What We Seldom See ...

Three lessons, but only two are ever seen.  Have you ever been in a conversation, perhaps with your children, or a friend; and what you were trying to say was “selectively” heard?  My mother once told me that it was time to go get in the tub.  [this picture is not me.]  So I did that.  I went, fully clothed, and stood in the tub, with absolutely no water, and waited a few minutes before emerging again to go eat dinner.  My mother noticing that instead of pajamas I was still wearing the same cloths as before, asked me if I took a bath.  I replied, you did not ask me to take a bath, you asked me to go get in the tub.  I did that.  Where is dinner?  My mother began to get angry, and then burst out laughing.  I chose to selectively hear what she said.  We both knew what she meant.  But I heard “only” what I chose to hear.  I would love to say this was an isolated incident in my life, but it was not.  Usually I was on the other end of it.  I would write an email to a colleague at work, and despite being as clear as I could think to be (in print), my colleague would interpret only what they wanted to hear.  I began to realize the reader of my correspondence has a perspective that is not influenced by my intent, it is shaped by what they want to hear.  They read my emails from that perspective and to reach them perhaps a personal interaction is better (though not an absolute, see my mother above).

In the front section of Luke’s gospel letter in chapter eight, there are three distinct lessons the author intended to convey.  But only two are ever studied.  The first is made mention of, perhaps used as an interesting factoid, or in a Bible trivia game – but the lesson Luke was going for – missed entirely.  If it were not, we would be hearing a lot more about it.  We don’t.  Ergo, missed opportunity, and selective listening.  By contrast, most every Christian has heard about the parable of the sower of seeds, and the parable of lesson of the lamp.  Those two lessons have been studied ad nauseum.  So let us take a second look at the first part of Luke’s trio and see how they work together to convey what the author had in mind.  First a little back story to set the context.  As you may know, Jesus had more than 12 disciples, He had as many as 70.  It was however the 12 that were closest to Jesus, perhaps the only ones who gave up careers and homes and families in order to be with Jesus full time.  And less fortunately in the days of these authors, either culture or society or habit call it what you will, they did not measure or count women in any statistics that might be mentioned.  While this was the culture of the day, this was not something Luke thought should govern it.  And so begins lesson one.

Luke begins in verse 1 saying … “And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, [verse 2] And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, [verse 3] And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”  The Ministry of Jesus was now in its active phase.  Jesus was travelling through every city and every village.  Jesus was spreading the “glad tidings” of the Kingdom of God (you know the part that impacts the here and now).  And then Luke identifies the number of disciples, twelve, that were with Him everywhere He went.  Sounds normal right.  But that is not where the lesson begins or ends.  Look closely at verse two, it begins with the word “and”.  And certain women.  Along with Jesus and the 12 disciples were certain women who were there along with the rest, in every city, and every village they went to.  While they are not numbered as part of the 12, they are also not forgotten by Luke, or the Holy Spirit, or Jesus as this gospel letter was penned to Theophilus.  This was not to be a church of only men.  Women had always been there.  They were not second citizens in Christianity, they were founding members.

Then to name a few of these women, not all, but a few.  Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna.  By my count this makes 15 disciples in close contact with Jesus.  At least 3 women being with Jesus everywhere He went.  Then too, these women were not just sinners coming back to the fold, they had been healed of possession of evil spirits as well as other infirmities (perhaps the women who touched his hem, or the woman at the well of Samaria when Jesus was in that region).  Demonic possession, now lifted, and the response of these women was to serve.  They served of their means, of their time, and of their love.  It may be that the true number of these women were quite a few more, but Luke was only able to ascertain the names of these three.  The culture of the day may have prevented better record keeping on more than that.  Notice these women did not name the blood-sisters of Jesus, other daughters of Mary, His mother.  But perhaps they served at other times, or other places.  And even though no others were named, Luke is careful to write there were “many others” that were in attendance and in ministry.

Before we enter the study of the parable of the sower, it is important to understand that the targets of this analogy included both men and women, the conditions impacted both men and women, and the good news was to be shared by both men and women.  And lest we think the devil targets only men, the three cited above prove possession is not just a male oriented problem.  And freedom from the chains of Satan, often results in a commitment to service that nothing else could supplant.  Luke continues in verse 4 saying … “And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:”  Much people was meant to include women.  Luke is trying to make sure we understand that by the first lesson he pens in the preamble to this parable.  But so often we skip it, and just dive right into what is ahead.  But to do that, is to lose the importance of women in the entire ministry of Jesus, both as audience member, and as fellow servant.

Luke continues in verse 5 saying … “A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. [verse 6] And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. [verse 7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. [verse 8] And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  This was the thought-provoking message about spreading the gospel and impacts of sin upon that message given to the entire crowd.  Everyone heard it.  But few understood it, we still have that problem today.  Understanding as well is not just a male difficulty, it may also be a female difficulty when examining the words of Jesus.  This is why when we listen to different perspectives from the body of Christ, we should treat them of equal importance, whether from men or from women.

