Fields of Blood ...

As crop choices go, attempting to plant blood is not going to yield much, except perhaps a harvest of horror.  So when a field anywhere in the world earns that title, it typically means something horrible must of happened there, and what is remembered most about this place, is death, and blood.  Back in Roman times blood was fairly common place.  The value of life perhaps at its lowest throughout history.  People died, so many the numbers are beyond the counting.  Not just soldiers who stood on the battle fields in opposition to the iron kingdom, but slaves because the whim of their masters took the slightest offense.  Those who did not pay the exorbitant taxes Rome demanded to fund the excess of a few, died without notation in lands far and wide, and again without the slightest hesitation.  The manner of death was as varied as Roman imaginations could invent in those times.  Death was never a mercy.  It was a final punishment meant to inflict pain on the dieing, and terror on those who were left behind and forced to witness it.  In this context, for a field to stand out above the others, and still earn the title to be known as “the field of blood”, something extreme must have occurred.  It did.

The story of this field begins with dark notarity.  The prophet Jeremiah foretells the tale of woe many centuries before it will come to pass exactly as he predicts.  In its own time, the field is seeded with silver.  It is silver steeped in betrayal, not just of one man to another, but of one species to the God who created them.  Blood money gives way to buy a field to be used as a cemetery.  And none of us will ever know just how much that cost took from the universe to purchase.  We caused God the Father, to watch us murder His Only Son, to shed not just innocent blood, but divine innocent blood, a thing no being ever thought possible.  This field would truly be a place where people would go to rest in death.  There would be no hope in this place.  And its title would stick with it for centuries, even in a Roman time, when that name might have been at best redundant.  Still it stood out.  For it is where our actions to kill God were noted.

Matthew penned his gospel to his contemporaries.  His goal was to meticulously outline to any believing, studying Jew, how all the prophecies of the Old Testament met their fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.  Even when those foretellings were dark, steeped in blood and betrayal, and would appear to condemn us all.  Jeremiah was not a light-hearted comedian of his day.  He was a gloom-and-doom, truth-to-power teller of his day.  And let’s face it, nobody likes gloom-and-doom on any day.  Matthew continues detailing the story of the betrayal of our God, of his murder, and of our weakness and horror on display throughout the process.  He picks up in chapter twenty-seven in verse one, continuing from where the church leadership has taken the story to this point.

In verse 1 it continues … “When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: [verse 2] And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.”  Irony of ironies.  The church decides to hide all of the other Jews who had visited violence on their Roman oppressors.  But to the One who loves His enemies, they bind Him, beat Him, and take Him to Roman authorities in order to have Him executed by the power of the state; thus attempting to hide who was truly responsible.  But in truth this was Jews, killing the God of the Jews, because He loved too much, and hated not at all.  It is not how bitter you are, that puts you at odds with the world around you, the world is used to bitter.  It is not how much you hate, that puts you out of tune with society.  Society has more than enough hidden hatred to go around to consider any one hater a particular problem.  But love like Jesus, and you will be too much of an odd ball to ignore.  The world cannot understand that kind of love, and frankly would prefer to kill it, than have to accept it.  A pattern that dates back to before the beginning of our world in the first war ever in heaven; and now finds it ultimate fulfillment in the death of Jesus.

But Jesus did not just get here by accident.  A man put Him here.  Not just any man, but the most respected man of His fellow followers.  The disciple all the others wanted to be more like.  The popular, natural leader, the good-looking guy it would be easy for any of us to follow – all things being equal.  But Judas did not just put Jesus here by accident.  He did it on purpose.  He sealed it with a kiss.  He took money for his deed of betrayal.  Even if his motive was to force Jesus to become the King He was supposed to be, that did not work.  Judas saw all of this up close and personally.  Judas was allowed in to the trial by the High Priest because he was on “their” side.  He watched them put a bag of sorts over the head of Jesus, then hit Him, and ask Him to prophecy as to who did it.  Jesus knew who did it.  But despite their crimes, He still does not offer any of them condemnation.  For those who believe it is our job to point out the sins of others, they miss the example of Jesus who was silent while being sinned against.

Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, [verse 4] Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.”  Now Judas does one last act to see if he can undo what he has done.  He comes and makes a public confession of his sin.  He reminds these men, that Jesus is innocent blood.  By telling them Jesus is innocent, Judas hopes that those who live by the law, will be constrained by the law, to release the innocent and punish Him no further.  But these religious leaders who claim to live by the Law, in no way understand the Law, or the Law Giver.  The use manipulation of the Law, to accomplish what they already set about to do.  They do not wish to be led in their interpretations, they wish to be the sole authority by which men understand any interpretation.  They want control.  And they will kill to get it.  There can be no opposition.

This is human nature on display – even inside the church of God.  And it is no different for the centuries to come even inside of Christianity, nor of the churches who evolve from the reformation.  Men still kill, punish, and excommunicate, any who stand in opposition to their control.  It is a contest of man vs. God that began long ago and will see no end, until God Himself ends it at the end of all things.  The priests acknowledge the words of Judas, and respond in a chilling voice, “what is that to us?”.  The leadership does not care what Judas has done.  Nor do they care that Jesus is innocent.  Jesus is marked for death.  Judas helped get Him there.  If Judas is having second thoughts, that is his problem, not theirs.  They remain committed to seeing Jesus die.  Who cares what Judas thinks?  But Judas has now pushed himself over the edge of brokenness.  His plans have failed.  His last ditch effort to stop this farce has failed.  Jesus will die, and history will record the name of Judas as His betrayer, even though Jesus still called him friend when he was in the middle of betraying Him.  It is too much to take.

Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”  Judas sees no way out.  How could anyone forgive this level of greed and betrayal?  How could anyone love him after what he has done?  He deserves death, plain and simple.  So Judas does to himself, what all of us are equally deserving of.  He kills himself.  And there is a critical lesson to be learned here.  Judas, still in isolation from any that might have comforted him, or reminded him how much Jesus loves, even murderers, or betrayers (like Peter); makes a rash decision he cannot undo.  While there is life there is hope.  When life is gone, there is only the waiting.  Judas lost faith in the power of salvation, and the power of re-creation of Jesus Christ.  If he had held on to that faith, that hope, Jesus would have done for Judas, what He does for you and I every single day. 

Suicide is not a shortcut to the heavenly gates.  It is a statement that no one else in the world matters more than me.  It happens in loneliness, when faith and hope are lost, and isolation keeps you from getting the comfort you need.  It happens because the victim decides he is of no value to anyone else, and does not test this theory by serving others and letting history decide his value.  It is usually not born of sacrifice (like Samson), but of a break in trust (like Judas); with the God who longs to give you a better life if you would just let Him.  If we are ALL not careful, we may find ourselves on the same road as Judas, sprinting to the same destination.  Not because God will’s it, or is trying to punish us, but because we believe in God’s vengeance more than His mercy; and see ourselves of no value to a Savior who would sacrifice EVERYTHING to save just you, or just me.  This is why loving each other is SO important.  Your tangible demonstration of love might be just the thing, that keeps a suffering one from losing all hope.  And you may never know it throughout your life.  It is not important for you to know it, only to show that tangible love.  When you love like this, you demonstrate to the world, what the real character of God looks like, not what they have been taught to believe.  Anyone can condemn.  Jesus could have condemned Judas, but He did not.  He longed to save him.  But Judas refused to be saved.  Instead he fell to common sense, not divine power.

Meanwhile, the priests who care nothing for Judas, cannot leave money lying around.  Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.”  Does the irony meter have a ceiling?  The priests were the ones who just paid Judas (a detail they seem in a hurry to forget).  But they recognize this is still blood money.  And “according to the Law” they are not allowed to put the money into the treasury (where it belongs to them once again).  A wonderfully strange interpretation of the goings on of this evening.  They are driven to use the money in some other way.  But hmmm … how to spend 30 pieces of silver paid to kill innocent blood?  In this case, the innocent blood of God Himself, by the murderers who intend to kill Him.

Matthew continues in verse 7 saying … “And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. [verse 8] Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.”  How incredibly random.  First, that a potter’s field would be for sale at just that time in history.  Second, that the price of the potter’s field would be exactly 30 pieces of silver, just the exact amount of money they had, forced to use for some purpose, they interpreted.  And then, to use this field to bury strangers in.  A usage that would immediately associate death with the field.  And because of how it was purchased (the blood money that is), that it would be called and known for many centuries later as … wait for it … “the field of blood”.  Now to the non-believer, this is nothing more than series of coincidental events with no major significance by a group of people who hated Jesus so much they wanted Him dead, enough to make this price in the first place.  But Matthew has a different take on these events.

Matthew continues in verse 9 saying … “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; [verse 10] And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.”  This was the prophecy of Jeremiah.  This was the dark foretelling, of betrayal of our Lord, and how the money used in that betrayal would come to its final disposition.  And the priests (who did nothing but study scripture) walked right down the list of things required to fulfill this prophecy – something they would have NEVER done because they hated Jesus so much.  If they had remembered these words.  If they had thought about it.  They would have paid hookers rather than use the money this way just to avoid fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah about the One they were in the process of killing.  This field of blood existed because of the actions of the priests who hated Christ.  Those very priests insured the prophecy was fulfilled.

And they could not undo what they had done.  They did not even think to.  Instead the field of blood was born not because the potter came up with this idea, but because the priests did.  There was nothing random about it.  This was orchestrated.  This was the foreknowledge of God, NOT because He forced anyone to do anything.  Only because He knew what each of them would do, before they chose to do it.  It was not pre-destination, it was free will.  But those free-will choices were known by God, centuries before they were made.  Jeremiah notes it.  Jeremiah may not have even understood fully what he was writing.  But his words came true, to the letter – made so by the very ones who hated Jesus the most.  These priests were already sensitive about allowing prophecy to be fulfilled by Jesus.  When he rode on a colt into Jerusalem (fulfilling yet another prophecy), the priests complained, trying to shut the whole thing down.  Jesus told them if they did, the stones would cry out in praise instead of the people they were trying to shew away.  And those priests knew He was telling the truth.  So they left them in peace, and only broiled more in anger.  Yet despite this, here they were acting out their part to fulfill the dark words of Jeremiah.

In the world to come, there will be no more fields of blood.  Blood will be something no longer shed or lost.  Blood will stay inside of you where it belongs, where God made it to be.  Blood, like everything else God touches will be perfect.  But its price will never be forgotten.  That we made our God the Father, sit still, having all the power of the universe, and watch while we did, what we did to His only Son.  This price is beyond reckoning.  A single tear from the Father’s face is worth more than I will ever be.  A torrent of tears from the Father’s heart, is a thought that would crush me forever.  But He did it.  He allowed it.  Because God the Father loves you, loves me, and yes even loves Judas and those priests, SO MUCH; He wants only to see each and all of us reconciled to His throne.  His love is greater than our blood.  His love is greater than our worst deeds, and not a single one of us, is beyond His ability to save.  The dark words of Jeremiah bad as they are, should cement our faith in Jesus, because they happened.  Every detail that was supposed to happen, happened.  If God promises to save you.  You have only to let Him, and He will do it, just like every other prophecy He makes, or promise He offers.  And for you, fields of blood, will be no more …

 

On the Edge of Brokenness ...

