"Accidental" Evangelist

As we read aloud from the Bible my friend looked up and said, “Does this mean I don't have to worry about converting people anymore?” I was startled but I had to agree with her. We had been reading through 2 Corinthians 2 but also reflecting on places like Acts 1, and I realized that when Jesus tells the disciples, “ You shall be my witnesses," they neither set up on a street corner with a bullhorn, nor do they book a travel agent to travel to the farthest nations. Instead, look at how Peter's first sermon and the subsequent conversion of three thousand people came about-- The disciples, both men and women, had simply been praying in the upper room in obedience when the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they began to speak the praises of God in many languages. This was, not surprisingly, a bit startling to the people in Jerusalem, and they gathered in consternation and wonder but some asked aloud whether the disciples weren't just early morning drunks. It was to defend himself and the others against the charge of public drunkenness that Peter speaks, and in so doing is compelled to share the gospel. To paraphrase: "You meant the death of Jesus for evil but God meant it for your good.”  What we see with Peter and even more clearly with Paul in all of their preaching is that, in fact, we don’t need to worry about evangelizing at all.  The pattern that we see throughout Acts and the entire New Testament not to mention the Old, of  “stumbling” into preaching the gospel is everywhere. Truly, “in Christ Jesus we are created to do good things, prepared in advance by God for us to do.” Without a doubt we will be the Lord's witnesses, and "make disciples of many nations" but this is not because of our own efforts, but rather because we will see and hear wonders of God and he himself will provide a situation where we are almost compelled to share what we know. In other words, as my friend also said," Relax but be ready. ” We will simply, through no effort or worry beforehand, find ourselves telling the story, say, of Samson, or perhaps reminding someone of Jeremiah 31, even without directly quoting a single phrase. We will find ourselves, like Peter, like Paul and all the disciples, quite easily and innocently sharing the gospel, "accidental" evangelists. As Jesus said, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Test the spirits

The child was made to feel special.  He was told again and again how much the abuser loved him.  But now, as an adult, he knows the truth: that that love was a lie.  His abuser was incapable of loving him, or of really even seeing him, or any child.  His abuser was blind, imprisoned in adamantine bonds.  All of this raises the question: How do we test spirits? How do we find out what love really is?

    At precisely the point where would expect the apostle Paul to tells us to "love the Lord with all our hearts and souls and minds,” Paul goes in a different direction.  He speaks instead of a love that is beyond us but for us.  Much has been said and written about the famous "love" chapter of I Corinthians but let's keep in mind that wherever the word "love" is used, the phrase, "the love God has for us” or “the love God gives us” could be substituted: "the love God has for us is patent and kind, the love God gives us is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude."  You see, the law of Moses tells us to love the Lord our God but something even better happens in the new covenant. To understand, go back to the story of the new covenant.  King David was faithfully loved by God; the Lord supported him wherever he went giving help and hope, giving victory over the enemy.  But of course, this faithful love was not only for David but for the people.  God established David's throne forever in order that his people might have rest and dwell secure.  And there was even more to come.  The Bible speaks time and time again of a greater David, one descended from David's line, “there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.”  This branch, this shoot is the messiah, Jesus, and God's faithful love supports him and gives him the victory for our sake and yet even this is not the end of the good news, "I will give you the faithful pities of David" (Isa 55:3, Acts 13:34).  Not only are we "more than conquerors” because Jesus has conquered sin and death and the devil for us on the cross, we are also given all the faith and the love that he has, we too are "enfaithed," we too are supported and  helped and given the victory. And here’s what it comes down to: So often we think that love is just natural.  We take it for granted, forgetting that wherever and whenever love occurs it is a gift from the God who is love. It is from our heavenly Father. It is because of the word that rang out even before creation, it is for believers and non-believers (Matt 5:45, Isa 45).  The Bible tells us to test the spirits. So then, when someone says, "I love you," see if it is so.  Does it conform to I Corinthians 13?  Does it conform to the stories to which that chapter is pointing?  A child of course cannot do this; it is the parents' job, it's the community's work to protect children from those who are both deceiving and, most likely, terribly deceived themselves.  Contrary to what many say, the Lord does not teach us to suspend disbelief, rather we are to be scientists and prove what is true.  Well was it once said that theology is “the queen of sciences.” 

Conspiracy Theory

“But you know, no Jews died in there.” It was an uncle I think who said it. My tour group and I had been graciously invited to spend Sunday afternoon with a Christian family in Jordan and in the fullness of time the discussion turned to 9/11. One of the uncles was particularly keen to talk. He believed, no, he knew, that Osama Bin Ladin had not been responsible, rather "they" were to blame. A small secret group of, it seemed, mostly Jewish people and as proof, yet another uncle chimed in, to assert that no Jewish people had died, all the Jews, he said, had been warned ahead of time and had skipped work on September 11th. Our tour group sat aghast, what could we say? But what neither of the uncles knew was that I had seen with my own eyes the monumental, nightmare piles of twisted blackened ruins. What they did not know was that I had happened to have walked through and breathed in the dust that obscured the sun in October of 2001. What they could not have guessed was that  their guest had seen with her own eyes the workers traveling to and fro, into the murk, sifting through the rubble, searching for the remains of their fellow New Yorkers, clearing the ground, to do one last deed of mercy for the dead. What they did not know was that the published lists of those who had perished, gave the lie to the uncle’s words. What the family did not know was the voice that I and many others heard; the voice of thousands of souls, crying out to God. And my fellow believers did not know was what was about to happen next. To my utter embarrassment, when that last statement from the uncle had exited his mouth, I  lowered my head and began to cry, my green explorer hat that I had bought especially for the trip, falling on the carpet. 