Luke continues the story in verse 9 saying … “And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? [verse 10] And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.”  His disciples needed better clarification.  But that term “disciples” does not have to be exclusionary only to the twelve, it very likely included the women in attendance as well.  Nor does Jesus shew away the women so that only the men in attendance could hear His further clarification.  In effect, Jesus says only my followers are to be given this message with better understanding at this point in time.  But that by simple logic would again include both men and women, any who chose to follow Him with their whole lives.  This part of the lesson is for us as well.  When examining the words of Jesus (or for that matter the entirety of scripture), we should do it through the lens of Jesus.  What does the example and teachings of Jesus have to do with whatever part of the Bible we are reading.  If we cannot bring our understanding of what we read into alignment with the life of Jesus, we are reading it wrong (or understanding it wrong).  Scripture cannot be properly understood without Jesus.

Jesus then proceeds to expound on the second lesson of this parable in verse 11 saying … “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [verse 12] Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. [verse 13] They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. [verse 14] And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. [verse 15] But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”  The explanation of Jesus has yet another lesson for us.  Just because I say a thing, does not mean that thing is true – even when I say something about myself.

I may say for example, that I am a “Christian” that is to say, a follower of Jesus Christ.  But what Jesus outlines above in His parable, is that there are some who hear the word of God, but lose sight of it almost as fast as they hear it – being distracted by the Devil to focus on other things.  Others hear the word of God, but have no relationship with Jesus personally, so when temptation comes they try and fight it themselves and lose.  Stony hearts must be transformed before they can grow fruit.  Still others hear the word of God and for a time they seemed to get it, but riches and the pleasures of this world prove to great a distraction, and over time they abandon the word of God entirely.  All three of these groups have one thing in common – they believe “they” are responsible for their own salvation.  But good ground, that is an honest and good heart – is not self-made.  It is made through submission to Jesus, through a willingness to be humble to something greater than ourselves.  Good ground is made by trusting Jesus to save us and getting out of His way.  That kind of ground not only hears the word of God, but embraces it, and grows fruit naturally.  A fleshy heart submits, a stony one does not.

Jesus then changes direction in His lesson.  Luke has given us the first two already – 1.) Men and Women are equally a part of the church in all things (as they were since the start).  2.) How we encounter salvation has to do with “who” we are relying upon to save us.  And now 3.) what does the impact of salvation look like in our day-to-day lives.  Jesus picks up in verse 16 saying … “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. [verse 17] For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. [verse 18] Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”  Jesus says the effect of transformation is akin to lighting a fire in a candle.  You do not seek to hide it, nor could you.  It is life altering.  It makes you a different person, whose love shines brightly pointing men to Christ.  This is not something you are told to do, it is something you do naturally, like fire does in darkness.

It is easy to see if there is fire in a person or not.  Does their love point you to Jesus or not?  Hypocrisy on the other hand is all about the words, but nothing about the fire.  It is easy to hide the hypocrite, in fact they prefer it.  But what they lack in love will finally and fully be revealed for what it is, a full lack of love for others.  Saying it is otherwise is mere words, if a passionate burning love is not the deeds behind those words, fully in harmony with His laws and His love.  Remaining in the crowd to hide who we really are will not remain an option as time goes on.  Our empty words will be revealed to all as empty words.  And what spiritual prowess we think we have will be stripped away from us.  It has to be.  It is our self reliance that ultimately is preventing our salvation.  So God has no other choice than to strip us bare, and reveal our mistakes to us, so that we can be clothed in His robes of righteousness instead of trying to wash ourselves clean.  That kind of dress-down, or come-to-Jesus-meeting (literally), may be humiliating to the heart of the hypocrite, but it is the only option that may ever truly save them from themselves.

And again, this final lesson was not just meant for men, but for women as well.  There is a temptation sometimes within the church for wive’s to hide behind their husband’s spirituality as if it were somehow their own.  It is the same for children hiding behind their parents for far too long.  It just does not work.  What you know of Jesus, is ONLY what YOU know of Jesus, not what someone else does.  And given Luke’s first lesson, there are no excuses for women in this regard any more than there are excuses for men.  We are ALL the ground upon which the word of God is shared.  Hearts of men bound to career above Jesus will find themselves stone instead of candlewax.  Hearts of women bound to status and accomplishment above Jesus will find themselves equally a part of the rock quarry where the precious seeds of His word are scattered.  It is hard to humble yourself to Jesus, let alone between each other.  But it is humility that helps us see the next step in His love.  And the transformation that submission to Jesus brings is akin to lighting a fire in your life.  It is not passive and hardly noticeable.  It is life altering and impossible to contain.  Measuring a list of do’s, don’ts, and particulars of performance to see if you have been transformed is using the wrong yardstick.  Are you on fire, or not?  His flame, will burn away all remnants of hypocrisy from your life, and make you a beacon that points others to Jesus from the intensity of your love for them.

 

Eating Food in the House of a Critic ...

The best meal can so quickly be ruined by the conversation that comes with it.  Imagine being invited to Gordon Ramsay’s home for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  For those vegetarians or vegans among us, hang on to your hats, Gordon is not much on this kind of cuisine.  For those of us who prefer to eat a kosher diet, avoiding the unclean, and sticking with only the clean meats as outlined in scripture; we better hold on to our hats as well – Gordon makes no such discrimination in his menus, or in my guess, his home.  Which leaves the rest of America that pretty much eats anything, and only avoids foods that just sound ugly, or gross.  But even with the dietary restrictions outlined previously, I would still bet we could find food on Gordon’s table that would not only fit the restriction, but would burst out in taste, flavor, enough to make your mouth water, and your stomach dance with delight.  Hard to imagine getting a better thanksgiving invite from the world’s top chef, if not its top critic, than this one all things considered.

