By Far, the Stronger Sex ...

Remember those “He man” bubble gum comics back in the day?  For those of you asking what is bubble gum, just try to humor an old man.  Way back in the 1950’s version of America, when men were men, and women were … let’s just be kind and say the object of men’s affection.  Yes, we all know they were considerably more than that, I’ll get there.  The comic strip of the day pictures a 90lb weakling, who goes to the beach and gets sand thrown in his face, by the big muscular strapping “He” man of the day.  Should you identify with the 90lb weakling, all you needed to do, was respond through correspondence (yes, snail mail, it was a thing), and the company who created this awesome advertisement, would send you a gallon of it’s patented muscle growth formula which you could presumably add to your diet.  The results, as also pictured in the comic strip, would be that you would now be bigger than the other guy, get the girl, and live happily ever after.  And yes, all this was packaged with huge chunks of bubble gum with certainly enough sugar to cause an elephant really nasty weight gain.  Just about everything you need to know about the perfect vision of America in the 50’s can be summarized through this ad.  Easy to see, it was wrong about nearly everything.

For starters, my wife married me for my brains.  I had hoped it was for my sense of humor, but she has none, so that makes sense.  If it had been for my body, she got “JIPPED” (another ancient word meaning she suffered a huge disappointment in expectations, it was a thing.)  My body went from bone skinny, eat 3 large pan pizza’s at Pizza Hut and not gain an ounce, literally – to – eat water, gain 20 pounds.  Look at a candy bar, gain 20 more.  You get the idea.  Right now I am proud to say I maintain my weight within a 10 pound range, I am considerably less proud to let you know the baseline of my scale before we start talking about the 10 pounds.  So why does she continue to stay with me after three plus decades and counting?  You could be cynical and say it is for my money.  To which, I would fall on the floor laughing, asking what money?  Yes I have been a millionaire before, and yes, I have been bankrupt before too.  I have had long stints of executive work, and few fairly long stints trying to create my own business that just never got anywhere (turns out I am not a sales man).  So if my wife expected me to be rich, or to be a “He” man, she never came close to getting either.  So much for why women choose men, and even more a mystery, why they stay with them.

Given how much I love my wife today, you could say that is the reason.  You would be right … today.  But for as much as I love her now, I have wounded her far greater in those three decades.  She swallows her pain, forgives me, moves on, finds herself on her knees with Jesus – and is now living with those answered prayers.  Who has the strength to do that?  Not men.  We throw in the towel the minute the going gets rough.  We don’t have the stamina to deal with pain that lasts for years, let alone months, or days.  Sure men can gut it out, man up, and face a lot of mess.  But most of the mess we face, is the mess we make.  To have the iron will to forgive, to choose to forgive, to live without the past clogging your every day of the present – that takes strength.  Inner core strength.  Not the kind that nets you a six-pack abs, but the kind that nets you answers to prayers you pray for as long as the pain lasts.  That is nothing like a “He” man at all.

One part of that ad that was so mistaken, is that the girl does not go home with you because you are bigger than the next guy.  If she does, brace yourself, she will be moving on inevitably, because there is always another guy bigger than you.  She might just as willingly have gone home with you, when you were the 90lb weakling who put his faith in God, and bases his commitments in the concrete of faith, rather than the strength of will that is defeated in the moment.  That kind of strength in commitment, to follow Jesus, not to try to lead Him, is a strength we all need.  But I find women have it.  Men are still looking for it.  Here is a case in point.  Matthew records the aftermath of the death of Christ in his gospel in chapter 27.  There are almost no men mentioned, one or two at most.  Keep in mind Jesus had 12 male followers at the time.  One hung himself, so down to eleven.  One in extreme grief for letting faith go, when challenged by a mere servant girl, who accused him of nothing more than association with Jesus.  Three times he denied that.  He is now consumed by shame, not showing an ounce of strength.  And he was supposed to be the little rock.

Matthew does not record it, but John the beloved was there through all of this.  And Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin would play a role.  But the ones with cast iron faith, were the women.  These women risked their own lives, and virtue, just by being at this scene facing all of these cruel men who raped women without even a second thought.  It was part of their training, and expected of them when they conquered a people.  There was no respect of women.  Women were objects at best.  They could be bought or sold, raped or forced into marriage, no choices left to them of any kind.  This was their lives at the time.  Yet their faith in Jesus was so strong, their love for Him so unmutable, that they refused to be anywhere else.  Now I ask you, who is the stronger sex?  The one who can defeat you at arm wrestling, or the one who can love you when everything else in your life fails, and fails again.  These women remained in place with Jesus AFTER He has died.  He was dead.  No arguing it.

Matthew picks up in verse 55 saying … “And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: [verse 56] Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.”  Notice Matthews carefully chosen wording, he states, “many” women were there watching from afar.  Many, is a whole lot more than you can say for the men, down to John, possibly Matthew as he is writing this.  How many women does it take to outnumber the 12 minus one?  And if they did outnumber the men, are we certain we give the fairer sex its due for being the stronger sex?  And look at what Matthew casually weaves into his description of these “many” women.  That they ALL ministered unto Jesus, and you can imagine the rest of His followers as well.  These women, the many, were all silent disciples already playing a ministering role, that is a supportive role, to the best of their abilities while all the events of Jesus’ life played out.  They followed Him.  They believed in Him.  They were forgiven and set free by Him.

Mary Magdalene probably was forgiven the most by Jesus.  Jesus removed demons from her seven times.  She was the known prostitute who was prostitute no longer.  Mary the mother of James and John, had once asked Jesus for primary positions for her sons.  Jesus had to defer those positions to the will of His Father.  But she felt comfortable enough with Jesus to make the ask.  And Jesus loved her enough to share the Truth with her in His answer.  Jesus’ mother was also there.  Likely His sisters as well.  Then there was Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus who of the women there, likely had the most hope in what would take place.  For they had seen the words I am the Resurrection and the Life, play out in the raising of their dead brother Lazarus.  Probably also in that crowd was the woman at the well in Samaria, who became the first notable evangelist, converting nearly her entire region by pointing them to Jesus.  By contrast was the woman who had hemophilia and merely touched the hem of His garment.  No one had ever tried that kind of crazy thing before but it worked.  And from then on, everyone lined the roads, doing it as well, and finding the same positive results.  These were women of cast iron faith.

