A Different Reaction ...

Have you ever noticed how the same written content will often inspire a completely different reaction across a group of readers?  The words on the paper (or in the email) do not change an inch.  But the tone of how it is read, and the agenda behind how we perceive what was written between the lines, changes to nearly every reader who takes the time to read it.  Some folks might have a relationship with you already, and when an email or a post is made, they interpret those writings based on that pre-existing relationship.  Where it comes to matters of religion, specifically Christianity, entire denominations have arisen purportedly because each group of folks reads the same words in the Bible just a little bit differently.  Then those differences became matters of doctrine.  That doctrine then becomes a test of faith.  And before you know it, we are ready to condemn each other for not teaching truth, because of the differences in how we perceive scripture – even though we are not actually arguing about the words themselves – those words do not change.  But how we read them does.

Sadly, in matters of religion, those who are quick to condemn and use the Bible to do so, share another characteristic they are probably not even aware they have.  It is not so much having a “bad” thing, as it is a lack of an “awesome” thing.  Sin is sin.  And sin is never good, should never be endorsed, and frankly is something all of us struggle with, and something all of us want real relief from.  But when we focus on the sin itself, we become people who are quick to condemn.  When we focus on the redemption from sin, on the cure for sin, we become people who realize only love will ever get us to that cure.  It is the love of Jesus Christ, that moves Him to want to cure us.  It is our love for Him, that moves us to want to be cured.  Love then, underlies everything in our own salvation.  And when we are people of love; we start to care about others, in effect, Jesus alters our hearts in the process of salvation to begin to see the treasure of others.  When that overtakes us, we are no longer people who focus on condemnation, we are people who focus on re-creation and redemption in the here and now.  Same words.  Same Jesus.  But a different us.

In our last study, Luke tells us the back story to the gospel of Jesus Christ, by focusing on Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, or rather soon-to-be father.  Zacharias is confronted by the angel Gabriel who “stands in the presence of God”.  Zacharias is given an awesome revelation of what is to come.  But he is old, his wife is too, and they have been barren all their lives.  So Zacharias looks at his humanity, and doubts he could ever accomplish such a thing.  Zacharias was a good man, a blameless man, but he looked in the wrong place for the miraculous.  He looked to human strengths and abilities (namely his own).  Instead He should have looked to God to accomplish what no man (or science, keep in mind Luke is a physician), could ever accomplish.  When God predicts the impossible, He performs the impossible.  He does not ask you to do it.  The same is true of how you will be saved from you.  It is impossible for you to ever reach perfection, so you are not asked to do that work, you are asked to let Jesus do it in you, and for you.  You are not asked to stay in your sins but allow Jesus to lift you out of your sins entirely.  As you submit yourself, your human ideas, strengths, desires, and weaknesses to Jesus – He does exactly that, He does the impossible in you.  The question becomes, how will you respond.  Zacharias was a believer, a priest by trade, and he practiced what he preached every day.  But when Gabriel himself came to him with great tidings, Zacharias doubted. 

Time to change the scene.  Luke will tell the story of another angelic revelation with a very different outcome.  Luke picks up in his letter (chapter one) of our gospel, in verse 26 continuing … “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, [verse 27] To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. [verse 28] And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”  We move from a focus on the men in this story, to a focus on the women.  And Luke starts not with the birth of Jesus, or even the conception of Jesus, but with an angelic revelation of Jesus to a simple virgin girl named Mary.  Now Mary herself was no different then or now, than any other virgin girl engaged to be married.  She was excited about spending her life with Joseph as her husband.  She loved him, and he loved her.  The engagement process was just like a time delay for Joseph to prepare to marry her with a place to live and ability to take care of her.  The engagement delay also allowed for them to be sure of their feelings, and not make mistakes they might regret later in life.  So Mary was like any other girl no real difference there.

Mary might have been pretty, but likely no super model.  The conditions of life back then required outdoor physical labor to survive.  Preparing food took effort (harvesting, washing, cutting, cooking over open fires, and cleaning in a nearby stream).  There were no microwaves, and prepared meals in plastic containers we simply “throw away” when we are done.  Keeping clothes clean took effort (carrying them to an outdoor water source, hand washing them over grates, using soap if you could afford it, drying them on lines or tree branches, then carrying them home again).  There were no machines that do all the work for you except folding them.  You get the idea, life was much more difficult.  And should bad weather appear, it might change everything for you from what you could do, to what you could eat.  So there were no pampered super models who survived by the publicity of their looks, untouched by the outdoor rigors of life back then.  In this Mary was no different than any other girl in her town, her region, or her age.

Luke continues in verse 29 saying … “And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.”  Notice, Mary is not afraid per se, but troubled at this greeting, because from her point of view, she is far from highly favored and blessed among women.  That pronouncement does not fit with a simple, humble girl, who lives life, like any other simple woman might.  And to keep us men humble – while Joseph may be the love of her life – he is no Brad Pitt such that every other woman in her hometown would recognize her luck by marrying him.  He is just another simple humble man, likely a virgin himself, who is excitedly waiting to marry the love of his life.  And perhaps that love between them might be enough to warrant the angels pronouncement in our day, or any day come to think of it.  But Joseph, while faithful and nice, has nothing to do with this.

Luke continues in verse 30 saying … “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. [verse 31] And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. [verse 32] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: [verse 33] And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”  There is immediacy in what the angel proclaims.  This does not sound like a future someday proclamation to her it sounds like a right now kind of thing.  She gets that.  But then, same words different reaction.  We know, because of hindsight, that the angel was describing the Messiah, and the references to a kingdom without end, does not mean the removal and overthrow of the Roman empire, it means a spiritual kingdom where evil is defeated once and for all time.  But she hears these words and can easily associate them with every commonly held belief about the Messiah at that time, meaning He was to ascend to David’s throne, and establish a kingdom (earthly) without end as He grows up.  The words of the angel did not change, but perception, and preconceived ideas about belief would have colored them greatly.

