aSacredRebel

No Room

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:1-14 ESV)

There was no room in the inn, because Bethlehem was over run with people. The normally small town, had too many people in it due to the census. But a pregnant woman could not find a room?

Is not the decent thing to do to give a pregnant woman a room, in a town filled with people who are all from the same family you would think that a pregnant woman who you are related to would get a room, and a bed, or at least a chair to sit on…

But maybe that is is, she was an outcast, Joseph was not the father and word had spread, no one wanted the girl who was pregnant out of wed lock in their house, their inn, their place of business. If word got around I helped her, then no one will come and shop from me, I’ll be ruined…

It is more of the unexpected, unreasonable way that God shows us who He is and how we are to operate. You see God does not do things that would be easy or con-formative in our eyes. He does not adapt to this world, but does what must be done to get our attention. Mary and Joesph were shunned because society did not expect the messiah to come this way, and they did not know it was God dwelling in her. Even if they were told this, they were slow to believe, and they could not associate with her or him because that would taint them. We have to look out for ourselves, and God says, “that is not the way it is to be, you need to be concerned with your neighbor, the last, the least, the lost, the little, those who can not stand up for themselves.” A pregnant woman far from her home is some one who needs our help, and turning her away is not what God would want us to do.

What can you do this Christmas that is unexpected and unreasonable to show forth the love of God?

Unreasonable…

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:39-45 ESV)

Unreasonable is not usually a word we associate with God, but according to the above picture/definition God fits the bill. He is not bound by reason and does whatever it takes to get the job done.

Think about people in history who were probably viewed as unreasonable…

Abraham Lincoln in his pursuit of making all people free. He relentlessly pursued justice for those held as property in the face of destroying a nation. He was unreasonable, not conforming to the easy way to do things, but pursuing the freedom for all men who knew was possible.

Christopher Columbus knew he could sail west and make it to the East Indies. He was certain that even though 99% of the rest of the people of his time knew the world was flat, that it was round, and he would not sail off the end of the world, but find a shorter route to get spices. He was unreasonable in his pursuit of a shorter route to get spices.

And there are others, but what about God?

Elizabeth was cursed because she had not been able to bear a child and now in her old age (past child bearing age) she is having a child. And Mary who is not married, and way to young to be having a child is having a child. This is all unexpected and well beyond reason. You see things had gotten really messed up and God’s creation was doing things that God did not like. He needed to get their attention so the prince of heaven was born to a lowly girl, who is going to marry a simple carpenter, in a stable in the lowest of towns, not eve that of a tribe…

Jesus is not born in a palace, to a prince and princess, where He could be protected from life, He is born as one of us, to suffer with the people and live a life that we all live. He is here to know us and be one of us, and show us there is a better way. It is completely unexpected and unreasonable.

You see God is not one to do things that conform to the way the world wants them done, but does them as He knows they need to be done. God does not adapt Himself to the world, but works to adapt the world to Him. If we constantly do things that the world wants or expects, how will there ever be progress? If we are to truly turn the world around and show them the love that is available to them we must do things that adapt the world to the way of God and not help them remain where they are.

God is very unreasonable doing whatever it takes to help society see the relationships they can have with Him. Even going as far as having an old priestly woman and a young common woman have babies and show forth the kingdom of God.

What can you do that will be unreasonable and help people see who God is?

brought near…

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 separated, not a part of the covenant. The original covenant was for God’s chosen people the Israelites. And that covenant is still intact, but there is not a new covenant.

Gentiles, which most of us are, were not a part of the covenant, and were left separated from God. “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.”

But has hostility ended? Are we not still saying that this group does not belong and that group does not belong. We are now working through the inclusion/exclusion of those who are called sinful by some as leaders in the church. Does not this passage of scripture say that Jesus came and made us all near to God through his sacrifice of His own body on the cross to break down the walls of hostility? There should be no exclusion by any of us from the body of Christ. Exclusion and judgment is only for God to do.

Paul tells the Gentiles and us and all people, “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.” We are not outsiders but insiders, all of us, and that means we should set our hostility aside, for if we are part of the body here together, then we will be a part of the body in the feast that is to come together.

Sing!

Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the coastlands. The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes. For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.” Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! (Isaiah 42:10-18 ESV)

When have you felt like singing? All the time?