They were there because of the Day of Atonement.  They had traveled to Jerusalem in part for tradition and in part to see Jesus be crowned king as everyone was sure would happen.  But alas, a twist of events brought on by the betrayal of Judas, and the hatred of the men who were religious leaders, and now they were there to witness the object of their divine love up on a Roman cross.  And now dead.  But these women had what men do not.  They were not alone.  They drew strength and encouragement from each other, even though their hearts were breaking.  Tears flowed, yet strength remained.  Jesus was dead, yet still they persisted.  Men did not.  Men were logical, once death sets in, the story was over.  But women were strong enough to peer through the tears and wonder with hope “if” the story was truly over.  Mary and Martha had seen it keep going.  It is certain they shared that hope with the others.

But to avoid being eaten by dogs, which is what happens to bodies after their crucifixion, logistics must now be made most important.  Matthew continues in verse 57 saying … “When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: [verse 58] He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.”  Christ would not be eaten by dogs in a mass grave.  He would be buried because of the humility and courage of Joseph, who would make no profit from this.  Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin.  His money would buy him a certain degree of favor with greedy men.  But to align himself with Jesus would make him an immediate outcast with them.  Further, Joseph’s act of kindness, would continue to fulfill prophecy, so Joseph would be even less popular with religious leadership now.  And Pilate, who could not wash the guilt from his mind and soul, consented knowing it would anger the priests.  Pilate being blissfully unaware he too was helping to fulfill prophecy about the burial of Jesus.

Matthew continues in verse 59 saying … “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, [verse 60] And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. [verse 61] And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.”  Matthew talks about Joseph wrapping the body of Jesus in a clean linen cloth.  But to do that, the body would have to be wiped away of all the blood first.  The crown of thorns would have to be removed.  The cross taken down, and spikes removed from His hands and feet.  Any ropes untied.  And hardest of all, His back which had so many chunks of meat removed from it by the cat-of-nine-tails whip with the glass shards tied in the ends would have to be carefully wrapped to try to keep what was left of Jesus in place.  Joseph was one man.  He likely had servants to help.  But the other hands that helped in this horrific process were the hands of the “many” women who were there with tears flowing.

Cast iron faith that can prepare the body of Jesus for burial.  They were burying their Messiah.  There would be NO Roman overthrow, as all this blood was witness to.  Their own persecution was to continue throughout the days of their lives.  Lost hope.  Lost dreams.  Yet still, love demanded they be here, and do what must be done, to give honor and love to their Lord.  If you ask me, it is these women who have earned the place on the right and left hands of Jesus in His Kingdom when it comes.  They did the hardest work anyone will ever have to do.  They did it with broken hearts.  And they did it with love, because of love, because love can make cast iron faith in a woman, if she lets it.  The body is then carried to a new tomb that has never been used before.  Another detail of the prophecy.  Jesus is carefully laid inside, and then a large stone is rolled in front as the door.  The women are there the entire time.  They have seen and helped with every detail.

By contrast, witness the groveling of men at the time.  Matthew continues in verse 62 saying … “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, [verse 63] Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. [verse 64] Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. [verse 65] Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. [verse 66] So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.”  First, Friday the day is over, and Sabbath is here, it will continue until sundown.  Priests had made a ton of rules about what can and cannot be done on Sabbath.  They include rules about how many steps can be taken, as well as million other harsh and stupid regulations none of them based in any kind of love for God, or man.

Yet against their own statutes the Priests go to Pilate and beg for a Roman seal, and a Roman guard to watch over the dead body of Jesus.  Only now do they fear the disciples might regain enough courage to steal the dead body of Jesus and try to make up a lie about it.  So Pilate grants them a Centurion, likely the same one who was there at the moment of Christ’s death.  But there is more here than may at first meet the eye.  Centurion is not just a rank, it is an indicator of how many men are under his command.  Chances are good there were a hundred men assigned to this grave guarding duty.  After all, it would be a good break from all the other ugly things Roman soldiers are assigned to do.  There would be only as many as 12 men in opposition, unarmed men, who generally were fishermen and tax collectors, so the odds would be highly in the Romans favor.  Romans would not just send 5 or 6 guys to face 12.  They would send 100 to overwhelm 12 should a skirmish take place.  And with that many, it would be a cake walk.  You could effectively relax for a Saturday and Sunday (the weekend as we know it).  Not likely to be fighting.  Not likely to be facing anything unusual.  Even if Jesus was the Son of God, He was dead now.

But who was there intermingled with these wicked soldiers?  Mary Magdelene and the other Mary, sitting against the grave.  Mary Magdelene was likely not afraid of men like this.  She had seen and serviced her fair share in the past.  She may even know some of these men personally.  Romans did have coin after all.  But neither she nor the other Mary who had always minded her virtue were inclined to forfeit any of it now.  They remained heart broken.  But somehow unable to leave the scene of the continuing crime.  Women with cast iron faith, who even now, had the courage and strength to be in a place long abandoned by male disciples.  Those male disciples would not risk getting anywhere near a Roman soldier as they were paranoid and sure they would be arrested and killed just like their Master, maybe even worse.  Yet the women who faced the same risk, made entirely different choices.  Choices steeped in love.  Love that built a cast iron faith, that could not be shaken by Roman cruelty, or Roman steel.

Who then, by far, is the stronger sex?  And if we can recognize this, it does not diminish our masculinity.  It informs and educates it.  We can cloak our masculinity in the same love, that builds the same faith it does in women.  Our strength can be measured in our commitments made in the concrete of faith, rather than the quicksand of our will.  Our love can be measured as the only yardstick worthy to be used, never again to use the number of pounds we benchpress in a gym.  Our bodies to be given in service of others, not the vanity of self.  And what will emerge is not a confusion of the sexes, or the roles of our sex, but the unity in which both of us come to the cross, do what must be done, in spite of broken hearts and lost dreams.  Yet still in the back of our minds, a nagging hope, of knowing what the words “I am the Resurrection and the Life” mean.

