The Forgive Is Divine

There is well known Norman Rockwell painting of Ruby Bridges, the six year old who integrated New Orleans schools in 1960. Her contribution to history was an important one, but it was not an easy one for either her or her family. Every morning, an angry mob shouted threats and ethnic slurs. She was escorted to and from school each day by federal marshals, and she was the only black student in the entire school. Robert Coles, a young psychiatrist, worked with her for that entire school year, and he later wrote a Pulitzer-prize winning book.

Cole found that it was the faith of Ruby and her family that allowed them to deal with this difficult situation. That faith was seen one day when a crowd followed Ruby to school, screaming at her the whole way. She suddenly stopped and said something that so agitated the mob that the marshals had to draw their guns to calm things. Coles said that that Ruby had prayed for those people. She explained that she prayed for them everyday, but she had forgotten on that day. Ruby’s prayer that angered a mob and pleased God was, “Please God, try to forgive these people because they don’t know what they are doing.”

Alexander Pope said, “To err is human, to forgive divine.” When we see forgiveness like that of little Ruby, we can know it is a reflection of divine forgiveness of God. Humans can learn to forgive, but only because God is the God who forgives. In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories that speak of God’s forgiveness. The Pharisees are shocked that Jesus would welcome sinners. Jesus’ response is simply that welcoming sinners is what God is all about. The point of the parables of the lost sheep, coin and boy (prodigal son) are really the same—God rejoices when the lost are found. God is a God who majors in forgiveness.

Want to be like God? Forgive someone. Forgiveness truly is divine.

Best Seat in the House

A couple of years ago, I took Lynn to a Casting Crowns concert at Norfolk Scope. It was her birthday, and I wanted to do something a little bit special—so I spent $20 a ticket extra for special seating. Where do you think that seating was? Right up front. People pay a lot more extra money (so I’ve been told) and sit in a special place on an airplane. Where is this special “first class” seating? Right up front. When we went to see Kati in the Tabb school play, we made sure she got us tickets in advance. Where? Right down front. So why is it that so many people seem to think that at church, the best seats are always on the BACK row. I don’t get it. It's just wrong!

In our Bible reading from Luke 14, Jesus has some things to say about the seats we choose. No, He doesn’t actually say that we should sit down front in church and save the back for late-comers and people with small children. Or maybe that is exactly what He is saying. The place of honor at banquets was always next to the host. The guest of honor would be seated right next to the host, and the seating for the rest of the guests would fan out from there. When you showed up for a banquet, the seat that you chose said something about how important you think you were. Jesus noticed that the people at the banquet were fighting over all the best seats, and he saw that as a teachable moment—

When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. (Luke 14:8-10)

Jesus says to show deference to others. Take the worst seat, and let the host move you to a better one if that is necessary. Don’t emphasize yourself; don’t dwell on your own importance. Don’t make personal choices based upon inflated views of self-importance. Remember that “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”(Luke 14:11).

Of course, none of this applies to us because we don’t have this silly tradition about ranking people in importance based on seating charts (unless you go to $1000-a-plate political fundraisers). But maybe there are some related “seating” issues that might apply to our choices today—

• But where do you sit at church potlucks—with your friends or with people who seem to need company and encouragement?
  
  
• What church events do you find yourself seated in— only the ones that will benefit you or ones where your presence will encourage and benefit others?
  
  
• Do you always sit in the same seat at church (in the back) or do you move around to fill in where you are needed or to be around new people to meet and greet and make welcome?

Maybe the place where we sit shows more about how hung up we are on ourselves than we think. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”(Luke 14:11).

Are You Ready For That Day to Come?

I remember hearing of a church that had a sign posted in their foyer beside the auditorium doors that read, “No one will be admitted after the service has begun; late-comers will be seated in the nursery.” Evidently it was very important at that church to be on time! We could have the same policy here at Denbigh… as long as the nursery was several times larger than the auditorium! Getting here on time is not a huge priority here. Sometimes I wish people were more punctual, but then there are a lot more things we need to work on more in our lives that getting to church on time!

Being punctual isn’t a big deal in the Bible; being ready is a very big deal. Jesus is constantly telling us that “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matt 24:44). We have to “keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matt 24:42). That is then point of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25. And that is the point of our reading today from Luke 12:35–40

Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

This sounds like the parable of the ten virgin in Matthew 25. Instead of bridesmaids ready for their part in a wedding processional that has been delayed, here it is a master coming home late from a banquet. The servants don’t know when he will get there, but they will be blessed if they are awake and alert and ready to let him into the house. He will be in good spirits with plenty of leftovers to serve them if they are ready to serve him. Just like thieves don’t announce their coming in advance, they master won’t announce his coming in advance. So the only way to be ready for the master’s arrival is to be watchful and stay ready all the time.

The apostles don’t get it. We know that because Peter goes all Robert DeNiro here, “You talkin’ to me?” (See Luke 12:41). He wants to know whether the warning Jesus gives about being ready applies to the disciples or is it for the general public. Jesus answers by telling another parable that basically says the same thing—you don’t know when the master is coming so stay ready for him all the time (12:42-46).

We know that we don’t know when Jesus is returning. And we know that we don’t know when we are going to die. The 1000+ victims of the earthquake in China this week shared one thing in common with the 200,000 killed in the Haiti earthquake—they did not expect that they were going to die. We know that the only life we are guaranteed is what we are living right now at the present; that could be taken away at any instant. And then its Hebrews 9:27, “Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.”

