God's or gods?

“26 And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.” 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the likeness of God he created him, male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth.” (Gen 1)

Why did God make people?  I could tell you but then I’d be a heretic.  I don’t know but I’ll bet it stems from His Love.  Once He conceived of us, He loved us.  Then I’ll bet He couldn’t conceive of NOT making us!  Even knowing all of what we would become!  He made an entire Universe, a beautiful, perfect world and then, knowing we would turn on Him, knowing we would side with the Devil and try and become gods in our own right, by our own might, knowing we would spit on Him, mock Him, beat Him, scourge Him, and then kill Him…

He gave it all to us anyway!

Do you see the irony?  We were masters of the world!  Made in the likeness and image of God!  The animals obeyed us, everything we saw was ours: We were as near to gods as we’ve ever been!  And we gave it all up to be god.  And the worst part is… we’re still doing it!  We keep trying to kill God so we can be god!  When Jesus died so we could be true Sons of God!  We will sit on thrones!  We will be in the Holy of Holies, in the very presence of the Eternal God Almighty! 

But we want to live our seventy or eighty years here our own way because God can’t be trusted you know.  What if we suffer a little bit?  What if people don’t treat us nice?  What if we don’t get the promotion?  The dream job?  What if we get sick?  What if our parents get divorced?  What if something happens to our children?  What if we don’t get children?  What if she dumps me?  What if he sleeps around?  What if he won’t wait for me?  What if she thinks I’m a geek?  What if they come for me?  Torture me?  Take my children?  Take my wife?  Take my life?  What if I die???

Then you go to be with Jesus in the throne room of God.  You decide whether you go there as a competing god or as the Son of God.  “26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal 3) 

How do we know the difference?  What do gods do?  In a phrase, every god does, “what is right in his own eyes.”  I am the boss of me.  I am the definer of morality.  I am the center of my world.  I am not to be mocked.  I am not to be shamed.  I am not to be slighted. 

What do Sons of God do?  In a word, “Worship.”  “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing from himself except what he sees the Father doing. For whatever that one does, these things also the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself is doing.” (John 5)  God made everything and gave it all away to undeserving people.  People who were his enemies!  God chose a people, separated them, cleansed them and made them holy.  He gave them Himself, taught them worship, love and obedience and dwelt with them.  He fed them, clothed them, blessed them.  Why?

“2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.” (Gen 12)

So they could teach us to love the Father!  And why did God choose, separated, wash and consecrate you in the blood of Jesus?  So you could be another temple of the living God.  He has taken up residence in You!  “23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will take up residence with him.” (John 14)  “19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God with your body.” (1Cor 6) 

We are priests, we are temples, we are the very sons and daughters of God!  Every single thing we do is to be done in worship.  Our jobs, our relationships, our art, our hobbies, our charity, our coming and going done to point back to our Father.  In grace.  In love.  In gratefulness.  In little baby, practice-grace steps, not earning but learning to do what Daddy does!  Not trying to become gods, but learning to be God’s.

Martha, Martha

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things! 42 But few things are necessary, or only one thing, for Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10)

“33 Whoever listens to me will dwell in security


    and rest securely from dread and disaster.”

2 My child, if you will receive my sayings,


    and hide my commands with you,

2 in order to incline your ear toward wisdom,


    then you shall apply your heart to understanding.

3 For if you cry out for understanding,


    if you lift your voice for insight,

4 if you seek her like silver


    and search her out like treasure,

5 then you will understand the fear of Yahweh,


    and the knowledge of God you will find.

6 For Yahweh will give wisdom;


    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov 1,2)

Before there was facebook, I had no idea of the epidemic proportions of worry in our country.  Each day it is veritable pool of angst, need and complaint.  Even the requests for prayer sound desperate to my ears.

