Thoughts from aSacredRebel following the SacredRebel
Great thoughts…
Diversity. Good word. I’m a progressive, so I use the word a lot.
But I’m wondering about the limits of diversity. We progressives prefer not to think about the fact that—as much as we like to think so in theory—in practice there’s no way to include everybody.
Ok. There. I said it. You can’t include everybody.
Wh-what?!?
Somebody will almost certainly exclaim gleefully at this point: “See, I knew it! Liberals want to include everyone except those who are exclusivists!”
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:7-11 ESV)
This is nothing new. It is actually something every Christian will agree about. Jesus told His disciples to “love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself.” John simply expands, or expounds this concept. We are to love our brothers and sisters, and if we do not then there is no light in us. So John says tha if we do not love then Jesus is not in us, because if He is not in us then we do not have any light light in us.
And we are called to love all of our brothers and sisters. That means the quirky ones and the ones we agree with. The ones we think are sinners and the ones we think are saints (and wwe are probably wrong on both of these accounts.)
We are to love the other regardless of how we feel about them. That is what Jesus did for you. Because if He had to wait for you to be in the right place and acting the right way and doing the right things to be with Him you would have never made it. And if you don’t shine His light, some may not see it. So love as He first loved you.
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:51-62, NRSV)
Control is a big thing in all of our lives. We want to be in control.
But life gets in the way… The big question is, is there something in your life that makes a difference? Is Jesus a part of your life and does He make a difference?
In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus asks some people to follow Him and they have some reasonable requests, to bury their dead and say farewell, nothing any of us would not ask for. But Jesus says no, we have to give up control and let His will trump our plans and desires.
The picture above says a lot, if you were on trial for being a Christian, a follower of Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Does Jesus make a big enough impact on your life that others know you are a follower, without you having to convince them? Or to put it another way, does your life ooze Jesus?
And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:21-27, ESV)
Jesus was heading into Jerusalem to be handed over to the authorities and and killed for crimes against the religious order of the day. He was telling the disciples this to set up the next part.
How many of you have a cross? A cross on your wall? A cross you wear around your neck?
I have at least 20 crosses on my wall and probably just as many necklaces I wear for different occasions. I also have one on my body at all times. We look upon the cross as a symbol of our Lord and savior, as the sacrifice He made. We see it as a beautiful thing. But it is not a beautiful thing. The cross was the cruelest mode of death anyone could face in Jesus’ day. The person hung on the cross actually suffocated because of the lungs collapsing and air not entering due to the collapsed space.
So why then does Jesus tell us to take up our cross? Why is it we have to go to the death again? Did we not suffer with Him in His death? Yes we did suffer with Him and He paid the price for all of us so we could stand before God. But you see Jesus has a way for us to do things that is not our way. God’s ways are not our ways. His path is not the path we would openly and willingly choose. So we must take up our cross and deny ourselves. Jesus’ way is the way we need to go and if we leave it up to us, we will not go the right path.
You see if you take up your cross and follow Him, you will gain life, the life He has planned for you. We can struggle through life knowing that He has our back, and He will not let us down.
So the next time you look upon a cross remember the reason we have it, because Jesus died upon it so that you might have life, and then take it up and follow Him, leaving your wants and desires at the door.
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:1-11 ESV)
What is good in us?
How does anyone do good?
If we hear and believe what the psalmist says, no one can do good apart from God. Which means everyone that does good is filled with God… We have no good without God. But when we have Him we are filled with His goodness and it over flows from us to everyone around us. He gives us a wonderful inheritance and blesses us with more than we could imagine.
So look to Him to be your portion and your cup to fill you with goodness.
10 things we all can do to be a success at what we do!
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. (2 Corinthians 13:5-10 ESV
How many of you hate to take tests? I know I am not all that fond of them. I get worried whether I have all the right stuff in my head, if I studied the right things. Do I remember everything I need to know.
Then after, or during, the test there is second guessing. Did I answer that question right? Was it A or was it C? Which one?
And today Paul is telling the Corinthians to make sure they are in the faith. That they have examined their lives and determined if they are following Jesus. We are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. We are to test ourselves.
Hold on. Did you hear what Paul said? He said we are suppose to examine the lives of the people we worship with, or work with and determine whether or not their lives are following after Jesus from our standpoint. Right we are to test all other people and determine if they are followers of Christ. No that is not what Paul said. He said to test yourself. Not others. We are suppose to be making sure we are following after Christ, doing what is right even when we don’t. We are to make sure our lives are right, not anyone else’s. We are not the judge of anyone’s life but our own. Christ is the judge of all, not me or you.
So test yourself, and walk in the path Jesus has set before you and allow that to be what shows His love and grace to all.
On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. Jesus answered, O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here. While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, (Luke 9:37-43 ESV)
O faithless and twisted generation… Wow! How do we take this? Jesus asks how long does He have to bear with us. Wo is He bearing with? The ,an asking for his son to be set free or the disciples? And why were the disciples not able to cast the demon out?
We can only speculate, as Luke does not go into it specifically. When Jesus hears the boy is held by a power and the disciples could not cast it out, He knows why, but does not tells us right out. He asks how long He has to put up with our faithless and twisted generation… Oh if Jesus were here now what would He say?
Why are they faithless and twisted? Why can the disciples not cast out the demons?
Maybe the generation is faithless and twisted and can’t cast the demons out because of the reason they are trying to cast them out. What is the reason the disciples are trying to cast out the demon? Yes the father asked them to, but are they motivated by freeing the child, or because they want the notoriety of casting out a demon? Why do we do the things we do? Is it because we are truly motivated for others to feel and receive the love of God, or because we want people to see the things we are doing and give us the credit?
You see Jesus is telling us it is not about us, and it is not our way. Jesus calls us to follow and to give everything up and allow Him to guide us and to lead us where are is taking us. It is not my way but His way that matters.
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11-22 ESV)
Once we were far of, we were not a part of the circumcised, and were not a part of the hope…
Do you always feel like you are filled with hope?
Life comes at us hard and we it is really easy to get bogged down in the day in and day out tasks in front of us and lose track of the bigger picture. You see we have hope through the promise that God made to Abraham, in the offspring. Jesus has come and bridged the chasm that separated us from the Father. Jesus made us not strangers or aliens, but part of the family.
We are no longer people who have to knock on the door or ring the bell, but we can open the door and walk right in. We know where the key is, or the code to the garage door. We are a part, we belong. And that is the hope. When everything else in life is falling apart we have the best gift we could ever have by being accepted into the family of God. We are now all apart of the building that is, and the body of Christ…
Remember when it seems all hope is lost, remember you can always go to God’s house and walk right in the back door!
aSacredRebel