Liberation

This weekend we were singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" at a church we attend. The last two lines of the first verse stood out to me:

To save us all from Satan's power
When we have gone astray.

Here is the essence of the Gospel and something that can speak to a post-modern world. There is a great oppressor, Satan, who keeps us all bound in our own self-destructive and other-destructive ways. The most tragic thing is that humanity as a species turned over the power for him to do this.

Still Christ came as the great liberator. He came to set us free from the power of the oppressor. If all humanity would submit to the One who is liberating us, all injustice and oppression would end.

Sadly, the reality is not everyone will do this. Part of the power of the oppressor is that he has us deceived into believing that oppression is freedom and self-actualization.

So, the story goes on.

Being Lead

On a personal prayer retreat this past weekend the following verse by Rich Mullins stood out to me.

You who live in eternity
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time
We can't see what's ahead
And we can not get free of what we've left behind
I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears
All the words of shame and doubt, blame and regret

I can't see how You're leading me unless You've led me here
Where I'm lost enough to let myself be led
And so You've been here all along I guess
It's just Your ways and You are just plain hard to get
("Hard to Get" by Rich Mullins © 1998 Liturgy Legacy Music)

Am I at a place that I'm ready to be lead again?

I Breath

As I sleep at night, I breath
As I toil each day, I breath
Each breath touches a place deeper than my lungs
It inhales the spiritual essence from which I was created
It exhales a passion to pursue first the things of God

Jack-o-lanterns

I've recently been introduced to the music of Peter Mayer. One song from his Million Year Mind album is John's Garden. It's an allegory of life written about a fictitious conversation in a pumpkin patch.

Farmer John wandered back
And when he reached the pumpkin patch, began to speak
He said "the weather's getting colder
Summer's over and it's almost Halloween
That's the day, the reason you were raised
When everything about your life will change

You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness
But remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart"

The pumpkins held a meeting then
Some were very apprehensive and afraid
"Could this really happen to us?
What could be the meaning?" is what they were saying
"This is home, it's all we've ever known"
Then one bold, outspoken pumpkin spoke

He said
"I don't need eyes to see, it sounds like a lie to me
I like it just fine here in John's garden
And remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart"

There is much to ask and to ponder in the pumpkin patch
When imposing old October shows up at last

Then a pumpkin from the farther end
Who had been silent up till then
Over the commotion, said
"What would you rather have my friends
A chance to shine, or die here on the vine?
The better way seems very plain to me

You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you'll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness
And maybe that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern's heart
Oh, but one goblin's smile should make it all well worth while
You know you might even see the starlight
And knowing that time is brief, makes it that much more sweet
When you have a jack-o-lantern's heart"

(copyright 1999 by Peter Mayer)

As I listen to this song I think of how many of us seem content and comfortable to live our lives just dying on the vine instead of taking the chance to shine even for a brief moment. If we're willing to cut the ties of our comfort zones to take a chance to shine with new light it will be worthwhile.

Walk the Line

This past week we watched Walk The Line. (With three young children we usually have to wait until a DVD is available at the library.) A while ago a friend had told us how it wasn't a good movie to watch because it spent too much time on the negative aspects of Johnny Cash's life and not enough on the good news. After seeing the movie though I wonder if this is what the gospel (the good news) is all about.

Walk the Line is definitely not a nice clean Gospel film, but neither is the Gospel a clean story in our lives. Like another friend of mine said, "You can't know the good news until you know the bad news." This film presents the story of man whose life had spiraled out of control to a disastrous low point. All his self-effort had failed to hold things together. Still, God gave him a second chance to redeem his life.

The scene (perhaps dramatized) where a soaked Johnny is looking up at June Carter after she rescued him from a lake is very telling. He whispers, "You should have left me." We need to come to a place in life of realizing we don't deserve to have anyone rescue us from drowning before we are ready to accept the unmerited offer of a second chance. This is the Gospel.

Lily of the Valley

Last Thursday I read a devotional on the title of Lily of the Valley as it applies to Jesus. The vulnerability of this title stands out to me. The size of this flower makes it vulnerable to being trampled and ignored. How often do we do this to Christ? Still He is persistent in bringing beauty into our lives.

Tales from the Kingdom of Heaven: The Apprentice

Here is another post from my other blog on Sunday, September 11, 2005:

This Sunday (September 11) we talked about the fourth of five stories Jesus told which illustrate how we should live our lives in light of the ever-present possibility that He could return at any time. You can read about it in Matthew 25:14 – 30.

In this story, a master gives three of his servants a test while he goes on a trip. Two of them succeed and one fails. It reminds me of The Apprentice in that people are tested to see how they handle small challenges to know if they can be trusted with bigger ones. Unlike The Apprentice, though, it’s not cut throat and everyone has a chance to succeed.
The first two servants are motivated by the opportunity and demonstrate diligence by immediately putting what was given to them to work to try to bring a greater return for their master. They were willing to risk loss, but succeeded in doubling what was given to them. They were both rewarded by being given greater opportunities and were invited to celebrate with their master.

