Perhaps you recognize the title of this post as part of the Gospel hymn “On the Wings of a Dove.” The entire verse is as follows:
When troubles beset us; When evils come
The body grows weak, and the spirit grows numb
When these beset us; well He doesn’t forget us
He sends down His love, on the wings of a dove.
I share this with you in the knowledge that many, many within our congregation have been beset with such troubles. There are many who are struggling with dealing with loved ones who are sick and dying. There are some who have lost spouses. There are some who are fighting illness themselves. There are some who are recovering from surgery. There are some who have had weird life circumstances cause stumbling and falling. One wonders why such things happen.
There is no perfect answer. Believe you me. If there was, I would write the book and sit back and enjoy the royalties. But I haven’t written that book because no answer is satisfactory. I can tell you a couple that are flat out wrong. Wrong answer number 1: “Jesus wants you to have victory over such matters.” One need be reminded, Jesus’ victory came on the cross–through suffering and persecution. The victory is won, no doubt, but not without a great cost. Wrong answer #2: If you just had enough faith, things would turn out right. Please, no one has enough faith. No one. This is why we are saved by sheer grace. We are dependent upon the mercy of God for all that we get. We don’t earn it by our faith. Wrong answer #3: God is causing this to test me. God knows you would fail. God knows we would all fail. Our human nature is weak. Furthermore, if you look at the life of Jesus, you will not see God testing Jesus (that would be a bit redundant). You will see the Enemy testing Jesus. It is the Enemy who tries to bring about our downfall by tests.
Which leads me to offer a few answers that I think help us grapple with trials and tribulations. Answer #1: When you are seeking to follow Jesus and the Gospel begins to take root in your heart, the Enemy works to steal you away. The Enemy sets up road blocks and trials to make you question your commitment to Jesus. Over and over again, we see this plainly in scripture. Answer #2: We cannot escape our choices. This is not a popular answer, but it is reality. It does not cover everything, but if you have lung cancer after smoking for 30 years, this is no surprise. One must make a distinction between things that we have some part in and things we don’t. Answer #3: I have no idea what-so-ever. This is the hardest one to accept because we want a reason. We want a clue as to why things are happening. Sometimes, there is just no good answer, and we must hope that God is in the midst of our trials and tribulations working to bring about a positive solution.
That last sentence is an important one because it demands trust in God. It demands that we have hope. It’s a hard thing to have at times, but it is central to our faith. The cross was the darkest day for the Christian, but it was followed by the light of the resurrection. Cross. Resurrection. Death. Life. God worked to bring hope from tragedy, and it is this that we hold onto desperately in the midst of our trials. May that hope find its way into your heart and mind. Amen.
Showing posts with label Theology of Glory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theology of Glory. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Beginning to See
It seems like an eternity since I last stood before you and left you hanging in the middle of Mark Chapter 8. I began a sermon on the blindness that each and every one of us has, and I finished by describing a healing that Jesus performed on a blind man. This healing is unlike any other recorded healing in scripture. It is a healing performed in stages. First the blind man is touched, and he sees, but not clearly. The second time Jesus lays hands on the man and looks intently at him, the man is healed. This healing was not only historical, but it was metaphorical. It was meant to teach a lesson not only to the disciples, but to you and to me. As we finish Mark Chapter 8, I hope that we will see the significance of our blindness, our need for healing, and how we too are healed in stages.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus and His disciples are traveling toward Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that I am?” It was very uncommon for rabbis to ask their followers things. Usually, it was the other way around. Usually, the rabbis students were constantly asking questions, but Jesus is no ordinary rabbi. Like a master teacher, Jesus has a point to draw the disciples toward.
The disciples begin spouting off all the things they have heard. “You are John the Baptist returned from the dead. You are Elijah who was taken bodily up into heaven who has returned to prepare the way for the Messiah. You are a prophet, perhaps the promised prophet Moses spoke about before he died.” It is an interesting list. One thing is for sure, all of these agree that Jesus is from God, and that He is in the prophetic line. Of this there is no dispute. Of course, these answers are not adequate. Jesus knows this. The disciples do too. How so?
Jesus continues, “Ah, but who do you say that I am?” Jesus is now putting the screws to His disciples. One of my commentaries said it best, “Who do you, my most intimate and trusted friends–in contrast to the other people who neither know me nor understand me–think I am?” There is no beating around the bush. There is no hemming and hawing. This is laying it all on the line right here. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks. The answer to this question is the most important answer that the disciples–and that we could ever give.
Peter speaks for them all, “You are the Messiah.”
Now, you need to know that this statement is quite loaded. Today, we unhesitatingly say that Jesus is the Messiah, and we think about the cross and the salvation of the world. Not so with the ancient Jews. Not so with the disciples. Such matters would have been very far from their minds. Let me quote biblical scholar N.T. Wright in this matter:
By no means all Jews wanted or expected a Messiah. But those who did were clear (not least from their readings of scripture) that he had to do three things. He had to rebuild, or cleanse the Temple. He had to defeat the enemy that was threatening God’s people. And he had to bring God’s justice–that rich, restoring, purging, healing power–to bear both in Israel and out into the world...The Messiah would be God’s agent in bringing in the kingdom [of God] in sorting out the mess and muddle Israel was in, in putting the Gentiles in their place. (Mark for Everyone)
This is what the disciples would have thought about Jesus. They would have thought that He was going to cleanse the Temple; defeat the enemy that was threatening them–which at the present time was the Romans; and then bring God’s justice to bear on Israel and the world which meant cleaning up Israel and then putting the Gentiles into their place. This was the expectations of the Messiah. Every Jew that believed in the arrival of the Messiah believed these three things, and Jesus would accomplish all three–just not in the manner everyone thought. And as Jesus begins to tell the disciples about what Messiahship entails, we see that even though the disciples have begun to see, they cannot yet see clearly.
Jesus first tells everyone to keep silent about these matters. Some folks wonder why, I don’t any longer. Jesus doesn’t want them to give everyone the idea that He will be their Messiah. Jesus doesn’t want everyone in the surrounding countryside to think He is going to lead some sort of rebellion and religious/societal cleansing by force of arms. Jesus needs to open the disciples’ eyes. He needs to help them see clearly before they began to proclaim His rule. And Jesus begins to do that immediately.
Mark records, “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.” The Greek word for openly is “parrasia” which carries the connotations of someone who is completely free who speaks without restraint, who hides nothing. (Kittel–Theological Dict. of the N.T.) Jesus is being perfectly clear with His disciples about what will happen to Him–what will happen to the Messiah. But there are two fascinating things in what Jesus says. First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man. Jesus doesn’t use “Messiah” in reference to Himself. In fact, Jesus much prefers “Son of Man” instead of Messiah. Why? For two reasons: Messiah, as I said before was a loaded term which connotes military conquest. Jesus wasn’t about that. Secondly, there is a much broader scope with tying Messiah and Son of Man. Jews would have tied Jesus’ words with Daniel chapter 7 where the following is written:
13As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
The reign of the Son of Man extends much, much further than the much smaller scope of the Jewish understanding of the Messiah. Jesus is trying to expand the disciples’ vision so that they see Jesus’ purpose for the whole world. Let me repeat that: Jesus is here for the whole world, not simply the Jews, and the salvation of the world will not be brought about by military conquest and purification, but by Jesus’ death. “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes...”
There are two comments to be made here. First from N.T. Wright again who pricelessly says, “Messiahs don’t get killed by the authorities. A Messiah who did that would be shown up precisely as a false Messiah.” And secondly from James Edwards in the Pillar New Testament Commentary on the book of Mark:
The prediction of Jesus passion conceals a great irony, for the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not come, as we would expect, at the hands of godless and wicked people. The suffering of the Son of Man comes rather at the hands of “the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.” It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify the Son of God but humanity at its absolute best. The death of Jesus will not be the result of a momentary lapse or aberration of human nature, but rather the result of careful deliberations from respected religious leaders who will justify their actions by the highest standards of the law and morality, even believing them to render service to God (John 16:2). Jesus will not be lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal act. He will be arrested with official warrants, and tried and executed by the world’s envy of jurisprudence–the Jewish Sanhedrin and the principia iuris Romanorum.
These things are just too much for the disciples. They contradict everything they had ever been taught. They contradict everything they had ever thought for themselves. They believed such things to be absolutely, totally wrong. Hence, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. Now, mind you, the same word that Mark uses for Peter rebuking Jesus is the same word Mark uses when Jesus rebukes the demons. It’s that strong a reaction from Peter.
But Jesus is just as strong. Jesus is just as harsh, perhaps harsher. “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus retorts, “For you are setting your things on human things and not the things of God.”
And now, we come to the crux of this whole passage–indeed one might say this is the crux of the Christian message itself. Jesus calls the crowd together. Jesus wants to make sure that everyone understands this, not simply the disciples. This teaching is for everyone–not simply those closest to Him. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Jesus plainly, openly, clearly teaches that if we want to see clearly; if we want to know clearly; if we want to understand clearly–we must die. At this point, let me ask you, do you still want to be a Christian? Do you still want to even consider following Jesus? Do you still want to be a disciple if He says, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” “For if you want to save your life, you will lose it, and if you lose it for Jesus sake and the sake of the Gospel, you will find it.” How can this be?
The Christian worldview starts with a very basic assumption about humanity. We were created to be good, but that goodness became warped. That goodness was over ridden by a deep selfishness which sought its own good; its own power; its own prestige; its own satisfaction; its own survival above its dependency upon God. To this day, our selfishness reigns. To this day, our ego tries to claim superiority. To this day, we do a lot to establish and preserve our identity and our self. I am who I am, and I will change for no one. And the world around us encourages this. And many churches do too.
I mean, I can tell you many, many churches who lead with the following sayings: Be yourself. Rejoice in your identity. Claim your heritage. God loves you just the way you are. All are welcome just as they are. I don’t know of a single church that leads and invites people with the following: deny who you are, come and die. It’s not a very popular advertising campaign. But it is Jesus. It is His call. And it is because He knows that if we spend our lives trying to maintain our identity and preserve ourselves, we will die a thousand deaths; never find fulfillment; and be searching for affirmation over and over and over again.
You know this as well as I do. Deep down you know this is the way the world works–that we are constantly taught to look out for ourselves, and we are constantly worried and burdened that we haven’t done enough. We tell our kids over and over, and you were probably told, “Work hard. Do well in school so that...what?” “You can get a good job and make enough money to live.” “Work hard, save your money, invest wisely so that...what?” You can retire and enjoy the years you have left. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” we repeat to ourselves striving to put off the pain of rejection when someone insults us. We try to preserve ourselves because we find our value and worth in ourselves.
And Jesus says, deny it. Deny yourself and find your value in me. For the world around you will strive to cut you down. The world around you will take every advantage of you it can. The world around you will try to drain your wealth and leave you poverty stricken. The world around you will demean your skin color and your heritage. The world around you will bash your gender and your sexuality. The world around you will cut you down at the knees because it will find your faults. It will find your weakness, and it will exploit them.