The truth is that whether we know it or not there is no conspiracy. And even if there were somewhere a group of tented fingered schemers, they would be, to put it dramatically, innocents, in comparison to us.    The buck does not stop with “them,” it stops with us. It is tempting to assign blame to someone else. But the truth is we are responsible. “Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.”  We all know very well, that God plus one equal a majority. But we turn away from this truth, let's put it plainly: we turn away from Jesus and deny him. People are afraid. I am afraid too, and if our power were based on our own faith we would be right to be afraid, our escapism, justified. Our faith fails. But we are on firmer ground. We have been justified by the faith, i.e., the "enfaithment" of Jesus promised by Isaiah. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

As I wept trying to tell them about my trip to New York, head bowed, eyes on the dusky colored carpet, choking on tears and spit bubbles, I suddenly saw hands reaching out, hands offering tissues, a cup of tea hastily brought, sliding forward towards me on the coffee table, and my hat ever so gently restored to my head.  It was a while before I was able to lift up my eyes and see but when I did, I saw only sympathy and even, new understanding.  It goes without saying that I was more than surprised about the turnaround. It was none of my own doing certainly!  But later I remembered the words I had learned in the bosom of my family, words from the Bible, "God's power is made perfect in weakness.” God's power is made perfect in tears and spit bubbles. We would talk no more of conspiracy that day or any other, because somehow or other the delusion of "them" had been swept away at least for the time being leaving only the "us" of mankind, his suffering and his triumph in Jesus.  No longer could anyone in the room hold suffering at arms length by a "them," it was among US of US, together.  We were as the Bible tells us, "one body," and when one member of the body suffers, all suffer, but this is good news, for those "who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy." 

Isn't That Your Job?

The man chuckled and said, “But isn’t studying the Bible your job?”  We were in the check-out line and after a bit of small talk I had launched into an overly enthusiastic theological mini-lecture concluding with some cheerleading: “Keep on reading your Bible!”  But he was having none of it, genially explaining that the congregations were paying me to read the Bible so they wouldn’t have to, and with that, the swipe of his debit card, and the receipt safely deposited in his wallet, he took his groceries and bid me a friendly farewell.  I have realized in the days and years after this encounter that he had given me a gift: he was willing to engage (and I might add at a rather early hour of the morning!) and push back.  And I say, keep on, keeping on.  If there is one thing ministers really need it is criticism and challenge.  Right or wrong it always does us good. But it is a real temptation to lay down the work of Bible study and hand it over to the professionals.  We do this not only with ministers but with doctors, coaches, priests and legislators.  We leave them to do the job so that we can be free to pursue other things.  It makes sense and yet, this is not what the new covenant means.  Jeremiah 31 tells us that in the time of the new covenant, each one of us will know the Lord.  This does not mean we withdraw into an hermetically sealed room, on the contrary, as Paul says to the house churches at Rome, “you will help me and I will help you.”  We mutually encourage one another in the faith.  There is a famous medical clinic in Kansas and they tell their visitors that patients and caregivers are co-learners with the doctors.  I like that.  I have found when visiting my doctors at Mayo that the more research I can do ahead of time the better.  I try to follow Patton’s advice, “never to ask a question you don’t know the answer to.”  I certainly do learn new things from the doctors and nurses.  They are professionals but I have found that also learn from me and my family.  In the fight for health doctors need us to give them challenge, feedback, and help.  This is as it should be but this is also what needs to happen in our churches.  Indeed, we are told “judgment begins in the house of the Lord.”  May it be so!  Putting ministers, doctors, preachers, coaches up on pedestal has led to nothing but trouble: think of the scandals and horror that we have learned of in football, gymnastics, the Southern Baptist Conference, to say nothing of the Roman Catholic denomination as well many others.  It seems easier to leave it to the professionals but this is not the way of Jesus.  He said to his disciples at the feeding of the five thousand, “you do it,” you feed this congregation.  He enables us in wider and wider circles to minister to one another.  He empowers us to be co-ministers, co-legislators, co-doctors.  He puts the power in the hands of the people.  God is drawing us to himself with the cords of love and giving us all that he has, empowering us to do "even greater things" than what was done before Jesus' death and resurrection. " What is man that thou art mindful of him?"  But he is mindful of us and his thoughts are as high as the heavens above the earth because they are so filled with goodness towards us. 

Getting In On The Ground Floor

Getting In On The Ground Floor

“They departed to their own country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12)  It’s a detail in the story that I had never noticed before.  How come the Magi don’t stay around?  Why don’t they follow Jesus wherever he goes?  Instead they return home.  But the answer is easy; they go home to tell their children and their children’s children, their neighbors and friends, that the savior of the world has been born and to prepare the way for the king of kings and Lord of Lords.  As the Bible tells us, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he shall reign for ever and ever!”  By returning, the Magi are getting in on the ground floor of the Kingdom of Heaven, a kingdom which is from heaven but FOR this earth!  Some twenty years ago my best friend Katy mentioned to me that if I wanted to invest I should invest in a little company that had come to her attention, a company named Google.  Can you imagine how my fifty dollars (that was all I had) would have grown?  But all of us have a chance to invest in something far greater than even Google!  We can get in on the ground floor of the Kingdom of the Lord.  How can we do this?  We read in Isaiah 35, “the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.”  I think of the researcher and scientist in Africa who has invented a way to turn dry land into fertile fields, and the many people who are stewarding their land and healing the earth in small and large ways, but also the grandmother who reads the stories of the Bible to her children, restoring life where despair has entered in.  How can we get in on the ground floor?  Ezekiel prophesies that one day the seas will team with fish and  I think of the young man, Boyan Slat who invented a way to clean up the thousands of tons of plastic in the oceans and is this day doing exactly that, but I also think of the promise that one day, “all tears will be wiped from the eyes” and how people are praying that they might have a heart like God’s; that they too might see their neighbor as the Lord sees him. On Sunday I will gather with my congregations in Hager City and in Ellsworth and in those assemblies we see ahead of time that great assembly that will be gathered round the throne. In this and in so many ways we can and are getting in on the ground floor of the kingdom and no investment however small will go to waste or be lost, every investment will have its reward and growth beyond what we can imagine.  And as if that were not enough, we ourselves are part of this new creation, this restoration of all things, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.”  We ourselves are the product of faith working through love, God working his great work, and “of the increase of his government and of his peace there shall be no end…on the throne of David…the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.” (Isaiah 9)

