Tag: Jesus

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When all you have is fear and faith.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Joseph did everything right and still he was going to thwart the plans of God. Not only was Joe going to do things right, he was even going to do them with the best motives in mind. He was going to break the engagement quietly, privately, so it would not disgrace Mary publicly.

Joe was much older than Mary and we don’t know all the details of his and Mary’s life before their pre-arranged marriage. You knew that right? This wasn’t a whirl-wind romance of Joe sweeping young Mary off her feet and promising her the world. History is fairly quiet about the couple, especially after the “incident” of being with child out of wedlock. Joseph was said to have been married before and was a widow. Mary being so young and both families living in a poorer part of Israel (Nazareth), may have had few to no suitors for her father to choose from. None of that mattered really, because God’s will, His desires, His plans before time existed was for these two, Joseph and Mary to raise the Son of God.

What do you do when a good man, a righteous man is going to break up with the woman carrying the Messiah? Who’s going to have that kind of conversation with Joseph and get him to change his mind, because clearly Matthew tells us he had already made his decision. And when a man… especially a Jewish man makes up his mind, well, you know, there’s no changing that! No worries, that too was all planned out with God.

God sent a messenger, a powerful, high ranking messenger, an angel of the Lord. The message isn’t, “Marry the girl or else!” The message is don’t fear the consequences of marrying this girl. The consequences were real. No one in those days (or these days) was going to buy the whole “virgin birth” story. Everyone knows where babies come from and how they’re made! If Joseph wasn’t the daddy, it must be another man – but who?

Gossip would have torn through their town like a wildfire, destroying everything in its path. Then there’s the whole danger of Mary being dragged out in the town square and stoned to death for adultery, killing her and the child within her womb. We couldn’t have that happen right?

No; God, Joe and Mary had to keep this whole thing on the downlow and make sure it played out well with the whole community. So the fear of consequences of what would happen to Mary and the shame that Joseph would have to bear was very real. He wasn’t the one carrying a miraculous child from God, but he would need BIG faith to believe and raise the boy as his own. Notice, even in the miraculous intervention the angel didn’t force Joe to do God’s will. He told him not to fear and then flat out told him the why behind all the mystery. For this child would save his people from their sin! Wow, gives me the chills. The angel didn’t tell Joe that he would raise a warrior, a king, or ruler to conquer Rome and put Israel back on top as a global phenomenon like in the days of Solomon. No, this child would save Israel from their sin. Joseph must have known exactly what that meant because of his own lineage and legacy. Matthew had just told us about Joe’s bloodline, a direct heir of Abraham, Boaz, David and Solomon! Joseph knew his people’s own sin story and the need for a future redeemer. Joseph would not be raising just a king, he’d be fathering the King of kings. He wouldn’t be raising a military hero, he’d be fathering the Savior, THE one and only Messiah. We know the intervention worked because Matthew writes, “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.” Great job Joe. Great job angel of the Lord. And great job God! Mission accomplished.

Prayer

Dad,
In those moments of decision, Joseph could not have known the part, the role he would play in history. He could not have known the results of his decision and how critical it really was. No, he only knew of fear and faith. He could have only known how he felt when he heard the news about Mary and the faith he had to have to believe the angel and follow through with obedience to marry the girl who was carrying our Savior. We never know how our decisions of faith effect the future. All we know is to trust you and obey. You’re the only one who knows how it all works together. May it be unto me to also believe and obey!

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Proverbs catches a conundrum.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How can God be all powerful, all knowing and all present and NOT be arrogant? Is pride the opposite of humility? Pride certainly destroys lots of things: relationships, trust, faith and opportunities. Pride and humility cannot share the same space. One defeats and displaces the other. Pride also has an oder, it stinks. People smell it and it’s repulsive. Don’t mistake confidence for pride either, one is admirable, the other deplorable.

The wisdom writers tell us that humility brings honor. Honor? I think honor only comes from the honorable. To the proud, humility brings jealousy and confrontational complexity.

