Skipping Through Time [part one] ...

What if your mind became untethered by time?  What if you could see not only what is happening now in front of you, but what happens tomorrow, in a year, in 100 years.  What if this worked not only forwards but backwards as well.  Imagine the mind of Jesus for just a moment.  Jesus is human, that is, one of us born of Mary.  But Jesus is also God, that is, the only begotten of The Father.  So Jesus knows what is happening now as it happens, but He also knows what happened with Moses, or David, or Abraham because He experienced their lives with them so long ago.  And what is more Jesus can see what happens in the near future, the distant future, and through the eons of time we have yet to experience.  For us humans this is hard to imagine.  We have a distinct perspective anchored by our present lives in this time and in this place.  Time is our tether.  And to imagine time passing or rather existing in a different way is difficult for us to imagine.  Though lately I have begun to understand this idea of time much better through visions I have been experiencing.

But when people refer to Jesus as a prophet, this is a radical understatement.  Prophets typically have a very constricted view of events coming in a future they do not fully understand.  Jesus has the full view of everything, in every time, across every locality.  He does not just see the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem by the Romans coming in just a few decades.  He also sees the destruction of the Vatican in Rome, by the upheaval of His second coming leaving all that art, and all those treasures left with not one stone upon another.  Christians, particularly Catholics, do not enjoy thinking this way.  We treat the Vatican, with all that beauty and art, as if it were meant to stand forever.  But it is not.  It is only a very ornate building destined to be just as destroyed as the very city of Rome itself at the end of all things.  No difference between the Vatican and the local power plant in Rome except perhaps the perceived value of the pieces left in the pile.  The second coming of Jesus will inevitably result in all that destruction, even of Christian sites we cannot imagine that happening to.  But alas destruction is surely coming.  Your heart on the other hand, the heart of a true worshipper of our God, is never meant to be destroyed, only shattered and then rebuilt and made new by Jesus.

When Luke then describes the foretelling of the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem, perhaps it would be good for us modern Christians to imagine Jesus was talking about the destruction of our Temples, of all of them, at the end of all things if not before.  Perhaps only then we can equate the feelings of the people back then for their venerable institutions as we might have for our own.  Perhaps only then it would be as hard for us to understand how hard those words were to hear, then and now.  Luke picks up in chapter 21 of his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why starting in verse 5 saying … “And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,”  It begins for those folks the same way it begins in your heart, in my heart, with a pride in what we have built to honor God.  Precious stones, precious art, not entirely different.  We think the Vatican so important in terms of art, it could never be destroyed.  All those marble carvings by artists whose like has never been seen since.  That magnificent painting in the Sistine Chapel.  It must surely be meant to endure forever.  But it is not.  It is meant for the junk heap.  It is meant for the trash pile of history, all that work destroyed in an instant, by the one event every Christian should cherish even more.

The people of Jesus’ day were equally proud of their Temple.  It was not as glorious as the one David planned, and Solomon built.  None was ever so glorious.  No statues, but as ornate as ornate could be.  Yet due to the sin in the hearts of the Jewish people of earlier days, who looked away from God and towards the orgies of other false deities, that first Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.  Now in the days of Jesus, a rejection of the Messiah was to lead to once again the destruction of the symbol of the worship of the very coming Messiah that they refused to accept.  The people were proud of the precious gems.  Jesus saw those stones as hard as the current leadership’s hearts.  What the people took pride in, that is the great structure of the Temple, was to be destroyed and cast down.  It was their own hearts the leaders refused to yield.  Do we yield our own hearts any more today?

Luke continues in verse 6 saying … “As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  What we take pride in must needs be destroyed.  Perhaps it is the only way our pride might ever diminish.  For pride is not something we are supposed to cling to, or treasure.  Modern man craves the legacy of notoriety, or at least remembrance.  We hope that what we do will last, even though we will not.  That painting in the Sistine chapel has been preserved through the centuries, its artist remembered well for it.  More recently the sermons of Billy Graham have been remembered as well, those words leading many to the foot of the cross.  Neither men perfect, but both remembered.  But I dare say there was less pride in reciting the grace of God from a pulpit, than there is in creating one of the greatest painted works of all time, even though the subject matter was identical.  But it is neither the elegant words that convict the hearts of men, nor the magnificent visualizations that inspire his heart to the feet of his maker.  It is only the power of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of man that can do that.  Billy Graham was merely a tool.  Michael Angelo was merely a tool.  The tools pass.  The power of conviction does not.  We should take less pride in what we believe we accomplish, and recognize more the real power comes only from God, not anything we have been inspired to do, or believe we accomplish, or build.

Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?”  Now understand that those hearing this pronunciation of Jesus regarding the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem were not asking when the second coming was bound to happen.  They did not even have a concept of a second coming as yet, because to a man, they all believed that Jesus was the Messiah and the Messiah was meant to last forever.  So for them, this prophecy represented only a small defeat in a Kingdom meant to last forever.  Those from the other ten tribes may even have thought this just retribution upon Jerusalem for its arrogance in thinking worship could only be legitimately celebrated at this one location.  The other ten tribes worshipped on a different mountain in general.  But whether the audience knew it or not, the question they posed to Jesus, asked Jesus to look ahead, and Jesus could see it all.  Not just the answer to what they were asking but the answers all of us need, and the same dangers all of us face, both then and now.

The mind of Christ loosens the tether of the human imposition of time, and He looks ahead as He responds to them picking up in verse 8 saying … “And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.”  The first sign, is also the first warning, of men who claim to be our savior and Messiah.  We should not go after them.  I wonder is Jesus talking about you or me?  Oh of course, neither of us claim to be Jesus or God or any kind of Messiah.  That would be crazy talk.  But then, how many of us decide we are able to break the bondage of sin by our own self will power.  How many of us dare to believe we are strong enough to defeat the devil and make it to heaven by performing good acts, and avoiding the bad ones.  To never again sin, as if sin is nothing more than a choice on our part.  By any of this logic, we make ourselves a partner in our own salvation, in effect we make ourselves our own Messiah.  And we start following the guy in the mirror cause he seems to know what is needed to move on and move up.  While neither of us might follow a David Koresh, or some other wacko (pardon the pun) who claims to be Jesus.  How many of us so easily follow ourselves, placing pride in all we have done spiritually, all we have accomplished, all we have built.

Jesus continues in verse 9 saying … “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. [verse 10] Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:”  The destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem was actually caused by the rebellion of the people against Rome.  It was not some external war that just strafed the land of Judea and took out the Temple in its wake.  It was instigated by the people who felt cheated that the real Messiah did not throw off the yoke of Roman oppression, and so decided to take matters into their own hands.  Sound familiar?  How often does God not do what you ask Him to do, so you try to help Him out by doing it yourself?  That is not some external war, or actions caused by others that comes and destroys you, it is what you do, what you decide, what you think is best, that is really only pain and death wrapped up in some shiny appealing wrapper.  The end of all things, will not be caused by wars we start with each other.  It will be hurried or delayed by whether we learn to submit ourselves to Jesus and allow Jesus to do all the fighting.

Luke continues in verse 11 saying … “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”  Nature’s own upheaval will mark what is coming.  It is said not a single Christian died in the siege of Jerusalem, the end of which marked the full destruction of the Temple.  For a great sign appeared in the heavens of a chariot riding towards the city and every Christian knew what it meant, and fled before it was too late.  In our day we have seen these earthquakes on a global scale.  We know where famine still lives today.  And the pestilence of Covid is not the first to strike the world, nor will it be the last.  These are milestones, signs of a coming Savior we need so desperately.  But they should not cause us fear, they should motivate us to surrender and find peace.  Our lives, and our deaths here in this world are truly incidental.  But our salvation in the next is the only thing important, and should provide us motivation to help others while we still have time to help.  To love others when they need it the most.  Who cares about earthquakes, if my heart is so sedentary it cannot be moved by the plight of my own neighbor, by my own spouse, by my own children or parents?  If it is my heart that is so set in stone, perhaps it is my heart that so desperately needs the earthquake to shake it loose from its apathy.

Jesus continues in verse 12 saying … “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. [verse 13] And it shall turn to you for a testimony.”  Before Jerusalem would be sacked, early Christians would face persecution from those who refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah.  Believers would be dragged into courts and synagogues and prisons.  Brought even before kings and rulers, in order to see them crushed by those refusing to believe.  But God would turn this persecution against the persecutors in the form of delivering His testimony of love to those who might have never otherwise heard it.  Instead of squelching the gospel, they amplified it.  Members of the court heard a new message of love.  Secretaries, and wardens, gaurds, and ministers of the rulers heard a gospel of love that literally broke their hearts and put them at the feet of a cross.  By trying to kill the gospel message, persecution only widened its reach and its passion.

Jesus continues in verse 14 saying … “Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: [verse 15] For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. [verse 16] And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. [verse 17] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. [verse 18] But there shall not an hair of your head perish. [verse 19] In your patience possess ye your souls.”  So some of this sounds like superficial contradiction in what is said.  First Jesus says don’t even worry about what you are going to say when you are brought into courts and such.  Jesus Himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit, will take over your words and your delivery, making sure it is effective.  But also don’t figure everything will always turn out OK.  Your own families will betray you all the way to death.  You will be hated for the love of Jesus you reflect.  But not one hair of your head will perish.  How could that be if you are dead from a family betrayal?  Perhaps the same way that in patience you can possess your own souls.  Trusting to Jesus your lives.  Whether you are spared death for a while, or taste it much earlier than you imagined, what is important is your salvation, the salvation of your souls.  Being patient to let Jesus save you, in this you follow not lead, you are humble no kind of partner or replacement for the Messiah, and ultimately your faith in Jesus to save you bears fruit.  Life and death are not important, salvation and eternal life are all that is important.

The mind of Christ is untethered by time, and He reveals to His followers what is to come, some of it right away, some of it not.  But Jesus is far from finished yet …

 

Showtime ...

Que the lights.  Set the sound.  The parable production is about to start.  This will be live streamed.  This will have major presence across all social media platforms.  Today, on this Sabbath, Bill Gates is coming to our particular church.  Now church might not be the first venue you think of as a “production” unless maybe you attend one of the Mega churches that has lighting and cameras and an active streaming ministry.  Small churches usually don’t have that kind of thing.  Mostly they can’t afford it.  But what if Bill Gates just up and decided one day to come to your particular church?  Might that not create a buzz?  Might just his very attendance boost yours?  Folks would come to see if Bill did.  Most folks know he is super rich, and gives away a lot of money to good causes.  If you knew he was coming to your church on your day of worship, you might choose to attend (masked up as needed, and spaced out as necessary) just hoping maybe some of Bill’s good will might rub off on you.  You may not even want money per se, you may just want a job.  I mean who would not want a job working for Bill Gates, and he is bound to have an assorted mess of jobs given his foundation and his former company Microsoft (where I am sure a personal recommendation gets you hired no matter what HR might otherwise have thought about you).

So outside of Jesus coming to church, having Bill Gates show up might just be the second highest grossing ticket of all time.  Now as a regular member, you know the offering plate is going to get passed right by Bill.  What will he do?  What will you?  Will he put in an envelope marked with a charitable contribution for the assorted ministries your church needs to fund?  Do you put in your envelope?  And when was the last time you were even here anyway, pre-covid, maybe years before that.  And back in those days, what were your giving practices.  Cause if you happened to be sitting near Bill when he shows up, you might be putting in an envelope just to show Bill that you are a generous person.  He’s not likely to hire you for a job at a charitable foundation if you can’t be bothered giving to charity.  But if you give big, that might just impress him and land you a spot of your dreams. 

Now if the offering plate comes to Bill, you kind of expect him to fund everything.  He has the money.  He has so much money, he could personally fund your church for 100 years and not even get out of pocket change.  You don’t.  You have bills to pay, a mortgage to keep up with, the loss of one income already due to this pandemic.  You have kids you are trying to feed.  You know, responsibilities.  And you reason that God must understand all this and not have very high expectations of your giving, cause you know, God has not done much to insure you had spare cash to give.  But that is where this whole parable begins to hit a little close to home.  How much do you have to give?  And how much of that are you willing to give?  Bill can give anything.  If he gives nothing we all sneer at his selfishness, for having so much and choosing to give none of it.  This is why we take up offerings before the sermon, or even the music, so people are not offended before they give.  Hit em right up front, then there are no excuses about what they heard or saw.  If Bill with all his money chooses not to give, we collectively call him selfish.  Does not matter that he gives in other venues; he did not give in ours, therefore selfish.  And we are all wrong.  But worse, we refuse to look in the mirror and ask that same question, especially while Bill is at services and could solve our church’s problems in one go.

But back to me and you.  With all that is going on, we figure God can’t expect too much of us, at least not yet.  Once we get our income under control, once we get our taxes paid, our bills normalized, our mortgages up to date, maybe then, yup, only then, could we ever think about giving what we know we probably should.  And Jesus watches all of us.  He watches Bill.  But He is also watching all the “rich” folks at our church, and all the “working” folks at our church.  He knows what we are all going though.  But He even watches the “poor” folks at our church.  Now as for the poor, you and I expect nothing from them.  Cause they do not have anything to offer (at least not monetarily).  If anything, the money we are giving should be going to help the poor, which very well might be some of our fellow church members.  Surely God does not expect them to give.  God expects us to give to them.

And then there is homeless man Pete.  Pete never smells very good.  He does not have regular access to a shower or a place to wash his clothes, so you can imagine he probably would not smell very good.  Pete knows it.  He is very self-conscious about it.  So when Pete comes to church he sits in the very last pew on the side closest to the door, hoping as the door opens and shuts, it will carry some of his odor outside the sanctuary and refresh the air he is making foul by his presence.  Pete is usually hungry.  No one is willing to hire Pete because they assume he is mental, or lazy, or they just don’t want to smell him.  So Pete is never sure when he going to eat again.  Pete is not just poor, he is uber poor, he is broke, and has nothing.  On occasion, someone takes pity on Pete and hands him a dollar at a traffic stop.  Most folks think this makes Pete secretly rich.  It doesn’t.  Never enough for a hotel, thus the shower problem.  Barely enough for a single meal, once and a while, always eaten outside, cause no one will seat him.  This is his life.  Today when all the attention is on Bill attending services, Pete just quietly takes a place as far out of sight as possible.  When the offering plate last stops at Pete, he fumbles around in his pockets and finds 2 dollars.  He gives it.  It is all he has.  It means he will not eat today.  He reasons God will provide.  He reasons God can use Pete’s own money for the truly poor.  Pete does not think of himself as poor, because Pete knows even if nobody else loves him, Jesus loves him.  And that is enough for Pete.

I ask you.  Who in this parable loves Jesus?  Does Bill?  Would any amount of money be able to show you that Bill loves Jesus, or would you just expect him to give more?  Do you?  Could someone look at your financial priorities and easily see that you love Jesus by how you give?  Does Pete?  Pete gave far less than anyone else in church, he always does.  In Pete’s whole life he will never give as much as you could in a single week.  And if the only reason you ever do give is to be a key part of the “show” at church, you’re doing it wrong.  Giving is not about how much God asks.  God asks the same of everyone, ten percent of our increase, and offerings over that as we see fit.  What we give back then is a choice, why we make that choice is as important as what we wind up giving because of it.  Luke records the parable of a desperate widow going to the Mega church of her day.  It opens the 21^st chapter right up front in verse 1 saying … “And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.”  Jesus was at Temple.  And the show had already started.  A parade of rich men dropping large, and more importantly loud, gold coins in the collection bucket at the rear of the building.

Que the lights.  Stream the production.  The parade has started.  It is the rich of His day making an absolute show of just how generous each of them is.  Funds acquired not through the blessing of God mind you, but through the abuse of others, chiefly the poor.  But hey look, they are giving back in large, loud, measure.  For all to see, so to speak.  Let all behold the magnanimity of me, and what a generous guy I must be.  Spotlight over here please.  God are you watching?  I have bills you know, I could keep all these coins and be richer myself.  But no, I am giving them over publicly, in order to set a good example, to You.  Given my generosity, everyone around should be holding me in high regard.  This is how it is done.  This is why I matter.  This is why I am the most important person in this church.  Without me, funding dries up to nothing.  Look, look, everyone and give me at least an approving nod.  As for you God, you better be paying attention.  And God is.

Luke continues in verse 2 saying … “And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. [verse 3] And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: [verse 4] For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”  What Bill Gates gives is between he and God.  As what these rich men give was also between them and God, even though it was the public spectacle and recognition they craved even more than their own money.  What this widow gave was also between she and God.  But God was watching.  And God used her love for Him, as an example of what giving everything means.  Widows were more at risk back then, than mythical homeless Pete in our parable would be today.  My question is why does it always seem to be those most destitute of the wealth of this world, those who need that wealth the most, who always wind up being the ones who most willing part with it back to God.  They give without fanfare, most of them embarrassed at low their numbers are, while giving everything they have to offer.

Not all widows were old.  Some lost husbands in the prime of life.  Some still had small children to take care of.  We do not know what else this widow was responsible for, what other bills, or needs she was supposed to cover financially.  We just know that in spite of anything else, she put God first in her heart and gave everything she had,  It was not to be noticed.  She would have been embarrassed to be compared with the sound of large gold coins falling endlessly into the bucket from the rich who seemed to never stop.  But God noticed.  And God zoomed in on her heart, and the hearts of us all.  Bill Gates has never been to my church.  And while he is ever invited, I sometimes wonder if by not coming he saves my fellow parishioners from relying upon his generosity to cover their own lack of it.  To cover my lack of it.  If we  all see ourselves as poor as widows then so be it, but can we all have her spirit of giving as well?  Can we all have her trust to give in spite of our other pressing concerns?

I doubt that widow ever became rich.  At least not in this world.  But I will bet she knew more about love than most of us ever will.  I will bet she will be chief in heaven among the millions of servants of God.  And so she should.  For His love for her was not about how much she gave, but about how much she loved, how much she trusted.  Can we call ourselves Christians, and continue to do less, rationalize more, and leave ourselves empty because of it?  I would ask, who is truly homeless, and who is just here for the show?