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Heart of a Disciple: Humility

December 29, 2012 / / 0 Comments

We’re considering the qualities that were found in Jesus’ twelve disciples that distinguished them from the rest of the people who saw and heard the Lord, who witnessed and experienced his teachings and miracles, his truth and grace. What made them different?

The most obvious characteristic in the Twelve, but lacking in all the others is humility. Most of the people who came in contact with Jesus had their own agendas. They were trying to use him for their own purposes or they just wanted him to approve or rubber-stamp some belief or practice they were already doing. Plenty of people are coming to Jesus during his ministry. But their minds are closed before they get to him.

The kind of student on which Jesus insists has an open heart and a genuine willingness to listen. Our Lord calls the kind of student who allows his teachings to reshape that student’s priorities and transform his worldview.

Sometimes the apostles didn’t like what Jesus said, but they were always humble about it. They never walked away. Even when they were baffled by his teaching — it seems like on every other page of the Gospels — they still understood that the teaching was special and that Jesus was a special kind of teacher. That’s why, in John 6, when everybody is leaving Jesus, when Jesus’ teachings were difficult to understand and follow, they remained humble in their response. Even when they didn’t get it either, the Twelve responded to Jesus with, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the holy one of God.”

They were simple. They were honest. And they were humble. Sometimes they seem stupid. Sometimes weak. Sometimes ignorant. They certainly come across in the Gospels as the duh-ciples. But they were always invested. Always committed. Of all the peopel Jesus taught, the apostles are the ones who are still there after the tricky parables, asking what they mean. Wanting to know. Wanting to learn.

Lots of people asked Jesus questions to trick him or trap him. But the apostles asked him questions because they truly wanted to know the answers and follow the teachings. Sometimes we come to Jesus’ teachings in Scripture looking for him to validate or affirm what we think we already know. If Jesus doesn’t uphold our view of divorce and remarriage, if the Lord doesn’t support what we believe or practice regarding worship or relationships or forgiveness, we’ll keep looking for other teachings. And if we can’t find them, we ignore Jesus altogether. We hang on with a white-knuckle death grip to his words that uphold what we believe, but relegate to the trash heap his words that challenge us or stretch us beyond what we’ve always known. That is the opposite of the humble heart Jesus requires in a disciple.

Of course, they learned that humility and honesty from Jesus himself. Jesus said, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” He came, in his own words, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his very life for others. If we’re really going to learn from him, if we’re really going to allow his Lordship over us to shape us into his holy image, we have to exhibit a similar humility that bows before Jesus with an open heart and a confessing spirit.

Peace,

Allan

Heart of a Disciple: A Question

December 28, 2012 / / 0 Comments

(This is the first of a short, four-part series.)

Peter, Andrew, James, and John leave their boats and their nets and they follow Jesus. He calls, they jump. Matthew left his tax booth, left everything, Luke says, to follow Jesus. Philip and Nathaniel. All twelve of them drop everything, they radically reverse their lives, and begin to follow Jesus.

And these twelve apostles are true talmidim. Disciples. Real disciples. They don’t just want to know what their teacher knew. They aren’t in it to please their parents or fulfill the expectations of their society. No, this is for real. They have a passionate desire to be exactly like their rabbi. They are driven to do and think and speak and act exactly like their teacher. That’s the Twelve. In all their immaturity and stubborness, selfishness and pride, self-deceit and sin, they want nothing more than to be exactly like Jesus. What he says, they do; where he goes, they go.

It didn’t work that way with everybody.

The Son of God tells the young man in Matthew 19, “Come, follow me.” But the man refused. Instead, he went away sad. In Matthew 8, “Follow me!” and another refusal. Luke 9: “Follow me. Follow me. Follow me.” Three times. Three different people. Three more refusals. Several of Jesus’ disciples bail in John 6.

Jesus preached to the multitudes. He fed the large crowds. He taught in the synagogues. He was a well-known and well-respected rabbi. He was called “rabbi” by Pharisees and Saducees, Romans and Phoenecians. Why didn’t everybody become a disciple? Why did some keep asking for signs even after witnessing miraculous healings and spectacular feedings? If Philip and Nathaniel can take the Law and the Prophets, put two and two together, and recognize Jesus for who he is, why couldn’t the educated Scribes and dedicated teachers? All these potential students, all these potential disciples. What is it about the Twelve that made them different? These twelve young men, whose names we know, the fathers of our faith, the foundation stones of God’s Church, the ones our children sing about — what is it about them that sets them apart from all the rest?

What is it about you? What makes you such a faithful disciple of Jesus? What sets you apart from those who aren’t following our rabbi? What about the most faithful disciples of Jesus you know? What makes them different from everybody else? Whatever it is, it seems you’d want to cultivate that, right?

Peace,

Allan

 

For These Brothers of Mine

December 26, 2012 / / 0 Comments

You’ve read Matthew 25, right? It’s the separation of the sheep and goats, the familiar vision Jesus gives all of us of that last day of judgment and glory. We wonder about that last day, don’t we? I was certain that last Friday, December 21, was not going to be the last day. (Of course, when I got my copy of Aerosmith’s new album last week and discovered that Steven Tyler had done a duet with Carrie Underwood — on an Aerosmith album!! — I began to worry. I can’t think of a more disturbing sign of the end times tribulation than that.) But we do know that last day is coming. And we do know Christ Jesus, our King, is going to judge us. He’s going to separate those who denied him as Lord from those who faithfully submitted to his Lordship. That’s what he says in Matthew 25:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I needed songs, and you sang them to me acappella; I needed a communion meal, and you ate it every Sunday; I needed a church, and you built a huge building with the right name on the sign; I needed correct doctrine, and you preached harshly worded sermons and wrote scathing articles; I needed distinctions, and you drew rigid lines of fellowship; I needed strict obedience to laws which never came out of my mouth, and you vigorously kept them and enforced them on others.'”

No! God forbid!

As Joe Malone used to exclaim, “Shades of reason, neighbor!” That’s not what it says. Praise God, that’s not what it says!

“For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; I needed clothes, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you looked after me; I was in prison, and you came to visit me.”

The ones who are blessed by the Father, the ones who will receive the inheritance, the ones for whom the Kingdom is prepared are those of us who reflect the glory of God. Those of us who show grace and compassion, love and faithfulness, patience and mercy and forgiveness.

Our Lord pulls no punches when he declares with divine authority that justice and mercy and faithfulness are more at the heart of what it means to belong to God than tithing. He does not apologize one bit when he condemns the religious elite for saying all their prayers correctly, but then foreclosing on the widow’s house. Our King desires mercy, not sacrifice. It’s always been that way.

Your practices don’t matter if you don’t show grace and compassion. It doesn’t matter how often or how seldom you take communion if you’re not demonstrating love and faithfulness and forgiveness in your dealings with people. You can sing the songs and say the prayers perfectly right, but if your attitude is not Christ-like, if you’re heart is not being transformed more into the shape of Jesus’ heart, if you’re not reflecting God’s eternal qualities in the ways you interact with people, it’s meaningless.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

Our God has revealed himself to us. He’s told us who he is in beautiful words and in mighty deeds. Our God is compassionate beyond measure. His grace is given freely and abundantly. His patience means he will never give up. His love is limitless, no boundaries; his faithfulness is uncompromising, it’s forever. His forgiveness is complete. Total. It’s done.

We are blessed. So very blessed. Praise him. And may our lives increasingly reflect his glory.

Peace,

Allan

A Light Has Dawned

December 23, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
~Isaiah 9:2

The Christ Prophesy in Isaiah 9 begins with people walking in darkness. People living in the land of the shadow of death. People under a heavy burden. People under the weight of a terrible yoke. Isaiah was describing their world.

And ours.

The world needs good news. This world of darkness needs the light of Christ. Even today — especially today! — we see it all around us: the wreckage and carnage, the twisted bodies and warped minds, the moral and institutional vileness. It surrounds us. Greed and violence and lust, slavery and war, disease and divorce and death. Yes, we live in a dark world.

As followers and imitators of the God who saves us, we are charged with proclaiming the light. To preach it, to live it, to embody it, to share it. God through Christ has defeated the Evil Empire and we shout that from the rooftops. “God with us” is good news of great joy that shall be for all the people! As recipients of God’s amazing grace, as beneficiaries of his great power, we celebrate that great light today.

The light that was promised to the great patriarchs. The light the prophets proclaimed. The light the angels saw. The light King Herod tried in vain to destroy. The true light that gives life to every man. The eternal light of the world, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

We join the angels in heavenly chorus, the heavenly hosts who rejoice at the coming of our King. We join the shepherds and the wise men, the lowing cattle and the bleating sheep, in praising God for sending his Son to dwell among us. We join all men and women throughout the ages, the saints of all time, who have celebrated the greatest miracle in the history of the universe.

“You have increased their joy;
they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
You have shattered the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of the oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given.”
~Isaiah 9:3:6

Peace,

Allan

The End is Near

December 20, 2012 / / 0 Comments

People and communities of people have been predicting the end of the world almost since the day the world began. Tomorrow’s Mayan Doomsday is merely the latest in a long, long line of interesting predictions about the demise of the planet and the return of our Lord.

500  – According to his calculations regarding the Bible’s mythical “6,000 Year Rule,” Hippolytus predicted the world would end this year. It didn’t. But that didn’t stop others from figuring their own dates with numbers from Scripture.

989  – Halley’s Comet always brings impending doom. Always.

1874  – The Jehovah’s Witnesses begin a long and lucrative career of predicting Armageddon, starting with this year. By the way, it didn’t happen.

1878 – It didn’t happen this year, either.

1881 – No, really. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were on a roll.

1910 – Again? Well, if the Jehovah’s Witnesses say so.

1914 – People are beginning to wonder about Jehovah’s Witnesses.

1918 – We like the four-year cycle, but could the Jehovah’s Witnesses maybe split it up into a summer apocalypse and a winter apocalypse?

