Palm Sunday is a most perplexing day in the church year. It looks great what with all the praising and celebrating and affirming the Kingship of Jesus, but one doesn’t have to look too closely to see that, in fact, there is trouble in River City, or Jerusalem as the case may be.
It’s a paradoxical day, too. The average guy on the street apparently gets what the most learned of the Spiritual scholars couldn’t grasp. They saw that Jesus was the One who came to them “in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38). It looks like they knew their Scriptures too, because that’s a quote from their Psalms (118:26). And, in looking at Him they could affirm the truth, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38).
How deeply the truth ran in them we don’t know. We do know that five days later in Luke, many of them were calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. Maybe their vacillation was what led Jesus to weep over the city as he approached it (Luke 19:41). We don’t know; we just know that on this one day they got it right, so much so that Jesus said “If these become silent, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).
Here’s my concern. From “praise Him” to “Crucify Him” in a period of a few days is scandalous information. I fear that it is far too easy to get caught up in crowd mentality and lose oneself in the swarm.
I can’t speak for anybody but myself but may God help me to know what I know, to believe what I believe, and to stand for Him on Palm Sunday or Good Friday. If I’m going to praise Him on Sunday then surely I will have enough gumption and drive to live for Him when the powers that be call for His demise.
After all, if He is Lord on Sunday then He is Lord everyday of the week and in whatever situation we find ourselves. If He is Lord on Sunday then we must pick up our cross and follow Him on Friday.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
To the Jewish faith the Exodus out of Egypt and into the Promise Land is huge. It is the pivotal point of everything. God showed up in history in that event and worked His sovereign works in such a way that nobody could ever look back and say, “This is what we did.” No! The exodus was what God did.
As huge as the exodus was, however, Isaiah told the people in his day, “Do not call to mind the former things or ponder things of the past” (Is. 43:18). Isaiah asks the people to let go of the past, not because it wasn’t important anymore; it was important. It was just that God was going to do “Something new” in the world, so huge that even the exodus pales in comparison (Is. 43:19).
And what exactly was this “something new”? As God made a way when there was no way, so, too, He was going to make a way out of spiritual darkness and deserts and bring into the dry, barren places the fresh flowing river of God. It would flow “far as the curse was found,”[1] and deeper than our deepest sinful stain. It would bring life into death and new beginnings into dead ends.
As God provided the way out of Egypt and into the Promise Land so He would provide the way out of the bondage of sin and into the life of God. God made a promise and what He promised He has now done in the life of Jesus Christ. In Jesus the past has met the future and as a result our present moments are embraced by the grace of God. Indeed, God is up to something great and we, and everyone in our world, is invited to be a part of it.
This is why local churches in neighborhoods around the world exist. They are here to let the river of God flow through them into the lives of everyone within their sphere of influence.
[1] From the third verse of “Joy to the World,” by Isaac Watts, 1719
As huge as the exodus was, however, Isaiah told the people in his day, “Do not call to mind the former things or ponder things of the past” (Is. 43:18). Isaiah asks the people to let go of the past, not because it wasn’t important anymore; it was important. It was just that God was going to do “Something new” in the world, so huge that even the exodus pales in comparison (Is. 43:19).
And what exactly was this “something new”? As God made a way when there was no way, so, too, He was going to make a way out of spiritual darkness and deserts and bring into the dry, barren places the fresh flowing river of God. It would flow “far as the curse was found,”[1] and deeper than our deepest sinful stain. It would bring life into death and new beginnings into dead ends.
As God provided the way out of Egypt and into the Promise Land so He would provide the way out of the bondage of sin and into the life of God. God made a promise and what He promised He has now done in the life of Jesus Christ. In Jesus the past has met the future and as a result our present moments are embraced by the grace of God. Indeed, God is up to something great and we, and everyone in our world, is invited to be a part of it.
This is why local churches in neighborhoods around the world exist. They are here to let the river of God flow through them into the lives of everyone within their sphere of influence.
[1] From the third verse of “Joy to the World,” by Isaac Watts, 1719
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Once upon a time there were two brothers who had a prosperous father and so enjoyed the benefits of wealth. One day one of the sons expressed to his father that he was tired of his life and that he wanted what was his so that he could go to new places and explore the wonders of the world. It broke his father’s heart but he gave him his inheritance; and off he went to the wonders of wine, women and song, and soon he was caught up in a life where to eat, drink and be merry were routines of his days.
One day his money ran out and, ironically, so did all the friends he had made in the new world. Suddenly he was alone, broke and friendless. In time he began to yearn for the good old days of his home and finally, broken, embarrassed, sad and alone he made his way back home. To his surprise his father was waiting for him and threw him a "coming home" party the likes of which he could never have imagined.
