spirit Is Willing And The Flesh Is Weak

2008-10-16T12:13:00.001-06:00

Mark 14:32-42

Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane is one of the more interesting passages in Mark’s Gospel for several reasons, not the least of which is that it is a unique insight into his preparation for the cross. For days and even weeks, Jesus taught and led the disciples preparing them for what was coming. Their worlds are about to be turned upside down and Jesus wants them to be as prepared as possible.

But in the prayer in the garden, we catch a glimpse of Jesus preparing himself. He brings three disciples close to where he prays, and then moves deeper into the garden to be alone with his Father. Jesus prays a shocking prayer: he refers to God in the most intimate terms possible at the moment of his greatest crisis by calling him “Abba Father”; he reveals the struggle in his own heart and mind with utter candor by telling God he would like this cup to be removed from him; and, ultimately, he submits to the will of God in a trying and torturous moment.

On the other hand, the disciples were sleeping. Jesus asked them to stay awake, but the Passover meal and four glasses of wine were taking their toll. Jesus set them near him telling them to remain awake and pray with him, and I have no doubt they had every intention of doing so. But instead of vigilant prayer in the middle of the night, they fall asleep. Honestly, I probably would have done the same thing.

Part of what Jesus tells them when he comes to wake them up is a powerful glimpse into the lesson of the prayer in the Garden. When he finds them asleep he says, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak” (vs. 37-38).

How have you heard that phrase used: “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”? How have you used it? It is not uncommon to use this phrase to excuse our behavior. We might have failed at actually doing something of value or help, but at least our hearts were in the right place. After all, our spirits were willing but you can hardly blame me for my flesh being weak.

When we place this phrase back into context, however, it ceases to be an excuse or an explanation, and becomes a correction. Jesus fully expected their flesh to be strong enough to keep up with the intentions or desires of the spirit within them. Our desires, even the best of them, don’t do us much good if they are never acted upon. If I desire with every ounce of my being to be kind, loving, patient and thoughtful toward my spouse but every word or action of mine is short-tempered, cruel and selfish, what good have my desires done anyone? I may intend to follow Christ with my whole life: to stay attentive and steadfast, to tithe and give of myself. But if I do none of those things, what good have my desires done for myself and the kingdom of God?

Don’t misunderstand: our desires need to be in line with God’s desires. That way, when we act on our desires, we act out the will of God.

It is entirely possible to follow the example of Christ in this passage. We can have a flesh—a lifestyle—that is ready to do what we rightly desire to do. Christ wrestled in the garden. He was shockingly honest about how he felt, but his spirit was willing to do what the Father ultimately wanted done. In the garden he surrendered his will, and on the cross his body naturally and inevitably followed.

I need to learn the lesson of surrendering my will to God’s will now, so that when the time comes for my flesh to follow, it is the most natural thing for me to do.

Take and Eat, Take and Drink

2008-10-08T13:25:00.001-06:00

Mark 14:22-31

The Lord’s Supper is a crucial point for Jesus, the disciples, and every follower of Christ. The meal of the Passover was celebrated by God’s people year after year for centuries to commemorate what God did for his people when he delivered them from captivity in Egypt and to look forward to the day when the Messiah would come and complete the job. When God’s people went to the effort to come to Jerusalem and prepare the Passover meal, they identified with their God and not another, and they identified themselves with these people—these people who owed their very existence to the gracious salvation of God.

On this night, however, Jesus breaks with tradition and takes the meal upon himself. Everything the people of God have been waiting for is now fulfilled in him.

Jesus took the bread, spoke the traditional blessing and passed it out. The common practice was for the bread to be passed out in silence as each member at the table allowed the significance of the act to sink in. On this night Jesus broke the silence with, “Take, this is my body.” This bread the disciples and their people took for centuries represents the body of this man, Jesus Christ. In his telling, Luke adds, “which is given for you.” For the disciples, this is a vivid image. Animals were sacrificed over and over by the hundreds of thousands to cover the sins of God’s people. But they cannot complete our forgiveness, so they needed to return the next year and repeat the ritual. Sacrifice, sin, repeat.

Jesus’ body will be given in the same way the lamb’s body was—it will be sacrificed. But unlike the lamb, the Lamb’s sacrifice will cleanse us once and for all of our sins.

Jesus took the cup, spoke the traditional blessing and passed it out. Like the bread, the traditional practice was to pass the cup in silence as each person there prayed for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus, however, again broke the silence with, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” In the Old Testament, when a covenant was struck between two people or between God and his people, it was sealed with the shedding of blood. In their minds the life of a thing was in its blood, and to shed it was the most solemn act possible to signify that the covenant was sealed and both parties were bound by its terms.

This new covenant will be sealed with the literal blood of Jesus Christ, and it is sure. This new covenant does what no other covenant or sacrifice could do—it forgives every sin. God told Jeremiah about this sacrifice by saying, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sins no more” (31:34). Isaiah describes the act of the cross this way: “he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressor” (53:12).

Because of the cross, Jesus now stands between God’s justice and my sin. Instead of receiving the just punishment of my sins, I now receive forgiveness and grace because Jesus bore my sin on the cross.

With each element, Jesus not only told us what it meant, he commanded us to take and eat and drink. We take in, we consume, the body and the blood of Jesus each time we take communion. It is a powerful and public act of identification and consecration. When I take communion, I tell the world I belong to this God and not another. I tell the world I belong to these people, the Body of Christ here on earth. I not only identify with the other believers in my church, but every believer across the globe and across time. Many believers take communion openly and proclaim their allegiance with Christ. Many believers huddle in dark corners due to persecution and take the body and blood of Jesus Christ. I belong to them and they belong to me. It is an acted parable; the acting of the story is the telling of the truth of it.

