On the Way to Wonder

This week we are going to focus on the teachings of Jesus, a huge task for one week.  The Sermon on the Mount, opens as a kind of State of the Union address.  Jesus then often teaches with parables, or short stories with layers of meaning, that challenge the listener as we ponder the meanings and are often challenge our behavior.  Most importantly, though, Jesus led a life that was consistent with his teachings and drew others into conversation.  Famously, his disciples asked him, “Teach us to pray.”  We have the Lord’s Prayer used by all Christian denominations.  Sermons, parables, a consistent life all challenged listeners to value reconciliation, faithfulness, forgiveness, and love.  We see our epic hero, God, reflected in his incarnation, Jesus, and challenging our epic villain, Satan, as we choose whom we will follow.

         Matthew 5:1-6:4 gives the fullest text of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus opens by defining the blessed or happy life.  Surprisingly, happiness does not come from the glitter of this world but can be found in all places and conditions – mourning, poverty, humility and even persecution.  We are challenged to be like salt and light, sharing, not keeping our faith private.  Jesus then challenges us to look beyond the law to the condition of our hearts that lead to breaking the law.  Hate is as bad as murder for hate is murder in the heart. 

         One of the little “stories” near the end of the sermon is about two men who built houses, one on rock and one on sand.  When the rains came the house on the rock stood firm but the house on the sand washes away.  He challenges us on how we are building our lives – like the Romans that spawned cruelty and oppression or by God’s guidelines.  It is still true today as we choose how we will build the houses of our life.

         As the song goes, “The wise man built his house upon the rock.”  Today let us take a moment to ponder how we are building our house, our lives.  Are we looking for happiness in the world’s values or in relationship to God?  Blessings as you build.

This week we have focused on how various witnesses understood the person of Jesus.  The Apostle John called him “The Word” that existed at creation and incarnated to receive all who chose to be his children.  Luke starts with the prophecy fulfilled, starting with the birth of John the Baptists, going to the details historically and geographically of the Christmas story with the angels and shepherds announcing the incarnation, God become flesh.  Ordinary people become famous witnesses of history proclaiming Jesus as Lord.  Matthew shares how Jesus was challenged by our epic villain, Satan, “If you are God…” prove it. 

         We will close this week with the hymn, “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations.”  It was written in 1896 by H. Ernest Nichol, an English musician.  People who were exposed to Jesus and understood him to be God, could not be quiet but had to share this wonderful relationship.  This song captures the flavor of the missionary fervor.  Please enjoy an old favorite.

1.  We’ve a story to tell to the nations that shall turn their hearts to the right –

         A story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light.

2.  We’ve a story to be sung to the nations that shall lift their hearts to the Lord –

         A story that shall conquer evil and shatter the spear and sword.

3.  We’ve a message to be sung to the nations that the Lord who reigneth above –

         Hath sent us his Son to save us and to show us that God is      love.

4.  We’ve a Savior to show to the nations who the path of sorrow has trod –

         That all of the world’s great peoples might come to the truth of God.

Chorus:  For the darkness shall turn to the dawning and the dawning to noonday bright, and Christ’s great kingdom shall come to earth, the kingdom of love and light.

Matthew 3:12 – 4:11.  Matthew also reports about Jesus’ baptism.  You may have noted that John was preaching a “baptism of repentance” but Jesus, if God, had nothing to repent of.  But if, God became incarnate to take away the sins of the world, then he needed to identify with humanity in all aspects.  Jesus hears the voice from heaven say, “This is my beloved Son, whom I love.”  Wow, what a spiritual high

         How often when we are feeling our best does some little thing send us to the depths?  Jesus has just had a spiritual experience and goes off by himself, to the wilderness, and sure enough 40 days later Satan appears to challenge his joy.  “If you are the son of God…”  Satan presents three scenarios: turn the rock to bread, jump from the temple steeple, and bow and worship me and short cut his journey.  Sigh.  How powerful that word “if” is and how doubt undermines our sense of identity.

         Interestingly Jesus responds from the written Word.  He quotes scripture.  Satan, that sly epic villain, misquotes scripture in response, taking it out of context.  Surely God would not want us to be hungry or hurt or unwise.  Surely God does not want us lonely or single or poor or sick or…whatever trial we are going through right now.  Doubting God’s Word, God’s will and God’s way is Satan’s age-old temptation.  Knowing the word in context and being in a solid group of believers who form a feedback and supportive community is important.