Now, here’s a question for you: how can the world exploit your faults if you no longer try to hide them but openly profess them? How can the world bash your gender and sexuality if you have denied them? How can the world trash your skin color or heritage if you say they don’t matter? How can the world harm you if you don’t find your value in what the world thinks of you?
Deny yourself. Die to yourself. See yourself as a dead person walking–for that is what carrying the cross means. Ah, but it doesn’t just mean death. No for whoever loses their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will find it. Find it? Yes. You will find it. For in Christianity, death is followed by resurrection. The cross is followed by the empty tomb. Denying one’s self is followed by finding one’s true self; true identity; true value and worth in the Savior who willingly died for you when you least deserved it.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.
Find your self in Jesus. Understand what He did for you as He stretched out His arms and died for you. Grasp the power of the resurrection as it removes your fear of death. You will cease being caught up in the daily battle for self-preservation, you will find freedom, and you will truly see. Amen.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus and His disciples are traveling toward Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that I am?” It was very uncommon for rabbis to ask their followers things. Usually, it was the other way around. Usually, the rabbis students were constantly asking questions, but Jesus is no ordinary rabbi. Like a master teacher, Jesus has a point to draw the disciples toward.
The disciples begin spouting off all the things they have heard. “You are John the Baptist returned from the dead. You are Elijah who was taken bodily up into heaven who has returned to prepare the way for the Messiah. You are a prophet, perhaps the promised prophet Moses spoke about before he died.” It is an interesting list. One thing is for sure, all of these agree that Jesus is from God, and that He is in the prophetic line. Of this there is no dispute. Of course, these answers are not adequate. Jesus knows this. The disciples do too. How so?
Jesus continues, “Ah, but who do you say that I am?” Jesus is now putting the screws to His disciples. One of my commentaries said it best, “Who do you, my most intimate and trusted friends–in contrast to the other people who neither know me nor understand me–think I am?” There is no beating around the bush. There is no hemming and hawing. This is laying it all on the line right here. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks. The answer to this question is the most important answer that the disciples–and that we could ever give.
Peter speaks for them all, “You are the Messiah.”
Now, you need to know that this statement is quite loaded. Today, we unhesitatingly say that Jesus is the Messiah, and we think about the cross and the salvation of the world. Not so with the ancient Jews. Not so with the disciples. Such matters would have been very far from their minds. Let me quote biblical scholar N.T. Wright in this matter:
By no means all Jews wanted or expected a Messiah. But those who did were clear (not least from their readings of scripture) that he had to do three things. He had to rebuild, or cleanse the Temple. He had to defeat the enemy that was threatening God’s people. And he had to bring God’s justice–that rich, restoring, purging, healing power–to bear both in Israel and out into the world...The Messiah would be God’s agent in bringing in the kingdom [of God] in sorting out the mess and muddle Israel was in, in putting the Gentiles in their place. (Mark for Everyone)
This is what the disciples would have thought about Jesus. They would have thought that He was going to cleanse the Temple; defeat the enemy that was threatening them–which at the present time was the Romans; and then bring God’s justice to bear on Israel and the world which meant cleaning up Israel and then putting the Gentiles into their place. This was the expectations of the Messiah. Every Jew that believed in the arrival of the Messiah believed these three things, and Jesus would accomplish all three–just not in the manner everyone thought. And as Jesus begins to tell the disciples about what Messiahship entails, we see that even though the disciples have begun to see, they cannot yet see clearly.
Jesus first tells everyone to keep silent about these matters. Some folks wonder why, I don’t any longer. Jesus doesn’t want them to give everyone the idea that He will be their Messiah. Jesus doesn’t want everyone in the surrounding countryside to think He is going to lead some sort of rebellion and religious/societal cleansing by force of arms. Jesus needs to open the disciples’ eyes. He needs to help them see clearly before they began to proclaim His rule. And Jesus begins to do that immediately.
Mark records, “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.” The Greek word for openly is “parrasia” which carries the connotations of someone who is completely free who speaks without restraint, who hides nothing. (Kittel–Theological Dict. of the N.T.) Jesus is being perfectly clear with His disciples about what will happen to Him–what will happen to the Messiah. But there are two fascinating things in what Jesus says. First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man. Jesus doesn’t use “Messiah” in reference to Himself. In fact, Jesus much prefers “Son of Man” instead of Messiah. Why? For two reasons: Messiah, as I said before was a loaded term which connotes military conquest. Jesus wasn’t about that. Secondly, there is a much broader scope with tying Messiah and Son of Man. Jews would have tied Jesus’ words with Daniel chapter 7 where the following is written:
13As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
The reign of the Son of Man extends much, much further than the much smaller scope of the Jewish understanding of the Messiah. Jesus is trying to expand the disciples’ vision so that they see Jesus’ purpose for the whole world. Let me repeat that: Jesus is here for the whole world, not simply the Jews, and the salvation of the world will not be brought about by military conquest and purification, but by Jesus’ death. “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes...”
There are two comments to be made here. First from N.T. Wright again who pricelessly says, “Messiahs don’t get killed by the authorities. A Messiah who did that would be shown up precisely as a false Messiah.” And secondly from James Edwards in the Pillar New Testament Commentary on the book of Mark:
The prediction of Jesus passion conceals a great irony, for the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not come, as we would expect, at the hands of godless and wicked people. The suffering of the Son of Man comes rather at the hands of “the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.” It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify the Son of God but humanity at its absolute best. The death of Jesus will not be the result of a momentary lapse or aberration of human nature, but rather the result of careful deliberations from respected religious leaders who will justify their actions by the highest standards of the law and morality, even believing them to render service to God (John 16:2). Jesus will not be lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal act. He will be arrested with official warrants, and tried and executed by the world’s envy of jurisprudence–the Jewish Sanhedrin and the principia iuris Romanorum.
These things are just too much for the disciples. They contradict everything they had ever been taught. They contradict everything they had ever thought for themselves. They believed such things to be absolutely, totally wrong. Hence, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. Now, mind you, the same word that Mark uses for Peter rebuking Jesus is the same word Mark uses when Jesus rebukes the demons. It’s that strong a reaction from Peter.
But Jesus is just as strong. Jesus is just as harsh, perhaps harsher. “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus retorts, “For you are setting your things on human things and not the things of God.”
And now, we come to the crux of this whole passage–indeed one might say this is the crux of the Christian message itself. Jesus calls the crowd together. Jesus wants to make sure that everyone understands this, not simply the disciples. This teaching is for everyone–not simply those closest to Him. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Jesus plainly, openly, clearly teaches that if we want to see clearly; if we want to know clearly; if we want to understand clearly–we must die. At this point, let me ask you, do you still want to be a Christian? Do you still want to even consider following Jesus? Do you still want to be a disciple if He says, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” “For if you want to save your life, you will lose it, and if you lose it for Jesus sake and the sake of the Gospel, you will find it.” How can this be?
The Christian worldview starts with a very basic assumption about humanity. We were created to be good, but that goodness became warped. That goodness was over ridden by a deep selfishness which sought its own good; its own power; its own prestige; its own satisfaction; its own survival above its dependency upon God. To this day, our selfishness reigns. To this day, our ego tries to claim superiority. To this day, we do a lot to establish and preserve our identity and our self. I am who I am, and I will change for no one. And the world around us encourages this. And many churches do too.
I mean, I can tell you many, many churches who lead with the following sayings: Be yourself. Rejoice in your identity. Claim your heritage. God loves you just the way you are. All are welcome just as they are. I don’t know of a single church that leads and invites people with the following: deny who you are, come and die. It’s not a very popular advertising campaign. But it is Jesus. It is His call. And it is because He knows that if we spend our lives trying to maintain our identity and preserve ourselves, we will die a thousand deaths; never find fulfillment; and be searching for affirmation over and over and over again.
You know this as well as I do. Deep down you know this is the way the world works–that we are constantly taught to look out for ourselves, and we are constantly worried and burdened that we haven’t done enough. We tell our kids over and over, and you were probably told, “Work hard. Do well in school so that...what?” “You can get a good job and make enough money to live.” “Work hard, save your money, invest wisely so that...what?” You can retire and enjoy the years you have left. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” we repeat to ourselves striving to put off the pain of rejection when someone insults us. We try to preserve ourselves because we find our value and worth in ourselves.
And Jesus says, deny it. Deny yourself and find your value in me. For the world around you will strive to cut you down. The world around you will take every advantage of you it can. The world around you will try to drain your wealth and leave you poverty stricken. The world around you will demean your skin color and your heritage. The world around you will bash your gender and your sexuality. The world around you will cut you down at the knees because it will find your faults. It will find your weakness, and it will exploit them.
Now, here’s a question for you: how can the world exploit your faults if you no longer try to hide them but openly profess them? How can the world bash your gender and sexuality if you have denied them? How can the world trash your skin color or heritage if you say they don’t matter? How can the world harm you if you don’t find your value in what the world thinks of you?
Deny yourself. Die to yourself. See yourself as a dead person walking–for that is what carrying the cross means. Ah, but it doesn’t just mean death. No for whoever loses their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will find it. Find it? Yes. You will find it. For in Christianity, death is followed by resurrection. The cross is followed by the empty tomb. Denying one’s self is followed by finding one’s true self; true identity; true value and worth in the Savior who willingly died for you when you least deserved it.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.
Find your self in Jesus. Understand what He did for you as He stretched out His arms and died for you. Grasp the power of the resurrection as it removes your fear of death. You will cease being caught up in the daily battle for self-preservation, you will find freedom, and you will truly see. Amen.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Conundrum of Our Day
For the past few weeks, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching a class on Martin Luther and his vast influence upon Western history. There have been more than a few moments of fantastic discussion which have triggered some deep contemplations on my part including the following:
This past Sunday, one of the folks attending class asked, "How was it that the popes of that time were able to get away with all the extravagance and abuse?"
The answers were quite simple:
1. Folks were biblically illiterate. They had no access to the Scriptures in their own languages and had no way of seeing that such abuses were contrary to the commands of Jesus.
2. The Church at the time controlled most of the means of communication and could shut things down pretty quickly. If someone started raising complaints of abuse, the Church could and would put folks to death to silence them. There was no such thing as paparazzi to record everything that was going on and let the masses know.
3. There was a particular theology at play which said that such wealth and extravagance was a blessing of God. If I have arisen to such a position, then I am entitled to such luxury. Couple this theology with the fact that most Church positions were not given to those who exhibited great faithfulness or were steadfast in study and discipline but were rather awarded to the highest bidder, and you had a recipe for abuse.
Of course, this prompted comparisons to today where some "pastors" revel in such gross interpretations of theology. I mean, what pastor in his right mind says that they need a $60 million dollar jet?
