Do you really want an answer?

American humorist and author, Mark Twain, reportedly said,  “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”   No fan of religion or Christianity, Twain despised the Church and understood the God of the Bible as “a thug.”  Lost in the questions, it appears he never found the Answer.

On Tuesday of the week before the Cross, the Gospels tell us that Jesus was back at the Temple to engage the religious authorities. Mark, whose likely source was Peter, tells us that He engaged in a running debate that day with those authorities who kept asking Him questions – not for the purpose of finding real answers but to try to get Him to say something they could use to make a formal charge. “By what authority did you come in here and say those things you say? Should we pay tax to Caesar or not?  If a woman is married (because of successive deaths) to seven brothers which one will she be married to in Heaven? Which commandment is greatest?”  Jesus took the questions and answered them wisely and without giving them the base for accusation they desired. In fact, we learn this about Him: “They were amazed at Him.”  (Mark 12:17)

Anyone who has parented a teenager knows the tactic of parsing words and avoiding directions.  With keen interest in the exact meaning of words, a 14 year old can turn into skilled debater. “But, you really said … I did not think you actually meant …”  though both parent and child know exactly what was intended by the request or in the direction.

In the pointed exchange that day in the Temple, Jesus told a teaching story that remains a powerful lesson for us.  “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins." (Matthew 21:28-32, NLT)

Christian friend, don’t get so caught up in the words that you forget to follow!  Are there questions about our faith, about God and His ways, about the way of life to which we are called? Yes!  And take this from a disciple who has been following Jesus for a half century, those questions do not get easier with time. That is why it is called ‘faith.’  We must match reason with revelation, obey the things we know even as we wrestle with the things we do not yet understand. Our hearts find peace in that obedience as we live in fellowship with the Spirit. James is simple and clear - "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins." (James 4:17, NIV)

Where are you positioned as a disciple, at the fringe of the crowd or close to the Savior? Are you trying to find that place of minimal obedience, of reluctant submission? Let me encourage you to wholeheartedly pursue the Lord.  Your questions may be valid, but like those of a child with limited understanding, there may not be answers for them right now. What do you know? What has He said?  Live in that place.

Here is a word from the Word for this Tuesday of Holy Week. As you read these words, let your imagination place you in the crowd standing ‘round Jesus in the Temple, but not with the skeptics. Instead, find yourself in worshipful adoration.  "One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?” Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.” The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!” When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, “You’re almost there, right on the border of God’s kingdom.” After that, no one else dared ask a question." (Mark 12:28-34, The Message)

May He find us faithful and in a place where we find peace in His purposes.

________________

All the way my Savior leads me

Who have I to ask beside

How could I doubt

His tender mercy

Who through life has been my guide

All the way my Savior leads me

And cheers each winding path I tread

And gives me grace for ev'ry trial

Feeds me with the living Bread

All the way my Savior leads me

O the fullness of His love

O the sureness of His promise

In the triumph of His blood

When my spirit clothed immortal

Wings its flight to realms of day

This my song through endless ages

Jesus led me all the way

Jesus led me all the way

Fanny Crosby – public domain

“I’m going to die!”

Have you ever had to walk into a situation that you knew was going to be painful or difficult and chose to do it anyway?  When I read of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, I am astonished by the courage of those men who were sent onto the beaches into a storm of bullets!  They knew that death was possible, that they had to step off of the landing craft and fight their way under machine gun fire, through barbed wire, and among the chaos of war. And, they did it!

Jesus knew that when He went to Jerusalem for the final time that death was ahead for him. Repeatedly He told the disciples that He was going to die. He did not shrink from His call, find an excuse, or take another road – though He had that choice!  Isaiah wrote of the torture the Lord’s Servant faced and of His faithfulness  - "Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame." (Isaiah 50:7, NIV)  After the tumultuous welcome into the city on Jerusalem, Jesus returned to the city on Monday.

Did He keep a low profile, avoiding the religious authorities who were determined to be rid of Him? Not at all. "Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant." (Matthew 21:12-15, NIV)

He had to know that this provocation would only increase the rage and fear of the leaders, that they would desire His death even more. Yet, He was determined, steady, ready. Why?  How did He face the inevitable with such courage?  Hebrews 12 explains – “for the joy set before Him, he endured!”  He looked past the pain and saw the reward. That passage continues – “He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Jesus could be faithful because He knew His mission and the reward.

