Speaking Truth to Power ...

Pilate once asked, “what is truth”?  Jesus once said, “I am the truth, the way, and the life”.  I wonder when we talk about speaking truth to power, are we talking about the ever popular “my truth”, or are we talking about “the Truth”?  Our society seems bent on creating a version of truth that finds its center in “me”, that is to say, in each of us.  It is as if facts, viewed through “my” lens of perspective, create a version of truth that could care less what anyone else thinks.  Somehow, we come to believe in “my” truth with near total certainty ignoring the possibility that an application of the slightest degree of objectivity might actually result in revealing “my” truth as being nothing more than an amplification of “my” selfish desire.  What “you” want does not matter to “me”, only what “I” want, since after all it is “my” life.  We then get pretty brazen about our discovery of this new personal truth and share it ad-nauseum with any who cares to listen.  But none of this is speaking any kind of real “truth” to any kind of real power.  It is just another form of narcissism masquerading as self-discovery.

The idea of being true to one’s-self, is tantamount to the idea of coming to accept ourselves “just as we are”.  Usually when this bright idea occurs to us, we are in a much less than perfect state.  Our failure to reach perfection just looks too permanent, it is just too hard to get there.  So instead of trying and failing over-and-over again, we just give up, and discover that being true to ourselves means accepting our shortcomings and just embracing them.  We usually take that a step farther in the spiritual domain, by insisting that since we accept us “this way”, that God too must accept us “this way”, after all He made us “this way”.  It is then easy to believe that since God can forgive us literally anything, we can just rely on that forgiveness, and somehow we can save changing until He remakes us at the second coming.  This philosophy then adds spiritual credence to the idea that “my truth” is surely “OK” with God as well.  But when Jesus said that He was the Truth, He never mentions anyone else in that same sentiment.  It is not like Jesus says He is the truth, even alongside Moses, David, or John the Baptist.  All of those patriarchs of the faith were famous for their service, and their messages, but none of them qualified to be “the Truth”.

Even though scripture is inspired by God, and is our best method of coming to know God, Jesus is higher than our scripture.  For Jesus did not say, the scripture is truth, and I am just the author of the words in that book of truth.  Keep in mind, the Pharisees had scripture, and still managed to miss Jesus (the inspiration, author, and God of scripture) entirely.  And what happens when our interpretations of scripture, wind up coming in conflict with what God wants?  Do we apologize, submit, and change our way of thinking?  Not when “my truth” is more important than “the Truth”.  Not when being true to myself stands in obvious conflict with the changes Jesus wants to bring into my life.  When I am not looking for a new way of thinking, anything that comes my way different from what I think, just makes me mad.  I would submit the angrier the response, the more mistaken the thinking is in conflict with “the Truth”. 

Case in point; the Pharisees put Jesus to death.  Despite all the evidence they were warring with God, they did it anyway.  They thought that would end it.  It didn’t.  And the miracles that followed Jesus, did not follow Him into the grave and stop.  Instead, they were back in full force from the followers of Jesus who merely used/called on the name of Jesus to see them done.  Ask yourself how hardheaded you have to be to keep fighting that fight after all those miraculous signs that just will not go away?  But then, before we get too critical, perhaps we should ask ourselves how hardheaded we have to be, to keep trying to find perfection by our own strength and will, failing every time, instead of letting Jesus do that work for us?  It is not perfection that is elusive, or giving way to “my truth”.  It is the means by which we go about pursuing perfection.  We keep allowing “self” to have a role in our salvation from ourselves.  This is not what Jesus needs.  He just needs your permission, your willingness to let Him change you however He sees fit.  That’s all.  If you are willing to let Him change it, it will change.  If you try to do it yourself, or try to help God out, count on failure in your future.

It might make you mad to read these words.  The Pharisees sure did not want to hear that Jesus could end even your desire to sin, that Jesus could make you free from sin, from the inside out.  Pharisees had the law of Moses.  They believed that you lived your life according to the Law, and that was “how” you got saved (and rich by the way).  If you sinned, that was on you to fix.  Having some upstart Nazarene Hippy come claim to release you from sin just by freeing your very desires, sounded like pure apostacy to Law keepers who wanted no other way to win, even when that method only showed them the failure of our lives.  The secret they could not grasp was the idea that the Law of God points out our need of a Savior, to write it on our hearts and minds.  The Law is not the method of salvation.  It is the results of salvation.  We keep it, because we want to, because we cannot imagine any other way to live, not because we “have to” in order to be saved.  The Pharisees did not want any part of that thinking, it was too radical a shift for them and would up-end their whole way of living.  So you can imagine when Peter and John perform a miracle in the name of Jesus, then preach in His Name, convert 5,000 folks, and don’t stop doing this.  The Pharisees were angry beyond belief.

Luke gives us the account in Acts chapter 4 picking up in verse 1 the story continues saying … “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, [verse 2] Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. [verse 3] And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. [verse 4] Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”  The Sadducees had only one main difference from the Pharisees and that was around the entire idea of resurrection.  They did not think it was part of Gods plan ever.  You lived, you died, end of story.  So having Lazarus be resurrected was a living, breathing, example that their doctrine was wrong.  Jesus doing it too, made it worse.  And all the others who were raised from the dead just kept putting nails in the coffin of this obviously mistaken ideology.  They did not respond, nor do we usually, by admitting they were wrong.  They did not apologize and embrace “the Truth”, because that Truth conflicted with “their” truth.  So they grab Peter and John and throw them into prison for the night.