However, this also points to a much larger problem in our society--one that I pointed out in class.
In Luther's day, people were highly, biblically illiterate because they did not have access to the Bible in their own language. They couldn't call out such behavior because they were ignorant. Today, people are highly, biblically illiterate even though they have unfettered access to the Bible, and even though there are those willing to call out such behavior, such calls fall upon deaf ears and make little difference.
Why?
This brings us to the conundrum:
In our technological age, everyone has a voice. Everyone has the opportunity to expound upon and interpret whatever text they choose. From Tolkein to Plato to the Bible, anyone can expound and give input to what is written and said.
Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. It is good to have free interchange of ideas. We certainly do not want to return to the days when you could be killed for offering up an interpretation outside the mainstream. Orthodoxy needs heresy to keep it on the right path, but heresy does not need to be met with destruction.
But neither does it need to be met with acceptance. And we are far too accepting of heresy today.
How so?
In this manner:
Someone decides they would like to learn more about Christianity and the person of Jesus. They pick up a Bible and begin reading. Before long, they stumble upon Jesus' teachings:
If you are angry with a brother, you are committing murder.
If you look at a woman with lust, you are committing adultery.
If you divorce and get remarried, you are committing adultery.
If you want to be a disciple, you have to hate family and life itself.
If you want to be a disciple, you must give up all possessions.
Many might quit right here. They might see the impossibility of such actions and throw in the towel, but others might just want some clarification. Others might want to understand why such teachings are given. They seek out advice from a pastor or a learned individual. They ask, "Did Jesus really mean what He said here?"
Of course, most pastors will try to soften Jesus' teachings. "No, you don't have to give up your possessions or hate your family or life itself. Jesus means, you must love Him more than you love your possessions and family and life. You can have possessions and be a disciple. No, you are not committing adultery if you look at a woman--that's a natural human instinct. God created you that way, so it isn't sinful. Getting angry is just a part of life. As long as you don't act on it, you are fine."
Do you see how in each of these cases there is an actual departure from the teachings' of Jesus? Do you see how in each of these cases, Jesus' actual words are disregarded and replaced with a different teaching?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, would have said, and it's a great quote, we are trying to justify the sin instead of proclaim the justification of the sinner.
And yet, Bonhoeffer, (and I) are simply regarded as one more voice out there; one more interpretation to consider; one more option to think about that may or may not work out for whoever is striving to understand.
With so many voices speaking and interpreting, it is nearly impossible to make any headway in discovering the Truth. With the ability to go and find someone who gives me comfort and lets me continue on in my merry way with no change or transformation; with so many interpretations at the click of a mouse; I can weed out anything that challenges me or calls me to reevaluate my own worldview.
How can the Gospel be proclaimed without sounding like simply "one more voice in a cacophony of voices?" How can someone stand and say, "This is the Truth," when the prevailing view is "what is true for you is true for you, but it's not true for me."? How can any true form of debate take place if that trump card is played? There cannot be any striving for truth if truth is that relative.
Hence the conundrum. Hence the struggle of the Christian Church.
Is it possible for the Church to proclaim to others, "Listen for God's voice" when we are drowning in a cacophony of voices?
This past Sunday, one of the folks attending class asked, "How was it that the popes of that time were able to get away with all the extravagance and abuse?"
The answers were quite simple:
1. Folks were biblically illiterate. They had no access to the Scriptures in their own languages and had no way of seeing that such abuses were contrary to the commands of Jesus.
2. The Church at the time controlled most of the means of communication and could shut things down pretty quickly. If someone started raising complaints of abuse, the Church could and would put folks to death to silence them. There was no such thing as paparazzi to record everything that was going on and let the masses know.
3. There was a particular theology at play which said that such wealth and extravagance was a blessing of God. If I have arisen to such a position, then I am entitled to such luxury. Couple this theology with the fact that most Church positions were not given to those who exhibited great faithfulness or were steadfast in study and discipline but were rather awarded to the highest bidder, and you had a recipe for abuse.
Of course, this prompted comparisons to today where some "pastors" revel in such gross interpretations of theology. I mean, what pastor in his right mind says that they need a $60 million dollar jet?
However, this also points to a much larger problem in our society--one that I pointed out in class.
In Luther's day, people were highly, biblically illiterate because they did not have access to the Bible in their own language. They couldn't call out such behavior because they were ignorant. Today, people are highly, biblically illiterate even though they have unfettered access to the Bible, and even though there are those willing to call out such behavior, such calls fall upon deaf ears and make little difference.
Why?
This brings us to the conundrum:
In our technological age, everyone has a voice. Everyone has the opportunity to expound upon and interpret whatever text they choose. From Tolkein to Plato to the Bible, anyone can expound and give input to what is written and said.
Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. It is good to have free interchange of ideas. We certainly do not want to return to the days when you could be killed for offering up an interpretation outside the mainstream. Orthodoxy needs heresy to keep it on the right path, but heresy does not need to be met with destruction.
But neither does it need to be met with acceptance. And we are far too accepting of heresy today.
How so?
In this manner:
Someone decides they would like to learn more about Christianity and the person of Jesus. They pick up a Bible and begin reading. Before long, they stumble upon Jesus' teachings:
If you are angry with a brother, you are committing murder.
If you look at a woman with lust, you are committing adultery.
If you divorce and get remarried, you are committing adultery.
If you want to be a disciple, you have to hate family and life itself.
If you want to be a disciple, you must give up all possessions.
Many might quit right here. They might see the impossibility of such actions and throw in the towel, but others might just want some clarification. Others might want to understand why such teachings are given. They seek out advice from a pastor or a learned individual. They ask, "Did Jesus really mean what He said here?"
Of course, most pastors will try to soften Jesus' teachings. "No, you don't have to give up your possessions or hate your family or life itself. Jesus means, you must love Him more than you love your possessions and family and life. You can have possessions and be a disciple. No, you are not committing adultery if you look at a woman--that's a natural human instinct. God created you that way, so it isn't sinful. Getting angry is just a part of life. As long as you don't act on it, you are fine."
Do you see how in each of these cases there is an actual departure from the teachings' of Jesus? Do you see how in each of these cases, Jesus' actual words are disregarded and replaced with a different teaching?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, would have said, and it's a great quote, we are trying to justify the sin instead of proclaim the justification of the sinner.
And yet, Bonhoeffer, (and I) are simply regarded as one more voice out there; one more interpretation to consider; one more option to think about that may or may not work out for whoever is striving to understand.
With so many voices speaking and interpreting, it is nearly impossible to make any headway in discovering the Truth. With the ability to go and find someone who gives me comfort and lets me continue on in my merry way with no change or transformation; with so many interpretations at the click of a mouse; I can weed out anything that challenges me or calls me to reevaluate my own worldview.
How can the Gospel be proclaimed without sounding like simply "one more voice in a cacophony of voices?" How can someone stand and say, "This is the Truth," when the prevailing view is "what is true for you is true for you, but it's not true for me."? How can any true form of debate take place if that trump card is played? There cannot be any striving for truth if truth is that relative.
Hence the conundrum. Hence the struggle of the Christian Church.
Is it possible for the Church to proclaim to others, "Listen for God's voice" when we are drowning in a cacophony of voices?
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
A Conversation with my Son
He's five, mind you.
Sunday evening, my son and I drove to meet my wife and my daughters in Brenham. They attended a birthday party by invitation. The boy and I got to hang out and do guy things: shoot guns, bows and arrows, play video games, and then ride in my Mustang GT.
On the way home, Kevin, Jr. asked, "Daddy, why did God die?"
Five years old. I thought to myself, "O.K. hotshot. Get your way out of this one."
"Kevin, let's pretend for a minute. Let's say that Daddy told you not to drink Dr. Pepper and play with his Kindle at the same time. But, one day, you decided to do that."
"I'd NEVER do that!"
"I know, son, but let's pretend. Let's pretend that you did anyway, and you spilled Dr. Pepper on my Kindle. The Kindle got broke and wouldn't work anymore. Could you fix it?"
"No."
"Who would buy me a new one, then?"
"I would."
"Do you have any money to do that? Could you buy it for me?"
"No. I couldn't."
"But someone has to pay for it? Who else could pay for it?"
"You could."
"That's right. I could, and I would. But I would still have to pay for it. If something gets broken, it has to be fixed, and somebody has to pay for it. If you can't pay for it, I can, and I can forgive you. That's what God did on the cross."
"How?"
"Adam and Eve broke the relationship with God."
"How'd they do that?"
"They didn't listen to God, and they didn't trust God."
"Oh."
"And when they didn't listen to God and trust God, it allowed all the bad stuff to happen in the world. It allowed death; it allowed pain; it allowed sickness. It was bad. And the punishment had to fit the crime. Adam and Eve couldn't fix it. We can't fix it. Adam and Eve couldn't pay for it. We can't pay for it. So, who had to pay for it?"
"God."
"That's right. God."
"O.K."
Sunday evening, my son and I drove to meet my wife and my daughters in Brenham. They attended a birthday party by invitation. The boy and I got to hang out and do guy things: shoot guns, bows and arrows, play video games, and then ride in my Mustang GT.
On the way home, Kevin, Jr. asked, "Daddy, why did God die?"
Five years old. I thought to myself, "O.K. hotshot. Get your way out of this one."
"Kevin, let's pretend for a minute. Let's say that Daddy told you not to drink Dr. Pepper and play with his Kindle at the same time. But, one day, you decided to do that."
"I'd NEVER do that!"
"I know, son, but let's pretend. Let's pretend that you did anyway, and you spilled Dr. Pepper on my Kindle. The Kindle got broke and wouldn't work anymore. Could you fix it?"
"No."
"Who would buy me a new one, then?"
"I would."
"Do you have any money to do that? Could you buy it for me?"
"No. I couldn't."
"But someone has to pay for it? Who else could pay for it?"
"You could."
"That's right. I could, and I would. But I would still have to pay for it. If something gets broken, it has to be fixed, and somebody has to pay for it. If you can't pay for it, I can, and I can forgive you. That's what God did on the cross."
"How?"
"Adam and Eve broke the relationship with God."
"How'd they do that?"
"They didn't listen to God, and they didn't trust God."
"Oh."
"And when they didn't listen to God and trust God, it allowed all the bad stuff to happen in the world. It allowed death; it allowed pain; it allowed sickness. It was bad. And the punishment had to fit the crime. Adam and Eve couldn't fix it. We can't fix it. Adam and Eve couldn't pay for it. We can't pay for it. So, who had to pay for it?"
"God."
"That's right. God."
"O.K."
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Good News for Everyone
I wish I could remember the exact setting where I heard the teaching. Time has clouded my memory. I'm sure it will continue to happen. Sometimes I wish I had a pensieve as Dumbledore did in the Harry Potter novels. That way, I could dig through and find all the memories I know are there and revisit them in their detail. Forgive me for forgetting the entirety of the context, but the teaching was very important.
