Acts 10:34-35, 44, 11:18 (December 18, 2009)

Scripture:

Acts 10:34-35  So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
…
Acts 10:44  While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
…
Acts 11:18 “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Observation:

It’s hard for non-Jewish people to understand the significance of what took place in the inclusion of Gentile believers among the early Church.  Peter first needed to see a vision where he was told to eat things that were unclean according to Jewish dietary law.  As a good Jewish man, the idea repulsed him but the Lord told him not to call unclean what God had made clean.  Then he was summoned to the home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and very quickly after he had told them the message of salvation, the Holy Spirit fell upon the people listening.  His statement about God’s lack of partiality was a revelation to him, and the nations’ outreach was a new reality he had unwittingly pioneered.  And the proof point was the Holy Spirit’s presence.  When questioned by his Jewish friends about his breach of the Law in even entering the house of Cornelius, Peter cites all that occurred, at which the conclusion was acceptance of Gentiles into the Church.  This was a development of collosal proportions, because without the inclusion of Gentiles, Christianity would have remained only a sect of Judaism like many others, and failed to touch the nations that God had sent Jesus to reach.

Application:

The tendency of people to cloister and define membership in official and unofficial groups is ever with us.  What is our definition of those who can enter our fellowship?  Is it an ethnic definition?  One of a certain level of maturity or the embracing of pet doctrines?  Do we have people like Cornelius around us and never even consider that we might have the key to their deepest needs?  The inclusion and impartiality of God trumps all human division and cultural distinctions.  Even when the Law of Moses is breached, the New Covenant has outdone and overshadowed all the old and all the other religious leanings and teachings.   The violent protests of Jewish people throughout the Book of Acts testifies to the problem of those affinities – people define themselves by adherance to Law and do not surrender to the work of grace given by God through His Son.  If we do not open the doors to those who are not like us, we can expect the Holy Spirit to move elsewhere as He did in the house of Cornelius.

Prayer:

Father, we pray to be awakened to our prejudices and brought to our senses regarding those You have situated around us for this very time.  Create in us hearts that include and do not discount or marginalize people in any way.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Acts 5:8-10 (December 14, 2009)

Scripture:

Acts 5:8-10 Peter said to her, “Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land?” Sapphira said, “Yes, that much.”  Peter then told her, “Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”  At once she collapsed at his feet and died.

Observation:

The sudden deaths of the husband and wife Ananias and Sapphira may seem harsh in a fledgling movement that highlighted forgiveness of sins and healing, but Ananias and Sapphira had tried to bring the practice of human religion into God’s church.  They were used to pretense, in that they did things for show but left the inner person free to hold onto lies, greed and all kinds of evil.  Examples of this hypocrisy abound in modern religions as well.  But bringing that into the church was punishable by death – not at the hands of humans but by the hand of God.  The worshipers of Christ were to be worshipers in Spirit and in truth (John  4: 23) and any breach of that was not a breach against the leadership of the church, but against God Himself.  In most uncertain terms it was proclaimed that the inner person was to become regenerated through new birth, and not remain in darkness with a cloak of manufactured, tinsel light.  The fear that this brought the church was required in these early days that all would know things were to be different and God wanted to build people of integrity, not players at religions.

Application:

Where do we pretend and “play” at religion?  Where do we make a show but closely and obstinately guard the inner citadel of unregenerated self?  It is most urgent that we stop that and recount the death of Ananias and Sapphira before we die too – whether the details of their deaths are relived in us or not – that is, whether it be quick or slow and wasting.   We need to come clean today and remain clean tomorrow, letting the Spirit of God search us out for what we withhold, what we secretly treasure and how we lie to maintain an outward appearance of piety and purity.  It’s of interest that had the couple REALLY given the full amount, it and they would have been blessed and venerated, but since they didn’t, their names have become synonymous with deceit and treachery.  It’s better to be a mess – to openly weep in our brokenness realizing the truth of our inner person’s depravity and then made clean by the blood of Jesus – than to wear a “church face” and be telling lies to others, to ourselves and to God.  Ultimately the issue is one of life or death.

Prayer:

Lord, You desire truth in our innermost parts (Psalm 51:6) and want us to be people of integrity.  So search us by Your Spirit that we may be found faithful and holy, true to You as we are remade in the image of Jesus, for we pray in His name, amen.

 

Zechariah 9:9-10 (December 10, 2009)

Scripture:

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you: he is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey – on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.  I will remove the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be removed. Then he will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

Observation:

The parody of a triumphal entry by a war-winning king is the image of a monarch on a young donkey – a runt below and above. Jesus fulfilled this on His march over the palms to the noise of hosannas among the fickle people of Jerusalem. But here, in the originating prophetic text, we have the punch line – the extent and effect of His utter rule the next time we see Him. The machinery of war will be removed and the ruled land under Him will be extensive.

Application:

To learn how NOT to be impressed with the saber rattling and chest thumping rulers in my life is to grasp the rule of God’s kingdom. Inasmuch as it defies worldly patterns and expressions, it is also internal versus external. The King on the donkey conquers hearts as much as He conquers physical land, indeed his physical land conquest is spiritual – the devoted hearts of people establish His righteouesness by advancing His internal reign.

Prayer:

Lord, let me seek Your rule, Your reign, more than the reign of men – or the reign of me. Conquering King, please conquer my heart. Show me places of rank rebellion, places of slow obedience – if there is a difference – and show me the wickedness, hurt or other basis for my lack of crowning You King over my heart. Come and reign! Hosanna!

 

John 21:4-6 (December 8, 2009)

Scripture:

John 21:4-6 When it was already very early morning, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.  So Jesus said to them, “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?”  They replied,  “No.”  He told them, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they threw the net, and were not able to pull it in because of the large number of fish.

Observation:

We are not told why the resurrected Jesus chose to show Himself such that his disciples did not recognize Him.  It could be a test of their spiritual antennas or because they would somehow injure themselves or others; we don’t know.  But whenever He did so, he revealed Who He was through familiar actions and words.  In this case, He has the fishermen throw the net on the opposite side of the boat, reminiscent of what He had done when He first called Peter (see Luke 5:4).  And the result is the same – a catch so huge that they could not contain handle it.   At that earlier encounter He had told them they would become “fishers of men”.  It’s not a regression into returning to their old vocation that is being confronted here – it was just for food presumably.  But the occasion is perfect for Peter’s restoration to Jesus, the main event of the chapter.  The one who was shaken by that first encounter – and who would have the best chance of doing so – was the first to recognize Jesus, and subsequently swam to meet Him on the shore.

Application:

God restores a fallen child.  He will do so in the most tender way, meeting that person in a way or a place that person would know best to say “I still know you and I still love you.”  There is no sin we’ve committed that will keep Him from rekindling the relationship and no sentiment or stubbornness of our heart that will disqualify us from being brought back together.  His love is greater than our own and it is true that He misses our fellowship as we miss His.  This is not to diminish the learning and repenting we might have to do – once we realize He still loves us and wants us back that is generally the easy part.  We should learn also from this pattern how to restore a fallen brother or sister.  Don’t confront the offense up front; that will naturally follow as we do the familiar things that would be easily associated with the love and care that has long been a part of the relationship, however it is currently fractured or injured.  We don’t command the fish to be caught in nets but we do command our own wills to put hurt aside for the love of the Lord.  It is His Kingdom that matters, not our standing in it and *certainly* not our feelings which change with the wind.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for send Jesus not just as our Savior but as the Lifter of our heads, the One who restores us when we’ve strayed.  Grant that we can echo that work in restoring our brothers and sisters, the family You have called together by Your Spirit.  We trust You to provide Your wisdom and strategy and resolve.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

John 19:25-27 (December 7, 2009)

Scripture:

John 19:25-27 Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, here is your son!”  He then said to his disciple, “Look, here is your mother!” From that very time the disciple took her into his own home.

Observation:

Amidst the choreographed cruelty that brought Jesus to the cross where He died was a group of faithful followers, horrified at all they were seeing and understanding it even less.  Perhaps the most torn among them was Jesus’ mother, Mary.  It had been prophesied that a “sword would pierce” her soul (see Luke 2:35), and indeed it was coming to pass.  By all mercy, she was not alone at this time, but was in no doubt in terrible pain watching the One of Promise go through such torture.  The dying Savior looked upon her in that state and gave commands concerning her future.  He directed her toward John – “the disciple whom he loved” – as a sort of surrogate son.  And then John is directed to Mary as his mother.  We aren’t told the whereabouts of the wife of Zebedee – John’s biological mother.  There’s a sense that this is relational and not just practical arrangement though.  Yet it is also a tying of loose ends – for Mary is taken into John’s home presumably for the provision of her needs.

Application:

How can we comfort those who mourn?  Promise and then fulfill the provision of their needs.  At the point of destitution the need is clear as is the ministry.  It is the Lord’s command, when we have means to meet that need, that we potentially do so for a long time.  The need does not have to be as heavy as providing shelter, but whatever it is, far from a mere duty or heavy task for which we need to fight for the motivation to perform, the relationships established through that call are pure riches and that makes the burden light.  We take the commands given in the weakest point of our Savior’s fleeting earthly life and realize it is by grace through the shed blood of the One giving the commands that they are accomplished.   For once we begin to move in response to what was commanded, we soon learn that the need we *thought* was most necessary to provide for was a minor need compared to our constant and mutual hunger for love and acceptance.  It’s then that provider and recipient become delightfully confused in person because we all have much to give and we all have much to receive.  This is how Christ’s body, the church, lives and breathes.

Prayer:

Father, show us our “sons” and show the “sons” their “mothers” that we might begin truly giving of ourselves in the new life that follows the cross.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

John 18:36-38 (December 4, 2009)

Scripture:

18:36-38 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities.  But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”   Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Pilate asked, “What is truth?”

Observation:

Jesus was hardly offering a defense before Pilate.  He was simply answering questions asked.  We aren’t told where Pilate has heard that Jesus is a King.  In fact, Jesus asked him and he did not answer.  But Jesus’ reply offered an analogy so Pilate could understand – if He were a king on earth, His subjects would be battling for Him, but because His kingdom is NOT earthly, He has no defenders.  (Now, had the forces of heaven been summoned to defend Him, Rome itself would capitulate instantly.  But He did not come to be defended but to give Himself up as a ransom).  Pilate seemed to almost light up with the revelation that Jesus is a King.  But His job as King was to testify – in words of speech and with His own mortal body in bloody sacrifice – to the truth.  And Jesus identified His earthly followers – those who listened to His voice proclaiming the truth (and projecting forward – those who would enter the Kingdom by His shed blood).  So it’s a Kingdom of truth, which puzzled Pilate, because He did not hear or know the truth Jesus proclaimed.  Alternately, his question “What is truth?” could have been an attempt to relativize the truth – as in “you have your truth, I have mine” – but we’re not given Pilate’s capacity for such insight in so brief an encounter.  Others since then certainly have used this pluralistic argument.

Application: 

The surrender of Jesus before Pilate was trust in God.  When we’re tempted to offer a defense for our faith, our work or just our being, it’s a good posture to assume.  Simply tell the truth and trust God.  We also serve a King who gave Himself – it was the mark of the King of kings before all other rulers.  We should do no less, sacrificing our standing before the world that heaven could be revealed through the offering.  That’s what it means to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).  Further, the Kingdom we serve is not of this world, so it is not to be even understood or appreciated in terms human power structures can emulate or enforce.  The power of God’s Kingdom is so superior to that of human kingdoms that its coming is not even seen.  It can enter a heart without “the authorities” even knowing.  Its purposes are never to accomplish merely human endeavors (though its followers can be absolutely instrumental in that accomplishment), but to proclaim the truth through word and deed.  It is the truth of Who Jesus is, what Jesus has done and taught, our continual need for His blood to wash over our sins and of His return that we need to testify and live out.  And the truth will cause us to live differently than those around us at times; for we are followers – that is, subjects – of a different King.

Prayer:

Father, we need the truth in our lives, not just to know it but to have it shown through us.  Grant us faith to trust in You to accomplish this through our meager means and let Your Kingdom come in every aspect You have ordained.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

John 16:5-7 (December 3, 2009)

Scripture:

John 16:5-7 But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’  Instead your hearts are filled with sadness because I have said these things to you.  But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

Observation:

By now, in John’s narrative, the disciples had heard several times that Jesus would depart from them.  The One for Whom they had left their occupations and former lives to follow would soon leave and this naturally saddened them.  Jesus knew this but gives the purpose for His departure – and it is for the benefit and joy of the disciples.  The Advocate (Gk. paracletos) or Holy Spirit, will come to them only if Jesus departs.  The statement is that things will be BETTER for them after the Holy Spirit arrives than when Jesus was with them physically.  That is, even to the present day, believers have an advantage over the original disciples who walked with Jesus in the natural because they have the Holy Spirit to be with them.  Jesus is not touting the superiority of the third Person of the Trinity, he is stating an advantage the believers have with the Spirit that they did not have with Him walking with them.  There are at least 2 aspects to this advantage, both having to do with freedom of movement -

1. the Holy Spirit would indwell the believers and speak to their souls internally where the disciples needed to get instruction from a physical person in one place at a time and
2. since the Holy Spirit would go with them, they could be ANYWHERE and be effective witnesses, ministers and disciples whereas before they needed to be physically with Jesus.

Application:

We must rejoice in the Holy Spirit, celebrating His presence and letting Him commune with us.    He is our Guide, Advocate, Helper and Counselor (all plausible translations of paraclete in the Greek), given that we might be instructed in the things of the Lord.  We should read the Word, inviting Him to quicken it to our hearts.  We should pray in the Spirit, letting Him direct us because we don’t know what or how to pray.  We should ask His guidance concerning the decisions we need to make and directions we are to walk.  Ignoring His direction is foolish and destructive; how many of us suffer needless setbacks because we failed to take the paths indicated.  We should allow Him to shape our thought life, capturing every thought and making it obedient to Christ.  Remember, He is our advantage over all that which would undo us.  Also, make no doubt about it – He loves us as Jesus loves us as the Father loves us.  He is given for our good and the good of the Kingdom.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, act in my life.  Speak to me, guide me, show me all that You have me to do and be.  I thank You for Your presence and celebrate Your move in my life.  Keep me from sin at its very root and teach me to walk according to Your direction.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

John 13:3-5, 17 (December 2, 2009)

Scripture:

John  13:3-5 Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to him, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, he got up from the meal, removed his outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around himself.  He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel he had wrapped around himself.
…
13:17 If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Observation:

Jesus’ motivation for taking on the job of the lowest servant in society was that He was Lord over all.  It was proper for the King of the universe to watch dust and dung off the feet of His servants.  This, after already seated and eating (“He got up from the meal”) shows that it is a lesson He is teaching, not just a gesture of mercy or necessity (as in “what’s that smell?” ).  And the disciples knew the action well, having had their feet washed by various lowly, forgotten servants in households they had visited.  But this Servant they would not forget; this action would humble them.  Jesus washes the feet of them all, including the protesting Peter, and then explains His actions.  Among His followers, the way up is down, the greatest shall be the least.  And then He crowns the teaching with the promise of blessing to the one who puts this into practice.

Application:

Do we seek prominence or places of honor and acclaim?  That’s the wrong seeking.  If we are given prominence – and it is completely suitable that we would be – we should use that opportunity to wash feet.  Never forgetting who and what we are positionally, whether high or low, taking the dirty job of the scorned underling speaks a statement of humility and shows that we are Jesus’ disciples.  Where is the basin and the towel?  These are figures of the role, not the forms; they mean very little in today’s culture.  Bathroom cleaning utensils or pooper-scoopers might be their modern equivalents.  Let us pray to know how this would be expressed in our lives and amongst the worldly caste systems that would place us in comfortable echelons, whatever the trappings of our “social stations”.   Those are the boundaries that need crossing and the hierarchies that need to be upheaved.  And as we do it, we will be blessed.

Prayer:

Father, teach us again that we are not above our Lord, Who washed feet.  Let us not even do THAT for a show, but to show You as Father and Jesus as the Son.  In His name we pray, amen.

 

John 11:33-36, 43-44 (November 30, 2009)

Scripture:

John 11:33-36 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.”  Jesus wept.  Thus the people who had come to mourn said, “Look how much he loved him!”

…

11:43-44 When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Observation:

Jesus mourns with those who mourn.  The claim that he wept because of the lack of faith of the people is contrived.  We see one of the divine motivations for the miraculous in his weeping – compassion for dying, hopeless humanity.  Lazarus had died after a short illness – not uncommon in the ancient world but it is as the people said “Look how much he loved him”.  The whole family – Mary, Martha and Lazarus – clearly had a special place among His closest earthly friends.  The timing of Jesus’ arrival is too late to have kept Lazarus from dying but that is perspective of those who had only seen Jesus heal.  Jesus’ loud shout then summons the dead back to life and the purpose for all the events is disclosed – that out of compassion Jesus reversed the most final state of humankind – death.  Lazarus is dressed for the occasion in the cloths his dead body was wrapped in, but they will not remain as his covering.  Death has been unwrapped and Lazarus restored to life and health.

Application:

Never charge the Lord with being late or not knowing what is happening or has happened.  He knows.  What has died in our lives?  Is it a person – a family member or friend?  Jesus weeps with us.  Is it a hope or dream?  He weeps also.  Mourning is natural and healthy.   And though physical resurrection of people who have died is extremely rare – though it does happen – Jesus is not too late to say “Dream, come out!” or “Vision, be reinvigorated!” as He calls into the tomb of our giving up.  And when those things are restored, they may look different, wrapped as they were in the clothing of our despair.  Furthermore, those of faith may be the ones who say “Come out!” towards the dead things in the lives of others.  Ask for the compassion first, to empathize with the discouragement and grief of another and for the faith, then, to believe when another has resigned and canceled all hope of ever seeing any sign of life again from what is dead.  And we may need to take off the death cloths which were ceremonially wrapped tight around what has died it as part of assigning it a place among that which has perished.  That is, for hopes and dreams, we may need to show the mourner(s) that they are NOT dead through continued encouragement and applied faith.

Prayer:

Father, death is a part of our existence, but You have shown through Jesus that is NOT the end.  Grant us resurrection mindsets where You have granted new life; give us the faith to believe even amidst the mourners whose certainty it things staying dead is solid as a rock.  And let us unwrap what has been resurrected so that breath again can enter in.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Feeling Thankful

I remember a story told by my friend Frank Kashner at CCA over lunch sometime in the 80s. We were talking about the older (that is, our GRANDparents’) generation and what their live had been like that. Frank told me that when he was a boy, whenever he ate dinner, his grandfather would just sit and watch him eat, and smile the most wonderful smile, sometimes with tears in his eyes. Now his grandfather was “off the boat” as part of Eastern European Jewish family. I asked Frank why he had been so intrigued with the feasting of little children and I almost choked on my own cry before I even got the question out. The reason was obvious (and Frank confirmed it) – children having enough to eat was novel to him, a blessing beyond words and expression. He was thankful for a generation of offspring – ANY generation – that was not starving or malnourished.

Now, Frank told me this story as we gobbled down delicious Thai food at one of our favorite restaurants. It was one of 30 or so excellent places where we would typically eat 3 times a week or so. There was no shortage of cash or difficulty paying for it, as software engineers in a field that was expanding every day, it was natural that we’d have an abundance and also “natural” (to us) that we’d have $8-15 (or whatever it was) lunches on a regular basis. We didn’t “feel” particularly thankful for what we had; it was due us as highly skilled workers.

Today the software field has hardly dried up, but the job market has definitely retracted. And it may do so more; I have no idea. But my attitude has retracted for sure – I have been blessed beyond being able to contain it in this life and I am thankful to God and all the people – and things (like companies) – placed along my way who have been part of that blessing.

I believe there is a thanksgiving that is response to our mere existence and it can also be full of faith for tackling the challenges of the future (hey, I even preached on that !). But the thanksgiving of gratitude happens when to some extent we FEEL THANKFUL to therefore ARE THANKFUL. I find I do that best by subtractive thinking – what would life be like without this or that, this or that person, this or that blessing? Because whatever we have or don’t have there’s something to be thankful for.

We don’t have to work very hard at that – most of us can just think back in time.

See, Frank’s grandfather had it right. He went back in time like that and pulled out an unpleasant memory that was healed by what was happening right before him. God does that; I want to perk up and catch that every time. Because then I’ll feel thankful, then I’ll be thankful.