When heaven touched down on earth week 5: Jesus restores a severed ear

Back in the fall we looked at a series entitled “The Divine Commodity” which took the art of Vincent Van Gogh, his life, the church, mission, consumerism and following Jesus, put it into a blender so to speak, and came out with a 9 week series.  

During that series what was impressed upon me was the faith of Vincent Van Gogh, and his treatment at the hands of the religious institution.  But he still continued a love for Jesus.  But the story that most of us know, and probably has made this painter famous, is what happened on December 23, 1888Van Gogh, suffering from severe depression, cut off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in Arles, France.  He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. 

In the Scripture that we will be exploring together today, it is another story of a severed ear, not at the hands of the owner of the ear, but by a follower of Jesus.  So open your Bibles, your iPads, phones or whatever you use to access the Scriptures and turn to Luke 22.  I’m going to use several different verses within Luke 22.  

So what is happening here in Luke 22?  In the first part of Luke 22 Judas goes to the Chief Priests and Teachers of the law and agrees to hand Jesus over to them for some money, a total of 30 pieces of silver.  And then he begins to figure out when and where to hand Jesus over to them.  Right after that we see Jesus making plans with the disciples to share the Passover meal with them.  This would become known as his Last Supper.  They make preparations for the meal and then Luke records to story of his Last Supper with his disciples.  

During the supper we see that Jesus takes the passover meal, which is the story of the people of God and freedom from Egypt, and reinterprets the bread and cup to be about him, his body, and his blood and his death on the cross.  But the disciples, not surprisingly, don’t get it because right after the sharing of the bread and wine they begin to argue which one of them is actually the greatest in the Kingdom.  Jesus again for them reinterprets what greatest means in His Kingdom, not being served but by being a servant.

Following Jesus’ response to their argument about who is greatest, he turns his attention to Peter and we read these words in verses 31-38, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’ and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords. “That’s enough!” he replied.”  

So Jesus is praying for Peter that his faith wouldn’t falter.  Now the context seems to be in connection with his denial of Jesus three times.  I think that is the primary meaning of what Jesus is getting at.  But I also wonder if it had to do also with the reaction of Jesus being arrested, and Peter’s always brash, without thinking attitude, and Jesus knowing that Peter may resort to violence to protect him.  There is a possibility that Jesus was praying that Peter wouldn’t fall into the temptation to act out according to the ways of the Kingdom of this world.  To resort to violence when presented with violence.  To fight fire with fire.  

So Jesus then says words that many have misinterpreted as Jesus calling his followers to actually arm themselves and resort to violence.  In verses 36-38 we read, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’ and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords. “That’s enough!” he replied.”  It seems like Jesus is actually calling for the disciples to arm themselves.  The disciples obviously think that Jesus is getting them ready for an actual fight.  If he actually meant for the disciples to pick up swords, and begin to fight to protect him, it would literally contradict every teaching that Jesus had ever taught.  In fact, later on we see Jesus before Pilate saying that the proof that his Kingdom is actually not of this world is that he followers weren’t fighting to defend him. 

We also see when the disciples say that they have 2 swords, Jesus says that’s enough.  Jesus can’t mean that 2 swords will be enough to protect them from what is coming.  I mean there were the disciples and Jesus and a mob each wielding clubs and swords.  The disciples only had two.  If Jesus expected them to use the swords, they would have needed a lot more.  Again he isn’t suggesting that two swords would be sufficient for the job at hand.  No, he is wearily putting a stop to the entire conversation in which at every part the disciples seem determined to misunderstand him.  

So if Jesus isn’t saying for the disciples to actually take up arms and use them to fight violence with violence, then what is he saying.  He answers our question when he says, “It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’ and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”  Here Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 53:12.  Greg Boyd says this, “to fulfill prophecy Jesus had to be viewed as a transgressor.  He had to at least appear to be a political revolutionary to the Jewish authorities for them to feel justified in arresting him.”  They need to appear as a threat to Roman rule.  The had to appear to be a bunch of sword-yielding zealots in order for Jesus to be arrested, tried, and executed as a political threat to the empire of Rome.  And the two swords were enough to fulfill the prophecy that Jesus was going to be viewed as a transgressor.  

At the end of this part of the passage Jesus, after hearing the words, “Jesus we have two.” says the words, “It is enough.”  And there is probably two meanings to his words.  First, is the meaning of what I mentioned before, that two swords are enough for Jesus to appear as a political threat, and leading a band of sword wielding zealots, in order to be arrested.  The second meaning of It is enough, means that’s enough of that conversation.  It is obvious that the disciples didn’t understand Jesus, and were taking the sword talk literally, and they were ready to use the swords to enact violence on anyone who would come against them.  And so Jesus is saying enough.  Trying to remind his disciples of what the Kingdom of God is really all about.  What Jesus had been teaching them from the beginning that the Kingdom of God advances not through killing the enemy but actually loving the enemy.  

So after the disciples respond to Jesus and he tries to set them straight about their use of swords, they head out to the Mount of Olives.  When they arrive he tells them to pray that they won’t fall into temptation.  As I mentioned before with Peter, I am wondering what Jesus meant when he says to them, “Pray so that you won’t fall into temptation.”  I believe the primary meaning has to do with the temptation to fall away, and stop following Jesus due to the persecution that is coming.  But I wonder again if there isn’t a second meaning related to temptation and violence.  That Jesus prayer for them not to fall into the temptation to respond to violence with violence.  To fight the sword with the sword.  To believe in the myth of redemptive violence.  

And so Jesus goes to pray in the garden and the disciples fall asleep, not heading the words that Jesus says to pray.  Once Jesus is done praying, Judas comes into the garden leading a band of men carrying clubs and swords in order to arrest Jesus, and begin the process that will lead to Jesus execution on a Roman cross.  Judas then leans over and gives Jesus a kiss, a signal to the mob about who they were supposed to arrest.  

Then we come to these 3 verses, verses 49-51 which says, When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?”  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.”

The disciples aren’t sure what they should do when confronted with the fact that the man that they had given their lives to follow was about to be arrested.  That Jesus, who they had thought was going to reestablish Israel as a world power.  That Jesus was going to deliver Israel from the hands of the Roman Empire.  And that Jesus was the Messiah (which he was)- which to them meant a military deliverer who was going to crush Rome.  And their world begins to crumble before them when the see Jesus being taken away, and their hopes being dashed to pieces.  So they yell to Jesus, “Lord should we strike with our swords?”  You know they were secretly hoping that Jesus would say yes.  That they could whip out their swords and begin to use them to protect Jesus.  His disciples don’t understand what Jesus Kingdom, his message of peace is all about.  Their attempts at defending Jesus missed the point just as much as the swords and clubs of the mob.  

And so before waiting for an answer, Peter, (we know it is Peter because of John 18:10) swings his sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus (we know from John 18:10 that Malchus is his name) the servant of the Chief Priest.  Luke, with medical precision, identified the ear as the right ear.  Assuming Peter was right handed the only way to cut off someone’s right ear in this manner is if you attack from behind.  It’s likely- though not certain- that Peter attacked Malchus from behind.  Peter tries to prove his faith with a sword, when he couldn’t prove it later with his tongue.  The disciples expected a military revolution and Peter wanted it.  Revolution through violence.  Jesus did bring revolution through subjecting himself to the violence but never resorting to violence himself.  

When Jesus sees what Peter did, by striking Malchus and cutting off his right ear, Jesus says “No more of this.”  No more violence upon violence.  No more tit for tat.  In fact in Matthew’s account of this story Jesus replies, “all who draw the sword will die by the sword”  Jesus is disarming Peter from the use of violence.  In fact Tertullian, an ancient church father had this to say about this encounter, “In disarming Peter, Christ disarms all Christians.”  Jesus again is reminding his followers (including us) that is kingdom is not advanced the the kingdoms and empires of this world.  Rome’s empire was experiencing the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome, but it wasn’t truly peace because it was “peace” brought on by violence or the threat of violence.  Rome said if you get out of line, if you rebel, you will be put on the cross.  The Kingdom’s of this world use violence to advance their own kingdom’s.  They believe that you can have true peace through the use of violence.  But is that actual peace?  Peace is never true peace if it is brought on by violence or the threat of violence.  The Kingdom of God is advanced not by violence against enemies but by loving and serving enemies.  

So Jesus tells Peter no more violence, no more bloodshed, this is not the Kingdom’s way.  And to prove that the Kingdom of God is about love of enemy he heals the right ear of Malchus.  This is the last miracle that Jesus would perform before going to the cross.  During his own time of suffering and trial, he is still about healing and restoration.  The interesting thing about this miracle is that it is so unlike any other healing that Jesus ever performed.  You see all the other hearings were from people who came to Jesus in faith that they would be healed.  Malchus didn’t have any faith in Jesus, and didn’t need healing until Peter cut off his ear.  He came to be the ears and eyes of the Religious leaders and report back to the Chief Priest on the arrest of this political revolutionary.  And he had his ear cut off.  But Jesus couldn’t allow Peter’s violent response to stand.  It would be contrary to everything that Jesus stood for.  So he touches the ear and it was made whole again.  It is reattached and he can hear.  Even in this Jesus was present to clean up the mess, his disciples left behind.  He healed the damage done by Peter.  

Jesus modeled the way he would have his disciples respond to aggression by healing the servant’s ear.  Disciples of Jesus are to serve, bless, and pray for enemies, not afflict them. 

When heaven touched down on earth, a new way to respond to violence was born.  When heaven touched down on earth, even enemies were healed.  When heaven touched down on earth, enemies were loved instead of killed.  When heaven touched down on earth, violence and sin was absorbed into Jesus’ body on the cross.  When heaven touched down on earth, He called for all those who would follow after him to walk as he walked. To live as he lived.  To love as he loved.  And to pray, serve, bless and love enemies.  

So let’s talk about what it means that Jesus healed the ear of a person who came to arrest him.  Let’s unpack the two pieces of Scripture that we spent the most time looking at and see what they might say to each of us about living a Kingdom life in our world today.  And let’s see what God might be saying to us and what we should do about it, both corporately and individually. 

1.  What do you think about the quote from Tertullian “In disarming Peter, Christ disarmed all Christians”?  Is it ever justified for Christians to participate in violence?

 2.  Read Luke 22:36-38. What are your thoughts, questions, insights on this passage of Scripture? 

 3.  Read Luke 22:49-51.  What are your thoughts, questions, insights on this passage of Scripture?  What does it say to you that Jesus healed the ear of Malchus and how does this influence the way you should live everyday? 

4.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What  is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

When heaven touched down on earth Week 4: Jesus heals a leper

The video we just watched was entitled A Leper’s Story and sought to get behind the story that we will be looking at today.  It sought to add some additional depth and dimension to this story of when heaven touched down on earth.  

Over the course of the last 3 weeks we have looked at other stories within Scripture that have shown us a glimpse of what it looked like when heaven touched down on earth.  Three weeks ago Dave Witmer, my church planting coach looked at the story of Jesus turning water into wine.  Two weeks ago I looked at the story of the paralytic who was lowered down from the roof by his four friends.  And last week Rachel did a great job walking us through the story of the healing of Jairus’s daughter and the woman who was bleeding for 12 years.  

Today as we saw in the video we’ll look at the story found in Mark 1:40-45 where Jesus heals a Leper.  So let’s turn to Mark 1:40-45 and see what it might have to say to us today about what it looks like when heaven touched down on earth.  

“A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning:  “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”  Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”

So in this story we see a man with leprosy coming to Jesus begging Jesus to heal him.  To understand this story and the radical nature of what happens in it, we actually need to understand what leprosy is, as it isn’t something that we normally think about or have much knowledge of.  But it doss still occur around the world, but in fewer and fewer cases.  

Leprosy, in the Bible, described a wide range of skin complaints of which what we call leprosy is only one.  And was feared to be highly infectious.  Leprosy starts as small red spots on the skin.  Before too long the spots get bigger and start to turn whir, with a shiny or scaly appearance.  The spots spread over the body and hair begins to fall out- first from the head then even the eyebrows.  As things get worse, fingernails and toenails become loose, they start to to rot and fall off.  Joints of fingers and toes begin to root and fall off, piece by piece.  Gums begin to shrink and teeth become loose and fall out.  Leprosy keeps eating away at the face until the nose, the palate, and even eyes rot and the Leper wastes away until they die.  

But while the physical suffering was really really bad, maybe the worst part of the disease was how Lepers were treated.  In Leviticus 13:45-46 we read these words about what happens when someone has leprosy…”Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.”  Lepers had to dress like people mourning the dead.  They were actually considered the living dead.  The first zombie apocalypse, if you will.  According to the text we read they had to cry out anywhere they went, “Unclean.  Unclean.”  According to Jewish custom, people shouldn’t even greet a leper and lepers were to stay at least 6 feet away from others.  So when someone was “diagnosed” as having leprosy, they were removed from all that they knew.  They had to leave home and their families.  Their wives, husbands, children, etc..  They couldn’t work and they had to beg for money, and pray that someone would actually have compassion on them and their state.  But compassion for Lepers wasn’t something that happened that much, especially from the religious community.  One Rabbi bragged that he wouldn’t even buy an egg on a street where he saw a leper.  Another one boasts that he threw rocks at Lepers to keep them far from him.  People in Jesus day thought 2 things about Lepers.  1.  You are the walking dead.  2.  You deserve this because this is the punishment of God against you.  Lepers didn’t normally arouse compassion.  They normally aroused disgust, especially by the religious establishment.  It is like what Mother Teresa said, “We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted. That’s what my sisters hope to provide. The sick and poor suffer even more from rejection than material want. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.”

So with that background in place let’s take a deeper look at what is happening in the story.  A Leper comes to Jesus holding out hope that Jesus could cleanse him from this dreaded disease.  He says, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  You can see the crowd moving away from the Leper and only Jesus stepping towards him.  This was no doubt his last ditch effort to try to be cleansed from his disease.  He, no doubt, had heard of Jesus, and thought to himself, “maybe Jesus can heal me of my dreaded disease.”  And so he comes to Jesus, gets on his knees and begins to beg and plead with Jesus in ordered to be free of his deadly condition, one that no doubt he had been living with for many many years.  

