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.

 

Genesis of Thought and Feelings ...

 

Have you ever considered how your thoughts work?  Or perhaps wondered where feelings come from?  Your body is largely water, it has a few trace minerals in it.  From a composition standpoint there is nothing in the periodic table that would lend itself to the process of original thinking or feeling.  Electrical impulses maybe, but that is mere mechanism.  Your house is full of wiring that powers the lights, the TV’s, and air conditioning.  Just having an electrical impulse down a carrier wire does not create thought, intelligence, and far from emotion.  These days A.I. is all the rage, trying to make a computer emulate the human brain.  As far as logic goes, we are too close for comfort.  But as far as ethics go, we are close enough to create Sky-Net and watch Terminators come to life.  But to make something as inanimate as a computer understand feelings is still beyond our capacity.  We can make a computer “pretend” to respond based on certain sets of stimuli, but to originate a feeling is again beyond our current capacities.  And in that sense the origination of thought is also barely understood.  What makes Beethoven, Beethoven (the musician)?  Why do his thoughts not lead him to become Picasso (the painter), instead of the musician?  Why does his version of creativity, or the origination of thought and desire, not lead him anywhere instead of in just a singular venue?  These are still mysteries we do not fully comprehend.

So then, if you are you, because of how your thoughts and feelings are uniquely composed and cataloged – but the “why” of who you are we still do not understand – then when Jesus says the “Kingdom of God” is within you, could He be talking about a literal phenomenon, not just a figurative?  Could the Kingdom of God be more than just what we believe, what we think, or what we feel?  Could it literally be the presence of God influencing all of the above?  After all, we do not know why a particular thought originates in our brain.  We believe most of them happen due to external stimulus, influenced by conditioning, habit, preference, and bio-chemical responses.  But perhaps there is one more very critical factor in the very genesis of our thoughts and feelings.  Take faith for example.  Does faith come from you, or does it move through you, like some combination of thoughts and feelings you do not fully understand yet cling to in spite of facts, logic, and common sense.  How is that possible?  Reality would dictate that faith is illogical, or self-deception.  But faith rewarded only becomes stronger, and with it trust in what cannot be seen.  So when thoughts and feelings of faith overwhelm you, is that truly some sort of self-delusion, or rather is it divinely inspired from the throne room of God Himself, alive in you, alive in the origination of thoughts and feelings in your brain?  More the latter if you ask me.

Does a Kingdom have to be something we can see, and touch?  Must it have limits defined by its physical presence, or could the Kingdom of God be truly limitless unbound by what we can merely see or touch, but as real as anything else we can experience?  Love is not something we see, but it is more real to us than anything else we experience.  An overabundance of love, is a life beyond all descriptions of happiness.  An undersupply of love, is a life of pain nothing else can bring comfort to.  So love is not bounded by a physical presence in the “real world”, but it remains something very real in our experience, existing perhaps in the same plain of existence where God also reigns.  Love drives behavior, it has been known to cause us to willingly self-sacrifice for the benefit of another.  Love is not about self-preservation, so in that sense it defies all logic as well.  And we say that God is Love, but how seldom do we connect the dots, of knowing God, by knowing what it is to love our spouses, love our children, love our friends and family, and even to learn to love our enemies.  Things greater than ourselves, greater even than what exists in the world of see and touch.  This is something Jesus wanted us to understand.  It begins with a story of faith.

Luke writes to us of this story in the 17^th chapter of his gospel letter, picking up in verse 11 saying … “And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. [verse 12] And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: [verse 13] And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  Think about this, Lepers, men and women with a terminal disease from which all cures have been lost.  The disease is a death sentence, a long slow living death.  Flesh rots until the whole of body is shut down painfully.  And the disease is horribly contagious forcing one who has it into isolation.  There will be no doctor’s visits.  There will be no pharmaceutical remedy to dull the pain.  There will be complete loneliness, physical pain, and a long slow march towards death.  Priests who were supposed to know how to heal this, and frankly any other condition or malady (remedies given to them by God), had long since forgotten how.  Or perhaps even more sad, had lost faith those remedies which rely upon the supernatural would work.  But are we any different? 