Take and eat and take and drink for, “whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54).

Christ is Worth Everything

2008-09-22T11:55:00.001-06:00

Mark 14:1-11

While Jesus, his friends and his disciples reclined around a table just hours before the crucifixion, Mary came into the room carrying the most expensive and rare thing any of them had seen. The alabaster flask of ointment was worth almost a year’s wages and was way out of the price range of anyone in that room. None of the men could have afforded it, and certainly none of the women could have. Chances are this rare flask of nard from the foothills of the Indian Himalayas was a family heirloom.

Mary broke it and poured it over the head and feet of Jesus Christ.

What a waste! The disciples, lead by Judas, immediately began to wag their fingers at the silly woman and list all the things that could have been done with all that money.

“Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” (14:4-5)

Just imagine all the food for the poor that could be bought with $40,000. How much clothing? How much shelter? The disciples chide Mary’s extravagant display with their pious practicality. Pouring that oil over Jesus like that was a waste.

Jesus had a different reaction.

“Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (14:6)

By “beautiful,” Jesus means it was good, excellent, commendable, and even admirable. In other words, Mary’s act was far from a waste; it was behavior worthy of our admiration and imitation. Jesus tells the disciples they can still walk out the door and give to the poor—they will always be there. Jesus does not belittle or chastise the drive to be charitable and take care of those less fortunate than ourselves; he teaches them that he is worth more than anything else in this universe. And Jesus continues to admire what Mary did. She “did what she could.” She took the best she had and worshiped Christ with it. Worshiping and adoring Christ with everything she had was the best thing she could have done. Mary, without really knowing it, anointed Jesus’ body for burial. In the act of worship and sacrifice, Mary honored the will and plan of God without knowing exactly what was to come to pass. We do the same when we worship him. And wherever the gospel is preached, what she did will be taught and honored. This single, extravagant act of sacrificial worship still inspires us today. In contrast, the pious practicality of the rest of the disciples seems lame.

Jesus Christ has no hesitation telling us he is worth our all. Even in the face of all the nice and good things we can do for others, Jesus is still worth more than any of it. God’s glory demands my everything. We were made to find every ounce of our stability, meaning, joy, forgiveness, rapture, and purpose in God, and we find those things when we worship and adore him above everything else. When Christ tells us he is worthy of all our praise, it is not arrogance, it is love. If God did not reveal himself to us as the highest object of our affections, he would be concealing from us the fulfillment of our deepest longings.

By all means, work to help those less fortunate than yourselves, give aid to others when it is in your hand to do, but don’t use the disciple’s excuse to keep your best from Christ. Every good and wonderful thing in this life takes their rightful place when God is first. Every other use of your best is nothing but a waste.

Stay Awake! Mark 13:32-37

2008-09-10T11:01:00.001-06:00

Mark 13:32-37

Mark 13 is a fascinating chapter for expected and unexpected reasons. It captures our attention for the expected reasons: Jesus talks about the end of the age, the coming of the Son of Man, and references a host of OT prophetic literature. It also captures our attention for unexpected reasons: we learn a great deal about what it means to follow Christ is a world that, at times, seems utterly out of control.

Throughout the chapter Christ tells the disciples the end will not be pretty. Pray you are not infirm or sick or pregnant when that day comes—you need to be able to run. Even the coming of the Son of Man is attended with the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars. Though it is great and glorious, it is overwhelming. Then, to wrap up the teaching on the signs of the end of the age, Jesus tells a parable.

A master sets up his house, leaves it in the hands of his servants, and leaves. He doesn’t tell the servants when he is coming back, so they must remain awake until he returns to claim his possession. The servants were put in a position of responsibility over the master’s house and needed to stay diligent to watch over it until he comes back. Christ closes the parable with some rather haunting words, “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake” (vs. 37).

In just a few days the disciples will watch Christ rise off the ground and ascend into heaven leaving them here without his physical presence. At that very moment the disciples become the servants of the parable, responsible for the master’s house until he returns. And did they take that responsibility seriously! Their very real belief that Christ was coming back soon, that they didn’t know when, and that they were responsible until he did turned their world upside down.

Within a generation, the world of their time knew about Jesus Christ. Thomas went as far as India. John and others found themselves in the deserts of Africa. Others made it as far as Europe, and even Paul was trying to get to Spain before his death. Even though the early Christians were the slaves and lower classes of their time, the rest of the world took notice. The disciples of the disciples spent a great deal of time defending their faith against the slander of the Roman citizens who didn’t understand what was happening to their culture.

The disciples and their disciples died and Christ did not return. That means we now stand in the same place they did when Christ first ascended into heaven; we are now the servants in charge of the master’s house. Will we take up the responsibility? Are we prepared to do what the disciples did and turn our world upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? We certainly live in a different world than they did, and our challenges may be different from theirs, but their world was every bit as hostile to and skeptical of Christ. And yet they did amazing things as responsible servants of Christ.

Talk about the end of the age is intended to motivate my daily existence. It is not “pie-in-the-sky,” and it is not just for some fuzzy day in the future. It moved the disciples to action, and it should move us to action as well. Paul tells Titus that God trains “us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13). Peter tells persecuted Christians they ought to live “lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:11-12). And John tells us this: “but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

Let’s give Jesus the final word. And what I say to you I say everyone who comes after you: Stay awake!