So if we know all that… why do we live like we have ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD? We don’t. One day we’ll wake up to our last day, and we’ll likely still think that we have all the time in the world. If we are going to be ready when our master comes, we’d better be ready right now. What would you do if you thought Jesus was coming today? Why not go and do it?

Sons of Thunder

In today’s reading we have the strange little story of the Samaritan opposition to Jesus (Luke 9:51-55). Generally in the gospels, the Samaritans come across as good guys. How much “gooder” can you get than the “Good Samaritan?” But somehow, these Samaritans didn't get the memo and they refuse to roll out the red carpet to Jesus.

The Samaritans and the Jews were enemies. As is often the case, their religious differences blended with their ancient land hostilities to the point where these two groups pf people simply detested each other. And this story reminds us that the hatred ran both ways; all Samaritans were not good Samaritans. Here a Samaritan village refuses to receive Jesus because he has “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (v. 51). They in effect said to Jesus, “If you are going THERE, then you aren’t welcome HERE!” The guy on the road to Jericho was lucky that these weren't the Samaritans who found him beaten up by thieves!

Just to show that they were much more mature spiritually, James and John volunteered to call down fire from heaven to destroy these pertinent Samaritans. Jesus had told thm earlier in the chapter that if people refused to welcome them, they were to “shake the dust off your feet” (v. 4). Evidently, that wasn't dramatic enough, so the “Sons of Thunder” volunteered to go all Elijah on them and call down fire from heaven. Why this response? One has to suspect that their sudden zeal had as much to do with the fact that these were Samaritans (whom they didn't like) that were dissing Jerusalem (which they did like) as much as rejection of Jesus (which they should have been used to by now). They never offered to call down fire on the Pharisees, did they? They hated the Samaritans already, so it was easy to judge their sin.

Here’s a question for you. Why are many (most?) Christians ready to call down fire from heaven to condemn homosexuality as sin and homosexuals as sinners? Is it because the holiness of the Lord burns within us? If so, then why aren't we just as ready to call down fire on other sins? I wonder why we don’t go after sins like greed (which is as idolatry), lying (remember Rev. 21:8) and divorce (which God says he HATES)? Why do Christians seem to hate homosexuality while sometimes giving a free pass to sins that are actually condemned MORE OFTEN in the Bible? Simple. We hate homosexuality anyway. We do. It’s gross. It’s unnatural. It’s a perversion. We harshly condemn it for the same reason James and John were ready to call down fire on the Samaritan village. We hate it anyway!

Please. PLEASE don’t read this as “Gay is OK” article. It’s not. Homosexuality is gross, unnatural and a perversion... just like greed, lying and divorce. All sin is a gross, unnatural perversion of God’s holy will and what He created us to be. My point is not that we should learn to tolerate homosexuality MORE. My point is that we should learn to tolerate greed, lying and divorce LESS. Jesus rebuked James and John and their willingness to judge the Samaritans. He will rebuke us and our inconsistencies over where we demand holiness and where we tolerate unholiness. Maybe we need to spend less time looking at the culture and more time looking in the mirror.

How Resolute Are We?

OK, it's been awhile since I've blogged. Lynn and I spent a week in a place so backward that there was no wireless internet available. OK, we spent a week on the beach in Aruba, and I must admit I did not think of the blog the whole time! But now its back to the old grind.

Our reading today is from Luke 9, and Luke really does fill this chapter with some very significant stories. Jesus sends out the Twelve on the limited commission, feeds the five thousand, is confessed as the “The Christ of God” and casts a demon out of a boy. This was definitely not a slow news day! Oh yeah, Jesus was also transfigured into a spiritual form and sets out on His last trip.

I remember being taught the story of the Transfiguration on a flannelgraph (if you don't know what that is then I'm not going to tell you). I've taught and read this story enough to where it seems like an old story. But think about it-- Jesus is walking along with Peter, James and John, and then POW! His appearance changes to where he is as bright as a flash of lightening. And then POW! Moses and Elijah appear with him... although we’re not told just how Peter, James and John KNOW that these visages were Moses and Elijah. Maybe they had "My Name Is..." badges?

This is really some story! Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus. And they don't just appear-- they discuss with Jesus “his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” (9:31). The apostles will have a really hard time understanding the coming cross (see 9:22, 9:44-45), so Jesus discusses it here with Moses and Elijah! Jesus knows where He is going and He really needs to talk about it with someone who understands!

And then there is the last trip (9:51). Like the confession of Jesus, this verse marks a critical turning point in Luke's telling of the story of Jesus. While John makes it clear that Jesus made several different trips to Jerusalem, Luke telescopes all of them into one trip. He organizes his material in such a way that Jesus makes the conscious decision to go to Jerusalem to "resolutely set out" for Jerusalem where he will go to the cross. Most of the action and teaching in Luke takes place during this intentional trip from Galilee to Jerusalem... and the cross.

Jesus knew where he was going. His life had a purpose, and every decision that he made contributed to that overall purpose. He resolutely set out to accomplish the will of the Father, and he would not be distracted from that course.

So what is the purpose of our life? Do we really understand that we were made for God's glory? Is that not what God is telling us through Isaiah—

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. (Isaiah 43:6-7)

I was made for God’s glory. So were you. The reason we exist is to glorify God. Jesus knew that the reason he was on earth was to glorify God, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” (John 17:44). He was able to do that because he knew his purpose and resolutely set out to accomplish it. How resolute are we?

