Fields of Perfection [part two] ...

Why not simply “arrive” where it comes to spiritual growth?  Why take a journey that we know it is possible to complete in the twinkling of an eye?  It is easy to blame God for the delay, or perhaps develop doubt there is a God, because of the delay.  One of the effective arguments atheists and nominal Christians make, is that people have been talking about the “soon coming return” of Jesus Christ since the days of the disciples and over 2000 years have passed in that time.  Oh sure, if you stack that against time in Universal measurements or against the stars it is short, but against human life spans, it is well beyond any of them.  A belief in “soon” that does not come true, can sometimes equate to a belief that transformation just takes too long, and there are too many failures that keep occurring along the way.  Perhaps transformation too is just one of those “soon coming” things that for me will never seem to arrive; always to be lost in the journey.  There comes a time when even progress is not enough, the destination is just too much what we long for.  Not the destination of heaven, so much as the destination of perfection, even in the here and the now.

And if our “standard” is no less than perfection, we cannot just shrug it off, and act as though it is “OK” that we are imperfect.  It is never “OK” with God that we carry the cancer of sin, that we suffer from the pain and death it brings and causes.  God longs to give us the cure.  So when our failures teach us we are obviously not cured yet, we return to the question of why, or as with His long awaited return; how long?  And if knowing it must be a journey is not hard enough, it turns out the other complicating factor is … us.  What we believe, and how certain we are of our beliefs, can delay the journey entirely.  Even the beliefs that we are taught from the church, or from spiritual leaders we trust, or things we seem to have discovered on our own.  It is not even the incorrect beliefs that are our problem nearly as much as the certainty to which we cling to them.  We hold the mind of the unconverted even while we occupy the pews of the church we call home.  And because of it, our journey takes even longer.

This is not new.  There was an example provided in the gospel of Matthew in the thirteenth chapter.  Right in the middle of telling parables about the Kingdom of God, and salvation, and heaven; the reason why stories are being used is provided.  And those reasons are just as applicable today as they ever were, so much to sorrow over it.  Matthew picks up in verse 10 with the most obvious question … “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?”  This is the gospel after all.  We are not just trying to explain how to build a kite; we are trying to save lost souls here, trying to provide the roadmap to doing it right.  But instead of providing direct, frank, and explanative words; Jesus chooses to tell stories to get the point across.  And it looks as though no one is getting it, sometimes even the disciples are having a hard time admitting they too, are not getting it.

Ever ask the question, if Jesus wanted us to know what to do about [insert some modern problem here] why didn’t He just say that in the New Testament?  The question about Sabbath observance is sometimes put in this category.  What you can do or not do.  Or which day is the right one.  There is a lot of other scripture to answer these questions, but it might have been nice since Jesus knowing what would happen later, if He would have just given some direct counsel on the matter in question – rather than bury it among tons of other texts that must be read in context to even get close to answering it right?  Homosexuality is another idea floated this way.  While the Bible is full of condemnation for it, Jesus never said one word in first person against it.  If Jesus is our final authority why not just state what His position is?  Instead we have stories, historical events, and societal prejudices that influence our ideas on any given topic we research in the Bible.  Seems like the lead is buried.

But Jesus answers this question picking up in verse 11 saying … “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. [verse 12] For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. [verse 13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”  So a little flattering that the disciples are going to be the privileged few who get to understand the mysteries.  We take that by extension to mean “us” as well since we get to read the written works of those disciples where it comes to the gospel.  The idea that to those to whom it is given, will be given even more in abundance sounds really good to us.  We think that must mean - to church folk, to folks who are searching, or are already in the aisles and pews.  But we missed one subtle word printed plainly there that perhaps our brains just wanted to miss.  To him shall be “given” more abundance.

The remainder of the answer of Jesus applies to those who believe they already know what they need to know.  They have learned it through joining a church, or having conducted years of study on their own.  They might have learned it by going to a Christian school system, or Christian University.  They are not newbies, but people long-in-the-tooth where it comes to spiritual matters.  They are not the nominal believers who never “do” anything, but they are the people who act on their faith and make it a point to get out there and serve in the plain light of day.  These are the people who hath … not.  Their eyes work or function, but they see not.  Their ears can hear just fine, but they hear not.  And worst of all, they, or rather “our” comprehension and understanding is poo-poo.  To “us?” shall be taken away even what little even what we have.