How many in a crowd go unnoticed?  Who might you know, that carries the crushing weight of loneliness?  It is our isolation to blame, some we have chosen, some beyond our control.  But when we feel separated, and alone, the weight begins to mount until it is so great it is beyond our words to describe.  TV is only distraction from it.  The internet makes it worse.  Our smart phones do nothing to alleviate it.  People behind electronic screens are the not the same as people who can offer a hug when a you might trade your entire world for a hug.  Tactile contact is so precious infants will die without it, and perhaps this need never goes away.  So it must not surprise you, that your enemy looks to segregate you from all human contact if he can.  And then feed you only poisoned human contact if he must.  To destroy someone, you must begin by isolating them away from any source of love.  Distract them if you can.  Cause them to become someone hard to love if you are able.  Turn our “needs” into expressions of selfishness that make it impossible for others to break through in exactly the right way.  Make us the thorns on the rose bush instead of the flowers.  All a part of an insidious plan to break what was never intended to be broken.  Which begs the question, how do we undo it?

At creation, it was not good for humanity to be alone.  And because of the dangers of Satan, it was not ever good for man to separate and face him alone.  Alone we would be vulnerable, together we could draw some limited strength from each other, perhaps if only, to remind each other to seek the protection of God.  To focus our mind’s eye on the source of love that never runs dry, and shares an intimacy with us on a level so deep we can scarcely fathom it.  Perhaps the greatest reason why “church” should remain important to us, is this one.  In the body collective, we socialize with those who have varying degrees of knowledge of, and experience with, the love of God.  We can through that socialization encourage each other, provide love to each other, and refocus attention back to the source of all love.  We are never too far from Him, who loves us so much.  We are in fact, not alone.  Church provides us a venue to witness this.  Not through what we can gain from the going, but from what we can give in the serving.  It is by reaching out, by serving, that we are reminded of the needs of others – and taught we may be able to reflect His love in tactile form to meet those needs.

But for my conservative friends who believe “church” is the answer, rather than the opportunity to shower love at the church venue, I offer the continuing account of Matthew in his gospel to his contemporaries’ chapter 26.  So many of us lie on the edge of brokenness.  What we need are not just words of love, but deeds and demonstrations of love.  We need to share these with others.  We need to see them shared in our own lives.  Church should be a venue for this.  But if church has become ceremony, then that opportunity goes away.  Worse, if church has become only celebration events, we are distracted to forget the purpose of sharing love altogether.  And worse still, if church has become a mirror to reflect an unforgiving law, largely made up of the interpretations of man, love has left the building entirely.  Jesus found himself alone, in a church of the latter, though this was never his desire or intent.  Jesus created a religion designed to understand the price of forgiveness, to drive our hearts to love and thus the diminishing need for continued forgiveness.  But ceremony had replaced transformation of hearts.  And church had degenerated until the misuse of the Law was now on display for all to see.

This lesson of church evolution in the time of Christ, was meant to help us avoid its reptition in our own day; but that lesson seems to be lost on us.  Judas and Peter, founding members of the next, new church, had found themselves both in isolation by choice.  They needed each other, both for different reasons, but both in need of love and comfort they might have offered each other if they had remained together.  Instead Judas found himself totally alone unable to humble himself to admit his mistakes and seek the comfort of church, the collection of the body.  Peter chose to be alone, hoping to lose the disguise of church, and be only one man in the crowds of the world.  Peter wanted to blend in and be unnoticed.  From this position he could watch, and see what he dreaded to see, but needed to see for the sake of closure if nothing else.  If his faith in the Messiah was misplaced, he needed to know it.  If Jesus was to die like every other would-be Messiah died, he needed to see it.  This way he could look for another.  In his isolation his faith was wounded greatly, and no one was there to offer comfort, or encouragement.  Church we hold at fixed times, in fixed venues, does nothing to solve this problem even today.  We would need to think of church differently and more fluidly today if a solution is to be found that meets needs of the struggling in real time.

Matthew continues with the story, of the results of betrayal – not just of Judas at this point – but of a church that has forgotten its only real purpose; to show the love of God to all.  Matthew now recounts what his church had devolved to in the last days of the ministry of Jesus before He dies.  It begins in verse 57 saying … “And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. [verse 58] But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.”  Jesus is not just being taken to some random local church on a bender from what the establishment dictates.  He is being taken to the home of the establishment, to the pinnacle of church leadership, where only the top people in the nation will decide his fate.  Popes, archbishops, priests, pastors, elders; pick your title of church leadership in today’s vernacular – it is these people that will decide the fate of our God, if he is to live or die.  But ALL of them are already bent on his death.  They are now only looking for an excuse, ahem, that is to say, a legal justification to see that outcome.  Mercy is unknown to them.  Love a mystery they may only claim to shower on their families, but for “heretics”, it is wholly absent.

Peter goes into the palace of the high priest.  Note that even back in the days of Jesus, the church leadership does not seem to want for a place to live, nor for servants, or food.  Being paid to lead the church of God has transcended being sustained, into being well-to-do, and all of it, in the name of a God who desires mercy more than all else.  Still today, so many church leaders, have made this compromise with themselves never remembering for a moment what the privilege and wealth of Caiaphas might have done to influence his thinking in these proceedings.  But Peter has not gone to his house to bring the good news of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior of us all.  Instead Peter hopes to slip in un-noticed.  Peter does not want to preach there, he wants to participate through witness of what takes place there.  He will do nothing to call attention to himself as he is “undercover” in the world.  How many of us are no different?  We choose isolation from the church, and then go undercover into the world.  We wish no one to know of our Christianity, because we do not want the burden of having to love others, and treat them kindly.  If no one knows we are a Christian, then how we treat others is up to us, with no stain on religion … only a stain on our hearts and souls.  But as we remain undercover from the source of love, we also embrace isolation from it, and further segregate ourselves from any source of comfort.

