Do You See What I See ...

 

Often, there is more to what you see, than what you focus on.  Have you ever stood on top of a mountain and beheld the panorama around you that unfolds.  There are few words to describe such beauty.  And each different mountain you find yourself near the peak of, provides an entirely different view than the previous ones.  Or perhaps you are city person, unable or uninclined to assail great mountain tops; have you taken the elevator up on the tallest building around you, ideally at night, and beheld the thousands upon thousands of lights that define what panorama man has constructed.  Each light representing a family, a business person, or team, or other small gathering of people working to some purpose.  When you behold such sights you realize your place among them, how small you may indeed be, but how important in the tapestry, because of God’s unique footprint in how you were made, and for what purpose, both here and in the world to come.

Sometimes the scenes themselves do not have to be grand, to offer what is truly magnificent.  Imagine that humble manger outside of Bethlehem all those years ago.  That scene was not one of palatial glory, or of a grand spectacle of nature.  It was dirty.  It was smelly.  It was small.  And yet in it, was born the Master of the entire Universe, come because His vision was able to look down through time and space and lock eyes with you.  That Baby knew how much you specifically needed Him to be born.  His love for you was unique and His ability to lock eyes and hearts with you was undimmed even though He must take human form and humble Himself to be born of a virgin, and laid in our rags, in a manger where barn animals most often had dinner, and not far from where dinner was then deposited (thus the smells).  That sight was not one of a heavenly throne our Lord had always earned and been worthy of.  It was instead a poo factory, with new parents who had no clue how to raise the Son of God.  And here was Jesus locked in a totally dependent human form, because even then He knew what you needed and was willing to pay any price to offer it to you.

But years would pass by.  The baby would grow into the Man, the Lamb of God.  His ministry would mature and now be nearing its interrupted close.  And just before that happened, the view would once again become spectacular.  Luke tells us this story in his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why.  It begins in the nineteenth chapter picking up in verse 28 saying … “And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.  [verse 29] And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, [verse 30] Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. [verse 31] And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. [verse 32] And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them. [verse 33] And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? [verse 34] And they said, The Lord hath need of him.”

Jesus was about to make His final triumphal entry into the capital city of Jerusalem.  The people would see this as their new King finally coming to take His place upon the throne of the nation and with a simple word drive out the Romans who had so long oppressed them.  Those pagan Romans were about to “get theirs” so to speak.  Yet this was not what Jesus had in mind.  Even now our Savior chooses humility instead of grandeur.  One simple colt is enough for Him.  Jesus does not summon a team of white Stallions and a chariot of fire to ride upon to make this journey.  There is to be no army at His side.  Ironically even Romans would be welcomed in this processional.  And all Jesus asks for is a baby donkey, a colt, that has never been ridden by any man.  An animal unbroken by bridal or whip, perhaps still too young for it.  Perhaps a descendant of the same donkey family who witnessed His birth only 30 years earlier in that dirty stable transformed at His mere presence within it.

Every sign of Jesus was one of peace.  But His own disciples refused to see it.  They just could not help themselves.  At last, the final national unveiling of the new King was about to happen.  They could just sense it.  Above all else they sought position in the earthly kingdom they imagined Jesus was about to setup.  So Luke continues in verse 35 saying … “And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. [verse 36] And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. [verse 37] And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; [verse 38] Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.”  The people are overwhelmed with joy.  Their faith in Jesus is on full display.  And in ironies of ironies, they all with one accord sing anthems of praise, steeped in the lyrics of peace itself.  Even though peace is not in their hearts, justice is.  They are looking for long overdue relief from the suffering under a pagan foot.  Surely it is time for the God of Israel to re-establish His power over the pagan gods that have so long wrecked His kingdom and His people.

This processional is one built for a King, and for the first time Jesus seems to be allowing it, instead of just disappearing into the crowd unable to put that crown upon His head.  The chorus of songs however too closely associate Jesus with having come from God, and so the Sanhedrin is not amused.  Luke continues in verse 39 saying … “And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. [verse 40] And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”  The prophets of long ago had predicted this very scene, and so that prophecy was to be fulfilled.  If the disciples of Jesus kept silent the stones would begin to praise God and sing out.  The Pharisees knew what they were facing.  And they knew Jesus did not lie, or exaggerate, so they backed off their demands.  They would simply endure this and later find another way to claim it did not exactly fulfill what Isaiah had predicted.

The processional moved on.  The view eventually came upon a local ridge that offered a scene to behold the city of Jerusalem from.  Imagine the rebuilt Solomon’s temple in all its glory.  Coated with gold upon the rooftop making it reflect the sun’s light in almost blinding detail.  The city was arrayed like a bride waiting for her bridegroom.  And here was Jesus coming to it.  The view was grand and spectacular.  The sounds were of anthems sung for the Son of God, eagerly awaiting Him to take His place as our earthly King, even if that was not to be His destiny.  This was a scene that filled the eyes and hearts of men.  But Jesus could see something else.  His eyes could see past the fickle praise, and self-motivated joy.  It was more than just a welcoming of Romans to the fountain of salvation that moved Him.  It was a look backwards through time at all the events that had defined this city in pain that comes from the embrace of sin, and more to the point, the refusal to acknowledge it.  But Jesus does not just look backwards, He looks forwards across more than a century.  He looks across millenia and spans time and space, and He sees in this moment, not just the citizens of Jerusalem, but straight into your house, your home, and right into your heart.

Luke continues to record His words in verse 41 saying … “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, [verse 42] Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. [verse 43] For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, [verse 44] And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”  We read these words and think backwards to the time when the Romans (who were never thrown out by Jesus despite their pagan gods and torture of God’s beloved people and His own Son) would come and totally surround Jerusalem until they completely destroyed it in anger and rage.  Their siege of it would last so long it bring the people to the point of starvation, even to consider eating their own children to survive.  We look back and heed the warning of Jesus.