The Widow's Gift: Mark 12:41-44

2008-08-25T11:49:00.001-06:00

Mark 12:41-44

The treasury boxes were made of metal, and as a result, you could hear the coins as they dropped in. The wealthy would walk into the temple with their servants in tow, each with a large bag of money to dump into boxes in front of all the awed onlookers. And just before the noisy dumping would begin, a priest would tally the money and make a public note of how much was being given. The larger the total, the louder the noise, the more generous and the more wealthy the giver.

Jesus and his disciples sat there people watching. If we were there with them, it would have been natural to be taken with the large sums of money being given by the pious and devout wealthy and completely miss a simple, poor widow slipping in two pennies. We might have overlooked her, but Jesus didn’t.

After she passed through, Jesus called his disciples around him to give them his perspective on what just happened. We saw what was an often ostentatious display of pious wealth, and what Jesus saw, naturally, was very different. Hear what the Lord says:

“Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put out everything she had, all she had to live on.” (vs. 43-44)

I find it great that she put in “more.” Up to this point we would say she actually put in less than everyone else—literally less than everyone else. But that is not how Jesus saw it. I think the key to Christ’s perspective can be found in one small detail. The widow had two pennies. We would have found it entirely reasonable if she put in one penny, still a great sacrifice for her, and saved the other to eat with the next day. After all, what difference is one penny going to make to the temple? Instead, she gave both—everything she had. What did Jesus see?

I think Jesus saw an act of sacrifice, obedience and worship on her part. Instead of seeing the amount of the gift, he saw what she did as an act for God. She was not hording, grandstanding or strutting. She was giving to God to worship and obey him.

I think we also see God’s ability to make great and amazing things out of small gifts. Here we are, 2000 years later, still marveling over an offering of two pennies. This also helps us understand how the Kingdom of God works. We do not need to wait for the most powerful and wealthy among us to do something for God before something of value can be done. God wants what is in my hand right now, whether it is marvelous or negligible. Never refuse to give because you think it is too small. Never refuse to do because you think it won’t make a difference.

We also see in her offering the fact that giving is an act of service to God first and to people second. When Paul encourages the Corinthians to give, he notes the abundant gifts of the poor and persecuted Macedonians. He says, “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us” (2 Cor. 8:5). We give in part to make sure our hearts are right with God and that money is not an idol in our lives.

Finally, she is a powerful example of what Jesus asks of his disciples and of what he is about to do himself. She is an unexpected example of discipleship. When Jesus says she, “put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (12:44) that phrase could also be translated, “she gave her whole life.” Jesus called his disciples to leave their life as fishermen behind and follow him. He told them that it would require that they take up their cross and that they would need to lose their life for him in order to find it (8:34-35). And, ultimately, in a couple of days, Jesus is about to give his life on the cross so that we might have life. This poor widow is an stunning example of what it means for me to follow Christ to the cross.

The words of this hymn say it well:

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness watch and pray,
Find in me thy all in all.”

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.

Power and the Kingdom: Mark 10:32-45

2008-06-30T15:03:00.001-06:00

Mark 10:32-45

Jesus told his disciples they knew very well how power works in this world. Without a doubt, they were painfully aware of how Roman power worked, and even how the power structures of the chief priests and scribes worked. In fact, all of it worked against them and their Master.

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.” (10:42)

Movement in this world requires grabs for power and position, hunting for personal importance and reputation, and discovering who my subordinates are. But movement in the Kingdom of God is very different.

“But it shall not be so among you.” (10:43)

Following the example of Jesus means we learn to serve before we control; we learn to be “slave of all” before we assert our personal importance; we learn to be led before we lead.

This issue resulted from the third time Jesus predicted His death, and the third time the disciples took it to grab for importance. The first time, Peter actually rebuked Jesus. The second time, the disciples argued in whispers about which of them was the greatest. The third time, James and John simply came out with it—they were the most important of the disciples and they wanted Jesus to assure them of their positions.

We learn very quickly through these three conversations that the disciples’ view of Jesus was still more conditioned by the culture around them—the kingdom of this world—than it was by Jesus Himself and His Kingdom. And because they related to Jesus with the wrong set of ideas in their hearts and minds, they easily fell into at least three traps. Because of their grasp for earthly power and position, they misunderstood Jesus, manipulated Jesus, and mistreated their fellow disciples.

The disciples misunderstood the life and example of Jesus. In fact, they misunderstood his very vocabulary. Jesus told them they were on their way to Jerusalem where he would die and rise on the third day (10:33-34), and instead of offering their sympathy, aid, or even being honest about their confusion or fear, they wanted to know which of them would rule as His greatest assistant in the Kingdom. Jesus is explaining to them that He is on His way to the greatest act of sacrifice and service the world has ever seen, and they are busy picking out thrones.

The depth of their misunderstanding even caused them to try to manipulate Jesus. Before they spring the request (“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory”), they try and bait Jesus by asking Him to do whatever they ask of Him. But before we come down too hard on disciples manipulating their relationship with Jesus, we need to come face-to-face with how often we do it. Have you ever used the name or authority of God to get your way and silence other people? Do you only relate to God when you need Him to do something for you?

And then, when the other disciples heard of their request, they became angry with James and John. Why? Because their grab for power not only raised them above their companions, it lowered the others—the rest of the disciples were mistreated. It became clear that James and John considered themselves as more important than the other disciples. The problem with that, and Jesus makes this clear, is that it is exactly the opposite of His example to us, and desire for our lives.

