Up The Rejected Righteous!

The Myth of Democratic Civilization

2009-11-25T13:18:00.001-08:00

Equality in civilization is a myth. There must be those who are economically oppressed and who are socially lowly in order for others to be economically and socially “free”. We must have Wall Mart employees, migrant farm workers and sweat shop lackeys in order to create a prosperous middle class. The only economically democratic society is an agrarian one.

Peter Waldo

2009-01-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

Justice I

2008-10-23T21:18:00.001-07:00

Lord, there is evil.

There is evil done against me in so many ways.
Some would say they are little things:
The unkind, unfair judgment;
The stealing of a few dollars;
The brief threat of violence;
The disinterest of those who have claimed to care;
To me, these are major events
that shape my life and my conscience.

Lord, bring your justice:
true justice.
I ask not that you destroy the evildoers,
Nor do I bring down curses upon their children.
Although it is difficult to say, I ask:
Father, forgive them
For they know not what they do.
Don't forgive them out of some invented complacency
Nor from an all-encompassing mercy that is not of you.
Rather, I pray that you shape them,
reform them to be forgivable.
Create justice in their hearts, Lord.
Soften them to be merciful;
Color in them your humility;
Let them walk in the path of your trust.

As I was once one of them—
A liar,
A cheat,
A thief,
A hater,
An immoral person--
and you redeemed me.
Allow them to be as your Son
as your children
as You.
And then, as they forgive those
who do evil against them
May you forgive them of the evil done against me.
Lord, bring your justice:
true justice.

I open up my heart to give my all to you
All in you
All in you.

May your kingdom come.

New Website

2008-10-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

Anawim has a completely new website with a new look and new content.

And, most importantly for this blog, all of the teachings about Jesus and the Anawim are in the teaching section, all illustrated! (That means we put a cool picture next to each of the teachings)

And, heck, if you like the Anawim Bible teachings, you might want to check out the section under poverty, where there are recommendations about how the church can support the homeless and the mentally ill.

You can find it at:
www.nowheretolayhishead.org

That's "No Where To Lay His Head Dot Org", in case long words give you a headache.

Wile E. Coyote Leadership Style

2008-10-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

One of my illustrations for "Down and Out Leadership"

Does Your Church Look Like This?

2008-09-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

If not, it should.

The church should be so radically in allignment with Jesus' ways, that the world wants to burn it down.

Attitudes To Minister To The Outcast

2008-09-18T20:19:00.002-07:00

Gentleness (Proverbs 15:1; Matthew 11:28-30; Galatians 6:1-2)
The outcast are typically wrathful, having been oppressed by the evil. Even if they are in sin, they don’t need to be treated with harshness. They know their sin, and if they do not, they need to be informed carefully, not with anger. They are looking for deliverance, they are looking for family. They will not choose to pursue family with those who are harsh or critical. This is not to say that sin should not be spoken of—it is. But it needs to be dealt with kid gloves, not with wrath.

Patience (Psalm 103:8; I Thess. 2:9; II Peter 3:9)
Convictions built up over years do not melt away overnight. It requires much patience and work to show others that God is for them, although the world be against them. The outcast will reject you, will speak evil of you, will mock you and secretly despise you. But over time, the message of the gospel will work in the hearts—even of those who seems least likely to hear it! Labor patiently—literally for years—in order to see the fruit of faith.

Impartiality
We are not to show favoritism between social groups. (James 2:1-8; I Cor. 7:22) We are not to show favoritism between ethnic or cultural groups. (Matthew 8:11-12; Acts 10:34-35) We are not to show favoritism between knowledge of God. (Romans 2:11-13). We are not to show favoritism between sins. (James 2:10) This last is a tricky one. We want to separate some sinners from another because one sin is worse than another. James says that we are condemned by all of them. If we are to offer a benefit or service to one sinner outside of Christ, then why shouldn’t we give it to all of them? Impartiality is essential in ministry to the outcast, for their sense of injustice is strong.

Reliance on God (Matthew 10:9-10)
We, the ministers of the gospel, must be dependent on God. In the New Testament, most ministry is done with total dependence on God, for no one can do miraculous healings or exorcisms of their own power. Even so, we must not depend on our own resources or abilities to minister, but to rely on God and his work.

Surrender (Colossians 1:24; Philippians 2:3)
In ministering to the outcast, we must be ready to sacrifice. The needs are great—greater than we can meet. And more will be demanded of us than we can give. Yes, we do what we can so we can minister, but let us not set arbitrary boundaries around our love. Instead, we should set boundaries so we can love the most people we can. This will mean that care for ourselves might be compromised—but this is what ministry is about. Do what you must to continue to love, and beyond that, give and give.

Ministry To The Outcast

2008-09-18T20:19:00.001-07:00

All true ministry has the goal of leading a people to faith in Jesus as Lord and living that out in their lives.

Identification—I Cor. 9:19-23
Some within a congregation that will take on the role of an outcast in order to reach them. Get rid of the separation between the “server” and the “served”.

Offer to be Family—Mark 2:15-17; Luke 15.
Total love of the “sinner”, and an offer to partake in acceptance. This is the major felt need of the outcast—social acceptability. To offer acceptance is not to have the outcast feel that acceptance—this only comes with an acceptance of forgiveness and inclusion in the community. This sense of family cannot be created by a program, but one can use a program as a base-point to increase this acceptance.

Listening—James 1:19
You cannot meet anyone’s needs until you know what they are. Get past the first hurdles in order to discover their real needs (e.g. no one needs money, money is a means to meet the real need)

Benevolence—
Trying to meet their needs, but doing so with dependence on God. Those with resources, give what you have (Luke 12:33); those without, pray for healing (Matt 10). To give what we have, may be to offer what God alone has to give, instead of the petty resources we have (Acts 3:1-8).

Deliverance—From Satan, from sin, from death.
This is God’s area, and if we are called to work with the outcast, we are God’s representatives.
A. By prayer. (Mark 9:28-29; Luke 18:1-8). Through prayer, deliverance from oppression can occur.
B. By teaching. (Matthew 28:19-20). Through the teaching of Jesus’ commands, teaching and life there will come understanding of God’s justice and of gaining that justice.
C. By dwelling with (John 1:14; Acts 2:42-47). By living with the outcast and showing them the life of Christ they will gain understanding and the ability to live it out.
D. By suffering for. (John 12:24-27; Colossians 1:24) Through suffering the suffering of Christ the people of God will be redeemed. This is the wake up call, the realization of the atonement in the lives of the people, the life of Christ in the flesh.

Forgiveness— Luke 15; Mark 2:1-12; John 20:23.
This is also a sense of acceptance, like mentioned above, under “family”. But this is different, in that it occurs after regret for sin and repentance is done. This is an acceptance that comes after a wiping away of the debt of sin, and is fuller than a simple offering of acceptance.

Guiding to Commitment—Luke 14:26-27.
Commitment to God as the one true Lord (Matthew 6:24);
Commitment to living according to the righteousness of Jesus (Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:15);
Commitment to Love (Mark 21:29-31);
Commitment to the family of God (Matthew 12:47-50);
Commitment to reaching out to the outcast (Matthew 28:19-20).

Who Are the Outcast?

2008-09-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

The context of being outcast
In Matthew 8, Jesus spoke of the “inheritors of the kingdom”, or, those who apparently are in God’s good graces and who will receive the kingdom of God on the last day but who will be cast out. These “inheritors” will not receive the kingdom of God because they do not do God’s will according to the teaching of Jesus. These apparent inheritors have built a structure which has its own laws and rules about who will be included in God’s kingdom apart from God’s righteousness. These are based on the traditions of men, rather than the distinctions that Jesus made.

What does it mean to be outcast?
To be outcast is to be told that you are not a part of the kingdom of God, nor ever will be. You are excluded. Set outside, rejected, separated from, persecuted, laws are made against you, hated, yelled at because of who you are, not what you’ve done. Perhaps you have failed to live up to people’s expectations or have crossed some unknown line. But you are neglected and all “good” people will have nothing to do with you.

Who are the outcast?
In Jesus’ day—tax collectors, women, sinners, prostitutes, Zaccheus, gentiles, lepers, and anyone who associated with Jesus.
In our day—Homeless, illegal immigrants, homosexuals, the poor, drug culture, belong to a cult, and many who follow Jesus strictly and abide by what he says.

What kinds of outcastness is there?
1. Socially—unacceptable because of social reasons (e.g. education, manners, inability to speak English well)

2. Righteousness—unacceptable because of evil done in the past, or done in ignorance

3. False righteousness—unacceptable because of standards of righteousness that were not handed down by God; unacceptable because of assumed guilt

4. Chronic problem—unacceptable because of constant demand to have needs met (e.g. chronic illness, mental illness)

5. —unacceptable because of one’s race, nationality, social group, culture

The outcast and the Anawim
The Anawim are those who are poor or vulnerable or persecuted and they cry out to God for justice. There are three categories of poor, generally, that are used in Scripture:

A. Those who are poor, but unrighteous. They are outcast from the inheritors of the kingdom of God, and it is as it should be. They are suffering injustice, but they are either oppressors of others or are trying to save themselves either by themselves or by a power apart from God. They still receive God’s benefits, such as their basic needs and an offer for salvation, but unless they repent they will not receive the kingdom of God. These poor would be considered outcast from society, but they are not inheritors of the kingdom of God and they are not among the Anawim.

B. The Anawim who cry out to God, but they don’t know how they will be delivered. These are people like Cornelius (Acts 10), Namaan (II Kings 5), and the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15) who are looking to God for salvation, but they don’t know how they will receive salvation. God listens to their cries and brings them a deliverer, which means Jesus. These people are outcast, but they are only potentially inheritors of God’s kingdom.

C. The Anawim in Jesus. These are those who suffer because they are living according to the life and teachings of Jesus. They have surrendered everything, and they are oppressed because they are righteous and they are vulnerable. God will deliver them and give them the kingdom of God. Everyone who is a true follower of Jesus is either part of the Anawim or they stand with the Anawim in their suffering, helping them as they can. These people are outcast from the apparent inheritors of the kingdom of God, but they are the true inheritors.

Should the church outcast anyone?
According to Matthew 18:15-17 and I Corinthians 5-6, the church should be involved in separating those who are entering the kingdom of God from those who do not. While unbelievers should not be excluded from Christian meetings, they should not be allowed to take the Lord’s supper or other signs of believers, nor should believers enter into long term contractual agreements with unbelievers (I Corinthians 10:16-21; II Corinthians 6:14-18) Most importantly, however, those who claim to be right with God but sin continually without repentance will not be able to enter into God’s kingdom, and the church must completely separate themselves from these (I Corinthians 5:9-13). Those who teach in opposition to what Jesus taught should be separated from the true inheritors of the kingdom (II John 7-10).

Those who are not to be outcast
Those who are unbelievers are not to be outcast (I Cor. 5:9-13). Therefore, if believers offer services (this could be a worship service or an act of benevolence) to anyone—believers or unbelievers, they should do everything they can to make them available to everyone, no matter what sin unbelievers are involved in (Matthew 5:43-48).
Those who are in the process of repenting of their sin are not to be outcast from the true kingdom of God—no matter how evil the sin. If you have someone who is repenting from sin, you must forgive them and receive them back into full fellowship. This is true, even if they’ve fallen away many times before. (Matthew 18:21-35)

Down and Out Leadership

2008-03-06T12:54:00.000-08:00

The disciples had an argument, there at the Last Supper. They were debating which of them would be the most important ruler beside Jesus when His kingdom comes. Jesus calmly said to them, “It is presidents and kings of the world that are concerned about authority and power. These wield great authority over all men and everyone must call them ‘gracious’, as in ‘gracious lord,’ or “Wow, you are the greatest thing since Oprah”. But if you want rule in my kingdom, you can’t act like that. The ones who will have the greatest authority in my kingdom must prepare themselves for it by acting like the least important. If you want to be important, then be like a waiter. In a restaurant, who is in charge, the waiter or the customer? Isn’t the customer who orders the waiter around, telling him what to get and how much and sending something back because it isn’t quite right? And doesn’t the waiter have to run around, doing the bidding of the customer? Now look at me—I am the waiter. I am here to serve others, not to tell others how to serve me.
“Look, guys, you are great already. You have stayed with me during my most difficult days, though all the struggles and trials. Because of this, you will rule with me because the Father has given me His kingdom to rule. So you will be feasting at my side—even as we are feasting here!—in my kingdom. And then I will give you authority to rule all of God’s people. Each of you will sit on a throne, and you will rule the twelve nations of Israel. Luke 22

Everybody Wants To Rule The World…Sometimes
Well, this is kinda embarrassing. After all, Jesus is the one who is always talking about lowliness, about humility. Yet, here He is, encouraging arrogance. You see, even though he is correcting the disciples about some things, he is in agreement with them about the thing most of us are uncomfortable with: It is a good thing to want to be in charge of the world.
Most of us feel that this is inappropriate. After all, its just too lofty of a goal, and it is straight hubris—blatant pride to think that we should rule the world. That’s God’s job, isn’t it?
Well, in fact, its not. God gave the job over of ruling the world to human beings way back in Genesis 1. It is our job and we should want to do the job that God has given us. So when Jesus answers their question, He doesn’t deny that we should want to rule the world. Frankly, we should.
And even if ruling the world seems distasteful to you, we all have a hint of it in ourselves. We all want to be respected by the people who know us. And we all want a certain measure of control to make things “right” over our lives. And we get angry when we see that something isn’t right, either in our lives or in the lives of those around us. These are God-given characteristics to everyone in humanity so that we can do the job that God gave us, namely, to rule the world.

The Wile E. Principle of Leadership
The problem is that we take the characteristics that God has given us and go too far with it. Waaaaay too far. God gave us anger at injustice and we have turned it into anger against anyone who irritates us for any little reason, without regard to what is really right. God gave us the desire to make things right and we have turned this into control-freakishness or harshly punishing those who are different than us. God gave us the desire to be respected and we turn this into a hunger for fame or a fear of negative responses. This is not the kind of world-leadership Jesus is looking for.
So when Jesus responded to his disciples, he didn’t correct their desire for world leadership. In fact, He affirmed it. He said that they would be world leaders in the kingdom. And desiring it is a good thing. What he needed to correct was their methods in achieving it.
Most of us think of obtaining leadership like Wile E. Coyote. Wile E. is on one cliff and he is running as fast as he can to the other side, but he doesn’t realize that there is a canyon between him and the other cliff-top. So he runs out.. and there he is, standing on thin air. And then he falls…. Bam!... at the bottom of the canyon and we next see him wrapped in hospital gauze.
Even so, we often think that leadership—as well as wealth and popularity— is a straight line. If we want it, we just go get it. And although we must work hard to achieve success, we will get it if we just take it by the throat. But what we don’t realize is that there is a huge canyon between us and our goal. And if we just try to achieve success in a straight line, then we will be the one in hospital gauze.

The Power Broker
Jesus helps us realize that the only one who can give us success, or power or popularity or wealth— in any positive, permanent way—is God. He is the one ultimately in charge of all things and He gives these things to whom He wills. And while the power-hungry may be in charge now, it will not be that way forever. God will come down to kick out the power hungry and instead welcome a different kind of person.
But to obtain that kind of position, we have to be that different kind of person. God is looking for the lowly, the Anawim, to be in charge of the world. God can’t have the control freaks, the judgmental, the quick to anger or the anxious be in charge of the world. So for world leadership, God is looking for a the lowly and righteous. For the Anawim. God is looking for the people who will act as Jesus said they should—People who are repentant of their sins; people who will sacrifice their life, family and possessions to love Jesus; people who will endure in Jesus through persecution. People who will set aside their comfort in order to serve others. God is looking for faithful disciples.

Jesus Leadership
But not just disciples. Different disciples will obtain different levels of leadership in the final kingdom. And those in charge won’t just be the good disciple—the whole world will be filled with those. But the world leaders will be those who have certain characteristics of leadership
To be an anawimic leader, we have to follow certain principles of leadership now:

• Hang out with the down and out—
To be a leader in Jesus’ methodology, we cannot be shy of having the outcast be our friends and companions.

• Live like the down and out—
To be in charge, we have to remain lowly, not seeking wealth or power, but constantly giving to those in need. A godly leader doesn’t think how he can benefit from a resource, but how the whole community can benefit from it.

• Get used to taking orders—
To be in charge, we have to listen to other’s needs and act on them, rather than our own ambitions. When we see someone’s need, we take that as an order from them to act. If we act in accordance with the other’s need, then we are living out Jesus’ leadership.

• Lead by example—
It isn’t enough to tell others to do good, to repent, to live purely—we have to do it ourselves. We must show the life of Jesus and not just teach it to others.

• Encourage, don’t demand—
To be Jesus leader is to be gentle and to recognize other’s freedom to do as they please. If we give others freedom and opportunity to live for God, then they can have a relationship with God. But if we end up controlling others, they have no relationship with God, only us, which defeats the purpose of trying to get people to live for Jesus.

So to be a leader in Christ is to be the Anawim. It is to live as a waiter, a servant of others, only living to act for others and not for our own ambition. If we attempt to get our own ambition, then we end up like Wile E.— Falling to our doom.

