Pentecost

Pentecost is not the birthday of the church.

It is the blow the doors off, hitch up the horses, invasion of the world by the Spirit of God.

Hang on for the ride.

The Theme of the Bible

Cain and Abel:
.....God and other people
The Law:
.....God and other people
The prophets:
.....God and other people
Jesus:
.....God and other people
NT letters:
.....God and other people

Got the idea?

It's not all that hard.

Really.

Repentance

isn't as hard as some people seem to think it is.

It doesn't require crawling on your knees.

It doesn't require some great show of "Godly sorrow."

It doesn't require "walking the aisle" and dumping your baggage on the front row.

It is simply deciding to live the Life offered by God.

It is simply turning your focus toward the interests of others, just as God's interest is on others.

It is simply living the Life God would live if He were you.

God doesn't care about your sins.

Really.

He does want you to live the Life He made you to live.

What He wants is you - to bless you by offering you real Life.

He doesn't really care about how many sins you have, how long you've had them, or even what they are.

He knows He made you human, and you're not going to get every detail right.

All He wants is for you to live in His direction - a Life that is giving, outward focused, concerned for others.

Like Him.

Like the Image you are.

No, you don't have to do it perfectly; He knows you're not going to.

After you blow it, all you have to do is get back on track.

That's it.

God loves you....

...and offers you life with Him.

That's the Gospel.

When you decide that you want to take Him up on His offer, He'll let you.

This Life is the one you are made to live. It isn't foreign, but rather is the fullest expression of you as the image of God. It takes some getting used to, it takes some effort in remembering to put others before you, it does feel odd.

But it isn't.

You needn't be worried about whether you're one of the Elect, you needn't worry about having to get everything right, you needn't worry about having to keep a bunch of rules once you've returned to Him.

You will need to want to live the Life He offers, even if you don't live it perfectly.

Believe it or not, it gets easier and easier the more you experience the Life of God.

Resurrection Day is For the Marginalized

Jesus’ birth was announced first to a 12 or 14 year old girl, who had been betrothed to Joseph. The angel didn’t make the announcement to Joseph first like Zacharias or Abram. No, this announcement of the arrival of Messiah was made to this girl.

When His parents brought Jesus to the Temple, they met two people. The first was Simeon who upon seeing Him, praised God and said that now God could let His servant depart in peace. The other person was Anna, an 80-100 year old widow who spent most of her time in the Temple. Upon seeing the baby, Anna also praises God but then instead of bowing out of the picture, becomes the first evangelist of the Messiah’s arrival. This old widow became the first evangelist of the Messiah.

A young girl receives the first announcement, and an old widow becomes the first evangelist of Messiah’s arrival.

When Jesus and His disciples go to Samaria, the first non-Jewish interlocutor of Jesus is a woman with a questionable history. After sparing with Jesus for a while, she takes off to her town and exclaims, “Can this be Messiah?!” As a result of her excitement, the town believes in Jesus. According to John, this woman is the first non-Jewish person to have the Gospel proclaimed to her.

A young girl receives the first announcement, an old widow becomes the first evangelist of Messiah’s arrival, and a Samaritan woman who was living with some guy she wasn’t married to is the first to receive the announcement of the Gospel outside of Israel.

On the morning of the resurrection, John and Peter race to the tomb, find the wrappings laying neatly on the shelf, and then—they go to their homes! Mary Magdalene stays outside the tomb, worrying herself to death about where the body of Jesus might be. After a short exchange with the gardener, the Gardener softly says “Mary…” and she knows it’s Him! This woman, also with a questionable history, is the first person to whom Jesus reveals Himself after He is raised.

A young girl receives the first announcement, an old widow becomes the first evangelist of Messiah’s arrival, a Samaritan woman is the first to receive the Gospel directly from Jesus outside Israel, and this woman with a questionable history is the first to have Jesus reveal Himself to her on Resurrection morning.

Three women and one girl. No men, no rabbis, no political rulers, no pastors, no bishops, nobody with any political or social power, and no Apostles. Three women and one girl.