         Even Jesus in his incarnation knew scripture and stayed in community.  Ponder your spiritual disciplines and reflect on how they support you to know the Word.  And ponder your community of supporters.  Are they willing to speak the truth in love when you need it?  Those are friends to hold on to and life-long needed disciplines!  Blessings.

Luke 3: 1-20.  Luke in chapter three jumps to the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, locating his story in researchable time and place.  Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, has grown up as an Essene community and receives “the word of the Lord” to not only speak truth to power but also to the ordinary people.  He is to “prepare the way for the Lord,” for the coming of the Messiah.  This unfolding story and realization meant that John was out in the wilderness preaching “truth,” people needed to repent and return to God.  Likewise he preached “hope” as he said our hope cannot be in our heritage, that we are the right tribe or related to Abraham, but a person was coming far greater than he.  He spoke truth to power, confronting Herod with his murder of his brother to marry the brother’s wife, Herodias.  John the Baptist was a fiery character drawing people from all levels of society.

         “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  Another ordinary person testifies that Jesus is God.  John was able to see past family ties to see the bigger picture.  Sometimes we are blinded by those closest to us because we know them too well.  But John saw past that.  John, as popular as he was, was willing to point everyone to Jesus as fulfilled prophecy.

         Like John the Baptist, we all impact others, those older and those younger.  We all need someone to mentor us and we impact those who look up to us.  We are never too old or too young. My sons were home from boarding school asked me to cut their hair.  The younger in about sixth grade wanted to look like his “big brother,” Joe, at school and he spent an hour looking through year books to find pictures of his hero on the soccer field.  The older son wanted to look like his dorm father whom he actually did not like!  We all impact lives.

         John the Baptist prepared the road for the coming of the Lord, his cousin Jesus.  He did not fully understand the plan but he was willing to speak truth.  We must repent and open our hearts to receive God’s truth and not the world’s.  I suspect this is still true today.  Perhaps there is someone who looks up to you.  How might you be an honest witness to them of the truth in your life today?  Blessings as you try.

Luke 2:1-40.  Luke wrote the script that is most known for the Christmas children’s presentation of the incarnation, the birth or arrival of Jesus.  We know most of the characters.  Mary must wear blue.   A cloth wraps the baby Jesus.  Joseph has flowing robes.  Don’t forget the donkey and cows!  And then there is an old man, Simeon, who appears eight days later and Anna, an eighty year old prophetess widow who both testify at the temple to the prophecy of the coming of Jesus.  Bethlehem was not a metropolis.  Oh yes, no hospital or birth certificate.  Ordinary and inconspicuous might be adjectives to describe this not untypical home birth scene — except for prophecy fulfilled and angels praising. In fact, the quoted angelic message in Luke is a bit oblique.  The angels are praising God for bringing peace to earth.  It is the nameless shepherds who help fill in the cracks by saying, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about.” 

         Handel’s Messiah puts in song the prophecy that angels reference and which was given centuries before by Isaiah, Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a child is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Prophecy and praise meet in ordinary shepherds, in an old man, an old woman and countless generations since that remember the Christmas story.  Jesus was not just another wise sage born that evening but “Mighty God,” incarnate, but as John reminded us yesterday, it is our choice to receive him.

         What might receiving look like to you?  Do you think of Christmas morning or FedEx delivering a package, an email popping up on your computer screen, a graduation ceremony and walking across the stage or perhaps when a small baby was placed in your arms.  Receiving is personal, is special, and often is somehow unique to your needs.  What might you need to receive from God today?  Feel free to place your order through prayer.  Perhaps it will take time like the prophecy to be fulfilled but God keeps his promises – not for health, wealth, and prosperity but for presence, for care, and for an answer that is best for you.  Blessings,

John 1:1-18  The second half of our Essential 100 iterations of the epic story called The Bible will focus on the New Testament.  The New Testament tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ, his death, resurrection, and the forming of the early Christian church.  Today, trying not to be judgmental or exclusive, we hate to be dogmatic about Jesus’ identity.  Many would claim that many “”roads lead to God, develop good people, and God is love….so let’s not argue.  This  is a comfortable and a friendly stance but it does not deal with the claims Jesus made about himself.  So we will start with the reports about who Jesus himself said he is.  Next week we will move on to his teachings.