 

Saving Faith [part 3 of 3] ...

All that matters is results.  If you promise a thing, you must deliver a thing, or your promise is worth little.  With humanity, we are used to disappointment.  We promise outcomes, and make commitments, and over time we deliver almost none of it.  It jades the thinking, until the cynic expects nothing, and is usually not disappointed.  But where a matter of salvation is concerned, it is an all-or-nothing game.  Being “better” sounds good.  Being better perhaps avoids some of the pain that being worse brings with it.  But none of us are looking for a heaven filled with “better” people.  We are looking for a heaven filled with people who no longer even consider killing, or stealing, or lying about it.  We are looking for a heaven where we can have absolute trust in our neighbors, not have to lock the door, re-rig up the security system, consider moving to a better subdivision, and train the dogs for protection (again). 

A heaven where just one unapologetic sinner gets in, is a heaven where the crime rate will never be zero.  And it is not even about the apologetic aspect of sinning.  The fact that the killer feels bad about killing does not stop the pain he causes.  Heaven is not supposed to be about a criminal justice system, nor is it a place for rehabilitation.  The rehabilitation is (or should be) happening now.  Now is the time for a prep, in order to be able to re-enter that Garden of Eden without fear.  Now is the time, for us to be getting made ready for a bite from the tree of life.  If I am that sinner, that somehow slips into heaven, I will mess it up from everybody.  When I get there, it will only have been from the mercy of God.  A mercy that does not end with forgiveness but with reformation until I am something entirely different than I am today.  Something else, and something better.  But not just better, better is not enough, something perfect.  For without perfection, how will I ever be ready?

Jesus did not die, just to forgive “some” of our sins.  Nor is Jesus content to just leave us in the lives of sin we have figured out how to live.  Forgiveness is a baseline He offers, a ground zero from which to build.  But mercy cannot look at someone in pain and just leave them there.  Mercy was meant for something more.  We were meant for something more.  Not just life after death, but real “life” even when we are surrounded by death.  Perfection then is not a pre-requisite, it is the result of a continued encounter with Jesus Christ.  Perfection slips up on you unannounced while you were paying attention to Jesus.  You cannot explain how it comes.  You can explain from where and why.  It comes because Jesus wants it for you, and creates it within you.  It is Jesus who changes how you think, as soon, and as much as you let Him do it.  It is Jesus that changes how you love, and who you love.  It is Jesus who brings passion for others, and a seeming disinterest in yourself.  “You” becomes less and less of a priority to you.  “Others” become more and more of a passion for how you live.

It may not be instantaneous.  But it is certain.  And its results are demonstrable over time.  So what is the difference between stupid faith, ridiculous faith, and saving faith?  Consider the end of Matthew’s snippets in act three beginning in chapter nine picking up in verse 23 saying … “And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, [verse 24] He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.”  Jesus arrives and affirms the reason the angel had to guard the Tree of Life so many millennia ago.  The girl who is dead, is sleeping the sleep of death.  Consider for a moment that if the girl had died, and her ‘immortal’ soul simply is freed from her body, and went to heaven; then why on earth would you pull her out of perfection and back to the hell that is our world.  Her perfect character would revert to her sinful one (or at least expose her to daily risks of reversion).  Even with the love of her father, her life would be full of hardship.  The leadership of the Temple were now certainly out to get her father, for declaring for Christ, they would not simply ignore a risen example of Jesus’ authority over life itself.

If her character had been made perfect in order to enter heaven, then pulling her back would now do what, undo that reformation?  Imagine the unkindness of pulling her back.  If she died and went to a hell of fire and flame, then by Jesus offering her a chance no one else down there gets, is that not completely unfair?  In either scenario, the interests of the girl are not served, only the selfishness of the love of her father.  But, if she did sleep the sleep of death, and knows nothing; if all she does is rot in the earth unaware of time or consciousness; then pulling her back does her no detriment to her.  That act restores the love of her father without causing the girl undo harm.  The sleep of death we practice each night is the state from which we will all one day be called.

Consider too, the audience for what is about to happen.  There is a large crowd still following Jesus eager to know if this request is going to be honored.  His disciples are there every bit as curious.  But the mourning party at the home is not curious, or amused.  They are there to perform a time-honored tradition of showing proper respect for the dead (who if you are a Sadducee are not ever coming back).  History supports the side of the mourners.  Once you die, you die.  There are no second chances.  So to end this funeral tradition early is like slapping the family of this little girl in the face and stating we don’t care about your pain.  But Jesus is consumed with our pain.  He is not looking to exacerbate it, He is looking to extinguish it.  The mourners don’t see it.  So when He states she is just sleeping, they change their wailing to laughing Him to scorn.   

And here is where only results matter.  Matthew continues in verse 25 saying … “But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. [verse 26] And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.”  Jesus brought life to one who was dead.  There was certainty of her death.  The mourners knew it.  The father knew it before he left to get Jesus.  The only thing that mattered here was saving faith.  The kind of faith that saves from death, that conquers death.  It either happened or it didn’t.  Your Bible is either real or it is not.  But if Jesus is real.  And if your Bible is real.  Then what happened is real.  Death was conquered by life that ONLY Jesus could, and did bring.  This is true of our physical condition.  This is true of our spiritual condition.  We need not fear sneaking into heaven as the last sinner God pities.  We will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment.  And we will enter it with no thought of sin ever again.  Our choice will be made.  The same choice we make today.  To trust Jesus Christ more than we trust ourselves.

In order to save us, only results matter.  Jesus is our results.  He brings them, or creates, or inspires them, or they simply do not occur.  We do nothing, but have faith in Him to save us, from … ourselves.  Whether that seems stupid, or ridiculous, or the sensible way that humanity will be saved, is immaterial.  It is how it happens.  Or it does not happen at all.  In a game when all that matter are results.  I know of no other way than the one Jesus offers us all, it is ALL or Nothing …

 

Stupid Faith [part 1 of 3]...

Does what you believe in make sense?  Does it make sense to you?  Why?  History sometimes acts as a razor against our beliefs.  History demonstrates to us what is possible, from what is impossible.  When we examine our lives through the lens of History, what do we find?  Are our beliefs supported by the facts of History, or by tales we have told so long they have reached mythic proportions but have yet to include any certain demonstrable facts.  This is not a 20^th century problem or dilemma, this is a phenomenon that has gripped mankind since the fall in the Garden of Eden until now.  You only needed to live 1100 years or so after the fall, to have lost the first-person account of what happened there in form of Adam and Eve.  By then, only Seth could recount the stories his parents had told him, even though he himself had never been in that famous Garden.

But then, no one had.  An angel stood at its entrance, armed with a flaming sword, intent on keeping all interested parties out, so man could not again eat from the Tree of Life and find himself immortal.  As a side note, what is the point of guarding this entrance if the soul of man is immortal anyway?  It was guarded because upon death we sleep, knowing nothing, until our Lord returns to us and pulls us out of our rotten slumber and in to a life only He could create, re-create, or restore.  In this context, an angelic guard is needed, and was present.  Mankind could see this angel all the way up until the flood (when it is likely the Garden was relocated to heaven, until it could be returned to a New Earth after the end of all evil).  What you believed was not important.  Go to the entrance of the Garden and what you found was an armed angel to keep you out.  Nearly 4,000 years pass by this way.

But a demonstration of the divine does not repel evil.  During the 4,000 years man became so evil, it made God sorry He made us; excepting for Noah, and Noah far from perfect.  Pass by another few centuries after the flood to the time of Moses.  The children of Israel witness miracles beyond what History could have ever dictated.  They pass through the Red Sea, and have a cloud of perfect temperature in a desert of normally scorching heat.  The snakes and creatures of the desert remain hidden in their dens while Israelite feet are nearby.  At night, the cloud turns into a pillar of fire, providing light, and heat in a desert that is otherwise very cold and dark.  And nocturnal wildlife stay home while Israelite feet are nearby.  Forty years of these conditions, but evil arises from time to time, sometimes in nearly absolute rebellion.  What you believed did not matter, over your head was a cloud, or a pillar of fire, depending on the time of day.  But pass by only a century later, and all that remains are the written accounts of Moses.  A century more, and writings are everything.

And now Jesus has reached the scene.  He is preaching and teaching.  He is healing, loving, and restoring us.  And the leadership of His church rejects Him for want of power over the people.  Was it stupid to believe in a still coming Messiah that Jesus now embodies?  Was it stupid to believe in Adam and Eve, and a talking snake?  Was it stupid to believe in Moses, and the miracles of the sky that happened every day while in the deserts of the Middle East?  Crowds of Israelites now wrestle with these beliefs because once again there is a material witness to the facts of History, instead of just the stories of History.  The leadership tell the people that Jesus is a blasphemer.  They tell the people that Jesus is a false prophet, possessed of the Devil himself.  To listen to Jesus is to be expelled from the Temple, cast away from the sacrificial system whereby salvation can be achieved.  To be expelled is to cut one’s self off from the forgiveness of sins.  Or is it?

Matthew now recounts in his gospel a story in three parts.  In act one, the context is set.  It picks up in chapter nine beginning in verse 18 it says … “While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. [verse 19] And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.”  So many things to unpack in only two verses.  First, at the beginning of this chapter, Jesus told a man his sins were forgiven him, then proved it by healing him from a lifelong debilitating disease.  This meant, that being cut off from the Temple was no longer a death sentence of retaining one’s sins.  Being attached to Jesus was to find the only real outlet for the forgiveness of one’s sins.  The threat of the Temple leadership is no longer what it once might have been.  But this is what happens when God replaces men at the center of our religion.

Next, understand the position this supplicant maintains before this encounter.  He is a ruler.  This would mean that up until this request of Jesus he was in the Sanhedrin or ruling class.  He did not suffer from poverty, or even oppression by the Romans.  He was respected.  He likely had servants, nearly all rulers did.  In worshipping Jesus publicly, he would be putting everything he had at risk.  The Romans were not certain of Jesus yet, but He was being watched.  Anyone associated with Jesus would join that watch list, but anyone rich doing it would draw intense scrutiny.  The Romans did not need a worshipper capable of funding a war against them.  Poor folks were only desperate.  The rich could accomplish quite a bit more.  Worshipping Jesus publicly declared to his family and friends where his allegiances would lie.  He was out.  He was public.  He would be immediately cast aside by the Temple leadership, and you can believe, lies would be crafted about him right away to make this “sin” worse.

And finally, he was stupid.  What else do you call it, when someone believes something that History has never demonstrated is possible?  What else do you call it, when you search for life from a condition beyond the grave where death has already set in?  Is that resurrection, or is it salvation?  Do you see the condition of death you abide in today?  Your heart beats, your lungs move, but your “life” is one of pain, death, and mediocrity.  You “live” only a tenth of what you could.  Not because of poor health, or poor means, but because of poor thinking.  You trust to the habit of trying to save yourself from your sins, trying to gut-it-out and not commit certain things you know are wrong.  But all the while the desire to do those things is as strong as it ever was.  Failure heaped upon failure.  And History acts as a razor against your beliefs.  But it is not Jesus that is wrong about what you believe, it is what you think the role of Jesus is.  Jesus is the source of whatever new life you are bound to have.  Jesus cleans you up.  Jesus takes away the desires you cannot remove.  And salvation from the “death” you abide in, begins to take place.  Now who is the stupid one?