America's Bad Conscience

Two days ago I was listening to an old record with my mother, it was Tennessee Ernie Ford singing hymns.  I had never heard of him before  but my mother explained that he was famous and had had his own show back in the 1950’s.  As we listened I was struck by a thought.  In the 1950’s America had a good conscience.  We had just fought a war to right the wrong, to free the prisoner, to liberate the Jewish people from the concentration camps. We had a good conscience and you could hear it in the power and nobility of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s voice. But such peace of mind is rare.  Why?  Because unlike in a dictatorship we know that the buck stops with us.  In a democracy, it is the people who are responsible for both domestic and foreign policy.  In other countries, particularly those with no substantial history of democracy, conspiracy theories run rampant; many believe that some unknown elite, some “they” control the world.  In America we tend to know better.  We know that we are the “they.”  And we know in our heart that we have done wrong.  Certainly we have done good things but we have also been unjust and cruel.  And we think that God is angry with us.  Please understand that I do not deny that there is wrath; God would not be a good God were he not angry with oppression and injustice. Folks wiser than me have pointed out places where they can see God’s anger expressed.  But these same mentors have also taught me to beware of those who see God’s wrath everywhere but somehow never seem to get around to talking about Jesus much.  And my question both for you and for me is, “Do we see Jesus?”  Do we know what Jesus really means?  Do we hear what the Bible is saying about him? Do we understand that he is a demonstration, a gigantic billboard to all the wicked world inscribed with a very simple sentence, “You are forgiven.”  Do we hear what the angel says, “Peace on earth, goodwill to men?”  Except what it actually says is “peace on earth to men of delight,” in other words, God delights in wicked, disobedient mankind.  Do we understand that the Lord approves of us, that he delights in us?  God spoke to Israel, wicked Israel, oppressive Israel that did not hear or understand no matter what God did, (Isaiah 42) and what is his response?  “But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.When you pass through the waters I will be with you, they shall not overwhelm, when you go through the fire you shall not be burned…you are precious and honored in my sight and I love you.”

The other day as I drove to Rochester I was in great anxiety and I was moved to speak in tongues, a practice I had neglected. By the end of the drive my heart was deeply, profoundly comforted and I realized that for a long time now I have been a burden to others because of my worries. In God’s goodness I saw that I had done wrong to people I love and I saw that I was changed and could make a change. It is truly God’s goodness that gives us repentance.  Does America today see Jesus’ shining face and through him, see the love of the Father, see his great faithfulness and forgiveness and compassion?  Do we see his delight in us? When we do, and I pray this moment comes soon, we will look at ourselves and see that whether we are conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, all we like sheep have gone astray, that we have failed one another and that each of us has neglected his neighbor and failed in brotherly love and then we will turn around to victory and take in our inheritance, “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,  that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Cross: The Word of Truth

There are some moments that glimmer like gold.  I remember a discussion with my tutors in college and the air around us seemed to shine as we talked.  Where do these moments come from?   In the Bible we learn of the the “mercy seat.”  The mercy seat was the cover of the ark of the covenant.  It was gilded in gold an inch thick and on that cover, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would sprinkle a bit of the blood of the sacrifice and that year, the sins of the people would be “covered;” the sins of the people would lose their power and have no hold anymore.  And see the difference between our God and all other “gods.”  Other gods are appeased by sacrifice, their anger, mollified.  All of the false idols of man’s imagination require a payment in exchange for their good will.  They exist under some overarching law that requires…something.  Not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel.  Instead as Leviticus 17:11 tells us, he provides the sacrifice.  He gives the mercy seat.   Why?  Because he is faithful and he is loving.  He is who he is. Where there is a problem he fixes it.  Where there is sin, he renders it harmless,”they shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.” In Romans we read, “God set forth a mercy seat through faith in his blood.”  This even greater and more beautiful mercy seat is the Lord Jesus.  He takes away our sins.  How? “through faith,” but this faith is not our own faith of course, “all we like sheep had gone astray.” Rather Jesus on the cross where he shed his blood is mercy seat by the power of faith or as I like to translate, “establishment.”  But most important to remember, God was not angry with Jesus on the cross, his wrath was not “satisfied,” no overarching law or requirement was fulfilled.  Rather God did what he always does.  He saves, he makes things right.  In Genesis, God clothed Adam and Eve in skins, he knew that their fig leaves would not make the grade.  He gave what was precious to him in order that we might be comfortable and happy.  But on the cross he gives what is most precious to him, his beloved son so that we might be “more than conquerors.”  Our shining moments come from the gold mercy seat, the Lord Jesus, given by God, and as if that were not enough those golden times, (and fear not, these include our sorrows (Romans 5) as they work they way out into hope and love through the Holy Spirit), are but a downpayment (Hebrews 11), a glimpse of what is to come. Even now they are a reflection of the truth; the beautiful life that we have through his son the Lord Jesus.  The Lord rejoices over Zion with singing (Zephaniah) because of what he has done and given, in giving the Lord Jesus, mercy seat through faith. 

