Tag: Jesus

Dividing Rightly

Luke 12:49–56; John 17:20–26 (read online ⧉)

Jesus’ words are definitely uncomfortable. They are intended to be. The image of warm cuddly Jesus is great in pictures and in our hearts. It also true. However, there is a hardness to Jesus that we try to ignore, for when we see it we often become afraid.

It is here in these words that some of our fears seem to be right there. Separation from family is a big one. In a culture where family was the primary social and survival network, dividing from one’s family was often a death sentence.

If you were to take Jesus’ words and put them in someone else’s mouth (for the sake of argument, President Trump), there would be many people who would immediately agree that this sounds like Trump. Trump, whether by his own actions and words or by the overwhelming dislike toward him by many seems to have fulfilled this.

Before you think that this is supporting or defending Trump, it is neither. It is actually a mirror. Our society, and in many ways the whole world, is divided just as these words of Jesus go.

If we view others as being part of the family of God (whether in our biological family, church family, city, state, country, continent, the world), these words had better be distressing! We are divided from our brothers and sisters in Christ, because of skin color, language, nationality. Not much of “be as one” as we ought to be.

In many respects, this is what makes faithful Christians dangerous to many powers. Loyalties that supersede the state is bad. Authoritarian countries have been known to keep or gather familial “hostages” to assure the return of scientists, teachers, politicians, athletes, and business leaders. Faithful Christianity is more dangerous insofar as keeping things within the state, yet strong ties outside of the state.

It’s likely you thought of one of those authoritarian nations. It’s not just authoritarian nations. We can look at the United States and see the tensions that go along with Christianity. Certain Christians are challenging the authority of the government around churches being closed for health safety. Many of these same Christians challenge the Patriotism and even the faith of those who question the government or the country in other circumstances.

This is not to point at a side, nor think that another side doesn’t have as bad or worse issues regarding faith, patriotism, and country.

Division under the direction and love of Jesus Christ isn’t bad. In fact, it is scriptural. However, within the division, there still needs to be unity of heart. This unity of heart is toward fellow members of the Body of Christ. We love them because God loves them.

When we question whether another’s motives are Christian, we first need to look in the mirror to make sure we are being Christian.

Remember, the love of each other (unity) is how the world knows that Jesus is in us and that Jesus was sent by the Trinity to the world. Our love for each other, especially in these times, is how the world can see that Jesus is love.

※Prayer※
God, you are love. As your children, we are to be love. Help us to be strong in love. Amen.

※Questions※
1) Arguing well and respectfully is a lost skill. Why do you think such a vital skill to a democracy, republic, and faith communities has been so deeply lost?
2) Why does arguing often devolve into issues of authority and power?

2020-06-21
Seashell Summer

Matthew 3:1–13; Mark 10:35–40; John 13:1–11; 1 Peter 3:18–22 (read online ⧉)

What is one thing you think of when it comes to Summer? How about a Summer trip or vacation? Today is the first day of Summer. Today is also National Seashell Day, in honor of trips to the ocean being the summer trip that many people take.

For those of us more familiar with coastal life, the sea may not represent the most interesting thing. For many, it is a place of recovery and peace. For others, it is a place of power and majesty (there really is nothing like a storm on the Pacific coast). For others still, it is a place of family and fun. Then for others, it represents the most dreaded time of all, concentrated time with family.

The seashell actually has a place in the Christian world, too. If you are familiar with Lutheran, Episcopal/Anglican, and Roman Catholic baptism traditions, it is not uncommon for the priest to pour water over an infant 3 times using a seashell invoking, “In the name of the Father (pour 1), and in the Son (pour 2), and in the Holy Spirit (pour 3).”

Where and how the seashell (in particular the Scallop seashell) was tied to baptism is tied to 2 men. The first would be St James the Greater who supposedly used the seashell to beg for alms on his pilgrimage, allowing even the poorest person to feel generous and able to give. How this exactly would have gotten tied to baptism is a mystery, so is unlikely.

The other likely avenue is St. Augustine, who had a vision of a boy trying to empty the sea with a seashell. After suggesting the boy why of this pointless activity, the boy retorted why are you trying to comprehend the entirety of the mystery of the Trinity. This as some greater weight, tying in water, pouring of water, and the Trinity. Still, someone would have had to make a huge leap.

