Essays
The Generous One
John 4:3-14
So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." // John 4:3-14
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The interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan is one of my favorite stories in the whole of the Scripture. There are so many layers. I could probably write three or four days worth and not even scratch the surface, and that’s just the theological stuff from this story. The applications of this story in our lives is almost overwhelming.
What really struck me this morning is when Jesus says, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am…”
If we could grab hold of the reality of the God’s generosity it would transform the way we interact with the divine.
I think so often of God as stingy or hard or strict or even absent. I know that I shouldn’t admit to those things because I’m a pastor and all. Here’s the deal, us pastors, even though we have the intellectual knowledge that such things are not true, we still wrestle with them.
For some reason it’s easier to believe that God is not generous. Why? Probably because when we put ourselves in God’s place we would really struggle with being generous. Each of us know our own sin-sickness. We know how far we fall short of loving well, loving God, loving our neighbors, and loving our enemies. If we were God, we’d probably have sent some brimstone hurdling from the heavens. Ha!
It’s so much harder to believe that God is generous in the face of our imperfections. God is always faithful. God is always forgiving. God is always gracious. God’s generosity knows no bounds.
In the face of such overwhelming generosity we feel inadequate, we feel self-conscious, we feel undeserving. Yet, God’s generosity and grace will not be swayed. This generous God lavishes grace and mercy and love on those made in God’s image.
I’m learning that central to the life of faith is embracing God in all the beauty and goodness that flows from the Divine. To live by faith is learning to rest in God’s generosity as opposed to living as though God was stingy, hard, and cruel.
As we come to terms with the reality that God is lavishly generous then we are free from the fear of entering into God’s presence. We are free to enter in and drink deeply of grace, the very living water that offers life!
Just Don't Play
John 4:1-3
Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee. - John 4:1-3, The Message
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“But the bell rang!”
That is the phrase that ran through my head reading this little bit of Scripture today. In one of my favorite Christmas movies, A Christmas Story, there’s a scene where Schwartz sticks his tongue to a flagpole and it gets stuck. He’s freaking out and then the bell rings for the kids to go in from recess. Everyone turns to run inside. Schwartz is screaming to his friend Ralphie, “Don’t go! Don’t go Ralphie! Don’t leave me here!”
Ralphie puts his hands up and says, “The bell rang!”
He turns and runs inside.
How many times in life do we feel like Ralphie? The bell rang, there’s just nothing else we can do but go inside.
There are these supposed rules that we have to follow. There is a “way that it’s always been done.”
What if I told you that you don’t have to follow the rules because you don’t even have to play the game?
The religious leaders were playing a game equivalent to our modern religious industrial complex called the game of Triple B, “Butts, Bucks, and Buildings.” For them it was not so much buildings and perhaps not so much bucks but they were definitely keeping track of butts.
When Jesus notices he decides he doesn’t want to play anymore. He doesn’t argue about the rules or the scorecard. He just decides that he’s not playing the game. He takes his disciples and walks.
It turns out that the games and rules of the religious industrial complex in his day and age were ones that he didn’t want to play by. So, he stopped playing their game. If you notice, Jesus seems to drive as many people away during his ministry as he attracts. He isn’t worried about the scorecard. All he cares about is teaching people to live life and to live it to the full through loving well in grace.
The silly games and rules of the religious industrial complex were so uninteresting he chose to not even play the game.
I wonder, what games are we playing that we really could just walk away from? What could we just stop playing? How much more joy would we find in life if we did?
Too many of my colleagues are spending their days in meetings and sending emails. This was not what they signed up for as pastors. I don’t know any pastor that thought their calling was responding to email and sitting in meetings. They wanted to teach people how to follow Jesus. Too many of us think that to carry out our calling, we have to pay the price of spending hours in meetings and administration.
We really don’t.
We can stop playing the game altogether.
I don’t mean walk away from ministry. I mean for Elders to gather together and decide that our churches will cease to be run as businesses catering to the whims of the masses for the sake of scoring high on the Triple B index.
Perhaps we need to leave the Judean countryside and go back to Galilee.
Extravagance!
John 3:22-36
After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us."
John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his 'best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?
"That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.
"The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.
"The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."
// John 3:22-36, The Message
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The richness of these passages can be overwhelming. Truly, I often struggle to find “the one thing” in these passages. I wish I could be sitting with you over a coffee or a beer and just talk through these together. There is so much!
I am continuing to find a theme running through John and it’s a theme that I have not been able to escape from for a while now. We see it again at the end of the passage, the phrase this time is “life complete and forever.” The phrase that has been in my heart for a while now is “life, and life to the full” as the reason Jesus came.
John turns the prism so to speak and shows another glimpse of what this complete and full life looks like. It is a life marked by the reality that Christ, being loved extravagantly by the Father, gives away all that the Father gave to him.
Can we just stop and let that sink in a bit?
The extravagant love of God flows through Christ to us to experience a life complete.
There is nothing small or limited about what Christ is doing. There is not a limited or short supply of God’s extravagant love flowing through Christ. There is no scarcity here, only abundance.
Now, let’s be clear this not some sort of prosperity Gospel, name it claim it, health and wealth kind of deal. This is something that goes deeper than material gain. It is experiencing life to the full rooted in the extravagant love of God.
A complete life, a full life, is one that is marked by loving deeply and being loved deeply. In other words, to love well.
Loving well is rooted not in ourselves but in the very nature of the Divine in us. As we come to a deeper understanding of being loved fully and lavishly by God then we have more love to give others. It is in the midst of this dance of giving and receiving that we find a full and complete life.
The Addiction
John 3:9-21
Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"
Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God?
"No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up— and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is." // John 3:9-21
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There is just so much here to unpack. It is no wonder that this is a passage that has multiple books written about it.
I think what really strikes me about this passage this morning is the crisis and the solution. The way that Peterson renders this is beautifully haunting and it rings true to so much of what we are seeing in our world today.
This crisis of men and women running for the darkness seems to be ever present. Does it not? Why is it that we can’t have nice things? It’s because people tend to run toward the darkness. That description of being “addicted to denial and illusion” is on the money for our world isn’t it?
So what’s the solution? “Anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.” This way of living reflects the life lived in light of Christ coming to make things right. Did you notice that? We see the last paragraph get a preview in the paragraph before. “God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.”
When we are addicted to the darkness we fear the light.
