Category Archives: Jesus

Authority to Forgive

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Though most of us spent decades in classrooms, rarely do we remember a specific class. Each hour of instruction tends to blend with the others to build a cumulative base of knowledge. Occasionally one hour of instruction will stand out among all the others. One such hour for me was my first year at Luther Seminary in 1977. The class was being taught by Dr. Warren Quanbeck, a renown Lutheran theologian.

One monring he was leading us through a story in the Gospel of Mark, the healing of the paralytic (Mark 2:1-13). He pointed out the controversy surrounding Jesus’ announcement that the man’s sins were forgiven. The religious scribes thought it was blasphemy for Jesus to claim such authority. Then Dr. Quanbeck asked a question that rocked my understanding of Jesus and forgiveness.

“If Jesus died in order to forgive us our sin, how could he forgive the sins of the man prior to his crucifixion?”

Like many Christians, I had grown up with a rather simplistic idea that Jesus “paid” the penalty for my sins by being a sacrifice to the righteousness of God. Often this line of reasoning turns God into a “mean vindictive judge” who demands the death of his only son. Dr.Quanbeck challenged that understanding by pointing out that Jesus was forgiving sin prior to his death just as God had been doing in the Old Testament. God’s business is forgiveness.

What put Jesus on the cross was the human inability to accept such gracious mercy and love. Throughout the Gospel of Mark we witness this tension with the religious official over Jesus’ authority. Ultimately they crucify Jesus precisely because he claimed the divine power to forgive sins. It was humanity’s ultimate rejection of God’s grace. But God would not be denied. To demonstrate Jesus’ authority, God raised him from the dead and turn the crucifixion into the very path to eternal life.

Dr. Quanbeck died less than two years after that class. But his instruction guided me into a deeper understanding of God’s grace and mercy. Thanks be to God.

Do you remember a class, teacher, or moment that rocked your understanding of God?

Lord Jesus, thank you for being so gracious towards me.

Go Home

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What path are you following?

When I read the Gospel of Mark, I am struck by how quickly certain people left everything to follow Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James and John immediately left their fishing nets to follow Jesus (Mark 1:18). Levi left his tax booth and followed him (Mark 2:14). I think to myself, “I could never make such a radical, instantaneous decision like them.” The text helps me examine the depth of my conviction to follow Jesus.

Today I was reading the story of the paralytic in Mark 2. Four friends stopped at nothing to place the paralytic in the sight of Jesus. Their plan was that he would be healed. But Jesus’ home was so filled that they could not enter. They still made a way. Jesus then made the controversial move of saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” The religious hierarchy had a fit because they did think Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. Jesus could see their skeptical thoughts so he said something even more troublesome, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk?’”

That is a question that continues to challenge all who read it. Which would you say is easier to say?

Jesus continued, “I will now demonstrate that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He turned to the paralytic, “Stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” Those last words caught my attention. I expected Jesus to say, “And follow me.” After all, here is an ideal candidate to follow Jesus. The healed paralytic could bear witness to what Jesus had done for him. He could be living proof of Jesus authority and healing power.

But Jesus sent him home.

I don’t know why Jesus would call fisherman and tax collectors to follow him, and not the healed paralytic. (It could have something to do with whether miraculous healing was to be the primary focus of his ministry.)  Still, there are at least two lessons that we need to hear.

First, our sins are forgiven. Our broken relationship with God is restored by Jesus’ authority.

Second, we need to listen carefully as to where and how we serve. Not all of us are called to serve Jesus in the same way, to walk the same path. Yet I think we all are called to listen to his voice, a voice that speaks forgiveness and direction.

Lord Jesus, open my heart, mind and will to hear your promise and command.

Beginning the Gospel School

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Beginnings need special attention. On the first day of school I would wait with my children at their bus stop and snap a picture to mark the occasion. My first day at Resurrection, I arrived early in the morning and walked the grounds, thinking and praying for the congregation’s future. Our western culture declares a holiday to begin each New Year. The Bible starts with the awesome statement, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

The New Testament begins with four gospels, each declaring Jesus Christ as Lord, but in unique ways. Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, showing his Jewish heritage through Abraham and David. Mark begins with the words of the Old Testament, “I am sending my messenger ahead of you,” an introduction to John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism. Luke begins in the temple of Jerusalem where an angel announces to the priest Zechariah that in his old age he will have a son, John the Baptist. John has perhaps the most auspicious beginning, directly echoing the words of Genesis, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and was God.”

All four Gospels want to make clear from the beginning that Jesus is a central actor of God’s ongoing story to redeem a corrupt and broken world. The story of the Old Testament set the stage for Jesus’ entrance into the cosmic drama. His entrance shifts the story in a radical new direction, but it is still connected to God’s ongoing redemption.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are called Gospels (Good News) and not biographies. Their purpose is not simple to inform the reader about Jesus’ life, but rather to transform the reader into a passionate follower of Jesus. They make no claim to be unbiased. They have an announcement to declare: Jesus is Good News for those who embrace his mission.

As 2012 begins, I pray that you will embrace this news and seek to follow Jesus as you read from the Gospels. At Resurrection, our Sunday morning Bible texts will be from the Gospel of Mark and we will follow Jesus chapter by chapter to his death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter. Good news is coming in 2012 as we begin our study of Jesus.  Let’s start with joy.

Lord Jesus, show me the way.

 

Christmas Cute?

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“It is indeed annoying to our nature to see God Himself take on this poor, feeble, and corrupt human nature, and disdain the holy, glorious, angelic nature.” – Martin Luther

Sometime we push the cute button of Christmas. We think it’s cute that God would want to become a human baby like us. And since babies are always so cute, then the idea that God became a baby must be cute. We paint Christmas in a wondrous glow of beauty.

We forget that God was already beyond any description of cute, beautiful or wondrous. God chose to sink down into our corrupt nature and experience the wretched brokenness of our human nature. We might like to think that we climb up the moral ladder of human achievement to meet our God. Nothing is further from the truth. God came all the way down the cosmic ladder to meet us in our poverty and desperate need, in the darkness of night.

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Jesus birth is more than cute. It shatters the heavens and bridges the gap between God and humanity. Prepared to be awed by God’s dramatic entrance into the story of our rescue.

Lord Jesus, come.

Rushing towards Christmas

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Santa racing on a bicycleChristmas is fast approaching. On my way to work this morning, two people asked me if I was ready. It seems like Christmas has become an invasion that requires complex preparation, sort of like the D-day invasion of Normandy beaches during World War II. There are the gifts to buy and wrap, the cookies to bake, the programs and parties to attend. Each is good in itself, but the intensity and high expectation surrounding each piece puts a crimp in the holiday season. Some people just seem to go crazy with the stress of the holidays.

Of course, the first Christmas was a very simple affair: a mom, a dad, and a baby. The setting was a lowly stable, nothing fancy. There was a great sound and light show with angelic choirs, but the family only heard about it second-hand. Mary and Joe kept their focus on the baby. Later Mary pondered the shepherd’s words (Luke 2:19).

As a pastor, my Christmas celebration revolves around the worship services on Christmas Eve and Day. With the familiar carols and Gospel story, it is hard to deliver something new and spectacular. Many have told me that their deepest, most joyful Christmas memory is lighting candle in a darkened church and singing Silent Night, Holy Night. Tradition has depth that builds intensity year-by-year. The new and spectacular is overshadowed by the old and familiar.

I pray that you will have time to ponder, to reflect, to simply embrace God’s love for you. It might be late at night after the packages are wrapped, or early in the morning before you run last set of errands. The Prince of Peace is coming. He is coming for you.

Lord Jesus, break through the complexity of my life and grant me peace, your peace.

 

From the Old to the New

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After four months of studying and preaching on the Old Testament story, I confess I am ready to celebrate Jesus’ birth and to refocus on Jesus’ story of  life, death and resurrection.  Though I greatly appreciate the marvelous stories and themes of the Old Testament, I remain a devoted Christian who reads the Bible with Jesus-tinted glasses.  I strongly believe that Christians need to have a basic understanding of the Old Testament story to fully understand who Jesus is.  The God of the Old Testament is the God of Jesus.

Yet Jesus reinterprets some of the Old Testament teachings in a radical new way.  For example: the Old Testament has many stories of violence and ethnic warfare.   From Moses attack on the Midianites in Numbers 31 to Elijah’s slaughter of the 450  priests of Baal in I Kings 18, violence is often condoned by the Old Testament.

But in Matthew 5, Jesus reinterprets the whole “love your neighbor” to include my enemies.  Here is how Eugene Peterson interprets Jesus’ words,

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’  I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer,  for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best – the sun to warm and the rain to nourish – to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.  If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that.  If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.  (Matt 5:43-47, the Message)

Jesus’ words certainly make more sense to me, but they are so a greater challenge by which to trust, live, and serve.  I recognize my need for a saviour, a deliverer, one who can transform my heart, mind and life.  I am sure glad God sent one 2000 years ago.

Lord Jesus, save us from ourselves.

Looking Backward and Forward

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The last verses of the Old Testament have both a backward and forward orientation. Malachi instructs the reader to Remember the past and to Anticipate the future.

Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. (Malachi 4:4)

Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents. (Malachi 4:5-6)

Malachi reminds us that God has worked in Israel’s past. Look back and remember how God worked at Mt. Horeb (Sinai). It calls us to remember how God has worked in our own past, to instruct and teach us.

I remember making a pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Angeles, Washington, to remember the place where I first learned the Bible stories, acted in Christmas plays and sang the familiar carols. Christmas has so many specific memories for many of us. It can be simple nostalgia, but it can also become a deep spring of joy, light and love that calls us back to our spiritual roots. Where and when do you remember hearing the story of God’s statutes?