The Second Chance

2008-03-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

Jesus responded to this news by saying, “It is time. It is time for the Messiah to be honored. Listen carefully: A kernel of corn has to be torn from it’s life, thrown to the ground and allowed to die, or it will always be by itself. But if it dies, then it will be transformed into many more. Even so, whoever grasps onto his own life will lose it. But whoever hates his life in this age will find that it is preserved by God for the next age, which is eternal. The one who wants to be to be in my government, must follow me through death and beyond. Wherever I am my follower will be as well. The faithful servant will be honored by God. So now I am in anguish, because of the difficulty I must face. But should I ask God to save me from this fate? But because it is my fate, it is my purpose. Father, in my death, glorify Your name.” John 12:23-27

He sat them down and began to lecture them about the doctrinal necessity of the suffering of the Son of Man of Daniel. That the Son of Man would be declared guilty by the judges and bishops and the seminary professors and he would be sentenced to death, killed and after a three day appeal would be resurrected. He spoke to them without metaphor, but straightforwardly. After he was done, Peter gently took him aside and told him that such things could not happen to him, the Messiah. Jesus turned toward all his disciples and raised his voice for all to hear, “Get away from me! You are not Peter, but Satan! Stop tempting me to take the easy route! You are speaking of God’s plan, but of human achievement!”
Then Jesus called the crowd to gather around him, beside his disciples, then he addressed them all: “Do you think that I have the way to life, the way to enter into God’s kingdom? Then listen here: If you want to be a part of my school, you must give up on all the things that make up your life, accept that you will be killed as a revolutionary and go where I go. Since I am going to die, you must accept that for yourself as well. If you want to preserve your life, then you will lose it. If you lose your life for Me and my school, then you will retain your life. If you surrender your life, you will obtain resurrection. Sure, you could gain everything in the world you want—happiness, security, wealth, fame—but what good is any of that if you lose your life in the long run? Suppose someone had a gun to your head and wanted all you had for your life? Isn’t it better to give all of that up, so you could live and obtain your stuff and happiness another day? If anyone is fearful of speaking about Me before this sinning and faithless people, then the Messiah will dare not speak his name on the final day when he comes to rule the Father’s kingdom with all of God’s power behind him. Mark 8:31-38

Eternal Life
Jesus’ goal was not to die, although it may seem like it in the above passages. Rather, Jesus’ goal was what is called “eternal life”. This eternal life is not life in heaven, as spirits floating around singing. It is a second chance on life.
In our current life, we are compromised from doing all we could for God. We live in a corrupted world which strives to encourage us to do evil, to disobey God. We have corrupted bodies which have corrupted desires and illnesses and weaknesses that the body encourages us to sidestep by doing more evil. We live in a context of temptation and injustice and weakness.
God is offering resurrection. This means that we will come back after death into bodies that are uncorrupted and incorruptible. We will be living in a context without injustice, and temptation is kept to a minimum. We will be given an opportunity to live for God without weakness, in full strength and spiritual authority.
And some will be chosen to rule over this utopia. The Messiah will be chosen among people to rule over God’s kingdom and He will chose many to rule with Him. The ones whom He will chose will create justice for all, provide the context of life for everyone. This is the dream of the New Testament. It is the goal of Jesus.

God’s Justice
But God doesn’t give this kind of resurrection, this opportunity to everyone. Not everyone deserves to rule, not everyone can handle the power that will be given to people to rule. Not everyone is prepared to deal with people as they are. God is careful to choose the people who will create His utopia, and these will be given a second chance on life.
Who are these people that God chooses? God’s selection process begins first of all with those who didn’t really have a life to begin with. This doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a chance of a good life. Perhaps they surrendered the chance of a good life. But God is looking for those who suffered injustice in their lives. They did good for themselves, for their neighbors, for God’s kingdom, but they received shame and punishment for the good they did. God will not look for the rich and powerful, the famous and lauded. They have already had their life. God will be looking for those who gave up their life and give them another chance.

Jesus’ Example
Jesus is the one who surrendered his chance at life for others. He could have lived a quiet, but happy existence as a carpenter in Nazareth. But he chose to give up on the good life so that a better life could be granted to everyone. Jesus gave up on life, on happiness, on a good retirement, on hope of a peaceful death. Jesus surrendered all the great possibilities to live in shalom. He did this, not because he couldn’t have lived in peace, but because he saw so many who didn’t have the chance. So he gave up on life to give others a chance.
And this is exactly what Jesus is calling us to. If we want to have a better life, we have to give up on the one the world offers us. Yes, for some of us, perhaps we could have a solid job, a quiet existence, a good family, the American dream. But for many, this life is out of reach. Jesus is asking us to give up the good life, so we could give an opportunity for a better life for others.
• Just like Jesus, we are called to give up the pursuit of the “good life”, the American Dream.
• Just like Jesus, we are called to live in rebellion against the world political system which denies peace and justice for so many.
• Just like Jesus, we are to allow ourselves to be persecuted, to be punished for doing good.
• Just like Jesus, we are called to even die in our innocence, to die because of our life in God’s compassion.
These who give up their shots at the good life to live and die for others, they will be given the second chance. They will be God’s rulers in the coming revolution.

As It Was Prophecied
This is also nothing new. There are only a few places in the Old Testament that talks about the resurrection of God’s people, and every passage speaks of God giving a second chance to those who didn’t have a life to begin with:

o Psalm 22—The author of this Psalm is surrounded by enemies and killed, but he relies on God for deliverance. God then gives him a second chance at life, which is happy and good.
o Psalm 37—The people of God suffer under oppression because the wealthy wicked are causing them to live in poverty. The point of the psalm is that God will give the poor who wait for God a second chance at life without such oppression.
o Daniel 12—The people of God are under a terrible trial and oppression. They are surrounded and destroyed and killed by their enemies. God destroys their enemies and resurrects the killed, giving them a second chance to live under God’s rule.

Jesus sees the fulfillment of these prophecies, but he adds one more factor. There are some who will choose to suffer, who will chose to die for the sake of God’s kingdom and righteousness. These will also gain resurrection with those who had no choice to suffer. And some of them will rule in God’s kingdom.

Who get resurrected? The rejected by the world.

What Is Our Future Hope?

2008-03-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

During Easter, all Christians throughout the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Although this holiday is specific to believers in Jesus, yet more than half of the people in the world believe in some kind of resurrection. But what is it? Even those who claim a belief in resurrection as it is described in the Bible do not really understand it.

What resurrection is not:
Reincarnation—
Reincarnation is a soul being transferred to a new life on earth after an old one has passed. In reincarnation, one begins again in a woman’s womb, and is raised as a child over again and dies again. Although in resurrection, one is given another life after death, one is not born over and over again. Rather, Scripture says that one only dies once and after this, they are judged by God (Hebrews 9:27). No one lives another life, they will only have the opportunity to continue the one they began.

A Spiritual state—
Resurrection is not living without a body. While it is true that the Bible teaches that after one dies, one loses the body and the soul lives on, yet this is not resurrection (Philippians 1:21-24; Luke 16:19-23; Psalm 89:48). Perhaps some live in heaven in this intermediate state, but it is not the fulfillment of the promise of God (Revelation 6:9-11). The ideal life is not a spiritual state, but the soul and body united in new life (Psalm 16:10-11; Acts 2:29-32).

What is basic resurrection?
Resurrection is not just life after death as a spirit. Rather it is life after “life after death”. After a period of time living as a soul without a body, then one’s body is renewed. Just as when we are alive we have a body and we are a whole person, even so, after being dead for a while we will be restored to a new life in a revived body. On top of this, the new, revived body is better than it was, for it will never die again, nor get sick.
Everyone who has ever lived will receive a new body like this, and have an opportunity for a new life. However, the state of their life is dependant on how they responded to God while they were alive. On the day in which God resurrects all of mankind, he will judge them all, depending on whether they have been faithful to him or not through his Son Jesus. (Daniel 12:2; John 5:25, 29; Revelation 20:12-13)

What is the resurrection of blessing?
Some, however, will not only receive the “basic resurrection package”—a new immortal body—but they will also gain great blessing from God. Their bodies will be resurrected, not only to a new life, but a body pure from sin and defilement. They will not only life forever, but they will live in a place and in a way that will grant them eternal pleasure and contentment. And they will also gain status and significance after the resurrection that they could never gain while they were alive. These people with new bodies will be living on earth, but earth will be transformed by heaven to be an ideal existence. (I Corinthians 15:40-43; Revelation 21:1-3; Romans 8:18-23; John 5:24; I John 3:2)

How did Jesus get raised?
Up till now, Jesus is the only one on earth to be raised into this new kind of body, and this new kind of life. He is right now at the right hand of the Father, ruling the world with his Father in his new, immortal body. But he didn’t start there. Rather, he started as a man, doing God’s will. God’s command led him to heal the sick and to cast out judgement and to teach the good news that God’s restoration was coming soon. But the leaders of God’s people were threatened by Jesus, and so they had him killed by crucifixion—the most shameful death possible. But God saw Jesus’ faithfulness to him and his willing sacrifice for others—so God raised Jesus from the dead, for he was worthy of all honor. (Philippians 2:5-9; Acts 2:22-24)

How can we gain the blessing of resurrection?
Again, according to the Bible, everyone will be resurrected—whether evil or good. But the evil will be raised into suffering, and those who are faithful to God will be raised to a happy life. How do we gain the joy and not the suffering? We have to live the same life as Jesus—remaining so faithful to God and so believing in God’s promise of resurrection that we would endure anything, even shame and suffering now, in order to gain it. In this way, we will gain eternal life. (Romans 8:16-17; Mark 10:17-30)

But this kind of life is difficult, even impossible to live. But what is impossible for weak humans is more than possible for God. Anyone who devotes themselves to Jesus will receive the Spirit of God who will help one live the life of Jesus and so gain the resurrection of blessing. The way to gain the resurrection is to be faithful to God, like Jesus. The way to gain such faithfulness is to gain the power of God’s Spirit. The way to gain God’s Spirit is to commit oneself to Jesus as Lord. (Mark 10:26-27; Acts 2:38; Romans 8:1-4).

Resurrection is the opportunity for physical bliss.

Anawim And The Cross: Matthew 21

2008-01-17T18:22:00.000-08:00

“I’d like your opinion about this: There’s this guy I know who had two kids. He asked one kid to clean up his room and the kid stubbornly answered ‘No way!’ But after some thought, the kid changed his mind and cleaned up his room. The father went to his second kid and asked her to do the same thing. She answered, ‘Of course, Dad. Whatever you want.’ But she never did go to clean up her room. So which of these two did what their father wanted them to do?” They responded, “The first kid.” Jesus then said, “It is for this reason that the drug addicts and the sex workers will experience God’s utopia and you won’t. John showed you the way of God and you didn’t believe him so as to repent and be baptized. But the drug addicts and sex workers flocked to him to get a new start. You all saw this, but you still didn’t change your mind to repent and be baptized. Now listen to this story. A man owned a few blocks in an urban area, so he built a set of apartment buildings there, rented them out and then set managers over each building to keep them up and to collect the rent. Month after month, he sent employees to the managers to collect the proceeds, but the managers shut one out, beat up another, and another disappeared and was never heard from again. Then the owner sent groups of employees to collect his proceeds, and this started a gang war, but it didn’t get him a single dime. So then the owner sent his son figuring that the sight of him would cause the managers to reconsider their actions. But seeing the owner’s son at the door, the managers decided quickly that if the son was out of the way, the owner, being old and feeble, there being no one to care for the property after him, would just wither and fade away. So they grabbed the son, took him out of the city and killed him, leaving his body exposed to the elements. So let me ask you, what do you think the owner will do to those managers?” One answered, “He will call the police?” Everyone listening to this laughed. Then another said, “In his fury, he will do to those evil managers exactly what they did to him. He will kill them all and give the management to someone who will give to him what he deserves.” Jesus replied, “You are correct. So what is your problem? Haven’t you read in the Word, ‘The one whom the leaders rejected as a criminal has been chosen as the king of them all—and this is an amazing thing to see’? God’s nation will be taken away from you and given to a people who will give Him the proceeds he requires.”

Atonement Theories
Recently there has been a lot of discussion in theological circles about the reason for Jesus’ death. The idea of God demanding innocent human sacrifice for the justification of the masses just doesn’t seem ethical or just to many theologians. So people have been looking for other ideas, both ancient and modern, about what the death of Jesus was really about. Some say that Jesus was paying off Satan for the nations. Some say that God was demonstrating that nonviolent resistance is a more powerful weapon than violence. Some say that Jesus was showing how humans could demonstrate the sacrificial love of God. But all of these ideas have one thing missing: none of them look to Jesus for the reason he was dying.

The parable above is the only detailed explanation Jesus gave to his death and why it is significant. The parable of the managers is found in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew 21, Mark 12, Luke 20), and it stands at the crux of Jesus discussion with the elders and priests, who ended up sentencing Jesus to death. Because of this parable, in all three gospels, the elders and priests attempt to arrest Jesus to put him on trial, but only stop because of the crowd, which establishes their reasoning for obtaining Judas’ services. Thus, this parable not only explains Jesus’ thoughts for why he should die, but also why his killers thought it necessary to kill him.

Historical background
As a background to this parable, we need to understand what Jesus had recently done. First, he entered into Jerusalem on a colt, with his disciples (from Galilee) declaring him to be the king of Jerusalem. This was done to fulfill biblical prophecy that the Messiah, the proper king of Jerusalem, would come on a colt. The next day, Jesus went into the temple and ordered the moneychangers and sellers out of the temple, which the high priest specifically allowed them to do. Thus, Jesus was acting as an authority in Jerusalem. When the ruling priests and elders of all the Jewish people confronted him on his actions, he responded with the parable above.

Political and Eschatological background
The Sanhedrin and the High Priest were the rulers of the Jewish people throughout the world. This had been the case from the time of the Maccabees, when a priestly family took over the rule of Judea. Even the Romans, who had control of the land, recognized the power of the Sanhedrin and priests and so tried to direct the Jewish people by determining which of the family of Aaron would be high priest. So while the Romans and the Herods had political control of the physical resources of Israel, the priests and Sanhedrin had rule over the law and religious life of the Jewish people—thus, over their hearts. They were the real rulers of God’s chosen people.
Jesus understood this, and so he didn’t openly confront the Romans, but leveled his political concerns on the priests, the Sanhedrin and on the religious and political parties of the Jewish peoples—the Pharisees (powerful in Galilee and the diaspora) and the Sadducees (powerful in Jerusalem and in the Sanhedrin).
The other thing that was understood is that if a Davidic king ruled over the Jewish people, this would be king not only over God’s chosen people, but he would be God’s chosen emperor over the world, according the prophecies of Daniel. So to claim to be the rightful king of Jerusalem is to claim to be the replacement for Caesar. One of the common names for emperor, whether Roman or Jewish, is Son of God.

Now to the parable. Jesus uses the idea of the vineyard from Isaiah 5, where the vineyard is used as a metaphor for God’s nation. Jesus uses this idea and then adds the idea that the rule of God’s nation was “leased” to a group of managers. These managers are clearly meant to be the priests and elders who were currently ruling the Jewish people. These managers received a number of messengers from the true ruler of God’s people—the prophets who spoke for God. The prophets insisted that the managers give God the true proceeds of his people—obedience, the doing of God’s will.
Matthew especially emphasizes this aspect of obedience by placing the parable of the two children just before the parable of the managers. The two children heard the will of the father—for the people of Israel it is Jesus message, to do justice to the poor, to love your neighbors no matter who they are, to sacrifice oneself for love. But the managers rejected this message and so abused and killed the prophets.
So, in the parable, the owner decides to send his son. This is the Son of God, the king of God’s people, the emperor of the world. The current rulers, however, desire the rule of God’s people for themselves. So they kill the Son. In the parable, the purpose of the death of the Son is not to see the Son resurrected and rule again. Rather, it is to show the unworthiness of the rulers of God’s people.
Jesus is accusing the rulers of being the murderers of God’s messengers, the murderers of God’s emperor and the rejecters of God’s will. Because of all this, Jesus says, they will be rejected as God’s rulers. Not just rejected, Jesus says, but destroyed. Because they have killed God’s chosen ruler, he will come and destroy these upstarts—the priests and Sanhedrin, and all of the symbols of their rule, which is Jerusalem and the temple.
In a sense, with this extreme accusation, Jesus was setting himself up to be murdered. He knew that the priests and elders would receive this as a statement of enmity and rejection on Jesus’ part. And so they would work behind the scenes to kill Jesus.

There is one other aspect that we have to recognize here. That Jesus is saying that his death not only is the level which causes God’s rejection of the unrighteous rulers of His people, but it is also the cause of a new set of rulers to be set over God’s people. Rulers who will give to God what he wants—obedience to God. These are rulers who have proven themselves by being persecuted as Jesus was. Rulers who display their faith through enduring devotion in the midst of humiliation, sacrifice and suffering.

What did Jesus really begin with his death? He began a process of religious power and leadership. The leaders who claim to speak for God will come from the anawim, and they must be respectful of the anawim. If the leaders reject or persecute the anawim, then God will reject those leaders and set them aside, replacing them with leaders who will allow the anawim to have a place of leadership. Jesus himself IS emperor, the ruler beside God to rule the whole world. But Jesus’ representatives are not the popes, bishops or synods made up of the wealthy and powerful. Rather, they are among the prophetic who live out God’s will among the poor, choosing to be poor themselves. And if the leadership of God’s people refuse to listen to these anawim, then Jesus will kick them out of leadership and establish a new people. He has done it before, and He can—and will—do it again if necessary.

Theories of Atonement

2008-01-17T18:19:00.000-08:00

All atonement theories are ways of explaining the centrality of Jesus’ death in the New Testament. All of the theories explain why Jesus died and how that equates the freedom from sin for those who believe. The best of the theories would: a. Be a “fit” for almost all of the Biblical passages that speak about Jesus’ death and the forgiveness of sins; b. Be a “fit” for the cultures of the New Testament church and c. Be a “fit” for the overall teaching—theological and moral—of all the New Testament writers.

1. Ransom or Christus Victor Theory
Idea: Jesus’ death was a payment to Satan to obtain the nations. Satan had rulership of all the nations because they were under his judgment for rejecting God. God set Satan up to kill Jesus, thus providing the payment of death for judgment, releasing the nations from Satan’s ownership.
Passages used for support: Matthew 5:25-26; Mark 10:45; Colossians 2:12-15; Hebrews 2:14-17
Critiques: Concern that God would allow the torture of an innocent person to be a fair exchange for the death of many guilty; The fact that the New Testament nowhere calls Jesus death a payment to Satan.

2. Satisfaction or Substitution Theory
Idea: Jesus’ death was a payment to God in exchange for the punishment of sinners to satisfy God’s justice.
Passages used for support: Jesus died “for our sins”, with “for” having the implied meaning “in place of” (Isaiah 53; I Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:4; I Peter 2:24); Jesus is the “propitiation for our sins” (I John 2:2, 4:10); Jesus’ death fulfilled God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23-26).
Critiques: Concern that God would allow the torture of an innocent person to be a fair exchange for the death of many guilty; The Bible all throughout claims that repentance is sufficient for forgiveness. Both “propitiation” and “died in place of our sins” are more specific translations than are necessary. They could just mean “means of forgiveness” and “died as a result of our sins”.

3. Moral Theory
Idea: Jesus died as an example to us of perfect love.
Passages used for support: I Peter 2:21; Philippians 2
Critique: The example of Jesus’ death is that of humility and suffering for righteousness, not love. Does not deal with how Jesus is the means of forgiveness of sins.