When we are addicted to the wrong things the right things are awful.
Let’s think about it like this. When I started trying to eat right fruits and vegetables were not very tasty to me. I longed for the sweetness of refined sugar. As I pressed on and didn’t eat refined sugar fruits and vegetables gained sweetness and flavor. Did they change? No. I changed. As I broke my addiction to sugar real food tastes better than any processed food I’ve ever eaten.
When we think about living life to the full it means living life in reality. It means breaking our addictions to denial and illusion. If we are going to be a people who are trying to help set the world right by following Jesus then we need to run from the darkness and toward the light. This is going to take work. It’s going to force us to admit that not everything we believe or hold onto is true and real. But, it’s so worth it.
To live life to the full is to live life in the light.
Just That
John 3:1-8
There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."
Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom."
"How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"
Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind hovering over the water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.
"So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."
// John 3:1-8, The Message
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We live in a world that is all about “just that.”
It’s all about the what we can see, touch, taste, smell, and hear. If it’s not “just that” then it isn’t real, it doesn’t exist. They physical world is all there is and nothing more.
At least that’s what we say.
But we live as though there is more.
I will never forget the first time I heard the heartbeats of my children. In that moment there was something that came over me. I was left in a state of awe and wonder. In that moment I began dreaming about what their lives would be like. My dreams were not “just that” they were something different.
Or the moment that I was floating in the Pacific Ocean with my brother Jay and my dad holding onto boogie boards watching the sun sink over the horizon. I can still hear the gentle hiss that we all heard as though it was really plunging into the water. In that moment the sun was not “just that.”
I have had the opportunity to be a part of a number of wedding ceremonies. When the bride begins her procession I always watch the groom. The look on his face is always spectacular. In that moment his bride was not “just that.”
We live an existence that is full of mystery and wonder and awe.
Old Nicodemus was caught up in the “just that.” In his mind religion was concrete, clear cut, with no room for ambiguity. Jesus throws a wrench in it all by talking about this whole “being born from above” stuff. Poor Nicodemus is completely confused. How can you be born a second time? That’s a fair question when you live in a “just that” world. Jesus tries to explain to Nicodemus that we live in a world that is much more than “just that.” We live in a world imbued with the Spirit. There is more to everything around us than “just that.”
I am beginning to understand that a big part, if not the central part, of being “born again” is waking up to the wonderful, beautiful, mystery that is the creation, of which we are a part. It’s not some transaction. It’s recognizing in the wind the image of the Spirit. It’s the overwhelming realization that there is more to this life than “just that.”
Jesus says later on in John that he came to bring life and life to the full. I think that for us to live this full life we need to wake up the wonderful, beautiful, mystery that surrounds us. Oh that we would be born from above to experience the joy of the beautiful mystery of our existence.
Let’s live today in light of the reality that it’s not “just that.”
Later...
John 2:13-25
When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.
Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, "Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a shopping mall!" That's when his disciples remembered the Scripture, "Zeal for your house consumes me."
But the Jews were upset. They asked, "What credentials can you present to justify this?" Jesus answered, "Tear down this Temple and in three days I'll put it back together."
They were indignant: "It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you're going to rebuild it in three days?" But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.
During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn't entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn't need any help in seeing right through them. // John 2:13-25, The Message
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I have said this before and I will say it again, these devotionals are not sermons. So you get my fresh take on a particular passage. I limit myself to how much I write. A passage like this is really hard to hold myself to the limit. I want to dig into all the things. I want to share all the things. But, I can’t. So if you have questions hit me up and let’s talk about them!
Today what really stood out to me were these two sentences, “Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.”
I had never noticed them before. They leapt off the page and smacked me in the forehead.
First, it shows some humility. John was saying that they totally didn’t understand what Jesus was doing at the beginning of his ministry. I love that they were confused by this whole scene.
Second, it gives me insight into how the early church made sense of everything they had experienced after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
This helps me wrap my mind around the reality that there will be things that we walk through in life and have no idea why or what purpose they serve. Yet, afterwards we can look back and see how they shaped us and made us into the people that we are today. When we get some distance from a particular situation we are able to see it through the lens of the wisdom that we gained from the experience.
The disciples, who would become apostles, looked back through the resurrection and the crucifixion on the life of Jesus and saw it with new meaning and new purpose.
What are some of things that you’ve gone through in your life that as you look back on them gained purpose and meaning? How do you understand your personal story and see in it how there has been a purpose? How has your story made you who you are?
When we take time to answer these kinds of questions, they help us identify the hand of the divine in our lives. Every few years I take some time to think through my story and it always leaves me grateful.
Later…
When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.
Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”
But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”
They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.
During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them. // John 2:13–25, The Message
//
I have said this before and I will say it again, these devotionals are not sermons. So you get my fresh take on a particular passage. I limit myself to how much I write. A passage like this is really hard to hold myself to the limit. I want to dig into all the things. I want to share all the things. But, I can’t. So if you have questions hit me up and let’s talk about them!
Today what really stood out to me were these two sentences, “Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.”
I had never noticed them before. They leapt off the page and smacked me in the forehead.
First, it shows some humility. John was saying that they totally didn’t understand what Jesus was doing at the beginning of his ministry. I love that they were confused by this whole scene.
Second, it gives me insight into how the early church made sense of everything they had experienced after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
This helps me wrap my mind around the reality that there will be things that we walk through in life and have no idea why or what purpose they serve. Yet, afterwards we can look back and see how they shaped us and made us into the people that we are today. When we get some distance from a particular situation we are able to see it through the lens of the wisdom that we gained from the experience.
The disciples, who would become apostles, looked back through the resurrection and the crucifixion on the life of Jesus and saw it with new meaning and new purpose.
What are some of things that you’ve gone through in your life that as you look back on them gained purpose and meaning? How do you understand your personal story and see in it how there has been a purpose? How has your story made you who you are?
When we take time to answer these kinds of questions, they help us identify the hand of the divine in our lives. Every few years I take some time to think my story and it always leaves me grateful.
It Was A Real Banger
Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus’ mother told him, “They’re just about out of wine.”
Jesus said, “Is that any of our business, Mother — yours or mine? This isn’t my time. Don’t push me.”
She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”
Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” And they filled them to the brim.
“Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host,” Jesus said, and they did.
When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn’t know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, “Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the best till now!”