There is another theory that John the Baptist used such to “aid” in baptism. However, one of our Jewish friends made a valid point that John would not have used an “unclean” (or non-Kosher) item to do such. Of the 3, the tie to Augustine makes the most sense.

However, there appear to be mosaics and frescos that predate Augustine that still have the seashell. Take your favorite theory and it’s fine. Just note that using a seashell for baptism is not mentioned in the Bible, so it is neither necessary nor forbidden.

The methods of performing baptism (immersion once, immersion thrice, pouring, drawing the cross, infant, child, confessing, adult) have long been an issue in the church. It is one well worth wrestling over for it is a command of Jesus. Yet, seashells are a weird non-sequitur, and there may be others you can think of. Such traditions and symbols can be valuable, but only if used and explained.

While denominations have been formed over methods and timing of baptism, none of them deny the significance of baptism. Wesleyans (such as the Church of the Nazarene, of which Generations is a part) believe that baptism is an outward sign (public profession) of inner faith. Other traditions hold that baptism is the act by which a person (particularly a child) is irrevocably sealed to the family of God. There are myriads of understandings.

What isn’t up for debate is whether one should be baptized. The symbolism of death and resurrection. The public profession of faith. The commandment of Jesus. All are part of the Christian journey and life.

One thing to leave you with. The tradition (inherited from the Jews) is baptism in “living” water. If you do make a trip to the sea or rivers, take some time with God and remember your baptism.

2020-06-20
Domination

Ecclesiastes 3:16–4:3; Psalm 148; Revelation 5:13 (read online ⧉)

Long has human pride (and bad interpretation) taught humanity that we were to dominate Creation. Even when this interpretation came to the forefront in thinking, Creation was pretty brutal: typhoons, hurricanes, floods, droughts, pestilence, insect swarms, disease, and so on.

Humanity has, for far too long, focused on dominance. The domination of other humans, especially through war, has been one example. The other is the attempt to contain Creation. Our forms of agriculture are predominately formed as an attempt to mitigate the disasters of Creation, with some success. Other attempts such as damn and levees don’t work as planned.

Humanity’s attempt to control fire has been somewhat successful. Then again, the regular summer fires show that things aren’t really under control.

Ecclesiastes puts us into perspective. While humanity does have the Imago Dei (Image of God) imprinted in us, this doesn’t mean that domination is the way. We became obsessed with power over others, rather than God’s overwhelming love.

While talking about the reality that we all pass away, just as the animals do, isn’t all bad. Often, it is our mortality that drives us forward.

Fantasy writers long understood the danger of not fearing death. They wrote about “elves”. These magical long-life creatures would become…bored. They could live almost forever (from a human point of view). Mortality just wasn’t there. Our mortality helps us live.

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” —Westminster Shorter Catechism

If Ecclesiastes is correct, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism is correct (in larger concept, at least), then Creation’s purpose is also to glorify God.

As we read in Psalm 148, this isn’t a stretch. The list of non-human worshippers of God is impressive. Even that which we do not consider alive praises God. In Revelation, it cannot be ignored that all of Creation bows down to Jesus on the throne.

What does this have to do with you? Pride. Jesus submitted to death. We are called to live similarly. While we have the Imago Dei, that does not give us license to do as we wish. It means we have a responsibility to serve.

※Prayer※

Holy Spirit, convict us of our pride. Convict us of our desire to put others down. Convict us of our desire to raise ourselves over others. Give us the conviction to lay down at your feet. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Why might serving Creation be important?

2) What does serving Creation look like?

3) How does or did God serve Creation?

2020-06-19
On the Other Side of This

Matthew 18:15–20; 1 Peter 1:13–24 (read online ⧉)

Once, an old warrior told a young man that the young man’s father was killed by a certain individual. The young man later confronted the certain individual and learned that the certain individual was actually his father. The young man then confronted the old warrior said that it wasn’t a lie, it was the truth told from a certain point of view.

There are many perspectives floating around at the moment. Most are carried with verve and vigor. Many are carried with pain. Many are carried with anger. Many are carried with fear. Many are carried in vengeance.