That reads like a punishment.  It reads like a punishment for well-meaning folks.  But again, this is actually about salvation, and what is needed here for “us” is exactly that.  We need a reset of what we are so certain about.  We need a reset of what University, or our local church has been pushing into our heads for so long we can nearly rote repeat it.  We must unlearn what we have learned, and be taught what we should know through a mechanism we have least tried out (becoming a direct student of Jesus).  Matthew reminds his audience this entire scenario was predicted long in advance by the prophet Isaiah, lest we think this only applied in the days of Christ, or will never be relevant again.  He continues in verse 14 saying … “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:”  The prophet Isaiah had a relevant message to his people in his day of the same phenomenon that Jesus fulfilled in His own.  And that prophecy had no time stamp on it.  The same plague moves forward through time through the same people even within the true churches of God.

The reason is heartbreaking to hear continuing in verse 15 saying … “For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”  Queue the weeping and gnashing of teeth please.  We are “tired” of hearing.  We have closed our eyes to “The Truth”.  And perhaps worst of all, and the most telling sign, our hearts have waxed gross, we love very little anything that does not resemble ourselves.  And it appears that understanding will only come through the heart, which in this case has grown cold.  All of the signs of people or believers who would have made excellent members of the Sanhedrin in the days of Jesus.  People certain of their spiritual knowledge and completely unwilling and not inclined to submit that “knowledge” to the higher power of Jesus Christ.  Our journey is stunted because we refuse connection with Jesus that could have resulted in our conversion, and our healing.  Could sadder words ever be uttered, particularly when they are squarely directed at “you?” or “me?”.

So what made the disciples different? … They were stupid.  And they knew it.  And they depended on Jesus for their wisdom, looking to learn anything HE had to teach them, never even daring to teach Him anything.  The only beliefs they brought with them from before Jesus and they ever clung to, were WRONG!!  And those beliefs were taught to them by the church.  Freedom from Rome was not in the cards from a Messiah bent on freeing them from sin, freedom from sin was more important.  But the church disagreed.  And it still does.  So many churches continue to teach that freedom from sin is nothing more than forgiveness bundled with a license to continue sinning.  Dangerous doctrines that equate infinite forgiveness with the ability to infinitely keep sinning with nothing but a little guilt.  Or worse, they teach us that freedom from sin comes only when “we” try hard enough.  Neither is true.  But we cling to error in our beliefs about salvation that stunt our journey and prevent us from a connection with Jesus that would in fact actually save us, from us.  We don’t need a partnership with Jesus, we need a hostile take-over by Him (us out, Him in).  We do not have permission to sin because God “understands” our weakness.  We need a cure from God as we direct our weakness and everything else about us to Him in full surrender of what “we” think needs to be done about it.

Recognizing one’s own stupidity has an upside.  Seeing our true need has benefits we cannot imagine as Matthew continues the words of Jesus picking up in verse 16 saying … “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. [verse 17] For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”  Being willing to be taught by Jesus begins by recognizing we have nothing to offer Him, and everything to gain by listening and being taught by Him.  And on that score, “church” is not the same as personal submission and surrender to Jesus Christ.  Before accepting what others say about scripture (including this author), pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of Jesus Christ.  Otherwise, group think, or who you think may have a point, may not.  Jesus does not want to leave you blind to His word.  Nor is His word dangerous to you.  But your pride in your learning is dangerous to you.  Being unwilling to expand, alter, or change your mind about what you know when something new is brought to you by Jesus is very dangerous to your journey.  It can stunt it badly.

We have the wealth of scripture, not only of the New Testament, but of the Old Testament as well.  BOTH are views of our God’s intense love for us, and His work to redeem us.  If the OT does not read that way to you yet, you need to view it more through the lens of Jesus Christ.  If what you get out of the OT is a vengeful God who wipes people out because He feels like it, you have entirely missed the lens of Jesus Christ.  For the life of Christ was in full submission to His Father’s will from day-one to day-last.  He never did His own thing, and what is more, all those acts of love were His Father’s thing for you.  That intense love for you is not only from Jesus but from the Father as well.  That means when people die in the OT, it was not a time for joy, but a time for GREAT sorrow.  If the embrace of sin had to be cleansed; you should know that it made God sorry His efforts to redeem were so soundly rejected.  It did not give Him glee.  Jesus was saddened at the hearts of the Sanhedrin who would rather have killed Him, than learn from Him.  Have you joined those Sanhedrin ranks some 2000 years after they fizzled out?