Robin and I watched the brand new Season 3 of The Chosen the other day. This season is far more intimately gritty. Dallas Jenkins and the writing team have decided to dig deeply into the characters and our unique human dilemmas. Questions are asked that we’ve all wanted to ask, but have never had the guts or the platform to facilitate them.

In episode 3, Jesus returns to his childhood hometown of Nazareth. I don’t know how Dallas pulled it off but Jesus, played by Jonathan Roumie, comes off naturally, if not even awkwardly humble! Jesus is portrayed as an introvert!

And he’s not just quiet, he’s shy! He quietly arrives at night. The next day is a big celebration, a Jewish holiday that honors the day God created the world. Families and friends are all out in a field like a massive community fair. Word had spread about Jesus’ miracles and fame. Thousands had come to hear him speak, the paralyzed cure, possessed were freed from demonic slavery. The news was everywhere! Yet the writers chose to portray Jesus as almost embarrassed by all the attention! Roumie playing Jesus, deflected praise, and avoided direct questions of who he was. While playing a childhood game, they had Jesus LOSE after clumsily dropping the ball several times! When meeting with Jesus’ childhood teacher and master Rabbi. They had Roumie genuinely honoring his own teacher and giving us the feeling that it was strange to have the roles reversing as now the student was becoming the master.

Jesus, who IS God and had stared down power, veiled threats, demons and doubters, was seemingly uneasy with this shift happening in his own hometown. Oh, it’s all true, but we’ve never seen it acted out like this.

There is a scene in the local Nazareth synagogue where Jesus opens the scroll to read out of Isaiah. Roumie rolls it up and gives it back to the attendant. He then sits down and scans the room, his eyes taking in everyone that has known him and his family since he was born. His eyes, his body language are amazing. He stares at his mother, Mary. He stares at his own Rabbi. And as he stares you feel the angst and anticipation of what is about to happen. Dallas, puts you in the synagogue, the room packed with emotion.

Jesus, at this moment seems to struggle. He does not want to tell this group, his childhood friends, his own mother, and his Rabbi what MUST be revealed. It is the most powerful moment of humility that I have ever seen! Jesus, being fully God and fully human, understands the pain and confusion this news will bring to his family, friends and all of Nazareth. But Jesus HAS to tell them! He has to reveal what God has spoken, what God has declared as His will. “Today,” Jesus says, “this scripture has been fulfilled today.” In the show, the crowd that’s gathered gets super aggravated and aggressive and they press Jesus. The Rabbi comes out and asks him, are you saying you are greater than the law of Moses? Ahhhhh, here it is. How will Jesus respond, what will he say? Dallas had Roumie say this, “I AM the law of Moses!” It gave me chills, it made me cry. It wrecked me! And, it must have wrecked them as well, because they took him out on the cliffs in Nazareth to stone him for blasphemy!

Jesus would leave and never come back to his hometown because he said he was God, but didn’t act like they thought God should act!

Prayer

Dad,
When I think about humility and remember the stories Jesus told and lived. When I think about Jesus’ mannerisms and attitudes, his gentleness and kindness, it is then that I begin to understand how Your ways are above and mostly unknown to me! How could any of us be so arrogant, so puffy proud? Am I above God? Do we think we are better than you, know better than you and can finagle our own way without you? That’s just insanely ridiculous! I am sorry for my own arrogance and independence.