Matthew continues the story in verse 59 saying … “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; [verse 60] But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, [verse 61] And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.”  In Jewish law, it took at least two witnesses to establish the truth of a thing.  So in theory, a person, particularly a preacher, who teaches heresy should easily have had more than two witnesses to their crimes.  But instead of finding actual witnesses.  The church leadership looked for, (and paid) false witnesses, to make stuff up.  This is the prosecution (who also happen to be the judges), paying for purgered testimony to fix the trial.  And STILL it does not work.  Mosty because what one witness lies about, another undoes with his own lies.  And at the end of it all, they have nothing, despite the rather large cash payments lost for another result.  And they are livid.  The church has chosen to kill God, rather than listen, and they are now ready to break the Law to get there to accomplish it.

Any defense attorney could easily have wiped the floor with these witnesses, and consequently with this mock trial.  Any defense attorney could have gotten the whole thing dismissed.  And where was Judas, watching silently from the audience hoping still that Jesus would rise up call down those 12 legions of angels and kill these fools?  And where was Peter, not breaking cover to step forward and offer his services as the defense attorney for Christ.  In fact, none was provided.  Peter could have stepped in, and at least tried to defend Jesus when it counted.  But fear kept Peter silent and alone.  Does fear of rejection still keep you silent and alone?  Does fear of having odds stacked against you, by powerful people, keep you silent when if nothing else you could at least offer words of encouragement to one in need.  It would not have changed the outcome of that trial, but Peter attempting to defend Jesus would have greatly mended the heart of Christ.  But Jesus already knew what Peter was going to do, or rather not do.  Even when Peter had pledged his life in opposition to his real actions, or rather lack of action.  Instead Jesus stood alone without representation.  At last 2 people agreed about the statements of Jesus in regards to the Temple.

Matthew continues the account in verse 62 saying … “And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? [verse 63] But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.”  Throughout this farse of a church trial, conducted by church leadership, and without any notion of what church is about – Jesus remained silent.  Is it still so today?  When our church has become ceremony, or celebration, or an in-depth analysis of the interpretation of the Law, might Jesus still remain silent?  Or are we so noisy with our opinions at our events, we are simply unable to hear Him.  Perhaps so busy “praising” Him in song, we have mezmorized ourselves into such a hypnotic state we have forgotten that trying to hear Him was even an option.  We tell ourselves these are our ideas of church; yet are mystified when Jesus appears silent throughout our farse.  But He was there, waiting and hoping that just one soul might break with tradition and reach out to one other soul in need, offering to be a reflection of His love.  When that occurs, the voice of Jesus can be heard, in the tears of gratitude of one who was being crushed by loneliness, and now can see relief.  Judas could have given this to Jesus, but remained silent in church.  Peter could have done the same, but chose to remain silent as well.

The High priest is desperate.  He knows the words of Jesus regarding the destruction of the Temple, while not popular, are also not a crime.  So he has only one option left, to get Jesus to publicly state His identity.  For a man to claim to be God is blasphemy.  It still is.  The only time this is untrue, is when God claims to be God.  The High Priest knows Jesus is God, but also knows He can use the law to get him stoned or killed for this offense.  Knowing the truth hardly stops a determined church leadership from doing what it wants to do, even if that is killing God.  The silence has been deafening up to now from Jesus.  So the High Priest demands by the living God to answer his question.  There is no choice now.  When compelled under these terms Satan must answer, demons must answer, angels must answer.  It is a way to sort out who is who.  If the desperation of your loneliness has driven you to seek out souls who have departed from this world for comfort, ask them using these same words who they truly are – but be prepared for an answer you will not enjoy.  Yet it is not God’s intent for you to find comfort from demons in masquerade, but from imperfect living humans who are willing to share His heart and reflect His love.

Jesus is compelled to answer picking up in verse 64 saying … “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”  Jesus is God.  He sits at the right hand of the Father.  And when He returns it will be in power, coming in the clouds of heaven for the entire world to see.  But in this case, Jesus tells the High Priest he will see Him come in this way.  Now we have the benefit of hindsight.  We know that the persecution of Jesus did not end at the cross by the Jewish leadership.  They sought to detroy the faith after Jesus was resurrected and returned to heaven.  They killed believers, chased them, followed them, and attempted to kill any who would not conform.  Jews killing Jews.  So modern Christians interpret this promise as a threat by Jesus.  We believe it will require a “special resurrection” of this High Priest and perhaps those at that trial, in order to see Jesus second coming – even though none of them will be going to heaven with Jesus at that time.  This is certainly one possibility.

But I would offer for consideration one other possibility with even more hope in it.  Murders do go to heaven (forgiven ones that is).  Betrayers of our Lord go to heaven (witness Peter who we all believe fell into this category).  And yes, the only requirement is a change of heart to seek the forgiveness of our Lord to see this happen.  It can even happen in the last moments of a criminal’s life (like the theif Jesus will be meeting and dieing next to in only a little while).  While the life of this High Priest and the Jewish church leadership in this time is horrific, it is not beyond redemption.  It is possible that forgiveness could have been sought without the pages of scripture to document it, perhaps even to know of it.  If that forgiveness was finally sought, then this High Priest would be joining the resurrection of the righteous like any other forgiven murderer and betrayer of our Lord.  In this scenario Caiaphas could be your next-door neighbor in heaven, having both of you witness the second coming of Jesus in power and glory.  For Caiaphas sake, I hope this is what Jesus meant.  What I have come to know, is that it is not my place to judge, or to invent interpretations of scripture to fit what is commonly believed.  Instead it is to long for the soul of Caiaphas as I would long for the soul of my own son; to love this criminal of history as much as I would love my only son.  For that is the love of Jesus for Caiaphas, for me, and for my son.

But at this time in his life Caiaphas was not of a forgiving or merciful spirit, he was running the footsteps of Satan and fully doing Satanic will.  All it takes for any of us to be found this way, is to abandon mercy and love, and pick up the banner of a demand for justice against those in the wrong.  Satan does that every day.  Matthew continues in verse 65 saying … “Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. [verse 66] What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.  [verse 67] Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, [verse 68] Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?”  Caiaphas is more alone now than perhaps he will ever be, even if he is in church, and surrounded by those of like belief.  But absent service, absent mercy, and absent love – this church is nothing but the playyard of Satan himself.