Luke continues in verse  34 saying … “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? [verse 35] And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. [verse 36] And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. [verse 37] For with God nothing shall be impossible.”  Mary responds by asking the most obvious simple logistical question – how will this be considering she is still a virgin.  Mary knows how it is supposed to work, and this has never happened.  The angel responds by telling her that the Holy Ghost will come upon her, and beyond that, that the power of the Highest will overshadow her.  That could be a reference to God the Father (particularly as she would have understood it).  And all of this to insure there is no doubt as to who the Father of Jesus would truly be – it would not be human – it would be divine.  Jesus would rightly be called the Son of God.

Notice too, Mary does not ask for a sign.  She only asks how it is possible, given how it is supposed to work.  But Mary is given a sign anyway.  The angel refers her to her cousin Elisabeth (perhaps obedience runs in the family) as being already 6 months pregnant.  Elisabeth who is known to her family and around the region as barren.  Elisabeth who is old, WAY too old to be even thinking about being pregnant.  But all of this is to prove, that with God, NOTHING is impossible.  And the parallels to our salvation remain just as pertinent, what we are unable to do to save ourselves, we were never meant to do – but with God nothing is impossible including changing you from who you are, to who He intended you to be.  You cannot cure your sin problem.  But God can.  Not just forgive mind you, but cure.  Not just overlook your past, but make for you a new future, absent of sin altogether.  [Take in that oil of the wise virgins while there is yet time.]  Mary is not meant to solve this problem herself, she is meant to witness the power of the Lord in solving it.

And so Mary responds as Luke continues in verse 38 saying … “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”  Mary does not argue.  Mary does not debate.  She accepts.  And irony of ironies, she accepts no matter the cost to her personally.  For what the angel has said, is how history will view her from those who believe.  But it is NOT how she will be viewed in her own time and age.  Not even the love of her life Joseph will believe her at first (it will take an angelic visit of his own before he is willing to accept the impossible).  And so beyond Joseph, the virgin mother of Jesus will be called an adulterous whore by those who will not believe, and by those who employ common sense to guide their thinking, not faith in an impossible God who routinely does do the impossible.  At best, she will be condemned as breaking her engagement with Joseph to make him the Father earlier than when they were to be formally married.  At worst, she will be no better than a whore that deserved to be stoned for betrayal in which she was caught.  But no personal cost to her or her reputation would be considered.  Instead just a simple yes.

It is particularly interesting to me, the contrast in response of Zacharias and of Mary.  Zacharias was a good man, there is no condemnation here of him by me, nor should there be.  Yet even a priest was prone to human doubt.  The simple virgin bride to be, made no request for a sign, and simply submitted even when she did not have to, and even when it will cost her reputation forever.  Even though it might even cost her, her pending marriage.  She responded with a simple yes.  For the Bible being a book that is supposed to be hard on women, that is not what I read.  I read women who keep defining themselves of those with cast iron faith, while the men around them do far less, in the same circumstances at the same time and age.  I see women who follow God without question, while men seem to have so much harder a time trying to do the same.  Mary will have a normal life after the birth of Jesus.  She will be wife and mother of several more children.  She will go on to be nothing more extraordinary than any other woman of her age, but in this single act of submission and faith, she will carry the honor of having been mother to Love incarnate.

Perhaps it was the love within her, that made all the difference.  Perhaps it is the love in you and I, that can still make all the difference.  For we serve a God where nothing is still impossible, no matter what it looks like in our age.  I pray our responses are different when we are yet called …

 

Daddy Issues ...

A lot of unkind jokes use the phrase “daddy issues” to make a punchline out of lifelong insecurities.  Most conventional thinking attributes the ideas of daddy issues to young women inexplicably attracted to older men.  But that is far from where it truly ends.  Nearly every child of divorce has some inkling of what daddy issues entails.  And divorced or not, every child of workaholic type “A” personality go-getter dads knows what it is like to live in that shadow and possibility never live up to it.  Who you are cannot be explained in full without knowing where you come from; not just who composed your family members, but what life was like with them as well.  All of us no matter the age we recognize it, look for a degree of affirmation from our fathers.  We want that “stamp of approval”, perhaps “parental pride”, to lean on, and know it is there, and it is as solid as concrete.  Given the state of our society, I would say those of us getting this affirmation, and knowing we have it, is a good deal less than the majority of our populous.

But it gets worse ☹.  You have probably heard the expression (derived from scripture), that “we are made in the image of God”.  This tells us we tie the roots of our existence in similarity to the God who created us.  Some people say “we have a God shaped hole in each of us”.  This is meant to convey that we each seek a love that only God can provide.  No other substitute for it, no matter what level of self-gratification we try to mask that need with.  If you mirrored our local family needs of at least at some point looking for the affirmation of our earth-bound fathers – then it stands to reason we will look even harder for the affirmation of our Heavenly Father.  But there’s the rub.  Local dad can tell me he loves me, or if he is proud of me (if he ever chooses to).  But Heavenly Dad seems to have a harder time getting that message across.  We have a distance thing to deal with.  And if not the physical distance, we also have a distance between us in how we love.  He loves me absolutely.  But instead of loving others that way, I tend to heap all the love I get, right back on me (ahh the invention of selfishness).  So how could our Father God, ever be proud of me, when it is clear, my life could hardly ever be a source of pride in a heavenly kingdom (where selfishness is something long since extinct in the average heavenly heart, let alone in a God, who was willing to die for me, to show me how far His love would take Him).

I am a disobedient child at best.  Belligerent, noisy, insisting I know what I am doing, when history is clear I do not.  Any Father of a two-year-old can tell you when they are screaming and covered in poo, it is hard to pick that precise moment to state your pride in them.  I should imagine this is a dilemma God faces nearly every time He looks at me.  On the other side of that coin, any Father of a two-year-old can also tell you that sometimes even despite our bad behavior we can still look pretty cute to Dad.  Perhaps it is because we belong to Dad.  Perhaps because we are His.  Perhaps it is His love that is able to see through our shenanigans and see us for who we could be, rather than perhaps who we are.  And every dad wants to clean up our dirty; nurse the boo-boo’s; and point us in a direction where what will bring us happiness is right in front of us (instead on unnoticed by us).  The daddy issues we may find ourselves having with God, don’t come because of His lack of love, they come from us failing to realize “this” is not what was meant for any of us.  There is something so much better.  And we need to trust Dad, that He is trying to set our course on a path to that (no matter how it looks in the here and now).

Matthew in his gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries, in chapter 25, continues discussing what the second coming will be like from a readiness point of view.  The conditions we face here and how we might steer clear of paths leading in the wrong direction.  Jesus gives us a parable (a story that is), to show themes His audience would understand better.  This one picks up in verse 1 saying … “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. [verse 2] And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.”  So call me cynical but in today’s modern age the first thing that jumps out at me is the ratio of brides to husband, ten to one, if I read this right.  My cynical mind jumps right to the unkind phrase “daddy issues”.  Why else would any bride be willing to share their husband with another bride, let alone with nine others?  But then I remember, this is a story to make a point, not a word for word endorsement of multiple-partner-marriages.

And then it also occurs to me, perhaps the Bridegroom, was the one NOT given a choice in the matter.  What? You ask.  Think about it.  Traditionally the bride(s) represent a church of some kind.  In this case we presume a Christian church.  And perhaps at the end of all things (i.e. in our modern age), there is more than “one” Christian Church who qualifies as being a bride of Christ.  Imagine that my Baptist friends, it could be that you will be sharing your virginal bride status, with our Catholic friends, and Mormon friends, and Adventist friends, and so on, and so on.  I know a good number of Christian denominations (my own no exception), that believe “they” are the only “virgin” – all the rest are sluts at best.  All of us Christians are quick to adopt the idea that our particular church is the virgin talked about in scripture, and any other church can get thrown into the “whore” category, also discussed elsewhere (and out of context).  But if Jesus was coming back to reclaim all the believers who follow Him, then perhaps He has an appointment with ten virgins instead of one, because our foolishness and pride over doctrines have left Him no choice but to find ten of us walled off from each other, each thinking we are “all that”.  When in truth, we each have only a portion of “the Truth”, too stubborn to accept that others might have other parts of “the Truth”.

Consider too, Jesus does not say the Bridegroom was coming to marry 2 virgins, 3 concubines, 2 divorcee’s, and 3 good old-fashioned prostitutes.  Instead all ten are virgins.  Which given our doctrinal differences (that cannot possibly “all” be right), it might be that the only thing that makes one a virgin is in how they truly “follow” Jesus Christ.  Not, if they have scriptural understanding perfect, or every prophecy coded down to a gnat’s behind.  But even in virginity, there is a distinction between the wise and the foolish.  Jesus tells us what that is continuing in verse 3 as he goes on stating … “They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: [verse 4] But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”  Daddy issues again perhaps?  This time however, it is more about how we listen to Dad, than whether His instructions are clear.  Think about it, virginity is not in question.  The fact that you are bride destined to marry our Lord is not in question.  This is about whether you carry the oil you need for a moment, or whether you plan ahead for any contingencies.  It is a subtle difference.

Everybody has oil on day one.  If we were to interpret that the “oil” was a reference to the Holy Spirit, then you could assume every believer has a notion of the role of the Holy Spirit and is at least initially happy to invite Him into our lives.  But when you invite God in, He comes.  And when you invite God in, He starts changing things.  Before you even realize it, sin is on its way out, and joy is backfilling the void.  Most of us would say bring it on.  But for each of us who has some sin we are not quite ready to give up, we may not want “that much” Holy Spirit in our lives and hearts.  What if the Holy Spirit begins taking the cherished sin out?  He might knock that sin right out of our hearts before we are ready to lose it.  For us foolish virgins, we want a “controlled” measure of the Holy Spirit in our lives, not a full measure of it.  We are still too foolish as to try to give up “all” our sins, we just want most of them gone, and keep only a small few we are so desperately fond of.  And so we create daddy issues when that was never the plan.

Jesus continues in verse 5 saying … “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”  Yeah that is one of the more painful scriptures in the Bible, and such a clear commentary on how we various Christian churches keep dropping the ball.  It’s not so much that we “ALL” slept (the foolish and the wise).  It is that we ALL were more comfortable falling asleep from a delay in His return, than in pointing others to the light and love of Jesus Christ.  That is supposed to be the number one mission of any Christian church.  And yet, nope, each of us virgins, (insert a collective reference to yours and my church here), were all too happy to sleep on the accomplishments of our founders, than to get out there and help with the redemptive work.  That just hurts.  And it is not like we can blame this on a miscommunication from some random prophet in scripture, this is Matthew recording the very words of Jesus Christ Himself, that other gospels would seem to coordinate.  So even when our virginity is in tact (we truly follow Jesus), even when we are wise and invite a full measure of the Holy Spirit’s oil into our lives and hearts, we are still taking all that testimony and witness and sleeping on it, rather than sharing it.

The sadness continues as Jesus states in verse 6 saying … “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”  At midnight, that is to say, when we are deep in sleep, and completely unaware something is coming.  Or as Jesus stated earlier, in an hour when we think not.  A cry is made.  Well guess what, the cry is NOT coming from one of the virgins.  They are ALL asleep.  The cry would most likely come from an external, heavenly, or heavenly inspired source.  Perhaps there is a group of Christians who are as we speak, learning to submit to Jesus, and experiencing a level of transformation from His love, that put them outside completely of all the known churches.  Or perhaps there are so few of them, it takes an angel to get things kicked off.  Either way, every church finally wakes up, and is told to begin to go out to meet the bridegroom.  Time to kindle up that oil.

Jesus continues in verse 7 saying … “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. [verse 8] And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. [verse 9] But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.”  The foolish virgins, by wanting to cling to a few precious sins, have let their lights go out.  But they have some idea of what needs to be done.  They go to those who embraced the Holy Spirit fully, and ask them to give them some of that attractive sin killing oil.  But the time for acquiring oil requires an education the wise do not have time to give.  The foolish must go back to basics, and figure out how to get a full measure of the Holy Spirit so they too can get out there to meet the Bridegroom.  When Daddy teaches you how to trust Him, it is not a one-day process.  It takes time.  It takes a full submission.  You must learn how to recover from bumps in the road, we bring about by trashing the victories He gives, with our stubborn failures.  It takes the humility to come again to Dad, ask forgiveness, and start the process again.  And as we go through this process, we learn what it really means to trust Dad.  The daddy issues start to dissipate.

Jesus continues in verse 10 saying … “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. [verse 11] Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. [verse 12] But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. [verse 13] Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”  When Jesus comes, they that are ready will go with Him.  Those who are not ready, those who still cling to sin, any sin, do not understand the degerative disease they have chosen to hang on to.  It is like wanting to keep just a little bit of terminal cancer.  It is like being a cocaine addict and only keep a closet full of it (even though the rest of the house is clean).  When we cling to sin, it is a disease that overwhelms us.  It changes us.  It makes us self-centered.  And our self-centered-ness grows until that is all we really are, no matter what banner we claim as our belief system.

It will not be the moniker “Catholic” or “Baptist” that saves you in the end.  It will be whether you allowed Jesus and the Holy Spirit to wipe the sin out of you, in heart, mind, and body.  It will be whether you submitted to Jesus, and learned how to love like He loves.  When that happens you develop a passion for other people.  When you delay it, you embrace apathy for others, and love for yourself.  It leads to those horrible words coming from the foolish virgins who ask to be let it, and finding the Bridegroom saying “I know you not”.  In another parable, those words were uttered by Jesus associated with Christians who carried the name, but never did anything for the poor or needy, because they frankly did not care about the poor, imprisoned, or needy.  They were too busy in church to make time for people in need.  They were too busy performing miracles in the name of Jesus, too busy planning worship services, and offering sermons.  They did much in the name of Jesus (just not anything from a genuine love of others, only a need to be seen as great themselves).  And so Jesus says to them, I know you not.  A lack of embrace of full transformation leads to behavior that results in the ultimate of daddy issues.  It leads to losing Dad forever.

That is not what our Heavenly Dad wants.  The mission of Jesus was not to see us lose to sin, it was to see us let Him take the sin out of us.  We were not meant to live in pain, and suffer death.  We were meant to live in bliss, and know the true joy of loving others never even thinking of yourself.  The command to “Watch” by Jesus is not a veiled threat to those who understand transformation.  It means the clock is ticking, and we only have so much more time of participating in His redemptive mission to point others to the light and love of Jesus Christ.  Once Jesus returns, the clock is done.  No more time to help others.  Only time to return with Him.  Whoever we missed, whoever we did not love enough, is now a lost opportunity.  A fate no child wants to see.  And an issue for our heavenly Dad He just cannot bare to think about.  It is why He delays, desperately hoping each of us will come to Him.  The delay was not a punishment to those waiting His return, it was a desperate plea to those who could care less.  That kind of love that just does not want to give up, on even one poo-stained child, is where the heart of our Daddy is.

And the affirmation we seek from our Father, will one day come in person from Him, and forever more in person from Him.  And then, the idea of daddy issues will be gone forever.

And Jesus was not yet done trying to prepare us for His second coming …

 

Ridiculous Faith [part 2 of 3] ...

Matthew continues to recount his story in act two of the three that compose it.  In the first act, a father has demonstrated a faith others are sure to call stupid, for what he asks of Jesus (to bring life back to the dead, even though this has never been done).  But now in act two, the journey towards the dead is well under way, and on it, something ridiculous occurs.  The History that sometimes acts as a razor against our beliefs finds a new character to widdle against.  A woman who has suffered with what is likely some form of hemophilia for more than 12 years has made her own determination of what must be done to find life and health.  She determines that Jesus is sure to be her cure.  She has seen him cure so many others.  She knows He can do it.

But this woman creates for herself an obstacle of unworthiness.  As she examines her own life, the decisions she has made, the sins she has committed, the filth of the condition of her disease; she determines she is unworthy to ask Jesus for healing.  She is embarrassed by the smell that must certainly accompany her presence.  She does not wish to be brought to Jesus by her friends, as she does not want others to be so intimate with her personage in such plight.  Besides, she can move.  She just finds herself disgusting.  And how many of us examine our lives, and our history of sins, and reach the same conclusion.  We too are disgusting.  We too have heaped so much sin and shame upon ourselves, we find that we are in no way worthy of the presence of God.  We do not deserve to ask Him for anything.  Even though we have seen Him act for others, we hold back our requests, believing our history is a barrier to His listening ear.  But it is our holding back that is the problem.  Self-created, but every bit real.

The woman of the story of Matthew, forgets, that ALL sin is disgusting to our God.  It is the poo He must wade through to pull you out of it.  And He does not hesitate to do the dirty work of reaching you, or the difficult work of pulling you through this pit to get you out of it.  The condition she finds herself in, is not something that Jesus would have held His nose against, turned away, and left her to suffer and die in.  It is the same condition He looks to relieve us all from.  The goal of mercy, is not to simply forgive, and then return you to the cesspit of your sins.  The goal of mercy, is to forgive you, and create within you a way out of the cesspit forever.  Jesus understands how bad sin is, and wants to redeem you from it anyway.  No matter how dirty the work for Jesus, it is still something He longs to do for you.  Your unworthiness will never be matched by His greater love for you.

But in this pit of despair and unworthiness the woman has created for herself, she has not lost hope altogether either.  Instead she comes up with a ridiculous idea.  She will remain anonymous.  She will move through the crowd quickly from behind, hopefully downwind, and will duck down and touch only the hem of His garment.  It is not the robe she needs, as even in this state, she attributes no special power to the clothing.  It is His contact with the clothing when she touches it, she imagines will do the trick.  She will do this ridiculous thing all because she fears to ask Him face-to-face to heal her.  She will do this ridiculous thing because she fears her own unworthiness.  How many barriers do we place upon ourselves that our God would never ask, because we allow our guilt to outmatch our opinions about the love of our God?

If this sounds like a ridiculous idea, it is.  If this sounds to you like it would never work, that, is another matter.  Matthew continues his recollection in chapter nine picking up in verse 20 saying … “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:”  The crowds were moving.  The wind conditions were favorable.  There were so many people there, she would easily be able to “get lost” in all the faces.  No one would be paying attention to her.  She could enter from a side street, get low, touch the hem of his garment, and disappear back into the crowd, going home healed.

Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.”  Her plan in her mind made sense to her.  Her beliefs made sense to her, even if they never made sense to another living person on planet earth.  Here is where faith gets ridiculous, but does not go wrong.  Our relationship with Jesus is indeed a relationship, something that is one-on-one, not a group think exercise.  Was this doctrine of hers, this idea that she had, Biblically sound?  No.  Not really.  There is nothing in scripture about touching clothing to get healed, at least not until this story anyway.  Is this idea something the modern Christian churches continue to espouse?  No.  We have long since abandoned the idea of relics, that if you but touch them, something good happens spiritually.  Particularly because most relics are fakes.  And further Jesus does not say to His followers; here is my robe from last week, take this around and use it to heal people.  Jesus offers a Holy Spirit for that, which is much more effective anyway.

So, it is not that her doctrine is sound.  It is not.  It reflects a notion about unworthiness that is misplaced.  It discounts the love the Savior has for her (at least before the incident is over).  In summary you could say, she went forward with the wrong ideas, the wrong doctrine, but faith in the right God, in Jesus Christ.  Matthew continues in verse 22 saying … “But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”  Her healing happens despite the ridiculous ideas of her faith, and self-imposed obstacles.  And as Jesus works with this woman, He begins to take steps to correct her thinking.  He stops the momentum of his trip cold.  The crowds stop.  He looks right at this woman, though other texts have Him first question aloud who touched Him.  His eyes burn with a love she could have never imagined.

When Jesus addresses her, it is not in the derogatory language she is sure she is worthy of.  He does not call her a dog, or pig, or disgusting piece of filth, which she has seen herself as, her entire life.  He does not look down on her in any way.  In fact, in one of the rarest times in scripture, He calls this woman, “daughter”.  Let that sink in folks.  Jesus Christ names this woman daughter.  A literal daughter of God.  Not just a figurative title, or sweet sounding family style inclusive word.  But a title that has deep meaning to it.  Especially to her.  In that tender word and tender address Jesus Christ shatters her ideas and self-created barriers about unworthiness.  He calls her daughter instead.  No matter what she has done, or smells like, or how she sees herself; Jesus sees this precious woman as His particular child and daughter.  He is on His way to resurrect the daughter of another father, but on His way, He stops to insure this daughter of His is resurrected as well.

Jesus shatters the ideas of unworthiness as a barrier for her and for us.  Her healing is the least of her blessings this day.  She moves from hopeful worshipper to grateful daughter.  Her testimony moves from theoretical ideas (some misplaced), to the personal testimony of a daughter of Christ.  No one will ever be able to shake that word out of her head.  It was personal.  It still is.  The beauty of this story is the absence of our influence on this woman.  Had this woman been a member of the modern Christian church, and confided her plan in us, we would have soundly condemned it.  Not for the unworthiness piece which most of us also contend with, but for the worshipping clothing piece which has no basis in scripture.  We would have wanted for this woman to subscribe to ALL of our ideas about God; BEFORE she went to God for herself.

We would have created for this person as big a gauntlet spiritually as she created for herself.  And most burdens just as ridiculous.  Even though her ideas were not perfect ahead of time, Jesus still reached out to her.  He rewarded her faith with healing.  Not to uphold the idea of cloth touching for health, but so that she knows He cares about her.  He destroyed her ideas about anonymity.  Instead He calls her out in front an entire crowd.  So that they ALL hear Him call her daughter, just as loudly as she hears it.  To the crowd it will mean less.  But to her it will mean everything.  Jesus adjusts her doctrine through methods that Jesus deems effective.  And you and I had nothing to do with it.  It was all Jesus, and it worked.

Why do we in the modern church, believe it is our duty to “correct” the misguided ideas of our peers, who also believe in Jesus.  Can’t Jesus do for them and for us, what He did for His daughter so many years ago?  Jesus is effective at changing minds and hearts.  You and I suck at it.  If my friends from another denomination are wrong about something, let’s let Jesus sort that out for them.  If we are wrong about something, let’s let Jesus sort that out for us.  What works, is devout faith in Jesus.  What does not work, is devout faith in our interpretations of scripture.  That is what the Pharisees had, and they were all as sure about it as we are today.  So sure, they missed Jesus and love entirely.  And when you look around the modern Christian church, we are as certain about doctrine, and as lean with our love as they were.

An incorrect idea, or doctrine, can be corrected by Jesus Christ.  If it is a problem for us, you can bet Jesus will be motivated to fix it.  And if it is not a problem, Jesus is probably not too worried about it.  So then, why are we?  Love is what Jesus demonstrated that day, that ultimately undid the mistaken ideas.  Jesus shows her that she personally matters to Him.  He stops an entire procession to prove it.  He calls her out to prove it.  He calls her daughter to make sure she knows it.  He gives her a gift that will ever be ringing in her ears.  He gives her a testimony she will be retelling everyone for as long as she draws breath.  She worships Him not because she has to; or some pastor tells her to, or because it is that time of the week in that time of the service.  She worships Him, because her heart brakes with the gratitude of knowing Daddy.  She loves her Daddy, and does not grow tired of anyone else knowing Him too.

It was a ridiculous faith.  But it was grounded in Jesus Christ.  And whether it was ridiculous or not, it found a way to receive the love of Jesus Christ, up close and personal to her.  What is the level of ridiculous you are willing to risk to see Jesus Christ love you one-on-one?

And the play has one more act for the finale …

 

A Woman's Place ...

Most sentences in conversation that begin with the words “a woman’s place is in …” don’t end well; at least for the person speaking.  There are in fact few ways to end that sentence that will not be found offensive.  The problem is not the “where” so much as it is “the edict” of where by the person speaking.  Many women work.  Many women do it for no wages, nearly zero recognition, and often time despite ridicule from the teenagers they are trying to raise, in the houses they make homes from their labors.  To say a woman works is simply a statement of fact … it is the “where” again that conjures up the prejudices of value derived from a commercial enterprise as somehow having more value than the value that comes from turning a building into a home.  Perhaps then the best way to end that sentence “a woman’s place is … is wherever she wants it to be.”  That will at least save the person speaking, and perhaps offer more truth than the chauvinist mind is ready to grasp.

Men like to measure themselves.  We like to compare and use yardsticks to do it.  In sports, there is a winning team and a losing one.  Children may all be “winners” for having competed; men like the idea of only one team being a winner, and the other losers.  In life, men tend to gravitate to their careers as another yardstick to measure each other by.  If my job title sounds more professional than yours, guess who wins that battle.  If you make more money than I do, we are back to a draw.  If my wife is the most beautiful woman in the room, then I will have done my job appropriately (as determined by my wife), and I will be permitted to sleep in our bed this evening. 😊  But again, if my wife is more beautiful than every other wife, I win.  This is a competition women are not so disparaging of, as long as their husband always wins.  The problem with all of this thinking is where value is derived from.  Possessions should not define our value, service should.

In that context, I may be the biggest loser.  How much I serve, even how much I serve my wife, is not up to a standard I would set for myself.  It is easier to define value in possessions, and in commercial accomplishments, than it is in humble service (where credit does not exist, nor should it).  It would seem I need a re-wire of my thinking to begin to appreciate humble service for the value that should be derived from it.  If I appreciated it properly, then the service done in the home would become of vastly more value than anything done in an office, for mere compensation.  Careers like garbage collector would be esteemed not ridiculed.  And the waitress who fills your coffee cup, would be appreciated (not just in your mind, but reflected in the tips you leave).  Appreciating humble service changes where you think value comes from, and what services people do, to achieve it.

But shouldn’t that apply in the church as well?  We have our estimation of importance as upside down in church as we do in the world.  We esteem conference leaders, the pope, the bishops, or people holding roles over the organization of the body.  Evangelists or people with great speaking abilities are esteemed over simple believers.  The folks in the pews are seen almost like cattle.  We attend events, fill up the pews, sing when directed to, kneel, fill up offering coffers, and then go home.  Next week, the same routine.  But some simple believers are also prayer warriors.  Warriors not because “they” are special, but because their “belief” is so strong it is as if they sit in the living room with the Lord, every time they bring up His name.  Their prayers are answered because their expectations are so high.  And most of us hardly know their names.

In the church, we begin to assume we know who should take up a particular role based upon the profile we set for that role in our minds.  Tradition colors our thoughts.  Where we would not dare utter the sentence “a woman’s place” in our personal lives, when it comes to church we happily utter the same phrase and do not end it with open possibilities.  We end it with predefined notions of where a woman’s value should be derived from a traditional perspective.  In like manner, we expect men to fill other roles, our only differentiation based on competence, never gender.  However, it does seem like men are allowed to fulfill nearly every role, but women only a few.  Forward thinking churches have gotten past this traditional view point most often because they view chauvinism as bad history.  But that is not perhaps the best reasoning.

Everyone uses the Bible to prove their own perspectives.  Everyone uses the Bible to prove their own pre-dispositions.  We do not ask our God, we tell others what He has to say, through us.  But if we were open enough to ask, are we ready to accept the answer, whatever that might be?  For my liberal friends on this topic, I offer the simple story Matthew relayed in his gospel in chapter eight picking up in verse 14 saying … “And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.”  The story begins with Jesus entering Peter’s house (in Capernaum) as we learn in the previous texts.  If we paid better attention we might realize that Peter has a wife, a home, and a mother-in-law.  The idea that ministers of the gospel should in some way be celibate goes out the window.  Peter has his priority on Jesus, but it does not negate that he has a family.  It is his family home he has invited Jesus and the crew to visit.

Matthew continues in verse 15 saying … “ And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.”  Here is the tricky part.  Jesus heals her not because of what she will do.  Jesus is not purchasing her healing for service.  Jesus does not save you, because he wants something from you.  What you offer and how you respond is up to you.  How you love is up to you.  How much you submit is up to you.  How much you allow Him to change you, is ultimately how much you submit to Him.  But what He offers is a pure gift, that can never be repaid, nor does He ever ask for repayment.  That means that what the mother-in-law of Peter does in response to a touch from Jesus, is the “choice” Peter’s mother-in-law makes.  She serves Jesus and the disciples in humble service, because this is what she chooses or wants to do.  She could have left the home, went into the streets, and danced and celebrated the fact that she was just very sick, and now she is made well by Jesus.  She could have shouted what the Lord did for her to anyone who would have listened.  Other women did this.  The woman of Samaria was probably the most successful evangelist in all of scripture.  That was her response to Jesus.  Peter’s mother-in-law did something far more quiet, with far less recognition.  She just acted our humble service.

You can imagine that mother-in-law jokes did not begin in this century.  The tension between husband and wife when dealing with in-laws is nothing new.  I am certain that tension dates back nearly to Adam and Eve, or at least to Seth’s grandsons and daughters.  The jokes that stem from the tension as probably equally as old, and just as circulated as they are today.  Now even though Peter may not have told his share (or at least after he encountered Jesus), a mother-in-law may know they are not the most welcome person in the household.  This does not deter her at all.  She rises from her illness, and immediately does what she chooses to do.  She serves in humility, without a second thought.  She could have been a prophet.  She could have become a disciple (perhaps she did both of these after the gaze of Matthew had long since departed from her company).  What she chose to do later would be up to her, and more importantly up to the Holy Spirit.  But her choice that night was no less important, or appropriate, or of value.

Her service would be needed as the needs multiplied.  Matthew concludes this snippet picking up in verse 16 saying … “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: [verse 17] That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”  Those people who were sick and waiting in line to be healed might have needed refreshments.  They might have needed help to get to Jesus.  The needs they had in the conditions they were in before they met Jesus might have been substantial.  Are not ours?  So how she served when the multitudes arrived we do not know, nor was she credited, nor did she want to be credited.  But she served, in the manner she chose to serve.  No one dictated to her what to do.  No one told her where her place was.  She filled a place she wanted to fill and was honored to do so.

Too many of my liberal brothers and sisters spend so much time fighting for the rights of women in the church, they forget that the right to choose what she chose, is equally important.  Perhaps more important, as she was honored to serve the Lord of our Universe in what she did.  The choice to be humble, to seek no recognition, to “not” be a public speaker or minister, is of equal value to any other choice made.  Perhaps within the church “a woman’s place” is anywhere she is willing to serve, and anywhere the Holy Spirit makes her fit to serve.  And if the Holy Spirit decides, who are we to criticize His choice or hers …

 

Fire and Brimstone, with a Twist [part one] ...

Perception is tough in the eyes of the blind.  How do you know where you are, or what you need if your eyesight is impaired?  But to complicate it, what if you only choose to be blind, simply choose not to see.  Look at it another way.  How do you get help? - You ask for it.  But when you are certain you need no help, you are nearly certain not to ask.  And the perception of someone else, that you are in desperate need of help, is meaningless unless you share that same perception, recognize your need, and ask for the help that will resolve the matter.  This is the splinter that resides in the eyes of the sinner; that they have forgotten their need, or choose not to see it.  And this is the tree-trunk that resides in the eyes of the modern Christian; that they believe it is their job to convict of sin, when only the Holy Spirit can do that.  So how do we save both the sinner, and the modern Christian, who refuse to see their need?  Short answer is; we don’t, but Jesus does.

Perhaps one of the most famous “fire and brimstone” preachers in scripture was John the Baptist (at least if you only read Matthew’s account).  John preached “repentance”.  But is repentance condemnatory, or redemptive?  John calls sinners to repentance; he does not burst into their lives, pointing out their sins, and reminding them of how wrong each sin is from heaven’s accounting point of view.  Actually, he makes no accusation at all about “which” sin any of his listeners might be committing.  Instead John focuses only on the “need” to repent.  “Which” sins we have committed, the ones we know we should not have done, is a silent matter between us and God.  It is the Holy Spirit that calls those desires, actions and motives to mind.  It is the Holy Spirit who would see us freed from our bondage to them, not continually enslaved to them.  But there goes that funny thing of perception once again.

The Holy Spirit sees the sin in us for what it truly is; an addiction to self-love we are powerless to break.  Even if our hands can be held in check, our hearts cannot.  We still want to sin.  And very often we do what we want.  When we see we are unable to fix the cycle of sin, when we recognize our need, then FINALLY Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit is able to free us from those desires, motives and actions that otherwise enslave us.  But the perception of sin as enslaving is one the divine understands.  The human perception of sin is often not the same.  We see sin as some sort of fun-house, we don’t want to lose.  We see the lack of sin as boredom squared.  A life without any disobedience is the life of some goody-two-shoes we would simply not want.  So we cling to our sins, figuring we can always give them up in our future.  But that future never arrives.  Even though we do not seem to evolve, our sin does.  Sin does change over time in that it gets worse.  We hurt others more, we hurt ourselves more, and we hurt God more (because He loves us and hates seeing us do this to ourselves).

The trick for saving sinners then, is to simply expose them to the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit takes over from there.  But here is where performing this work gets tricky.  Most modern Christians believe it is their job to preach the word; defining those terms as condemning and judging others who are clearly sinners for the sins they commit.  We believe our job is to enlighten these ignorant sinners about the sins they commit, as if they could not see them themselves.  We believe that only through our careful enlightenment and public exposure of their sins, will the sinner ever desire to leave those sins behind (I would guess through embarrassment of public ridicule as this plan has not been well thought out).  While we ourselves still cling to the pet-sins in our own lives, we are quick to condemn the same ones in the lives of others.  Our entire “gospel” then becomes pointing out sins in others.  No love.  No redemption.  No method of actually getting rid of those sins, but then, how could we offer something we have never experienced.  So when you boil it down; we offer, no hope.  At least, no hope for living differently in this world.  We bundle up forgiveness and sell the prospects of life in the next world.  In this one, only condemnation for the crap in your life.

So to save our modern Christian, we need to recognize our need of an entirely different gospel.  The new gospel does not depend on you or me.  The new gospel depends only on Jesus.  If work needs to get done, then Jesus must do it.  In us, for us, in spite of us.  We keep pointing at Jesus, and Jesus takes over from there.  Jesus deals with the sins, the desires to sin, and sometimes our continued failures in sin.  The best way to point to Jesus is to love, not to focus on sin.  Loving someone gives them a reason to change, not a reason to rebel.  Loving someone in spite of what they do, gives them an example of forgiveness, not an ethereal explanation of it.  But loving like this is hard.  Well at least, it is hard with an unchanged heart.  Time to go to Jesus again.  Time to seek an entirely different heart and subsequently different perspective.  Fear just does not do the job.  But love does.  So let’s examine the ministry of John the Baptist (from the perspective of Matthew) and see what kind of twist he puts in the reputation he carries for one of the loudest and most famous hellfire and brimstone preachers.

Matthew begins his account in chapter three of his gospel picking up in verse 1 saying … “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, [verse 2] And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Matthew has skipped forward through the youthful years of Jesus and is now right at the public start of His ministry.  John the Baptist is actually the cousin of Jesus and just coincidentally follows the customs of the Nazarene’s with his own hair.  John is what we would call an ultra-conservative in appearance and manner.  Thus far, a perfect candidate for hellfire and brimstone preaching.  But the twist is in his message.  It is a simple one.  John calls for repentance.  John also offers a reason why repentance is so important at this time in earth’s history; because the kingdom of God is at hand.  God is about to be with us.  God will be in human form, and in point of fact, he has already been with us for nearly 30 years with only minimal notice.  So why is the message of John different?  Because John is declaring that God will be revealed to all of us very shortly.  Proximity with God.  The ability to see God, talk to God, and have the eyes of God look right through you.

Now imagine you are a typical Israelite in these days.  Chances are you are too poor to have the luxury of time to commit a wide variety of sins.  But poverty is no protection against the sins you are certain to have committed in spite of it.  You go to Temple.  You make sacrifice.  But you have never thought that God might be within talking distance.  You have never thought of having God be close enough to see you with human eyes, but divine insight.  If you are to greet God in person, you want to be ready to do it.  You want to be clean inside.  You want to be dipped into the waters, have your carnal nature symbolically die, and be resurrected a new creation.  A new creation unto your God, who has been so long desired.  None of this message has anything to do with toppling the Roman empire.  None of this message has anything to do with condemnation of you for what you do.  Instead it is an opportunity to make ready inside yourself for God.  It is open to everyone.  It is constant.  John is always preaching about it.  And when you are close, you feel the Holy Spirit convict your heart, and you long to make ready and be clean.

The message of repentance is not about judgment, it is about proximity with God on earth.  The message of repentance is not about punishment it is about reconciliation.  Your average sinner gets this.  Your average sinner has been exposed to the Holy Spirit through the ministry of John, without condemnation or judgment or public humiliation.  Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”  Again Matthew ties together the Old Testament with the New in the life of Jesus Christ.  Isaiah foretold of the power of this message (referencing his book in chapter 40 and verse 3).  This proclamation would therefore be blessed by the Holy Spirit as the time for it was at hand.  Malachi (referencing chapter 4 and verse 5) would also foretell of it in the sending of Elijah before the end of time.  Jesus would later call reference to Malachi, in explaining the importance of the ministry of John, and how John’s ministry fulfills those words.

Matthew then goes on to describe John more fully and the results of his ministry among sinners picking up in verse 4 saying … “And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. [verse 5] Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, [verse 6] And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.”  John wore simple homemade clothing from things he could put together.  John ate bugs (large ugly ones) and likely dipped them in honey to enhance the taste.  His diet was desert fair, food his God would provide to him.  Matthew describes these things not as the reason people came to see him.  But to insure his readers understand John was not wearing priestly clothing of fine raiment, and eating a priestly diet of sacrificial meats and vegetables a priest could afford.  John was dirt poor.  His clothing and his food were poorer than those who came to see him.  Even beggars did better financially than John.  But John was taken care of by God.  While John did not have much, he had what he needed from his God.

Then there was the results of the ministry of John.  Word of mouth, spread quickly about John.  Not because he was some nut in the desert near the river preaching nutball theories.  But John’s ministry held spiritual blessing, and the Holy Spirit was present to all who would come to hear.  John was not preaching to make income, or himself famous.  John was preaching for his listeners, with the ecstatic news that God would soon be among them.  His words were loud and clear, and pierced right to the heart of those who came to hear.  When they went home at night, they told everyone they knew about what had happened to them.  They had been baptized in the river Jordan without a second thought.  In spite of how embarrassing it might have been they publicly declared and confessed their sins during the baptism because they were so moved by the Holy Spirit.  They came to John burdened, they left unburdened and made free by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This message was not to be missed.

So many modern preachers believe it is their duty, their responsibility, to reach the hearts of their listeners.  But it is not.  They offer only words.  It is the Holy Spirit that turns those simple words in the ears of the listener into life altering musings from the very throne of God Himself.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the listener is willing to give up his sins, begin his life over, and lay everything at the altar of our God.  They come burdened but leave free.  They come burdened but leave with a sense of hope.  No modern preacher accomplishes this feat, but the Holy Spirit cannot be denied in doing it. 

The difference between the results from one sermon to another is not the skill of the preacher, but the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the listeners.  The preacher already knows the truth.  The listeners are revealed the Truth in a deeper way ONLY by the Holy Spirit, or not at all.  The preacher’s blessing is to offer the testimony of what Jesus has done for him.  The preacher is honored to participate.  But it is the Holy Spirit who drives ALL the results, not just some of them.  How often has the Holy Spirit been stifled, because the minister believes he can do it himself, with his great oratory skills, with his great PowerPoint overheads, and because he has achieved a level of fame in himself.  It is our taking the credit the stifles the flow of He who alone can accomplish what our feeble attempts never will.

Matthew has concluded his recollections of John’s ministry for the common sinners among us.  He has recited a brilliant ministry with stunning national results in changing the life of the common believer.  Israel had not seen this kind of ministry since the age of the prophets, and even they were not often focused on the common man.  This was unprecedented.  This could serve well the effort of a modern ministry or Christian as an example of public outreach.  John was steeped in humility.  John shunned all wealth, he took no offerings to support his ministry.  John was homeless.  John lived off the land and the mercy of God.  John’s ministry was blessed by the Holy Spirit.  John offered a way to become clean again.  John never called out any particular sinner’s sin, or publicly humiliated anyone.  John offered a way to be free, and many took him up on it.  John had twisted the rules of a fire and brimstone preacher quite a bit.  But this was for the common man, the common sinner, the common believer.

The message of John for the leadership of the church was something else entirely …