Relationality

This morning the boys and I continued our trek through the book of Matthew, with a tiny chunk from chapter five. I was just going to reference it, but I thought perhaps you might like to read the whole bit together for the context of what we saw in it today.

Matthew 5:21-25 (CEV)
You know that our ancestors were told, "Do not murder" and "A murderer must be brought to trial." But I promise you that if you are angry with someone, you will have to stand trial. If you call someone a fool, you will be taken to court. And if you say that someone is worthless, you will be in danger of the fires of hell.

So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.

Before you are dragged into court, make friends with the person who has accused you of doing wrong. If you don't, you will be handed over to the judge and then to the officer who will put you in jail.

Did you see it? What stood out to you about those three situations? I asked my boys, "What was the most important thing in all of those stories?"

At first they said excitedly, "Don't be mad!" I said, "That's part of it..." hoping they would continue. They did. And actually, not too many thoughts later, they hit on what I was probing for.

"Relationship," said Ian. (At that point I knew that he has been listening to me before this morning.) :-) "That's right! In each of these stories, the relationship was the most important!"

You and I have read that story, perhaps mainly that verse, many times over. Anger is the same as murder. Don't call your brother a "fool"... or else! Don't bring any offerings before you fix your argument with your brother. But in the bigger picture–the context–I saw that a common theme ran through all of the stories.

But before I get to that, did you notice who bears the relational "responsibility" in the second story? In the first story, Jesus says, "Don't get mad at people." While being so hard to obey it's almost absurd, it's certainly understandable. We all know it's wrong, or at least no the best to treat someone badly in our anger. But who is the relational instigator in the second story? The one who is angry? No! The one with whom someone is angry!

This was a key piece for me. The first one makes sense because we're good at trying to clean up our own act. That makes sense. It at least seems doable, whether it actually is, or not. But the second set of circumstances requires that the one who has not necessarily done any wrong be the one to correct the situation.

So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.

Doesn't that sound like we're putting people before God? And perhaps petty, selfish people as well? (It doesn't say "admit that you were wrong" or anything like that. It just says go and make peace.) The paramount concern is not the "more spiritual" offering to God, but rather peace between brothers.

I told the boys that this is true for me as well. I love it when I see my kids getting along, having fun together. I love it even more when I see them making peace with each other (especially without my intervention). It brings me great joy to see peace, harmony, and genuine loving friendship between my children. And I'm sure (from this story Jesus told, and others) that the same is true of our Father.

When I noticed this relational priority, I sort of stepped back and looked at all three stories together. Sure enough, the thread through all three was that relationships are paramount. The first story says don't cloud relationships with angry words. Get over yourself. The second story, as I've mentioned, focuses on the "responsibility" of the "innocent" person to initiate and maintain a peaceful relationship.

The third story is perhaps a more practical application of how relational we are, and may have been played out a bit later in the day. (No, I was not taken to court...)

In the third scene, we have Jesus saying that if we were to find ourselves in court, the best course of action is to make friends with our accuser. On the surface, that makes no sense! Especially if we are innocent, but even if we are not. They're our accuser!!! These are not people we want to reach out to. But the practical side of this is, yes, we do. Jesus implies that if you do, you may avoid the consequences, they may not press charges.

A little relationality goes a long way...

Today I received an order from Amazon.com. They have Big Train Chai at the cheapest price around. When I run out, I usually order two packs of three bags of chai. (They only ship them in sets of three.) I get two because that qualifies it for free shipping as well. :-)

When I very excitedly brought in my package from the super cold porch, I noticed that some powdered chai was pouring out the corners of the box! "Oh no!" I thought perhaps a bag had inadvertently been cut open somehow. I was hopeful that most of them were still intact.

I gingerly cut into the tape at the top of the box, opening it very slowly, checking for any evidence of the cut bag. I brushed off the powder from all of the bags (it had gotten all over everything, even though it was only at most a couple tablespoons of chai) and finally found the culprit. One bag had a very small opening, right near the crease in the bottom. No big deal, but I figured I'd call Amazon and see if they could replace that bag for me.

I got on the phone with a lady who did not speak much English, but seemed very willing to help. I explained my situation calmly, and just asked, "Is there any way you could ship me out one replacement bag? Do you need me to package up and return the defective one?" After a few quick questions - and my friendly answers - she said, "Wait a few moments, and I will process a replacement for you."

I sat on hold for just a few moments, as she had requested, and sure enough, when she came back on the phone she gave me an order ID for the replacement chai! I was thrilled to be getting a little bit of bonus chai. (I really do love this stuff!)

Not long after hanging up the phone, I decided to check the order number at Amazon and see when it would be coming and exactly what they were shipping. What to my wondering eyes should appear, but THREE BAGS OF CHAI in my "recently placed orders"! Whoo-hooo!

Now, I don't know that this lady did anything out of the ordinary. It could be standard policy to just ship the full "package" that was defective. (They do ship as individual bags, so certainly they could have shipped just one.) And I do not know for sure her motivations. But I'd like to think this is a living example of what I saw Jesus saying today.

Relationship is paramount. I was not being taken to court, but I was approaching a situation that did not merit an overly generous response. You can say it is good business to make sure the customer is satisfied, but if I had laid into the first person who answered, demanding a replacement (and/or more?) do you think that the customer service rep's first thought would be to (happily) replace my item? Probably not. Probably there would be some resistance. I have tried the other way - justifiable anger - and I am here to say... it just don't work.

We are made for relationality. If we live it, if we practice it, life goes better.

1 Thessalonians 5:13b (NIV)
Live in peace with each other.

There may be things that seem more important. (Including looking out for ourselves, or doing stuff for God.) But it would seem from these three stories Jesus told to his disciples that the thing that should top the list is to live in healthy, unbroken relationship with each other. And, be the initiator of that. Not just the recipient.