The Scripture than says that Jesus was indignant but many translations actually say compassion.  Is this a contradiction?  Isn’t there a huge difference between indignation and compassion?  I believe there is a way to say that Jesus was filled with both.  I believe that Jesus was indignant at the system that allowed this man to be seen as the living dead, and unworthy of any human love, relationships, or touch.  And indignant at the disease that racked this man’s body and the sin/brokenness within the world that caused the disease.  But he had a deep love and compassion for the man that many reviled and spat upon and were filled with disgust for.   And his deep love and compassion led him to do something that was totally radical and against religious tradition and Jewish ceremonial law. 

We find what this radical action was in verse 41 when we read, “He reached out his hand and touched the man.”  He touched the leper.  No doubt Jesus could have just said the words “Be Clean” and the Leper would have been cleansed from his disease. 

But there is something so profound here in the act of Jesus actually touching the man.  Jesus wasn’t scared of the man.  He wasn’t scared that he would get leprosy.  He wasn’t scared or worried that he would have been seen as unclean himself because he had just touched a leper.  He was able to enter into the man’s pain and brokenness.  Jesus isn’t afraid of our own brokenness and sin.  He doesn’t stay 6 feet away from us and make us yell out “Unclean”  He enters into our mess and the brokenness of our lives.  He touches us and heals our brokenness (spiritually, relationally, emotionally, etc..)  He is not repulsed by our sin and he doesn’t throw rocks of judgment at us.  He is filled with compassion for us just how he was filled with compassion for the Leper.  

So instead of just saying “Be Clean” Jesus physically touched the man.  In Luke’s account of this same story we read that the man was full of leprosy, meaning that this man was in advanced stages of leprosy.  It was probably a very long time since the man had felt anyone’s touch.  A long time since anyone looked at him with love and compassion.  A long time since anyone reached out and put their hand on him.  With that touch Jesus did a lot more than just heal the man from leprosy, he healed him relationally as well.  He healed his heart and all the broken relationships that happened because of his disease.  

So immediately upon Jesus’ touch, the man’s leprosy was gone.  He was whole againHe was cleansed in more ways than just from his leprosy.  He was cleansed physically of course, but he would be cleansed spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.  

And then Jesus says these words, which brings a lot of questions with them, “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”  

A couple questions come to mind right away.  Why did Jesus warn the Leper not to tell anyone?  Why did Jesus tell him to go to the priest?  Let’s look at the second question first.  Why did Jesus tell him to“ go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them”?  You see if a blind person or a crippled person was healed, it would have been very easy to tell that they had been healed.  But if a Leper showed up in their hometown, claiming to be healed, people would be deeply suspicious.  The Leper needed to go through the official system because only a priest could deem the leper to be clean.  Jesus was telling the Leper to go to the priest and keep the command of Moses, not to be made clean (which Jesus had already done) but to be seen as clean.  We see the cleansing ritual that would have been performed on the man when he went to the priest in Leviticus 14:1-32, not that a priest had ever performed this act of restoring a leper.  Only God could heal a leper, but the priest was the one who could pronounce him clean to the community.  And in so doing, the relational walls that were built upon because of the disease could come crumbling down.  When he was pronounced clean by the Priest his relationships would be restored.  He could return home, hug his wife, kiss his kids, have a job to give him dignity again, and be a part of the community again.  

Secondly, why did Jesus tell him, or strongly warn him not to tell anyone.  Was Jesus using reverse psychology on the man, so that he would go and tell others?  Or was something else going on?  There are a few possibilities.  Maybe Jesus might have been“worried” that news leading out about what he was doing.  Things which seemed to challenge the authority of the temple itself.  And if he was seen as challenging the authority of the temple, the hand of the Religious establishment would come down on him sooner rather than later.  It might attract the wrong kind of attention.  People would get angry and wonder if he was by-passing the system.  They would begin to ask questions like:  Is he a loyal Jew?  Can his message about the Kingdom of God be real?  Can we believe in him?  Isn’t he dangerous?  Hasn’t this gone too far?  

But whatever the reason for Jesus strongly warning the Leper not to tell anyone, he actually disobeys Jesus warning and spreads the news about his healing, which if we read it linearly, he does before he actually goes and shows himself to the Priest.  And because of the Leper’s disobedience we read the result, “As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”  

So after reading the story of Jesus healing the Leper, doing some research on Leprosy, and unpacking the text, I am left with some questions that will be our main focus during our discussion time.  

One of the first questions that I am thinking about is how has God entered into our mess and our struggle. When have you seen God come close to you in your time of brokenness?  When has he drawn near, in spite of the sin within your own life?  And how can we then draw near to others, even in the midst of their own brokenness and sin?  

Secondly, one of the biggest and most obvious question that we need to talk about is “Who are the Lepers in our day?”  Who are the people that we put outside the camp?  Who are the group of people that we call Unclean, that we won’t let come within 6 feet of us, and who we throw “rocks” at?  I don’t believe there is only one answer to this question, by the way.  Who are the people that the religious establishment has ostracized, and condemned?  And if Jesus were here on the face of this earth right now, how would he engage with our modern day “Lepers”?  

And lastly, when Jesus touched the Leper and healed him, he healed him holistically, including telling him to see the priest.  In what ways has Jesus healed you holistically?  Spiritually, emotionally, physically, and relationally?  And how can God use you to heal others holistically?

Let’s get into groups and dialogue around these questions together. 

1.  When have you seen God come close to you in your time of brokenness? When has he drawn near, in spite of the sin within your own life?  And how can we then draw near to others, even in the midst of their own brokenness and sin?  

2  .Who are the Lepers in our day?”  Who are the people that we put outside  the camp?  Who are the group of people that we call Unclean, that we won’t let come within 6 feet of us, and who we throw “rocks” at?  Who are the people that the religious establishment has ostracized, and                  condemned?  And if Jesus were here on the face of this earth right now, how would he engage with our modern day “Lepers”?

3.  In what ways has Jesus healed you holistically?  Spiritually, emotionally, physically, and relationally?  And how can God use you to heal others holistically?

4.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it? 

When heaven touched down on earth week 3

Mark 5:21-43

Restoration and Healing

21 When Jesus had crossed again in a boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came up, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He asked him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.” 24 Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around him.

25 Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years. 26 She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she kept saying, “If only I touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 At once the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Jesus knew at once that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he looked around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Many ways to study this with head knowledge: 

• 12 years old, bleeding 12 years – symbolic of Jesus’ restoration of Israel.
• In Jesus’ miracles he is showing the reign of heaven – demonstrations of God’s presence and power. He has power over the created order, human decisions, disease, death, demons, and sin. – Jesus is God
• – both unclean and a touch was thought to defile the other person
• Pharisees holiness paradigm concentrates on separation and isolation from things that defile/In Jesus’ teaching holiness not uncleanness was understood to be contagious and it could overpower uncleanness – Jesus challenged their holiness concept with an alternative based on inclusive mercy that redefines holiness.
• Jesus is the agent of God’s saving presence
• The wholeness that comes when heaven touches down on earth
• Relational healing

Hearing it with our hearts: From the perspective of the woman

The woman:

• Desolate: She was unclean could not be touched, could not participate in the community– so when she was restored it was to both health and community – 12 years of being left out excluded(ex. situation where you have felt left out) physically desolate
• Desperate: She would have had to overcome many barriers to get to Jesus that day
  • Her community
  • Her physical health
  • Faced disgrace/disgust - whispers
  • Faith - “if only I touch his clothes I will be healed”  -  If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole—that is, if I may but come in contact with this glorious Healer at all. Remarkable faith!
  • Action – she went out into the crowd, pushed her way through, reached out and touched Jesus’ clothes
• Delivered
  • “At once the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.”
  • But Jesus didn’t stop there: He made her healing public – she reached out in faith and received a face to face with Jesus.
  • I imagine how afraid she was – her an unclean woman touching Jesus! What would he do?
    • She bore her heart – told him the whole truth
• He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
  • Be healed: whole, sound, healthy
  • Be continually healed, continually whole (perfect tense)
  • Peace, wholeness – these are the signs of heaven touching earth

Our journey:

• As the body of Christ we are to be the bearers of this wholeness now!
• Whole people see things in their wholeness and thus create wholeness
• We are to be continually whole – evangelicals can often view it as a one-time thing – it is a journey – Greek orthodox would say “I am being saved”.
• Are we desperate for Jesus for a face to face with Jesus? Are we pursuing him with desperation for this wholeness – do we have the faith of this woman?
• What are our barriers?
  • Theological – sometimes we only hear with our heads, leading us to pride, that we have all the answers – maybe you struggle with a belief that is supposed to be a typical Christian belief or a warped belief about God from a past experience - take it to Jesus, touch his garment, bring it to him!
  • Relational – have you been hurt by Christians and this reflects your view of God or relationship with him? 
  • Emotionalism – have you had a bad experience that has made you afraid of emotion – our relationship with God should be an emotional one, intimacy is emotional, our culture can tend to make it heady, a knowledge that we know, God is relational and our emotions are a part of that.
  • Busyness – have we filled our life so full that we have no time for intimacy with Jesus – Look how this woman fought so many barriers to just touch his garment – we have access to Jesus now – he can be more real and intimate to us than anything we know – reach out touch his garment – It will lead to an intimate encounter!
  • Anger Disappointment– are we angry at God for something – this usually comes from a warped view of something that has happened and God’s responsibility in it – take it to him.
  • Something we have done that we think we can’t be forgiven for – ocean of love wave after wave of mercy.
  • To usher in heaven here and now and continue what Jesus brought we need to first be whole!
  • Will we break through our barriers and reach out to touch his clothes so to speak, do we believe that no matter what the barrier he wants to restore us to wholeness to meet us face to face? – maybe heart to heart is a better term for us now.
  • If we reach out – He will bring wholeness and intimacy.

Divide into twos at the most threes – discuss - what is your barrier? – pray for each other

Write your barrier on the cards that were passed out. When the pieces of cloth are passed out wrap the barrier in the cloth as a reminder: “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole”

When heaven touched down on earth: Jesus heals a paralytic

I want you to imagine with me two different scenarios from two different perspectives.  

The first scenario is that a good friend of yours is having a huge party at his house and you are one of the fortunate one’s to actually get an invitation.  This party is where anyone who is anyone will be there.  In fact a very well know person within the local community will be there.  You are pumped to meet this person as you have followed their career for years.  The night of the party you arrive to the house and you can hardly get in, but you cram into the house and you begin to mingle with the host, and you finally get to meet this well known celebrity.  As you begin to talk with him, you hear a noise coming from the root, and you look up and get dust in your eyes.  All of the sudden the roof falls in and you look up and there are 4 guys lowering a mat down onto the floor.  The guy on the mat gets up and steps in front of you and begins to talk with the local celebrity.  What do you feel?  What emotions are going through you right now?  You are aghast that someone would destroy your friend’s roof just to get to see a local celebrity.  Who is going to fix your friend’s roof?  How much is it going to cost?  What is your friend thinking?  You can’t believe that you were about to have a one on one conversation with this local celebrity and this guy butts in the way and gets to have the conversation that you were going to have.  You walk away wondering what just happened.  

The second scenario is that a good friend of yours has been a huge huge fan of a local celebrity.  They have followed their career for years and have never gotten the chance to meet them.  This friend is also in the last stages of battle cancer, a battle that will end up in the death of your friend.  They are so weak that they can’t even get out of bed.  One of the final requests that this friend has is a chance to meet this person face to face.  You get word that they will be in the area at a party which is happening just around the blockYou know that it is invitation only but you are hoping to sneak in and carry your friend to meet this local celebrity.  When you get there, the house is packed and you can’t get in…but you do hear over the noise the familiar voice of the celebrity.  What do you do.  Your friend is dying and they want to meet this person before they die.  You spot a staircase to the roof, so you and your friends climb to the roof carrying your sick friend.  You get onto the roof and you begin to dig into the foot in order to create a hole so that your friend can fulfill their last dying wish.  You break through the roof, and as you look down you stare into the face of this local celebrity.  You carefully lower your friend to the floor and they begin to share their story with their hero.  What are you feeling as you see this celebrity engaging with your friend?  What is your friend feeling now that they have finally fulfilled this wish?  And you also realize that in the mission to get your friend to fulfill his dying wish you also destroyed someone’s property.  You wonder what will happen next.  

It might sound pretty far fetched but in the story that we will look at today in our second week of our series When heaven touched down on earth, this is almost exactly the scenario that unfolds when Jesus comes back to his home community.  

Let’s turn to Mark 2:1-12 and see what it might say to us, what we might learn from it, and what it looks like when heaven touched down on earth.  

Mark 2:1-12 says, “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,  “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,  “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”  

So the first thing that we see is that word got out that Jesus had returned to Capernaum.  Right before this in chapter 1 of Mark we see Jesus driving out impure spirits, healing many, and right before chapter 2 healing a leper.  And in the last verse of chapter 1 we read,  “As a result, (of the Leper’s testimony and sharing his story) Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”  And when he returns to Capernaum it’s like a local celebrity or returning war hero has returned.  

And so what happens when a local celebrity comes home or a returning war hero comes back from war?  There is a crowd that gathers.  And that is exactly what happened when Jesus came back “home”.  We see that so many people gathered in the house that there was no room left, not even outside the door. The question then comes to mind, “Whose house is Jesus in at the time?”  Whatever we come up with is pure speculation but NT Wright actually says that it might actually be Jesus’ own house.  And that it he was the unlikely householder who had his roof ruined that day.  And that Jesus words of forgiveness to the paralytic has multiple meanings, including the destruction of the roof of his own house.  Makes me wonder what you and I are willing to let go of so that others can find healing and hope in Jesus.  Can we let go of the personal preferences that we have when it comes to church?  Can we let go of our own personal rights?  Can we let go of the way we think things should be?  What sins do we need to let go of?  Can we let go of these things so that others can find healing in Jesus?  Or can we let go of things so we can find healing ourselves in Jesus?  Jesus (or the actual homeowner) let go of the damage to the roof on the house so that this paralyzed man could find physical and ultimate healing at the hand of Jesus.  

