Missing Reality

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Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.  He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.  They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.”  But they didn’t understand any of this.  The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.  Luke 18:31-34

Have you ever missed it entirely?  You saw what you wanted to see, not the reality that was staring you in the face.  If you have, you probably have little difficulty understanding why the disciples just didn’t have a clue.  Jesus told them plainly how the next week was going to play out, and they just couldn’t connect the dots; they missed reality for a pipe-dream of an earthly king, a political Messiah, who would whip the Romans and usher in a new regime.  They were holding on to a now-and-right-now mirage, while Jesus was trying to pull back the curtain and show them reality.  They couldn’t have missed it by a wider margin!

To the disciples’ credit they had walked with Jesus for over three years, seen incredible miracles and signs that authenticated their Teacher as the One promised by the prophets to deliver Israel.  They were star-struck, earth-bound people, fishermen, tax collector, a rabble of common folk following the Son of God.  They had simple faith in Him, not imagining for a moment that any power on earth could kill him; after all, they had seen him pass right through an angry mob that wanted to stone him,[1] and confounded every Pharisee who ever tried to trip him up with rhetoric.  How could they kill this man?  No one was like Jesus.

It’s tempting from our vantage point two-thousand years and a resurrection later to marvel at how the disciples couldn’t see what Jesus meant, how little real faith they had.  But, lest we forget, those men, even Judas, had left everything behind, family, jobs, safety of hearth and home to follow this unknown rabbi, and had firmly stood with him after the adoring crowds started diminishing through this final year of opposition.  They did have real faith!  Most of us have a faith that knows nothing of sleeping on the ground, uncertain of the source of our next meal, away from our homes, family and friends, staking it all on the promise of this man who said they could connect with God through Him.  They hadn’t missed the reality of His call to follow; they just missed the reality about where they were going.

The disciples were my model when I first surrendered to ministry in 1978.  I was going to follow Jesus wherever he led.  Of course, I wasn’t any brighter than the disciples, and have found myself trusting some assumptions that the Lord had never promised.  I imagined I would graduate from seminary, go to a church as pastor, stay there 40 or 45 years, and retire.  Well, 40 years later there have been several graduations from 4 theological schools, 9 churches served, and everything but staying in one place for very long. 

In hindsight I can see God’s hand at every step, and His purposes have peeked-out from behind the curtain to help me understand why God moved the way He did.  So, come to think of it, I was right to think ministry would be like it was for the disciples.  We’ve seen plenty of miracles and been confused by most of it along the way.  We’ve found out that His ways are much higher than ours[2] and more than a little difficult to understand.  But in every circumstance and need of life we have also sensed the confidence of everlasting arms holding us up and holding us close.  There have been times when it seemed like the darkness would win, like we were three touchdowns behind with only a few seconds left on the clock, but God was always in control.  We haven’t missed reality at all; we’ve had a front-row seat!

For You Today

When you follow God today, don’t expect to understand right away, or see the path clearly; just keep praying, trusting, and stepping.  It’s a journey, not unlike travelling through the birth canal of reality!

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

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[1] Luke 4:29-31

[2] Isaiah 55:9

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

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

As Long As Life Lasts

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Monday, October 22, 2018

When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.  But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless.  The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.  Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you.  We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.  For God is not unjust.  He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.  Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.  Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent.   Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.  Hebrews 6:7-12(NLT)

Sometimes, in the mornings when bones and joints creak out their complaints about getting up too early, or stiff muscles shout their disapproval over another long night in the bed…when aches and pains call out for their fair share of your attention … like 150% of everything you’ve got … thoughts turn to asking oneself just why you still push to answer the call.  Why not just take it easy?  Why not let someone else have it?

I always hated when the conversation turned to the obvious age-related topic, that (barring life getting cut short by violence or something like an incurable tumor), we all get old, lose strength and must depend on others.  But like it or not, I’m there.  I’m in the eighth decade of life, and just thinking about those dozen bushes I bought yesterday to plant in my yard makes my aching back want to call the elder abuse hotline! 

What was I thinking?

And then, thanks to the Apostle Paul, I read something like today’s passage in Hebrews early in the morning.  Suddenly, although the ache in my back from too many yesterdays is still speaking loudly, it changes from a cry to pull the plug, retire, and live out my days with ease, to a reminder that spiritual dullness and indifference are the weeds that must be addressed if life’s race is to be finished well.

Paul said his greatest desire was that his Hebrew brothers and sisters would go on loving others as long as life lasts.  That, for me, means there is something much more important to do with this life than take a nap.  Now, don’t get me wrong, naps are great.  In fact, I’m a firm subscriber to the principle, and practice, that sometimes a good nap can put many of life’s difficulties in proper perspective.  Naps are calming, restorative and probably as necessary as regular breathing, diet, exercise and prayer.  They just aren’t the main focus of life.  They are an aid in maintaining the real focus which is helping others as long as life lasts.  This is the better things Paul ascribed to his Hebrew family; he knew they were destined for a well-deserved reputation of being God’s hands of mercy and lovingkindness in a very needy world.

So, here I am, a cup of coffee and two arthritis pain-relief tablets later, coming to the end of today’s devotion, trying to make sense out of how I can help somebody today.  And this is where the choice between a fruitful life’s garden or a lot full of weeds and thorns is made.  The list of ailments and losses is still there, growing every day; so are the opportunities to make a difference loving those God has placed in my pathway.

For You Today

Crop of weeds or fruit … it’s a choice every moment of every day, as long as life lasts!

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

Lenten Walk - Part 18

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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.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com