But what if that warning was not just meant for them?  What if Jesus was talking to you.  What if your enemy was not a Roman soldier but a demon of addiction binding your heart to a cherished sin you will not acknowledge or allow Jesus to free you from.  What if you without even realizing it, are encompassed by fallen angels bent on your destruction, having dug a trench around you, to lock you into what you like, what you enjoy, what you want.  Have you considered your destruction might entangle your children with you, pulling your whole family down with your sin.  All because you refuse to see the time of your visitation by Jesus to free you from your choices and desires.  Your prayers become corrupted by what you want, wanting what you should not.  And while you see a processional for a King you hope will grant you even more of your desires.  The heart of Jesus breaks at your refusal to see anything else, including His so great love for you.  Jesus is so distraught by this, He weeps.  Weeping is not a gentle cry, it is anguish that cannot be hid.  It is loud.  It is full of tears.  It would be embarrassing to most of us, but not so with Jesus.  He weeps openly for you.  Oh that His tears would blend with your own.  Oh that your heart would finally break and find His so open to you.  Of that you would at last release your mind and heart to Him to be finally and fully remade in His image and not your own.

The words of the Christmas tune include “Do you see what I see?”.  Jesus saw past the spectacle that might otherwise fill our eyes, to what is truly important to Him.  He locks eyes with you, and begs you to see more than what is right in front of you.  And His heart breaks into weeping at what He finds.  Can we change that outcome?  Can we take the tears of our savior and turn them into joy, to restore happiness to His heart, by the release of our own?  Can you finally see what Jesus sees?  Or are we to be locked into looking only for more of what we want, when what we want, is the problem we face.  Let us look up, away from everything else, and find magnificence in becoming someone new, remade as clay in the hands of the Lord, with a new heart, that finds it must have, new things, things we could not imagined before.  Let us not refuse to see the time of our visitation, but instead embrace it and do not let it pass.

 

Do Nothing Christians ...

Being a couch potato seems to suit me just fine.  In my case perhaps better amended to being an electric recliner chair potato (don’t even have to pull a level to go from rocker to reclined, just push the button and away we go).  Now given this, you might think exertion of any kind is just right out the window, but alas, I still must push on to nearby furniture in order to swivel the chair left or right depending on what I am trying to accomplish.  But TV remotes have long taken away the “need” to get up.  And I have an end table nearby to store drinks, or medicine, or candy.  So once I situate the pillows putting my laptop at just the right angle and my elbows elevated on the softest couch pillows I have even encountered.  I can last as long in this chair as my aging bladder will allow (directly reduced by the number of ice drinks I take from my 64oz thermal mug).  For added effect I have a set of comfortably padded headphones which means I can stay in stealth mode in wee hours of the night so as not to disturb anyone else who might be sleeping.  And since I begin my day by going to the bathroom and generally don’t eat until evening time, being a couch potato is a condition that can exhaust many hours of my life if I let it.

And I begin to wonder; has all of this comfort I arrange in my personal life become the same approach I am taking to my spiritual life?  I tell myself that I need all these niceties in my physical existence because over the years my health conditions have mandated them.  Indeed I would probably not even own this chair I sit in had it not been for blown discs and bad feet.  The comfortable little nest I have prepared just so, actually serves as an offset for the degradation of age no one can ignore.  But then, I have been a Christian for a very long time as well.  And while the pandemic has driven believers to worship at home via Zoom, Teams, or Youtube – that could hardly be my excuse for a lack of church attendance.  Me celebrating in person with the body of Christ has a very “special occasion” flair to it.  Baptisms, holidays, little children putting on programs, or the odd Christian musical artist I enjoy - seem to be the only events enough to get me out of the house in order to worship.  But the mundane week-to-week kind of worship just never quite seems to be enough.  And if church attendance is how we measure spiritual activity – we have a crappy yardstick, and even by that measure, I would not measure up.

At its core, Christianity is about others.  How we love others, how we care for others.  On that score, my wife is a naturally social person, her normal personality is to gravitate towards an extroverted empathetic style.  She needs church.  I tend to keep it from her.  So her worship consists of the semi-rare discussion with me on Sabbath’s, our prayer time for others, and then it is back to watching recipes and Malamutes on Youtube which I can only assume is her form of relaxation, but worship?  Again, if I am to be more concerned about her than I am about me, I should be getting her to church every week, at least outside of this Pandemic, for which I am guilty of appreciating the inability to do so.  My eldest daughter took over teaching my class at my church.  Yes, there was a time when I was quite active in church, holding several leadership and teaching positions for more than a few years.  But focusing on my daughter, she faithfully goes (outside of this Covid timespan) to church every week and teaches what is now her class without ever missing a session.  I go sometimes to support her, but that often turns out to be a bad idea.  Cause I cannot keep my mouth shut, so I tend to derail where she might have gone in her class had I not been present.  If Christianity is about others, even about family, I am still not measuring up very well.

So when I use the phrase “do nothing” Christians, what comes to your mind?  Do you, like I have above, first look in the mirror and find your own life wanting?  It is all too easy to take the other course.  Instead of focusing on our own short comings, we tend to focus only on our accomplishments.  Taking credit for things we probably shouldn’t be taking credit for.  Nevertheless we counter the arguments of “do nothing” with the list of endless missions we are a part of, whether financially, or personally.  We reason that we are basically “good people” with a few nagging problems.  But we “help” a lot of other people in one way or another.  We return the skills and abilities God has entrusted in us, at least in some form in His service.  And so because we have mission, we refuse to call ourselves “do nothing”, reasoning we must be doing something right.  But how much do we do?  If this were a financial analogy, how sound an investment would you be for God to invest in you.  Luke recorded a parable in his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why, on just this topic. 