I remember clearly a conversation about reading the Bible. The presenter/teacher said with conviction, "As you read the Bible, much of what we read can be seen as either Law or Gospel depending upon who hears it."
I was intrigued, and listened further.
"If you take for instance the teaching 'Blessed are the poor...', a poor person hears that as good news. A wealthy person hears it as law. It depends upon who hears what is written."
The teaching made perfect sense--from a certain point of view; irony noted. For it is indeed true that certain portions of Scripture are clearly good news for some while bad news for others. It is indeed true that depending upon one's particular situation in life a particular teaching from Scripture will either step on toes or reinforce one's conviction that he or she is on the right path.
But, I have begun to question whether or not this is indeed how the Law/Gospel distinction should be made. I believe this distinction is rampant throughout American Christianity, and more and more, I am convinced it is one of the main drivers in Christianity's loss of authority within society. Why?
It is actually works/righteousness in disguise. It is nothing more than legalism with a sugar coating. Why do I say such a thing? Let me lay out my argument.
Let's first travel to the right hand side of Christianity in the U.S. The implicit message in many of those congregations is, "Jesus died for you, so be as moral and upright in your life as you can be so that you will get to heaven. Do not drink, smoke, cuss, and what have you. Keep appropriate marriage and sexual boundaries, and by doing so, you will live a life pleasing to God." Notice the emphasis. Notice also what is missing: any corporate responsibility for care and concern for the poor. The "right" hand side of Christianity emphasizes personal morality above corporate morality and reassures its members they are right with God because of what they are doing. And if you are not showing forth exemplary moral righteousness in your life, then you are excluded. There is good news for those who are striving to live a moral life and law for those who aren't.
It depends upon how one hears the Scripture...
Let's now travel to the left hand side of Christianity in the U.S. The implicit message in many of these congregations is, "Jesus died for you, so work for justice and peace in the world. God has a preferential place in His heart for the poor, and so we must work to eradicate poverty, hunger, injustice, and ensure that everyone has access to health care. We must work to make the kingdom of God happen right here on earth for those who are in need." Notice the emphasis. Notice also what is missing: any personal responsibility for living an upright and moral life. The "left" hand side of Christianity emphasizes corporate morality over personal morality, and it reassures its members they are right with God because of what they are doing in their struggle for justice or solidarity with the poor. And if you are not showing forth exemplary means of working for justice, then you are excluded. There is good news for those who are striving to work for justice and peace and law for those who aren't.
It depends upon how one hears the Scripture...
I submit that these tracts are absorbed in the Law and have missed the Gospel. I submit that each of these tracts are absorbed in works/righteousness instead of living by grace.
Grace does not divide. The Gospel does not draw lines. The Gospel abolishes, destroys, manhandles all the exclusionary tactics of the Law. The Law can be seen as good news for some, bad news for others. The Gospel is good news of great joy for ALL PEOPLE!!!
At the heart of the Gospel is the God made flesh who died for us, reconciling us unto God WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS. At the heart of the Gospel is the God made flesh who took upon Himself all our sin, all our guilt, all our shame, all our hopelessness, all of our pain, all of our misery, all of our suffering, even death itself to defeat it and give us hope that transcends any and every distinction we might like to draw.
Note: Each "side" as defined above will give lip service to this, but it is not at the core of their teaching. Not in the least. The core of the teaching is works/righteousness, not grace. This works/righteousness plays out as lines get quickly drawn between these two branches of Christianity, and they wantonly attack each other as failing to embody of what God wants us to do.
The Gospel, the good news of God's reconciliation of the world through Jesus, does not allow anyone to make any sort of distinction because all fall morally short and corporately short. No one can measure up to the moral standard of life as articulated by Jesus. Neither can anyone measure up to fully working for justice and peace. Yet, many congregations harp and harp and harp on these things. It's no wonder people eventually leave. They become discouraged because they simply cannot fulfill what is demanded of them.
Not so with grace. The embodiment of Grace leads one to accept both moral and corporate responsibility. It leads one to strive to live an upright life abstaining from personal sin to the best of one's ability, and it leads one to engage in helping the needy, poor, and distressed to the best of one's ability. Not because one feels guilty or believes one is going to change the world into the image of the kingdom of God, but because of joyful obedience to the God who first suffered and died for us.
Good news must be preached before people are willing to respond. Good news, not just for some, but for everyone.
I remember clearly a conversation about reading the Bible. The presenter/teacher said with conviction, "As you read the Bible, much of what we read can be seen as either Law or Gospel depending upon who hears it."
I was intrigued, and listened further.
"If you take for instance the teaching 'Blessed are the poor...', a poor person hears that as good news. A wealthy person hears it as law. It depends upon who hears what is written."
The teaching made perfect sense--from a certain point of view; irony noted. For it is indeed true that certain portions of Scripture are clearly good news for some while bad news for others. It is indeed true that depending upon one's particular situation in life a particular teaching from Scripture will either step on toes or reinforce one's conviction that he or she is on the right path.
But, I have begun to question whether or not this is indeed how the Law/Gospel distinction should be made. I believe this distinction is rampant throughout American Christianity, and more and more, I am convinced it is one of the main drivers in Christianity's loss of authority within society. Why?
It is actually works/righteousness in disguise. It is nothing more than legalism with a sugar coating. Why do I say such a thing? Let me lay out my argument.
Let's first travel to the right hand side of Christianity in the U.S. The implicit message in many of those congregations is, "Jesus died for you, so be as moral and upright in your life as you can be so that you will get to heaven. Do not drink, smoke, cuss, and what have you. Keep appropriate marriage and sexual boundaries, and by doing so, you will live a life pleasing to God." Notice the emphasis. Notice also what is missing: any corporate responsibility for care and concern for the poor. The "right" hand side of Christianity emphasizes personal morality above corporate morality and reassures its members they are right with God because of what they are doing. And if you are not showing forth exemplary moral righteousness in your life, then you are excluded. There is good news for those who are striving to live a moral life and law for those who aren't.
It depends upon how one hears the Scripture...
Let's now travel to the left hand side of Christianity in the U.S. The implicit message in many of these congregations is, "Jesus died for you, so work for justice and peace in the world. God has a preferential place in His heart for the poor, and so we must work to eradicate poverty, hunger, injustice, and ensure that everyone has access to health care. We must work to make the kingdom of God happen right here on earth for those who are in need." Notice the emphasis. Notice also what is missing: any personal responsibility for living an upright and moral life. The "left" hand side of Christianity emphasizes corporate morality over personal morality, and it reassures its members they are right with God because of what they are doing in their struggle for justice or solidarity with the poor. And if you are not showing forth exemplary means of working for justice, then you are excluded. There is good news for those who are striving to work for justice and peace and law for those who aren't.
It depends upon how one hears the Scripture...
I submit that these tracts are absorbed in the Law and have missed the Gospel. I submit that each of these tracts are absorbed in works/righteousness instead of living by grace.
Grace does not divide. The Gospel does not draw lines. The Gospel abolishes, destroys, manhandles all the exclusionary tactics of the Law. The Law can be seen as good news for some, bad news for others. The Gospel is good news of great joy for ALL PEOPLE!!!
At the heart of the Gospel is the God made flesh who died for us, reconciling us unto God WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS. At the heart of the Gospel is the God made flesh who took upon Himself all our sin, all our guilt, all our shame, all our hopelessness, all of our pain, all of our misery, all of our suffering, even death itself to defeat it and give us hope that transcends any and every distinction we might like to draw.
Note: Each "side" as defined above will give lip service to this, but it is not at the core of their teaching. Not in the least. The core of the teaching is works/righteousness, not grace. This works/righteousness plays out as lines get quickly drawn between these two branches of Christianity, and they wantonly attack each other as failing to embody of what God wants us to do.
The Gospel, the good news of God's reconciliation of the world through Jesus, does not allow anyone to make any sort of distinction because all fall morally short and corporately short. No one can measure up to the moral standard of life as articulated by Jesus. Neither can anyone measure up to fully working for justice and peace. Yet, many congregations harp and harp and harp on these things. It's no wonder people eventually leave. They become discouraged because they simply cannot fulfill what is demanded of them.
Not so with grace. The embodiment of Grace leads one to accept both moral and corporate responsibility. It leads one to strive to live an upright life abstaining from personal sin to the best of one's ability, and it leads one to engage in helping the needy, poor, and distressed to the best of one's ability. Not because one feels guilty or believes one is going to change the world into the image of the kingdom of God, but because of joyful obedience to the God who first suffered and died for us.
Good news must be preached before people are willing to respond. Good news, not just for some, but for everyone.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Who Wouldn't Want to Prepare?
My brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I both know the world is not at all like what our first lesson from the book of Isaiah describes. The world is far from the reality the prophet spoke about long, long ago. Take another listen to his words, and then reflect on just how far away we are from this sort of reality:
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. –Isaiah 11:5-9
To this day, these things are not happening. To this day, there is still war and strife and death. To this day, something must die in order for something else to live. To this day the earth still rebels against God and His knowledge–it is far from full of this. Indeed, our world remains broken and battered by the reality of sin, and just one glimpse of reality can set us on edge. One glimpse about the way things really are can lead us to a state of frustration and depression. Just a cursory read of the news shows this. The headlines tell us of greed, power grabs, destruction by natural disaster, rising poverty, government debt, people forced to give up what they are pleased with, and so on and so forth. This is the world we live in, and it can be overwhelming.
It can be so overwhelming that the promise of God set forth by the prophet can be lost. The promise of God can be forgotten. The promise of God can indeed be seen as an empty promise–false hope to hold onto in the midst of all our pain and suffering. Indeed, there are those who say that religion is simply a crutch that many hold onto to deal with the reality of brokenness in our world.
God knows how easily we can fall into such despair. God knows how easy it is for His creation to lose sight of His promise and His Word. God knows that we humans function on a different reality of time than He does. For us, thousands of years is an eternity. For God thousands of years are a fleeting moment. It’s easy to lose sight of this in the midst of this world.
Knowing this, God realized we needed something to hold onto. God realized we needed something concrete to grasp whenever hope starts to fade. God knows we need more than a promise to hold onto. In the old days, a handshake solidified a deal, but today, we need lawyers and legal documents to make sure we are covered. One would think that God’s Word would be enough, but the history of God’s people shows us differently. Scripture shows us how even the people of God who witnessed God’s miraculous deeds soon forgot them in the midst of their trials and tribulations. We need something more to hold onto.
And God understood this. God realized we needed assurances. God realized something more than a vision was needed so that we had evidence of God’s intent to make all things right. And God provided that evidence. God took on flesh and lived among us.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son not to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through Him.”
