Talking a big game?

I met Diann yesterday when she came to see me as a rep for World Vision. In our conversation I learned about her life, raising many children, including 5 that she and her husband adopted. What I loved most was that she was so real about the joys and struggles of it all!   Life for her, like all of us, was not all sunshine and roses. Some of her best intended choices had unforeseen results but there was no bitterness, no cynicism. Nor was there the common Christian affliction of superficial ‘happy talk’ about the hard things. She was just real.

Bob Goff pokes holes in our pretensions in an essay in his book, Everybody Always. He suggests that we lose our Christian speak, so often used to impress or cover up our insecurity, trading it for reality. “We don’t need to go on ‘mission trips’ any longer. Jesus’ friends did not call them this. They knew love already had a name. … We don’t need to call everything we do ‘ministry,’ just call it Tuesday. … People who love don’t need all the spin, because they aren’t looking for applause or validation from others any longer.”

How about we just stop all the measuring, comparing, wondering so we can just be the person calls us to be?  Oh, I know, it’s hard not to wonder where we fit in the pecking order of life, isn’t it? I do it, too! Too often I allow myself to make ‘success’ (whatever that really is) into the number of people in church on Sunday morning instead of faithfully loving one or two on Tuesday. In the pastoral journals I read, the names that appear in the headlines are of people who are ‘in charge’ of thousands, who are ‘changing the world,’  and the Devil uses that to tempt me to feel small, to ask ‘what’s wrong with me?’  Sad, isn’t it? But, it is such a common thing for all of us in different ways. Perhaps for you it’s beauty or money or your kid’s accomplishments or your house or … am I right?

Let’s get real with ourselves and God. Let’s make our prayer, “Here I am, Lord, all of me. It’s my desire to be the best ‘me’ I can be, using the opportunities You present to me today in the most excellent way so that Jesus will somehow shine through the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly.”

Here is something I do know with certainty. You and I will encounter people today who desperately need to be loved. No they don’t need a ‘Jesus talk’ to straighten them out. They surely don’t need to hear us brag, our self-aggrandizement disguised as a ‘testimony.’ They need us to listen and care like He did. They need us to leave them with hope that life can be different. They need us to remind them that God still is there, that in spite of what they see, He’s not given up on the world. If we are just loving, the Spirit will open up opportunities for the next conversation, the one about inviting Jesus Christ to be Lord of life. 

So, let’s ‘go into all the world,’ starting at the front door and love like Jesus did. (That is not romantic or sentimental.) He saw the need, moved to understand it, and died to change it! Ready to love like that?

Let this word from the Word speak deeply to you. Spend some time meditating on the wisdom of the Spirit that Paul left for us here.  

"In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do.

While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master,

I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—

on the road God called you to travel.

I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands.

I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere.

And mark that you do this

with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily,

pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love,

alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction,

so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly.

You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,

who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all.

Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. "

(Ephesians 4:1-6, The Message)

Give Us Barabbas

Mob mentality is a frightening thing that leads people to do and say things that would be unthinkable as an individual. In the African nation of Rwanda, in 1994, urged on by radio broadcasts and simmering anger, one group of people rose up against their neighbors and in 100 days around 800,000 people were slaughtered by machete wielding mobs!  

History is full of similar stories – people whipped up by propaganda who take to the streets, destroying, killing.  We like to think ‘not me,’ don’t we?  We want to believe that we are above being influenced in that way, incited to hate by leaders who stir some visceral reaction in us.  A study of human behavior would suggest that swaying the mob is all too easy.  

In John’s Gospel the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders had come to a crisis moment. After He was betrayed by Judas and handed over to the Roman authorities, the mood of the people shifted. Those who had been swept up in adulation at His triumphal entry, now heard the accusations being leveled. They were further goaded by Pilate who kept repeating that Jesus was their king.  When he offered to release a prisoner in the Passover tradition, John says the mob "shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!”  He adds this footnote – “Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion." (John 18:40, NIV)  Barabbas had committed real crimes, Jesus had only cared, loved, and taught them of God’s invitation. Yet, they choose the lesser over the Lord.

Later in the day, after Pilate had questioned Jesus again, he offered to free Him, suggesting that perhaps a flogging would suffice. But those who usually hated Roman authority, who had nothing but contempt for Caesar, were now a thoughtless mob and "they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered." (John 19:15, NIV)

Will you stand with Jesus today?  When the crowd pushes back against faith, when His call to a live of love puts you at odds with those who are cruel or hateful, will you courageously stand?

In the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives a promise in the context of resistance: "God blesses those people who are treated badly for doing right. They belong to the kingdom of heaven. God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago." (Matthew 5:10-12, CEV)  If we are persistent in commitment, we will find ourselves going against the flow.  And, no matter how kind, how good, we are the fact is that if stand with Jesus, you are going to experience rejection.  Paul told his spiritual son this:  “All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).  It is not a maybe, could be, possible outcome! It is a certainty.  Stand with Christ, stand against the world.

What kind of difficulties may come our way if we won’t go with the crowd?

Personal insults are inevitable. You will find yourself the butt of jokes. You may be looked down on, considered a fool.  

Physical intimidation is surely possible.  Martyrdom is not just a thing of the past. In many places in the world, in 2018, people are imprisoned, beaten, and even killed because they bear the name of Christ.  Those of us who are privileged to live our faith under the protection of the law, should give thanks for that, and pray for those who are being persecuted for loving Jesus.

Social pressure is part of being a Christian, even in America. “Lighten up,” we hear. “You are way too serious about your religion,” our family may say.

Stand! Not angrily, not with fists raised, but with the quiet courage that Jesus demonstrated, trusting Himself to the will of the Father.  What a tragic thing to allow ourselves to be caught up in the mob, and hearing the words “Give us Barabbas” come from our mouth.

Here is a word from the Word. "If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter. But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!”  (1 Peter 4:14-16, The Message)

_______

The Stand

You stood before creation

Eternity in Your hand

You spoke the earth into motion

My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure

And carried the cross for my shame

My sin weighed upon Your shoulders

My soul now to stand

So what can I say

And what can I do

But offer this heart O God

Completely to You

So I'll walk upon salvation

Your Spirit alive in me

My life to declare Your promise

My soul now to stand

So I'll stand

With arms high and heart abandoned

In awe of the One who gave it all

I'll stand

My soul Lord to You surrendered

All I am is Yours

Joel Houston

© 2005 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

True, that!

Are you a lover of truth? Most of say so, and we mean it.  Unless we are a pathological liar, we do not live to deceive.  And still, even though many claim to love ‘authenticity’ and claim as it as their own, I find that ‘truth’ is a hard thing to come by in our time.  

 Opinion is confused with ‘truth.’ Preference is thought to be ‘truth.’  Truth is not always ‘obvious’ and it must be sought out.  Truth is not altered by public opinion, hatred, or denial! Truth is constant, abiding, and absolute. What do you believe is true about Jesus? That, friend, is critically important. Life depends on it!

When He was taken before Pilate, the Roman administrator in Jerusalem, that man was confused by Who he saw standing there. Clearly Jesus was a good man, yet His accusers were screaming about sedition, about rebellion.  Pilate asks Him about His identity. "Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him." (John 18:36-38, NIV) Hours later this man bent to public pressure and condemned a man he knew to be innocent to be crucified.

In a curious twist, Pilate, orders up a sign to be posted on the cross of Christ that read, "THE KING OF THE JEWS." This was to be a kind of mockery, a written notice of the accusation. It was a poke at the religious leaders who built a false case against Him. Pilate may have even enjoyed his little joke. But, he wrote unwittingly wrote a statement of the Truth!  And, as they stood round the cross, those religious leaders whose envy and spiritual pride blinded them to the coming of their Messiah, mocked him saying, Mark 15:32 "Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down from the cross. . ."  their own mockery a statement of the Truth!

Are you a lover of the Truth, really?
He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Do you love Him, enough to embrace His invitation to come and follow?

When it is ‘killing you’ to accept His way over your own, will you live in the truth?

Spend some time with Jesus’ words, which are the word from the Word for today. In their familiarity we are tempted to read and say, “Yep, that’s true.” Take more time to think about the ‘truth,’ about Him, about the way that He shows us for life. Then, commit to living freely, because of the Truth.

“Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” Then many who heard him say these things believed in him. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:26-32, NLT)

______________

Father, so many words come at me every day,

Claiming to be the truth.

I want to live in the truth!

So, I pray that the Holy Spirit will give me a discerning heart,

a mind full of the Word, so I am able to sort out truth from error.

Give me a readiness to learn from You,

Quick mind that can sort out the competing ideologies of my world.

Help me to love You and to live in the Truth.

Lord, lead me to a life of holy service
that pleases and honors You, one lived without shadows,

Without shame, in the Light of the Truth.

In the Name of Jesus, I ask this. Amen.