It picks up in the nineteenth chapter in verse 11 saying … “And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. [verse 12] He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. [verse 13] And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”  Jesus offers us this parable because too many just assumed the Kingdom of Heaven would just arrive at any moment, all too soon, and before the salvation of our hearts and minds had any chance to really take hold.  So he compares us, His servantry, as being entrusted by a Nobleman who goes away into a far country (that one is apt, Jesus sure seems like He is very far from us now), but before He leaves, He gives or entrusts each of us with money or gifts.  His direction is to “occupy” till He returns.  You could easily associate the word Occupy with Occupation, or please Work these investments in you on My behalf until I return.  Each of you have received something.

What I fail to read in this opening, is a direction from Jesus (or the Nobleman in this story), for me to take His investment in me, and prop it up with comfy pillows, warm blankets, remote controls, and the great time suck that is Netflix or HBO.  I do not see direction there to get comfortable at all.  To take time out for “me” time anywhere in this opening.  In fact, it appears to be direction to “do something”.  Now it does not say exactly “what” to do.  But it does set a certain level of expectation that during His absence from us in person, we are to be His representatives, and work His gifts invested in us, until He returns to collect the fruits of our labors.  There is that nasty word again; “labor”.  Pretty sure I cannot turn “couch potato” into an official position in the church.  Even if by numbers, there are a lot of us.  Too many of us.  And just because I watch PureFlix on Sabbath does not negate the direction in this story to do a little more than that.

Jesus continues in verse 14 saying … “But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. [verse 15] And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.”  Wow.  This parable went sideways very quickly.  No sooner is Jesus out of sight, and out of mind – than “His citizens” – send a message after Him of total rebellion.  His citizens, folks that live in His world, have life because of His governance and mercy decide; [hey, screw you.  We want our freedom from your oppression.  We want to do, what we want to do.  So just don’t bother coming back.  We are happier without you and your oppressive laws and rules and restrictions.]  This is going to be a tough crowd.  The real question that should stick in the back of our minds, is whether these rebellious citizens are in the church or just outside of it.  After all, how could you even be a citizen if you never believed at all.

But as we step away from all out rebellion for a moment.  There are still those of us, who will now be called back in front of Jesus, to give account, for what we have done with His gifts and investments made in us - now - at the moment of His returning.  Think about that for a moment.  If redemption is the ultimate goal.  Then at the moment of Christ’s return, we are either redeemed through belief, or we are not.  We have either allowed Jesus to save us, trusting in Him to do so.  Or we did not, perhaps relying on self to do that job that only Jesus ever could, or worse throwing in the towel with the citizens who have declared for all out rebellion in His absence.  But if we widen our lens just a little.  Assume you are in the saved column of the spreadsheet.  Who is there with you?  Is your wife, husband, or significant other there with you hand in hand – or are they effectively left behind, because you could never muster the time to love them to the foot of Jesus, and in to the Kingdom with you hand in hand.  If you are there, and they are not.  At the moment of Christ’s return, there is no more time to influence that outcome.  Maybe instead of a romantic love we are taking about a parental one, or a familial one, or just the love of a friend.  If you are there and they are not, the time is over to change that outcome forever.  What is done then, is done forever.

That will be the measure by which we will be called into account.  I have to ask myself; Who will I have helped to save by being the couch potato that seems to suit me so well?  Anyone?  When I “do me”, or tell others to “do you”, are I not effectively abandoning the whole of Christianity in favor of selfishness that bares no fruit at the end of all things.  Perhaps instead we should “do Christ” or at least follow His lead, and get up, whether it is easy or not, but get up, and get out of our comfort zone, and do “something” that leads others to the feet of Jesus to find the salvation we all so desperately need.  It is not enough to just find ourselves not part of the open rebellion against Jesus.  If we love like Jesus.  Then we cannot be content to sit by and watch this precious minutes of our lives drift away one by one into the abyss of self-service and self-entertainment to the gain of no other souls, perhaps not even our own.  We were asked to work, to bring forward returns on His investment.  But when He calls us forward to testify, will we have anything to say outside of lame claims of mission and ministry we knew we were never fully invested in, at least not fully invested in our hearts.  If we were invested, our lives would be different.

Nevertheless, the story continues in verse 16 saying … “Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. [verse 17] And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. [verse 18] And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. [verse 19] And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.”  So it is possible to bring forward a return on investment.  We know that is true.  We read about it, or watch a video, or a movie, about some modern Christian, who left everything they knew, abandoned it all for the call of Christ, and went and served, and made a difference in this world.  And you and I treat the hearing of those stories, as if in some way, the hearing is enough of an accomplishment to offer.  When Jesus returns He looks at us, and asks what did you do.  And we respond, well, I watched several Youtube videos on various missions, and Christian missionaries who did great works.  Jesus says, I am glad you got hope from their testimonies.  But what is yours, what did you “do”?  What will be your answer, especially in the light of knowing it is possible, there are stories of those who have done it and are still doing it.

Jesus continues in verse 20 saying … “And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: [verse 21] For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. [verse 22] And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: [verse 23] Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?”  Several things to unpack here.  First, like me, there are far too many of us Christians content to “do nothing” with what God has invested in us.  The best we do is “some”.  The reality of what we do is stash our gifts in a napkin and hope to hold on to them, undamaged until He returns.  Hearts never having been transformed.  But when an untransformed heart looks at God, it does not see love, it sees rules, and unfair restrictions.  The difference between this kind of servant, and the citizens who demanded outright rebellion, is really not all that much.  Both picture the Nobleman ruler as austere, demanding, and unfair.  So Jesus then asks the logical question, if that is how you picture me, then why did you not do even the least little bit, to keep the big-bad-God, from striking you down?  Not even a little?  It makes no sense, if you believe God is horrible a ruler.  Seems like you would do at least something to keep Him from getting angry at you.

