Hindsight

Our culture really does teach life consists of the things we acquire.  It is heard in blaring volume from billboards, televisions, radios and high gloss magazine layouts.

We are promised that real happiness comes from a purchase, we try to buy it through buying the newest, brightest and best.

It’s like a man who rides a donkey carrying a long stick.  On the end of that stick there hangs a carrot on a string.  The carrot promises far more than it is able to deliver.  The donkey trudges on and on believing that soon he’ll be chomping on a juicy reward only to find his hunger growing with each step.

Living for acquisition is like the fly who looks down and says, “My dinner!”  Only to hear the Venus Fly Trap say, “MY DINNER!”

Years ago Apple Computer created the iPhone, I recently bought an iPhone 4s.  The next week they brought out the iPhone 5. People stand in line with perfectly good iPhone’s to get the newest.  Why?  The answers vary but they really boil down to one thing, a new toy.

Jesus parable of the “Rich man” tells us if we believe in Jesus Christ we’ll invest in His Kingdom work.  If we believe in the American dream we’ll invest in that Kingdom.  Jesus forces us to make an intelligent choice.  

You can’t purchase eternal life, but our purchases reveal our gratefulness for eternal life.

Hindsight

The result of our GateWay on Mission vote this past Sunday was:

356 people voted yes and 1 voted no on the budget, all the new Leadership Team members (deacons) were approved!  What a great day of reviewing 2012 and envisioning a Biblical, Radical and Viral 2013!

There were a couple of questions that a few people asked me yesterday in regards to the passage from Acts19:1-22.  The most prominent was, “What is this speaking in tongues thing that the book of Acts talks about?”  Let me address that with a couple of clarifying points.

First let me say, not everyone agrees with me.  That’s okay.  Where good men disagree wise men walk softly.  If you have a different opinion, God bless you and please extend me an extra measure of grace.

Second, if your view is different than mine I never want to disrupt nor discourage anyone’s connection with God or anyone’s spiritual development and depth.  You’re totally free to pursue and practice your spiritual disciplines in your life.

Third, I believe that speaking in tongues was a gift only given to the early church to solidify it’s unity, leadership and expansiveness.

How?

First, the people in Jerusalem speaking in tongues was a sign of judgment to Israel for rejecting their Messiah.  Duet. 28:1 & 49 says that if the nation did not obey the Lord then judgment would come from a nation, “…whose language you shall not understand.”  The speaking of foreign tongues on the day of Pentecost was a sign to Israel that God was bringing to pass what he had promised for their disobedience.

Second, the Samaritans, Acts 8:17, received the Holy Spirit when the Apostles Peter and John laid their hands on them.  Why?  Because God was uniting Israel with Samaria demonstrating all descendants of Abraham were welcome in the Church of Jesus Christ under the leadership of the Apostles.

Third, the Romans, Acts 10:35-36 &44-48, received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues when the Apostle Peter went to preach to them and unite them into the church of Jesus Christ.  Why?  Because “…in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him…preaching peace through Jesus Christ…” (vs. 35-36)  So even Gentiles and Romans can be an equal member of the church of Jesus Christ!  That was a RADICAL concept to the Jewish people.

Fourthly, the Gentiles outside of Israel, Acts 19:6, received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues when the Apostle Paul laid hands on them so that God could demonstrate authoritatively that all nations are equally welcome in the family, kingdom and church of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-22 says that the wall around the Temple that divided Jews and Gentiles has been torn down and that there is now unity.  Jesus Christ has purchased peace and created a new building (Temple) called the Church and it’s built on one foundation called the Apostles authority and Jesus is the chief cornerstone in that foundation.

Speaking in tongues was not a spiritual practice in the early church for deep disciples, it was God’s way of demonstrating to everyone that all nations are welcome in God’s family, the church of Jesus Christ.

Again, let’s never use for disunity what God used to unify the entire world under our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!

Hindsight 

The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee which means he was an Eastern thinker.  He was also fluent in all Roman culture and customs so he spoke Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Latin. 

He was the perfect bridge building leader to be the Apostle to the Western Gentiles.  He was culturally Eastern but was a Western major in college!

When Paul writes his Epistles he writes like a Westerner.  He writes simple, to the point, factual statements about our relationship with Christ. (S.F.S. = simple factual statements)

         Romans 4:5, he who, “…believes in Him who justifies the                       ungodly,”, justifies simply means pronounced righteous. (S.F.S.)

         Ephesians 2:1, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,” without Christ we’re spiritually dead. (S.F.S.)

         I Corinthians 12:20, “But now there are many members, but one body.”  Paul is referring to the church body. (S.F.S.)

Simple statements built on a one-word theme; righteous, death, body.  A one-word theme is the hub of Paul’s thought, we who are Westerners then think about what are the resulting ideas or spokes that radiate outward from that thematic hub.

When we read the stories of Jesus he teaches as an Easterner.  He chooses characters in a plot and gives them motives, friends and enemies. There are evil surprises and unexpected heroes along their journey.

         “A man was traveling down the Jericho road…”

         “A woman lost a coin…”

         “A farmer went out to sow…”

Story is the round tire on a wheel, the characters are the spokes of the wheel, the point of the story is the hub.  We are left to discern from the actions and activities of the characters as they roll down the road what the hub point of the story is!

That’s more work!!!  That's why the Bible says wisdom is so important.

Welcome aboard the U.S.S. GateWay, as you disembark be reminded that going ashore means engaging with the people God has given you to influence and touch.  (If this doesn’t make any sense to you, you’ll have to listen to the sermon from 1/13/13)

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

When we look at the story Jesus tells at the end of the sermon on the mount we don’t often fully grasp the significance of that summation.

Matthew was a tax collector.  As a tax collector he was trained in a Roman form of short-hand.  When he listened to Jesus sermons I’m sure he took a few notes.  So when we read Matthew we find 5 major sermons given by Jesus.

Yet when I read the sermon on the mount it doesn’t really read as one sermon, it feels more like a compilation of the poignant ideas of many sermons blended together by topic.  In fact that’s the way the Old Testament recorders of history put together their stories.  They didn’t feel it necessary to put stories in chronological order but sometimes preferred topical order. 

Matthew puts this house on the rock story at the end of what we call the sermon on the mount.  So we need to think of it as the culmination, pinnacle, apex and climax of Jesus story.  We also need to use it to interpret the entire sermon.  

When you go see a movie and you find out who the murderer is at the end, all of a sudden all the clues throughout the movie make sense.  The same is true of the sermon on the mount.

Therefore you can read the sermon on the mounts as follows:

If you apply the Beatitudes (5:1-20) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the King’s Edicts (5:21-48) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the Strategy for Spiritual Growth (6) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the Relationship of Father to Son (7:1-23) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

Read through Matthew 5, 6, & 7 and see if this story helps you read the rest of the sermon.

I feel very self-conscious and inadequate writing today but I’m compelled to address the Newtown Connecticut tragedy.  I hope this is accepted as I intend it.

In the 1980’s Karen Burton Mains toured the refuge camps of the world.  Camps where adults and children were held for political crimes or famine related issues.  The camps were excruciatingly inhumane and ultimately chaotic. From her experiences she wrote a book that is incredibly meaningful to me entitled, “The Fragile Curtain.”  She chose that title because she came to realize that in the U.S.A. she was living behind a black curtain that kept her blind from the traumas the people in the rest of the world encountered.  There was a phrase she used toward the end of the book to describe the horrific conditions she experienced.  She wrote this, “My fragile curtain has been torn.”  That is how I feel today. 

Without the hope of eternal life in Christ, where there is no more crying or mourning or pain, where there is no more death, my hope in comfort and consolation would be shredded.  There is an insidious evil in our world, even in the supposedly safe areas of America, which defies rational explanation or logical understanding.  Evil has seeped into the lives of the naïve and innocent with a raw intensity that will defy psychiatry and counseling for years.  It will lift its horrendously ugly head in dreams and feelings in those who have endured their horribly traumatic day and they will never fully heal.  PTSD and other syndromes will be discussed and encountered for lifetimes.  There will be no opportunity for denial.  There is no reason “why” that will open the door of insight and personal healing.  Irrationality has no definition and this kind of childhood violence has no justification, therefore finding a satisfying explanation is impossible.  Healing the brokenhearted and binding their wounds will be slow.

The only option for us is love.  To love those who have lost someone they love. To love them so that possibly one day they might be able to encounter a day that has some normality to it with no high definition memories.  Every Christmas will force the facing of a holy day milieu that will be oppressive and dark.  

We desperately need to feel the grief of fellow humans who are just trying to take their next breath.  Who will get to that point of exhaustion and hope for some brief period of sleep so the hurt can be held at bay for an hour or two.  If I sound morbid and defeatist it’s because I, in a very very minor partial way, realize how long and painful will be the healing from emotional grief for a 5 year old child.

My fragile curtain has been torn.  I thank God my children are alive and enjoying life. And yet I fret.  I worry selfishly because I don’t want to be a grieving parent.  I don’t want to be the one who loses someone they love.

Praying for the community of people in Newtown with tangible expressions of love is our only option.  It won’t allow anyone to escape the psychological damage, and the process of grief that these poor people will have to endure.  But we can at least expend sympathy and some small acts of love.

If you have the gift of mercy or compassion why not write down the name of a parent who has lost a child today and send a card every month for a few years.  See if God can use your concern and love to, in some small way, help someone to heal.  

One other thing, hug, forgive, call, love your kids, parents, family, and thank God for the privilege of having them in your life.

So, for your Pastor, tonight, if you have young kids, do what was my favorite part of being a dad of young kids.  Give them a bath and afterward pull their little wet, warm, naked bodies wrapped in terry cloth close and inhale the sweet scent of shampoo and soap.  Then throw them down on the carpet and put your mouth on their bellies and blow out as hard as you can, making what Bill Cosby used to call "zerbets!"  Which are really just giant fart noises made with your mouth on their belly!  And while their laughing hysterically and asking you why you're crying just say, "God has filled me so full of love for you it just leaks out."

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

Zacharias had finished offering the incense inside the Holy Place of the Temple.  He had prayed, talked to the angel Gabriel and emerged from the Temple to take his place on the porch.  He descended the stairs of the porch and approached the altar where the sacrifice was arranged.  He was supposed to now offer the prayer, called the Benediction, and the fires would be lit to finish the Sabbath sacrifice to God. 

But he found he couldn’t utter a word!  The statement of the angel Gabriel was true!  He could no longer speak. 

People initially waited and waited, the tension rising, the moment becoming more and more uncomfortable.  “Zacharias is supposed to pray, why doesn’t he open his mouth?!” they wondered.

Finally another priest moves toward him and others follow.  They discover Zacharias is not so emotionally and spiritually moved by his moment in the Temple that he’s unable to speak.  He’s not so overwhelmed by his responsibility to pray in front of all these hundreds of people that he cannot speak.  He’s just unable to speak!

Nine months and eight days later they bring their baby to the Temple for circumcision and naming. When the child is named John Zacharias’ ability to speak returns and he prays the prayer that he would have prayed at the altar.  He addresses God and honors all that He has done and will do for His people.  Then he adds a few choice sentences for the role his own son John will play in the plan of God.

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins…”

John is called a Prophet!  There hadn’t been one seen for 400 years in Israel.  And it was true.  John prepared people for the coming of Jesus Christ.  When Jesus stepped into his public teaching role John said of Him, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” 

Do you remember what Jesus said of John?  He said, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist…”  Matthew 11:11

Hindsight

The interesting thing about Biblical prophecy is that the readers during Jesus time accepted the prophecy as prediction of the future.  That sounds a little silly but today we have to prove that the prophecy was actually written before it was fulfilled, then prove that it wasn’t tampered with, then prove that it applies to the actual event, then prove something else!  But when Jesus fulfilled prophecy it was in existence for at least 400 years and everyone knew it was written before it happened. Their parents had read it to them in synagogue before Jesus was born. They knew it wasn’t tampered with because they had memorized it together as a family before Jesus was born.  They lived in the culture where Jesus fulfilled it exactly as it was written. 

Why am I telling you this?

Because the impact of prophecy was greater on the original readers during Jesus time than it is on us today!  Why?  Because they felt the authenticity, they felt the exact fulfillment, they felt the authority and they felt the actual event!  We feel the shadow of a fulfillment that is 2,000 years old. 

Think of the end of child labor in the English-speaking world!  Wow, doesn’t that make your toes tingle?  Think of the end of home remedies and the advent of modern medicine!  Wow, doesn’t that bring back recollections of the black plague, polio and epidemic influenza that used to kill thousands?  Think of the end of outhouses!  Wow, doesn’t that bring back memories of walking through the snow in the middle of the night?  None of those issues are very meaningful to us because most of us didn’t experience the improvement of life or the direct impact of those culture shifts.

Because we’re separated from the events of prophecy we lose the emotional impact of the audaciousness of the fulfillment.

If I could give you an experience of the hair on the back of your neck standing up I’d have to; pick the stock, exhort you to put every penny you could scrounge up into it and tell you to hold it for 2 years, 2 months, 2 days, 2 hours and 22 minutes and then sell it at the exact time I prescribed and you’d be a trillionaire!  You’d appreciate my prophetic ability.  The hair on the back of your neck would stand up.

That’s the feeling the first century Jewish people experienced when Jesus fulfilled prophecy.  Jesus fulfilling prophecy struck people as unbelievable.  So they put it all on the line for Jesus and he fulfilled every expectation and prophecy the Old Testament could throw at Him!

I just wish I could feel the ancient fulfillment in the here and now like they did!