In the midst of chaos and strife, it is easy to get caught up in the emotions, especially the negative ones. People will often watch or other otherwise consume media that reinforces their viewpoint. This further entrenches the hearts of people, making the divides wider.

Right now, there are many paths being laid, and the sad truth is that each will walk a path, and there is little likelihood of reconciliation. It is not just our country, it is our cities, our state, our world. The saddest place of division is in our churches.

While we are going through the COVID-19 situation, to have the additional stress and strain of societal disruption (regardless of right or wrong) will result in hearts that harder then they were already.

There are cultural and societal sins at play. Individuals are not guilty of these sins, but they are responsible for them. We as ambassadors of the Heavenly Kingdom—where our citizenship rests—are called to be of one mind.

Being of one mind is hard, especially when we focus on all that separates us. If we were, for example, to focus on Jesus Christ, what Jesus has done for us, the freedom that he has given us, our ability to move beyond our earthly desires should improve.

This does not mean that sorrow, grieving, repentance, and reconciliation don’t need to happen. They, in fact, do need to happen. It is through these that the human walls between us are broken down and we can truly be united.

※Prayer※

Lord, as our hearts ache and our tempers flare, grant us peace. As we look to the world in disarray and fear, give us peace. As the world seeks answers and healing, make us peace. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What do you plan to do to heal the rifts between fellow Christians?

2) As barriers grow, how will you lovingly break them down?

2020-06-18
Ready! Set!

Luke 5:1–11; Luke 6:12–16; Luke 9:1–6; Luke 9:28–36; Luke 24:44-49; Acts 2:14 (read online ⧉)

What’s your 6-month plan? What’s your 12-month plan? What’s your 3-year plan? What’s your 10-year plan?

Some variation of this question is often asked of high school students, college students, recent graduates, job interviewees. In this particular time of COVID-19, it seems a little far-fetched to even make a plan.

Depending on your personality and training/learning, you may have a plan laid out for even 10- or 20-years. Others look at their past life and the future, and say why bother? Who knows what the next monkey-wrench will be.

Businesses have begun to learn, thanks to the start-up culture, that rigid plans are deadly. There is a term for it, agile. Businesses are now called to be agile by their stockholders. It’s a necessity as the next technological disruption is just around the corner. Other disruptions, like COVID-19, are much harder to be agile toward, however, companies that already had some agility were better able to respond.

If you look at the verses from Luke in sequence and ending with Acts, you see a change in plans. Peter is a major focal point as he moves from fisherman, to acquaintance, to follower (i.e., disciple), to inner-circle follower, to faith healer and herald, to an even smaller inner-circle, to transformed (by the Holy Spirit), to preacher and leader. This was not part of Peter’s plan.

At the point we meet Peter, his lifetime plan is fisherman. Three years later he’s the leader (of leaders) of a religious movement! Peter met Jesus, and the plan…it was gone.

It’s not that plans are bad. Jesus even praised planning (Luke 14:28-32). However, we have to be ready and willing to toss out our plans when Jesus calls.

Plans are our way to control our circumstances. This is why we have planning departments. This is even how we have modern agriculture. Planning is good.

Planning still has to yield to Jesus’ call. That’s where we often fail.

There will be many churches, businesses, cities, and even families that will not recover from COVID-19. In many cases, no amount of planning will prevent that. On the other hand, churches (especially) chose to not be agile, because that is not the way we’ve done it before.

Churches chose to die, rather than respond to Jesus Christ’s call for them to be agile in how they performed their mission. It could be, sadly, that they forgot the only mission that they had, “Go and make disciples…baptizing them…teaching them…”

On a personal level, just like an organizational level, we need to be agile. Our plans (as much as we want them to be) cannot be rigid and inflexible.

Whether it was the leaders (it was) or the people (it was) forgoing the mission for the sake of “the plan”, it means that “the plan” became the mission, and Jesus became a mascot.

※Prayer※

Lord, give us your plans. Help us to release our plans. May we be the salt of the earth that you have called us to be. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What would be your response if God were to turn your plans upside down? What in your current life would you be willing to give up to follow God’s plan?

2) What are your plans right now? If you have none, why not? Should you? If you do have plans when was your last time to renew/refresh it?

3) Why do you think churches have a hard time changing plans?