Jesus Christ entered this broken world. Jesus Christ, God in flesh, entered into this reality and began the process of redemption. Sure, He performed miracles. Sure, He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the hungry, and proclaimed God’s Kingdom. There is no doubt about these things. But these things were simply leading up to the grand finale–the reconciliation of humankind unto God.
This, of course, took place on the cross. Sometimes, it’s hard to let this sink in. Sometimes, it’s hard to remember what that cross represents. That cross represents all that is wrong with this world. That cross represents pain, suffering, brokenness, blood, injustice, selfishness, greed, depression, illness, and death. That cross does not today carry the same connotation it did 2000 years ago. Today, we see redemption. Long ago, it meant death. And that is exactly what happened to Jesus upon that cross. He was murdered. He suffered. He bled. He felt abandonment. It was not a glorious experience at all. But it was necessary. For in reality, it was us who should have been hanging on that cross. It was us who deserved punishment and death for our failure to measure up to God’s standards. We deserved to be hanging there for our participation in and failure to fix this broken world. Yet, instead of letting us take our deserved punishment, God intervened and Himself died.
This is a powerful statement of God’s love for us. There is no doubt about that. But the story is not yet done. For remember the promise of Isaiah? Remember the vision Isaiah tells us–a vision that came from God?
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. –Isaiah 11:1-10
This could not come to pass if the God incarnate suffered and died and that was the end. This could not be the true vision of the hope to come if the cross were the end. If suffering; if injustice; if despair; if punishment; if death were the end, then there is no real hope. God died. We are reconciled unto Him, but is there more?
The answer came three days later. Three dark days passed, but then the ground was shaken, the angels rolled the stone away, and Christ rose from the dead. St. Paul made no bones about what this meant, “20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
Christ is God’s handshake. Christ is God’s assurance that the promise of Isaiah is real. Christ is God’s way of showing us the fulfillment of the promise has begun, and we have something to hold onto in the midst of this world.
But more than that, for we do not simply hold onto the promise as if it were something only to be treasured by ourselves. For we know that around us is a world that is indeed hurting. We know that around us is a world that is broken and suffering in ways both big and small. We know that around us is a world in need of good news.
And we also know the foolishness of trying to make the world perfect. We know it is an impossibility on our part; yet we also know we cannot remain idle. We have been touched deeply by the promises of God, and so we work to prepare the way for Christ’s return. For who wouldn’t want to do this? Who wouldn’t want to prepare for the time of ultimate peace and justice? Who wouldn’t want to prepare for the time when all people can join with one another at the marriage feast of the Lamb? The vision is glorious!
And how do we prepare? How do we get ready for this vision? By trying to implement as much of it as we can in our daily lives right here and right now. By showing God’s love through kindness and caring and involvement with others both inside and outside our community of faith. For this is what it means to Live God’s Word Daily. Amen.
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. –Isaiah 11:5-9
To this day, these things are not happening. To this day, there is still war and strife and death. To this day, something must die in order for something else to live. To this day the earth still rebels against God and His knowledge–it is far from full of this. Indeed, our world remains broken and battered by the reality of sin, and just one glimpse of reality can set us on edge. One glimpse about the way things really are can lead us to a state of frustration and depression. Just a cursory read of the news shows this. The headlines tell us of greed, power grabs, destruction by natural disaster, rising poverty, government debt, people forced to give up what they are pleased with, and so on and so forth. This is the world we live in, and it can be overwhelming.
It can be so overwhelming that the promise of God set forth by the prophet can be lost. The promise of God can be forgotten. The promise of God can indeed be seen as an empty promise–false hope to hold onto in the midst of all our pain and suffering. Indeed, there are those who say that religion is simply a crutch that many hold onto to deal with the reality of brokenness in our world.
God knows how easily we can fall into such despair. God knows how easy it is for His creation to lose sight of His promise and His Word. God knows that we humans function on a different reality of time than He does. For us, thousands of years is an eternity. For God thousands of years are a fleeting moment. It’s easy to lose sight of this in the midst of this world.
Knowing this, God realized we needed something to hold onto. God realized we needed something concrete to grasp whenever hope starts to fade. God knows we need more than a promise to hold onto. In the old days, a handshake solidified a deal, but today, we need lawyers and legal documents to make sure we are covered. One would think that God’s Word would be enough, but the history of God’s people shows us differently. Scripture shows us how even the people of God who witnessed God’s miraculous deeds soon forgot them in the midst of their trials and tribulations. We need something more to hold onto.
And God understood this. God realized we needed assurances. God realized something more than a vision was needed so that we had evidence of God’s intent to make all things right. And God provided that evidence. God took on flesh and lived among us.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son not to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through Him.”
Jesus Christ entered this broken world. Jesus Christ, God in flesh, entered into this reality and began the process of redemption. Sure, He performed miracles. Sure, He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the hungry, and proclaimed God’s Kingdom. There is no doubt about these things. But these things were simply leading up to the grand finale–the reconciliation of humankind unto God.
This, of course, took place on the cross. Sometimes, it’s hard to let this sink in. Sometimes, it’s hard to remember what that cross represents. That cross represents all that is wrong with this world. That cross represents pain, suffering, brokenness, blood, injustice, selfishness, greed, depression, illness, and death. That cross does not today carry the same connotation it did 2000 years ago. Today, we see redemption. Long ago, it meant death. And that is exactly what happened to Jesus upon that cross. He was murdered. He suffered. He bled. He felt abandonment. It was not a glorious experience at all. But it was necessary. For in reality, it was us who should have been hanging on that cross. It was us who deserved punishment and death for our failure to measure up to God’s standards. We deserved to be hanging there for our participation in and failure to fix this broken world. Yet, instead of letting us take our deserved punishment, God intervened and Himself died.
This is a powerful statement of God’s love for us. There is no doubt about that. But the story is not yet done. For remember the promise of Isaiah? Remember the vision Isaiah tells us–a vision that came from God?
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. –Isaiah 11:1-10
This could not come to pass if the God incarnate suffered and died and that was the end. This could not be the true vision of the hope to come if the cross were the end. If suffering; if injustice; if despair; if punishment; if death were the end, then there is no real hope. God died. We are reconciled unto Him, but is there more?
The answer came three days later. Three dark days passed, but then the ground was shaken, the angels rolled the stone away, and Christ rose from the dead. St. Paul made no bones about what this meant, “20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
Christ is God’s handshake. Christ is God’s assurance that the promise of Isaiah is real. Christ is God’s way of showing us the fulfillment of the promise has begun, and we have something to hold onto in the midst of this world.
But more than that, for we do not simply hold onto the promise as if it were something only to be treasured by ourselves. For we know that around us is a world that is indeed hurting. We know that around us is a world that is broken and suffering in ways both big and small. We know that around us is a world in need of good news.
And we also know the foolishness of trying to make the world perfect. We know it is an impossibility on our part; yet we also know we cannot remain idle. We have been touched deeply by the promises of God, and so we work to prepare the way for Christ’s return. For who wouldn’t want to do this? Who wouldn’t want to prepare for the time of ultimate peace and justice? Who wouldn’t want to prepare for the time when all people can join with one another at the marriage feast of the Lamb? The vision is glorious!
And how do we prepare? How do we get ready for this vision? By trying to implement as much of it as we can in our daily lives right here and right now. By showing God’s love through kindness and caring and involvement with others both inside and outside our community of faith. For this is what it means to Live God’s Word Daily. Amen.
Monday, September 30, 2013
True Rejoicing
Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, "My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50."
The second boy says, "That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100."
The third boy says, "I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!"
I like this joke for a couple of reasons. First, it’s clean. Enough said about that. Second, it’s about a boy unashamedly proud of his father’s profession–a father who just happened to be a pastor, like me. Third, it’s a classic example of the games of one-upmanship we all like to play at some point and time in our lives.
I mean, I don’t know what it is about our species, but when it comes to telling stories about the things that we have experienced, someone always seems to have a story that one-ups everyone else. Maybe you’ve run into such a person before. They’ve always got to have the last word or the tallest tale.
I remember sitting down and talking to a couple of our members over a game of cards. They were talking about a guy who had at least one such tall tale. Apparently, there had been some scattered showers around Cat Spring, and folks were commenting about how it seemed like the rain just seemed to hit a certain spot and then just shut off. This one particular gentleman–I wish I could remember the name, said something to the effect of, “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. The other day, I was riding in my cart holding my shot gun when such a rain shower hit. After the storm was done, one barrel was completely dry, and the other barrel was full of water.” I’m not sure anyone could top that one.
Neither do I think anyone could top Jesus as He one-ups the disciples in our Gospel lesson this morning. And, He teaches them an important lesson to boot. Let’s set the scene.
As Jesus’ ministry was taking off, He wanted to get the word out about God’s Kingdom. He brought together 70 of His followers, and He sent them out to proclaim the message of God. Here were Jesus’ exact instructions in fact, “‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.”
That’s the background. The 70 went out and did what Jesus instructed them to do, and in today’s Gospel reading, we get the results. It’s like sitting down at a corporate meeting and asking them, “So how did the venture go?”
The disciples respond with absolute enthusiasm! ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’
Now, this is no small feat for those disciples, particularly in Jesus’ day. For, you see, most folks had a particular worldview. They believed the events on earth were directly related to events in heaven. Up in heaven, there was a tremendous battle being waged between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Events on earth oftentimes mirrored the events in heaven. When evil was winning a hand or two, evil things happened to people on earth. When good was winning in heaven, good things happened on earth.
When the disciples were giving their reports, they were convinced there were some very good things happening up in heaven. They were convinced the cosmic battle was going well, and that they were on the winning side. If the forces of darkness were being defeated down here on earth, surely the cosmic battle was being won and handily.
Jesus says a quite interesting thing at this point. Scholars have wrestled with this saying for quite some time. “I saw Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” Oftentimes, one will ask, “Did Jesus really see such a thing?”
My answer is no. I don’t think so. In fact, I think Jesus is being quite sarcastic. I mean, if you take a look at our second lesson for today, John, the writer of Revelation, talks about the culmination of the final battle. During that final battle, the Enemy, the Serpent, the Great Deceiver is finally thrown out of heaven and down to earth. Mind you, John is writing many years after Jesus’ walked the earth. So, in effect, Jesus didn’t see Satan fall from heaven. The battle was still ongoing. Jesus knew this which is the first reason I think Jesus is being sarcastic. The second reason is that I believe He was using such rhetoric to set His disciples straight.
“See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.” This is what the disciples are all excited about, and what does Jesus think of it? See how He starts the next statement? “Nevertheless.” That’s the word Jesus uses. Nevertheless. Jesus is drawing a stark contrast between what the disciples are excited about and what Jesus thinks is more important. Hence, sarcasm to begin with. Finishing out what Jesus says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus one-ups them with that which is truly important. Sure, it’s nice to win a battle in the cosmic war between good and evil. Sure, it’s nice to have the spirits submit to you in the name of Jesus. Sure, it’s nice to accomplish something nice for a change, but these things, while important, pale in comparison to knowing your name is written in heaven. These things pale in comparison to knowing that you are a child of God. These things pale in comparison compared to knowing that you have a place reserved for you in eternity with all the saints who have gone before.
