Easter is a story of contrasts. The sinless sacrificed for the sinners, the triumphal entry and shouts of Hosanna to be followed by the parade of the condemned and shouts of crucify him. The choice of the crowd to put the innocent to death, set the criminal free. Spilt blood being the cure for sin that runs in our veins. Resurrection from death, the cure for death.
Jesus descends the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem, with the crowds to cheer him through the city.
Jerusalem … the city that means the foundation of peace … more contrasts.
“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41-42)
The city, as a people, which was named the foundation of peace, would be blind to the one bringing peace.
The crowds were so hyped up on this man-king … the one who would bring them peace … peace from war, peace through a war that would end the control of Rome on their lives.
They didn’t know what peace was, didn’t understand the peace this Messiah brought … the peace that is not absent of war and conflict, but unexplainable peace, in the midst of war and conflict (and sorrow).
Peace in the midst of the storm, the peace that flowed from his eyes to Peter’s on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus invited him to “come” to him, to walk on the water. When our eyes are on him during the storm, we stay afloat, we receive this peace that passes understanding.
Where was Jesus headed? To the banquet, to celebrate the Passover feast.
more contrasts …
The passover celebration of that time when death swept through Egypt saving only the lives of those who celebrated the Passover with the feasting of the spotless lambs, then they applied the blood to the door frames of their homes. The sacrifice of the lambs that led to the saving of their children.
The sacrifice of the lamb of God, that led to the saving of all children born since the firstborn who sinned.
This triumphal entry began with tears, followed by cheers … contrasted only days later with cheers of “crucify him” and tears of blood.
As I sat in a church service, I heard the invitation that has become a regular phrase in churches,
“invite your friends and family to our event at the church …”
All of a sudden I found myself wondering where this model of evangelism originated, because I was pretty certain I had never read of Jesus inviting people to church/synagog.
Jesus invited people to come, but not once did he say, “come to church.”
Jesus invitation to come was come to me.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:44
“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” John 6:37
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Jesus made it abundantly clear that it was not through an institution that salvation be attained, but through a relationship with him alone. He spoke this to his disciples and followers, to the crowds as he shared his sermon on the mount.
He also shared the (his) salvation message while simply living life. He chatted with the Samaritan woman (one who his cultural group would not be talking to), while taking a drink and a rest at a well. He was speaking to people when a paralysed man (therefore, a sinner) was lowered through the roof, for him to meet and heal. Of his disciples, there were fishermen, a tax collector and a political zealot.
It would seem that when Jesus came into a new town, he dined, socialized and stayed with whoever would invite him to stay.
In response to Jesus having dinner at Levi’s house (along with other tax collectors and sinners), the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked his disciples, (Mark 2:16-17):
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
He came to call people to follow him, but one had to admit they were sinners in order for a conversion to occur. Those who were already religious may have forgotten their own sin (don’t we all?).
Such was the case when the woman, caught in adultery, was brought to Jesus. He was challenged by the scribes and Pharisees with the Law of Moses which said that such a sin was to be punished by stoning. He responded by inviting the one without sin to throw the first stone … they all walked away.
This story was not just for, or about the scribes and Pharisees, though. It concluded with a question and a directive for life. Jesus asked the woman who condemns her, to which she replied, “no one.” Then Jesus says that he doesn’t either and to go, and sin no more.
Jesus spent time with the religious, but he also spent time with those who did not darken the doors of the church/synagog. He spent time in the synagog/church, but he also spent time where the non-church goers would have been.
Jesus said, “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19)
For we have to go to them to know them. We have to know them to make disciples of them.
So, what about church? Who is the church?
We are. We, who have been filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1) are the church of Christ. We bring the church to the sinners, not the sinners to the church. It is we who are the ministers, the disciples. It is through relationship that the Spirit, who lives in us, speaks … in whispers and shouts … to the lost.
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house … For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10
Have you ever seen a dog that spends it’s days tethered to a post or pole? It might be aggressive and mean or it might pace nervously, but it also might just lay there in acceptance of it’s confinement situation.
I am not so excited to see such an animal, tethered alone. Certainly we have tethered our beasts, but it was while working outside ourselves (we tend to pick out the beasts that are flight risks), so that they can be with us, rather than alone inside.
But tethered, alone … that seems a recipe for fear
There are animals that, having been tethered for much of their lives, when untethered, remain in the confines that they have been left in. It is as though their physical chains have converted into mental ones, staying tied up, even when they have been set free.
To experience real freedom is to move beyond the confinements, the chains of the past … to move freely, into new places.
Sometimes, as individuals (but even as larger communities) who have accepted the freedom given to us through the work and blood of Jesus, we, like a tethered dog, remain in our original place of confinement … even if that is only in our minds.
We sit at the gate that is opened up wide for us to walk through, yet our minds remain tethered to the stake of our past.
There is one thing can move one so tethered to the past … trust.
Trust in others around us, who wrap their arms around our shoulders and whisper, “you can do it, take the first step,” or the call of all that is in front of us … freedom in Christ.
Galatians 5:1 reminds us that “freedom is what we have–Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.”
We need to keep reminding ourselves that God is trustworthy … now lift that head and run free.
“Fear can keep us tethered, terror can clip our wings, but trust eases pain. Hope can lighten the sky. Love makes us courageous.”
I believe that the most important part of the Creation debate is answered in the first five words of Genesis,
in the beginning, God created
From my understanding of the Bible, one must be able to have confidence that however he did it, in whatever length of time, God created, intelligently and intentionally, our world and all contained within it.
This knowledge or faith in God’s ability to create all is the scaffolding that gives us confidence in God’s oversight of every aspect of our lives.
We can know that he is in control, even when we do not feel that control.
I recently heard a song, by Duke Ellington and Mahala Jackson, called Come Sunday. When I looked up the lyrics, I found myself to be drawn into the gift of Sunday … the Sabbath.
Now, the Sabbath is not necessarily a day on the calendar, so much as a pause, a reset in the week. It is a time, a day that is different from the other days of the week. It is a day of physical rest, of mental rest, of social rest (for the introverts 😉 ), of spiritual rest. It is a day that is different from the others in a week. A day when we give our weariness to him, rest in his arms.
We often do not realize the rest that comes to us by looking, not at ourselves, but at God.
Through our study of his word, our prayers, our worship and even in our acceptance of downtime, a repose, we are renewed and refreshed by ensuring that our hearts and minds take a break from our working, our endeavours, our creating.
The Creator of our world, and all that is in it, rested … therefore we rest.
Come Sunday Lord, dear Lord of love, God Almighty, God above, Please look down and see my people through.
I believe that God put sun and moon up in the sky. I don’t mind the gray skies ’cause they’re just clouds passing by.
He’ll give peace and comfort to every troubled mind, Come Sunday, oh come Sunday, that’s the day.
Often we feel weary but he knows our every care. Go to him in secret, he will hear your every prayer.
Up from dawn till sunset, man works hard all day, Come Sunday, oh come Sunday, that’s the day.
One of the things I love about visiting my province of origin is the grandeur of the sky.
There are no mountains to shorten the horizon and an absence of cloud cover to shade the sun from showing how far it reaches. It just seems to go on forever … and I am in constant awe and wonder looking out at it.
Psalm 19:1-6 makes me think of this upward and outward spectacular, great big sky when it speaks of the heavens:
“The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of his craftsmanship. Day and night they keep on telling about God. Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world. The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it and moves out across the skies as radiant as a bridegroom going to his wedding, or as joyous as an athlete looking forward to a race! The sun crosses the heavens from end to end, and nothing can hide from its heat.”
What a reminder that this great big sky is the craftsmanship of God himself, that the sun was placed there by him. It is, though, verse three that sticks out particularly to me:
Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world.
This verse makes me think of the quote, “preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary” (often attributed to St Francis of Assisi). Though I cannot be sure those are the words of St Francis, I do think that he, such a appreciator and steward of God’s creation, as well as one who would have mediated on God’s word, would know and understand this verse from the Psalms, both in word and in deed.
Our message is communicated in our words, but also in how we live our lives.
Elliott’s Commentary on this verse tells us “the communication of the sky is eloquent, but mute; its voice is for the heart and emotion, not the ear.” Our silent worship, through everything from performing our jobs, dealing with cashiers in a store, caring for our earth and all living creatures speaks to the hear and emotion of God and of those around us.
It can be ‘louder’ and more clear than any sermon, any worship service … it is our voiceless testimony of how far we allow God to work in and through us.
My upbringing has never allowed me to see that my being female is anything but equal to my spouse, my male siblings, peers, co-workers or members of my community.
Whether it was my place in my family, workplace or the plan of God, I have never believed (or been led to believe) that I am anything but equal to men.
I know this is not always the case, for all women.
I know of and know well, women who have felt manipulated, abused, undervalued and kicked to the floor (literally and figuratively) by male counterparts.
And I will simply never get it, never understand how any individual could believe that they have that right.
Men and women have been interdependent of one another since our creation in the garden. Men need women, women need men. This interdependence is a most powerful example of the concept of yin and yang, comparable to the ‘a time to’ verses of Ecclesiastes 3.