This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum along with his mother, brothers, and disciples, and stayed several days. // John 2:1–12, The Message
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I was talking about the gospel of John with a friend the other day. We were talking about where he should start reading in the Bible. And I described each of the four gospels. When I described John, I said it feels like it was written by a good friend of Jesus’ who was telling the story from his perspective. It’s so different from the other gospels. It has this stream of consciousness feel to it for me. It starts with this deep philosophy about the Word being God and all that, then all of a sudden we are at a wedding and Jesus is making wine.
When you study the Gospel of John in depth you realize there is organization and a purpose to everything he writes. Yet, it still cracks me up that we go from philosophy and theology to partying.
We bounce back and forth in John from the deep and heady to the down and dirty real world stuff.
As I think about this story, the thing that strikes me most is, presence. Jesus was there. He was at the party. Not only that, but Jesus brought the disciples with him. You would think that a wedding would be a bit below the divine Son of God, wouldn’t you? I mean, doesn’t Jesus have better things to be doing rather than chilling at a wedding reception? He could be healing some people or teaching his disciples about the mysteries of the universe. But, no. He’s at a wedding reception. This reception must have been a banger too, they were almost out of wine.
Did you catch the detail we pick in what the host says to the bridegroom? Most people bring out cheap wine after everyone is drunk, but not this guy, he brings out the good stuff! This party was on point and it was not stopping. Jesus’ mom, Mary, was going to make sure of it.
But, again, the heart of this story is presence. Jesus showed up at the wedding feast. He was there.
For those of us that are Christians, are we “there”? Do we show up? Are we present in the world? Or do we hide in our holy huddles, sit back, and judge all those people.
It’s funny, I host a conversation each week called Doubt on Tap at a local bar. That makes a lot of folks in my religious sphere uncomfortable. They don’t like the idea that a pastor is drinking an alcoholic beverage (1) and is in a place where many people are drinking alcoholic beverages (2) and that the people that I spend time with are not “church” people. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me, “Is that really the message you want to send?”
Yep. It is.
I’m pretty sure that Jesus would be more likely to be found in our bars and pubs than in some of our churches.
Does that make you uncomfortable? It’s OK. It made the religious people of Jesus’ day uncomfortable too.
What’s your wedding feast? Where are you being invited as a guest? Go show up and be present.
It’s what Jesus would do.
It Was a Real Banger!
John 2:1-12
Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus' mother told him, "They're just about out of wine."
Jesus said, "Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn't my time. Don't push me."
She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, "Whatever he tells you, do it."
Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, "Fill the pots with water." And they filled them to the brim.
"Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host," Jesus said, and they did.
When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn't know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, "Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you've saved the best till now!"
This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum along with his mother, brothers, and disciples, and stayed several days. // John 2:1-12, The Message
//
I was talking about the gospel of John with a friend the other day. We were talking about where he should start reading in the Bible. And I described each of the four gospels. When I described John, I said it feels like it was written by a good friend of Jesus’ who was telling the story from his perspective. It’s so different from the other gospels. It has this stream of consciousness feel to it for me. It starts with this deep philosophy about the Word being God and all that, then all of a sudden we are at a wedding and Jesus is making wine.
When you study the Gospel of John in depth you realize there is organization and a purpose to everything he writes. Yet, it still cracks me up that we go from philosophy and theology to partying.
We bounce back and forth in John from the deep and heady to the down and dirty real world stuff.
As I think about this story, the thing that strikes me most is, presence. Jesus was there. He was at the party. Not only that, but Jesus brought the disciples with him. You would think that a wedding would be a bit below the divine Son of God, wouldn’t you? I mean, doesn’t Jesus have better things to be doing rather than chilling at a wedding reception? He could be healing some people or teaching his disciples about the mysteries of the universe. But, no. He’s at a wedding reception. This reception must have been a banger too, they were almost out of wine.
Did you catch the detail we pick in what the host says to the bridegroom? Most people bring out cheap wine after everyone is drunk, but not this guy, he brings out the good stuff! This party was on point and it was not stopping. Jesus’ mom, Mary, was going to make sure of it.
But, again, the heart of this story is presence. Jesus showed up at the wedding feast. He was there.
For those of us that are Christians, are we “there”? Do we show up? Are we present in the world? Or do we hide in our holy huddles, sit back, and judge all those people.
It’s funny, I host a conversation each week called Doubt on Tap at a local bar. That makes a lot of folks in my religious sphere uncomfortable. They don’t like the idea that a pastor is drinking an alcoholic beverage (1) and is in a place where many people are drinking alcoholic beverages (2) and that the people that I spend time with are not “church” people. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me, “Is that really the message you want to send?”
Yep. It is.
I’m pretty sure that Jesus would be more likely to be found in our bars and pubs than in some of our churches.
Does that make you uncomfortable? It’s OK. It made the religious people of Jesus’ day uncomfortable too.
What’s your wedding feast? Where are you being invited as a guest? Go show up and be present.
It’s what Jesus would do.
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)
Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”
But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”
When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”
Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”
Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”
Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.” // John 1:43–51, The Message
//
Have you ever noticed that sometimes the smallest, most insignificant, act of faith can have HUGE repercussions? I bet you can think of a time when you did something that you thought was not “a big deal” but it meant the world to someone else. Or maybe you can think of a time when the shoe was on the other foot.
Small acts of faith or love leave lasting impact on those around us.
I love this story for some many reasons. Nathanael’s response is absolutely priceless, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding!” Jesus was a dude that came from a place that was on the wrong side of the olive tree. Nathanael just couldn’t believe his brother Phillip was telling him that the Messiah had come from Nazareth, that was too much to be true.
Then Nathanael’s response to Jesus after being complimented! “You don’t know me!” Nate was one suspicious guy! It just makes me smile. It points to the humanity of all this. Can’t you see this all playing out in your mind’s eye?
When Jesus says, “I saw you under a fig tree…” Nathanael is blown away. Jesus’ response is great, “You ain’t seen nothing yet son…”
This whole interaction is just full of wit, humor, and leaves us with the simple truth: A small step of faith opens a door wide to limitless possibilities.