Followers of Christ cannot wield power the way this world does. We are not concerned with influence, fame, prestige or control the way this world is. Instead, we follow in the footsteps of an incarnate Savior who conquered death and hell by going through the cross, and the examples of the apostles who overturned their world by following His lead. Divine wisdom teaches us to leave matters as small and corrupting as power and control to the workings of this world, and to follow the way of Jesus.

The Expansive Kingdom of God: Mark 9:38-41

2008-05-30T16:48:00.002-06:00

Mark 9:38-41

When we approach our discipleship in Christ, we can ask ourselves what it means for us to follow Christ in the context God placed us with the gifts and resources He has given us. And as Jesus walks to Jerusalem with His disciples, they all deal with those kinds of issues. But at one point, another kind of question arises: what does it mean for others to follow Christ?

When we put that question out there, it almost seems a little simplistic, even silly. But, we quickly discover, there is a lot to it.

John the apostle comes across some people doing things that he assumed only he and the other apostles had the right to do.

“Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not with us.” (vs. 38)

There are a few important keys to John’s statement. First, the person he tried to stop was casting out demons in the name of Jesus. They were not self-styled messiahs, and they were not Scribes and Pharisees. They were followers of Jesus, just not part of the inner circle. Secondly, they were successfully casting out demons. Just a few days earlier the disciples were bested by a demon in a little boy, and Jesus came to their rescue (9:16-18). There might a twinge of jealously in John’s words. And thirdly, John’s ultimate complaint was that the unnamed disciple was not following “us.” He should have said, “you.”

Though Jesus was teaching them that to follow Him meant that they needed to become “the least of all and servant of all” (9:35), John and others of the disciples still saw discipleship as a position of privilege, prominence and even power.

The core of Christ’s response leads us straight to the critical factor in what it means for any of us to be disciples of Christ:

“For the one who is not against us is for us.” (vs. 40)

In the context of people performing miracles in the name of Christ, Jesus radically expands John’s view of the Kingdom. The critical factor in following Jesus is not the clique we belong to, but the person we follow.

Paul learned and taught this lesson in a vivid passage in Philippians 1:15-18. There he notes that while he is in prison, there are some who preach Christ to make him feel even worse, and there are some who preach Christ out of all the right motives. How does this make Paul feel? “What then? Whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” Later on, Paul addresses those who preach but don’t preach Christ, and calls them “dogs.”

John’s words are often in the hearts and minds of your average Christian. We can get caught up in how “we” do things, and how well “we” do things, and we mistake the gift of discipleship for our own cleverness. I firmly believe that when God places you in a church, you should plant yourself there and become a productive member of that body. But our attitude should always be one of brotherhood.

The critical factor in the universal body of Christ is Jesus Himself. If he is proclaimed and taught, then we all rejoice as the Kingdom of God is revealed to the hearts of men and women. “I” and “we” are not the important thing; that position belongs to Christ alone.

I Believe, Lord, Help My Unbelief! Mark 9:16-27

2008-05-07T09:40:00.001-06:00

Mark 9:16-27

After Jesus and the disciples spent the night on the top of the mountain of transfiguration, they returned to earth and found the rest of the disciples embroiled in a heated argument with several scribes. On the mountain, three of the disciples beheld Jesus in all of his divine glory and were moved to worship. But after the mountain-top experience was over, it was time to reenter normal life.

As Jesus and the three gather with the other disciples, we find them in an awkward and even embarrassing situation. A father brought his demonized child to Jesus, and when he saw only the disciples he asked them to pray for the healing of his child. The disciples prayed, nothing happened, and the scribes pounced. In the middle of the fracas the father and his boy were pushed aside until Jesus arrived.

The ensuing conversation is only recorded in Mark’s gospel, and though Jesus does heal the boy, the heart of this story is not the healing. What is said between Jesus and the father is a beautiful and profound insight into the person of Jesus Christ.

The father goes into great detail describing to Jesus not only the failure of the disciples, but the depth of his child’s condition. He is deaf and mute, he has seizures and fits of paralysis, the demon attempts to take his life by drowning or burning, and this has been happening since he was a little child. It is hard to imagine the pain and desperation of this father as he holds his child in his arms before Jesus. At the end of the description he asks for Jesus’ help.

“But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (vs. 22)

Jesus tells him that anything is possible to those who believe. The question at hand is not whether Jesus is able to heal the boy, but whether the father thinks he is able to. The father’s response is priceless.

“I believe; help my unbelief!” (vs. 24)

He has just enough faith to bring his child to Jesus, but he is intensely aware that there is still a lot of doubt and disbelief in him. So, how does Jesus respond to a broken father who can only express a broken faith? He heals his son!

Jesus does not tell him to go away and return when he has more of life and faith put together; he does not turn away a man who does not have it all figured out. As Isaiah put it in 42:3, he did not bruise a broken reed, he did not snuff out a smoldering wick.

This is the Jesus I have fallen in love with. This is a Jesus who takes the small seed of faith buried in a pile of hurt and doubt, and wraps the father and son in his arms. Don’t let any of your doubt or pain keep you from Jesus. He will not turn you away because you are far from perfect; on the contrary, he wants you no matter your doubt or disbelief.

Listen to Him: Mark 9:7

2008-03-15T11:39:00.001-06:00

Mark 9:7

On the mountain of transfiguration, God chose to speak directly to the disciples. True, Jesus has been walking and talking with them for months by this time, but this was undoubtedly a distinct and powerful moment when the disciples heard the voice of God from heaven. So, what did God chose in that moment to tell them?

