Rejecting Caesar's Gospel

I’d like to talk about an issue that troubles me greatly.  Those of you who disagree with me are going to want to immediately dismiss what I have to say as soon as you find out what this is about.  But please keep reading – because this is about so much more.  This is about how we should respond in the wake of the Boston bombings, and it’s about the most important thing in life.  Before I get into what this is about, I want to warn you: before you throw my opinions out the window because of your disagreement, keep in mind that the Bible commands you to test out what I have to say:

I Thessalonians 5:19-22
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

And how do you test out what I have to say?  Jesus tells you:

Matthew 7:15-20
Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them.  Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

So hear me out, and decide for yourself if what I have to say is something that will produce good fruit or bad fruit.


The whole gun rights debate mystifies me, on many levels.  It mystifies me that those who clamor to either keep the gun situation the way it is or want more guns on the streets will shout out “congress shall make no law!” and “right to bear arms!” but ignore the “well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state” clause.  I then am further mystified that often, when you point this out to people, they begin to argue that the militia is all of us, completely ignoring both the “well regulated” phrasing as well as Article I, Section  8 of the Constitution itself which states that Congress (ahem…the Federal Government…) shall have the power:

Clause 15:
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
Clause 16:
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

Boy, that sure sounds like the purpose of the second amendment was so that every individual could have a gun so that we can overthrow a tyrannical government, eh?  (#sarcasm)  It further mystifies me that despite the fact that all of President Obama’s proposals have majority support of the public – and specifically that stricter background checks are more popular than apple pie, baseball, and kittens – the government can’t seem to get any traction on passing any new gun control laws (actually I'm not mystified - the NRA owns the Republican party).

But what mystifies, and disturbs me most of all is that often the people shouting the loudest about how we need to protect the “right” to bear arms of any kind and firepower for anyone at all are people who claim to be Christians – followers of Jesus.  I just can’t understand how someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus could think that He supports the “right” to bear arms.  And I want to give a thorough explanation why, but please keep in mind the Biblical command to test out what I have to say for its fruits.

So why am I mystified by Christians who fight for gun rights?  It’s because of my understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  See, Jesus taught us to love one another – in Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said that all the law and the prophets hang on the commandments to love God and love our neighbor.  And when asked who our neighbors are in Luke 10:25-37 (verse 29), Jesus told a story about a Samaritan who acted like a neighbor to an injured Jew, while the religious elites of Jesus’ day ignored him.  To put this into context, it would be like if Jesus told the story today and the Samaritan was a Muslim while the ones who ignored the injured man were an Evangelical Minister and a church deacon.  And Jesus further broadened the definition of the command to love our neighbor when he said in Matthew 5:43-48 that we should love our enemies as well.  And Jesus had already helped us to understand how we are to love our enemy when he said that we should not resist an evil person; if we are struck in the face we should turn the other cheek to allow them to strike that side as well; if anyone wants to sue us for our shirt we should give them our coat too; if anyone forces us to go a mile (Roman soldiers had the right to force a citizen of the empire to carry their pack for a mile) we should go two miles (Matthew 5:38-42).  But Jesus gives us more clues about how to interpret “the Law” when he tells the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, saying that if anyone has done an act of kindness for “the least of these” they have done it for Him.  And the Apostle Paul picks up on this clue in Galatians 5:14 when he says that the entire law is fulfilled in loving our neighbors.  And if we love our neighbor, Romans 13:10 says that we will do no harm.  Seems to me like Jesus wouldn’t be pushing for us to own guns, since they don’t seem to go together with not resisting, turning the other cheek, or not doing any harm.

But wait, there’s more.  I believe American Christianity has been deceived by a misconception that being a Christian is about escape – it’s about escaping this world and going to heaven.  But I don’t think that’s what it’s about at all.  I didn’t realize just how wrong this impression was until I understood what the gospel was.  See, if you had asked me before what the gospel was even 6 months ago, I would have quoted for you Ephesians 2:8-9.  And that’s a halfway decent answer, but it’s not the gospel – it’s Paul expounding on the gospel; unpacking it; exploring what it means.  I don’t think many of us understand the Gospel here in America because we’ve forgotten what the word itself means.