But then continue to use your imagination, and picture yourself at Gordon’s home, only to find he invited other guests, and the one who sits next to you, is perhaps the biggest racist you ever heard of in your life.  A secret member of the Nazi party, who up until this meal, had kept his beliefs secret from everyone including Gordon who had no idea this was who he invited for this wonderful meal.  Now comes the question; is it possible for you to eat if the words that spew from this racist Nazi mouth continue throughout the duration of the meal?  Does it even matter how good the food might have been?  Could you stand it?  Sometimes we just want a meal in peace.  It is the peace that makes the meal even better.  It is the fellowship that truly makes us thankful.  And even though most of us will not be eating at Gordon’s home this year (or any other due to a lack of invitation 😊), eating at home with someone next to you, who espouses hate in the name of our God, under the claims of Christianity, is almost as bad as discovering a secret member of the Nazi party, whose message is ironically not much different.

This sounds like a problem of the twentieth century.  But if you could put yourself in the place of Jesus back in His day, to be filled with so much love, and find those you came to save, filled only with so much pride and hateful speech; do you wonder how Jesus was able to put up with it?  I wonder how He was able to eat any food at all, given the conversations He must have had to endure.  Perhaps one of the bigger differences between Jesus and me, was that He was able to take each situation and turn it into a learning moment.  I go crazy and just want to run away before I feel something I should not feel, or worse, say something I should never have said.  And the Love of Jesus was so great, He never seemed to turn down any invitation, even when He knew what was coming.  Luke offers us a few examples of Jesus in just such socially difficult situations and how He handled them.  We pick up in the seventh chapter of Luke’s letter to his friend about what we believe and why.

The story begins in verse 36 saying … “And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.”  If ever there were a story that proves Jesus came to save everyone, and He would embrace any who dared to embrace Him, this was it.  Jesus came to save church leadership from itself, as much as He came to save the poor from themselves, and me from me.  Keep in mind the Pharisees were constantly trying to trap Jesus in some wrong word or deed, in order to shame Him in front of the people and prove He was a false Messiah.  But that does not deter Jesus one minute.  Jesus was invited in, and so in He went.  This should also serve as a lesson to us.  Jesus was sure to be invited in this case into the home of someone who believed radically different than Himself.  But Jesus is not afraid to be stained by this encounter.  He does not seek isolation from those who may believe differently.  Instead He jumps right in and has dinner with them.  Jesus does not take this opportunity to go and condemn the stupid or ignorant of how salvation works.  He uses it to demonstrate in love how salvation actually does work.

But before Jesus has any chance to speak a single word, a sinful woman interrupts the festivities to demonstrate what the Love of Jesus means to her.  Luke continues in verse 37 saying … “And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, [verse 38] And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.”  OK, our conservative brethren are not going to like this part of the story much, but facts are annoying because they tend not to go away.  First there is no mention of this woman’s husband.  She could have been a widow, who inherited a bit of wealth.  But then the tag “sinner” would hardly have been needed for Luke’s story.  So if we rule out widow, then perhaps she was a tech billionaire with an aspiring career with an ever upward trend.  But no, women did not have careers back in these days.  They worked in the home to keep it, or on a farm to keep it, or both.  They did not get paid for that, they survived by it, with little if any to spare. So … that leaves the world’s oldest profession so to speak.  A woman of the night would have had time and opportunity to collect the wealth needed to fund an alabaster box of ointment.  Men paid for it, many men, no mention of their sin or role in this, only a subtle way of identifying what kind of woman she was, without actually providing her name to get her stoned by angry self-righteous patrons of her services.

Then there are the tears.  A Hollywood camera shot of the single tear welling up in the eye of the actress will simply not due here.  It takes many many more than that to wash the Saviors feet and get them clean.  And this sinful woman is not moved so much by the love of Jesus that her heart breaks only a little, it is decimated, as should our own be when we contemplate how much Jesus has given and gone through for us.  Yet most of us fain a little gratitude, say a quick prayer over meals, attend church, and call it a day.  Our hearts remaining as much made of stone as they have always been.  But when we truly contemplate His love for us, there is no heart that can stand it.  What was stone breaks, and tears flow.  Whether alone when we realize it, or as witness to the acts of another’s love, or no matter the audience as what is around us is no longer a constraint to the weeping we will not be embarrassed too much to offer.  This woman knows what she is and who she is, and what she has done.  But she also knows how great His love is for her still.  And it breaks her.  She has no pride left.  She cares not for the condemnation that is sure to accompany her for the public display of her gratitude.  Men grow uncomfortable in the company of one they have been partner in sin with.  But despite it all, her tears flow like a faucet left on.  Having no towel and daring not to ask for one, she uses her hair to dry His feet.  And to seal her love she kisses His feet no matter what dung they may have walked through on His journey to this place.  Dusty, arid, deserts are not kind to feet especially in sandals which offer little protection.  But to her, their beauty is unmatched and far more than she is worthy of.