As I was reading this story this morning I could not help but have images of Doctor Who run through my mind. Doctor Who is a science fiction show from the BBC. It’s been on TV for decades and it’s pretty darn good, if you like sci-fi. The Doctor’s time machine is called The T.A.R.D.I.S., which stands for “Time And Relative Dimension In Space.” This T.A.R.D.I.S. is an old blue English Police Box. It doesn’t look like much. The running gag through the whole show is that the T.A.R.D.I.S. is bigger on the inside. When you step inside this seemingly inauspicious police box you are stepping into an existence where time and space have few limits. The question always before you is, “WHEN and WHERE do you want to go next?” To have the adventure you simply step inside.
This is what I imagine Jesus was saying to Nathanael in that moment. Your one little act of faith has opened before you an existence like you’ve never thought possible.
Every day that we wake up and choose to enter in with just a little bit of faith is another day where we can live expectantly.
Jesus says in John 10:10, “I came that they might have life and have it to the full.”
Jesus also says here in John 1, “You ain’t seen nothing yet…”
I think part of living life to the full is living each day in wonder, awe, and expecting the unexpected. To live life like that requires a pinch of faith and a step out the door.
Let’s live each day in the Jesus reality, that reality where we ain’t seen nothing yet!
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!
John 1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me." (Philip's hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)
Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding."
But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself."
When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body."
Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me."
Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!"
Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again." // John 1:43-51
//
Have you ever noticed that sometimes the smallest, most insignificant, act of faith can have HUGE repercussions? I bet you can think of a time when you did something that you thought was not “a big deal” but it meant the world to someone else. Or maybe you can think of a time when the shoe was on the other foot.
Small acts of faith or love leave lasting impact on those around us.
I love this story for some many reasons. Nathanael’s response is absolutely priceless, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding!” Jesus was a dude that came from a place that was on the wrong side of the olive tree. Nathanael just couldn’t believe his brother Phillip was telling him that the Messiah had come from Nazareth, that was too much to be true.
Then Nathanael’s response to Jesus after being complimented! “You don’t know me!” Nate was one suspicious guy! It just makes me smile. It points to the humanity of all this. Can’t you see this all playing out in your mind’s eye?
When Jesus says, “I saw you under a fig tree…” Nathanael is blown away. Jesus’ response is great, “You ain’t seen nothing yet son…”
This whole interaction is just full of wit, humor, and leaves us with the simple truth: A small step of faith opens a door wide to limitless possibilities.
As I was reading this story this morning I could not help but have images of Doctor Who run through my mind. Doctor Who is a science fiction show from the BBC. It’s been on TV for decades and it’s pretty darn good, if you like sci-fi. The Doctor’s time machine is called The T.A.R.D.I.S., which stands for “Time And Relative Dimension In Space.” This T.A.R.D.I.S. is an old blue English Police Box. It doesn’t look like much. The running gag through the whole show is that the T.A.R.D.I.S. is bigger on the inside. When you step inside this seemingly inauspicious police box you are stepping into an existence where time and space have few limits. The question always before you is, “WHEN and WHERE do you want to go next?” To have the adventure you simply step inside.
This is what I imagine Jesus was saying to Nathanael in that moment. Your one little act of faith has opened before you an existence like you’ve never thought possible.
Every day that we wake up and choose to enter in with just a little bit of faith is another day where we can live expectantly.
Jesus says in John 10:10, “I came that they might have life and have it to the full.”
Jesus also says here in John 1, “You ain’t seen nothing yet…”
I think part of living life to the full is living each day in wonder, awe, and expecting the unexpected. To live life like that requires a pinch of faith and a step out the door.
Let’s live each day in the Jesus reality, that reality where we ain’t seen nothing yet!
There He Is!
The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb."
The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, "What are you after?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"
He replied, "Come along and see for yourself."
They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John's witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, "We've found the Messiah" (that is, "Christ"). He immediately led him to Jesus.
Jesus took one look up and said, "You're John's son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas" (or Peter, which means "Rock"). // John 1:35-42, The Message
John the Baptist continues to intrigue me as I read these early parts of the Gospel of John. I am finding him instructive for me as a pastor.
We live in a day and age where pastors build platforms. I am guilty of it. I failed at it, but there has been a significant season in my life where I was deeply desirous of building my platform to broaden my influence. Sometimes you feel like if you haven’t published a book or been invited to speak at conferences you’re some sort of failure. Some of us seek to build our influence by building mega-churches. We come to the conclusion that anything that’s not illegal or immoral is fine to do if we can add another bottom in the pews.
It really is striking to think about the difference between the way many of us pastors act and the way John did.
First, you have John who was out being present in the community. Peterson puts it this way, “he was at his post.” So many of us think that our post is the pulpit and that we need to spend most of our time in our office polishing up a sermon. We truly believe that our 20-40 minute talk each week will disciple, mentor, and transform people’s lives. After being on both sides of the pulpit I am quite confident that sermons by and large don’t change people’s lives. What I have found is that a deep, abiding, personal relationship with someone creates an environment where a sermon is like the Hershey’s chocolate syrup on a sundae. In the moment someone may experience something but it was built on the patient ferment of relationship. More of us need to realize that our office isn’t our post. Our office is our refuge where we go to recoup and rest. The coffee shops, bars, bowling alleys, and neighborhoods are our posts. We need to expend our energy there and then return to our refuge to refuel.
Second, John was more concerned with those who he was building into seeing Jesus than seeing him. Did you notice that? As soon as he saw Jesus, he pointed his disciples to Jesus. What did they do? They left John and followed Jesus! Also notice that Jesus was out and about in the community too. John’s greatest desire was people to follow Christ. His goal through his teaching and mentoring was for people to leave him and follow Christ. It’s pretty amazing to think that is was through John’s influence that the core of the apostolic band was being formed. Peter, arguably the most famous, came to Christ because his brother Andrew saw Jesus because of John.
When it’s not about us, it can be about Jesus. This means that we must be faithful to attend our posts and point people to Christ.
You don’t have to be a pastor to live like John. You can be anything. It just so happens that my calling is that of pastor. I’d love to hear from you about how you see what I might start calling the “John Principle” play out in your profession or life at the moment? Where’s your “post” and what’s your refuge? Who do you come into contact with that you get to point our Christ to?
There He Is!
John 1:35-42
The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb."The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, “What are you after?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.”
They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, “Christ”). He immediately led him to Jesus.
Jesus took one look up and said, “You’re John’s son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas” (or Peter, which means “Rock”). // John 1:35-42, The Message
John the Baptist continues to intrigue me as I read these early parts of the Gospel of John. I am finding him instructive for me as a pastor.