But it didn’t matter. 5000 folks were converted by the power of the Holy Spirit moving through the words Peter said about Jesus.  The church leadership still hoped this might not be about Jesus.  They still clung to the idea maybe something new, or something else, was driving the miracle.  So on the next day they got together to flush out the details and find out what was going on.  Luke picks back up in verse 5 saying … “And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, [verse 6] And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. [verse 7] And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?”  This was the last desperate hope that the Jesus thing was dead and gone in the grave.  But in their hearts, they already knew it was not.  The Roman guards at the tomb already told them the truth about the resurrection and there was no way around that truth.

Peter then responds, again He is filled with Holy Spirit, it picks back up in verse 8 saying … “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, [verse 9] If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; [verse 10] Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. [verse 11] This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. [verse 12] Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  Yikes.  Now that is an example of speaking real Truth to a room full of what we call power.  This was the head of the church, at least the head of the original one.  These men were rich, powerful, full of influence.  They could have Peter killed if they really wanted it.  And this was certainly NOT what they wanted to hear.  My guess, these old church leaders would have rather heard that Peter was on team Satan, than on team Jesus.  At least Satan could not claim to be the Son of God, well, without lying anyway.  Jesus had a rational claim, a claim that fulfilled scripture and prophecy, a claim steeped in truth and love.

Imagine yourself in that room of angry men.  Would you tell them the unvarnished truth?  Peter did not hesitate to remind these guys that “THEY” killed Jesus.  Peter does not blame the Romans.  Peter blames them personally.  As they all had personal accountability, and frankly so do we.  Each sin we embrace requires that blood fresh upon the cross of calvary once more, the nails driven into His hands and feet, by us.  And we know what we are doing.  That kind of truth demolishes the idea of “my” truth.  What Peter spoke was not just his own words, but because he was filled with the Holy Ghost.  And despite the criticism of them, or me, here was again another opportunity to repent and be saved.  Another chance to let go of my errors, and embrace His Truth.  To see that Jesus alone is Truth.  For those leaders to change, they would have had to admit they were wrong in the first place.  Not many of us are willing to do that.

But it was not certainty that fueled the obstinance of the Pharisees, or of us.  It is pride.  It is pride that refuses to admit the possibility of being wrong, of having someone else know something that we did not know first.  We sometimes harden into the core beliefs of our spiritual ancestors instead of building upon the foundation of faith they left us.  Our church forefathers in their day, were the champions of change, they endured more of it than we will ever allow ourselves to know.  But instead of treating the Word of God as a living breathing document, a wellspring of relevance that never runs dry – we treat it more the like the rocks upon which the Law was written, fixed, immovable, when in truth it is we who have become fixed and immovable.  Take the Sabbath being kept Holy for example, in the time of Christ, the church leadership had made the Sabbath so burdensome, that the miracle of healing someone on Sabbath was not celebrated, it was ruled as a means to kill the healer.  Jesus sought to change that.  Not just in what we do, but in how we think about loving others and how that does not take a holiday on Sabbath, instead it is supposed to be amplified on Sabbath.  Jesus was a radical change agent to the common thinking about the Law in His own day.  Why do try to put cement sandals on the Lord in our own day?

Let us not become so fixed in our positions, that we cannot accommodate the Truth when it knocks on the doors of our hearts.  Let us instead see ourselves as clay, ready to be molded into an image of the Truth who fashions us daily upon the craftsman’s wheel.  What He intends us to be is yet to be known to us.  But if we are to hold on to certainty, let it be certainty in the love of the Craftsman who remakes us into His own image, at our request.

 

Missing the Point [part two] ...

Fear of public speaking, fear of looking like an idiot in front of an audience, what could be worse?  So in those rare events when you are forced into the limelight to make some sort of speech, we tend to prepare, rehearse, and try to get ourselves ready however we can.  Some folks use cue cards.  Professionals use a teleprompter.  And children try to memorize what they are supposed to say.  We do our best, partly because we want whatever it is we have to say to come across well, be heard, and be understood by our listeners.  But in those even rarer impromptu situations when you have zero time to prep at all, your ability to “wing it” in front of a crowd may define whether you a “gift” for speaking in public, or whether you should never quit your day job.  Ideally you are never thrust into one of those impromptu situations throughout your life.  But they do happen.  And there is no way to prep for them, when they come up, they are just here, when nobody, least of all you, had time to imagine they would come.

Some might think pastors get impromptu situations all the time.  But really?  Oh sure, they face public speaking every weekend.  But those sermons are rarely done by winging-it.  Instead they are prepared well ahead of time.  And weddings, funerals, and child dedications are not events that occur without at least some foreknowledge they are coming.  These events generally have a lot in common, i.e. when you have done one baby dedication, you have done them all kind of thinking.  Being asked about your own personal testimony with Jesus may happen unexpectedly, but it tends to be the same story you have told a hundred times before, so that one is well rehearsed.  Even the questions that spiritual leaders are asked tend to follow similar lines of thinking, why me, why her, why does God permit evil to happen to good folks, when will it all end, how can I be saved, how do you know Jesus is real, etc. etc.  The answers to these questions for the speaker tend to be well rehearsed over a lifetime, if you have ever done any witnessing to anyone before.  So while it is not impossible for a pastor or spiritual leader to get caught with something impromptu that has not been well rehearsed, it is not as common as you might think.

But here is the kicker; when you are NOT a pastor, or well-rehearsed spiritual leader, and “then” you get asked to preach a sermon, or tell a story, in front of a crowd, with zero time to prep, no idea it was coming, and wham – the spotlight falls upon you – then what?  Can you imagine anything more nerve racking than that?  It does happen.  It did happen.  Let’s pick up with the study we began in our last post and continue looking at one of these type of impromptu situations.  It begins with Peter and John heading to the Temple to pray at about 3pm in the afternoon.  That’s all they intended to do.  But along the way they encounter a lame man, at the gate called “Beautiful” of the Temple, who then asked them for money.  They did not have any.  But instead, Peter looks the lame man in the eyes and says in the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk.  The man tries.  His legs and feet are restored and he winds up walking and leaping into the Temple praising God with all of his might.  If the story ended here and we printed the “and everyone lived happily for ever and ever” banner, we would all leave with the warm fuzzy in our tummy.  If we imagined ourselves as Peter in this story, we might wonder if that kind of miracle healing was still possible in our day, through our prayers.  But that is not where the story ends.  It continues.