And note the response of Jesus to this request to breathe life back into what is now dead.  Jesus does not ponder the idea.  Jesus does not send it out to committee to insure there is a consensus before He takes action.  Jesus drops what He is doing and immediately leaves to find the home of this little girl, because of the request of her father.  It is not the faith of the dead one that will be tested here.  It is only her father that through his humility and submission to Jesus has sparked what will happen next.  Let the world think of him what they will, this father has a plan to see love restored.  This father has a plan to see the love of his little girl burn bright in her eyes once again.  This father has buried his hope and his faith in the person of Jesus Christ.  Whether we think that stupid or not.  And Jesus is moving, moving right away.  Those who will follow Jesus are indeed following after Him.  For Jesus always moves decisively towards seeing life return to the dead, even when that condition is only spiritual.

What this ruler did, is what you and I do, asking for life in the context of our death, each and every day.  If we have never witnessed salvation against death, it is because we have never really allowed Jesus to fix what is dead within us.  This was not a story of a father raising his daughter from the grave.  This was a request by a father for Jesus to do, what only Jesus can do, bring life.  This father makes that request, no matter how stupid it sounds to those around him.  No matter what history has demonstrated, History is about to be up-ended.  There will be a new History after this.  There will be a new set of facts from which we can derive a belief.  There will be a new set of eye-witnesses.  But then over time, all that will remain again is the written word of this account.  And centuries past that, the written word will be everything.  The story will not prevent all evil, but it will demonstrate the power of Jesus against evil and the death it brings.

Is it stupid to believe what you have not seen yourself?  Is it stupid to rely upon the witnesses of others?  What about believing something you do not at heart think is possible.  The power of Jesus is beyond what you could ever imagine.  No matter what others believed, there was an Angel in front of the Garden for 4,000 years.  There was a cloud over the desert, and a pillar of fire at night for 40 years.  There was our God on earth in the form of Jesus Christ for 33.5 years.  And now, there is a tried and true way, for you to see the death of your life ended, and a real “life” beyond the imagination of this existence waiting for you in the here and now, not just in some far removed afterwards.  Find Jesus, give to him what you call your life, and watch what He does with it.

And this was only the first act of three in this story …

 

Shame On You ...

“Knowing” but not “doing” provides an opportunity for someone (usually your mom), to utter the phrase “shame on you”.  As an example, you walk through the kitchen spotting a sink full of dishes that need to be washed.  Your mother is already busy with another chore that needs doing around the house.  You know the dishes need to be cleaned.  You know your mom is busy.  But you keep on walking, preferring to do the thing you wanted to do, rather than the thing that needs doing, that might otherwise help out your busy mother.  On Mother’s Day, your decision seems particularly heinous.  But you have faced this same decision on many days before, and made the same one, till the point now, where it hardly dawns on you what you “could” be doing to help out your mother, if you only chose to.  Shame on you comes to mind.

And while shame usually conjures up feelings of guilt, from heaven’s perspective it has another connotation.  All those opportunities you had to serve your family and your mother, where in fact, “opportunities” to serve.  In heaven that is like gold, it is like currency is here on earth.  The population of heaven is always looking for an opportunity to do something for someone else that might have meaning or impact, or make their lives just a little bit better.  In heaven, there is no greater task to do on anyone’s agenda than this.  From the heavenly perspective the “shame” on you, is your lost opportunity to serve.  They cannot fathom why anyone would simply keep on walking when they had instead the glorious opportunity to do something for someone else that could help out, or make their lives just a little bit better.  Mom understands.  Because your decision results in mom ever so quietly doing the dishes, cleaning them for her family.  She knows those dishes are bound to be dirty again, almost as fast as she can clean them.  This does not dissuade her.  Because she loves her family, and she wants them eating from clean plates, gaining the benefits of less germs, and the satisfaction in her heart, that her love translates into service almost everywhere you look.

Sometimes it is harder on mom to serve, than she might let on.  Sometimes her human frailty makes it painful for her to keep standing, to keep cleaning, to keep serving.  But she continues on to the best of her ability.  As she ages this difficulty will only increase.  Each decision you make to simply pass by those tasks you know need doing, whether she ever calls your attention to them or not, are silent echoes of “shame on you” that should be said, or at least noticed.  We accept her service.  We come to expect it.  We come to think of it, as if by magic, our homes are homes.  But it is not magic, or elves, or gremlins, that make our homes a home, it is by the demonstration of someone’s love.  Shame on us, when that demonstration lacks our participation.  We should know better.  We should do better.  But examples that reveal what we should know do not start and end in the home.

Matthew recorded one in his gospel intended for a Jewish audience.  The snippet he records cut right to the quick of a Jewish heart in his day.  It revealed no greater shame.  The contrast was so striking, many would prefer if it did not happen, but it did.  Picking up in the eighth chapter of his gospel starting in verse 5 Matthew begins telling the story of what happened saying … “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,”  Someone was denying the pecking order.  Romans did not ask Jews for anything.  If a Roman had a need, he could simply take what he wanted, and if the Jew disagreed, he could voice his dissent from a Roman cross, or behind a Roman whip.  Centurions were even higher up the food chain.  Not only could a centurion take what he wanted, he had the added benefit of 100 Roman soldiers to insure death and destruction at the whim of his command.  But not so here, this one was different.

Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.”  OK now, we have really entered weirdo-wonderland in this day-and-age.  Not only is a Roman centurion respectfully asking Jesus for something without a single hint of force or consequences (a miracle unto itself), this Roman is worried about a mere servant who is sick at his home.  Servants are nothing in this day-and-age.  They are a dime a dozen.  You can easily just pick someone and make them a servant in your home, again, if they argue about it, they can voice their dissent behind a Roman whip, or a Roman cross.  To have a Roman care enough about a servant to seek healing for him or her is beyond comprehension to the Jewish mind.  They never do this.  Well that is up to now.  It would appear that the Holy Spirit can enter Romans just as well as He enters Jews.

Jesus responds in verse 7 saying … “And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.”  The fall down the rabbit hole continues.  Here is Jesus, not only willing to heal this servant He has never met, He is willing to travel into a Roman’s home to do it.  NO other Rabbi would do this.  NO other Rabbi would even consider it.  Nearly every other Rabbi would be delighted to know the Roman is suffering, and would love for them to get to experience what it is like to see someone they care about suffer and perhaps die.  Turnabout is fair play in the Jewish mind, and in ours.  What goes around comes around.  All is fair in love and war.  Pick your expression.  They all have a basis in trying to screw the guy who is screwing you.  But not so with Jesus.  Jesus loves that servant and it is His will to heal them immediately.  But beyond a healing, Jesus is willing to enter a Roman home, bringing with Him Jewish honor and righteousness into a Roman home, without a moment’s hesitation.

The centurion responds in verse 8 saying … “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. [verse 9] For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”  Finally!  Some level of sanity is going to return to this story.  If Jesus does not understand the social norms of having no Jew enter a Roman household, at least the Roman gets it.  But wait a minute, look closer, look at why the Roman centurion responds as he does.  He says to Jesus “I am not worthy”.  Wow!  Someone sees their need.  Someone sees their own unrighteousness, and is afraid they may dishonor the reputation of Jesus by rubbing their own misdeeds upon the righteous Christ should He enter their doors.  The Roman is concerned about Jesus, and ashamed of himself.

The Roman does not want the honor of Jesus in his home, he does not feel he deserves it.  But wait, he still has a solution.  The Roman understands chain of command, he knows when he issues an order, it will be done, even if it is not done in his presence.  The centurion does not have to be present to witness the order being carried out.  He only has to give an order, and it will be carried out, or the one who fails to do it, can ponder his failure behind a Roman whip, or upon a Roman cross.  So the centurion has a plan to figure this out.  But then too, his plan is based on the idea that Jesus is “one” under authority.  Jesus is not just some ordinary Rabbi that people can choose to listen to, or not.  Jesus is the God behind the church of all the Rabbi’s whether they choose to accept it or not.  The centurion recognizes the authority of God in the form of Jesus.  Thus the centurion knows his plan will work.  Jesus has the authority to give a command and it “will” be carried out.  Not because any sort of whips or crosses are behind it, but because the power of God Himself is behind it, which nothing can stop or delay.

Then comes the beauty of transformation compared with those who still rely upon self for salvation.  Jesus responds in verse 10 saying … “When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”  Matthew says to his fellow Jews, to the bloodline of Abraham, to his fellow disciples … shame on us.  Jesus “marvels” at the faith of the Roman, at the simplicity of what he asks, and at his own recognition of his unworthiness to have God enter his home.  Jesus points out, He has not found so great a faith in all the people of Israel.  Yikes!  A Roman, just out did every other descendant of Abraham in a matter of faith.  Even of those who call themselves His disciples.  How could this be?  How could Jesus have said such a thing?  What kind of shame does this heap on the house of Israel, that a Roman has greater faith?  And the gentle rebuke does not end here for the Jews or for us.

Jesus continues in verse 11 saying … “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. [verse 12] But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  From my point of view this text is awesome!  For I am of Nordic descent, and what it means to me, is that my bloodline is not held against me, nor the pagan history of my ancestors, only that Jesus has extended to me an offer of salvation, of transformation, of a perfection He will work out within me if I will allow it.  And because of His grace, I will look one day across the table at the face of Abraham whose faith inspires my own.  I will meet David, whose heart reflected the passion of our God.  For if I meet them it will not be because I earned it, but because He earned it on my behalf, and saved me from myself.  It will be through Jesus Christ alone that this happens, or it will not happen at all.  This is simply a statement of fact, not intended as threat, but revealed as cause and effect.  Only Jesus can save me, I cannot save me at all.

Those children of bloodlines more closely linked to Abraham.  Of the seven other nations he spawned before his death.  Of Esau, and the nations that descended from his loins.  Of Israel and the continued blood line of Abraham himself.  The advantage of proximity is not a guarantee either, only submission to Jesus Christ guarantees the seat at the table.  A rejection of Jesus; defining him as a prophet, or outstanding Rabbi, but not as a personal savior, leaves one in darkness gnashing teeth for pain.  The universal commonality of false religion begins in the mirror, where one looks to be good enough to be saved.  Odin recognizes that idea.  Mohammed does as well.  Ganesh does as well.  So does Buddha.  And sadly, so do many many Christian religions, denominations, and sects.  Too many Christians have relegated Jesus to the Being who died, rose, and forgives;  but the idea of Him perfecting us from the inside out is foreign to them, and not based on any kind of real submission.  Too many Christians look to the actions of a religious nature they pursue to save themselves. 

We must attend church, read the Bible, pray daily, and be “good” people to our neighbors.  Outside of that, we can have the hearts of a raging demoniac, and crave the things that would destroy us, engaging in them, and then begging forgiveness.  Ever in a cycle of sin-and-forgive, never considering the idea of change, or re-creation; having lost faith that Jesus is a Creator in the first place.  But putting aside our denominations for a moment, putting aside our race, and our cultural heritage.  It only takes one thing to find salvation, it only takes a submission to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  A full surrender of our desires, our will, our decisions to Him, leads to a perfection we begin to slowly come to know, but are completely unable to explain.  This is the difference of Christianity against every other religion.  Because true Christianity is not based on self, it does not have the same results as others do.  It works.  It transforms.  And it leads us to become different, because He makes us different.

Jesus does not forget the Roman in front of Him, for the lesson He would teach His people then, or now, as he continues in verse 13 saying … “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”  Imagine the impact upon the Roman’s faith from this encounter.  Imagine the impact of the servants.  Only the Holy Spirit could have inspired the Roman to so love his servant, that he would reach out to a Jew to find healing for him/her.  Only the Holy Spirit could have convicted the Roman of the surety of the authority of Jesus to carry inside of Him the voice of God Himself.  A Roman.  A centurion at that.  A person whose job would lead them to torture Israelites, or at least unfairly treat the people of God.  The persecutor was to be loved by God so much, that the Holy Spirit would interact with him as well.  If there were to ever be a dichotomy of good and bad people, the Roman would have fallen on the bad side of that equation, and yet his faith surpasses all those on the side of the good.