The third servant was motivated by fear and an unhealthy understanding of his master. He accused the master of being someone who exploits others. He hid the funds that were given him and brought no increase to his master. He had the little that was given to him taken away and is kicked out of the master’s household. Even if he had risked what was given to him and lost it, I believe the master would have been more merciful to him.

This story shows us that God wants us to take what we have been given (relationships, abilities, finances, etc.) and actively work to increase the influence of His kingdom in this world. We sometimes need to take calculated risks, even if it means we could loss everything. If we tightly hold on to the little we have we probably will not keep it for that long. God will reward our faithful diligence with greater opportunity and joy.

As we closed we pondered the questions, "How much an I willing to risk for the sake of God?"

Tales from the Kingdom of Heaven: The Big Party

Here is another post from my other blob on Sunday, September 04, 2005:

On Friday, August 26, we discussed a story Jesus told about a wedding feast prepared by a king. It is found in Matt 22:1 – 14.

In the story, the king has everything prepared to throw a wedding feast for his son. He sends his servants out to remind those that had already been invited that it is time for the feast to begin. The guests ignore the invitation, so the king sends his servants out a second time with a more enticing description of the feast. This time there is a more violent response to his invitation.

After dispensing justice on those who murdered his servants, the king sends another group of servants out to extend an open invitation to anyone who wants to come to the feast. The banquet hall is filled with people. As he walks through the hall, he notices a person one guests is not wearing appropriate wedding clothes. When the man cannot give the king a reason for his oversight, the king has him cast out of the feast.

In this story, it seems those who were on the original guest list did not place a high value on being a part of the king’s feast. The king showed great patience in extending a second invitation to the same group of people. The violent response illustrates the way many people have responded to God’s prophets throughout history and may be a foreshadow of the way Jesus, the Son of God, would eventually be treated as well. The people’s own rejection of the invitation disqualifies them for the honor of being a part of the celebration.

The open invitation that is extended later illustrates God’s graciousness and His desire to have people enter celebration with Him. He wants to lavish His goodness on all that will enter His kingdom without regard to human standards.

The scene between that king and the man who was not wearing appropriate wedding clothes is a little hard to reconcile with the image of a God who loves all people. Some play down the possibility that the king would have provided appropriate wedding clothes for those who could not buy their own (not specifically mentioned in the story, but assumed by some people). Still, the image fits when you consider that in Christ’s death God provided the means by which all who are unworthy (all of us) can enter into His celebration.

Regardless if there were clothes provided for the guests, the man’s inability to give an answer shows that he himself realized he was without excuse for this oversight. He did not value the gracious invitation he had received to even change into clothes that would be appropriate for the wedding.

The key to understanding this story hangs on the closing phrase "many are called, but few are chosen." Some have used this phrase to defend the idea of an arbitrary predestination by which God selects those who are admitted to heaven. This view reminds me of a line from REM’s "Man on the Moon:" "See you in heaven if you make the list." This story does not express the arbitrary decision of a malicious tyrant trying to create an elite society. It is the broad invitation of a loving and good King that is unfortunately rejected by many.

The challenge for us is to take seriously the invitation of God to enter His celebration. It is an offer of unmerited favor. One person at our gathering wondered if perhaps the reason the guests did not value the feast is that they didn’t see the value in how the invitation was extended to them. When you consider that God’s invitation to us takes the form of Him dying on a messy cross, it does not seem too far from the truth.

As we closed our meeting, we pondered this question together: How seriously, do I take the invitation of God to enter His celebration?

