They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) – Mark 11:31-32

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 30, 2014): Mark 11

I recently read that there are no wrong answers, only wrong questions. I am not sure that any of my professor’s would agree (because, if that is true, those who have control of my educational future have some deep explaining to do – they have flunked a few exams.) The idea itself, though, is sound, however it is also overstated. There is a sense that if you receive a wrong answer, then one of the things we need to do is check the question. I wrote a New Testament exam a few years ago and I interpreted a question wrong. The answer that I gave (and it was an essay question, so I took me a few pages to give it) made absolutely no sense when it was read with the intention of the question being asked. Luckily, the prof allowed me a measure of grace and took the blame for what he called a badly worded question. He allowed my answer to be graded in light of the question that I thought was being asked, instead of according to the one that he was really asking.

But there are some questions that simply would seem to have no right answer – or at least not an answer that the one asking the question would find acceptable. I have sat through several business meetings where this was exactly the case. The question was asked, and I knew the answer that was being sought, but the desired answer just wasn’t right, and the right answer could simply not be accepted.

And this is exactly the situation in which the religious elite find themselves. They are trying to trick Jesus into the sin – and in Jerusalem in this time period, the crime – of blasphemy. The question that they asked is “by whose authority do you do the things that you do.” The problem is that while Israel is expecting the coming of the Messiah, to claim to be the Messiah was blasphemy. The authority by which Jesus did everything was that of his Heavenly Father. But in this case, the right answer in the eyes of religious elite was wrong.

So instead of answering, Jesus responds with a question of his own. “Did the authority by which John baptized come from heaven, or did John baptize by the authority of some human agency?” And now the religious elite faced the same problem that they had presented to Jesus. They believed that the baptism of John was of human origin, but if they responded truthfully they would face a riot from an overwhelming majority of the people who believed that John was sent from heaven.

In the end no one’s questions were answered because there were no right answers – or more precisely, acceptable – answers to give.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 12

Note: New messages are available for VantgePoint Community Church (Edmonton). You can find them on the VantagePoint website which is available here.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. – Luke 19:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 29, 2014): Luke 19

I have always thought it would be interesting to sit down across a table from Dean Koontz and just talk. I actually have some questions for him with regard to the role of Christianity in his books. Sometimes there are some very positive feelings that seem to come through the pages with regard to religion – and sometimes there seems to be some very deep hurts that lie in between the lines. There are also some interesting thought threads in his writing that never quite get fully developed. The thing that I have to admit that I like in his writing (and the writings of Stephen King) is that there is a clear demarcation between good and evil – which is so unlike the world that I have to deal with every day. Oh, I know that the conversation will never happen, but I can dream about what that conversation might be like.

Zacchaeus probably had a similar dream about the conversation that he could have with the Rabbi that was travelling through Judea. He probably had practiced the questions and dreamed about what it would be like to simply sit and talk with Jesus – to see him and converse with him as an equal, one man to another. Zaccheaus knew that his dream would never come true. How could it when the master didn’t even know who Zacchaeus was, but that knowledge never stops the dream.

So when Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, he decided that maybe it was time to go and actually see the man that up until now he had only dreamed about. The chance to see Jesus would be worth the dealing with a crowd of people who didn’t like him and didn’t trust him. He would endure the jeers just to be able to see finally Jesus. So Zacchaeus, being short, runs ahead of the crowd waiting to see Jesus until he sees a solution – a tree that he can climb.

And there he would wait, hoping that Jesus would pass by his spot. If he did, then this day would contain a story that he would remember for the rest of his life. This would be a day that Zacchaeus would talk about over and over again to anyone who would listen.  But what happens next was beyond Zacchaeus’ hopes – because his dreams were about to come true.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 11

“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” – Matthew 21:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 28, 2014): Matthew 21

The battle against the Islamic State has begun in earnest. We are now a few days into the conflict and every communication out of the White House seems to have stressed two things. The First is that this is coalition of nations against the IS which includes five Arab nations from the immediate area. The inclusion of the Arab nations stands as a proof that this is not and will not be America’s fight. America is simply joining the world in the battle. And the second thing that we are hearing is that there should be no expectation that this is going to be a short fight. If the World is going to stand against the IS, then that stand will have to be a persistent one.