Why would Jesus emphasize such a thing? Why would Jesus steal the disciples’ thunder? Why wouldn’t He allow them to just revel in the moment and celebrate their accomplishments?
I think the reason is clear. These skirmishes are just that: skirmishes. These battles might have been won, but in the future, the battles might not go so well. In the future, there will be times of loss. There will be times when the forces of evil will seem overwhelming and all powerful. There will be times when for the sake of the Gospel these same disciples will face torture, persecution, hatred, loneliness, and even death. And what will they say at those times? Where will their belief and faith rest? Will they still be rejoicing, or will they cower in fear?
For those who know that their names are written in the book of life, there is no fear. For those who know that their names are written in the book of heaven, there is no anxiety. For those who know that their names are known by God, there is the realization that even though the worst may happen, God will ultimately bring about a positive outcome. Even though we die, we will live. That is the promise.
As modern disciples of Jesus, most of us know both the thrill of accomplishment and the agony of defeat. Most of us know happiness and sadness. Most of us have felt total elation at some point as well as overwhelming grief. We know the ups and downs of life. We know there are wins and losses. There is no shame celebrating those wins. It’s nice to have them, but they are not the sum and substance of our lives. They are not what gives us inspiration. They are not the reasons we hold onto our faith and call ourselves Christian.
Some preachers believe these things indeed are a result of becoming a Christian. They proclaim that when we become followers of Jesus and just have enough faith, then everything will be great in our lives--we will have health, wealth, and happiness. Most of you here this morning know this isn't always the case. Most of you here this morning know the reality of life. Most of you know the pain of loss, the agony of having cancer or having a loved one who has cancer, the sorrow in having a family torn apart by divorce, and all other manners of hurt. Some of you have been mocked and teased and made to feel down and low. If your faith rested on all the good things in life, what would have happened to it when you ran into all of these things? Where do you think your faith in God would have ended up?
This is why Jesus one ups us today as well. He does not wish for us to have our faith rest on the idea that good things happen to us because we believe in Him and have been given the power of the Holy Spirit. For to live God’s Word daily means we know these things pale in comparison to the fact that God loves us, God calls us, God works on us to transform us into His likeness, and God has our names written in heaven. Knowing this gives us tremendous strength to face both the good and the bad in this world. Amen.
The second boy says, "That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100."
The third boy says, "I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!"
I like this joke for a couple of reasons. First, it’s clean. Enough said about that. Second, it’s about a boy unashamedly proud of his father’s profession–a father who just happened to be a pastor, like me. Third, it’s a classic example of the games of one-upmanship we all like to play at some point and time in our lives.
I mean, I don’t know what it is about our species, but when it comes to telling stories about the things that we have experienced, someone always seems to have a story that one-ups everyone else. Maybe you’ve run into such a person before. They’ve always got to have the last word or the tallest tale.
I remember sitting down and talking to a couple of our members over a game of cards. They were talking about a guy who had at least one such tall tale. Apparently, there had been some scattered showers around Cat Spring, and folks were commenting about how it seemed like the rain just seemed to hit a certain spot and then just shut off. This one particular gentleman–I wish I could remember the name, said something to the effect of, “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. The other day, I was riding in my cart holding my shot gun when such a rain shower hit. After the storm was done, one barrel was completely dry, and the other barrel was full of water.” I’m not sure anyone could top that one.
Neither do I think anyone could top Jesus as He one-ups the disciples in our Gospel lesson this morning. And, He teaches them an important lesson to boot. Let’s set the scene.
As Jesus’ ministry was taking off, He wanted to get the word out about God’s Kingdom. He brought together 70 of His followers, and He sent them out to proclaim the message of God. Here were Jesus’ exact instructions in fact, “‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.”
That’s the background. The 70 went out and did what Jesus instructed them to do, and in today’s Gospel reading, we get the results. It’s like sitting down at a corporate meeting and asking them, “So how did the venture go?”
The disciples respond with absolute enthusiasm! ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’
Now, this is no small feat for those disciples, particularly in Jesus’ day. For, you see, most folks had a particular worldview. They believed the events on earth were directly related to events in heaven. Up in heaven, there was a tremendous battle being waged between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Events on earth oftentimes mirrored the events in heaven. When evil was winning a hand or two, evil things happened to people on earth. When good was winning in heaven, good things happened on earth.
When the disciples were giving their reports, they were convinced there were some very good things happening up in heaven. They were convinced the cosmic battle was going well, and that they were on the winning side. If the forces of darkness were being defeated down here on earth, surely the cosmic battle was being won and handily.
Jesus says a quite interesting thing at this point. Scholars have wrestled with this saying for quite some time. “I saw Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” Oftentimes, one will ask, “Did Jesus really see such a thing?”
My answer is no. I don’t think so. In fact, I think Jesus is being quite sarcastic. I mean, if you take a look at our second lesson for today, John, the writer of Revelation, talks about the culmination of the final battle. During that final battle, the Enemy, the Serpent, the Great Deceiver is finally thrown out of heaven and down to earth. Mind you, John is writing many years after Jesus’ walked the earth. So, in effect, Jesus didn’t see Satan fall from heaven. The battle was still ongoing. Jesus knew this which is the first reason I think Jesus is being sarcastic. The second reason is that I believe He was using such rhetoric to set His disciples straight.
“See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.” This is what the disciples are all excited about, and what does Jesus think of it? See how He starts the next statement? “Nevertheless.” That’s the word Jesus uses. Nevertheless. Jesus is drawing a stark contrast between what the disciples are excited about and what Jesus thinks is more important. Hence, sarcasm to begin with. Finishing out what Jesus says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus one-ups them with that which is truly important. Sure, it’s nice to win a battle in the cosmic war between good and evil. Sure, it’s nice to have the spirits submit to you in the name of Jesus. Sure, it’s nice to accomplish something nice for a change, but these things, while important, pale in comparison to knowing your name is written in heaven. These things pale in comparison to knowing that you are a child of God. These things pale in comparison compared to knowing that you have a place reserved for you in eternity with all the saints who have gone before.
Why would Jesus emphasize such a thing? Why would Jesus steal the disciples’ thunder? Why wouldn’t He allow them to just revel in the moment and celebrate their accomplishments?
I think the reason is clear. These skirmishes are just that: skirmishes. These battles might have been won, but in the future, the battles might not go so well. In the future, there will be times of loss. There will be times when the forces of evil will seem overwhelming and all powerful. There will be times when for the sake of the Gospel these same disciples will face torture, persecution, hatred, loneliness, and even death. And what will they say at those times? Where will their belief and faith rest? Will they still be rejoicing, or will they cower in fear?
For those who know that their names are written in the book of life, there is no fear. For those who know that their names are written in the book of heaven, there is no anxiety. For those who know that their names are known by God, there is the realization that even though the worst may happen, God will ultimately bring about a positive outcome. Even though we die, we will live. That is the promise.
As modern disciples of Jesus, most of us know both the thrill of accomplishment and the agony of defeat. Most of us know happiness and sadness. Most of us have felt total elation at some point as well as overwhelming grief. We know the ups and downs of life. We know there are wins and losses. There is no shame celebrating those wins. It’s nice to have them, but they are not the sum and substance of our lives. They are not what gives us inspiration. They are not the reasons we hold onto our faith and call ourselves Christian.
Some preachers believe these things indeed are a result of becoming a Christian. They proclaim that when we become followers of Jesus and just have enough faith, then everything will be great in our lives--we will have health, wealth, and happiness. Most of you here this morning know this isn't always the case. Most of you here this morning know the reality of life. Most of you know the pain of loss, the agony of having cancer or having a loved one who has cancer, the sorrow in having a family torn apart by divorce, and all other manners of hurt. Some of you have been mocked and teased and made to feel down and low. If your faith rested on all the good things in life, what would have happened to it when you ran into all of these things? Where do you think your faith in God would have ended up?
This is why Jesus one ups us today as well. He does not wish for us to have our faith rest on the idea that good things happen to us because we believe in Him and have been given the power of the Holy Spirit. For to live God’s Word daily means we know these things pale in comparison to the fact that God loves us, God calls us, God works on us to transform us into His likeness, and God has our names written in heaven. Knowing this gives us tremendous strength to face both the good and the bad in this world. Amen.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Bandaids Versus Systemic Change: God's Work
One of the blogs I follow had an interesting take on this past Sunday's emphasis on God's Work. Our Hands. I get what he is saying. Really. I do. But I find some of the theology behind the assertion a bit troubling. Let's think about these statements in particular:
And we did this all the while knowing that acts of kindness and charity are poor replacements for systemic change and activism.
Really; that’s just the plain truth. Systems don’t change because I’ve handed a person a sandwich. Systems change when I press back against a culture that creates the have-nots in the shadow of the haves.
God’s work would be to flatten those economies in a way that changed life for everyone.
So, God's work--His REAL work--would be to flatten our systems of power and injustice and change life for everyone. That's the underlying theology, isn't it? Handing out sandwiches is good work, but it's not quite on a par with something grander--an overhaul of the system that causes people to go hungry. Well, there is truth in that statement. It would be nice to come up with some sort of system where there were no hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or imprisoned.
But there is a two-fold problem with this theology.
Problem #1: In reality, this is a modified theology of glory; a theology which seeks the boldest and grandest; a theology which seeks a total remaking of the world and its structures; a theology which focuses on the end times promise of a new heaven and a new earth; a theology which seeks earthly comfort in the way I think it should occur. Oh, that statement will probably cause a little bit of ire, but there is little difference, at least in my book, between saying, "If I just believe and have enough faith, then I will be blessed with wealth and prosperity." and "If I just push back against a culture that creates the have-nots in the shadow of the haves, then I am really doing God's work [and systems will change so that more will have.]"
Whether we like it or not, our focus as Christians comes in the form of the God made flesh: Jesus. And Jesus wasn't exactly revealing to us the methodology of bringing about such a theology. He wasn't one to tell his followers to "do the right things and God will bless you." He wasn't one that said, "Do the right things and you will bring heaven to earth." He wasn't one going around saying, "We need to push back against this Roman invasion and those who collaborate with it to produce poor people and stomp on people." He famously spoke, "My kingdom is not of this world." And it's not.
It involves the creation of a whole new world. Why? Because it is we as humans who build the systems.
That's Problem #2: What is the system that God has built to replace that which He supposedly would/could/is tearing down? Somehow, there is an assumption built into this whole shebang that some system exists that is indeed perfect where human poverty is eradicated. Somehow, there is an assumption that some system exists which the distinction between haves and have nots is erased. Looking at the history of the world, has such a system ever been established?
I am waiting for the answer....