But these lepers had faith in the impossible, as it existed in the person of Jesus Christ.  So they stayed away as much as they could and found Jesus as He begins to enter the next town or village on His route.  They cry out, hoping against hope, believing in someone they do not understand why, being overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings they simply cannot reconcile with any form of logic.  Luke continues in verse 14 saying … “And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.”  First, when Jesus asks them to go to the priests as was part of the custom for cleansing that had been lost, but Jesus was not going to let go – they were not clean yet.  They started walking away from Jesus, still losing body parts, still being infectious, still suffering from a terminal disease.  There was no reason to go see the priests.  The disease was still with them.  Yet they went.  Without question.  It is what they were told.  Perhaps they would be healed when they got there.  It did not matter.  They were told to go, and go they went.  And along the journey while they were walking, their bodies were fully restored.  All the missing parts re-appeared as if re-created by our Creator God Himself, as it truly was.  Full strength returned, perhaps even better than it had ever been.  I am certain it overwhelmed them all. 

We don’t know if these ten lepers were a mix of Jews and Samaritans, or a mix of young and old, or a mix of men and women.  We only know about one.  One leper disobeyed what he was told by Jesus.  But he disobeyed because he could not help himself.  Perhaps he was the one who was healed of the most serious case of the leprosy among the ten.  Those who are forgiven the most, tend to be the most grateful.  But this one leper just could not follow what he was told.  While the other nine did as instructed.  Luke continues in verse 15 saying … “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, [verse 16] And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.”  The one man who returned was a Samaritan.  Luke points this out, because while the Jews looked down upon Samaritans, it was the Samaritan whose heart was broken by this healing and just had to return to Jesus, glorifying God, falling at the feet of Christ, and thanking Him with tears and a heart shattered by the love of God.

Luke continues in verse 17 saying … “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? [verse 18] There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. [verse 19] And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”  This is not a condemnation of Jesus of the other nine.  They remained healed.  They are actually continuing to do what Jesus had asked them to do, to present themselves to the priests, to the Pharisees, as a testimony to them that healing was back in Israel.  Even if the Pharisees had lost faith that terminal illnesses could be cured, Jesus had not, nor had these men, who were now living testimonies to the healing power of Jesus Christ and His Father God.  But Jesus asks about the other nine, and draws attention to the fact that this man is a stranger (a Samaritan), to draw contrast to how the “more devout” children of Abraham responded to an encounter with God.  The Samaritan just had to come back and thank Jesus.  How many of us are more like the other nine?  We may do as we are told, because our hearts do not drive us back in great joy and worship.  We worship when it is time to.  We sing when it is time to.  Pray when it is time.  Our brains have us conditioned to do what we are supposed to, when we are supposed to.  But the heart of this man drove him to do what he did despite instructions to the contrary.  He just had to thank God first.  He would still go the priests, but He needed more Jesus first.  How few of us think this way, or feel this way, and how sad that is.

Luke continues in verse 20 saying … “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: [verse 21] Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”  The priests got the message and were none too happy about it.  It was rather humiliating to have ten lepers show up who were no longer lepers because of an encounter with Jesus who still knew they could be healed.  To rub salt in the wound, these lepers were also fully restored something only Jesus could do, that is, only the Creator could do.  So the Pharisees were determined to bust Jesus on something.  If He were God, He would know when heaven was supposed to come back to this world.  So the priests wanted a specific answer from Jesus, when would they be saved, when would Israel be saved.  Note the emphasis on “when”, not on “how”.