Jesus continues in verse 24 saying … “And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. [verse 25] (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) [verse 26] For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. [verse 27] But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.”  Imagine how hard these remedies are on the heart of God.  But when the mission of redemption is on the line, we do not have the luxury of dilly-dally where it comes to doing something to save others.  Their very souls depend upon it.  And as for souls, those who refuse to be saved, have only this fate of finality in front of them.  The time for rebellion is fast ticking by.  The same reason it is better for the lost to have the gifts of the failing servant reallocated to the most successful servant – is to avoid the same fate the rebellious lost will face.  You are either saved.  Or you are not.  Your wife or husband is either with you hand in hand, or they are not.  At the end, there is only one condition that exists, saved, or not.  For those who are not, there is no more time, to change the mind, the heart, and the life.  And mercy cannot tolerate evil forever.  It must be exterminated and all those who embrace evil will share its fate.

Then comes the horror of the realization of your role, not just in the saved, but in the lost.  All those you sinned against, or sinned with.  All those you had no time to love, the ones you were too busy to make time for, being pressed by “other matters”.  All the times you let fear of your survival, food, clothing, shelter, keep you from loving; trusting to your own need to provide these things, instead of trusting in God to provide them, giving you the precious time you needed to love someone else.  All this lack of action leads up to the horror of knowing there is an empty place in His Kingdom you might have otherwise helped to fill.  Everyone likes to refute the idea that a “do nothing” Christian is not an accurate description of who they are.  But on this day of judgment, of self judgment there will be no hiding from the absence of those who should have been there but are not, and perhaps are not, because of you.  Your heart will be finally and fully be transformed to love like Jesus does.  But with that, will come its breaking, like the heart of God must be shattered for every child who refuses what He longed to offer them.  You cannot save others.  But you can love them, and through that loving, draw them closer to the one who does save us all.  Failing to do that, will be a failure that will one day shatter your heart.  Only then will you realize there was no greater priority, or need, than to love those who needed you most.

Perhaps it is long past time for us all to “do more”.  For some of us, to “do something”.  For love simply will not permit us to “do nothing” for even another second.

 

Exponential Tax Returns ...

Paying taxes sucks.  Nobody enjoys it.  Yes, we all understand that our taxes go to fund public infrastructure we all rely on.  It goes to fund our common defense.  These days, it is going to try to combat this covid-19 virus in a great many ways.  So even with the waste, we know we need to pay it.  Because if we just abandoned our infrastructure, gave away our common defense, and did nothing about covid – we would fast be overtaken by another country, or perhaps die from what we lack even before that could happen.  But when the tax man comes each of us truly believes we always pay too much.  The very rich have the money to hire accountants, and apply every law, and every loophole to avoid paying any penny they try to keep.  The middle class can afford no special tax accountants, the poor have even less for such luxuries.  So the brunt of our taxes are paid by us.  And each time we see waste, or fraud, or abuse; it makes us mad.  Each time the government chooses to spend money on projects like a bridge to nowhere, or offer subsidies to energy companies that already make billions in profits while paying nearly nothing in taxes – we feel cheated.  It doesn’t really matter who is President, because the tax bill never stops coming, and the silliness in how government spends it, never seems to go away.

But imagine the unthinkable for a minute.  Imagine if the US Treasury stated: … you know what, we have more than enough this year.  In fact, we plan to return everything you paid this year back to you.  Not just what you paid in, but we are going to send you 4 times that amount.  And because we have so much, we are going to take one half of all this money and give it to the poor, who do not have money to put in, but so desperately need our help ...  This is a pipedream right?  It could not happen?  The most powerful and wealthy nation on earth could never be so generous and survive such a thing.  But it has happened before.  The most powerful and wealthy nation had a chief within its tax division who had become more than wealthy from his position, and did everything I described above.  And here is the kicker, he may still have still had wealth beyond measure even after providing these kinds of exponential tax returns and amends to the citizenry in one of the biggest cities in the kingdom.  In our day it would be like this happening for every citizen in Los Angeles.  In his day it was to happen to every citizen of Jericho, under the government of Rome, in the time of and because of Christ.

Luke tells this story in the 19^th chapter of his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why.  This particular story was about a giant deed, inspired in the heart, of a not so giant man.  He picks up in verse 1 saying … “And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. [verse 2] And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. [verse 3] And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.”  Let’s face it, you did not get to become “very rich” under Rome’s thumb, unless you served that kingdom so well, it was in their financial interests to leave you alone.  Otherwise, it is easier for Rome to just steal your riches, kill you and be done with it.  But if you were a wealth machine, they were much less inclined to do anything that would disrupt that flow of money.  So Rome was not the one who was cheated in this scenario.  But to serve Rome, was to cheat Israel.  If there was wealth involved, it was made off the back of your fellow citizens, not taken from the coffers of Rome.

Yet wealth, no matter how much of it you have, cannot buy you one inch more height in how your body develops.  You can wear sandals that are padded and provide a little more lift.  You might even wear some kind of boots that provide even more lift.  But that does not do much, if you just wind up growing up small.  And since Jesus could not be bought by any wealth, there was no way to buy an audience with Him.  You would have to find Him, to seek Him out of your own initiative.  That meant putting aside the needs of your maintaining your wealth and making time to go travel to wherever Jesus was.  And if you were very wealthy, you just never seemed to find time to go find Jesus.  Has it changed at all in our own day?  How many of us are so consumed with the events of our lives, that we just cannot find the time to go find Jesus?  After all, it takes time and dedication to try to maintain the money and lives we have made for ourselves today.  Jesus is secondary to that.  Jesus can come later.  And so often later just never comes. 

Luke continues in verse 4 saying … “And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.”  What Zacchaeus did have was an extensive knowledge of the city.  He knew the routes through it.  He knew the geography.  He knew where a large tree had grown to overhang the road that passed underneath it.  And he knew if he ran ahead of the crowd, Jesus was sure to pass that way and offer Zacchaeus an unobstructed view of the Savior of all mankind as He walked underneath.  Jesus however, had bigger ideas in mind than just a view.  Luke picks back up in verse 5 saying … “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house. [verse 6] And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”  Jesus gave Zacchaeus not only a good look, He invited Himself to the home of Zacchaeus to be hosted there.

This was unheard of.  Not because any good Jewish citizen would not have died, to have a respected man of faith, or holy man, or prophet, or Rabbi, come to their home for any occasion under the sun.  No, because any such man like that was bound to hate the sin of betraying their own nation to Rome, and so would have nothing to with a person like Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus was a sinner.  It was public sin.  Everyone knew it.  Everyone had lost money to him, to build that empire of wealth of his.  He had cheated pretty much all of them.  So it is not like he was making any attempt to hide who he was.  He was a cheater who worked directly for the Romans.  In this he was committing spiritual adultery with pagans who worshipped all manner of graven images of war, and lust, and death.  Zacchaeus was funding all that.  Zacchaeus had their blessing because he took Israelite money out of the Temple sacrifices at Jerusalem, and placed it into the arena at Rome.  And in the process had become personally very rich.  That kind of man was evil, and he knew it.  No self-respecting prophet would ever go near his home, for any reason under the sun.  But Jesus was.  And Zacchaeus was over-joyed at the prospect and then the reality of it all.

The people, not so much.  Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.”  This was meant first to be a slight against the prophetic abilities of Jesus.  What kind of decent prophet could not have foreseen what kind of man Zacchaeus was?  And what kind of decent Rabbi would associate himself with the worst dregs of the city?  This one act of mercy and love by Jesus, was enough to offend the citizens of Jericho so much, they might actually abandon Jesus entirely.  But morbid curiosity kept them watching.  It was like watching a train wreck.  You don’t want to watch it.  You know it is going to be horrible.  But you just cant help yourself as you want to know how this grave mistake is going to work out.  Perhaps Jesus has gone to Zacchaeus’ home to sternly condemn and rebuke him like any other self-respecting Pharisee would have done.  Perhaps Jesus went there to see if He could catch Zacchaeus with some Roman Statue of some demi-god put up in his home so as not to offend any visiting Roman Dignitary that may stop by.  Maybe Jesus was going to burn down that home with Zacchaeus inside, and all his family with him, like back in the days of Moses.   Those Old Testament remedies for infidelity and adultery were no joke, and this whore Zacchaeus had earned every one of them.

Luke continues in verse 8 saying … “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”  The people were gathered at a safe distance outside his home.  Surely it was about to get all fire and brimstone in here at any minute.  Zacchaeus comes up to the door of his home so both Jesus inside and all the people outside can hear him speak.  Here it comes.  Wait for it.  The lightning from heaven is sure to drop.  Keep watching.  And then … the unthinkable.  Zacchaeus announces he is giving half of everything he owns to the poor.  WHAT!?!  That is the farthest outcome anyone could have imagined.  And beyond that, for anyone he has cheated, which lets be real is nearly everyone who lives in Jericho – he plans to give back everything he took, and then 4 times that amount more.  What did he say?  If we were going strictly according to Old Testament remedies, all he would have to give back is what he took, plus 20% not plus 400%.  Again that was unheard of.  What did Jesus say to him in that house?  Did Jesus threaten him or something?  Well if He did, it sure worked.  No-one is this generous.  Not any of us anyway.  Especially not a tax collector.  Especially not the head tax collector of the whole region.  How could this be?

Luke continues in verse 9 saying … “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. [verse 10] For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  It was the change in the heart of Zacchaeus that Jesus took note of, as He had inspired and enabled it.  One encounter with Jesus and His unfailing love, and Zacchaeus was ready to turn around his entire model for wealth.  He was giving it away, and giving it back.  The people were about to receive a never expected windfall from a single source.  Salvation had come to that house, not because Zacchaeus had suddenly become poor.  There is no evidence in fact that he was poor after the return of all this wealth.  He may have had so much, that this barely put a dent in him.  Or he may have spent every penny doing this.  But he did way more than anyone could have expected, least of all, himself.  From stingy to sharing in the course of one dinner with Jesus.  A prophet had visited his home, not just any prophet, but the long awaited Messiah who told him He loved him.  And it was love that moved the heart of Zacchaeus.  It was love that melted that stone, and turned it back to a heart of flesh.  No threats.  No worry of drinking bitter waters and having a thigh rot as in back in the days of Moses for the spiritual infidelity he had been associated with.  Instead just a full restoration with Jesus Christ, and salvation coming to his heart and home this very day.

And I wonder if our hearts are still capable of the lessons of this story?  For we too have wealth, no matter how financially small it may be.  There are still and always will be others who are worse off than we are, and have needs greater than our own.  Do we give ours away to meet the needs of another, or do we like the tax man protect every penny and only look to add to the total every single minute?  Have we grown comfortable taking from any source no matter how poor?  Have we even grown comfortable compromising with the idea of taking what does not strictly belong to us?  Whether it is stolen moments on a time card when no work is actually performed, or taking pens and office supplies home from work that were never intended for that purpose – we rationalize that because our employers are “rich” they can afford these losses, that they expect them.  But this is untrue.  And it is still wrong, still theft, just still all too common.

But with one encounter with the massive love of Jesus, can we join with Zacchaeus and give away what binds us?  Even if we have so much we do not lose it all; can we give away what Jesus moves our hearts to give away, and in the process find that salvation has come to our homes and hearts.  Our time, our skills, there are many things our neighbors could benefit from even when we do not have money.  Can we give of ourselves?  Let us not be the taxman, but rather be the reformed man Zacchaeus experienced.  Unfaithful no more.  And understanding what salvation looks like as it enters our hearts and our homes.

 

Simple Change in Vision ...

 

What do you see when you look at the top of the eye chart in the optometrist’s office?  If you answered the letter “E” then you were correct.  They all start with a giant letter “E”.  And what is more, we all know that is how they begin.  The letters underneath that “E” however get smaller and more random until you reach the very small copyright notice in the bottom right side of the chart (not meant for you to read or decipher).  It would seem only Bugs Bunny can read the copyright notice.  But if you cannot see the giant “E” your problems with your vision are fairly significant.  For me, without my contacts, or glasses, my mind knows it is an “E”, but I cannot see it.  My vision is natively somewhere north of 20:4000, past legally blind, but since it can be corrected, I am not considered blind.  At least not blind in what my eyes can see.  In fact perhaps it is all about perception, because somehow mechanically my eyesight is more like looking through a microscope.  Uncorrected, and up extremely close, I can see things most folks will never see without the aid of a microscope.  But this is not a very helpful skill in normal day to day life.  After all what do you really need to see up close that way in a day.

But then vision may be more about what we notice than what we see.  What registers and stays with us is not just about how clearly we see it, but about how important it becomes to us.  For instance, the gentle laugh lines at the edge of my wife’s eyes are nothing special for others to see.  But for me they are more precious than gold.  My wife is not one of an especially great sense of humor, so her smiles are more rare and more meaningful.  And when she bursts into laughter about some random thing, the sound of the laughter is as angels singing, and those lines around her eyes the tangible evidence of happiness even if only for a moment.  But it would be just as easy to miss them, to blend them in to her face overall, and pass right by them.  So what we see may not always be what we notice.  And what we treasure may begin in the eyes, and end in the soul.  To see, to notice, and to treasure what truly has meaning, is to begin to know what it means to live and have life as He has given it to us.

So what then is truly important to you?  And I realize your answer will be colored by where you are now, what you want now, what you believe you need now.  As your life evolves, sometimes those answers evolve as well.  In the gospel of Luke, Peter thinks out loud about what he and the other disciples have given up, to be followers of Jesus Christ.  It picks up in chapter 18 beginning in verse 28 saying … “Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.”  From Peter’s point of view, they had left everything, they had set aside everything, perhaps even the laugh lines in his own wife’s eyes, in order to be with Jesus every day and all the time.  What more could he offer.  Jesus responds in verse 29 saying … “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, [verse 30] Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.”

Wow that is some kind of promise.  What we leave behind for the sake of the Kingdom of God, we reap manifold more not only in life everlasting, but in this world as well.  This is not about sacrificing one family for Christ and finding another one.  This is about not allowing any family to keep you from Christ, but by placing Christ first in your own heart, becoming someone new, and learning how to love them in such a way as to lure then to join you in His Kingdom.  You may not even see it.  You may decidedly not even notice it.  But as you become someone new, the impacts of love will radiate out from you as they never have before.  You may become more patient than you have ever been, more tender, more prone to smile or find humor where you have not sought it before.  The transformation in who you are may not be something you see, but it may be something your family cannot help but see.  Your vision is trained upon Him.  But what your family sees is something of a reflection of the very love of God.  If your mission to the ones you love the most succeeds, you become instrumental in leading them to the feet of Jesus.  It is there they will begin their own journey of transformation, reaping manifold results in both this world and the world to come.  That is a mission that is never done, only better, and more important than any other.  For what greater treasure could there be, than the hearts of those we love the most?

But sometimes we fail to see what right in front of us.  Luke continues in verse 31 saying … “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. [verse 32] For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: [verse 33] And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. [verse 34] And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.”  Jesus tells those closest to Him, what is about to happen, what they are about to see.  But the thought of the long awaited Messiah meeting His end from the religious leadership, was more than their minds were able to comprehend.  The giant “E” was right there at the top of the eye chart, Jesus had to die to save us.  But like me, they could not see it, or perhaps would not see it.  Their vision was clouded because what they wanted conflicted with what God needed, and in truth what we really needed.

But the reality of death was not how this message ended, it ended in the reality of a life after death.  Because of Jesus and what He did for us, this same truth is no less true for us.  But are we any more able to see it than were our disciple forefather’s.  If our blindness prevents it, then consider what Jesus can do for our blindness.  Luke continues in verse 35 saying … “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: [verse 36] And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. [verse 37] And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. [verse 38] And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. [verse 39] And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”  This was a blind man, he was physically blind, perhaps all his life, perhaps not.  But what he could not see, he had heard about.  He saw what others did not.  He saw Jesus as more than just a prophet but instead as the living embodiment of the long awaited Messiah.  And so the blind man knew what others may not have.  Jesus could fix him entirely.  Jesus could open his eyes and make him see.  Even if perhaps he already saw more than most of us do.

Jesus responds picking up in verse 40 saying … “And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, [verse 41] Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. [verse 42] And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. [verse 43] And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.”  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye the blind man had his eyesight restored.  He was recreated in a second, able to see as if sight had never been lost.  But it was the vision of the blind man that led to the restoration of his sight.  The blind man already saw the Messiah, the Son of God, before his eyes had caught up.  But Jesus does not leave us how we are.  He recreates us back into the image He had in mind.  He restores what is broken in us.  He opens our eyes, even when we think they are working just fine.  And can you imagine how wonderful it was for this blind man to open his eyes and see the Savior of all mankind, and of himself.  All those who were there praised God, probably none more loud than he who was formerly blind.

So if the salvation and restoration of your life is as big as the giant “E” at the top of the eye chart, are you able to see it?  Or perhaps like me you know it is there, but require correction to actually be able to see it.  Or perhaps like this blind man of so great faith, you knew it was there without any ability to do so.  But our salvation remains a truth, as certain as Jesus is our Truth.  Perhaps because my wife has seen it, the laugh lines near her eyes are something that has caught the vision of my eyes and my heart.  Perhaps because Jesus is so close to her heart, there is laughter now, where once there was not – and so I hear angels singing, and find treasure in a reflection of His love that warms the core of who I am.  Her mission to me will never be done.  But because of it, I see the tangible presence of God’s own love for me.  Could anything be more important than that?  A manifold reward in this life, well ahead of the next one.  A lure to draw the entire family to the foot of the cross.  The gift of a submitted heart now multiplied in a field of mission.  And I do see it, it is noticed, and is now the treasure of my soul.

 

Growing Young Again ...

 

For us, time only moves one direction, forward.  Once the past is past, it cannot be undone or altered.  This is how we know life to be, usually to our great regret.  And as time moves on, we age, always growing only older.  2yr-olds turn into 4yr-olds, 20 becomes 30, 50 becomes 60, and before you know it, you are facing your own mortality up close and personal.  Mind you the distance between 2-years-old and 60 is what we describe as a lifetime.  But in truth, it is not.  All of our years here are but a drop in the bucket, perhaps not even as much as a drop more like a molecule, and perhaps instead of a bucket, an entire ocean.  There comes a life to those who believe that becomes nearly impossible to measure in years, for too many years pass by.  The idea of eternity is hard for the human mind to grasp.  We are too bound in the present, where our life expectancy is set before we are born, where reaching the age of 90 in relatively good health is considered an achievement.  To reach a 100 is so rare it is worthy of press attention, beyond that is hardly something people will even believe.  And in the context of eternity, 100 years old is barely a half a second, or a single blink of an eye.  When time has no end, time becomes less meaningful.  But perhaps the most striking element of eternity for believers is how it begins, not with the dissolution of time itself, but with a change in direction of how we grow.

No, this is not the story of Benjamin Button.  In fact this is not fantasy of any kind.  It is truism.  It is realism.  It descends from the mouth of Jesus Christ Himself.  And as a believer you will come to know the truth of it in your own life.  To actually grow backwards.  Let me give you a small taste.  When you were a toddler, chances are you trusted your parents to completely take care of everything you needed.  As a toddler you had NO idea how they did that.  For that matter, as a toddler you never even gave those thoughts a moment of time in your toddler brain.  They just were.  Or rather, life just was.  It did not need definition.  And your thoughts might then have been pre-occupied only with the basics – am I hungry, or tired, or in need of affection, or play.  And no matter which of these needs or any other your mind might stumble across, your parents were the ones to meet that need.  Sometimes they were good enough to anticipate them.  To feed you before you even knew you were hungry.  To hold you because they needed it, even if you were already comfortable that you were loved.  Parents did for you, because you were loved by them.

Now extend the example to how God interacts with you today.  If you let Him, God will be that parent for you in every single aspect of your life.  When you are hungry, God knows it.  And He promises to meet the needs of today as they arise.  He does not promise to stock your pantry forevermore, but does promise to provide the bread you need as you need it each day.  Sometimes it is hard to wrap your adult brain around even one simple gesture of trust.  But if you can allow it.  You will witness the actions of a loving parent where your life is concerned.  And engaging in this kind of trust–fulfillment–trust cycle only builds trust in you in who God is, and how God is, with you personally.  You begin to see His parental instincts are worlds ahead of your own, or of your own parents.  And the worry of this life abates, and you are made free to think on other things.  The stress of survival begins to recede, and what emerges is the freedom to play more, enjoy more, and spend more time with Dad.  You find Dad was just longing to do that with you all along, and He will make the time, to do it.  In fact, He has already set aside one day in seven, just to mark out some special play time with you.

Having the freedom NOT to worry, is an anti-adult thing.  It is a child-like thing.  And it is only the beginning of your journey.  Luke wrote about it in the 18^th chapter of his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why.  He picks up with the incident that outlines the roadmap to this in verse 15 saying … “And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.”  This is typical adult behavior.  The Jewish people believed strongly in blessings.  And to be blessed you needed to make physical contact with the person blessing you.  It took the laying on of hands to be precise.  No remote blessings.  No dialing it in.  The person doing the blessing would typically put his hands on your head, and then the prayers and blessings would begin to flow.  Extra special blessings might involve pouring olive oil on your head while the blessing was uttered.  But these parents just wanted a quick blessing from the Rabbi, or rather the Prophet, or rather the possible Messiah, or perhaps the miracle worker they had all witnessed him perform.  It was a good idea.

But the disciples had begun to think of themselves as more serious people, as a quasi-guardian of access to Jesus.  Imagine that, the first most prominent followers of Jesus, soon took their own access to Jesus as a sign they should limit the access of others, instead of trying to bring others to Christ.  Sound familiar?  Does that plague continue to persist today?  Where someone close to Jesus begins to move away from welcoming all to the foot of the cross, to trying to pre-sort the ones that are able to come at all.  And think about it, we adults are serious people.  We already know stuff.  We are capable of hearing, learning, and decided what stuff means.  We have no time for crying babies, or cute toddlers.  They can’t figure all this adult stuff out.  They are incapable.  So why should we waste our time with them.  Only the serious need apply.  Only the capable need even try.  Little ones are neither of those.  Little ones are obsessed with only one thing – they like to play.  There is NO time for playing in church.  There is NO time to try to distract Jesus with cute stuff.  Keep the cute stuff at home, appreciate it there, and don’t bother Jesus in church with any of these antics.  We have no time for that.

But Jesus had other ideas as Luke continues in verse 16 saying … “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. [verse 17] Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”  Hold up, wait a minute, Jesus is flipping time and growth on their heads.  Instead of serious, Jesus plans to make time for the little children.  Jesus is going to make time for cute, for play, for love, for affection.  Yes we all know Jesus is busy, there is an entire world to save, there are so many to heal, to feed, to preach to.  But put ALL of that on pause for a moment.  Something more important has come up.  A little child wants access to Jesus.  And Jesus is going to stop it all, make time, and fulfill that need.  Serious is out the window.  Reverent has been tossed out of the play-yard.  Jesus will enter instead.  But Jesus takes it a whole world farther than anyone – parent, or disciple – could have ever anticipated.  Jesus declares that the entire Kingdom of God (not just a part of it, but the whole of it) is made up of little babies and toddlers like these kids.  What does that mean?  Adult minds are scrambling now to figure that out.  Adult minds are racing to figure out a new doctrine that runs counter to every bit of wisdom they have been taught, and still they have no clue what it means.

It gets worse.  Jesus ups the ante.  Jesus further declares that all us adults are never getting in to the Kingdom until we learn to receive that gift and embrace it like one of these non-serious, heavy playing, heavy loving little toddlers does.  Not just bad enough that people in the Kingdom are like these kids, people cannot even get inside until they become like one of these kids.  Adult minds just begin to collapse at that declaration.  And shouldn’t they?  Give this thought a minute to sink in, in your own mind.  Jesus is asking for more than just baby-talk you might do with your spouse behind closed doors, or with your small children on the floor while you are playing with them.  He is not asking you to act young.  He is asking you to be young, to grow backwards, to lose adulthood in favor of the trust and love of a young toddler who never even thinks about “adult” things.  Toddlers have no time for that.  It would seem what there is time for is completely upside down when seen through the eyes of Jesus.

At this point, the self-appointed-guardians of access to Jesus, have backed up and gone nuts.  They have opened the floodgates of little ones jumping right into the welcoming arms of Jesus.  They don’t know why.  They heard Jesus describe the Kingdom as made up of these.  But the idea that they have to become like these to ever get in – is beyond them.  That is impossible.  That defies physics, and history, and everything we know about life.  It is upside down world.  So how could we possibly make that happen?  It would seem we are all doomed.  It would get worse, before it would get better.  To drive home the point about how this could ever happen, the story continues picking back up in verse 18 saying … “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? [verse 19] And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. [verse 20] Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.”

Now this was someone the disciples could equate to, perhaps to aspire to.  A rich young ruler, an adult, who was obviously blessed by God, as witnessed by his wealth.  He comes to Jesus asking how he might be saved.  This answer should obviously clean up that whole be a kid thing.  First Jesus redirects the false flattery back to God who alone deserves it.  Then the first words of Jesus are not about being a kid, they are about keeping the law of Moses.  Finally!  These are words the entire Jewish nation will understand.  Keeping the law is engrained in the DNA.  You keep it, or you are lost.  Period.  No other requirements.  Being a kid, is for kids, this Law stuff is for serious people, for adults who are able to understand it.  The story continues in verse 21 saying … “And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. [verse 22] Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”  You see, the serious adult has kept the law from when he was a child up.  Maybe that is what Jesus meant about being a kid, that even non-serious kids better keep the law or else.  But that was not to be.

The answer of Jesus was now even more disturbing and for many reasons.  He tells the rich young ruler, to go and sell everything he owns, for “treasure in heaven”.  Then He follows by inviting him to become the thirteenth male disciple.  Hey wait a minute, I thought only 12 were allowed.  They needed to be paired up for ministry, and 12 was like the number 12 of the tribes of Israel.  Isn’t there some numerical significance to that number, why are we about to open it up to 13 instead?  That makes no sense.  But Jesus is right there about to increase their number, so much for pairing up in evangelism.  Maybe Jesus will invite another one to make it 14.  But putting aside the whole number fiasco.  Jesus asks the rich young ruler to do something ONLY a trusting child could ever do.  To give it all away, and trust, and follow – and not know a single thing more than that.  No road map.  No plan.  No agenda.  Just throw all the cares of money to the wind to care for the poor (and in so doing perhaps help the poor to heaven, thereby increasing the only real treasure in heaven there would ever be), and go and be made free in the doing.

So the whole kid thing has not gone out the window with answer of Jesus.  It is worse.  Jesus is pointing out that keeping the Law given to Moses is only a start.  What is really important is giving your entire trust to Him, losing everything you own, and becoming a toddler disciple with no clue what will happen next.  Your need to know is shot.  You are not going to be told.  When it is time you will know, not before.  And keeping the Law, or having wealth, does not shield you from the need to trust, and to give it all away.  The story picks back up in verse 23 saying … “And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. [verse 24] And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! [verse 25] For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”  Oh no.  Jesus has just doomed all of their aspirations.  In addition, He just made it impossible for an entire class of people to ever see the inside of the Kingdom of God.  Good thing Nicodemus and Joseph were not here to hear this, it might have depressed them to death.  And every other member of the Sanhedrin.  All of them doomed.  If Peter ever became a successful fisherman, he too might be doomed.  Good thing he was only ever so-so at it.

But this response of Jesus to once again defy physics, and reverse everything we know about religion and life was perplexing more than just the disciples this time.  Luke picks back up in verse 26 saying … “And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? [verse 27] And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”  And there it is, the methodology of our salvation spelled out in terms both adult mind and child mind can easily understand.  We don’t do it.  We cannot do it.  We cannot reverse time or physics.  We are not supposed to.  We are supposed to trust that even though we are unable to save ourselves, that Jesus and God are able, and will do that very thing.  What is in fact, impossible for us, is possible for God.  Where our spiritual maturity has thus far been measured in how serious we adult-minds have become – is now to be turned on its head and go backwards – more trust, more play, more love – less stress, less worry, less trying to figure everything out.  We are to lose our need to know, and to just be.  Be free.  Play with Dad.  Enjoy His hugs.  Share His blessings.  Push His love to us outwards, and sideways, to everyone with no limitations – just like a group of toddlers will do. 

We don’t grow backwards into toddlers of His kingdom because we “act” like them, but because we become them.  We cannot act our way into heaven.  We cannot perform the duties required to get into heaven.  We must instead become different people, much younger people, with absolute trust, and a freedom we have yet to experience.  To leave everything up to God, is invigorating, renewing, and freeing beyond all measure.  We stop needing to know “how” God does it, we just need to know He does.  And life and history teach that too.  Our minds then, need not be so serious, but instead be trusting and loving.  Keeping His law then will come not because we will it, or think we do, but because He creates obedience in us, as a natural state of who we become.  And as pointed out here, that is only the beginning.  We will grow into a state of wild abandon with Jesus.  Willing to give up every single thing we own.  Trusting in Dad to meet every need, and watching Dad do exactly that and more.  We can grow backwards, and grow younger, not because it is possible for us, but because it is possible for God, and God does it for us, in us, and through us.  Sit back my toddler friends, time to let Dad take over, and enjoy the ride.