Luke picks back up in the book of Acts, in the third chapter in verse 11 saying … “And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.”  The loud praise of this man, leaping for joy, just caused such a stir in an otherwise somber Temple gathering people were just amazed and spellbound at what had taken place.  This miracle was like a light in the darkness.  A light that could not, nor should not, be hidden.  It needed to be explained.  Later we will read, that more than 5000 men gathered to hear the explanation, so the size of the crown was no small thing.  Now I know you probably don’t imagine yourself as truly being like Peter in this story of old.  So you likely don’t pray prayers of miraculous healings, that result in someone leaping around praising God, particularly in such a crowded public place.  But that is us all, myself included, missing the whole point of this story.  We are all, meant for more.  This miracle was intended not to just be a light to the lame man changing his life, it was meant to be a catalyst light to every worshipper to point them back to the love Jesus Christ has for each of us.  Has the need for that kind of light ever been greater than now?

Luke continues in verse 12 saying … “And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?”  The first thing Peter needs to do, is to center the credit for this healing back on God, not on anything to do with the “holiness” of Peter or John.  Human nature tends to look first at the person, instead of the God behind the person.  And so often we would relish the attention and praise we might get for being “the miracle worker”, even though it is always only the power of God that can do anything miraculous.  If the healer wants the credit, he serves a different master.  But now arises one of those dreaded impromptu situations.  One where there is zero time to prep, no rehearsed sermons to call on, and frankly Peter probably does not think of himself as any kind of preacher at all.  He has only given one sermon before.  It is not like he has made any kind of career out of this up to now.  He is young, uneducated, not qualified (by current standards), a known sinner, a guy who even denied Jesus when it counted.  This guy is not a preacher.  Neither are you?  Or, does God have a surprise for you coming soon, a situation just like this, a question, or a personal witness that right now you have no idea about.  But it is coming.  And Peter gives us the road map for how to handle it.

Luke continues in verse 13 saying … “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. [verse 14] But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; [verse 15] And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. [verse 16] And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”  Ouch.  Peter does not sugar coat his story.  He identifies that Jesus is the Son of God, and then quickly reminds this crowd that they recently killed Jesus when even Pilate wanted to let Him go.  He then tells the crowd that Jesus has risen from the dead and it is by faith in the name of Jesus that this lame man has been fully healed.  Perhaps not the most elegant way to start up a sermon, but keep in mind 5000 men were converted by the power of the Holy Spirit from the words Peter spoke.  Perhaps elegant, professional, and polished was NOT what God was looking for right then.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit was able to use the words of Peter such as they were to effect conviction and change.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit was feeding Peter what to say, right as he was saying it.

Luke continues in verse 17 saying … “And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. [verse 18] But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. [verse 19] Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; [verse 20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: [verse 21] Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”  Then Peter says, even if you were ignorant before, it is time to repent now, to be converted, and ready for the refreshing and return of Jesus foretold by all the prophets of old.  Do you think Peter was concerned about looking like an idiot in front of this huge crowd?  Do you think Peter was even thinking about himself at all right about then?  I doubt it.  My guess is he was deep in the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, and fully content to open his own mouth with whatever words the Spirit put in them to say.  He did not need to prep.  He did not need to worry.  This sermon was to be preached whether he thought of himself as a preacher right then or not.  People needed to see the light cast back upon Jesus, both then and now.

Luke continues in verse 22 saying … “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. [verse 23] And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. [verse 24] Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. [verse 25] Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. [verse 26] Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”  And that last line is the essence of the Gospel and its power both then and now.  Jesus was sent to bless us, in that He will turn us away from our sins.  Moses foretold this.  Samuel and all the prophets foretold this.  This Jewish audience were the metaphorical sons of these prophets in that the blessing of Jesus coming was done in their lifetimes.  We are the same sons now; we have the same Bible to read and realize all this was done for us as well.  The Gospel is the same now.  Jesus is still turning hearts away from sin, and THAT is the biggest miracle He can perform for each one of us.  And frankly, it is the most needed one we have.

Jesus told us not to concern ourselves with what to say, when a time like this arose.  Don’t worry about it.  Let go, and let the Spirit put the words in your mouth to say.  Keep in mind the results of this sermon led to the conversion of 5000 men, who knows how many more were reached after the initial counting of this.  Who knows how many people were reached as these 5000 went home and told their families and friends what they saw and heard.  All because the most common of young person, allowed himself to be used in spreading the love of Jesus to those who needed it most.  All because a non-preacher became a preacher in the course of 2 sermons, he had no time to prepare for.  All because when a known sinner like Peter looked upon the lame man, he knew Jesus would heal that man, regardless of his own short comings, or the short comings of the lame man.  Jesus’ love is greater than our sin.  And the Power of Jesus is enough to turn our hearts away from our sins.  This is how Jesus saves us to the uttermost.

Isn’t it about time for us to start channeling the love and power of God, through that name of Jesus Christ back into the world as I know Jesus wants us to do?  It is not our power, it is His.  It is not our holiness, it is His.  It may not even be our love for another, but surely Jesus loves that precious soul more than we can imagine.  The time of miracles has come again.  Will you take your first step into the wider world?  Will you let go your sins (allowing Jesus to transform and save you), and focus on asking for Holy Spirit to be poured out on your life everyday?  In an age such as this, how will you be found?  The time is now, what will you do with it? …

 

Missing the Point [part one] ...