Yet Malachi also pushes into the future, that God is not simply an ancient figure of distant history, but a God who will act in our future. The prophet Malachi recycles the ancient prophet, Elijah, to describe the messenger who is coming. (Elijah had not “died” but was taken up into heaven on a chariot of fire, 2 Kings 2:11). The future return of Elijah will cause our hearts to turn to one another, to bring peace and harmony to God’s family. And God’s family is much larger than our own households; Jesus redefines family in the New Testament.

Looking at those who sat around him, Jesus said, “Here are my mother and brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister and mother.”

Further, Jesus, the Son of God, turns the hearts of God’s children to their heavenly Papa. The future is so much brighter than our present reality. To what do you look forward in God’s glorious kingdom?

As we read scripture, we need to be mindful of how the past, the present and the future all intertwine.

Lord Jesus, be thou my vision, backwards and forwards.

See, the Day is Coming

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Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible yet it points beyond itself.  It is not the final chapter in God’s dealing with Israel, but rather points to something yet to come.

See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.  But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. (Malachi 4:1-2)

Malachi assumes two things.  First, the future day of God’s judgment has not come yet.  God is not finished with God’s creation.  The second assumption is that you and I, the readers of this text, will receive mercy and healing, not burning judgment.  There is hope for you in this world.

As Charles Welsey wrote in  the third stanza of the Christmas carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, quoting Malachi 4:2.

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and Life to all he brings,
ris’n with healing in his wings.

God’s day will come with Jesus Christ.  He is the true climax to the story of the Old Testament as well as our human story. Are you ready to leap?

Lord Jesus, come quickly so I can leap with joy and justice.

The Fiery Furnace and Christmas

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The book of Daniel challenges the “normal” perspective of the Old Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, God addressed the people or culture of Israel as a whole. From the exodus, through the wilderness wanderings  up to the divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, God interacted with a unified culture: kings and prophets, merchants and farmers. “You shall have no other god before Me.”

In the book of Daniel this changed. The Jews who are in exile in Babylon are not the dominant culture, but rather a small minority. A king like Nebuchadnezzar might come to recognize the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when God delivers them from the fiery furnace, but he does not force the whole of his society to conform to Jewish culture. Instead the stories of Daniel show how the Jews resisted the religious rules of the dominant culture, even when it might cost them their lives. The Jews in exile had entered a multicultural world.

I wonder if this has a lesson for Christians in the season of Christmas. I know that some Christians are upset that the dominant culture gives only token acknowledgment to the religious basis for Christmas, replacing the manager and baby Jesus with the Christmas tree and Santa Claus.  There are some Christians who long for a more “pure” holiday, when school concerts could sing “Silent Night”” and public prayers could refer to Jesus Christ as Lord. But our current reality is more like the Jews in exile in Babylon than as citizens in the Kingdom of Judah. We might long to live in a monolithic culture in which society promotes our spiritual vision, but we do not.  We live in a multicultural world, with competing worldviews and behaviors.

What this means is that Christians need to do an even better job of telling the great true story of God and Christmas. The book of Daniel was written for the discouraged, scattered Jews to encourage them in the exile and beyond.  The story stated that God still ruled in Babylon, even when kings and other officials denied Him.  The story continues to proclaim that God still rules in America, even if our officials remain silent. And like Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, we can serve in government, schools, or media, knowing that they are not “god,” and that we may have moments to bear witness to the God who can deliver, Jesus the Christ.

Jesus, let me bear witness to you as my deliverer.

Prison Prayer

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I have always admired Dietrich Bonhoeffer.   Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who worked for the resistance against Adolph Hitler and was executed in April 1945 for his participation in the plot to assassinate Hitler.  He reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they stood up to the religious tyranny of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3.   Written in prison, Bonhoeffer’s prayer could have been their prayer.  It certainly can be ours.

 O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you;
I cannot do this alone

In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me.

O heavenly Father
I praise and thank you
For the peace of the night;
I praise and thank you for this new day;
I praise and thank you for all the goodness
and faithfulness throughout my life.

You have granted me many blessings;
Now let me also accept what is hard
from your hand.
You will lay on me no more
than I can bear.
You make all things work together for good
for your children.

Lord Jesus Christ,
You were poor
and in distress, a captive and forsaken as I am.
You know all man’s troubles;
You abide with me
when all men fail me;
It is your will that I should know you
and turn to you.
Lord, I hear your call and follow;
Help me.

I remember in your presence all my loved ones,
my fellow-prisoners, and all who in this house
preform their hard service;
Lord have mercy.

Restore me to liberty,
and enable me so to live now
that I may answer before you and before men.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised. AMEN.

(Letter and Papers from Prison, 1971, p. 139)