Dear Sister--Letters

Dear Sister,

I hope that you are doing all right.  I am glad to hear that the other ladies are nice and I know you are a big support to the other inmates.  We prayed for you in church this past Sunday.  My dad said that might want to hear a little about what we talked about on Sunday.  The Bible reading that we did was Psalm 1 and then after that, Acts 25.  I preached on Acts 25.  I talked about how Governor Porcius Festus (did you know his name means “Happy Pig” in English…the Romans liked to give people nicknames!) testifies to the King that Paul had done nothing “deserving death.”  When I started studying Acts 25, I was wondering why there was so much courtroom stuff in this chapter and in the chapters before.  How is this the gospel?  The Bible says things loud and clear but sometimes we are distracted and confused and it’s hard to hear but God is good and he gives us the answers.  I think the reason, first of all, that there’s “all this courtroom stuff” is because God wants us to get used to and prepared for trouble.  There are lots of Christians all over the world today that are in jail and in courtrooms.  The Bible says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that comes upon you…as though something strange were happening.” (I Peter 4)  But there’s a second reason for “all the courtroom stuff.”  The Bible wants to remind us of the courtroom of the Lord.  God is a judge sort of like Festus.  He (God) says to one, “You are right” and to the other, “you are wrong,” just like Festus said to Paul and his accusers.  I remember when our friend Z. was accused of shoplifting at K-Mart.  In the end the jury said to her, “you are in the right” (not guilty) and to K-Mart “you are wrong” (case closed). In Acts 25, we see God put his own word in the mouth of Festus.  Through Festus God declares Paul innocent.  Paul is in the right and his fellow Jews are in the wrong.  Isn’t it interesting that even though Festus doesn’t know the Lord, he honors and loves Festus anyway?  That’s our God, he’s so different from so many people.  In the Bible we learn about a Persian King, Cyrus.  He also did not know the Lord.  Here’s what it says in Isaiah 45, “Thus says the Lord to his Anointed, whose right hand I have held…I girded thee even though you don’t know me.”   

But you know, the main thing that I said on Sunday was something really surprising even to me, God has the sharpest sword in the world.  Why?  Because he is able to divide between man and his sin!  And in the courtroom of the world God says, “You are right” to mankind, and “you are wrong” to sin.  In fact, this is why there was the cross.  God’s word goes forth and prospers and blossoms and never fails of its purposes.  God’s word, “Yes!” to mankind and “No!” to sin and death and the devil, blossomed out and made the cross and the resurrection of Jesus the Anointed One.  Sister, there’s a lot of discouragement out there but the truth is encouragement.  God’s delight is to save all mankind. (I Timothy 2:4) I wanted to let you know about this. You certainly have encouraged me and I hope to encourage you too.

God bless you and all those who are with you both inmates and guards,

Amy

Take The Risk, Take The Responsibility, Follow Jesus

The kind and well-meaning nurse sighed and folded his arms.  He looked my mother in the eye and said, “you know it’s probably a good idea not to look on the internet.”  

Recently my stepfather Tom fainted and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.  It was the third time in a month that it had happened and my mother, understandably, was worried.  Of course her daughters, my sister and I sprang into action.  My sister drove to the hospital to be with my mom and stepfather, while I, living out of state, searched for information online.  There was certainly a lot to research, but  we are curious people in my family and we all wanted to know as much as possible.  So my mother would call me with a question and I would quickly google, and then read the various published papers and give her what I had.  My sister and mother were then armed with questions for the hospital staff.  These questions were, how shall we put this? —Not welcome.   As the granddaughter of two doctors and schooled by friends who are doctors and scientists, I think I understand the point of view of the medical community.  Patients researching their own conditions signal that they don’t trust the staff.  Patients and their families, googling online, seeking to diagnose their own condition can muck everything up.  They can harm themselves. The professionals are the ones in the know.  According to their lights, they and only they are qualified, and thus the nurse whom we admired and liked so much delivered his rebuke to my mother. But the real reason for his remark goes much deeper.  Before the Bible was translated into the various languages and then as those translations began to appear and be distributed, the priests grew increasingly alarmed and then began to actively inveigh against the people reading the Bible on their own.  It would, according to the Church, cause too much confusion, cause the people to distrust the religious authorities and even harm themselves.   Sound familiar?  And of course the priests were, in their way, quite correct.  Think of the destruction that has come from the heresies that have sprung up over the years! And yet, we know now that not only was it necessary, it is necessary for the people to read the Bible on their own, to be a check on the professionals, the people in the pews ever vigilant, weighing and criticizing the view from the pulpit.  As the prophet Jeremiah tells us, it is no longer the time for an authority figure to explain the Bible, the time of the new covenant is the time when the empowered people explain to one another (Jeremiah 31:34).  I stand in the pulpit and preach each Sunday but as my teachers in seminary taught me, it’s my goal was to work myself out of a job; to empower the people themselves to be the preachers.  This is not only the goal in our various congregations, this is our goal in a democracy, and yes, this should be our goal as patients too, but the remark of Tom’s nurse shows us the obvious: we have lost sight of this goal, lost the vision.  We are content to let others do the hard work for us. Content to “leave it to the professionals.” But this is not the way, instead God teaches us not to be afraid, to risk confusion and disaster and to be the adults, that through the Lord Jesus, He is giving us to be.