         The apostle John was known as “the beloved disciple”.  He is believed to be the youngest of the disciples, the last to die, and the only to die a natural death.  He is believed to be the author of Revelation.  John does not lay out a chronological presentation for his understanding of Jesus but approaches his testimony more thematically, organizing around seven “I AM” statements Jesus made. 

         John opens his testimony with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.” (John 1:1)  John parallels Genesis 1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  John claims that Jesus is God and was present from the very beginning of time.  The Old Testament ended with the people of Israel yet again falling into idolatry but God still being true to his covenant that he would create a nation through Abraham that would bless all people.  John picks up this theme of our epic story showing that our epic hero, God, is still unfolding a plan that was there from the beginning.  God is going to step into our reality; we call it incarnation.  “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

         Where does it begin for you?  We all have our conception story and many are not very pretty.  We carry scars from the world we were born into.  There is a parallel story of our lives that unfolds in the New Testament.  It is a story of a God who created us and invites us to be his children because he loves and cares.  Are we ready to receive that story to frame our lives? Claiming a “beginnings” story that identifies our core identity is important.  We are not a “mistake” or a “surprise” but a beloved child of God.  Let’s take a moment to start our day with thanks.  Blessings.

This week we have looked at the Prophets, those 16 books at the end of the Old Testament that told the story of how God’s representatives, the prophets, spoke truth to power.  So many songs are related to these books but possibly one of the most famous is Handel’s “Messiah” first presented in Dublin April 13, 1742.  It was written by George Frideric Handel, a child musical genius, who actually didn’t write The Messiah til age 64.  The opening comes from the book of Isaiah.  The Messiah has become one of the best known and most frequently played pieces of orchestral music, especially around Christmas time.  It opens with Isaiah’s prophecy, Isaiah 40:1-5.

Comfort ye
Comfort ye my people
Comfort ye
Comfort ye my people
Saith your God
Saith your God

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
And cry unto her
That her warfare
Her warfare is accomplished
That her iniquity is pardoned
That her iniquity is pardoned

The voice of Him
That crieth in the wilderness
Prepare ye the way of the Lord
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God

The Messiah closes with the “Hallelujah Chorus” performed in this fun clip by the Silent Monks.  Enjoy!

Malachi is another 4 chapter book that ends the Old Testament, the part of our epic story that took place before the coming of Jesus.  In true prophetic fashion, Malachi lists the problems in the relationship between Israel and its God “I AM.”  It is an interesting series of statements followed by the question, “How can this be so?”  Malachi then explains on Israel’s wrongs.

         God has loved Israel as his bride.  How?  He blessed the second born as well as the firstborn.  Respect shown a father or master has not been returned.  The sacrifice system has been defiled by gifts of useless animals.  None of us likes to receive hand-me-downs and broken toys at Christmas.  No one wants to be an after-thought.

         God has been slow to respond to the crying of his people when they pray.  Why?  The Israelites have not only been unfaithful in their covenant with God but they have also been unfaithful with their spouses.  Unfaithfulness is violence against the other and does not produce faithful offspring that is the desire of God’s heart

         The people have wearied God with their words.  How?  God has been accused of injustice but the “day of the Lord is coming” when all will be made right.  Handle’s Messiah sings, “Who can endure the day of his coming?”  We cannot stand in that day but then Malachi gives these comforting words, “Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

         God challenges us, “’Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,’” says the Lord Almighty, “’and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’”  Now that is a promise few follow up on.

         The Old Testament part of our epic story ends with the promise that the evil will be brought to justice and the righteous, those who choose God’s way, will be rewarded.  For Christians, we believe we cannot count on our own righteousness or good deeds for we are sinners but that righteousness is found in our faith in Jesus.  But that steps into the next part of our epic story that we will start to tackle next week.

         We are half way through our epic and certainly our epic hero, God, must be looking for a different way to defeat our epic villain, Satan.  The iterations we have read so far have talked about unlikely people given humungous tasks and conquering.  Abraham did have a son and a nation is forming.  Moses did give us the guidelines for living and developing that nation.  The people rejected God’s priests as leaders for a king and David led them to glory.  The fly in the ointment keeps appearing though as the people continually return to idolatry.  But God keeps sending prophets calling the people back to God and promising eventual justice.  Some days it seems like evil has the upper hand and we despair but then the rainbow appears and reminds us that God is faithful to his promises.  The story is not finished yet and we are part of it.  Stay tuned.  Blessings.