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The impossible becomes probable.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭28‬-‭31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Gabriel has two assignments: visit Zechariah and visit Mary, and tell them what is going to happen. To Zach, the angel tells him about his son that will be born. Zach, being old, has a difficult time believing. Gabriel tells him, oh IT WILL happen, then removes Zach’s ability to speak until he writes out his son’s name – “His name is John.” To Mary the angel says she is favored and blessed (eulogeó: to speak well of). Luke records that Mary is extremely agitated and thoroughly confused by this visitation especially because of these unexpected, encouraging words. Gabriel hadn’t even told her the message from God! And in that moment, Mary couldn’t understand why she was greeted in this way. “Why am I considered favored and well spoken of?” she pondered in her mind. What teenage girl believes that they have a good life and reputation in their friend circles? Gabriel tells her not to be afraid while she was still struggled with a genuine compliment! Then the high ranking angel continues, “you have found grace with God!” All of this is overwhelming to Mary. The super affirmation and the declaration that God has extended grace to her – and she has done nothing but exist as an average, quite invisible teenager living in the poor, armpit community of Nazareth. Gabriel tells her not to fear, but I get the impression she was overwhelmed with the lavished kindness and attention that she could not even fathom. Maybe she felt worthless, unseen, small, insignificant and completely unimportant in those moments. She had to have asked herself… “who is this?” and more disturbing, “who am I?” She never saw herself as worthy of ANYTHING and now God has put a holy spotlight on her. Gabriel then tells her the purpose for the visit, you’re going to have a supernatural baby boy and you will name him Joshua (Jesus in Greek) – God saves. Mary, like Zach, had her doubts, but doesn’t offend Gabriel by saying, “how can I really know, know this will come true?” Instead she responds, “But how can this exist or be? I have not experienced a man.” Mary’s humility and curiosity is not offensive to Gabriel, so he tells her. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And the power of the most high will overshadow, envelop you. And you will give birth to the holy one, called the son of God! The plot thickens up until the day Jesus is born.

Prayer

Dad,
Such a wonderful, mysterious way to announce the coming of the Messiah! I wouldn’t have expected anyone to really know how you planned to pull off such a monumental revealing. And the fact that you did so through a high priest, Zechariah, and a very average, normal young girl to bring all this about. It is still the best mid-story shocker! It’s like your jump-the-shark episode, except it was done really well. Bravo and I can’t wait for the final season!

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Shut your trap!

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20‬:‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Wow, things just don’t change all that much in the “set the trap,” let’s catch ‘em in a juicy sound-bite moment. Tisk, tisk, tisk, good luck catching God tripping up on some cheap word-trap and moral dilemma.

Luke gives us such a rich background to this moment. With words like “opportunity,” “spies,” and “reporting,” who wouldn’t be drawn into to this scene?

The guys, supposedly working FOR God, are trying to trap God to get him to quit interfering with their job of protecting God from rift-raft, fakes and false prophets. They never considered, even for a moment, that the REAL messiah, would show up and they would find themselves on the wrong side of truth. Can people get so turned around that they find themselves on the wrong side of truth?

Luke writes “they sent spies,” pretending (hupokrinomai), like actors on a stage, to be earnest in their query. Then they actually try to butter up God by telling him what a great guy he is!

Oh, you’re so honest Jesus.
Oh, people love following you Jesus.
You’re such a great leader Jesus.
What a bunch of DUNG!

It’s all fake flattery, dripping with barbs to trap Jesus into saying something useful, self incriminating and heard by so many. It was an excellent trap that everyone of us has fallen prey to.

The ol’ speak ill of the government trap.

Who hasn’t stepped in this one? The wacky laws, the ridiculous misuse of power and oh, don’t get me started on how they are spending MY tax money! I would have fallen for it and failed.

All Jesus needed to say is, “I can’t stand that Caesar and his wicked, mindless, money-grubbing cronies around him.” “Taxes? I wouldn’t give him one shiny new denarius, he’s a hack!”

His comments would have been captured, then reported and bada-bing, no more Jesus. Oh, but God will not be trapped by human traps and schemes. God is still not trapped by human schemes. In fact, God uses our ill-intents and petty manipulations to bring about His will and purpose bringing the reality of the Kingdom of God here on earth!

Jesus doesn’t fall for it. He asks for a coin, looks at it and flips it back to its owner. Cool as a cucumber he asks the owner of the coin, with the crowd waiting to hear the SNAP of the SNARE, “who’s image (eikón), who’s imprint (epigraphó) is on that coin?” The trickster responded, “well, of course it’s Caesar.” Jesus said, “then obviously give him back his coin!” The crowd was stunned, the religious leaders… silenced. This story is famous for this question, “who’s image and imprint does the coin bear?” It’s famous, because we, humans, are the image bearers of God. ALL of us. No one can flip our souls from one side to the other and not clearly see that we are unique and hardly “self-created!” We bear the image and imprint of God stamped on us. No other creature, flora nor fauna carries that same image, because God breathed Himself into our souls. So Jesus words are stingingly accurate even today, “Give to God what is His!”