Jesus had just been transfigured before their very eyes. His flesh and blood had “fallen off” for a few moments while the disciples were allowed to see the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. What Jesus was trying to teach them through his words and deeds, they now literally saw face to face. And for the disciples, it was a transforming moment as well (2 Peter 1:16-19; John 1:14).

In this context God says, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

God emphasized to the three followers of Jesus Christ the utmost importance of listening to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the embodiment of the truth of God. Through the life of Jesus Christ, God is communicating to us what he wants us to know about himself and about ourselves. If we listen to Jesus, we hear the words and heart of God.

Look at it like this. We sound like whom we listen to. Our vocabulary is formed and shaped by the people and things we pay attention to. The categories we use to understand the world are given to us by our daily influences. Whether we think about it or not, our minds, wills and souls are shaped on a daily basis by what we chose to listen to.

I still remember a friend in the Fourth Grade who cussed like a drunken sailor. Back then it was unlikely he was watching TV shows that sounded like that, but he was getting his vocabulary from somewhere. And I doubt he came out of the womb with a blue vocabulary. By the time he was 10 years old, his view on reality was already formed and shaped by his influences. He already had a view of women, teachers, authority, men, and life in general, and it was all deeply malformed and dysfunctional.

The Psalmist saw the dangers of our influences, and prayed powerfully for his attention to be drawn to other, more healthy sources. In Psalm 119:33-40 he prays things like, “Lead me in the path of your commandments…Incline my heart to your testimonies…Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things.” And why does the Psalmist want this? He knows God will give him, “life in your ways…for your rules are good…in your righteousness give me life.”

We can chose to let the corrupt and rebellious things of this world to shape us into who we will become, or we can allow the words and truth of God to make us like his Son, Jesus Christ. In this decision, there is goodness, righteousness and life. This is a powerful argument for reading and memorizing Scripture, praying, being an active part of the Body of Christ, and for engaging in the spiritual disciplines. As we do these kinds of things, we obey the voice from heaven.

Listen to Him.

You Feed Them: Mark 6:30-44

2008-01-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Mark 6:35-44

The conversations between Jesus and his disciples are often very revealing. To my benefit, the disciples are far from perfect, but always honest. To my greater benefit, Jesus is ready to take the disciples by the hand and help them understand.

Imagine the scene of Mark 6. Thousands of people—a crowd larger than any of the surrounding towns—has been listening to Jesus teach all day long. It is getting late and they need to eat. The disciples suggest that Jesus break class and let them find their way to food. It is a terrifically practical solution. The disciples are to be praised for thinking of other people ahead of themselves. One is hard pressed to find something wrong with it.

So Jesus says, “You feed them.”

The disciples respond, “You can’t be serious.” Jesus clarifies, “Oh yes, I am.”

Those may not be the exact words, but it is the tone of the conversation. In the face of their sincere practicality, Jesus asks the disciples to do something seemingly impossible. They see with one pair of eyes and one way of understanding, and Jesus is ready to change all that. When Jesus tells the disciples to feed the crowd, his theology comes into direct conflict with their practicality.

To demonstrate what he is after, Jesus asks for a really interesting thing. The disciples made it clear that they don’t have the resources to accomplish such a daunting task—it would take a year’s wages. Jesus asks them to bring him what they do have.

All they can scrape together is a meager five loaves of bread and two small fish. The situation is getting ridiculous. They are no closer to feeing the people than when this all started. Then they give the bread to Jesus.

Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and broke it, and broke it. Not only did everyone get something to eat, everyone was completely filled and there were twelve baskets left over. There were not piles and piles of bread and fish left over, there was just enough for each imminently practical disciple to be left carrying a basket full of impossibility.

There is more power in our simple, humble gifts in the hands of Jesus than there is in a full year’s wages. There is more power in whatever meager thing I have to give Jesus than in all the sincere and good deeds I could muster through a productive and lengthy life. The catch is, I need to give whatever it is I have to Jesus.

Jesus does not ask me for what I do not have. Jesus does not ask me to become someone I am not before divine and meaningful things can happen. Jesus asks me for whatever it is in my hand to give him. It may even just be my brokenness, but He asks for it.

Give it to him. Then let him do with it what only he can do.

Teaching and Divine Authority: Mark 1:21-28

2007-12-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Mark 1:21-28

When we think of divine authority, what kinds of images pop into our minds? If you are anything like me, you think of healings, exorcisms and other amazing things. And to be sure, the divine authority Jesus displayed included plenty of those, but Mark introduces us to the concept of divine authority in this story about Jesus worshiping in the synagogue.

These next few verses present us with a literal “day in the life” of Jesus and the disciples. Mark tells us that the first thing he does on this day (“immediately”) is go to synagogue. Over and over we will find Jesus sitting with the collection of common people worshiping their God with them in their house of worship. Though he has come as their Messiah and the completion of their hopes and desires, he never disparages their worship. In reality, he is an active part of it. I love this little fact—Jesus went to church.

When Jesus begins to teach, the people quickly learn that his teaching is different in kind from the teaching they are accustomed to. And they are used to teaching. Every week their Rabbis and scribes would open the Scriptures and teach the people. This week, Jesus does the same and the people know something different is happening. Before we get to any of the spectacular stuff, Jesus teaches the people and they recognize the divine authority contained in what he is saying.