To understand, we have to understand the historical background of Israel being in captivity to the Roman Empire.  In the Roman Empire, when a new Caesar came to power, he would send out messengers throughout the Empire to tell them the news – basically they would go throughout all the corners of the Empire and tell the governors (the political elite) that “everything is going to be OK now – I’m in control of the Empire now, and I’m going to set things right.  I am Lord now, and you will be saved through me.  I am the savior through which you will find economic stability and safety from your enemies.  There will be peace and prosperity through me.”  This was called the “euangelion” – or, gospel – and it was good news for Caesar’s friends.  But to the new Caesar’s enemies, the news was not good. 

Jesus’ gospel was an answer to the gospel of a new Caesar, but it was a stark contrast.  When Jesus was born, an angel told Shepherds that there was “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”  (see Luke 2:8-11)  Notice two contrasts here:

1)    The news does not come first to the elites, but to lowly shepherds.

2)    The news is good and causes joy for all the people.

Then, when John the Baptist began to “prepare the way for the Lord”, what did he preach?  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  (see Matthew 3:1-2)  Now, this phrase has also been translated into English as “is near”, “has drawn near to you”, and “is at hand.”  I, personally, prefer the “at hand” translation because I feel it is ripe with metaphorical imagery – it tells me that though the kingdom is not yet fully realized, it’s so close that if I were to simply stretch out my hand in faith I would be able to touch it; to grasp a small piece of that kingdom now, in this world and time.

After Jesus was baptized by John, he was tempted, and after he was tempted, Matthew 4:17 tells us that he began to preach “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 

Later on, in Matthew 10:7-8, Jesus sends his disciples out to proclaim that “the kingdom of heaven has come near”, and he tells them to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received; freely give.”  See, these are all signs that what they are saying – that the kingdom of heaven is at hand – are true.  This is another contrast to Caesar’s gospel - Caesar proves his gospel through violently destroying his enemies.  Jesus proves his gospel through healing and restoration – even for his “enemies”.

This message is repeated all throughout the New Testament, and this should indicate to us its importance!  Not only is the message “the Kingdom of Heaven/God is at hand” repeated throughout all four gospels and then later on in Acts and even the epistles, but most of Jesus’ parables start out with “the kingdom of Heaven is like….” 

Now, as a side note, it should be noted that the phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven” is often replaced by “the Kingdom of God”, and this may cause some confusion, but it is easily explained.  When Moses asked God what His name was, God says “I Am Who I Am” – this isn’t really a name.  And God never really gives himself a name, though the Jews used many names for Him.  But the phrase, “I Am Who I Am”, is often represented by the Hebrew letters “YHVH”, which do not produce a pronounceable word, or name.  Many Jews believed that this, in conjunction with the command not to take the Lord’s name in vain, meant that they should not ever say the name of God, and so they would substitute the word “Heaven” for his name.  So when Jesus preached, he kept his audience in mind, and in some areas he would say “Kingdom of God” – because they had no qualms with that phraseology there – and in other places he would say “Kingdom of Heaven”. 

But what I’m getting at is that the goal of American Christians to “get to heaven” is not Biblical!  Our goal is not escape – our goal is to bring “heaven” to earth as citizens of the Kingdom of God!  Don’t believe me?  Then why does Jesus say to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33), and when He teaches us to pray, why does he use the phrase (in Matthew 6:10):

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. (emphasis mine)

Furthermore, in Colossians 1:15-20, Paul uses political language that is lost on us today.  It was a very politically subversive message – in Rome at the time, Christianity was a very small percentage of the population.  But Paul is turning things around in verses 16 and 17 by saying that, because – through Christ – God created everything, Rome is just a small piece of God’s kingdom.  Then Paul says that Christ is the “head of the assembly” (note: many translations use the word “body”) in verse 18 – this was political language.  In Roman, their legislative branch was known as the “assembly” and Caesar was the head of it.  This language is all too often lost on us today, and it is to our detriment as we seem to believe church is all about singing songs and praying.  Which I’m not knocking – those things are beneficial.  But that’s not the end goal – the goal is to be a citizen of God’s kingdom, and to act as if we have responsibilities to inaugurate His kingdom on earth.  You see, because we believe in “heaven escapism” we push Isaiah 2:4 into the future and think we have no responsibility for it:

The Lord will mediate between nations
    and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
    nor train for war anymore.