4. Acceptance Theory
Idea: God’s forgiveness is based only on the sovereign decision of God. Jesus died to show us that God has already forgiven us, if we would but accept it.
Passages used for support: Luke 15
Critique: Scripture again and again has repentance and devotion/faith be the basis of God’s forgiveness. (Even in Luke 15)

5. Anawim or Reversal Theory
a. Humanity has surrendered themselves to be ruled by powers instead of God himself, and God rules through the powers who rule through governments, corporations, institutions and families.
When Adam ate of the tree, he surrendered himself to the power of death, to be ruled by it instead of God (Genesis 2-3). All nations are given over to powers in heaven (Deuteronomy 28). Israel gave themselves over to other gods, and so to be enslaved by their nations (Judges). Gentiles surrendered themselves over to other gods, to worship them, and so to be enslaved (Romans 1). The Jews surrendered themselves over to the Law, but because they could not consistently obey it, they were enslaved by it (Romans 3).

b. These powers rule the world through the rule of judgment—that every sin deserves a just punishment.
The law of the powers is that the end of sin is death (Romans 3:23). Anyone who disobeys the law is cursed (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-28; Galatians 3:10); Before anyone dies, they are enslaved to sin (Romans 6).

c. Jesus died to prove the injustice of these powers because they are just as willing to punish the innocent as well as the guilty.
Jesus died to prove the elders and priests to be unjust, disobedient rulers of God’s people (Matthew 21); Jesus died to defeat the powers who ruled over us due to our sin (Colossians 2); Jesus’ death takes away the power of the devil over the enslaved (Hebrews 2:14-15); Martyrs’ deaths defeats Satan (Revelation 12:9-11).

d. Given the proof of the injustice of these powers, God sets aside the powers as rulers over people and vindicates Jesus through raising him from the dead and establishes Jesus as ruler of the world at the right hand of God.
God punishes oppressors, whether human or spiritual powers—Psalm 82. The lamb who was slain is worthy of all power (Revelation 5); The one who innocently died God established to rule (Isaiah 52:12-53:14); Jesus humiliated himself as lower than anyone, and so was raised over all (Phil. 2); Jesus established forgiveness of sins and so rules next to God (Hebrews 1:3-4); God raises one on the third day to indicate vindication (Hosea 6:2).

e. Those who accept Jesus as their king are allowed to live under the rule of Jesus, in the utopia of God with God’s spirit.
Believe in Jesus the Lord Messiah (Acts 15; John 17:3; 20:31; Acts 2:36; 16:31; Romans 3:22; 5:1; 10:9; Galatians 2:16)
Baptism is commitment to Jesus as Messiah for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 10:48; Romans 6:3-7)
God calls us into a fellowship through Messiah Jesus (I Corinthians 1:9)
Believe in the gospel and be ready for God’s kingdom (Mark 1:15)

f. The law of Jesus gives grace to everyone who repents, no matter how many times they repent.
God forgives those who confess and repent—Psalm 32, 51; Ezekiel 18; Luke 15; Luke 17:3-4; Matthew 18:15-30; Luke 13:1-5; Acts 2:38; I John 1:9.

g. Those who live God’s life and suffer for it under the powers are set up by God to take the ruling place of the powers.
“Those who humble themselves will be raised and those who exalt themselves will be humbled” Matthew 18:4; 23:12; Luke 14:11; 18:14; Jesus death used as example of humility—I Peter 2:21ff; Philippians 2. God raises up the humble and lowers the mighty—I Samuel 2; Psalm 37; Luke 1. The one who suffers unjustly for God will be raised from the dead and experiences God’s utopia—Psalm 22; 37; Matthew 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23; Philippians 2; Romans 5:3-5, 8:17.

The “Crux” of the matter: We need to commit ourselves to Jesus as our King and Lord through baptism and live according to His law. Those of us who humble ourselves and suffer for Jesus will rule with Him when He returns.

Trump And the Lazy Assistant-- Matthew 25

2008-01-11T08:49:00.000-08:00

There was a CEO preparing to go on a journey, so he summoned his vice presidents and appointed to them the tasks they were to care for. “Here,” he said to one Veep who displayed some business talents, “Take this five thousand dollars. Do what you can to make it profit.” He gave another one two thousand and another one thousand. The Veep with five thousand walked straight out of the boardroom to the stocks and made wise trades until he doubled the amount given. The Veep with two thousand succeeded in the same way, doubling his given amount. But the Veep with a thousand went home immediately and dug a hole in the ground and put the CEO’s money there. “There,” he thought, “That ought to keep it safe.” Then he played golf in his office, awaiting the CEO’s return. It took a long while, but eventually the CEO returned to his main office. Then he called them in to look at their accounting books. The Veep with five thousand strode straight up to the CEO and said, “Boss, you gave me five thousand, and I doubled your money! Now you have ten thousand!” The CEO smiled at him and said, “Excellent. You have rewarded my faith in you, you faithful manager. This was but a small test, but I will put you in charge of large companies now, because whoever manages insignificant things well can be entrusted with the important. You will manage with me, in my offices, now.” The one with two thousand, emboldened, approached the CEO as well and said, “Here, sir, you can see that you gave me two thousand dollars, and I doubled that amount, and am able to give you four thousand.” The CEO responded, “Excellent. You have also rewarded my faith in you, for you, too, are a faithful manager. I will put you in charge of companies as well, because whoever manages insignificant things well can be entrusted with the important. You will also manage with me, in my offices.” Then the third Veep approached the CEO. “Now,” he said, “I approached your money in a different way. You see, I know you are a strict man, and I hated to think of what would happen if I lost the money you gave me. So I figured that a man of your resources could get something out of nothing, so I just put the money in the ground for safe keeping. Now I’ve dug it up, and here it is.” The Veep handed the CEO the thousand dollars, filthy and mold growing on it. The CEO turned around and told the Veep, “So, you figured that I could get something out of nothing, eh? Well, then you could have put it in the bank, and at least I would have gotten a bit of interest! You are an idiot! And lazy! All this time, and all I get is some rotting cash, not a cent more than I gave you? You,” and he pointed to one of his personal servants, “take this… cash… and give it to the Veep that has ten thousand. My principle is this—those who have something to offer obtain more, but those with nothing to offer, even what he has will disappear. And throw this man out of here, he’s fired! He can spend his days with those mourning their own corpses in the unemployment line.”

A Harsh Lord
Jesus would often use examples of harsh, even evil, overlords to illustrate how hard-nosed God is in some ways. He uses the example of a ruthless master in Luke 16 and the picture of a corrupt judge in Luke 18. Here, in Matthew 25 (as well as the parallel in Luke 19) he uses the example of a wealthy landowner, who only sees the bottom line. He is so harsh, that if a slave makes no profit on the small amount of money he gives him, then he will throw him out of the household, where he will, at best, be penniless and homeless and, at best, he will be treated as a runaway and killed. He insists that the slave should have at least gotten interest from the money, by which he means that the slave should have gone to the black market, for obtaining interest on a loan was illegal at the time.

What did Jesus give us?
Most interpreters understand this parable to only illustrate God’s view of the resources he has given us. We have received all of our money and possessions from God, they say, and God wants us to increase these resources for the kingdom of God. Thus, if we have money, we should increase it for kingdom use.
The problem with the usual interpretation is that Jesus isn’t describing the Father in this parable, but himself. It is Jesus who is the Lord who is going away for a time and then will judge his servants as to their work while he was away. So we need to think a bit more specifically, without being confused by simplistic Trinitarian thinking. What is it that Jesus gave to us that He wants us to replicate? It is not our finances or our physical resources. Jesus specifically tells us to give these away freely, or to just walk away from them (Mark 10). Rather, he wants us to build up that which He has given us, which is, the gospel.
In other parables, Jesus says that the gospel will multiply itself, like the parable of the sower and the parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4, Matthew 13). And Jesus also said that it is the gospel, the teaching, the will of God, that He gives to his disciples. It is the gospel that we are judged by on the final day. (Matthew 7:21-27; 10: 7-8; 12:48-50) Jesus is not interested in us working with material resources to increase them. Rather, he is interested in us increasing the gospel.

Multiplication Problem
But how do we increase the gospel? Some think that increasing the gospel means winning converts. Certainly speaking the gospel is significant, but the results of that speaking is not in our hands. We cannot force others to listen to the gospel, and other’s response in partly in their own hands, and partly in God’s. Most people, Jesus said, will not pay attention to the gospel (Mark 4, John 6:44). So the “fruit” is not converts. What is Jesus talking about then?

Fearing v. Being Bold
Firstly, the slaves who were praised took chances with what was given them. But the lazy slave was characterized as being afraid to lose what was given. So he took the gospel, put it in pretty books safely guarded on his bookshelf so that he would never lose it. The gospel cannot be accompanied by a spirit of fear, or else we lose the actions the gospel requires of us. We must instead be bold with the gospel, ready to, as the famous philosopher insisted, to “take chances, make mistakes and get messy!” Keeping the gospel safe is not our work. Rather, working with the gospel and pushing it to extremes is our true work.

Listening v. Obedience
The main reaction Jesus wants us to have to the gospel is that of obedience. He distinguishes between those that hear the gospel and those that do it (Matthew 7:24-27). The slave in the parable above heard what his Lord had to say, but he ignored it, preferring his own skewed interpretation of his Lord’s saying rather than what it clearly meant. Jesus, in speaking of the gospel, speaks of believing in Him, it is true. But that is not the end of the requirements of the gospel. Rather, obedience to the gospel requires one to repent of our sins, to surrender one’s possessions, to do good to those who persecute us, and to humbly serve other disciples. Believing is like listening, and the disciple who only believes but never repents, never surrenders, never loves his enemies, never serves is going to be punished by the Lord who spoke the gospel to him or her.

Privatization v. Doing Work
Finally, the slaves who received praise from their Lord took the resources they received and worked with it in the world. By contrast, the lazy slave hid his proceeds. He kept it private, so that his religion was a “personal” one, that was never discussed or proclaimed to others. It was enough for him to know what was true, he didn’t need to tell anyone else. However, Jesus insists that his gospel must be declared publicly and defended publicly (Matthew 10:32-33). But those who hide their faith and even deny it, will be publicly humiliated on the judgment day.

Worse Than A Heretic
So faithfulness to the gospel is characterized by being bold, obeying the gospel and working it in the world, even with those who hate it. But to “believe” in the gospel and yet not respond to it in this way is “laziness” and “faithlessness”. Jesus insists that the disciple who knows the gospel but does not act on it is no true disciple and will be treated accordingly.
According to Jesus, the one who never claimed to obey the gospel, but ended up doing the things the gospel requires will be rewarded. But those who hold dearly to Jesus’ Lordship but never do the works required of it will be judged harshly. This is the difficulty of the Christian faith. It only does us any good if we go all the way with it. If we are but halfway then we are worse than a Hindu or agnostic or even a heretic. At least these live out the convictions of their faith. But Jesus has nothing to do with those who claim Him, but do not walk with Him.

Jesus Doesn’t Accept Hypocrites

A response to the Recylable and the Trash

2007-12-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

When I was living in Newport, I had a few observations of homeless people. Towards the end of my stay at your moms I had started school and was spending a lot of time at the Mariners Branch Library on Irvine. One Sunday afternoon I was there studying and in came this homeless man, filthy dirty, dark skin color, tattered clothes, dreads. He wandered through the library and then began circling the fiction section. Round and round he would go and as I observed him what became more apparent was the thirty +/- people that sat around me, not one of us even let on that we noticed him.

My second encounter was at Starbucks on PCH. I walked in and immediately was taken a back by the non-Starbucks coffee smell that usually permeates the air. As I glanced towards the counter, a homeless man stood there with his back to the counter, staring right at me with a HUGE smile on his face…

I started wondering if these Newport Beach homeless people were really angels. I wondered that the first time I saw a homeless man walking down Bayside, to the left of him were million dollar waterfront homes, and to the right of him, six-figure automobiles. Did anybody see them? Did anybody reach out to them?

I didn’t. I sarcastically responded to the smiling man in Starbucks because he made me nervous. I chose fear as my guide rather than Jesus…

Thank you for your reminder of Jesus words, His love and His longing for us that we would in turn love, trust and obey.

Love

P

The Recyclable and the Trash

2007-12-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

When the Emperor of God descends from heaven displaying his power, having all the angels of heaven surrounding him, then he will rule from his throne and every person on earth will be collected and will stand before His throne. He will judge them all and will divide them up as a rag picker will separate the useful from the trash. And the recyclable he will stand at his right, and the trash he will stand at his left. The King will proclaim to the right, “I welcome you, those whom my Father speaks well of. You may now possess the Kingdom—my Kingdom—which has been made ready for you, the righteous of humanity, from the creation of the world. You are worthy of this, because of your assistance to me. I was hungry in your neighborhood, and you gave me food. I was parched, passing by your dwelling, and you offered me some water. I was an immigrant and outcast and you let me in your house for the night. I was walking around freezing, and you give me your coat. I was sick and you nursed me to health. I was in prison and you came and met my needs. You listened to me when I was lonely. You kept me safe when I was fearful. You gave me work when I was in need and paid me at the end of the day.” These righteous will answer the Emperor thus, “Our Lord, we thank you. But are you sure you are speaking of us? Did we really see you hungry and feed you? Did we see you needing a drink and gave you something? When did we see you—you of all people-- an outcast and bring you into our house? When were you freezing and we gave you clothes or a blanket? And when, my Lord, when were you in prison and we had opportunity to visit you?” And the Emperor will answer them, “Listen carefully—whatever you did it to these disciples of mine—even these lowly ones— you did the same to me.” Then the Emperor will turn to his other side. “You will leave me, you whom the Father curses with his every breath. You will be cast into the punishment which was created for Satan and his messengers. Because I came to your town, hungry, and you told me to get a job. I came to your street, parched with thirst, and you wouldn’t talk to me. I was an immigrant, a homeless person, a mentally ill person on the street, a traveler and you refused me entrance at your doorstep. I was shivering in the cold and you passed by me, although you had closets full of coats, shelves full of extra blankets you weren’t using. I became bed-ridden and disabled and you were too busy with your own life to assist me, or even check in on me. I was in prison, through no fault of my own, and in a locked mental health facility and in the state hospital and you didn’t even write to me, let alone visit me. You cannot live with me in my kingdom, since you did not share your life with me when I was with you.” They will respond, “But Great Lord, I’m sure you weren’t hungry or thirsty! And you couldn’t have been an outcast or freezing. You were never in our neighborhood—I would remember! And you, being sick—I don’t think so. And you would never have been in prison or a mental health hospital. And if you were, we would have been there for you, serving you, Lord!” The Emperor answers, “Listen carefully, inasmuch as you did not serve these lowly ones, you did not serve me. I was there, through my disciples, as crazy as they seemed, as insignificant as they seemed, and you didn’t let them in your life. Even so, I don’t want you in mine.” And they will leave the Lord and go to eternal punishment. But those who acted with justice lived with the Lord eternally.

A Parable or the Real Thing?
Some think of this passage as a parable. But other parables don’t take place all in future tense, nor give such a clear, plain description of judgment day. Yes, it uses the simile of the sheep and the goats for a single verse, but the text quickly forgets it and gets back to the stark, though spiritual, reality. The reality is this: Jesus is coming back to earth to establish a world-wide takeover. When he is emperor of the world, then he will put every person in front of him, and they will all be judged. There are many references to Jesus’ judging the world (John 5, II Corinthians 5, I Corinthians 3, to name a few), but this is the most detailed description.

Service and Salvation
Like all passages about judgment, it has a clear message of what one must do to be saved on this day. And if we don’t get it the first time, then we can hear it again. And again. Four times in all. What do we do to be saved on the final day? We must serve the poor. Anyone in need, we work for them. It is interesting that it doesn’t talk about giving them money. Rather it talks about using what small resources we have and directly providing their needs. So the saved one, when he sees someone hungry, he feeds them. She will see someone homeless and house them. They know of someone sick and they nurse them to health. It is interesting about the section about those in prison. Those in prison in the ancient world are not granted food or other care. It is expected that their family and friends would do that. So the one who really assists the other is the one who feeds them, cares for them when no one else would.
Even as Jesus before focused on giving to the poor or repenting or being persecuted, now he shows that the one item that is significant on the judgment day is service. And this isn’t service in general. Rather it is free provision to those in need, directly to their area of need, without expecting anything in return.

Faithfulness to the absent king
But haven’t we always learned that salvation is based on faith, not works? Doesn’t this passage teach just the opposite. Actually, this passage teaches what the whole New Testament affirms—that we obtain our salvation by acting on our faith in Jesus. If, this passage teaches, you believe in Jesus, then you will help out those who are disciples of Jesus when they are in need. Because if we help out the disciples of Jesus in need, then we are, by proxy, helping Jesus himself.
The message of the Sheep and the Goats is that the King is absent for right now, and how we treat his servants is how we will be treated. If we don’t invite the people of Jesus in our lives by feeding, clothing, housing and caring for them, then Jesus will not want us in His life, in the kingdom of God. But if we welcome the people of Jesus in need, then we will be welcomed by Jesus into his kingdom.
Some might say, “Is this passage only talking about the church? Isn’t Jesus talking about all the poor?” The passage says specifically of the people Jesus calls his “brothers”. In Matthew, Jesus’ “brothers” are specifically those who are his disciples who do God’s will (Matthew 12:48-50). So it is especially for the church. And it is in agreement with Matthew 10:40-42 which says that those who offer hospitality, “even a cup of cold water” to Jesus’ prophets, righteous people and disciples “because he is a disciple” then they will obtain their reward from God—that is, entrance in the kingdom. This does not mean that helping the homeless and needy in general isn’t a benefit. But it may or may not be an act of faith. Helping Jesus’ disciples specifically is an act of faith.

The Big Test
This passage certainly tells us to help the poor, which many in the church want to do anyway. But it has a special challenge to the church today. Often the church sees itself as being specifically middle class. Yes, they say, there are certainly Christians who are persecuted all throughout the world. But the church often assumes that the “crazy man” pretending to pray on the corner isn’t a “real” Christian. The homeless man who used to be a drug addict and can’t get off of the street can’t be a Christian. Those who have to beg for their food aren’t real believers. So when we help the homeless or the mentally ill, we assume that these are people who need to be saved. As a contrast, Jesus himself says that these believers on the street, rather than only being a marginal Christian are the center of the faith. We will be judged on our every response to these folks, more than any other act. Every act we do is important, but how we respond to the cold, the poor, the helpless, the mentally ill, is how we will be treated by Jesus on the final day.