And what we say is now shattered by example.  For it is clear that Jesus did hang out with hookers after all, and not just this one, and not just at this time.  Jesus did not fear their company.  Jesus did not feel guilt when they entered His presence.  He was glad of it.  For the love that saves this woman, is the same love we – His church – should be showing all those who work in the night, performing acts which destroy the soul.  We are not to shun them or avoid them.  We are to embrace them, and let our demonstration of His love, give them perhaps the ONLY reason they may decide they want to change.  How can we point them to Christ, if we never dare to be in their company?  And not only the hookers of our world, but the drug addicts, and thieves, and homosexuals and adulterers.  Our pews are already filled with those in secret sin, who above all else wish not to be exposed.  But instead of being broken upon the anvil of His love, we remain stone, and claim we should never put ourselves in a position to be in contact with those in public sins of this world; lest those sins rub off on us.  But our words are hollow, and they are shattered upon the example of our Lord.  And in irony of ironies, the hooker was not found the in brothel this time, but in the home of the Pharisee.  I get it that she did not live there, or work there as best we know.  But how many more might come to know Jesus, if we – His Church – were finally willing to go to them and love them right where they are, meeting their needs as best we know how.  Letting our love be our sermon.

But all too many of us worry too much about reputation.  You can imagine the Pharisee cared more for this than he did this woman who somehow knew where he lived, and somehow had gained entry into his home in the first place.  Luke continues in verse 39 saying … “Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.”  And there it is.  Condemnation and complete lack of concern for the woman.  Reputations matter way more than she ever will.  Followed by a shaken belief in Jesus because He did not act likewise.  Hey think about it, if I can deduce from Luke’s account what kind of woman she was, and I am but a bear-of-little-brain [Winnie-the-pooh reference] – why couldn’t Jesus easily see just what kind of diseased tears were falling on His feet at the moment.  And further, why not make her stop and throw her out before it gets worse.  Who wants a meal with a weeping hooker in the room anyway?  Let her find God in church like everybody else is supposed to.  But how many of us actually find God in church?  I would bet we find Him way more often outside of church walls, and in the company of church believers who truly know how to love, and choose to love, in situations far more messy than the conditions our pristine pews offer.

Jesus does not flee in righteous anger.  He does not have a near heart attack from the elevated levels of frustration I would have succumbed to; unable to figure out how to resolve such a situation without verbally destroying at least someone in the process (and I would have been leaning at the Pharisee, as I do all too often).  Instead Jesus uses this meal and this moment and these conditions to make them all become a learning moment designed to offend no one and embrace everyone.  Luke continues in verse 40 saying … “And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. [verse 41] There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. [verse 42] And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? [verse 43] Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.”  Jesus does NOT condemn the hooker, and He does NOT condemn Simon the Pharisee.  He forgives both.  The hooker who knows how much she needs it, for she needs much forgiveness.  And Simon even though he does not know he needs any forgiveness at all, but in point of fact, may need it more than the hooker on display.  This is not about replacing the “righteous” in the pews with street hookers to fill the place.  It is about embracing both.  This is about healing both, some from secret sin they fear will be exposed, and some from public sin that already has.

Jesus continues in verse 44 saying … “And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. [verse 45] Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. [verse 46] My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. [verse 47] Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”  And here is the lesson … for Simon the Pharisee, and for us.  This lesson is not for the hooker, she already gets it, she already loves so much, she would do all of this with a heart broken by love.  By contrast this lesson is for the Pharisee, for the church leader, and for you and I.  We don’t get it.  Simon did nothing for Jesus upon entering his home.  He didn’t think to.  Neither do we.  We are not that thankful yet, because we still keep holding on to that private sin, we live in fear of exposure of.  We refuse to let it go.  We cling to it, and it hardens our hearts against His love, turning us into stone from the inside out.  When we let Jesus transform us, He takes our sin from us.  Not just in forgiveness which we need, but our desire to continue to sin in the future.  He remakes us in harmony with His Laws of Love.

Luke continues in verse 48 saying … “And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. [verse 49] And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? [verse 50] And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”  I ask you, what does this woman have need to be saved from?  Not the condemnation she endures in the home of the church leader, she knew that would come, and she does not shy from it.  Not the entrance into the pearly gates when time shall be no more and resurrection will abound.  That promise is secure, but it is not the thing that is plaguing her in the here and now.  No.  She needs to be saved from … herself.  She needs to want a different life a better life, a life where she is not held captive to the whims of sexual desire and expression.  But she has for her lifetime always lost that battle.  So what changes when she leaves without the blessing of Jesus?  Jesus does not just forgive her (note the first part of the texts), He saves her from herself.  He frees her from the desires that put her in front of Him, broken by the magnitude of His love.  The people in attendance in this meal only question the ability of Jesus to forgive sins – but miss entirely the ability of Jesus to change the heart of the sinner bound in chains.  And so do we.

In the home of Simon the Pharisee, or the home of Gordon Ramsay, or our own home – it is time to seek more than just the forgiveness of Jesus for what we have done, but the salvation of Jesus for what our hearts of stone are captive to today.  Instead of spewing ideas about the gospel that make us sound more like the Nazi in ears of His angel’s than we might imagine, let us hold our tongue and let our love speak our sermons in plain and simple ways.  Let us use our words to point others to Jesus for the removal of slavery to sin in the here and now, as being the place we go to find it too.  It is the place where the pain ends, and a better life begins.  Let us not keep ourselves in isolation from the world, but go to meet need where we find it, sometimes in places of great discomfort, sometimes away from those same pews.  If we are to be truly thankful, let us measure it in our tears, and find the brokenness of our hearts a welcome change to what has so long been in its place.