I have to admit that whole situation has left me more than a little conflicted. I hate the name Islamic State. Once more it seems to convey that the fight is against Islam, and nothing could be further from the truth. The world needs to understand that Christians want nothing more than to stand together in peace with our Islamic brothers and sisters. We want to recognize the good that is in the other, something we don’t see too often in the media, and support each other to the best of our abilities. I know we have theological differences, but rather than judge each other we need to be willing to sit down together in open discussion – sharing both of our hopes and our dreams. This cannot become another example of us versus them. Above all of this, at my core, I admit that I am a pacifist. But I struggle when my pacifism takes place in relative safety while others are in the line of fire. I desperately wish that there was another way to solve the problem of terrorism in the Middle East, but I have to admit that I have not been able to come up with any that don’t sound trite as people are being killed, including Christians, Muslims and Jews, by terrorists chasing after power. The fight is about the respect for people – all people – and our right to live on this planet and become what God (Allah) intends us to be.  

Jesus enters into the temple and he sees the business that is going on. Too often we have misunderstood the intent of this passage. We have made it about a stand against commerce in the church. But that is not what is at the heart of this passage. What Jesus was witnessing was the religious elite taking advantage of the poor. They had become terrorists in their own land and they were bending the precepts of the law so that they could become rich by taking everything that the poor had to give. And Jesus was a pacifist, but when he saw this abuse of the people, even Jesus reacted violently upsetting the tables and chasing off the wares (sheep and pigeons) that were for sale. And in the midst of this he resets the purpose for the temple – it is to be a house of prayer. It is a place where the person is valued in the sight of God (because he hears our prayers), and a place where we recognize that God is a part of the very fabric of our lives. But instead of fulfilling this holy purpose, the religious leaders were robbing the people blind.

To be honest, as Christians I think that we have a lot to learn about prayer from our Muslim brothers. And as we watch the action beginning once again in the Middle East, maybe it is time for Christian, Jew and Muslim to stand united in prayer – and in the recognition that God (Yahweh, Allah)  sees all and that God (Yahweh, Allah) is in all.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 19

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. – Matthew 20:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 27, 2014): Matthew 20

A number of years ago, my beautiful daughter, now a capable mother of three but then an insecure student in elementary school, was struggling with some of the other girls in her class. For whatever reason, she and a friend had been shunned by the rest of her classmates. There may not be a more helpless feeling in the world then watching your little girl suffer through a situation while the parents stand by seemly unable to exert any influence. My wife and I talked at length about what to do. And the discussion hovered around whether or not it was appropriate for us to go and speak to her teacher. It was overwhelmingly what we wanted to do, but there was also a nagging feeling, at least in the back of my mind, that mom and dad speaking to the teacher about the behavior of the girls in an elementary school class, might just blow up in our faces and make the situation worse. We wanted to help, not hurt, our daughter.

But we finally decided that we had to go and talk to the teacher. And, thankfully, the teacher was able to help the situation. Relationships were mended and life at school became a little easier for my daughter – well, at least as easy as life at school ever seems to be. I have to admit that I was a little amazed at our success. Part of my problem was that what we did on the day that we went to see the teacher, I would never have allowed my parents to do. The idea that my mom and dad would come to my school and fight my battles was abhorrent to me. At the time, and much to my own loss, I refused to acknowledge how much I needed my parents help in my scholastic career and I refused to understand how much they wanted to help. My daughter’s reaction to our exploits was filled with much more grace then my reaction would have been in a similar situation – and that is something that I am very grateful for.

