Category Archives: Jesus

Will it be Platter or Basket?

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So often we read short sections of the Bible and thereby miss some of the obvious connections between the sections.  For example, I am preparing to preach on Matthew 14:13-21 in which Jesus feeds five thousand.   The story is in all four Gospels and is quite familiar to many Jesus followers.  What I had not really noticed before is the connection to the story prior to it in which John the Baptist is beheaded by King Herod (Matthew 14: 1-12).

"Salome asks for St. Johns' Head" by artist Bernardino Luini, 1510

John had ticked off King Herod when John confronted Herod’s of sin of marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias.  Herod had tried to spare John’s life while he was a “guest” in his prison. But when Herod held a huge birthday bash for himself, Herodias’ dancing daughter coerced the king into serving John’s head on a dining room platter.  How appetizing was that?  The lavish birthday party ends in blood and death.

Then we shift scenes to Jesus and his surprise party.   Instead of a palace feast, it is a deserted lake shore and the only dancing comes when the disciples try to find food for the crowd.  What started as an impromptu healing service turns into a glorious feast with food for all.  “And all ate and were filled” (Matthew 14:20). 

The Basket of Bread by Salvador Dali 1929

Twelve baskets of leftovers for the guests to carry home!  What a sharp contrast to Pilate’s party that ended with a burial and an empty platter.

Yet my guess is, if you or I had received an invitation to attend either the Celebrity Birthday Banquet or the uncertain camp out, we would have chosen the Banquet.   It is only with hind sight that we discover where the real party breaks out.  

How do we, as followers of Jesus, prepare the way for Jesus’ Spirit to break out in a fresh way among us?  How do we take what we have and fill the hungry with good things? Do we expect God’s miracles to be at work among us?

Lord Jesus, show us how to feast with you daily while feeding the hungry around us.

Running with the Truth and Joy

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You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.  John 8:32 

When Jesus said this, he was not talking about a kind of philosophical truth that only deeper thinkers would find.  Rather Jesus was saying that he was the source of all truth and that knowing him would give us the freedom to live fully alive.  Later in John’s gospel, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”   Knowing Jesus as friend and savior guides us to knowing the truth about ourselves, our world and our relationship with others and with God.  Jesus is the true source of a vibrant life.  

Running with Joy is TRUE Running

Truth as personal knowledge of Jesus is similar to how I understand running.  On a biological and psychological level I can know that running is good for me, but that rarely gets me out the door and on the trail.  Rather I need to experience the benefits first hand, feel the joy of lungs breathing deeply and legs turning quickly.  As I run I experience the real truth about the benefits of running. My head clears and my spirit soars (at least on the good days.)  Now that I can run four miles again, the joy is especially sweet. 

The same is true with knowing Jesus, only as I run with him and experience him in my own life do I discover that he is the truth.  Jesus is not some collection of doctrines to comprehend, but a true friendship that keeps me moving along the road of life.  He is a true friend who seeks to guide, encourage, warn and embrace us.  

How true and real is your friendship with Jesus today?

Lord Jesus be real to me this hour, this day.

The Father Challenge

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This post is a little longer than most, but it ties yesterday’s post with Father’s Day

A favorite author of mine is John Ortberg. He once wrote about his three small children that when they would go out to eat, there was only one place they ever wanted to go, and it was “the shrine of the golden arches.” His children seemed to be convinced that they had a McDonald’s-shaped vacuum in their souls. The kids always want the same thing: a combination of the food — about which they really don’t much care — and a little prize. It’s not much of a prize, really, just some cheap little plastic thing, but in a moment of marketing genius, the folks at McDonald’s gave it a particular name: the Happy Meal. It is “the meal of great joy.” You aren’t just buying chicken McNuggets and a plastic princess, you’re buying HAPPINESS.

Every now and then he tried to talk them out of it. He told them to order whatever they wanted and he would give them a quarter so they can buy their own trinket and everyone would come out ahead. But the chant went up, “We want a Happy Meal. We want a Happy Meal.” Other customers stared at the skinflint of a father who won’t buy his kids the meal of great joy.

So, he bought them the Happy Meal. And it makes them happy –for about a minute and a half. The problem was that the happy wore off. The contentment did not last.

You never hear of a young adult coming back to his parents and saying, “Gee, Dad, remember that Happy Meal you gave me? That’s where I found lasting contentment and lifelong joy. I knew if I could just have that Happy Meal, I would be content for a lifetime, and I am. Thank you. There’ll be no need for therapy for this boy.”

You would think, kids being fairly bright these days, that sooner or later they would catch on to this deal and say, “You know, I keep getting these Happy Meals and they don’t give me lasting happiness, so I’m not going to be a sucker any more. I’m not going to set myself up for frustration and disappointment any more.” But it never happens. They keep buying Happy Meals and they keep not working.

Of course, only a child would be so foolish. Only a kid would be so naive as to think that contentment could be acquired through some kind of external acquisition. Only someone very young would have a high enough stupid quotient to believe that lasting happiness could come by a change in external circumstances. Right?

Ortberg’s final reflection is this: The truth about human beings is that as we grow up, we don’t get any smarter; our Happy Meals just keep getting more expensive. The world around us tells us that happiness is always just one Happy Meal away. That new car, new boat, new deck, new lake cabin will somehow meet our need for happiness. Our ever-growing pursuit of happiness rarely seems to make us happy.

Perhaps we need a whole new perspective. A perspective Jesus offer for us.

“If anyone wants to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose themselves?” Mark 8:34, 36

Where do you find your source of happiness?

Lord Jesus, show me your path to joy.

Name That Commandment

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Our confirmation students had a written test in which they wrote about the commandment that was most challenging to them.  Two commandments were frequently cited:  the second and tenth commandments.  Both are worthy of further reflection.   I will start with the second commandment and post on the tenth tomorrow.

The second commandment, “you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” reflects the power of words.  What we say matters.   God has given us a tremendous gift in being able to call out to him in prayer, praise and thanksgiving at anytime and in any situation.  God is like a mother who walks through a crowded noisy mall, hears a child’s cry and knows the child is her daughter or son.  God knows and responds to the cry of our hearts when we sing with joy or shout in terror.  What a privilege to be able to call upon the creator of the universe!

With this privilege in mind, we see how disrespectful it is to use God’s name to curse others, to inflict harm upon others.  Yes, we are creatures with powerful emotions like anger and rage.  Yes, we can be provoked by the actions of others to say things we wish we hadn’t. Yes, cursing has become more pervasive, even acceptable in our culture. Still we are not ruled by our emotions nor by cultural norms, but have the capacity to choose how to respond to our emotional stirrings.  Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44).  We need to pray for God’s help to keep his name holy.

One confirmation student did have a valid observation.  He observed people being very cavalier, or bored, in worship as they mumbled God’s praise.  Can our worship become so casual that we begin to take God’s name in vain?  Can we be disrespecting God because we are daydreaming instead of truly praising his Holy name?  I appreciate how confirmation student can sometimes help me see the God’s truth in a new light.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of your name.  Help me to cherish it always.

Prayer Challenge

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Looking to Heaven in Prayer

Last Sunday I challenged the worshipping community at Resurrection to a prayer commitment.  Following Jesus’ example of prayer in John 17 where he looked to heaven, I asked people to pray for three things and to commit at least five minutes daily to this task.  Consistent prayer is vital to a congregation’s mission.  Are you open to a prayer challenge? 

The first part of my challenge is to pray for those who are close to you: your spouse, children, siblings, parents, or significant others.  Jesus prayed for his disciples.  They had shared years of ministry together and had become a family.  He asked his Father in heaven to protect his disciples.   Our prayers for loved one can be that simple: for God to bless, protect and encourage them. 

Second, I encourage you to pray for your congregation’s mission.  In our secular age, it is easy to forget that congregations have a God-given mission to accomplish.  Jesus gave his mission to his disciples: to proclaim “eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).   At Resurrection we have that same mission, only we call it the Vibrant Life of Faith in Christ. 

Third, I invite you to pray for your adversary, for the person with whom you struggle daily or weekly.   It might be someone at work, at home or in your neighborhood.   In Matthew 5:44, Jesus told the disciples, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 

A friend told me about his struggle to love his adversary.  Every day as he went to work he saw a picture of the person and felt this internal anger rise up.  It got to the point where he would take a different route to work so as to avoid the picture. He was discussing this with his wife when she suggested that instead of avoiding it, he simply pray for God’s blessing and joy to be with his adversary, to envision the person covered in God’s light.  He listened to his wife and started praying.  At first there was no change in his emotions, but he persevered.  Gradually he felt his animosity dissipate.  He grew to see his adversary as a fellow child of God. 

What are your prayer challenges?