Mark’s first example of divine authority is the accurate and faithful exposition of Scripture. And for a book that contains the smallest amount of actual teaching, the act of teaching carries enormous weight. In 2:2, before the paralytic is healed, Jesus is teaching the people. In 2:13, before he calls Levi, he is found teaching. In 6:2, Jesus is rejected by his hometown because of his teaching. Then, when they run him out, he goes through the surrounding villages teaching. And so the story goes in Mark. Almost every time, the act of miracle working is set up by the teaching. Divine authority begins with the divine Word of God.

The next event in the story is what we may typically consider an expression of divine authority. Jesus frees a man of his demonic possession. The coming of the Kingdom of God comes with radical freedom and the power of God to do things these people had never seen done before. In fact, when they see the man freed of the demonic spirit, they exclaim:

“What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” (vs. 27)

Jesus received exactly the reaction he intended. The people heard the teaching of the Kingdom of God and beheld a miracle and their response was shock at the power in the teaching. Instead of creating a group of people who see only the wild and follow only a miracle worker, Jesus properly prepared their hearts and minds by teaching them first.

Where does divine authority—the power of God—begin in my life? It begins with the Scriptures and the life transforming truths of the Kingdom of God. Then, when God reaches down and the miraculous happens, we know exactly where to give the glory.

Christ Calls, Equips, and Provides: Mark 6:7-13

2007-11-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Mark 6:7-13

This section in Mark’s Gospel signifies a turning point for Jesus and his disciples. Up to this point, Jesus has been doing and teaching, and they have been following and watching. From this point on, however, Jesus begins to give more responsibility and authority to his disciples. As Jesus commissions them, there are several lessons we can learn about what it means to be his disciples.

First of all, Jesus sent them with his authority to do the work he had already been doing. Jesus gave them “authority over unclean spirits” and they “proclaimed that people should repent” (vs. 7, 13). When we live as disciples of Christ, we do not do it in our own power or ability; we do it as people given the power, wisdom, and work of Christ. We do not end our days by bringing to Jesus our work’s accomplishments for praise and reward. Instead, we begin each day sent out by him to do the work he would be doing if he were living our lives with his power and wisdom.

This implies something else. I cannot imagine I am an effective follower of Jesus Christ if I am not close enough to him to see what he does. I cannot pretend to follow a man I do not know. How I am doing with my time in God’s Word, my time in prayer, the development of spiritual disciplines in my life, will tell me how well I am doing the deeds and speaking the words of Christ.

Secondly, this commissioning gives us insight into what Jesus wants to do with me before I am perfect. If we were to go back through Mark’s Gospel and list the accomplishments of the disciples so far, the list would look something like: they tried to coerce Jesus, they showed a lack of faith in Jesus, they rebuked Jesus, they misunderstood Jesus. I don’t want to paint too grim a picture, but their achievements to date are not all that impressive.

Discipleship is not primarily about my strengths and gifts, but about Christ calling and equipping his followers. The disciples were far from perfect, but the one thing they really did well was follow Jesus. As a result, they were given the responsibility to extend Christ’s ministry through his empowerment long before they became saints.

And third, there are times in life when God ordains it such that the minimum of worldly goods results in the maximum amount of faith. Jesus sent the disciples off with the shirts on their back, their shoes, and staff—no food, no money for food, and no lodging preparations. This means that every step of their journey required absolute trust in Christ. Every meal they ate was a gift from God. Every night with a roof over their head was a gift from God.

When we find ourselves in these seasons of life they may be difficult, but they can be profound. One of the day-to-day roadblocks to trust in God is our trust in everything else we have. We tend to not put faith in Christ because we haven’t yet run out of our other options.

Christ not only called and equipped you, he has already provided for you as well.

Now, Go And Do Likewise: Mark 6:6b

2007-11-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

Mark 6:6b

From time to time, the Gospel writers give us insight into Christ’s priorities that come and go so quickly, we are likely not to notice them at all. After Christ is forced out of his hometown of Nazareth, Mark simply tells us that he “went about among the villages teaching.” (See also Matt. 9:35, Mark 6:56, Luke 8:1, Luke 9:6, Luke 13:22.)

Nazareth, we have discovered, was a very small town. The fact that Jesus was born there is the only reason its name was not lost in the dust of history. The reputations of the surrounding tiny country villages were not so lucky--we don’t know their names or locations. What we do know is that Jesus spent time traveling to several of them and teaching the Kingdom of God.

With his disciples in tow, Jesus did in these social nooks and crannies what he did on the seashore of Galilee when thousands of people were watching. When Jesus was crushed by the crowd in Capernum, he taught in their synagogue and performed miracles. When he was with a small group of people in Nazareth and the surrounding countryside, he taught and performed miracles.

Very few of us will ever have a national or international reputation. Very few of us will ever speak to or influence thousands of people on a regular basis. Every one of us, however, does live life as a disciple of Christ among the small circles of our family, our coworkers and our friends. If we add up the number of people we will genuinely influence, that number will be relatively small.

But, according to what Jesus taught his disciples as he lead them from one backwater town to another, he considers that genuine ministry. Jesus spent real time with small groups of people, and he did it with the same program and sincerity he used when surrounded by the crowds. Everyone deserves to hear the truth of the Kingdom of God, and if the news is spread a couple of dozen people at a time, then so be it.

Part of what strikes me as so important in this passage is that it is here, far away from the crowd that Jesus decided to first commission his disciples. Just a few days earlier, they were speaking to and ministering to vast crowds of people who would have followed Jesus wherever they could find him. Jesus could have, at the end of one of those days, turned to his motivated and thrilled disciples and said, “Now, go and do likewise.” Who would not want to answer that call!