Maybe our enlightened, scientific, Western minds have shrunk God. We rarely think of ourselves this way anymore but we are beings of worship.  The altar of our lives, the throne will be occupied.  Either by the true, benevolent Father who loves us or by a tyrant of our own choosing.  When God becomes small in our minds; problems, cares, responsibilities, even religious duties become disproportionately big, eclipsing the Son in our eyes, hearts and lives. 

This is no small matter.  We can shunt God to a corner on Sunday morning but we do so to our detriment and we miss out on so much.  Our God is a jealous God who will not share His throne or His wife, His child or His people with another.  Particularly as He knows how abusive, how dehumanizing, how destructive our mistress is!  No one can love us like Jesus loves us!  If we would, like Mary but fall at his feet…

“7 Blessed be the person who trusts in Yahweh,


    and Yahweh is his trust.

8 For he will be like a tree planted by water,


    and to the stream it sends its roots,


and it will not fear when heat comes,


    and its leaves will be luxuriant,


and in the year of drought it will not be anxious,


    and it will not cease from the bearing of fruit.” (Jer 17)

Hot on the heels of all this talk of hospitality and deeds showing what is in the heart.  Almost as if God knows our propensity toward faith by works, we have this homely story of Martha and Mary.  Martha is doing nothing evil.  She’s trying to provide for her guests, a bunch of scruffy Galileans from out of town and their itinerant rabbi.  She’s arranging their lodging, maybe, their dinner, perhaps.  Good things.  Things that show a servant’s heart.  Things which Jesus blesses.

But Jesus… Jesus has other priorities.  When he was thirsty by the well in Samaria (John 4) he asked for a drink.  This sparked a conversation with the Samaritan woman.  The conversation sent the woman running home to bring her neighbors to meet Jesus.  The people came and Jesus taught them.  Did Jesus ever get the drink??  It doesn’t matter.  Jesus has other priorities.  “32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one brought him anything to eat, did they?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is that I do the will of the one who sent me and complete his work.” (John 4)  Jesus isn’t worried about getting fed.  Martha could place the most exquisite kosher, culinary masterpiece ever concocted in all Judea and he would be no more honored than if she had nuked some mac and cheese after he was done teaching.  He will accept it, knowing it is her form of worship perhaps but his choice of the words “better part” when referring to Mary’s posture clearly shows which honors him and blesses us more.  This is a guy who could turn stones to bread, water to wine and multiply food with a touch.  Something tells me Martha may have missed a miracle for trying to create one herself! 

Her fear of people’s opinions of her.  Her identity wrapped up in her good name and honor as a hostess lead her to anger at Mary’s lack of participation.  Which leads to her shrewish behavior before her guests.  Sin upon sin.  But worst of all, it causes her to miss out on God in her midst!  In her very living room! 

The most often repeated commandment in the Word is, “Fear not!”  What are we missing by ignoring this commandment?

Posture is everything.

“25 And behold, a certain legal expert stood up to test him,” (Luke 10)

This line bolted off the page at me today.  Then a thousand thoughts ran through my mind and onto this page until it became a literary elephant seal which could barely lift its bulk out of the water to bark and make it’s “Port-o-john-at-a-chili-cook-off” noises.  So I clubbed it, skinned it and rendered the blubber down in my oven to what I hope, I hope will be the oil of essence to light a lamp of truth.

Coincidentally, that might be the grossest paragraph I’ve ever written.  Oh well, if you can’t be edifying, at least be provocative.

I hear the “hater” label a lot these days.  Christians are intolerant.  Their God is a baby-killer.  Jesus consigns people to hell because they just happened to live in the wrong country and never heard of him or they’re gay or democrat or what have you.  And all of this is missing the point and no different than what Adam did in blaming Eve or Cain did in saying his punishment was unfair.  Oh poor me, all I did was kill my brother in cold blood and now I have to go live somewhere else.  Boo hoo.  God is mean!

Let’s get something straight and ironed out right here and now.  No one goes to Hell where the worm never dies and the fire is not extinguished or the Lake of Fire that burns with sulphur or the Outer Darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth for any sin, ANY sin except this one…

Self righteousness.