Implant a Microchip; Bury Freedom

Scrolling through the news recently a headline caught my eye: “River Falls company to embed RFID chips in fifty of its employees.”  Like most people my first reaction was horror. My dismay has only deepened as the days pass.  The Bible tells us that “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”  Implanted RFID chips destroy freedom. First, let’s not make a mistake about something basic: The RFID chip was no “option” offered by the company.  When the boss offers you something, and you decline, you may find that your next performance review doesn’t go so well.  “Offering” to implant a chip in your employees ought to be illegal. Moreover, consider what happens when a small group of people acquiesce to tyranny; it’s a threat to everyone’s liberty. There’s a reason that the law prohibits slavery for instance, without such a law, a few people would inevitably sell themselves into slavery, perhaps to pay off a loan, perhaps for other reasons, and soon slavery would be mandated rather than voluntary. But third, and most importantly, many people say, “I carry a smartphone, that’s way more intrusive than a chip.”  A smartphone is indeed intrusive, it can be used against you as a recorder and as tracker; it can be turned on without your knowledge, it can be and is used in a variety of nefarious ways, but a smartphone is not implanted in the body. We think of our bodies as a husk or a shell.  That’s a lie.  Jesus died for us body and soul together.  The Bible tells us that what we do to our bodies we do to our spirit, “Do you not know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own; you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your body.” (I Corinthians 6:19) Some counter: “We replace knees and hips and even ankles, why not implant a chip the size of a grain of rice?”  It is one thing for a doctor to ease our pain by replacing a worn out knee joint, but it is quite another to become a walking debit card.  This is not the vision of humanity that the Bible teaches.  This is not the humanity that the righteousness of God has brought about and is bringing about through the Lord Jesus. God frees us, God heals us, God gives us dignity and honor, he gives us the gift of love and mercy.  In the Lord Jesus we can indeed, “guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride,” just as the song says. And 32Market can do the right thing too.  They can require their employees to remove the RFID chip. In so doing, they would truly be visionary, because they would be falling in line with God’s vision of and future for humanity.  Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life.”

No One Ever Changes

A few days ago I got the chance to visit with my best friend Katy in Chicago and she and I happened to meet an old acquaintance.  I had not seen him in thirty years.  It was great to share a meal with him and chat a bit.  But I realized a curious thing after we had parted.  The conversation over our meal had been, at least in its themes, a repeat of the last conversation I had had with him over thirty years before.  But as if this were not extraordinary enough I realized in a flash of insight something even more important although outwardly unrelated to our pleasant mealtime conversation: I had not changed in thirty years; I was still the same destructive, self-destructive, arrogant and cold-hearted sinner that I had always been. Just in case the reader think that I am being too hard on myself, consider that the apostle Paul says as much; he refers to himself in the present as a sinner. (I Tim. 1:13)  But here’s the rub, or more precisely the beautiful dialogue into which the Bible leads us, we are also completely changed, “therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away, look, the new has come”  (2 Cor. 5:17) Paul expands on this good news in another place “ I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, the life I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me”  In other words, we have died and the life we now lead is entirely by the faith, the establishment, the “amen power” that raised Jesus from the dead. As Mahalia Jackson sings “I woke this morning!” How? by that faith, a power completely outside ourselves that comes straight from heaven and goes directly into our hearts.  Truly, we walk by faith and not by sight. Do we understand the indescribably good gift that God has given to us? * So you see, we are changed; we are the first fruits of the change, of the immortality that is to come (I Cor. 15), but lest we get on our high horse and ride off into the sunset of delusion, the Bible and life itself reminds us from time to time of what is also the truth; one that is less weighty but revelatory and saving: that we are still what we ever were, as Paul puts it, “Oh wretched man that I am” (note the present tense).  No need to worry about getting a swelled head, our loving Father keeps us from that and all evils. 

*Actually, we can't understand this, if we think we live by our own faith, if we do, the life in Christ becomes not an indescribably great and gracious gift but rather some kind of dubious exchange with God.  But if faith is something quite different, if it is the power with which the Messiah is girded and strengthened, if it is what the King James Bible translates as establishment in reference to Samuel then we learn what gratitude really is, then we learn how boasting is totally excluded.

Result, Not Condition

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son in order that all those believing might not perish but have eternal life.”  This is perhaps the most well known verse in the Bible but what does it mean?  Does it mean that unless we believe we will not live eternally?  Certainly we know that unbelievers and many other types of sinners will end up in the lake of fire. (Rev. 21:8) Isaiah tells us, “they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.”  Sin has no place in the New Jerusalem. The question is, will there be any cowards, or unbelievers or murderers or sinners to throw into that lake?  You see, when John speaks about “all those believing,” he is not setting a condition, rather he is describing the result.  Any believing on our part is the result, not the condition of God’s love and the sending of his son. Remember the Red Sea.  God saved the children of Israel and then they believed.  How could it be less with the Lord Jesus?  Sometimes we are also deceived by our interpretation of Romans 10 where it says that “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.”  We think that here too, Paul is imposing a condition on salvation, “you have to believe otherwise you will not be saved.”  But what is happening in Romans 10 is different.  Paul is speaking to those at Rome who are anxious.  They're not Jewish; Israel is the apple of God’s eye but what about them, what about people of different ethnicities?  Paul calms them, “your believing, your calling on the Lord is assurance that God has already broken into you life, already saved you and he's faithful and will stick by you all the way!  The “if” is not a condition, it is a comfort.  It turns out that the only requirement for salvation is to be a sinner.  What happens if all your life you have never believed?  The answer is we do not know.  We know that God is good and he sees all the good you have done in your life.  We know too that death is no impediment to Jesus.  He goes down into hell and preaches to the worst of the worst. (I Peter 3:19) As the theologian, Markus Barth said, God is both willing and able to save all men, turning them to the truth.  Some object, “my whole life I have been believing, how is it that someone who in their life never knew Jesus might enter the kingdom too?  How is that fair?”  But isn't this the objection of the workers in Matthew 20? What is the Lord’s answer? “Friend, I am doing you no wrong…Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?  Why do you give me the evil eye because I am good?”

Circle of Love

Jesus says “Ask for anything, I will do it.” (John 14:14)  Really?  For a long time this promise seemed impossible to me; Jesus couldn’t have meant it.  What I didn’t understand was that we have been “transferred from darkness into the kingdom of the beloved son.” (Col. 1:13)  You see, we have become like Abraham, like Isaac, like David and even like Jesus.  Let me explain:  Abraham was drawn into God’s inner circle, deciding with Him, the course of history. (Gen. 18:19)  Abraham was more than God’s servant, Abraham is God’s friend.  And so it is with us,  Jesus says, “no more will I call you servants but friends.” (John 15:15)  We can ask Jesus anything because we are his friends.  Further, we have become like Isaac.  Abraham gave Isaac “all that he had.”  Isaac was Abraham’s darling son whom he loved more than life.  In the same way, all that God has is for us; we have received a spirit of Sonship,”by whom we cry, Abba! Father.”  We ask the Lord for anything and everything because everything is for us.  But there is even more to the story.  In 2 Samuel 7, King David wants to build God a house, but Lord cannot allow this, it is for Him to take care of David not the other way around.  But the Lord gives David the greatest consolation prize ever, He says, “I will build you a house.”  And this house will be a forever house, “I will raise up your seed and establish his kingdom forever…and if he commits iniquity I will chasten him but I will not take away my love from him, your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before me.”  Now, an objection might be raised here, one might ask, “surely this forever house and this love is for Jesus and not for me?”  Yes, it is for Jesus but as the prophet Isaiah saw it is also for us.  The Lord says in Isaiah 55:3, “I will give you (plural!) the love, the faithful love of David.”  This is poetry but what it means is that everything that the Lord gives to his Son, his David messiah, is for us too, for “ the many” (53:11) as they are drawn one by one into the kingdom.  Moreover, Jesus is without sin, but all too often we fall short.  How many times has God renewed us in his love?  This is nothing less than  the promise of 2 Samuel 7 confirmed in our lives. One more thing: In 2 Samuel 7 after David hears God’s truly incredible promise, David actually prays for the promise!  He explains why, “God you have revealed that my throne will be forever, therefore I take courage and I have pray that this would be so.” This is the final reason why we ask anything of Jesus, because we have been given everything! This is not to say that our lives will be without suffering, on the contrary, Paul says that he and the other apostles are “like sheep for the slaughter” and yet, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come nor powers nor high nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8)

The Patience of God

In Isaiah, also sometimes called the "book of consolation," we read, "Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you." (Isaiah 30)  What is God waiting for?  Why does he wait?  We might initially think that God waits for us.  Maybe he's waiting for us to do something, show some sign of goodness however small so that he can, in turn, be gracious.   The chapter however, and indeed, the entire book of Isaiah, militates against any such conclusion.  In Isaiah, people are not capable of goodness, even their righteous deeds are "filthy rags"(64:6) and "all we like sheep have gone astray." (53:6)  No, the Lord isn't waiting for us to do something, he is waiting because he is patient and has something in mind for us so wonderful that we cannot even imagine it. (I Cor. 2:9)  He is waiting for the right time to show us his grace.  Think of Abraham and Sarah.  Certainly God wanted to give them a child in their youth. Had he, however, given Abraham and Sarah a child at the normal time, they would have rejoiced but chalked up the gift of baby Isaac to normal life.  God did not give Abraham and Sarah a baby in their twenties or their thirties, instead he waited until Abraham was ninety-nine years old and Sarah was ninety before he gave them Isaac.  He "waited to be gracious to them."  Only in this way could he give them not only a little baby to love but also the most precious gift of all, to know God for whom nothing is too difficult. (Gen. 6) The Lord God is always with us but sometimes he waits in faith and patience for the right time to show us his grace. And as if that were not enough good news, he give us this faith and patience too.(Isaiah 55:3)  But there is even more, so often the faith and patience that he gives us is not for ourselves but for someone else.  In the church I have found that time and time again it is someone else's faith and patience that sustains me in the trials of life. How many times has someone, in effect, laid a comforting hand on my shoulder saying, "steady on, your prayers will be answered, steady on, hold fast." We are supported and saved by other peoples' faith and patience and then we hope to return the favor. This is why God puts us in his assembly, so that you can save me and I can save you right back. (Romans 1, I Chron. 19:12) 

It's Not A "Belief System"

I was listening to Krista Tippet’s show on the radio tonight and she had as her guest, Craig Minowa, frontman for the band, Cloud Cult.  I was struck by a couple of things in the interview. First off, he referred twice to his mother’s Lutheranism, as her “belief system.” Perhaps he didn't mean to disparage her; in other parts of the interview it sounded like he really loved her.  However, the phrase “belief system” has nothing to do with what happens in church on Sunday.

Let me explain: When God brought Israel out of Egypt it had nothing to do with a belief system. Rather, it was God’s faithfulness that did it, as Hebrews tells us.  It was God alone that had faith, even after forty years in the wilderness the Israelites were “sons in whom there is no faith.”  But what God did then has no comparison to what God has done for Jews and Gentiles in Jesus.  It's on the same lines to be sure, but it was something even greater than God’s faithfulness (although he is always that). This time, God the Father “enfaithed” his son, and we are justified by that “enfaithment” or establishment.  This is the meaning of what it says in Romans 3, that we are justified by the faith of Jesus.  Craig Minowa’s mother doesn't have a “belief system,” rather she's been created in Christ Jesus to do good things that God prepared in advance for her to do.  We are the branches and Lord Jesus is the vine. One more thing, on the program Craig Minowa said that all human beings are “gorgeous.”  He said (to paraphrase) if you could just free people from their shells, everyone would see that everyone is “gorgeous.”  He's  right on that score.  We all are gorgeous.  God said so. He looked at all creation and saw that it was "very beautiful."    But God's beautiful creatures fall into abysmal sin; “all we like sheep have gone astray,” though we are still and always, “very beautiful.”  The beauty, however, makes it all the more terrible that we can do the things that we do, “O how the mighty have fallen.”  God didn't give up on us though, rather, he gives his all, "once for all" sending his only begotten son into the world because he loved murderers, and betrayers, and cowards like us.  He had promised many years before, “I will give you (plural) the faithful pities of David."  This is the poetry of Isaiah but it means that the same faith and love that raised Jesus from the dead and gave him the victory on the cross would be given to us.   Minowa’s Mom and all those who have been placed in communion to “mutually encourage one another” on Sunday morning are there because of the power of faith but it’s not their own faith. Sunday in church is all about grace and where that grace will stop nobody knows, all we know is that the dominoes are falling and nothing and no one can stop the righteousness of God; he makes right what is wrong.

Fire Upon The Earth

In Luke chapter 12, Jesus says that he has come to “cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled.”  Our first reaction? “Whoa!  That sounds scary!”  But something surprising is going on.   The fire from heaven is none other than the cross. Jesus is speaking not about the wrath of God but about God’s love. Remember the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal found in 1 Kings 18:37ff.  There Elijah suggests a contest between God and Baal.    He says to the prophets, “You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, he is Lord.”  Baal’s prophets go first; all morning long they are crying out.  No dice.  Elijah then prepares Israel’s altar and burnt offering and prays, “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God...that this people may know that thou art God and that thou hast turned back their hearts back.” (emphasis added)  The fire, in other words, is not only so they might know who the Lord is, that he still loves them, that he still is their savior, and that they still belong to him, it also a sign, a demonstration, from heaven that God has already forgiven them, and he has already come in and healed their hearts, taking away the sins that kept them from the Lord. When we see the cross, that is what we see. Let's go back to Elijah's story.  “Then, the fire of the Lord fell” and it not only consumed the burnt offering, but the altar, and not only the altar, but the water in the surrounding trench. Fire from heaven devoured the offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, it even licked up all the water that was in the trench!  When the people see this they fall on their faces and say, “YHWH, he is God, YHWH, he is God!”   The cross is like this. First, it shows who the Lord is. Other “gods” demand sacrifices, but the Lord of Israel gives the sacrifice. Second, it is the demonstration of how God has already forgiven us.  It is a demonstration of how God has already come in and healed us, “turned back our hearts.” (Romans 5:25b) As it says in Isaiah 40, “Comfort, comfort my people, speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended and that her iniquity is pardoned.  The battle is over and YHWH has won.  This is why Jesus says just a verse later in Luke chapter 12 that he is “constrained” until the time of the fire, the time of his “baptism” comes.  Like Joseph in Genesis (Genesis 43 &45), he longs to help us, and make us right and heal us but he restrains himself for the right time (Romans 5:6). And when that right time comes he says to us like Joseph did to his brothers, “you meant it for evil” but God meant my cross “for good.” (Genesis 50:20) We Jews and Gentiles, we killed our Lord.  He died because of our iniquities but God meant it for our good, to bless us, yes, to bless the killers, killers like you and me, making our stone hearts into a real ones, ones like God’s own. 

The Prayer of Faith

In James 5:15, James speaks to the elders of the church.  They should gather around the sick and “anoint that one with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up.”  In our Presbyterian denomination, the elders of the various churches do this. Often there has been healing.  What about those times, though, where healing has not come?  When this happens we tend to assume there was something wrong with us or our prayer.  This assumption is wrong.    First, remember the Syro-Phoenician woman to whom God said “no.” (Mark 7:24-30) What did she do then?  She pressed on.  Her patience, her perseverance, this was her faith.  Consider a second case, without a doubt Jesus is faithful and yet remember how even he had to persevere to heal the blind man. (Mark 8:22)  

The question might arise, “why must we sometimes persevere in prayer?”  The answer comes when we recall how God trains his people up.  Look at Judges 3:2, “When Israel came into the promised land, God left certain enemies in the land in order to teach the people to war, to train them up,” that is, to teach them to fight the good fight, to teach them to be patient and to fight despair.  The word “faith” can also mean our “establishment” from God. God may be establishing us by calling us to patience.  We may be showing “faith” or “establishment” through patience and perseverance.  Finally though, let’s cast a glance at the larger picture: Certainly faith raises people up from sickness and even from the grave. (Acts 13:34b-35)  This faith however is not necessarily our own!  God is faithful even when we are not. (2 Tim. 2:13) It was HIS faith that raised Jesus up from the grave.  Moreover, it was (to coin a word) Jesus’ “enfaithment” by his Father that “justifies many.”  Romans 3:22, Isaiah 53:11)  We see then that whichever way you look at it, faith is powerful; faith is healing.  Faith makes the dead live. And one last thing, remember that when we fail, his glory shines all the brighter. Think of Peter sinking beneath the waves-- but what did the Lord do?  “Immediately he reached out his hand” (Mt. 14:31) and saved Peter.  James commands the elders of the church to gather round the sick to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord and reminds them that the prayer of faith will save.  The Lord saves but he shares his power to save with us; all that he has he gives to us because he love us.  He has promised to do so (Isaiah 55:3) and he keeps his promises, not a word of his, falls to the ground empty. (55:11)  We are granted to work beside him in the vineyard, for “we were created in Christ Jesus to do good things that God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

The Don

In my churches, as we go chapter by chapter through the Old and New Testaments, we recently read Luke, chapter four.  There we see that those possessed by demons are not exactly welcoming to Jesus; they recoil from him, “Ah, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”( 34a)  This rejection, however, is nothing new, and is certainly not confined to demoniacs.  Jesus is not asked into most of the regions where he teaches and heals.  Jerusalem is especially hostile to Jesus.  Yet, Jesus goes to places where he is not asked. He saves and heals those who never asked him to come into their lives.  As God puts it in Isaiah, “I was found by those who did not seek me.” How can he do this?  The answer is simple.  Jesus goes to those places and people that reject him because those places and those people belong to him. They are his.  Through him all things were created, as the letter to the Ephesians reminds us. Do you remember how Jesus calls upon the Father in the garden of Gethsemane?  In the original language, it’s plain as day; Jesus calls his Father, “O Despot.”  The word means one of power, a “Strong Arm” as we might put it colloquially.  Now, granted, this “Despot,” this “Strong Arm,” is not the one of our imaginations.  God is a perfect gentleman, the Lord God has more compassion and faith in him than we could possibly imagine.  The Lord weeps over our violence and wickedness both in the Old and New Testaments.  There are vast differences between our Lord and even the great Don Corleone of Mario Puzo’s novel, “The Godfather.”  Let us not forget, however, that God is, in fact, the Don. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel is the one and only “Don”; Lord of not just some segments of New Jersey and Illinois, but Lord of all creation.  We belong to him, in life and in death, we and all creation are his.  He goes where he wants because it is all his.

Jesus Didn't Go It Alone!

God grieves.  We see it in Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Now, this is not to say that the cross is not the joy of the Lord, his good pleasure.  Of course it is.  Were we ever to come to God with the lament, “Oh, Lord we were such trouble to you.  You had to give up to death your only begotten son on the cross in order to take away our sin.”  He would reply, “My beloved son, it was my pleasure!” (Isaiah 53:10)  Jesus too is happy to suffer for our sakes, “he shall be satisfied by his knowledge” (vs. 11). Yet, God grieves, not just in the Garden of Gethsemane but in various places throughout the Bible.  In Jeremiah 9:10 for instance, the Lord says, “I will weep and wail for the mountains...desolate and untraveled..the birds of the air have fled and the animals have gone.” Yes, God weeps and wails! It was noticed many years ago by a theologian that at the Nuremberg trials, the Nazi leaders were stoic as they heard their sentences; contrast this with the Lord Jesus who was “deeply distressed, unto death.” (Mark 14:34) The question becomes, Who shall we learn from and emulate? Goering and Rosenberg? Or Jesus?  Are we quite sure that keeping a “stiff upper lip” is the thing to do?  Do we want to be like the Nazi leaders or like our Father in heaven? 

Sometimes too when we are suffering, we believe ourselves to be all alone.  We are startled by the depth of our grief and begin to think that suffering like ours must be rare or even unique; we fall into despair believing ourselves to be set apart.  The Bible corrects this terrible error. In Gethsemane we see that extreme suffering, even to the point of death is part of the human condition, because THE human, Jesus suffers so deeply.  What you are going through right now is part of the human condition.

Notice with me one thing more about Gethsemane. Jesus calls for his disciples to gather round him.  In other words, Jesus reaches out for help.  So often, we want to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.  “I ought to be able to handle this myself.”  Here’s my reply, “Who says?”  Not the Bible, not the example of Jesus!  We were created by the Lord, in order to be there for one another.  At Gethsemane, it’s true, Jesus’ disciples failed him.  Sometimes some of our friends may fail us, perhaps by being distracted or by saying the wrong thing.  Nevertheless, Jesus was not alone.  He was saved in the garden. (Hebrews 5:7) He most certainly did not “pull himself up by his own bootstraps!” Preposterous!  Because there was one friend who never deserted him--his heavenly Father.  The idea that we should “go it alone” is a lie.  Never be afraid to grieve, to weep, to wail and never hesitate to reach out for help, that is what your neighbors and friends, and pastors and acquaintances are there for!  And know, that even if all these fail you, you have one friend who will never forsake you; your heavenly Father will lift you up, as on eagle’s wings.  "And if it delay, wait for it!" (Habakkuk 2:4)

Our Friend, The Holy Spirit

“May the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  This is the blessing that we often hear at the close of worship service. We can easily understand the first two parts.  The “grace of Jesus” is the grace that the Lord Jesus showers upon us (“he loved his own and he loved them to the end” --John 13), it is also the grace his Father lavishes upon him, Jesus, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
In the same way, the phrase the “love of God” is straightforward.  Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with news of the love of God, “you are honored and precious in my sight,” God says, “and I love you, I give man in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.” (Isaiah 43)
What, however, is the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit?”  I learn that the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” could be said to be the true friendship and friendliness of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we forget what a friend the Holy Spirit really is.  He is with us all the way.  His spirit is with our spirit, right alongside us. (Romans 8:16) He is there with us when all have forgotten and abandoned us.  He lifts us up from the deepest pit and revives us again. (8:10-11)  He intercedes for us with “sighs too deep for words.”  The Spirit makes common cause with us.  So you see, when the blessing is given that the people may have the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” we are being blessed so that we too might have this same friendship and common cause with one another.  Many years ago I read of a church where many people had debts on their credit cards.  It was a terrible problem.  But then one day, the minister realized that something wonderful could be done.  A big glass jar was placed on the communion table.  One family was chosen by lot to come and put their credit card in the glass jar.  Then when the offering time came around, the people came forward and put money in the bowl, as much as they could.  Every Sunday they did that, until there was enough money to pay off the family’s entire debt.  Then it all started all over again with another family chosen at random; and one wonderful Sunday, the entire congregation was free from debt.  Sometimes we forget that love and friendship in the Bible is not only the feeling we have in our hearts; it is action too. The people in that church made true common cause with one another, opening their wallets and sharing what they had.  Sometimes where we spend money shows where our hearts really are.  The heart of the Holy Spirit is with us all the way.  He is with us even when we make bed in Sheol (Psalm 139). He raises us up on eagle’s wings.  He never fails or forsakes us.  But it doesn’t end there.  Just as the Holy Spirit is our friend, we are empowered by the Lord to be friends with one another.