We live in a day and age where pastors build platforms. I am guilty of it. I failed at it, but there has been a significant season in my life where I was deeply desirous of building my platform to broaden my influence. Sometimes you feel like if you haven’t published a book or been invited to speak at conferences you’re some sort of failure. Some of us seek to build our influence by building mega-churches. We come to the conclusion that anything that’s not illegal or immoral is fine to do if we can add another bottom in the pews.
It really is striking to think about the difference between the way many of us pastors act and the way John did.
First, you have John who was out being present in the community. Peterson puts it this way, “he was at his post.” So many of us think that our post is the pulpit and that we need to spend most of our time in our office polishing up a sermon. We truly believe that our 20-40 minute talk each week will disciple, mentor, and transform people’s lives. After being on both sides of the pulpit I am quite confident that sermons by and large don’t change people’s lives. What I have found is that a deep, abiding, personal relationship with someone creates an environment where a sermon is like the Hershey’s chocolate syrup on a sundae. In the moment someone may experience something but it was built on the patient ferment of relationship. More of us need to realize that our office isn’t our post. Our office is our refuge where we go to recoup and rest. The coffee shops, bars, bowling alleys, and neighborhoods are our posts. We need to expend our energy there and then return to our refuge to refuel.
Second, John was more concerned with those who he was building into seeing Jesus than seeing him. Did you notice that? As soon as he saw Jesus, he pointed his disciples to Jesus. What did they do? They left John and followed Jesus! Also notice that Jesus was out and about in the community too. John’s greatest desire was people to follow Christ. His goal through his teaching and mentoring was for people to leave him and follow Christ. It’s pretty amazing to think that is was through John’s influence that the core of the apostolic band was being formed. Peter, arguably the most famous, came to Christ because his brother Andrew saw Jesus because of John.
When it’s not about us, it can be about Jesus. This means that we must be faithful to attend our posts and point people to Christ.
You don’t have to be a pastor to live like John. You can be anything. It just so happens that my calling is that of pastor. I’d love to hear from you about how you see what I might start calling the “John Principle” play out in your profession or life at the moment? Where’s your “post” and what’s your refuge? Who do you come into contact with that you get to point our Christ to?
God-Revealer
The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I've been talking about, 'the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.' I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God."
John clinched his witness with this: "I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' That's exactly what I saw happen, and I'm telling you, there's no question about it: This is the Son of God." // John 1:29-34, The Message
I spent a long time living as a missionary. Ten years to be exact. Amy and I worked with one of the largest missionary organizations in the world. We spent a decade serving college students. We invited them to become Christ-centered laborers. Our lives were shaped by prayer, evangelism, discipleship, and sending. It was an amazing time where we grew in our faith, we grew in our leadership, and we grew into adulthood. I would not trade that time for anything in the world.
Over the last ten years or so, I have reflected often about our time as college missionaries. I think about the many things that I would have done differently.
There were so many things.
During that time as someone who was young in my faith and learning to follow the way of Christ I was very strident in my desire to win for him. I sharpened my rhetorical skills and sought to learn from the best apologists about how to defend the faith.
I won a lot.
So many college students left an argument with me with their tails between their legs after a verbal and intellectual beat down. I really liked winning.
I’m not so sure that I was all that great at preparing people for the God-revealer though.
If there was one thing that I could change about my time as a college missionary it is that. I wish I had learned the critical importance of preparing people for the God-revealer moreso than an argument winner.
As I read this story this morning about John the Baptist two things grabbed my attention. First, that John understood himself to be someone who was preparing others for the God-revealer. This meant that John was not about his own ego or tallying up numbers of baptisms or wining arguments for the sake of winning arguments. Everything he was doing, everything he was about, was to prepare for the God-revealer.
Notice very clearly, that John was not the God-revealer. No, John was the preparer for the God-revealer.
Jesus, the Christ, he was the God-revealer.
And, that’s the second big thing that I’m wrestling with this morning. This idea of Jesus being the God-revealer boggles my mind a bit. It’s one of those, “It’s right there in front of your face! How can you not notice how big of a deal this is?” kind of things.
I don’t think that I have really and truly wrestled with the deep and abiding reality of Jesus as the God-revealer. Sure, I know that he’s the incarnate God-man, second person of the Trinity, the image of the invisible God, and all that. But, to really think and dwell and process this reality that Christ is the God-revealer, that if I want to see God I need to look at Jesus. There is no other person or place to look for God. God is most clearly revealed in Christ.
What is God like? God is like Christ.
So, once again, I’m challenged to spend time in the middle. If I want to know God, then I need to know Christ. If I want to know Christ I need to spend more time reading, meditating, and getting to know the Christ between Christmas and Easter. The middle of the story is where the person of Christ is revealed and in so doing, reveals God.
I’m also beginning to wrestle with the reality that my calling as a pastor is to prepare people to meet the God-revealer. I’d argue that is part and parcel to following Christ. So, how I live and love and follow in The Way is more important than winning arguments.
I desperately want my life to prepare people to meet the God-revealer so that they can join me in The Way too.
God-Revealer
John 1:29-34
The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I've been talking about, 'the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.' I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God."John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.” // John 1:29-34, The Message
I spent a long time living as a missionary. Ten years to be exact. Amy and I worked with one of the largest missionary organizations in the world. We spent a decade serving college students. We invited them to become Christ-centered laborers. Our lives were shaped by prayer, evangelism, discipleship, and sending. It was an amazing time where we grew in our faith, we grew in our leadership, and we grew into adulthood. I would not trade that time for anything in the world.
Over the last ten years or so, I have reflected often about our time as college missionaries. I think about the many things that I would have done differently.
There were so many things.
During that time as someone who was young in my faith and learning to follow the way of Christ I was very strident in my desire to win for him. I sharpened my rhetorical skills and sought to learn from the best apologists about how to defend the faith.
I won a lot.
So many college students left an argument with me with their tails between their legs after a verbal and intellectual beat down. I really liked winning.
I’m not so sure that I was all that great at preparing people for the God-revealer though.
If there was one thing that I could change about my time as a college missionary it is that. I wish I had learned the critical importance of preparing people for the God-revealer moreso than an argument winner.
As I read this story this morning about John the Baptist two things grabbed my attention. First, that John understood himself to be someone who was preparing others for the God-revealer. This meant that John was not about his own ego or tallying up numbers of baptisms or wining arguments for the sake of winning arguments. Everything he was doing, everything he was about, was to prepare for the God-revealer.
