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In the Gospel of John 15:15, Jesus says, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
How often do you think of Jesus as your friend? I have to admit that I do not often think of Him in those terms. I think of Him as my Lord, my Savior, my Advocate, my Redeemer but not as my friend. Yet, He tells us that he calls us His friends.
A Franciscan gentleman had this insightful thought about the Jesus/friend relationship:
“Do you ever reflect upon the fact that Jesus feels proud of you? Proud that you accepted the faith which He offered you? Proud that after He chose you, you chose Him for a friend and Lord? Proud that you haven’t given up? Proud that you believe in Him enough to try again and again? Proud that you trust that He can help you? Do you ever think that Jesus appreciates you for wanting Him, for waning to say no to so many things that would separate you from Him? Do you ever think that Jesus is grateful to you for pausing to smile and comfort one of His children who has great need to see a smile, to feel a touch? Do you ever think of Jesus being grateful to you for learning more about Him so you can speak to others more deeply and truly about Him? Do you ever think that Jesus can be angry or disappointed in you for not believing that He has forgiven you totally? Because Jesus calls us His friends, there is the possibility of every feeling and emotion which can exist between friends to exist here and now between Jesus and you.”
Perhaps we never stop to contemplate Jesus being proud and grateful for us because we are always trying to earn His favor by our works, our actions, our words instead of just abiding in Him and His love as He tells us to do.
I have often found in my own walk that I am always stationed somewhere between pride and self-pity. There is always that toggle going on internally and truth be told, Jesus does not want us on either end of the spectrum. He wants us right in the middle where we are neither prideful nor loathing ourselves but resting in Him. I do not pretend that this is easy as we deal with the ups and downs of our own spiritual successes and shortcomings but maybe, just maybe Jesus expects more failure from us than we do of ourselves. I am reminded of Peter who after denying the Lord three times went back to fishing. He was done. He had given up the faith. He was a failure. And then the Lord met him on the shore, made him breakfast and asked him three times if He loved Him. Three times to show Peter that his thrice denial was forgiven and in the past and that what truly was in Peter’s heart was love.
And so too with us. The Lord knows we are frail and but dust, yet He loves us and urges us to feed His sheep, knowing that He who has begun a good work in us, WILL finish it.
As the old praise hymn goes:
"What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!"
Jesus wants to carry us as His friends. Let’s take everything to Him in prayer today.
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"It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us."
- C.S. Lewis
Friday, October 14, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Storyteller
When you hear the word “theology” what comes to your mind first?
Most likely you first think of theology as the study of God. You may also have the image of a gray-haired professor writing on a chalkboard about the attributes of God and how He interacts with mankind. I often think of the numerous Christian literature books I have read that methodically extract the hidden truths contained in the Word of God.
When Jesus sought to teach about God and His kingdom he did not use a chalkboard, a flow chart, or pass out a stack of Theology 101 textbooks. He told stories. Many stories. The majority of Jesus' stories or parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread (parable of the Leaven Bread), a man knocking on his neighbor's door at night (parable of the Friend at Night), or the aftermath of a roadside mugging (parable of the Good Samaritan); yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love.
One notable author states, “To move through the language and imagery of Jesus’ parables offers some fascinating insights into His sensibilities. Webster’s dictionary defines an iconoclast as ‘one who makes attacks on cherished beliefs and institutions, one who destroys or opposes the veneration of religious images.’ Jesus, the master storyteller, was clearly an iconoclast. His parables expressed in words what His actions demonstrated. He shattered idols and blew away preconceived ideas of who God is what men and women are meant to be.”
Upon reading Jesus’ parables, I have often found myself scratching my head at God’s sense of justice and mercy. Why did the prodigal son receive such preferential treatment from his father over his hard working, loyal brother? Why did the king so willingly pardon the unpayable debt from a servant who boasted before him that he would repay him in full? And why on earth did the guys that only worked one hour in the field get the same pay as the guys that worked all day?
The Storyteller unsettles us. Jesus’ parables are an affront to our traditional beliefs about God, justice, and how we are to respond to others. But yet Jesus stands by His stories and urges us, as He did His Jewish audience two thousand years ago, to trust Him. As one writer so eloquently stated when discussing why Jesus taught using parables, “Because, above all, Jesus knew what God was like, so good to the poor, so glad when the lost are found, so overflowing with a father’s love for the returning child, so merciful to the despairing, the helpless and the needy.” This is the God we serve. A God who tells us so tenderly in Romans 5:8 that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that all the angels rejoice when ONE sinner repents.
Quite simply, I believe Jesus told us stories because He knew that was the most effective communication vehicle for conveying the love of God to us. Perhaps we would not have understood Him if He just simply stated the truths about who God is and how He loves us in a bunch of declarative sentences. I also believe He taught this way because stories are memorable. The images of His stories are burned in our minds as we think of the father running toward the wayward son and kissing him, the beaten man being bandaged on the side of the road by his sworn enemy, the beggar Lazarus being carried to Abraham’s bosom. These are the pictures that the Lord Jesus left us to provide a glimpse into the heart of God. Over and over again, Jesus reminds us that God does not love the way we do - based on conditions, status, or favor. He accepts us unconditionally regardless of our position in life and regardless of how we will respond in return. All of us are equal at the cross. And His expectation is that we, who call ourselves His disciples, will love others the same. Let’s begin today.
Most likely you first think of theology as the study of God. You may also have the image of a gray-haired professor writing on a chalkboard about the attributes of God and how He interacts with mankind. I often think of the numerous Christian literature books I have read that methodically extract the hidden truths contained in the Word of God.
When Jesus sought to teach about God and His kingdom he did not use a chalkboard, a flow chart, or pass out a stack of Theology 101 textbooks. He told stories. Many stories. The majority of Jesus' stories or parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread (parable of the Leaven Bread), a man knocking on his neighbor's door at night (parable of the Friend at Night), or the aftermath of a roadside mugging (parable of the Good Samaritan); yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love.
One notable author states, “To move through the language and imagery of Jesus’ parables offers some fascinating insights into His sensibilities. Webster’s dictionary defines an iconoclast as ‘one who makes attacks on cherished beliefs and institutions, one who destroys or opposes the veneration of religious images.’ Jesus, the master storyteller, was clearly an iconoclast. His parables expressed in words what His actions demonstrated. He shattered idols and blew away preconceived ideas of who God is what men and women are meant to be.”
Upon reading Jesus’ parables, I have often found myself scratching my head at God’s sense of justice and mercy. Why did the prodigal son receive such preferential treatment from his father over his hard working, loyal brother? Why did the king so willingly pardon the unpayable debt from a servant who boasted before him that he would repay him in full? And why on earth did the guys that only worked one hour in the field get the same pay as the guys that worked all day?
The Storyteller unsettles us. Jesus’ parables are an affront to our traditional beliefs about God, justice, and how we are to respond to others. But yet Jesus stands by His stories and urges us, as He did His Jewish audience two thousand years ago, to trust Him. As one writer so eloquently stated when discussing why Jesus taught using parables, “Because, above all, Jesus knew what God was like, so good to the poor, so glad when the lost are found, so overflowing with a father’s love for the returning child, so merciful to the despairing, the helpless and the needy.” This is the God we serve. A God who tells us so tenderly in Romans 5:8 that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that all the angels rejoice when ONE sinner repents.