Today, we will be faced with choices, too. Will we serve faithfully, even at great expense to ourselves? Will we ‘die to Self’ willingly, even though we know it will be painful to set aside our desires to embrace the Way of God?  How can we remain steady and ready?  We must keep the Kingdom mission in mind and our Eternal Home in sight!  If we know why we serve and where we are going, we can find JOY in the journey. Discipleship need not just be a grim slog along a miserable road. Jesus told His friends, “I am going to die” but I don’t get the sense that He was grim and dutiful.

Yesterday, I watched teams serving in our local church, some investing hours in their work each week. Those musicians who prepare and help us to sing in worship, do it – not because they do not have anything else to do – but because they know the amazing privilege of lifting people from preoccupation with daily life into the Presence of the Lord.  The team that invests hours each Sunday afternoon with our Awana kids, could find others ways to spend Sunday afternoon, but they are intent on planting the Word Seed in young minds, loving and leading those little ones with the prayer that the results will be a new generation of Christians, solid in faith. Yes, they know their mission and they glimpse the reward.

Do you know what God has called you to do?  Are you looking past the inconvenience, the sacrifice, the self-denial to the reward that awaits?  Jesus did! We must.

Here is a word from the Word, the last thoughts of Paul, as his life was coming to a close. I love these words for the hope they include. "I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming." (2 Timothy 4:6-8, The Message)

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Father, lead us on a faith walk with Jesus this week.

As He made His way to the Cross, purposefully, joyfully, with intent;

So may we walk the pilgrim’s pathway, without whining,

Full of courage, singing as we go.

Holy Spirit, put eternity in our hearts.

Renew our vision and call.

Let Your kingdom come in us.

We pray in Jesus’ Name.

Amen.

The Best Christian Experience

We Americans are an interesting mix of ideals. On one hand we are fiercely independent. We like a wide array of choices and rebel against being pushed into a place where we must do what we are told. Yet, we also want our social safety nets in place.  We cherish those benefits that come to us in all kinds of subsidies from our child’s free public education, to college assistance, to healthcare subsidies, to Social Security.  We hold onto our rights of free association but want to know that we are included in a community that will surround us with support in times of need.  Do you agree?

In the Church of Jesus Christ, there is a principle that we cannot ignore. That Christian who desires the most productive service, the richest experience of the Spirit will leave behind childish dependence, grow through independence, and give himself to a life that is interdependent on others of faith. Galatians 6 is about those interdependent relationships within Christ's church. In The Message it reads this way: "Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience."

Each of us enjoys a unique relationship with God who gives us gifts to use in His service, but that relationship finds context and complement within His church. The model for that community is the body. Yes, in a sense  the Church can be like a family or even an army, but  1 Corinthians 12 explains best way to understand who she is.  "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12, NIV)  That passage goes on to remind us that no part of the Body of Christ can discard another without serious loss of function. Even the parts of the Body that operate unseen are critical to her wholeness! 

Abandon the romantic notions that accompany that image! The profound connections that we form within Christ’s Body are wonderful and enriching, but also demand surrender of our Self, laying down our pride, and accommodation of the needs of the whole over our individuality. The Word teaches us that “no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”?” (1 Corinthians 12:19-21)

Christian friend, pray to understand how God has made you, where He has placed you, and how develop your gifts and callings. As we do this, responsibly becoming the person HE desires, living contentedly in the place to which God has called us; fitting into the Body of Christ in humility, we find the best Christian experience! This is interdependence! 

Here is wisdom that will guide us into that communal life, to the wholeness of the Body that lets Jesus shine in His church.
"Always be humble and gentle.
Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father,

who is over all and in all and living through all." (Ephesians 4:2-6, NLT)

Lord, call us together, into your service. Make us strong, together. Amen.

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The Church's One Foundation

The church's one foundation

Is Jesus Christ her Lord

She is His new creation

By water and the word

From heav'n He came and sought her

To be His holy bride

With His own blood He bought her

And for her life He died

Elect from ev'ry nation

Yet one o'er all the earth

Her charter of salvation

One Lord one faith one birth

One holy name she blesses

Partakes one holy food

And to one hope she presses

With ev'ry grace endued

-Public Domain