But Caiaphas is not the only one there is who is totally alone regardless of the crowd size.  Judas hears this verdict and finally realizes there will be no coming back from this.  Peter hears it outside, but it is during the proceedings that Peter chooses to embrace isolation through denial.  Of him Matthew tells the story picking up in verse 69 saying … “Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. [verse 70] But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.”  Peter has been recognized as a companion of Jesus by the damsel.  Having been caught, he could have now gone inside and tried to be the defense attorney of Jesus, or at least stood by Him during this trial.  He does not.  He lies in order to stay isolated (and safe).  Peter walks down the razor’s edge of brokenness, and instead of giving up isolation and running to Jesus; he lies and embraces further solitude.

Matthew continues in verse 71 saying … “And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. [verse 72] And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.”  Peter is recognized again by another maid (no shortage of servants in the home of High Priest, wealth buys many of them).  Peter had changed location in the mansion, but still with no luck.  He is found out again.  There is still time to comfort Jesus is His isolation.  But rather than accept the inevitable and offer service to Someone else in the greatest of need, Peter doubles down on the lie, this time making a solemn oath of his denial.  Vows like this were said to be irrevocable and unbreakable to the point of death.  Essentially the man who said he was willing to die to remain by Jesus only a few hundred feet away, was now pledging to die rather than ever having known Jesus at all.   Both were the promises of men.  Both were lies under pressure.  Both should tell us what our promises are worth today.

Matthew continues in verse 73 saying … “And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. [verse 74] Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. [verse 75] And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.”  Now to further affirm his isolation, Peter adds swearing to his list of crimes to prove he is not a Christian.  The sons of thunder earned their name from language like this.  When the rooster begins to crow, the words of prophecy of Jesus have been fulfilled.  The rooster affirms the isolation Peter has chosen for himself, cutting himself off from the source of all love. 

And are we any different?  We walk on a path at the edge of brokenness, and when confronted we deny any connection to Jesus, and further deepen our isolation.  For we have developed a great need to be served and abandoned all ideas of service ourselves.  We wish church to be a “place” where we go to fill our needs; not a concept of brotherhood that never turns off, demanding mercy and love from us even for those that are hard to love.  We look to end our isolation in front of screens that put no real demands upon us, and are surprised when this is not enough.  The weight of loneliness is real.  Its ability to crush our spirit is real.  The remedy is real as well.  But is not found in what we discover that meets our needs, but in the discovery when we meet the needs of others. 

In meeting the needs of others, we lose the needs we thought we had for ourselves.  Other priorities combined with the love of God, begin to open up the very words of Jesus in our ears, and make them real as if spoken in audible form.  The selfish heart is not too keen on this answer.  The untransformed heart will find it does not have the strength to grasp it.  But the heart that is willing to submit itself before Jesus to be remade, and re-created, will find it comes naturally.  And loneliness will become a thing of the past, and a burden no more.  Many solutions to loneliness present themselves, but only one is permanent.  Because only one changes who you are, puts you in harmony with God, and teaches you to see the infinite value of God’s treasure – namely others - for what and who they are. 

 

 

Helping God [part 2 of 2] ...

In our previous study, we examined how we might have been a positive part of helping God in the form of providing Him comfort when He needed it most.  All we needed to do was to pray to avoid temptation.  But instead we slept.  By contrast Judas may demonstrate what it looks like when man helps God accomplish what man thinks needs to be done.  For not all the disciples were sleeping that fateful night.  None were aware of the stakes for mankind.  But one would play his role in the story.  For motives we may never fully understand.  Greed (i.e. pieces of silver) may look like motive, and certainly it plays a part in it, but simple greed may be too simplistic an answer as to why.  Think of it, Judas healed the sick, cast out demons, and testified as to the divinity of the Messiah in his own commission while partnered with another disciple.  Judas in fact was most admired by the other disciples (not Peter, he was the loudmouth).  Judas may have been the best student or perhaps most educated.  He was less common, and more like the one we would all aspire to be.  The disciples did.  But appearances are unimportant.

Judas may have developed his own ideas about how to help God.  The Messiah was supposed to be throwing off Roman oppression and bringing about a kingdom that would have no end.  Jesus had all the tools needed to do this, but was not getting it done.  Judas may have reasoned, that if Christ were in real jeopardy of losing His life, He would do what all humans do to survive, but He would do it in divine fashion with power and glory.  Judas would see himself has being the catalyst to bring all this about, even if this plan needed deceit and betrayal to get it going.  And if you could take money from priests who stole it from the poor themselves, why not add that into the mix.  Judas had it all reasoned out.  His plan made sense.  It would help God do, what God promised to do.  All God needed was a little properly placed motivation (like survival) and a little push.  If nothing else Jesus might be forced into defending his disciples and become the King He was destined to be.

Now keep in mind, everyone shared these beliefs about the role of the Messiah in the time of Christ.  It was not just Judas.  Matthew, Peter, pick your disciple, they all hoped for this.  They were even making plans about who would sit where when the Jesus administration took over.  Judas might have thought that doing this would make himself the right choice for the number two position – or at least head of the intelligence agencies.  After all there was a war coming with the Romans in this scenario.  A war long over due and easily winnable, but a war none the less.  And then what?  Perhaps a war with Egypt?  A war with Ethiopia? Or Greece? Or India or England at the far stretches of the world.  The Jesus administration was to be a worldwide power with no end in land or time, and Judas perhaps thought to be a key part of it.  The only thing that needed to be done was to get Jesus up and going, finally.