The Resurrection Changes Everything

Following the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples were huddled together behind locked doors (John 20:19). They had fled in fear when Jesus was arrested; now in fear, they hid after His death. It wasn't that Jesus had not prepared them for the cross, but they did not understand Him... or didn't believe Him. Even when the women ran to tell the apostles that the tomb was empty and an angel told them that Jesus was alive, they dismissed the idea as utter nonsense (Luke 24:11). And so the disciples cowered in their locked room, waiting for something to happen.

Well, something happened. It wasn't long before the same apostles are standing without fear before the Sanhedrin council, looking the Jewish high court in the eye and saying, "You can kill us if you want, but we cannot stop telling the world about Jesus!" The Sanhedrin was astonished by the courage and the power of these ordinary and unlearned men, until they took note that these men had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

Well, it wasn’t simply they had been with Jesus. They had been with Jesus when he was arrested, and they scattered. Peter had been with Jesus the very day that he denied that he even knew Him. But what changed as they stood boldly before the Jewish high council was that had been with the resurrected Jesus. The resurrection changed everything. Something happens when you come to know one who has conquered the grave. The resurrection of Jesus Christ changed the apostles to the very fiber of their being. From that point, the resurrection, as well as the cross, becomes the very centerpiece of their preaching (Acts 2:22-23). For Peter, James and John and the rest, the resurrection simply changed everything. Max Lucado puts it like this--

Something happens to a man when he stands within inches of the Judean Lion. Something happens when he hears the roar, when he touches the golden main. Something happens when he gets so close that he can feel the Lion's breath. Perhaps we could all use a return visit. Maybe we all need to witness the majesty and sign at His victory.

The resurrection changes everything. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity and there is no hope (1 Cor. 15:19). With the resurrection, we experience the power of God in our lives that makes everything new. The same power that raised Jesus raises us (Romans 6:3-4). Like the apostles, once we truly experience the resurrected Lord, then nothing is the same. Once the resurrection for us becomes a personal event, once we raise with Christ, then everything becomes new.

The Temptation of Jesus

I’ve always had a little bit of a problem with the tory of Jesus’ temptation (our reading today from Luke 4). Intellectually, I think I understand the temptations and why they would be tempting—

• Jesus is tempted to turn stones into bread at the suggestion of Satan. After all, he hadn’t eaten in over a month and (Luke assures us) he was hungry. But he was fasting, and he wasn’t going to break his fast because Satan suggested it.
  
  
• Jesus is tempted to bypass the cross and go straight to the throne of the world. I imagine that Satan can offer the kingdoms of the world because he controls those who control them, but Jesus isn’t going to worship Satan, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”
  
  
• Jesus is tempted jump off the Temple and have God preserve him, thus showing to all in a dramatic way that he is the Messiah. Jesus doesn’t fall for that—he’s going to do more dramatic miracles (like raising the dead) and people still won’t acknowledge his identity.

I get the temptations. I see how they would be tempting to Jesus. What I don’t get is how Luke presents this confrontation—and I’m not talking about the fact that he has them in different order than does Matthew. What bothers me is the complete lack of drama in the story. We would assume this would be a clash of titans as the Holy One and Evil one go at it toe to toe. But there is no drama-- Satan tempts and Jesus resists. There is no struggle to do the right thing; there is no pause or consideration of the wrong thing. Jesus simply says, “No” and Satan moves on. Later, Luke presents Jesus agonizing in Gethsemane as he faces the coming cross. But there is no struggle here, no pause to consider—Jesus resists and Satan leaves. End of story.

Did Jesus really have such an easy time resisting temptation? Did he never have to count to 10 before making the right choice? Did he ever chuckle to himself while he waiting for his temper to cool so he could say or do what he should rather than what he wanted? Did Jesus ever seriously WANT to do the wrong thing before he does the right thing?

Luke specifically says that Jesus was “tempted” by the devil. This is the same word used when the Pharisees try to “test” or trap Jesus (Matt 16:1, Matt 19:3, Matt 22:18). It is the word the Hebrews writer uses when he says Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Heb 4:15). It’s the word used by Paul when we feared for the Thessalonians that “the tempter might have tempted you” (1 Thess 3:5). Not only was Jesus was really tempted in the wilderness, we should not think that these were the only temptations there. Luke says, “where for forty days he endured temptations” (Lk 4:2, NET). The NET footnote explains, “Here the present participle suggests a period of forty days of testing. Three samples of the end of the testing are given in the following verses.” Satan didn’t just take three wimpy shots at Jesus and then gave up. These represent only three of the temptations in the desert.

The very next story in Luke is Jesus going home to preach for the first time in his hometown, only to be rejected to the point where they tried to kill him! Satan doesn’t show up in person anymore in Luke story until the temptation of Jesus (Lk 22:3), but Jesus constantly deals with his temptations. And he never sins. Not once. And not even his bitterest enemy can accuse him of sin (see John 8:46), Perhaps this is His greatest "miracle" of all!

On Squealing Mics and Screaming Commentators

We had church gremlins in the sound system yesterday. The microphone had a deafening squeal every time I came within an arm’s length of the pulpit... where my notes were. I even tried standing beside the pulpit and glancing backwards over my shoulder at my notes—nope, squeal. Somehow the portable mic, the pulpit, the pulpit mic and who knows what else were causing a feedback conflagration to the point where no one was listening to the sermon and everyone was holding their ears and acting incredibly pained. Come to think of it, that is the way people always act when I’m preaching! So maybe it wasn’t the sound system.