In the Ancient History Encyclopedia, the definition of Yin and Yang is that “all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites.”ides come in to shore, then move back out to the oceans.
Women and men are different, yet equal. Their interdependence is the force which should pull them together, for mutual, societal benefit.
For men who view women as a substandard creation is antithetical to the narrative of the Bible, to God’s intended plan.
It was through Mary, a young woman, who God first shared his plan of delivery of his son to our world, through she, herself. It was to a woman, Mary Magdalene, who Jesus first revealed himself for after rising from the grave. The roles they played were complimentary and significant to the story of the life of Christ.
Never once does Jesus hurt, abuse, demean or mock a woman. Never once does he turn his back on the needs of a woman. As a matter of fact, it was when a woman was behind him, who (Mark 5:24-34) had been bleeding for twelve years, that, through just the touch of his cloak, she was healed.
He treated woman with the same love, care and tenderness that he did men. He is our model and we all (men and women alike) must ensure that we are following his example.
There is no greater sanctuary than to stand on soil, under the firmament, with nothing in view, nothing that one can hear, or smell, touch or taste, but that which God created.
It is there, in the midst of God’s creation that worship has nothing to do with professional, rock star ‘esque musicians and worship leaders … for the creation itself call us, our souls, to worship without hesitation, without hindrance.
Maybe it is the realization of the truth of Psalm 19:1-4:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
It is as though something within us is in touch with the created world around us … we do share the same Creator. It is when we are within that which he spoke into place that our innate need to worship bubbles up from within us, and we just have to worship, to praise, to give thanks.
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-10
And if we don’t worship the Creator?
Well, the rest of Creation, from the mountains and hills, to the trees of the field and the birds in the the trees will worship, will cry out the song to the Creator.
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12
In typical human arrogance, we Christians often think we have things all figured out … particularly when it comes to God. Obviously Christians, followers of Christ, should know and understand God better than those who do not, but sometimes (often?) we inflict our human understanding onto the mind of God.
Usually this happens when we look at sin … not our sin, but the sins committed by others.
I expect that because, in human/worldly avenues, we tend to prioritize or pyramid things in life, we do the same when it comes to how we understand the heart of God.
So, when it comes to sin, we also prioritize or put them in a pyramid of seriousness … and we think that God does too.
But, “Gods ways are not our ways” (Isaiah 55:8), his perspectives on the sins he hates might just surprise most of us (myself included, as I was reminded of these verses, just last week).
So, what does God hate?
According to Proverbs 6:16-19:
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
Hum … not quite the sins that preoccupy church discussions, are they? I cannot remember the last time I heard of a Christian organization worried about rampant lying, or haughty eyes.
Though I never doubt that there is a God, I love to be reminded that I am not him …
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
When your ear wants to hear … but the sound is not yet there.
When your eyes are searching the horizon … but nothing appears.
When your heart just knows … knows that there is a message coming, that there is reason why the hair is standing on the back of your neck.
When your soul is … restless.
The experience that something visceral, felt deep within is about to happen.
I learned of a song I hadn’t heard, and sought out it’s story … for every song, every piece of art, every created thing has a story … behind it, within in, for the creator as well as the admirer.
Though the lyrics of the song do not contain these words, this scripture from Lamentations 3:28-30 (Message) was mentioned in the writer’s description of it’s formation:
“When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst.”
Within a few short lines, such depth, such good advice, encouragement.
When life is heavy, we often go after advice and help through people, books, podcasts. Yet, this encouragement to enter the silence, to join with God in his silence and not ask why? when? don’t keep searching for answers, but just …
wait.
wait for hope
to appear.
He’s reminding us that he will answer, he will be there … he is there. We just need to bow in prayer, rest in him, wait for the hope that is only available through him.
The waiting has purpose. The purpose is always hope, if we wait with him.
Then that final reminder, “the worst is never the worst.”
Hope resides in the reminder that today’s worst is never the worst. Our heavenly father knows the worst, he gave his son up to save us from the worst. Our hope is in him.
The same week that I was seeking, listening, looking and my soul was restless, the same week that this song came to my ears, that that sunrise brightened my view, a friend lovingly shared a message about hope (coincidence? I think not).
If hope is what you are looking for from every fibre of your being, or if you are just restless … check out Hope is too Heavy Sometimes, by Abby Norman.
“I do not believe that we are meant to hope alone. Hope is often a burden best shared.” Abby Norman
So you ever want to tell your adult child what to do? what not to do?