2020-06-17
Rescuers & Yachts

Ezekiel 33:1–16; Matthew 14:22–34; Colossians 4:2–6 (read online ⧉)

When sailing ships were still the primary transportation across the oceans, John was lost overboard during a storm. Before his friends (the crew) could rescue him, they lost sight of him in the storm. By providence, there was another ship nearby that did see him and was able to rescue him. John was very grateful that the ship was nearby.

Many days later, John was eating at a local pub, and started telling his story of his rescue. One of his listeners spoke up after John’s tale and said that he, too, had a similar tale. Will, for that was his name, started talking to John, and they became friends.

More time passed. John and Will had gathered a number of people around them, and they formed a rescue society, whose purpose was to be the nearby boat to save people in the storms.

They saved many people over the years. Their society grew. They gathered more and more to share their camaraderie. Other people joined just to hear the tales of rescue. Then, as John, Will, and others got older, the warmth of the fire and camaraderie kept them indoors. Soon after, the gatherings became focused on boats. Their rescue society, over time, transformed from rescue society to yacht club.

Some have said that the true legacy of yacht clubs is not the wealth, but the rescues they forgot about.

“Making people fully functioning followers of Christ,” and “Encounter, Connect, Serve” are the 2 common phrases (or mission statements) at Generations Community church. Then there is the “framily” (friends who are like family), too. Your church (if it isn’t Generations) may have similar mission statements or values. Something along these lines is quite common among American churches.

It’s not that these are bad. They really should be second.

We have been rescued. Have we forgotten? We are called to be the ones who help to rescue those who are lost at sea. All too often, however, we are comfortable at the yacht club.

Framily is great. Encounter (-ing God), Connect (-ing with God and Others), Serve (the World) are good, too. Becoming fully functioning followers of Christ (sanctification) is great! However, if we only keep it to ourselves, is it really all that great?

The world doesn’t need more people hiding behind their walls. The world needs the light of Jesus Christ.

These few words cannot contain the responsibility that each of us must and should feel. This does not mean to be annoying or aggressive. It means be asking and praying for the right conversation to occur, and even many conversations over time. It means being grace-filled in our conversations with others, just as Jesus Christ poured grace over and into us.

Paul’s words tell to season our conversations with the salt that is Jesus Christ. Be the light.

2020-06-16
The Universal Call

Matthew 4:18–22; Matthew 9:35–10:1 (read online ⧉)

Are you working for Jesus? Yes. As a Christian, you are called to.

The real question is, how well are you working for Jesus?

The calling of the fishermen to be disciples is a great example of how to respond to Jesus’ call on our lives. You, however, might be looking at that calling as if it doesn’t apply to you. You’re not one of the great Apostles.

Sometimes we see the prompt response as a conviction. We believe that we are supposed to drop whatever we’re doing and follow Jesus. We are. That does not mean—unlike the disciples—we are supposed to stop our career, stop our family, stop our schooling. What it does mean is that we are to now dedicate whatever it is to Jesus. Our goal is that whatever we do, we do it for Jesus.

As Christianity continues to decline in Western Civilizations, it continues to grow elsewhere. The estimate is that almost 1-in-3 people are Christians worldwide. It doesn’t feel that way here.

Jesus called on his disciples to be laborers in the harvest of the world. The church responds to that call usually via missionaries. We are all missionaries. We are all laborers. We are often blind to it.

The Global South (where Christianity is growing) is looking at the Western World to return the favor of being led to Jesus. Yes. The Global South is sending missionaries to the United States and Europe.

This doesn’t excuse us from sending and supporting missionaries. This should actually encourage us to do so. Missionaries provide us a better lens to view our biases and cultural blindness. This teaches us how to better missionaries to our own cultures, and to be better laborers.

Whether we are water-carriers, swinging the scythe, bundling the sheathes, carrying the sheathes, threshing the wheat, or gathering the final wheat, each of us has a task and purpose. We cannot leave it to others.

※Prayer※

Jesus, as the Lord of the Harvest, guide our actions to make sure that the entire harvest is brought to Heaven. Help to not look at ourselves as unqualified on not required. You have called us to your harvest. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What are your thoughts about being a missionary? Did you ever confuse the mission field with “someplace else”?

