Grace Released, Truth Revealed (Continued)

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...

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...

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.

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:

“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.”
Matthew 12:18-21 (NLT)

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.

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

Matthew 11: Great Question

Are you the One we’ve been expecting to come, or should we keep our options open (11:3)?

Asked by John the Baptist’s disciples, who had been actively waiting and preparing themselves to be ready for God’s Messiah, it’s a question pondered by all of us at the depths of our human experience.

We ask it in different ways, but the depth of our longing is the same. God, when are you going to show yourself to me? How long do I have to wait? How do I know that you’re for real? Some of the things I’ve seen in my life look like you, but how can I be sure? Are you really the one who gives us hope? If not, please tell me because I’m getting weary of waiting.

I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t respond to them by giving them some sort of intellectual argument, trying to prove that he in fact was the One. He didn’t placate their expectations by telling them, “I know you’ve been waiting a long time, and I know things aren’t exactly what you expected, and things are hard, but just hold on a little longer and you’ll see.”

Jesus simply said, What do you hear, what do you see? “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me” (11:4-6).

In other words, you see the evidence of God’s kingdom at work. You tell me.

Take a look at Isaiah 35, especially verses 5-6, and you’ll understand that Jesus answered them by referring them to Jewish expectations of the Messiah that they knew, but perhaps had forgotten. Maybe that’s why Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who doesn’t not fall away on account of me.” Some turn away from Jesus because he doesn't meet their expectations.

It’s not just the question we ask— “Are you the One?” It’s having “ears to hear” the answer that God is giving. “Wisdom is proved right by her actions” (11:15, 19).

Matthew 9:35-10:42: Your Turn

I ended my post on Matthew 7 with this question: If we lived in the reality of Jesus with us and his authority (s'mikhah) in us, how would that change the way we live and how we relate to the world around us?

Does 10:1 give us the answer? “He called his twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”

Matthew 9:35-37 is like a hinge in the story. These three verses swing back to summarize what has happened since 4:17, while opening the story forward, pointing us to the next phase of the story: The Rabbi’s students doing what the Rabbi does. “Your turn,” Jesus says. “Here are the keys to the kingdom. Take it for a test drive.”

Jesus gives the twelve a boatload of instruction in chapter 10, more than I want to detail here. But let me just point out one main idea that sticks out to me. Don’t you find it compelling that there exists such close communion between Jesus and his disciples that their words and actions (their very lives) are seen as if they are Jesus’ words and actions? Jesus instructs them, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me” (10:40; see also 10:17-20, 24). That’s authority of Jesus transferred to the lives of his disciples.

What does it mean that those who follow Jesus represent Jesus to the world? This is not just some lofty ideal. This is how the kingdom works.

I wonder if there’s a correlation between seeing the power of God and living under the authority of God. Is it possible that we deny the power of God in our world today because we choose to live under an alternative authority?

Would people see more of Jesus in us if we saw ourselves more in Jesus?

Matthew 9:9-13: Was Matthew Listed in the Christian Business Yellow Pages?

What’s up with the Christian Business Yellow Pages? If that thing had been around in Jesus’ day and Jesus only entered the businesses of his followers, do you think he would have ever entered Matthew’s tax office?

If Jesus only hung out with the righteous, we wouldn’t be reading the gospel of Matthew.

If we only engage in conversation with Christians, shop at Christian stores, eat Christian food, listen to Christian music, watch Christian TV, go to Christian schools, read Christian books, work Christian jobs, how in the world does God’s kingdom come, his will done on earth as it is in heaven? Somebody break up this holy huddle!

Bread for the Journey: Our Shared Faith

Often times the words someone else has written say better what you want to say than you could yourself. This past Thursday night I shared with our Catalyst interns a quote from one of my heroes of the faith, Henri Nouwen. This is as close to a "mission statement" as I can think of for who we are at what we are aiming for here at Wesley.

Being a Christian is not a solitary affair. Nevertheless, we often think about the spiritual life in highly individualistic terms. We are trained to have our own ideas, speak our own minds and follow our own ways. European and American education places so much emphasis on the development of an independent personality that we have come to view other people more as potential advisors, guides and friends on the road to self-fulfillment than as fellow members of a community of faith.

In the intimacy of my relationship with God I still find myself thinking more about my faith, my hope and my love than about our faith, our hope and our love. I worry about my individual prayer life, I speculate about my future as an educated man, and I reflect on how much good I have done or will do for others. In all of this, it is my individual spiritual life that receives the most attention.

That God reveals the fullness of divine love first of all in community, and that the proclamation of the good news finds its main source there has radical consequences for our lives. Because now the question is no longer: “How can I best develop my spiritual life and share it with others?” but “Where do we find the community of faith to which the Sprit of God descends and from which God’s message of hope and love can be brought as a light into the world?” Once this question becomes our main concern we can no longer separate the spiritual life from the community, belonging to God from belonging to each other, and seeing Christ from seeing one another in Him.

Henri Nouwen
"Behold the Beauty of the Lord"

Considering what is written above, it is also interesting to note that the Lord's prayer in our readings this past week begins with "Our Father" and not "My father." Let us meditate on the prayer Jesus taught us, and what it means for the communion of saints of which we are a part.

Reading Scripture: Great Expectations (Part One)

As we continue through the Gospel of Matthew, we come across a very interesting statement by Jesus in 10:5: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel – God’s lost sheep.”

God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus, but now here is Jesus telling his disciples to ignore the rest of the world and focus only on their own people. What are we missing?

Looking back at the last 10 chapters we have read in Matthew, we can see a major theme developing: This book was first written for Jews who were expecting a messiah. That is why there is so much imagery and attention paid to Jewish customs and laws. And if we look closer still, we can see that the gospel is filled with echoes of the Israelite Old Testament story… all with the purpose of showing that Christ is the Messiah and that God keeps his promises to his people.

In the Creation story Adam fails and gives in to temptation, leading to sin and death entering the world. But in Matthew 3 we see Christ resisting the temptation of Satan. In the Exodus story we see God leading his people out of Egypt and across the Jordan River. In the Gospel of Matthew we see Christ coming out of Egypt and being baptized in the Jordan River. The Israelites spent 40 years in the desert. Christ spends 40 days in the wilderness.

So what we see here is that where Adam failed, Christ (the “new Adam”) would not. Just as Israel was called and led, so was Christ. But where Israel failed, Christ would not. Before God could show how much he loved the world, he first had to show Israel that he keeps his promise. How can God be trusted in anything he says if he cannot first keep his promise to his people?

But what is that promise? Maybe it runs deeper than just dieing for our sins.

More to come…

Matthew 8: Bigger, Wider, Deeper

It’s interesting who hears Jesus and how they respond to him. Coming down from the mountain of kindgom teaching (Matt. 5-7), Jesus immediately enters into the heart of human response to the demonstration of his kingdom.

The unclean, isolated, rejected, pagan, godless, sick, possessed, and outcast respond in courage, humility, and trust.

Some Jewish religious elite respond with excuses.

Winds and waves, non-human elements, obey his authority. His disciples worry about their own well-being.

Jesus enters the region of the Gadarenes, a predominantly Gentile-Roman region about 6 miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee where the people religiously practice the worship of Greco-Roman gods and goddesses. Demons flee their well-established residence in two men in obedience to Jesus’ command, and yet the whole town of people begs him to get out of town. Do the demons fear his power more than the people trust his authority?

Jesus busts through any religious boundary constructed to include and exclude. The kingdom of heaven has broken through the paradigms of the stuff of earth (4:17). God’s mission to renew and restore his creation is bigger, wider, and deeper than anyone thinks or imagines.

When I look at the responses to Jesus in chapter 8, I feel compelled to ask some questions. Where do I put limits on God’s work in my life and in the lives of others? Am I open to God breaking in on my world? Where am I missing God’s kingdom mission because my view of him is too narrow or too self-absorbed? What is my response to him?