Universal Determination
There is one last shock in this passage. Everyone goes through this judgment. Not just believers, not just non-believers. Everyone. Without exception. And Jesus isn’t having everyone show their faith statements they signed before they enter the judgment hall. Or their church affiliation. Rather, he is ONLY looking at people’s response to the helpless disciple. Thus, we will all be surprised as to who will be on the one side or the other on Judgment Day. There will be some pretty immoral folks on the side the Father speaks well of. And there will be some people we thought of as “living saints” on the rejected side with the demons. All of it based on whether one is helping the helpless disciple. Our whole eternal life could be based on one time of us either saying “no” or “yes” to a Christian in need, depending on how many opportunities we receive.

The Lucky Dogs

2007-11-27T18:03:00.000-08:00

Ah, the poor—you lucky dogs! Because you are the owners of God’s kingdom.
How lucky are those who are presently hungry—because God will make sure you have your fill.
How lucky are those who weep in this life—because God will make you laugh.
How lucky are you, my disciples, when people hate you. You are fortunate when they won’t have anything to do with you, when they call you names and tear down your reputation. When that happens—have a party! Jump for joy! Because you are lined up with great things from God. Because, you see, this is the way their type have always treated God’s prophets.
But you well off—I’m so sorry. You are getting all the good life you will ever get.
It’s so sad about you who eat well now, because God will make sure you will be hungry.
It’s so sad about you who are well entertained now, because God will make sure that you weep and grieve.
And you who have excellent reputations with everyone? Grieve, for that is how their type treated the false prophets.

To Get Lucky Like A Dog…
When Jesus spoke these words in Luke 6, it says that he was speaking to his disciples. These are his students who memorized his sayings and spoke his message to the populace around. Some of these folks were sincere in following Jesus, while some were in the business for the prestige of being close to Jesus, of using his name to push their own agenda. Here, we see that Jesus fully recognizes that some of his disciples he fully approved of, while others he felt were compromisers. And the compromisers would receive none of the blessings.

…You’ve Got to Get Treated Like One
The true disciples, say Jesus, are the anawim—the poor, the humble, the humiliated, the outcast. They are the ones who, as a result of preaching the gospel that Jesus gave them, end up in poverty, in hunger, in sorrow and completely disregarded. These are the true followers of Jesus, the true recipients of the kingdom of God.

It’s just not fair!
But why? Why should the true followers of Jesus suffer in this way? Well, let’s face it, Jesus’ reputation is mixed. In his day he was known as a great healer and as a heretic teacher. Today he is connected to both mercy and fundamentalism. He is seen as both a wonderful teacher and a religious fanatic. In this way, a person can use the name of Jesus to get ahead, or they can be attached to Jesus and obtain infamy.
What Jesus is saying is to recognize that He is both loved and universally hated. Those who really know Jesus are, at the least, uncomfortable around Him. Some truly despise him—especially those who want to uphold the standards of this age, who see the world as fundmentally good, but needing a few minor changes. We must remember that Jesus is speaking about a complete overhaul of the world—the mechanical equivalent of replacing the engine. Jesus says, “It can’t be fixed! Just scrap the whole world system and start over!”
So those who truly are saying that which Jesus says will be hated as well. Jesus says, “If they hated me, they will hate you as well.” But not everyone who speaks Jesus’ name or words is hated. Why? Because they change Jesus’ fundamental message into a lighter, more palatable affair. Perhaps they do this because they want a hearing, or because they want to get ahead in the world as it exists. But Jesus states clearly that those who speak His gospel without compromise will be rejected.

Persecution promise
Jesus’ promise for his disciples is persecution. It isn’t a possibility, it isn’t a suggestion, it isn’t even a command. It is a promise. If we truly follow Jesus, live his life and speak his message, we will be persecuted. Now some say, “But I’ve followed Jesus in all the ways I can, but I’ve never been persecuted! Am I going to hell?” Okay, now slow down. Often we have a bigger idea of persecution than Jesus has in mind. We don’t need to be beaten or martyred to be persecuted, although that is a good indication of it.
Jesus has two parts to his concept of persecution. First of all, we need to be rejected in some way. We might be rejected by beatings, or we could be rejected by people refusing to talk to us. People could see us and walk the other way. People might scoff whenever our name is brought up. They might call us names behind our back. All of these actions are types of persecution, types of rejection, as well as being arrested, beaten and killed.

Jerks for Jesus
The second aspect of persecution, according to Jesus is that we must be persecuted for living out or talking about the gospel of Jesus. The true persecution is rejection we receive due directly to our commitment to Jesus.
A lot of people think that they are truly following Jesus because they have been persecuted for Him, when in reality they have been persecuted because they acted like an idiot in public. If you act hatefully, if you yell at people, if you are a stalker for Jesus, if you do other things for Jesus that makes you a jerk (that He didn’t specifically command), then you aren’t being persecuted for Jesus. You are being hated because you are acting inappropriately. Paul’s statement, “Speak the truth in love” is too often ignored by Christians seeking to please Jesus by being persecuted. We are to be rejected because of the message of Jesus, not because of how we deliver that message. If we speak the message of Jesus in a way that could be received, and then we are rejected, then we are being persecuted. But if we are a jerk for Jesus, then we are not receiving the persecution Jesus promised us.

Suffering for Fun and Profit
Another thing Jesus mentions in this passage about persecution is that it should be one of the best things that ever happen to us. Once we are rejected and openly hated for speaking Jesus’ word, we should be happy! We should celebrate and have a party—assuming that anyone shows up, of course. This seems like an odd reaction—and actually it is one of the more difficult commands of Jesus to follow. “Okay, I’ve just been rejected by my parents and my best friend… and so I’m supposed to call people up and say—‘oh, isn’t it cool?’”
It is difficult, but it has a logic to it. Persecution is like a baptism (in fact, the early Anabaptist reformers called it the “baptism of fire”)—it is an initiation rite. When we get persecuted for Jesus’ sake, it is an assurance of our salvation. Yes, Jesus recognizes that rejection isn’t fun, but we can truly rejoice if we know that this persecution is our guarantee of God’s approval! So there are three kinds of initiation that we should celebrate—our baptism, our first communion and our first persecution. Actually, we SHOULD have persecution parties!

Tom Hanks Need Not Apply
Finally, there are those who do not get persecuted. We need to remember that Jesus is speaking to those who were following Him. They have repented from their sins, some of them have sacrificed their possessions for Jesus. But Jesus is saying that sacrificing as a business investment just doesn’t work. We need to recognize that our lot in life in doing the ministry of Jesus isn’t a nice salary, a good car and a comfortable lifestyle. Rather, living for Jesus is a promise of poverty, hunger and rejection. Perhaps not everyone lives this way all the time, but some do and the other followers of Jesus recognize that this is the path that Jesus laid out for all of us. If we use Jesus as a means to become a “professional” or to live the “good life” or to obtain the American dream, then we are not following Jesus at all. We are being a hypocrite.

To follow Jesus is to be rejected for Jesus.

Excuses, Excuses

2007-11-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Jesus was at a party and he gave a speech. Hearing him, one of those listening announced, “How wonderful it will be for those who are at the party of God!” Jesus replied with a story: “There was a man planning a party and he sent invitations out. As a reminder, he sent one of his employees out at the time of the party to all those invited. But they—every one—offered excuses instead. One said, ‘Oh, I just bought some real estate and I need to go look at it. So sorry, but I’m just too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just bought five work trucks and I need to test them out. I’m really sorry, but I’m too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and, well, we’re just too busy. Sorry, can’t come.’ So the employees returned to their CEO and explained all this to him. He fumed and he told his employees, ‘OK, fine. Then go downtown and invite every beggar—the bums, cripples, winos and indigent.’ After a bit, the employees reported back to him, ‘We did as you requested, sir, but the hall still looks pretty empty.’ So the CEO said, ‘Then go out of the city and collect the passers through, all the immigrants looking for work and other foreigners. Convince them to come in until the banquet hall is completely full. But I swear to you, not a single one who was invited will have even a bite of my feast.’

Jude: I just had the most frustrating conversation with Jesus today…
Matt: Oh, really? As if THAT was something new.
Jude: Yeah, I know. He should really take a class in making friends.
Matt: Well, look around at the crowds, boy. He won’t lack in followers. Anyway, what was your conversation about?
Jude: You know that I’ve been following Jesus for a while and so I decided to formally become his student. From my mindset, it only makes sense. He clearly has God’s approval—look at the miracles! And he says that he’s the only teacher that can bring us into God’s kingdom. I know that God’s kingdom is coming soon, and the priests and Sanhedrin are so corrupt they can’t last long. So I told him that I was ready to follow him formally.
Matt: That’s great! So what did he say?
Jude: That’s the thing. At first he seemed to accept my proposal, but then he just turned on me and said I wasn’t worthy.
Matt: Odd. Doesn’t sound like him. What exactly did he say?
Jude: Well, I told him I wanted to be one of his disciples. He nodded. So I told him that I would just say goodbye to my family and then come back to him right away. And he said something like, “Whoever plows…” or,
Matt: “He who sets his hand to the plow and turns back is not worthy of the kingdom of God.”
Jude: That’s it, exactly! How did you know?
Matt: When you are around a while, you’ll find that Jesus tends to repeat many of the same stories and aphorisms. Makes it easier to memorize them.
Jude: That’s good to know. If I ever get to be a disciple. But what does he mean by that phrase? It sounds like he’s just saying that I can’t follow him.
Matt: That’s not it at all. What he means is that to follow him is such a serious business that we have to be ready to sacrifice some pretty significant things in our lives.
Jude: Like what?
Matt: Well, did he mention possessions?
Jude: Not to me. But I did hear him make a pretty serious demand of another potential disciple.
Matt: That’s pretty common. He wants us all to surrender our possessions.
Jude: Ohhh. Hmm, maybe I don’t want to follow him after all. I don’t want some teacher using God’s law as a means of getting rich.
Matt: No, you don’t understand. He doesn’t get a cent of the money you give. He insists that we all give our possessions to the poor, not to him.
Jude: The poor? You mean, like beggars or people too lazy to work for themselves? Why should I give to them?
Matt: According to what Jesus says, simply because they are in need. They are followers of God as well. To call them lazy is a judgment that isn’t necessarily true. But our possessions are separating us from God, they tear us away from serving Him to serving them. They become another god in our lives so we need to be rid of them and give them to the poor.
Jude: Oh, come on. We have to take care of ourselves and care for our own. We can’t just leave everything and be dependent.
Matt: That is exactly what Jesus wants of us. He wants us to be dependent on God. The Lord has been trying to get us to be dependent on him ever since He formed his people. He gave them manna to depend on Him for food. He established rules for kings that they would not depend on an army, but on Him for security. Jesus himself taught us to pray for our daily bread, so we would depend on God daily. This is why he told us not to worry. “Seek the kingdom and its righteousness and all food and clothing will be provided by God.” So we surrender that which is not necessary so we can be dependent on Him.
Jude: Yeah, sure. But why the poor? Shouldn’t we give them to someone more deserving?
Matt: Doesn’t everyone deserve to eat? If we withhold our goods, we are keeping them from that. Doesn’t everyone deserve to have shelter from the cold—no matter who they are? Doesn’t everyone deserve to live? God gives everyone, no matter how evil, the basic to live. And He has handed the fate of the poor into our hands. Thus, we must help to be a part of God’s work.
Jude: Honesty, giving up my few possessions are no problem for me. Now my cousin Barnabas, he’s pretty well off and I don’t see him just selling off everything.
Matt: That’s why Jesus said it is so hard for a wealthy man to get into God’s kingdom. Because they have so much to give up.
Jude: Okay, I guess I understand that. But it doesn’t really have anything to do with what Jesus said to me. Jesus was talking about not even seeing my family to say goodbye. That goes beyond sacrifice, it’s irresponsible.
Matt: Really? So when you go to your family and say goodbye, what do you think will happen?
Jude: Well, they may disagree with me, but they will understand that I am an adult and that I make my own decisions…
Matt: Oh, really? Is that really what your mom will say?
Jude: Um, well, I guess not. I suppose she will break down and weep and beg me to stay.
Matt: Does she really appreciate Jesus?
Jude: She thinks he’s a cult leader. A conjurer who is in it for the money.
Matt: And what will you do if you get attacked by this weeping?
Jude: I don’t know. I suppose that I’ll just get back to Jesus?
Matt: Come on, be honest.
Jude: I suppose I would stay for a few days and then leave.
Matt: And at the end of the three days and your mom gives you another excuse to stay?
Jude: Oh. I see what you mean.
Matt: Jesus rightly sees your family as a rival for your devotion. He wants your all, not just part of you. If part of you is still emotionally tied to your family, you will never give your all to Him.
Jude: But, really, I have responsibilities. I am the first born. I have certain things to do.
Matt: Let others take care of your responsibilities. Don’t you have brothers who aren’t following Jesus?
Jude: Yes, but it isn’t their job…
Matt: And it isn’t yours either if you follow Jesus. Jesus has another job for you—one that will lead to eternal life. Yes, we should care for our families, but when Jesus calls us, then we can’t turn back. We can’t go back to our old lives, our old responsibilities. It’s dependence again. God will care for our responsibilities and we will work for Him.
Jude: But, Matt, no other teacher demands this! It’s insane. No other Jews require this.
Matt: Are you so insulated? There are whole communities that separate themselves from their families and their possessions and live for God and the poor. And even if no one else was doing it, Jesus is making the request of you. Is He your Lord or not?
Jude: I don’t know. It’s just so much.
Matt: Actually, what you are really saying with all these questions and objections is that you just don’t want to. You just don’t want to sacrifice your life, even for Jesus. But it isn’t just about Jesus or being a Christian. This is about a whole future. Are you willing to invest your life—your family, all you have—for a life of justice and love and hope? Are you willing to give up the paltry amount you have for the sake of eternity? If you don’t follow Jesus, where else will you gain eternal life? Will you get it by doing your family’s bidding? Will you get it by holding onto your possessions?
Jude: Well, no. I know that.
Matt: Then, really, isn’t it just a small thing Jesus is asking you to surrender? And that little bit for eternal life with God?
Jude: Yeah. You’re right. Let me think about that.
Matt: Yeah, you do that.

The Divine IRA Account

2007-11-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

A young man called out to Jesus from the crowd and said, “Teacher, command the trustee of my father’s will to give me my share of the inheritance!” Jesus replied, “I am not a lawyer or a judge—why should I get involved?” Then Jesus told everyone, “Guard yourself from every form of trying to get more in the world. When you finally get everything you want and more, then you finally realize too late that stuff is not what life is about.”

“There was an entrepreneur who ran his own business. One year, he did exceptionally well, and found that his business had outgrown his little store. So he was contemplating what he would do with his surplus profit, so, talking to himself, he said, ‘I know! I will rent a larger store, hire a couple of employees and the business will practically run itself! Then, over a few years I will have a tidy nest egg stored up and I’ll say to myself, “You have found the good life. Now it’s time to relax, and enjoy your retirement.”’ In that instant, however, God’s voice spoke to the man, ‘You are such an idiot. This very night your life is to be taken from you. So who will enjoy what you are planning?’ This is what happens to a person who works for himself and his family, but who never gives to God by giving to the poor.”…

“Don’t be afraid to surrender your possessions, my dear students. You Father has happily determined that you are to have the whole kingdom of God—what do you need of useless trinkets? Go ahead and sell your stuff and give freely to those in need. Then you will have a savings that you can never use up, and is much safer than a bank, a mattress or your penny-pinching aunt. God will preserve it for you. But take this proposal seriously, and don’t blow it off—because what you use your money on is what you are devoting yourself to.

“There was a rich man who dressed in bright colors and fine cotton, living with his excellent entertainments daily. There was also a disabled poor man named Lazarus who begged outside his property daily, who was obviously sick. Lazarus dreamed about lying under the wealthy man’s table just to eat what fell on the floor, but all he got were kids coming by, yelling at him and throwing things at him. The poor man finally died, and angels carried him to Abraham in heaven. And the wealthy man also died and was given a proper burial, but ended up in hell where he was in agony. The wealthy man looked up and saw Abraham and Lazarus in heaven from a long distance off and he called out, “Father Abraham! Father Abraham! I am a religious man, so please do me a favor and ask Lazarus to come over to give me just the smallest amount of pain reliever because I am in terrible agony.” Abraham replied, “My son, do you remember in the time of your life? You had all the good, and Lazarus had all the evil in the world. Now in this life there is finally justice so Lazarus is comforted and you are in agony. Besides, the distance between us is so great that no one can go from one side to the other.” The rich man yelled out again, “Then could you please send Lazarus to my family? I have five brothers and I don’t want them to suffer here with me.” Abraham replied curtly, “Let them listen to the Bible.” The man said, “But they don’t, Father Abraham! But if someone comes to them from the dead to sternly warn them about giving to the poor, they will listen.” Abraham replied, “If those Scrooges won’t listen to the Scriptures, then they won’t listen to a ghost.”

The Homeboys
It is said that God doesn’t play favorites. And that’s kind of true—God gives everyone the same opportunity for His salvation through Jesus. But in a sense God does play favorites. You see God is the judge of the universe, and He is the one responsible to make sure justice is done throughout the world. And so God pays attention to those who can’t receive justice—more attention to them than to the ones who can get justice in the courthouse or through their money. So God pays attention to the poor and needy—they are His favorites. They get God’s ear. (Exodus 22:22-23; Psalm 37)

The Poor DONT Have to Be With Us
Some say that Jesus said that we don’t always need to help the poor because they are always going to be with us. (Matthew 26:11) But that’s not exactly what Jesus was saying. Jesus was quoting a passage in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 15:1-8), which was talking about how poverty can be eliminated among God’s people. This is through giving to those brothers and sisters who are in need. If, the law proclaims, the needy are provided for, there doesn’t ever have to be poor. But, continues Moses, the poor WILL constantly be there, so there will always be people to give to. This last bit is what Jesus quoted. But this seems to be a contradiction—how can there be an idealistic society without poverty and yet poverty will always be with us?