Quite simply, I believe Jesus told us stories because He knew that was the most effective communication vehicle for conveying the love of God to us. Perhaps we would not have understood Him if He just simply stated the truths about who God is and how He loves us in a bunch of declarative sentences. I also believe He taught this way because stories are memorable. The images of His stories are burned in our minds as we think of the father running toward the wayward son and kissing him, the beaten man being bandaged on the side of the road by his sworn enemy, the beggar Lazarus being carried to Abraham’s bosom. These are the pictures that the Lord Jesus left us to provide a glimpse into the heart of God. Over and over again, Jesus reminds us that God does not love the way we do - based on conditions, status, or favor. He accepts us unconditionally regardless of our position in life and regardless of how we will respond in return. All of us are equal at the cross. And His expectation is that we, who call ourselves His disciples, will love others the same. Let’s begin today.
Monday, September 12, 2011
A Man Worth Emulating
Football season kicked off this past weekend as the lockout finally came to an end just a few weeks ago. On ESPN’s Mike and Mike radio show, the hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic were discussing a news story about the college of Notre Dame enforcing stricter rules regarding the use of obscene language by its head football coach. Apparently, because Notre Dame is a Catholic college, the administration of the school feels the football coach should not be screaming obscenities at his players when the team is on national television.
Mike and Mike discussed this story at length. Mike Golic, who was a former defensive end in the NFL, felt that the idea of trying to police foul language was a joke because all of the coaches use curse words frequently and repeatedly when coaching their teams. He went on to say that not only is foul language part of the fabric of the NFL, he said it is also a part of the college game as well.
At this point, the hosts brought on Mark Schlereth, a former offensive lineman in the NFL. Schlereth agreed wholeheartedly that it would be near impossible to police foul language but then he went on to say something even more shocking. He said in the five seasons that he played football for the Washington Redskins, he never heard his head coach, Joe Gibbs EVER utter a single curse word. It is also worth noting that the Redskins won a Super Bowl during this timeframe. Just a few minutes after Schlereth mentioned this, Kyle Busch, the NASCAR driver for Joe Gibbs’ racing team, came on the show to talk about his recent win. Busch echoed Schlereth’s observation of Gibbs and said that he too, during all his years of driving, has never heard Gibbs utter a single curse word. He also remarked that it is very rare in the sport of car racing to not hear obscenities as pretty much every other word out of the management team is a curse word.
I mention this because Joe Gibbs is a professed Christian. He often talks about his faith when he is interviewed. He has also been one of the most successful football coaches and race car managers in the history of both sports. But what I find most interesting is the fact that his former player and current car racing driver did not mention his professional success but his character when coaching them. Gibbs has been a part of two professional sports that are synonymous with foul language, lewd jokes, and infantile behavior, and yet he has never taken part in any of it and that stood out more to Schlereth and Busch than all the titles he has won.
When Jesus tells us to be salt and light this is what He means. Joe Gibbs said more about his faith and his relationship to God by refraining from using language that is accepted in his profession and even, at times, encouraged than anything he ever accomplished on the football field or the race track. He actually understands that in the end he is not going to be judged by Super Bowl rings and race car trophies but by how he obeyed Jesus Christ. And this is our litmus test too. If Joe Gibbs, with all of his public success, can maintain such an impeccable character than we should strive to do the same.
People are watching us. They are noticing what we do and what we don’t do. Even when they shove us off and tell us to stop talking about God. They are still watching. They are still trying to figure out if this Jesus thing is real. Our life speaks louder than our words. I am sure when Joe Gibbs was told of Schlereth’s and Busch’s comments, he just smiled and thought their sentiments were worth more than all his titles. And truly, they are.
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"You have the ability, with your words, to make a person stronger. Your words are to their soul what a vitamin is to their body."
- Max Lucado
Mike and Mike discussed this story at length. Mike Golic, who was a former defensive end in the NFL, felt that the idea of trying to police foul language was a joke because all of the coaches use curse words frequently and repeatedly when coaching their teams. He went on to say that not only is foul language part of the fabric of the NFL, he said it is also a part of the college game as well.