Instead of that scene, imagine the disciples frustrated and confused after Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth and a little road-weary from the country village tour. Without the fanfare of the multitude or the exhilaration of mass healings, Jesus turns to his disciples and says, “Now, go and do likewise.”

What is important to me as a disciple? Am I looking for influence on a mass scale or recognition from as many people as possible? Or am I convinced that every soul needs to see and hear the good news of Jesus Christ, and that that usually takes place without much publicity? It was important to Jesus. It needs to be important to his disciples.

To Be Called By Christ: Mark 1:16-20

2007-09-11T10:16:00.000-06:00

Mark 1:16-20

If you lived along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee in the first century chances are you were a devout follower of the God of the Old Testament. Nearly every town, from the important commercial locals like Capernaum to the small hamlets like Bethsaida, had a Synagogue and was accustomed to Rabbis who regularly and faithfully read and taught the Word of God. In fact, you were probably literate. So important was the reading and understanding of the Torah that the Synagogues taught every child how to read, and, up to a point, interpret and understand the books of Moses.

If you showed special aptitude, you were able to continue you schooling with the Rabbis. And at a certain point, if you had the ability and the drive, you were able to leave your family’s trade and study to become a disciple of a Rabbi and finally, a Rabbi yourself. It was an honorable and respected calling, but very few had the ability to follow the schooling that far.

When we are introduced to Christ’s first disciples, we do not meet them in the local graduate program at the feet of the Rabbis. We discover them tending to their nets in the family business. The system of Rabbinical education had turned these guys back to their nets. There was nothing necessarily wrong with any of them, they just were not up to the task of being disciples.

Unless the teacher was Jesus. What does it mean to be called by Jesus to be his disciple?

First of all, it means Jesus initiates the call. The standard path involved young would-be disciples striving and memorizing massive amounts of Scripture to show themselves approved and able to be disciples of the best Rabbis. The only qualification Jesus’ disciples seem to have is his desire for them to be disciples. Any achievement tied to following Christ is subsequent to the call—it is not their achievement that draws Christ to them, it is Christ’s call that draws them into the depths and wonders of the Kingdom of God.

Secondly (and what naturally follows from the first point), anyone can respond to the call. In fact, at one point, Jesus calls a piece of societal scum to follow him (Mark 2:14). Jesus approaches us as people who do not know how much we really need him. In fact, it is only after we have spent some time with him that we really grasp the depth of our need. Being called by Christ does not mean clear and complete comprehension first in order to receive the approval of our Master. It means we press forward in the Kingdom of God in joyous response and discovery because of the unmerited favor Christ showed us by calling us.

Third, we are called to a journey. We all learn step by step what it means to follow Christ, and we learn it together. Jesus did not call a group of isolationist ascetics who would live alone in silent contemplation. These fishermen, tax collectors and merchants would spend the next several years with Christ day and night, and then years more with each other and another generation of disciples.

Jesus did not call a group of followers who already knew what it meant to accurately follow him. Jesus called people to be disciples and discover what it means to reflect him moment by moment, failure by failure, victory by victory.

Jesus is Always Good News

2007-08-02T15:00:00.000-06:00

Mark 1:14-15

Very quickly we find ourselves at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Mark’s Gospel. Mark didn’t take long to lay his groundwork and get into the core of the Message itself, and because there are few long teachings in Mark, this moment is crucial.

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee…” (vs. 14)

The word Mark uses for “arrested” here is not technically the word for arrest, but clearly carries that connotation. In fact, Mark and the rest of the New Testament uses this phrasing several times to refer to believers being “handed over” to authorities to be persecuted and put into prison. In Mark 13:9-12, Jesus forewarns his disciples that they will be handed over because of him. In Acts 8:3, the phrase describes the actions of the great early persecutor, and in Acts 12:4 the apostle James is martyred and Peter is handed over to be put into prison. In addition, Jesus uses this concept of himself and his journey to the cross. In Mark 9:31 he says he will be handed over to the rulers to be crucified, and in Mark 15:15, when his final betrayal is described, Mark says Jesus was “handed over.”

John the Baptist does not just prepare the way for Jesus, he foreshadows Jesus’ life and what will become of the disciples as well. In this way, John is the first to show us what it means to be a disciple. Mark’s readers are Christians who are suffering acute persecution, and many have seen their friend and relatives “handed over” to the Roman authorities to be persecuted and killed for their faith. We often wonder why God’s children suffer, and Mark’s readers are surely asking the same difficult and heart-wrenching questions.

Into this very specific moment of injustice, Christ came preaching the good news of the Gospel:

“Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (vs. 14-15)

The word “gospel” here literally translates as “good news.” John has been taken to prison, Mark’s readers suffer under acute persecution, and we often feel bits and pieces of their pain and anguish. And yet, at precisely that moment, Mark tells us Jesus is good news.

Jesus Christ transcends my circumstances. Jesus is good news when life is rich and full of joy, and Jesus is good news when peace is a million miles away. My relationship with Jesus is primary to my circumstances. It is not my current situation that gives meaning to my relationship with Jesus; it is the relationship that gives meaning and hope to my circumstances. The richness and depth in my relationship with Christ does not flow from my state of affairs; it is something that provides grounding and stability in all conditions.
Jesus told me to “seek first the kingdom of God,” and then everything will “be added” to me. Paul told me that the peace Jesus provides “passes all understanding.” And Paul showed me what it meant to say, “I have learned in whatever circumstance to be content.”