Whatever the case may be, Jesus returned to his new hometown and so many people crammed in the house that there was no room for anyone else.  Especially a group of four men carrying their paralyzed friend on a mat.  This group of four men carrying their friend had hoped to get to meet Jesus so that he could heal their friend.  So that he could walk.  They get to the house and there is no way to get their friend to Jesus because of the crowd.  Now that could have been the end of the story.  They could have said, “Hey look we tried to get you to Jesus so that he could heal you.  But there is no way we can get you near him because of the crowds.”  But that isn’t what happened.  They cared so much for their friend and his condition that they came up with another way to get their friend to Jesus.  

In verse 4 we read of how they came up with a solution to get their friend to Jesus in spite of the obstacles of the crowd.  Verse 4 says, “Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.”  Now we all too often envision houses here in America with slanted roofs and we say how in the world is that possible.  But homes in Israel in the 1st century were 1 story homes with flat roofs.  The roofs were used for work and for sleep and were accessed by means of an external stairway.  The roof was usually made of thatch, dirt or tile laid over beams.  It could be taken apart as the friends of the paralyzed man did in order to lower their friend to Jesus.  Those guys definitely had some guts.  To rip up someone else’s roof so that your friend could be healed.  Makes me wonder what I am willing to do in order for my friends to get the healing and hope that can only come from Jesus.  What roof do I need to dig through so that others can find, see and encounter Jesus?  What sins do I need to dig out of my life so that others can see and encounter Jesus?  

So they dig through the roof and let their friend carefully down on the mat at the feet of Jesus.  When the mat lands at the feet of Jesus, he looks at the man laying on the mat and then looks up to the 4 men on the roof.  And then he says these words, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  There is a few interesting things about this.  First, right before he says this it says that Jesus saw their faith, meaning the 4 men who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus.  He says this because it obvious that these men had faith, because you could see it.  See it in action when they carried their friend to the house, up the stairs, dug through the roof and finally lowered the mat to the floor in front of Jesus.  But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the paralytic man didn’t have faith, but he needed his 4 friends to make this encounter happen.  They needed to have faith that Jesus could heal their friend.  

Secondly, I wonder what the men thought when they heard Jesus say that their friends sin was forgiven.  They didn’t want their friends sins to be forgiven, they wanted him to be healed and delivered from his paralysis.  But Jesus knew what the man really needed was not just physical healing but spiritually healing.  When it came to Jesus healing the paralytic he offered him shalom (wholeness).  Not only was Jesus restoring his physical health but also giving him renewed membership in the people of God.  

Right after saying that his sins have been forgiven, the religious leaders of Jesus day, the teachers of the law, think to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  And you know what.  They are exactly right.  Only God can truly forgive sins.  They just refused to see God in the flesh, standing before them, who had absolute authority to forgive sins.  They refused to see that God had broken into humanity in the form of his son Jesus.  

Knowing their thoughts (this doesn’t mean that he read their minds…more like he understood how the religious leaders thought) he puts them on the spot by saying, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?”  For men, both real forgiveness and the power to heal are impossible but for God they are not only possible, they are a reality.  In a way it was “harder” to heal the man then to forgive his sins.  No one could verify in that moment that the man was forgiven by God.  yet it could be instantly verified whether or not the man could walk.  Jesus was willing to put himself to the test.  

After asking the religious leaders which is harder to say your sins are forgiven or take up you mat and walk Jesus says,“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” And then turning to the paralyzed man laying at his feet he says  “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man which is a messianic title free from political and nationalistic sentiment.  If he would have said King or Christ it would come off sounding like “the one who will defeat the Romans” But instead he uses the term Son of Man which is his favorite self reference, and uses it over 80 times.  He drew this from Daniel 7:13-14 which says, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[ coming( with the clouds of heaven.  He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom(F) is one that will never be destroyed.”  The son of man/Jesus according to Daniel and according to this story has authority not only to heal physically but also spiritually.  And that is what he does with the paralyzed man.  The logical statement here is if Jesus has the power to heal the man and make him walk, then he also has authority to forgive his sins.   

Jesus when he heals the man does it on so many levels.  In so many of the healings that we will be looking at in our When heaven touched down on earth series, he not only heals the people physically, but also spiritually, but also very importantly he restores them into relationship with others.  He also restores their dignity.  This man no doubt didn’t work so the only means of income would be to be a beggar.  Now that he was restored physically, he could provide for his family.  Jesus heals holistically.  He healed the man holistically.  And he can heal us holistically.  

And so the man gets up, took his mat and went home.  Can you imagine the party that broke out?  Can you imagine the high fives that the 4 friends started throwing around?  Can you imagine what happened when the man saw the men who carried him to the house, up the stairs, ripped out the roof, and dropped him to the floor in front of Jesus?  The celebration.  The dancing.  The restoration of this man to shalom.  

Before we get into our discussion time I want to make some quick observations and applications.  

1. We get to participate and partner with God in shalom-making in the world.  We get to partner with God in the healing of people.  This healing could be physical (through prayers or through medical advancements or simply going to another country and providing medical treatment that they don’t normally have access to.).  This healing can be spiritual.  We can take people to the feet of Jesus through praying for them, through sharing the love of Jesus with them verbally, and through living like Jesus in front of them.  These 4 guys had front rows seats to their friend being healed physically, relationally, and spiritually and that no doubt changed their lives as well.  We can have those front row seats when we participate and partner with God in Shalom making in the world.  

  2.    Jesus is all about shalom.  He wants us to be healed             physically, emotionally,        relationally, and spiritually.  He         wants us to be whole.  He wants to forgive us and set us         right with him, with each other, and with the creation itself.   

So let’s unpack more of this story together.  Let’s talk about the questions, insights, applications that you see in the text.  Who might God be calling you to partner with him in his shalom-making (physical healing, relationally healing, spiritually healing, etc..)?  And what is God saying to you and to us and what will you and us do about it?

When heaven touched down on earth: Water into Wine

John 2:1-11 Water into Wine

John’s unique Gospel: instead of a baby he starts with Jesus’ strong identity (Ch1)  and a sign miracle (Ch2). John’s Goal: So you would believe!!

Chapter 2:  Jesus and disciples are at a wedding as.
(Only five disciples at this point: Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, Nathanael, and John.)

Mary, Jesus’ mother, notices the ‘emptiness.  

• Don’t know for certain that she expected a miracle. 
• “Why come to me?”  Timing important in miracles

Six jars, ceremonial hand washing water for hundreds of people would not have been suitable for drinking!

• Drink from the dishwater?
• Take it to the headwaiter! You’re kidding!?

Jesus didn’t wave arms, touch it… “I present you…WINE!!” or even say what was about to happen. 

• Imagine suspense, steward sniffs it, swirls it, tastes
• Best saved for last!—groom’s shame turns to fame! 

Servants knew source, but Jesus got no public credit

(Why didn’t anybody say anything?)

• Backstory: Groom, not bride, was center stage.

Cf. John Bapt: “I’m attendant, he is groom!”

The obvious! Sovereign over created moleular world!

• Effect: revealed his glory, disciples put faith in him. 
• A non-essential miracle, called miraculous “sign”

Suggest three “signs”  -- what was Jesus “signaling?”

 1.    I’ll change wash-tub to elegant wine vessel.

--I’ll re-purpose your hands, feet, mind for Kingdom!

2.  I’ll change contaminated water to vintage wine.

Ordinary, tainted water transformed into the best.

-- I will provideimpossible changes of character.

-- I will fill ordinary vessels with My presence.

3.  I’ll model moving from a Consumer to Filler.

    Contrast to consuming party, Jesus added value,

• Added age, added substance, filled emptiness
• With abundance!  6 x 20-30 gallon = 150 gallons of quality! 4,000 glasses, worth $120,000 today.

More Fillings: fish - Peter, food - 5,000, Holy Spirit...

Discussion Questions

1. From wash-tub to wine bottle.
   In what way do you have a new sense of purpose because of Jesus’ presence in your life?
    
2. From contaminated water to vintage wine.

          In what ways have you experienced Jesus’ conversion into a life that is recognizably                              excellant?

      3.  From Consumer to Filler.
            In what way do you add value to those around you rather than consume? Instead of              scorning the emptiness, how does Christ in you fill it? 

-- In Veritas faith community?

-- In your workplace?
-- In your neighborhood? (OUT: be a blessing!)

All Day, Every Day Week 5: Pray

When you think about prayer, what comes to mind?  Quietly bowing your head, reverently whispering your thoughts, and requests?  Folding your hands, using “proper prayer language” (usually sounding like the King James Bible) and lots of words?  How about yelling at God?  Is that an okay from of prayer?  

Probably one of the most beautiful pictures of true honest, heartfelt prayer ever captured on film (though it is in a movie and acted) is from the movie The Apostle starting Robert Duvall.  Let’s take a look at this prayer and see what you think about it(Play video clip)

So give me your quick 2 cents on this portrayal of prayer.  Is this type of prayer appropriate, disrespectful, honest, offensive, etc?  

Today we wrap up our All Day, Every Day series where we have been exploring the book of James, which is a book that seeks to boil it all down and get really practical about what it means to follow after King Jesus and live under his rule and his reign in his Kingdom.  

We launched our series with a conversation around the idea of troubles and temptations and whether they serve to drive us to our knees and to the heart of God, or do they serve to drive a wedge between us and Him.  The second week we talked about the connection between faith and works, and we came out that these two things are inseparable and need to work hand in hand.   Then we took time to talk about the use of our tongue and how we can either use it to bring life or we can use it to bring death.  And then two weeks ago, we would have discussed the idea of submitting to God, drawing near to Him and then by definition fleeing from the evil one, if we wouldn’t have cancelled the gathering due to snow.  And last week we put our faith into action at Lincoln Middle School and sought to be a blessing to that school.  

And so today we wrap up our series in a very appropriate place and an appropriate way, talking about the importance of prayer in the life of the individual Christ Follower but more importantly the importance of prayer, in all its’ aspects in the life of the community of followers of Jesus.  And what prayer has to do with All Day, Every day living for the King and his Kingdom.  

So let’s look at James 5:13-18 and see what James has to say to us as we seek to be faithful to Jesus and live our lives for Him and His Kingdom.  

James 5:13-18 ays, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

The first thing that James is trying to get across to the early Christians is the importance of prayer in any and every situation.  Too often we are like Bart Simpson in the Simpson’s episode entitled, “Bart gets an F” in which Bart fails four consecutive history exams and the school psychiatrist recommends that Bart repeat the fourth grade. Bart vows that he will start to do better and attempts to get the resident class genius Martin Prince to help him, but after that backfires, Bart prays for help. That night, Springfield is hit with a massive blizzard and the school is closed, giving Bart another day to study.  During the episode Bart gets on his knees to pray and Lisa sees him and quips, “Prayer; the last refuge of a scoundrel”  All too often we make prayer the last resort instead of the first resource.  And we seem to only pray when things are going poorly.  James wants us to pray when we are in trouble.  James wants us to pray when we are happy and things are going amazingly.  James wants us to pray when we are sick.  James wants us to call the leaders of the church and have them pray for us when we are sick.  Prayer must surround everything else we do, whether happy or sad, suffering or cheerful.  James let us know that in every situation that we face, prayer is an essential element.  To live out this all day, every day calling to follow Jesus.  To grow closer to God in the midst of trials and temptations we need prayer.  To have faith that leads us to action and deed, we need prayer.  To use our tongues to bring life and blessing and not death and cursing, we need prayer.  To submit to God, draw near to him, and to resist the evil one, we need prayer.  And notice in this text the communal nature of prayer….that it isn’t just you and God in conversation.  That prayer isn’t just an individual spiritual discipline, though it is that.  Prayer is also the coming together of two or more followers of Jesus seeking the heart of God together.  That when a community draws together in prayer, it binds their hearts together in a way that hardly can be matched with anything else.  

NT Wright says this about prayer, “Prayer is this place where heaven and earth overlap. Prayer is a place where our own present time and God’s future time overlap.  A person who prays stands with one foot in the place of trouble, sickness and sin and the other foot in the place of healing, forgiveness and hope.”

One situation that James lays out is in regard to a sick person.  This is what he says about prayer and sickness, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.”  There are a few things in this part of the text that I’d like to draw out.  First, what does he mean when he says “anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord”?  This phrase anointing with oil has been interpreted as either seeking the best medical attention possible for the afflicted or as an emblem of the Holy Spirit’s power and presence.  In the 1st Century Oil was a common medicine and was used in many instances in which people were sick.  In fact Josephus records “during Herod’s last illness, he was given a bath in oil in hopes of effecting a cure.”  But more than that, anointing with oil is very simple and yet profound and effective sign of God’s desire to heal and restore people.  

Secondly, does this statement by James, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well, the Lord will raise them up.” mean that when we pray in faith for a sick person they will be made well?  And if they aren’t made well, and in fact die, does that mean we just didn’t have enough faith?  I know there are Christians who believe that if you pray for someone and they don’t get better it is because you didn’t have enough faith.  But I don’t believe that.  I don’t believe there is any guarantee for healing for the sick who have been prayed for in faith.  Some people who have been prayed for will be healed in the physical sense- and they will get better from their illness.  But some who have been prayed for will die, and will be healed in the spiritual sense..leading to resurrection.  And why are some people healed physically on this side of eternity, while others are healed spiritually on the other side of eternity?  I don’t really honestly know.  That is something that we may never know the answer to on this side of eternity.  