That’s it.  It’s true there will be no gays in heaven, no adulterers, no murderers or pornographers or gossips or slanderers, no liars, fiends, addicts, bigots, racists, prostitutes, traitors, fornicators, perverts, brawlers, drunkards, witches, there will be no thieves, cheats, swindlers or greedy people there, no one who manipulates, no one who has been selfish, rude, arrogant, angry without cause, unfair, mean, or short-tempered, no one who has been disobedient to their parents or legitimate authorities, no one who sins at all will be there.

The new heaven and the new earth will however be full of former gays, adulterers, murderers, pornographers, gossips, slanderers, liars, fiends, addicts, bigots, racists, prostitutes, traitors, fornicators, perverts, brawlers, drunkards, witches, thieves, cheats, swindlers, formerly greedy people, manipulators, people who were formerly selfish, rude, arrogant, angry without cause, unfair, mean, short tempered and disobedient.  Heaven will be full of people who sinned, recognized their unworthiness and fell on God’s love, compassion and forgiveness. 

In former times and in far away lands, faith meant believing God could do this even though one didn’t know how.  How could a God who is fully fair, fully just, just …forgive our sins?  No matter how great?  No matter who I hurt?  He couldn’t!  He would have to punish sin!  He is holy!  Nothing sinful can enter His presence without being burnt down like a French fry shot at the Sun! 

But Jesus!  Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth and took the punishment, the full punishment for our sins!  God took he who had never sinned, never been disobedient and put all our sins on Him and then killed him!  Killing all our sins!  And because Jesus did this willingly, did this perfectly, did this lovingly God raised Him from the dead!  For how could a just God, a fair Judge, a loving Father not reward such sacrifice!?

“21 For just as the Father raises the dead and makes them alive, thus also the Son makes alive whomever he wishes. 22 For the Father does not judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, 23 in order that all people will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly I say to you that the one who hears my word and who believes the one who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5)

In former times and far away lands, rebellion against God’s mercy, love and sovereignty looked like idolatry.  Which is really worship of self.  God’s of our own understanding.  God’s we control and manipulate.  God’s who give us what we want which is to be our own gods.  Now, since Jesus, it’s exactly the same, only people can be more specific about it if they want.  All of it results in the same thing however, rejection of God’s plan for mercy in the person of Jesus.  Rejection of God’s love.  The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father.  All things were made by the Father, through the Son, for the Son and the Son has come and purified all things as a gift for the Father.  This has been testified to since the beginning by the Holy Spirit.  Rejection of this testimony is calling the Holy Spirit a liar.  Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  The one unforgivable sin. 

What does this look like?  Is it just saying you don’t believe once and your done like the kids and fools on a website created for atheists who can’t even be atheists without attempting to biblically insult the God they profess not to believe in?  Is it atheism itself?  Or do you have to be a pagan?  Is it anything in that list of sins at the beginning?

It looks like three crosses.  Jesus in the center with a thief on either hand.  One thief looks at the guiltless lamb of God and mocks in anger and impotent fury.  The other, guilty of the same crime as his brother, confesses his guilt, looks at the guiltless lamb of God and asks for mercy he knows he has no right to receive unless the one in the center is loving.

“Today if you will hear his voice:

8 “Do not harden your heart…” (Ps 95)

“You warned them so that they would return to your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen.” (Neh 9)

Paganism?  Atheism?  Murder, adultery, greed?  No.  Those are just symptoms.  Symptoms of a hard heart and stiff neck.

Tis no joke

“25 And behold, a certain legal expert stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do so that I will inherit eternal life?”
29… “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10)

A priest, a Levite and a Samaritan walk into a bar.  Or if you prefer, a pastor, a deacon and a taxi driver.  The pastor orders a drink, the deacon orders a drink, they find a table by themselves, comment on the sad state of the man passed out drunk and the sad commentary he is on society as a whole, “hell in a handbasket,” they mutter and start watching the game on tv.  The taxi driver pays the tab of the man passed out drunk on the floor from his own pocket; finds the man’s address from his license and his keys; picks him up; carries him to his cab; takes him home, for which he collects no fare; carries the man up to his apartment; puts him to bed; goes and cleans out the vomit from the back seat of his cab and shirt and continues on with his night.