Do you understand the imagery of hammering swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks?  What that means, as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, is that we are supposed to turn away from instruments of destruction and violence and turn towards instruments of cultivation, and we ought to encourage everyone in the world to do the same, since “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” (Psalm 24:1 and I Corinthians 10:26)

You see, we’re supposed to be followers of Jesus.  And Jesus showed us how to make peace.  When the soldiers came to arrest him and take him away to the cross, and Peter cut off the soldier’s ear, Jesus rebuked him and said that “all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  And then Jesus said that if he wanted, he could call on His Father and twelve legions of angels would come down.  (Matthew 26:53)  Jesus had more power in his pinkie than an AR-15, but he gave it up and took up the cross.  Going back to the politically subversive imagery in Colossians 1:15-20, in verse 20, Paul says that “He (Christ) made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.”  Caesar makes peace through the cross – if anyone is stupid enough to defy Caesar’s rule, he hoists people up on it.  Caesar makes peace through violence.  Jesus makes peace by giving up His power and subjecting himself to violence.  And the New Testament is full of commandments for Jesus’ followers to die to self and take up our cross.  After all:

[Jesus] [w]ho, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!
(Phillippians 2:6-8)

And yet we have people here in America calling themselves followers of Jesus who wish to make peace through violence – who preach that the only way to have peace is to have more instruments of violence.  My friends, this is a false gospel – it is false prophecy and it bears the fruits of fear, anger, hatred, and violence, and I refuse to remain silent but will call it what it is.  We have people insisting on grasping at power in the form of weapons, and seeking to save their lives in this way.  But Jesus said that we must take up our cross and follow Him, for “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:34-35)  People keep telling us we need to take refuge in guns, but "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"  (Psalm 91:2)  If I were to take up a gun, or to encourage another to do so, I would no longer be preaching Jesus’ gospel, which proves itself through healing and restoration even towards my enemies – I would be preaching a false gospel.  But I reject Caesar’s gospel that says peace comes through violent means.  I say this is Jesus’ kingdom, and He brought peace through showing us how to love.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Taking a Stand

Today, I am taking a stand.  Some of you will not understand why I am doing this, and some of you will strongly disagree with me.  I hope that if this is you, you will seek answers.  As Jesus said: "ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."  I hope that those of you who don't understand why I'm taking this stand will ask me why I have done so, and what convicted me to do so.  Please understand that this is something that I am not doing lightly - it is a subject that I have experienced a complete reversal on my opinion, and it did not come easily.  It came after much thought and prayer and careful examination.  It started with compassion, and this is why I have previously not openly taken this stand: I know for some of you, it must start with compassion.  Until you have experienced this, you can't see past the system of beliefs you have held.  I know this because this was me.  But please understand further that after I experienced this compassion, it didn't end there.  I didn't throw out the Bible verses that you'll quote to me - I sought answers.  I used logic and reasoning.  I searched for historical perspective and details on translation from the original language.  I am not throwing out the Bible verses I know you might quote for me - I haven't crossed them out of my Bible.  I am familiar with them all and I am keeping them them all - but I think there is a different message than the one you have taken away from them.  Even after I came to this conclusion, I did not want to defend it.  I had talked to some people about leadership opportunities at my church, and I was afraid that if I defended this position, these opportunities might be withdrawn from me.  I thought to myself that maybe it would be better to be quiet about this conviction I held and gently call others towards love, and maybe they'd arrive at the conclusion themselves.  Maybe it would be better for me to be a "secret agent" among the ranks of those defending the old systems of belief.  But this did not sit well with my conscience.  I wrestled with the ethics of this decision all week long, and finally God spoke to me.  You're going to laugh, I'm sure, but that's ok: God spoke to me through the lyrics of a Progressive Metal song today.  Don't believe me?  You don't think God can do that?  God speaks through prophets, and He speaks through the lillies of the field, and the sparrow, and even through our enemies - why can't He speak through the lyrics of a Progressive Metal song?  It's funny, too, because this is a favorite band of mine, and I've heard this song many times before.  Lately, I feel like I am hearing things I've heard many times before for the first time, and seeing things I've looked at many times before for the first time.  The song is called Fields of Sorrow by Darkwater:

I fear, that I am losing it all

I hear, there's nothing I can do

On this, path where I've been so long

I seek, for now my soul is torn

An ever waking mind claims their might

And every day for them is a wait for night

(I've seen them) they dwell within the shadows

Outcast by our kind

I've seen them run in fields of sorrow

The forsaken ones

I feel, that I am losing it all

I bleed, for things that I can't control

I've tried, to leave all my fears behind

I am joining the forsaken ones

An ever waking mind claims their might

And every day for them is a wait for night

(I've seen them) they dwell within the shadows

Outcast by our kind

I've seen them run in fields of sorrow

The forsaken ones

In despair they fight for their lives

All because of our sacred delusion

Blinded, I stared at the sun for too long

I cry, how could I ever come clean

I breathe, the poison that's spread everywhere

I know, I don't want to play this scene

An ever waking mind claims their might

And every day for them is a wait for night

(I've seen them) they dwell within the shadows

Outcast by our kind

I've seen them run in fields of sorrow

The forsaken ones

So after wrestling with this all this time, and wondering whether I should take this stand or remain silent, I knew I was hearing an answer in the form of this song.  I knew I must join the forsaken ones.  To do otherwise would go against my convictions, and they have torn at my conscience for far too long.  For those who disagree with me - I hope you will ask, seek, and knock, and above all: love.  For those who have taken this stand openly long ago, I'm sorry it took so long for me to join you openly.  So here I stand, but I have to do it my way.  What can I say - I'm a bit of a rebel...and a little bit of a heretic too...you know who else was a bit of a rebel and a heretic?  Jesus was.  Don't believe me?  Ask!  ;-)  And so I take my stand:

That's right, I am taking a stand for equality.  If you don't understand why, please ask.

Here's the song I was talking about:

The Hidden Meaning Behind Peter’s Denial of Jesus

I've been reading the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and have found it incredibly inspiring.  Watching how God convicted this man of the belief that being a disciple of Jesus is about so much more than following a list of rules for your own personal life, but about actively loving those who are despised and seen as unworthy of love has been affecting my own thinking about the central message of the Bible.  I was so inspired by reading his story that I went to Google and started looking up quotes from things Bonhoeffer has written, and one quote started a train of thought that I wanted to share with you.  First I’ll share my train of thought and then the quote.

I was thinking about Peter’s denial of Jesus.  Now we have to remember that Peter was very close to Jesus – he watched his whole ministry and was considered one of Jesus’ closest friends.  But nevertheless, on the night Jesus was betrayed Jesus told Peter he would deny knowing Jesus 3 times.  Now, I don’t think modern Christians have a healthy respect for this situation.  We did not walk with Jesus, and we did not live through His earthly ministry.  We didn’t watch him give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, heal the sick, and raise the dead.  And yet we think somehow that we will have the strength of character that we will not deny Him.  And this is pride, and the Bible has some warnings about that.  Well, I want to share what I think is a hidden meaning behind the denial, and how modern Christians deny Christ every day.

You see, after Jesus’ resurrection, I think He revealed this hidden meaning behind the denial.  In the book of John, chapter 21, starting at verse 15, Jesus asks Peter three times: “do you love me?”  Each time Peter answers “you know I love you.”  And Jesus’ reply?  “Then feed my lambs.”  I think there is a powerful, convicting message here.  Jesus is telling us here what the opposite of Peter’s denial is.  You see, Jesus left another clue as to how we can follow him in the form of a story he once told.  This story is in Matthew 25:31-46, and is known as the story of the sheep and the goats.  And in this story, the dividing line between the sheep and the goats is not how they keep themselves pure from sin, or how often they attend church, what they wear to their church, or the kind of songs they sing in that church.  The dividing line between the sheep and the goats is how they treated others.  The sheep fed the hungry, gave a drink to the thirsty, invited the stranger in, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited the prisoner.  And in Jesus’ story, He says that the King said to the sheep that whenever they did these things “unto the least of these” they did it unto Him.  I believe that what Jesus is doing here is expounding upon the two great commandments: love God, and love people.  (Matthew 22:37-40)  Victor Hugo seized upon this idea in his Magnum Opus, “Les Miserables”, when he said “to love another person is to see the face of God.”  So if we want to show love to God, we need to seek out ways to show love to the despised, the rejected, the least, the lost, and the lonely.  And to not do these things is to deny Jesus.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, in his book “Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community”:

Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work. 'The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared' (Luther).

Now if you would indulge me a bit longer, I believe there is a powerful, and very convicting message here that I would like to share in a bit more of a direct way.  Because I believe that this quote points out something I think we have missed: if your idea of Jesus/God takes away the active love of his character that sought out those who were despised, rejected, lost, lonely, and regarded as the least, and if your idea takes away from the how He served and showed love to them and commanded us to do the same, then you are not worshipping Jesus/God – you are worshiping an idol.  You see, I think there is a prevailing lie that has been portrayed that the Christian life is about what you don’t do.  People who believe this lie believe that they are righteous because they are sexually pure (and because they don’t hang out with people who aren’t), and because they don’t listen to rock music (or hang out with people who do), and because they don’t cuss (or hang out with people who do).  But that’s a lie – don’t believe it.  Because following the law is worthless.  Don’t believe me?  Ask the Apostle Paul:

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law."

Galatians 3:10

No, following the law is not the goal of life, nor is it what we should strive for.  The goal of life, for a follower of Jesus, is to love.  And when we love with the love of Jesus – the love that seeks out ways to serve those who are despised, those who are rejected, the least, the lost, and the lonely – everything else will fall into place.  Because when you truly love one another, anything that presents an obstacle to that love will be broken down.  Now if you’ll indulge me a bit longer, I’d like to apply some more of Paul’s words to our modern day and age in a paraphrased version of I Corinthians 13:1-3:

If I avoided all forms of secular music and only listened to “Christian” music, and if I played in a “Christian” band, and filled the sanctuary of my church with beautiful worship music that brought the members to tears every Sunday, people might say I was a great witness to Christ; but if I didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I lived a life of sexual purity, avoiding all forms of sexual sin including pornography and any form of lust, and if I studied theology in a Christian school and even went on to seminary and earned a master’s degree and even a doctorate, and if I went on from there to become a respected theologian who pastored a church of thousands, people might say I was a great witness to Christ; but if I didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  And even if I gave everything I had to the poor and sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Is this beginning to make you feel a little worried?  I hope it is, because there’s more.  In my childhood I had the impression that the age of prophecy is done – any prophecy that occurred was in the past, and there is no prophecy for today.  But lately I have come to the belief that God does, in fact, speak to us in ways that can be prophetic.  It may not be in the way we imagine it, but He does.  And I believe that God can speak through people – even people like me – if they would but step out in faith, take the risk and speak.  So I am taking a big risk, because I believe there is a word of prophecy for the church in America.

The Word of the Lord to the American Church

Hear, O America: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  (Deut. 6:4)  A new commandment I have given you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  (John 13:34)  Whoever does not love does not know me, because I am love.  (I John 4:8)  But you have turned your backs on me and have refused to return.  Even though I diligently taught you, you would not receive instruction or obey.  You have set up your abominable idols right in my own Church, defiling it.  (Jeremiah32:33-34) 

Though I have repeatedly shown you that I wish for you to care for the poor (Leviticus 19:9-11, Deuteronomy 15:11, Psalm 82:3-4, Proverbs14:31, Proverbs 19:17, Proverbs 21:13, Proverbs 29:7, Proverbs 31:8, Isaiah1:17, Isaiah 1:23, Isaiah 10:1-2, Jeremiah 22:13-17, Ezekiel 16:49, Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 6:20-26, Luke 6:38), and though I have told you that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (I Timothy 6:10), and though I have told you that you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24), you have worshiped at the altar of the idol of wealth, offering up unto it sacrifices in the form of special tax breaks, exemptions, and stimulus packages, praying that this idol would trickle down blessings upon you.

 

Though I have told you that it is better to take refuge in me than in humans (Psalm 118:8); though I have told you not to put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save (Psalm 146:3); and though I have told you that he who lives by the sword will die by the sword (Matthew 26:52), you have worshiped at the altar of violence, trusting in your own strength to protect you.

 

I have repeatedly told you not to judge (Matthew7:1-5, Luke 6:37, John 7:24, James 4:11-12, Romans 2:1-3, Ephesians 4:29, Romans 14:1-3, John 8:7, Luke 6:31) but to love one another (Matthew 22:39, John 13:34, Hebrews 13:1, Romans 13:10, I John 4:11, I Peter 4:8), even to love your enemies (Matthew 5:43-48), and even to the point of laying down your own life (John 15:13), and I've even said unto you (in case this message was not clear enough):

"If anyone says, ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." (I John 3:15)

And though I have said all these things, you have worshiped at the altar of self-righteousness and judged your brother, who is my beloved, and you’ve even caused little ones who believe in me to stumble in this (Mark 9:42).