James goes on and says, “If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”  There is something profound going on in this text.  James understands something that all too often that we forgotten.  That sometimes the road to healing comes through confession and forgiveness.  That sometimes when we are sick, it is actually due to the lack of confession and the lack of forgiveness in our lives.  Mutual confession, forgiveness and prayer can bring healing both spiritually and physically. Confession can set us free from the heavy burdens of unresolved sin and can remove hinderances for the work of the Holy Spirit.  On the other hand bottled up anger, and unforgiveness can bind us up, cause sickness, and lead to many other body issues.  Here me out…I am not saying all sickness is psychosomatic.  But that many times the lack of forgiveness and confession can lead to issues within our body and within our minds.  

James then turns the corner and reminds his listeners that “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”  That prayer not only changes me it can actually change things in the world.  That there is power in prayer.  And one story that James hearers, which were Jewish Christians, would have been familiar with that would show and testify to the fact that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective is the story of Elijah found in 1 Kings 17 and 18.  In 1 Kings 17 we see Elijah speaking prophetically to King Ahab, King of Israel, that, “there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”  We can infer through this that Elijah was obviously in touch with God through prayer and understood what God was going to do because of the people’s infidelity to Him.  And in 1 Kings 18 verse 42 we read of Elijah praying to lift the curse of the drought because of the people’s return to the Lord.  “So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.”  James is making the point that the drought, which came as a judgement on the people of Israel, and the rain which came when they returned to the Lord and abandoned their idols, all happened in the context of Elijah’s prayer.  That his prayer made a huge difference in the physical realm as well as the spiritual realm.  

Again NT Wright has this to say about the power of prayer and the vocational calling on each and every single follower of Jesus to be about the work of prayer, “Prayer, of course, is not only a task for the ‘professionals’, the clergy and the Christian leaders.  Every Christian has not only the right but the vocation to engage in prayer like that; prayerfor one another, prayer for sick, prayer for the sinners, prayer for the nation and the world.  If everyone who reads these words were to determine to devote half an hour every day to this task, the effect could be incalculable.”

What questions does James 5 and prayer leave in your mind?  What thoughts, insights, questions, etc.. do you have about this Scripture and about prayer?  What stories do you have of the power of prayer?  And what might God be saying to each of us through this text and what will we do about it?  Let’s gather together in groups and dialogue together around this all day, every day spiritual practice called prayer. 

1.  Share a story of a time in which you experienced the power of prayer.  Share a story of a time in which you experienced a time when prayer didn’t seem to “work”

2.  What thoughts, questions, insights, applications, etc.. do you have regarding the Scripture and/or the message?

3.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What  might God be saying to us as a community and what can we do about it?

4.  End your discussion time with prayer. 

All Day, Every Day Week 4: Submit

Our Worship Gathering for Sunday January 24 was cancelled due to Snowstorm Jonas and the 30+ inches that we received.  I have posted the sermon that I would have given along with the questions that we would have discussed in our gathering.  

Much of what we have been talking about these past 3 weeks in our series entitled All Day, every day: exploring the book of James has led us to this point.  Much of the themes of the book, and our discussions culminate in James 4.  Without what James is talking about in chapter 4, all the discussion before in chapters 1-3 aren’t even possible.  

Three weeks ago we began this series by looking at James 1 and talking about Trials and Temptations.  We will definitely be revisiting that discussion a bit today.  Without what we’ll be talking about today, the trials and temptations have the potential to derail us, knock us down and out for good.  

Two weeks ago we talked about the relationship between faith and works.  We talked about the idea that while faith alone saves us we should have a faith that isn’t alone.  In fact, I believe if our faith is alone (without works) do we even really have faith.  James in chapter 4 will get us to the true root of the balance of faith and works.  

Last week we talked about that tricky and often hard to control piece of flesh that sits in our mouths- the tongue.  We talked about how often we speak words of death, to ourselves and to othersAnd we talked about even though no human being can truly tame and control the tongue, we are to give the reigns and the steering mechanism of our tongues to him.  But without James 4 and what he unpacks in it, our control over the tongue won’t work.  

So what is in James 4 that is so important.  Why does the entire book seem to hinge on this chapter.  What’s in it that will help us and direct us and enable us to live out everything that we have just talked about over the last 3 weeks?  Let’s crack it open and see what is in James 4 and why it is foundational to live all day, every day under the rule and reign of Jesus the King.  

James 4:1-10 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?  But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

James is trying to get to the heart of the matter, our hearts and what lies within them which then comes out whether in word (as we talked about last week) or in deed (what James is starting with here in chapter 4).  Jesus himself in Matthew 15 says, “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”  The early Jewish Christians that James is writing to (and really all followers of Jesus since the beginning) were struggling with an internal battle that raged within them and seeped out of them into their relationships with other followers of Jesus.  James puts this battle this way when he says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.”  Because Scripture is all contextual, there is no double that James was seeing this fighting and quarreling within the early church and is writing to address the early followers of Jesus and sharing with them what the root cause of their division and fighting is.  James is saying that within each person lies desires that are fundamentally against the ways of God, what we call our sinful nature.  These early followers of Jesus (and by nature everyone ever) had desires for material things, as well as things like their own way, people to follow them, etc…  These internal desires then led into conflict with others.  James says that when they don’t get their own way, it led to death.  Now is he saying that the early Christians got so wrapped up in their own desires that it lead to people killing each other literally, or is he alluding to a way that Jesus used the word killing/murder in the Sermon on the Mount?    James is looking back to the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus also used the word murder to express more than actual killing, but also as an inward condition of the heart shown outwardly by anger.  So these early Christians were quarreling, fighting, and “killing each other” because they weren’t getting what they wanted.  

This led even into their relationship with God himself.  There desire to get what they wanted even bled into their prayer lives.  James goes on to say, “You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”  There are two problems regarding how these early followers of Jesus were dealing with their desires. It was either no prayer or selfish prayer.  The first one was they weren’t even asking God for what they needed.  They did not seek God for their needs.  Ever been there?  I know that I have many times, trying to figure it out on my own.  And used prayer as the last resort and not the first option.  James reminds each of us of the great power of prayer and why we may live unnecessarily as a spiritual pauper, simply because we don’t not pray or do not ask when we pray.  

The second problem in relation to their desires and their prayers were the fact that if they ended up praying, their prayers were all about themselves, their desires, their needs and their wants.  They asked with wrong motives so they could spend what they got on themselves.  The word spend is the same verb used to describe the wasteful spending of the Prodigal Son.  The prayers of these followers of Jesus were self-centered and self-indulgent.  Ever been there?  Take a step back and look at the content of your prayers…are they all about you, your needs, your desires?  I know that I have been there before.  

The root of the problem that James then turns his attention to is the fact that we all have a divided heart.  James uses the evocative word adultery to describe this idea of a divided heart and divided loyalty.  He says, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?”  Obviously James isn’t referring to actual adultery.  He is referring to the idea of spiritual adultery where Jesus is our groom and the church is the bride, and the bride is playing the field, so to speak.  Running around behind his back with the world.  Being friends with the world means being enemies with God- spiritual adultery.  But what does James mean when he says friendship with the world?   The world is the way the world behaves, the pattern of life, the underlying implicit story, the things people want, expect, long for and dream about that leads them to ask, think and behave.  So probably a better word or what James is getting at is the world system, the world system that is aligned against the ways of God.  To be a friend of the world system puts you in enmity with God.  To be a friend of God means that you tame the desires that are waging war inside of you for the things that you can’t get, the desires that push you to fight and even “kill” and make war.  

But how in the world do we live all day, every day under the rule and reign of King Jesus?  How do we follow Him and thrive in the midst of trials and temptations?  How do we live out the balance of faith and good deeds?  How do we live out our faith in the world?  How do we get control over our tongue?  And how do we become friends of God and not enemies?  James draws it all together in verses 7-10 and gives us some tangible ways that we are to live under the rule and reign of King Jesus and apply all that we have talked about and everything that James has written up to this point.  He says in verses 7-10, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” 

The first thing that we need to do to be friends with God and live out the Kingdom is to submit to God.  Put our lives under his rule and reign.  We should submit to God because he created us, because his rule is good for us, and it is the only way to have true peace.  But what does it look like to submit to God and his rule and reign in your life?  It obviously looks like what we have talked about the last 3 weeks.  But it also looks like the things that James spells out.  It means resisting the devil.  To resist the devil means to stand against.  If we are friends with God, and if we submit to God we will by nature then stand against and resist the devil.  Submitting to God doesn’t just mean resisting the devil.  Submitting to God means running away from the devil but running towards or drawing near to God.  There is an invitation and a promise.  That when we draw near to Him, through spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, Scripture reading, and worship, his promise is that he will draw near to us.  

Submitting to God also means being repentant for your sins.  The times when you run after other lovers, when you commit spiritual adultery, making sure to turn around, repent of those times, and run after God a fresh.  And it’s means approaching life, our relationships, and our faith in humility unlike how the recipients of this letter were acting at the beginning of chapter 4 with arrogance and pride and seeking their own benefit.  

NT Wright in his commentary The Early Christian Letters for Everyonesays this about verses 8-10 and submitting to God, “Verses 8-10 (drawing near to God, cleansing hands and hearts, mourning and humility) seem to me like an agenda for at least 6 months of spiritual direction or perhaps for an extended silent retreat.”

If we are serious about living all day, every day for King Jesus and for his Kingdom, if we want to live faithfully during trials and temptations, if we want to show our faith by our deeds, and if we want to tame the tongue, than let’s take James’ words to heart and Submit to the Lordship of Jesus in your life.  Submit to God.  Resist the devil.  Draw near to God.  Mourn and Repent of your spiritual adultery.  And live humble lives in how you engage with each other.  

But what does it mean on the ground in the every day to submit to God and draw near to Him.  How do you submit to God and what spiritual disciplines have you used that help you draw near to Him?  How does this Scripture help you live under the rule and reign of God?  And what might God be saying to you about living and submitting to his rule in your life?  Let’s talk about those things together. 

1.  What thoughts, comments, insights, questions, etc.. do you have regarding the Scripture and or message?

2.  What does it mean in the every day, on-the-ground reality to submit to God and draw near to Him?  How do you submit to God and what spiritual disciplines do you use to help you draw near to God?

3.  How does this Scripture help you live under the rule and reign of King Jesus?  

4. What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

All Day, Every Day Week 3: Taming the Tongue

Today we are halfway through our 6 week series entitled All Day, every day: exploring the book of James.  Today we tackle James 3:1-12 which no doubt will be an uncomfortable experience for all of us, because this is an area that we all struggle with in our lives, how we tame the tongue.  

But before we begin looking at our text this morning, let’s take a quick look back and see where we’ve been.  Two weeks ago we looked at James 1:2-18 and spent our morning talking about Trials and Temptations and how in the midst of trying times we can draw near to God, and how we can trust Him to bring us through.  Last week we looked at James 2:14-28 and we talked about the relationship between faith and works and we can to the conclusion that while it is faith alone that saves, a truly saving faith is not alone.  That faith and works go hand and in hand and if you have a faith you will live it through being a blessing.  

So now we look together at James 3:1-12, and really a direct connection to last week.  One way that faith works itself out in action is related to this little thing that sits in our mouth and has so much potential to either bring life or bring death.  

James 3:1-12 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.  We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.  Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

So let’s unpack this text a little bit and see what it has to say to us regarding what it looks like to live all day, every day following Jesus and living for his kingdom.  

One of the first thing that James does in this text is to level the playing field.  He makes it crystal clear that every single person (save one) who has ever and will ever walk the face of this earth stumbles.  He says, “We all stumble in many ways.”  The ancient Greek world that is translated stumble does not imply a fatal fall, but something that trips us up and hinders our spiritual progress.  And probably one of the things that trips each one of us the most is the tongue.  We stumble in word about ourselves through pride, boasting, ego, etc….  We stumble in word about others through slander, criticism, gossip, put downs, etc…Think about all the times that your words have gotten you in trouble.  Words that have come out of your mouth that cut, hurt, and brought death to people.  We all stumble with our use of our tongue.

James then says, “Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”  If you want to measure your own spiritual maturity or figure out someone else’s spiritual maturity just look at the tongue.  What we say can indicate what we are.  And any pretense of being devout that doesn’t result in a serious working over of our speech habits is a sham.  James is really saying that if you get control of your tongue, which is probably the hardest thing to reign in, than your whole body will follow.  

James then makes two metaphors for the tongue.  He equates the small thing inside our mouth with a small bit in a mouth of a horse, and a rudder on the back of a ship.  He says this, “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.  Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.”  The bit in a mouth of a horse is placed into the mouth of a horse and connected to the reigns.  When the rider pulls on the reigns, it in turn puts pressure on the bit in the horse’s mouth and the rider than can control where the horse is to go.  The rudder is very much the same thing in a ship.  It is a small piece connected to the back of the ship and is used for directing where the ship is to go.  Just as the horse bit determines where the horse goes, and just as the rudder determines where the ship goes, the tongue can determine the way a person is going.   Jesus pointed out that what comes out of the mouth is a sing of what is really there, deep in the heart.  If someone turns out to be pouring out curses- cursing other humans who are also made in the image of God- then one must at least question whether their heart has been properly cleansed, rinsed by God’s powerful Spirit.  These metaphors got me thinking.  If a rider on the horse has control over the horse through the reigns which is attached to the bit in the mouth.  And if the captain has control of the rudder by means of some kind of steering mechanism.  Then who holds the reigns and the steering mechanism to your tongue? 

The next metaphor that James uses for the tongue is the metaphor of fire.  He says, “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”  Pretty graphic imagery of what kind of damage our tongues can actually do.  Think about the small spark that a match or cigarette can do if not extinguished.  It can literally burn down acres and acres of forest.  The same can be said for our tongue.  A small word can burn down an entire life.  What others say to us and what we say to others can last a lifetime, for good or evil.  The casual sarcastic or critical remark can inflict a lasting injury on another person.  Our small tongue has some much potential to bring so much life, beauty and hope but it also has so much potential to bring death, despair, and evil.  And that horrible little rhyme that we all know from childhood, “Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me.” is so far off.  In fact words have the power to do more damage than any sticks and stones.  Long after your bones are healed from being broken by the sticks and stones, the pain, the wounds, the fire that has consumed you from words spoken to you in anger, hate, judgment, condemnation, or even in “jest” have the potential to still be around. 