Notice very clearly, that John was not the God-revealer. No, John was the preparer for the God-revealer.
Jesus, the Christ, he was the God-revealer.
And, that’s the second big thing that I’m wrestling with this morning. This idea of Jesus being the God-revealer boggles my mind a bit. It’s one of those, “It’s right there in front of your face! How can you not notice how big of a deal this is?” kind of things.
I don’t think that I have really and truly wrestled with the deep and abiding reality of Jesus as the God-revealer. Sure, I know that he’s the incarnate God-man, second person of the Trinity, the image of the invisible God, and all that. But, to really think and dwell and process this reality that Christ is the God-revealer, that if I want to see God I need to look at Jesus. There is no other person or place to look for God. God is most clearly revealed in Christ.
What is God like? God is like Christ.
So, once again, I’m challenged to spend time in the middle. If I want to know God, then I need to know Christ. If I want to know Christ I need to spend more time reading, meditating, and getting to know the Christ between Christmas and Easter. The middle of the story is where the person of Christ is revealed and in so doing, reveals God.
I’m also beginning to wrestle with the reality that my calling as a pastor is to prepare people to meet the God-revealer. I’d argue that is part and parcel to following Christ. So, how I live and love and follow in The Way is more important than winning arguments.
I desperately want my life to prepare people to meet the God-revealer so that they can join me in The Way too.
We Want Answers!
When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn't evade the question. He told the plain truth:
"I am not the Messiah."
They pressed him, "Who, then? Elijah?"
"I am not."
"The Prophet?"
"No."
Exasperated, they said, "Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself."
"I'm thunder in the desert: 'Make the road straight for God!' I'm doing what the prophet Isaiah preached."
Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: "If you're neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?"
John answered, "I only baptize using water. A person you don't recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I'm not even worthy to hold his coat for him."
These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time. // John 1:19-28, The Message
I think it’s interesting that those of us in the modern Christian movement give the Pharisees a really hard time when we read the Gospels. We tend to think of them as something of a foil, and perhaps that is how the writers of the Gospels wanted us to experience them.
Yet, as I read and process the Gospels more I am coming to realize that the Pharisees and other religious leaders were very similar to the Christians of our day.
One line in this story punched me in the face: “We need an answer for those who sent us.”
An aside: If you’re of a certain age, your mind likely just pictured Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson yelling at each other in a court room.
I think it struck me because as I look around at our world it feels like many of us are shouting, “WE NEED AN ANSWER!”
During times of great uncertainty, distress, or suffering we desperately want to know why and we want answers. When I was in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina most of my conversations boiled down to, “We need an answer.” As I’ve walked through various heartaches with people the questions are inevitably boiled down to, “We need an answer.” There is something comforting about having answers. We really don’t like uncertainty at all and mystery is not something that we tend to be comfortable with.
John gave them answers. But, they weren’t satisfied. They wanted more. There was never an end to the questions that they wanted answers to. John engages with them but his responses cause exasperation on their end and even more questions.
I think that what we see in John is someone who was trying to lead people toward a life of faith. Faith is living in the midst of uncertainty and embracing it for the beautiful mystery that it is. When we live in faith we are left with a sense of wonder, awe, and hope. Faith calls us toward a posture of learning and humility.
When John and Jesus show up they upset the certainty apple cart of the religious industrial complex of their age.
When John and Jesus show up they upset the certainty apple cart of the religious industrial complex of our age.
It turns out that living in the way of Jesus is to live as one who seeks to learn, one who learns to be content in uncertainty, and one who is humble enough to acknowledge that he or she doesn’t have all the answers.
I don’t want to fear uncertainty any longer, I want to embrace it. As one of my favorite songwriters wrote:
But I get turned around
I mistake my happiness for blessing
But I'm blessed as the poor
Still I judge success by how I'm dressing
So keep 'em coming these lines on the road
And keep me responsible, be it a light or heavy load
And keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise
And I'll walk with grace my feet and with faith my eyes
// Faith My Eyes by Caedmon's Call
May we each walk with grace our feet and faith our eyes!
We Want Answers!
John 1:19-28
When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn't evade the question. He told the plain truth:“I am not the Messiah.”
They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?”
“I am not.”
“The Prophet?”
“No.”
Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.”
“I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.”
Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”
John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.”
These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time. // John 1:19-28, The Message
I think it’s interesting that those of us in the modern Christian movement give the Pharisees a really hard time when we read the Gospels. We tend to think of them as something of a foil, and perhaps that is how the writers of the Gospels wanted us to experience them.
Yet, as I read and process the Gospels more I am coming to realize that the Pharisees and other religious leaders were very similar to the Christians of our day.
One line in this story punched me in the face: “We need an answer for those who sent us.”
An aside: If you’re of a certain age, your mind likely just pictured Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson yelling at each other in a court room.
I think it struck me because as I look around at our world it feels like many of us are shouting, “WE NEED AN ANSWER!”
During times of great uncertainty, distress, or suffering we desperately want to know why and we want answers. When I was in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina most of my conversations boiled down to, “We need an answer.” As I’ve walked through various heartaches with people the questions are inevitably boiled down to, “We need an answer.” There is something comforting about having answers. We really don’t like uncertainty at all and mystery is not something that we tend to be comfortable with.
John gave them answers. But, they weren’t satisfied. They wanted more. There was never an end to the questions that they wanted answers to. John engages with them but his responses cause exasperation on their end and even more questions.
I think that what we see in John is someone who was trying to lead people toward a life of faith. Faith is living in the midst of uncertainty and embracing it for the beautiful mystery that it is. When we live in faith we are left with a sense of wonder, awe, and hope. Faith calls us toward a posture of learning and humility.
When John and Jesus show up they upset the certainty apple cart of the religious industrial complex of their age.
When John and Jesus show up they upset the certainty apple cart of the religious industrial complex of our age.
It turns out that living in the way of Jesus is to live as one who seeks to learn, one who learns to be content in uncertainty, and one who is humble enough to acknowledge that he or she doesn’t have all the answers.