The message of God and the coming of Messiah reflect what God’s concerns have been from the earliest concerns expressed by God. God has always been concerned about the folks on the fringe, the outcasts, the oppressed, and those meant to be avoided and not heard or seen. It isn’t any wonder that these first showing of Jesus are to a girl and three women, a widow and two with questionable moral histories.

The coming of Jesus and the resurrection are especially important to people just like these four. Wealth and powerful people don’t often worry about dying, and certainly don’t think they need a savior. But folks who aren’t powerful, who live their lives in one-down positions, who only exist for the entertainment and use of the powerful—these need a savior and it is these who appreciate Messiah the most. 

It is these folks who respond with the most enthusiasm to the call "He is risen!" Their response, "He is risen INDEED!" God wants everybody and has a special spot in His care for those we too often ignore, elect not to see, and avoid in our lives. If we are to be God people, we must be concerned about these same people.

Seven Last Words--Commit

Seven Last Words

“Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Finally, it really is over. After about three years of “setting His face toward Jerusalem,” of cycles of enthusiasm and abandonment, of insult, isolation, and abuse, and after hanging on this cross for six hours, it is mercifully time to let go.

Jesus has lived the will of God His entire life and in fact this is what has brought Him to this point. He’s going to die today because of His absolute commitment to the leading of God.

It isn’t just that He follows the will of God, but because He is God, His death in a few moments comes from His love for people; His love for you. This is the end of the road on which He set out on from the beginning. Having missed the family caravan back home, He brushed aside His parents’ remonstrances by reminding them that He had to be about His Father’s business. His practice of confounding and frustrating the Jewish religious leaders will last the rest of His life. It has on this day resulted in His death, demanded by those very rulers who claimed to have no king but Caesar.

Here on top of this hill’s killing field Jesus is ready to realize the reconciliation of the world to God. The words “into Your hands I commit My spirit” are clearly reference to His imminent death—perhaps even His last breath. This is probably their primary import, but there are other secondary but just as important implications.

These words from Psalm 31, much like those from the 22nd Psalm, are words that reach out to a God who is not obviously present in His suffering, but who is trusted to be here by both the psalmist and Jesus.  It is this trust perhaps that allows these words to form one bookend for His earthly life. At twelve He had been taken to the temple and instead of heading home, launched His attending to the Father’s business amidst the leaders of His people. On this day, He will complete His work by committing Himself to the Father one last time.

Reflection

Jesus’ entire life was spent doing the Father’s will. As a result, Paul will call Him the Second Adam for His faithful life, and credit Him for reconciling the world to God.

Jesus’ life on earth was an example for us. His life demonstrated for us the way we are supposed to live—the way we are made to live. In these words, we are given the secret for such a life, and that is to commit ourselves to God, and seek to do His will in every moment.

Are you willing to live every moment for God? Are you willing to live every moment doing the things that Jesus would do if He were living your life today?

Most of us lose focus from time to time. It’s easy to let the troubles of life confound and confuse us so that we become defensive and do things designed to satisfy our egos and satisfy perceived wrongs. Do you ever find that you’ve lost focus?

What do you do to get yourself back on track after realizing you’re off target?

Much of the time the result of our being out of focus is hurt to someone else. What have you done, or might you do to fix those hurts?

What do you need to do?

Seven Last Words--Finished

Seven Last Words

“It is finished.”

We have come to the end—well right up to it anyway. After crying out that He thirsts, Jesus is given some sour wine and John says that he died. But John does not record our last two Words, one of which is this declaration. 

What does Jesus mean by it is finished? Specifically, what is the “it?” Certainly it includes His life—His time on earth has come to an end. After thirty some odd years, with the most recent 18 or so hours of insult, abuse, desecration, and dehydration, His body is ready to die. 

But we remember that this death is not just that of an itinerant rabbi who came afoul of the law. No, this is Messiah—one appointed as God’s messenger and representative—God Himself in this case. This then is the end to the planned-before-time-mission. Everything in His life; in fact everything in the history of the cosmos has been leading to this moment. He has been faithful even unto death. That death is now here to mark the completion of this mission. Man now has a way to return to God.