Or, are you ready to see the stupid in you, you call certainty of knowledge.  Are you ready to be taught, that is to be the perpetual student ever willing to give up an incorrect belief for the right one as Jesus reveals them to you?  Pay no attention to the vehicle for The Truth, only insure it is Jesus you follow, even if the messenger is flawed or not what you would expect, or through a means you otherwise never thought possible.  Or has your heart waxed gross, have you decided you have enough love for your lifetime and could not possibly need more.  Have you grown ambivalent to need, particularly the need of others you hardly know.  Have you closed your eyes to the new, believing the old will save you?  Have you shut off listening because you do not like the method or messenger the sound comes from, an imperfect vessel like yourself.  And we wonder why we need a journey, and why it takes so so long for us to learn to trust and fully surrender our own will.  Because what we “know” is likely the thing we need to relearn.  How desperately we need that connection to Jesus.

And the parables were not over yet …

 

 

The "A" Team ...

When a difficult task stands before you, a wise approach to accomplish it, is to select a team that is able to contribute a set of unique skills that when combined are able to meet nearly any task of any size.  In professional sports this team of athletes is referred to as “starters” or if the need is singular, then special teams.  In the military, teams are assembled like this within the special forces branches, and only elite, albeit different soldiers are used.  In the business world, the moniker the “A” team is still sometimes used.  It refers an organization’s best and brightest.  It represents the folks who are most likely to overcome any difficulty, rely upon each other’s strengths, offset each other’s weaknesses, and march on to victory.  So in the spiritual world, why would we expect to see anything different?

Imagine the magnitude of the task that stood before Jesus at the outset of His ministry.  Jesus must change the perception of God in the eyes of the people.  He has this task to do not just for Gentiles who believe in many gods, but for Israelites who believe in a vindicate, rules-obsessed God.  Jesus must change the way an entire nation views how to interpret scripture.  For even though they call themselves by His name, and the name of His Father, they have twisted scripture to fit the doctrines of debate, and in so doing have squeezed the love completely out of it.  How like us.  Jesus must demonstrate to all people the intentions of He and His Father in tangible ways, erasing the pain of sin, inside their hearts and minds, and outside in the defects sin brings by bad choices, heredity, and misfortune of Satan’s rage.  To heal a sin sick world, crying from pain of disease, deformity, and even possession will be no small task.   And while Jesus takes on this work, He must remain spotless (no shortcuts), and He must groom His followers to become a church that will stand the test of time and fury of a Roman empire, and Jewish religion, that will stand against it.

What Jesus needs is an “A” team.  Both then and now, Jesus needs a few followers that can assist Him in these tasks, and make the work of redemption easier by example, and by action, and by personal testimony.  So who should Jesus select?  From a decidedly human perspective, our minds would immediately turn to the great spiritual leaders who have lived in our past, or perhaps are still carrying on great missions today.  We think of pastors of large churches, or leaders of large conferences.  We think of singers who have international acclaim, and have toured the world over.  We think of miracle workers, who have performed great acts of healing, most of them on television. 

Our thinking is not much different, than the church leadership thought in the days of Jesus on earth.  The Sanhedrin was waiting on the call.  They expected that when the Messiah emerged, He would immediately come to them for assistance.  After all, who better than they to provide spiritual guidance in matters of doctrine.  They were the established leaders of the people in all matters of the Temple and of religion in that day.  Any doctrine outside of their blessing was heresy.  So any teacher outside of their order must by definition be a heretic.  And besides, these men, were just waiting on the call.  They had every intention of responding when it came.  But it didn’t.  At least not the way they thought it should.