Not me (insert sarcasm)! Of course I do! And sometimes I give in to the impulse and speak my wisdom for their not-listening ears to ignore.
The other day I wrote, in Parental Responsibilities, about how our job, as parents, is not to plan the lives of our kids.
Today, I am going to share an example from the Bible of one who did it right. By “did it right” I do not mean that pain and suffering were elevated, perfection was achieved by following a list of if thens or that they all lived happily ever after. So, right now you might be doubting this unnamed example … stick with me.
In Luke 15:12- :
“There was a man who had two sons.The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country … and there squandered his wealth in wild living.”
A young man, in his infinite wisdom, decided that he was an autonomous adult, well-aware of the world, confident in his worldly ways, and he wanted to taste freedom.
In his premature eagerness to live independent of dear ‘ol dad, he went to his father and asked for his inheritance.
Lets look at what this father did. His son, who he loves, asks for his money (since it is his inheritance, this young man should not be receiving it from his father until his father has died) … and “he divided his property”. He just gave him the money!
I am a mom. I have wrestled with wanting to help my kids, to give wisdom when they won’t hear it, to encourage them to get out more, to stay in more, to call their mom more. I have wrestled with their not going to a church, and with what church they go to. I have wrestled with who their friends are, and aren’t. I have wrestled with what they are wearing (or what is missing from what they are wearing), what (and who) they are listening to and what they are saying.
And I have lay, motionless in bed, as they head out the door, praying that they will be safe, be with good reliable friends, be wise.
And I wonder (I really do), should I put my foot down and just say NO! No, you cannot go out at this hour! No, you cannot go there! No, you cannot do that!
So I come back to the story of the ‘model’ dad in the Bible … better known as the father of the prodigal son. This father must have known what his young son would do with the money. He must have known the dangers that awaited his naive man-child. Yet, he gave him the money … the money that, he knew, would make his son’s choices less wise and more danger-filled.
Why did he do it? What was he thinking? And why should he and his parenting be a model for us?
After his son had left he must have known what would befall this child of his as he arrived in the ‘big city’ with pockets full of money and brain still devoid of wisdom. This father must have tossed and turned more than slept.
We are told that, once in the new place, his son “squandered his wealth in wild living.” I don’t think that wild living then was any different than now. There were and are drugs, alcohol, crime, violence, gambling, people who would help him spend his money and the availability of the world’s oldest profession (and the sexually transmitted diseases that accompany such practices).
That father had to have known that this is exactly what would have occurred.
Yet, he agreed to give him the money …
model father?
This father, who loved his son(s) knew that his son(s) would only truly understand and love him, in return, if they chose it of their own. He had done the tasks of loving parenthood, of providing everything parental responsibility required, yet, he knew that they would only fully receive his love by choosing it of their own free will. He knew that this son was choosing a dangerous path, but he also knew the seeds that he had planted in him from birth, and had hope that they would haunt him like a hound.
The story goes on:
“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
And the hound was closing in.
And the seed, so long in the dry ground, began to germinate.
And the son, not out of love for his father, but out of his own physical need, turned towards home, towards his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
There is much in those words. Parents who love their children not just read but feel what the father here felt. The love, the compassion, the relief … for the running away of the son culminated in the the run of the father, to his son.
For the child cannot outrun the love of the father, the mother.
He ran to his son, not repulsed by the son’s loss of his money, his ‘wild living’, his sins … but eager to receive him home, where the door is always open, where forgiveness always lives, where arms are outstretched … where the parents still run to the prodigal.
As CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “the great thing to remember is that … His (God’s) love for us … is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.”
One of my favourite poems is The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson. Written over a hundred years ago, it tells of how Thompson viewed running away from God, and how, like a bloodthirsty hound on the moors, God perseveres, chases and pursues us until we surrender to Him.
John Stott, in his book Why I am a Christian,” confesses that he is a Christian not because of the influence of his parents and teachers, nor to his own personal decision, but to being relentlessly pursued by ‘the Hound of Heaven’, that is, Jesus Christ himself.”
So, this model father of the Bible, why is he a model?
Quite simply because this father of the prodigal son is God himself.
He, who said yes, to handing over our inheritance into our immature, naive and arrogant hands.
He, who loves us enough to allow us to choose to receive and accept his love.
He, who desires to redeem our brokenness, our sin, if only we would recognize that the hunger in the pit of our stomach cannot be filled by anything in the world.
He, who is always, always, waiting at the gate, searching the horizon, ready to run … not just after our children, but after us, as well.
“This won’t last, it’s not the end … it’s not the end”
Behold what manner of love The Father has given unto us, That we should be called the sons of God
itsawonderfilledlife 