At this point the sins of the second son surface. Anger surged in him. Resentment at the fact that his father had never thrown him a party burned in his very soul. After all, he had been the faithful son, the good son, the son who always did what he was told. How could his father give a party for his brother when his brother had hurt his father so badly? The father explained that everything he had was available to him, everything. He thought he had lost a son only to find him again. How could life go on without a party?
Once upon a time a father had two prodigal sons. One looked better than the other but, make no mistake about it, they were both prodigals. The one was an obvious sinner; the other not so obvious.
Moral of the story? "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 3:23, 6:23). I think it is time for some parties around here.
One day his money ran out and, ironically, so did all the friends he had made in the new world. Suddenly he was alone, broke and friendless. In time he began to yearn for the good old days of his home and finally, broken, embarrassed, sad and alone he made his way back home. To his surprise his father was waiting for him and threw him a "coming home" party the likes of which he could never have imagined.
At this point the sins of the second son surface. Anger surged in him. Resentment at the fact that his father had never thrown him a party burned in his very soul. After all, he had been the faithful son, the good son, the son who always did what he was told. How could his father give a party for his brother when his brother had hurt his father so badly? The father explained that everything he had was available to him, everything. He thought he had lost a son only to find him again. How could life go on without a party?
Once upon a time a father had two prodigal sons. One looked better than the other but, make no mistake about it, they were both prodigals. The one was an obvious sinner; the other not so obvious.
Moral of the story? "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 3:23, 6:23). I think it is time for some parties around here.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Jesus gives great hope to us when He says in Luke 13:29, “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.” That’s why you and I are in the kingdom of God today. Jesus didn’t stay in Jerusalem. He has come all the way to North America, all the way to the South Western United States, to Southern California, and a town there called, Pasadena. When Jesus said they would come from the east and west and north and south, He meant it, didn’t He?
Once upon a time some folks asked Jesus, “Lord, are they just a few who are being saved?” (Luke 13:23), and He never really answered their question. He just said, “They will come from east and west and north and south.” It’s almost as if Jesus in his silence is saying, “a head count is not what we’re looking for. What we’re looking for is the ever-expanding table of the Lord where there’s always room for one more.”
It took the ever-expanding table of God about 2000 years to work its way to the place where I came to know there was room for me at the table. Where were you when the folks at the table made room for you? Maybe it really isn’t head-counting we need. Maybe we just need to always be on the lookout for that one more who will come from the east or west or north or south.
We can be sure of one thing – Jesus is certainly on the lookout. And, our faith tells us that He has called us to be alongside Him as He makes his appeal to citizens of the planet.
We’ve a story to tell and a life to live. Let’s tell the story clearly and live the life unambiguously.
Once upon a time some folks asked Jesus, “Lord, are they just a few who are being saved?” (Luke 13:23), and He never really answered their question. He just said, “They will come from east and west and north and south.” It’s almost as if Jesus in his silence is saying, “a head count is not what we’re looking for. What we’re looking for is the ever-expanding table of the Lord where there’s always room for one more.”
It took the ever-expanding table of God about 2000 years to work its way to the place where I came to know there was room for me at the table. Where were you when the folks at the table made room for you? Maybe it really isn’t head-counting we need. Maybe we just need to always be on the lookout for that one more who will come from the east or west or north or south.
We can be sure of one thing – Jesus is certainly on the lookout. And, our faith tells us that He has called us to be alongside Him as He makes his appeal to citizens of the planet.
We’ve a story to tell and a life to live. Let’s tell the story clearly and live the life unambiguously.
February 25, 2007
Sometimes the will of God can take you into the wilderness. That’s how Jesus got there, anyway. The Bible says, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luke 4:1). It was under the influence of the Holy Spirit Jesus ended up in that place where for forty days he faced the full assault of the devil.
In the season of Lent we are reminded that there are forces at work in the world that are unsympathetic to the ways of God revealed in the life of Jesus. That means they are also unsympathetic to those who embrace Jesus. And why wouldn’t they be? In the life of the Christian the enemy comes face to face with the life of the Spirit of God. So it is that Christians, too, can find themselves “led by the Spirit” into wilderness places.
Just like Jesus, those who live in His life, are enabled in the wilderness to experience the victory that Jesus Himself experienced when He met Satan head on, defeated him three times, and began that winding road to Calvary where He would defeat Satan once and for all, forever. In the wilderness we do not live in defeat. We are nourished by the life of Jesus.
This is why the Gospel is such Good News. To everyone who experiences the wilderness there is a Savior who experienced it, too, a Savior who conquered sin and death and lives as Lord in the world today. Wildernesses can be hot, humid and devastating but they are not Lord. Jesus is Lord. In the desert He brings a stream of life giving water.
So it is every local church is present to invite people to the living water, to that oasis of life where the grace of God flows and where people are renewed, re-energized and redeemed to everlasting life.
Sometimes the will of God can take you into the wilderness. That’s how Jesus got there, anyway. The Bible says, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luke 4:1). It was under the influence of the Holy Spirit Jesus ended up in that place where for forty days he faced the full assault of the devil.
In the season of Lent we are reminded that there are forces at work in the world that are unsympathetic to the ways of God revealed in the life of Jesus. That means they are also unsympathetic to those who embrace Jesus. And why wouldn’t they be? In the life of the Christian the enemy comes face to face with the life of the Spirit of God. So it is that Christians, too, can find themselves “led by the Spirit” into wilderness places.
Just like Jesus, those who live in His life, are enabled in the wilderness to experience the victory that Jesus Himself experienced when He met Satan head on, defeated him three times, and began that winding road to Calvary where He would defeat Satan once and for all, forever. In the wilderness we do not live in defeat. We are nourished by the life of Jesus.
This is why the Gospel is such Good News. To everyone who experiences the wilderness there is a Savior who experienced it, too, a Savior who conquered sin and death and lives as Lord in the world today. Wildernesses can be hot, humid and devastating but they are not Lord. Jesus is Lord. In the desert He brings a stream of life giving water.
So it is every local church is present to invite people to the living water, to that oasis of life where the grace of God flows and where people are renewed, re-energized and redeemed to everlasting life.
February 18, 2007
Sometimes its tough to love the people you already love but Jesus calls us to do more even than this. He says, (are you setting down?) "Love your enemies" (Luke 6:27). That just complicates everything, doesn't it! I mean, good grief, how much can He expect from us? We're only human.
Nobody said being a Christian was easy. It isn't; at least if you take Jesus seriously, it isn't easy. It will cost you everything. It will affect your finances, your possessions, your values, your decision-making, your relationships, and even your time management. It will even affect how you relate to people who believe differently than you, who think differently than you, and who embrace values and morals you would never embrace.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die."[1] That about says it all. The old timers use to call it dying out to God, and putting everything on the altar, and consecrating all to God. Pick a phrase. They all work. What they all means is that people who take Jesus seriously and live as Christ-like followers, have let go their natural way of doing things and have come to embrace the ways and means of God. The apostle Paul said it this way, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20).
We will probably never love our enemies in our own strength but that's okay. We're not living for ourselves but for the Jesus who "emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adams helpless race."[2] In Him all things become new, and "by His scourging we are healed" to live redeemed lives (see 2 Cor. 5:17 and Is. 53:5).
May God help us to be a place and a people of love in a world where everybody needs a place and a people of love.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
[2] Charles Wesley, "And Can It Be?"
Sometimes its tough to love the people you already love but Jesus calls us to do more even than this. He says, (are you setting down?) "Love your enemies" (Luke 6:27). That just complicates everything, doesn't it! I mean, good grief, how much can He expect from us? We're only human.
Nobody said being a Christian was easy. It isn't; at least if you take Jesus seriously, it isn't easy. It will cost you everything. It will affect your finances, your possessions, your values, your decision-making, your relationships, and even your time management. It will even affect how you relate to people who believe differently than you, who think differently than you, and who embrace values and morals you would never embrace.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die."[1] That about says it all. The old timers use to call it dying out to God, and putting everything on the altar, and consecrating all to God. Pick a phrase. They all work. What they all means is that people who take Jesus seriously and live as Christ-like followers, have let go their natural way of doing things and have come to embrace the ways and means of God. The apostle Paul said it this way, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20).
We will probably never love our enemies in our own strength but that's okay. We're not living for ourselves but for the Jesus who "emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adams helpless race."[2] In Him all things become new, and "by His scourging we are healed" to live redeemed lives (see 2 Cor. 5:17 and Is. 53:5).
May God help us to be a place and a people of love in a world where everybody needs a place and a people of love.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
[2] Charles Wesley, "And Can It Be?"
February 11, 2007
I am intrigued with the title of a book I saw recently called, Wherever You Go, There You Are.[1] The book itself didn't seem that interesting to me but I love the title because it is absolutely true. There is no way for each of us to get away from our self. Wherever we go, there we are. 24/7, we are on the clock living out the seconds of our lives, doing what we choose to do, being who we are.
All of this is sobering especially when we are confronted by the word of Scripture that tells us "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Human beings are on the clock 24/7 with questionable hearts. How is that for a dose of reality? We're stuck with deceitful and hard-to-understand hearts, and there's not much we can do about it.
Fortunately there is a healthy and realistic way out of the mess we are in. The Bible tells us, 'Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord" (Jer. 17:7). What a turn of events that is.
How does one get from "deceitful" and "desperately sick" to "blessed"? The Biblical answer to the question is for us to put our trust in the Lord, to build our lives on God and to trust His presence is our story. To do this says the prophet of God is to "be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream" (Jer. 17:8). This place is the place of refreshment and nourishment, the place where one is not driven by anxiety in the time of drought.
This is the place to which we invite people and where we live ourselves. It is the place of God, and everyone is welcomed there.
[1] Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Paperback)
I am intrigued with the title of a book I saw recently called, Wherever You Go, There You Are.[1] The book itself didn't seem that interesting to me but I love the title because it is absolutely true. There is no way for each of us to get away from our self. Wherever we go, there we are. 24/7, we are on the clock living out the seconds of our lives, doing what we choose to do, being who we are.
All of this is sobering especially when we are confronted by the word of Scripture that tells us "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Human beings are on the clock 24/7 with questionable hearts. How is that for a dose of reality? We're stuck with deceitful and hard-to-understand hearts, and there's not much we can do about it.
Fortunately there is a healthy and realistic way out of the mess we are in. The Bible tells us, 'Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord" (Jer. 17:7). What a turn of events that is.
How does one get from "deceitful" and "desperately sick" to "blessed"? The Biblical answer to the question is for us to put our trust in the Lord, to build our lives on God and to trust His presence is our story. To do this says the prophet of God is to "be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream" (Jer. 17:8). This place is the place of refreshment and nourishment, the place where one is not driven by anxiety in the time of drought.
This is the place to which we invite people and where we live ourselves. It is the place of God, and everyone is welcomed there.
[1] Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Paperback)
February 4, 2007
It doesn’t sound too challenging to those of us in the 21st century but to fisherman of the first century who had fished all night and caught nothing, hearing a challenge to “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4), could have been a real challenge, especially when the one putting out the challenge was a carpenter, not a fisherman. Still, the fishermen listened to Jesus, did what He challenged them to do and, wouldn’t you know it, “They enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boats for them to come and help them. And they came and filled the boats, so that they began to sink” (Luke 4:6-7).
What an interesting story, but it gets better. Peter, the fishless fisherman to whom Jesus had given the challenge, seeing what was unfolding before his very eyes, falls at Jesus’ feet and says to him, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). Isn’t that interesting? How do you get from what finally becomes a great day business to “I am a sinful man, O Lord”?
I suppose we would have to talk to Peter to get a sense of what He was really experiencing in that moment but Luke tells us the reason Peter did it was because, “amazement had seized him” (Luke 5:9). There was something about the moment and the Man that captivated Peter and, in a heartbeat, he moves beyond a-great-day-at-work to self-awareness that leads him to confession and a heightened sense of himself.
Moments and events like these are dangerous because they connect people with God. Moments and events like these are wonderful because they connect people with God.
God is at work in Jesus Christ, and we do well to listen to this Carpenter.
It doesn’t sound too challenging to those of us in the 21st century but to fisherman of the first century who had fished all night and caught nothing, hearing a challenge to “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4), could have been a real challenge, especially when the one putting out the challenge was a carpenter, not a fisherman. Still, the fishermen listened to Jesus, did what He challenged them to do and, wouldn’t you know it, “They enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boats for them to come and help them. And they came and filled the boats, so that they began to sink” (Luke 4:6-7).
What an interesting story, but it gets better. Peter, the fishless fisherman to whom Jesus had given the challenge, seeing what was unfolding before his very eyes, falls at Jesus’ feet and says to him, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). Isn’t that interesting? How do you get from what finally becomes a great day business to “I am a sinful man, O Lord”?
I suppose we would have to talk to Peter to get a sense of what He was really experiencing in that moment but Luke tells us the reason Peter did it was because, “amazement had seized him” (Luke 5:9). There was something about the moment and the Man that captivated Peter and, in a heartbeat, he moves beyond a-great-day-at-work to self-awareness that leads him to confession and a heightened sense of himself.
Moments and events like these are dangerous because they connect people with God. Moments and events like these are wonderful because they connect people with God.
God is at work in Jesus Christ, and we do well to listen to this Carpenter.
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