Of course Matthew did not care for the “why” Judas would betray Jesus.  Only that He did.  Picking up in His gospel in chapter 26 and verse 46 he continues with the words of Jesus saying … “Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.  [verse 47] And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.”  Jesus had hardly finished waking up his sleeping disciples than the one who had no sleep enters the scene.  Not fresh from prayer, but fresh in his own ideas about how to help God fulfill the promises God has made to us, according to the vision of Judas.  And he brought with him a sizeable crowd of armed men in order to insure Jesus takes the threat as real.  The fact that his disciples were just waking up, unprepared to mount a defense was just perfect.  Judas could present Jesus with a threat to Himself and to the others in order that Jesus might have to defend them as well.  No better way to kick off a kingship that was long overdue.

Matthew continues in verse 48 saying … “Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. [verse 49] And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.”  It was dark out.  Hard to see who-was-who in the darkness, even with torches.  Judas knew the logistics needed to be insured, thus he set up a sign for his soldier to take note of.  After all they did not want Jesus to just disappear like He had done before, and wind up grabbing the wrong disciple thinking it was Jesus.  So Judas decides to betray Jesus with a kiss.  This should help Jesus see that Judas still loved Him, and was only doing this for Jesus’ best interests.  Jesus responds in verse 50 saying … “And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.”  Jesus greets Judas (despite knowing all of this) with the term “friend”.  He does not condemn Judas even now.

And here is where comparison is worth making.  How often do we “the church called by His name” treat others even in the act of public sin with greetings of love and brotherhood?  More often, we are like Matthew, obsessed with calling out Judas as the betrayer in chief, wanting to make sure everyone knows what evil he has done, and seeming far less forgiving in the process.  Judas’ ideas of helping God were completely wrong and misplaced, but Judas the person was still precious to Jesus even then, even in the act of betraying Him.  Jesus still reaches out with a term of reconciliation (not in ignorance) but by intent.  For Jesus still wants Judas in His kingdom.  But do we?  Matthew didn’t.  We are all too content to leave the public sinner on display for all to ridicule and condemn – none to love or reach out despite what they do.  Jesus does not stop for a minute and call out Judas for all the wrong he is in the middle of doing, instead He reaches out to try once more to reclaim Judas with a term of friendship and love.  Judas thinks he is helping God.  Jesus knows better.  Judas needs to stop helping, and get help, and so do we all.

The analogies of Judas and Abraham’s attempts to help God are stunningly close to what we do with respect to our own salvation.  We too attempt to help God, by doing what we think He wants us to do, and has promised to do for us.  We too break trust in God, because God does not do things in our timeline, or how we think they need to be done – so we take action instead to help.  And our “helping” only makes a mess of things with lasting consequences that might otherwise have been avoided if only we had trusted in God, instead of trying to take over ourselves.  There would be no salvation for us at all, if Jesus had not submitted His own will to that of His Father, trusting His Father instead of trusting Himself.  Yet we take all these examples of man’s intervention, discard them, and then instead try to find things in them we can use as an example of what to do, instead of what to avoid doing.  We follow the footprints of Judas with our own salvation, and think this is what scripture demands.  Just as he thought when all this was occurring.

The analogies continue in verse 51 saying … “And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. [verse 52] Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”  Peter decides to defend Christianity with his sword.  How often this path has been repeated over the last 2000+ years, with nothing but death and woe as its legacy.  Christ and Christianity do NOT need a sword to defend it, or to push it forward.  Only love can do either.  Only God can truly defend it.  Yet American Christians are as married to their guns, and their ideas of self-defense, and self-reliance as they have ever been.  How few would put down both, and trust in God no matter what the outcome.  And ALL ignoring the second half of the cause and effect of swords, that to live by them, is to die by them (regardless if there is another opponent in the equation).  To extend that just a little; to kill anyone else, is to die inside – and to repeat this is only to make it worse everytime, until there is nothing left of you inside anymore.  Helping God, by drawing the sword, is only helping Satan instead.

But then things take a remarkable left turn.  Jesus continues answering in verse 53 saying … “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? [verse 54] But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? [verse 55] In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. [verse 56] But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.”  The plans of Judas to “help” Jesus become the King He is destined to be have been completely on track right up until this.  Jesus plainly states He is ABLE to call down from heaven more than 12 legions of angels (an army no man could even contemplate defeating).  But He does not call it down.  Instead He heals the wounded servant’s ear (continue to show love).  He asks them the cutting question of why now, why in the dark, and in secret?  He reminds them that ALL of this was prophesied in scripture and is now being fulfilled.  And when the disciples see first hand that Jesus has no intentions of avoiding death, they ALL flee, including Judas.

Plans to help God do what we think He should, end as they always do, with us making a huge mess of things, and God not performing as we expected.  This has never been more true than with our own salvation.  Our role, is NOT to save ourselves, that is the work of Jesus alone, and we must trust Him to do it.  We must submit our will to His, despite what we want to do.  Just like He did in the garden.  Or we wind up looking back on a series of unfortunate events no different than Judas did all those years ago.  Membership in the church is no defense, Judas was a founding member.  Spiritual gifts are no defense, Judas had a full measure of the Holy Spirit when he followed the directions of his Lord.  Faith in scripture is no defense, as Judas was well read, well educated, and following devoutly a set of beliefs everyone shared (even though they were mistaken about them).  Only submission of your will works, as it did for Jesus.

The plans of Judas would read soundly to any military general in our intelligence agency in today’s world.  Humanity would see them as completely viable.  It is only that divinity has different ideas, much greater ideas, ideas beyond our limited imaginations that keep us from seeing what God sees.  God does not fault us our limitations, instead He asks us to trust Him to know better, to do better, and to make things so, which we could never make so.  It is NOT the plan of God to leave you in your sins, or struggling with your sins, but to releieve you from your sins entirely.  You cannot do this.  But God can and will as quickly as you submit your will to Him.  Learning that submission should be your life’s goals.  Learning how to get better at it, your greatest ambition.  Because trying to do it yourself, is like becoming Judas, and picking up a pencil to sketch out “how to betray a God and create a King”.  Only to find the execution resulting in how to break a man, and lose all hope, to the point of death.