 

Defining Greatness ...

Has there ever been a greater paradox than assigning the idea of greatness to someone?  I recently watched the movie Midway that chronicles the point in World War II where the tide turned in America’s favor after many crushing defeats.  The movie outlines a tapestry of American heroes responsible for the critical success of this battle.  Not one, but many.  Yet none of these outstanding heroes were rich, nor was their money or financial situations a factor in their heroism.  None of these men were college dropout tech savvy millionaires who started innovative companies that grew to influence the world we live in today.  Most lived in obscurity, at least until this movie told their respective stories.  One could say they performed deeds of greatness and great bravery, but these deeds are not done by men without the fortitude and determination to carry them out.  The deed does not live without the man.  But it is not even the deed that makes the greatness.  It is rather the sacrifice for others that does.

We in the U.S.A. are not living in a feudalistic Japanese culture because we won the war, not lost it.  Those deeds of greatness, of sacrifice, determined the fate of millions of us.  They granted us the freedom to live in a society of our own making, not one imposed upon us as a conquered nation.  And but for the deeds of the greatest men who faced their own demise to see us live, our stories might be radically different.  And therein lies the paradox of greatness.  It does not come with fame.  It does not come with wealth beyond measure.  It comes only with the impact of the sacrifice someone great chose to make for others because they cared just that much.  No one forces them to sacrifice or become great, they choose it without reward for themselves.

The chief servant of us all, might then be the greatest of us all, even when we didn’t even know their names or understand just how much they did for us.  Look then at our God.  We know He created us; we know He loves us.  But have you ever stopped to consider just how much He does for us, nearly every second, without even our knowledge of what that is?  And our God does not look for our gratitude in order to continue His service to us.  He does not look for payment.  His service is a gift of love’s creation.  He protects us from dangers we will never know even existed.  He opens doors for us in our education and careers that might otherwise have been slammed shut.  He preserves love in relationships that due to sin might have grown ice cold and withered away.  And He changes the core of who we are, that He might remake us in harmony with the Law of Love that His Commandments represent only a foundation of.   He does this for us.  His greatness is not just found in His awesome power, but His awesome sacrifice He makes with no fanfare, just a steadfast love that will never let go.

If you consider then that greatness is not the vanity of fame and pride, but more anonymous selfless service, the greatest of mankind are likely those whose name may never be printed or known.  With this lens, let us examine what Jesus Christ said about His cousin John the Baptist – the greatest prophet who ever lived.  Luke writes about it in his gospel in the seventh chapter picking up in verse 24 saying … “And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? [verse 25] But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. [verse 26] But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.”

Jesus begins by asking a profound question of his audience, namely, what did they go out to see in the wilderness concerning John the Baptist.  Did they expect John to cower and change his tune because those in church authority showed up to listen, like a reed shaking in the wind?  Or did they expect John to be one of great wealth and privilege descending from the courts of kings to talk to them about his own wisdom and experience?  No.  John was neither of these.  So did they go to see a prophet of God?  Yes, but much MORE than just a prophet.  The message of John was predicted in the footsteps of Elias the prophet who preceded him.  Jesus continues in verse 27 saying … “This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”  This role of preparation for Israel to receive the Messiah was perhaps the most critical in prophetic ministry.  It was a role of service by John to the people of Israel.  Not for the sake of fame, but for the sake of results.

Jesus then comments upon the greatness of John saying in verse 28 … “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”  An even greater paradox emerges.  Jesus begins by stating clearly that of all the prophets ever born John the Baptist is by far the greatest.  He has performed the greatest service for Israel, even at the cost of his own life.  But all that sacrifice by John is dwarfed by the “least of these” in the Kingdom of God.  It is not just the telling of the message that counts.  It is the accepting of it.  It is not just knowing I have the need to repent, but actually repenting and craving that change that only the Messiah could bring.  It is not just agreeing with my teacher in church that I need to become like a little child to enter into His kingdom.  It is finding the humility to become just like that little child.  Even one sinner like me who is greatly undeserving, might submit myself to Jesus, and find myself in the greatest of all kingdoms though I deserve it not.  Having committed no great deeds of sacrifice for my fellow man.  Yet because I enter His kingdom Jesus thinks of me as even greater than John the Baptist.  Jesus turns the ideas of greatness upon its head.

Accepting repentance, embracing submission, doing what is said – is more important than speaking it, even to the whole of a nation, even to the point of giving one’s life for it.  And so Jesus continues outlining how the message of John was received, picking up in verse 29 saying … “And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. [verse 30] But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.”  Here the publicans or the chief among sinners accept the message of John to humble themselves repent, and be baptized.  Yet the supposedly great religious leaders and teachers of the law refuse.  How scary.  The religious leadership rejects the counsel of God to them.  Enter pride, the destroyer of true greatness.  These men feel no need to listen to a backwater hippy, a fad that is sure to pass quickly from the minds of the people.  These leaders of the faith, do not hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in the sermons of John.  Instead they are certain they need hear only their own voices.  The doctors of the law are sure they are already saved through mechanisms of their own device.  So they reject the doctrine of John, reject its simplicity and purity.  They reject the need for humility because after all, “they” are the true teachers of all that is holy.  And who is John anyway?