I don’t want to fear uncertainty any longer, I want to embrace it. As one of my favorite songwriters wrote:
But I get turned around I mistake my happiness for blessing But I’m blessed as the poor Still I judge success by how I’m dressingSo keep ‘em coming these lines on the road And keep me responsible, be it a light or heavy load And keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise And I’ll walk with grace my feet and with faith my eyes
// Faith My Eyes by Caedmon’s Call
May we each walk with grace our feet and faith our eyes!
The Middle
John 1:15-18
John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word."We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding— all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.
Over the last few weeks I have been thinking a lot about Jesus. I know, I know, I am a pastor so of course I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus. Often as pastors we don’t think much about Jesus himself. There are many seasons where we are thinking about other things. We focus on growing ministries and all that entails. Sadly, it usually entails very little thinking and talking about Jesus.
I have been reading a book by N.T. Wright entitled, When God Became King. It’s a great read so far! In it he challenges us to think about the Jesus in the middle.
Wait, what does that mean?
Many of us focus on the Jesus of the manger and the cross. But, do we dwell deeply on the Jesus in the middle of those two events?
You see the “one-of-a-kind God-Expression” that is Christ is found in his birth, his cross, and also in his life!
When we place our sole or ultimate focus on his birth and death we can begin to relate to Christ in a purely transactional way. But, this Christ “who exists at the very heart of the Father,” is so much more than just his birth and death.
When we read through the Gospel of John I think we find that the second half of John 10:10 might be a bit of a thesis statement, “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.”
It strikes me that if we want to learn to live the Jesus way we need to pay closer attention to the middle. We need to read and meditate on the life of this Christ who is the “one-of-a-kind God-Expression.”
How might we change?
How does his life challenge our lives?
What would it look like for us to learn to live and love the way that he does?
As awe inspiring as the birth of Christ is and as necessary as the death and resurrection of Christ is, the life of Christ is just as crucial to learning to follow the way.
When someone looks at our gravestone and sees the beginning date and the end date those are not all that interesting. What really matters is what we did with the dash in the middle. While the birth and death of Jesus has significance untold, his life is just as critical.
So, as we launch into this new year together, I hope you will join me as I seek to spend time in the middle with Jesus.
They Didn't Notice
John 1:9-13
The Life-Light was the real thing:Every person entering Life he brings into Light. He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him. But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.
There are times that I can’t get one of the readings out of my head and I keep thinking about it. This passage has been one of those.
At Doubt on Tap the other night there was a conversation, that happened before most folks showed up, about how amazing people are. There are so many kind men and women in the world. Every single day there are people acting out in beautiful ways.
Have you ever really thought about that?
I mean seriously.
Have you ever really considered that the vast majority of people out in this world are doing good and beautiful things every single day?
We don’t notice it though.
That might be one of the hardest lessons of the Advent season and one of the saddest things in this poem from John. Nobody really noticed that the Christ had come into the world.
This hard thing and sad thing is also something that brings me some hope.
Why?
Because it means that when we do good we don’t need the addualtion or congratulation of the world. When we go about loving well and nobody notices we can take joy in being able to identify even more deeply with Christ.
This holiday season when you love well and nobody notices, count it all joy!
The Christ entered the world and the world didn’t even notice, so it’s OK if the world doesn’t notice us either.
Let us love well for the sake of loving well.
After all, isn’t living that way what helps us become our true selves, our child-of-God selves?
True Selves
John 1:9-13
The Life-Light was the real thing:Every person entering Life he brings into Light. He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him. But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.
I have a confession to make. Over the years I have begun to think that there is more to this whole following Christ thing than simply being able to “go to heaven” when I die.
For a long time that seemed to be the thing about following Christ. I can’t even count the number of conversations that I have had with people about becoming a Christian. Many of those conversations centered around the need to receive Christ so that the person would go to heaven. In my evangelism, for many years, the issue of eternal destiny was really all that mattered.
As I read the gospels more and more I am beginning to think that I have missed the mark. There is so much more to following Christ than eternal fire insurance.
Did you catch this little bit in the poem from John,
But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.
As I continue to live this Christ-following life I am learning that this is really the central part of following Christ. This whole “…made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves,” is really what it’s all about.
When we think that following Christ is only about eternity we miss out on the here and now of a life of faith and spirituality. Christ’s work of reconciliation I have often only thought of as something rooted in our eternal destiny. That is simply not the case. The reconciliation that Christ has wrought through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension is to make us our true selves.
The reconciling work of Christ is a reconciliation of all things. This includes reconciling ourselves. In Christ we are able to finally become who we really and truly are.
Perhaps this is something that you’ve thought about before, but for me, it’s still in that whole “revolutionary” realm of thinking. I feel a bit dumbstruck by the ramifications of this truth.
God is not simply concerned with my eternal destiny. No, God wants me and you to become the best versions of ourselves right here and right now!
I think this is why we need to be in community and live life with one another. Because it is in the context of other child-of-God selves that we are challenged to become more loving, gracious, and kind. In other words, in the midst of deep community we have the best opportunity to become the best or fully reconciled versions of ourselves.
Jesus Is Lord
1 Corinthians 12:1-3
Today is special Knee Jerk Devotional! Instead of a written one devotional I recorded my sermon from this Sunday because many asked for it. You can find it at the Knee Jerk Devotional Podcast or my YouTube channel. The links are at the top of the email.
Never fear, my short attention friends, tomorrow we will back to normal!
Guides
John 1:6-8
There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. — John 1:6-8, The Message
In my profession there is a temptation that is strong. Really strong. That temptation is to see myself as “The Light.” It’s wild to think about how easily we become deluded by our own sense of greatness. If us pastors are honest, we know that there are more than a few of us that struggle with this delusion.
There are have been many notable religious leaders who have fallen from faith. I would venture to guess almost all of them share two things in common. One, deep down they believe that they are indeed the light. Two, they had isolated themselves from any kind of accountability and community.
Perhaps I am making too much of this. But, the longer I do this pastor thing and read the stories of those who fall and lose their way the more I think that these two things are true. The natural question is, what comes first the sense of grandeur or the isolation? I am guessing it is a chicken and egg situation. In many seminaries budding pastors are taught that you cannot be close friends with your congregants and Elders. This of course leads to isolation. Pastors also have a clear sense of calling and many take this sense of calling as being of divine origin. Unfortunately, this is something that bleeds over into every aspect of their leadership. So in their minds, if you challenge them then you are challenging God.
This kind of thinking has lead to much spiritual abuse and harm in many local churches. It’s heartbreaking to think about how many have been deeply wounded by pastors who have come to the conclusion that they are The Light as opposed to simply pointing people to The Light.
Pastors, we have to do better.
We need to learn from John the Baptist.
We need to remember that our calling is to be people who, “point out the way to the Life-Light.” If we can remember that we are pointing out the way to the Life-Light then we will remember the proper ordering of things. We are not The Light. We are guides. If we are guides then we too are on the way. We have not arrived, we are simply people who have a map and a flashlight.
Life-Light!
John 1:1-5
The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.
Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn't put it out. — John1:1-5
“What came into existence was Life.”
This is a marvelous phrase.
“Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.”
Another beautiful turn of phrase.
When you think about Jesus do you think about a blazing Life-Light that destroys the darkness?
Christ lights up the darkness.
There is something unconquerable about the Life-Light. No matter how hard we may try there is no dousing it.
The Life-Light overwhelms all that it touches.
When you come face to face with embodied grace you can’t help but be transformed.
We have all been around people who seem to be void of light. These are the dour people. Those who seem to have a shadow about them all the time. They are the Christmas Eve Scrooge’s of our lives. A coarse or negative word is always on their lips. There is only darkness for these people.
We have also been around those who are full of Light-Life. There is a joy that exudes from the fiber of their beings. They can’t help but smile and laugh. Light emanates from the core of their being. These are the Christmas morning Ebenezer’s of our lives.
If we look around and see darkness all around us, we must ask ourselves, “Will I be the light?”
Oh for those that claim to follow Christ to choose to be light in the world! We could light up the world, couldn’t we?
How are you moving in the world? Are you a bearer of darkness or light?
Salty?
Colossians 4:2-6
Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don't forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I'm locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I'll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.
Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out. — Colossians 4:2-6, The Message
As Paul comes to the end of this little letter to the church at Colosse, he encourages them to pray, to pay attention to the world with gratitude, and to bring out the best in others in a conversation.
This morning I have been thinking about Doubt on Tap tonight. Our conversation topic is going to be about why our current crises have caused division as opposed to bringing us together. I am struck that this bit about bringing out the best in others in a conversation has something to say in the matter.
I wonder, do those of us who seek to follow Christ have this as our goal?
In the more literal translations like the NRSV or the NIV we see the translation, “so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.” This is tied to the statement of, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.”
I think that Peterson gets to the heart of it. He allows the imagery of seasoned with salt have its full way with what Paul was writing. Properly salted food tastes its best when compared to under salted or over salted food.
In our day it seems that we Christians tend to over salt or under salt and as a result we spoil everything. The under salt folks don’t want to say anything that might make someone uncomfortable. These are the folks that if you have a booger hanging out of your nose would politely ignore it. The over salt folks, don’t care about bringing out the best in another, all they care about is winning. These are the people who would point and yell at the top of their lungs, “Hey look, Johnny has a giant booger hanging out his nose!” Then there are those trying to properly salt the conversation. They are willing to engage fully. They speak truthfully but lovingly. They listen and seek to understand more so than just simply winning a conversation. These people would gently come up to you and whisper in your ear, “My friend, you have a booger hanging out of your nose.”
When we lose the goal, the flourishing of our neighbor, then we have lost our way. If we lose the way, then we have in a very real sense lost Christ. Christ never loses us. Christ is always right there with us, but in our desire to not make waves or to simply win, we lose sight of Christ.
Tonight, I am going to be more intentional about trying to bring the best out of my conversation partners. I hope that I can grow in this area of my life. I desperately want to be a person who helps others flourish. How about you?
Not That!
Colossians 3:17-4:1
Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.
Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don't take advantage of them.
Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.
Parents, don't come down too hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits.
Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being Christian doesn't cover up bad work.
And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don't forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven. — Colossians 3:17-4:1
Have you found yourself uncomfortable with the “submission” language of the New Testament when it relates to household codes and the like? It’s something that has become a bit of a hot button issue for many in our society. This whole “wives submit” thing sure feels out of date, doesn’t it? This passage also includes the equally uncomfortable stuff about servants submitting to their masters.
The easy thing for me to do is to try and ignore the passage or to try and couch the uncomfortable passages into the more comfortable passages (husbands love your wives and masters care for your servants). I have done this often and I think that it is helpful to consider the whole of the context. It is fascinating to think about Paul’s instructions to the husbands, parents, and masters, who held power over wives, children, and servants in his culture. Why? Because he is subversively countering the culture by calling them to something different. There is no “power over” for the Christian. There is empowering or power alongside within the Christian economy. This is crucial and not to be missed.
I was reading a thought by another Christian leader, David Fitch, the other day about this whole submission thing. I thought it was intriguing and something that I really resonated with. So, in light of today’s reading, I drop it here for you.
THE MEANING OF THE WORD 'SUBMISSION' ...
...has been undermined, even destroyed, by patriarchalists in the church. It has been used to underwrite abuse and coercion. It has been used by leaders to 'lord it over' and gain compliance. But it actually describes what leaders do in the NT, versus what they demand of their followers..
In the NT, my argument is, it is the leader who submits. It is the act of 'submission' that initiates. When I propose something and then say to the group (or other leaders) "I submit this to you," I start the process of discernment into motion. To me that is leadership. We work towards the Spirit's movement then by mutually submitting, listening to every voice, learning and arriving at an agreement in the Spirit.
These principles are exhibited in Mark 10:42-45; Rom 12:3-8 and many other places.
In Eph 5:21, the general principle appears : "submit yourselves one to another out of reverence for Christ." Then Paul recites the household codes. He starts with marriage saying "wives submit to your husbands." Ironically I can't help but see this as putting the wife in the position of leadership. They go first and then are followed by "husbands die for your wives." So the fact that the women go first does not reflect a hierarchy in which women are under husbands, it reflects this revolutionary (bottom up) leadership dynamic that runs throughout the kingdom. The leader leads by submitting him/herself to the other, from which mutuality is returned.
With that being said, I think we have to understand all this in the context of, “Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”
It seems to me that if we were living this way, then so many of these things become moot points. We will naturally love the other in an acts of mutual submission. There will be a constant desire to practice love through caring for the other. If we could live our lives as though every person we interacted with was Christ, then all these things that Paul talks about here and in other places become secondhand.
Oh let us practice love! Let us be a people who chooses not to leverage power over but seeks to empower the other.