May Christ enter your life speaking the good news of God.

John, Jesus, and the Wilderness: Mark 1

2007-07-16T13:56:00.000-06:00

Mark 1:4-13

The wilderness breaks people. Over and over in the Old Testament, the wilderness is symbolic of those times when God’s people were at their lowest or where their relationship with God suffered its greatest blow. When Elijah reached the depths of his own depression and anxiety about his future, he put himself out to pasture – he goes to the wilderness to die. Over and over the prophets and psalmists warn God’s people against doing what their forefathers did when they rebelled in the wilderness. And the ultimate example of this theme: after their consistent rebellion during the exodus, God turned his people back into the wilderness until an entire generation was dead and gone. God’s people struggle in the wilderness, they rebel in the wilderness, they die in the wilderness.

But then there came a voice. This one came crying from the wilderness saying the Messiah was on his way. This voice – the voice of John the Baptist - set up his ministry in the middle of the wilderness. What this voice did was baptize people for the cleansing of their sins. And what is more, “All the country of Judah and Jerusalem” went out to the wilderness to be baptized (Mark 1:5).

John’s baptism was unique in its day. Instead of a baptism of initiation into a religion, it was a baptism of repentance for those who already belonged. John’s baptism is a baptism of discipleship. It is powerfully symbolic that John the Baptist drew God’s people out to the wilderness – the location of their greatest failure and rebellion – to be forgiven of their sins and have their hearts and minds turned back to God. The repentance is not just symbolic, it is obvious. John’s sermon was clear, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).

During this brief story of Mark’s, the scene turns from the masses lined up east of the Jordan to a single man. Jesus traveled to the wilderness to be baptized by John. Why was Jesus baptized? Even John knew who needed to baptize whom, but Jesus persisted (Matt. 3:14-15). Jesus obviously did not need to repent and turn back to God like the masses did, but he was baptized just like they were.

I think the bottom line is that Jesus was baptized because I need to be. He was baptized not for his sin but mine, not for his impending judgment, but mine. Even when I turn my heart and mind back to God, I will, soon enough, fail and need to be “baptized” again. Jesus has no such weaknesses and was baptized once and for all for my sins.

At his baptism, the Spirit of God descends and rests “in” Jesus and God’s voice completes the circle of Trinitarian activity. Those witnessing this event know God is fully and completely present in this Jesus. And then an interesting move. Instead of sending Jesus into Judah with the masses in tow, the Spirit has a different task for the Messiah.

“The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” (vs. 12)

The same Spirit that was part of the beauty and glory of the baptism is the driving force behind his forty days in the wilderness.

Mark wants us to know something about what is happening now that Jesus is here. John the Baptist came in the wilderness baptizing people for the cleansing of their sins, but even John knew it was just a washing of the outside. Then the Messiah is himself baptized in the wilderness, and driven even further into the desert to be tempted by the enemy – and ultimately, to defeat him. Jesus exited the wilderness victorious.

That thing that overwhelms me 100% of the time, that nature that is constantly at my side separating me from my God, has been defeated by the Messiah. In Christ, the wilderness no longer needs to break me.

Mark: Jesus - Servant, Savior, Sovereign

2007-06-25T10:45:00.000-06:00

Mark

The verse that is almost universally acknowledged to be a kind of thematic capsule of Mark’s Gospel is 10:45:

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

If you read through the first nine chapters and came across this verse, you would not be surprised. Mark is a Gospel of action—the action of the Son of God among God’s people. Mark does not portray Christ through several long teachings, but through his action. There are parables in Mark, but they are all short. By the time the reader is settled into the first chapter, Mark is already into the life and deeds of Jesus. The word “immediately” shows up more than 40 times in this short Gospel. And though it is significantly shorter than every other Gospel, Mark records more miracles.

It is true - Mark wants us to know that God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, came to serve.

Jesus Christ also came to give his life so that we might live. As The Message puts it, Jesus came, “to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” A full half of the Gospel is dedicated to Jesus’ journey to the cross. In the middle of chapter 8, Jesus begins to make his way to Jerusalem in the last physical journey he will take with his disciples. Mark devotes a great deal of time and space revealing to us how Christ walked to the cross, and what it means to follow him there.

When we picture Roman persecution of Christians, the images we conjure up are typically dominated by mass arrests and innocent families in the Coliseum preparing to meet the wild beasts. Those images represent a small fraction of the actual persecutions of the early church, but Mark writes to the Christians who do represent that persecution. Nero burned Rome to the ground, and in an effort to curry favor with the angry masses, turned their hatred on a common enemy, the despised and misunderstood Christians. During this persecution the Christians who were not driven into the catacombs were arrested in droves and tortured to turn in their fellow believers. As the Roman historian Tacitus put it, “their deaths were made farcical.” They were dressed in animal skins and torn to pieces by wild beasts; they were crucified; they were turned into torches to light Nero’s garden by night.

Jesus not only came to serve, he came to be the Suffering Servant. Jesus willingly walked into Jerusalem toward the cross so that in this life and the next we might live.

There is one more element that is crucial to the purpose of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus is not only the Suffering Servant, he is sovereign. Jesus is never out of control of events and their consequences. The Son of Man has power over sickness, disease and death, and the cross does not take him by surprise.

The cross is not a moment of failure for Jesus, but the defining event of his sovereignty. Even that level of hatred and suffering does not diminish the power of a savior who came to serve and give his life so that I might live.