Jesus continues in describing religious leaders like this.  He picks up in verse 31 saying … “And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? [verse 32] They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. [verse 33] For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. [verse 34] The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! [verse 35] But wisdom is justified of all her children.”  Jesus described two groups of believers, neither satisfied with the message of salvation.  First the liberals, who you would think would respond to a message of love and happiness.  Liberals that should be dancing because they have discovered the liberation of the freedom the transformation of Jesus brings to the soul.  But they do not.  Instead they are only liberal with their sense of morality, using it to excuse sin instead of be rid of it.  They call themselves liberals happy to party, but not the party of liberation.  They hold love close to the vest, because they have little and practice less.  Is it any different in our day?

The second group of people are conservatives.  You would think the sullen group of believers would respond with an appreciation of one who strictly follows all the rules invented to the find salvation.  After all conservative’s love rules and lists.  They love them more than the people they may impact by them.  You would think they would respond to a sullen message of the need for repentance, a message of mourning regarding the state of the church and of the sinful nation around it.  You would think they would weep with such a sullen somber message like this.  But they weep not.  For they do not care about people.  They only care about the performance of rules.  They have little love in them, and practice even less.  They deride the liberals for their lack of understanding of the need of strict rule adherence, yet practice no such level of adherence themselves, unable to ever perform at such a high level of expectations on their own.  And worst of all, unwilling to put aside pride, and humble themselves to seek a salvation outside of themselves.  Is it any different in our day?

And what of greatness?  Wisdom is justified of all her children.  Children, those young and old, who are willing to put aside pride and become like little children to see the wisdom of our God’s salvation.  To love like little children, freely and without proscribed limits.  To trust God like little children, KNOWING that our God is saving us, even when we cannot see it ourselves, or ever figure out how.  Submitting to our God, because we do trust in His unfailing love, and have seen it in our lives.  The wisdom of God is that He wants to save us, and is the only One who can save us.  We cannot save ourselves.  Only Jesus can do this for us.  Only Jesus can change us from the inside out, remaking us in harmony with His Laws.  Freeing us from the chains of our sins, that we would never be able to free ourselves from.  This is where His wisdom justifies our lives.  It does not justify us to keep sinning and hurting ourselves and others, instead His recreation of us, transforms us in harmony with His laws, and keeps us from sinning or wanting to sin, in the first place.  It is a journey.  But it is the journey of salvation.  It is the journey towards perfection.  Not of ourselves.  But of His gift to us.  Wisdom, justified of all her children.

And in our submission, in our lack of pride, emerges one like you or I, who entering into the Kingdom of God in the here and now, becomes greater even than John the Baptist, the greatest prophet who has ever lived.  And our history of sin does not prevent us from seeing this happen.  For it is not our history that matters, it is our present, and our future.  And Jesus intends to address all three.  Our history He forgives.  Our present He intends to change.  And Our future He promises to be something greater than we could ever imagine.  And looking more closely we discover, it was never “our” greatness involved at all.  But again, it is the greatness of our God.  Not because of His awesome power which He will always have.  But because of His awesome love for one like you and I which no one could ever deny us of.  It is our God who is great.  And the salvation of Jesus in us, that defines greatness forevermore.

 

Seriously Offended ... by Love

For those of us who too often place “self” at the center of our Christianity; the idea of giving it up in favor of simple, humble love … is offensive.  Now I can probably guess what you are thinking; that “I” don’t ever put “self” at the center of “my” Christianity.  No, this couldn’t apply to me.  But consider … How often might you do a “good work” because you know you “should” do a good work.  Or how often might you do a good work because your church asks you to do one.  You do these because scripture seems to demand that you do them.  You do them because scripture talks about those who do not do them as being left out of heaven itself.  And if you miss doing one of them, you suffer guilt for having passed it by, or perhaps fear that passing it by might wind up leaving you too out of heaven itself when the time comes.  Judgment looms in your mind and eats at your conscience.  For those of us who do good works because we should do them, not because we know no other way, (like having been transformed by the power of His love into the new creations that are driven to do good with no thought of it), there is a difference in motive behind our good works.  Judgment drives us into meager good works because we fear what the lack of them might do to us at the end of all things.  But Judgment is not love.

Now consider the message of our gospel.  How do we proclaim that we are saved from sin?  I believe all of us would say that Jesus died for us, and rose again for us.  Jesus then forgives us of all of our sins.  And so because of that we are all saved.  But where in this message is the idea that you might stop committing sins from which you need forgiveness.  Here is where the highway of churches under the Christian banner all diverge on the same route.  Most all of them claim the same message where it comes to getting rid of sin.  They hold you responsible for it.  In effect, the Nancy Reagan doctrine of “just say no”.  But as you have probably already experienced personally “just say no” to sin, does not work.  You are not strong enough to eradicate sin from your life.  So then most churches travel down the road of this message to a horrible conclusion.  Stating that you simply do not have to get rid of it.  God loves you even with your sin, so “just don’t worry about it”.  But that is like telling a cancer patient the same thing.  Cancer hurts, it eats you up inside.  If you have cancer, you want a cure, you want an end to the pain.  You don’t want to just sit around ignoring that you have it, while pain eats you up, getting worse and worse until you die.  No, Jesus did not come live for us, die for us, rise for us, forgive us – just to leave us living in the cancerous pain of our sins.  There is something more, something better.  But most Christian churches are not preaching a message that leads to the cure for our sins, at least to a cure that works.

