The Final Criterion ...

Who you are matters.  Not who you know.  Not what you know.  But who you are in the core of your character, does matter.  Modern Christian churches tend to get this entirely wrong.  They focus on what they can teach you.  The idea is that if you find out enough knowledge, some of it is bound to rub off on you, and perhaps you might become a better person than when you started.  That idea may even have some merit.  But what if who you are is essentially the same as who you were; only after all this education, you have a better understanding of doctrines.  If you think it has never happened before, just spend some time reading about the Pharisees in the time of Christ.  They had immense knowledge of the scriptures, spent nearly every day debating and trying to increase that knowledge.  But it did not change “who” they were.  And when Christ came, they refused to recognize Him.  Why?  Because Jesus was obsessed with loving others, especially those in need.  The Pharisees were more comfortable with a “caste” system where the people in great need were largely ostracized (you know, in order to keep the church pure).

And speaking of the “church”, it can’t save you either.  The Pharisees went to church obsessively.  They had a special temple building that was specifically authorized for this purpose.  They had many rituals designed to point them to the Messiah, ALL of which they followed for public viewing.  They sang all the hymns.  They wrote a few new ones.  They washed themselves up and were “clean” all the time.  Their clothing was “temple proscribed”.  It was conservative (as nearly as conservative as clothing gets).  Their family lives were very regimented with each member of the family knowing their “place”.  Wives and daughters did household chores and only those.  Sons were meant to carry on tradition and were educated thoroughly from an early age.  For our conservative brothers and sisters who think that modern society has gone down hill because we let our standards erode – the Pharisees had the best lock on standards there will ever be, and yet – they missed the Messiah entirely.  Rather, they chose to kill the Messiah rather than adopt another way of doing things.

So what about doctrine?  True doctrine is supposed to point you to Jesus.  If it works, that should lead you to submission and transformation of who you are.  But how many doctrines are really setup for that purpose?  Instead doctrines have become the central pillars that divide one church from another based on what is now called “belief”.  All modern Christian churches believe in Jesus, and yet every distinct denomination is somehow divided over the doctrines they teach.  Again noting the irony of doctrines being supposed to point you to Jesus, yet churches divide over them incessantly.  But let’s assume for the moment that your brand of Christianity (that is your particular denomination or unique set of beliefs) is 100% right, and everyone else is 100% wrong.  What then?  Does holding all the right doctrines to be true, make you a different person on the inside?  To the point, does it change who you are so completely, that you become just like Jesus (hard to tell you apart)?  If not, why?  All that truth must be good for something right.  But then, knowing “about” Jesus, and knowing “about” the Bible, only makes you a good student – not a different person.  To “be” a different person all you need is Jesus (and nothing else will do).

So what kind of person are you supposed to be?  That would be the $64,000 question.  And of course, Jesus left us the answer.  Matthew in his gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries records the words of Jesus Himself on this topic in chapter 25.  Jesus once again transitions the context from prior scriptures, beginning with the signs and wonders, moving to the conditions, moving again to the work or mission, and now to a final judgment scene that most conservative Christians love the idea of.  The last topic Jesus will address is what happens at His second coming (whether at the outset of it, or at the end of it – time is a little fuzzy in this one).  But there is very clear a division of people into two camps.  The saved, and the not saved.  This makes all of us nervous.  And it should.  The selfishness in the roots of who we are, dictates a lot of bad outcomes.  But this story has a twist, in fact a number of them.

It begins with Jesus speaking in verse 31 saying … “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:”  This is the second coming of Jesus.  No longer a humble baby laying in a manger for Herod to plot to destroy.  He is now beyond the reach of plotting Pharisees who want to see Him dead because He will simply not accept their version of the doctrines of truth they believe are beyond dispute.  This is a different picture of the same Jesus, and He is back.  This is not the sign for the atheists to finally accept the ridiculous ideas of a spaghetti monster as opposed to a tangible Son of God who is now here in front of them with all His holy angels (a number likely too large for us to guess at now).  And He brings with Him a throne, that is meant only for Him to sit upon.  This is the revelation of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He does not bow to our money or wealth.  He does not humble Himself to our leaders, for He is the ultimate leader of all time.  The glory of this is beyond our imagination today.  Yet Jesus gives us this small glimpse to get our heads in the right train of thought.

He continues in verse 32 saying … “And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: [verse 33] And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”  Our ultimate shepherd dividing His flocks is something we can kind of understand.  But does He mean His right, or our right?  And does He mean His left hand, or does He me the hand we see on the left from our perspective?  But that’s the thing about sheep, they just do what they are told.  They do not need to understand it.  They just do it.  This is a subtlety we sometimes miss.  Everyone here in this crowd thinks they are the same.  We ALL believe Jesus has come to take US home.  We ALL believe we are His sheep.  Nobody is looking around making accusations.  We’re just ALL happy.  But despite what we think of ourselves, there is a division going on, none the less. And we the sheep and goats are more or less oblivious to it.  Keep in mind two ambitious disciples had asked that when Jesus came into His kingdom that one might be placed at the right hand of Jesus, and one at the left.