Greed Kills
Simple. For poverty to be eliminated, we must first eliminate greed. Greed is not just wanting what someone else has, although that is included. Nor is it wanting more for yourself than you need. Rather greed is refusing to help another person in need when you have the means to do so (I John 3:17-18). This greed is not just selfishness, it is hatred of others who have need. Jesus warns us with very strong language to avoid greed at all cost, because greed kills. Greed kills the poor, because those in need don’t get what the justly deserve. And greed kills the greedy because God will track down the greedy and destroy them. For this reason, Paul says to the Christian community, “Do let greed even be mentioned about you.” (Ephesians 5:3).

Community of Privilege
Many of us are like the wealthy men in Jesus’ parables. We think to ourselves, “I earned the money or received it justly, so I should be able to do with it whatever I want.” This kind of thinking has created a culture of privilege, which assumes that we deserve a higher standard of living than others. Certainly some people in some of God’s work need to have greater resources than others. But no one “deserves” a higher lifestyle at the cost of other’s needs. God will punish anyone who sees the needs of others, has the means, but refuses to give because they need to maintain a “lifestyle”. In America, our lifestyle is killing us, impoverishing us because of our understanding that the “good life” is the life surrounded by stuff and entertainments. The “good life” is the life in God, which is a life focused on the Spirit, not on stuff.

Community of inclusion
Instead of a community of greed and stinginess, we are to have a community of inclusion, in which we treat the poor with as much generosity as we do our employees or our friends. Often the poor are excluded because they have different values than our culture or they dress or smell differently. We can’t trust them, so we don’t give to them, at least not like our friends, whom we understand and appreciate and give generously to. Jesus’ community, however, has always been a community of inclusion, and the poor are treated at least as well as people on any other socio-economic status. Perhaps the poor can budget or be “responsible” with money, but they are still treated fairly. In the early church, this community of inclusion and economic sharing is so thorough that the wealthy freely give of their most prized possessions, and there are no poor among them. No poor at all. Everyone has their needs met, in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 15.

Big House
The main question everyone asks when we speak about sacrificing is, “But how will I get this need met if I give everything away? How can I provide for myself and those with me?” Jesus answers that directly. He says that God will provide everything (Luke 12). If we prove faithful to God, then we can trust in God to provide. We need not fear or be anxious. God will grant us food, clothing, and healing from sickness and protection from our enemies (Psalm 42:1-5). Not only will God provide us with everything we need in this life, but He is overjoyed then to provide for us the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was really made for those who sacrifice all they have for God’s work and for the poor. These are the ones that God wants in charge of His people, for all eternity. God grant us what we need now, and He also provides us a home, a utopia for us to live in for all eternity.

Go Bust or Bust
So what about those who don’t sacrifice for the poor? What about all the millions of believing Christians that don’t trust the poor enough to give, but just provide for themselves and their families? Well, let’s just look at the words of Jesus to his disciples who don’t give:
“Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”
“It is very difficult for those with many possessions to enter into God’s kingdom. It is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into God’s kingdom.”
Or the words of John to greedy believers:
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer has eternal life.”
Or James:
“For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.” “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!”
These are all written about Christians, not unbelievers. So we need to take our possessions seriously. These hard words are not given to the wealthy who are generous. Because generosity is the salvation of those with a lot of stuff.

Our salvation is found in our sacrifice.

Stuff

2007-11-14T12:07:00.000-08:00

As Jesus returned to his travel, a man ran up to him and bowed in front of him. The man asked, “O Holy Teacher! What must I do to obtain eternal life!” Jesus, assuming this was some brown-noser who was looking for a positive answer, said, “Why do you call me ‘holy’? Only God is holy. I’m sure you’ve heard about the commands that make you right with God—‘Don’t murder,’ ‘Don’t cheat on your spouse’” ‘Don’t steal,’ ‘Don’t commit perjury,’ ‘Don’t defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and all the others. But the man, desperately, said to Jesus, “Teacher, I have already obeyed these from my youth. Isn’t there anything more?” Then Jesus truly noticed him and felt love for him and said, “There is just one thing you need: Go home right now, sell everything you have and give the money to the needy. Then you will have the treasure in heaven you desire. And when you are done with all that, follow me on my journey.” The man stood silently, his face downcast, then he walked away slowly, dejected, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus turned around and said to those following him, “People with a bunch of stuff have a hard time getting into heaven.” Jesus’ students’ were shocked, but Jesus repeated himself, “Kids, it’s very hard to enter into God’s nation. It’s easier to fit a Starbucks in one of their cups than for one of the well-off to get through the gates of heaven. It’s easier for Donald Trump to deflate his ego. It’s easier for Twiggy to swallow a space shuttle. That’s how hard it is for them to give up their stuff.” The students were wide-eyed and mumbled, “Who could possibly be saved, then?” Jesus heard this and stared at them, “It is impossible for any human—but for God, nothing is impossible. He can do anything He wishes.”
Then Peter spoke up, “Look, we left everything to wander places with you.” Jesus replied, “That’s true. And there isn’t anyone who gave up their siblings, parents, and jobs for me and for God’s truth that won’t get a hundred times as much. Even now, before God’s nation fully comes, those who gave up everything will get a hundred times as many siblings, parents and food. Of course, this all comes with being rejected by the world, but you do obtain eternal life in the next age. Just remember this: the first will be last and the last will be first.”

All To Jesus, I Surrender
Jesus is a really demanding boss. Heck, he won’t even let you work for him unless you’re willing to give up just about everything. But Jesus has got some pretty good wages—and the retirement is the best ever.
Jesus has established a school, and it turns out that this school is the only avenue to enter God’s kingdom. So Jesus doesn’t give his school really easy requirements to enter—people have to give up their families, their possessions and even their very lives for Jesus. This is a part of Jesus’ program to have his disciples humbled so that they would obtain greater things from God when the kingdom comes.

Different Strokes
Jesus had a lot of people who wanted to be a part of his school. It was very popular, because people wanted to learn how he accomplished the miracles he did, and also because they wanted the favor that God gave Him. Jesus didn’t make it easy on anyone. He seemed to find the very thing that the potential disciple had a hard time surrendering, and that is what He chose. But He wasn’t making these demands just because it was hard. Rather, he recognized that everyone had different things that would block their passage to God’s kingdom, and He would tell them to get rid of it.
But not everyone’s requirements were the same as others. For some, they need to give up family obligations. For others, they need to surrender the social obligation of saying goodbye properly. For others, they need to sell everything they have. For still others, just leaving everything they have behind is enough. But everyone has to surrender their families, in some way. Everyone has to surrender their possessions. Because these are the things that distract us from God’s work.

Selling everything—The wealthy man had to sell all of his possessions. Although at first Jesus thought the man was looking for a standard answer, when He realized that he was sincerely looking for the truth, Jesus told him the harsh reality—that his possessions was getting in the way of him entering God’s kingdom. The problem with the man was not that he had a lot of money, nor that he didn’t do what was expected of him, nor that he loved his wealth more than God. His problem was, frankly, he just had too much stuff. Stuff will always get in the way of our relationship with God. So if we have a whole lot of stuff, God will tell us to sell it and to give it away. This is because too much stuff is poison to our spiritual lives.

Leaving things behind—Peter noticed Jesus’ response to the man with lotsa stuff, and he was nervous for himself, so he said, “Hey, Lord, we didn’t sell everything, but we did leave it at home.” Jesus’ response is that to leave one’s stuff behind is sufficient. Jesus recognized the sacrifice that the disciples made as being equivalent to selling it. But, unlike the wealthy man, the disciples didn’t have so much stuff that they couldn’t leave it behind. Some have so much that they need to get rid of it permanently. Others can think that they are leaving it behind temporarily (like the disciples who tried to go back to their fishing occupation), but find that Jesus’ call on them is permanent, and that they can never go back.

Community property—As the church developed, there needed to be support people for all the itinerate evangelists. People with large households, such as Philemon (after whom the book of the Bible was named) kept their houses and a lot of their stuff, but shared it with the whole church. They would have the church meet in their homes, have evangelists stay with them and provide generously to the poor. For many people, they live as the early church did, “They held no property as person, but held all things in common… and there was not a needy person among them.” Acts 4:32,34 These folks don’t leave the possessions behind or sell them, but give them freely to whoever, especially in the church, has need of them.

Takin’ Care of Business
Why should we give away our stuff? I mean, it’s our stuff isn’t it? We didn’t steal it or extort anyone! Why can’t we do with it what we want? Of course, we can. But God has greater demands of us than just taking care of our families and our stuff.

Doing kingdom work—Jesus wants all of his disciples to be involved in the work of the kingdom. This means evangelism, establishing communities of believers and discipling new believers. This is hard work, and requires mobility and time—and the more stuff we have, the less work we can give to God.

Treasure in heaven—Treasure in heaven is, first and foremost, entrance into God’s perfect utopia. Secondly, it is the wealth and reward we will receive from God when we get there. There is only ONE way to get treasure in heaven, according to Jesus—giving to the poor.

Getting rid of distractions—The more stuff we have, the more work we have to do to maintain it, protect it, and to keep more coming in. Stuff is the world’s primary way to get us distracted from God, and to feel that we really don’t need Him. To focus on who we really are, and our real need for God and to focus our love of Him, we’ve got to get stuff out of our lives.

Helping the needy—Our stuff is a resource—a treasure—that could be use to help others who aren’t as well off as we are. People are starving in the world, are being destroyed by war, are being persecuted for Jesus. Perhaps we can’t help their emotional pain—that’s God’s job—but we can sell off some of our stuff so they can have their basic needs met. The poor are God’s people, and so to give to them is to give to God.

Bennies and Perks
To give things away is to have God put those things in an IRA with a really high interest rate. It will be returned to you a hundred fold at retirement—when the kingdom comes. We surrender our lives and hopes and dreams in this world, in this age so that God will give us a better time for us to thrive. The more we surrender now, the more we will thrive in the age to come.

“We are slaves of what we want”—Switchfoot

The High Cost of Education

2007-11-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

Jesus was at a party and he gave a speech. Hearing him, one of those listening announced, “How wonderful it will be for those who are at the party of God!” Jesus replied with a story: “There was a man planning a party and he sent invitations out. As a reminder, he sent one of his employees out at the time of the party to all those invited. But they—every one—offered excuses instead. One said, ‘Oh, I just bought some real estate and I need to go look at it. So sorry, but I’m just too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just bought five work trucks and I need to test them out. I’m really sorry, but I’m too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and, well, we’re just too busy. Sorry, can’t come.’ So the employees returned to their CEO and explained all this to him. He fumed and he told his employees, ‘OK, fine. Then go downtown and invite every beggar—the bums, cripples, winos and indigent.’ After a bit, the employees reported back to him, ‘We did as you requested, sir, but the hall still looks pretty empty.’ So the CEO said, ‘Then go out of the city and collect the passers through, all the immigrants looking for work and other foreigners. Convince them to come in until the banquet hall is completely full. But I swear to you, not a single one who was invited will have even a bite of my feast.’”
Jesus noticed that a crowd had gathered, outside the party, listening, so he said to them, “Many of you want to follow me, and be a part of my school. You can learn to do miracles, to be holy, to obtain God’s kingdom. But listen carefully—you can’t be a student in my school until you hate your father, hate your mother, hate your wife, hate your children and brothers and sisters. You can’t be part of my school until you hate your very life. To be a part of my school, you’ve got to be ready to be branded a rebel and killed as a traitor. Look, if you are going to paint your house, you want to know how much it will cost ahead of time, don’t you? Because otherwise, you get halfway done and run out of money to buy more paint and anyone passing by laughs at you and says, ‘Look, this guy started something but he couldn’t finish it.’
Suppose two countries were at war. The presidents of the countries would certainly sit down and make sure that their army was large enough to defeat the other. But suppose that one found that his army was only half the size of the other. Wouldn't he begin working out a negotiation of peace, surrendering everything he had to prevent this war? Even so, God is coming, and you aren't ready for him. If you want to be in my school, and so be ready, you must surrender all of your possessions, just like that king."
You may think that you are different, the salt of the earth, the stuff of which the church will really make a difference. But if salt has no flavor—if it’s just the same as everything else—then how can you make it useful again? It is pointless—not of any use for food or anything else. So we just throw it out. What do you think God will do with “salt” that is the same as dirt? If you’ve got a half a brain, then understand this.

What is the cost of Jesus’ school?
When people approached Jesus to be his follower, they didn’t think that he was the only way to salvation, the only means to obtain God’s kingdom. Rather, he was one of many teachers who had a particular way of thinking within ancient Judaism, he was a rabbi, amidst many other rabbis. The difference is that this rabbi could heal the blind, exorcise demons and raise the dead. That definitely gave him an edge above other teachers. He was very popular and always had a crowd around him. And people maybe listened a bit closer to him than to other teachers, because, well, he had POWER.
But he was still just a teacher, who had an idea of what God wanted of us, just like any other. And the people weren’t sure that they wanted to make the full commitment to be a disciple, or one of his students. After all, being a disciple is a lot of work. You have to do whatever the rabbi told you—full obedience was a minimum. And often a rabbi asked you to give things to him, or to the school, as payment for the education he was requiring. And a disciple had to spend their time memorizing the rabbi’s teachings—word for word if possible.

Maybe He Needed an MBA
But when Jesus talked about the costs of his school, He used the most extreme language. His requirements were tougher than anyone else’s. This is unusual, because while no rabbi made it easy for their disciples to enter their school, they did want to attract disciples and they knew that if they used extreme language, then they wouldn’t have many students. But Jesus’ language isn’t good advertising at all.

What did Jesus say would be the requirements to join his school—the things he is requiring up front?

Social expectations—Although not directly here, but in Luke 9, Jesus talks about not being able to say goodbye to one’s family, or to return to bury one’s father when he died. Jesus is saying that the work that He sends his disciples to is more important than any family obligations or social niceties. Jesus basically says, “Either be my disciple, or be socially acceptable—but you can’t be both.”

Family—Jesus says that to be his student is to hate one’s family. Jesus doesn’t mean that one sends the family black roses and tells them that you can’t see them anymore. But Jesus does say that if you follow Him, then you are rejecting your family’s social values, their morals, their way of worshipping God—everything that makes them think of themselves as “good people”. This means that you will be blacklisted by THEM. You will be setting yourself up to be hated by your whole family.

Livelihood—A person’s field is their basic sustenance, and their family inheritance. To reject this is rejecting one’s food and livelihood not only for oneself, but for any generations after. This is one way in which one would hate one’s wife and children, because you are putting yourself in a position to not be able to provide for their needs.

Possessions—Jesus tells his disciples very clearly that his disciples are to surrender all of their possessions. But, interestingly enough, he isn’t looking for a pile of stuff in his living room. Rather, Jesus tells the disciples that they would have to give the possessions directly to God. The symbol he is using is that of a king involved in a war he knows he’s going to lose. In the ancient days, if a king surrenders to another, they pay them all the wealth they had in order to spare their kingdom. Jesus is saying that God is the stronger king, coming to conquer our world with His Kingdom. So, in order to spare our puny souls, we are to give up our possessions, and God will have mercy on us.

Life—But, ultimately, even our possessions aren’t enough to spare our lives in this age. Jesus says that we need to be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice—to be rejected and killed by this world as traitors and rebels. That’s what dying on the cross really is—an execution for traitors to the state. Jesus said that this is a sacrifice we need to make if we are going to be students of his.

What gives him the right?
The real question anyone with a half a brain really needs to be asking is, “What education is worth such a sacrifice?” If it were just an education, well, frankly, it probably wouldn’t be worth it. But Jesus isn’t just offering an education. What Jesus is clearly saying in this passage that enrollment in his school is the ONLY WAY to get into God’s kingdom. That is one of the points of the initial parable. Many were invited, but only those who chose to attend the feast—meaning following Jesus traveling party—would obtain God’s Ultimate Feast—the kingdom of God. Only those who sacrificed all those things and became Jesus’ disciple would be safe from God’s judgment. Only those who were Jesus’ disciples could call themselves salt in the earth. So Jesus isn’t just asking sacrifice for an education—he’s saying that it is a worthy cost for eternal life.

Worldly excuses
And what, does Jesus say, is the biggest obstacle to being Jesus’ disciple? It is thinking that the things of this world is more important than being a disciple of Jesus. Jesus gives the example of work, marriage and purchasing as being more important than attending a feast. But Jesus says that these people are then exchanging eternal life for the pleasures and duties of an afternoon. This is the same as giving a thousand dollar bill for three pennies because three coins are more than a single piece of paper. It is a foolish exchange. But to surrender the cares, worries and prejudices of this world for the work and love of God is to exchange death for life.
Jesus says that to be a disciple but to live like the world is like being flavorless salt. Sure, it looks like salt, feels like salt, but it is useless—useless for God and useless for the church. And useless for salvation. To be a Christian but to refuse Jesus’ sacrifices is good for only one thing, Jesus says—to be thrown on the garbage heap.

And what happens to garbage? It burns. And burns.

The Sin Delusion

2007-10-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, “At a church service, the preacher called people up front, and two of them came up. One of them was an employee at Focus on the Family and the other was a heroin addict. The good Christian prayed aloud to himself, ‘Father in heaven, I praise your name because I have been chosen by You to be holy. I am not a thief, a sinner, an adulterer or a junkie like this man. I pray and read the word daily and I tithe all my net income.’ The addict stood away from the altar, bowed his head and whimpered, ‘God, I’m a screw up—help me, just help me.’ Listen here—the addict left the church with a relationship with God. The churcie didn’t. Because God raises up everyone who lowers himself, and he pushes down everyone who pulls himself up.”
Someone around Jesus reported to him the news about some criminals whom the police beat up. And he responded to this, “Do you think that these criminals were worse than anyone else because they were beat up? On the contrary, if you don’t repent, you will have as bad happen to you and worse. Or what about the drug house that collapsed on those who occupied it—do you think that they were worse people than those who lived around them? Listen to this: unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way.
“Someone had an apple tree in his backyard, and one day, during apple season, she came out back and there were no apples! So she spoke to her landscaper, ‘For three years I’ve been hoping for apples from this tree and I’ve got nothing! It’s useless. Why don’t you dig it out?’ The landscaper replied, ‘Ma’am, if you would just be patient and forgive it this fault this year so I can care for it. By this time next year, if you find no fruit, fine, we will dig it out. But if it gives you apples, then it will be worth it.’ “

“I’m Not A Sinner, I Never Sin”
One day I was doing my usual Sunday practice, handing out tracts in front of churches. I wasn’t doing it out of spite, but just to participate in the process of giving God’s word to those who were open to receive it. At this church I had a lady in a fine dress approach me and ask me what I was doing. I told her I was handing out tracts about obeying Jesus. “Oh, you don’t need to do that here,” she responded cheerily, “There are no sinners in OUR church.”
If you are a part of a church, sinners are always the other group. They are the people not a part of our church, not an upstanding citizen, not a believer in Jesus. No, we may not be perfect, we say, but we are forgiven by God. We are great and God loves us, no matter what.
Most people consider holiness to be less about one’s ethical responsibility than the social and cultural group one belongs to. Some theologians say that if a person has received Jesus, then there is nothing they can do which would condemn them by God. They are completely forgiven. But the way the church acts, most of the time, they consider you to be an upstanding person before God if you are an upstanding person in the church, living by the basic standards of the church. Thus, the holy person is the person who goes to church, prays, spends time with their family, pays their taxes and votes Republican.
But the basic requirement for receiving blessing from God, according to Jesus, isn’t a matter of being a part of the “in” group. Social conformity was never something that Jesus held to as a high standard. Neither did he tell people to pray a prayer to receive the Lord, or pay tithes, or attend church. Jesus’ basic—but not only—requirement for entrance into God’s kingdom is repentance.