Prayer

Dad,
I now know that I was bought with a price and I am yours. I know and love the fact that I am more than just a friend of God, like “I know Him!” But, I am your son. I’ve been twice adopted. I am in the family of God and my life bears your image and imprint. I return what “belongs” to you everyday. I am so thankful to bear your name and be your son.

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Cannot see but set on being seen.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Luke‬ ‭18:35-39‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is so much packed into this story Luke brings, highlighting Jesus’ compassion, attention to details, human needs as well as elements of faith. What I like is the triple surprise effect. The beggar, the BLIND beggar obviously had his spot at the gate. We’ve all seen the similar and consistent characters on our own neighborhood street corners. Surprise! That day wasn’t going to be normal at all. All the other days are mundane if not miserable, but this one – oh no – everything changed. Days can be like that for us, right? God can and often does surprise us.

The blind beggar man had lost his sight, but hadn’t lost his ears or voice. He had instincts, street-smarts and knew when something unusual was happening. I’m guessing he could sense trouble or the thrill of a crowd. What a great situational awareness skill! The crowd heard him, yet didn’t really see him. And, even though they themselves were excitedly talking, possibly even shouting, they did not feel the beggar needed to distract the miracle working Rabbi. Maybe the crowd had their own needs and we’re pressing in around Jesus, similar to the mob with the woman and her medical issue. Yet, the blind beggar would be heard.

There is something refreshing when someone has gumption, the nerve, the determined drive to be heard. Luke writes, “when Jesus heard.” The crowd had been listening, but Jesus was not yet close enough. Luke says “he stopped.” He told some of the people, bring him to me. You can feel the tension of the medical-powerball-lotto ticket numbers being read.

Surprise. Then Jesus does this thing I’ve only seen in one other situation. He asks the man, “what do you want me to do for you?” Now, before we might say, “isn’t it obvious!” I have to remind myself that “obvious” is only what WE see, not what God sees. The man that was paralyzed, you know where his friends lower him through Peter’s mother-in-law’s roof. It was obvious to everyone that he NEEDED to walk again. But Jesus knew he needed forgiveness! The paralyzed man by the pool of Bethesda only wanted a push into the miracle-stirred water. Yet Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

The blind man now SEEN by Jesus had an immediate response – “I want to see.” And surprise, Jesus says, “receive your sight!” Two miracles just like that. Being seen by Jesus, then seeing God! The first person his eyes would see was the only one he would ever really need to see!

Prayer

Dad,
How do I get the blind beggar skills without having to be blind myself? This guy was super-enabled! His grit and determination. And, his faith! Wow. I have great eyesight, yet there are so many times I do NOT see. I don’t see the needs of other. I don’t see your hand of grace and mercy. I don’t see Jesus nearly enough living in the mundane days. The blind beggar teaches me so many lessons. Thank you for these stories. Thank you for the surprises throughout the day. I am humbled.

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Value people for the win.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” Luke‬ ‭17:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus, in “red letter words” talks openly about sin. He does not do so as often as you might think. But here Luke records Jesus talking about it with some warnings. Seventeen opens with, “There will always be temptations to sin….” Then after reminding us that being a temptER is worse, Jesus lays out the warning, “watch yourselves!” What a thought. We spend a lot more time and energy watching OTHERS do their sin, than we do our own sin. It makes laugh when Jesus says, “IF” another sins. I think it’s more like “when,” right Jesus? 😬

Jesus uses this word that we have all kinds of stereotypes built around – REBUKE. Don’t we rebuke demons and our dogs? Sounds pretty harsh, right? It’s the word itself that fascinates me.