We are sometime down in the dumps and don’t feel like singing the praises of God, and we do not feel it.

But think about it for a moment…

Jesus always sang the praises of God everywhere He went. Even on the cross He was asking God to forgive those who were doing this to Him…

So what situation are you in that you can not sing the praises of God? He is always with you and will always be there through whatever darkness you face, and it is not as bad as the cross…

within

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34 ESV)

The law would be cool if it were something new and sleek. In the latest techno style that our give it to me now society had gotten use to. We are so concerned with how we can speed things up and get things done now we have made easy Mac and Cheese, and easy hot dogs. As if macaroni and cheese is really that hard to make from a box, and hot dogs are really hard to make…

We have been handed so many things we are wanting more and more and we keep getting left out. We are looking out for the next big thing, when all we need to do is stop and look within.

You see God told us that He would write His law on our hearts. Not literally, but He is living in us. He is helping us to love others. Not keep a list of rules about what to eat and wear, but how we treat ourselves and our neighbors, which is everyone. You see that is what the 10 commandments are about, how we treat our neighbors. If we love God and keep His name holy and remember that we need to rest (one we often forget!) then we will be able to treat others like we want to be treated. Don’t take their stuff, don’t kill them, don’t have sex with them if you aren’t married to them, don’t want their stuff, and don’t tell false things about them. Love them like God loved you.

That is God writing His law on your heart, or living in and with and through you to help others.

a person by their cover

“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” (Luke 7:31-35 ESV)

We all do it, we judge a person for who they are before we hear one word come out of their mouth. We can tell by their appearance, style, body language, tattoos or no tattoos, piercings or no piercings what kind of person they are. You know this drives me crazy! But I am really bad at it myself… We all do it, so just admit it, you judge people by their appearance before you get to know them.

We all say that we played happy music and some one did not dance to it. And we were sad and they were happy. We can not understand how they can react to something differently than we do. Even though we know that we are all made unique by God. We are each created to be unique and set apart from everyone else. We are not robots, and we do not all act and respond the same, so why do we expect everyone else to live up to out expectations?

Did you see the earrings on him? How does he get away with that?

What about the tattoos on her, she looks like trailer park trash. Why doesn’t she clean up her act and wear some decent clothes that cover those things?

Have you ever heard these?

Said these?

Thought these?

Who are we to judge, because obviously those that judged in the gospel today got it wrong, John ate no bread and drank no wine, and he had a demon, and Jesus was a drunkard and a glutton and was also not in the right, so where is the right? Well it is the middle of the road, but someone would have had an issue with that. They should not drink or eat at all, but that doesn’t work either…

We are not to judge others by their appearance, because God doesn’t do that either. He judges by the heart, and we can not possibly know another’s heart, and worrying about our own is enough.

So try to stop judging people by their covers…

Boldness

When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: “”Go to this people, and say, You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. (Acts 28:23-31 ESV)

What does it mean to be bold? What is boldness?

For Paul it is standing up for what he understood to be the calling from God and what God’s word said, which was in direct conflict with the religious authority of the day.

Today we have congregations and denominations moving towards the full inclusion of a group thought to be outside of the grace of God. “Sinful homosexuals”* are being allowed into leadership in some congregations and denominations. This is a move that the religious authorities of our day do not like. These authorities could be denominational authorities or congregational authorities, or the leadership group that is not actually in leadership, but controls things from behind the scenes.

“It was good enough for 2000 years so why does it have to change?” I believe this is a question Paul heard. Why do things have to change because we have always done it this way and understood God’s word this way so we have to be right and why would it change now. Well maybe we have had it wrong all this time and just now we are seeing what it really means. And to admit this, means we have to admit we were wrong and how many of us are willing to do that?

You see Paul knew, as the man in front of the tanks knew, that something was foul in the air and that things were not quite right. So we have to boldly confess our faith and our understanding. Knowing that we might have to admit that we were wrong, but God was always right and we just did not see it.

So be bold and be strong and know that the Lord thy God is always with you.

*I put “sinful homosexuals” in quotes because I do not believe that homosexuality is a sin. We are all called and created by God and He loves us just as we are. We do not have to be perfect to come to Him, if we did none of us would make it.

righteous

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:1-9 ESV)

Have you ever had someone tell you you don’t belong somewhere because you look like you do not fit in?