Tails of the Kingdom of Heaven: Day Labor

Here's a post from my other blog on August 11, 2005:
This Friday we discussed a story Jesus told of some laborers who worked for a man who owned a vineyard. Although different groups of workers started at different times throughout the day (one group working for only one hour), they were all given one day’s wage for their work no matter how long they had actually worked. The story is found in Matt 20:1 – 16. For a contextual understanding of the point Jesus was making, we read the incident immediately preceding the story (Matt 19:16 – 30)Jesus book ended the story with the same proverb, "Many who are first will be last; and the last, first." The New Living Translation of 19:30 helps us understand the point of this proverb. "But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least her will be greatest then." In the culture and time that Jesus walked the earth, it was commonly assumed that wealthy people would be admitted to heaven because their wealth was evidence of God’s blessing. Therefore, when Jesus said that it is actually very difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it went against what their society was telling them.The point of the story is very basic. God will hand out His rewards according to His sovereignty. He does not use our standards of fairness. The workers in the story who felt they merited a larger wage than they originally agreed to because they worked longer than their coworkers. Still, it was within the landowners right to reward everyone with a full day’s pay no matter how long they worked.This story has many implications for following Jesus today. Most importantly, there is no place for classism in the Kingdom of God. The sad reality is this does slip into the Kingdom of God at times. At a recent national meeting of one denomination, one of the denomination’s leaders from Africa addressed the people gathered there. He was thankful for the ways that the U.S. branch had assisted in the spreading of the message of Jesus in Africa. Still, he was concerned that some Americans also were unintentionally exporting our ideas of success and celebrity worship. His point was that God’s value was not determined by the size of the ministry.We need to give up our notions of status and blessing. The Kingdom of God is really for the outcasts. This doesn’t automatically disqualify the "acceptable" people. Just as much as a person can take pride in his/her success, someone could also look to his or her poverty or status as an outcast as a thing of pride. In the end, God is the one who sorts out people’s motives.I sometimes wonder if the trouble we have with God’s sovereignty is that we take ourselves too seriously. It is at the heart of the complaint of the workers who worked all day in vs. 12 of the story. Ultimately the Kingdom of God is about God and His glory not us. The comforting reality is that when we start to realize this, we put ourselves in the hands of a loving and caring God who wants what’s best for us. He just likes to liberally spread that blessing around.As we closed our discussion we pondered this question: Am I seeking God only for what I can get out of it or am I concerned with his glory?

Tails from the Kingdom of Heaven: Forgiveness

Here is another post from my other blog on August 3, 2005:

This past Friday we discussed the story Jesus told of a servant who received a great amount of mercy from his king, but he could not find the same compassion in his heart to forgive a fellow servant of a much smaller debt. It is recorded in Matthew 18:21 - 35. It comes on the heals of one of Jesus' followers asking Him how often he should forgive someone who has wronged him.In this story, the first servant owed the king a debt he could never hope to pay back. The king was going to remedy the situation by selling the servant, his family, and all his possessions into slavery in order to recover at least a portion of the debt. The first servant pleaded for mercy. The king had compassion on the servant and cancelled his debt.After this the servant went to a fellow servant and demanded repayment of a much smaller debt. When the second servant asked for more time the first servant refused to forgive his fellow servant. Instead, he had the second servant thrown in prison until his debt could be repaid.When the king heard about this he cancelled his pardon of the first servant and had him thrown in prison until his much larger debt could be repaid. Given the size of the debt the first servant owed he was condemned to prison for life.Reading this story reminds me of a scene from Schindler's List. Oscar Schindler is having a discussion with the commandant of the concentration camp about power. To the commandant, his power over the Jews was based in their fear of him randomly shooting them from the balcony of his chateau. Schindler challenges him with a different view of power. "Power is having the right to shoot and choosing not to."The story Jesus told shows me the centrality of forgiveness in the Kingdom of God. God shows a great amount of mercy and compassion to us. It should produce a deep level of compassion and forgiveness in us toward others. God is more justified than any of us in showing wrath, yet it seems His greatest wrath is toward those who cannot find a place for compassion and grace toward others in their hearts.During our closing time, we pondered this question: Does God's compassion and mercy toward you produce the same response toward others or does it produce pride?

Tails From the Kingdom of Heaven: a Mustard Seed and some Yeast

This is a post from my other blog from a discussion group we were a part of on June 11, 2005:

Last night we continued our series of discussions on the illustrations and stories that Jesus used to explain to the people of His time what the leadership of God is like. Many of these stories begin with the phrase; "the kingdom of Heaven is like," which gives us the title for our series.Last night we discussed Matthew 13:31 - 33. Here Jesus gives two similar illustrations of things that start very small, but end up with much larger results. The first is a mustard seed, which is a very small seed but potentially could grow to be several feet high over time. The second is yeast, which when just a small amount is put in a large lump of bread dough has the effect of permeating and changing the nature of the dough.The first illustration shows structural growth. The people of Jesus' time were looking for a powerful military or political leader to help them throw off their oppressors and rebuild their lost greatness as a nation. He showed that what God was going to initiate in the world would start out small and unimpressive, but it would have great results in the end. So often today, we look for movements that are big to identify with. Yet, what God may be doing in a particular place and time may seem to be unimpressive at first. It just may take some time to grow.The second illustration shows transformation. This is a little harder to measure and to accomplish. As we allow God's leadership to take control in our lives, it should have a transforming affect. As it transforms us and as we gather together with others who are being transformed in a community of faith, we should have a transforming effect on the environment around us. The change on both levels may take time, but we need to trust God that He is bringing it about.One of our participants said that sometimes he feels like the yeast (influencing others for the Kingdom of God) and sometimes he feels like the bread dough (needing to be influenced). We agreed that each of us needs that in different ways at times. As we spent time reflecting on what we discussed, we focussed on the question, "In what ways do I need the Kingdom of Heaven to influence and transform my life?"