The lesson is clear for us.  There are no good and bad people in the world.  We are all bad.  And we are all in need of a Savior to save us from who we are.  This is the offer Jesus makes.  Jesus would take every person in the world, no matter how bad, and redeem them unto Himself.  He loves us all.  He makes no division.  And He accepts everyone, interacts with everyone, and loves everyone with a passion we will never understand.  Finally, He can save every one of us.  Each of us.  You and me.  He is the only God offering to do so, and the only God able to follow through on that promise.  By contrast, Odin expects me to earn my place in Valhalla, dying a noble death in battle, soaked in the blood of my enemies.  The version of heaven Odin understands is forevermore repeating the battles in heaven, dying each day, resurrecting for the parties each night, and repeating the process for infinity. 

Jesus offers to perfect me for His kingdom.  He soaked Himself in His own blood on behalf of His enemies (including me).  His idea of Heaven is place where the exploration of love and discovery have no end, or upper limits.  The actions of love we take in heaven are ones of service to make the lives of others just a little bit better.  There will be no “shame on me” in His kingdom, because He bore all my shame, to exchange it for infinity with me and Him together forever united.  The contrast is so striking it can barely be comprehended.  My Jesus is my God.  Odin is only myth, and sad myth at that.  Jesus is interactive, not done with me yet, but certainly working with me every day.  Jesus does that.  Odin has never lifted off the pages of history.  Jesus is here today.  But it is not Odin I fear.  It is the man in the mirror, finding a way to never truly submit to the Jesus I know can save me.  Odin is not my enemy or the enemy of my Lord, I am.  My will is opposed to His own.  So I must learn to submit my will to Jesus instead.  What I want is in opposition to Jesus, so I must learn to want to different things, by allowing Jesus to change what I want.  How I love is dwarfed against what is possible, so I must learn to reflect the love of Jesus through me, and begin to experience what love is really like.  I give Jesus me, so that He can slay me, and re-create His version of me.  That is who I wish to be, no clinging to the legacy of who I am today.  I need to be rid of this me, that is what salvation is all about … for me.

I hope to be the guy who never walks past a stack of dirty dishes again.  Not to avoid the shame of it, but to experience the joy of service in it …

 

A Different God ...

Atheists make a point; if there is a God, why does He let “you” suffer?  And Christians set about the task of apologizing on behalf of Jesus.  Mind you, there is truth in the notion that in order for free will to be free, it must permit the choice of that which is bad for us, it must permit the choice of sin.  And sin brings with it pain and death from cause and effect.  It is also true that in a world that recognizes the existence of God, we must equally recognize the existence of His enemy Satan, who has no compunction over causing pain and death to as many as he can.  Stacking up the impacts of our own bad choices, compounded with others, and increased by the deceiver of souls; quite a bit of damage ensues.  Imagine greed unrestricted for a moment, or lust, or anger.  Were there not some level of restriction held back by the four angels of the four winds we might have completely self-destructed long ago.  So even our continued existence is possible only because our God must interfere within limits or witness His creation commit suicide on mass.

But the nature of the Atheist’s challenge is more personal than why does pain exist at all, it is why does it exist for “you”; for someone who claims belief in Jesus Christ.  The challenge is simply why does God who must at least at some level interfere to preserve you, not do a better job at it?  Why does He not answer the most desperate prayers, or prevent the most heinous tragedies from happening at all?  When asked this, most Christians punt.  The most common refrain is, it is a mystery, that only faith can overcome, and trust that whatever happens is in our best interest permitted by a God who we know loves us with a passion we may never understand.  But that answer still leaves the victim a victim.  Rape victims will still have been raped.  Abuse victims still abused.  The dead still killed by others, or by the cause and effect of their own choices.  Our modern faith seems poised to deal with the aftermath, but seems to have a problem dealing with prevention through consistent direct divine intervention.

Now most Christians have a story or two about some point in their lives where divine intervention was done on their behalf.  God keeps us out of the car accident, or keeps our health going when the normal course of events should have taken us out of planet earth.  So the modern Christian, despite not having a comprehensive answer, has at least a partial one.  Our God has been preserving us.  Without Him, we would have been dead already, or in far worse shape than we find ourselves today.  And some modern Christians hold out hope to be favored by the God of Job; who while He permits calamity to occur, He restores our lives after the damage to a much greater point than before the damage began.  But Job’s first set of children were still dead.  Having a new baby is awesome.  But it does not replace the hole in your heart of losing even one of your children, let alone all of them.

Some modern Christians just write off anything that happens in this world as meaning “less”.  From the point of view of eternity, of life without the pain of sin and the death it brings, nothing that happens in this world can ever deter from the infinite bliss of perfection we will come to live in the hereafter.  This perspective is perhaps the most healthy, as it keeps the eye and the priority on what is really important, and what is not.  It also has the side effect of recognizing we need an end to the sin inside of us, to experience and enjoy what an eternity of perfection has waiting for us in the plain of existence God had in mind originally, and is restoring us to.  But even this perspective is lacking something.  It presumes that God will “do a better job” preserving us, only when conditions are finally favorable.  Why does He not do it today, is another question.  And ultimately it is a question where “we” question just what kind of God He is.  It would appear modern Christianity has lapsed into the service of a different God.  Why, and how, spring to mind.

Matthew records for us, in his gospel intended for a Jewish audience, a picture of what sure looks like a different God than the one we have come to apologize for.  The Jesus Christ who walked the sands of Israel so long ago sure presents as something completely different than the Jesus Christ we struggle to make excuses for today.  And if Jesus has not, or will not, ever change.  Then perhaps it is us who have shifted while the rock remained right where it has been all along.  Take as an example the story of the immediate aftermath of the Sermon on the Mount in chapter eight of Matthews gospel.  What Jesus had done was simply preach a sermon.  There were many truths within it, most centered on Salvation, and how following Jesus, submitting to Him, sees that occur within us.  There were no quid pro quo sections in His sermon.  There were no fantastic promises of wealth offered there, or of control, or of fame.  In fact, the antidote of these things are found buried in His words.  What He values is not based in wealth, but in service, not in control, but in submission, not in fame, but in humility.  His entire value system is upside down from our perspective.  But what was the response to it?