Why do you suppose the story of Peter and John healing the lame man at the gates of the Temple exists?  Sure, it is a part of church history.  The resulting reactions reminded the Sanhedrin of Jesus and what they did to Him, and you could argue the miracle caused them to back into persecution mode.  So perhaps you could argue that miracle done in the name of Jesus was a catalyst for the early Christian Church.  But this story would be read by many well after persecution had taken on different forms and come from different sources.  It is read now in our own day when the freedom to read and believe seems well established.  So why do we care about it?  Is it just church history to us?  I think we tend to venerate the disciples as carrying the pillars of our faith on their shoulders, somehow making them beyond normal, making them Biblical heroes in a way we could never imagine ourselves becoming.  And if that is where our thinking has evolved, I dare say we have completely missed the point.

What Peter and John did, did not occur because of how special they were.  They were the farthest thing from special, they were in fact as common as common could be.  Fisherman were not the class to lecture in the sanctuary or temple circuits.  Fisherman were not invited to debate in the halls of power, or to offer insight on any scripture anywhere.  This was not a personal slight against Peter or John, or any other disciple of Christ, it was just the way society in their day measured itself.  To teach, you needed education, quite a bit of education, to even think about it.  To teach, you needed to be disciples of a venerated Rabbi who could pass along his own knowledge to you.  The process took years, many years.  So when you examined “who” did teach scripture it was always the old, always the male, always those tempered by time.  That was NOT Peter and John.  They were young men.  They never did get any kind of notable traditional education at all, not before Jesus, and not after Him.  They did NOT fit the mold of any kind of teacher, let alone preacher, let alone evangelist or eloquent public speaker.  But Luke records in his book of Acts, a series of public sermons by Peter with stunning results.

Does any of that sound like you?  Does the common part of Peter ring a bell in your soul?  What about the youthful inexperienced part of who he was, does that sound like you?  How about a total lack of public speaking up till the days he started doing it out of nowhere, with no plan, no planned event, in front of thousands with no planned speech at all.  Luke starts the story in chapter three of his book of Acts in the first verse it says … “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.”  This was just two friends going to the temple to pray with everyone else around 3:00pm in the afternoon, as was the custom for those who were in Jerusalem at the time.  They would not be alone.  But they would certainly be praying differently than anyone else in ear shot of the two of them.  For everything these two men would ask would be asked in the name of Jesus.  This was just two young men who just wanted to go to Temple to pray.  Nothing special.  Nothing much uncommon, and zero plans at all.

Luke continues in verse 2 saying … “And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; [verse 3] Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.”  As Peter and John approached the Temple to pray, they encounter a beggar asking for any kind of money or alms they may have been carrying.  How many times have you been approached by someone begging for money, carrying a cardboard sign, or just looking like a homeless person with no better alternatives.  Notice the irony of Luke pointing out the name of the gate was beautiful, when the life of this crippled beggar was anything but beautiful.  He had to be carried to this spot every day.  And once there he could not move to any other.  He sat in abject humility forced to ask any passer-by for anything they could spare, in order to even try to maintain his own needs.  But his needs went far beyond his stomach.

And here is some of the point we tend to miss.  The beggar had no hope beyond the money he asked for.  The beggar had lost any hope that healing was even possible.  His bones were misshapen, his muscles in complete atrophy around his ankles and lower legs.  That was the medical fact of his life.  It had been like this since birth.  And he was known to all who passed by there, as they saw him growing up sitting in the same gate unable to ever move.  Perhaps he had been carried to this site by different people over time, thinking they could at least provide him this service.  So the beggar asks for the only thing he has hope to ask for, not always expecting to get money either, but still hoping for it.  Is that us?  Are we so spiritually crippled by our own self-limitations, or worse the limitations of the box we place God in, that we have lost all hope for the needs we truly have, and instead only ask for money.  In truth, it does sound like so much of the church as it exists today.

I wonder if we encountered such a crippled beggar as this today, would any of us ever think to help carry him to the temple in order to beg?  Would we just give him a dollar or two, and think our responsibility has been met and nothing more of us should ever be required.  Or would we like the Pharisee in the parable of the good Samaritan cross the road, or roll up the window, in order to avoid any contact with the less fortunate fearing they may hurt us to get what they need.  After all, most beggars in our day must just be lazy or crazy right, perhaps we can just say a quick prayer for them and be on our way.  But this is not the approach Peter or John took that afternoon while on the way to prayer.  Perhaps because we never seem to be on the way to prayer, much too busy for that, we don’t have the time for beggars either.

Luke continues in verse 4 saying … “And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. [verse 5] And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. [verse 6] Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”  Notice there is no hesitancy in Luke’s account of this encounter.  Peter sees beyond the need of alms to the needs of this beggar’s soul.  To restore his hope, he needs his body healed.  He needs to see a miracle done for him without any faith it could be done, or ever would be done.  Peter does not withhold money in exchange for something greater, as neither Peter or John were carrying any money at the time.  Had they been carrying money, they would have gladly shared it as well, for that is how the whole Christian community was living freely with each other at the time.  When we don’t have spare change how many times do we simply say “sorry, we don’t have anything today”.  And we then feel absolved from any responsibility because since we do not carry cash there is really nothing more we can do.  And I would ask, is that how Jesus handled these encounters?  Peter and John had been with Jesus so many times in encounters like these and they KNEW what Jesus would have done.  So they did it too. 

Without committee to assess, without any faith on the part of the recipient, without going to huddle and determine what approach they should take, or how to pray a prayer that would not embarrass them if it failed, they boldly asked the man to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  While the beggar had no idea what was going on, Peter and John expected this miracle to take place, in fact, they had no doubt it would.  Medical facts on the ground were nothing to the disciples of Christ.  Medical facts, even up to death, never stopped Jesus, why should it stop them.  Keep in mind, these were two young men, the most common type of men the earth could produce back then, not formally educated, not Rabbi’s, not teachers or preachers.  And they probably would not have considered themselves evangelists or even faith healers.  But none of that stopped them, or even gave them a moment’s pause.  They just asked for a miracle and knew it was coming.

Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength. [verse 8] And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”  Crooked malformed bones straightened out without a twitch of pain.  Muscles long in decline were made full, and carried the strength of a young man in his prime.  The former crippled beggar leaped into the air.  He not only stood, but walked and continued leaping like a gazelle, all the while praising God.  Notice the miracle was attributed back to the power and love of a redeeming God.  Neither Peter or John immediately went around saying, “you know, we did that” or “if it were not for us, this guy would still be laying here at the beautiful gate just begging up a storm”.  Nor did Peter or John, turn to the healed beggar, and ask for a donation for their own ministry.  No fame.  No fortune.  Not even to seek for credit as to who did it.  Because they both knew, “they” were as common as common gets.  There was nothing in them, that made the man walk, there was only power in the name of Jesus Christ.

And instead of stopping to judge whether the beggar was worthy of such a miracle (who of us is?) they just acted in love to him.  And the results were stunning.  You could not keep this man from shouting his praise to God, and literally leaping into the air.  Eyes around the temple that had gone there to pray were drawn to this man disturbing the quiet and somber place, with such heartfelt sincere praises to God it was infectious.  The entire crowd recognized him, they saw the miracle, and none could explain it.  But they each knew God did this.  And praise began to sweep over the entire crowd.  The hearts of Israelites were suddenly irreversibly lifted in joy and excitement over what has happened.  Luke goes on in verse 9 saying … “And all the people saw him walking and praising God: [verse 10] And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.”  Wonder and amazement swept the crowd.  The praise lifted to God on this afternoon was catching fire and none could contain it.

This commotion would be noticed quickly by the church authorities.  And predictably they would not share the spirit of joy and praise for they were filled with another spirit.  The contrast would be stunning.  But in the recounting of this story in Acts, I still wonder if we have missed the point entirely.  You are no different than Peter or John.  And before you start protesting in your own mind and heart, immediately recounting all your sins and failures, Peter and John had just as many of those in their own lives.  And unless you happen to be a member of church leadership, educated from birth into the scriptures and how to debate them, you probably resemble Peter and John more than you think.  All you ever needed was time with Jesus.  You spend it in prayer.  Jesus walks with you every day.  And the same Spirit that was poured out on Peter or John, can as easily be poured out on you if you but ask for it.

None of this is to make you some kind of great faith healer, or evangelist.  You probably think that could never be you, you never made any plans along those lines.  Neither did they.  This story is not just a part of church history, it is a road map to your future.  Your ministry could by the grace of God become one where you have the confidence and security in the love of Christ to ask for miracles done in His name.  Miracles for the benefit of someone else in need.  Miracles that restore hope to the soul, and turn misery into praises that leap and bound across church floors.  Imagine the person stricken with cancer, aids, covid, or any other disease that medical science and medical facts just cannot undo.  Imagine the joy and praise that could enter that person’s heart when healing comes from your simple prayer on their behalf said in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

The point of this, the point of this miracle, is that you and Peter and John, are really no different at all.  There was nothing special about them that allowed this to occur.  If you believe, ask for His Spirit, and keep your eyes open for others in need, you too could be calling down miracles from heaven that would disrupt not only the medical community, but restore hope to souls who have long since given up, and have never really known the love of Jesus until it comes cratering into their lives through your prayers for them. 

And healing is only the first part of this story, there is more yet to come …

 

Rules in Freefall ...

Every Christian church has rules.  Some rules are unwritten, but generally understood by most everybody.  For example, it is uncool to start yelling when the pastor is mid-sermon trying to make a point.  It may be OK to yell “amen”, after he makes the point; but if you were to start cheering for your favorite football team (due to the earbuds in your ears, listening to the game live) while in the middle of the sermon – that would be uncool and likely against the unwritten rules.  It may not get you thrown out.  It may instead engender more than few giggles from the men in the congregation as they muse over what a good idea earbuds are in general for game situations like this.  But the women, and most of all the pastor, are not going to be amused.  You are in church presumably to pay attention – to church.  It is bad enough to be distracted, but to cause the entire congregation to become distracted is a big no-no.  But this is usually an unwritten rule.  Few churches actually could have predicted ear-buds, and live game broadcasts during church with a device small enough to be both seen and heard by a given church goer.  So few churches actually thought they needed a formal written rule against such behavior. 

But if you were to actively start recruiting members of the church you attend to go start attending a different church – that would be less unwritten, and more formal.  Particularly if the destination church you are trying to get people to go attend does not share this church’s core beliefs.  Most of us place a good amount of faith that our beliefs in our church are the “right” ones.  Folks from other churches, even if Christian, that do not share our ideas about scripture, are just simply mistaken, and in a growing process that will one day lead them to us.  We never even stop to consider if it would be us that is led to them.  That is unthinkable.  So if someone from one of “those” Christian churches begins to perform a miracle, we have to question it.  First thought, the miracle must be fake.  After all, how could someone from over there do something that it truly takes supernatural power to do?  And if the miracle is certifiably a real miracle then second thought, the power must be coming from the evil one.  You can imagine this is exactly how the Pharisees thought about Jesus.  They never imagined His power could be coming from a good place, because He was not one of them.  And so generations later, when we are confronted with someone from another church doing miracles, our first two responses look exactly like the Pharisees of old.