At this point, the hosts brought on Mark Schlereth, a former offensive lineman in the NFL. Schlereth agreed wholeheartedly that it would be near impossible to police foul language but then he went on to say something even more shocking. He said in the five seasons that he played football for the Washington Redskins, he never heard his head coach, Joe Gibbs EVER utter a single curse word. It is also worth noting that the Redskins won a Super Bowl during this timeframe. Just a few minutes after Schlereth mentioned this, Kyle Busch, the NASCAR driver for Joe Gibbs’ racing team, came on the show to talk about his recent win. Busch echoed Schlereth’s observation of Gibbs and said that he too, during all his years of driving, has never heard Gibbs utter a single curse word. He also remarked that it is very rare in the sport of car racing to not hear obscenities as pretty much every other word out of the management team is a curse word.
I mention this because Joe Gibbs is a professed Christian. He often talks about his faith when he is interviewed. He has also been one of the most successful football coaches and race car managers in the history of both sports. But what I find most interesting is the fact that his former player and current car racing driver did not mention his professional success but his character when coaching them. Gibbs has been a part of two professional sports that are synonymous with foul language, lewd jokes, and infantile behavior, and yet he has never taken part in any of it and that stood out more to Schlereth and Busch than all the titles he has won.
When Jesus tells us to be salt and light this is what He means. Joe Gibbs said more about his faith and his relationship to God by refraining from using language that is accepted in his profession and even, at times, encouraged than anything he ever accomplished on the football field or the race track. He actually understands that in the end he is not going to be judged by Super Bowl rings and race car trophies but by how he obeyed Jesus Christ. And this is our litmus test too. If Joe Gibbs, with all of his public success, can maintain such an impeccable character than we should strive to do the same.
People are watching us. They are noticing what we do and what we don’t do. Even when they shove us off and tell us to stop talking about God. They are still watching. They are still trying to figure out if this Jesus thing is real. Our life speaks louder than our words. I am sure when Joe Gibbs was told of Schlereth’s and Busch’s comments, he just smiled and thought their sentiments were worth more than all his titles. And truly, they are.
************************************************************
"You have the ability, with your words, to make a person stronger. Your words are to their soul what a vitamin is to their body."
- Max Lucado
Monday, August 22, 2011
Heaven Under Our Feet
This past week I had the opportunity to travel with a church group to Costa Rica and visit the Lighthouse Children's Home. Its founder is Larry Neff, who was an orphan himself at age three. Larry felt the call early in his Christian life to build Christian orphanages to help homeless and needy children. The first home he built was in Mississippi in 1978. The second home he opened was in Costa Rica and he has since opened additional homes in Panama, Mexico, and India.
I have to admit that I was nervous and anxious on the flight down as I wondered about the living conditions and how the children would react to bunch of “gringos” invading their home.
A tour guide described the area where the orphanage is located as the armpit of Costa Rica with broken down squatter homes, guard dogs, and lots of bars to keep the thieves out. As we arrived, I would say that was a pretty apt description of the outside, but what lay on the inside contained the jewels and treasures of heaven. For you see, the Lighthouse home is comprised of 23 children who are there for a myriad of reasons. Most are there because their parents have either abandoned them or could not afford to care for them. Tragic, I know, but when you meet these children you would never guess that their backgrounds were so broken. Larry and his wife Paula, and Sally the “house mother” and her husband Terry have literally poured the love of God into these children.
Mother Teresa used to say that a person’s greatest need is not food and water but to be loved. These children are well fed, well clothed, and have a Christian school on the premises, but you quickly realize that it is not these things that enable them to exude such peace and happiness. It is the love and acceptance they receive every day. It is not hyperbole when I say that our church group had the privilege of being in the presence of living epistles.
These children with such difficult and tragic beginnings welcomed all of us with open arms, smiling faces, and a sense of love that I have never felt before anywhere. The language barrier (the primary language is Spanish) soon faded as we gathered every night to share testimonies, Bible devotions, and songs. During the day we dug holes, poured cement, mowed lawns, washed and painted school walls, cooked meals, and helped teach the school-aged children. Each day we marveled at how each child had his/her role in the home and did his/her chores without complaining.
On the plane ride home, I sat next to a man from Miami who had traveled to Costa Rica on business. When I shared with him that we were there on a mission’s trip, he asked if my husband used his vacation time to go on the trip. When I replied yes, he remarked, “Really? He used his own time to live in a place like that and dig holes and mow lawns every day?” I suppose that is a fair assessment as on the surface it seems ludicrous to spend your vacation time in the armpit of Costa Rica digging ditches and washing walls but, in reality, God gave us a taste of heaven.
In so many ways the whole experience reminds me of all the paradoxes that are contained in Christianity – you have to die to live, lose your life to find it, have faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain, go to a Costa Rican orphanage to find the Sermon on the Mount being lived out every day.
A woman named Patricia who can only be described as a woman completely in love with the Lord, was our tour guide for a day as we visited the Rain Forest. At one point during dinner she commented that Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, but rather how to pray. As I reflect on the trip, I realize perhaps more than ever that the gospel is not contained in great orators but in great hearts that seek to obey the Lord at any cost. What a privilege to have seen the gospel up close at the Lighthouse Children’s home. I am already planning my return visit.
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"Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them." - Mother Teresa
I have to admit that I was nervous and anxious on the flight down as I wondered about the living conditions and how the children would react to bunch of “gringos” invading their home.
A tour guide described the area where the orphanage is located as the armpit of Costa Rica with broken down squatter homes, guard dogs, and lots of bars to keep the thieves out. As we arrived, I would say that was a pretty apt description of the outside, but what lay on the inside contained the jewels and treasures of heaven. For you see, the Lighthouse home is comprised of 23 children who are there for a myriad of reasons. Most are there because their parents have either abandoned them or could not afford to care for them. Tragic, I know, but when you meet these children you would never guess that their backgrounds were so broken. Larry and his wife Paula, and Sally the “house mother” and her husband Terry have literally poured the love of God into these children.
Mother Teresa used to say that a person’s greatest need is not food and water but to be loved. These children are well fed, well clothed, and have a Christian school on the premises, but you quickly realize that it is not these things that enable them to exude such peace and happiness. It is the love and acceptance they receive every day. It is not hyperbole when I say that our church group had the privilege of being in the presence of living epistles.
These children with such difficult and tragic beginnings welcomed all of us with open arms, smiling faces, and a sense of love that I have never felt before anywhere. The language barrier (the primary language is Spanish) soon faded as we gathered every night to share testimonies, Bible devotions, and songs. During the day we dug holes, poured cement, mowed lawns, washed and painted school walls, cooked meals, and helped teach the school-aged children. Each day we marveled at how each child had his/her role in the home and did his/her chores without complaining.
On the plane ride home, I sat next to a man from Miami who had traveled to Costa Rica on business. When I shared with him that we were there on a mission’s trip, he asked if my husband used his vacation time to go on the trip. When I replied yes, he remarked, “Really? He used his own time to live in a place like that and dig holes and mow lawns every day?” I suppose that is a fair assessment as on the surface it seems ludicrous to spend your vacation time in the armpit of Costa Rica digging ditches and washing walls but, in reality, God gave us a taste of heaven.
In so many ways the whole experience reminds me of all the paradoxes that are contained in Christianity – you have to die to live, lose your life to find it, have faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain, go to a Costa Rican orphanage to find the Sermon on the Mount being lived out every day.
A woman named Patricia who can only be described as a woman completely in love with the Lord, was our tour guide for a day as we visited the Rain Forest. At one point during dinner she commented that Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, but rather how to pray. As I reflect on the trip, I realize perhaps more than ever that the gospel is not contained in great orators but in great hearts that seek to obey the Lord at any cost. What a privilege to have seen the gospel up close at the Lighthouse Children’s home. I am already planning my return visit.
**********************************************************
"Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them." - Mother Teresa
Friday, August 5, 2011
When God Shows Up
Ever have a moment when you really sensed God’s presence? As if He was orchestrating the very moments in a particular situation in your life? God tells us in His Word that He is always working in our lives and that He even knows the hairs on our head but often we long to sense Him, feel Him, know Him. I believe we fail to see Him in the way we desire because so often we are in disobedience or failing to confess sin. But when we are truly serving others, ministering with our heart and soul, He is there and He makes His presence known.
In the Gospel of John chapter 20, Thomas told his co-disciples that he would not believe that Jesus had resurrected unless he was able to see and touch His wounds. And when Jesus showed up and allowed Thomas to feel His nail prints and touch His sword-pierced side, Thomas cried out that he believed. Jesus then poignantly reminded him and us that he only believed because he saw Jesus in the flesh and then announced to everyone in the room “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Perhaps maybe the hardest thing God asks any of us to do on the other side of the cross is to believe that Jesus did exist and that He was who He claimed to be – the Son of God in the flesh that came to save sinners.
2,000 years is a long time and yet God tells us that 1,000 years is as one day to Him. For many of our modern scientists and philosophers it is easy to explain God away in the theories of evolution because surely if we were made in God’s image as Genesis states, God would be readily apparent. Of course, Romans 1:20-23 tells us, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”
There may be no other passage in the Bible other than this one that perfectly encapsulates the world’s view of God in the 21st century. We would rather worship the creation than the creator. Yet God tells us that his very essence and power are revealed in creation. But if we fail to acknowledge God here than how can we ever come to His Word and see Him there in His special revelation? The answer is we can’t. Our God really is not all that mysterious. He is not a genie in a lamp that requires some sort of magic password to grant us access to him. He is a God that inspired 40 men over a period of 1,500 years to write 66 books that all contain the same message – Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!
Every one of us that claims to be a Christian is a testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For you see, He lives inside us and it is through us that the world knows what Thomas found out - Jesus is real. The world can see us, touch us, watch us and by so doing it is as if Jesus is standing in front of them all over again telling them to touch his wounds. We are His testament. We are His voice. We are His heart. What a privledge.
In the Gospel of John chapter 20, Thomas told his co-disciples that he would not believe that Jesus had resurrected unless he was able to see and touch His wounds. And when Jesus showed up and allowed Thomas to feel His nail prints and touch His sword-pierced side, Thomas cried out that he believed. Jesus then poignantly reminded him and us that he only believed because he saw Jesus in the flesh and then announced to everyone in the room “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Perhaps maybe the hardest thing God asks any of us to do on the other side of the cross is to believe that Jesus did exist and that He was who He claimed to be – the Son of God in the flesh that came to save sinners.
2,000 years is a long time and yet God tells us that 1,000 years is as one day to Him. For many of our modern scientists and philosophers it is easy to explain God away in the theories of evolution because surely if we were made in God’s image as Genesis states, God would be readily apparent. Of course, Romans 1:20-23 tells us, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”
There may be no other passage in the Bible other than this one that perfectly encapsulates the world’s view of God in the 21st century. We would rather worship the creation than the creator. Yet God tells us that his very essence and power are revealed in creation. But if we fail to acknowledge God here than how can we ever come to His Word and see Him there in His special revelation? The answer is we can’t. Our God really is not all that mysterious. He is not a genie in a lamp that requires some sort of magic password to grant us access to him. He is a God that inspired 40 men over a period of 1,500 years to write 66 books that all contain the same message – Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!
Every one of us that claims to be a Christian is a testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For you see, He lives inside us and it is through us that the world knows what Thomas found out - Jesus is real. The world can see us, touch us, watch us and by so doing it is as if Jesus is standing in front of them all over again telling them to touch his wounds. We are His testament. We are His voice. We are His heart. What a privledge.
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