“36 Which of these three do you suppose became a neighbor of the man…?”

Became…the taxi driver, our Samaritan, was not a neighbor of the man by geography, brotherhood or affinity, if stereotypes are based on empirical data, there’s even a good chance they aren’t neighbors by religion.  He became a neighbor through compassion.  Compassion on a man who could do nothing for him!  Compassion on a total stranger.  “Love your neighbor” is a dual commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself and make all men in need your neighbor through love.”

Just one chapter ago Jesus had an agenda: rest and retreat time for him and his posse.  He made an effort to pull his boys back from the mission field to spend some quality bonding time and to hear of their time afield.  But when he came to the shoreline, the crowds had rushed ahead of him and were waiting.  He could have started singing Styx to Pete, “I’m sailing…awaaaaaay”.  He could have “passed through their midst” as he did on other occasions but he stops.  Heck, he could have hopped out of the boat and booked it across the lake on foot if he wanted but he doesn’t.  Why?

“34 And getting out of the boat he saw the large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd,” (Mark 6)  Compassion.  Mercy.  They are the mark of Christ as they are the mark of His Father, ““Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding with loyal love and faithfulness,” (Ex 34).  This is how God describes Himself and He cannot lie.  This should be the mark of his followers.

“44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors also do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is remarkable? Do not the Gentiles also do the same?” (Matt 5)

“32 “And if you love those who love you, what kind of credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what kind of credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same! 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive back, what kind of credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal amount! 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting back nothing, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful!” (Luke 6)

“42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will never lose his reward.” (Matt 10)

“34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me as a guest, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you as a guest, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ 40 And the king will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.’” (Matt 25)

“34 “A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another—just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.” (John 13)

“Become kind toward one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Eph 4)

“12 Therefore, as the chosen of God, holy and dearly loved, put on affection, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, 13 putting up with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone should have a complaint against anyone, just as also the Lord forgave you, thus also you do the same. 14 And to all these things add love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And the peace of Christ must rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God, 17 and everything whatever you do in word or in deed, giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus to God the Father through him.” (Col 3)

Nuff said.

Faith like mad

“23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9)

Do you know why Christianity is a lot more popular in third world nations and among oppressed and suffering people?  Neither do I.  I have a guess though.  It goes something like this.

If your life is horrific, if you are helpless, hopeless, bereaved and bereft, Jesus is beautifully attractive.  The promise of eternal life beyond this one to someone whose temporal life promises to be brutish, short and end nastily, enables them to endure to persevere.  To the homeless, the promise of rooms prepared for them warms them in cold nights.  To the hungry, the promise of a meal with their Savior and fruits that bloom every season enrich the dreams of their energy deprived bodies.  To the prisoners and the slaves, he promises freedom.  To the sick and broken, health.  To the lonely, a friend closer than a brother, a lover of their very soul.  To the guilty, the vile, the ashamed, the violated, Christ offers not retribution but redemption! And while it is hard to understand why the terrible things have to happen to you now, beyond even the promise that all the suffering will be worth it, Christ gives you a family, a people who, right here, right now, can bond in fellowship and shared belief, they can support each other and band together for strength, warmth and community!  No wonder they cling to Christ!  They’re already laying down their lives, they have no choice in that, Christ makes it an honor, a glory and a passage to something infinitely better!