James then lays out the struggle of bridging the tongue under control.  He says, “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”  James is saying that humanity has been able to tame all kinds of animals.  To domesticate the horse, the dog, the cat, and others.  Humanity has been able to bring these animals under control.  But we haven’t been able to tame or control the tongue.  James says in verse 8 that “no human being can tame the tongue.”  But while none of us can totally tame our tongues, and it will still make us stumble from time to time, there is hope for our tongues.  The tongue can be brought under the power and control of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit should be the one holding the reigns of our tongue and steering our tongues to speak words of life and blessing and hope, not of death, cruising, and hopelessness.  The gospel is the means to have the strength to live this calling out.  To have our tongues, our words and most of all, what lies at the root of our tongues and words, our heart, (because out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks) come under the rule and reign of King Jesus and his Kingdom.  

What James is really getting at within this passage is that those of us who call ourselves Followers of Jesus, should be following Jesus All Day, every day and following him through and through.  And that we are consistent in our lives, whether in our use of words and our tongues, or in our actions.  He gets at this idea of constantly following Jesus in the way we use our words when he says, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”  As followers of Jesus we are called to praise God with our tongues, and then speak words of life to people who are created in the image of God.  The Apostle John puts this idea this way, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”    If we claim to love God and worship Him with our life which includes our words, but yet we use our tongues to slander, gossip against, criticize, we must wonder just how much we actually love God, because loving God is intrinsically linked with love of neighbor.  And one way to show our love for God is to show love for your neighbor. And one amazing way to show our love for neighbor is in our words.  

One way that we as Christ followers can show our faith (like we talked about last week) is through the words that we speak.  We have the awesome opportunity to live out the call of Abraham found in Genesis 12:1-3: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you.  I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  To use our words to live out this calling to be a blessing.  

Let me end with a homework assignment and a few questions.  I bet you are thinking homework assignment?  Either I haven’t had a homework assignment in a very long time, or you are thinking I just got my semester syllabus and I got so much to do already.  Don’t worry this homework assignment won’t be very hard.  I want each of us to use our words this week to bless three people.  The first person that I want you to use your words to bless is another follower of Jesus.  It could be someone from Veritas or another follower of Jesus that you know.  The second person that I want you to use your words to bless is someone who is not currently a follower of Jesus.  And the third can be anyone of your choosing.  And next week our table conversation before the message will be to report back the stories of what transpired because of the words of blessing that you used.  

So are you speaking life into people?  Words of hope, encouragement, joy, peace, and good news?  Or are you using your tongue to bring death, discouragement, bad news, and conflict?  My prayer is that we would give the reigns and the steering mechanism of our tongue over to Jesus and He would be able to use our tongues to speak words of life.  

So let’s dialogue about what it looks like to live out what James is calling us to.  Let’s share stories of ways we have experienced either having words of life spoken to us, or speak words of life.  Let’s share stories of ways and times in which we have experienced having words of death spoken to us or when we have spoken words of death.  And let’s talk about ways that we can give the reigns and steering mechanism of our tongue over to Jesus and use our words and tongue for the Kingdom. 

1.  Share a story in which you either had words of life spoken to you or you spoke words of life to someone else.  Share a story in which you either had words of death spoken to you or you spoke words of death to someone else.

2.  What thoughts, insights, questions, comments, etc.. do you have regarding the Scripture and/or the message?

3.  What things or ways can you give Jesus the control over your tongue?  How can you use your words for Jesus and his Kingdom?

4.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

All Day, every day Week 2: Faith and Works

As I mentioned last week during the first sermon in our series entitled “All Day, every day: exploring the book of James, that a famous theologian and pastor, during the reformation, quipped that the book of James was an “epistle of straw”.  This theologian and pastor goes by the name of Martin Luther.  Now Luther, like all of us, was a person of his time, for better or worse.  And his quip, which is definitely not accurate, was due to how the book of James was being used.  The book of James was, at the time, being used to promote the idea that salvation could be bought and purchased by our good works.  But is that actually what the book of James teaches?  Can you work your way into a right relationship with God?  Can you do enough good deeds that will earn your salvation?  I believe part of reason that Martin Luther quipped about the book of James begin an “epistle of straw” is because others in his day were using the text that we will look at today to promote something that isn’t actually in the text, but also setting up what might seem like a contradiction between Paul’s teaching of salvation through faith alone and what James is writing in the text that we will be looking at today, which is James 2:14-26.

James 2:14-26 says this, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.  You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?  Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together,  and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.  In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?  As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”  

So do these verses in James contradict Paul’s statement in Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith(—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.”  Let’s unpack this text in James further to see if there is indeed a contraction in the Scriptures.  

The first thing we see in James 2 is this question, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save them?”  To answer this question lets go back to who the audience is in the book of James.  We shared last week that the main audience for this work, or the people that James was writing to, were Jewish Christians who had come to believe that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah.  This knowing the audience of the book of James is super important not only in the entire book of James, but especially in these verses that we are looking at.  James is making it pretty clear that it is impossible that someone would have a genuine saving faith that isn’t accompanied by works.  His audience of Jewish Christians discovered the glory of salvation by faith.  They knew the exhilaration of freedom from a works-based righteousness.  But instead of swinging to the middle, they swung all the way to the other side and other extreme by thinking that works didn’t matter at all.  If we truly believe something we will follow through and act upon it.  All too often today when we say the word faith or the word believe we limit it to a western understanding instead of a hebraic understanding.  A western understanding of the words faith or believe tends to be limited only to the mind and knowing.  The Hebraic is more holistic which means faith and belief transcend the knowing and the mind and into all areas of life. Not that it meant that it naturally happened that faith bled naturally into lives.  James was very concerned about a problem which was already arising in the early church and which is with us to this day- and it is addressed as “people who do the word not people who merely hear the word.”  

We all (Western, Hebraic, Eastern) struggle with taking faith and moving it from a cerebral context to an enfleshed lived out reality.  But true belief, true faith alone saves, but the faith that saves isn’t alone.  True belief and true faith will be accompanied by our getting our hands dirty for the kingdom.  True faith and true belief won’t be just limited to the head.  It will of course include the head, but will work it’s way to the heart and out from the heart to the hands and feet.  Orthodoxy (right belief) needs to lead to orthopraxy (right action) or I believe it isn’t orthodoxy.  

The question then that James asks, if faith isn’t accompanied by action it isn’t even saving faith, leads to this illustration.  James puts it this way, “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”  There obviously is no point in saying to someone without clothes or food to be “warm and well fed”.  Words won’t do anything to help.  the world must be translated into action.  One of the actions/works that James expects from followers of Jesus to be doing is caring for the poor.  You know the saying, “It’s the thought that counts”?  Obviously, it isn’t the thought that counts, or even the words that come out of the mouth.  It is the action that is attached to the faith that makes the difference.  Without a radical change of life, that type of faith is then worthless or even dead, and will not rescue someone from sin and death.  If we fail in the most simplest of good works, towards a brother or sister in need, demonstrates that we don’t have a living faith and that type of faith can’t save us.  Because it is dead.  

Faith is dead, James says, unless it its connected with action.  He says “Show me your faith without deeds.”  Obviously he is saying that this is not even a possibility to do so.  Because to James, to show your faith, means to live in such a way that the faith becomes tangible in the real world.  It becomes an embodied faith.  And so you in the end are showing your faith.  We show our faith by our deeds he then goes on to say.  

Now this is again where we see clearly who he is audience is.  In verse 19 we read, “You believe that there is one God.  Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”  James goes back to the Shema from the Old Testament, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”  James is saying that saying that God is one doesn’t get you very far if the faith in the one God doesn’t make a difference in and through your life.  Even the demons know that God is one, and it doesn’t do them any good at all.  They have knowledge and belief that God is one, but it isn’t saving knowledge, saving belief or saving faith.  Clearly what James means here by faith is not what Paul and others developed as a full, Jesus-shaped meaning, it is a throwback to the ancient Jewish meaning- the confession that God is one.  But this doesn’t mean that Paul and James are in conflict about what faith is.  James is saying that faith needs to be translated into Jesus-shaped action, if it is to make any significant difference and it is at this point that the two come together where we find Paul, in his finest letter about faith and works offering this statement, “what matters is faith working through love.”  (Galatians 5:6)

To connect with his audience, and to again show them the fact that faith works its way out of the believer and into the world, James uses two famous characters from the Old Testament.  Both of those individuals would have been known widely by these Jewish Christians, and especially one of them would be held in seriously high regard while the other, who would seemingly not fit, ended up in the lineage of the Messiah himself.  

The first Old Testament character that James brings to his audience’s attention is Abraham.  He says, “Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together,  and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.”  James is alluding to 2 key passages that show that even Father Abraham not only believed and had faith, but that his faith led him into putting his faith into action.  The first allusion that James is making is to Genesis 15 where Abraham believes God’s promise to give him an enormous family.  Genesis 15:5-6 says, “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[ be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”  The second allusion to Genesis is from Genesis 22 which is the story of Abraham taking his son Isaac up on Mount Moriah.  Abraham faced a stern test and commanded to sacrifice Isaac, his son by Sarah, the one through whom the promises of Genesis 15 were to be fulfilled.  Obviously Genesis 22 is a troubling and dark story but Abraham “passes the test” The faith he had at the beginning in Genesis 15 was translated into action in Genesis 22.  He believed what God had promised and he was prepared to put that faith into action.  That is what counted with Abraham and that is what counts with us.  

The second Old Testament character that James alludes to is the pagan prostitute Rahab, who appears in so many ways an unlikely candidate for the Hall of Faith and an example of faith that we should follow.  She lived in Jericho and she protected 2 spies from Israel from being found and captured.  She hid them on the roof while some soldiers from Jericho were looking for them, and she told the soldiers that they had already went through the gate of the town.  (You can read more of her story in Joshua 2).  She translated her belief, that Israel’s God was the one true God (Joshua 2:11-“the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”), into action- even though it was extremely risky and could have been life-threatening to her if she would have been found out.  

In closing, I want you to notice something regarding the last verse in this chapter.  James 2:24 says, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”  James corresponds faith with the body and works with the spirit.  So often if we would rewrite it we would correspond the body with deeds and faith with the Spirit but James does it the other way around.  He is saying that the two (faith and works) are both vitally important, and one needs the other to live.  And so do we.  We need faith and we need to show our faith by being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.  We need a faith that matters, a faith that justifies, and a faith that saves…..and that kind of saving, redeeming, and reconciling faith is the kind of faith that lives out the calling of Genesis 12:1-3 (God’s calling upon his people to be a blessing) and Matthew 25 (the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats)

So let’s unpack together what it really looks like to live out this type of saving faith.  And let’s really ask each other the hard question that this passage and the entire book of James is really asking each of us, “Is our faith the real thing?”  Are we living out our faith all day, every day?

1.  What thoughts, comments, insights, questions etc... do you have regarding the relationship between faith and works?

2.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

All Day, Every Day Week 1: The Two T's

Today we enter into a 6 week series entitled All Day, every day in which we will be exploring the 5 chapters of the New Testament book of James.  And then on the 31st of January is our 5th Sunday Day of Service where we will partner and work with Lincoln Middle School.  

A famous Theologian and Pastor once quipped about the book of James, that it was an “epistle of straw” but he was merely reacting to how the church was using the book to defend the idea that salvation could be “purchased” by our good works. But what does the book of James actually teach and how does it apply to our lives today? The book of James is one of the most practical books in all of the entirety of Scripture. It has a down-to-earth feel to it and shows us what it really means to follow Jesus and to live out his Kingdom here on earth. 

So today we are going to look at James 1:2-18 as well as give an overarching understanding about the book of James and a little context regarding the book.  

The book of James is believed to have either been written in the early 60’s but there is indication that it was written before the 60’s due to it’s distinctively Jewish nature,  a simple church order, no reference to controversy over Gentile circumcision, and the Greek term synagoge is used to designate the meeting or meeting place of the church.  So if the early dating is correct, James is the earliest of all the New Testament writings- with the possible exception of Galatians.  

The book of James is believed to have been written by James, the half brother of Jesus.  There are 4 other James in the New Testament (the apostle James, and the other two James who didn’t have the statue nor the influence that the writer of this book had).  While we don’t know for 100% certainty that the writer of this book, James is the 1/2 brother of Jesus, he is however the most likely candidate for authorship.  He was a strong central leader in the Jerusalem church over the first 30 years of Christianity.  He was martyred in 62 AD.  

The book that bears the name of James was written to encourage Christians across the world (the world at that known time) which he sees as the new version of the “12 dispersed tribes of Israel” to face up to the challenges of the faith.  It was probably written to primarily Jewish Christiansbecause at the time of writing (before 60 AD) the church was probably primarily still a Jewish movement within Judaism.  Also we listen to this book of James because so much of this text echoes the teachings of Jesus.  In fact, there are over 15 allusions to the Sermon on the Mount in the book of James.  

So with some history, context and background out of the way, let’s turn to James 1:2-18 and see what we might learn about following Jesus in the midst of the Two T’s.  

James 1:2-18 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature( and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.  For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;  but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

The first T that we are faced with in James chapter one is the T of trials.  James considered trials for Christians to be inevitable.  In fact, the moment you decide to follow Jesus is the moment to expect trials to begin.  If someone tells you that deciding to follow Jesus is easy, and will make your life better in this world, run away as fast as you can.  Because following Jesus is not easy and you should expect trials to come as a result of deciding to follow Jesus.  There are many kinds of trials from actual persecution (which for the most part we in the American Church currently have undergone at all), to fierce and nasty temptations, to physical sickness to bereavement to family or financial troubles.  These trials, whatever form they may take, will according to James, will seek to test our faith.  And in the midst of those trials, James actually tells us to consider it all joy.  What?  To be joyful in the midst of pain, struggle, heartache, loss, and trials?  This seems upside down and backwards and very very hard to live out.  