Relationality starts with me.

Pondering

There are a few things that I am currently pondering regarding life with God and his church. I thought I'd just jot them down here, in a sort of short hand way. Perhaps you are pondering them as well and might add to my ponderings, but really I am putting them down here to look back later and see what I was pondering in 2008. :-)

• Worship:
  Do we need to publicly and corporately set God apart from all else, with or without musical aid?
  
• Evangelism:
  Should I have more of an urgent desire to help people know they are loved by their Father?
  
• Praying:
  With other people, I mean. How do I make an ongoing conversation with God easily flow into conversation with other believers - and my family.
  
• Communion:
  It's important to some people. Really important. But to me, just meaningless. Does it matter? How?

The things I am beginning to understand more: (and usually write about here)

• Freedom:
  For me, and giving freedom to others.
  
• Grace:
  For me, and treating other people with grace.
  
• God's love:
  Again, for me, and learning to give that to others.
  
• Reality of God's presence:
  Learning to live with Jesus every day.
  
• Who Jesus is:
  The Word of God, my brother, God in flesh, "watching" him interact with people in the stories of the gospels

When I look at those lists, the first one mostly just seems silly, but to many people - including me for much of my life perhaps? - they are not silly but almost essential. Funny how perspective changes. Who knows the lists might change again after a while. They might be completely different. We'll see.

Hear The Angels Sing

We have heard a LOT of Christmas music lately. I'm sure you are feeling the same way. I do still love it, but it's definitely getting close to time to shelve it for another eleven months or so.

It's not all bad, though. One song off of Steven Curtis Chapman's second Christmas album, All I Want For Christmas, caught my attention this week.

It wasn't so much a lyric, as the way it was sung.

I believe the song was It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. It was sung with a nice gentle feel to it. And, at one point, Steven sings just lightly, "Hear the angels sing Hallelujah, Christ the Savior is born." Those are words you usually associate with giant booming voices and big, majestic fanfare. But in this song, the words were sung almost at a whisper, almost as a lullaby for the newborn baby.

It got me thinking. Maybe that's how it was? We think it should be fanfare and trumpets and "kingly". But if you'll recall, the King of the universe stepped into our lives as a baby, born to ordinary folk, in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. He was born in a stable. He was... born, period. He didn't have to go through that, either.

But he did.

The simplicity of the first Christmas is a clue that God does not do things the way we think he should. And we're (way) better off for it.

Enjoy your gifts today, giving and receiving. Enjoy time with family and friends. Enjoy the great food. Enjoy the Christmas cookies! But most of all, enjoy knowing that you are so completely loved by the One who has everything. He didn't just become a man so he could die the death of a criminal... he wanted to live like us, so he could know us even better. All the way from birth. As a commoner.

That's what you mean to him. That first Christmas day, and this one.

Merry Christmas. :-)

Jesus Is Staying at MY House!

The boys and I are reading through the book of John now, and this morning we read the story of when Andrew met Jesus, and introduced his brother (Simon Peter) to the Messiah! He was very eager to let his brother know that he had found the Messiah. Not sure if he could have understood how Jesus thought of such a term, but he was certainly excited about it!

The part I thought was a bit different today was the strange question asked of Jesus. The new followers asked Jesus, "Teacher, where do you live?" So, he showed them. They came over to his house.

Ian thought that was as odd as I did, and reasoned that perhaps Jesus was staying with some friends. (Jesus said somewhere else that he had no "place to rest his head", and we know that he's on the road at this point, too.

The interesting thing was not that he was staying with friends, the interesting thing to me is how there's no star power to Jesus. We have no account of him staying with the most important people of the day. We don't know much about it. But to me, that's what stands out.

When we talked about that, I thought in my head, "How cool would it be if Jesus stayed in our house??" But then I realized I was succumbing to "star power".

Jesus is not concerned with popularity. He never sought the limelight, nor did he have "too little time" for people not on his agenda for the day. That's so backwards from what we do today. Often elevating people to levels they should not have to maintain on their own.

It seems like having Jesus stay with you was an instant free ticket to heaven. Seems like someone housing him would have mentioned Jesus' temporary place of residence. But, they don't. And Jesus continues to be a transient.

It's amazing how differently we all can see Jesus, and who he was, what he was doing here. That's something I hope to get from reading through John again. I want to see Jesus for who he is, and learn more about him that I don't already know. I want to see stuff that I have never seen before.

And I am confident that I will. I'll try and share some of those nuggets with you here.

They Killed God

Kirstie joined us for the morning Bible read today. She's three, and says some really cute things. Perhaps the following is both cute, and insightful? :-)

After reading the story of the first part of the night Jesus was arrested and taken before the Jewish leaders, then Pilate, and then Herod, we were talking about how crazy it was that they just blatantly lied about such well-known things. Jesus was a very public figure, but his accusers were at best twisting the truth, or just flat out lying about what he said and did. And it eventually got him killed.

And I guess Kirstie knows that, because without reading that today, she said, "They killed God."

I smiled at her simplicity and replied, "Yep. Well, he let them kill him." I continued, "Because somehow, when they did, he was able to beat the things that kills us, that destroy us." (I meant sin and death, but didn't figure a three year old would grasp such a thing.)

She responded without hesitation, "Yeah, then they don't destroy us!" She even said it with a finality and even joy at the resolution of it. Then they don't destroy us. What some people take 1000 pages to say in some theological treatise, my three year old understood, and summed up in two simple phrases.

They killed God. Then they don't destroy us.

Perfect. :-)

Enough of That

So, today we read a little further in Luke (which is just a little later the same night that Jesus said "Enough sword talk!") and would you believe that Jesus said it again? One of the disciples pulls out a sword when the mob comes to arrest Jesus (which, makes sense from what Jesus had just told them a little bit ago...) and he cuts off the ear of one of the dudes. That prompts and "Enough of that!" from Jesus, and it prompted this little dittie that I sang for the boys after we noticed a theme in what Jesus was saying...

Enjoy :-)

Enough of That
Jesus said, "Get your sword"
Sell some stuff, if you must
The disciples said, "We've got two!"
But he said "Enough of that,
Yeah, Enought of that!"

What did he mean?
Oh what did he mean?
Enough of that

Late that night they came to get him
His disciples, well, they were listening
Drew their swords, chopped off an ear
He said enough of that
Yeah enough of that

What did he mean?
Oh what did he mean?
Enough of that
Enough of that

What do we learn from this little story?
Jesus does not like swords
Maybe he shouldn't have used that example
He should have said buy a dog
Or a donkey

Enough of that
Enough of that
What did he mean?
Oh what did he mean?
Enough of that
Enough of that

---

Words & Music by Greg Campbell (and Jesus)
Copyright © 2007

Didn't He Just Say ... ?

Jesus asked his disciples, "When I sent you out without a moneybag or a traveling bag or sandals, did you need anything?"

"No!" they answered.

Jesus told them, "But now, if you have a moneybag, take it with you. Also take a traveling bag, and if you don't have a sword, sell some of your clothes and buy one. Do this because the Scriptures say, 'He was considered a criminal.' This was written about me, and it will soon come true." The disciples said, "Lord, here are two swords!"

"Enough of that!" Jesus replied.

Luke 22:35-38

Didn't he just say they should get a sword, even if they have to sell stuff to get one? And then, when they say, "Look! We have two!" he basically tells them they're totally off track?

This one definitely perplexed me and the boys today. :-)

Bread & Wine

Today we were reading Luke 22 where Jesus is having the Passover meal with his closest friends, just before he will be killed. He knows it, and he's told them... but I'm pretty sure they still don't get it.

It's cool enough how they got into this room (Jesus sent two guys ahead, told them exactly what they would find without having been there, and they did) but there are also a couple cool lines that stood out to me today.

When the time came for Jesus and the apostles to eat, he said to them, "I have very much wanted to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer."

I thought it was so cool to read the excitement in Jesus' words. Even though he knew what was coming, he was still excited about what the suffering would bring. The end result. Very cool. Ephesians says it was his plan from before he created anything, and that it "gave him great pleasure". Very cool.

As the evening went along, we read the following accounts of the events that took place:

Jesus took a cup of wine in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he told the apostles, "Take this wine and share it with each other. I tell you that I will not drink any more wine until God's kingdom comes."

Jesus took some bread in his hands and gave thanks for it. He broke the bread and handed it to his apostles. Then he said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this as a way of remembering me!

After the meal he took another cup of wine in his hands. Then he said, "This is my blood. It is poured out for you, and with it God makes his new agreement.

First of all, don't you think they thought it was weird that he said "remembering me"? We know now what happened next, but they didn't. It is obvious from everything they do. So he's already talking about being gone, and they're probably very confused.

Did you also notice there were two cups of wine? Jesus took one cup and told them to share it. Then he shared the bread with them. Then he took another cup of wine after they had finished eating and said this is my blood. The new agreement God makes with you. Again, they were probably a bit weirded out, but I just thought it was interesting that it wasn't that much like what we observe today, supposedly "instituted" by Jesus himself on that very night.

I don't pretend to have a clue what "the Lord's Supper" really is, or any significance of it at all. I really have no idea what Jesus intended for it, if anything. He didn't seem to be a big ritual guy. And really, when I read this... he wasn't here either. They were observing the Passover feast - something Isreal had done for a VERY long time - and those were parts of that. He didn't say, "And make sure you do this exact same thing from now until forever!" I actually don't hear him saying to ever repeat it again. Just... for that moment. Interesting.

NOTE: I don't really want a big theological debate. Just some observations from reading the Bible today. Your comments are welcome, but please know that I won't be engaged in any endless hermeneutical discussions of Scripture and the historical and cultural significance. I'll certainly read/entertain shorter versions... but doctrinal discussions are definitely not my cup of tea... :-)

Jesus Said

... we should be like children.
I think about that phrase quite often, since there are many children around me at any given moment. What part of being a child does Jesus want for us? Does he want us to be disrespectful, selfish, whiny, impatient, messy, crazies with little to no self-control? Uh... I guess... maybe? Probably not. But the innocent, trusting, fun-loving, joyful qualities of a child are easy to understand as qualities of the Kingdom. These are things that, though they might seem a bit unorthodox for the Kingdom ruled by the Creator himself, would seem appropriate.

The other day, my three-year-old daughter was shouting from the top of the stairs, "I neeeed hellllllp... Will somebody pleeeeeeease helllllllp meeee????" She had obediently gone up to the bathroom, done what she needed to do, and now she needed some assistance from an adult - again, obeying her Mom who had previously told her to wait for Mom's assistance after she goes "number two". My first thought was, "Man! That is so annoying!" But quickly, I was reminded of Jesus saying that we needed to be like little children. Could this be one of the ways?

I still maintain that Jesus was NOT talking about whining when he said that.

What I saw was a little girl who needed help, and wasn't afraid to ask for it. Most adults I know are not good at asking for help, maybe they are just plain awful at it. We're taught to be "adults" and take care of stuff on our own. But maybe a way we can be like a child - a way we can see the Kingdom of God - is to realize we need help, and to ask for it. Not necessarily from other people, but definitely from God. Our Father can, and wants to help us. One way we can know the greatness of the Kingdom is to let him help us, allow him to work in us, instead of trying to be an "adult" and get it done ourselves.

A cool lesson from my whiny three-year-old... who may know a bit more about the Kingdom that I have forgotten over my passage into adulthood.

... you will be persecuted because of me ...
Tonight we watched a debate on the existence of God. A friend had sent me the link earlier in the day, and tonight I was intrigued enough to watch it through with Jen. The debate was mostly silly... neither side was really listening to the other. They were to a degree, but neither was going to convince the other of their points, or sway their beliefs in any way. Some of it was sarcastic and mean-spirited... a little annoying actually. :-) I don't think I'm a big fan of debates.

But the thing that I noticed was actually part of the lead-up to the debate. The footage they chose to show to introduce the Christian guys (Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron of The Way of the Master) was of them sharing "the gospel" in the streets, and the hostile reactions of some unbelievers. While that may be common footage, and perhaps an expected response (at least by Christians) ... I was immediately reminded of where Jesus said that his followers would be persecuted because of him.

"Exactly!" misters Comfort and Cameron might say. However, as I recall from Scripture, the people who hated Jesus - who wanted to hurt and/or kill him - were the religious leaders of the day. The leaders of the religious establishment. They were the upstanding, moral, "religious right". We think the people who will persecute Christians, who will hate us because of our message, are the hardened sinners who reject God with passionate fervor. But every example I can think of in the Bible of "sinners" is almost completely the opposite. Those "hardened sinners" flocked to Jesus. It was the self-righteous, cleaned-up, religious folk who persecuted Jesus and his followers.

Just a couple things to think about from what Jesus said.

Mormons, Catholics, Santeras... Oh my!

So, the other night I was going through our video podcasts, getting caught up on the ones I hadn't yet seen. There's a little blue dot next to the new ones, it's really cool. (We use FrontRow on our Mac Mini, hooked up to our TV in our living room.) We watch probably 8-10 different ones, including a couple tech-related ones, a NASA podcast, and a couple more from National Geographic.

Well, one of the National Geographic ones was called "Santeria". I wasn't quite sure what to expect, so I clicked and watched. It was about people in Cuba, celebrating the Feast Day of St. Lazarus. (Or something like that.) It is a Catholic tradition, and in Cuba they go all out. They crawl on their hands and knees (or even bellies) for miles, with pain being a tribute to this "saint".

The interesting part - and the reason for the little podcast - was a lady who is both Catholic, and a Santera. Santeria is a religion which worships many gods, who they believe correlate exactly with the saints of the Catholic church. So, St. Lazarus day also belongs to Babalu Aye, his "twin" African spirit.

I really don't intend to put anyone down here, or start an argument at all... I'm really not sure why or how religious feelings go down so deeply, causing things like what Al Qaeda wants to do to "the infidels", and all the similar events throughout history... but, when I saw this, it just reminded me that all religion is very strange. Even Catholics.

Now, you can say that the strange ones are the Santeras, who "made up" the African spirits that match the Catholic saints. And I know, the saints were at one time just ordinary, historical people. But... at least some Catholics pray to saints, and have these very ritualistic practices on the saints' special days. It's really just as religious as the Santeria religion. (Minus the animal sacrifices...) :-)

Why do most Christians think Mormons are worshipping demons, and have strange religious ceremonies (temple proceedings, baptisms for the dead, etc) when Catholics pray to Mary, various other "saints", and have very religious rituals that are commonly practiced? There are tons of Catholic dotrines that are way outside of what you read in the Bible, and now the Pope (who himself is "outside of what you read in the Bible") is saying that Catholics are the only real Christians.

I'm not bashing Catholics. Or Mormons. Or Santeras. (Ok, they're the strangest of the bunch to me, but...) My point is, religion is so crazy. What is it in us that feels the need to appease a higher power so that life will go well for us. And don't think I'm giving "mainstream" Christianity a pass, either. There are plenty of "appeasement" rituals there, too.

The whole idea that by doing some ritual, or saying some set of words a certain number of times, or anything like that is so foreign to what Jesus taught and lived. Actually, he ridiculed the religious leaders who tried to make others follow meaningless rituals and religious rites. He just loved people, and wanted them to know that God loves them. Sin hurts us, and Jesus came to defeat sin and death for us, cause we can't. And he did.

Religion is a feeble attempt at the reality of life with God that Jesus showed us is possible. And is made possible through him. Not some incantations or rituals we do once a year, or more. But life lived everyday in companionship with our Father who loves us, and Jesus our brother, and his Spirit who lives in us and teaches us everything we need to know.

You can keep trying to make God like you, with your religious rituals - no matter how big or small. Or, you can just accept that he does. And that's that.

[Related reading: He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobsen]

Spirit-led Praying

I have trouble with prayer a lot of times. Especially when I call it prayer. I very much enjoy a steady dialogue with God throughout my day, but when it comes to "praying for someone" or even just asking for myself... I'm still not certain how best to do that.

See, it seems to me that many of my asks are from my perspective. I see something a certain way, and have a certain desired outcome, and so, I ask God for that. I don't think that's wrong in general, but often I feel under qualified to make such decisions. I mean, why am I asking God for something specific when clearly he knows the best thing for me and/or those around me for whom I am asking, right?

Right.

But does that mean we can't pray? Certainly not. God asks us to ask him. (I still don't get that, but he does.) So I continue to ask, and I continue to struggle with the asking.

As I was chatting with a good friend tonight, (who leaves in the morning for a 10-day trip to the Dominican Republic with his entire family, including a one-year-old!) I wanted to let him know we'd be praying for them. But then all of these thoughts came up. I mean, once I start asking for something, I usually find a way out of asking. It's very strange. But I know there is value in asking God for stuff... so I just began trying to say what I wanted to say in other words.

I told him we'd be thinking of them often. That is very true. We'll miss them, and I'm sure they'll come to mind quite often. We do a lot of life together. So, then I said, "...asking God whatever he might put on our hearts as we [think of you]." As I hit return in iChat, I thought, "That's it. That's how I want to ask. I want God, Holy Spirit, Jesus... any of them... to tell me what to ask!"

And that was it. That was my answer. That relieves the burden from me. I can not know what they need. I was going to say I would pray for protection, but perhaps that is not the best thing. I was going to pray for a "fruitful" trip, but that word is so subjective there are not two people who would completely agree on how that word is defined. What I really want to do is, as I think of them... I want Spirit to lead me in my askings.

Isn't that how we should pray? Doesn't he know all of us best? He is right with all of us who are his Church. He is in our midst, and right with each of us. And, he is building his church, so he knows best what we need to do, and ask for.

Perhaps that was a little piece toward opening up my conversations with God. Not really opening up more words, just opening up the freedom of "praying" for people, as the Spirit leads me to. That's a crazy phrase, and perhaps some of you reading this just cringed a bit. But, if we really believe that Jesus is building his church, then maybe we need to let him prompt our askings, rather than coming to him with an agenda already planned out.

What if he doesn't "prompt" me? What if I don't feel "led" in any specific direction??? Chill out. If I think of something... good. If not, then just relax. Trust that if God wanted me to ask something specific, he would have led me... since he is the one who's leading. That has been a recurring theme in my life of late. Really trust God to lead. Lead me, lead you, and lead his church.

Of course, since he is so good at leading his church.. I could just be hearing what he wants for me, and not at all what he wants for you. :-) So, listen to him... let him lead you where he wants to.

Follow the Leader.

When Jesus Is Powerless?

I was reminded of a time from the book of Mark where the Bible says Jesus was not able to perform miracles, and could only heal "a few people".

When I first heard that again, it struck me as quite odd. Here is the Creator of all that is, and he is actually limited by a group of people's lack of faith? Couldn't he work around that somehow? It says he was only able to heal a few people. How strange.

In other instances, Jesus does say, "Your faith has made you well." But, I guess I always just glanced over that a bit. I mean, really. It's not our faith, but God's power, right? Isn't it? Well, if it is... how was it that Jesus was unable to perform miracles in his hometown? How is it that he was so limited?

I think this is a neat reminder that though Jesus certainly was the Word through whom the universe was created, he was also fully, 100% man. He did nothing without the Father's lead. That concept just doesn't make sense. You can't be 100% of two things. That would be 200%, and that's not possible by definition. But Jesus is, and was, and that's just a tad confusing. :-)

Just a little something to get you thinking...

Our Only Rule Book

Inspired by recent readings, hearings and various thinkings floating through GregsHead, I have thought again about our push for being right. For knowing the truth and letting others "have it". I read a column this morning by a local radio talk show guy who was certainly convinced that he had the "right" answer for what the church should be and do. (Now, I know... that's his job... but still, furthers my point that we all love to be right.)

Maybe Christians are the worst at this. From early on, most of us are taught that there is a right, and definitely a wrong. Actually, many wrongs. We recently heard the Bible referred to as "our only Rule Book". Ouch. Is that what it is? What about all the people who interpret it differently than you do? They have rules, too... just different from yours. In most cases (in the view of both parties) the other guy is wrong. And you're right.

This obsession with being right actually removes us from relationship with other people. We focus so much on having and knowing the "truth" that we must first verify that those with whom we associate are "with us", and "doctrinally correct", and if not, we must instruct them accordingly. There is always a bit of an angst as errors in thinking must not be tolerated. At least when it comes to Christianity.

And there's the rub. We have something (Christianity) that we need to protect, not Someone we want to introduce. An institution is defined. It has a Rule Book. It's easy (at least, sort of) to protect and preserve. A Person is not. Someone who is alive and dynamic (yet the same "yesterday, today and forever") is not easy to define, protect or preserve. Many have said, "You can't keep God in a box." Of course, they were probably referring to "the other guy's box"... but, I believe that statement is true.

For some reason I was reminded of a strange rule we have made up today. Perhaps it's due to hearing of marriages and other similar relationships dissolving for one reason or another. I remembered a "proof text" that many use for when it's "OK" to divorce. Remember when Jesus said that divorce was bad... unlesssss... the WIFE has been unfaithful. Don't you know that people (your intrepid author's former self included) use that to say that if there has been infidelity (perhaps especially from the woman???) that divorce is OK. And hold mightily to the words Jesus said previously that divorce is always bad. Which, I believe is correct, since Jesus seemed to say it as truth... but we leave out the "context" part where something that's bad might be better than something that's worse.

On many such occasions, we take the Rule Book and we bash it over each other's heads... saying my way is right. I got it from the Book! You must be wrong! (Even though our "adversary") is many times doing exactly the same thing. They just view it differently.

I am coming to understand that it's not my job to interpret the "Rules" for someone... for anyone else. My job is to be faithful to my understanding of what God wants from me, and then to love other people as I have been loved. Yes, sometimes love is "tough" and requires an uncomfortable confrontation - BETWEEN FRIENDS. It seems a confrontation is only effective (and then only sometimes) if relationship already exists. If not, why should the confronted change their "aberrant" behavior based on the "Rules" of a stranger?

The Bible is not a Rule Book. God doesn't even want us to live by Rules. The Rules were fulfilled by Jesus. It is finished. That doesn't mean it's not good to live as God intended us to... certainly God's law will last forever. BUT, we were never meant to keep the law... never able to do that. I've been reading Romans again, and Paul emphatically states that:

For no one is put right in God's sight by doing what the Law requires; what the Law does is to make us know that we have sinned. But now God's way of putting people right with himself has been revealed. It has nothing to do with law, even though the Law of Moses and the prophets gave their witness to it. God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all: everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence. But by the free gift of God's grace all are put right with him through Christ Jesus, who sets them free. ... In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus. What, then, can we boast about? Nothing! And what is the reason for this? Is it that we obey the Law? No, but that we believe.

Taken from Rom 3:20-27, Good News Translation.

If you try to keep the Rules, and make others do the same, you'll only be butting your head up against a wall that won't ever be knocked down. We're meant (I think) to live in the fullness of a restored relationship with our Creator, and then to love the other Createds he puts around us. Rules work perhaps in a computer program... where everything is always (supposed to be) the same. But when people are involved, Rules almost never work. We're too unique. Principles, that can adjust to the context of a situation are more applicable, to be sure. But... maybe we could just make our only "rule" the rule to love everyone we meet, as we have been loved.

At least then the Rule Book would be a lot smaller. :-)

God Can Throw You Into Hill

Following our morning Bible reading time the other day, Jen was eating breakfast with the kids - may have been also reading a book to them - when Alex interrupts to inform her that, "God can throw people into Hill." She was probably a bit curious as to where that originated... :-) Earlier that morning, the little story we read had Jesus reminding us that we don't need to fear anybody because "once they kill you, they can't do anything else to you." (That was a loose quote...) "But," he continues, "God is the one you should fear. Not only can he kill you, he can throw you into hell."

As I finished saying that, both the boys looked at me wondering, and finally said outloud, "What's 'hell', Dad?" Let me tell you... that's not an easy thing to explain to an 8 year old and a 5 year old. :-) So, I think I kinda did... and they went on their way. But apparently, that little statement from Jesus made an impact on little Alex... who now knows that God can throw people into "Hill".

There is never a shortage of entertaining moments around here... :-)

Damage Control

I have been refraining from any comment on the events that transpired at Virginia Tech last week. I did post the one e-mail we received from our friend at VT. I thought it was a good "different" perspective on what happened. There was no need to rehash the events "news-style" here. It just felt over-done in every media "outlet" anyway.

But I have heard some interesting things in regards to the reactions to it. From applauding the professor in his 70s (who was a holocaust survivor) for barracading the door - giving his own life - in an attempt to save the students in the room... to decrying the networks decision to air the videos the killer submitted to NBC. (I think it was NBC.) All sorts of emotions, all sorts of thoughts.

One thing I heard while listening to the latest God Journey podcast struck a chord with me, and perhaps it does with you, too.

I had read several comments on the news sites I was browsing that read something like this, "Hundreds of innocent Iraqis die every day and we don't see news coverage like this!" There was some frustration over the "overreaction" by US media regarding this killing of "lesser" significance (number-wise), and the diminishing of the lives lost in Iraq. That angered me a bit, as I do understand the sentiment, but can we please drop our political agendas for just one moment???

But the God Journey guys were talking about it and they commented on how the rest of the world deals with tragedies like this very differently. Here in the US we are scrambling to find a "reason", or a "motive", or even someone (or some system, or someones) to blame for it. We can't accept such a thing. Our lives are so in our "control" (or so it would appear) that clearly an event like this reveals an error, or a mistake, or some form of blame be placed somewhere. Certainly on the killer... but there has to be more. He can't be solely responsible for his actions.

Maybe it's gun control. If we would just tighten that up. Or maybe it's his parents. If they would have loved him more. Maybe it's that the University should have shut down the entire campus, because they surely must have known he was going to go on a killing spree. Surely. Maybe if the other students - who had noticed he was different - had stepped in earlier, instead of allowing political correctness to govern their actions. Maybe it could have been prevented if US immigration laws were more strict, not just allowing visas to anyone who wants them.

Maybe... maybe not.

See, bad stuff happens. People die. People do bad things. What happened last week was bad. It was ugly. It was horrible. Just like the stuff that happens in Iraq and Darfur and everywhere else around the world every day. The human condition is marred by sin. People can make bad choices that hurt other people. And really, there is no amount of laws or training or educating or any preventative methods that can curtail that.

We are not in control. We may think we are. We may think we can be. But, we are not.

So, best you can do (in my estimation) is live your life to the fullest. Live everyday enjoying where you are, and who you're with. Love as you have been loved. You never know when you'll breathe your last breath here. And if you know Jesus, you can trust him that it won't be your last. You can't control what other people do, but you definitely have a say in what you do. (Sin kinda messes that up on occasion, but at least we have some say) :-)

Love God, and love people today. Don't worry about what might come tomorrow, or what has happened yesterday. Any control we think we have is mostly an illusion. Trust the one who holds all things together, and follow him where he leads.

Maybe that's the best damage control.

I Guess I'm Emergent?

Not too sure about the results here, but saw this on Chris' blog and thought I'd take a crack at it. Last time I was Seventh Day Adventist, which was awesome. :-)

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 71% Neo orthodox 68% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 57% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Fundamentalist 39% Classical Liberal 36% Reformed Evangelical 32% Modern Liberal 21% Roman Catholic 14% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Three In One

This morning the boys were in my office to read the Bible, and we got talking about one particular line we read.

Soon after this, Jesus was going through towns and villages, telling the good news about God's kingdom.

Luke 8:1

So many times we take the good news out of the "good news"! I told the boys that sometimes we make knowing Jesus about knowing what not to do, or what to do, instead of the greatness of a God who loves us. The story we read yesterday was about the woman who came and poured expensive perfume on Jesus, and was crying on his feet, wiping away the tears with her hair. Jesus told the astonished "holy dude" who was with him that someone who is forgiven much will celebrate that forgiveness much more! That's the good news! God's love and forgiveness are available to all!

Somewhere in the conversation we started talking about how the good news is that we get to be close with God, like he's our Dad. And then I said, "And Jesus is like a brother, which is cool." The brothers smiled. "And Jesus, who is God, who is also the Father, is like our Dad, which is cool." I started losing them here. "And then God is spirit, too... and that's like, you!" I was sort of confusing myself, but stick with me here... "It's like God can be so close that he is inside us, where only you can be. No one else can be inside you except you... and God (the Spirit) who lives inside of us."

At this point Ian said, "Yeah, he can get inside through our ears! Or, our nose! Unless... if we have a cold." :-)

(That was awesome.)

But I thought that was pretty neat. God in his three persons is as close as a brother, as a father, and even as ourselves as the Spirit, living inside us. I hadn't ever though of that before. But we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, he is actually inside us. Our relationship with him is that intimate. No one else can be there. Just God.

Neat.

No super-amazing conclusion from all of this, just thought it was interesting enough to share. And, the line from Ian was classic. :-)

Happy Easter, everyone.

Go Sabres! :-)

The "Word Of God"?

The last two podcasts from The God Journey have been on the topic of Scripture. Good stuff. A few moments that might have challenged me before, but I have been thinking about what the "Word of God" is recently as well. We read through John not too long ago, and everytime you read that phrase there it's referring to Jesus. A person. The "living & active" Word of God. (Ref: Heb)

I went to Bible college. I learned to revere the Book as many Christians do. But I think I have come to see that the Bible is a very special book that helps us to know God's heart for us - but we can easily be tricked into worshipping IT. (Rather than the God from whom it comes.)

Good line from one of the podcasts (the second one) was when a friend of one of the hosts was asked, "Do you believe in the inerrancy of Scripture" his reply was, "I believe in the infallibility of the God who gave it to us." :-) That was good.

I do not believe in the super-holy-magicness of the book that I hold in my hand. I do not believe in the "power of prayer". My hope, my trust, my life is in the One whom I know through those things. God is not limited to the pages of my Bible (nor are the pages actually limited to the type that is on them, which is equally cool!) He IS the Word. (Well, Jesus is, anyway) and that is way cooler than a book :-)

(Don't worry... I still think the Bible is the super coolest book... I just think that sometimes we give it more credit that God intended it to have.) :-)

I'll take him any day.

Links?
The God Journey Podcast
The Wonder of Scripture (3/23/07)
The Wonder of Scripture II (3/30/07)

Judging You, Judging Me?

The other day as we were reading through the book of Luke, the boys and I heard Jesus say, “Don’t judge other people and God won’t judge you.” I stopped when I said that and said to the boys, “That’s crazy! What does Jesus mean by that? Does he really mean if we just don’t judge other people, then God won’t judge us???” And I thought, How does that get us out of it??

And I think I was revealing a misunderstanding of God right there.

Is God really the big mean judge just waiting to condemn us? Or is he rightfully judge, but willingly grants us a completely restored relationship with him through Jesus - “There is no now condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”?

Today I happend to be thinking of an instance or two where I was feeling “judged” and that reminded me of these words we had recently read, that Jesus spoke long ago. I was thinking about when I felt judged and trying to figure out why I was being judged in the frist place. And all I could think of was that the person(s) I was thinking about just might not understand the God who does not demand perfection from us? Perhaps they just don’t know that God does not look at everything as “right” and “wrong”?

And then the verse made sense! Maybe Jesus didn’t mean the cause and effect version I thought, where when we don’t judge, God doesn’t judge us. Perhaps he meant that if we understand that he doesn’t judge, and so we won’t judge others, then we will feel less and less “judged” by him. As we treat other people as he does - then we can understand the Father who does not “judge” us?

Perhaps I’m just rambling... or just not saying well what I think I realized today. If you have any thoughts, please add them to this. That’d be great.

But also, please know that he does not judge your every move. You are loved by your Father, and there is no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus.

March Madness Advice?

I've never seen the Colbert Report, but I came across this video on the web today and with the tournament getting started today... thought it was worth posting here. It's hilarious! Not sure you can bank on these picks, but it's worth the watch. :-)

"If he can carry someone in the sand, he can lift someone up for the dunk..." :-)

Jesus Video

I stumbled upon this video today on the web. It's hilarious! It's a humorous look at Jesus and his disciples... (at least how some people view Jesus, I guess?) :-)

Enjoy!

The Devil Made Me Do It

We're in the book of Luke now, me and the boys, and today we got to the story of Jesus being led by the Spirit out into the desert where he didn't eat for 40 days. First of all... that's just insane. That's a really, really long time to not eat. And one of the best lines in the whole Bible follows the statement of that fasting fact... "And he was hungry." You think? :-)

So what ensues is a little battle between Satan and Jesus. Satan tries to trick Jesus, and Jesus doesn't buckle. He defeats Satan with his knowledge of Scripture and his pure "Jesus-ness". I remember from many decades ago now, in my Children's Bible (the big brown one with all the cool drawings...) seeing the epic battle unfold. Jesus in his flowing white robes (standing tall, and regal, looking none the worse for wear, even though "...he was hungry") and Satan looking ugly and menacing, with his tiny little horns protruding from his red skull cap or whatever. It was quite obvious who was the good guy and who was the bad guy... and it was even more obvious who would be the victor.

As I was reading the story again today, I couldn't help but wonder, why was Satan even trying? Didn't he know that Jesus was God? I mean... Jesus made everything (I think that's in Colossians) so... that means he made Satan... (Lucifer, or whatever you might want to call him) and, so, they knew each other, right? What made him think he had a chance of tricking Jesus into giving in to a desire for food, or power, or anything else? I mean... he's God, right?

But that's when I thought... maybe Satan understood Jesus more than we do sometimes. I've mentioned this before on the good ol' blog... we are prone to over-deifying Jesus (if that were possible). Like in my old Children's Bible. Jesus was clearly deity there. Totally unaffected by his humanness. One could argue, he seemed not even "human" at all. And we tend to do that to Jesus, whether in drawings, or in our relating to him. We remember that he is God, but we forget that he is our brother. A person: body, soul, spirit... just like us.

It seems like Satan understood this, and was trying in every way he could to get Jesus to fall... because he could. In Hebrews it says Jesus was "tempted in every way" as we are. That means there had to be a chance he might choose poorly. It wouldn't be a temptation if in his God-ness he could just be perfect without even trying. No, Jesus was (and is???) very much a human being, just like us.

So what does that mean? Is there wisdom to be gained from the Devil? Can we maybe understand Jesus more from seeing what he thought of him? I'm not sure. Perhaps I am reading too much into it. (I can do that sometimes...) :-) But, it seems that he knew something about Jesus we tend to forget. He's so much like us. And I do think that's amazing. It means he can totally understand us, and relate to us... and I think that's exactly what God wanted. What an amazingly cool connection we have to him. He's not some super-man... He's just like us.

There's not really a big "point" to this post... I just found it really interesting that the Devil thought he could trick Jesus... he was really trying, so, it seems like there was some chance he might be able to. Or so he thought.

It definitely would have been strange to "hear" Jesus say the words, "The Devil made me do it..."

"Proof" That Jesus Never Rose From The Dead

I came upon this article today in my RSS news feeds... and I just thought it was fascinating how hard people try to bring down Jesus. Those on "the right" will say it's because they don't want to submit to the authority of God and Scripture, but it just seems like it must be more than that? I mean... this is fascinating and all, but, what can we learn from archaeology 2000 years later that would disprove historical accounts? It can certainly confuse (though I don't think this particular "finding" seems that legitimate) but... how can it "disprove"?

Well, it's an interesting story nonetheless. :-) You can read the article here.

More Than Jesus

"If it's about something less than him, we can fragment on anything."

Last night I was listening to a podcast we listen to regularly, and this week's episode just resonated with me more than I can say. The show covers all sorts of things... it's just a weekly conversation between two guys trying to live life with God outside of any boxes we can create. This week, I believe the topic was picked from when one of the guys made a trip back to his Christian college alma mater. Many of the people there were living life with Jesus completely differently from how he currently is, or would ever want to - and still there was unity. There was commonness. There was togetherness.

The guys got talking about how if we just share Jesus, we can live together in harmony. When we make it about anything less (they meant that obviously anything in the universe is "less" than Jesus, so if we make our bond, or our unity about anything other than Jesus) then we will inevitably fragment. We'll argue about music style, or carpet color, or what we call ourselves, or any number of silly things. We'll even argue about what we call "truth". But truth is a Person. Not a list of doctrines. So even THAT can get in the way of our unity - of us being a family.

I could not agree more.

Probably more than 10 years ago now, I had just begun working for a tiny "church" here in upstate NY and, being the idealist that I (still) am, I would engage the current "senior pastor" and my fellow fledgling "minister" in long discussions about the nature of what we were trying to accomplish as the Church of Christ at Victor. And when I would boil it all down, I came to the conclusion that nothing that we currently did together - none of the very helpful programs, or even the weekly worship services - were essential to us being the Church. We simple are the Church. Nothing really can change that, unless we choose to leave the Church.

And I don't mean to put our behinds somewhere else on a Sunday morning.

God's plan from before creation was to adopt us into his family, as his children. That is what he offers to us. Anyone who accepts his offer is now part of his family - which is The Church. His Body, of which he is the head. His body is not just some small group of people meeting across the street from another small group of people calling themselves his body also... it's the whole of both of those groups, plus the other three groups meeting just up the street. We in America (not always, but quite often) base our "fellowship" or our connection with believers on the extra name we bear. Not that of an adopted member of God's family... but that of our local congregation. In many ways, being a member of "First Church of the Resurrection" is more important to us than being a son or daughter of God!

Or at least, that's the way it would appear.

One of the podcast guys told a great story about one of his instructors (I believe that's who it was) at his college, who has since been a life-long friend. He had a falling out with the school when he left, and the bitterness continued in him for a time after that. His friend was taking communion one day and as he was holding the bread, looking at it, he saw through the bread - like a door - and on the other side was Jesus, standing there with his arm around one of the people from the school who had hurt him the most. His reaction was, "No, Jesus! You can't do that! He's the one who hurt me!" And Jesus' response was, "I'm not going to stop being this guy's friend to be your friend."

How cool is that? Jesus does not take sides (he shows no favorites). He loves us all the same, even when we don't or can't. It doesn't matter how we "do church" or where we "go to church" or anything EXTRA. All that matters is that we are his brothers, that we are all adopted sons and daughters of the same Father.

We don't have to pretend... we just are. I know, brothers don't always get along. Just yesterday, Alex came out from the other room to where I was and told me that Ian wasn't his brother anymore. After stifling a little laugh, I asked, "Well what do you mean?" He told me the "horrible" thing Ian did, and said, "So he's not my brother anymore." I smiled at him, and hugged him and said, "You know, that's never going to change. No matter what either of you do, you'll always be brothers. That's just the way it is. So what you have to do now is go back in there and figure out a way to work together." (I wish the story had a better ending, but I think what he did was go in and demand a little louder what it was he wanted from his brother. :-) We're still working on that....)

But isn't that the point? We are brothers, and sisters in Christ. We are his family. Not multiple families bearing different names who are distant cousins. We are his family. Brother and sister. When we put anything else in the way of our common bond - Jesus - then we begin living like we are not. Even though that will never change. We will always be brothers.

I thought it was an excellent podcast, and I intend to ask some folks close to me to check it out. How I long for the unity Jesus spoke of in the book of John. We are meant to be united, but too often we make life as a believer to be "more than Jesus"... and it just gets is in a big mess.

It really is true... the more we focus on him, the more he holds all things together (that's the name of the show...) So, today and this coming week... that's what I will try to do. I want to focus on him in my relationship with other people, and we'll see what happens. :-)