Cross-eyed

April 16Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—“My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.” Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:1-13, NRSV)

This passage describes what Jesus endured for us.

He could have stepped out of this at any point being He was/is God, but He didn’t.

He is the one we should fix ours eyes upon and look to and follow.

That is how I learned Hebrews 12:2 Fix your eyes upon Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith! He is the one that made our faith and He is the one that perfected it. He is the one we should see, and if you do not see Him, then you need to refocus your self!

So be cross-eyed, and always look upon Jesus!

Rubbish!

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:7-16, NRSV)

This passage is wonderful and a part of a great book.

But here Paul tells the Philippians to press on in life and not let the stuff around them take hold of them and keep them from God.

Paul said that he has suffered the loss of all things and has regarded them as “rubbish”. At least the NRSV says rubbish, the KJV says dung… The word in the Greek is σκύβαλα (skubala). It means dung, filth, refuse. But its derivation is uncertain according to my Greek dictionary. This si probably because this is the only time this word is used in all of the Bible and it is hardly used, if at all, in other Greek literature. I was taught this was probably a street term used by Paul to make a point. All things are shit next to the saving power of Christ!

You see we can press on towards the goal of obtaining the gift of eternal life, forgetting everything that is behind us, because really what does all of this matter. If we are pressing on towards God and the life that Jesus has for us, all of life is nothing compared to the immeasurable joy we will have in Him.

So press on! Knowing He will always be with you.

 

Not Ashamed

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17, NRSV)

How does your life speak that you follow Christ?

Or does it not speak that you follow Christ?

All of our life, not just the hour we go to worship needs to point people towards God.

How do we proclaim His love through deed and word?

Declare our loyalties…

150913 DistractionsJesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:27-38, NRSV)

What is the one thing that gives you the greatest joy?

I’m sure we could think of many things that give us joy, but what is the one thing that seems to always make us feel like we have accomplished something, that we have a great joy deep down in our soul? Frederick Buechner said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

But what keeps us from that?

We can see in our reading for today that Peter seemed to get it. And he proclaimed it loud and proud, in Caesarea Philippi, the place where Pan was worshipped surrounded by pagan gods and goddesses, and statues, and all kinds of distractions.

It would be like being in the Mall of America and claiming Jesus was the Messiah. Or at Lambeau Field! In the midst of the things that can draw us away from God.

So what are the distractions in your life?

How can you focus your life on Christ and follow Him?

And not the God we want, like Peter wanted, but the actual God we get.

The God who meets us in our vulnerability and lifts us up to Him.

How can we direct all of our life to Him?

Give Him back everything He has given us, and live our life for the God that lifted us, not the God we want to keep in a box.

So push the distractions aside and live your life for God, in the midst of a world that tries to draw you from Him, stay focused. And declare your loyalty to the one who asks you to bear your cross.

And you will soon learn that bearing the cross is not a punishment, but a release to the life He has in store for you.

The Lord will save me!

O Lord, by these things people live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.
Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
Surely it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but you have held back my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
For Sheol cannot thank you,
death cannot praise you;
those who go down to the Pit cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
The living, the living, they thank you,
as I do this day;
fathers make known to children
your faithfulness.
The LORD will save me,
and we will sing to stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
at the house of the LORD.
(Isaiah 38:16-20, NRSV)

God will save us!

He will restore us to the health He has for us!

He will make us live!

And because of all of this we will sing to Him in His house for all eternity on stringed instruments and show Him our praise and thanksgiving!

a few quick provisos, quid pro quos

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37, NRSV)

When I read this text this time, because it is the story of the Good Samaritan, like there could not be a good Samaritan…

The lawyer stands to test Jesus, so he already had it in his heart that no matter what the answer was good/bad, right/wrong, there would be a retort. The lawyer was not letting Jesus off the hook easy here. So after the lawyer answered what the law says, and Jesus commended him and told him to go and do just that, the laywer then, “wanting to justify himself.” As if doing what Jesus said is not good enough, now we have to put a few provisos, a few quid pro quos into place.

And don’t we all do that? Limit where Jesus love, grace and mercy can reach?

We want to know who we can forget about and who we actually have to help.

Well here is the answer: there is no limit to God’s love, mercy and grace, otherwise you would not be included.

So you have to love everyone.

You have to offer grace to everyone.

You have to offer mercy to everyone.

There are no provisos on God’s love!

SURPRISE!!!!

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-36, NRSV)

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. Which could seem a little strange because it is about the final judgement, but there are so many things here that it is a great text to me.

See the one thing about this text that is true of both groups, so all of us, will be surprised in the end, what Jesus says to us.

Neither the sheep or the goats knew when they did or did not, cloth the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick or imprisoned. They had no clue what they did or didn’t do.

But you see every person we meet could be the presence of Christ and how we treat them is how we would treat Jesus when He was with us.

We can not look upon a person and pretend we know who they are or what they are going through, because we all know you can not judge a book by its cover and you can not judge a person by the packaging.

So love them all like Jesus.

let YOUR light shine

9761c-candle2bin2bdark“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16, NRSV)

You are salt, and if salt has lost it’s flavor what is is good for? Is there any way to make salt salty again? Not that I know of, and Jesus says all you can do is throw it out and trample it under your foot.

You are the light of the world. You don’t light a lamp and hide it under a bushel basket. And actually in Jesus day this would be quite dangerous, as this was an open flame lamp. So to put it under a basket would hopefully put it out, but if it was burning high enough it could catch the basket on fire!

But what caught my attention here this read was a phrase I have said over and over again, because I get to say it every time I get the chance to baptize some one.

“Let your light so shine before others that they see your good works and give glory to our Father in heaven.”

Let YOUR light so shine!

YOUR light! It isn’t any one elses, it is yours!

And by letting this light shine you are allowing your good works to be seen.

Your good works, and your light point to God.

But your light and your works.

So do not be ashamed of who you are. God made you and loves you as you are.

And let that Light shine, that light that is YOURS!

So everyone can see YOUR good works, and give glory to the one who you do them for!

When will you get it?

When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them.  When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”  Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. (Mark 9:14-27, NRSV)

I brought my son to your disciples but they were not able to heal him…

And Jesus is like, “Really! Why do I have to put up with this? Don’t you guys get it?”

So Jesus heals him, and helps him to walk again.

Can you imagine Jesus, because I can. I would be one of the disciples that just didn’t get it, and would try to do something, and just not get it right.

That is me all the time. I try things and I screw them up.

And you know what Jesus is still here with me. Even through my screw ups.

And He doesn’t love me in spite of my screw ups, He loves me because of my screw ups!

So when will you get it? When you are finally fully with Him…

And now He still loves you as you are!

Fresh Joy

Shall not Lebanon in a very little while
become a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest?
On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,
and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
For the tyrant shall be no more,
and the scoffer shall cease to be;
all those alert to do evil shall be cut off—
those who cause a person to lose a lawsuit,
who set a trap for the arbiter in the gate,
and without grounds deny justice to the one in the right.
(Isaiah 29:17-21, NRSV)

The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord.

It is not stale old moldy joy, it is fresh and new.

It’s not something that has been around for a while, it is new and fresh and is found in the Lord.

If we can but stay fast in the Lord and follow where He leads us, we will have fresh joy and it will be beyond our comprehension.