James’ and John’s mother came to Jesus with a request in regard to her sons. She was already part of the crowd that followed Jesus, she supported the disciples financially (Zebedee, the father of James and John was a successful and wealthy businessman), and she also was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, thus making her Jesus’ aunt. It is because of all this that Aunt Salome felt that she had a right to talk to her nephew and ask for a favor on behalf of her sons. I am not sure that James and John wanted mom to fight their battles, but what she would ask for was exactly what it was that they were afraid to ask for – to sit on Jesus right and left in the coming kingdom.

But Salome’s request on behalf of her sons also revealed that, at this late date in the story, those who were following Jesus just were not getting understanding the horrible reality of their situation. Their dream was of a successful military kingdom where Jesus would rule like his forefather David, raising Israel to a place of military power once more. But all Jesus saw was a cross. And the reality was that the position on his right and on his left was not reserved for James and John, but for two thieves who were convicted and sentenced die with Jesus. And if Salome had understood that, this was a favor she would have never asked her nephew to grant.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 21

Note: Video messages from VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) are available on the VantagePoint website. You can find them here.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. – Mark 10:25

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 26, 2014): Mark 10

Money. If there is a topic we don’t want our spiritual leaders to talk about, maybe other than the sin we are currently struggling with, this is it. And when our spiritual leaders let us down and talk about it, well, to say that we are disappointed is probably an understatement. Often the accusation that is heard is that ‘all this spiritual leader wants is my money.’

Yet the reality is that if there is an area where we need help, it is in the area of the management of our money. And the truth is that the Bible has a lot of useful things to say about money management. Oh, the Bible does speak about bringing the tithe (quite literally %10 of what it is that you earn) into the temple or the church along with other offerings, but it does not speak of this in isolation. The tithe is a recognition that everything that we have is given to us by God - that our ability to make money is dependent on the gifts and opportunities that God has given to us. But God’s money instructions also include such ideas as living within our means, not being in debt to others (by the way, too many Christians carry an overwhelming unsecured credit card debt that is not at all an application of what Jesus taught), it teaches about the differences between what it is that we need and what it is that we want, and it teaches us about our responsibility to those who have less than us.

And that last one is a bit of a problem because, for those of us living in what we would call the Developed Nations, that describes us. It is not really about our debt. We have been gifted with so much ability and opportunity that we have to be described as the rich. We are the ones that have a responsibility to the poor of the rest of the world. And this is why Bono and other celebrities are so quick to remind us of our responsibility with regard to Africa and the Majority World (Third World) nations. Their salvation is quite literally in the pockets of the rich – and that means it is in ours.

But from a selfish perspective the most disturbing aspect of this verse concerns none of that. It is the idea that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for the rich to get into heaven that disturbs us. And considering that we are the rich it should probably disturb us. Many have tried to lessen the impact of the words, including an attempt to argue that what Jesus meant was a narrow rock formation that talented camel drivers had to maneuver through called “The Eye of the Needle.” But I have a feeling that here we are stretching it beyond what was intended

I actually think that Jesus meant exactly what it seems that he says. Jesus is talking about this huge horse sized animal, with one or two humps, going through the eye of a needle, as in “a needle pulling thread.” And that is impossible!  But that is also the point of the passage. To our comfort, we serve a God who specializes in what we consider impossible. And this enables us to do as Jesus would seem to want us to do – to go and live generous lives.       

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 20

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” – Matthew 19:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 25, 2014): Matthew 19

Divorce rates continue to rise, at least in the Cultural West. The divorce rate in the United States (when seen as a percentage of marriages over the same period of time) reached 53% in 2011. Canadian statistics for 2008 show a similar rate of 48%. And as bad as that might seem, no one seems to hold a candle to Belgium who topped the charts at a whopping 71% in 2010. The western idea of marriage has been changing for the past few generations. No one seems to expect to marry for life anymore. We no longer believe that strict monogamy is the pattern that our lives will follow. Rather, we have fallen into a hope for serial monogamy. Our cultural question is often this - if we can commit to one person at a time over the length of our lives, is that not enough?