Now to consider it pure joy when we go through trials is not about being happy, or having a state of happiness.  Joy is much much deeper than happiness.  In fact, happiness is usually defined, a lot of the times, by external stimuli but joy is rooted deep in our souls.  Deep in God.  Rick Warren defines joy this way,  “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”  When we confuse joy with happiness we get into a lot of problems, especially when trials come.  This call that James is sharing with Christians is not easy to live out.  It isn’t easy to face a trial with joy. 

But what is the end result of approaching trials with joy?  It is perseverance.  And when we persevere through trails, we end up mature in our faith,  not lacking anything.  This perseverance is not a passive waiting and just getting through the trail, no it is an active endurance, seeking to grow, develop and mature to become more and more like Jesus- in whose image we are all created.  Faith and maturity is tested through trials and is not produced by trials.  Trials have a way of showing us how much faith we do or don’t have as well as showing others what our faith is like.  And trials have the possibility to see where we are lacking and how we can grow in our maturity in the Lord.  

Is it possible to become mature in Christ without trials of any kind?  I would imagine, but I don’t know one person in all the world who hasn’t, in someway, faced trials of some kind.  Trials can test us to see what we do- whether we turn to God or run away from God.  

Let’s turn to the other T- that being Temptation.  James is very very clear in the matter of temptation.  That God is NOT the author of the temptation.  That temptation is from within.  James puts it this way about the author and location of temptation, 

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;  but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”  He locates the temptation within us and our own evil desires.  This verse from James reminds me of a quote from Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”  None of us start with pure intentions.  While God is not the author of temptation, he does allow us to go through it.  

Notice the difference from the trials which produce perseverance and eventually to maturity to the temptations that we face, and how when we give in to temptation that leads to maturity as well, just the maturity that leads to death.  James says that when we face trials and persevere through them we will receive the crown of life.  But on the other hand when we give into temptation we receive the opposite, maturity which leads, not to life, but to death.  

What should we do though in the midst of trials and temptations?  The answer to how we mature through trails and temptation is found in verse 5 which says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,( who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”  Turn to God.  We endure trials and temptations by drawing near to God and seeking his wisdom and asking him for strength, endurance and trust in the midst of them.  We can also fight off temptation by turning to God and his word in the midst of our temptation.  Look at 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”  Many times that way out is in communion an relationship with Him.  Look at what Jesus did when he was in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.  How did he endure under the temptation from the evil one?  He used the Scriptures as means of holding up under the weight of the temptation, “It is written…”  And if Jesus, who is our model of what it means to live out the Kingdom of God in this world, needed to use Scripture as a means of standing up to temptation, and gaining victory over it, how much more should we turn to the Scriptures (and even knowing it by heart)?  

Trials and temptations have the ability to do one of two things…they will either drive us to our knees in prayer, relationship and in communion with God or they will drive us away from God.  It is really our choice of what the end result of the temptation or trials that we face.  We can choose to let the temptation and trials drive us towards God or drive us away from God.  

In closing, we need to know something that James makes crystal clear.  A lot of the times when we face trials and temptations of any kind the way we look at God can change.  We say things like, How can a good God allow bad things to happen or If God was actually good this wouldn’t have happened.  But James makes it crystal clear that God is good, even in the midst of the trials and temptations that we will face as followers of Jesus.  James puts it this way, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

So before we turn to our discussion time, I want to let you know that if you are struggling right now and you are living in the midst of trials, know that God is there, that God is good, and that he will meet us in our time of trials and temptations.  

So let’s unpack together how we can mature in our journey with Jesus in the midst of trials and temptations.  Let’s see how we can help each other towards maturity when we are facing temptations and trials.  And let’s see what God might be saying to each one of us and what we should do about it? 

1.  What thoughts, questions, comments, insights, etc.. do you have regarding the Scripture and/or the message?

2.  What are some ways that you and I can mature in your walk with God and connect with him during Trials and Temptations?

3.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

SENT Week 4: The Coming Christ

So we stand on the precipice of ending of the Advent Season.  We are at Week 4 of Advent.  Where we have been standing on our tippy toes the last three weeks, we stretch ourselves even a little more on our toes.  We stand a little more on edge (in a positive way) waiting for the coming of the Christ Child.  The one who was sent to redeem us and the entirety of creation.  The one who was sent to show us what the Kingdom of God looked like by the way he lived his life.  The one who embodied the Kingdom of God.  

Over the last 3 weeks we have been looking at what it has meant for God to be sent in the form of a man.  Three weeks ago we covered The Coming Lord and focused on, what is traditionally done during the first Sunday of Advent, that of the second coming of Jesus, the second advent if you will.  When he comes back to set this world completely to right.  

Two weeks ago as we celebrated the second week of Advent we talked about the Coming Deliverer.  That Jesus in his first advent came to deliver his people (of Israel) but also everyone else in the world (from then till now and for all eternity) to true freedom, and not just from the bondage to foreign oppressors, like the Roman Empire.  

Last week for the 3rd Sunday of Advent we talked about the Coming Messenger and we focused on Isaiah 61:1-4 and Jesus fulfilling this call in his mission and ministry.  And for those who would follow after him out all is to renew, rebuild and restore.  

Today, as I mentioned, we have almost arrived at the culmination of the Advent season, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, where we celebrate in fullness the coming of the Christ child.  But since we don’t have a Christmas Eve gathering (something we might want to talk about sometime in the future to see if there would be interest in such a thing), today is the culmination for our community.  The day to look at the first advent of Jesus- as the baby in the manger over 2,000 years ago.  But to do that we will start in a most unusual place and then end up in the text that we hear most at this time of year.  

So let’s go to a text that I am sure all of us have memorized, and can recite to each other…Zechariah 2:10-13 and then in a bit we’ll end up in Luke 2:1-20.  

But before we jump into Zechariah 2, we need to do a little unpacking of the book to give us some context for what we’ll read together.  Zechariah the prophet (who also happened to be from a priestly family) and his ministry took place in the post exilic period- a time of Jewish restoration after being in Babylonian captivity.  A time to come back to their homeland and begin to rebuild their lives, their community, their capital city, and their temple- all of which had been destroyed in one way or another during the Babylonian captivity.  It was a time of crying out for God to come and intervene and help them restore and rebuild the ruins of their lives and their beloved communities.  Zechariah’s ministry and the book that bears his name was written then to encourage and motivate the people of God (the Israelites) to rebuild, especially the temple, after the exile.  This time in the life of Israel was especially a time of crying out and longing for the much needed Messiah to come.  In fact, this book is so filled with Messianic prophecies pointing to both the first and second advent, that only the Psalms and Isaiah in the Old Testament, have more messianic prophecies.  

So with that little bit of history and context out of the way let’s turn to Zechariah 2:10-13 and see what it might have to say and how it points us to the first advent of Jesus.  

Zechariah 2:10-13 says, “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.  The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.  Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

So the first thing we see is this repetition that takes place in verses 10 and 11 with the words “live among you.”  Or in other translations they use the words “dwell with you”.  These statements, at the time, no doubt brought the hearers mind to God coming to dwell in their temple, and their desire to put the temple back together because that is what it symbolized for them, God’s presence with his people.  And in some way, I suppose that is right.  But there are two deeper fulfillments of these words about God dwelling with HIs people.  This book written around 520 BC encompasses both the First Advent and the Second Advent of Jesus- The Messiah.  

We see this concept of God dwelling with his people through the Messiah when we read in Isaiah that he shall be called Immanuel which means God with us.  This is the ultimate fulfillment of Zechariah’s writings…Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.  God taking on flesh and blood, and making his dwelling among us or as the Message says Jesus taking on flesh and blood and moving into the neighborhood.  John 1:14 points back and connects to Zechariah 2…and the fact that God has come to make his dwelling among humanity- in the past through the temple, in the past through the coming of Jesus, in the present through the Holy Spirit residing in the community of believers- the church and in our future when he comes to set this world to right again. 

There is reason for Zechariah’s hearers to rejoice, shout and be glad, because God will make his dwelling among humanity.  There is reason that God’s people should rejoice and be glad because God will make his dwelling among humanity in a unique and powerful way….in a way that his hearers thought they understood- in the temple yes, but also in the hoped for Messiah- that they hoped would come, restore Israel to it’s rightful place.  A place of power, authority and might- and not one in which they were rebuilding their ruined cities- and not one of being in their own land living under the thumb of a foreign empire- like during the 1st Century.  But as I mentioned last week- the people of God- the one’s who were waiting for the Messiah to come, knew the prophecies about him, and were the one’s longing for his coming- could not even begin to comprehend what the Messiah would actually look like when his feet hit our soil.  They didn’t recognize him when he came- because he didn't come in the way they expected.  I mean, if we are honest, we wouldn’t probably have caught on either….That is one huge reason that I believe in the truth of this narrative- because there is no way that I would have written something like this- I would have written the narrative more in line with the prevailing Kingdom thought- a Messiah coming in power, might, authority- riding in on a huge white war horse, a man of privilege, a man of wealth, and a warrior King here to free his people from the Tyranny of the Empire by using fighting fire with fire- empire force with empire force.  But we know that isn’t what happened.  What is the story?  What kind of Messiah did they actually get?    

Here is where we hear the familiar words of Luke 2:1-20 and possibly we hear half these words in the voice of Linus in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

Luke 2:1-20…”In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to their own town to register.  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.”

So they get a Messiah born to a poor, refugee family in the underbelly of the empire, and the underbelly of society.  He didn’t come in power, as conquering King although he was King….which of course is the beginning of the confrontation between the Kings of this world, and the true King of King and Lord of Lords.  Because the baby lying in the manger is the true King of the world.  He’s born in a manger and not in some fancy royal palace.  He’s laid in an animal trough not in a cradle made out of precious metals and of an ornate design.  He had angels trumpeting his arrival and not a royal court in this world.  And who came to proclaim his birth to others?  Shepherds whose word wasn’t even recognized in a court of law.  If you only had shepherds to testify for you in a court of law, you were pretty much out of luck.  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords didn’t come in the way that God’s people were hoping, expecting, or even dreaming.  But he came as promised, in Zechariah 2, to living among his creation.  

But here is the story nonetheless. The King of the World, The Christ, the Messiah, God himself comes into our world.  Takes on flesh and blood and dwells with all humanity.  He moves into our neighborhood.  He becomes human.  The God of the universe dwells in a tiny baby’s body.  The divine taking up residence with us….Immanuel God with us.  

But what does it mean to you and I here 2,000 years later that Jesus was born in Bethlehem?  How does this affect our everyday existence?  What difference does it make in our lives?  That is one of the questions that we’ll ask.  And we’ll also talk about what it says to us about the way and how Jesus was born and what this might say to us about our world, what God cares about and what we, as followers of Jesus, should care about.  So let’s now talk about applying this 2,000 year old story to our lives in 2015 (almost 2016)

1.  What does it mean to you that Jesus took on flesh and blood and moved into our neighborhood?  What difference does it make in our lives and in our everyday existence?

2.  What does it say to us about the way that Jesus was born?  What might it say to us about our world, what God cares about and what we as followers of Jesus should care about?

3.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it?. 

SENT Week 3: The Coming Messenger

Today we enter into the third week of Advent.  Over the last two weeks we have been exploring our Advent theme of SENT.  We have talked about Jesus being SENT as the coming Lord.  During that first week we looked at the second coming of Jesus, and how he will come back to set this world right again.  That the waiting that Isaiah and the people experienced waiting for the messiah to come and “rend the heavens and come down” is also the waiting that we are in the midst of for Jesus to once again “rend the heavens and come down” and renew, recreation, and redeem not only our lives, but the entire creation that is all around us.  

Last week Matt did a great job of leading us in our second week of SENT talking about the coming Deliverer.   That in the midst of the struggle, strife, and brokenness that we experience (individually, communally, and in the world) that Jesus appeared to deliver his people out of bondage and into hope, peace, joy and love (the traditional advent themes).  That he came to rescue, and redeem.  

Today we are three weeks into the Christian season called Advent.  A time of waiting..a time that a friend of mine says is when “Christians stand on their tippy toes”  A time that we wait for the Christ child to come.  A time that we wait for Jesus, the word made flesh, to incarnate the Kingdom of God in the here and now, and also the not yet.  A time of waiting and watching and hoping for the Kingdom of God to come in its fullness.  

During this advent season it seems like it is even harder to wait for the world to be the way that it should be.  For shalom to break into our world, our world which seems like it is full of violence, hatred, evil, and sin.  It seems like everywhere we look today brokenness abounds.  We hear of more and more violence or violent language in the name of religion..whether that religion be Islam or Christianity.  We hear about the thousands and thousands of people displaced from their homes each day becoming refugees and the largest humanitarian crisis that our world has probably ever faced.  And we hear about hatred, fear, anger, and judgment coming from leaders- whether those leaders are politicians, businessmen, president’s of colleges (even Christian colleges) and even Pastors.  It seems like now more than ever we need the Kingdom of God to break into our world.  We need Jesus to break into our world and we also need those of us who follow Jesus and His Kingdom to work towards justice and shalom, the way things should be.   

Let’s look at our Scriptures today and see what they might have to say to us about waiting, Advent, Jesus and the breaking in of His Kingdom into our world right now.  

