Empty Spaces That Tell a Story

 

Friday, June 19, 2020

Acts 5:17-26

The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.  But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out.  Then he told them, “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!”  So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching.  When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council—the full assembly of the elders of Israel.  Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial.  But when the Temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone.  So they returned to the council and reported,  “The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!”  When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end.  Then someone arrived with startling news:  “The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!”  The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them.

It’s not a difficult thing to picture the look of surprise on the faces of the Temple guards when they arrived at the empty jail cell, and imagine the thoughts that flashed through their minds.

          ·       Uh….they were there…the cell’s still locked…what the….?

          ·       I’m gonna get fired for this…

          ·       What are these guys, magicians?  Ghosts?

          ·       Am I going nuts?

We can also hear the laughter of Heaven, as all the angels are gathered around God’s 148” flat screen monitor, watching it all unfold.  I can imagine the email they’d all gotten the night before…Hey, angels, you don’t wanna miss this; we’re gonna pull a spoof on the Romans.  Watch it live, tomorrow morning…what a hoot.

Now, those are always my first thoughts reading this passage.  And, if you’re entertained by the good guys making a miraculous escape, you are also pleased to read this passage.  But, it’s easy to miss the message about what a miracle means.  Especially when God plays David Copperfield and makes an apostle disappear – poof!  We wonder, how’d he do that?  Where’d they go?

The real story is not the “how” but the “why”.  And then the “what”.  How God does stuff is always God’s business.  Answering the why and what are our task in learning to stay connected with God’s plans for bringing praise and glory to Jesus.

So, let’s consider the why of this miracle – just like the grave couldn’t hold Jesus, when God has something He wants accomplished, titanium bars, security systems constructed by CPI or Brinks, mean nothing.  God will release anyone He wishes, and imprison those who get in the way of God’s brand of justice.

The real key to understanding what happened here is the what.  And that is where discipleship rubber meets the cultural road.  Cutting to the chase, simply, God wanted to elevate the game of the disciples’ impact on the life of people worshipping at the Temple.  He wanted Peter and the others to have a platform. 

But there’s a secondary understanding we don’t want to miss about miracles.  If you watch any religious TV broadcasting, miracles are a hot ticket.  And, although God usually gets the credit, the effect is much more about our comfort.  The  “prayer” that got through and brought this great big blessing is the preacher’s hook of promise.  And he uses that lure to draw in more donations.  The bait on the hook is the idea that if you’ll just believe, God will give you what you want. 

But, that is just plain manipulative, both from the standpoint of the “evangelist” who is dangling anything that might stir up your greed to have something, and his characterization of a God who can be manipulated by humans with the right kind of handling.  In short, the evangelist’s message is you too, can be David Copperfield!

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, we are sometimes stunned by our carnal appetites and the lengths to which we can sink to satisfy all our wants.  Help us to remember what our Lord taught, that to truly follow Him, our understanding of miracles has to be praise that Your will is being carried out, and our part is to deny self in favor of picking up a cross.

For You Today

I call it the prayer of the pink Cadillac, this tendency to believe in miracles so you can hold onto the hope of being rich in this life.  The problem with that pink luxury car prayer is it makes you poor in eternity.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Psalm 86 see Putting the Gospel in Prison and Signs, Wonders, and Shadows  

When GOOD Becomes Enemy of BEST

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Monday, June 17, 2019

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.  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.  Ephesians 4:1-4

Every time I convince myself I’m done with it, that I’m not going to think about it, write about it, or care about it ever-again, the Apostle Paul gets in my way.  He’s like that, constantly reminding us about love.  And to use the word “love” there’s no sense of smarmy, warm and fuzzy emotionalism in the mix.  The Apostle’s “love” (of which Paul is not the originator, but merely the messenger) is that singularly God-like selfless love, agape’.[2]  In this is no room for emotion-driven, touchy-feely I’m OK-You’re OK drivel.  This kind of love is much more difficult, requires using your brain, and is eminently greater at fixing human relationships.  This love is what Paul was driving at when he challenges believers to live a life worthy of that to which God calls us.  Note the explanation:

Christians who wish to lead a life worthy of the calling to which they have been called, are obliged, in imitation of their Lord, to forbear one another in love, with all lowliness, meekness, and patience (Eph 4:2). That is, they are to exercise calm patience under provocation, avoid resentment and retaliation, be slow to judge and punish, and be ever ready to forgive (Phil 4:5; Col 3:13; 2 Tim 2:24).[3]

Paul got in my way with this, because he calls us to use every power, resource, and possible effort to stay united.  For someone who belongs to the tribe called United Methodist, them’s fightin’ words!  Well, at least it would seem so. 

I hate fighting, or conflict of any kind.  Perhaps I owe it to my hardwired nature to be shy, and introverted.  Perhaps it was my intoverted Mother’s training, or just the prevailing era’s mantra of not saying anything if you had nothing nice to say.  But, whether your profile is that of wall-flowering recluse, or highly-active drama queen, mixing it up in the latest bruhaha, you’re not even near baby understanding of God’s agape’ if you are just willing to sit and fume, or, worse, strike-back like a counter-punching president.  That is not anywhere in the same universe with forbearing or making every effort to keep united in the Spirit.

I fear for my tribe that we are descending into the hell of plotting, intrigue, and manipulation of institutional-infighting which is anything but forbearing one another, remaining humble and gentle; this has no chance at all at ending what has been a dividing war for decades.  And it’s the exclusive fault of neither one side nor the other…rather it is pure evil that drives separation of people who are called to the worthy (albeit quite difficult) task of being bound-together in selfless living, so the world may truly see God.

Admittedly there is “good” on both “sides” of the (not-nearly united) Methodist holy war.  Both want to be connected to God and serve Him.  Both want to be a blessing, not a curse.  Both sides want to grow in love and usefulness in the Kingdom.  But when that good intention becomes tainted with human need to control, own and manipulate in order to accomplish keeping their side of the elephant as holy, while disposing of the rest of the beast…well, let’s just say we have allowed the good to become enemy of the best!

For You Today

If you’re stuck in some holy war, and sides are taken, and you’re being pulled in either or both directions….STOP, think, be annoyed by the Apostle Paul’s call to get your stuff together under the tent of God’s kind of love, and choose to forbear, forgive, and bring together; that is the best that will cooperate with the Spirit to drive the combatants to examine their so-called good.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com     Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

[2] In Greek, ἐν ἀγάπῃ

[3] Encyclopedia of the Bible

Snake in the Grass

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Tuesday, April 2, 2019

“When you make an agreement with your neighbor to buy or sell property, you must not take advantage of each other.  When you buy land from your neighbor, the price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last jubilee.  The seller must set the price by taking into account the number of years remaining until the next Year of Jubilee.  The more years until the next jubilee, the higher the price; the fewer years, the lower the price.  After all, the person selling the land is actually selling you a certain number of harvests.  Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other.  I am the Lord your God.  “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations.  Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it.  Leviticus 25:14-19

You can legislate against evil intent, but how can you stop or change intent without a grip on the heart?  Especially when no heart exists, as in the case of sociopaths?  Among the characteristics of sociopathic behavior is a lack of shame.  

If the person is a true sociopath, then he or she will feel no remorse about hurting others, lying, manipulating people, or just generally acting in an unacceptable way.^[2]

God’s instructions to Israel about the way they were to treat each other is just the opposite – there is to be genuine care for each other, particularly in business dealings.  It was explicit in the Levitical mandates, written as the law of Jubilee, where fair prices were to be central in transferring property.  As such, there could be no lying, no truthful hyperbole to promote one Hebrew over another.  But some people will find a loophole in any law.  That is why “the law” is something God designed for the heart, as opposed to the courts.

Someone who breaks the law of compassion, withholding fairness and restraint of personal gain, is being sociopathic, taking every advantage over his neighbor, rather than loving his neighbor, and thus, not loving, (let alone fearing) God. 

That being said, sociopaths need to be loved also.  In fact, a key diagnostic in recognizing a sociopath identifies lack of love as a factor of abusive parents in the early stages of a sociopath’s early years.[iii]

This law of love is something tied to the quality of life we lead, whether you consider an individual or the entirety of humanity.  In Leviticus God describes the impact that integrity and fairness will have on a culture in terms of whether we will have enough to eat.  Loving your neighbor means everyone has enough; taking advantage of anyone is what a snake in the grass does, and it makes sure some will go hungry.

For You Today

In every aspect of living there are opportunities to exert power over others; Godly people do not slither!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

[iii] How to Spot a Sociopath

Boasting

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Thursday, August 24, 2017

When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much.  The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.   2 Corinthians 10:18^(NLT)

Paul had a public relations problem.  Wherever he went and established a new church there was a group who came after he left, trying to discredit the apostle’s emphasis on grace, and get the new believers to follow their rules.  Basically they relied on throwing the weight of their relationships with powerful people behind whatever they said.  In short – they bragged and boasted when simple statements weren’t enough.

There are times when you’ve got to just come out and admit failure; so, OK, I admit that I watch too much news with political commentary.  Hi, I’m Russell; I’m a CNN addict!  And, unfortunately for me, I only admit this when I get really sick and tired of watching the public haranguing of the politicians by the news people, and castigating of the news people by politicians.  It’s like a food fight on steroids!  You remember the old adage:  Never get in a mud-slinging contest with a pig; you both get dirty and the pig loves it!  The problem in our 21^st century culture is that people in public life do not understand that, or care about it, and they jump in the mud fest with both feet; pigs on both sides!

There are those who are a little more subtle.  They rarely sling mud, but they brag and boast until the only reality they actually have is the hollow, inflated-balloon public image they’ve created of their incredible wonderfulness; the person has vanished and only pride remains.

A church I served many years ago was without a music director.  Of all things, I (who cannot even carry someone else’s tune) was leading the singing.  A group of a dozen visitors showed up one Sunday morning. 

After the service, Carl, a very distinguished looking member of that group invited me to visit him and his wife at their home the next evening.  I showed up, and was treated to two hours of Carl showcasing his musical talents, complete with solo and framed music course certificates.  The evening ended with Carl’s statement:  Preacher, me and those other families want to join your church…if you’ll make me the song leader.  I told him I thought he and those other folks would probably be happier in another church. 

Boasting is a form of manipulation.  When a person feels a need to wear all his medals on display for the purpose of getting others to think he is something he knows he really isn’t, the effect is two-fold:

1.     The listener believes it or not, depending on the listener’s baloney-detecting skills, and…

2.     Heaven groans – because God not only knows how many hairs you have on your head (or don’t have); there is also that thing about Him being an omniscient God, the One who knows everything:

People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:7b^(NLT)

For You Today

If you’ve been tempted recently to build your resume’ with stuff about how great you are, remember that bit of history about an unsinkable ship named Titanic!

Boast if you will, but make your boast about God, not you.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy  Pixabay.com

Burning the Bridge of Integrity

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Monday, August 14, 2017

Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern.  When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief.  Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone!  What will I do now?”  Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood.  They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message:  “Look at what we found.  Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”  Their father recognized it immediately.  “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe.  A wild animal must have eaten him.  Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!”  Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap.  He mourned deeply for his son for a long time.  His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.  “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.  Genesis 37:29-35^(NLT)

The father in this story is Jacob, a man whose ambition got the best of him on more than one occasion.  He deceived his twin brother Esau, and his father Isaac, to take what didn’t belong to him.  His life’s practice was to appear righteous, but deep down, whenever his character was put to the test Jacob’s default was to manipulate the truth to fit his plans and what he wanted most.

And in his twelve sons, with the exception of Joseph, that character trait of deception, and shifty untrustworthiness ran strong!  Joseph’s brothers sold their little brother to a band of slave traders, and then staged it to look like a wild animal had eaten him.  Their evil deception brought deep grief to their father Jacob’s elder years.

If you take apart the whole issue of deceptiveness in relationships you find a slithering snake’s nest of words which describe a dark character:  lies, malice, envy, bitterness, ambition…the list is a veritable stockpile of human character and integrity unravelling! 

Integrity is tied to the old saying about character:  say what you mean, and mean what you say!  To be a person of integrity means much more than doing the right thing no matter who’s looking; being a person of integrity means not resting unless the truth is held sacred, no matter the personal consequences.

Joseph’s brothers burned the bridge of integrity when they withheld their guilt from Jacob.  If they hired a skilled attorney the brothers could have gotten a hung jury on out-and-out lying, because they never actually said a false word.  But they withheld the truth from the old man, and truth obscured by silence supports the growth of evil! 

For You Today

You will say thousands of words today; a champion of human integrity will make sure each one of those words supports truth!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com