You've got at least 19 good stories in Joshua. Which reminds me of my favorite line in Walk the Line, the movie about Johnny and June Carter Cash. Johnny's brother Jack Cash, who is 14 (when Johnny is about 12) and wants to be a minister when he grows up, is explaining to Johnny why he studies the Bible so zealously: How can you help people if you don't know what story to tell 'em? Out o the mouths of babes. Narrative is powerful and that's why so much of scripture is narrative, why Jesus told so many stories...rather than just the standard alliterative three point sermons.
major themes? well, be people of the book, tattoo it all over yourself, be strong and courageous, leave the old guard behind and come in with new wine skins for new wine.
Big point: Failure of handing off the baton of leadership at the end, setting Israel up to slip into the apostasy that would be the 300 years of Judges. After all those very explicit instructions in the first five books of scripture, Israel scrapped almost everything after Joshua's era. There is no evidence, for example, that Israel EVER actually observed the year of Jubilee. Somebody dropped the ball. And though the Law was Beautiful and Important and pointed towards holiness, it was clear that the law alone was not going to save Israel. There was going to have to be a Relationship between God and His people...one that included mercy and forgiveness...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Judges: Judges 6-12
7) Tola judges Israel for 23 yrs and only merits 1 verse! (10:1) Apparently he was not “all that.”
8) Jair rules for 22, and the most interesting thing they have to say about him is that he had 30 sons who rode around on 30 donkeys (which, granted, is reportable, but is not exactly a ringing endorsement of his leadership).
9) Jephthah is a lot more interesting, but tragic events draw the most notice to his leadership. He is a bastard son, not appreciated by the legitimate sons, and is chased away by his half brothers. But he is also a great warrior, and when the Ammonite oppression becomes overwhelming, the brothers seek Jephtha’s help. After some initial disbelief, he agrees to lead.
There are only 2 verses about his victory over the Ammonites, (32-33), (and it is noteworthy that he took military action only after diplomatic efforts had failed), and these are embedded in the story that is clearly more interesting to the author, that of the foolish vow. Jephtha had promised that if his army won the victory, he would offer as a sacrifice the first thing he saw when he got home... and that turned out to be his daughter. He then“dutifully” sacrificed her. Jephtha, his daughter, and apparently everyone else, recognize the grave obligation to keep one's vow to the Lord even if it is a horribly misguided one—they apparently fail however, to realize how utterly loathsome to God human sacrifice is.
8) Jair rules for 22, and the most interesting thing they have to say about him is that he had 30 sons who rode around on 30 donkeys (which, granted, is reportable, but is not exactly a ringing endorsement of his leadership).
9) Jephthah is a lot more interesting, but tragic events draw the most notice to his leadership. He is a bastard son, not appreciated by the legitimate sons, and is chased away by his half brothers. But he is also a great warrior, and when the Ammonite oppression becomes overwhelming, the brothers seek Jephtha’s help. After some initial disbelief, he agrees to lead.
There are only 2 verses about his victory over the Ammonites, (32-33), (and it is noteworthy that he took military action only after diplomatic efforts had failed), and these are embedded in the story that is clearly more interesting to the author, that of the foolish vow. Jephtha had promised that if his army won the victory, he would offer as a sacrifice the first thing he saw when he got home... and that turned out to be his daughter. He then“dutifully” sacrificed her. Jephtha, his daughter, and apparently everyone else, recognize the grave obligation to keep one's vow to the Lord even if it is a horribly misguided one—they apparently fail however, to realize how utterly loathsome to God human sacrifice is.
[I think I dropped a paragraph or so about the ensuing conflict where his brothers distrust him again after the victory dust settles which is where the 'diplomacy' would have come in]
Although Jephtha demonstrated strong diplomatic skills internationally, he failed on the domestic front, fighting with Ephraim rather than smoothing things over the way that Gideon had managed to do when a similar dispute arose from the Ephraimites after he defeated the Midianites. (We are starting to get a whiny image of the Ephraimites).
This is where the linguistically legendary sh/s pronunciation test is instituted. The Ephraimites were trying to pass as main streamers but apparently had a dialect that didn’t allow for the “sh” sound (or at least not before the vowel in the first syllable of the word in point) and since they weren’t all getting Standard Israeli Hebrew instruction in their public schools, they simply didn’t notice the difference and couldn’t produce the “foreign” sound. Thus it was really easy to identify an Ephraimite by his dialect and inability to pronounce shibboleth, which apparently means ‘stream,’ which is what they were trying to cross on the occasion this little speech exam was administered. 42,000 Ephraimites lost their lives in this way.
Jephtha only ruled Israel for 6 years before he died. (10:6-12:7). And yet he gets airtime in Judges that spans 3 chapters (compared to Tola’s 23 years being brushed off by a single verse).
10) Ibzen of Bethlehem had 30 sons and 30 daughters whom he married cross clan boundaries (12:8-10). He gets 3 verses.
11) Elon of Zebulon, ruled for 10 years (12:11-12). He gets 2 verses.
12) Abdon of Pirathon ruled for 8 years. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who road on 70 donkeys. (12:13-15). He gets 3 verses.
And then there was Samson…
Although Jephtha demonstrated strong diplomatic skills internationally, he failed on the domestic front, fighting with Ephraim rather than smoothing things over the way that Gideon had managed to do when a similar dispute arose from the Ephraimites after he defeated the Midianites. (We are starting to get a whiny image of the Ephraimites).
This is where the linguistically legendary sh/s pronunciation test is instituted. The Ephraimites were trying to pass as main streamers but apparently had a dialect that didn’t allow for the “sh” sound (or at least not before the vowel in the first syllable of the word in point) and since they weren’t all getting Standard Israeli Hebrew instruction in their public schools, they simply didn’t notice the difference and couldn’t produce the “foreign” sound. Thus it was really easy to identify an Ephraimite by his dialect and inability to pronounce shibboleth, which apparently means ‘stream,’ which is what they were trying to cross on the occasion this little speech exam was administered. 42,000 Ephraimites lost their lives in this way.
Jephtha only ruled Israel for 6 years before he died. (10:6-12:7). And yet he gets airtime in Judges that spans 3 chapters (compared to Tola’s 23 years being brushed off by a single verse).
10) Ibzen of Bethlehem had 30 sons and 30 daughters whom he married cross clan boundaries (12:8-10). He gets 3 verses.
11) Elon of Zebulon, ruled for 10 years (12:11-12). He gets 2 verses.
12) Abdon of Pirathon ruled for 8 years. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who road on 70 donkeys. (12:13-15). He gets 3 verses.
And then there was Samson…
Monday, March 23, 2009
Judges--aka Tribal Leaders not completely unlike some of those those in Iraq and Afghanistan and like places today
the grand theme of this book? EVERYONE DID AS HE SAW FIT. that's what tribal leaders do. they make up their own rules. opens the people up to all kinds of abuse, very russian roulette- hit and miss-sketchy. very sketchy. one is tempted to draw parallels to wallstreet's unregulated ceo's and the like as well, but 'one' will forego the temptation for now. too many irons in the fire, as it were.
i used to put off judges for a long time after reading joshua, dreading that horrible story at the end, but i don't think i remembered until the 2002 reading that the horrible rape of the concubine doesn't happen until chapter 20, at the very end of this book about the height of the early apostasy, the darkest night right before the dawn of the age of the prophets (enter Samuel stage left) but not yet, we're doing judges. hold your horses.
you do have to ask yourself what joshua had to do with the fact that the fragile little civil society spectacularly crashed and burned almost as soon as he died -- was there a failure of vision and leadership on his part? did he not think about the fact that there would need to be strong capable leaders to take over when God took him out? there is virtually no leadership structure in place when he exits. big power vacuum. those really suck.
somehow we tend to put ourselves on automatic pilot when reading through the old testament, like it was this ordeal we have to go through to get our little bible reading star in our crowns, but already determined that we weren't gonna get nothin from it.
but if you even stay half awake, you should be able to see this beautiful little pattern that swirls around about 20 times throughout the book. ok the pattern itself is tragic and pathetic, but the structure is gorgeous and there is a message in the structure! God is a God of order, so finding the structures He's built into Scripture is a delightful sally into the well groomed garden of His mind. . .
1) The people screw up and do evil
2) Other nations start messing with them and turning up the heat
3) They come to their acute senses and cry out to God for help
4) God raises up a leader, a judge, a superheroe if you will
5) The hero saves them (well, God saves them through the hero)
6) The people, with a 3 second memory like a fish, shortly if not immediately return to their degenerate ways, taking their eyes off God, sin-king beneath the waves of their self-worshiping human nature
I mean it was quite a merry go round. Except for the merry part. Unless it was the Eat drink and be merry in steps 1 and 6. It's like a laundry cycle, only two of the cycles make the clothes filthy --it's like apply filth, rub in filth, soak in soap, wash vigorously, rinse, soak in filth, repeat. but the wash and rinse cycles are glorious. they truly are. and sometimes they're pretty long cycles. and normally in judges, after telling you about a particular judge and his/her "reign" the writer adds how long the cycle was, how many years of peace ensued after the hero performed amazing feats yada yada, before moving on to the next. so that's the cycle.
Here are some of the judges:
1) Othniel conquers the oppressor, King of Aram (3:7-11) 40 years of peace ensued
2) Ehud (a lefty) kills the fat oppressive king of moab, Eglon, with a double edged sword (funniest bathroom scene in scripture embedded here (3:12-30) 80 years of peace ensued
3) Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad. ONE VERSE. (3:31) Shortest narrative in scripture?? Shockingly, no mention of how much peace ensued.
4) Deborah, the prophetess (Married to Lappidoth (about whom we hear nothing)) rises to power when Israel's chief oppressor is Jabin, King of Canaan and his army commander is Sisera. In the voice of God, Deborah orders her own army commander, Barak, (dang, i did not remember that was his name when i voted) to organize 10,000 troops to go to war against Sisera. Barak is weak kneed and Deborah prophecies that because of his lack of courage he will be disgraced by having the honor of taking the enemy's leader out given to a woman. (some of us think worse fates could befall you).
the woman in point was apparently not the powerful, spiritual, political and intellectual force that was Deborah, but humble tent-peg wielding housewife/ homemaker/ domestic engineer Jael! apparently this struggle between Isreal and theCanaanites was a gradual victory that sort of culminated in the incident where Jael nails the enemy commander-- "and the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin,"until they destroyed him. remember Jabin was the king they were struggling against. but his army commander was Sisera.
Sisera is the one who got nailed by Jael for underestimating the power of a civilian woman who appeared to be consumed by her domestic responsibilities. Sisera takes warm milk from the nice lady and then takes a nap under her covers and then gets violently assassinated by said nice lady (chapter 4:1-24) 40 years of peace ensued.
Incidentally, Deborah's song of Worship-history is 30 verses long and a bit sadistic for my tastes (28-30) (chapter 5:1-31)
5) Gideon (also a bit weak-kneed) rose up against Midian (Oh come on you have to appreciate a primary opponent that rhymes with the leading man's) and the Amalekites and apparently a scattering of other Eastern peoples, who would come in and destroy the Israelites' crops and force them into hiding desperately in the mountain caves and clefts.
scene 1: God gives Israel a lecture about Egypt and not worshiping the Amorite Gods.
scene 2: The angel of the Lord interrupts Gideon in the midst of his wheat-threshing and calls him a mighty warrior (is there irony here? was he hiding in the barn?) Gideon is a little whiney and a little cheeky. He complains that when God delivered Israel from Egypt He performed "wonders." apparently without 'wonders' God has obviously abandoned Israel.
scene 3: Gideon asks for a sign and his sacrifice is consumed by fire. (6:17-24) Gideon Responds "Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face." Gideon builds an altar and names it The Lord is Peace.
scene 4: Assignment-Tear down the Ashera poles and the altar your father established to Baal and make 2 proper bull sacrifices to God. (6:15-40) He did this at night because he was afraid, and in the morning the people wanted to kill him anyway (apparently he was hiding in his house). So interesting that it was his father, Joash, whose altar to Baal Gideon destroyed, but yet Joash is quick to comply and it is he who challenges the men of the town- "If Baal is really God, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." Apparently everyone accepts this because the embedded narrative ends.
scene 5: Gideon asks for signs through fleeces and gets them (6:33-40).
scene 6: 300 handlapping men best the inumberable Midianite Alliance (7:1-25) via psychological warfare achieved via sound effects (trumpet, breaking clay jars). Orebe and Zeeb (2 Midianite leaders) get decapitated and the place they were killed gets named after them (7:25)
scene 7: Gideon diffuses conflict by minimizing his own contribution to success (8:1-3).
scene 8: Two unlucky and unwise towns refuse Gideon and his 300 men bread and taunt them-they get blasted later (8:4-17)
scene 9: Gideon kills Zebah and Zalmunna (Midianites) for killing his 70 brothers (with the bearing of a prince) (8:18-21).
scene 10: Gideon refuses to rule (as General Washington first had in America's founding) and urges the Israelites to let God rule. He only asks for one earring from each of them, out of which he makes an ephod, which becomes a great snare to him and his family (8:22-27)
scene 11: Gideon dies and Israel spirals right back to its cycle of idolatry.
The 6th through 13th judges coming right up. . .
i used to put off judges for a long time after reading joshua, dreading that horrible story at the end, but i don't think i remembered until the 2002 reading that the horrible rape of the concubine doesn't happen until chapter 20, at the very end of this book about the height of the early apostasy, the darkest night right before the dawn of the age of the prophets (enter Samuel stage left) but not yet, we're doing judges. hold your horses.
you do have to ask yourself what joshua had to do with the fact that the fragile little civil society spectacularly crashed and burned almost as soon as he died -- was there a failure of vision and leadership on his part? did he not think about the fact that there would need to be strong capable leaders to take over when God took him out? there is virtually no leadership structure in place when he exits. big power vacuum. those really suck.
somehow we tend to put ourselves on automatic pilot when reading through the old testament, like it was this ordeal we have to go through to get our little bible reading star in our crowns, but already determined that we weren't gonna get nothin from it.
but if you even stay half awake, you should be able to see this beautiful little pattern that swirls around about 20 times throughout the book. ok the pattern itself is tragic and pathetic, but the structure is gorgeous and there is a message in the structure! God is a God of order, so finding the structures He's built into Scripture is a delightful sally into the well groomed garden of His mind. . .
1) The people screw up and do evil
2) Other nations start messing with them and turning up the heat
3) They come to their acute senses and cry out to God for help
4) God raises up a leader, a judge, a superheroe if you will
5) The hero saves them (well, God saves them through the hero)
6) The people, with a 3 second memory like a fish, shortly if not immediately return to their degenerate ways, taking their eyes off God, sin-king beneath the waves of their self-worshiping human nature
I mean it was quite a merry go round. Except for the merry part. Unless it was the Eat drink and be merry in steps 1 and 6. It's like a laundry cycle, only two of the cycles make the clothes filthy --it's like apply filth, rub in filth, soak in soap, wash vigorously, rinse, soak in filth, repeat. but the wash and rinse cycles are glorious. they truly are. and sometimes they're pretty long cycles. and normally in judges, after telling you about a particular judge and his/her "reign" the writer adds how long the cycle was, how many years of peace ensued after the hero performed amazing feats yada yada, before moving on to the next. so that's the cycle.
Here are some of the judges:
1) Othniel conquers the oppressor, King of Aram (3:7-11) 40 years of peace ensued
2) Ehud (a lefty) kills the fat oppressive king of moab, Eglon, with a double edged sword (funniest bathroom scene in scripture embedded here (3:12-30) 80 years of peace ensued
3) Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad. ONE VERSE. (3:31) Shortest narrative in scripture?? Shockingly, no mention of how much peace ensued.
4) Deborah, the prophetess (Married to Lappidoth (about whom we hear nothing)) rises to power when Israel's chief oppressor is Jabin, King of Canaan and his army commander is Sisera. In the voice of God, Deborah orders her own army commander, Barak, (dang, i did not remember that was his name when i voted) to organize 10,000 troops to go to war against Sisera. Barak is weak kneed and Deborah prophecies that because of his lack of courage he will be disgraced by having the honor of taking the enemy's leader out given to a woman. (some of us think worse fates could befall you).
the woman in point was apparently not the powerful, spiritual, political and intellectual force that was Deborah, but humble tent-peg wielding housewife/ homemaker/ domestic engineer Jael! apparently this struggle between Isreal and theCanaanites was a gradual victory that sort of culminated in the incident where Jael nails the enemy commander-- "and the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin,"until they destroyed him. remember Jabin was the king they were struggling against. but his army commander was Sisera.
Sisera is the one who got nailed by Jael for underestimating the power of a civilian woman who appeared to be consumed by her domestic responsibilities. Sisera takes warm milk from the nice lady and then takes a nap under her covers and then gets violently assassinated by said nice lady (chapter 4:1-24) 40 years of peace ensued.
Incidentally, Deborah's song of Worship-history is 30 verses long and a bit sadistic for my tastes (28-30) (chapter 5:1-31)
5) Gideon (also a bit weak-kneed) rose up against Midian (Oh come on you have to appreciate a primary opponent that rhymes with the leading man's) and the Amalekites and apparently a scattering of other Eastern peoples, who would come in and destroy the Israelites' crops and force them into hiding desperately in the mountain caves and clefts.
scene 1: God gives Israel a lecture about Egypt and not worshiping the Amorite Gods.
scene 2: The angel of the Lord interrupts Gideon in the midst of his wheat-threshing and calls him a mighty warrior (is there irony here? was he hiding in the barn?) Gideon is a little whiney and a little cheeky. He complains that when God delivered Israel from Egypt He performed "wonders." apparently without 'wonders' God has obviously abandoned Israel.
scene 3: Gideon asks for a sign and his sacrifice is consumed by fire. (6:17-24) Gideon Responds "Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face." Gideon builds an altar and names it The Lord is Peace.
scene 4: Assignment-Tear down the Ashera poles and the altar your father established to Baal and make 2 proper bull sacrifices to God. (6:15-40) He did this at night because he was afraid, and in the morning the people wanted to kill him anyway (apparently he was hiding in his house). So interesting that it was his father, Joash, whose altar to Baal Gideon destroyed, but yet Joash is quick to comply and it is he who challenges the men of the town- "If Baal is really God, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar." Apparently everyone accepts this because the embedded narrative ends.
scene 5: Gideon asks for signs through fleeces and gets them (6:33-40).
scene 6: 300 handlapping men best the inumberable Midianite Alliance (7:1-25) via psychological warfare achieved via sound effects (trumpet, breaking clay jars). Orebe and Zeeb (2 Midianite leaders) get decapitated and the place they were killed gets named after them (7:25)
scene 7: Gideon diffuses conflict by minimizing his own contribution to success (8:1-3).
scene 8: Two unlucky and unwise towns refuse Gideon and his 300 men bread and taunt them-they get blasted later (8:4-17)
scene 9: Gideon kills Zebah and Zalmunna (Midianites) for killing his 70 brothers (with the bearing of a prince) (8:18-21).
scene 10: Gideon refuses to rule (as General Washington first had in America's founding) and urges the Israelites to let God rule. He only asks for one earring from each of them, out of which he makes an ephod, which becomes a great snare to him and his family (8:22-27)
scene 11: Gideon dies and Israel spirals right back to its cycle of idolatry.
The 6th through 13th judges coming right up. . .
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Can you actually sin by quoting scripture?
let me cut to the chase, the answer is hell yeah you can sin by quoting scripture! remember the pharisees? hello??? they quoted left right and center (ok, they mainly quoted it right, but they did it All the time!) but they did so as evidence of their OWN righteousness!! ok. self righteousness. in other words, filthy rags (discarded toilet paper, tampons and the like, that's the image Isaiah used-oh i'm sorry, does scripture offend you with it's strong images? blessed are those who are not offended...who understand the use of scatalogical images in scripture to show us how very filthy we are in our own righteousness) presented as if they were brand new clothes. but they HAD NO LOVE!!!!!! which is why Jesus raked them over the coals at every opportunity calling them snakes and sons of satan and nice names like that. Jesus didn't sugar coat His displeasure. He told 'em how it was. He had nerves of steele.
that should really be all the evidence you need, but lest you be unsure, i point you to the great temptation of Christ in the wilderness. what did satan use to tempt Jesus all three times? God's own words!!! SCRIPTURE!!!! He used Truth in the most deceitful way; he used TRUTH in SCRIPTURE in the most hateful unloving way possible-to tempt the Savior of the world to abdicate His role and use His power and His prestige and His position for His own ungodly gain. Thank Jesus, He knew scripture even better than the bad guy (technically He had a leg up on 'im cause He was the Author, but who's counting--that's right, we are all counting, counting the days till His glorious return) and He quoted scripture against scripture (all three times, incidentally, Jesus cited the highly under celebrated Deuteronomy) to show that scripture cannot be taken out of context and used in ways that contradict other scripture-- He reigned in the right interpretation of scripture by comparing verses and showing where one verse fills in what other left unstated. He didn't let half truths lead Him to destruction-which is where satan was leading Him--all our destruction.
what's the bottom line? the bottom line is that God is LOVE. He is perfect and just and holy, and He is love. and there is nothing Holy that is not Saturated with Love from beginning to end. Yes, Love judges when it needs to. But that's God's final role. Ours is to love everyone in sight just like Jesus did. the pharisees quoted scripture at Him to protest His healing people of their disease and infirmity. the protested His disciples picking corn so they wouldn't go hungry on the sabbath. they used scripture to 'prove' that He was a blasphemer! which means they ultimately used scripture to crucify the Lord of Lords!
bottom line: if you quote scripture to show how righteous you are, you've just painted yourself in the same colors as satan and the pharisees. if you quote scripture to a bleeding heart when what they need is love and compassion and ministry, you have made yourself a snake and a son of satan. be very very careful what you do with the Word of God. watch yourself. whenever you think you're standing on the promises but you're really standing on the shoulders of Selfishness, Self Righteousness, you are teetering on the edge of Hell. wolves in sheeps clothing. repent of your unholy scripture quoting! make sure you are hearing from the Holy Spirit and speaking His Word in the Spirit of Love as He has commanded you. but for His grace, it would be better for us to have a millstone tied around our necks and thrown into the deepest ocean. if we repent of our self-righteousness He is loving and faithful and just to forgive us our sins. His forgiveness does require repentance however. be very, very careful what you quote in the Name of the Lord.
questions to ask yourself before you go waving that sword around at wounded people:
1) What is my motive? Do I want to impress people with my memory and knowledge of scripture? Do I want to demonstrate that I am a better Christian than someone else? Do I want people to feel small and foolish?
2) What does this person NEED to hear from the mouth of God right this very moment in this very particular nexus of time and events? What will bring them closer to God in the long run? What will effectively extend the reign of the Kingdom of God in this generation?
3) What is the Holy Spirit telling you to say right this very moment? And are you VERY sure that is not your deceitful Psyche disguising itself as the Holy Spirit? It is such a pain to actually ask God to help us be sensitive to what is needed in the moment--but that dear friends is what FAITH is!!! Faith is alive and in the moment and it depends desperately on God. we love lists of rules that we can memorize because we love putting ourselves on automatic pilot and not having to actually take a risk and tune into God's heart and use our brains in conjunction with our spirits to achieve the will of God with the people before us. But God's call and command to you is to walk by faith, to take the risk and trust Him in each and every situation--Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. Without faith, you could memorize and quote the whole blessed Bible and still be a stench to Him! Don't be a stench unnecessarily. Spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ! Be a fragrant aroma, pleasing to the Lord!
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NASB
Scripture is not a toy. Don't be swinging it around recklessly.
Let me recap: Safety Check for Wielding the Sword of God's Word
1) Your motive must be LOVE.
2) Love compels you to assess the needs of the person before you in the exact context of the moment.
3) Love for God and His beloved humanity compels you to seek the Holy Spirit's confirmation and leading in your spirit that He wants you to share this scripture (and that it's the right phrasing and interpretation and application of the scripture) or whether what He wants you to do is put your arms around the person before you and cry with them, any number of creative things the Holy Spirit may put you up to. (:
that should really be all the evidence you need, but lest you be unsure, i point you to the great temptation of Christ in the wilderness. what did satan use to tempt Jesus all three times? God's own words!!! SCRIPTURE!!!! He used Truth in the most deceitful way; he used TRUTH in SCRIPTURE in the most hateful unloving way possible-to tempt the Savior of the world to abdicate His role and use His power and His prestige and His position for His own ungodly gain. Thank Jesus, He knew scripture even better than the bad guy (technically He had a leg up on 'im cause He was the Author, but who's counting--that's right, we are all counting, counting the days till His glorious return) and He quoted scripture against scripture (all three times, incidentally, Jesus cited the highly under celebrated Deuteronomy) to show that scripture cannot be taken out of context and used in ways that contradict other scripture-- He reigned in the right interpretation of scripture by comparing verses and showing where one verse fills in what other left unstated. He didn't let half truths lead Him to destruction-which is where satan was leading Him--all our destruction.
what's the bottom line? the bottom line is that God is LOVE. He is perfect and just and holy, and He is love. and there is nothing Holy that is not Saturated with Love from beginning to end. Yes, Love judges when it needs to. But that's God's final role. Ours is to love everyone in sight just like Jesus did. the pharisees quoted scripture at Him to protest His healing people of their disease and infirmity. the protested His disciples picking corn so they wouldn't go hungry on the sabbath. they used scripture to 'prove' that He was a blasphemer! which means they ultimately used scripture to crucify the Lord of Lords!
bottom line: if you quote scripture to show how righteous you are, you've just painted yourself in the same colors as satan and the pharisees. if you quote scripture to a bleeding heart when what they need is love and compassion and ministry, you have made yourself a snake and a son of satan. be very very careful what you do with the Word of God. watch yourself. whenever you think you're standing on the promises but you're really standing on the shoulders of Selfishness, Self Righteousness, you are teetering on the edge of Hell. wolves in sheeps clothing. repent of your unholy scripture quoting! make sure you are hearing from the Holy Spirit and speaking His Word in the Spirit of Love as He has commanded you. but for His grace, it would be better for us to have a millstone tied around our necks and thrown into the deepest ocean. if we repent of our self-righteousness He is loving and faithful and just to forgive us our sins. His forgiveness does require repentance however. be very, very careful what you quote in the Name of the Lord.
questions to ask yourself before you go waving that sword around at wounded people:
1) What is my motive? Do I want to impress people with my memory and knowledge of scripture? Do I want to demonstrate that I am a better Christian than someone else? Do I want people to feel small and foolish?
2) What does this person NEED to hear from the mouth of God right this very moment in this very particular nexus of time and events? What will bring them closer to God in the long run? What will effectively extend the reign of the Kingdom of God in this generation?
3) What is the Holy Spirit telling you to say right this very moment? And are you VERY sure that is not your deceitful Psyche disguising itself as the Holy Spirit? It is such a pain to actually ask God to help us be sensitive to what is needed in the moment--but that dear friends is what FAITH is!!! Faith is alive and in the moment and it depends desperately on God. we love lists of rules that we can memorize because we love putting ourselves on automatic pilot and not having to actually take a risk and tune into God's heart and use our brains in conjunction with our spirits to achieve the will of God with the people before us. But God's call and command to you is to walk by faith, to take the risk and trust Him in each and every situation--Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. Without faith, you could memorize and quote the whole blessed Bible and still be a stench to Him! Don't be a stench unnecessarily. Spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ! Be a fragrant aroma, pleasing to the Lord!
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NASB
Scripture is not a toy. Don't be swinging it around recklessly.
Let me recap: Safety Check for Wielding the Sword of God's Word
1) Your motive must be LOVE.
2) Love compels you to assess the needs of the person before you in the exact context of the moment.
3) Love for God and His beloved humanity compels you to seek the Holy Spirit's confirmation and leading in your spirit that He wants you to share this scripture (and that it's the right phrasing and interpretation and application of the scripture) or whether what He wants you to do is put your arms around the person before you and cry with them, any number of creative things the Holy Spirit may put you up to. (:
Be His Love Poured Out!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Deuteronomy--Jesus' Favorite Book? Did He list this on Goodreads?
go around quizzing people over this at your next pot luck: what book did Jesus quote from exclusively in His grueling wilderness temptation? (or, if you're a grammar nazi you could put your preposition elsewhere. . . ) . that's right. DEUTERONOMY. (If Deuteronomy were a dude, that would be his nickname. Dude. it's just too hard to say Dute. But I can kind of hear Dude sporting a little tude, with a little, Yeah, what's the sexiest book in the old testament now???? Bite me Song of Songs! Jesus never even quoted you once)
apparently a star feature of deuteronomy is it's likeness to a well known Hittite and/or Assyrian treaty format. that format structures the book overall and is pretty awesome because it's not a treaty between nations; it's a treaty between a people and their God. so maybe Jesus quoting it to satan in the wilderness was a little like Dr. Who* citing the Shadow Proclamation to his arch enemy. i just mean He's citing a LAW-it was like the constitution for God, humanity, and the universe. (until Jesus wrote a new constitution when the Law failed, but He pointedly upheld and quoted the Old One until the appointed time, until the old law was fulfilled and the New One instituted in its place. )
even though it is laid out in this general legal structure, it adds exhortations, poetry, and other elaborations, and Holman's characterizes it as a farewell sermon of Moses. . .
some beautiful stuff in deuteronomy. everybody's favorite is chapter 28 i think. but i won't spoil it for you, go read it for yourself.
*. . . or Dr. Who was like Jesus. . . well they both do the time travel thing (: . . . but we know Jesus was at the VERY beginning. . . and while i'm veering off topic, Dr. Who really is Jesus, i mean He's the Christ figure in that myth, pretty amazingly too. . .
apparently a star feature of deuteronomy is it's likeness to a well known Hittite and/or Assyrian treaty format. that format structures the book overall and is pretty awesome because it's not a treaty between nations; it's a treaty between a people and their God. so maybe Jesus quoting it to satan in the wilderness was a little like Dr. Who* citing the Shadow Proclamation to his arch enemy. i just mean He's citing a LAW-it was like the constitution for God, humanity, and the universe. (until Jesus wrote a new constitution when the Law failed, but He pointedly upheld and quoted the Old One until the appointed time, until the old law was fulfilled and the New One instituted in its place. )
even though it is laid out in this general legal structure, it adds exhortations, poetry, and other elaborations, and Holman's characterizes it as a farewell sermon of Moses. . .
some beautiful stuff in deuteronomy. everybody's favorite is chapter 28 i think. but i won't spoil it for you, go read it for yourself.
*. . . or Dr. Who was like Jesus. . . well they both do the time travel thing (: . . . but we know Jesus was at the VERY beginning. . . and while i'm veering off topic, Dr. Who really is Jesus, i mean He's the Christ figure in that myth, pretty amazingly too. . .
Numbers. Just What the Title Suggests. But you have to read between the lines...
Actually Numbers has a much sexier theme than title: Desert Wanderings. Not sexy enough for you? You want to go back to Numbers? You wander around on the Saudi Peninsula for 40 years and see if it doesn't do a number on you. (oh i am hysterical. must be the sun)
The first thought most people have while reading through Numbers (ok, let's be real, most people don't read through Numbers. most people don't even pretend to read Numbers-their eyes glaze over and they assume: numbers do not equal spirituality, skip to the end ((that last phrase must be said in the voice of prince humperdink to the clergyman in the princess bride))
But those real holy people who do read Numbers (like me, of course), probably think to themselves more than once, why couldn't these lists have been condensed? To repeat the whole shpiel for each and every tribe seems so inefficient (not to mention DRY like the desert that birthed it).
But a few thoughts do present themselves. One, you've got this huge mob of kvetching, shvitzing ex-slaves with minimal education and probably zero experience in self-government wandering around dazed and frequently disconsolate. They were a rough lot. Probably really got on each others' nerves (definitely got on Moses' very last nerve over and over and over) and may not have trusted each other that much. Moses and the priests come in and they impose civilization on the scraggly band.
They introduced record keeping. Because record keeping is what civilized people do-they balance their checkbooks and update their planners and stuff, or so I hear). Not necessarily altogether unlike score keeping sometimes, either. Every single tribe gets every single detail listed in its turn. You couldn't look back later and say, "Yeah, I know they said every tribe gave 12 tons of gold, but I know for a fact that Benjamin only gave 11 and a half and just called it 12 cause that's how spoiled youngest children are." Keeping the records straight would have a civilizing effect in the future. And it seems like getting these people used to the idea of books and bookkeeping would be good since they would ultimately be called the People of the Book. And all the wonderfully explicit instructions about division of labor regarding care of the tabernacle and all that concerned it had to be indispensable for this lot of largely unskilled newbies.
Leviticus had two cautionary narratives about the scary consequences of trying to pull something over on God, and so does Numbers. 1) Korah's rebellion (ch 16, and mentioned by Jude in the NT too) and 2) Balaam's sin (chapters 22-24, yeah that's the one with the talking donkey).
Moreover, and to whit, there is actually Poetry in Numbers:
(I know you Math majors think there's poetry in all numbers, but we English majors need a little more wordli-ness to our poetry-yeah, And worldliness too, but that's not what I wrote)
1) That beautiful priestly benediction (6:22-26) that we have used across the centuries and around the world: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace."
2) Moses' blessing of the Ark setting out (10:35b-36)
"Rise up, O Lord! May Your enemies be scattered; may Your foes flee before you."
3) Moses' blessing of the Ark coming to rest (10:36)
"Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel." (I'm not sure if he was getting tired of numbers at that point)
4) Israel's song of gratitude for water (21:17b-18a)
"Spring up oh well! Sing about it, about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank-the nobles with scepters and staffs."
A::::nd that's all I got for Numbers today.
I think there is a whole lot more in here, not the least of which is the interesting factoid that in Hebrew each letter of the alphabet is also a number, so you could potentially hide all kinds of interesting ideas in big long strings of numbers....)
The first thought most people have while reading through Numbers (ok, let's be real, most people don't read through Numbers. most people don't even pretend to read Numbers-their eyes glaze over and they assume: numbers do not equal spirituality, skip to the end ((that last phrase must be said in the voice of prince humperdink to the clergyman in the princess bride))
But those real holy people who do read Numbers (like me, of course), probably think to themselves more than once, why couldn't these lists have been condensed? To repeat the whole shpiel for each and every tribe seems so inefficient (not to mention DRY like the desert that birthed it).
But a few thoughts do present themselves. One, you've got this huge mob of kvetching, shvitzing ex-slaves with minimal education and probably zero experience in self-government wandering around dazed and frequently disconsolate. They were a rough lot. Probably really got on each others' nerves (definitely got on Moses' very last nerve over and over and over) and may not have trusted each other that much. Moses and the priests come in and they impose civilization on the scraggly band.
They introduced record keeping. Because record keeping is what civilized people do-they balance their checkbooks and update their planners and stuff, or so I hear). Not necessarily altogether unlike score keeping sometimes, either. Every single tribe gets every single detail listed in its turn. You couldn't look back later and say, "Yeah, I know they said every tribe gave 12 tons of gold, but I know for a fact that Benjamin only gave 11 and a half and just called it 12 cause that's how spoiled youngest children are." Keeping the records straight would have a civilizing effect in the future. And it seems like getting these people used to the idea of books and bookkeeping would be good since they would ultimately be called the People of the Book. And all the wonderfully explicit instructions about division of labor regarding care of the tabernacle and all that concerned it had to be indispensable for this lot of largely unskilled newbies.
Leviticus had two cautionary narratives about the scary consequences of trying to pull something over on God, and so does Numbers. 1) Korah's rebellion (ch 16, and mentioned by Jude in the NT too) and 2) Balaam's sin (chapters 22-24, yeah that's the one with the talking donkey).
Moreover, and to whit, there is actually Poetry in Numbers:
(I know you Math majors think there's poetry in all numbers, but we English majors need a little more wordli-ness to our poetry-yeah, And worldliness too, but that's not what I wrote)
1) That beautiful priestly benediction (6:22-26) that we have used across the centuries and around the world: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace."
2) Moses' blessing of the Ark setting out (10:35b-36)
"Rise up, O Lord! May Your enemies be scattered; may Your foes flee before you."
3) Moses' blessing of the Ark coming to rest (10:36)
"Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel." (I'm not sure if he was getting tired of numbers at that point)
4) Israel's song of gratitude for water (21:17b-18a)
"Spring up oh well! Sing about it, about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank-the nobles with scepters and staffs."
A::::nd that's all I got for Numbers today.
I think there is a whole lot more in here, not the least of which is the interesting factoid that in Hebrew each letter of the alphabet is also a number, so you could potentially hide all kinds of interesting ideas in big long strings of numbers....)
Leviticus: The Book of Fire
Wow this book has a bad rap. (Actually I'd be interested in hearing this book in rap. (: ).
This book is full of fire. The purifying fire of the Holy Spirit-it's breathtaking, really.
Leviticus is conspicuously void of narrative. However, embedded in the descriptions of the various types of sacrifice, the detailed instructions about priestly service, and the descriptions of the holy conduct, there are two brief and alarming narratives illustrating how seriously non-compliance would be taken by God: 1) The death of Aaron's sons (10:1-19), and 2) The stoning of the Hebrew/Egyptian blasphemer, (24:10-25).
The fire is coming I promise.
Dissimilation from Egyptian culture and future contact cultures is clearly an objective all through Leviticus, but is explicitly articulated in 18:3: "You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do Not follow their practices." Cultures past nor cultures future. .
Ok, the fire will come when I have more time...
This book is full of fire. The purifying fire of the Holy Spirit-it's breathtaking, really.
Leviticus is conspicuously void of narrative. However, embedded in the descriptions of the various types of sacrifice, the detailed instructions about priestly service, and the descriptions of the holy conduct, there are two brief and alarming narratives illustrating how seriously non-compliance would be taken by God: 1) The death of Aaron's sons (10:1-19), and 2) The stoning of the Hebrew/Egyptian blasphemer, (24:10-25).
The fire is coming I promise.
Dissimilation from Egyptian culture and future contact cultures is clearly an objective all through Leviticus, but is explicitly articulated in 18:3: "You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do Not follow their practices." Cultures past nor cultures future. .
Ok, the fire will come when I have more time...
Think you are too skanky for God? Less worthy of His love than others? Let's Talk
HELLO???? we ALL suck without God. Christianity 101. (see a few posts down).
and what's with the unworthy crap? duh, we are all unworthy. but you were bought with the precious blood of Jesus and to refuse to acknowledge and to accept the full redemption power of His blood shed for you is tantamount to blasphemy. to speak of worthiness is to cling to the carnal desire to become worthy by your own virtue. that is pure blasphemy. it plagues us throughout our earthly lives, and we have to keep throwing it back under the blood. look at Jesus, beaten and mocked and naked for you. look into His eyes and tell Him His blood wasn't enough to redeem you--you can't and you shan't (and you dasn't, as they used to say 100 years ago in chicago for you dare not).
God doesn't redeem us because we are good-that's the whole point! He redeems us because HE IS GOOD. and HE IS GOD. Look into His face and let that sacrifice lift you out of this lostness. i don't know how long your dark night may last, but i know the lostness, the unworthiness, is not supposed to endure. rise. your Beloved calls you to Himself. do not deny His power to drive away all darkness. there will be struggle. that's the dimension we are now in. struggle, but not defeat. lift up your eyes. Your Redeemer is gazing lovingly down at you. calling you out of darkness. answer the damn phone! (:
and what's with the unworthy crap? duh, we are all unworthy. but you were bought with the precious blood of Jesus and to refuse to acknowledge and to accept the full redemption power of His blood shed for you is tantamount to blasphemy. to speak of worthiness is to cling to the carnal desire to become worthy by your own virtue. that is pure blasphemy. it plagues us throughout our earthly lives, and we have to keep throwing it back under the blood. look at Jesus, beaten and mocked and naked for you. look into His eyes and tell Him His blood wasn't enough to redeem you--you can't and you shan't (and you dasn't, as they used to say 100 years ago in chicago for you dare not).
God doesn't redeem us because we are good-that's the whole point! He redeems us because HE IS GOOD. and HE IS GOD. Look into His face and let that sacrifice lift you out of this lostness. i don't know how long your dark night may last, but i know the lostness, the unworthiness, is not supposed to endure. rise. your Beloved calls you to Himself. do not deny His power to drive away all darkness. there will be struggle. that's the dimension we are now in. struggle, but not defeat. lift up your eyes. Your Redeemer is gazing lovingly down at you. calling you out of darkness. answer the damn phone! (:
Friday, March 20, 2009
Hearing God's Call on Your Life- A Letter
You can devote yourself to ministry (even in the Catholic church:) ) without becoming celibate. And it always concerns me when people who have Any history of sexual abuse, even what appears to be minor, choose to become a priest or a nun, sister, whatever particular categories & ministry descriptions there are that I don't completely remember. I heartily and rejoicingly commend your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and to the call of God on your life. I caution you to do two things: to hear God for yourself, trying to see Him outside of the lens of everyone around you and to know that you know that you know that it is God calling you in a particular direction and not Psyche, disguising herself as an angel of light .
Our benevolent, well meaning communities often package God for us. They put Him in frames and His calling in boxes that they have backed themselves into... Sometimes, for failure to listen closely enough to the voice of God themselves and for failure to recognize the immense creativity God has given us with the gift of free will which He intends for us to use in our co-laboring with Him in bringing the Kingdom of God to mankind. There are many, many kinds of ministry that are so neglected by the majority of the established institutional roles churches have generated to date. There is always a need for new wine skins, to bring the new wine to those in need of it. Be a new wine skin, Friend of Mine!
I think I may be speaking prophetically about your specific situation, by which I mean that I think this gut feeling is one that comes from the Holy Spirit, but ultimately only you can decide what God is telling you about the path you take--if God is speaking to someone else about what He wants for you, be sure that He will tell you too! Even if it takes a little bit after hearing from someone else to really be still and hear what you may not have been able to hear before. Beware of anyone coming and pronouncing you a missionary to Africa, for example, if God has never brought that to your heart before. Talk to your parents, as I know you are planning to do, and talk to your spiritual leaders. Good decisions are not made in isolation, even when the decision you ultimately make parts with the pack because you hear God calling you away from it.
Because you have had your boundaries violated in your past, I believe that you have a great responsibility, a greater responsibility, to aggressively pursue counseling and healing and to make sure that wounds and impulses far below the surface of consciousness are not major invisible motives for moving away from a relationship with a person of the opposite gender and into an exclusive relationship with God which will also entail a relationship with many young people of your same gender, many of whom have also experienced great violations and wounds to their emotional and sexual selves--Make sure that you know that you know that you know that you are running TO the ministry and not AWAY from the intimate relationships that require you to face so much really hard stuff to get totally whole and be a healthy functioning man or woman in relationships He may have ordained for you.
There is no doubt that He is just aching to give us the wisdom we lack--If anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask of God, Who gives to all generously and without holding back,
May the Spirit of God flood your mind and invade your soul with love, power, and sound mind. Cling to it. Wear it like a banner, boldly, fearlessly. Let it flow from your lips, your heart, and your choices, and spread the Kingdom of God through your life everywhere you go!
Our benevolent, well meaning communities often package God for us. They put Him in frames and His calling in boxes that they have backed themselves into... Sometimes, for failure to listen closely enough to the voice of God themselves and for failure to recognize the immense creativity God has given us with the gift of free will which He intends for us to use in our co-laboring with Him in bringing the Kingdom of God to mankind. There are many, many kinds of ministry that are so neglected by the majority of the established institutional roles churches have generated to date. There is always a need for new wine skins, to bring the new wine to those in need of it. Be a new wine skin, Friend of Mine!
I think I may be speaking prophetically about your specific situation, by which I mean that I think this gut feeling is one that comes from the Holy Spirit, but ultimately only you can decide what God is telling you about the path you take--if God is speaking to someone else about what He wants for you, be sure that He will tell you too! Even if it takes a little bit after hearing from someone else to really be still and hear what you may not have been able to hear before. Beware of anyone coming and pronouncing you a missionary to Africa, for example, if God has never brought that to your heart before. Talk to your parents, as I know you are planning to do, and talk to your spiritual leaders. Good decisions are not made in isolation, even when the decision you ultimately make parts with the pack because you hear God calling you away from it.
Because you have had your boundaries violated in your past, I believe that you have a great responsibility, a greater responsibility, to aggressively pursue counseling and healing and to make sure that wounds and impulses far below the surface of consciousness are not major invisible motives for moving away from a relationship with a person of the opposite gender and into an exclusive relationship with God which will also entail a relationship with many young people of your same gender, many of whom have also experienced great violations and wounds to their emotional and sexual selves--Make sure that you know that you know that you know that you are running TO the ministry and not AWAY from the intimate relationships that require you to face so much really hard stuff to get totally whole and be a healthy functioning man or woman in relationships He may have ordained for you.
There is no doubt that He is just aching to give us the wisdom we lack--If anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask of God, Who gives to all generously and without holding back,
May the Spirit of God flood your mind and invade your soul with love, power, and sound mind. Cling to it. Wear it like a banner, boldly, fearlessly. Let it flow from your lips, your heart, and your choices, and spread the Kingdom of God through your life everywhere you go!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
To the Spirit-filled English majors and wordsmiths at heart-a letter
The Prophet is in! :) Flagrant and Fragrant
Your words caught the eye of the prophet in me and the following spilled out. It is in solidarity and the urge to spread the Word, the Good Words, among the church. . . spread it! Speak it! Let the flame of the Holy Spirit consume all our pettiness, arrogance, complacency, smugness, fear, and self-absorption. And let what remains of our humbled, chastened, purified hearts be a glorious sacrifice devoted to the Lord by fire, filling the sky with a fragrant aroma, pleasing to our God. We must get rid of the stench of self-righteousness!! We must ardently purge the church of the stench and stains of self-righteousness, like filthy rags we could not stand to retain-we must expose and expunge! We must purge and purify-for self-righteousness, my friend, is the filthiest sin of all. It is essentially giving the finger to God and saying, Thanks, but I've got this under control.
You are a great writer. (: What are you going to do with that? It is so much needed in a world where kingdom people tend to cower in the shadows of public life and thought, hiding behind their favorite cliches, afraid of their own brains (and how much more so those of others!). There is a need for Spirit-filled Word-smiths to influence those people, but more importantly, there is the need for those Word smiths to go out and be salt and light, allowing themselves to get rubbed into the culture, rubbed into the fabric of the community like salt was rubbed into meat to preserve it in Jesus' day-- His image is not one of hiding away in sanctuaries that 'protect us' from the world, but one of running out into the river of life without fear, fueled by faith, knowing that we can do nothing in ourselves, but that through Him ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, that Faith is the opposite of Fear, that where Fear waxes Faith wains and without Faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.
And I'm afraid I see more fear than faith in most Evangelicals today--they are afraid that sin will get on them and will seep into their souls like cigarette smoke soaks into their clothes after an evening out at a restaurant among "the lost" (because, of course, anyone who smokes is going to hell in a hand basket And on a roller skate!) They forget the power they have not only over sin for themselves (through Christ), but to release others from their sin, to dispense Sanctification, as it were, to all who would have it.
They forget-- or did they ever get it? that the Good News is not, Hey, Guess what, you're a sinner and you're going to Hell. People get that. People know they're lost and sinking. . . what they don't know is that there is Grace that will carry them back into the light, that there is a way out of the quagmire they are in, that WE are willing to carry them on our backs to the Master, and that He will carry them the rest of the way. American Christians behave as if the Good News was this: Hey, guess what? If you climb this 2 mile high sheer cliff, when you get to the top, there is someone there who can help you to climb it. But until then, you're on your own.
Jesus never railed at the outcast sinner. He only railed at those who thought themselves holier than everyone else, those who issued unsolicited holiness grade cards to everyone else, those who were too busy being 'holy' to make anyone *whole*. Too obsessed with Justice to dispense any Mercy, too busy hating Sin to love Souls. In every case I've been able to recall, Jesus started by 'seeing' people and seeing what hurt in them. He then lovingly moved into that wounded place and administered a salve to the body, to the soul, to all that ailed them. . . and then that salvific salve that saves and sanctifies.
After He has touched our wounds and sanctified us, THEN and ONLY THEN, do we even have the power not to sin!
As I have said before, too many of us too often want the Old Testament for others and the New Testament for ourselves. 95% of the time the prophets in the Old Testament were preaching to God's people!!! They were not railing at the non-Jews! They were like, To you alone has God given this indescribable treasure of His friendship and love, and yet you have become morally bankrupt-- and you do not put out! You do not put out that love to the poor or the lost, and you do not put out to God, without Whom you would have Nothing.
Jesus turned everything on its head-- revealed to us that it is the poor who are His favorite, not the rich. Revealed to us that leaders must be servants, that those who want life must die, that to gain, you must give up. And after He turned the money tables over and drove the hard hearted, stiff-necked, money grubbing temple tyrants out of the temple, symbolic of what He was doing with His death and resurrection for the entire universe, and rent that incredible wall of a 'curtain' between the common man and the Holy of Holies, giving every little nobody access to God Himself, as He gave up all power to give us all power, dying to purchase our lives, after this great capsizing of the human slave ship that man and sin had made out of the earth, most of the church, those who Called themselves by His name, spent the next 2,000 years trying to put that slave ship back together again!
Many, many Christians over the centuries have staunchly prevented His Grace from ruling. . . We didn't put the Pharisees out of business, we BECAME the Pharisees! And so it has come to pass, in this the land of our fathers, that Christians have perverted the gospel of Christ and profaned His sacrifice by living as though His injunction had been and remains, They will know you are Christians by your laws. The church is bound to make itself a stench to the world either way it goes, with love or law as its signature feature. Unfortunately we have gone the wrong way, and have made ourselves not only a stench to mankind, but a stench to God!!
[14 But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16]
The time is short and the order tall. It is time to rise above our delusions of holiness (the ones that make us a bunch of silly little emperors running around naked in our 'new clothes' (the letter to the church at Laodicea in Revelation is quite clear about that)--we are partially naked and partially clad in the filthy rags of our own 'righteousness.' We have to give up the delusions of our own sufficiency and humbly put on the robes of righteousness we had no hand in purchasing, and THEN He will be glorified in His church and as we lift Him up from the earth, all men will be drawn unto Him. Then we will have become a sweet, sweet aroma to our God.
Keep running the good race! Keep spreading the fragrance of Christ!
Your words caught the eye of the prophet in me and the following spilled out. It is in solidarity and the urge to spread the Word, the Good Words, among the church. . . spread it! Speak it! Let the flame of the Holy Spirit consume all our pettiness, arrogance, complacency, smugness, fear, and self-absorption. And let what remains of our humbled, chastened, purified hearts be a glorious sacrifice devoted to the Lord by fire, filling the sky with a fragrant aroma, pleasing to our God. We must get rid of the stench of self-righteousness!! We must ardently purge the church of the stench and stains of self-righteousness, like filthy rags we could not stand to retain-we must expose and expunge! We must purge and purify-for self-righteousness, my friend, is the filthiest sin of all. It is essentially giving the finger to God and saying, Thanks, but I've got this under control.
You are a great writer. (: What are you going to do with that? It is so much needed in a world where kingdom people tend to cower in the shadows of public life and thought, hiding behind their favorite cliches, afraid of their own brains (and how much more so those of others!). There is a need for Spirit-filled Word-smiths to influence those people, but more importantly, there is the need for those Word smiths to go out and be salt and light, allowing themselves to get rubbed into the culture, rubbed into the fabric of the community like salt was rubbed into meat to preserve it in Jesus' day-- His image is not one of hiding away in sanctuaries that 'protect us' from the world, but one of running out into the river of life without fear, fueled by faith, knowing that we can do nothing in ourselves, but that through Him ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, that Faith is the opposite of Fear, that where Fear waxes Faith wains and without Faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.
And I'm afraid I see more fear than faith in most Evangelicals today--they are afraid that sin will get on them and will seep into their souls like cigarette smoke soaks into their clothes after an evening out at a restaurant among "the lost" (because, of course, anyone who smokes is going to hell in a hand basket And on a roller skate!) They forget the power they have not only over sin for themselves (through Christ), but to release others from their sin, to dispense Sanctification, as it were, to all who would have it.
They forget-- or did they ever get it? that the Good News is not, Hey, Guess what, you're a sinner and you're going to Hell. People get that. People know they're lost and sinking. . . what they don't know is that there is Grace that will carry them back into the light, that there is a way out of the quagmire they are in, that WE are willing to carry them on our backs to the Master, and that He will carry them the rest of the way. American Christians behave as if the Good News was this: Hey, guess what? If you climb this 2 mile high sheer cliff, when you get to the top, there is someone there who can help you to climb it. But until then, you're on your own.
Jesus never railed at the outcast sinner. He only railed at those who thought themselves holier than everyone else, those who issued unsolicited holiness grade cards to everyone else, those who were too busy being 'holy' to make anyone *whole*. Too obsessed with Justice to dispense any Mercy, too busy hating Sin to love Souls. In every case I've been able to recall, Jesus started by 'seeing' people and seeing what hurt in them. He then lovingly moved into that wounded place and administered a salve to the body, to the soul, to all that ailed them. . . and then that salvific salve that saves and sanctifies.
After He has touched our wounds and sanctified us, THEN and ONLY THEN, do we even have the power not to sin!
As I have said before, too many of us too often want the Old Testament for others and the New Testament for ourselves. 95% of the time the prophets in the Old Testament were preaching to God's people!!! They were not railing at the non-Jews! They were like, To you alone has God given this indescribable treasure of His friendship and love, and yet you have become morally bankrupt-- and you do not put out! You do not put out that love to the poor or the lost, and you do not put out to God, without Whom you would have Nothing.
Jesus turned everything on its head-- revealed to us that it is the poor who are His favorite, not the rich. Revealed to us that leaders must be servants, that those who want life must die, that to gain, you must give up. And after He turned the money tables over and drove the hard hearted, stiff-necked, money grubbing temple tyrants out of the temple, symbolic of what He was doing with His death and resurrection for the entire universe, and rent that incredible wall of a 'curtain' between the common man and the Holy of Holies, giving every little nobody access to God Himself, as He gave up all power to give us all power, dying to purchase our lives, after this great capsizing of the human slave ship that man and sin had made out of the earth, most of the church, those who Called themselves by His name, spent the next 2,000 years trying to put that slave ship back together again!
Many, many Christians over the centuries have staunchly prevented His Grace from ruling. . . We didn't put the Pharisees out of business, we BECAME the Pharisees! And so it has come to pass, in this the land of our fathers, that Christians have perverted the gospel of Christ and profaned His sacrifice by living as though His injunction had been and remains, They will know you are Christians by your laws. The church is bound to make itself a stench to the world either way it goes, with love or law as its signature feature. Unfortunately we have gone the wrong way, and have made ourselves not only a stench to mankind, but a stench to God!!
[14 But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16]
The time is short and the order tall. It is time to rise above our delusions of holiness (the ones that make us a bunch of silly little emperors running around naked in our 'new clothes' (the letter to the church at Laodicea in Revelation is quite clear about that)--we are partially naked and partially clad in the filthy rags of our own 'righteousness.' We have to give up the delusions of our own sufficiency and humbly put on the robes of righteousness we had no hand in purchasing, and THEN He will be glorified in His church and as we lift Him up from the earth, all men will be drawn unto Him. Then we will have become a sweet, sweet aroma to our God.
Keep running the good race! Keep spreading the fragrance of Christ!
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