But think about the answer of Jesus.  Heaven does NOT come because you watch for it.  In just a few verses later, Jesus will discuss how the time of Noah, and the time of Lot, were also very analogous to the return of God to our earth, and the re-installation of heaven for us all.  But that day will NOT ever be seen without understanding “how” salvation works.  For salvation to work, the Kingdom of God must live within you.  The thoughts of your brain need influence, they need the direction of the Holy Spirit, they need God to interact with them.  Your feelings need not be based solely on bio-chemical reactions, but instead be fully influenced by Jesus Christ through the mechanism of the Kingdom of God within you.  How else will you ever come to know empathy for the downtrodden instead of apathy?  How else will you ever learn what it is to love others so passionately that you would gladly self-sacrifice without a moments hesitation or regret?  Not just feelings of worship highs, but deep feelings aligned with the Kingdom of God that make a difference in the lives of others, that have tangible benefits for others in the here and the now.

We need the power of God’s force to influence our very weak minds, to create thoughts where none might have existed to do what love would drive us to do.  Faith, despite all logic.  Trust, despite a complete lack of what we can see or touch.  Thoughts, aligned with feelings, aligned completely with a boundless Kingdom of God founded in a love we will never fully understand.  While we may never understand how our thoughts are created or why; the genesis of our thoughts can be better understood in the light of the Kingdom of God within us.  Our lives can be made better.  Our freedom can be granted to us by the power of Jesus, made free, made whole, saved beyond what we could have imagined.  Despite the impossibility of it all, yet it remains real.  The “when” of God’s return cannot ever be fully appreciated until the “how” of our salvation is understood.  Genesis was not only a book about creation, it is a living process instilled within you by a willing heart and mind, to accept the salvation you need, and by allowing it we come to want more and more.

 

Unexpected Parties ...

There was a time when an invitation to a party or a feast, was more commonplace.  Just a couple years ago you would not have thought twice about one.  Going to family for Thanksgiving or Christmas has been baked into the psyche since you were a child.  Regular family meals and get togethers were a dime a dozen.  But this year?  Those simple gatherings begin to nudge into the doubt column, or into the dangerous one.  I love my mother, the grandma of my children.  I want to celebrate events with her.  But with covid-19 hanging around, any one of those celebrations could literally expose and then kill her.  So my love for her must take an expression to find safer ways to share and keep in contact with her, but not physical ways for the time being. 

I wish everyone loved my mother as much as I do.  In heaven, this will be the case, the commonplace.  But here, it is not so.  Many claim to love her; but think nothing of attempting to meet with her personally.  Not because she requested it.  But because they did.  They had the time.  They were going to be available.  It was going to be convenient for them.  They do not share my thoughts about trying to protect her, to keep her safe during this time.  Yet all of these folks know about her pre-existing conditions.  She still fights cancer, has only 50% lung capacity and requires oxygen every few minutes to get around.  She is ~80 (not allowed to say the exact number, vanity being what it is).  And all the folks who want personal, physical time, in her presence know all these factors.  Yet their own interests, desires, needs, become the only things of focus for them, and so they push to meet someone whose life they now knowing gamble with.  And this is called love; it’s not.  It is love of self, not a real love of my mother.

Many might say I go too far in trying to be safe.  My hair is longer now than it has ever been in my entire life.  I look horrible (well more horrible I guess 😊).  It isn’t that the hair salons have not re-opened, they have.  But in my mind, the virus is still here.  When our governor opened up our state way too early, and turned everyone loose, I predicted our case counts would explode 4-6 weeks later.  They have.  When the protests took place, I predict our case counts will once again explore in another 4-6 weeks after that.  The lives we try to make matter will now be exposed to a killer who has no compassion, and who has no heart that can be moved with pity.  A killer who preys on the weak and the infirmed harder, but who hits the young and healthy as well, causing damage that will never be undone.  If staying home as much as possible avoids that, then call me crazy.  What is my vanity to look better stacked against that ever-present threat?  But I am a man.  My mother is a woman who has made it a practice of getting her hair done every week since she was very young.  And her vanity could not resist.  So all my efforts to protect her from contact with me (as my wife is a frontline worker), come to naught.  Last week her hairdresser called her the very next day to tell her she was symptomatic and confirmed with covid-19.  My mom has been exposed, up close and personal.

I wonder now, would all those people who claimed to love my mother still want to go meet with her now?  Or would her definite exposure cause them pause?  Her test results are not back yet.  Would you go, to an unexpected party at her house now?  Or would you be less willing to take a risk with your own life, once you understood it was a real risk?  Would you be more thoughtful of your own mother’s life or family’s lives that carrying something from contact with my mother right now might bring to you?  All of the sudden the risk becomes more real to you.  But the risk is a death sentence to my mother should she have it.  Only God can remedy now, what vanity could not resist.  In this climate, invitations to a party or a feast, are unexpected, and very possibly life threatening even when no intent of that ever existed at all.  But as we all know, this was not always the case.  And we hope one day after a vaccine takes its course, and an effective treatment regimen is developed, all the risk and fear and threats of the day will dissolve back into our memories once again.

Jesus once attended a feast at the home of the chief Pharisee of His day.  Talk about an unexpected party invitation.  But He went.  And He remained who He was throughout, even as He ministered.  And as Jesus sat at that feast, He could not resist using the occasion to compare it to the Kingdom of Heaven.  So Luke records in his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why, the parable Jesus chose to offer while at this stately feast put on by perhaps the richest and most important man in the area roundabouts.  He picks up in chapter fourteen and verse 15 saying … “And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”  One of the other guests at this feast recognized the importance of what was taking place.  He was eating with the long-awaited Messiah.  And while that was a stunning event.  It was still here in this wicked world filled with sin.  This believer looked forward in his own mind, to the day in which he might eat again with the Messiah, in the Kingdom that has no end.  To eat then together, would be to truly be blessed.

Jesus responds with his parable in verse 16 saying … “Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: [verse 17] And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. [verse 18] And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. [verse 19] And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. [verse 20] And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”  Oh the good old days, when no fear entered our minds; but then, only unfortunately taking-gifts-for-granted was the norm.  These first invitees were called of God.  They knew who God was.  They had likely dined with Him on other occasions, taking in His gifts, and knowing the full favor of the Lord.  But on this occasion, they were too busy to make time for some unexpected party.  The association with God could wait, there were other more important things to attend to (as said by every person ever to discard Sabbath observance for similar reasons).  But this was a bigger problem than that.

It took time to get things ready.  Perhaps all the time it takes to make ready the second coming of Jesus Himself.  Time to go home and eat at that final banquet prepared for dining with the Messiah Himself at the beginning of the end of the former.  It was that important.  It was that big a gift from God for us.  We were to be that close.  But we just bought land, and needed to go attend to it.  We used our wealth, the wealth God sees fit to give us as His blessing to us, on you guessed it, on ourselves.  And we needed to go see what our new goodie was like, what it might do.  Our happiness was now to be centered in the things our wealth would buy.  And for that, we would skip out on the second coming itself.  Still others of us were obsessed with career.  Like the invitee with 5 oxen who need to go get them prepared for the fields, we turn our focus to what we do, and allow that to fully define us.  We put career ahead of church, for without our jobs, we would not be able to survive.  We put our trust in jobs, and remove it from God.  We think we only need God when times are bad.  We fail to see that careers are also meant to be gifts from our God, not intended to so preoccupy our minds so that we have no time or space or priority for anything else.  Lastly are those of us consumed with love of family.  Our wives and husbands, yet another gift of God, are taken to such extreme we lose sight of the importance of God in maintaining our homes, assuming if we work hard enough on love we can make love wonderful all by ourselves.  Until we realize the heart is only the province of God, and He alone can make love where no love exists, or has grown cold.

Was Jesus really talking to these guests at this unexpected feast, or was He really talking right to you and I?  Jesus continues with the story in verse 21 saying … “So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. [verse 22] And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.”  Now we get a glimpse at the heart of God when He must yet endure the rejection of those He has poured so much love into.  All those gifts He gives us, for no other reason than He loves us, yet we take the gifts and reject the giver.  The first-called were supposed to be ready.  This was supposed to be the big day.  But none of us were ready to put anything else aside to be with Jesus when invited.  So who was called next to this feast?  Those who had NO ability to attend it on their own.  The poor had no funds to travel there, the maimed needed help to even take one step to this unexpected party.  The halt could not walk, they needed to be carried.  The blind could not see, they needed to be led.  These people knew they had need of Jesus, all the other gifts of the world could not distract them from their own need.  Their need was ever with them, it was a part of who they were.  And if help was needed, if they needed to be carried, or led, they were not too proud to put themselves in the complete care of the Master of the feast in order to attend it.  From a group of church goers who should have had no priority greater than this, to a group of sinners who knew they would never deserve such an honor, but went anyway, fully depending on Jesus to get them there.  And still there was room.

Jesus continues in verse 23 saying … “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. [verse 24] For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”  Then the entire world is bidden to come, the gospel is preached in the highways (the places where many travel), and the hedges (the places that may appear dark, or way out of the way).  Everyone is bidden.  But the state of those who were first invited is left horrible.  Because they valued other things more than God, they refused to be humbled to submit themselves for transformation to the love of Jesus.  They thought themselves as already “good enough”, in no need of a Savior.  They already knew of Jesus.  They already knew the scriptures.  They already had forgiveness, though they could not for the life of them, remember what they might need forgiveness for.  They were blessed of God.  Just look at their wealth, or their careers, or their wives and husbands – they had all they needed right now.  What need is there of transformation when you already have the favor of God?  So this would be one invitation they would pass up.  Never knowing it would be their last invitation, and that time is not without limit.

So many of us today are truly in the first-invited category.  We do know of Jesus.  We wait for that second coming.  But while we wait … do we lose sight of everything that matters?  This is the time when our need should be driving us to the realization that it is we who are blind, and crippled in our hearts.  We need this time for His transformation to make us into people we know not yet.  If we push Him away now, we may push Him away forever.  There is so much more to life in this world.  There is so much more to living.  Even in this world of covid-19, there are ways to love and serve others, that protect them at all costs.  Should we not value the lives of others above all things?  Someday, we are to receive an invitation to an unexpected party for eternity, by the Messiah Himself.  Someday, there will be a time when at last everything is ready.  Everything else that is.  If we are to be ready, we must realize we need to be carried there, to be led there.  If all we value then is what is convenient to us, what we have time for.  Then as the parable predicts, there will be many who push aside the final call for other more pressing matters.  For love of self, thinks only, of self.

 

Some Standing Here ...

What happens when your expectations are far disconnected from your reality?  For most of us, including me, my mind answers this question running towards the negative.  Life in this world has taught me, through repetition mostly, that when expectations and reality do not match up – disappointment is the next likely destination.  When I was quite young, I was fascinated by the Corvette car.  The 1975/1976 model in cherry red was a body molding type and color I just could never seem to get out of my head.  I asked my mom to buy me one.  And she did.  It was of course about 4 inches long with only a few features; opening doors, a removable hard top, and turning wheels.  I don’t quite know how I would have expected a fully working model of this car.  It cost a fortune even then.  And I had no ability to drive it at all.  So I swore, when I grew up, I would buy a real one and cherish it forever.  Nope.  A married man with several kids has little use for a Corvette (even if you have the money).  And a guy who is well over 6 feet tall can scarcely fit in one anyway without laying down and feeling miserable.  So much for my corvette dream.

But I had other expectations that developed over time.  I always imagined what it must be like to swim in the pristine ocean waters off Waikiki beach in Hawaii.  At least on this score, I never expected I would ever experience it.  In fact, my wife and I (back then my girlfriend and subsequent fiancée, then wife) used to joke about how we would “never” get there.  Neither of us had the money.  Our parents were not in a position to send us.  So that pipe dream was going to remain a pipe dream until, well until, Jesus came back and remade the whole thing in heaven.  But surprise, surprise, for our wedding gift, my father gifted us a 2-week vacation in Hawaii at two different islands, ending on, you guessed it, Waikiki beach.  We were beyond excited, and grateful.  We made it there, and all my imaginations were suddenly thrown sideways with the reality of how those Hawaiian Islands came to be.  You see volcanos made the islands.  When lava rock flows downhill, it eventually dries out, and forms what look like tiny little black volcano shapes in the ground.  Each tiny volcano is jagged, and sharp enough to cut your feet without some kind of water shoes we did not know we needed.  The sand in the water moves around, and when it does, it reveals the sharp jagged lava rock underbelly, and that makes walking on it, even in water, miserable for the naked feet.  After this trip, good old Daytona / New Smyrna beach, looked miles better to me than Hawaii ever would again.

My expectations were disconnected with the facts, with reality.  Mostly to a disappointing result.  But that has more to do with what I imagine or expect than with what reality truly is.  Knowing the facts about how things might be, would better prepare you for what to expect.  And it would allow you to better align your expectations with what truth is.  When that happens, much less disappointment, much more enjoyment is possible.  This is particularly true for me about one verse in scripture.  Luke recalls it in his gospel letter in chapter nine in verse 27 saying … “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.”  Imagine the level of disconnect here.  Most of us read this and instantly associate the “Kingdom of God” with heaven itself.  We assume that this saying from Jesus Himself meant that at least a few of the disciples would remain alive until the second coming occurred.  That would have meant Jesus would returned in around 50-60-70 AD at most.  He didn’t.  So the truth of what Jesus meant by this is wildly different than our inherent expectations naturally fall victim to.

But knowing Jesus is the defacto Truth made incarnate.  We know Jesus was not lying to us, or them.  So then the truth is different than what we suppose it to be.  There are a few possibilities.  Perhaps the kingdom of God is not what we suppose that to be, meaning, not synonymous with heaven itself.  Or perhaps the kingdom of God is not just heaven, but more than that.  Fortunately, we don’t have to search the gospels or scripture to find the answer.  The very next few texts should serve as an answer for our disconnect.  It begins right after in verse 28 saying … “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. [verse 29] And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.”  The personage of Jesus was altered on that mountaintop, from the humble servant we know Him to be, to the majesty of the God He truly is.  His clothing disappeared in a robe of white light, glistening as if sprinkled with starlight from many suns.  His face glowed.  This was not a full revelation of who He was, as the full revelation of that love would have consumed this sinful world on the spot.  But even the partial revelation of Jesus as He truly is was more than any human living here had ever imagined or expected.

Could that have been it?  Could just seeing Jesus as He truly is define seeing the Kingdom of God?  If so, then verses 28 and 29 answer the promise of verse 27 already.  But the story does not end there.  Luke continues this revelation in verse 30 saying … “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: [verse 31] Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.”  Jesus needed encouragement.  Jesus was on a march towards death that was to be very miserable to say the least.  Even Jesus needed the encouragement He found there.  He was to get it from two examples of mankind now truly living in heaven.  Moses would represent all of mankind who died and was resurrected by the power of life that Jesus was.  Elijah would represent all of mankind that was translated to heaven without ever having tasted death.  Both of them were in heaven, and able to come to earth and talk with Jesus because of the sacrifice Jesus was about to endure.  Without Jesus paying our penalty neither of them could be where they were.  Without Jesus, none of us could be saved.  And so both Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about what He was about to endure for us.  Why it was so important.  Why we needed Him so much.

This offers us another possibility.  Was the sight of Moses and Elijah and what they represented about mankind, and what they spoke of to encourage Jesus, also a definition of what the Kingdom of God was?  Imagine it.  If so, this would mean the Kingdom of God is not just a place, but an expression of love and encouragement for those who need it.  Even when it is our God who needs it.  Peter, James, and John were there to witness these events.  But again memories are fogged by human frailty.  Luke continues in verse 32 saying … “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. [verse 33] And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.”  Peter believes they should erect three churches, or three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.  This was Peter saying something, when he was not sure even what he was saying.  In truth what Peter suggested was that Moses and Elijah were in some way equal to Jesus and just as deserving as Jesus.

The first church of Israel would have supported Peter’s idea.  The first church had strayed away from how salvation was to come, and had instead venerated the saints of the past, such as Moses, and Elijah.  Those men were but servants of God, not gods in any way.  But they were worshipped by the first church and reverenced by the first church to unhealthy levels.  It is hardly different in our day.  We reverence the great pastors of our day, and days gone by.  We reverence the “founding fathers” of our various denominations, instead of seeing these men and women for what they were – servants of God.  None of them perfect.  None of them right about everything.  Imperfect tools, that were willing to be used by a perfect God.  That is the state of mankind, imperfect, but God still sees the potential in each of us.  And if we let Him, He could use each of us in a manner just as important as Moses, or Elijah, or Luther, or Ellen White.  Perhaps the scope of our audience we serve may be smaller.  But it is no less important to God.  Each soul of infinite value to Him.  And could this not be a further definition or expansion of our definition of what the Kingdom of God means?  Could it be that the Kingdom of God is made up of servants of God, who work in concert to point others to Jesus.  We stop looking at the people who serve.  And only look at the Jesus they point us to.

But God the Father was not content to let Peter or the others believe Jesus was merely equal.  He was not.  He was more.  So Luke continues in verse 34 saying … “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. [verse 35] And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. [verse 36] And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.”  God the Father recognized Jesus as His only Son.  Jesus was more.  Jesus was special.  God did not descend to these disciples in a cloud upon this mountain to simply outline the accomplishments of Moses and Elijah and tell the disciples to go back and read the word of God to figure out what the Law said and how to obey it.  He could have.  He didn’t.  Jesus was all of that rolled up into one living being, the Son of the Living God.  Jesus was the word of God.  Jesus was love.  Jesus was the Law.  He is our creator.  There are no inconsistencies in the life of Jesus Christ, because Jesus is our salvation.  The only means of it, we will ever have.  Without the sacrifice of Jesus there is no salvation for Moses, Elijah or you and I.

This effectively kills the ideas of many pathways to God.  There is only one.  His name is Jesus Christ.  For He is both God and our Savior.  But again could this expand our definition for what the Kingdom of God is, to hear the literal voice of God Himself proclaiming Jesus His Son, as “who” we should listen to?  All of this was witnessed by Peter, James, and John right after the words of Jesus that some would not taste of death until they saw the Kingdom of God.  So imagine what the Kingdom of God may well be.  More than just a place like heaven.  It may be seeing Jesus for who He truly is.  It may be seeing love and encouragement in action by mankind towards God, even when God needs it.  It may be seeing the effects of salvation on both kinds of men, those raised, and those who were and are to be translated.  It may be hearing the literal voice of God.  It may be directing all our attention to Jesus Christ alone for our salvation for He indeed is the ONLY path to God.  All of these ideas and perhaps considerably more might comprise aspects of the Kingdom of God that are far more than a place we call heaven.  It might also explain for us what Jesus means when He continues to say the Kingdom of God is come, its here, its was in front of them.  That does not imply a future state, it implies a state in the here and now.

So, was this a huge disappointment to the disciples who witnessed it?  I very much doubt it.  It was rather a huge encouragement to their faith, and to ours.  Just because we are not in heaven, does not mean we cannot learn to experience the Kingdom of God in this world, right now, in the here and now.  Living in the now as God would have us live is life altering.  Loving like we will in heaven and for all eternity is both liberating and exhilarating.  We who are alive now, need not regret misaligned expectations, we need to align our truth with His Truth and see what is possible today.  Salvation is not just about future state.  It is about the freedom that can be experienced in this time and place.  It is about becoming more than who you are today, unbound by your past, and disconnected to the wickedness that plagues your motives and desires.  Jesus can free you from all of that.  Jesus can replace all of what was, with what He intends you to be, to the benefit of your life now, that nothing else can touch or diminish.  That is the power of the Kingdom of God.  That is what becoming like a toddler can see you enter into today.  This is the whole good news message of the Gospel.  It can effect change in you, that you could not achieve.  Relax.  Find the humility to come to our Father God, through Jesus, and watch what submission can bring to your life.  You will bear His fruit in doing so.  You won’t be able to help it.  His love is infectious.

 

Defining Greatness ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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