Hamart-zophrenia (Double-mindedness about sin)
To be a disciple of Jesus, and so gain God’s blessing, we must admit that we have, and continue to do things wrong. To deny that we sin is to deny our weakness, our humanity. Now, honestly, we don’t many of us think that we don’t sin at all. We all agree that we fail in our anger sometimes, or that we covet that which we don’t want to do. But what we do is divide “white” sins from “black” sins. As if some sins were better or worse than others. Certainly, some sins have greater effect than others—to hate a person isn’t as bad as killing them. But what we often do is say that some sins aren’t as bad as others, and inevitably, the “bad” sins are the ones other people do, while the “not so bad” sins are the ones that we do.
Jesus, however, makes it clear that ALL sin is bad, and ALL sin is worthy of separation from God, even terrible punishment. But the worst sin is the sin that we are in denial about. Humanity as a whole, but the church especially is mentally ill when it comes to sin. We are all experts on diverting blame and not seeing that which is right in front of us. Even when we think we are awful people, we are often obsessing on actions that aren’t so bad, while ignoring the worst of our behavior.

Sin Sanity
Jesus tells us how we need to think to stop being mentally ill about sin:

Sin isn’t just something we see in others
We have a tendency to look at other’s sin, as if everyone else is the problem in the world. “If only there were no homosexuals, drug addicts, and liberals,” say the conservatives. “If only there were no cops, thieves, or judgmental people,” say the street folk. But in pointing the finger of blame on everyone else, we mistake our own issues as minor points. Jesus told the parable of the log and the splinter to let us know that sin is something we must deal with ourselves, before we can even look at others.

Sin is a personal problem
A newspaper once had a contest inviting people to send in brief essays under the topic “What’s Wrong With The World”. A famous Christian author, G.K. Chesterton wrote in the most succinct response: “I am.” This is exactly the kind of attitude Jesus wants us to have. When we see problems and issues, we must first recognize our own responsibility and the responsibility of our own people. Jesus wants us to constantly deal with our sin and to admit what God admits—that we have screwed up and in the areas God has said we screwed up, rather than that of our own imagining.

Sin is a problem with God
A lot of people agree that sin is a problem, but it is one better dealt with ourselves. But this is not true. Should we sin, then it is an issue between us and God, no one else. Those who do not believe in God rightly believe that they don’t sin. People who don’t have a relationship with God can’t screw it up. Only those who care about God and want to do right before Him sin. If we “got a friend named Jesus” then we don’t ignore our sin, or deny it, but we go to Jesus to deal with it.

If we don’t repent, we die
Jesus is very clear about this. Yes, others get punished and treated roughly because of their sin. But we, who claim to be of God, if we sin and deny it, we will be punished even more severely. To claim to be a good Christian and to not deal with our sin is to be a hypocrite. And Jesus was not kind to hypocrites. Jesus never said that your run of the mill sinner would burn for all eternity. Nor pagans, nor atheists. But he said again and again that it would be hypocrites—those who claimed to be upstanding people of God, all the while denying God with their actions—who would be thrown out and living in flames and torment for all eternity, crying and gnashing their teeth. (Check it out-- Matthew 5:22; 8:12; 13:41-42; 23:15; 24:48-51; 25:30, 41-46; Luke 13:24-28)

Break down and cry
Repentance isn’t just a dry action, but an emotional response. To repent, we need to regret our sin, no, even to weep over our sin. We need to feel it. James says, “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:9-10) We must allow ourselves to feel the pain we have caused God and others, and not just be stoic about it. To weep before the Lord is to receive forgiveness as long as we are sincere.

Be Transformed
And repentance isn’t just a show we put on every time we sin. It is something that we allow God to do to us. God gives us His spirit, and we slowly become different people. Paul said that we are to be “transformed by the renewing of your minds.” (Romans 12:1) This transformation is something we enact, but it is ultimately something that is done by God on us. God gives us his Spirit, and the more we respond correctly to His Spirit, the more transformed we are. Soon, we find, we are not who we once were, but a completely new person, transformed by God’s power and our own humility.

No Child Left Behind

2007-10-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

At that time, Jesus’ students approached him and asked, “Who gets to be the boss in God’s coming kingdom?” He called over a small child and put him right in the middle of them. He said, “Pay attention now. Unless you become completely transformed and become like a child, you won’t even get through the front door of God’s kingdom. The one who will be boss is the one who will be socially on the level of this toddler. And if you welcome and show hospitality to a child like this, then you are welcoming me. But whoever traps one of the insignificant ones who believe in me, it would be better for him to strap himself to the bottom of the Queen Mary and sink it than what he would suffer as punishment. The world is a terrible place because of traps that make you sin! Yes, it is true, traps are inevitable—but how awful to be the agent of the trap! So if something deeply important to you—as important as one of your limbs!—causes you to stray away from God, get rid of it! It is better for you to be without one of your limbs, but alive, than to be whole but in hell. And if whatever you see causes you to stray away from God, get rid of it! It is better to be half blind but alive than to see everything but end up in hell. And be very careful that you do not disrespect one of my insignificant disciples—for they have a line directly to the throne of God!

Being Childish
We’ve been taught from children not to be childish. Of course, when you’re a kid, it’s hard NOT to be childish. Being childish just comes naturally. But we have all grown out of that. Just as Paul said, “When I was a kid, I acted childish, but now that I’m grown up, I’ve matured out of childish things.” Now Jesus gives us a role-reversal. He is saying that if we are REALLY going to grow up (in Him) then we need to be childish.
This doesn’t make much sense, really. I mean, being childish is a bad thing, sometimes. Does Jesus want us to throw tantrums? Does he want us to be socially inept? Does he want us to have our meat cut for us? And there are some things about being childish that we CAN’T be: It is too late for us to be innocent. Heck, we know when we’re doing wrong (most of the time) and we have all sinned on purpose. Can’t turn back the clock on that one. We can’t really be any shorter than we are—unless we cut off our legs (maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about!)
So what does it mean to be childish? We have to see children as they were seen in Jesus day. When you are a kid, what is probably the number one complaint? That you aren’t listened to, and that you have to do what the grown ups tell you to do. Frankly, it’s a distinctly unfair system. It is no surprise that one of the main words for a slave in ancient Greek is “child”. Because slaves and children are treated basically alike! They are told what to do and their opinion doesn’t really count for much. In the ancient world, children were pretty much ignored and if they did impinge themselves on the consciousness of an adult, then they were usually beaten. That’s what it was like for children until the last hundred years or so!

Being the Anawim
So what does this mean for the Christian? We need to remember the question that Jesus’ disciples raised—“Who gets to be boss? Who’s the most important?” Jesus’ answer is this—the one who is most important in God’s future utopia is the one who was least important on earth. But even more than this, Jesus says, you can’t even get into God’s kingdom unless you set aside the things that make you important, the things that make you significant, and basically become a child, a nobody, a person who only exists to be ignored.
To put it in more basic language, Jesus wants—no, demands—that everyone who is a disciple be someone who makes himself insignificant, unimportant, an outcast, a person whom everyone else shakes their head at. I won’t get into detail here, but there are only a few ways that Jesus specifically mentions that would make a disciple an outcast. First of all, a disciple has to be repentant, setting aside all the sins that the world considers important. Secondly, Jesus says that a disciple has to sacrifice—their family, their friends, their inheritance, their possessions and their economic status. Lastly, Jesus says that the disciple must be an evangelist, which makes them persecuted.

Traps
In the midst of this discussion, Jesus talks about “traps”. Most translations use the word “offense” or the phrase “cause to sin”, but the Greek word, skandalon (from which we get the word “scandal”) literally means a trap that one might set for an animal or a person. It is something used to trip someone up. What kind of traps is Jesus talking about? It means anything one might do to draw one away from God. It could be causing to sin, but not only that. If we discourage someone from trusting in God, then we are setting a trap (John 6:61). If we are doing something that isn’t a sin to us, but it is a sin to someone we are doing it in front of, then we are setting a trap for them (I Corinthians 8:13). If we act in a way that is hypocritical to our life before God, we are setting a trap for anyone who sees us doing it. (II Samuel 12:14)
And traps are important to avoid, as well as important to avoid setting. If we fall into a trap, distance ourselves from God in our trust, our belief or our actions, then we are endangering our very lives for all eternity. If we are vulnerable to a trap, we need to do everything we can do to avoid it. If that trap is a person who is begin to convince us to stray from God, we need to avoid him or her. If that trap is an entertainment that is destroying our soul we need to cut it out of our lives. Even if that trap is something that is so dear to us that we cannot imagine doing without it, we must do so for God’s sake, for our sake.
But most importantly, we must avoid setting traps. If our lives are at stake if we fall into a trap, it is nothing compared to those who set traps. Those who set traps, who cause others to fall away from God by their speech or action, have the very worst punishments in store for them. The reason for this is because setting traps is the work of Satan, the accuser, the deceiver of the brethren. And so anyone who does the work of Satan—tempting, causing others to fall away from God—will be given the punishment of Satan, the worst punishment possible for all eternity.

The Brothers Minor
But there is one other trap we haven’t mentioned, a difficulty we put in front of people seeking God, that Jesus is specifically pointing out in this passage. Like bookends around the verses about traps, Jesus speaks about his “little ones” or “insignificant ones”.
In the book of Mark, this passage is connected to an event that happened to Jesus. Jesus’ disciples noticed that there was someone who wasn’t part of the group of “official” disciples doing a miracle in Jesus’ name. They stopped him, and Jesus said, “No, don’t!” He explained that even though that person didn’t have the Jesus’ Disciples Membership Card, that he was just as important for the kingdom.
This is the kind of person Jesus calls the “little ones”. The little ones are those who are in the church, but they are unimportant even in the eyes of the church. Perhaps they dress differently, act differently, are uneducated, are socially awkward, perhaps even offensive in some way. They aren’t on any church board and they never will be.
Jesus’ point about mentioning these “brothers minor” (which is the name Francis gave to his insignificant troupe of beggars for Christ) is to let everyone else know that we need to go out of our way to accept these folks. Jesus says that to welcome them and give them hospitality (food, drink, a place to stay the night) is to welcome Him. To love them is to love Him.
But more than that, to not welcome them is to set a trap for them. If we reject these outcast Christians, then we are causing them to drift away from God. If we encourage them to find another place to worship, we encourage them to think that all Christians reject them. To push people away from the church is to set a trap for them. Perhaps, at times, we need to train people, to help them fit it, or to just accept them as they are. But if we push them away from God’s people, in any way, then we are doing Satan’s work, and we will be judged for it.

The insignificant of the church are the most significant of the church.

If we don't become the insignificant, we don't get into heaven.

Jesus and AIDS

2007-10-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

After some days, Jesus returned back to Capernaum and the people of the town heard he was back home, which was Peter’s house. He taught the gospel to those who were there, but the house became so packed that people stood outside the door. Four men came, carrying a man so sick with AIDS he was bedridden, but they weren’t able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd. So they climbed up on the roof, tore it apart and lowered the sick man through the hole on a cot, right in front of Jesus. Jesus was impressed with their faith as shown by their tenacity, so he said to the man with AIDS, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Some intellectuals were there, analyzing Jesus’ teaching, and their mouths frowned and questioned, “How could he talk like this? He is doing God’s job. For who can forgive sins except God?” And Jesus knew immediately what they were frowning about and he said, “What do you doubt? Do you think it’s easy doing my job? Would you try saying ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up, you’re healed?’ But I’ll tell you what, if you really want to know if the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins, then…” So he turned to the man on the ground and said, “Pay attention—get up, pick up you cot and go home. You’re healed.” And the sick man immediately got up, picked up his cot and walked out of the house. Every eye in the house widened, and they honored God for it: “We haven’t seen anything like this.”

The Implications of Sickness
In the ancient world no one looked at an illness or a disability and see an accident of nature, an attack of a virus or a weakened immune system. Sickness or disability in the ancient world was a spiritual condition. Disaster happened for a reason, and the only ones who were powerful enough to cause sickness were spirits: God or demons. Some people felt that they could manipulate these spirits and so cause sicknesses or perhaps cause them to go away through ritual or trickery. These were the ancient witch doctors, placing curses on people or trying to get rid of curses through the manipulation of spirits.
In the highly ethical society of the Jews, all spiritual action was a result of moral action—sickness came due to sin. Leprosy meant one had to be separated from the community, not because of infection so much as because of the spiritual indication of moral decay. The paralyzed, blind and deformed were not allowed to enter into the Temple to worship because they were seen as incomplete before God. Even in general, if one had a chronic sickness, it was suspected that they had done something to deserve it. The woman who had a hemorrhage was not allowed to touch anyone, ever, separated from her community because her sickness made her impure.
Of course, today, many of us have much the same attitude toward certain illnesses. If a person is drug sick, or has seizures due to alcohol abuse, most people think to themselves, “That’s just what they deserve,” including the addict. It wasn’t too many years ago that anyone who had AIDS was assumed to be a homosexual or a drug user. If a smoker has lung cancer, if a prostitute gets VD, if a mentally ill person gets sick from not taking their meds then most people would say, “Well, what do you expect?” There are many diseases and disabilities that people still blame the afflicted for.

Jesus’ Assumptions
It is so easy to say that if Jesus were here today that he would just blow all of those assumptions away. We trust in Jesus’ mercy and compassion to avoid such terrible implications. We expect him to say, “Illness is just a natural process, and people just need to be healed.” We see Jesus as the most compassionate of doctors, not even wanting to sting us with a vaccination. But Jesus was much more a man of his times than we like to assume.
There are only a few places where Jesus directly talks about the causes of sickness. In John 9, Jesus is asked directly about a specific blind man, and whose sin caused his blindness. In this place, Jesus gives an answer that we can better appreciate—he says that it was for God’s glory that he was made blind, so that God could heal him. But we need to recognize that Jesus only gave us half the answer we would like. He denied that sin caused the disability, but at the same time he affirmed the spiritual cause of the infirmity. Yes, Jesus implied, God caused the blindness, but it wasn’t due to anyone’s sin. Modern readers are still a bit uncomfortable with that answer.
But in two other places, Jesus affirms that people’s infirmities were due to their sin. One is in John 5, where he tells a man he had just healed, “Don’t sin anymore or you will become ill again.” And another is the passage above, where Jesus sees the infirmity and immediately he forgives the man’s sin.
What exactly is Jesus saying? He is saying that sickness isn’t always caused by viruses or bacteria—that often they do have a spiritual cause. Also, he is saying that sometimes—not always, but sometimes—sickness is due to one’s sin. He agrees with David in the Psalms who cries out to God for healing from his illness due to his sin (e.g. Psalm 32 and Psalm 41). People do get sick from sin. People can get sick from their addiction. AIDS can be caused from a sinful lifestyle. Sometimes terrorists do attack because of a nation’s disobedience to God. Not always, but sometimes. And Jesus clearly know which times are which.

Jesus’ Uniqueness
“So,” many would think, “this means that Jesus is just as hard-nosed as the right-wing judmentalists. He also looks at a person’s sin instead of their need.” Not at all. It just means that Jesus is a realist. He sees the sickness for what it is and what really caused it. But he doesn’t need to lie to himself in order to offer help. Remember what Jesus said? “I have come to seek and to save the lost.” Jesus healed the sick BECAUSE they were sinners. Because he wanted to offer them God’s grace.
If a person is sick because of their sin, how do they feel? Judged, that’s how. They feel undeserving, separated from God and everyone who loves him. But if that person is healed miraculously, clearly by God’s power, then how do they feel? They feel that they were important enough for God to pay attention to them. They feel that they have been accepted by God. They feel forgiven, as if their sin was set aside, written off, that they have paid enough for their sin. And this is why Jesus healed.
Sure, Jesus on occasion did a healing just for compassion or for God’s glory (such as the widow’s son or raising Lazarus). But the run of the mill healing Jesus did was a healing of forgiveness. He was giving a second chance, an opportunity for the sinner to be forgiven, cleansed by God.

“Tough” Love
In the church today, there is a lot of talk about responsibility. We want people to be responsible for their actions, so they can learn not to do it again. So we think that making sinners pay some kind of penance is a good idea. Criminals should go to jail. Addicts should feel their sickness. The mentally ill should live with the consequences of their actions. This is called “tough love”, because the training is worth the suffering involved.
And it is true that God is involved in “tough love” sometimes. He judges the sinner and there are consequences for evil actions. But the interesting thing is that Jesus never engages in “tough love.” And perhaps this is because Jesus doesn’t see tough love as any kind of love at all. If Jesus approaches a sinner, he wants them to know that they have sinned, yes, but he also wants them to know they are forgiven. And if a person is dealing with the horrible consequences of their sin, then Jesus wants to deliver them, so they know that they are forgiven. Some suffering is okay, but their sense of separation is not good when they’ve confessed and are trying to get back with God.
So what should be the mission of the church? Giving the grace of God. We should be seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness and deliverance for all sinners.