 

Therefore, since you have not taken my invitation, I will send my servants to the street corners to invite to the banquet anyone they find, and my wedding hall will be filled with guests.  (Matthew 22:9-10)  I will exalt the humble and humble the exalted.  (Matthew 23:13, Luke 14:11, 1 Peter 5:6, James 4:10)  I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked.  (Ezekiel16:39)  So the last will be first and the first will be last.  (Matthew 19:30, Matthew 20:16, Mark 10:31)

To those who have felt despised and rejected; to the least, the last, the lost, and the lonely: I see how the world has hated you, but know that it has hated me before it hated you.  (John 15:18)  I know what it’s like to be despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces.  (Isaiah 53:3)  But I hear my people when they call to me for help.  I will rescue you from all your troubles.  I am close to the brokenhearted; I rescue those whose spirits are crushed.  (Psalms 34:17-18)  Be patient, because I am not slow in keeping my promise, as some understand slowness.  (2 Peter 3:9)  And know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:1)  You are my beloved – abide in me and I will abide in you.  (John 15:4)

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,

“Whoever would love life

and see good days

must keep their tongue from evil

and their lips from deceitful speech.

They must turn from evil and do good;

they must seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (I Peter 3:8-12)

Woe unto whom?

Looking at his disciples, he said:
Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
Luke 6:20-26

Jesus said it, not me! And you know what, this passage makes me feel worried - does it make you feel worried? Because here's the thing: while I don't consider myself rich in terms of American wealth, I do consider myself rich in terms of worldwide wealth. I realize full well that 99% of Americans are the 1%-ers of the world. So this passage worries me! Is there any comfort for me? Well, let's read further in the passage:

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:38

This passage is SO important for American Christians today. I am afraid we have lost sight of this passage, and we are not living by faith that Jesus will keep this promise. And this isn't the only place Jesus addresses riches and poverty - remember the rich man who asked Jesus what he must do to be saved? I like the Mark version of this story (chapter 10) a lot because it says in verse 21: "Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him." But then what does Jesus say? He says the rich man must sell ALL his possessions and give the money to the poor and follow him! ALL?!! The man's face fell, as I'm sure yours or mine would. How can we even live if we sell everything and give the money to the poor? We'll be out on the streets, right? But what else did Jesus say? Follow him. Exactly what the 12 disciples were doing, and they were provided for, right? And in the Luke 6 passage Jesus tells us that if we give, the measure we use will be measured unto us! If the rich man had given everything he owned, he would have received so much more in return!

Seeing the Face of God on Valentine's Day

As Valentine's Day approached, I was pondering love and the following quote from Victor Hugo's Les Misrables came into mind:

To love another person is to see the face of God.

And this calls to light something fascinating that I think churchgoers seem, unfortunately, to have missed all too often these days.  Remember the parable of the sheep and the goats?  What does the character of the King say to the sheep?  He welcomes them into the kingdom because they fed him when he was hungry, gave him a drink when he was thirsty, welcomed him into their homes when he was a stranger, clothed him when he needed clothing, cared for him when he was sick, and visited him in prison.  The sheep ask “when did we do that?”  As Keith Green humorously puts it in his musical rendition of the tale, the sheep say “Lord, when were you a stranger and we invited you in?  I mean, we invited lots of people in, but Lord, I could never forget that face!”  And what is the king’s reply?  “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”  And what’s interesting about this parable to me is that nowhere does Jesus say that the king said “for you made sure I had my doctrine straight and told me where I had my thinking wrong, and got me to change my wicked ways before you fed, and clothed, and visited me.”  Jesus makes no distinction about what kind of people the sheep did these acts of kindness for, except that they are the least.  And if you examine all of Jesus’ life and teachings you’ll notice this theme all throughout – Jesus never allows any distinctions when he commands his followers to love.  When he was asked, in reference to the command to love our neighbors, who IS our neighbor, Jesus used a story about a group of people who had some major doctrinal differences with the Jews – the Samaritans.  And in his story the Jews didn’t act neighborly while the Samaritan character did.  And in another teaching Jesus commanded them to love even their enemies!  And one of his disciples, Peter, caught on to the implication that this must mean that we are to forgive our enemies as well, so he asked Jesus (figuring there must be a reasonable limit somewhere to our forgiveness) “how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”  Peter thought this was quite generous.  But Jesus told him: “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven!”  Jesus was implying that our forgiveness should have no limits (because who is going to count that high?). 

So when I think of all this, I think about an outreach activity I was involved in recently with some of my friends.  We went to the local mall and handed out bags of candy to anyone and everyone we met, as a little Valentine’s Day treat and a simple way to tell them that Jesus loves them.  And I had a bit of an advantage in this activity, because I had brought my 5 year old son with me.  He is a far better evangelist than I will ever be, because he has no boundaries or prejudices or fears.  So he would eagerly grab handfuls of bags and run up to everyone who was near.  And one of the most beautiful moments of that day, for me, was when I saw him run up to a big, burly dude with a certain darker shade of melanin who was probably a full head taller than me, with his hair in corn rows and big baggy jeans.  My son ran up to him and held a bag of candy up to him and shouted at the top of his lungs “JESUS LOVES YOU!”  And the man’s face lit up like a spotlight.  A big, gold-toothed smile stretched from ear to ear and he looked up at me with that smile and an inexpressible joy filled my heart.  I had just seen the face of God, as Victor Hugo puts it.

Praying in earnest

I was thinking today about praying, and how all too often when we pray, we try to be proper.  We clean up our prayers and present them to God with our best English, using as many vocabulary words as we can think of, and trying very hard not to express the wrong sentiments in our prayers.  But maybe that's not what God wants.  Maybe, in his infinite love, he wants all of our prayers.  Maybe he wants our most sincere expressions, no matter what they are.  And when I was thinking about this, I started thinking about all the places in the Psalms where anguish, anger, pain, and despair are expressed.  And then I thought specifically of Psalm 22, which starts out:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

And then I realized - when Jesus was hanging up on the cross, gasping for his last, painful breath: what did he say?  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  And I thought - what if... as Jesus hung there in excruciating pain... what if the infinite God of the universe who was made flesh and dwelt among us... what if every anguished cry of pain and despair that His children on earth had uttered to Him ran through his mind as He hung there?  And I think back on when I left the church as a depressed, angry, cynical young man and I wonder if Jesus thought about the anguished, accusing prayers I prayed in my time of loneliness.  And when I think of this, I think that this was His way of saying: "Me too.  I know what that feels like."

Is this verse about judgment, or love?

In John 14:6, Jesus says:

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

This verse is often taken as a license to beat people over the head if you disagree with them on doctrinal issues.  But if you read the verse in context with the whole story it takes place within, you might notice some interesting things:

• Jesus, the Lord of all creation, who is all powerful, and can command the starry host to come down and serve his every need or desire, had just wrapped a towel around his waist like a slave and knelt down to wash his disciples' stinky, dirty feet.  This was a job that was considered to be so degrading by the Jews that their law declared that a Jew was not allowed to require that a Jewish servant perform this task - it had to be a non-Jew according to their law.
• The conversation that followed started with Jesus announcing that he is leaving them, and then he acts like a parent imparting final words of wisdom before he leaves.  He then takes on the role of Moses, and gives them a "new commandment" (his words, not mine) in John 13:34-35: "Love each other.  Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
• If you read the whole conversation, Jesus uses the word "love" (or some form of it) 14 times.
• Jesus just told his disciples that he is leaving them, and after saying "you know the way to where I'm going" (hmm...perhaps because he just told them the way?), Thomas said "we have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?"  And John 14:6 was Jesus' response.
• Following this whole conversation, Jesus goes willingly to his death, never once taking an opportunity to defend himself with his power, or even speaking up in his own defense during his trial.  He does this because of his radical love.

Still think it's a license to smacketh people you have doctrinal differences with?  Or perhaps it could be something like:

"The life you have seen me lead - the life during which you've seen me healing, serving, restoring, and making peace; accepting and loving the untouchables, and even crossing over the sea to the land of your centuries-old sworn enemies and showing love to them as well; the life during which I've praised the faith of one of the high ranking soldiers who serves as part of the oppressive regime you are living under; the life during which I've called 12 disreputable men to be my closest friends (some of whom - without me - might have been sworn enemies because of their differing backgrounds); the life where I have made it abundantly clear that I want you to love EVERYONE no matter their genealogy or what they've done - living that way... my way... that is the only way to truth and life.  And your own strength is not going to be enough to live like that - you're not going to be capable of drawing near to the Father... except through me.  I'm going to go do something that's going to fix this problem, and you're not going to understand it right away - but just remember how I've shown you how to love.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, you'll start to figure it out, and I'll be there to help you along the way."

Just my thought, but maybe we should stop using this one verse as a judge's gavel to bonk people over the head with as we pronounce our own judgment.  Maybe that's not what it was meant for.