Matthew opens chapter eight in verse 1 saying … “When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.”  The people got it.  Rape victims, abuse victims, those victimized by a church whose leadership abused their control, got it.  Salvation was possible through Jesus Christ and honestly that was all that mattered.  They saw a different God than us.  They were certain about a different God than we appear to be.  They began to show it, revealing Him to us, and revealing what we truly believe to ourselves.  Matthew continues in verse 2 saying … “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”  Aids victim, stage four cancer victim, multiple gun shot victim, pick the terminal condition you equate to the most today, and the ancient equivalent was leprosy.  Highly contagious and not well understood, meant complete social ostracization.  No one wanted you around.  You were going to die.  Any remedy had long been forgotten.  You were dirt.  You were less than dirt.

And at least one of them, comes straight up to Jesus after hearing His sermon from afar, and says to Him Lord, “if thou wilt”.  There will be no medication needed, no team of doctors or nurses required.  The man or woman destined to die will come to the Lord of renewal, and state a fact.  This victim knows what Jesus can do.  Jesus need only will it.  No apologies.  No deterrence of faith.  And what happens next separates the God of that man (or woman) from the God of you or I.  Jesus responds in verse 3 saying … “And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”  There was zero delay in His answer.  There was zero equivocation in His answer.  There was zero pre-conditions that had to be met in His answer.  The dead, or destined to be dead, was to be restored in that instant. 

Further, Jesus was not some cold, removed, uncaring person afraid to interact with what you and I are too afraid to love.  Jesus touches Him (or substitute her as many women had leprosy as well).  I imagine Jesus reaching right out to the most infected part of the victim He could easily see, and began the healing right from there.  I imagine seeing not just a cessation of the disease, or stopping its progression, and leaving the scars and missing sections that had already rotted and fallen off.  I imagine Jesus begins re-creating the victim, replacing every missing part with a new one created from the fingertips of the Creator.  I imagine seeing the scars and blemishes fade into the normality of perfection at the time.  Full restoration.  Full recreation.  A point not too subtle for us to see where it comes to our salvation, and the need we have to be re-created from the inside out.

But this must be a different God, than the one modern Christians claim to serve.  There was no delay in what the will of Jesus was.  There was no pondering about it.  It did not take a committee to decide what to do.  It took a man seeing his own need and reaching out to one He knew not only could do it, but would do it.  And Jesus did what Jesus wanted to do for him, and longs to do for each of us.  Jesus then does something that continues to be relevant to us picking up in verse 4 saying … “And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”  The way of healing leprosy had been long forgotten by those who ran the church.  They had been given a method of healing it.  But they forgot it, or abandoned it, or perhaps just like modern Christians, began to doubt what their God wanted done in a situation like that.

The leadership of the Jewish faith in the time of Christ served the same God we modern Christians do.  A God whose will is ever in doubt, or cannot be explained.  A God who does not “do” anything, or does not “do” enough.  A different God.  Certainly a different God than Jesus Christ who did not hesitate a single minute healing the man in need right in front of Him.  That God, that Jesus Christ, did not seem to leave us in doubt as to what He will was.  He was asked.  He healed.  End of story.  No doubts.  No difficulty in explanation, but rather extreme clarity.  Jesus does NOT want us to suffer and die.  Jesus came to reverse those conditions within us.  Jesus is NOT only interested in our spiritual condition (though that is the more important one), He is also equally interested in our physical condition.  He restores us, both body and soul.  This is the work Jesus longs to do.  This is that God.  This would by all accounts appear to be someone different than the God we have evolved in our minds is supposed to be Him.  In asking this man to return to the leadership of the church to be a testimony unto them, He is also asking this man to be a testimony unto us.

The rock does not move, only the sands of self do that.  It is not our Jesus who has changed, or wants something different for us than He did for that victim of leprosy.  He wants ALL of His children restored to Him in perfection, not just in mind, or spirituality, but in the bodies He created us to have.  The rock is still there.  It is us who need to return to it.  To conjure a different image of the God we serve, one absent of doubt, and apology.  An image of Jesus as He truly was, not an image of Jesus today masked behind a cloak of invisibility and doubt of intentions.  His intentions have not changed, only our faith in them.  His abilities to restore have not changed, only our perception of our need.  We no longer ask, either with certainty in what He would will, or with faith that an answer will actually be provided.  We ask with doubt, and with coverage in case what we want is rejected with no.  We offer the excuse of “not yet” to our feeble prayers.  But Jesus did not tell the Leper, I will get back to you.  He just healed the victim who needed the healing right in the moment he asked.

If the health of the body of those who are Christians is in disarray today, the responsibility clearly lies on our own doorstep.  The guidance in His word about what is good and what is not for us to eat is clearly outlined.  We know what we need to do from an exercise, sleep, rest and dietary standpoint.  And when disease comes to us in spite of what directions we follow from the word, we have a God whose will it is to heal us immediately, fully, restoratively and on the spot of our question for it.  That is His will.  That is His will for you, for me, and for the entirety of mankind from Adam to us.  Not just for the good people, but for all of them.  Not just for the folks who understand doctrine perfectly, but for those who are mistaken about nearly everything.  The leper did not have doctrinal perfection, he had a singular belief in the “will” of Jesus Christ.  That is the will of that Jesus Christ who scripture bares witness to.  Who is the Jesus Christ you serve?  Is it the same guy? 

Do you serve that God, or have the shifting sands of your perceptions invented a new version of Jesus Christ, a much lesser version, a version we feel the need to apologize for when the tough questions are posed, because the physical proof seems lacking all the time.  Have we, like our Pharisee forefathers, found a different God; or are we ready to serve the Jesus Christ who even today stands right in front of us as He ever was, His will clear to restore what is broken within us, both body and soul.  Are we ready to ask Him now, seeing our need, and “knowing” His will?  Are we prepared for the yes, we have so long believed was only rarely granted, but now will be our regularity?  I am tired of the different God, I have constructed in my mind, I would rather return to the Rock who has not moved, and the certainty in what He wills.  Is anyone else ready as well?