The Nancy Reagan doctrine does not work at curing our sins.  Why?  Because it leaves “you” responsible for breaking the chains of “your” sins.  A lot of Christians become aware of this after all too many failures.  They fear Judgement too.  So they turn their gaze elsewhere, namely to other sinners.  They spend their Christian lives then judging and condemning others in order to avoid having to look in the mirror at the failures of their own lives.  They hope to make themselves feel better about their own Christianity given how they compare with other far more terrible sinners.  Again Judgment looms and fear with it.  Another method of tempering the Nancy Reagan doctrine of “just say no”.  Is to form a “partnership” with God.  What an insidious idea.  This idea proffers that you will do “your best”, and only after that will God pick up the slack and do the rest.  You first.  God second.  Emphasis on “you”.  But you already know your part sucks.  You fail miserably, so what slack is there for God to pick up.  Logically, all of it.  Having you as a partner in your own salvation from sins, leaves sins fully entrenched in your life.  But worse than that.  It leaves you still thinking that “you” have any part to play at all.

Whether you believe “you” are fully responsible for ending your sins, or are only in a partnership to end them, YOU are still in the center role for ending the sin in your life.  Either by what you do – enter good works here.  Or by what you demand of yourself.  In either case, Judgment looms, and fear looms with it as history records your failures one after the other until the counting is beyond measure.  This is not how the cancer of sin is cured.  This is not how the pain is lifted.  This is not how life is restored.  But almost every Christian church has some close variation of this message, and spreads it every day under the banner of the gospel.  And thus “self” is maintained at the center of our Christianity, eventually pushing Jesus out completely, or off to the side in failed partnerships that end the same way.

So what does work?  What is the message of salvation from sins that does work?  It is simple, humble love.  Not the love you create, but His love that transforms you once you are willing to let “self” go entirely from the Christianity you espouse.  You don’t “do” anything.  You cannot be a partner of any kind.  You must submit yourself to Jesus entirely.  Give over your thoughts, your desires, the core of who you are to Jesus and allow Jesus to change you entirely.  That prospect is scary.  Becoming someone else may not have been on your agenda up to now.  If I let “self” go, who will I be?  Will anyone still recognize me, will even I recognize me?  Probably not in all candor.  But that will be a wonderful improvement.  What Jesus does with your submission is life altering.  Your life.  And what Jesus introduces is life like you have never known it.  A life steadily losing the pain of the cancer of sin.  A life heading away from the direction of death.  A life filled with simple, humble love – for others.  It looks totally different.  And the journey is not without pain, but it is with steadily less pain, until pain is gone altogether in the here and now.  How long that journey takes is a function of how far you are willing to submit and be changed.

And here is where the rubber meets the road.  Most Christians want control over their own salvation.  They are more comfortable being responsible for the removal of their sins even though they fail at it, than having to give up control over to a Jesus they have only read about, but do not know personally.  Most Christians would rather keep to a spiritual routine, than risk a life where there is no routine at all, and no control of any kind.  Most Christians would prefer to fear the Judgment, than to fear being led to a destination everyday that they could not have predicted.  A destination that involves serving others in simple, humble love.  That kind of idea of simple, humble love is quite frankly … offensive.  And so it goes in modern Christianity.  The devil maintains a winning strategy started in the church nearly from its foundation.  We did not invent this phenomenon.  We merely continue it. 

Luke wrote about questioning this very idea so so long ago.  I am sure his friend Theophilus needed to hear just this same message before it could be entrenched by the church in his day.  The question was raised by John the Baptist himself as Luke records in the seventh chapter of his gospel.  He picks up the story in verse 18 saying … “And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things. [verse 19] And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? [verse 20] When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?”  John the Baptist was a Nazarite.  His life was full of rules and regulations.  His hair was uncut.  His diet was entirely kosher (and unusual).  His clothes were raw and hand sown.  He was poor in the measures of wealth of this world.  The practices of the traditions of his religion were something he had kept to his entire life.  It is what would frustrate him when he looked at what the Pharisees did by contrast.  They talked about what was required of their faith, but practiced almost none of it.  John was strong willed.  In all of this behavior, John thought his own salvation assured.  To top it all off, John was an evangelist preaching a never ending sermon of repentance to any who would listen.  He offered and performed the rite of baptism for any who were willing to repent.  The poor complied.  The rich, very few.  The Pharisees, almost none.  Yet Jesus did, when He had no reason to, other than a witness to us.

Living this kind of life, made John a lover of the rules.  And looking at the deeds of Jesus, John could not fully wrap his mind around them.  It was not the healings Jesus did.  It was the lack of attention Jesus seemed to pay to the rules that governed his own life.  Instead of Jesus emulating the life of John the Baptist, Jesus seemed to do as He pleased where the “rules” were concerned.  Jesus put love ahead of behavior, embedded in behavior, and Jesus served others more than He would ever allow others to serve Him.  Jesus refused to be the King that He was.  That was a weird kind of love that permeated everything, and was all too humble for a true Messiah to carry.  It led John to question, was Jesus merely a holy prophet, or could He truly be the Son of God, and still behave the way He did with so little of their traditions, and so much of this weird kind of simple, humble love for others.  So John sent two of his disciples to ask, perhaps for their own benefit as much as for his own questions about how we are saved from sin itself.