Another unwritten rule is that if one of those “other” churches, is exposed to one of our key core beliefs, and after this exposure still refuses to believe like we do – they are doomed.  After all, if ultimately salvation is not the thing that separates us from them, we might as well be them.  Everyone is comfortable with a certain pecking order even under the Christian umbrella.  Pastors and evangelists of our church are the top tier (i.e. most likely to be saved because they share the Lords word).  Elders, Deacons, and Deaconesses are next.  Teachers next, and so on, and so on till you get to regular members.  Then come the people from churches whose beliefs are the closest to our own.  And so on, and so on.  Until you get to Jewish, and then down the road, Islamic faiths.  Past that barrier though, you start straying into the modern pagan world – gods of tradition and fancy stories that do not have a part in our Trinity in any way.  Eventually you wind up with agnostics and then atheists, the lowest folks on the Christian totem pole (so to speak).

Believers understand this phenomenon.  They have been long coached in it.  They have come to accept it as fact.  Perhaps unwritten, but still fact anyway.  Luke was confronted with it as well.  He writes to his friend Theophilus to offer a competing ideology spoken of by Jesus Christ Himself.  One it would seem, that we modern Christians, and modern Christian churches have decided to fully ignore.  But it is there in the written word for us to discover if we would be open to letting Jesus lead us there.  It begins in the ninth chapter picking up in verse 46 saying … “Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. [verse 47] And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, [verse 48] And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.”

We begin with the pecking order we are all so comfortable with.  The disciples or apostles strike up a discussion about who among them will be the greatest in the Kingdom Jesus is sure to establish.  First of all, they are imagining the wrong Kingdom.  Just like us.  We imagine the Kingdom of Heaven to be something like kingdoms of this world.  With some sort of power structure, where I have power over you, because I am assigned to rule over you in heaven, kind of like it might be here on earth.  But it’s not.  Even under the Christian banner, there are not supposed to be rulers over me.  There is supposed to be Jesus, who rules over me – with no middlemen in between.  Heaven won’t be any different.  If that organizational structure looks way too flat to be successful, try it out, and watch what kind of success you find.  The freedom Jesus offers is one where His government starts and ends with God on top, you right underneath.  We don’t need a leadership pecking order.  Leadership pecking orders are designed to “make us more effective” as an organization.  They don’t.  They make us more organized, but not more effective.  A relationship with Jesus one on one, is the only thing that can make you truly effective.

Then Jesus turns the ideas that the person with the most accomplishments, and greatest resume, should naturally be the believer who rises to the top of the food chain (which does not actually exist).  Instead, Jesus brings a toddler over and puts him on His lap.  This, Jesus announces, is what the greatest person in the Kingdom of Heaven looks like.  A young child.  Someone with zero resume, zero accomplishments, nothing to speak of where it comes to skills and abilities.  What is the only thing a really young child is capable of doing – loving and trusting.  Being completely dependent on Dad for everything to live.  That is all a kid can do.  And since they have absolute trust, they have little worry and fear.  They use that freedom of mind to do what – you got it – to play.  Very young children indulge their imaginations and make toys out of boxes, and creatures out of paint, and then play with them to their own great joy.  Sharing with others only doubles the joy.  This is the profile of greatness in the actual Kingdom of Heaven, not the wrong one we have been imagining.  Hard work gets you nowhere.  You are not even expected to do it.  Playtime with Dad, loving others, living a worry-free life due to your trust in Dad – that is greatness.  Rules are now in freefall.

It gets worse.  Luke continues in verse 49 saying … “And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. [verse 50] And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.”  Here goes the whole “other guy” thing right out the window.  Some guy performing miracles in the name of Jesus Christ, who was not one of the official disciples or part of the second official church of Jesus.  He was a freelancer.  He was someone without exposure to any formal beliefs or perhaps even association with Jesus.  He found faith on his own, or through the Father’s influence.  And he was acting on it in the name of Jesus, casting out demons no less.  A miracle performed by someone from the “thems” of this world.  His disciples tried to shut it down, but Jesus says don’t.  Let him be.  Just because there was no formal association with the new church and the new faith, did not negate or denigrate what this believer did on his own.  Yikes.  I am sure our church would shake in its boots to consider this idea was actually OK’d by Jesus Himself.  Turns out miracles performed anywhere under the Christian umbrella are still miracles.

Then comes the war with tradition.  Luke continues in verse 51 saying … “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, [verse 52] And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. [verse 53] And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.”  Jerusalem was long held to be the center of faith for the Jewish people.  That is, for the tribes of Judah, Levi (the priests), and Benjamin at least.  The other nine tribes split off from the kingdom of Solomon’s heirs and became known over time as the Samaritans.  They setup their own temple, and preferred to go there to worship for feasts, etc.  Over time the dispute became marked upon which temple, was “the” Temple where Jewish believers were supposed to worship.  The Samaritans obviously had their own traditions and ideas at this point.  Jesus was going to the “other” place.  So Jesus was bucking the ideas of the Samaritans about where He should go.  Samaritans were not fond of that.  So they refused to host Jesus while on His journey.  Even Samaritans who may well have believed in Jesus as the Messiah were still not happy about this choice and refused to host Him.

Luke continues in verse 54 saying … “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? [verse 55] But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. [verse 56] For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”  This snippet of scripture should terrify modern Christians.  The refusal to host Jesus met with a steep rebuke from James and John – two of the disciples who had seen Jesus transfigured into God on the mountain that night with Peter and themselves.  James and John knew what power Jesus had.  And so they immediately thought to meet this insult by “those” Samaritans with fire from heaven to consume them all for the slight they offered their Lord.  Because the Samaritans refused to believe what the Jews were supposed to believe, James and John thought they should die for it.  Strike down the sinners.  Kill the wicked.  How many times do we modern Christians threaten sinners with exactly the same threats and tell ourselves we do the work of Jesus in the process?  We don’t.  Our churches go so far as to condemn other Christian churches because they do not believe like we do.  We make this a matter of salvation.  But Jesus tells James and John, they are filled with the spirit of the devil in this.  Jesus came to save, redeem, and restore.  It is the devil alone who demands justice for what we deserve.  Whose team do you truly play for?  Rules are blown to dust.