1925 – About this time, people may be forgiven for hoping the world ends just to shut the Jehovah’s Witnesses up about it.

1975 – They gave us a 50-year break (which included World War II, which was full of its own apocalyptic signs), but the Jehovah’s Witnesses think now they’re on to something.

1984 – George Orwell buffs and Jehovah’s Witnesses alike considered this to be a significant year for the end of the world. Unless Van Halen is the anti-Christ (and that’s not completely unproven), they were wrong.

1994 – Nostradamus tries posthumously to beat the Jehovah’s Witnesses record for most failed predictions. Luckily for him, he’s much more vague and obscure, so he’s never really wrong…

1997 – No, really, the Christ is now here according to Share International. He’s already come.

2000 – The change of the millennium makes a great date for the end of time. Turns out to be merely the beginning of survivor-type trade shows and reality programming.

2008 – The Lord’s Witnesses (not Jehovah’s Witnesses!) are pretty sure it’s over this year. Or in 2009 or 2010. It’s one of these years, they’re 100% certain.

2012 – This is a very popular choice. It will remain a fairly popular choice until probably Friday night or Saturday morning.

2014 – This one comes from a Pope, so it must be true. In 1514, Leo IX gave us 500 more years. You’d think that would be long enough to get our act together. Apparently not.

2017 – The “Sword of God Brotherhood” say they will be the only ones to survive this year and they will be tasked with repopulating the planet. Hopefully, there’s a “Sword of God Sisterhood” too.

2240 – The Talmud says the world as we know it will only last about 6,000 years, starting with the creation of Adam. A computer-assisted numerical analysis says this is the year.

2280 – The Qur’an gives us 40 more years than the Talmud. Same kind of analysis of the text. We’ll see.

3797 – This one comes from Nostradamus, but so have quite a few other dates. Just in case this was the year he really meant, clear your schedule.

The Church says, “Lord, come quickly!” And Jesus replies with, “I am coming soon!” And he says this to encourage us, to comfort us, and to empower us. He tells “I am coming soon” to motivate us and keep us going. This “coming soon” assures us that our time of trial is not indefinite. According to God’s plan, our time of suffering and tribulation has a limit. We don’t know when it will end; but we are promised by Jesus it will end.

And that gives us hope. By hope — I want to be very clear on this — I mean knowing that what our God has started, he will finish. Our faithful God is bringing this thing to completion. Our hope is not about wishing this is true, it’s knowing how it turns out. It’s like the cartoons and we’re the Roadrunner: we’ve got an arrangement with the writer! It’s like seeing the Indiana Jones movie for the 40th time: I know without a doubt he’s going to escape!

I don’t know when it’s going to happen. Nobody does. Jesus says it’s happening soon. And in faith, the church says, “Lord, come quickly.”

Peace,

Allan

Win Them By Our Life

December 17, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“Let us astound them by our way of life. For this is the main battle, the unanswerable argument, the argument from actions. For though we give ten thousand precepts of philosophy in words, if we do not exhibit a better life than theirs, the gain is nothing. For it is not what is said that draws their attention, but their inquiry is always what we do. Let us win them therefore by our life.”

~John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians, 4th century AD

Why do we still mostly understand Church not as an every day, every hour Kingdom of Priests to the world, but in terms of what we do together inside our church buildings on Sunday mornings? We judge the faithfulness or worth of a congregation in terms of its structures. What’s the organization of the church? What’s the name of the church? How do they worship? The structures are almost always our starting point. So when we attempt to reform or revive or rejuvenate a church, what we normally do is go to the Bible to try to get the structures right.

I don’t know if getting the structures right is what God has in mind for his treasured possession. Is that God’s mission in the world?

I mean, what happens when all the structures are perfectly right but there’s no serious engagement with one another or with the world? If doing worship correctly or organizing the leadership chain properly takes the place of living justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God, are we honoring our Father who calls us his priests to the world?

When the church becomes more a set of structures and less a way of life in the world, our focus can become obsessively inward. We think of church life as an end in itself rather than something to be lived and given for the sake of others. We like our church, we’re comfortable in our church, we don’t want anybody to mess up our church or change it in any way. We can be very easily distracted by our own church life.

“Now a church came up to Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?’
‘Why do you ask me about what is good?’ Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”
‘Which ones?’ the man inquired.
Jesus replied, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’
‘All these I have kept,’ the church said. ‘What do I still lack?’
Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be complete, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Then come, follow me.’
When the church heard this, it went away sad, because it had great wealth.”

Is it possible for a church to do all the right things and still lack the one thing it needs? Is it possible for the church to be so consumed with its own life that it fails to care for the world around it? Is it possible for a church to retreat so deeply into its own righteousness that it can’t hear the cries of a lost world?

The call to follow our King requires a giving up of our own lives. Jesus did not die for his Church so we could preserve our lives and cater to our own needs. Never! God forbid! In the name and manner of Jesus we are to spend our lives for the sake of the world. The Church, just exactly like its Lord, is being sent into the world not to be served, but to serve and to give its life for the sake of others.

Peace,

Allan

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