Life Signs

 

Friday, January 28, 2022

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.  After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus.  “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us.  Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus.  “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”  Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’  John 3:1-7

This is the entry driveway to the place I’ve been spending my lunch times, three days a week, for the past 5 months.  Cardio-rehabilitation is the introduction to changing a sedentary lifestyle to one of cardiovascular health.  In short, I’ve been reintroducing my ticker to the busy-ness of behaving itself. 

This view is what you see when you exit the building.  

It’s a one-way zone, you don’t want to get that mixed up.  It is much like life in this world; you come into this world, and you progress in one direction to the exit sign!  No do-overs!

Now that, as Nicodemus said to Jesus, is common sense.  How can an old man re-enter the womb and go through the process again?  Nic’s question poses a reductio ad absurdum,[1] Latin for reasoning a foolish explanation which explains the opposite of common sense.  In the natural world old men don’t get born a second time; with the flesh, this is impossible.  

So, this Pharisee with the long, gray beard, and easily recognizable robes, who knows (and perhaps loves) a good debate, wants Jesus to explain what he’s teaching.  And Jesus obliges the supposedly spiritually-wise leader of God’s people in a way that he never expected.  Reduced to the smallest common denominator, Jesus tells his questioner that each of us comes into this life one way, physically, and we know it's a one-way street where, someday, we encounter the exit sign.  That’s not new news; but Jesus turns the page and compares it to the otherworldly truth about eternal life in the Spirit. 

Jesus tells Nicodemus that the kingdom he should really be concerned about is not to be found within the four walls of Solomon’s temple, but the Kingdom where the breath of God blows – a place that has no place you can see, but will last forever.  It’s different than the physical realities one can experience.  In this kingdom you don’t go back to be born-over in flesh, but you can be born-again of the Spirit of God.  It’s the Kingdom of God, the place, and source of eternal life.

For You Today

One-way signs, meant to direct the flow of traffic, are common everywhere.  They’re important because they help us avoid collisions that can be disastrous.  There’s one of those signs at the entrance to the human heart; that’s where Jesus is standing, knocking, and speaking those “one-way” words:  You MUST be born-again![2]

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

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[1] the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absurdity or contradiction.  See Wikipedia.com

[2] See Matthew 7:8 and Revelation 3:20

Violence in the Land - Part 2

 

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them.  Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them.  “We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said.  “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!”  But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.  Acts 5:26-29They called in the apostles and had them flogged.  Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.  The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.  And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message:  “Jesus is the Messiah.”  Acts 5:40b-42

As the disciples are busy going about doing what Jesus had given them to do, spread the Good News of resurrection, salvation, and God’s great love, the ruling elders in Jerusalem are plotting.  They come off as Wile E. Coyote chasing after the Road Runner, constantly pursuing after Peter and the others, but never quite able to get a firm grip, or hold them in prison for long.  Court appearances, flogging, warnings, and political wranglings all come to nothing.  The very thing they tried to prevent (the disciples getting their message out about Jesus) is how this chapter ends…with the apostles teaching and preaching every day in the Temple and from house to house.  Beep, Beep!

There are some things that, despite man’s best efforts, are just not going to stop or be controlled in any way; tsunamis are that kind of thing, along with climate shifts, hurricanes and, especially, a movement orchestrated by the Spirit of God. 

Often in the Scriptures we see God moving at a time when God has picked.  Moses had that discussion with God at the burning bush; God had chosen that moment, and that man, to set God’s chosen free.  Pharoah found out how unwise it was to fight against the hand of Yahweh.  It cost him the life of his own firstborn son, as well as his entire army drowned in the Red Sea[1].  Earlier, another leader, Nimrod decided he wanted to be god over this earth, so he constructed a tower to declare his strength against all who would dispute him.  His tower came down in a crumbling mess because God decided otherwise.

I see the same kind of extraordinary thing happening currently in our land.  There are those who are trying desperately to hold onto the evil of past ways; specifically the notion that we are somehow different from each other.  It’s easy to see how that idea perpetuates itself, with different bone structures, skin colors, or facial appearance.  But, underneath, as we said yesterday, we are all siblings, offspring of Adam and Eve (or Lucy for you diehard evolutionists).   Our DNA may be distinct, alerting us to our individuality, but it is also the link that charts our connectedness, all the way back to our Creator.

Cutting to the chase…the event in Minneapolis that took George Floyd’s life and put Derek Chauvin behind bars, was another stain on the DNA of all of us.  And God is watching.  We should remember that when God sent Moses to set his people free, it was in response to 400 years of oppression.  It turned Egypt’s apple cart on its ear. 

America has made great progress, outlawing slavery in the 19^th century, standing for freedom around the world, and fiercely protecting human rights.  We have moved quantum-leapwise in the last decade, moving forward to electing an African American man president twice.  However, the seed of oppression still raises sprouts in the culture of 2020.  We have not quite divested ourselves of oppression in the dark places of the spirit, the place where only God can see, but is the place where it counts the most.  Every soul, no matter it’s outward appearance, or actions is created in the image of God; Derek Chauvin and George Floyd included.  And, on the other hand, there is still a frightening bit of Pharisee in us all. 

Progress, yes…victory…not quite. 

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, save us from our fear of each other.  As we trust in You, surrender to Your will, and listen for the soft sounds of sandled feet, help us to heed what you say to us deep down, and take off our soiled inner garments.  Let us be cleansed of madness.

For You Today

It does little to keep this to yourself.  It’s time to enter the discussion about what we can do…and even past time to do it.

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 another post on Racism see When Evil Speaks and When Saying Nothing Isn't an Option

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[1] Read the entire story in Exodus 3-15

Lenten Walk - Part 18

[1]

Monday, March 12, 2018

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.  After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus.  “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us.  Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus.  “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”  Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it wants.  Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”  “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.  Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?  I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.  But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?  No one has ever gone to heaven and returned.  But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.  

John 3:1-13^(NLT)

For a smart man, Nicodemus had trouble comprehending spiritual issues.  That is quite problematic for someone charged with guiding a nation’s spiritual and moral conscience.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee, one of the rulers, meaning he probably sat on the Sanhedrin, Israel’s ruling council.  As such, this important man who came to Jesus under cover of night (perhaps afraid his colleagues would find out he was consulting with a simple carpenter) should have recognized what the carpenter was saying.

The simple question here is:  What was Nicodemus’ disconnect?  To be a Pharisee at all Nicodemus would have had to be highly educated, particularly in the Scriptures.  The Pharisees had the strictest moral code, held the Scriptures in highest priority as God’s Word to be obeyed, and, this night he opened the conversation with Jesus as an honest, willing-to-learn, open-minded scholar…or was he?

The ruler seemed to have a right attitude, except for the fact that he didn’t.  He framed his question in the form of teaching Jesus, rather than presenting himself as one who needed to be taught.  He said: we all know you’re from God.  He said:  you’ve come to teach us.  He said (essentially):  the evidence – the miracles you do – support our theis; so, Jesus, I’m here; teach me if you will…I’m waiting.

Now, I’m willing to admit I’ve made the cardinal sin of reading that last bit into the text.  Considering Nicodemus came to Jesus at all indicates he probably wasn’t defiant, daring Jesus to teach him – a learned Pharisee.  But attitude notwithstanding, Nicodemus still got it wrong; Jesus had not come primarily to be a teacher…rather he came to be a preacher.  He didn’t come to have a conversation; he came to announce the Kingdom’s arrival and that salvation was at hand.  Notice Jesus’ first sermon in the synagogue of his home town:

When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.  The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”  He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down.  All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.  Then he began to speak to them.  “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”  Luke 4:16-21^(NLT)

It’s no wonder a man, deeply trained in Scripture, Theology, Reason, and the Experience of being immersed in the religious life of God’s people didn’t get it at all when Jesus said that he had to be born again.  Nicodemus was expecting a thesis from the teacher, along with appropriately detailed discussion; Jesus laid out an ultimatum. 

For You Today

Our Lenten Walk is a season of preparation to be dead-honest with Jesus in all we do and say.  Don’t repeat the Nicodemus blunder of trying to control the conversation; let God determine everything about your agenda today.

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

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Seven Deadly Sins - Part 7 PRIDE

[i]

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”    Luke 18:14 (NLT)

Two men went to worship; one was accepted, and one rejected.  The one was a Pharisee, a very religious person, pillar of the community; the other was the town tax collector, certainly not the most religious (or popular) guy on the block. 

Publicans (ancient tax collectors) were Jews, but they were unacceptable to their own people, because they worked for the Roman government taking an exorbitant tax (and even more) from their Jewish brothers.  The Publican was a despised "Benedict Arnold!"  The Pharisees were the respected religious leaders.

The story’s conclusion should have been a slam-dunk for the listeners; the religious guy wins, hands down!  But Jesus’ punch-line pulled a switch; the tax collector is the one who winds-up right with God, and the church elder becomes the bad guy. 

What gives here?

Notice, please, the stark difference in worship between a religious man, and a renegade; the renegade had humility, the religious man had an “I” Problem; he was full of pride.

A teenager once asked his mother what she got out of church.  The teen knew his mother thought the sermons were often dull and the music uninspiring.  And each time he asked her, she responded, "I don't know.  I just feel better all week when I've been to church on Sunday."  

Why did the mother feel better for having been to church?  When she was in church, she did not have to be the caring mother, the dutiful wife, the responsible neighbor - she could just be.  She did not have to do anything.  Somebody else was in charge.  Somebody else was taking care of her.[ii] 

Genuine humility rests in the care of God; it understands that we are inadequate to save ourselves, or to make ourselves fit company for being in the presence of God.  Persons with genuine humility come into worship with that understanding, and they find genuine acceptance at the hand of God.  When they leave, of course they feel better – they feel, and know forgiveness.

For You Today

So, if you have a tendency to be a Pharisee; you’ve been a good boy, or a good girl all your life, this would be a good time to have an “I” check. 

1.     How do you feel about the “bad” people?

2.     Have you asked for mercy recently?

If you don’t like the answers you heard in your own heart, you can change positions…you can leave the confident stand of the Pharisee and take up the humble stance of the Publican.  

1.     You stand in humility before God.

2.     You pray in humility, asking for mercy for your sins.

3.     You receive His love and welcoming embrace.

THAT’s how to put an end to the “I” problem!

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

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NOTES

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[i] Title Image:  Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450–1516) or follower [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] Franklin Ishida