Unfortunately, people were listening when I took a good-natured swipe and Glenn Beck and his dopey comment about leaving your church if the words “social justice” are mentioned anywhere the church website. (Good thing we don’t have a Google search box on our web page!). OK, I admit I’m not a fan of Glenn Beck… or Keith Olberman… or Bill O’Reilly… or Nancy Grace. Or anyone else that’s on TV that you have to pay for. The one good thing about having free over-the-air TV (besides saving $80 a month) is not having 24-hour a day news TV. (Of course, I also don’t have ESPN, but that’s another cross-eyed bear).

I think 24-hour news is about 23-and-a-half hours too much. Not that much important stuff happens in a day; to fill up 24-hours you have to have a lot of commentary and commentators. Bring back the good ol’ days where Walter Cronkite could tell us “that’s the way it was” in 30 minutes. And if you missed it, you had to wait until 11:00. And then at 11:30, Johnny Carson would make fun of the way it was.

There’s another reason I’m not a fan of Glenn Beck… or Keith Olberman… or Bill O’Reilly… or Nancy Grace. I don’t like to be YELLED AT. I don’t like people interrupted by the host YELLING at his guests before they say 10 words. I don’t like people calling people they disagree with names (what idiots) or impugning the motives of others (it’s a communist plot). There seems to be a complete lack of common courtesy or civility when dealing with issues.

That’s why I was drawn to an article in the news today on the “Civility Covenant” signed by Christians leaders from both the left and right. This “Civility Covenant’ is simply a pledge by Christian, despite their differences in theology and politics to “put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

I thought that sounded refreshing-- Christians taking the lead in showing civility to one another even in areas where we disagree. Of course, then I read the quote where Chuck Colson said that this document apply to Glenn Beck and that whole thing because “we're talking about the conversation in the family of believers ... Glenn Beck is a Mormon.” O good grief. Back to the shouting!

When Wait Means Wait

How many times does this happen in the life of a parent and child. The child decides that he or she has to have something (usually in the check-out line at the store). The child asks and the parent says know. So the child asks again with renewed vigor and emphasis, “Please, please, please.” What the parent wants at that moment is peace, so their answer becomes, “Maybe later. We’ll see.” What does the children HEAR 9-times-out-of-10? “Yes.” What does the parent mean 9-times-out-of-10 ? No. The parent’s “maybe” can feel like either “yes” or “no.”

That is the problem we have when dealing with faith and prayer. We ask God for something—over and over and over. The desired answer doesn’t come, and we assume that God has said “No.” Well, He may have said “Wait… until you’re ready” or even “Wait… I have something even better down the line.” The problem is that “Wait” feels exactly like “No.”

Consider the example of Zechariah and Elizabeth in today’s reading from Luke 1. Here are people who “served God blamelessly” (v. 6) That is pretty good! The problem was that Zechariah and Elizabeth had no children in a culture in which childlessness was seen as a “disgrace” (v. 25). They had been praying for children, but God had told them “No.” But wait, God hadn’t told them “No” at all—he had told them to wait. But to them, God’s “Wait” felt just like “No.” But God had plans for Zechariah and Elizabeth; their long wait was for a purpose, a purpose they didn’t know about or understand. Their prayers were answered at the proper time… after God’s “Wait.” Elizabeth would hold the baby John in her arms and pay her pediatrician with her social security check.

It’s hard for us to wait upon the Lord (Isa 40:31). We get weary of waiting; we start to think that God has forgotten. His silence FEELS to us like He has completely forgotten us. “Wait” feels like “No.” Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, we can’t see or understand the purposes of God or how He is working in our lives. We live life from in the middle of the middle, and we can’t see the ending. We can’t know all of God’s purposes for us and in us, and so we just have to wait on Him. Some things can’t be rushed—can’t crack egg to rush a baby chick or peel a cocoon to hurry up the butterfly. You have to wait. We have to wait on God.

Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired. (Isaiah 40:30-31, NET)

The End Is Just the Beginning

You know, it is possible that I spent too much time today on my Bible reading. What I meant is that it is possible that part of today’s New Testament reading wasn't really part of the Bible. Now, this may be shocking of you are reading exclusively from the KJV. But if you are reading from the NIV, NASB or any newer version, you will see a note in the margin ir a line under the text of verse 8 that says something like—

The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.

The two oldest and best Greek manuscripts don’t include Mark 16:9-20. Church fathers like
Eusebius and Jerome didn’t know the longer ending. Some experts see enough difference in the vocabulary and style of the section to wonder if it was written by the same writer. If you want to read further about this question, see the translation footnote of verse 9 in the NET Bible
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Mar&chapter=16&verse=9#).

I think that's probably right, although I won’t argue with someone who insists that Mark wrote the whole kit-and-caboodle, including the longer ending. Personally, I would just as soon skip all the questions in Bible class about handling snakes and drinking poison, but then that is just me. All the really important stuff is in Matthew, so I’m not sure we are sacrificing anything by admitting that Mark might not have written the longer ending… unless you really like snakes.

The problem we are left with is that Mark, if his book really ends with verse 8, ends very abruptly. I remember pouring hours into an old Atari video game called “Escape from Castle Wolfenstien.” There were endless puzzles to solve and guards to elude, and then finally I escaped and won… and the screen said “You have escaped. You won.” No bells, no whistles. How anticlimactic! And that is sort of the feeling you get if Mark ends, “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid” (Mark 16:8). Maybe Mark, like Luke, was planning on writing a second volume and never got around to it? Come to think of it, Luke ends Acts rather abruptly as well.