While we may glorify the mistakes of Abraham, or Jacob, or David – those mistakes were not written for this purpose.  They were stories to teach us not to break trust with God, and do what we think should be done.  At least Judas gives us pause.  But does it take this much to get it right?  Can’t we learn from Jesus Himself, in the garden, submitting what He wanted, in favor of the will of the Father.  It is that submission we are looking for.  It is that submission we need.  It is that submission that will save us.  By contrast our ideas of helping God, could put everything at risk as it did for Judas, and create consequences we will live with forever.  Let us hold firm our trust in the divine to accomplish what God promises, having no need to help Him, only to be grateful that He does what He promises.  As it turns out, human ideas about helping are just not all we thought they might be.

 

Helping God [part 1 of 2] ...

There are many stories in the Bible about what happens when we (man that is) decide God needs some help in fulfilling His plans, and we set about to do so.  Just because these stories are captured and printed in the Bible does NOT mean that each episode was designed as an object lesson for us to follow; rather, they are presented to show us what problems we bring about when we do this.  At the outset of any such example story, our intentions are good, our plans are solid, they make “common sense”, and they would appear to have achieved the goals God had in mind.  All of this sounds true.  But what it leaves out, is a dependent faith upon God alone to do what He has promised.  We begin to “steal” some of the responsibility from God and lay the burden upon our own shoulders, hoping to share the accomplishment of fulfilling what indeed was only supposed to be what God alone can really do.  And because we are human, we insert our humanity, our ideas, our practicality into what was supposed to be divine, beyond our abilities to accomplish (indeed beyond the capabilities of any man) – and what results is far from the plans of God, and deep into the messes we are capable of making – all of it done, in the name of God.

Now there are many things that God has asked for our help in doing.  Things like loving each other, forgiving each other, showing mercy and compassion.  The basics.  In doing these things we are not trying to “accomplish” something, rather only trying to see in ourselves, how much we need God to truly accomplish even the basics; and trying to benefit others by reflecting His love.  What I am referring to however is far beyond the basics, but promises that need a divine intervention.  When we try to help God get those done, by doing some of the work ourselves, problems ensue, and messes follow.  Take for consideration an early example committed by the “father of the Jewish faith”, namely Abraham.  Despite him seeming to singularly be seeking the true God in his time (he wasn’t, the priest Melchisidek proves that).  Abraham was promised a son, and from that son, a nation, kings, and the salvation of the earth.  But Abraham was getting old, very old.  His wife along with him.  So Sarah decides to “help” God, by handing Abraham her servant to impregnate and fulfill God’s promise.  Abraham agrees with this plan, and executes it, Ishmael is born.  But Ishmael was NOT the promise, he was the result of our mistake of thinking “we” could do what God alone could do.

Despite our mistake, it was no fault of Ishmael, and God loves Ishmael and blessed him, and his lineage survives to this day (fairly numerous themselves).  But the animosity between Ishmael and Isaac also lasts to this day (and it is unlikely we may ever see peace in the middle east because of it).  Abraham makes yet another mistake in Egypt when he lies to Pharaoh to keep Pharoah from committing murder to steal his wife.  If God had not intervened, Abraham would have lost his wife anyway.  Just because Abraham was known as the father of the Jewish faith, does not make him perfect.  And when he broke trust with God, and tried to help God himself, instead of trusting to the promise of God, that required divine intervention, things went wrong, with lasting effects wrong.  These early stories are not told for us to emulate, they are told for us to learn from and avoid repeating.  But we seem bent on ignoring the lessons of broken trust and getting out of them, what only our selfishness could derive.  In Abraham’s case for example, we justify multiple marriages (as if that is what God had in mind).  We say that because God loved Ishmael and his mother, it must be OK with God that this happened (in effect blessing the idea of multiple marriages).  It was not.  It was human weakness that did this, not the plan of God.  But it is man’s selfishness that derives only this “justification” from what should have been a cautionary story.

Fast forward to the time of Christ.  Matthew in his gospel to his contemporaries focuses hard on identifying the traitor Judas, and describing his crimes in great detail.  From reading his gospel one could easily get a sense that Matthew was not too fond of any betrayer and not very interested in “why” Judas would do this great evil, only that he did.  But motives matter.  Consider for a moment how this may have been a case of “man” trying to help God do what man believed God was supposed to do and had promised to do.  Everyone in these days believed the Messiah would come to throw off Roman oppression and build a kingdom that would never end.  The disciples believed this too, no matter how many times Jesus said otherwise.  Matthew believed it, as did Judas, and Peter.  But Jesus despite clearly being the Messiah, was failing to accomplish what God had promised He would do (according to their interpretation of scripture at the time).  Jesus had too much love in Him.  Now sometimes, only when faced with the emminent threat of death, do we do what needs to be done to survive.  Judas may have been sure that if Jesus were actually faced with death, He would rise up, and become the king and conqueror each of the disciples believed Him to be.  But they were all wrong.  Wrong about their interpretation of timing, and of scripture, and of the real role of the Messiah, which was far greater than their limited interpretations would have allowed.

When faced with death, Jesus would choose to die.  His divinity would lay down its power in order that His sacrifice would save us all.  It is the basis of our salvation, that Jesus would herein take on our punishment for us.  But even though the reward was great, the cost was great as well.  Matthew picks up the story in chapter 26 beginning in verse 36 saying … “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. [verse 37] And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. [verse 38] Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”  Jesus knows what is coming.  But He is not happy happy joy joy, skipping down the merry road – instead He is as sad as He has ever gotten.  It is not so much the death that bothers Him.  It is the absolute dread of being separated from His Father.  He has never known that.  He is not sure He will be able to come back from that.  He may forever be marred by the stain of our sins, and unable to ever again enter in the Father’s love.  That eternal separation would be beyond words of sadness to describe.  And Jesus fears that fate more than any other, for separation from the love of God, is the literal definition of “hell”.