The book of Jonah, a delightful four-chapter drama, ends with the prophet Jonah whining at God, I knew it!  I knew it, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” The test of a prophet was that his prophecy had to come true.  If not, it could mean the prophet’s death.

          In chapter 1, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and pronounce God’s impending judgment. Jonah climbs on a ship and goes the opposite direction.  How many times do we know what we are supposed to do but we do the opposite.  Need we mention the missing cookies that never make it to the cookie jar?  Remember the “everyone’s doing it” argument to justify partying, sex, alcohol, or whatever.  Somehow we think God is asleep and our want must be met.  God would not want us to be unhappy, right!  Like Jonah we go in the wrong direction.

         In chapter 2, Jonah meets a storm, confesses his sin and is thrown overboard.  He comes to the point of death and cries out to God for help.  When our sin ends in disaster we must choose between humbling ourselves and admitting God was right or living in cynicism.  Jonah humbles himself and goes to Nineveh. 

         Jonah walks through the town and pronounces God’s impending judgment.  To Jonah’s embarrassment, the great city, including the king, repents and wears sackcloth.  How easy it is to convince ourselves that we are no longer worthy because of our past.  One of the great subplots of our epic story is how God takes unlikely people and works with them even after failure.  God worked with Abraham after pretending to be Sarah’s brother.  God works with Jacob even after deceiving his brother of his birthright.  God works with Moses after murder.  God works with David after adultery.  God worked with Peter after his denial. God is willing to work with us after our sin, as long as we humble ourselves and return to him.

         Chapter 4 Jonah pouts and we laugh.  God forgives.  Jonah sits on a hill watching and says, “I knew it.”  God grows a vine to cover Jonah even as he pouts and yells at God.  Then God sends a worm that kills the vine.  God and Jonah have it out.  God asks, “Is it right for you to be angry?”  Jonah responds, “Yes, I’m angry enough to die!” God points out that Jonah is upset about the vine that grew in a night and died in a day and yet God has compassion on the people he created and who repented.  God can handle our sin and God can handle our grumps.  That is a story worth reading in the Bible and remembering.  God is willing to forgive us and his shoulders are broad.  We can duke it out with him.  Blessings.

Daniel 6.  Several favorite stories come from the book of Daniel.  These stories have been foundational not only to children but for adult lives also.  Daniel and his three friends Shadrack, Meshack, and Abendigo were taken to Babylon as youth and were chosen to be trained in the Babylonian language and culture.  Yes, cultural conflict emerges!!  The Jews had strict dietary rules and Daniel dared bargain for a vegetarian diet rather than the king’s rich food.  A Daniel diet today follows this. 

         We love the three men in the fiery furnace who refused to bow down to an idol of the king. ”King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your Majesty’s hand.  But even if he does not, we want you to know your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  What bravery.

         Daniel, likewise, when jealous officials got the king to pass a law that all pray to the king for a month, went home and knelt before his window and prayed three times a day flaunting the officials.  He was thrown into a den of lions and God delivered him.

         These men were captives in a foreign country and required to go against their consciences.  They refused and we love those stories that remind us of David and Goliath.  Standing for our faith often requires the willingness to face a trial.  But Daniel had another talent that brought him before the king.  Daniel could interpret dreams and signs.  All the stories of these encounters are preceded by prayer and by giving credit to God.

         In our ever-active world where noise fills our days, it takes spiritual discipline to carve out time and place to focus our minds in prayer and to seek the Lord.  I found that rising before my children was a habit I had to form.  Invariably a little body would crawl into my lap!  Likewise I have “my favorite chair” where I can sit and “recharge my batteries” for a few minutes.  I do not know how you focus on the eternal to be able to tell the real from the really real but wisdom does not come automatically.  A walk, a jog, a bike ride, a Sabbath day when the family turns off electronic stimulus are all favorite aids.  Whatever works for you, will work for God as he is willing to go with it.  Blessings as you carve out time and face the flack to do it!  Not all lions live in dens! Blessings.