Lord Jesus, bless my family, church and enemies.

Two Portraits of Jesus

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In John 17, Jesus prayed with confidence and clarity.  After finishing the Last Supper  Jesus looked to heaven and prayed, 

Jesus looked to heaven

So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. (John 17:5)

This confidence is such a strong contrast with the prayer he prayed in Matthew, Mark and Luke when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane a short time later.  As the disciples slept, Jesus prayed for strength to face the cross:

Jesus praying in Gethsemane by artist He Qi

Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.  (Mark 14:36)

In John’s Gospel there is no prayer in the Garden.  In Matthew, Mark and Luke there is no extended prayer at the Passover meal.

Such contrasts can be disturbing for some.  I believe that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are more like portrait paintings than historical biographies.  Whereas John’s Gospel  paints a portrait in which Jesus had a laser-like focus on his “hour” to be glorified on the cross (John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 12:27, 13:1, 17:1), Mark’s Gospel shows Jesus wrestling with this cosmic decision as he approached the cross (Mark 14:32-41).  Both portraits are true, yet they reveal different insights.

Mark reveals that Jesus was truly human; his emotions were raw and deep.  On the cross he would cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Mark 15:34).  Jesus understood our own human dilemma, our trials, our brokenness.  Mark’s portrait is so brutally human.

John reveals the divine purpose of Jesus and his constant trust in God’s purpose.  Jesus accomplished God’s purpose of reconciling the world.  As he breathed his last breath, Jesus said, “It is finished, (accomplished, completed).” John’s portrait is so beautifully divine.

In my own life, at times I find support and comfort in Mark’s raw intimacy.  At other times, I am inspired and uplifted by John’s cosmic vision.   Together with Matthew and Luke, I have a deeper understanding of the mystery of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God.

What stories of Jesus do you turn to most often?  What stories do you try to ignore?

Lord Jesus, be my light in the midst of whatever confusion or darkness I experience this day. 

Marketer for the Ages

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Seth Godin is a marketing author whose blog I read regularly.  Today he wrote regarding worldviews:

In All Marketers Tell Stories, I argue that most organizations shouldn’t try to change the worldview of the audience they’re marketing to.

Worldview is a term popularized by George Lakoff. It’s the set of expectations and biases that color the way each of us see the world (before the marketer ever arrives on the scene). The worldview of a 45 year old wine-loving investment banker is very different from that of a fraternity brother. One might see a $100 bottle of burgundy as both a bargain and a must-have, while the other might see the very same bottle of wine as an insane waste of money.

It’s extremely expensive, time consuming and difficult to change someone’s worldview. The guys at Opus One shouldn’t spend a lot of time marketing expensive wine to fraternities because it’s not efficient. Sell nuts to squirrels, don’t try to persuade dolphins that nuts are delicious.

There’s an exception to this rule, and that’s the necessity of changing worldviews if you want to become a giant brand, a world changer, a marketer for the ages. Starbucks changed the way a significant part of the world thought about spending $4 for a cup of coffee.

Another exception is Jesus Christ.  He came to transform the way we look at and live in the world.  Sometimes our problem is that we want to fit Jesus into some niche in our lives, “Jesus, just fix this problem I have and then leave me alone.”  We want Jesus to rescue us from a difficult circumstance and then quietly step back from the foreground, but he comes to the Lord and Master of our house.   Jesus truly came to  be the “marketer for the ages” that changes the story by which we live. 

 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. ( Hebrews 12:2 The Message)

How have you tried to adapt Jesus to your life rather than allowing him to rule?

Lord Jesus, be LORD today in my life.

Jesus’ Prayer as Gift

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This Sunday the Gospel reading is from John 17, Jesus’ great prayer for his followers.  After finishing his last meal with his disciple, Jeus looks up to heaven and talks to his Father about keeping his disciples safe.

I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave to me, because they are yours.  All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. (John 17:9-10)

We belong to God and to Jesus, we are woven into the fabric of the Trinity.  Jesus not only prays for us, he models how we can enter into deeper relationship with God through prayer.  Our prayer relationship is a gift from God that we sometimes try to push or pull our way.

Henri Nouwen has written many things on prayer that I find helpful.  The following quote is from his Genesee Diary when he spent six months living at a monastary in 1975.