Seeing this, it is no wonder Jesus is losing his popularity among Westerners.  It is one thing to for those with nothing to lose to believe, it is quite a bit different for those with everything to lose.  “23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”” (Mark 10)  Yeah, yeah, I know you don’t think of yourself as rich.  I won’t bore you with the statistics again but trust me, compared to the rest of the world, if you have a house to live in, a car to drive, a cellphone and three meals a day, you are.  If you don’t believe me, look up the price of rice, the standard food for most of the world, and how much of the world cannot afford it.  On second thought, don’t, it’ll make you cry.  But for those of us who work a job, receive a paycheck, drive home, nuke dinner and spend most of the rest of the night flipping channels and dreaming of the one or two weeks of vacation we’ll take this year, laying down our lives, giving up all we own sounds kinda scary and mean.  We don’t mind helping people.  Americans are the most generous givers in the world.  We share our excess with others all the time.  Jesus however doesn’t sound like he’s asking for our surplus.  He sounds like he’s asking for everything!

Now before you go and label me anti-wealth, lemme just say, I’m not.  Neither is God.  Abe, Isaac, Jake, all wealthy and richly rewarded by God.  David and Solomon had wealth out the wa-zoo.  God doesn’t have a beef against rich people…just rich people who think their money is theirs.  I’m told that the word most often translated in the Bible as “wicked,” refers to selfish greed.  God may never ask you to lay down your whole life, but He wants to know if He does ask you to, would you?  Everything we have is a gift, right down to the skin tent in which you currently reside.  Do we love the gift more than the giver?  It’s a real easy trap to get into but to get out of you have to chew off your own leg!

I don’t come to this point flippantly.  I don’t come here without scars.  I’m not preaching at you.  I’m pleading with you.  If God asked for everything…  If God asked for that one thing…  You know the thing.  If God asked for your comfort, your home, your savings, your children, would you give them?  Would you give them cheerfully?  If following God would cost you your livelihood, your spouse, your health, your freedom, could you?  Could your faith survive that strain?  Would His promises be enough? 

Faith is a gift of grace too.  Pray for more so that it would be.  Pray you never have to find out.  Or…

If you dare, if you dare ask to serve deeper, to know Him deeper, to really understand the joy of grace, the freedom no one can chain, the food no drought can touch, the home no fire can burn, the riches no thief can steal, the family, friend, lover no death can kill, from which no sin can separate you, then pray like mad.  Pray like a madman.  You’re gonna need it!  But He’s promised it will all be worth it!

Who's in the boat?

“22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” (Luke 8)

Whew!  Tense!  Glad we’re not in that boat!  Or are we?  In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m mildly obsessed with the question, “What are we to do?”  Jesus has done all required for us to be saved.  We have his righteousness.  Nothing we did to save ourselves mattered.  Only by falling on His mercy can we enter into the Kingdom of God.  It is finished.  Done.  Put that baby to bed cuz it’s passed out on the couch… or the back of the boat.  So maybe it isn’t so much, “What are we to do?” but “What are we to do NOW?”

“19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  ...” (Gal 2)  Something significant happened the day I believed.  The day I chose Jesus’ righteousness over mine, I died and was raised again as something wholly, holy different… on the inside.  This I think is one of the problems the world has with ‘born again’ Christians.  They don’t SEE a difference.  We don’t glow.  We don’t change color or shape or size.  We are sealed by God, “13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1) but it is a seal like those at the amusement park; no one can see it until it fluoresces under Holy light.  It is a guarantee of a future inheritance.  We are royalty!  We are rich!  We are immortal!  We are holy!  Trust me, you just can’t see it yet.

Unless we have deeds.

How would a royal, beloved prince of the only all-sovereign King of the Universes, secure in his throne, not because of anything he had done but strictly and only because of who his father is, surrounded by legions of loyal, all-powerful bodyguards act?  How would he treat the lowly?  How would he treat his brothers?  How would a woman, rich beyond her wildest dreams and perfectly secure in all her future incomes, with so much wealth coming in, she can’t even contemplate savings because no vault could hold it for even a minute, how would this woman in a waterfall of wealth, handle finances?  Treat the poor?  How would a man who could not die, feel about death?  What would he fear?  How would a woman, stolen as a child, beaten, abused, raped and used, bought and sold until she learned to beat, abuse, rape and use, buy and sell others, who then is rescued and washed, healed and loved, pampered and restored to utterly blinding, ravishing beauty and glory by a husband fairy-tale perfect, spend her time?  Her money?  Her love?  Her forgiveness?  How would a people with the greatest message in all of time and space spend their few, short years in time and space?