2) What is one of the hardest parts of being a laborer? What is one of the easiest?

3) Of the list of task orientations in the last paragraph, which one is yours? Why do you say that? Do you think there is a task missing?

2020-06-14
What’s in the back?

Matthew 6:5–9; Mark 9:43–50; 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 (read online ⧉)

Prayer closets are a thing for some people. They have taken Jesus’ words in such a way to step into a private and personal space to pray to God. This is not a bad thing. Most do not pray solely in a prayer closet. If they do, that means it is quite difficult to pray with and over others, which we are called to do.

Jesus’ words were primarily a counterpoint to the ritualistic attention gathering prayer performed by so-called pious people. Their piety was merely a mask for the selfish desire for human acclaim. By providing a very private alternative to the public activities, Jesus was making the point that prayer is a relational activity between a person and God, rather than an act to be seen. One thing to keep in mind though is that in First Century housing a private room was unlikely for poorer people, who primarily shared communal spaces, so Jesus’ words aren’t inherently what we often interpret them to mean.

The other aspect of this is the other stuff we keep in that “prayer” closet. The prayer closet we should be using to bring requests, needs, praises, gratitude and so on is often contaminated by the darkness of our hearts.

Jesus’ harsh words about cutting off your hand or plucking out your eye or cutting off your foot aren’t really about the hand, the eye, or the foot. It is about the heart. What is in our hearts that we try to hide in our closets?

Another way to think of this is our “Christian” walk. We look good on the outside, but perhaps we are merely whitewashed tombs who look clean and fresh but are filled with death and decay. This may seem harsh. However, each of us has certain things that we try to contain that come out of the darkness and wounds of our lives.

Perhaps, if we used the closet for prayer rather than unmentionables, and put our unmentionables out on the streets, we might not have to cut off our hands or feet or pluck out our eyes.

The real question is what are the things that are in our closets. Paul’s list seems pretty straightforward, yet it is a list with a spirit, rather than a list of crimes. The list is more about the heart of the sinner, rather than the act itself. Yes, the act is bad. It comes from the heart.

We are not immune to any of these crimes. How they are expressed may be different in each of our lives. It could be the manner of speech we have with our interested gender. It could be how we treat and interact with others. It could be just how we look at another as a step toward our goal, rather than a child of God.

※Prayer※

Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. Break our hearts for the darkness in them. Heal our hearts from the wounds the bind. Let us be your free and holy children. Amen.

※Questions※

1) [This is a private and personal question] What has God brought to mind about yourself in this? How will we confront and redeem it?

2) How does hiding the bad stuff in our prayer closet affect our relationship with God, especially our prayer life? How might this affect our lives with others?

3) Submission to Jesus Christ (yesterday’s, 11 June 2020, devotional) includes the stuff in the closet. Why do we often not want to submit it to Jesus Christ?

2020-06-13
Kneel

Matthew 16:21–28; Mark 14:32–42 (read online ⧉)

Peter was concerned about the kingdom here on earth, not the kingdom that Jesus was ushering in. Jesus would have nothing to do with that thinking. Jesus chose the will of God the Father over his earthly will. It’s not as if the human side of Jesus wasn’t tempted. Remember, Jesus was tempted in all ways.

It is not accidental that a few short verses later that Jesus spoke about his disciples (e.g., Peter) having to deny themselves for the cross. By invoking the cross, it isn’t the pretty crosses many of us wear. It was the ugly cross. You died in misery, publicly, naked, and it started with you carrying the very thing upon which you died. It was shameful and for rebels. That was merely the Roman side. For the Jews, a person who died on a tree was cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:22–23).

Therefore, Jesus tying the cross to discipleship must have come as quite a shock. Jesus was all but promising that his “true” followers would have to willingly pick up their own means of execution and shame, and be cursed. The disciples found that encouraging…right?

When we gloss over the cross when we read about losing lives then gaining, we can miss the significance of what it means. It isn’t just about the cross. It isn’t just about the humiliation. It isn’t just about the curse.

It’s about submission.

Submission is a hard word, especially for many Americans who value their individual liberties. Submission, or the lack thereof, may be why we are seeing what we are seeing right now. This is not about the submission of one skin color to another. This is not about the submission of one culture to another (though there is a bit of that). This is certainly not about submission to the government (though there is a Christian response to that).

This is about submission to Jesus Christ and then mutual loving submission to fellow believers in and followers of Jesus Christ.

How this is to be practiced is hard. It’s really hard to figure out, especially with the focus on individuality and individual liberty that the United States (and Western Culture as a whole) is so obsessed with. We often view our submission as if the “other” person wins and we lose. That isn’t Jesus’ way.

When we lose, we win. When we submit in Christian love and mutual Christian submission, we submit to Jesus Christ, who submitted to us, by dying for our sin.

※Prayer※

Jesus, as we look to you as our example, help us to surrender ourselves to your authority. As we submit, help our hearts know that the person we submit to already died for us that we might be whole. Amen.

※Questions※

1) As a Christian, who might you have to submit to in Christian love and humility?

2) Can a “worldly” Christian submit to others?

3) While submitting to Christians should be (relatively) easy, why is it so hard? What about submitting to people of the world?

2020-06-12
Will You Follow

Matthew 8:5–13; Matthew 8:18–23; 1 Corinthians 12:12–28 (read online ⧉)

Amazingly…no, really…amazingly…people aren’t perfect.

Leaders are people. Therefore, leaders aren’t perfect.

Yet, when we look at our leaders, whether they are political, corporate, or church leaders, we often expect perfection. Political leaders are the most afflicted with this. It often takes only one mistake (or even just a difference in perspective) and a political leader’s career is over. Corporations are somewhat more resilient in that regard, yet with the increasing weight of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, even corporations are behaving in such a way.

While, mercifully, a lot more grace is shown in church circles, a leader’s failures can tank everything. This is not to say that criminal or unChristian behavior should be allowed, just that the Scriptures do have a way to deal with that.

The ultimate danger, though, becomes both fear of failure and fear to try something new. This is often lived out with the infamous phrase, “we’ve never done it that way before.”

There are several kinds of leaders out there. There are two big ones in the church. One of the big leader types is the manager/maintainer. This is the person that seeks to maintain the status quo. Often portrayed negatively, they are often the ones that keep people from going off the rails.

There are the visionary leaders. These are the people that break things, all for the right reasons (hopefully), but breaking hurts, because often it is things we’ve (unknowingly) setup as idols that get broken.

There are 3 other character traits, though, that deeply affect the culture of the church, leaders, and even of our lives. First is the follower. Most of us follow at least somewhat, and followers are for tomorrow. For now, let’s talk about rebels and mavericks. This was great insight provided by Larry Walkemeyer.

Often the church views the mavericks and the rebels as the same. On the surface, that may well be true. It certainly would seem to fit with the things they often break.

However, the rebel (such as the family leaders from yesterday’s readings) is in it to achieve something for themselves, almost always at a cost to others, and importantly will neither report nor submit to authority. For the church, whose Savior submitted unto death, a lack of submission is often a sign of spiritual immaturity.

The maverick, on the other hand, is there to achieve something, and it might even be gratifying. However, if the cost is others, then they are open to correction. Mavericks also, despite their independent and solo tendencies, will submit to authority. The church needs a lot more mavericks. However, mavericks, oddly enough, need to put themselves within a framework so that there are limits and responsibilities. However, as their spiritual maturity deepens, the limits are removed, and they can shake the world.

Lastly, though, is the part where there are two problems. Those in authority often like neither rebels (which is understandable) or mavericks. Thus they limit the catalyst for change. In addition, leaders also must be able to admit that they were wrong regularly and openly, and church culture doesn’t like that much, let alone the leaders. Thus the mavericks are turned into rebels by those who dislike challenge and/or change.

Church and Christian leadership starts with submission to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father (not necessarily in that order). Without that submission, one of the biggest points is missed.

※Prayer※

Oh, God, you have called us to be humble, and we often fail at that. You call us to yield our will to yours, and we often fail at that. You love us despite our failings, and for that, we give you praise. As we walk through this life with our fellow Christians, help us to submit to you and to one another in love. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Have you ever seen a “rebel” leader? What was the context? What was the result?

2) Have you ever seen a “maverick” leader? What was the context? What was the result?

3) Why is perfection the enemy of leadership? How does that apply to our lives?

2020-06-11