I wonder if depression in the spiritual life does not mean that we have forgotten that prayer is grace.  The deep realization that all the fruits of the spiritual life are gifts of God should make us smile and liberate us from any deadly seriousness. We can close our eyes as tightly as we can and clasp our hands as tightly as firmly as possible, but God speaks only when he wants to speak. When we realize this our pressing, pushing and pulling become quite amusing.  Sometimes we act like a child that closes his eyes and thinks  that he can make the world go away.

After having done everything t0 make some space for God, it is still God who comes on his own initiative.  But we have a promise upon which to base our hope: The promise of his love.  So our life can rightly be waiting in expectation, but waiting patiently and with a smile.  Then indeed, we shall be really surprised and full of joy and gratitude when he comes.  (The Genesee Diary, p. 129)

Who has been a model of prayer for you and what have you learned from them?

Lord Jesus, like your disciples, teach us to pray.

The Door of Death

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In reflecting on the deadly tornadoes this week, one spiritual question arises about which I am hesitant to write. The question has an answer that has caused harm to grieving people. “Is death always a tragedy?”

A Door into Deeper Joy

In C. S. Lewis’ The Last Battle, the last book of his Chronicles of Narnia, all the children* who once visited Narnia are reunited in a new, wonderful land that resembles Narnia. They wonder how this is possible since the great lion Aslan had told them that they would not return to Narnia. Yet this new land is more spectacular and more real than the old Narnia they had known. Slowly the children come to realize that their last memory of our world had been a terrible train wreck. Unlike previous stories, Aslan had not transported them from our world to the world of Narnia. Instead they have walked through the door of death and entered the outskirts of heaven itself.

Lewis does something incredible in this story. Certainly he could have written about their deaths from the tragic perspective of the survivors still on earth: friends and relative who grieved the children’s sudden absence from life on earth. But instead Lewis gives an imaginative description of their homecoming in heaven, where the joy and delight of heaven grows deeper and more profound each moment.

As Christians we believe in the promise of God that whether we live or die we belong to Christ. In Philippians 1:21, Paul writes, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” The gain in dying is to gain more of Christ and his joy. Death is not something to be feared, but rather embrace as the door to God’s good presence.

So what is the harm in telling a grieving person, “Your loved one is in a better place?” The harm comes from the fact that a grieving person does not want the person “in a better place” like heaven. The grieving person wants the loved one in this life, sharing in the joys and sorrows of their mutual love. In time the grieving person may embrace the truth of “a better place,” yet in the aftermath of death, such words can be biting and harmful. Compassionate silence is better than quick answers.

What perspective do you have on death?

Lord Jesus, help me to see death as the door way into the resurrected life and to be gracious towards those who grieve.

*Susan is not included, but that is a different posting.

Storms and Trust

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Compassion in Joplin

The deadly tornados that struck Joplin, Oklahoma City, and Minneapolis this week evoke spiritual questions. “Why would a loving, compassionate God allow such suffering to happen among His people?” “Was this God’s plan?” I did post a partial answer to these questions after the Japanese earthquake in March. Today I will respond to the question, “Was this an act of God?”

It is our human tendency to seek blame for such tragedies. Since tornados are such chaotic forces that we struggle to understand or predict, we tend to see God as the instigator of such storms. After all, God is the sovereign Lord of the universe, naming every star and directing their path (Psalm 147:4). Certainly God controls the path of every tornado?

Christians have argued this question for generations. My perspective is that in creating the universe, God released this world from strict determinism and gave us and the creation some freedom and control. God gave dominion over creation to humanity (Genesis 1:28). God loves the world, interacts with the world, redeems the world, but has chosen not to “control” the world like some gigantic computer game.

In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus and the disciples climbed into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus fell asleep while a great windstorm arose and the boat nearly swamped. The disciples panicked in the storm. Some Christians believe that God should steer us around the storms, should protect us from such violent destruction. In a sense, we believe God should wrap us in a kind of spiritual “bubble-wrap” that will protect us from all harm.

The disciples awaken Jesus with a question, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus then rebuked the wind, “Peace! Be still!” Jesus has the power to still the storm, but more often he stills the storm of doubt and confusion in our hearts. God’s deepest and truest plan is for us to trust Jesus, in the midst of storms and doubts.

Tornados will continue to disrupt creation. Like the tsunami in Japan, the best response of Christians is to love our neighbor in need, to bring tangible compassion to the people. One way to respond is the ELCA disaster relief. Such love is certainly part of God’s plan for creation.

How do you see God in the midst of such suffering?

Lord Jesus, bring healing and hope to those devastated by this week’s tornados.