Turn with me to Isaiah 61:1-4 which says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy

instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a plantingof the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

This passage from Isaiah is known as a Messianic passage.  That it looks forward to the coming of the Messiah who would fulfill everything that Isaiah was writing about in this passage.  The Messiah which means anointed one, was expected to come and proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for captives, and release from darkness for prisoners.  We see this passage predicting the mission and ministry of Jesus 700 years before he walked on the face of this planet.  In fact we see Jesus, when talking about his mission- his platform so to speak- reading these very words from the scroll of Isaiah in Luke 4:16-22- and then saying “Today these words have been fulfilled in your hearing.”  Obviously Jesus is claiming that he is the one.  He is the Messiah that the People of God, the Israelites had been waiting for ever since before Isaiah wrote these words.  Ever since the People of God longed and hoped for and prayed for a deliverer, a Messiah to come.  But the interesting thing about all of this, is that after all the years of waiting for the Messiah to come, when he does come, they don’t recognize him.  And in fact after He basically claims that He is the Messiah, they want to throw him off a cliff.  He isn’t recognized as the Messiah, because he wasn’t doing what the People of God thought that the Messiah should do, or at least do it in the way they would have liked.  They were hoping for a Warrior Messiah- one who would ride in a strong war horse with a sword in hand, vengeance in his eyes, and a pension to make the Romans pay.  And then Jesus shows up not being what they hoped for, and they don’t recognize the Messiah at all.  In fact, I am beginning to wonder if we would recognize Jesus if he showed up here today in the good Ole USA.  Sometimes when I hear things in the news said by Christians, I definitely say…no we wouldn’t recognize him.  

So Isaiah writes these messianic words of what it would be like when the Messiah would come.  So the question that I have is what does it look like when the Kingdom of God shows up and breaks out around us?  Let’s look at the text.

Verse 1 answers this question about the in breaking of the Kingdom this way, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners”  When the Kingdom breaks in it looks like the broken are healed, the mourning find comfort, the prisoner is set free, and the captives leave their chains.  What does it look like when the Kingdom breaks into our reality?  It looks exactly like Jesus and his mission and ministry.   Jesus- the Messiah came to heal the damage that sin has brought into our world.  Sin impoverishes but Jesus the anointed one brings good news to the poor.  Sin breaks hearts but Jesus the Messiah heals the brokenhearted.  Sin makes us captives but Jesus the anointed one proclaims liberty and freedom.  Sin brings grief but Jesus the Messiah brings comfort.  

God didn’t just send another prophet, He SENT his Son, the Kingdom right before our very eyes.  The Kingdom is here and now and not yet because of Jesus.  The Kingdom breaks into our world because of Jesus.  He is the one that proclaims good news to the poor, binds up the brokenhearted, proclaims freedom for captives, and release from darkness those bound in chains.  He is the one that the Kingdom is advanced through.  We are receivers of his Kingdom mission and ministry.  

But that doesn’t mean that we just receive it and we then wait around until either we die or he comes back.  No.  We, who have received the Kingdom in our lives have a job to do as well.  What is it?  Look at verse 4 and notice the transition in the words that are used.  “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”  The ones in verse 1 who have experience the mission and ministry of Jesus the Messiah are now the ones in verse 4 who are seeking to live out the Kingdom in this world.  They are the ones who are rebuilding and restoring, because they have been rebuilt and restored and redeemed.  God loves to restore ruins and he wants to use us to restore and rebuild that which is broken and ruined..whether the ruins are people, or cities or problems like homelessness, hunger, the refugee crisis, etc…He is the true anointed one, the Messiah, but then he anoints us (anoint means to be filled with) to be about the work of His Kingdom.  He anoints us to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and release from darkness.  That was his calling and this is also our calling.  

So Isaiah 61 does a great job of giving us a picture of what it looks like when the Kingdom of God touches down on earth…it obviously and first and foremost looks like Jesus and his mission and ministry.  But what else does it look like besides that?  To answer that let’s take a quick glance at the Magnificant found in Luke 1:46b-55 (which Laura read at the beginning of our time together).  Luke 1:46b-55 is Mary’s prayer and her prayer goes like this, “And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

Based on Mary’s prayer what does it look like when the Kingdom touches down on earth?  First, it looks like worship.  Mary says it herself, “My soul glorifies the Lord.”  If we want to be about the things that we mentioned before found in Isaiah 61, it must start from a heart of worship, because of what the Lord has done for us.  We should glorify and honor God because he has preached good news to us.  We should glorify and honor God because he has bound up our broken heart.  We should glorify and honor God because he has freed us from captivity.  We should glorify and honor God because he has released us from darkness.  We should be like the wise men who came with their gifts and laid them at the feet of the King.   

Secondly, when the Kingdom of God touches down on earth it looks like a reversal of fortune.  Look at verses 51-53, “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty”.  Notice the reversals of fortune.  The proud are scattered.  The rulers are brought down and the humble are lifted up.  The hungry are filled with good things while the rich are sent away empty.  The coming of God’s Kingdom will bring changes that affect every aspect of life.  This prayer is about mercy, hope , fulfillment, reversal, revolution, victory over evil, and of God coming to the rescue at last.  

So I close this part of the message with a thought/scripture and some questions for us to discuss in our discussion time.  

First, John 20:21 puts it this way, As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.  Jesus, the Messiah was sent to our world to embody the Kingdom of God.  He is sending us to do likewise.  

Secondly here are some questions that we can talk about together.  What part of the Kingdom coming to earth in the form of Jesus mission and ministry do you need most in your life at this time (see Isaiah 61)?  How can your life and our life together as a community embody and enact the good news of the Kingdom in this world?  And lastly what is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it and what is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

1.  What thoughts, insights, questions, comments, etc.. do you have regarding the Scriptures and/or the message?

2.  What part of the Kingdom coming to earth in the form of Jesus mission and ministry do you need most in your life at this time (see Isaiah 61)? 

3.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

SENT: Week 2: The Coming Deliverer

This morning, we continue “Sent”, our Advent series. Last week - the first week of the series, we talked about The Coming Lord - of Jesus rending the heavens, coming to earth. This week, our focus is on Jesus as The Coming Deliverer. Please open your Bible, or find in your Bible app, Isaiah 40:1-11. It says this:

1 “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

I love that last part, which shows that God, Israel’s Deliverer & our Redeemer, is a mighty ruler, but also as a tender shepherd. The part in verses 3 & 4, where it says, “make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain” reminds me of the Dukes of Hazzard theme song. Does anyone else remember that? Waylon Jennings sang, “Straightnin' the curves/Flattenin’ the hills/Someday the mountain might get 'em/But the law never will”. But really, what does it mean to make straight a highway for God, to lift up valleys, make the mountains & hills low, & to level out the rough ground? These words were written in a time in which the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed, & the people of Israel had been exiled by the Babylonians, in which a huge portion of them were broken from their families’ ties to what was their Promised Land & relocated in Mesopotamia. One meaning of these phrases would seem to refer to the literal physical return of the people of Israel & Judah, led by Jehovah Himself. This would have been especially meaningful to the original hearers - a nation that had experienced God as Deliverer, with Moses as His agent. They were yet again in need of a Deliverer, in a very tangible way. Babylon was eventually overthrown by Cyrus the Great of Persia, &, according to the record of the Cyrus Cylinder - a Persian historical artifact - the Persian commander took the city of Babylon “without any battle”; the soldiers “strolled along, their weapons stowed away”.

At least one hundred-forty years before Cyrus conquered Babylon, he was prophesied of in Isaiah 44:24-28:

24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; 25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, and drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolishness; 26 Who confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ to the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’ and I will raise up her waste places; 27 Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’; 28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”

And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ended the captivity, & even provided for the Israelites to rebuild the temple.

In fact, Ezra 1:1-4 describes that part of the prophecy coming to fruition:

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: “All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.”

Lest you think that Isaiah only spoke of how Israel would be delivered from Babylon, consider Malachi. He prophesied after the building of the Second Temple, after the reign of Cyrus had ended. In Malachi 3:1, we read:

3 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

This would certainly run contrary to the interpretation of Cyrus as the “Messiah”, even though God, as Deliverer, used Cyrus in a real way by freeing God’s people from Babylon. Malachi suggests that there is another Deliverer to come, to offer a freedom greater than Israel had experienced before. The book of Isaiah contains many prophecies that also point to New Testament times.

Please turn over to Mark 1:1-8. Here, Mark leads off his account of the ministry of Jesus like this:

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” [That is a reference to Malachi 3:1] 3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.’” [That is a reference to Isaiah 40:3]

4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

John the Baptist is among my favorite characters in the New Testament. He is spoken of in the Gospel of Luke, where we learn about the angel Gabriel telling that Zechariah & Elizabeth (who was barren & past child-bearing age) would miraculously have a child, how he leaped in the womb when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited. And the next we hear of John, he’s some sort of a Bear Grylls/prophet Elijah mix (Elijah is depicted in 2 Kings 1 in a similar wardrobe, too). John was a descendant of Moses’ brother Aaron, & was also an eccentric dude living out in the sticks. He was humble, but no delicate, withering flower. Let’s take a look at a few artists’ renderings of John the Baptist. (Show slides)

 When Jesus went to see John the Baptist, when they were both adults, “they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” 28 These things were done in Bethabara [or Bethany] beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

So what does this mean to us, 2,000 years later? There are a number of lessons we can draw here.

1. John the Baptist was in a place of much prominence, but he made certain it wasn’t about him. John lowered Himself & lifted up Jesus, & that made it possible for him to carry out his mission.
2. God has a plan, all of the time. God knew the dilemma that the Israelites were in, & He spoke through His prophets to show that He was in control & had a plan. In times of trouble, we cry out to God for answers, & we may feel aimless. But we can trust that God will give wisdom to those who ask for it, & joy when we can trust Him with results.
3. Endurance is made possible by hope. God may feel distant at times, but He wants us to know that we can trust Him, & He makes Himself known through Scripture, through other people, & through His still-small voice to our hearts.The Israelites could cling to God’s words through Isaiah; we can cling to Jesus’ words & those of the New Testament writers about Jesus’ work to bring the Kingdom of God, now & for eternity. And this hope isn’t only for us. We are to be vessels of Jesus’ love & grace to others, showing & telling them about the deliverance from sin & death that Jesus offers.

I will sum up my message with a few closing items. First, Hebrews 12:1-2:

12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the song “Our Deliverer”, Third Day sang that:

Every burden one day will be lifted

Every broken heart will be redeemed

The Lord Almighty is coming to our rescue

Salvation’s waiting for all who will believe

And in the song “O Holy Night”, we are reminded:

    Truly He taught us to love one another

    His law is love, & His Gospel is peace

    Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother

    And in His Name, all oppression shall cease

“Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come for thee, O Israel.” And He come again. This is all good news for certain, & we can hope in the truth of that.

I’ll end my message with a song, a version of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”, mixed with some words by the 15th century Christian Julian of Norwich. (Play “I Heard the Bells [All Will Be Well]”)

Now, let’s discuss this together.

1.  What thoughts, comments, questions, encouragement, or pushback would you offer about     these Scriptures & this topic?

2.  What is God saying to you that you should do about this? What is God saying to you that we as the Veritas community can do about this?

SENT: Week 1- The Coming Lord

Thousands of years ago a prophet of Israel spoke these words on behalf of the people of God.  They have reverberated through the annals of history.  They sum up the people of God’s cry in the midst of pain, brokenness, sin, and the feeling that God is distant and aloof from the world.  In Isaiah 64:1 we read, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down”  Isaiah prays that God would see the pain and brokenness of his people and come down.  Come down and begin to set things right.  

Have you ever prayed that prayer?  Lord, rend the heavens and come down.  Maybe you didn’t say it in those exact words.  Maybe they sounded like, “God would you come down and make it right?  God where are you in the midst of all the brokenness, pain, sin and violence in our world?  Are you even there?  Do you even care that this world seems like it is falling apart?”   When we look around and see all the destruction that is happening currently.  When we see ISIS, and Boko Haramcausing so much pain, devastation, and violence.  The police shootings, the protests, and the violence and racism at home.  When we see people not having enough to provide for their families.  When we see all the things that seem to be wrong in our world.  We all end up praying that prayer.  God just come down and make it right.  God why is there so much suffering in the world.  God do something.  And we wait.  We wait for God to act.  We may stand on the other side of history that Isaiah and the people of God in the Old Testament.  When their cry was for God to actually break into history and begin to set things right.  Their cry was answered 700 years later in the person, work and ministry of Jesus.   And while we stand on the other side of history after the coming of Jesus, we still find the cry of Isaiah on our tongues.  We still cry, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down.”  We still wait for God to come and make things right.  To put the world right, the way that it should be.  

Today we begin the season in the Christian church known as Advent.  Advent is derived from the latin word adventus and means coming.  In the church we focus on three different comings.  1.  the birth of Jesus2.  the incarnation.  3.  the second coming of Jesus.  And it is the start of the Christian year.  A writer by the name of Joan Chittister writes: “The liturgical year does not begin at the heart of the Christian enterprise. It does not immediately plunge us into the chaos of the crucifixion or the giddy confusion of the resurrection. Instead, the year opens with Advent, the season which teaches us to wait for what is beyond the obvious. It trains us to see what is behind the apparent. Advent makes us look for God in all those places we have until now ignored.”   And so as we enter Advent today we wait.  We wait the coming of Jesus to set this world to right.  To fully redeem everything.  To bring Shalom (the way things should be) into it’s fullness, that which started when he came the first time.  We wait for his second coming and the recreation of the world.  

Let’s tun to Isaiah 64 and read Isaiah’s prayer on behalf of the remnant that had returned to Jerusalem after the exile.  Their hopes and dreams of how things will be when the returned to Jerusalem wasn’t playing out how they hoped.  Things weren’t perfect or the way they thought they should be.  And so the remanent prayers a prayer of Lament.  

Isaiah 64:1-9 says, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens( and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!  As when fire sets twigs ablaze

and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!  For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right,

who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins. Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.”  

As I mentioned this is a prayer of lament from the people of Israel the remanent returning from exile.  And this is also our prayer in the midst of Advent in the real world where things aren’t going well.  Where the world isn’t perfect and we are disillusioned.  This is the prayer of a pain brought on by the consequence of people’s sins, experienced most deeply as anger and alienation from God.  Their appeal is for God’s intervention- to heal the alienation and to halt the damage of their sins.  