It is also though, the end of God’s self-expression incarnate among us. Incarnated to show us God, and in showing us God to reveal to us our true selves. We are made to live as Jesus lived while on earth, but we forget our making and our calling. We give in to fear, to defensiveness, to taking care of Number One. Jesus’ life showed us that such living is antithetical to our true crafting by God.

And too; and perhaps most importantly, we have reached the end of God’s demonstration of His lavish love for us—for you. Too many times we hear that God had to send  Jesus because we are sinful creatures who are totally depraved and have no good in us. That our sin put Jesus on the cross, and for that we are certainly miserable people.

Nothing could be further from the truth. God came incarnated out of His love for you—that was the whole point. John 3.16 tells us that “God SO LOVED the world….” When Jesus looks at the people He says they are like sheep without a shepherd; this is a statement of compassion, not disdain. Jesus tells us that He has come to do the will of the Father, and in Luke chapter 4, He tells us what that will is—to give sight to the blind, to set prisoners free, and to relieve the oppressed, declaring the Lord’s favor.  This has not been a mission of judgment, but one of love.

Because He really loves you. So much so, that He was willing to die for you, and in doing so, to demonstrate the love God has for you. It is finished; did you see it? Do you comprehend His love for you?

Reflection

Read John 3.16-17, and taste the love of God for you. Roll it around in your mouth and sit with it for a while. What thoughts come to mind after a few minutes of contemplating these two verses? What emotions rise up for you?

What does the death of God for you tell you about how God considers people—even those who might kill Him if He showed up again?

What does it tell you about how you should see those same people?

What do you need to do?

Seven Last Words--Thirst

Seven Last Words

“I thirst.”

The end is coming quickly now. His body has been beaten, desecrated, and now is quickly becoming dehydrated. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth they are so dry. If there was anything to swallow, it would be almost impossible to do so. Jesus’ humanity is coming to the end of life, a life that seemingly has been pulled from it; beaten from it.

These words have meant many things to many people through history. Surely, Jesus suffers from physical thirst. How could he not? And so these words are our second verbal indicator of his human suffering and approaching death.  It is a bit ironic that he who suggested that the Spirit would be a living fountain of water in him who believed would now feel bereft of water. Ironic perhaps, but a clear indicator of what Jesus has given up so that we might live.

Jesus has been on a mission directed by God. He probably also thirsts—longs for the completion of this mission. Following on the heels of his cry of being forsaken, this simple statement has less energy, less demand of God.  He is ready to die for the Father. He is ready to die for you.

He thirsts also for you. As the representative of humankind, Jesus embodies the state of us all—thirsting after God.  In these words, Jesus tells us that God thirsts for hearts to be formed in us which thirst for him. He thirsts that the world might be set right and humans might take their rightful place with God.

Through his thirst, he offers the Spirit to slake our thirst—our longing for a world and a life with more certainty, less hurt, and clearer ends.

Reflection

Water—without it we would die in just a handful of days. It is critical for life. Scripture pictures water as just that—life giving grace. Jesus told the woman at the well that he could give her living water so that she would never thirst. Or again, that those who have the Spirit have within them a living, vibrant, life giving stream or fountain that is unquenchable. God wants us to have that Spirit and to live thirsting for him.

Have you ever been so thirsty that your tongue literally stuck to the roof of your mouth? Have you ever hungered after God to such a degree that your soul seemed to be parched? Describe that here:

If you have felt that way, what have you done to quench that thirst? How do you keep it from returning?

Do you have friends who seem to be living lives of thirst? How are some ways you might give them some spiritual water?

What do you need to do?

Seven Last Words--Forsaken

Seven Last Words

“My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus is coming to the end of His task. He has been on this cross for almost six hours. He has experienced repeated insult, injury, frustration, and even abandonment by both His disciples and the leaders of the People of God. From a human perspective, He has come almost to the end of His rope. Almost, but not quite. The end will come quickly now.

Many smart people have pondered the meaning of these words, and have come to the conclusion that we simply don’t know their  full meaning. The conundrum arises from a central tenet of Christian theology—that God is One, and He cannot be split into parts. Given this understanding, it is simply impossible for God to have forsaken God; for there to have been a rift in the Trinity.