So to help Him in His greatest time of need He takes a few of His disciples further into the garden, and asks for prayer.  Matthew continues in verse 39 saying … “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”  Nevertheless “Not” as “I will”.  The will of Jesus was to avoid the risk of eternal separation from the Love of His Father.  That love was all He had ever known.  And Jesus did NOT want to risk ever losing it.  Even our salvation did not change the mind of Christ on this matter.  But Jesus did what we all fail to do, when our needs would turn us to a different path – He submitted His own will, to the will of the Father, trusting in God to know better than Himself.  It is here where the story of Abraham is undone.  It is here where the countless other stories in the Bible find a different ending.  Jesus does, what mankind has steadfastly refused to do – to submit Himself, and His will, to the will of the Father.  And it is in this example, how our salvation is truly born.  And in no other.  Jesus does not want to do this thing, but He trusts God to know how to proceed, according to the will of the Father.

And now shift your focus from a Jesus unwilling to proceed if left up to Him, to the heart of His Father instead.  Here Jesus presents the Father with an opportunity to call the whole thing off.  The Father must also risk eternal separation with His only Son for this plan of man’s salvation to work.  And let’s face it, we have given the Father no particular reason to “want” to save us, outside of His own inherent love for us, a mystery none of us truly understand.  If anything, we have been very bad children.  We constantly deny Him.  Spit in His face.  Tell Him He is to blame for every bad thing that ever happens to us, never taking any responsibility ourselves, or putting Satan on trial.  Nope, it is all an “act of God”.  We must be filled with poo and its stench to the top of our skies.  Jesus on the other hand is perfect, and is built of perfect love.  Jesus is His only Son, who has never done a single thing wrong ever.  It is Jesus in whom He is well pleased and very proud.  And it is this perfect Son, that God the Father must risk eternal separation from in order that we poo-poo people can be reconciled.  Those odds are a no-brainer, at least for any of us.  But God the Father must, in spite of the desires of His own Son to perhaps call this whole thing off, must continue on course – not for Jesus – but for us.  What kind of love is that?  That God the Father must push forward, when even His own Son does not have that will to move on.  How hard must this have been on God the Father, and yet He does what must be done, to see us redeemed from our poo.

Jesus needs strength and encouragement, just knowing His disciples (an example of who would be saved) would be praying for Him, might comfort Him.  But Matthew continues in verse 40 saying … “And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? [verse 41] Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Instead of mankind actually helping God when He needed it the most, we went to sleep.  Then and now.  Jesus asked for just an hour of prayer from Peter if no one else, but that hour had already passed in sleep.  Notice Jesus asks that we pray to “enter not into temptation”.  It was a temptation to avoid the risk of losing the Love of God the Father forever.  The plan for man’s redemption could not be seen past these moments.  Jesus could call it quits right here and no one would blame Him.  He might have retured to heaven, and allow us to take on our own punishments.  He could have wiped out Satan, his angels, and mankind forever – and declared evil had met its just fate.  This was the temptation Jesus wanted to avoid even thinking about.  But when we might have helped offer Jesus comfort, we preferred to sleep instead.

Matthew continues in verse 42 saying … “He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. [verse 43] And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.”  Jesus again submits Himself, and His own will to the greater will of His Father.  If it is possible to tempt God the Father, it is being done right here.  And yet no answer of comfort comes from God the Father to His only Son.  His Son must choose to submit His own will in darkness, in solitude, without assurance – the risk is real, and the outcome can only be had if both God the Father and His only Son are willing to risk it.  Mankind sleeps on, unable to comfort when comfort was needed most.  This is now the second time Jesus has asked for a way out, but ONLY if that is the will of His Father.  His Father provides no verbal response, but I am certain tears must be flowing from the throne in heaven, where no creation has ever witnessed the Father weep as He must be doing now.  The universe is witnessing the heart of God the Father break as it has never done, and in spite of His own pain, He pushes forward for the sake of us – we will never be worth the pain we caused on this day, except in the eyes of our God.  The universe sees now what love means, and how far it would go to redeem that which is lost.  It would break the heart of God, yet He would push on.  Satans arguments fall into dust, never to arise again in all of the rest of the universe, except earth.

Matthew continues in verse 44 saying … “And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. [verse 45] Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”  In the pinnacle of agony, Jesus asks one final time, if there is another way out of this.  And the silence in response gives Him His answer.  It is not the answer He wants.  But it is the will of His Father.  The tears begin to secede as determination must now harden in its stead.  This time, Jesus needs no further comfort from mankind.  Instead He will let them sleep, for He is certain now in what must come, no matter the risk – love is greater than the risk.  His love, and the love of His father.  They will both risk it all for us.

It is interesting that Jesus proscribes prayer to avoid temptation, and we pray so little, so lightly, and so focused on ourselves.  We pray for things.  We pray for health.  We pray (worst of all) for money.  We trust God so little, that what we truly “need” is already in our lives, or coming when and how it should.  What we miss in our prayers for ourselves, is a prayer to avoid even “temptation”.  A prayer to avoid even being presented with the possibility to sin, or the desire to sin; rather to avoid both as ONLY our God can take from us.  I wonder if our God, can still take comfort when we finally do what He asks of us in this regard.  Or if like in that night in the garden, He still finds His entire church fast asleep.  When Jesus asked His faithful for their help in the form of comfort found only in prayer – we failed Him.  Do we fail Him still?

We could have been part of a positive story of helping God, even if only once, but instead we would demonstrate what the human ideas of helping God truly look like …