Again, humans build the systems of which we are a part in this world. And those systems are just like us. They have their good points. They have their bad points. They are saintly in some ways. They are sinful in others. What more can you expect out of a system put together by beings such as we?
Even the Church, in all of its myriads of expressions throughout the world does not come close to reaching perfection. It does not come close to reaching the vision of heaven as articulated by Jesus and the earliest disciples. Why? It is composed of humans. Plain and simple. In order to create a perfect system, we must achieve perfection as human beings. Anyone want to take a guess how long it will take for that to happen?
Which brings us back to God's work. What is God's work?
Perhaps it is a bit old fashioned, but let's remember what the basics of our faith tell us. You know, those things called the Creeds.
1. God is creator.
2. God is salvation bringer.
3. God is sustainer.
4. God is sanctifier.
I think it poignant to recite at this point Luther's explanation of the Third Article of the Creed:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
What is God's work in this day and time:
Calling. Gathering. Enlightening. Sanctifying.
That sanctifying one is pretty important, you know. That's the one where God comes in and rearranges the furniture deep within us. Where He makes us holy--more Christ like. And when we start becoming more Christ like, we start doing the things He asked us to do: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, all those stop gap measures.
Why the stop gap? Why not something more? Why not something grand? Why not something transformational which blew up the imperfect systems of which we are a part?
Well, that would involve blowing us up first. That would involve eradicating all of our selfishness; all of our desire for more; all of our focus on what we want instead of what we need. Get rid of all that, and we can have a perfect system.
And that's not going to happen until the parousia--the end of times. Jesus knew this. He had the big picture, and He knew sanctification is a life-long process. He knew the grand things weren't going to happen short of remaking the world, so He taught us to see God's action in places where it hadn't been seen before--like a child and a seed and a prodigal father and a cross.
The grand remaking of the world is still to come. The trashing of all those imperfect systems is still to come. In the mean time, God's work continues. Don't sell it short.
And we did this all the while knowing that acts of kindness and charity are poor replacements for systemic change and activism.
Really; that’s just the plain truth. Systems don’t change because I’ve handed a person a sandwich. Systems change when I press back against a culture that creates the have-nots in the shadow of the haves.
God’s work would be to flatten those economies in a way that changed life for everyone.
So, God's work--His REAL work--would be to flatten our systems of power and injustice and change life for everyone. That's the underlying theology, isn't it? Handing out sandwiches is good work, but it's not quite on a par with something grander--an overhaul of the system that causes people to go hungry. Well, there is truth in that statement. It would be nice to come up with some sort of system where there were no hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or imprisoned.
But there is a two-fold problem with this theology.
Problem #1: In reality, this is a modified theology of glory; a theology which seeks the boldest and grandest; a theology which seeks a total remaking of the world and its structures; a theology which focuses on the end times promise of a new heaven and a new earth; a theology which seeks earthly comfort in the way I think it should occur. Oh, that statement will probably cause a little bit of ire, but there is little difference, at least in my book, between saying, "If I just believe and have enough faith, then I will be blessed with wealth and prosperity." and "If I just push back against a culture that creates the have-nots in the shadow of the haves, then I am really doing God's work [and systems will change so that more will have.]"
Whether we like it or not, our focus as Christians comes in the form of the God made flesh: Jesus. And Jesus wasn't exactly revealing to us the methodology of bringing about such a theology. He wasn't one to tell his followers to "do the right things and God will bless you." He wasn't one that said, "Do the right things and you will bring heaven to earth." He wasn't one going around saying, "We need to push back against this Roman invasion and those who collaborate with it to produce poor people and stomp on people." He famously spoke, "My kingdom is not of this world." And it's not.
It involves the creation of a whole new world. Why? Because it is we as humans who build the systems.
That's Problem #2: What is the system that God has built to replace that which He supposedly would/could/is tearing down? Somehow, there is an assumption built into this whole shebang that some system exists that is indeed perfect where human poverty is eradicated. Somehow, there is an assumption that some system exists which the distinction between haves and have nots is erased. Looking at the history of the world, has such a system ever been established?
I am waiting for the answer....
Again, humans build the systems of which we are a part in this world. And those systems are just like us. They have their good points. They have their bad points. They are saintly in some ways. They are sinful in others. What more can you expect out of a system put together by beings such as we?
Even the Church, in all of its myriads of expressions throughout the world does not come close to reaching perfection. It does not come close to reaching the vision of heaven as articulated by Jesus and the earliest disciples. Why? It is composed of humans. Plain and simple. In order to create a perfect system, we must achieve perfection as human beings. Anyone want to take a guess how long it will take for that to happen?
Which brings us back to God's work. What is God's work?
Perhaps it is a bit old fashioned, but let's remember what the basics of our faith tell us. You know, those things called the Creeds.
1. God is creator.
2. God is salvation bringer.
3. God is sustainer.
4. God is sanctifier.
I think it poignant to recite at this point Luther's explanation of the Third Article of the Creed:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
What is God's work in this day and time:
Calling. Gathering. Enlightening. Sanctifying.
That sanctifying one is pretty important, you know. That's the one where God comes in and rearranges the furniture deep within us. Where He makes us holy--more Christ like. And when we start becoming more Christ like, we start doing the things He asked us to do: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, all those stop gap measures.
Why the stop gap? Why not something more? Why not something grand? Why not something transformational which blew up the imperfect systems of which we are a part?
Well, that would involve blowing us up first. That would involve eradicating all of our selfishness; all of our desire for more; all of our focus on what we want instead of what we need. Get rid of all that, and we can have a perfect system.
And that's not going to happen until the parousia--the end of times. Jesus knew this. He had the big picture, and He knew sanctification is a life-long process. He knew the grand things weren't going to happen short of remaking the world, so He taught us to see God's action in places where it hadn't been seen before--like a child and a seed and a prodigal father and a cross.
The grand remaking of the world is still to come. The trashing of all those imperfect systems is still to come. In the mean time, God's work continues. Don't sell it short.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
It's Hard to Get My Head Around This
The last two days have been quite the whirl wind. I have been training and working with a new addition to our congregation's staff: a part time youth director.
Sometimes, I have a hard time getting my head around this fact.
When I first started serving this congregation nine years ago, we had a baptized membership of 189. Our average worship attendance was 65. Most would have not considered it a viable congregation--at least not for a full time clergy. Most would have considered it needing to be yoked to another church in a dual point parish.
Yet, the people here had a sense of call about them. They rejected any such notions and wanted a full time pastor. Not only this, they had discerned a call to add a part-time secretary--something they had never had in their history.
I came on board, and within a few months, we hired a secretary. Life was good.
I arrived in Cat Spring from a large congregation in Seguin. My previous congregation had nearly 1400 members, and the work load was intense. I generally was up at the church 4 nights per week. Sometimes, the meetings were grueling lasting two and a half to three hours. After four years there, I was tired, worn out, ready for a change.
Coming to Cat Spring was very, very different. There were hardly any meetings at all! There wasn't a full staff. But things were getting done, and getting done in a big way.
Congregational growth has been tremendous. In those nine years, our membership has more than doubled to 430. Our average worship attendance hovers at 120. Of course, if we weeded out the "summer slump" we would be at 140-150. Offerings are steady and very good. People do things--good things on a consistent basis--without having meeting after meeting after meeting.
As the congregation has grown, we have consistently added staff. First, the secretary. Then, a worship and music director. Then, came the leap of faith last year. The congregation decided to seek a part-time youth director. We budgeted for the position in the annual meeting, sent out advertizements, prayed, and waited.
Last week, the position was filled, and I woke up Monday, the head of a staffed congregation.
Now, at this point, there are some pastors who would begin telling you, "If you want your church and congregation to do the same thing, then here is what you need to do..." I'm not going to do that because I really don't know what technique to use to make any church grow. I really don't. I don't know the magic pill to make a congregation take off and grow like gang busters.
Too often, I think our congregations become obsessed with a theology of glory--a proverbial step by step plan that leads to growing attendance, offerings, and participation. If you do this, then you will be blessed by growth. If you follow the Lord just right, then He will add numbers to your congregation.
Problem is--I've seen numerous congregations strive to follow the right steps and still experience no growth. I've seen congregations throw out the welcome mat, make people feel warm and fuzzy, have all sorts of programming geared toward children, youth, young adult, middle-aged, and elderly; congregations who incorporate traditional and contemporary music; who become more conservative and more liberal, and nothing works.
I don't believe there is a secret formula to church growth or participation. I think much of it, like salvation, rests upon God's work upon the individual believer. I think much of it, like salvation, involves God's Spirit delving into the hearts and minds of people inspiring them to become a community of compassionate, caring, generous individuals who seek to do His will in the things they say and do. I think church growth revolves around God's action and not our own. Of course, we Lutherans proudly proclaim this to be Word, Sacrament, and the mutual conversation and consolation of the believers.
I do not know what the final outcome will be as this congregation moves into the realm of a staffed congregation. This congregation has never been there before. Sometimes such a move is met with tons of blessings. Sometimes, it so shakes the dynamics of the church that the opposite takes place. We are dealing with an institution made up of humans, after all. Yet, I keep reminding myself that it's not totally up to me. It's not totally up to my secretary or my music director or my youth director. Heck it's not totally up to the congregation members. For without God, we could do nothing. He makes the whole thing work, and if He needs me to lead a staff here at this church, I submit to His will.
I just have a hard time getting my head around it.
Sometimes, I have a hard time getting my head around this fact.
When I first started serving this congregation nine years ago, we had a baptized membership of 189. Our average worship attendance was 65. Most would have not considered it a viable congregation--at least not for a full time clergy. Most would have considered it needing to be yoked to another church in a dual point parish.
Yet, the people here had a sense of call about them. They rejected any such notions and wanted a full time pastor. Not only this, they had discerned a call to add a part-time secretary--something they had never had in their history.
I came on board, and within a few months, we hired a secretary. Life was good.
I arrived in Cat Spring from a large congregation in Seguin. My previous congregation had nearly 1400 members, and the work load was intense. I generally was up at the church 4 nights per week. Sometimes, the meetings were grueling lasting two and a half to three hours. After four years there, I was tired, worn out, ready for a change.
Coming to Cat Spring was very, very different. There were hardly any meetings at all! There wasn't a full staff. But things were getting done, and getting done in a big way.
Congregational growth has been tremendous. In those nine years, our membership has more than doubled to 430. Our average worship attendance hovers at 120. Of course, if we weeded out the "summer slump" we would be at 140-150. Offerings are steady and very good. People do things--good things on a consistent basis--without having meeting after meeting after meeting.
As the congregation has grown, we have consistently added staff. First, the secretary. Then, a worship and music director. Then, came the leap of faith last year. The congregation decided to seek a part-time youth director. We budgeted for the position in the annual meeting, sent out advertizements, prayed, and waited.