Tenacity
Of course, God’s grace isn’t given to everyone. Many people do die in anguish, unforgiveness and suffering caused by their sin. God’s grace isn’t just floating around, attaching itself to all, unbidden. God’s grace only comes to those who seek it.
In the story above, the four men carrying the sick man were desperate. They couldn’t reach Jesus, so they took a radical approach. They climbed up to the roof, tore the roof apart and lowered the man to Jesus. I suspect that if anyone did that in a church today, they’d get nothing but a bill from the church! But Jesus saw their desperation and called it faith. They were willing to do anything to get their friend forgiven, and so they received what they sought.
Even so, Jesus is seeking those who are so desperate for forgiveness, for healing that they would do radical things to get it. Those who receive God’s grace aren’t those who pray a half-hearted prayer and then throw up their hands at the effort. Jesus WILL heal, he WILL forgive, but only those who endure. Jesus stated it plainly, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” Only the tenacious need apply.

Objections of the Older Son

2007-10-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

“All the house was celebrating the return of the lost son. But the oldest son was at work, and as he was driving up to the house, he heard the blasting music and asked one of his father’s workers, standing outside, ‘What’s going on here?’ And the worker said, ‘Your brother has arrived today and so your father is feeding everyone steak because he is safe and sound.’ The older brother fumed at this and drove away. After a while his father called him and invited him to come and join the party. He yelled back at his father, “What kind of hypocrisy is this? I’ve worked for you for years and have always been a faithful son, always doing as you asked. But did you ever allow me to have a party with my friends? No, never! But this so-called “son” of yours shows up after just disappearing and using up all of your money on sex and drugs and everyone gets steak!’ His father spoke gently to him, ‘My son, I know how faithful you have been. You’ve always been there, and if you had asked I would have given you anything. But it is time for us all to have a party, because your brother who was dead has been resurrected. He was long lost, but he has returned.’ “

The oldest son, the brother of the prodigal, has a serious discussion with his father, who has accepted his sinful son without even a punishment.
Older Son: Dad, you know that I’ve always been with you. You know I love you, I tell you so every day. You and I established this house together and all the rules are that which we agreed on together. I thought that, over time, you would take the excellent rules we have in place here and establish them throughout all your other lands. But look at this boy! He has completely defied you! How could you just bring him in like this? Shouldn’t he receive some kind of punishment? Perhaps he should spend some time away from the house in order to understand the depth of his failure.
Dad: But I can’t bear to have him away from me even for another moment. He was lost and now he is found—don’t you understand my joy?
OS: Well, sure, dad, I suppose you’ve got some emotional attachment to him. After all, he is your son. But what if he fails again? He’s only human and he’s got a habit of disobeying you now. Heck, who knows what kind of lifestyle he lived when he was out there? What if he continued in it, even in the house? He should know that he needs to be kicked out—never to return—if he messes up again.
Dad: When he is ready to hear the standard, then I will give it to him. But don’t you start giving him your rules. You’ve established too many of them already. It’s fine that you put some rules on the house, while everyone agreed with them. But there’s a few too many for my other son. So give him a break, okay?
OS: But he smokes! He drinks! He uses foul language! That is certainly not allowed in MY house! And he’s got all kinds of other unsavory habits! I can’t believe that you even want him here! Maybe he should go through some kind of therapy or rehab before you accept him in.
Dad: Son, you don’t understand. I can’t bear to be apart from my son, whether that be he or you. But I’ve lost him for so long I will take him—foibles and all—and we will work with him over time. But don’t insist upon anything that will drive him away from my house.
OS: I don’t want to drive him away. I just think that he needs to live according to basic principles before he moves in!
Dad: No. I have accepted him. That’s enough. My love and my acceptance is enough for him now. In a little bit, I will give him the ability to grow more like me. But for now, it is enough that he is in my house. It seems odd, my son. For you are talking about the house as if it were yours, but it is not—it is mine.
OS: Of course it’s yours, Father. It’s ours, together. We built up the house together, and we established it.
Dad: (Smiling) I hate to tell you this son, but it’s not yours at all. Yes, I gave your brother his inheritance early, but you know that was unrighteous of him even to ask. For you, all that you have is what I give you and it is all mine, not yours at all.
OS: That brings me to another thing, dad. You need to not be so generous to him. After all, he already wasted your blessings, he certainly doesn’t deserve more! If you have to keep him in the house, fine. But don’t give him any responsibilities. He just doesn’t deserve them, and who knows what disasters he will cause.
Dad: You don’t understand. He is my son, and I will treat him like that. He deserves to have my blessings, not because of anything he has done but because he is my son. So I will continue to give to him, in the hopes that he will learn to use my gifts properly.
OS: Dad! That is MY inheritance you are wasting on that good-for-nothing rebellious son! Those are MY blessings! That is MY wealth! You can’t be throwing it away on him!
Dad: No, son. The wealth is not yours. It is mine and I can give it to whom I wish. And I chose to give it to both of you. You are both my sons, both my family. And I love you both.
OS: I don’t think you do. Not really. So you are going to give him MORE, when you already gave him his share? That’s just not fair.
Dad: It may not be fair, but it’s loving.
OS: Dad, look, you’re going to have to make a choice. I can’t live with him. He is revolting and I feel that he is stealing all of your love away from me. You have ignored me all these years, and now you are putting all this lavish splendor on the one who deserves a kick out the door? No, dad, it’s either me or him. Make your choice.
Dad: (Tears forming in his eyes) Don’t you see? All I am doing is being accepting of the son I love. I am doing nothing wrong. I love you, too, my son. So much I can’t bear your words. But he is the son that has turned to me, and I have received him. If you reject him, you also reject me. If you go now, you will be choosing to put yourself out of the house. You are choosing to separate yourself from me, because I will not separate myself from my son that has returned to me. He was dead, but now he is alive! I can’t hold in my joy at this! But if you leave, then you are the one who is dead—you are the prodigal. I do not want this, my beloved son. But if you reject him—even though he is, from your perspective, “revolting”. Please, please, don’t go away. Stay with me and join in the celebration.
OS: I don’t know. I just don’t know. I’ll think about it.
Dad: (Sighs) Yes my son. You know where you will find me, if you choose to come. (He turns and goes to the house.)

God-Hater's Anonymous

2007-10-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Jesus told them this story: “There was a father with two sons. The younger son said to his father, ‘Dad, I can’t wait for you to die to get my inheritance, so give it to me now.’ So the father divided all of his wealth and gave the two sons their own share. A few days later, the younger son collected his belongings and traveled to a godless nation and wasted the money, living by his impulses. After all his money was gone, an economic depression came upon the nation and he was in desperate need. After begging for a job, someone hired him to clean up rooms in a brothel, picking up needles and cleaning soiled sheets. No one actually ever paid him, so he began to starve, finding the crumbs left in the rooms to be appetizing. Finally, he came to his senses and said to himself, ‘Even the laziest of my fathers farmhands eat to their fill, and here I am starving to death? I know what I’ll do, I’ll go back to my father and tell him how evil I have been and then ask him to hire me. After all, I’m not worthy to be his son.’ “So he left that place, traveled back home and came to his father. His father saw him from a distance and felt his heart leap within him and he ran to his son, grabbing him and hugging him desperately. Once he could catch his breath, he said to his father, ‘Father, I have done evil before God and yourself. Don’t take me as a son—I don’t deserve it.’ His father, though, called his workers and said, ‘You—go into my room and get out my best clothes and shoes and give them to my son. You—get the necklace with the family crest on it and bring it here, and put it on him. You—get into the kitchen and prepare a feast with steak for everyone. Because this is my son the one who died. Now his come back to us from the dead—he was lost, but now he is returned.’

A Story About God-Haters
Jesus didn’t tell the story of the prodigal son to represent everyone. Some people have always been a part of church, and have always been faithful to God. But Jesus told this story about people who rejected God, rejected the church, and began to live a life that was totally opposed to God, and would even be considered insulting to God by His people. In Hebrew, there are three kinds of sin. One is unintentional sin, that which you did against God, but didn’t really know it. Another is sin that is done on purpose, but the person is so weak-willed that he couldn’t help but do it. But the third category is sin done on purpose, to spite God and his people. This is the kind of sin that Jesus is talking about. People who have totally rebelled against God and against his people, but then they realized their loss and want to come back.
Jesus main message here is the acceptance of these sinners. The father is God. This is a father who was constantly watching for his son to return, even though he gave him up for dead. And even though the son recognized—rightly—that he didn’t deserve to be his son, the father was ready to accept him back fully, without any hesitation. The father didn’t just take him back grudgingly or with conditions—he fully accepted him right then and there. And then he had a great party to celebrate his return (and this wasn’t a man who usually had parties). God is this man, who has a party every time one of his rebellious, lost children return to him.

Who are sinners?
Of course, we know what sin is, but who are sinners? A sinner is not just a person who sins, but a person who has rejected God’s ways and has decided to live for him or herself or for the world. They have purposely chosen a life that is in opposition to God’s life, and they know that they can’t be right with God as long as they pursue this life. These are people who can’t go to church because they “know” the church won’t receive them. They are the people excluded from God, by their own actions, their own choice.

How are sinners brought back?
These people who, by their own choice, have separated themselves from God, is it even possible for them to come back to God? Many people believe that they can’t. They would say that they were too hardened, too far gone. But Jesus rejects this, saying that every sinner has the possibility of return. We can see the pattern of return here in this story. First, the sinner realizes how much he or she has lost by separating themselves from God. They realize that their way of life has given them nothing but sorrow and so they determine to seek help. So they come to God for help—perhaps through a prayer, perhaps through seeking assistance at a church or through pastoral counseling. Then, once they seek something—anything—from God, then God shows them his full grace and full acceptance. The smallest amount of repentance, and God springs forgiveness on them like a lion.

How should the repentant sinners be received?
So how should the sinner be received by the church? Even as God does, with a lot of grace and understanding, with forgiveness and acceptance. However, this isn’t how the sinner is usually received. Usually there is some measure of distrust, or some hoops they need to go through before they can be fully accepted. And, on occasion, there is basic rejection of the sinner, out of a church’s sense of propriety and fear. But, as much as this is often the church’s way, this is not God’s way.

How did Jesus receive sinners?
First of all, Jesus sought sinners out, letting them know that he sought their company, not just grudgingly accepted them. He taught them God’s truth, but not in a churchy way—rather he made the word alive to the outsider, the one who hasn’t been in the church or a part of it for a long time. And, most importantly, Jesus had parties of acceptance. When Matthew and Zaccheus were saved, Jesus organized parties in their own houses, arranging to have their friends—sinners and tax collectors all—welcome to the party. Jesus had the heart of an evangelist, and make sure that it was the outsiders who were welcome into the ultimate party—God’s kingdom. (Mark 2:14-17; Luke 19:1-10; Luke 15:1-10)

As Jesus did, so should the church.
The church seems to not be a open community for sinners. Rather, each church is a cultural box, and each doorway is itself a box and if one does not fit into the box, then that one is just never welcome. Does this mean that the church should be a cultural amoeba, without cultural form or shape, able to accept anyone? No, because that is not possible, nor does it make anyone else comfortable. But the church needs to be ready to accept some kind of outsider, the ones that most churches don’t accept. Perhaps one church focuses on ministry to homosexuals, another to the homeless, another to addicts and another to sex offenders. But EVERY church needs to be accepting sinners, prodigals and ex-God-haters. This is a basic part of Jesus’ mission, thus it should be the church’s as well.

Riff Raff In The Church

2007-10-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

All the homosexuals and the homeless and the drug dealers and sex workers and meth addicts and convicted child pornographers came to Jesus to listen to him. And the conservative evangelicals and the Bible scholars denounced him, “He is opening the door of the church to the wicked.”
But Jesus told them this story, “Look, if you had a hundred cars and one of them was stolen, wouldn’t you forget about all the other ninety nine and just focus on the one until it was found? You’d call the police, call your neighbors and be generally freaked out—not about the ninety nine, but for the one that was lost. Then, when it is found, you would drive it home proudly and happily. And you’d call your neighbors and the police and say, ‘Praise God! My stolen car was found!” It is this very joy that God has when a single sinner repents and comes back to God, away from his sins. He loves that more than ninety nine church-goers who only ever say the right things.
“Suppose there was a woman with ten coins, worth a thousand dollars each and one of them came up missing. Wouldn’t she take out her flashlight and turn all the furniture upside down until it was found? Then, once it’s found then she calls up her neighbors and say, ‘Yeah, I had lost this expensive coin, but praise God, now I’ve found it.’ Even so does God rejoice over one sinner who turns back to God away from his sin.”

Child pornographers?
Okay, so we know that Jesus hung out with tax collectors, but do we have to go so far as to say he hung out with drugies and child pornographers? Oh, yes, these are exactly the kind of folks Jesus hung out with. He welcomed those whom the Standard Religious Society (SRS, or, if you please, the church) didn’t want to have anything to do with. These were the ones that the SRS called “sinners”, but many of them really weren’t, or at least no more than anyone else. The tax collectors were folks who worked for the Romans to collect tolls for their roads. While some tax collectors DID cheat the Romans and others (like Zaccheus in Luke 19), but these toll collectors did no such thing. They didn’t make much, but they didn’t collect enough to cheat the Romans. So they had a job, just a job. But because they worked for the Romans they were automatically rejected by the SRS (i.e. the church).
So Jesus, were he here today, he would hang out with those who were “unacceptable” in the church’s eyes today. He would hang out with the homeless who are often excluded from the church simply because they don’t have good enough hygiene. He would hang out with those who belonged to cult groups like Samaritans (or like Mormons today) and explain to them the heart of God’s truth. He would hang out with the homosexuals and drunks who are unsure of their reception, even if they repent. He would hang out with the druggies and tell them about the gospel, welcoming them, eating with them, hoping to bring them—or to keep them—in God.

Who are the Riff-Raff?
Jesus targeted three groups that were set outside of the church. He welcomed the ones who were just not good enough to be in a “proper” church—Samaritans, the lame, the blind, women, the Gentiles. All of these groups were people who could be in right standing with God, but they were set out of the Temple for one reason or another. The church, like the Temple of old, has a pretty strict idea of who belongs to it. No, they don’t set up rules for it, but they set boundaries through their subtle but negative reactions to those who are poor, of different beliefs, or of a different culture. The church today is as cultural as it is spiritual—sometimes it is more culture than Spirit. And those who do not belong to the culture is outcaste.
Another group that Jesus targeted is the sinner. Some of these are professional sinners, such as prostitutes and tax collectors—those whose very profession excluded them from good graces in God’s community. Some are sinners by what they did—adultery, theft, rebellion—and they are painted as such for the rest of their life for one sin. These are like those who are in jail or prison for crimes done. While some churches might accept them, they certainly don’t allow them near their children. Again, the welcome is only partial
The other group Jesus specifically targeted is the judged. These are people who were judged by God or by people and they have the mark of judgment against them. In Jesus’ day they are the demon possessed or the lepers. Today, they may be sufferers of AIDS or those going through withdrawal from drugs or alcohol or some other addiction. They may be people who have chronic mental illnesses. At first they might be welcome into today’s church, but then they would be rejected because they are “too difficult” or “cause too many disruptions.”

Should the church Welcome the Riff Raff?
Absolutely. If it was good enough for Jesus, then it is good enough for the church. If God sees sinners repenting as more important than a bunch of people who go to church regularly, then maybe we need to stop growing our churches and getting out on the street. Jesus didn’t just sit in the temple, looking for the riff raff to come to him. He didn’t just have a seeker’s service. Rather, he went out and established a party in every village he went to, and shared the gospel at the party. He attracted the riff raff with the kind of gathering they liked, in their area, and then spoke a message that wasn’t easy for them to hear, but it was the truth. Not everyone believed, but it was important. So the church doesn’t just need to welcome the riff raff, they need to go out where they live and give them a party.
Why should we do this? Because these riff raff—even if they’ve been following Jesus for years, they feel that they are second class Christians, or that they have no chance of being right with God at all. They think that their lives are apart from God and there is no acceptance for them. How is this? Because the church has separated themselves from the riff raff. As long as the church will have nothing to do with the riff raff, the riff raff figure that they don’t need God, either.
Yet Jesus focused his ministry on the riff raff. Jesus loves the riff raff. And Jesus’ first church was full of the riff raff—more than the “normal” folks.

How are the Riff Raff saved?
This is the easiest question to ask, but the hardest one to live out. We know that everyone is saved by faith in Jesus, by their devotion to God, their repentance from sin and their reliance on the Holy Spirit. That’s how everyone is saved, without exception, forever and ever, amen.
But the church doesn’t act that way. Rather they act like the homeless are saved by pushing through paperwork to gain homes. They act like the addict is saved by going to some anonymous group and never relapsing. They act like the homosexual is saved by getting married to someone of the opposite sex. They act like the mentally ill person is saved by taking medication. Now, there’s nothing wrong with these things. But they aren’t THE answers for people with these problems.
The only way anyone is saved is through Jesus and reliance on the Holy Spirit. And Jesus and the Spirit will lead the outcast person to the things they need for their lives. Sometimes the answer will be homes, marriage, medication and dishwashers and everything that makes up a middle class life. But for many people, it won’t.
Jesus, in calling the riff raff, chose to be homeless. He chose to be rejected. He chose to be without a family. And many of his followers went the same way. Jesus became homeless to welcome the homeless. He became familyless to welcome the familyless. He became penniless to welcome the penniless. He became rejected to welcome the rejected. And so we cannot insist that the outcast—or even the middle class—to be a part of the church must have homes, families, money and acceptance.

If the Riff Raff aren’t in the church, the church isn’t of Jesus

The Pushed And The Grabbers-- Luke 14

2007-10-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

Jesus went to a Christian concert, and he saw that many were trying to get the attention of their friends on or behind the stage to let them in. Jesus turned to those with him and said, “When you go to a concert, don’t try to get up on stage, or else a security person might come and throw you out because you are being disruptive. Instead, stand back, waiting, until your friend behind the stage sees you and says, ‘Hey, you want to come back here?’ and you will be escorted into the stage area. Even so, where God rules, everyone who grabs for what they want will be pushed back, and everyone who humiliates themselves will be welcomed up.”
Then Jesus said to the one who invited him, “If you go to a concert or have a party, don’t invite your friends or relatives or coworkers. Because they will just invite you to the next event, and so pay you back. Instead, invite the homeless and the handicapped, the impoverished, and people with social and mental disorders. Because they will never be able to pay you back and instead you will gain your repayment from God on the last day.”