The Greek construction of this word is NOT match the imagery. The word is epitimaó: to honor, to mete out due measure, hence to censure. Properly, assign value as is fitting the situation, building on (Gk epi) the situation to correct (re-direct).

Its fundamental sense is “warning to prevent something from going wrong.” Think about this. The word comes from two words, epi: on, upon and timaó: to fix the value, estimate. We’d recognize the word timaó because it comes from the word “time.” So this often seen as judgmental word is really a deep sense of valuing someone to help point out serious consequences completely in the framework of timing! In my granddaughter’s preschool class, her teacher has a “red choice” vs “green choice” system to help the children understand choices they already made. That they were helpful or not helpful, kind or unkind. But what if they had a “yellow choice” indicator just BEFORE the behavior happened? The timing of the yellow choice warning or “rebuke” would be seen as a helpful, valuable, even a loving action.

It’s not an example of sin, but it would be much like Robin warning me, while driving, when she’s sees a pedestrian coming into the crosswalk as I’m about to make a turn. Her warning, her “rebuke” is a timely and valued moment that prevents me from hitting, thus hurting another.

Notice the order in which Jesus gives us this wisdom of God. If another believer sins (clearly just for Christ followers) – it’s already happened. The timely and valued warning is helpful for breaking a pattern that will absolutely lead to relationship breeches between us and God and us with one another! I think that’s why Jesus chases that truth with this. “Even if it happens seven times a day.” Well, there’s a fine “terrible two’s” scenario! I have to be vigilant and consistent MORE THAN ONCE. Yep. Oh, I hear you. If you were to say, “but what if they (we) don’t WANT those timely and valued warnings when they (we) are in process or planning of SIN! And, you’d be right. The warning, the rebuke, even when spoken in grace, is often taken as controlling or judging or even meddling in our private affairs.

Ah, that’s why we really don’t like the word! There’s a real possibility of someone flashing the yellow choice option, but they (we) REALLY want to ignore it. BTW, when Jesus says, “if” there is repentance, think of it in terms of not just being sorry… sorry would not have helped me or the person I hit in the crosswalk. The best way to look at repentance is exactly what the word means – metanoeó, “change one’s mind.” Thus, changing one’s behavior.

Prayer

Dad,
It seems like this conversation of unity, cooperation, mutual benefit and trust are much more difficult in a divided culture and specifically a community of believers. How can we trust each other to handle our lives, decisions and behaviors with this timely, valued warning? Most of the body of Christ perceives that “judging” anyone or anything is wrong and should be avoided. This makes rebuking almost impossible without massive drama and blowback. Have we, have I, isolated ourselves into a dark corner of self where we are not just alone in our sin, but also alone in seeing the blind spots we all have?This is really a sad situation we’ve gotten into. Will you help us (me) to remember that you know what you’re talking about and trust you in your eternal wisdom? Even when this whole topic feels like we are walking on eggshells, and fearing co-dependent reactions?

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What Jesus saw.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” Luke‬ ‭13:10-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus is teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. He sees a woman walking, bent over, making her way through the people. She was there to listen to the word of God on the Sabbath as well. Doctor Luke, extraordinarily writes a diagnosis IN the storyline. The woman was crippled, not from a physical cause, nor from some genetic disposition, but from an evil spirit who had wormed their way in to torture her EVERYDAY for 18 years. She had not stood up straight because of a demon messing with her for all this time – who knew? Jesus did. Jesus sees this stuff. No one else saw it. Get this, this gal was most likely a regular at the synagogue! Wait, I thought demons couldn’t stand being in church, being around the reading of God’s word? Well this one did and he had been getting away with it for a very long time.

Think about something terrible that happened 18 years ago. A broken bone that never healed. An abuse or attack on your body that no one ever knew about. You’ve carried it, bent over in soul and spirit, You’ve got a noticeable, physical limp. Or, even deep emotional limp that people can’t see. You go about your life, secretly carrying this ailment, but no one even knows about it. Jesus does. Jesus sees stuff we don’t! Jesus notices a limp, a broken heart, a damaged soul. We look around and see a woman bent over, struggling and feel pity, maybe even nicknaming her, “there’s ol’ doubled-over-Donna,” or something similar.

Jesus saw her and called her over. He made her hobble over to himself. Jesus did not want this to be a quiet, don’t draw attention to her moment. She had to shuffle over to him! No one knew the cause of her problem, they didn’t need to. Jesus, gently speaks to her and tells her she is healed of her sickness. Jesus uses this word, apoluó, release (discharge). Like Jesus was setting her free. Interestingly enough, this word is normally used in a DIVORCE context! It’s like Jesus told her and the evil spirit, “I am pronouncing a divorce from this demon! Take a hike, split, un-cleave, leave and never return – demon! Then he touched her and immediately she stood up straight.

Would you show up to church if this was going on in the service? What if you’d been tormented by physical or spiritual harassment? I’d go for that.

The synagogue leader was furious and said the wildest thing ever, “I don’t want anyone coming in here on the Sabbath to “work” a healing. You can come any of the other six days, but this day is so holy, God doesn’t want to stoop down to take time on HIS day off!” This religious guy is WHACK! The synagogue is for the sick and the healthy. And, the gathering of God’s people, the Church, is the perfect and appropriate place for the broken and the well! We should not only see hurting people as Jesus sees them, we should call them over and speak DISCHARGE from spirits or physical ailments dragging them down and holding them hostage.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow. We’ve really drifted off your ways. Our gatherings, our church services don’t even have time to really SEE people. We could have a doubled-over Donna in our church and just barely have pity, let alone have the faith to release them from their pain and tortured life. Help us God! Help us to get back to seeing things as you see them. And give us faith to make them look more like heaven than earth. The Kingdom of God is here, we should act like it.

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Humanity, the epitome of humor in heaven.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” Proverbs‬ ‭15:30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Are you happy? Please tell your face. I know the world doesn’t run on giggles and smiles, but I wish it did.

A smile, a cheerful look and countenance changes the environment of a room full of people. Of course the suspect types will wonder what you’re up to, but it’s still worth it.

Science says that a smile will trick your brain into thinking you’re happy! One of the most striking truths of a new series on the life of Christ (The Chosen) is that Jonathan Roumie, playing the role of Jesus smiles A LOT. He laughs, jokes and is playful around children. Most depictions of Jesus are ONLY of a man of sorrows – clearly dying for humanity’s sins will do that. But, to think for one moment that God isn’t joy-filled in the core of His character is a serious mistake.

Besides, humanity may be the epitome of humor in heaven! Wisdom writers got this one right. Jesus even spoke this truth in John’s gospel, “Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”

Prayer

Dad,
I have to force myself to remember how absolutely and totally lost and miserable I was before you found me! And, when I get bogged down with excessive minutiae about non-eternal things, I get cynical, grumpy and lose my joy. I hate swimming in muddy, mucky minutiae! I want to be a life-giving person and spend my life in life-giving ways. And, for heaven’s sake, your Church, your people should BE the most life-giving, cheerful, joyous place in this crazy chaos called humanity. It’s not that we have no sorrow or pain, it’s that we know that you hold our future and that you are good.

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You must love churchy people too

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke‬ ‭10:25-29‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Oh, I love this conversation that Jesus brings up! It’s so theologically deep and very much practical at the same time. Jesus takes two concepts from the Old Testament and smoothly combines them into one. He also has the guts to mess with the Shema. Jesus adds to this age-old, memorized commandment from God and forever enshrined as the most important saying that any Jewish person would ever need to know and repeat every moment possible. Jesus grabs Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 slams them together and forever re-writes everyone’s cross-stitched, meme-plaqued memory verse in every Hebrew home! Love God, Love people. Simple, right?