Luke continues in verse 21 saying … “And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. [verse 22] Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. [verse 23] And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”  And there it is, the proclamation we almost forget in favor of the miracles Jesus enumerates just before it.  To the disciples of John, they witness for themselves what Jesus does.  The blind are given sight.  Recreated eyes from our Creator perfect as if born this way, or restored to the perfection robbed of them.  The lame walk.  New legs, or restored legs as the needs presented.  Our Creator is capable of creating or re-creating legs to facilitate walking as walking had never been.  What the sword cuts off, the Savior of life re-creates.  Lepers are cleansed; the incurable cancer of its day, cured beyond all measure.  The AIDS of its day brought low and stamped out by the Creator of all time.

The dead are raised to life.  Could there be any other metaphor for what Jesus does for each of us.  Not just at the end of all time, but now while we live and are dead in our sins.  Only Jesus can make life where there is none.  There was no “faith” in the part of the dead that was able to bring them back to life.  There was only life in the Creator that He freely gave to them that caused the dust we return to, to give back its prize to the Creator of all life itself.  Stick that in your hat evolution.  Our Creator restores life that was lost and brings it back once again.  Just as He does with our sins.  Not because of what we do, or even what we believe, but because of what He alone is capable of doing.  When we give ourselves to Jesus, we trade our death for His life, not just in the Judgment, but in our everyday life and battle with the cancer of our sins.  It is no more our battle to fight, but His to win for us, as we let Him win it for us.  We just need to get out of His way.  Submit everything to Him and watch life spring from death.

But more important than all of these miracles was the miracle of having the gospel preached to the poor.  Think about that.  The church was so pleased with itself, so happy with being holy, or at least acting holy, that there was no message of salvation offered to the poor anymore.  Sound familiar?  When all I want is to be seen as holy, I cannot associate myself with the poor, for danger of their sins rubbing off on my spotless reputation.  I hold my own supposed spiritual honor above the needs of the poor.  I consider the needs of my own life, of my family’s lives, above the needs of the poor in spirit, and high in sins.  Those people offend me.  Those rich in sins do not deserve my time in sharing the gospel because I believe they will reject it anyway and only ridicule me for saying anything about it.  True if what I preach are the doctrines only of Nancy Reagan.  But False, if my life reflects a transformation that only His simple, humble love could bring.  If I live His transformation in me, I will not see the poor as rich in sin, but precious in the eyes of my Lord, and therefore precious in my own.  I will not focus on their sin, but on their potential if they too could connect with Jesus the cure for any sin, especially my own.  Not just forgiveness mind you, but the cure for sin itself.  The poor need less of my imperfect sermons, and more of my tangible examples of His love passed through me.  In meeting their needs and truly loving them, I preach His gospel without ever uttering a word.

And now we circle back to the proclamation of Jesus that is too often lost in the miracles cited above.  Blessed is he, who is not offended in Me.  When we look at Jesus as John must have, and see that our God does not do what we think He should be doing, are we willing to submit or to be offended by it?  When we see the behavior of Jesus on Sabbath days, or in His diet, are we willing to submit, or be offended.  When He serves instead of allowing Himself to be served, or become an earthly King.  Do we submit, or take offense?  And at the core of our salvation, when Jesus asks us to take self out of the way, instead submitting everything we are to Him, in order to be recreated.  Do we submit, or does our pride take offense to be asked to give it all up?  It was love for others that drives Jesus to keep the company of Mary Magdalene a prostitute who was possessed by demons on more than one occasion.  Christ be praised Mary became a former prostitute.  And she earned a special place in His church when she was the first to be commissioned to take the gospel to the disciples who would mostly reject what she said for unbelief.  Jesus made a prostitute into an evangelist in a time when women were worth nothing.

And I wonder, would I welcome a former prostitute into my own church.  Let alone a current one.  And how, if I keep them at arm’s length will they ever hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ, that can turn somebody in that profession into an effective evangelist if they only come to know Him.  It was not only Mary that Jesus made an evangelist.  It was also the woman at the well in Samaria.  She too spread his gospel to the entire region.  She too had a few too many husbands and was living in sin with the man of her choice at that time.  She too was broken by sin, but transformed by an encounter with Jesus.  She too was poor.  If not for Jesus, would she have ever heard the gospel or met its maker.  The transformed heart welcomes the broken into fellowship inside the church and out.  The transformed heart shows simple, humble love to those who need it most, and judgment to none.  Re-created hearts do not fear the Judgment any longer, for they are in harmony with the heart of God Himself.  When we are in harmony with the law, we do not fear the law, for we keep it all the time, not only in deed, but in motive and intent.

Good deeds are no longer forced in our will as an inconvenience.  They are done in countless thousands of things we no longer even think about doing, not considering them deeds at all, just expressions of simple, humble love of Him reflected through us.  If this idea offends you, perhaps it is time to seek true transformation in submission to Jesus Christ.  If this idea encourages you, perhaps your journey has already begun.  I long for the time, when I am able to welcome the current or former prostitute into my church as the sister of Christ she longs to be, and not the partner in sin I might have otherwise made of her.  I long for the time when I am able to welcome her into my home without a single evil intent, and only the pure love of Jesus in my heart.  My journey progresses.  And I only hope its progress is not so slow, I am unable to serve a community in need before my time to share has expired.