Jesus Calls Us
Jesus calls us to love,
Not to hate, resent, detest or to show hostility;
But to seek the best in the people we encounter.
We follow Jesus when we are devoted to each other.
Jesus calls us to sacrifice,
Not to hoard, grab, stockpile or to embrace selfishness;
But to let go of the very things we prize the most.
We follow Jesus when we are generous to each other.
Jesus calls us to forgive,
Not to hold grudges, to feed spite, to resent, or to seek retaliation;
But to bury the hatchet and letting it go.
We follow Jesus when we cancel the (spiritual) debt.
Jesus calls us to compassion,
Not to be calloused, coldhearted, uncaring or heartless;
But to feel the plight of those who endure the sting of living.
We follow Jesus when we suffer with others.
Jesus calls us to speak,
Not to shout, scream, bellow or yell in demeaning ways;
But to talk in calmness as a non-anxious person.
We follow Jesus when we refuse to keep silent.
Jesus calls us to truth,
Not to lie, fudge, manipulate, or distort reality;
But to line our words and life to the Plumb-line.
We follow Jesus when we embrace integrity.
Jesus calls us to faith,
Not to anxiety, fear, worry, and dread;
But to reach out to Jesus as he reaches out to us.
We follow Jesus when it’s so sweet to trust in him.
Jesus calls us to listen to him,
Not to society, to those voices who drown him out;
But to filter the white noise to hear him clearly.
We follow Jesus when it’s his voice we hear with precision.
Jesus calls us to hope,
Not to despair, despondency, dejection or to lose heart;
But to courageous expectation even in the midst of loss.
We follow Jesus when we anticipate God’s presence.
Jesus calls us to follow him,
Not to dictate the direction or to complain about the trail;
But to walk by faith and not by sight.
We follow Jesus when we stay on the path with him.
Jesus calls us to unity,
Not to divide and split, or pursue dissonance and partitions;
But to passionately seek what we hold in koinonia (i.e. common).|
We follow Jesus when we forgo partisan for oneness.
Jesus calls us to die,
Not to fight, demand, insist and require our own rights;
But willingly relinquish our privileges and claim to life.
We follow Jesus when we pick up our cross to shadow him.
Jesus calls us,
Not in anger, disappointment, frustration or with regret;
But in soft, gentle and loving tones.
We follow Jesus when we answer his call.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)
Family Time
Who Are We Listening to?
The Voice in the Letter
Twisted Scripture
When Peter closed out his second epistle, he gave a warning to his readers, specifically about Paul’s writings (2 Pet. 3:15-16). First, he accuses Paul of penning things that are hard to understand (coming from an apostle who wrote one of the most difficult/controversial paragraphs in Scripture [see 1 Pet. 3:18-22]). Secondly, and more importantly, he acknowledged that “ignorant and unstable” people are given to twisting Paul’s words.
What Peter was right about Paul is true about Scripture in general. Scripture can and is often abused. Paul told Timothy to “rightly divide” God’s word (i.e. “be responsible with” in 2 Tim. 2:15). John, at the conclusion of his apocalyptic revelation, warns his readers not to “add or take away” (Rev. 22:19) from the words of his writing. Ultimately, his warning is the same as Paul’s to “handle with care” God’s word (ironically, more twisting of John’s Revelation has occurred than almost any other part of Scripture).
Jesus addressed twisting Scripture in the early portion of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5:21-48). Fueling hate in your heart breaks Scripture’s command not to murder. Lusting after a woman breaks Scripture’s command to not commit adultery. Breaking any oath is tantamount to breaking an oath directly to God. Seeking personal revenge (i.e. “eye for an eye”) abuses a directive given to judicial settings not for the common people (see Ex. 21:23-25; Lev. 24:19-20). And Scripture never taught people to hate their enemies, but just the opposite (Lev. 19:18). In every example Jesus undermines our bent to twist and manipulate Scripture in order to justify our pride or our sin; we’re just not as good as we make ourselves out to be.
Jesus confronted a blatant twisting of Scripture during his temptation by the devil (Mt. 4L1-11; Lk. 4:1-13). Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12 to assure Jesus that God’s protective promise was on him. Jesus never argued context or meaning, but went to Deuteronomy 6:16, a warning about putting God to the test. It’s one thing to live with a faithful trust in God, but it’s another to arrogantly test God with your so-called “faith.”
While volumes have been written about the tools and guardrails needed for understanding Scripture, time and space limits this particular discussion. Clearly we’re living in a time when people’s understanding of Scripture has been moved to the front burners of life. And some of those approaches to God’s Word has had devastating results. As we try to avoid twisting Scripture to our own agenda Jesus offers at least three principles to keep Scripture straight.
First, loving God and loving each other is the ultimate command to follow (Mt. 22:34-40; Mk. 12:28-34; Lk. 10:25-27). These two commands are tied together so that how we love God is expressed in our love for each other (Jas. 2:8; 1 Jn. 4:20). And as Paul says, every other law can be summed up by loving our neighbor (Gal. 5:14). In other words, god is less concerned with our need to impress him with (said ritual), than he is about how we treat each other.
Secondly, religious rituals were made to serve us, not master us. When Jesus was confronted about Sabbath laws, not only did he claim Lordship and rule-maker over the Sabbath, but he reminded us that the Sabbath was never to be a burden to the people (Mk. 2:27-28). People are more important than the ritual. So if you’re hungry and walking through a grain field, it’s ok to pluck the grain to eat it. The spiritual disciplines and rituals have a place and role, but they are not end game. The disciplines and rituals only lead us to the End Game.
Finally, God is actually more concerned about us showing mercy than he is about our religious rituals, even if those rituals are commanded (Mt. 12:7; Lk. 6:36). When we stand before God on judgment, (I believe) we’ll beg for mercy. The level of mercy God grants us will be in direct portion to the level of mercy we’ve granted here in our lives. Being accused of showing too much mercy in the “here and now,” may be better than being accused of not showing mercy in the “then and there.”
Twisting Scripture is a complicated discussion and study. Our own bias and prejudice tend to blind our spiritual eyes to see clearly. Maybe the key to ironing out our penchant of twisting Scripture is to spray our approach with a little more humility.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)
The Montage
Post Easter
The Church in Exile
Israel was sent into exile. Their rebellious behavior – not only toward God, but also against the Babylonian Empire – forced Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. While the Babylonian king had tried to avoid playing the “exile” card, his other moves failed to squelch their resistance. When “enough was enough,” he marched his troops into Jerusalem. He razed the city, burned the temple and exiled the Judean residents to Babylon.
If the world can be turned upside down in one moment’s time, being exiled to Babylon was it. Questions were raised and the struggle for faith ensued. Was God impotent and finally lost the battle to the other gods? Were all the promises of God merely “hevel,” like a futile attempt to grasp mist? How will religious faith be expressed without the temple and sacrifice? The void of all they knew and understood could probably be summed up in their own Psalm of lament, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (Ps. 137:4).
When Peter wrote to the Christian community he chose classic Jewish language at the outset of his letter to describe his church. They were elected and chosen by God just like Moses told Israel (Deut. 14:2). But more importantly, Peter picked up on the captivity language that had been woven into the Jewish mindset to apply to the church. His two key words are strangers (NIV), to which the RSV translates as “exiled.” Also, he drops “diaspora” which the NIV translates “scattered” and the RSV says “dispersed.” While the use of “exile” is clear enough, “diaspora” was the word used to describe Israel having been dispersed/scattered throughout the world because of the exile.
The church in exile. That’s Peter description. We live in a place we don’t really belong. We’re aliens. People look at us with suspect because we don’t quite fit in. And while we’re being model citizens and good neighbors, his call for us to live holy lives (1 Pet. 1:15) runs counter to the rest of the world, who look at us in wonder. And when the world is anti-Jesus and anti-church, our refusal to lean against the world but lean into the attacks compounds their confusion (1 Pet. 2:19-23).
We feel the exile today, though for very different reasons. Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, everyone is being forced to limit our activity and stay home. Many businesses have closed or have laid off employees. Foot traffic is limited. Money flow has slowed and in some places stopped. Social distancing has driven a society even further apart in loneliness and isolation.
Churches are far from immune. The “exile” feeling has kept us away from each other, except for those few churches standing against common sense in the midst of a pandemic. Experiencing worship and teaching has moved on line while we engage each other with words without faces. Assembly time not the same, and we know it. It’s creating a deep longing to be together and in the void we wonder what Israel wondered long ago, “Where are you, God?”
When Ezekiel witnessed the vision of God as the “wheel in the middle of the wheel (Ex. 1:1-3:15),” God was answering Israel’s deepest question. Ezekiel was part of the Exiled. At age 30 he should have begun his ministry as a priest in Jerusalem’s temple. Instead, God called him to a prophetic ministry. Imperative to his calling was God’s presence. God never stayed behind in Jerusalem while Israel was exiled. No. He moved to Babylon with them. He’d sit with them. He’d mourn with them. He’d continue to call them back to him. He’d listen to songs they sang in the foreign land. So if God’s presence was real during Israel’s exile, where do you think he is during our “feelings of exile”?
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)