And so He hasn't. 

This utterance isn’t from Jesus’ divinity, but from His humanity. He is tired, and He has been doing what He came to do—all the suffering, all the not-answering-a-word, all the frustration with disciples who still don’t get it, has been part of the plan. Nevertheless, He hurts; He is tired; He is overwhelmed. Enough is enough.

These words are from Psalm 22, and are rooted in Israel’s relationship with her God; rooted in covenant and rooted in a history that has seen an endless cycle of closeness and distance between her and God.  They are rooted in Israel’s trust in God, and it is this trust that underlies and drives these words.

Israel’s history has included being over run, despoiled, and taken into exile. Her history has included punishment and being sent from her God. In the midst of these calamities, history has also witnessed her God go with her, even if she cannot experience His presence. God has not forsaken Israel even if it has seemed He has.

And God has not forsaken Jesus here. 

These words are the result of a very human feeling of desolation, of being alone in a dangerous place, but at the same time are founded in the expectation that God still hears, still knows, still acts to restore those who would cry out to Him. The remainder of Psalm 22 makes it clear that when all is said and done, the speaker believes that God does in fact hear and will act to restore Israel to himself. Similarly, Jesus trusts the steadfastness of God.

This cry from the cross is in a real way an affirmation of God’s presence and care for His people. God has not forsaken Israel, not forsaken Jesus, and will not forsake you—even in times when it seems He is absent.

Reflection

Read Psalm 22 slowly. Let the words evoke the feelings, the dry mouth, the being surrounded by dogs. Have you been in such a place? When was it, and how did you maneuver through it?

In this psalm, despite the exhaustion and the wasting away, the psalmist calls out to God for help, for salvation. We often hear only the words of desperation, failing to hear that they arise from and  are based in a faith that God does in fact hear.  What kind of faith  do you suppose it takes to be in such straits and yet reach out to this God that seems to be absent?

Has your faith been tested like this? If so, how has your faith changed this side of the testing? If your faith hasn’t been tested like this, how might you prepare for such testing?

What do you need to do?

Seven Last Words--Behold Your Mother

Seven Last Words

“Woman, behold thy son.”

Jesus spent his last evening washing feet, giving last-minute encouragement to his disciples, praying in the garden while the disciples slept, and then betrayed and standing a religious trial. At dawn, He had been taken to Pilate and experienced the leaders of His people yelling, “We have no God but Caesar!”

After enduring an exchange of question and answer, He was finally turned over for crucifixion in return for a notorious insurrectionist. Beaten and insulted by the Roman soldiers, He now finds Himself hanging on a cross, being jeered yet again by those who should know better.

Before He dies, there is one last detail He needs to handle. He has to make arrangements for mom. Jesus is her oldest son, and some believe her only son. In the culture of the day,  she will not have anyone to care for her when He’s dead. It is his responsibility to make sure she is  entrusted to someone.

Looking down from the cross, he sees a handful of people. This small clutch includes His mother and the disciple we understand as one of His closest followers.  While He still has strength, He  makes introductions of sorts, entrusting Mary to John for the rest of her life. Tradition tells us that she lives with John for eleven years following Jesus’ death.

What do we see in this vignette? We have God, the One through whom  all things are made, and by whom all things are sustained, being killed viciously by His own people. He allows them to kill Him because He loves them and this is the way they will return to God.

Even so, this God before He completes  this cosmic, planned before time mission, in writhing physical pain and mounting emotional and psychic pain, takes time to care for a creature.  He will not allow Himself to complete His Father-directed task until he ensures that Mary will not be left alone in this world.

God stops or delays what He is doing to care for people.  How cool is that?

He loves you in the same way. Let Him care for you.

Reflection

What does it mean to you, that God took time to make sure that Mary was cared for before He died?

Have you ever thought that maybe God wasn’t with you—that He may have left you out to dry? How did you work through that? If you’re in the middle of it right now, might knowing that Jesus cared for Mary even in the midst of his anguish help you reconnect with God?

We humans often get caught up in our own lives, our own important tasks. Sometimes we lose sight of the people around us and forget to care for them. Who in your life have you overlooked?

What do you need to do?