The problem is that the Bible (which in this case we judge as archaic) seems to hold a very different ideal for us. The Bible would seem to instruct us toward a lifelong monogamy – the practice of taking one spouse for the entire length of our lives. And we can argue that the Bible is speaking out of a different time and different place, but to be honest our protestations often end up sounding selfish and falling short. For instance, as we spend billions on trying to find the cure to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, the ability to eradicate these illnesses from the planet are totally within our own control. Lifelong monogamy by the human population of our planet over a single generation would drastically change the landscape with regard to sexually transmitted diseases. Lifelong monogamy over a series of generations could eradicate the problem totally. We already know the cure. We just don’t want to accept it.

But this passage leads to another reason why the Bible supports the idea of strict or lifelong monogamy. There is a process that begins when we unite sexually with someone that knits us together. We cease being individuals and begin to see life as a couple. We recognize that it is happening. We might call it something different (like love) but we know the process. We begin to view our world differently when we are romantically linked with someone else. The two have quite literally already started to become one.

It is because of this process of being knit together that, when that linking dissolves ending in a breakup or divorce, there is no painless way to separate. What has literally been sewn together now must be ripped apart, and the pain involved in the ripping lasts a lifetime. The resultant scars from ripping the one back into two becomes a pain that will literally shape the way we live the rest of our lives.

Recently I met with a couple who had experienced several marriages and divorces in their lives. And the problems that had crept into their current marriage had a lot to do with the previous ones. The tears from the divorces that went before still had not healed. The raw edges and the pain was causing new problems, and the only solution was to admit that it just wasn’t supposed to be this way. That God had a different plan. And this pain was a result of our own unwillingness to follow that plan – to let what God had joined to never be separated.

Divorce is not the unforgivable sin, but the path to forgiveness begins when we begin to recognize the permanence of what God has joined to together. And we can make the most out of our current marriages if we will just realize this one fact - “what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 10

And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? – Luke 18:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 24, 2014): Luke 18

The Ray Rice story seems to be the story that simply keeps on giving. A recent report, and a long report written by the Sports Network ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” establishes three main facts that everyone needs to know about the handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident (and it should be noted that the Ravens deny these reports and accuse them of being written by Ray Rice supporters.) First, it establishes that the Baltimore Ravens, Rice’s NFL team, knew all about the incident within hours of its occurrence. Secondly, the report alleges that Coach John Harbaugh saw the video of Rice dragging his then fiancé out of the elevator (apparently he had not seen the video taken of the actual incident inside of the elevator) and immediately petitioned the Raven’s executives to release Rice. The third point made by the report is that the Raven’s execs decided to ignore their coach and pleaded with the NFL for leniency. They begged the NFL head office for no more than a two game suspension against Rice. The NFL then did very little investigation into the incident and eventually decided to hand down the exact penalty that the Raven executive team had requested. In what has become a very embarrassing incident for the NFL, the evolving story is really about the NFL head office bending to meet the requests of the executives of one of its member teams. Apparently, as has become obvious to most of those who have watched this story take shape, the Ray Rice incident has more to do with backroom pressure and deals than it does about justice for those involved with the situation. And if it wasn’t for the public relations nightmare that has developed, this may have been a situation that would never have been corrected.

Jesus tells a parable that seems to have very similar talking points. In the parable, the unjust judge (read NFL head office and Raven’s executives) only chase after justice because of the persistence of a widow who is chasing after what she feels is right (read public opinion.) The widow refuses to give up until the unjust judge gives in and does what justice demands. It is a story of how this world seems to work. Justice is never automatic - it is something that we seem to have to chase after if we want it to become a reality in our circumstances.