Luke continues with an examination of our priorities in verse 57 saying … “And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. [verse 58] And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”  You know those huge churches that seat 20,000 people, or those immaculate cathedrals that house all that art.  Worthless.  Jesus has no place to even lay His head.  Life with Jesus is life on the move.  The point of redemption is not to sit still, and hope sinners find their way into your doors.  The point of redemption is to venture out, and find sinners right where they are, and minister to their needs, even when they have no interest in hearing about religion at all.  If we cannot love our neighbor, why should our neighbor ever listen to anything else we have to say?  Church is not about finding walls to make a habit out of attending or hiding behind.  Church is about motion, forward motion, to express love to those in need of love.  And who is not in need of love?  Hard to imagine rules were even contemplated let alone enforced.

But Luke is not finished with his examination as he continues in verse 59 saying … “And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. [verse 60] Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”  First, all our sentimental attachment to the idea of 12 disciples, or 12 apostles, is for lack of a better word “huey”.  Here is Jesus inviting what would have been a thirteenth disciples or apostle to the close-up crew.  No sentiment to the 12 number.  If the 13^th man would have accepted, he would have been part of it.  This also discounts the more than a few women who traveled with Jesus and may well have been counted in His intimate circle number if not for outdated prejudice.  It is our willingness to accept that constrains Jesus, not some quota on His part.  But to the 13^th man, Jesus says to him about his dead father, let the dead bury their dead.  We could interpret that to mean, let those who are dead in their current lives take the time to bury another of their kind.  Instead preach the gospel, preach the Kingdom of God to those who are dead, and bring them out of death to life through Jesus Christ.  That mission is more important than our sentimentality, be it for a departed relative, or for some numeric limitation we think we can impose on God. 

Luke continues in verse 61 saying … “And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. [verse 62] And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  De-ja-vu Lot’s wife.  Once you see the work Jesus needs you to participate in, you don’t have time to look back and be distracted by the things of the past.  Even family may not understand your new mission or purpose, they don’t need to.  You can love them best, not in wishing them goodbyes, but in being steadfast in the purpose Jesus leads you to perform.  Trying to get your house in order first, before you come to Jesus, is an impossible task.  There will always be something else that needs your attention.  That demand on your attention is the very war between good and evil.  It is Satan holding you back, and Jesus looking to carry you forward.  But you cannot move forward while your heart demands the things of your past.  Not even familial bonds should outweigh your relationship with Jesus Christ.  Your dependence upon Jesus to adjust your priorities, is the only way that adjustment ever takes place.  To look away, to look back, is to become a pillar of salt unable to move at all.  Focus forward in Jesus is the only way to avoid that trap.

So I ask, where in any of this do you read “us” and “them” under the Christian banner?  This is not the establishment of a pecking order; it is the absolute abolishment of anything of that ilk.  Luke writes to us of what real greatness is in the Kingdom of God and it is found in the persona of young dependent child.  We are to accept those who work under the banner of Jesus, even if they don’t have one exactly like our own.  We are to not to condemn others for their incorrect beliefs, or ever call for their destruction, we are to work for the salvation of all.  And we are to keep our focus directly upon Jesus, not being distracted by the past, or anything else that would attempt to distract us.  No middlemen.  No rules, at least none of the ones we think about.  Not even church should be thought of as a building, but as a movement.  The rules we thought of, whether written or unwritten, are in freefall.  And perhaps that is how it was always supposed to be.

 

An "OMG" Grouper Bao ...

We are lucky enough to have a restaurant in Orlando called King Bao in our downtown area.  I am further lucky to have discovered it through a local food delivery service called Bite Squad.  The food is inexpensive and the taste is awesome.  My favorite, as you might have guessed from the title of this BLOG is the “OMG – meaning Oh My Grouper” Bao.  It is an unusual bread (referred to as a bao, but is kind of a soft thicker tortilla) with white fish lightly fried in Tempura batter, with homemade tartar sauce, shredded scallions, and some kind of coleslaw underneath this magic concoction.  To understand just how good this is, you have to know I do NOT eat fish, generally ever.  But for this, I have learned to make a blissful exception.  To be truthful, I could have never imagined any kind of fish dish tasting just this good.  But then, maybe that is just a sign of my aging memory and imagination.  As I continued to read the gospel letter of Luke this week, I encountered another story that occurred which may have been just as heavenly a dining experience to have been a part of.  It turns out Jesus may have made the first ever OMG bao’s, and His would have rightly been called “Oh My God” bao’s, because He was God and they were divinely made.

The story picks up in Luke’s gospel chapter nine in verse 10 saying … “And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. [verse 11] And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.”  To set the backstory, Jesus in the earlier verses had just sent His disciples across Israel carrying the gospel message of salvation and life through the true Messiah, Jesus Christ.  This was the time now when the disciples were returning and Jesus intended to take his crew into a private place outside of the city of Bethsaida to talk over how their respective trips and experiences had gone.  But this plan was interrupted by the people, who figured out where Jesus was going.  And they went there in droves to meet Jesus and be with the man, the Messiah, they had heard about from the lips of the disciples.  The news of Jesus was everywhere.  So sick and well, many gathered to be with Him.  And Jesus being Jesus, He would not turn any away.  He healed all those who needed healing, and began to speak to everyone about the Kingdom of God.