I’ll tell ya how: in a boat in a storm.  Look at this story from Luke 8.  Jesus has come and done all he thought he needed to do.  And it was a lot.  Read over the list of miracles, crowds, long nights spent in prayer and walking he has done.  He’s crashed.  He’s sleeping the sleep of the honest innocent in the back of the boat.  Arrayed in front of him are his handpicked, chosen men, fully invested, fully devoted followers… fighting for their lives!  At least half of them are fishermen from this very lake, probably as the balladeer sings, sons of sons of sons of sailors.  They know how to do what they are doing.  They’ve done this before.  Tonight however, their ticket is punched.  Their luck has run out, they’ve done all they can and it wasn’t enough.  They have been weighed, measured and found wanting.  And it irks them that the guy responsible for them being here is asleep for it.  So, darn tootin’ they wake him up! 

“And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?””   Luke sugar-coats it, we can forgive him, he wasn’t there.  Matt and Mark, who I’m told, got the story direct from Peter, record Jesus’ words a bit differently, “40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”” (Matt 8, Mark 4)  It sounds harsh until you realize even Jonah, the hardhearted and wayward prophet of fish food fame, knew his God well enough to sleep during storms and was completely confident in His ability to still them as well. 

So what do we learn?  How does this answer my burning question?  “What are we to do now?”  The story tells us.

Secondly, we obey.  (Yeah, I know, stick with me.)  Jesus said, “Let’s go”.  They went.  Some storms come because, like Jonah, we don’t obey.  We who are his, need to read the Word, pray to the Word and listen to the Word and see where the Word is telling us to go.  Third, go.  Action.  Jesus wanted to go across a lake.  They did not sit on a beach and pray for a miracle.  They did not step onto the water and expect it not to give.  They went and got a boat and sailed and when the wind became too dangerous, they rowed.  They worked.  They did what they knew how to do.  Some of them, like Matt the accountant, had to learn new skills.  And that’s it.  Pretty simple, huh?

If we do the first thing first: have faith.  Faith, as I’ve tried to show ad nauseam, is knowing.  We need to be with Jesus.  We need to have Jesus in the boat when we go.   But most of all, we need to know. Who. Jesus. IS.  We don’t bring Jesus with us, we are with HIM.

On the surface, these men were faithful.  They were obedient.  They were following Jesus.  In their hearts however, they had no idea who Jesus is.  They were following what they saw.  Jesus leads them right into a storm.  Following Jesus doesn’t mean life will make sense, today.  In this story, as in Jonah’s, the boat and the sailors are saved.  In Acts 27, Paul’s boat is lost but everyone on board is spared.  Paul lives… to finish going to Rome where he is beheaded.  Following Jesus doesn’t ensure a happy ending…that the world can SEE!  Everyone Jesus healed, died.  Everyone Jesus raised from the dead, died again.  If we live for what we can see, we will die.  If we die, living for what we cannot see, what we know without seeing, we. Will. Live!  And maybe, just maybe, someone else will see THAT and believe!

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1Pet 1)

Work it, Baby!

“34 I will bless the Lord at all times;


    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;


    let the humble hear and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,


    and let us exalt his name together!

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me


    and delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to him are radiant,


    and their faces shall never be ashamed.” (Ps 34)

It is my fear one could read the last few posts and think I preach a gospel of works.  All my emphasis on action and what we do could be misconstrued.  If Jesus’ had and has his words twisted and confused so easily by so many, I certainly will not be immune.  But let the fault not be one of not having worked hard enough to clear up this issue of works.  Come, there is work to do.

“6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;


    consider her ways, and be wise.