Jesus continues in verse 34 saying … “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: [verse 35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: [verse 36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”  The group on the right has made it in to the Kingdom.  Why?  Keep in mind the above set of activities is NOT a definitive list, it is a set of examples.  What drives the behavior above is a core love of others that has become a part of “who” we are.  There is no check list of this stuff.  There is a driving motivation that pushes always into these kinds of behaviors for others, because we genuinely love them.  This set of examples is evidence of a full transformation of the heart and mind.  You leave behind the person you are today (one obsessed with self), and you are re-created into the very image of Jesus Christ by the power of His transformative love you choose to submit to.  The Holy Spirit acts as the mechanism.  And the result is a different kind of sheep.

Now again, I must call attention to the obvious (sorry).  Where is doctrine listed in the above set of final criterion?  Where is our understand of scripture cited, or our perfect knowledge of prophecy tested?  For that matter, where is something as basic as the Ten Commandments examined?  The above set of actions are examples of you loving others (which should be an embodiment of both doctrine and the Ten Commandments) – because it brings you into harmony with God.  But the goal post Jesus lays out is not whether you have kept all ten or any one of the Commandments properly, or whether you broke one tenant of the Law.  He does not have to.  Perfect love of others brings you into perfect harmony with the Law, until the Law is not something you even think about anymore, it is just a basic proscription for how to love others, that you would not think of badly.  You already love God, because loving Jesus is how your transformation began, continued, and finally concluded.  You already love others, so what “not” to do is only a beginning for you.  You have been spending your thoughts on what “to do”.  The above list Christ cited are examples of that thinking.

For some traditionalists, they believe you would gain entry into heaven or not, based on how perfectly “you” kept each commandment.  Sorry guys, that is not enough.  Jesus does not divide sheep from goats based on how many people learned not to steal, or lust, or covet, or commit adultery.  Jesus does not even look at His flock and divide it based on how many people broke the Sabbath, treated it badly, wasted their special day with Him, or worse yet; refused to worship on His day made holy at creation, choosing rather to worship on their own day.  THAT is not the criterion by which Jesus divides the flock.  Treating the time with Jesus how it deserves, cannot be accomplished, until we are brought into harmony with His Laws.  While His Laws are a burden to us, our hearts reflect our lack of transformation.  Once we allow Him to change “who” we are, how we see His special time with us changes, and only then can perfect obedience be found in us.  The Law never goes away.  Our perspective of the Law changes from burden to automatic as we are transformed into harmony with it.  Attempting to keep the Law, without transformation is nothing more than vanity.

Lastly, again notice it is not the brand of sheep that gets you into His Kingdom.  It is not “your” particular brand of Christian that is the final criterion.  Catholics are going to have to share the Kingdom with Protestants, and Mormons, and people of no brand at all.  The criterion laid out appears to be acts of loving Jesus Himself, not of belonging to a particular sect of Christianity.  It is not that only white sheep made it in (representing your faith), and reluctantly spotted sheep (people near your ideas), and from a state of grace black sheep (ones who were complete rebels, but somehow found His grace).  Color or sect or creed was not the deciding factors.  Loving Jesus was (and is).  A tangible demonstration of the first four Commandments, or a tangible demonstration of a relationship with Jesus Himself.  Either or both are true.  Loving Jesus, it would appear, is found in how we love – period.  And it is not found in turning that love inward, but in turning that love outwards to those in need (as this list would imply).

Jesus continues in verse 37 saying … “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? [verse 38] When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? [verse 39] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? [verse 40] And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  And here is another evidence of transformation – it is something you do not focus on – it is something happening to you without your knowledge, but within your motives.  The transformed sheep are simply different.  They love others because it is “who” they have been made to become.  As they look at the face of Jesus, they do not remember ever providing such loving acts to Him personally.  Yet Jesus says to them, when you did it “unto the least of these”.  Not to popes or presidents, or Bill Gates.  Not when your actions were designed for credit, or check marks in heaven.  But when your acts of charity and love were done because your heart bubbles over with charity and love.  Notice too, the “least of these” are also in the flock now, perhaps in part, because of your tangible love for them.

The sheep who gain entry into His Kingdom are like two-year-olds, unaware of their state of being, unaware they are the saved of this flock.  They do for others, without the knowledge of being saved, but because it is who they have become.  Think of that.  If it were possible these sheep could be lost (it’s not), they would be going to hell with kindness and love for others as their primary driving motivation.  They lived the way they do, because Jesus re-made them this way.  It is not something they did for themselves, or in partnership with God.  It is something Jesus does for us all, as we submit who we are to Him in the here and now.  He remakes us in the here and now.  And before long, a passion for others begins to develop in you, you cannot explain.  It brings tears to your eyes unexpectedly.  It brings joy to your heart from things you would not even have noticed before.  It is the new you, beginning to learn how to love like God loves, shedding the scales of your self-love behind.  It starts now, and going to heaven merely extends it.

Jesus continues in verse 41 saying … “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: [verse 42] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: [verse 43] I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.”  Pay careful attention to the reasons Jesus cites for this group NOT getting into heaven.  Examples of NOT loving others, therefore of being untransformed.  It is NO particular sin that keeps them out.  They are forgiven too, of the bad things they have done.  It is NOT the breaking of the law, or the misinterpretation of scripture that is keeping them out.  It is because they are NOT different people, they are the same at the core of who they are.  Forgiven, but not different inside.  And it shows.

The untransformed heart is all too happy to shower itself with the love of God, never thinking for a moment to share that love with others (perhaps outside of the inner circle of people we say we care about).  We care about very few, and are blindingly apathetic to those outside of our circles.  Even within our circle of people we are supposed to love, our love for them is far from perfect.  Often we choose what is convenient or easy for us, less so for them.  Sacrifice for others is seen as sacrifice (not as joy).  Giving to others is done in moderation (never completely, that would not make sense).  We strive to be “good” Christians (or worse), good people.  We tell ourselves we have achieved our goal of being a “basically” good person.  We tell ourselves that our sins do not matter, because they have been forgiven.  We treat His grace like a diaper we can relieve ourselves upon.  Never looking for an escape from our sins, only an excuse to remain in them.  Our thoughts are filled continually with a reflection of our motives, chief among them is love of self.

And it gets worse.  We too are unaware of our state of being.  Those goats, or active Christians involved in the church, hide our true condition by “working” in the ministry.  We may be the ones preaching, or planning, or helping out in church.  We make a fuss about attending events where the homeless are helped, or houses are built.  We consider these “events” as proof of our love of others (after all, we can point to a dozen of our neighbors who make no such attempt).  We give our means to ministry and again use this as proof of our love of others (pointing to others who make no such gifts, or who are unable to give as much as we).  And all of our “proof”, is proof of something else – an untransformed heart that looks for credit and reputation, not for anonymity.  When confronted with those in need, we pass by, because there is no “event” in it.  We do not make a habit of helping, only special events of helping.  We are quite comfortable leaving the least of these right where they are.  And there is no guilt in us, because who we are, is not someone who burns with the love of Jesus in us, only the love of self.  Our “good” hearts have never tasted of His transformation.  And so our lack of love for Jesus shows.  It is evident.

Jesus continues in verse 44 saying … “Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? [verse 45] Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. [verse 46] And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”  These goats are unaware they are goats.  And they too looking at the face of Jesus for the first time, realize they have never met Him before.  So they offer in their own defense, not repentance, but a statement of facts.  We never saw you, so how could we ever help you?  But the “least of these” who are in the flock today are present.  And they were ignored here by the goats who had no time for them outside of scheduled events or charitable donation.  The evidence is in front of them even if now it has been cleaned up significantly at this event.

What cannot be cleaned is the hearts still inside the goats.  It is too late for that.  They have steadfastly rejected transformation when it was offered.  They believed salvation was something “they” could achieve by their own good works, or asking for forgiveness (never a real change), or helping out in church.  They believed themselves “good” when Jesus looks at them they are far from the “good” the universe demands going forward.  Lucifer thought himself good too.  And while he loved others in harmony with the Law he was.  It was when he started loving self that is when Satan emerged.  These goats have known not much more than loving self in their own lives.  They have long evidence of it.  And the irony is that they may have perfect understanding of doctrine.  They may be able to recite a perfect understanding of all prophecy ever recorded.  They may be pastors, or ministers, or elders, or deaconesses.  They may go to church regularly.  They may do everything they thought they were supposed to do.  But they do not really love Jesus.  They mostly love themselves and bringing pleasure to themselves.

It is only in our submission that we find His ability to transform who we are into who He envisions we can become.  That means we turn over to Him our decisions (large and small).  That means we turn over our hearts and passions (for Him to remake, revise, or amplify as He sees fit).  Submission is about wanting to get rid of “who” we are, and trusting that what He will re-create us into, is the best thing we would ever really want.  It is a radical change of who we are.  It will radically disrupt everything about us.  And it will always be the best thing for us.  The evidence of this transformation will be found in the passion we have for loving others.  When we cannot keep still, when we cannot sleep away our time, when we must help that person in need – we are beginning to see them like God sees them.  That is what sheep look like.  You probably already know what goats look like (I do anyway).  But I continue to try to learn what submission means, and how much more of it I can learn to adopt.  Join me in that quest, and learn what Jesus has in store for you.

This concluded the answers of Jesus as to what to look for before the destruction of the Temple, and His second coming from signs, to conditions, to mission, to the final criterion.

 

Fields of Perfection [part three] ...

A journey can sometimes be an arduous thing.  The voyage from point A to point B is not always painless.  But that pain is nearly a guarantee when an enemy works to insure it.  I always find it remarkable that folks who ascribe to atheism do so while blaming God for everything bad that happens in the world (if there was one); but fail to ever attribute any of the pain and suffering to the devil, His enemy.  It is as if there is only one responsible party for anything bad, but the other guy just continues to not exist.  Even in atheism, the devil continues to pull off the great deception of just never being there for anything bad.  But in Christianity, this deception takes the form of “forgetfulness”?  Somehow Christians think there are bad people in the world, but seem to forget they face the chief of all evil in their journey away from self.  On occasion we remember there is a devil, but in general seem to think he couldn’t possibly affect “our” lives (perhaps with disease, temptation that leads to failure, or even death itself).  But he does, and he remains very active as Jesus reminds us so long ago.

Imagine planning a vacation to Disney World (home of the 6ft rat 😊).  But then everything that could go wrong, does go wrong.  Some call that Murphy’s Law (perhaps the devil’s middle name is Murphy?).  Bad coincidence is survivable, though not enjoyable.  It would however not make for a great vacation to say the least.  We think of our vacations as an escape from stress, not a deepening of it.  But now imagine that same vacation plan you create and begin to set in motion.  This time, the circumstances beyond your control are cooperating fully, but your wife is not.  This time, your wife not only resents going, she is determined to make your vacation as miserable as possible.  You do not just lose your wallet, she steals and hides it.  You did not just forget your reservations number at the hotel, she not only stole your paperwork, she secretly cancelled the reservations without anyone knowing.  This behavior is not designed to keep you from going, perhaps she is unable to do that, but it is designed to make every inch of going as hard as possible, and as miserable as possible.  That, is the role the devil plays in your spiritual journey.  He is unable to stop you from movement, but he is unwilling to concede a single inch without inflicting as much distraction, failure, pain, and misery as it is possible to inflict upon you along the way.  And it is not the will of God, it is the will of His enemy.

So the argument emerges, why not just prevent him (Satan) from doing it – perhaps kill him to keep him from this?  But then, without any kind of test, would you ever know what you “truly” believed, and how much you truly believed it?  Without test, would you really know how much you trust God to save you, or would you believe you did it all yourself?  And when the devil uses human agents to accomplish his goal of making your journey miserable, can you possibly consider killing the messenger who needs redemption and reconciliation as much as you do?  Bad children are still children.  You do not execute your two-year-old because she intentionally throws milk at you.  You do not kill her because she hits her sister.  These behaviors are what need to go.  But your daughter remains your daughter even when her actions cause pain to others, and ultimately to you, and God.  In the eye of God, “bad” people, are children He is still trying hard to redeem.  And sometimes your spiritual journey is made more difficult by people who act as agents of the enemy whether they know it or not.  Something that again, is not new.

Matthew documented a parable of Jesus in a continuing line of parables that addressed this in chapter thirteen of his gospel.  He picks up with the words of Christ beginning in verse 24 saying … “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: [verse 25] But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.”  Before we decipher the meaning of this parable which Jesus explains in further texts we will read before proceeding, there are a few other items of notice.  First, this is the second parable in a line of them that uses farming as the analogy.  As stated before farming is not an instant process, it is a growth process.  It takes a farmer’s care if a harvest is to be gained.  The seeds respond to the work of the farmer, they do not work for themselves.  They will need planting, fertilizing, water, sunshine, and earth before what God intended them to become happens.  This is in a perfect world.  This story begins with introducing intentional means of destruction.  Here we learn, that the farmer has an enemy, and the enemy has done something to intentionally hurt the farmer, the seeds are only a mechanism to hurt the farmer, that was the enemy’s only goal, the seeds mean nothing to him.

Jesus decodes this parable beginning in verse 36 saying … “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. [verse 37] He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; [verse 38] The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;”  Duh!  The explanation of this is kind of exactly what you might expect, but the disciples asked for one anyway.  It is good being stupid.  Think about it, you could have made assumptions about this story, and hardened those assumptions until no other truth gets in.  That is what we do all the time, and we call those assumptions and interpretations – doctrine.  Once hardened in tradition we call it core beliefs and we would rather die than open our minds to some other interpretation of the same set of facts.  The disciples were smart enough, or rather stupid enough, not to make assumptions of their own, but instead TO ASK TO BE LED by Jesus before putting “anything” in their minds.  And this approach works, even today.

As it turns out, the farmer is Jesus the Son of Man.  The field is the world.  That sentence is sometimes one Christians like to forget.  We associate “the world” as being the mission fields, someplace primitive and far away.  But the world includes Hollywood, and New York City.  It includes gay bars, and for that matter, bars of every kind.  It includes places like Kansas, Alabama, and Arkansas.  It includes the families within our own churches, and the people within our own families.  The world is not exclusive, it is inclusive of everyone, everywhere – in places that are primitive, and in places where sins are committed on purpose by people who should know better, like us.  The good seed are the children of the kingdom.  We like to think that is us.  But we forget that word “children”.  We gloss over it like a phrase so often repeated it loses meaning.  There are only “children” in this explanation.  No adults identified and everyone in the world is included in the meaning.  That means you are either following God, or His enemy, and you are not old enough to even think there is a third option.  Folks convinced they are adults, are actually children following the enemy who tells them they are adults and in control, they are deceived and they do not know it, because they do not want to admit the truth, told by The Truth.

These weeds however are not wicked supernatural agents, they are just humans, doing the bidding of who they follow.  And your spiritual journey can be impeded by them.  It is like having your husband hide your purse everyday before you leave the house, or your wife hide your wallet.  People clinging to false ideas, they are certain are correct, and wanting to share them with you whether you want to hear them or not.  Better to both come in surrender and humility before Jesus and ask Him, what does The Truth say in this matter or that one.  That act of following, combined with that acknowledge in humility that we need His wisdom, is becoming children of the kingdom.  It is attempting to become perpetual students at the feet of Jesus to learn, ignoring all other distractions and purported “wisdom” of men.

So let’s go back to the parable in verse 26 as Jesus continues saying … “But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. [verse 27] So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? [verse 28] He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?”  Before we get the explanation a couple things to notice here.  Notice that question of the “servants” to the farmer – didn’t you sow good seed, why does it have weeds?  Nearly everyone blames the farmer, or God, for the weeds.  We do something bad, we blame God for it.  We suffer from the bad actions of someone else, we blame God for it.  But God says … “an enemy has done this”.  There is more than one supernatural actor in this story, and in our world.  Satan tempted Adam and Eve, God did not.  God warned them how to avoid temptation (stay together, and stay away from it).  But we treat the warnings of God lightly believing in strength we do not have, and stumble right into failure without even a second thought, until the guilt of our failure sets in again, or the consequences have immediate effect.

Jesus deciphers more in verse 39 saying … “The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.”  In case there was any debate about how weeds get there, they get there because the devil sows them.  The devil tempts people into failure after failure until they no longer believe anything but failure is possible.  In truth it is less the sin he wins them over by, but instead the notion that “they” could control the sin if they just wanted to try hard enough.  Instead of looking to Christ where victory over sin is guaranteed (we do nothing, and Jesus beats it for us).  The devil gets people to try to fight him one-on-one, over and over again.  He tells Christians you must do your best first before God can help you, or will help you.  Christians believe the lie, and so are doomed to a life of failure after failure.  If the world would look to Jesus to save them, truly let Jesus do the work for them, salvation would be assured.  The kind of salvation that changes what you do, because it changes how you think and how you love.  The only thing you “do”, is keep surrendering to Jesus and stay out of the fight.

We return to the parable with Jesus answering the servant’s question about getting rid of the weeds early, picking up in verse 29 saying … “But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. [verse 30] Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”  More here than first meets the eye.  The argument about “soon” should have faded a bit.  The servants ask the farmer if He wants to move early to get rid of the weeds, and the farmer does not.  The farmer wants to wait, give it time.  He wants to save everyone, and everyone has that chance.  Only this farmer could turn weeds into wheat, and that is what He longs to do.  God would prefer to return to a world entirely occupied by wheat, where every weed gave themselves to Him to be transformed.  But alas, too many weeds, choose to be weeds, and do NOT want transformation of any kind, even Christians sitting in pews, singing hymns since they were children.  A hardened heart, is a hardened heart – where it is sitting, and what it is singing – are not important.

Jesus interprets picking up in verse 40 saying … “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. [verse 41] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; [verse 42] And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. [verse 43] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  Here is where the rubber meets the road.  The criteria for the angels as they sort weed from wheat is perfection.  Things that offend, and they that do iniquity – are the weeds that are cast out and burned at the end of all things.  Notice it does not read, well Christians that only do iniquity or sin on occasion should be spared.  This is not a partial-pass method here.  Those that still sin, that still offend, will be cast out.  It means that our journey does reach an end, a maturity in Jesus where we will stop sinning, and stop offending.  Stop sinning that is our actions and motives coming in harmony with God and the Law.  Stop offending, that is we stop teaching others incorrect methods of salvation, stop teaching them to rely upon self, and rely ONLY upon Jesus, to TRUST Jesus to save them, for only He can.

This is the end of our journey, and there is an end to it.  Those who remain alive at the second coming of Christ will have already reached the end of our spiritual journey’s.  Those who died in that quest, will have the remainder fixed in the twinkling of an eye at the resurrection of the righteous.  But the wheat will be perfect at the end of all things, sinning and offending no more.  He who has ears, let him hear, are the words of Jesus, The Truth.  The criteria of perfection is not a threat, or a death sentence.  It is a promise.  It is hope.  It is a description of what the end of your journey looks like within who you are.  It is the gift of Jesus Christ to you, and will happen within you individually.  The church does not bring it.  Your wife or husband does not bring it.  It happens because you submit and surrender to Jesus one-on-one, and only Jesus brings it about within you.  Your failures do not prevent it, they are but guiderails to point you back to Jesus, to surrender more, and trust more, to let Jesus bring it about in you.  Do not focus on failure, focus on Jesus.  Stay your eyes upon Jesus and He will do everything that must be done to save you.

What these stories teach us, is that there is no quick fix, no instant, no one-and-done.  But what they also teach us, is that the Farmer will see the harvest complete within each of us His seeds, if we but let Him.  The farmer does the work, we become the benefit, and perhaps feed the world, or at least our corner of it, turning every eye back to the farmer Jesus Christ.  The seed is not the hero of this story, the farmer is.  The harvest itself is not the event of this story, the transformation of the seed is, that transformation happens before the harvest can begin.  We must be transformed by Jesus, before our actions matter.  We must love before showing kindness has the full effect it could have.  Our motives behind what we do matter.  And the perfecting of our souls, minds, and hearts IS possible through Jesus Christ as we submit ourselves to Him, and trust Him to do the work.

And there would be more parables in this line before it was over yet …

 

Rapid Transit & Potential ... (witness number elevent)

Rapid, unexplainable travel, was to the disciple John, yet another witness to the divinity of Christ.  In our last section, John discusses how Christ “removed” Himself from a crowd of 5000 men (plus women and children) who were intent on forcing Him to become their king after the feeding of this crowd.  Christ simply became unavailable to their intentions.  But how does one simply disappear in a crowd of that many witnesses united in a singular purpose (well meaning, but not in line with God’s will)?  To John this ability was a hallmark of the divinity of Christ.  But chapter six, does not end with this singular incident, it continues almost immediately with 2 more. 

Verse 16 picks up with a passage of time, presumably from lunchtime to evening perhaps dinner time when the disciples decide to go down to the Sea of Galilee and take a boat over to the city of Capernaum.  Perhaps after not knowing where Christ was for a period of time, they thought He might have gone ahead of them there based on prior discussions with Him.  Perhaps it was just their best idea of where they might find Him.  Whatever their thinking, they entered the boat, and made for the other shoreline.  Verse 17 makes it clear, that it was now dark, and Jesus was not already with them in the boat.  This distinction was important to John to specify for this part of the story.  And as their luck would have it, or perhaps as Satan often does with us when we find ourselves outside of the immediate presence of Christ; verse 18 continues … “And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.”  Enter the storms of life.

We do not exist in a neutral world.  The life that surrounds us is not passive to our decisions and actions.  Battle lines are drawn in every aspect of life we find ourselves within.  The forces of evil are not simply dormant or uninterested in our fate.  They have but one recourse left to them.  They are doomed, with a certainty they cannot escape.  They have no illusions about winning the final war with God.  They lost the first one in heaven and were cast out.  They lost the second one at the resurrection of Christ when not even death could hold back the love of God.  And they will lose the third one when fire will rain down and consume the remnants of their now tortured existence ending their lives forever.  This fate is inescapable.  Given that, the only meaning they have left, in a doomed existence, is to spread the pain of loss to God, by dragging as many of us with them into the abyss as is possible.  This is their entire purpose now, as after their failure at the resurrection of Christ, no hope is left to them for conquering God.  So to cause us pain, is to cause God pain.  To see us fail, is to “win” against God, to deprive God of the only treasure He is invested in, our freedom from pain.  It is against this battle, that seas will arise with a great wind.  It is against this battle, that your life will not be free from the pain this world can bring.  Evil forces are not sleeping where your life is concerned, they are actively attempting to bring you pain, and thereby cause pain to God.

But as Satan and his forces are not dormant in the battle, neither are the forces of the Lord.  In verse 19, John begins as if to offer a prelude to coming events, by stating how far they managed to move the boat by rowing it (around 25 to 30 furlongs).  How poignant that our best efforts against the storms of Satan show such meager results.  But verse 19 continues … “they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.”  Here in the middle of a storm no less, is Jesus walking on the sea heading right towards them.  And their first response was fear.  In the middle of a battle against the storms of life, we see approaching us, the miraculous presence of Christ, we see our hope on the horizon, and our first response is … fear.  How could a miracle really happen to us?  How could something we “know” to be impossible, be happening in spite of our “knowledge”.  How could the impossible become possible?  Enter Christ.  Experienced fishermen knew how to handle a boat.  They knew the effects of gravity on water.  They knew that walking on water was simply and clearly impossible, particularly during a storm.  These are all facts upon which science would side with the knowledge of the fishermen disciples; undisputed facts.  Yet that is exactly what their bewildered eyes are giving witness to.  Christ is doing what they simply “knew” He could not do.  In the human vernacular, we call this a miracle.

And what is the response of our loving God to our irrational fears?  I use the word ‘irrational’ because our God has done nothing to ever make us question His motives, or His love.  Every act of God in our lives whether miraculous or mundane has demonstrated it is always in our best interest.  But despite our history with Him, we still react in fear to what we do not know, or rather, when our “knowledge” is undone by what He does.  Verse 20 says … “But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.”  Christ begins by identifying Himself to his disciples.  This is not some dark apparition, or evil spirit, it is Christ, in the flesh, God in man.  And as such, you have no reason to fear.  When the storms of Satan surround us, the sea is high with waves and winds that threaten to tear apart our lives, and we see the miraculous presence of Christ, we have no need to fear.  We can relax.  We can set aside the facts we “know” to be true, and begin to experience the miracles Christ is doing in front of our eyes, and despite our knowledge.  Facts, and accumulated scientific knowledge, are often set aside in the face of love.

Verse 21, brings a third miraculous demonstration to John and his contemporaries.  But it does more than that.  It once again outlines the entirety of the gospel in a single verse.  It states … “Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”  They by choice, “willingly” received him into the ship.  They took Christ in.  They accepted Him into their company, into their lives.  This is our part in the act of salvation.  We must choose to accept what Christ is offering, namely His transformative presence in our lives.  When Satan rages against us, our defense is not to keep on rowing.  Our defense is not to wage war on Satan, for Satan is the master of war and will swallow us up in a second.  Our defense is not to look to the strength of our boat, or our oars, or our will power, or our determination.  Our defense is to take Christ into our boat.  Our defense is to accept that what we cannot do, Christ can do.  Our defense is to recognize our defeat, unless we are to be given a victory from outside of ourselves.  This victory can only come when we “willingly” accept it from the only God who offers it.  When we accept Christ into our lives, when let go of the oars, and take the hand of God, there are results.  Immediate results emerge.  The disciples found themselves IMMEDIATELY transported to the shore they were aiming for. 

Zero delays in the gifts of God.  Zero further rowing on the part of the disciples, they took no further action to arrive at their destination, they simply found themselves there, by a miracle they could not explain.  This is how salvation works.  We do not cure ourselves from evil, we are cured by Christ, in a method we will never be able to explain, as it is NOT OUR WORK.  It is the work of Christ that saves us.  The rowing stopped, but the destination was reached anyway, and at a rate the disciples thought to be impossible.  Again, our accumulated scientific knowledge of facts, is set aside in the face and presence of Christ.  Again, what is impossible to us, is accomplished by Christ.  We are NOT able to save ourselves from the bondage of self-service.  But Christ is.  Christ does what we cannot.  Christ alters the rules, we have been bound by.  He transcends our knowledge and facts, and does what we cannot do.  This was no act of partnership on the part of the disciples; they did not accept Christ into the boat, and then keep right on rowing it themselves.  They took Him in, the storm became irrelevant, and they reached the destination in an instant.  Christ did the “work”, they only took Him in.

The words of John echo through the ages.  They outline in physical form, the same process we must engage in from a spiritual perspective if we are ever to see ourselves freed from the bondage of evil.  The point of this witness of John was not merely that Christ could bend the laws of physics, or redefine them at will.  The point of this witness of John was not that they could defeat the storms of life through the actions they took.  The point was only to take Christ into the boat.  The point was to set aside what we know to be true, and accept what Christ offers in spite of what we know.  It is not our definition of the rules of physics that we must allow Christ to remake; it is our definition of truth.  Truth will not be found within us, it will be found only in Christ.  Facts are only relevant in Christ.  Salvation is only possible through the outside gift of Christ to us as we allow it.  Rapid transit is not our goal.  Rapid reformation of who we are is.  If we are to be remade in the image of Christ, we must learn to let go the entirety of who we are today, and be willing to be remade completely.  There is no shred of us, worth holding on to in this process.  The new creature He wishes to make of us needs no stain of our past to ruin the new model He will create.  And His results are guaranteed.  His work beyond our understanding, but effective, and complete none the less.

The potential of who we are to become, can only be found when we let go of our ideas of control, and allow Christ to recreate us, and show us what we are yet to be.  It is not our job, or our focus, to figure out “how” Christ does what He does, but simply to accept it.  We gain the benefit of the work of Christ, without knowing exactly how He does it.  The storms that today are so ever-present, become so completely irrelevant when Christ enters our presence.  Whether it is our health that threatens us, financial ruin, relationships in total decay, even imprisonment for the crimes we have committed; a life made free by Christ can make all these storms of no concern.  For it is a greater freedom He offers.  It is a greater purpose He offers.  It is a greater love He offers.  It makes every second of the life we have one that is worth living.  It makes every opportunity we have to share love even more precious.  It makes every soul around us, of infinite value, a prize to be shared through the eons of time in a place where pain will exist no more.  People we once thought to be our ‘enemies’ can through the love of Christ reflected through us, become our closest friends.  When we see life, through the lens of an infinite God, who plans for us to share a life of complete freedom on a timeline without end, what is important to us here changes.  It is not that storms cease to exist, but that they cease to be relevant.  Transformation is potential that Christ alone can bring, to offer us a vision of life and truth, beyond what we know.  This is His gift.  This is what He offers.

 

Armageddon ...

What is Armageddon and why do you seem to only hear about it in the context of the “end of the world”? A singular text in Revelations chapter 16 verse 16 states … “and He gathered them together in a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Mind you, this verse appears in the middle of a description of the last plagues to hit planet earth. So perhaps with all the rest of the destruction going on at the time, a war to be waged with the name Armageddon seems plausible. Some believe it has something to do with the rapture, but there is nothing in scripture to indicate this. Some believe it is a final battle between the forces of good and evil, but the actual final battle is described later in Revelations and ends with evil being deposited into the lake of fire. So why is this simple Hebrew name, the cause for such alarm within the Christian community?

Perhaps we fear most what we understand least. In my own study of Biblical prophecy I have encountered things that could be interpreted more than one way, and still hold to correctness. The letters to the seven churches in the first few chapters of Revelations for instance, or the seven candlesticks, are actual letters of advice to real people, in a real place, suffering from real problems. The churches in those locations needed the council they were given. But beyond the here and now, the churches also seem to represent periods defined in history where the prevailing attitude within the church matches the description in Revelations perfectly. Prophecy interpreted in its own day, and in ours, and relevant in both, a trademark of the God business.

So when I consider how to interpret prophecies surrounding so little mentioned a thing as Armageddon, I wonder if more than one interpretation could again be correct. Perhaps it is indeed the harbinger of a final earthly battle between forces in the Middle East. Traditional thinking places these forces as centered on support for the state of Israel and those who oppose its existence. But if this were true, then we would have already had 2 Armageddon’s since the state was first created. And in both instances Israel fought alone to defend itself, winning huge land territory in the process. Besides, God has shown little interest in insuring the continuing land rights of the Jewish people over the years. They have been scattered to the four corners of the earth, since before Christ even came the first time. And not much has really changed since Abraham himself was a wanderer searching for home.

So if Armageddon is a human conflict perhaps the location and politics of pro or anti-Israel is only a catalyst to launch a far greater war for control over the planet. Perhaps this is a war designed to promote one form of government over another – say democracy over totalitarianism. But if that were true, Israel’s involvement does not aid the cause. And presently China or North Korea would seem to pose a much greater threat to democracy’s quest for dominance than any mid-eastern nation state. A religious war perhaps; but then Islam against Christianity could hardly be described as a world ending event. In theory we serve the same Father God, and the Quran talks very highly about Christ. So having Muslims launch this would make less sense.

The more plausible argument I have heard about Armageddon is that it is a spiritual warfare between God and Satan, or perhaps between those who refuse to abandon the God of the Bible and those who have chosen to worship the false Christ you can see and touch (Satan as an angel of light). But even this conflict would appear vastly one sided. The Bible refers to the group who hold on to God despite everything, as the “remnant” or “all that remains.” The wicked would so vastly outnumber the righteous who carry a motto of non-violence; it would not be a war, it would be a slaughter. This too seems less likely.

I believe the reason why Armageddon has played so prominently in Christian interpretations of prophecy is that due to its limited context, it can be used to justify anything. Christians make the mistake of applying current world events to their limited understanding of scripture of the topic of Armageddon. Consequently they adjust it to fit whatever is going on right here and right now. In short, Armageddon means whatever world event is most threatening to our way of life. In the 1940’s we could have called it Hitler’s ideas. In the late 60’s and early 70’s we could have called it Vietnam. Harder to figure when the wall comes down and communism fails. The fundamental problem with this approach is trying to shoehorn the Bible to fit the news, instead the other way around. It is more an approach of telling the setting what is being said, rather than listening to God to see if any current events fit the texts and moving on from there.

Perhaps Armageddon should be studied more as a location, or to be pluralistic, a state of mind. Perhaps God allows men to follow their own wisdom (i.e. folly) to such a degree that only a worldwide plague such as the Earthquakes that follow, and the catastrophic extreme hail that follows that, would be enough to convince the survivors that God does exist after all. The anti-Christ can do nothing to save the people from the wrath of God in these plagues. He must therefore assume ownership of them, and continue to report that they will persist until all the hold-outs who cling to the Bible have been killed. Perhaps Armageddon is the only habitable place left in the area where men of any kind could gather after the catastrophes that befall the earth prior to this. Perhaps men entrenched in their own mistaken ideology are led to this place to witness what is yet to come.

In any case, I see so little scripture on the topic of Armageddon as illustrating its relative importance to us. Little data equals little effort expended to interpret. I believe our thoughts will be occupied by something even more frightening to us than our physical survival in these last times. Perhaps we should channel fear into something that is legitimate to worry about, so that we can fix our problems, rather than simply propagate fear tied to a term in a singular text, in a rough section of the scriptures.