Maybe Mark’s ending was sudden and abrupt on purpose. After all, Mark is pretty sudden and abrupt throughout the book. His favorite word is “immediately.” Immediately Jesus did this and immediately He did that until Peter confesses Him as the Christ. Then Jesus immediately predicts his coming death until that is exactly what happens. The angel then announces that Jesus is alive… and then the book ends without much of an ending.

Maybe that is the point. Jesus is alive and now you can write the ending of the story in your response and obedience to Him. Maybe that’s the whole point. It’s not really a question of how Mark ended the story of Jesus’ it’s really about how you will end His story in your life.

We Never Know...Really

Today’s reading from Mark 13 ends, “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'” (Mark 13:35-37). Jesus contrasts the destruction of Jerusalem-- for which there would be signs-- with the end of the world-- which would have no warning signs. (See here for further discussion). The only way that we can be ready for the end of time is to live ready all the time.

There were a couple of sad remembers yesterday of just how true and important is Jesus’ reminder to “Watch.” Stories like this are both impossible (what are the chances) and too common (we read about them all the time).

• A 59 year-old man was driving down the interstate when a 3-foot diameter disk flew through his windshield and killed him. Authorities aren’t sure what this disk was, but there are tire marks that indicate that it was one the highway when hit by another car and thrown into the air. What are the chances?
  
  
• A 39 year-old man was jogging on the beach in Hilton Head, SC enjoying the view and listening to his iPod when a single engine plane crash landed on the beach and struck and killed him. He was doing what you are supposed to so—getting some exercise. He wasn’t running on a busy street but a deserted beach. What are the chances that a plane will just fall out of the sky and kill you?

Our hold on this life is always tenuous at best. We think we have plenty of time because we’ve always have had plenty of time. But one day time will run out—on us and on our world. We may have years or we may have minutes. If we want to be ready at the end, then we need to be ready all the time.

As a General Rule...

Camp Idlewild is in the market to hire one male and one female paid staff worker this summer, and it as my job to put together a paid staff application form to be posted on our website and mailed to area churches. Being a true conservative at heart (meaning I wanted to conserve work), I looked at some other camp application forms to get some ideas. I was a little surprised by the rules for paid staff workers at one Bible camp. Here are some of the rules workers are to follow BEFORE being hired by the camp--

• Regularly attend all the services and special meetings of your church.
• Attend all youth functions of your church.
• Do not listen to “Christian” rock or other forms of improper music.
• Never go to movie theaters.
• Do not watch TV programs.
• High school teens should not have a boyfriend or girlfriend.
• Abide by the all the teachings of the Bible in your personal life.

These are the rules that perspective camp workers must agree to follow BEFORE being hired by the camp. Once camp starts, there is another list that adds to these!

Isn't it interesting that the last rule is "abide by all the teachings of the Bible in your personal life." Wouldn’t that one be enough to make all the other rules unnecessary? And doesn’t that last rule admit that all the other rules are something added to the teachings of the Bible? OK, I know that you need special rules when working with young people at camp. It’s perfectly permissible for Christian teens to own a pocket knife— that is not perfectly OK at camp.

I don’t believe we need to encourage our young people to watch more TV or go to more movies. Personally, I think our kids (and their parents) would be better off if they listened to more Casting Crowns or Mercy Me (or Skillet or TobyMac) rather than the music they listen to now. Having guidelines (rules) for spiritual living are good and necessary… as long as we decide to follow them ourselves (rather than having them imposed from without) and don’t use them to judge the spirituality (or lack thereof) of other people. As we’ve been seeing in the Pharisees in our reading through the gospels, the ability to have rules without abusing rules is not easy… as a general rule.

What God Has Joined

Tony Toto of Allentown, PA., survived several attempts on his life by his wife Frances. Twice she arranged for assailants to beat him over the head with baseball bats. On another occasion, she put a tripwire across the basement stairs so that he fell down a flight of stairs. Finally, she just had him shot. Miraculously he survived each attempt. More miraculously, Tony never really blamed Frances. He visited her in prison each week. When she was paroled, she went back to Tony and they resumed their married life. Tony is quoted as saying, “I don’t understand why people break up over such silly little things.”

I don’t know if they lived happily ever after—no one has heard from ol’ Tony for some time! But many people don’t have such unconditional commitment to their marriage vows. This is especially true for Christians. A survey done by Barna Research Group several years ago (read an article reflecting on the study) suggests that Christians divorce at a rate higher than the national average. In fact, conservative denominations had the highest divorce rates (Independents and Baptists were the highest), much higher than atheists. We can choose to deny, ignore or explain away these numbers, but they do tend to indicate that when it comes to family values, Christians talk better than they walk.

It is pretty easy for us to know how God feels about divorce. He hates it (Mal 2:16). In our reading today (Mark 10:1-10), Jesus makes it plain that divorce was not God’s will for us from the beginning and that it was only permitted because of the stubbornness of human hearts. Jesus command on divorce is clear— “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” There are a lot of questions about the issues of divorce and remarriage that are difficult to answer. We serve a God of grace who reaches out to us in our brokenness. Sometimes the Humpty-Dumpty of our broken relationships cannot be repaired, restored or put back together by all the king’s horses and all the kings counselors. You can’t unscramble eggs. What God does with broken relationships is to redeem them.

There are a lot of hard questions in dealing with the issue of divorce and remarriage. I don’t have all the answers. (Well, I used to have all the answers; now I’m not even sure of all the right questions!). But if we want to know what God thinks about divorce, He’s against it. If it really matters to us what Jesus desires, then that is easy, “What God has joined together, let man not separate.” At some point we decided that God really wants us to be happy (as we define it) more than He wants us to be faithful (as He defines it).

The church must live within the tension of on the one hand preaching and teaching that God hates divorce and while on the other hand ministering God’s grace and forgiveness to those who are divorced. It seems to me that it is hard to do both. It also seems to me that if Christians really do have the same divorce rate as non-Christians as Barna suggests, then we aren’t doing something right!

Perhaps the key marriage text is one that we seldom connection with marriage. It is about a cross and our willingness to place ourselves on the cross with Jesus daily. It is the crucified life that allows us to overcome the selfishness and competitiveness that ultimately undermines marriage. If God is on the throne and we are on the cross, our marriage will be much better than if we insist on keeping his and her thrones.

The Strange Case of the Unknown Exorcist

Our reading for today (Mark 9: 38-41) is one of the strangest stories in Mark's gospel. OK, maybe not as strange as the young man in Mark 14:51-52 who is so intent on running away from the arrest of Jesus that he runs right out of his clothes! What's with that? But this one is pretty curious. We can call this story “The Strange Case of the Unknown Exorcist.”

The apostles had just tried and failed to cast out a demon from a young man (9:17-18). When Jesus joins them, they were arguing with the teachers of the law in front of a large crowd (9:14). Jesus Himself throws out the demon, and no one can argue with that. But the apostles continue to argue, this time over who is greatest. (It seems to me that James the Less was at a disadvantage in this discussion, but we're pretty sure Peter had some things to say!). The timing is interesting; they had failed miserably and now they are arguing over who is the greatest? Jesus tells them that true greatness in the kingdom of God is found in service to others, not in defending one’s status as compared to others. I remember hearing about a guy who was so humble that they awarded him a button that read "World's Humblest Man." He wore it proudly, so they took it away from him. If you are arguing about who is greatest in the kingdom of God, then it isn't you!

So the “The Strange Case of the Unknown Exorcist” is set against the backdrop of the apostles arguing over who is greatest in the kingdom of God. And the story makes more sense in that context--

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. (Mark 9:38–41)

The apostles were outraged because they saw someone casting out demons in Jesus name, and they issued an immediate cease and desist order? Why? Because this guy wasn’t one of them! They didn’t know him, and he wasn’t part of their group. Of course, there might have been a little jealousy here. After all, he was successfully casting out demons right after they had tried to cast out a demon and failed. The very idea! But not only does Jesus not rebuke the unknown exorcist, he rebuked the apostles. People who do the work of God are not against God. Jesus says, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” The fact was that even though the apostles didn’t know this guy, Jesus did. Judas kept the money for Jesus and the apostles (John 12:6); maybe Matthew (the tax guy) kept the books. But the only one who keeps the membership list of the disciples is Jesus Himself!

Many followers of Jesus after the first have thought that it was their job to keeping the membership roll of true disciples. Several years ago, we received a letter from a neighboring church that informed us that their men’s business meeting had voted and had decided that we weren’t a true church. A couple other churches set us letters that informed us that their men’s business meetings agree that we weren’t a true church. And you know what Jesus says, “I tell you that if two of your men’s business meetings agree about anything…” Gallons of ink has been spilt by one group of believers writing up and writing off another group for any number of theological errors and doctrinal missteps, real and imagined. So many Christians have been alienated from one another, and so many seekers have given up their search because self-appointed roll-keepers of the kingdom have strained gnats and swallowed camels, shutting the kingdom of haven in the faces of those who would enter (Matt 23:13).

What do you do when you see someone who is seeking to follow and serve Christ who is not part of your group and who has a different understandings of Biblical teachings that do you? Engage them in honest and open study? Sure. Try to understand why they believe what they believe? Sure. Share what you believe to be the teaching of the Bible? Of course. But even if we can’t come to complete agreement on Bible doctrine and practice, does that mean that I am to write them up and off? Jesus says, “Do not stop him…for whoever is not against us is for us.” Maybe we all need to get busy giving out cups of cold water in Jesus name and leave managing the membership records to Jesus. Actually, there is no “maybe” here. Get busy serving Jesus and leave those other servants that you don’t know alone!

Jesus is the Christ... So?

The confession of Peter to in Mark 8:29 is a little more abbreviated than in the more familiar and longer reading in Matthew (16:13-20). Mark has Peter answer, "You are the Christ” while Matthew adds “the Son of the Living God.” Luke has it “the Christ of God.” (Lk 9:20). In all three gospels, this confession is a huge turning point in the ministry of Jesus . From this point on, everything points to the cross. For example, in Luke Jesus discusses with Moses and Elijah what would find its fulfillment in Jerusalem (Lk 9:31) and then resolutely sets out (“set his face,” ESV) for Jerusalem (Lk 9:51). Everything else in the story points toward the appointment at the cross

All three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) include something that surprises us (well, it surprises me) in the confession of Christ. Peter finally understands who Jesus is and confesses it aloud… and then (drum roll please), “Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.” What? The disciples finally get it and they aren't supposed to tell anyone? Why? Because although they know Jesus is Christ, they don’t know what it means for Jesus to be Christ! That is obvious because the VERY NEXT THING out of Peter’s mouth after “You are the Christ” is to rebuke Jesus for suggesting that business about the coming cross (Mark 16:32). Maybe that is why Jesus talks with Moses and Elijah about his coming ordeal; the disciples would let him talk about it!

The apostles thought Jesus as Messiah meant that they would rule with him from Jerusalem after driving the Roman occupation forces back into the Mediterranean. What it meant for Jesus to be Messiah was that “must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). What did Jesus being Christ mean for the apostles? It wasn’t what they expected—

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Would “Jesus is Lord” mean prosperity and power for the apostles? No, it meant suffering just as it did for Jesus. They didn’t understand what it meant for Jesus to be Christ… so Jesus instructed them to not tell anyone He was the Christ until they understood it themselves!

So... what does it mean for us that Jesus is Christ? It doesn’t mean that we will be “healthy, wealthy and wise.” It doesn’t mean that we’ll have all our dreams fulfilled and be successful and prosperous in all that we do.” That is evidently what many people think. Many ask, “Wouldn't God want his beloved children to prosper and have the very best of everything?” Well, that’s not what he wanted for His only begotten Son. That’s not what he promises here for those who will follow His Son. In fact, there is the allusion to the fact that some will be called to give up their lives for Jesus and the gospel.

Some don’t understand what it meant for Jesus to be Christ. And so they don’t understand what means to follow the Christ.

Messing with Traditions

You can really get into trouble by messing with traditions. I once preached a funeral at a small rural black Baptist church in North Carolina. The pastor had a previous commitment (I found out later he had gone fishing), and so I was in charge of the whole service. That meant a whole lot more of being in charge than I was used to—like standing by the casket in the receiving line to catch any mourners that might swoon. The problem was that no one told me about that tradition until one good sister all but hit the floor... with me standing there holding my Bible and looking confused. You can get in trouble by ignoring tradition.

Just ask Jesus. In our reading today in Mark 7, Jesus is accosted by some irate Pharisees who demanded to know why his disciples didn't wash their hands properly before eating. Were the disciples really eating with improperly washed hands? We don’t know. Jesus doesn't talk about hands; he talks about hearts.

Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” (Mark 7:6-7)

The problem wasn't that the Pharisees devalued the Bible. They loved the Bible. You had to be able to quote the Bible in order to be a Pharisee—not from the Bible, the whole Bible! But they had traditional interpretations of the Bible that they valued as much. Their traditions had been elevated so high and accepted so universally that they were just as important as the Bible itself. Jesus dismisses their traditions as man-made rules

Jesus wants us to know that external rules, traditions, rituals and practices don’t make us holy or unholy (Mark 7:14-15). Rituals and traditions are by their very nature external and symbolic; they can point us to something important and holy, and so they can be very helpful. But tradition is never the point; ritual is never end in itself.

Jesus neither defends non-hand washing nor attacks the practice of washing. What he does is to condemn the use of external tradition as a way to judge faithfulness! This was all heady stuff in a religious tradition that saw tradition as more than tradition. Is it any wonder that the apostles were a bit confused? Jesus expects them to get it (Mk 7:18-19).

“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)

At the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. God is looking for people that are so clever that they can figure out hidden Bible codes, translate them into the only faithful Bible practices and construct iron clad silly-gisms that condemns all the heretics and false teachers that don’t get it right. God is looking for people with hearts that are right with Him. Ultimately it doesn't matter how we wash our hands; we need to wash our hearts!

Do We Get It?

When you read Mark’s account of the miracle of Jesus walking on the water in Mark 6:45-51, you "immediately" (one of Mark’s favorite words) notice that some details from Matthew’s more familiar account are missing… and some details are added. Missing in Mark’s version is Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water to meet Jesus. It is traditionally believed that the source for Mark's primary material in his gospel was Peter. Eusebius quotes from Papias, “Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered.” So maybe Peter’s retelling of the story conveniently omitted the part where he is all wet? Who knows?

What struck me is the part that Mark included that Matthew doesn’t. Mark says that when the apostles saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost and cried out “because they all saw him and were terrified” (Mk 6:49). Jesus identifies himself, calms them down and climbs into the boat. The winds died down and the apostles were amazed. OK, that’s pretty much the same story we read in Matthew. But Mark throws in this little editorial comment, “They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened” (6:51-52). The apostles should have learned something from the feeding of the 5000. They should have learned something about Jesus and his power. But they didn’t.

And they would continue to struggle. In Mark 8, Jesus will repeat the miraculous feeding, this time of 4000 people (of course, this time he had 2 more loaves to work with). Right afterwards, he tells the apostles, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod” (Mk 8:15). They think that Jesus is scolding them because forgot to bring food, except for one loaf of bread (Mk 8:14, 16). Jesus says (and I think we need to read this with something of an edge as in the NLT), “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear? Don’t you remember anything at all?” They should have known something about Jesus by know, but they didn’t get it. They missed the point of the feeding stories.

Do we get it? Do we come even close to getting it? How many ways has God blessed us in our lives? In what ways has He met our physical and spiritual needs? What crises in our past has God either taken away or given us the strength to bear up under? What people has He put in your life to bless and enrich it… and to challenge and to stretch it? If God has such a track record in our lives of blessing and caring for us, then why do we get so terrified when the next crisis comes walking on the water. Why do we get so terrified? Haven’t we learned by now that God has the power to deal with whatever comes our way in life?

Like the apostles in the boat in Mark 6, we can become so terrified or distracted by issues and hardships that we forget who God is… and who we are. Oh, we of little faith!

You Feed Them

Mark 6 tells us about what must have been a seriously long and tiring day for Jesus and the apostles. John the Baptist had just been executed and the apostles had just returned from their first preaching tour. They all needed some time away from the crowds to grieve and unwind, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" (6:31.)

But the relentless crowd beat Jesus and the apostles to their retreat site and the original retreat itinerary was quickly forgotten. Jesus had compassion on the people, and he taught them "many things" (6:34). It began to get late, and the apostles asked Jesus to send the people away so that they could find something to eat. The original plan was to get away from the crowd, and the apostles wanted to do just that. Jesus had other ideas. He says, “You give them something to eat!”

They must have looked at Jesus like He was crazy. What did he mean? There were thousands of people there; it would take more money than they had ever seen to feed those people a single meal. They didn’t have the resources. All they could find were five loaves and two fish. Jesus told the apostles, “You feed them.” Then he took that sack lunch and fed the entire mob… with food to spare.

Jesus told the apostles to do what sounded to be impossible. “You feed them.” That was impossible as long as they thought they had to do it alone! How many fish would Peter have to catch to feed that mob? How many taxes would Matthew have to collect? How many Romans would Simon the Zealot have to waylay? In their wildest dreams they could not scrape together enough to do what Jesus asked. So all they could do was depend on Jesus. And then they did the impossible. They did feed the crowd— Jesus multiplied the food and gave it to them to distribute (v. 41). When they relied upon Jesus, they were able to do the impossible.

Do you think that there may be an application in there somewhere for us? You see, Jesus has given us some rather impossible "You feed them" commands as well.

• He tells us to one just as He and the Father are one.
  
  
• He commands us to love our enemies.
  
  
• He tells us to take the gospel message to the world

All of those things are totally impossible… if we trust ourselves to do them. No amount of political savvy or public relations will allow us to achieve unity by ourselves. We can watch Oprah and sing "We Are the World" all day and we'll never learn to love our enemies. All the latest church growth strategies in the world will never allow us to spread the gospel on our own. But if we trust God and look to him, he can use us to do all of these things.

They Took Offence at Him

The classic western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” has a line that is repeated several times throughout the movie. Butch and Sundance are on the run, and no matter what they do to get away (including jumping off a cliff), the posse is always following them in the distance. One or the other looks back over their shoulder and asks, “Who are those guys?”

We get that scene repeated in the story of Jesus as well. When Jesus calms the storm and saves the apostles, they ask, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41). When Jesus forgives the sinful woman who anoints his feet, the crowd asks, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” (Luke 8:25). And that is also the question that is asked when Jesus preached in his hometown for the first time in today’s reading from Mark 6:2-3—

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

The homefolks at Nazareth aren't asking, "Who is this guy?" but "Who does this guy think he is" The hometown boy had gained a reputation all over the area as a miracle-worker and preacher, and when he finally comes home the home folks are amazed at him. But they aren’t amazed by his power and authority; they are amazed at his audacity. “How can he think he is anything so special? Why, we’ve known his family for years!” Remember the question that Nathanael asks when Phillip points him to Jesus, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). It appears the people at Nazareth agrees with him; they refuse to take Jesus seriously because they all knew him and his family.

I preach at a church in my hometown among people who knew me when I was a kid. There have been times that were awkward, but I always felt that the homefolks were extremely supportive and helpful. But here, Jesus’ hometown folks were so close to him and his family (everyone knew everyone in small these villages) that they could not take his message seriously. They were so dismissive that Jesus was “amazed at their lack of faith” (v. 6).

There is an old saying that warns “familiarity breeds contempt.” That is the danger for some of us with the gospel story. We too grew up with Jesus; we too have known him and his family (the church) all our lives. How easy it is for us to take for granted his presence and miss his power. We have heard and reheard the story of the God who left the thrown of heaven, lived among us as a man, died for us on the cross, rose again to conquer death, who gives us his spirit to live within us and who will one day come back to take us to be with him forever. If we are not careful, that story can become what it must never be—ordinary.

May we be amazed all over again by Christ Jesus the Lord.

Evangelism? Fat Chance!

Some things just don't make any sense. For example, "Why do we drive on a parkway and then park in the driveway?" Or how about "Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?" There are all kinds of similar mysteries that we have probably never really thought much about. For example...

• Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
• When you go to a ball game, why do you sit in "the stands?"
• Why call it "after dark" when it really is "after light?"
• Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?
• Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?
• Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?
• Why do we put suits in "garment bags" and garments in a "suitcase?"
• If “gospel” is "good news," why is it "bad news" when its time to share it?

Let's face it, evangelism has never been a favorite thing for most of us. We all recognize its importance, but most of us never have really warmed up to the task.

Maybe that's because we misunderstand the process. If we see evangelism as only (or primarily) knocking on strange doors, carrying projectors into stranger's homes or picking theological nits as we try to convince people that they are wrong and we are right, then our reticence to evangelize is understandable. But maybe Jesus gives us another model in Mark 5.

He has just healed a man filled with so many demons that he took the name "Legion." He was such an outcast that he lived among the tombs. He was so violent that he was chained; he was so powerful that he tore the chains apart. His life was miserable until he met Jesus. Jesus exorcised his demons and gave him back his life. In return, this man wanted to follow Jesus as a disciple. Instead, Jesus made him an evangelist. Jesus said, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what wonderful things the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been” (5:19, NLT). He was to do evangelism; he was to tell good news. That meant sharing with others all that God had done in his life.

All of us are not able to effectively go into people's homes and conduct formal classes any more than everyone can preach, teach classes or juggle! But we can all tell others in our own way our own story of the difference that God has made in our lives. Whatever else it may be, evangelism means that we live different lives and then share with others the difference that God has made in our lives.