7 Without having any chief,


    officer, or ruler,

8 she prepares her bread in summer


    and gathers her food in harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?


    When will you arise from your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    

a little folding of the hands to rest,

11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,


    and want like an armed man.” (Prov 6)

From the time God put Adam in the Garden he gave him something to do.  Something Adam must obey.  It is fairly obvious God is a God of action and those who follow him must likewise be on the move.  Rest is a gift given in cycles of seven.  Six parts work, one part rest.  Peace is found in our labor.  How can that be?  God is in our labor…

“12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,


    for you have indeed done for us all our works.” (Is 26)

If there is one thing God has labored in me and through me to help us see it is this: God is love and love is perfect submission and communion to the other.  The expression, “I don’t know where I stop and you begin,” comes close.  The fact is: there is no stop!  We’re moving towards Him, He’s moving towards us, we are in Him, He is in us!  He is drawing us into His Oneness!  This is what all our action, all our labor, all our works are towards!

         Check it.  From the moment we rise we are doing.  We will be doing something always.  Life is movement.  Life is change.  Life is action.  The work of salvation, the job of redemption, the paying of the debt, It is Finished!  Yes!  Praise God!  Hallelujah!  Glory Be!  Everything necessary has been accomplished.  By Christ’s blood, Christ’s sacrifice, Christ’s work, we are saved!  We receive (passive action) this.  We believe (action) this.  We have faith (action with helper) in this.  We share (action) in his glory!  We ARE (state of being, reception of title, state of grace, first non-action) sons and daughters of God!

Alarm clock goes off, new day begins, son and daughter of God rise… What? Do? We? Do? 

See.  Not so easy, is it?  Imagine how the first Jewish converts felt.  Yesterday they had the Law.  Yesterday they knew exactly what was expected of them every minute of every day.  And when they failed, they knew exactly how many sheep, goats, cattle and birds were required to pay the debt.  Today, they wake up free…yippee!  Frolic like ya got no sense!  We’re free!  We’re free!  We’re.. free… to.. do what?  If they sin now, if they fail.. can they fail?  How can we fail if we don’t know what we’re to do?  How can we fail free grace?  How can we fail love?  Should we keep going to work?  Should we keep living with someone who is not free?  No wonder they sold everything and moved into communes together.  No wonder they thought Jesus was coming to get them any day.  Living here in this mess as free people doesn’t make much sense!  Why does God free us, save us, clean us, heal us and then… not take us home?

Because we still have something to do!  God created the earth and everything in it but he did not finish it…on purpose!  He invites us into His work to work alongside Him.  God comes and initiates His kingdom and he does not finish it on purpose!  He invites us to work towards its completion alongside him!  By His love, He makes us His people, then He invites us into love by submitting our wills to His and obeying His commands.  Love God with all your heart, mind and strength.  Love each other as He has loved us.  And how did He love us?  By total submission to the Father and becoming totally servile to us!  “14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2)  Saint Jimmy is calling us out!   Works do not save, works are evidence we HAVE been saved!  Evidence the Spirit is in us!  Evidence we are seeking God’s face, radiating and reflecting His Light!  We seek someone to love because we love God who loves us and as Jesus told us, “‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matt 25)  In Luke 7 Jesus said the sinful woman loved much because she was forgiven much… or wait, did he say, she loves much so she is forgiven much?  It can be translated either way.  Is this on purpose?  Forgive and you will be forgiven.  While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  God is frequently not one or the other; He’s simultaneously both as you would assume an omnipresent, omnipotent God would be.  If Jesus is sitting on the right hand of God in Heaven and the Spirit is in us and they are in perfect communion then we are already being drawn into this.  We won’t be able to stop it!  Why would we want to?