Did Jesus go to concerts?
Nope. But he went to a lot of parties. Wherever he went there was a party, and all the best of the town were gathered to hear this famous bright star of Galilee. And Jesus gave these teachings at a party that he was invited to. In all probability, he insulted his hosts, as well as everyone who was invited. He saw people trying to get the best seats, and he unmasked their hidden agendas and told them that they were going about being the best in the room all the wrong way. Then he targeted his hosts and told them that they invited the wrong people. Yet, somehow, Jesus was still popular at these gatherings. You’d think that he would have preached in the wilderness more often.

What’s wrong with wanting to be noticed?
Absolutely nothing. Jesus wanted to be noticed himself. He wasn’t saying that getting the best seats is a bad thing. He was saying that pushing to be noticed is the wrong way to go about it. If you want to get someone’s attention, Jesus says, just whisper. In other words, the way to be important is to put yourself in a ridiculously humiliating position. Most people go straight for the jugular and if they want to be noticed, they do something to get noticed. They hang out with the “right” people, they grease palms, they do favors for those who will do them back. These are the people who figure the way to get up the ladder of success, you need to do something significant so those above you would pull you up.
Again, Jesus didn’t say that achieving success isn’t a good goal. But he is articulating his principle about how to achieve success—If you want to be successful, be a failure first. If you want to be famous, look to be anonymous. If you want to be wealthy, give away everything you have. Is this some sort of mystic principle, or is it actually practical? Jesus actually understands everyone’s sense of justice. If someone is unjustly lowered by society, many within society wishes to bring them up to where they “should” be, or even higher to make up for the low position. But if someone strives for the heights, everyone says, “Who does this guy think he is?” and they push him down.

Getting God’s attention
And this isn’t just a human principle. It is the same with God. God has established a system of justice on the earth, and he wants everyone to get what they deserve. The hard working and righteous should get the best, while the immoral and cheaters should get the worst in life. But what happens when the innocent get the worst out of life?
This happens all too often, of course. The best, the brightest of humanity are never heard from. The most talented and most self-sacrificial aren’t ever paid attention to because they didn’t do what the world says and “push themselves.” And many who are innocent and righteous receive the worst treatment from people. But God doesn’t accept this. In fact, He says that He pays more attention to those who don’t get what they deserve. The rest of the world settles itself, but God settles injustice (Exodus 22:21-27; I Samuel 2:8-10; Psalm 37).
So what does God see as His most important work on earth? To pull up the deserving lowly, and to push down the undeserving significant. To welcome the righteous poor and to trip up the self-righteous rich. God doesn’t do miracles for those who don’t need it—he reserves them for people who are desperate and dependant on Him. God doesn’t judge the mediocre bad—he reserves judgment for those who claim to be His but destroy His lowly and His reputation.

Raised, Humbled
Jesus stated the basic principle like this: The lowly get raised and the raised gets lowered. The first shall be last and the last first. When he made these statements, he applied it in very many different contexts:
-The repentant receive God’s welcome, while the self-righteous receive God’s rejection. (Luke 18:9-12)
-The sinners get an opportunity for afresh start with God, while the already righteous don’t need Jesus. (Mark 2)
-The down and out get welcomed into the kingdom, while the invited are out in the cold. (Luke 14: )
-Those who seem unrighteous now may get God’s reward (just under the wire) and get the same reward as those who have served God for a long time (Matthew 20)
-The one who surrenders all he has to the poor will get God’s kingdom, while God reserves the worst punishments for those who take away from the needy for their own gain. (Luke 12:33; Luke 16)
-The one who wants political importance must suffer and possibly die at the hands of the powerful and God will replace the government with the ones who were oppressed (Mark 12)

I’m on the Top—What do I do?
Jesus gives three suggestions to those who are on the top of the heap, the head of the party, the famous, rich and healthy. He says, first of all, welcome the lowly to the club. Make sure that you have the needy people you know welcomed as people who are your equals—invite them to your parties, give them the best seats, let them be your friends. Secondly, Jesus says that those who have greater resources must give their resources to the needy. If you’ve got extra, don’t give it to people who can give you more now, but give it to people who can’t repay you—that way God will do the repayment. Thirdly, Jesus said that to receive God’s full blessing, you must be the lowly. You must accept persecution, suffering, and even poverty, crying out only to God for release. He may or may not release you immediately, but if you stick with God, he will give you the greater reward.

I’m On the Bottom, and it Sucks!
But the good thing about being the insignificant, the poor, the outcast, the persecuted is that you are already (at least) halfway to where God wants you to be! If now you can just dependably cry out to Him, seeking his help and never turning your back on Him—even if it means that you have to suffer more for sticking up for God—then God will give you more than you could ever ask for. He will give you a family to replace the one that rejected you. He will give you a home to replace the one you lost. He will give you an income that will replace your lost employment. He will give you peace where yours is all gone.

Allow yourself to be humiliated and depend on God and He will give you more than you ever asked!

The Fortuate Few

2007-10-05T08:37:00.001-07:00

How fortunate are the anguished due to poverty because they will rule God’s kingdom!
How fortunate are the sorrowful, because God will cheer them up.
How fortunate are the lowly, because God will give them the earth.
How fortunate are those who desperately desire justice, because they will get just what they want.
How fortunate are those who act in compassion, for God will be compassionate to them.
How fortunate are those single-minded on God, for they will see Him.
How fortunate are the creators of peaceful communities, for God will make them rulers.
How fortunate are the sufferers for righteousness, because they will rule God’s kingdom!

How fortunate you are when your enemies verbally abuse you and do and speak evil against you because you follow me. When that happens, you are like the prophets of the past who suffered for their message they received from God. Even as they are now rewarded by God, so will you be. So when you are persecuted for me, be happy about what you will receive—jump up and down in joy and praise God!

You are essential for the world. But if you lose the basic qualities that make you important, you cannot regain them. You will be useless, cast out of God’s kingdom and trampled.

You are God’s glory and truth in the world. You are the kingdom of God to come, and you cannot be hidden. Nor should you be hidden—God’s glory should be displayed, not hidden. So display the true righteousness of God before everyone, so that people will see your acts of God and so glorify the Father.

Could You Hum the Tune?
It seems familiar, but the words just aren’t quite right… That’s right. You know it, but it is certainly stated in a different way—the above is the first part of the Sermon on the Mount: The Beatitudes, the salt of the earth and the city on the hill. Many people complain, “But what about the words we’re familiar with? The poor in spirit? Hunger and thirsting for righteousness? The pure in heart? The salt of the earth? Why change it?” I am not interested in taking anything away from the words that you are familiar with. Rather, I want to lay out just what they mean in context. After all, what does “poor in spirit” really mean? Or the “pure in heart”? Frankly, what does “blessed” mean? Let’s examine the context and see if we can find it out.

Lucky Bloke!
First of all, the term “blessed.” In the Greek, it literally means “happy” and its root in Hebrew literally means “to walk straight”. However, in most contexts this phrase means, “You lucky dog!” It means that the person is fortunate, is lucky in some way. This doesn’t mean that they are blessed by “luck”. All of the promises Jesus offers are actually blessings that God would grant. So the object of Jesus acclaim is the lucky receiver of God’s grace, God’s blessing, the good fortune that comes directly from God.
What kind of rewards are these folks promised? The coming kingdom of God. Of having all of their needs met. Of being in a close relationship with God. Of being content with their lot. This is really good stuff, these promises. Especially if you don’t have your needs met—and who does?
But these folks aren’t just lucky because they are getting good stuff in the future. Also, they are essential to the present. Jesus says that these folks are essential for the world as it is. Without these folks, the world is lacking something necessary for survival. These people of God are like your daily nutrition intake—without them, the world would starve spiritually. The world would be empty, lifeless, hopeless, merciless.

The Uncommon Christian
So just who are these important folks? Essential for life today, and the recipients of tomorrow’s hope? Jesus describes them in detail. First, let’s find out what Jesus thinks are the basics of discipleship. If we are going to follow Jesus, what should we look like?
Pure in heart—We should be ready not just to look good on Sundays, to claim to believe the right things and to avoid the really bad sins that makes us bad people. Actually, Jesus wants us to be inwardly right with God—confessing our sin and devoted to God in all of our ways. Our prayer and religious deeds are just outward show, but we sincerely are seeking a relationship with God.
Merciful—Jesus expects us to be compassionate as He was compassionate on earth. His disciples need to be loving to everyone, even those who bug us! He wants us ready to help anyone and everyone in need, even when inconvenient.
Peacemakers—Jesus expects us to be active in reconciling people to God, to each other and to life. He expect us to be a part of creating a society that is just and right with God, even if that society has to be apart from the world.
We don’t see many Christians like this today. But the church keeps producing folks like this, and these are the heart of the church—heck, they are the heart of the entire world! And they will receive God’s promises for the future.

The Big Surprise
But in the Beatitudes, we are still skipping one part—the most amazing, fantastic, mind-blowing concept of Jesus. He saved it for the very beginning of his teaching, to emphasize its importance. Nevertheless, it is something we have a hard time getting a grasp of. These lucky folks, these fortunate few, these salt-of-the-earth, these essential daily vitamins are also the rejects of society.
Poor in spirit—These are the ones who are anguished due to their poverty, and suffer greatly because of their lack of normal life.
Mourning— These are those who have suffered great loss and so mourn due to it.
Meek— These are the ones who have nothing in this life to depend on and don’t have a leg to stand on to get justice in their lives.
Hungering and Thirsting for Justice— These are the ones who are desperately seeking justice because all they have received is injustice and rejection.
Persecuted— These are the ones who have been rejected and hated and beaten and despised and treated as outcasts.
Why are these great folks treated so poorly? Why do they suffer so? Some of them suffer because they just aren’t accepted. But most of them aren’t accepted because they stand with Jesus. Because they insist on being right with God in their heart more than their social standing. Because they insist on being merciful, even when it hurts themselves. Because to reconcile people when they want to continue in hatred is dangerous and a hated profession. Because the one who talks about Jesus is readily accepted—but the one who acts like Jesus is easily rejected.

No Big Surprise
Although we have great shock at first that the very folks God accepts are those the world rejects, we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, look at who God chooses:
-He chose Noah who was rejected by his neighbors because he did what God told him to.
-He chose Abraham, but only after Abraham set aside the inheritance of his father’s house.
-He chose Joseph, but the man had to suffer hatred, slavery, jail time and people forgetting him before he received God’s promise.
-He chose the children of Israel, but they had to endure years of slavery and genocide and desert-wandering before they were ready for God’s promise.
-He chose David, but the future king had to be threatened and chased all over the wilderness before he received God’s promise.
-He chose Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but they had to be ignored and rejected their whole lives, only to not receive the promise.
-He chose Jesus, who had to be condemned, judged and crucified before he was vindicated.

Honesty, if we look at the Bible as a whole, we can finally understand that God’s people always have to face the worst difficulties before receiving what God has in store for them. In Hebrew there is a special name for these folks—people who suffer rejection and poverty, but still expect God to deliver them—they are called Anawim. God has always—without exception—given his promise of blessing to the Anawim. And it is the Anawim who are God’s chosen.

Psalm 22:24—God has not abhorred the oppression of the Anawim, nor has he hidden his face from them; But when they cried to Him for help, he listened to them.

I Samuel 2:8—He raises the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobels.

Psalm 37: 11—The Anawim will receive the land and live in abundant prosperity

God has always focused on the needy who live for him, and He always will.

So how should we treat God’s special chosen? How should we treat the homeless who are standing with God? How should we act toward the working poor, crying out to God for justice? We should treat them as God does—with honor, with respect, with assistance. We should listen not only to their needs, but their counsel. After all, how we treat these folks is how we will be treated on the final day!

The Good Muslim-- Luke 10

2007-10-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

A Bible professor approached Jesus, wishing to test his teaching. He asked, “Teacher, what should I do to obtain God’s life that never ends?” Jesus said, “What does it say in the Bible? How do you understand it?” The professor answered, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. And you will love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus, impressed, replied, “This is correct. Live this out, and eternal life is yours.” But knowing he had not lived this out—and had no intention to—but wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “But, really, who is my neighbor?” Jesus sighed and responded, “There was a man traveling from Washington D.C. to New York and some terrorists kidnapped him, stripped his clothes off and beat him half to death, leaving by the side of the road, helpless. Now it so happened that a Mennonite pastor passed by, and he saw him. But, thinking he was a homeless bum, he ignored him and went on his way. Then a Baptist worship leader drove by the same spot, but since he was in a hurry to make it on time to his worship service, he also ignored him and made it to the service on time. Then a Muslim drove by and saw the man laying on the side of the road. Compassion welled up in his heart and he stopped, got out his first aid kit, covered his wounds, put him in his car (getting blood all over the new seats) and drove him to the hospital. There he told the doctor, “If he doesn’t have any insurance, here’s my credit card number—just take it from my account.’ Now,” Jesus concluded, “Which of these was the neighbor to man attacked by terrorists?” The professor said, “The M- the one who had compassion on him.” Jesus smiled and looked him in the eye, “Now you do the same.”

Do terrorists and Muslims really belong in this story?
Actually, they do! The Greek word “lestes” is often translated “robber.” But it actually means one who uses violence to achieve economic or political change, so one might translate it either as “revolutionary” or, possibly, “terrorist.” The Samaritans, on the other hand, are those who were similar to Jews—they worshipped the same God and had many of the same stories. But they had different centers of worship and they considered each other heretics. So if the original Jewish victim became an American Christian, who would the Samaritan be but a faithful Muslim? As far as D.C. and New York for Jerusalem and Jericho… well, that might be stretching it a bit.

The Th- Word
At some point or another, everyone has to deal with theology. It sounds scary (especially if you’ve heard of such words as dispensationalism and superlapsarian), but really its pretty simple—theology is just what we can say about God. Of course, Jesus then had a lot to say about theology. But whenever he wanted to get to the basics, to talk about what is most important to God and most important about our relationship with God, he gets back to these two commands: Love God and love your neighbor. That’s as basic as it gets.

Just Do It
But whenever any professor of theology or dogmatician tries to talk about theology, they do it on very different terms. They always speak of “a doctrine statement” or a “confession of faith”. They emphasize what it is we believe about God. And that’s fine, as far as it goes. But whenever Jesus spoke about theology, he spoke about action and relationship. Either he is speaking about what God does for us or what we do for God. Even his most basic statement “God is spirit” is followed by a command, “And those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). According to Jesus, God isn’t just someone who sits in heaven—he’s a person who interacts with his people, “God with us.” And we aren’t to be people who observe God like we would a tv screen—we are to be active participants with our theology. If we just believe about God in our head, that isn’t enough—we’ve got to have faith in our hands and feet. And so Jesus talked about a faith that is enacted in obedience and an obedience that is informed by faith. Just like sex and conception, you can’t have one without the other.

Two Relationships of Theology
So when Jesus tells us about theology, he says that in every aspect of it, there are two relationships. Theology, he says, isn’t something that happens in our head, it is a connection between (at least) two beings. First, there is the relationship between the human and God. And this relationship is defined by “love”, so whatever else you can say about this relationship, it is supposed to be positive, and not simply duty-based. Yes, we already know that there is obedience involved—after all, Jesus gave us commands—but the relationship behind these commands aren’t just that of slave to master. Rather, we are to have a positive relationship with God, one in which we both benefit from the process.
The second relationship is that between human and human. This is what is really odd. I mean, Jesus is speaking about theology—what we can say about God—and the very thing that Jesus puts in there is our relationship with other people. What do other people have to do with God? Well, two things. First of all, God is very concerned about people. I mean, He made them, and he gave them the earth to rule (Psalm 8). And he claims to love them all (John 3:16). Also, in this command, God is trying to help us PUT God into every relationship. Jesus is saying, “in your relationship with your neighbor, God is commanding it to be benefitial.” Thus, the relationship between human and human becomes theological, because God is forcing himself into that relationship (Ah, I know people like that…)
But what we need to realize in this basic of theology, is that Jesus is putting God and other human beings in everything we do religiously, theologically and spiritually. We cannot have a spirituality without God, according to Jesus. And we cannot have a faith without other people. If we claim to be doing something for God and it does not benefit others, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Even so, if we attempt to do something for others and do not include God, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Jesus’ theology is completely balanced between these two relationships—all has to do with both God and other people. To exclude one is to exclude true spirituality.

What is love of neighbor?
Well, we’d like to say more about loving God, but our teaching here by Jesus doesn’t give us any more than that it is love and it is God and well, that’s all that’s said. But the rest of the passage does talk quite a bit more about the love of neighbor. What exactly does it say?

Love of Neighbor isn’t exclusive
The professor wanted to exclude from the command everyone he didn’t like. Maybe he wanted to exclude heretics, or those who didn’t live in his country, or sinners or folks who did him wrong. But when Jesus asked his question, he made the professor answer that it was the Muslim—the heretic, the sinner, the foreigner, the persecutor—who was the neighbor. This means that if he was a neighbor, then EVERYONE is a neighbor, without exception. So the command involves every single human relationship we are in, without exception.

Love of Neighbor is demanded
Secondly, in Jesus’ story, he gave examples of two “good Christians” who didn’t follow the love of one’s neighbor. Thus, in Jesus’ story, although these people had a certain kind of faith, it wasn’t the kind that God was looking for. Their faith was practical and very pious, but it was wrong-headed. Because they thought that the love of God excluded them from the love of neighbor, then they were okay was NOT okay for God. God demands that the people who love Him also love those around them.

Love of Neighbor is compassion
The word that most defines the love of one’s neighbor is “compassion”. The Greek word for this is “splachna” which literally means “the feeling in your guts.” In other words, love is the gut-wrenching feeling you get when you see someone who is in need. To love someone is to recognize their need and to have compassion for it. No matter how evil they are, no matter how wrong-headed, compassion prevails in our attitude towards another.

Love of Neighbor is practical benefit
Lastly, when Jesus spoke about loving one’s neighbor, he was saying that the love was practical. The Muslim didn’t just pray a positive prayer for the man lying on the road. He didn’t just think good thoughts. Rather, he went out of his way to help him out in whatever way he could. He sacrificed his plans, his money and his vehicle to assist the stranger in need. Love doesn’t just stay in the heart (or the guts), but it gets out the pocketbook and gets dirty. Without being of practical benefit, it isn’t really love.

To have right faith is to present a benefit to everyone you meet