Luke continues in verse 12 saying … “And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.”  When Jesus speaks, the concepts of time just seem to melt away.  Not like our churches where checking the watch is an every-30-second activity.  The sermon in this desert place was the highlight.  You did not need worship music that drolled on for hours, or children’s stories set aside from the main message.  No offering calls.  No missionary reports.  All of that was deferred in order to hear the words of Jesus.  In those words were the children’s story, the stories we could understand.  In those words were the road map to our salvation, to our happiness, to an end to pain and death.  People lost all track of time until the day was nearly gone.  Only now do the disciples remember it is way past breakfast, lunch, and fast approaching dinner.  No one has eaten.  And this crowd is huge.  The people will need time to walk to find food in nearby suppliers, if those suppliers could even be found, especially for a crowd this size.

Jesus has other ideas.  Luke continues in verse 13 saying … “But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. [verse 14] For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. [verse 15] And they did so, and made them all sit down.”  A few things of note; first, these same disciples were just returned from their own respective mission trips across Israel where they were fully dependent upon God for what they themselves ate every day.  The charity of people served that purpose.  And they all were given power by Jesus to heal and perform miracles.  So perhaps they should have suggested something like this ahead of Jesus having to do it.  But alas, even those closest to Jesus do not always see what should have been obvious to them.  When we look through the eyes of human limitations this is often the case.

Second, 5,000 men sitting down in companies of fifties, was not ALL the people sitting in those groups.  It was also meant to include wives, daughters, mothers, and the children at large.  So entire families would have been sitting together, even if only the head male of the family was included in the informal census of who was there.  You can pick your own number then for the total number of people who needed to be addressed, but if I were guessing, I would say something like 20,000 if you included everyone.  Keep in mind, in these days women were not usually included in any kind of numbering scheme.  And children may been considered too young to make the normal part of numbering.  Suffice it to say, this number was huge, as just the original 5k men would reveal.  And for practical purposes far too large a crowd to buy food for everyone.  Many would have gone hungry if they had tried to solve this problem themselves.  And Jesus did not need to rely upon money to solve His problems (both then or now), faith would be His currency.  Faith that His Father cared about our hunger even more than we do.

Third, other gospel’s tell us of the original 5 loaves of bread (likely unleavened, that pretty much resembles a thicker tortilla) and 2 small fishes (not a bass or swordfish or salmon for example) came from a small child’s lunch (whose mother was perhaps the only one who liked to make sure her boy was prepared for any eventualities).  He was glad to share it.  And so the love of a well prepared mother, and very willing young boy was the source material for would come in any case.  Luke continues in verse 16 saying … “Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. [verse 17] And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.”  And here is where the miracle begins to take place.

In my original imagination, I think of Jesus reaching into the basket of the boy’s lunch and pulling out some fish and bread and placing it in an empty basket for one of the disciples.  Jesus keeps doing this until the basket is filled, and then that disciple heads out to one of the groups of people to begin food distribution.  The idea though is that Jesus is the one who keeps digging his hands into that boy’s lunch box and filling up empty baskets for the disciples until everyone finally gets fed.  But given the number of people and the lack of quantity a human can place in a basket each time they dig in – this approach could have taken all night to get it to the people who were already hungry.  I now imagine it differently.  I imagine a group of empty baskets placed around each of the companies of 50 men.  After the blessing of Jesus, I imagine fish and bread appearing in each empty basket until it is nearly overflowing.  The baskets are passed through the respective companies until everyone has not only eaten, but eaten till they are completely filled.

And my new mind, does not just imagine a simple fish and bread, as prepared by a boy’s mother for lunch.  I imagine OMG bao’s as prepared by the mind and abilities of Jesus Christ Himself.  Gordon Ramsay has nothing on Jesus for how food could and should taste when done exquisitely.  And why not?  Do we imagine Jesus was a dull cook, only providing base nutrients to this crowd, uninterested in how it tasted at all?  Why?  Jesus created us with the ability to taste in the first place.  If you think that ability is trivial just get a head cold and lose your ability to taste any food for a few days, and tell me how pleasant that was.  On the contrary, I will bet that the Author of taste buds has excellent ideas on how to tantalize them that are well beyond anything we could imagine.  And picture this, that same Author of our senses is the same One building heaven for us right now.  We may not eat meat in heaven, at least meat that comes from the butchery of animals.  But perhaps my steaks will grow on a steak tree, and taste just as good as anything good old black angus could have provided in this world.  This very story negates the process we think about where it comes to fishing and preparing to get to a final product.  Maybe Jesus will provide an OMG bao bush right in my backyard that only needs to harvested and eaten without a single creature being harmed in the process.  Maybe a pizza tree.  And who knows just how good a grape itself will taste in heaven, whether in fruit form, or in juice form.  Why would we limit God to our own ideas about what kind of food He can make, and how it will taste, and how it will be provided?  That is just our own stunted imaginations not a limit to power and love of our God.

12 baskets of fragments remaining is not a testimony to dull food nobody likes.  It is a testimony to a hungry crowd over-filled until they could eat no more.  And the excess from that feast will go to the poor in the surrounding towns and villages distributed by those who now leave to go home after the beauty of this day with Jesus.  The idea that this day ends with Jesus providing a master class on how to prepare white fish and bao’s was not all that would be remembered.  The words of His sermon would echo in the minds and hearts of the people long after this.  In later days the disciples would harvest thousands of believers in a day because of the seeds sown at this very gathering, that echoed and spread throughout the land.  Delicious food.  But better words.  This was church reconceived.  Heal everyone first.  There would be no disease or deformation that could not be healed and remade by the power of our loving Creator God.  Speak to the hearts.  Feed them all.  And love would echo in tangible demonstrations far after the day was gone.  Jesus made church about meeting the needs of people all the time, and anytime or place He was.  What I would do to have been a part of this day.  I hope to taste His cuisine in those days to come in the city He builds now for us all.  I can’t wait to taste a bao that my Jesus makes for me, and I wonder if it might come on a bush, or from a basket once again.