So the prayer of lament begins with the people praying that God would come down.  To come down and engage in the brokenness of the world.  The people of God remembered the stories of God engaging with with their forefathers and mothers.  They recalled the stories of God trembling the mountain (Exodus 19:17-18…Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.)  They remembered the stories of God delivering the people from the hand of Egypt.  They recalled the amazing stories told to them from their parents.  And they wondered why God wasn’t showing up in that way again.  Why wasn’t God doing amazing things on behalf of his people again?  And so they cried out and waited.  

In verse 4 we read, “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.”  The remanent recall how God revealed himself in days past to those who waited for him.  They recall that God was truly God because of His actions on their behalf.  That no other god was able to hold a candle to Yahweh.  They recalled Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.  (1 Kings 18).  They recalled how Yahweh had just delivered them out of exile.  But when they got back, it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.  It was perfectly how they had imagined it.  And so they cried out and waited.  

This cry and waiting would last 700 years and they couldn’t have imagined how God would choose to reveal himself…in the coming of Jesus.  He shows us himself.  Do you want to know what God is like?  Look at Jesus. Do you want to know how God acts in the world?  Look at Jesus.  In sending Jesus, God reveals himself like never before.  Acts in a way that has never been done.  He reveals himself through the person of Jesus, His son.   

This is what we celebrate in Advent.  The first coming of Jesus…that we look back to.  And the second coming of Jesus…that we look forward to.  Jesus came to begin the process of recreating the world as it should be.  The work begun with his life, death, and resurrection, which continues throughout time and will culminate in his second coming, when this world will be as it should be.  The world as it was in the begin will be the way it is again.  The cries of the people of God for God to show up was answered in Jesus ultimately.  And our cries for God to show up will be answered in Jesus.  

And so they cried out and waited for God to show up.  But in the midst of the waiting they began to wonder a few things.  Why wasn’t God showing up in the way that they expected?  Did he even hear their cry and their longing for his engagement in the world?  Was it something that they did or weren’t doing that was causing God not to show up like he did before? If they did right wouldn’t God show up?  Maybe they were sinning against God and that was the reason He wasn’t showing up.  In verses 5-9 we read their thoughts. “You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins. Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.”  They equate their brokenness and sin to a menstruation cloth.  A garment used and considered defiled.  And because of the people’s sins, God seemed to be hiding himself from the people.  The failure to seek God is attributed to God’s hiding, seeking is futile because God has left the guilty to the consequences of their sin.  And the beg and plead even more, even though they say that God can’t be found.  They beg and plead for God’s hand, his presence and his deliverance.  The cried out and waited.  And, as I mentioned before, they waited 700 years to find the fulfillment of their cries and their longing.  Why we need Advent.  Why we celebrate Advent.  Why we look to Jesus.  Because of our sinful state.  Our brokenness not only on an individual level, but on a corporate and systematic level.  Our cries for deliverance is not just a cry for God to set things right in the world, but also a cry to set things right in ourselves.  We cry out for God to heal the violence, pain, death, and destruction that is going on around us.  But he didn’t just come to heal and restore and redeem the world from it’s sin, he also came to heal and restore and redeem us.  He came to put everything to right, individually, corporately and systematically.  In Jesus, we see that God is set on answering this prayer through restoration and healing. He comes down and He reveals himself, all for the purpose of restoring us and our relationship with Him. This is Advent. Our hearts are weighed down with gratitude. Out of our history of brokenness, Jesus crafts a future of restoration. 

And so we see the people of God in the Old Testament crying out for God to rend the heavens and come down.  To show up and put things to right.  And 700 years later Jesus shows up (why we celebrate Advent) and through his life, death, and resurrection, he redeems, restores, re-creates, and rescues all of creation, which includes us.  But we still wait, we still long, and we still see the effects of sin all around us and inside us.  We still cry out as the people of God for God to come down and set it right once and for all.  And in Mark 13 see Jesus talking about that time when the Son of Man will come back and set the world back the way things should be.  I’d encourage you to go and read that this week on your own.  When Shalom will come in its fullness.  And so we cry out and we wait.  We wait in this advent season for Jesus, his second coming, and for the world and for ourselves to be completely re-created.  

But what do we do in the meantime?  Do we just sit around for Jesus to come back?  What does it mean to “wait” during this advent time?  Where have we seen God show up and begin the process of redemption and recreation?  And how does God want to use you and us to bring about restoration for the people in our lives? How will you and I actively pursue that over this Advent season?  Let’s talk about those things together.  

1.  What thoughts, comments, insights, questions, etc.. do you have regarding the Scripture and/or the message?

2.  How might God be calling each of us (individually and corporately) to wait during this Advent season?  

3.  When and where have you seen God show up and begin the process of redemption and recreation?  

4.  How does God want to use you (and us together) to bring about restoration for the people in our lives and in the world around us?  How will you and I actively pursue that over this Advent season?

Divine Commodity Week 9: Teaching the World to Sing

So today we come to the conclusion of our Divine Commodity series.  In this series we have been exploring the person of Vincent Van Gogh, his art, consumerism, the church and following Jesus.  We have explored spiritual practices that we can begin to practice which confronts consumerism, and liberates our imaginations to live as Christ’s people in a consumer culture which is directly opposed to the values of the Kingdom of God.  

Over the last nine weeks we have explore spiritual practices like imagination, silence, identity rooted in Jesus and not our performance, communion with God, Christ centered relationships, taking up your cross, unity and last week we looked at the Biblical and missional call to hospitality.  Today we wrap it all up looking at God’s call to be on his mission in the world, to be about the advancement of his Kingdom, where heaven touches down on earth, where Shalom is breaking forth, but with a twist that confronts each and every one of us in our consumer driven culture.  Before we get to our text for the morning, his call to be on his mission, and the twist, let’s explore a little bit about our painting and a little bit more about Van Gogh.  

First, a quote from Van Gogh that I believe will set the stage for further discussion of our topic.  “Christ labored 30 years in a humble carpenter’s shop to fulfill God’s will.  And God’s will that in imitation of Christ, men should live and walk humbly on earth.  No reaching for the sky, but bowing to humble things, learning from the Gospel’s to be meek and humble of heart.”  So often in our consumer driven world we believe that bigger is better, faster is better than slower, and that popularity not only equals success but it also equates with legitimacy.  Continual growth and expending impact are how we’ve come to define success.  

But let’s take a look at Van Gogh’s painting The Sower, obviously based on a parable of Jesus.  Van Gogh painted 30 canvases of sowers throughout his career.  Simple peasants walking in a field scattering seed.  The sower represented, for Van Gogh 3 of his passions converging into one scene, his regard for nature, his respect for peasants, and his love for the Bible.  The Parable of the Sower made a deep impression on Van Gogh.  Not only was The Sower inspired by the Bible it was also inspired by another painter named Millet.  But in Millet’s painting which is a 40 inch piece, the sower dominates the field of vision, he is almost all that you can see.  But in Van Gogh’s painting the Sower neither fills the canvas nor dominates the composition.  No the main thing that draws your attention is the citron-yellow sun.  We have seen over and over and over again Van Gogh’s use of yellow (and his use of the son) to represent God, to represent the presence of the divine.  So Van Gogh, in a very real way, is taking the focus off the sower, the humble servant in the field, and putting the focus squarely on God himself.  It is Christ who dominates the field of vision in Van Gogh’s piece and not the humble servant out to spread the seeds in the field.

Now let’s turn to two of Jesus parables that talk about seeds and the sower and let’s see what they might have to say to us in our 21st century consumer-driven culture and see what spiritual practice that these parables may give us to apply to our life and give us imagination for the future.  

First let’s look at what is called the Parable of the Growing Seed found in Mark 4:26-29.  Mark 4:26-29 says, “He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”  In this parable Jesus is trying to give his listeners, and us, a picture or a metaphor for what life in the Kingdom of God is really all about, the Kingdom where he rules and reigns and we submit ourselves, our lives, our community to him and his ways and not our own desires, whims, and wishes.        In this parable the man (the farmer or sower if you will) has two responsibilities.  The first responsibility is to go out and scatter the seed on the ground.  If the farmer doesn’t scatter seed, you can bet 100% that there will be no harvest at all.  The farmer needed to do his part to put the seed in the ground.  The second responsibility is at the very end of the growing process, called harvesting.  The farmer sees that the crop is ready and when it is, he puts a sickle to it and collects it.  

The one huge thing that the farmer is not responsible for is the growth of his seeds.  He has no control over whether the seeds will never grow, grow a little bit, or create a huge harvest.  Yes he can make sure conditions are right.  He can till the ground, plan the seed, help water the seed but in the end he can’t make the seed actually grow.  That is not his responsibility.  In fact, it even says that he doesn’t even know how it grows, it just does.  

It reminds me of a children’s story in the book series Frog and Toad: The Garden.  A summary of the story is that Toad is impressed with the garden Frog has grown and wishes he had one too, so Frog gives him a bag of flower seeds. Once Toad plants the seeds, he shouts at them to start growing, prompting Frog to come up and tell him the seeds are afraid to grow at the moment. Even though Frog tells Toad to leave the seeds alone and let the sun and rain do their work to help the seeds grow, Toad tries every other way (reading a story, singing songs, reading poetry, and playing music), all to no avail. Exhausted, Toad falls asleep one night, and the next morning, Frog wakes up Toad to show him that the seeds are starting to grow. Toad is glad he'll soon have a garden as good as Frog's because what he did was hard work.  He did what he was responsible for..planting the seed.  And then he tried to take responsibility for the growth of the seed, the speed of the growth, and the results, when they were out of his hands the minute the seed left his hands.  

This parable also reminds me about another Scripture later in the New Testament, found in 1 Corinthians 3:6 which says, “I planted the seed,  Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”  Paul is saying that a follower of Jesus’ responsibility is to plant the seed, even water it, but we aren’t the one that makes it grow.  God is ultimately the only one that makes it grow.  God is the one responsible for the results.  Just like Van Gogh’s painting- God is the primary agent of growth.  We aren’t responsible for what happens when the “seed” leaves our hands.  And this isn’t a very appreciated thought in a results oriented culture like our own.  We want to do something big.  We want to see big results.  We want fast results.  And when we don’t see big, fast results we throw in the towel.  We get discouraged, feel like a failure and want to quit…or am I only speaking to myself here?  But let me say this again in a slightly different way…we are NOT responsible for the results, we are only responsible for being faithful to what God calls us to.  

Many years ago during seminary I had one counseling class.  I don’t remember too much about the class to be honest with you.  But I do remember an exercise that the professor gave us each and every week. We had to memorize a statement each week and internalize it.  One of those statements that I memorized is “Success is being faithful to God.”  So there it is.  No more, no less.  Being faithful to what God calls you to is and should be enough. 

Another parable that Jesus tells regarding seeds is found in Matthew 13:3-9 which says, “Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.”  Now Jesus explains this parable to his disciples, so we know that the seed is the message of the Kingdom of God.  Notice something about the farmer.  Notice how we scatters the seed.  This method of distributing the seed is called broadcasting.  Broadcasting is a method that involves scattering seed by hand (in Bible times) or mechanically over a relatively large area.  This is in contrast to the precision method which seeds are placed at precise places and at precise intervals.  Obviously this farmer in the parable is not concerned about precision.  He is trying to get the seeds out there and to see what sticks so to speak.  He wasn’t concerned with the results.  He was playing his part, his role in the growth of the seeds, which was to get them out of his bag and into the ground.  And he was doing that liberally.  

The results he got was that only 1 in 4 seeds actually grew and became a harvest.  Only a 25% success rate.  If that were a business statistic it wouldn’t be a good statistic.  In our Kingdom conversation this morning, it also might mean that for every 4 people that you seek to share the Kingdom of God with only 1 will actually take the seed and let it grow within them.  But that again is only thinking about results.  Of which we aren’t responsible for.  So my call for all of us is to put the burden upon Jesus.  Give it to him.  It is not yours to carry.  Give it up and give it to Jesus.  It is his to hold and to carry, not ours.  Live in the freedom of casting the seed of the Kingdom liberally and trust God to handle the results.  

This parable obviously appears to have been in Van Gogh imagination while painting his sower.  In his painting we see the field, which has a rocky path in it as well as birds to snatch the seed away.  And in the background, closest to the sun (which I am sure is not accident in the painting) is a field of mature grain ready to be harvested.  But look at the sower.  He is undeterred as he sows even though variety of outcomes are possible.  He strides confidently forward- his task is to cast the seed whatever the result.  And isn’t that our task as well to cast the seed of the Kingdom of God by the practices that we have been talking about all along and throughout this series?  To sow the seed of the Kingdom of God through practices such as imagination, though silence, through a Christ-centered identity, through prayer, through Christ-centered relationships, through suffering, through unity, through the Biblical and missional call of hospitality and through allowing God to be God by leaving the results of our sowing his Kingdom seed to him and just faithful casting the Kingdom seed.  

I finish with a quote from one of my favorite authors and a few questions that will drive our discussion.

First the quote from Dallas Willard, “The humble are dependent upon God, not on themselves.  They humble themselves “under the mighty hand of God” (1 Peter 5:6)….They abandon outcomes entirely to him.  They “cast all their anxieties upon him, because he cares for them” (v. 7)….We do the very best we know, we work hard, and even self-sacrificially.  But we do not carry the load…In our love of Jesus and his Father, we truly have abandoned our life to him.”  

And for the questions….

What if Jesus, Paul, and Van Gogh are actually right?  What if the outcome of our labor is beyond our control?  What if we are not the primary agents behind growth or its absence?  What if we stopped judging ourselves and others based on outcomes which rightly belong to God, and rediscover the humility of the sower- the one who rises day and night, casts the seed upon the ground and marvels as it grows?

1.  What thoughts, comments, insights, questions, etc… do you have  regarding the Scripture and/or the message?

2.  Where and to whom may God be calling you to sow the seed of the Kingdom of God and giving the results up to Him?  

3.  What is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?  What is God saying to us and what should we do about it?

4.  What one practice, that we looked at during our Divine Commodity series, do you need to develop in your own life?  How can we as Veritas help?