Last week, the position was filled, and I woke up Monday, the head of a staffed congregation.
Now, at this point, there are some pastors who would begin telling you, "If you want your church and congregation to do the same thing, then here is what you need to do..." I'm not going to do that because I really don't know what technique to use to make any church grow. I really don't. I don't know the magic pill to make a congregation take off and grow like gang busters.
Too often, I think our congregations become obsessed with a theology of glory--a proverbial step by step plan that leads to growing attendance, offerings, and participation. If you do this, then you will be blessed by growth. If you follow the Lord just right, then He will add numbers to your congregation.
Problem is--I've seen numerous congregations strive to follow the right steps and still experience no growth. I've seen congregations throw out the welcome mat, make people feel warm and fuzzy, have all sorts of programming geared toward children, youth, young adult, middle-aged, and elderly; congregations who incorporate traditional and contemporary music; who become more conservative and more liberal, and nothing works.
I don't believe there is a secret formula to church growth or participation. I think much of it, like salvation, rests upon God's work upon the individual believer. I think much of it, like salvation, involves God's Spirit delving into the hearts and minds of people inspiring them to become a community of compassionate, caring, generous individuals who seek to do His will in the things they say and do. I think church growth revolves around God's action and not our own. Of course, we Lutherans proudly proclaim this to be Word, Sacrament, and the mutual conversation and consolation of the believers.
I do not know what the final outcome will be as this congregation moves into the realm of a staffed congregation. This congregation has never been there before. Sometimes such a move is met with tons of blessings. Sometimes, it so shakes the dynamics of the church that the opposite takes place. We are dealing with an institution made up of humans, after all. Yet, I keep reminding myself that it's not totally up to me. It's not totally up to my secretary or my music director or my youth director. Heck it's not totally up to the congregation members. For without God, we could do nothing. He makes the whole thing work, and if He needs me to lead a staff here at this church, I submit to His will.
I just have a hard time getting my head around it.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Can We Just Skip this Part?
How many of you have ever wanted to have your dessert first? Be honest. If you are like me, you have. On numerous occasions. Forget having to eat the main course. Forget having to eat your vegetables. Forget cleaning your plate. Bring on the apple pie. Bring on the ice cream. Bring on the cookies. Bring on everything that is sweet and sends your taste buds into ecstacy. Let’s just skip to the good part.
It’s kind of like watching movies when I was a teen. I loved those action/adventure movies of the ‘80s. Yeah, I got hooked on Rocky, Rambo, Commando and anything with Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwartznegger, and Sylvester Stallone. But invariably, there would be slow moments between all the action sequences. More than a few times, I’d grab the remote control and fast forward through the slow stuff to get to the action sequences–the stuff I considered to be the good stuff.
And who of us in life wouldn’t like to fast forward through all the boring, meaningless, and bad stuff in our lives so that we could just enjoy the good stuff? Who of us wouldn’t like to skip the difficult stuff and enjoy the rewarding times? Most of us probably would in a heart beat. And most of us would probably like to do the same thing with our lives of faith.
I mean, take one look at our Gospel lesson for today. Incidentally, gospel, the literal translation of that word from the Greek is “good news.” Let’s read this again and see just what kind of “good news” Jesus proclaims:
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,
(Good news #1): 26‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. (Good news #2) 27Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. (Good news #3) 33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
After I finish reading this little snippet, I can’t help but ask, “Can’t we just skip this part?” I mean, can’t we just gloss over this teaching and live our lives as happily and as merrily as we can? Can’t we skip that part about hating our family; hating life; carrying the cross; and giving up our possessions? Can’t we just explain this stuff away and say that Jesus is simply joking or using exaggeration to make a point?
There are more than a few people who indeed skip past these teachings. There are more than a few people who disregard them and explain them away. There are even a few preachers who blatantly teach a theology which ignores these words completely.
Yeah, in some ways, I’m taking a shot at the guy just down the road. You know, I have a number of folks who post his sayings to their Facebook timelines. Like the following one: “When you realize that God has put a blessing on your life, and you go out each day with the attitude that something good is going to happen to you, that’s when God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond.” Or here’s another one, “God doesn’t take you through challenges just to leave you beaten down. No, it’s time for you to rise up and claim everything that belongs to you.”
And here’s what Jesus says belongs to you, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
What an interesting contrast. Let’s kind of put this in theological terms. The guy down the road is representative of a thread of Christianity that likes to skip the cross–to fast forward through the crucifixion and go straight to Easter. The resurrection is all the good of life. The resurrection is all the greatness of God. The resurrection is what it is all about: healing, wholeness, redemption, graciousness, eternal life, the presence of God in all its fullness. Yeah, we love that stuff. It’s fantastic. It’s more than the icing on the cake–it’s the whole cake in all its deliciousness.
But you can’t have the resurrection without the crucifixion. You cannot have the empty tomb without the cross. You cannot have eternal life without death. And a lot of times, we don’t want to talk about that. We don’t want to talk about going down those paths. We want the sweet stuff, but we don’t want to endure the heaviness.
Yet, we as Christians must ask the tough questions, and one of those questions is: which is closer to the Truth? Which is closer to the reality of life? Which is closer to the life that Jesus revealed to us and called us to live as His followers?
Listen to this quote from Bret Blair: The mark of a great leader is the demands he makes upon his followers. The Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi offered his men only hunger and death to free Italy. Winston Churchill told the English people that he had nothing to offer them but "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" in their fight against the enemies of England. Jesus demanded that his followers carry a cross. A sign of death.
Andrew died on a cross
Simon was crucified
Bartholomew was flayed alive
James (son of Zebedee) was beheaded
The other James (son of Alphaeus) was beaten to death
Thomas was run through with a lance
Matthias was stoned and then beheaded
Matthew was slain by the sword
Peter was crucified upside down
Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows
Philip was hanged
The demands that Jesus makes upon those who would follow him are extreme. Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion. No. It’s much, much more. It’s a religion that demands your entire life. The good, the bad, the pretty, the ugly, everything. It demands a willingness to suffer, to die, to walk away from all that is precious and dear in our lives, to give up our possessions. There is part of our faith that doesn’t necessarily come across as “good news”–at least while we are going through it. For carrying a cross isn’t “good news.” The cross means death, pain, and suffering. Christianity is not for the faint hearted.
But it is for those who can keep the end in mind. It is for those who believe that on the other side of the cross is the resurrection. It is for those who willingly count the cost and say, “The Lord will never leave me or forsake me. The Lord is my helper. What have I to fear?” The answer is: nothing. When we live God’s Word daily, we know that we will bear the cross, but we do not fear such a burden because we know the end. Amen.
It’s kind of like watching movies when I was a teen. I loved those action/adventure movies of the ‘80s. Yeah, I got hooked on Rocky, Rambo, Commando and anything with Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwartznegger, and Sylvester Stallone. But invariably, there would be slow moments between all the action sequences. More than a few times, I’d grab the remote control and fast forward through the slow stuff to get to the action sequences–the stuff I considered to be the good stuff.
And who of us in life wouldn’t like to fast forward through all the boring, meaningless, and bad stuff in our lives so that we could just enjoy the good stuff? Who of us wouldn’t like to skip the difficult stuff and enjoy the rewarding times? Most of us probably would in a heart beat. And most of us would probably like to do the same thing with our lives of faith.
I mean, take one look at our Gospel lesson for today. Incidentally, gospel, the literal translation of that word from the Greek is “good news.” Let’s read this again and see just what kind of “good news” Jesus proclaims:
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,
(Good news #1): 26‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. (Good news #2) 27Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. (Good news #3) 33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
After I finish reading this little snippet, I can’t help but ask, “Can’t we just skip this part?” I mean, can’t we just gloss over this teaching and live our lives as happily and as merrily as we can? Can’t we skip that part about hating our family; hating life; carrying the cross; and giving up our possessions? Can’t we just explain this stuff away and say that Jesus is simply joking or using exaggeration to make a point?
There are more than a few people who indeed skip past these teachings. There are more than a few people who disregard them and explain them away. There are even a few preachers who blatantly teach a theology which ignores these words completely.
Yeah, in some ways, I’m taking a shot at the guy just down the road. You know, I have a number of folks who post his sayings to their Facebook timelines. Like the following one: “When you realize that God has put a blessing on your life, and you go out each day with the attitude that something good is going to happen to you, that’s when God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond.” Or here’s another one, “God doesn’t take you through challenges just to leave you beaten down. No, it’s time for you to rise up and claim everything that belongs to you.”
And here’s what Jesus says belongs to you, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
What an interesting contrast. Let’s kind of put this in theological terms. The guy down the road is representative of a thread of Christianity that likes to skip the cross–to fast forward through the crucifixion and go straight to Easter. The resurrection is all the good of life. The resurrection is all the greatness of God. The resurrection is what it is all about: healing, wholeness, redemption, graciousness, eternal life, the presence of God in all its fullness. Yeah, we love that stuff. It’s fantastic. It’s more than the icing on the cake–it’s the whole cake in all its deliciousness.
But you can’t have the resurrection without the crucifixion. You cannot have the empty tomb without the cross. You cannot have eternal life without death. And a lot of times, we don’t want to talk about that. We don’t want to talk about going down those paths. We want the sweet stuff, but we don’t want to endure the heaviness.
Yet, we as Christians must ask the tough questions, and one of those questions is: which is closer to the Truth? Which is closer to the reality of life? Which is closer to the life that Jesus revealed to us and called us to live as His followers?
Listen to this quote from Bret Blair: The mark of a great leader is the demands he makes upon his followers. The Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi offered his men only hunger and death to free Italy. Winston Churchill told the English people that he had nothing to offer them but "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" in their fight against the enemies of England. Jesus demanded that his followers carry a cross. A sign of death.
Andrew died on a cross
Simon was crucified
Bartholomew was flayed alive
James (son of Zebedee) was beheaded
The other James (son of Alphaeus) was beaten to death
Thomas was run through with a lance
Matthias was stoned and then beheaded
Matthew was slain by the sword
Peter was crucified upside down
Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows
Philip was hanged
The demands that Jesus makes upon those who would follow him are extreme. Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion. No. It’s much, much more. It’s a religion that demands your entire life. The good, the bad, the pretty, the ugly, everything. It demands a willingness to suffer, to die, to walk away from all that is precious and dear in our lives, to give up our possessions. There is part of our faith that doesn’t necessarily come across as “good news”–at least while we are going through it. For carrying a cross isn’t “good news.” The cross means death, pain, and suffering. Christianity is not for the faint hearted.
But it is for those who can keep the end in mind. It is for those who believe that on the other side of the cross is the resurrection. It is for those who willingly count the cost and say, “The Lord will never leave me or forsake me. The Lord is my helper. What have I to fear?” The answer is: nothing. When we live God’s Word daily, we know that we will bear the cross, but we do not fear such a burden because we know the end. Amen.
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