But then Jesus makes the comparison of the unjust judge with God. If the unjust judge makes the right decision only because he badgered into it, how much more will a just God do what is right simply because his children ask him – and God will not make justice wait for public opinion to catch up to it.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 19

Jesus wept. – John 11:35

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 23, 2014): John 11

I have a friend who is convinced that Jesus never laughed. His belief is that Jesus was a man of sorrows for the entirety of his ministry.  I disagree. I know that we don’t have a verse that says that “Jesus laughed,” but the story of Jesus life would seem to me to lead us to the idea that Jesus was emotionally well rounded. We know that Jesus wept, but I strongly suspect that he also laughed.

And part of the reason for my belief that Jesus laughed is found in this verse. Jesus didn’t weep in this part of the story without reason. He also didn’t weep because of the overall negative spiritual condition of the people in Judea and the world, and I also do not believe that he was weeping because his friend Lazarus had died. He had already made it clear to his disciples that Lazarus’ illness was not going to end in death (John 11:4). It is not that Jesus walked into Bethany not knowing what he was going to do next. The plan to heal Lazarus was already in place. And that being the case, there was no need to weep for his friend.

Yet John clearly states that Jesus wept. It is not that he had been weeping all of the time but that there had been a change in the emotional state of the teacher. He was moved to weep for only one reason - because his friends were weeping. And no amount of knowledge concerning what was about to happen in the future could offset the emotion that his friends were suffering in this moment. Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus and the friends of Jesus were upset, and Jesus was sensitive to their fear and mourning and could do nothing less than join them in their sorrow.

But if he was sensitive to the sorrow of his friends, is it beyond reason that he would also be affected by their joy. My friend cannot begin to imagine a Jesus that laugh’s, but I can’t imagine a Jesus sitting around a fire with his disciples, with Peter telling the latest joke out of Jerusalem and all of the disciples laughing uncontrollably, and Jesus not being moved.

If Jesus was really created just like us, if he really is fully human, then he must possess a full range of emotions just like we do.  Yes, we know that Jesus wept. But I am sure that he also laughed. He empathised with his friends and responded to and reflected their emotions – just as any healthy human beings would.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 18

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. – Luke 17:5-6

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 22, 2014): Luke 17

The National Football League continues its public relations nightmare with regard to the behavior of its players. Jonathan Dwyer, the running back for the Arizona Cardinals, is the latest of a rash of elite players (including Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Ray MacDonald – as well as Adrian Peterson who has been accused of child endangerment and abuse) who have been formally charged, and in the case of Greg Hardy convicted, with domestic violence allegations. The League has almost universally been seen as being morally weak in its handling of the Ray Rice case, but the jury is still out on how they plan to handle the rest of the players. In any case, it is quite possible that some of the best players in the league will not see action for a major portion of, and possibly even the rest of, this season.

The NFL may have been indecisive at instituting punishment in the cases presented already this season (the Ray Rice controversy might be the most public failure, although the Greg Hardy case might be actually the most serious error because he was actually convicted of the crime and yet seemed to have escaped league discipline), but the existence of the players personal code of conduct would seem to indicate that the league has faith that the players can do better. What the league is asking is not too much (many would argue that it might be too little) but the beleaguered League office has moved beyond a need for faith. What is needed now is that the players themselves begin to take the code and the public image of the NFL seriously, and begin to simply follow the code – even when they think that no one is watching.

The disciples have just learned of another element of the code of conduct that Jesus held for his followers, this time regarding forgiveness. And in the eyes of the disciples, the expectation was simply too much. No one could be expected to forgive as often as Jesus suggested. So the disciples make the request – “Increase our faith,” give us the ability to carry out what it is that you need us to do.  

But Jesus seemed to disagree. What was needed was not more faith. If the disciples were willing to step out and act, then even the impossible could be accomplished. The disciples already had more than enough faith. Now was the time to simply do.

And this is all that the NFL is asking of its players. The time for words and faith is over. Now is the time for the players to step up and do. The NFL embarrassment has to end, and the players have the power to do exactly that.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 11

 

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. – Luke 16:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 21, 2014): