Scourge of the unfaithful

𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝟭𝟮:𝟰𝟳‭-‬𝟰𝟴 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻, 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲.

Peter had asked whether Jesus’ parable of readiness for his return was given for the disciples only, or all people. Jesus responded by describing the phases of judgment that will occur when he returns for his bride, the church. The overall advice to draw from the passage is “Be Ready”. That is, fight any temptation to slough off and become lax or negligent in one’s responsibilities. The picture is of diligence.

The word for “beating” means to flay or scourge – to whip, that is. It’s punishment in some form. The servant in this case is a believer in Christ who has not maintained a life directed by what s/he has learned and practiced. The shirking or malpractice of a life Jesus has saved will be punished to varying degrees. It’s hard to know what form it will take – if this refers to judgment that occurs after this life. If it is in this life, the blows can take many forms, including loss and removal from prominence.

The blows to be rendered to the disobedient servant is a clear warning to desist in abusing or ignoring what has been formed in the life of the servant. That admonition should be enough to get the believer’s attention.

The final sentence (“Everyone to whom …”) both predates and corrects the following Marxist statement:

“𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑”

.. as that translates into redistribution of goods by the state. The oppression wrought by forced acquiescence to that iron-fisted edict has physically killed millions.

Jesus is speaking of willful giving – heaven’s purposes surely do require more from those with more. But it is out of the obedient heart of the servant and as directed by God that the “more” proceeds. It is to God that the servant of the gospel reports, and it is for (and truly, to) God the well-endowed servant gives. The demand is an expectation of love.

The passage is stark in its declaration of judgment for believers. The servants described are NOT those outside of Christ. It’s chilling in its duty-bound cause and effect proclamation, but what do I expect to happen to abusers within the Kingdom? Or do I judge them as not part of the Kingdom because of their bad words and actions? I am not the judge, I beat no one and can look on no one with an eye for revenge or payback. That’s God’s job.

For me, the message is to remain diligent in my relationship with Jesus and my fellow believers. Do NOT let my love grow cold and keep trusting God for all he will do.

The vast treasure of the little flock

𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝟭𝟮:𝟯𝟮‭-‬𝟯𝟰 “𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘆. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆𝗯𝗮𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗹𝗱, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝘀. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼.

After pointing out God’s glory in all creation – in birds, flowers and grass and saying how trite they were – even in their existence – to human beings, Jesus gave the “therefore” passage above. It’s both supremely endearing and challenging, even convicting.

The “little flock” is nonetheless the object of God’s pleasure and recipient of the very Kingdom of God. This flies in the face of any “big flock” mentality. Small is good in this passage, and of course Jesus was speaking to the small band of original believers. As the church grew, “little flock” would no longer describe it, except in comparison with the overall population.

A strong part of Jesus’ description of the creation was God’s care for it. It was and is God who waters the earth, sends sunlight to plants and provides food for all the animal kingdom. This is an indication of his care for people, whom God cares about more. There is hierarchy in the creation, and humankind is its apex.

The instruction to sell possessions and give to the needy implies that one has possessions and one is not needy. Far from any human socialistic system, this is generosity after God’s own heart.

And once exercised, there is a new treasure obtained. This is a restatement of the proverb:

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀 𝟭𝟵:𝟭𝟳 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲.

… which is an almost scandalous truth concerning the heavenly economy. God becomes the debtor to human kindness and generosity. A reward is kept in eternity for the generous.

The final statement – “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” – shows that giving one’s possessions takes them off the throne of one’s life. You cannot worship something you give away and even renounce. Once done, the heart of a person – his/her intents and purposes – are directed and reside in heaven.

So, who is needy around me? Hands would go up if the question is asked. But clearly, there is godly counsel to be gained in this. Do I give grudgingly of any resource – finances, time, energy, etc. ? If so, that needs cleansing and correcting. I have freely received; get over yourself O my heart.

Do I demand notice and reward for my acts of kindness in this life? If so, Jesus says I have received my reward in full. That is NOT the treasure described in this passage. Give and I will prime the pump of blessing in my own life; that is very true. Let me be God’s conduit – his pipe – of blessing. Let it flow.

Pure motive, real reward

Matthew 6:5-6 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

There are several descriptions of spiritual and charitable things done only for show in the portion of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6.  In each of them, the actor (and we should know the Greek word for actor is the basis of the English word “hypocrite”) is seen as receiving his/her reward in full at being seen and credited by people in doing the good thing.  But that reward is fleeting and inferior to the reward one gets by doing good only seen by God.

This is hardly a warning against celebration, of which we have far too little in this cynical, critical world.  It is a caution against drawing attention to oneself for credit or acclaim.   

There are rewards either way.  Perform in a production; excel in a sport or do a worthy deed to be seen and flowers and trophies and human acclaim will follow.  But heavenly reward never ceases, never stops showing its recipient with love and appreciation.  And its substance is as wonderful as heaven itself – we have nothing like it here.  Let me seek THAT reward and defer any earthly notice of what I do.  If people do notice and do reward me, let me still never seek that as a motivator.  For my Father sees in secret and will reward me.

The Identity Decision

John 8:56-59 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

This dialog is the ending of a large, contentious exchange with the Jewish leaders and Jesus. Underlying it all was his identity. His references to his origin, and thus, the origin of his message and ministry, were all pointing to God as his Father and heaven as his point of origin. The leaders repeatedly referred to their national and spiritual identity as children of Abraham, but Jesus refuted that spiritually, saying that Abraham was in line with what He said and did.

Finally, Jesus spoke of his eternal existence, that he had in fact seen Abraham in heavenly places. They scoffed and fumed, and he said the words “I AM”.

Those words identified Jesus with Almighty God, who uttered them to Moses as the name that was to identify the LORD to his people. The tense is the eternal present – God always IS. The Jewish leaders instantly recognized what Jesus was saying and picked up rocks to stone him to death (as they had earlier in the chapter to a woman they had caught in adultery).

This debate is at the heart of following Jesus to this day. Did God visit earth? Did God’s Son lay his life down (that is, it was NOT taken from him) for the sins of humankind? Did he indeed rise from the dead after being executed? If so, Jesus is “I AM”. If not, physical or verbal stones fly at the impostor making such an outlandish claim. There truly is no middle ground. Intentionally ignoring the controversy is to allow flying stones, for the person of Jesus makes humans choose sides:

Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters”

It is no manmade tribal orthodoxy in force; it is a decision about the identity of Jesus.

I’ve seen and experienced well enough to believe he had seen Abraham before he was born on earth and one day he will see me in the same place. He is indeed “I AM”.

Expensive worship

Mark 14:4-5 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

At the house of Simon the (former) Leper, a woman had come forth and poured some very expensive perfume on the head of Jesus. It was a personal as well as public display of affection, devotion and honor. From the container used to the fragrance it emitted, everything about the action testified to fine, expensive quality of the liquid.

Immediately some who were present had attitudes about the woman’s actions. They thought it a foolish, wasteful thing to do. The value of the perfume would have brought in significant monies to be given to help the poor. It was never their perfume, yet they seemed to claim it with their high brow charitable concerns. And by inference, they both demeaned the woman who made the offering and Jesus Himself, who received it.

Attempts to control and manipulate the actions of others are deeply arrogant and insulting. Projecting attitudes and inferiority onto others has the appearance of establishing authority and dominance of them, but it reveals a poverty of soul and often has a basis in shame. Jesus very quickly defended the actions of the woman as being devoted and prophetic. His words “The poor you will have with you always” in no way discounted charity, but pointed to the singularly appropriate nature of the pouring of the perfume.

Part of the reason for donations being kept private is to avoid this very second-guessing and accusatory judgment of those who want to decide for everyone how things are done. But when such things are NOT private, unless I am asked, let me not interject opinions or even principles of how I would do things, let alone cast judgment on the hearts of others in how manage their resources.

The breadth of ways people worship God is mine to observe in deep wonder, not to control or manage. He is worthy of it all.

Come and see

John 1:46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Nazareth, in the region of Galilee, was far from Jerusalem, the center and capital of Israel. As a remote place, its insignificance was perhaps its most defining trait. But when Nathanael asked if anything “good” could come from there, it was a moral question. Like most nations, regional pride emphasizes the local good and the non-local bad, using whatever measures are available. We certainly have no record of conspicuous Galilean evil – the words and acts of Mary the mother of Jesus show there was certainly deep devotion to God in practice.

Philip’s reply is short but the best one to be offered to scoffers and skeptics. It echoes the Psalmist’s invitation:

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good

as indeed Nathanael would. Jesus immediately displayed miraculous knowledge of Nathanael’s life before they met, at which Nathanael named Jesus as Messiah (see verse 49).

It is not up to any believer to prove who Jesus is; because the move of the Holy Spirit on anyone’s life is God-breathed and spiritually discerned. Humanity craves reasoned understanding and banks on its scientific proofs, which are hit-or-miss at best. Reasoning would have dismissed investigating this Jesus because he was, after all, from Nazareth. And, concerning the person of Jesus Christ, one can only be invited with a “Come and see”. The rest is up to that person to both come and see.

In Nathanael’s case, coming to Jesus involved some travel. Jesus did not come to him. For others, Jesus would indeed show up on scene and on point. But truly coming to Jesus requires “being there” – actually showing up with operational senses and a willingness to perceive what Jesus will say and do.

Seeing is not only a use of one’s eyes, but of one’s spirit. When prayer or worship receives a its replies, whatever the response, identifying that there really is a loving God who hears and answers is vital to spiritual perception. Relatively speaking, Nathanael saw the physical Jesus Christ and was immediately shown a miraculous sign. Later, and unto this very day, the miraculous still occurs, but there is almost always no audible voice. Many will explain God’s interactions with people as coincidence or wishful thinking. At some frequency those arguments become too thin to carry weight, and people who’ve refused to “come and see” don’t want others to do that either.

To be sure, the erosion of faith invariably has ever-decreasing “come and see” activity and perception. The invitation, then, is ongoing and vital. Something good – VERY good- has come from Nazareth.

Tyrannical spiritual pride

Luke 18:12-14 ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!’ tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The book of Psalms has songs that proclaim the blamelessness of the singer, making a direct link between his purity and the blessing of God. And it is true, lives that are free from iniquity are “blessable” in the sense that there is favor with God and a lack of encumbrances in keeping bad behavior going and/or covering it up.

The praying Pharisee in Luke 18 undoubtedly had a habit of such confession, and his self-aggrandizing testimony of his observance of points of Mosaic Law was undoubtedly accurate in fact. But it was tyrannically proud.

In those Psalms, there were real enemies, often those who were actively out to take the life of the psalmist. Those adversaries were uniformly proud and oppressive towards others. It was in righteous defiance that those songs proclaimed God’s favor on the pursued one. It was NEVER done in a way to accentuate the shame of those seeking God with lesser righteousness in their lives.

The tax collector stood “far off” – in his penitence keeping distance from the altar and the righteous ones who claimed it as their own. He readily admitted his sin, in utter brokenness and hiding nothing. He asked for God’s mercy – and received it. To add to the psalmist’s ingredients for a blessed life – the broken and contrite heart God that will not despise (Psalm 51:17).

Corporate worship and prayer where people are focused on other people robs the congregation of the power of voices raised together and corrupts the offering itself with foolish human rivalries and criticisms. One who takes continual notice of those with whom one worships offers nothing to God. And, as Jesus said, that person goes home unjustified, for there is broken relationship and unfinished business with the Lord.

Let me leave reputation, testimony and self-consciousness aside and edify the poor in spirit; indeed being poor in spirit myself, that we might together find ourselves in the presence of God.

Freedom of expensive worship

Mark 14:4-5 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

At the house of Simon the (former) Leper, a woman had come forth and poured some very expensive perfume on the head of Jesus. It was a personal as well as public display of affection, devotion and honor. From the container used to the fragrance it emitted, everything about the action testified to fine, expensive quality of the liquid.

Immediately some who were present had attitudes about the woman’s actions. They thought it a foolish, wasteful thing to do. The value of the perfume would have brought in significant monies to be given to help the poor. It was never their perfume, yet they seemed to claim it with their high brow charitable concerns. And by inference, they both demeaned the woman who made the offering and Jesus Himself, who received it.

Attempts to control and manipulate the actions of others are deeply arrogant and insulting. Projecting attitudes and inferiority onto others has the appearance of establishing authority and dominance of them, but it reveals a poverty of soul and often has a basis in shame. Jesus very quickly defended the actions of the woman as being devoted and prophetic. His words “The poor you will have with you always” in no way discounted charity, but pointed to the singularly appropriate nature of the pouring of the perfume.

Part of the reason for donations being kept private is to avoid this very second-guessing and accusatory judgment of those who want to decide for everyone how things are done. But when such things are NOT private, unless I am asked, let me not interject opinions or even principles of how I would do things, let alone cast judgment on the hearts of others in how manage their resources.

The breadth of ways people worship God is mine to observe in deep wonder, not to control or manage. He is worthy of it all.

Insisting upon the Presence

Exodus 33:15-16 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

God had announced that it was all well and good for the people of Israel to go and conquer (or try) Canaan, but that His presence would not go with them, because they were “stiff-necked” – in Hebrew  עֹ֙רֶף֙ (kaw-sheh’), meaning obstinate, but also cruel, hard and grievous.  He could well, therefore, be forced to destroy them along the way.  That announcement pointed out nothing new in the rough relationship the children of Israel had already acted out during their exodus from Egypt.  At every point of trial or difficulty, they had risen up, complained and threatened the position and even the lives of their leaders.  Their rejection of God was an historical fact and destined to repeat itself.

Moses said the words above in response.  Israel was a people identified by their God.  God was their distinction and His favor was signature to their being chosen among all the people of the earth.  Now, all nations in the ancient world had national gods.  But none of the small-g deities had delivered their people from their captors like the Israelites had been.  The manifest power of God’s presence and predominance of His will, purpose and favor was and remains without precedent.

So, Moses would not endorse going up to Canaan at all without the Presence (Hebrew word means “face”) of God.  Because to do so would abandon all that made Israel special.

It is the proposition of scripture that God has a people – those who call Him Lord by faith and desire to live after the pattern He spoke, by grace (unmerited favor) and by the power He provides.  They have, as a result, and unfair advantage over the faithless in living in love and righteousness.  It is also history in scripture that those same people can leave grace and decide, like those outside of grace, to live for themselves.  They don’t do so without a fight from the Lord – who guards His investments – but ultimately can decide to walk away.

Remaining, waiting and maintaining relationship – and it is one of serving, being humbled, forgiven and restored – with God, then, is the only way to preserve God’s favor in life.  This gets hard for all people of faith as it got hard for the Israelites.  There are real challenges and obstacles and we don’t see how to continue.  Trusting God to part a sea, bring water from a rock and manna every morning does nothing to stoke human pride.  Trusting God is not an accomplishment on many resumes.

Do I go up to Canaan without Him, then?  Well, even if I succeed in that endeavor, I am nothing special without God’s hand upon me.  And I’m only as strong as the latest conqueror of many can be.  There is an ongoing sequence of achievers who will outdo me in time.  No, I am only truly ennobled when I can point to all I have walked through and give glory and thanks to the One who called me to do them.  That is not just what I do, it’s who I am – one who by grace has learned to trust in the hand of the Almighty to do His bidding through me.

Lies, treachery and faithfulness

Mark 15:32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.

The insolence of unbelief is striking.

For sure, even those who had walked with Jesus for the past three years were shocked and bewildered by the turn of events.  Though he had spoken repeatedly about his upcoming death, they had either completely misunderstood him or filed that away as an event in the distant future.  But here it was and they were devastated and horribly disappointed.

But this statement was spoken by those advocating his death, those whose religiously and economically oppressive system was threatened by God’s Son.  And they, in their moment of triumph where they had proven Jesus was just like any man in his suffering and mortality, gave conditions for their faith in Jesus.  To this day obstinate humankind gives its terms for a truce with God.  By no means is surrender a part of their program – it’s just letting God be their vassal, personal benefactor.  A powerful slave, a genie.

Jesus in fact did come down from the cross, first as a corpse to rise again in three days.  And to be sure some of those who killed him did come to faith in Messiah – in the way provided by God.  They laid down their conditions and received forgiveness for their hubris.

But – and for sure to this day – the rest went home satisfied that there was no reason for calling this man special, for reverencing him or listening to what he had to say.  To this day, they dismiss claims about his resurrection as a fanciful continuation of a string of lies and give no mind to the survival of the faith he authored and sustains and grows before their eyes.

For those scoffers, they will see Jesus who came down from the cross, and they will believe.  It is hardly the judgment of small-minded (and like them, cruel) humans they will fall under.  Let all believers lay aside their petty stories how it will end for it is written that every knee will bow and every tongue confess to his Lordship.

Rather, let me make sure I am not positing conditions for my belief.  For though I am God’s child, I can be as spoiled a brat as any human, foolishly insisting God be my circus dog jumping through my fiery hoops.  I would never SAY it like that, but I certainly would pose my conditions as if I had chips to bargain with.  I have none.

I have needs and I have One who will meet those needs.  I praise Him for His faithfulness.  But my Father has no interesting in letting me escape discipline crafted to mold me into the image of His Son.  Whenever I face that, let me not bargain but learn.  Let me not claw for dignity or stature or standing, for all that lies eternally in Jesus.  For he HAS come down from the cross.  He HAS risen for me and those who love him.  He HAS called me as son, husband and father and now, grandfather.  Instead of giving conditions, let me rejoice in his delightful condition of faith and embrace all he has done and all he is doing.

Great is Thy Faithfulness O God my Father.