Between the bookends of John’s prologue (John 1) and Peter’s restoration (John 21), encounters with Jesus weave a tapestry of grace released and truth revealed, bridging the gap between what’s true and not true about God.
When you have some time, read through John to peer into the lives of all the people whom Jesus encountered—four men who discover that Jesus is the one they’ve been waiting for all their lives, the partying guests who enjoyed the choice wine Jesus miraculously provided at a Canaanite wedding, a seeking Nicodemus, a humble John the Baptist, a respected government official who is also a desperate dad, an outcast Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, a helpless invalid of 38 years, the 5,000 poor who filled their stomachs with five loaves and two fish, the desperate disciples who saw Jesus walk on water, a shamed woman caught in the act of adultery, a man blind since birth with the spit of Jesus on his eyes, a dead Lazarus and his broken hearted sisters, Mary and Martha, the worried disciples in the upper room with clean feet and comforted hearts, a surprised and overjoyed Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, and a doubtful Thomas with his finger in Jesus’ wounds.
See if, in fact, the truth revealed to them about what’s true and not true about God was released by an act of Jesus-grace. If we could ask them, my bet is that they would say it was. They might even say that not only is Jesus the Truth, Jesus is the Grace.
More to come...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Grace Released, Truth Revealed
Henri Nouwen expressed that the only way to know the truth of Jesus Christ is to be transformed by an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. “Truth does not mean an idea, concept, or doctrine, but the true relationship. To be led into the same relationship that Jesus has with the Father; it is to enter into divine betrothal” (Making All Things New, 54).
John sets the tone to the true relationship Jesus offers by beginning with a prologue of grace and truth, characterized by God taking the first step to bridge the gap between what’s true and what’s not true about God (John 1:1-18).
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known (John 1:14-18, emphasis mine).
John ends his gospel with an event of full grace released and full truth revealed—the restoration of Peter. Peter finds himself in the gap of truth, a gap many of us know. We don’t question the facts of Jesus’ resurrection; we only question whether the forgiveness it brings is really for us. Even witnessing the undeniable reality of the resurrection of Jesus did not break through the deep shame Peter felt for disowning Jesus. Only an after-breakfast, face-to-face conversation with Jesus on a beach, in which Jesus graciously allows Peter to own his love for him, provides the catalyst for the truth Peter seeks. The truth of God is revealed to him because the grace of God is released to him.
More to come...
John sets the tone to the true relationship Jesus offers by beginning with a prologue of grace and truth, characterized by God taking the first step to bridge the gap between what’s true and what’s not true about God (John 1:1-18).
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known (John 1:14-18, emphasis mine).
John ends his gospel with an event of full grace released and full truth revealed—the restoration of Peter. Peter finds himself in the gap of truth, a gap many of us know. We don’t question the facts of Jesus’ resurrection; we only question whether the forgiveness it brings is really for us. Even witnessing the undeniable reality of the resurrection of Jesus did not break through the deep shame Peter felt for disowning Jesus. Only an after-breakfast, face-to-face conversation with Jesus on a beach, in which Jesus graciously allows Peter to own his love for him, provides the catalyst for the truth Peter seeks. The truth of God is revealed to him because the grace of God is released to him.
More to come...
Monday, October 15, 2007
Is this a love thing?
Bottom line: Love God with all of who you are. Love all others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:34-40).
Sometimes I think I tend to make it too complicated, trying to wrap my head around theological shades and nuances. What if this? What if that? But it’s really pretty simple. Love God, love others. Jesus embodies this whole-hearted devotion and invites us to live in it with him. When we follow him, we follow this relationship of simplicity.
Loving is not about having all my questions answered or having my life all figured out. I can love without all the information and without knowing how the future unfolds. In fact, love requires that I do so. The last thing produced by information and knowledge is love.
Loving is not about feeling like loving. It’s really more of a choice, an act of the will, whether I feel like it or not.
Loving is not selective. I don’t get to choose when I love God. I don’t get to choose whom I love. I don’t get to make judgment on who deserves love. That’s already been decided.
Loving is total. The equation of love: Heart + Mind + Soul + Strength. That’s pretty much all of who I am.
To love God is to love others. I can’t conveniently turn the love switch on and off, depending on the people I’m around. If I don’t love others, I’ve pretty much told you by my behavior that I don’t love God.
Loving others is not always easy. Jesus quotes part of Leviticus 19:18 as the flip-side of the same coin of the love commandment. The entire Leviticus verse says this: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” To love is to forgive because God forgives—not always easy.
I wonder what life would like if we laid aside our conjured complexities and simply followed Jesus and followed him simply.
Sometimes I think I tend to make it too complicated, trying to wrap my head around theological shades and nuances. What if this? What if that? But it’s really pretty simple. Love God, love others. Jesus embodies this whole-hearted devotion and invites us to live in it with him. When we follow him, we follow this relationship of simplicity.
Loving is not about having all my questions answered or having my life all figured out. I can love without all the information and without knowing how the future unfolds. In fact, love requires that I do so. The last thing produced by information and knowledge is love.
Loving is not about feeling like loving. It’s really more of a choice, an act of the will, whether I feel like it or not.
Loving is not selective. I don’t get to choose when I love God. I don’t get to choose whom I love. I don’t get to make judgment on who deserves love. That’s already been decided.
Loving is total. The equation of love: Heart + Mind + Soul + Strength. That’s pretty much all of who I am.
To love God is to love others. I can’t conveniently turn the love switch on and off, depending on the people I’m around. If I don’t love others, I’ve pretty much told you by my behavior that I don’t love God.
Loving others is not always easy. Jesus quotes part of Leviticus 19:18 as the flip-side of the same coin of the love commandment. The entire Leviticus verse says this: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” To love is to forgive because God forgives—not always easy.
I wonder what life would like if we laid aside our conjured complexities and simply followed Jesus and followed him simply.
Monday, October 1, 2007
KingdomTide: Mercy & Justice
This past Thursday night our Catalyst speaker, Bill Mefford, challenged us to consider what is mercy and what is justice. His basic breakdown went something like this:
If we are eating at the table, and we know there are starving children in another country, what is mercy and what is justice? Mercy is sending them money or food. Justice is inviting them to our table and working to bring an end to the systems that cause them to starve.
Mercy and justice was at the heart of God’s judgment of his people in the book of Isaiah. They worshiped idols that were all about their own security and prosperity, while all the while forgetting their mandate to be light of mercy and justice to the nations.
Mercy and justice is at the heart of Christ’s incarnation, as we have seen from our readings this past week when Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:
And now we, like the Israelites in the Old Testament, are called to be the light of Christ’s mercy and justice in the world. The pressing question for us right now is what does that look like where we live and work?
There is a long forgotten season in the Church calendar called Kingdomtide. It arose in the early 20th century as an effort to focus on the mercy and justice aspects of the Gospel, and to embrace the poor and marginalized with mercy and justice in Jesus’ name.
Last year at Asbury Seminary we created this video as a visual prayer for our Kingdomtide Communion service. I invite you to watch it while praying Open the eyes of our hearts…
You can read more about KingdomTide by going here and then clicking the link on the left.
The written text in the beginning is from Isaiah 43, and at the end is from Isaiah 1. The music is Isaiah 61, performed by our friend Matt Maher (which you can find on iTunes). The painting of Jesus is by Kevin Sparks. It's a little trickier with the news footage. We’re claiming educational usage exception to the copyright laws. We're not selling this resource - simply using it to feature the news in a the more hopeful frame of the Kingdom of God
If we are eating at the table, and we know there are starving children in another country, what is mercy and what is justice? Mercy is sending them money or food. Justice is inviting them to our table and working to bring an end to the systems that cause them to starve.
Mercy and justice was at the heart of God’s judgment of his people in the book of Isaiah. They worshiped idols that were all about their own security and prosperity, while all the while forgetting their mandate to be light of mercy and justice to the nations.
Mercy and justice is at the heart of Christ’s incarnation, as we have seen from our readings this past week when Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:
“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. And his name will be the hope of all the world.”Mercy and justice is at the heart of the Cross: The death of Christ to fulfill the broken covenant of the sin of humanity was an act of justice. That Christ died in place of and to rescue humanity was an act of mercy.
Matthew 12:18-21 (NLT)
And now we, like the Israelites in the Old Testament, are called to be the light of Christ’s mercy and justice in the world. The pressing question for us right now is what does that look like where we live and work?
There is a long forgotten season in the Church calendar called Kingdomtide. It arose in the early 20th century as an effort to focus on the mercy and justice aspects of the Gospel, and to embrace the poor and marginalized with mercy and justice in Jesus’ name.
Last year at Asbury Seminary we created this video as a visual prayer for our Kingdomtide Communion service. I invite you to watch it while praying Open the eyes of our hearts…
The written text in the beginning is from Isaiah 43, and at the end is from Isaiah 1. The music is Isaiah 61, performed by our friend Matt Maher (which you can find on iTunes). The painting of Jesus is by Kevin Sparks. It's a little trickier with the news footage. We’re claiming educational usage exception to the copyright laws. We're not selling this resource - simply using it to feature the news in a the more hopeful frame of the Kingdom of God
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