Prepared to Lose Everything ...

For a while in our recent history, there were a number of folks who reasoned the end of the world was coming and they needed to prepare for it.  They would move away from civilization and live “off the grid” with no electricity, cell phones, or even indoor plumbing.  They would choose instead to live as our forefathers did, off the land in as remote a place as they could find.  Some would bury canned foods in preparation for the inevitable coming food shortages.  Obviously living this way is not for everyone, and not mandated by scriptures in any way.  But fear does weird things to people.  And it does beg the question, how could anyone possibly prepare to lose everything.  Do you need to buy a gun for that?  Would you be willing to use it?  Is the life of another the price you are willing to pay to secure your own?  Sounds horrible.  But perhaps there are lesser steps you might take to at least acknowledge some level of preparedness to lose the things you hold most dear.

Take for example the gospel letter of Luke, written to his friend to enumerate what we believe and why.  Jesus had been living with His disciples for a little more than 3 years.  They went everywhere with Him.  If they had a question, they just asked Him.  Even if they did not understand everything He said they were always with Him, and stayed with Him, hoping that someday they might understand.  Living that way with God literally a few inches from your fingertips might have given them hope abounding.  Living with our God just nearby in the person of Jesus, might have given them such comfort.  They still mistakenly believed that Jesus would soon take up His role as Messiah leading all of Israel out of Roman bondage, and making them, His first followers, all prominent leaders in the new independent kingdom.  This was their chief ambition.  And in chapter 22 they had just been recently arguing about which one of them might be the chief ruler among the others proving their mistaken belief had yet to be released.

But the time had come when that hope was to be completely crushed.  And with it, the loss of having Jesus right at their fingertips.  God, in the form of Jesus, was about to undergo the most cruel torture and death.  And even after His resurrection it would not be the same as it was before.  He would only be with them from time-to-time and then He would ascend to heaven forever until He returned to take us all home with Him.  That is the equivalent of losing everything.  From one moment you are right there with God, right beside Him, right there talking to Him, asking Him questions, listening to His every word hoping to understand as much as your poor brain was capable of understanding.  Then the next minute, He is ripped away from you by the powers of darkness.  And mystery of mysteries we shall never fully understand,  Jesus will allow this to happen.  As disciples, you will lose everything.  Everything you believe in, everything you have lived for, everything you have hoped for.  There could be nothing worse.  So how do you prepare for that?

Jesus begins by setting a change in how the disciples will be living for a while.  Luke picks up in verse 35 saying … “And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.”  Up to now Jesus had asked them to take no preparations at all.  This was done to kill the human instinct in them to trust in oneself instead of in God to handle all our needs.  Can you imagine an evangelist coming to your area with no preparations made today?  No, in today’s world evangelism is handled more like a full-blown marketing campaign, with media interactive presentations done well ahead of time.  It is not handled like a spur of the moment thing done because the Spirit moves us to do it, with words given only at the time they are needed.  But the disciples recall their time with Jesus noting they never lacked for anything, even though they should have.  But miraculously they did not miss meals, or catch colds, or lose garments to wear and tear.  Every need was met up to now.  They all agreed they lacked nothing.

Jesus continues in verse 36 saying … “Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.”  Wow what is changing?  That should have been the question that tops the disciples’ minds.  Why do they go from needing nothing, to now, needing to take coin purses, or paper money, and swords to defend it all.  They have never needed swords.  In the minds of the disciples, they may have thought that the Messiah was about to emerge.  To stand against Rome finally as they had hoped.  They may have thought that taking up swords now was just Jesus being practical with them all, solid advice if a conflict was coming.  And ironically a conflict was not only coming, it was here.  The weight of the separation with the Father was already pressing down on Jesus.  To be counted among the transgressors of the Law of Love was by nature to keep Son separated from the Father.  Jesus could not see what was coming next, not in full anyway.  But Jesus could see His time with His disciples was at an end, and the Comforter had not yet been sent by the Father.  His disciples were to be alone for a while.  So Jesus tries to take practical measures to keep them prepared … to lose everything.  At least to prepare as well as anyone could for that kind of tragedy.

Luke continues in verse 37 saying … “For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. [verse 38] And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.”  Jesus was about to put Himself in harms way by choice and without defense.  All that power in the Son of God would NOT be used to save Himself from any of this.  This had been foretold in scripture but was now coming to pass in front of them, and of course they still clung to mistaken beliefs that would make it even more difficult for them to accept.  And for those of us who think we must each have a gun to defend ourselves now, you may notice Jesus was never talking about guns at all.  And only 2 swords were ever produced, to defend 12 people, Jesus, plus the women who followed, and these measly 2 swords were enough according to Jesus.  Surely that would have never fended off the Roman army.  Nor would it prove enough to fend off even the corrupt priests and their temple guards.  They were only symbolic pacifiers as if for children who still might look for them.  Jesus was not advocating war, and in point of fact not even defense.  It was meant to calm the disciples and keep their grief and feelings of helplessness slightly in check during a time when they watch it all slip away.  Jesus knew fear would eat at them, He knew the first questions they would ask is “what now”?  The purse, script, even swords were not advocated to replace faith, but to be practical when their faith would seem all but lost.

Most of their lives, the concept of a Messiah was always far off.  It was only recently that the Messiah had become real to them, real and in person.  And it was now time for the fulfillment of the mission of our redemption.  But the disciples had chosen not to understand that, for it would undo all of their previous hopes and beliefs.  But still they clung to Jesus.  Dinner was over.  Jesus desperately needed to pray.  So Luke continues in verse 39 saying … “And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. [verse 40] And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”  You will notice now, the most practical advice that could be given is offered.  Notice too, that Jesus does not even ask for prayer for Himself in all of this.  He asks them to pray for each other, and for themselves, that above all they do not enter into temptation.  Not for forgiveness of sin, but for the avoidance of sin before it can even become sin, to avoid any situation that could turn into sin.  To avoid sinful thoughts, desires, and or opportunities to sin.  To keep a pure faith when the world is crashing down around them.  Keep in mind they too were in the midst of losing everything, even if they did not understand that yet.  And still, as always, Jesus asks them to pray to avoid temptation.  Is there a lesson there for us as well?  Do our prayers so often focus on what we want, that we forget to ask for the thing we need most?

Luke continues in verse 41 saying … “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, [verse 42] Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. [verse 43] And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. [verse 44] And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”  Luke may not have caught the full sequence of events just as they happened, but he does present an accurate summary of the highlights here.  Jesus repeats this same prayer more than once.  And He is ultimately strengthened by Angels from heaven, or He may have never made it out of the Garden of Gethsemane.  But Luke does catch something we often look over, the sweat of Jesus was so intense he was dropping great drops of blood on to the ground around Him.  He now bore the brunt of His separation with His Father.  Jesus was alone as bearing our sin demanded.  The Father must allow His Son to take on the mantle of our sin, He must allow His Son to die, and for the first time in either of their lives, to be alone from each other.  The Father must sacrifice and sit still during all of this.  The Son must bear it alone.  And Jesus did not know now, as it finally came upon Him, whether it would work at all.  Perhaps having been stained with our sins, His Father could never look upon Him again.  All of this for nothing, all of this not enough to purchase our redemption, man still lost, and now He along with us.  The weight of it is too much.  And the intensity of it so great, he sheds blood as we do sweat.

Luke continues in verse 45 saying … “And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, [verse 46] And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”  Luke credits the disciples with falling asleep in sorrow.  Perhaps the sadness was palpable in that place, or at least in the face of Jesus, who had never borne such grief in His life.  Perhaps the devil had just been pressing down on His disciples to make them so tired they could stay awake not another minute.  But as Jesus approaches, He repeats the same advice again, waking His disciples and warning them to pray to NOT enter into temptation.  Even now, that prayer to avoid temptation is still top of mind for Jesus.  That is His best and only advice for us now that we are deeply in the process of losing everything.  If the world is truly coming to an end, what advice does Jesus offer – to pray to avoid entering into temptation.  For ONLY God can keep us from falling into temptation.  Have you ever considered that?  Your willpower is not enough.  Your best efforts are not enough.  You encouraging each other and trying to be supportive of each other is still not enough.  You must pray to avoid even temptation of sin, let alone sin itself.  Jesus in the midst of the greatest trauma of His own life, still cares more about His disciples, about us than He does about Himself.  And Jesus knows best what we need.  And prayer to keep us from temptation is still what we need.

Luke continues in verse 47 saying … “And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. [verse 48] But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?”  And while He was yet speaking.  Jesus was still in the middle of telling His disciples to pray to avoid temptation, when Judas led the mob to Jesus to betray Jesus to them, marking Jesus with a kiss so they would know Him in the moonlight.  Judas was an object lesson of what happens when we have already fallen into temptation.  Satan was now in him.  Judas had far less control than he wanted having already yielded himself to temptation, that had grown into full blown sin.  Jesus calls to Judas through the fog of Judas’ mind, do you intend to betray me with a kiss.  You would use an act of love to send Me to my death.  Jesus knew Judas was not strong enough to get through all of this.  Judas had refused the faith he needed to survive it, to claim and receive the forgiveness Jesus was still right there willing to offer.  But Judas felt his own unworthiness and could not bring himself to ask.  And the weight of sin, that was crushing Jesus, would smash Judas like a bug for only his own crimes against our God.  But our own sins are no less, and we are no more worthy than Judas, but we must find the faith to ask for and claim the forgiveness Jesus still offers us.  He paid this price for you, for me, to make it all possible.

Luke continues in verse 49 saying … “When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? [verse 50] And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. [verse 51] And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.”  Now an object lesson about using a sword to defend the faith, to defend Jesus Himself.  He does not need it, does not want it.  He wants us to sheath our swords even in the face of certain torture and death.  To be like Him, to have power but refuse to use it to any detriment of others, even in the most extreme circumstances.  We cannot use the faith as our justification for “defending ourselves”.  For Jesus would not allow it then.  He never had.  In prior dangerous circumstances He just disappeared, He never allowed His disciples to draw swords and protect Him anytime, or anywhere.  Jesus simply reminds the disciples to suffer this, and anything else thrown at them, just like He is.  But Peter jumps the gun and cuts off the servant’s ear, which Jesus picks up and promptly heals.  No blood spilled in defense of our God, but even then healing to His perceived enemies.

Luke concludes this early part of the story picking up in verse 52 saying … “Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? [verse 53] When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”  Jesus calls out to his killers and reminds them they could have easily taken Him in the Temple anytime with no sword or spear.  But that would have required taking Him in front of an audience.  They wanted this kept secret and out of public view.  How many sins are committed just so, in secret, out of public view.  Sin craves the darkness to keep from being identified as sin.  Betrayal prefers secrecy and darkness to cover its heinous damage.  But covering sin does nothing to reduce its damage to us or to those we claim to love.  Time passes by and the damage and pain is only increased.  For to one sin we add others, deception, and more.  Until we are so riddled with sin we look worse than Swiss cheese with holes in our souls that we put there ourselves.  How could these enemies of Jesus have been prepared to lose everything?  How can we?

Jesus harkens back to a single theme, a single set of advice.  He asks us to pray that we enter not into temptation.  That we allow God to change what we want, what we desire, in order that temptation is no longer temptation to us.  It is like God fixing the addict to no longer be an addict.  For whether we like to think of ourselves as addicts or not, we are each of us addicted to sin in one form or another.  But hope remains in knowing that our God does fix addicts, from end to end, and completely, so that temptation is no longer even temptation anymore.  And finally, we are freed from needing forgiveness because we transgress no more, through His power to transform us into the new creations He intended us to be.  Same advice even when we are in the midst of losing everything.  There is no set of circumstances when Jesus does not offer this same advice.  Our transformation is not accomplished by force of will, but by the submission of will to Him.  This is why we need Jesus who alone offers to do this for us, and begs us to ask for it, ask for the avoidance of even temptation.  There are not multiple pathways to God, nor many concepts of a one true God, there is only what the Bible lays out for us.  One God, who loves us one way, who gave everything for us.  He wants us back that bad.  He is willing to forgive us anything, even Judas, even Peter, even me, even you.

We do not need to get “off the grid” to be prepared for the end of everything.  We need instead to get on our knees and pray as Jesus has asked us to pray, to avoid entering into temptation.  And for many who sleep and keep sleeping whether for sorrow or not.  Jesus says again, Rise!  And when awakened He asks again, to pray that we enter not into temptation.  Can we still ignore the words of Lord, especially in a time when we could be facing the loss of everything …

 

Union of Church and State ...

Is freedom for real, if I cannot pray, where and when I want to?  Prayer after all, is deeply personal, it is a private, often silent, conversation between myself and my God.  I do not ask others to join, and I do not compel them to.  So if I am unable to pray a blessing over my food, simply because I am in a restaurant in public, am I really still free?  There is no law preventing my expression of prayer in this public place as yet, at least here in the U.S..  Am I still free to pray in my office at work, behind a closed door, and perhaps only with others of like mind – has praying in the workplace taken a step too far?  Why then, if in my home life, at meals, and even at work, if I am free to pray; that I am restricted from praying in buildings and at events where my tax dollar is hard at work?  Why am I not free to pray in schools, or universities, particularly if I do not compel others to do so?

It is as if common sense has been a casualty of modern life.  I pray in my car all the time.  I find it actually an awesome place for prayer as I am usually alone, alert, and able to hold down a conversation (or request session as they too often are) with my God.  “How” I pray is altered, to accommodate the situation driving presents.  My eyes are wide open.  I pay attention to what I am doing.  Just as if I had a passenger sitting beside me.  I easily hold conversations with a human passenger.  I see no distinction with holding a conversation with God.  But, if using common sense, I become too distracted from talking in my car, then as the lives of others are equally at risk, I need to stop talking.  It doesn’t matter whether the person I am talking with is sitting beside me, at the other end of a cell phone, or in heaven above me.  We don’t need a law that forbids me to pray in my car.  Common sense should govern that decision.  And as it happens, very little distracts me while driving (and I drive like a typical old man, at or below the speed limit, and in no particular hurry to get anywhere).

So if we could simply rely upon common sense, I am certain there is a way to accommodate the beliefs of everyone in our schools, not forcing any participation, or denying it either.  Our freedoms should not tolerate the denial of our religious beliefs; BUT and this is a bit BUT; they should not compel them either.  My Atheist friends have just as much right to avoid participation in my prayers, as I do to offer them on their behalf.  My Muslim, Buddhist, or Jewish friends have just as much right to pray in the matter that suits them, with or without my choice to participate, as I do, to pray to Jesus Christ (again on their behalf, J and my own).  Common sense could find a way to make this work, and keep everybody happy.  But where common sense fails, is when any one group asserts dominance over another.  When followers of Jesus begin to think their prayers, and beliefs, are more important than those of other citizens, we get into all sorts of problems (and vice versa).

So instead of using common sense, and courtesy, to govern how we interact in public, we run amok in extremes.  Atheists declare no one can pray anywhere near them, in places where government tax dollars are hard at work.  This is an assertion of dominance.  But is it also an assertion of fear?  What has happened when instead of common sense, the church, that is to say the “right” church has unified with political or legal purpose?  And further what happens when that union represents the majority opinion?  You do not need to look back at the conditions that sparked religious pilgrims to run to our nation to see what religious oppression does.  Nor do you need to look at what history calls the “dark ages” when Catholicism elected to burn what it could not control.  There was a far worse time, a far worse event.  It was something Peter witnessed personally, and transcribed to John Mark in his gospel in chapter fifteen.

Picking up in verse 1 saying … “And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.”  The traditions of the feast frown on stoning this week.  And should the Sanhedrin have stoned Jesus, they would have had to take the sole responsibility for both trying Jesus in their kangaroo court, and killing Him personally with His blood on their stones.  Stoning Jesus, which was in their rights to do as permitted by the Roman Empire, might also spark an upheaval by the people at large.  Should the common people find them doing this horrific deed, the Sanhedrin itself might have gotten the stones.  So guilt, must find a way to kill Truth, and not be seen doing it. 

The Jews did then, what was unthinkable to do.  They delivered a Rabbi, The Rabbi, over to the Romans for Him to be killed.  Imagine how far their hypocrisy had taken them.  They hated Jesus because He did not conform to their authority.  Their version of scripture, demanded that the Messiah, conquer the Roman world, and setup a permanent Jewish Kingdom that would never fall again.  Jesus clearly had no intentions of doing this.  Jesus would not feed the hatred of Jews against the Romans.  Jesus never did a single act that would support rebellion, even against a pagan government, that was horrifically oppressive to His own people.  But then Jesus saw Romans with the same love He was Jews.  And this was unthinkable to the children of Abraham.  They had long lost any love for those who oppressed them, or those who did not believe like them, or those who simply had the misfortune of being born of different nations.  In short, they had universal hate, and very narrow love – but they were in the right religion, using the right Bible, and worshipping the right God (just not His Son).

Being in the right religion is no defense against a hateful heart.  Only transformation of hearts is a defense against hate, and only Jesus offers to do this work for us, for all of us, or each of us.  It is the transformed heart that loves its enemy, not seeks power over its enemy.  The Jews had decided that they must unite with Rome, even if only briefly, in order to kill Christ.  The Jews sought (and would find), the power of the Roman state, to end the life of the Messiah everyone had so long waited for.  But then, being the right religion is no defense against union with the power of the state.  Having the right Bible is no defense.  The only defense against union with the state, is a heart that loves.  This they lacked.  So history records, what it always records when Christians seek the power of politics – namely their downfall and failure.  And it begins with Jesus, and what a united Religion and State did to Him.

John Mark continues in verse 2 saying … “And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.”  Pilate begins his examination of Jesus from an entirely different angle than the religious zealots who delivered Him there.  Pilate is concerned with only one thing; will Jesus oppose the authority of the Roman Empire.  He asks Jesus about His Kingship, but how Jesus acts, how He speaks, and what He says, gives no indication that He is any kind of threat to Rome.  In point of fact, His entire ministry has never been a threat to Rome, not once, not ever.  Conversely, when Roman officers sought the miracles of Jesus for their own families, they found them.  Jesus did not restrict His love for the Roman people, He flooded them with it, even soldiers of Rome, with Jewish blood upon their hands.  And financially, Jesus did not disrupt Roman taxes, He turned crooked tax collectors into honest ones.  Jesus publicly declared that Roman silver belonged to Caesar, that the hearts of men was what He was looking for, not their wallets, or wealth, which mattered not at all.

Pilate immediately senses what this is all about.  Julius Caesar, whose namesake had been preserved in Roman culture, was also betrayed by those who were jealous of his power and popularity with the common people.  John Mark continues in verse 3 saying … “And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. [verse 4] And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. [verse 5] But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.”  The Sanhedrin, the chief among them, then hurl every accusation against Jesus they think will anger Pilate, complete lies designed to make Pilate want the blood of Jesus.  For the church is never honest with the state, it lies to accomplish its goals.  It exaggerates, it omits, it manipulates truth, in order to kill The Truth, and nothing has changed in 2000 years.  Those in whose hearts are found hate, still hate today, for love does not seek power.

The Truth needs no defense.  It needs no defender.  God is self-evident.  Pilate looks at what is going on, he sees through the baseless and contradictory accusations designed to make him want the blood of Christ, but no such desire is found in him.  What develops instead is a state of marveling, as Jesus remains silent at the lies told about Him.  He does not counter the arguments of those bent on His destruction.  He does not yell back at them.  He does not try to hit back at them.  He does not use His vastly superior intellect to reveal to all “who” they truly are, as opposed to who He is.  Humans invariably do this.  Humans do this particularly when their life is on the line, and Jesus’ life was in the hands of Pilate.  Jesus should have been yelling.  He was not.  He said nothing.

How often modern Christians feel the need to defend God, and their own doctrines, at the point of the sword.  They have missed the lesson of redemption, of love that would remain gentle unto death.  Instead they use every story of violence in scripture (taking them out of context), and add a phrase, an eye for an eye, and feel justified in hating or killing what must naturally hate and kill them.  Satan was never going to change; it is why he is Satan.  The world was never going to love Christians; the world by definition does not know Christ.  The defense against the world, and against Satan, is not the sword, but a heart that loves unto death.  The martyrs of the past did more to spread the gospel than the wars to defend it.  Wars and killing in the name of God, only destroy the name and image of God, giving no one a reason to serve Him.  But a God who is willing to die so that I may live, a God (and His people) who love that much, give even that hardest enemy a reason to think twice, look again, and find what those people have.  Pilate is completely convinced.

John Mark continues in verse 6 saying … “Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. [verse 7] And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. [verse 8] And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.”  Pilate has now decided to change tactics.  He is going to play some legal trickery of his own.  Pilate selects the most heinous criminal that the Jews are likely to hate.  Barabbas not only attempted insurrection against Rome, he murdered Jews in the process.  The idea of “no witnesses” is not a new one.  And what is more, the people of Jerusalem were aware of his crimes.  Pilate reasons that if Barabbas is made free his killing spree will resume.  Any witnesses against Barabbas (of which certain of the Sanhedrin were bound to be guilty) would have their own lives at risk.  Comparing Jesus, who does not kill or hate, against Barabbas who is sure to kill and hate, even Jews, perhaps particularly certain Jews who aided in his capture or trial – would be an easy choice.

Mark continues in verse 9 saying … “But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? [verse 10] For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. [verse 11] But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.”   Even at the risk of their own lives, or at the risk of the lives of their people, the Sanhedrin wanted Jesus dead over Barabbas.  They inspire the people to ask for Barabbas.  But they are not alone in their work.  Satan is in attendance, as he often is when hatred is triumphing over love.  Demons come as well.  They move through the crowd delighted at the spectacle of hate on display.  They revel in the irony of having Jesus, the Son of God, standing in a mob of His own creations, bent on killing Him.  They add their screams to the mix, making the noise deafening, but decided.

John Mark continues in verse 12 saying … “And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? [verse 13] And they cried out again, Crucify him. [verse 14] Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.”  Pilate offers the nation of Israel 3 chances to avoid what is done to Christ.  He offers Jesus as an alternative to Barabbas.  He asks what should be done to Jesus after that, which is an opportunity to release Him outright yet again.  He then challenges the mob asking why, what evil has He done.  Three times the right religion could have changed its mind, regarding the killing of The Truth, but it did not.  It cried for blood all the louder.  The cries for blood that come from hate only get louder, in His day, or in ours.  Yet even still Jesus makes no defense, or does not try to out yell the mob.

This section concludes in verse 15 saying … “And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.”  Pilate makes one last effort, as distasteful as it is to him.  He has Jesus scourged unto death, one lash short of death.  In this act, he hopes to inspire sympathy in the eyes of the mob, in the eyes of the Sanhedrin.  But they will not be denied.  They see the pain, the suffering, but they are un-moved.  Instead of a release from the final punishment, this calculated risk fails, and only adds to the punishment.  When later unions of church and state arise, the pain is seen by all, and ignored by all.  People of conscience who believe differently than the majority are tortured and killed in front of many witnesses, and no compassion prevents it.  Compassion becomes yet another casualty of this union, for it thrives on hate alone, hate at the darkest purposes of its heart, hate where only Satan sees.

It seems a long way from my ability to pray at a school or university event, and a driving hate that would kill my Lord.  Christians do not see the path, or connect the dots.  Instead the mantra of our day, is that Christianity is under attack.  As if Captain Obvious had nothing better to say.  Of course Christianity is under attack; it will always be under attack, but it is under attack from within more than it will ever be from outside.  The temptation to crave power, and seek it as a defense, is not a relief from attack, it is a magnification of attack.  The only true defense is love, a love without limits, or preconditions.  A love that is not an excuse for sin, but an escape from sin.  The transforming power of the Love of Jesus on the heart, is the only antidote for a world filled with hate, that would do its best to inspire the same within us.

If perhaps we can resurrect common sense, and learn the lost art of courtesy, then let our love drive us to pray when and where and how it is needed.  Perhaps our love will allow us to be more tolerant.  Perhaps our love will inspire us to look first to the redemptive needs of our neighbors, and we will find a way to be seen for what we are … the followers of Jesus, who are known for extreme love, and a constant quiet connection with Him.

 

Our Role ...

So often Christian witnesses take on a role from the analogy of the final judgment, they are not fitted to perform. And as such, they fail miserably at drawing people to Christ. A witness must understand his/her place in the “unseen war” between light and darkness in order to be effective. To that end we should first debunk a powerful myth about the “final judgment” of humanity. It is finished.

Yes, the verdict is in, and you, like all the rest of humanity has been found guilty. But before we get too far down the road on this, let’s begin with identifying the players in this drama. The most important role of course is the judge, final arbiter of justice and mercy. Our judge, even Satan recognizes as being bound by His own laws of love and justice. Our judge is fair, impartial, and cannot be lied to. He is incapable of being deceived so only the facts can be used in this trial. Our judge is God the Father.

In order to have a trial, at least a criminal trial, we must also have a defendant. We are that defendant. We are on trial for our worthiness to be accepted into the kingdom of God and His perfection. All of our motives, traits, weaknesses, and actions over our entire lifetime will be laid bare in this heavenly courtroom. The lies we have told ourselves to justify what we have done, are all exposed. The selfishness behind even those acts of kindness are revealed for all to see. In short, this trial will be different, because we will be unable to hide or exclude evidence. Our lives will be an open book for all to read.

We are accused of being unworthy of entering heaven. The accused must have an accuser, and so in our heavenly courtroom enters Satan, the great accuser of the brethren. He has a massive case file on each of us. Having been an instigator of, or present at, many of the wrong deeds we have committed in our lives, we cannot even hide the truth from him. Our prosecutor is convinced he has an excellent case against us, and that the facts and therefore justice, is completely on his side. He is right.

To defend us from the heinous truth of our lives is our advocate, our High Priest who speaks on our behalf, the greatest and only savior of the people, Jesus Christ. While Jesus will do an excellent job defending us against any false accusations, he will not lie, or cover up the truth of our guilt in any way. We therefore stand before God, accused of horrific crimes of selfish behavior, with full premeditation. For let’s face it, we always knew what we were doing was wrong, we just chose to do it anyway. So we stand charged of premeditated sin, premeditated evil, murder one, the worst of all crimes. And our sentence must be rendered by a Judge who sees all, and knows the truth of our guilt. And so we are found guilty.

There is only one penalty for the crimes of self-service we have been found guilty of. Death: For to continue to choose to embrace the pain of evil is to live a tortured life. To die then, is to be granted a merciful release from this self-inflicted pain of repeated evil actions in our lives, that hurt us, those who care about us, God, as well as our victims, and those who care about them. Our penalty of death is to be permanent, and the sentence is scheduled to be carried out very soon. This is the fate of all of humanity. There are none excepted from it. There are none who can withstand a trial of their life with the truth laid bare and not be found guilty and worthy of death. “No, not one”, says the scripture.

But then, a miracle happens; perhaps the greatest miracle in the existence of creation. Our defense attorney, Jesus Christ, approaches the bench and requests to take on our sentence Himself in our place. He asks the judge to allow Him to die in our stead, take on our punishment including any pain that may be involved, in order that our judge could still fulfill the requirements of the law, and yet redeem those who are lost and guilty as charged. The judge considers the motion. Satan nods his approval as he is more than willing to kill a God, than mere mortals weak in the flesh. This, he believes, will further his goals of becoming higher in the God-like food chain, after all once dead, Christ is less competition. The judge decrees he will allow the motion to go forward despite a great deal of personal pain on His own part. For you see, the judge sent His only son to be our advocate. He wanted for us to have the best defense possible, and now His sentence is to be carried out on His only son. Heaven mourns at this prospect.

Christ submits to our fate, in silence and humility. The God of the universe lays naked on the cross, the blood dripping from the wounds meant for our sin. He cannot see past the grave. He does not know if His own sacrifice will be enough to redeem mankind. The weight of evil He has never partaken of presses in on Him. Evil tries to convince Him there is always another way, He need not have to die, but He knows the truth, and the sentence must be carried out. In His great love for fallen man, for you and me, He submits to death, and dies on the cross for our lives, and our premeditation. In 3 days, just as He foretold, He springs forth from the grave. For He now holds the keys even to death itself. Still unsure if His sacrifice is enough, He goes to His Father. The verdict is in – His sacrifice is MORE than sufficient to redeem fallen man.

And so, those who are guilty, you and I, and the world at large – are granted a stay of execution. Those who will accept the gift of redemption Christ offers are to be saved, and spared death eternal. This gift is greater than we had imagined, for it is not just our final disposition that has changed – it is our current method of living life. Christ broke the chains of bondage that sin had over mankind. In His gift, He offers to change who we are from the inside out. He will change our hearts and minds so that we do not WANT to sin, nor do we WALK in sin any longer. Bit by bit, as we surrender to the gift of His salvation, yielding control of our lives and hearts to Him, He removes the pain we have so long embraced.

Perfection then, is no longer a far off dream. It is a current reality. It is a process we can begin in the here and the now. Through His gift, we are MADE FREE FROM sin. It is not by our actions, or our will, that we are set free, but by His divine power in our lives. We are born again, that is remade in His image, with His desires in our hearts, with His love in our minds. We are NEW creations, because our creator begins His work within us NOW! And THIS is what we have been called into existence to witness of – the victories of Christ wrought in our lives.

A Christian witness is neither Judge, Prosecutor, Defender, or even defendant. A Christian witness is one who is already chosen to be redeemed, and is now testifying as to what God is doing in our lives this day. We are stating what we have seen with our own eyes, in our own lives, by His power and His grace. We become character witnesses not to each other, but to our Lord and Savior. We testify that His gift works. His gift is the freedom we have long sought from the pain of sin and evil. We testify that ONLY Christ can SAVE fallen man from himself and his own desire to serve self. This is our only role in the judgment.

We have nothing to do with identifying the sins that plague the world and each other. The Holy Spirit will alone convict of this. We do not save each other, as only the Savior, can save from sin itself. We do not chastise or carry our sentences on each other as only the judge can render a sentence, and see it carried out. We do not condemn, or judge, or even remark the spiritual condition of others. We ONLY testify as to what God has done for us. Where it comes to our fellow man, we are to strictly follow the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ – LOVE one another, Love your enemies, Love unconditionally everyone. We are to love more than just those who love us. For so it was that God loved us while we were yet His enemy. We cannot love the sins and pains that others embrace, in this we feel as He felt for them, pity. But we can remain steadfast in our love of the person, and see them through the eyes of our God, see them without the sins they carry now, as Christ saves them just as He saves us.

We can finally trust God to save those we love, as we trust Him to save us from us. We are now free to love, without fear, without prejudice or pre-judgment. We are free to see the worth of every man. We are free to love the uniqueness of each individual and respect the differences between us. For we know God will lead every willing heart to His truth, in His time, and in His way. We know this because He is doing it INSIDE of us right now. This is our role, we have been called to give witness to what the Lord has done in us. When He is truly alive in us, we cannot keep silent. We are incapable of not sharing the good news of our personal benefits from His victories in us. The world will be drawn to this love, and this testimony, but only when it is real and meaningful in our lives. If the world is not knocking on your door yet, perhaps you do not have enough to offer it of Him. Let Christ truly change you, and your door will hardly cease from inquiry. Just remember your role when it does, you are a witness of His grace in action in you, nothing more …

Justice ...

The devil demands justice, the righteous just beg for mercy that they know they do not deserve.  It is a strange part of the character of God that allows mercy to be greater than justice.  The standards for justice are outlined in the Old Testament of the Bible as … “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life.”  These 3 examples are meant to show the requirements of justice on those who inflict damage.  This is a rudimentary definition of fairness, equality, and justice.  The simple premise is that which you harm in the process of doing evil should carry a punitive consequence equaling that of the crime.  Most of our current legal system attempts to emulate this philosophy.

So where does mercy enter in?  In terms of crime and the results of crime (i.e. prosecution) it doesn’t.  There is absolutely no question as to our collective or individual guilt in committing offenses against ourselves, our neighbors, our loved ones, and yes even our God.  We all stand accused.  And what is more, we all stand guilty.  To determine the punishment we deserve we need only look at the standard of justice outlined in the Bible.  Note, this is the sentence for our crimes, which we deserve, not necessarily that which we receive.

But God does not change over time.  He was no less concerned about mercy in the days of the Israelite than He is in today’s age.  Even back then, at the same time, these other statements outlining justice were written into law, was a system of mercy written into the law as well.  If you had a fight with a neighbor and let’s say you did damage to his eye, justice would require your own eye be damaged as well.  Your neighbor had the right to bring you before a local judge, plead his case, you could plead yours, and then sentence was passed.  However, there was also a loophole provided.  If you fled to a predefined “sanctuary” city, your punishment could NOT be imposed.  You were granted mercy for your crimes, though you must remain in the city for the rest of your life.  In cases of accidental homicide, I’m sure this system was employed regularly.

But the point is not that you were somehow found not-guilty.  It took the eye-witness testimony of at least 2 people to convict you in the first place.  Taking advantage of “sanctuary” did not absolve you of your crimes, it only prevented the punishment.  But why give killers a way out in the first place.  People who believe God is obsessed with revenge do not know how to reconcile a complete system of “sanctuary” He created in His laws for us.  Those who believe strongly in the death penalty often quote the scripture segment “a life for a life” but do not ever mention “sanctuary”.  Those who demand justice, are those who believe they have been wronged.  They wish to punish others for the misdeeds committed against them.  But are they willing to accept their own punishments?

“How you judge others is how you will be judged.”  This scriptural fragment was used by Christ to remind people of their own role in the justice system.  So often, “the wronged”, forget their own guilt and other crimes.  The statement of Christ to “first remove the log that is within your own eye, before trying to take the splinter out of your neighbor’s eye”, was intended again as a reminder to us all, for we are all, both the victims and the perpetrator.  We are all the accuser and the accused.  Finally Christ told a story about a man who was forgiven much, but then unmerciful to those who owed him much smaller debts.  Again yet another reminder of what role we play in the justice system.  We are not supposed to be the prosecutors.

We are not supposed to try to inflict justice or even fairness on those who do us harm.  Instead we are supposed to show love to them.  Christ said to give the thief who steals your coat, your shirt as well.  There is no justice in that scenario, only love, only mercy.  There is no fairness.  There is no coat for a coat.  So who will demand justice for this thief’s misdeeds – the only being who really ever demands justice – Satan.  Satan is the one who wants to see us punished for what we do.  He instigates some of it, influences some of it, and just sits back and watches some of it; but he is relentless in wanting us all punished for it.  He calls on God’s sense of justice and demands fair play, fair action.  He speaks very often through the mouths of those who accuse.  He demands.  The righteous know better, they beg for mercy.

For we are not righteous because we do good deeds.  We do not suffer our deserved punishments because we have earned some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card from God.  We do not suffer what we deserve because we are not guilty, for we are ALL surely guilty.  First degree, premeditated sin.  But as we humble ourselves, see our guilt, and beg for mercy from a just God, we are granted it.  Our sentence is pronounced guilty as the law requires, but our punishment is put on the shoulders of the innocent Christ.  And He willingly takes on our burden of guilt and shame.  He carries our burdens through torture and ultimately to the cross to pay our debt of death.  And through His perfect sacrifice our punishment is marked as paid.  We are forgiven through this and made righteous not because we are inherently righteous, we are made this way and given this term, by He who gave up His life to make us so.

Justice demands our extinction.  Even what we do to our planet would someday bring this result were it not for the interference of a loving God.  Escaping a well deserved fate can ONLY happen because our God loved us that much.  This is why we are told not to seek equality in the justice systems on earth.  This is why we offer the thief more than he takes on his own.  This is why we forgive others as we wish to be forgiven.   This is why “sanctuary” cities were created even in the Old Testament times.  This is why Christ told the stories and parables He did.  Our goals are not justice but love.  We are not to seek fairness, but much more than what is fair, that is love.  Love is our ambition, love is our goal, love is greater than justice.

When it gets hard to love, when the wrongs done to you seem to cry out for justice, when you are hurt, in pain, every natural inclination is to get even – at these times more than any other – expel the thoughts of punishing the guilty, and fill your mind with the love that forgave you, and allows you to forgive those who have wronged you.  Nothing that is taken from you, or damaged, or even killed, can be kept from you forever.  For this life is not the last one those who have been saved by Grace will ever see.  The things you lose here are meaningless anyway, and the people you lose will one day be returned in perfect health, in perfection, for all eternity.  What is lost is but for a short time.  But Love, love is forever.

Who knows maybe the person you wind up forgiving, the person you wind up loving, might even one day be you …