Quietly, that is to say, without any formal pronouncements from the Temple order, or solicitations of the same; Jesus had come to earth.  Even the angels who burst into song at His birth because they could hold their voices no longer, found an audience of humble shepherds in the fields, not priests in the Temple.  The same star that guided men from half way across the world, went unnoticed by the Sanhedrin.  The voice of the Father Himself, and appearance of the Spirit in the form of a dove, were heard at the river Jordan, during a practice the priests discarded as unnecessary, but God obviously did not.  For all the sacrificial system of the Temple, a simple humbling of the heart, was worth more to God.  And it was that.  It was humility that all but had disappeared in the hearts of those who “knew” the word of God, and who studied it without ceasing, yet loved very little.

They, and we, have become proud of our accumulated religious knowledge.  The Sanhedrin, and the modern Christian, await the call of God as if God owes it to us.  After all, we have read so much, learned so much, done so much “mission” oriented work.  The fact that we do not know how to love, and who to love, does not even cross our minds.  We are too obsessed with a perfection we intend to achieve, either completely alone, or in some sort of “partnership” with God, where we do “our” part, and then He makes up the meager difference.  Although in truth these “partnerships” produce nothing more than excuses for our continued imperfection, and a chance to blame God because we continue to fail.  Albeit, we take pride in our rich spiritual history, and claim it as our own, though contribute very little to it.  We are spiritually wealthy in our own eyes, and now only await the official call of God, to put His seal on our life’s work.  So it was then.  So it is now.  How little has changed.

But the “A” team for Jesus was not to be found in the Temple, or ranks of the Sanhedrin, nor perhaps in the hearts of the modern Christian who yet refuses to humble himself no matter the size of his ministry.  The “A” team for Jesus was to be found in the least likely of suspects.  Jesus had already picked up the mantle of John the Baptist.  Jesus was preaching his gospel message of repentance, and was baptizing in the same river John did.  As for disciples, the “A” team so to speak, Matthew was not there when they were first picked.  He did not see it first hand, but he reported on it, from collective recollections he heard. 

His account begins in chapter four of his gospel picking up in verse 18 saying … “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. [verse 19] And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. [verse 20] And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”  The disciple John provides a better first person account, revealing more details that it was he and Andrew, who were already disciples of John the Baptist.  That when Jesus appeared, John directed them to follow Him, as Jesus was the Messiah.  It was John and Andrew who raced to their respective homes, and told their respective brothers, about the discovery of the Messiah.  And then it was Jesus who follows as Matthew records above.

Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. [verse 22] And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”  Fishermen.  After all the preconceived ideas about who Jesus would select for His “A” team, He picks four fishermen.  He could choose to do so again today.  Though the methods have evolved, the profession remains even till our day.  Can you imagine if the fate of modern Christianity, is still resting in the hands of common, ordinary fishermen.  Not the preachers.  Not the teachers, or singers, or miracle workers.  Especially not the conference leaders, but instead the entire fate of Christianity continues to reside in the hands of fishermen along our coasts.  It is unthinkable, in every mind, but the mind of Christ.  Perhaps in our day, Jesus might expand His selections of an “A” team but limit it only to any other truly blue collar position in life.  Still unthinkable, even to them, but NOT to Jesus Christ.  He not only thought it, He picked it.

The stain on the face of the Sanhedrin could not have been brighter.  To be overlooked in favor of illiterate fishermen, who had only a baby’s view of the scriptures, was inconceivable.  This very pick, puts Jesus in the fake Messiah column.  Because surely no “real” Messiah would start out like this, and then pick these idiots as His “A” team when SO MANY better qualified candidates exist right here in the Temple, and center of the established religious leadership of the day.  It’s like trying to start a baseball team, and walking right by the Hall of Famers and picking the janitor, hot dog stand guy, and ladies working to clean the bathrooms instead.  Only an idiot would ever do that right, so if Jesus did it, that makes Him an … but hold the phone.  If Jesus is God, and we know He is, then it may be that our ideas of “qualifications” that are all twisted around, just like those of the Sanhedrin.