Love God… so personal, intimate, mostly invisible and completely vertical. Ah, but loving people, that’s so much harder. Loving people is getting outside yourself, getting over yourself. It is very visible and completely horizontal. If I question your love for God, you can say, “how do you know what’s in my heart?” You can say it’s private and quietly so religious. I could say, “prove your love to God, I want to see it” but that sounds so invasive so judgey. But when Jesus lays out the truth that inheriting ETERNAL life is also loving humans, that becomes quite controversial. If I question your love for people, you no longer get to hide behind your internal thoughts and yummy feelings of love in your heart. I can say prove it! Oh, you don’t like people? Oh, your an introvert and God knows you need your sequestered life of solitude. Hmmm. Love people? Where? Who? How is that done? It requires being around others! It requires getting outside our own world of peace and tranquillity and interact with the messy, chaotic, painful, but also joyful aspects of humanity.

Jesus says this is how to get eternal life. Actually this is how to also LIVE life here on this planet. I have a great suggestion and a wonderful place to start practicing this requirement Jesus lays out. How about going to Church! How about getting around other believers, because the gathering of believers IS THE CHURCH. How about practicing on them.? You say you love God? Then practice loving your own brothers and sisters in the family of God. Too difficult? Yeah, some of you have figured out that loving non-church folk is easier than loving church peeps. Sure non-church folk are less judgey about cultural issues, not completely so, if you’ll admit the truth. But they are super hypocritical and judgey about religious types.

It’s ironic to think that hypocrites and judgey folk are only believed to be “in” the church. We’re all human here. All sinners here.

What if I said, to inherit eternal life you’ve got to love God and love church-folk as yourself? How would that sit with your theology?

Prayer

Dad,
Wow. We really are tough on each other. I can see how important it is to not just love you, but be loving and show that love to others. When I do this, I begin to understand your love for me and I begin to look more like Jesus as I work hard to figure that out. It sounds odd to ask if you would help us to love church-folk and religious types. But would you help us please?

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The Haunting of Herod

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“When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.” Luke‬ ‭9:7-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​The haunting of righteousness and justice! Herod, fraught with guilt has three visitors in his head. The great Herod has lost his mind with too much power, money, drink and sex. He’s going mad! Rumors were floating around the city at the office cooler, the markets, the coffee shops. News travels up to power much faster than it travels down. He’s alive!?!

Herod gets himself written into the gospel story as character who’s sin has caught up to him. And as a good journalist, Luke records what Herod “reportedly” said, but, but, but… “I beheaded John!” And with a shaky voice, like out of some old Don Knott’s movie, he says, “so who is this man?” Cue creepy music here. Yes, like the ghosts of Christmas past, Herod hears that it could be Elijah coming back to judge him, or John himself, back from the dead to take his revenge. This man Jesus had been busy in Galilee, gathering disciples, healing the sick, kicking out demons. This Jesus seemed to be even more powerful than either of the prophets, old and new. It was like he was a combination of all the former spokespersons for God!

Jesus, son of man, son of God, had certainly stirred up the crowd. Luke suggests that the stories just kept coming in creating a sense of guilt and curiosity in Herod. Luke writes, “he kept trying to see him.” Jesus referred to Herod as that “fox,” probably suggesting that he was a rather weak, ineffective leader but very crafty.

Oh, eventually Herod would meet Jesus at a trial. Herod was so intrigued by Jesus calm, humble demeanor. He wanted to see Jesus flex some that power he’d heard about, that prophetic fiery voice that he had witnessed in John. He even wanted Jesus to perform some miracles at the trial for his life. Jesus said nothing. Herod “reportedly” died horribly, with gangrene that made him stink. It was said that he was eaten by worms!

Prayer

Dad,
I can’t say that I mind at all that Herod felt haunted. I don’t know where he ended up in eternity, that’s not my call. But I am glad that he seemed to experienced a poor ending to a life lived rather selfishly. I’m especially intrigued that you had Luke actually write about him AND that Herod is even a character that interacted with Jesus! What a moment. Herod thought he was SO MUCH in charge and was puzzled about Jesus not trying to get out of false charges and correct wild fake news. Most megalomaniacs think they are on top of things when in actuality they’re the least self-aware folks on the planet.