I remember when I was new to the faith and was attending a worship service at a local congregation and decided on that morning that I wanted to make a public profession of my faith through my baptism. Now this was not a Lutheran congregation and I was not Lutheran at that time. But I was baptized. And the next Sunday when I showed up to worship in jeans and a shirt, rather than a nice suit and tie, some of them were telling me It did not take, and I needed to change in order to belong. When the funny thing was I did change on the inside, I had changed. Jesus was dwelling in me and I changed, but to that body of worshipers I did not fit the bill, I did not get rid of my earring, I did not cut my hair, and I did not dress the way a true believer would…

Funny, it says that Jesus will not judge us by what He sees or hears, He will judge us in righteousness. And if that is the case, none of us can stand. All of us are unrighteous, and can not stand for the judgment. Only by Jesus can we stand through this, and all of us are equal in Jesus whether we have long hair or no hair, earrings or gauges or nothing, tattoos or no skin markings, we all stand before Jesus as sinners. And He will judge us not by what He sees or hears from others about us, but by our hearts and righteousness! He will judge us based on Him.

So do not make someone fell like they do not belong because you don’t think their dress is appropriate, or their appearance is appropriate, do not judge them at all. Love them like Jesus loved you, He accepted you as you were. And He brought the change, just like me, I knew I had changed at my baptism, even though my appearance did not. Jesus does things we can not understand imagine or see. Just love the other like Jesus loved you!

Rejoice always…

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7 NRSV)

This is a really tall order today. 2 days after so many young innocent lives were lost how can we rejoice?

In the face of so many going to a place tomorrow that is suppose to be safe, and worry for their safety, how can we rejoice?

These are questions we are all struggling with through this season of waiting for the return of our King, for the birth of our savior and a celebration of a holiday that seems to be so far from the original we have lost ourselves in the commercialization of society. How do we rejoice in a dark time when lives were lost long before their time and society seems to be so far away from God?

That is the very reasons we should rejoice! God is with us everywhere we go! The reason my wife and I tell our children on Sunday morning we are going to worship, not to church, because we can not go to church. We are the church and every where we go, God goes with us. That doesn’t mean that He isn’t already there, but we also bring Him with us every where we go, and that my friends is reason to rejoice!

I saw this on Facebook, and thought I would share it:

For those claiming school tragedies are a result of God be taken out of schools:
* When a teacher’s actions were in the loving interest of protecting their students…God was there.
* When a teacher consoled her students, frightened at what was to come…God was there.
* When an administrator tried earnestly to disarm an individual intent on hurting her students…God was there.
* When a student held on to one of their classmates, comforting one another…God was there.
* When law enforcement went in to secure the building and were faced with the emotional process of what they witnessed…God was there.
* When clergy from all faiths descended on the area to console and comfort families in their time of need…God was there.
* When families embraced one another, trying to comprehend why…God was there.
* When a child, a teacher, a parent, a sibling, a relative, a law enforcement agent, a clergy person, an individual throughout the world offered up a prayer…God was there. I resist to believe that God has ever been taken out of schools. God is invited in to any place when one carries Him in their heart, in their thoughts, and through their actions. God is not a class, a printed sign, nor a time allotted for prayer. God is where you personally allow Him to be. Don’t place blame on an institution for removing God, blame yourself for thinking that was a limitation. God was there on Friday as he has been everyday. He was hurting the most throughout the ordeal.

So thank God for always being with you and rejoice always that He goes everywhere you go!

Sieve

The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth—except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord. For lo, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the ground. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil shall not overtake or meet us.’ (Amos 9:8-10 NRSV)

Have you ever been shaken?

Has your world been turned over and over and upside down and you don’t know which way is up?

God tells us He will destroy the sinful world, and if you think you do not belong to the sinful world be prepared for some shaking. We are all sinners and when we think we are in the right and others are doomed to be cast away, that is when the sieve will get us.

You see it is not by our own power that we are able to stay in the sieve, it is by God’s… So when we rely on our own understanding and our own thoughts as to who is in and who is out we will find ourselves out because we are judging and taking the place of God.

So just wait and be shaken with the rest of us and do not judge just love as God loves you.