What Jesus needed was and is, men who are willing to admit, they do not know everything, in fact, they know very little.  Jesus needs humility in us, so that He can actually teach us, the right things, the right ways, in the right time.  He can’t do that, if we refuse to let Him, because we ALREADY know what we need to know.  Our submission to Jesus then, is the hallmark trait of an “A” team member for His purposes.  He does not need us to lead at all.  He has that covered.  Instead, He needs us to play, understanding we have NO skills, and He will provide them to us, when and how we need them.  Imagine what it takes for the janitor lady who normally cleans the bathrooms to step up to the mound against true “professionals”.  That takes faith.  That takes trust.  That does NOT take confidence, it takes dependence and humility.  It is our confidence that has been our problem all along.  We put our confidence in us, in the accumulated knowledge and work we have done for Jesus.  Instead of putting our confidence in knowing we know nothing, and he knows everything.  We can solve zero problems, but He can solve every problem.  Our lack of humility, and misplaced confidence, keeps us out of the real game entirely.

And what does Jesus do right after picking this team?  Matthew continues in verse 23 saying … “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. [verse 24] And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. [verse 25] And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.”  Jesus does what Jesus always does, and what Jesus was meant to do.  The better question is, how did this “A” team “help” Jesus do what Jesus does?  In point of fact they did not.  They were there as witnesses, not as participants, at least not yet.

It turns out the job of an “A” teamer for Jesus may also be quite a bit different than we thought as well.  Instead of jumping right in and offering their opinions to folks.  They were a bit dumb-founded as they watched God do, what God has always wanted to do for us, and through us, and sometimes in spite of us.  Watching God work is staggering, both then and now.  Same God, who wants to do the same work.  Jesus is every bit as interested in healing the sick now, as He was then.  The modern Christian is the one all twisted around, because we pray weak prayers questioning the will of God, or we take credit for what He does, as if it only happened because we prayed at all.  Neither condition was a problem in the days of Jesus.  Jesus healed, without any prompting from His disciples at all.  Jesus healed because that is what Jesus does.  He restores men to God, and to the image He intended for them to be in.  Peter did not have to pray to get Him started.  Peter just had to step aside and watch Him go.

It is we who have lost confidence in the will of our God.  We now sometimes believe it must be His will when calamity strikes (instead of most often a cause and effect relationship between choices to sin, and the results of pain that sin inevitably brings with it).  But then you ask, how else could bad things happen to the innocent?  I answer, Satan has not disappeared or gotten tired of playing.  He is every bit the unflinching animal he ever was, and will inflict as much pain as he can.  In addition, when I choose to smoke, and I get cancer, that is not God’s will for my choice or its result.  That is cause and effect.  And when my unborn child suffers because my second-hand smoke penetrates his mother and gives him grief in the womb.  That is also NOT the will of God, but the result of my choices, and their results.  Modern Christians are all too keen on passing off responsibilities we should own to our God, and then wonder why the unbeliever questions His character. 

Our environment is polluted, our air, water, and earth, because of the greed sin promotes, and the choices our forefathers, and we ourselves continue to make.  When disaster arises from environmental disturbances that come up, they too are NOT the will of God, but the results of what man has done to himself, and what Satan makes worse from his efforts.  You will notice in these texts, that Jesus does not go around creating earthquakes, and tornadoes, and otherwise judging and killing the wicked.  That is unthinkable to what we know about Jesus.  You will also note, that Jesus does not go around creating terminal diseases in the innocent, and using terminal disease to judge the wicked.  In fact that is NOT what Jesus does, or ever did.  That is what sin does, and always did.  Jesus ends the pain of those things.  Jesus restores humanity to what He intended for it.  He does not create misery in order for people to run to Him to avoid it.  That is not love.  That is fear.  And fear does not change lives or motives, it only puts things in perspective for a moment.  Then life resumes just as it was.  Love however, changes things forever.

Jesus ends suffering, He does not cause it.  The “A” team witnessed this, over and over and over again until it was drilled into their minds and hearts.  They became so confident over time, that THIS was the will of God, to end suffering.  And later they would be able to see God do it, even after Jesus had left this world.  They knew it was still Him.  They knew it had nothing to do with themselves, only everything to do with ending the suffering of the person in need.  The “A” team saw God in action.  The “A” team had their own perceptions of God changed.  The “A” team were humble enough to allow this to occur.  Are you ready to join that team?  Or do you already know, everything you need to know?