So the alarm clock goes off and son and daughter of God’s feet hit our fuzzy, bunny slippers.  We cock our heads and listen.  We place our hands on our chests.  Spirit?  Jesus?  You in there?   O, he’s in there, you may not feel Him flowing through you, Obi Wan, but He’s there.  Acknowledge it!  Own it!  I’m told feeling follows action.  So say to Him, ““Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” (1Sam 14)

“33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”” (Mark 3)

Let's get dirty

“4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8)

I’m gonna skip right over verses 1-3.  It’s not that I don’t see anything there, all scripture is God breathed.  I’m sure there’s plenty for us to consider in a short description of how Jesus traveled and with whom he traveled.  (Did the “sinner” from chapter 7 tag along?  What must it have been like when this troop of at least twenty people showed up in town?  How did the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager meet Jesus?)  It’s just, given my present season of unemployment, I don’t want anyone thinking I’m saying women should be supporting me. 

What is infinitely more useful to us here is WHY Jesus was traveling.  “8 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.”  Luke, I’m finding, is delightfully structured.  From here to verse twenty-one, he follows one theme-the Word of God.

Jesus is sowing his seed.  Freedom for the captives!  A light to those living in darkness!  Come without money, buy bread from Him.  Humble yourselves and fall on God’s mercy and He is faithful to forgive, seventy-times seven!  All who come are welcome!  The outcasts are now Sons and Daughters!  The year of the Lord’s favor has begun!  Good News!  No more religion!  No more, what-you-have-to-do!  Now it’s what-God-has-done!

But Jesus is no fool, he’s no sparkle-eyed naïf, so sure his message is going to unilaterally change the world overnight.  He knows how his seed will be received.  Some hearts are too hard.  Too set in their ways.  Too settled into their systems.  Too packed and full to receive something so … unsettling.  Seeds sprout, they push things aside, they demand nutrients, water, resources the ground had other designs for.  It is not just the hostile atheist whose ground is too hard, anyone can be too full for Jesus.  There the seed will lay on the surface, un-embraced, unloved by the soil, where any unclean bird (demon) can come and snatch it away.

Some hearts will receive it joyfully… at first.  It’s novel!  It’s new!  It’s exciting!  We’re gonna change the world!  I’m loved!  Then the seed starts demanding those nutrients to live.  The root reaches down and touches something hard.  Some desire.  Some coping mechanism.  Some habit.  Some lust.  Some pain.  Some addiction.  Some one.  Some thing, which cannot exist with the Word and the heart has a choice to make.  Grab onto this seed, this newcomer, this disturbing revelation or hold onto the known.  Sure, it’s abusive, it’s killing me, it’s wrong, it can’t last but it’s mine.  The pain, the cold comfort I know is better than the possibly painful cure I don’t.  Unfed, unloved, the seed withers and dies.

Some hearts accept the seed just fine… as long as it’s willing to grow in the garden with the other seeds.  They are generous hearts.  All plants, all philosophies have merit.  Come Jesus, you’ll fit right in over here in the corner next to my ambitions and my other concerns.  Watch out for those thorns!  Haha, aren’t they cute when they draw blood?  The Word is in competition here.  There’s only so much water and nutrient to go around.  There’s too much shade and not enough Son.  No one weeds this garden of weeds.  The fruit growing here is not good for eating.  It blesses no one.  The Word is even very little benefit to the soil itself.  Easily forgotten amidst the competing foliage.  Tragedy, trial and suffering come and this heart is as lost as the unbeliever when the true tragedy is the Truth, Comfort, Peace and Love it craves is right there, hidden among the thorns.

Then there’s the heart Jesus is looking for.  Soft, broken, torn up by the plows of life, soaked by the rain, flooded by the river every time it overflows its banks, all of the rocks it leaned on, held onto, was sure of; all of the plants it hoped in, dreamed of, nurtured ripped out and removed.  Forgotten.  Fallow.  Empty.  Hungry! 

And the seed falls.  The seed is embraced!  The seed is fed.  Sheltered.  Loved!  Unchallenged, it grows without competition.  Everything the soil has belongs to the seed and everything the seed has belongs to the soil until there is so much fruit, the heart overflows! 

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear!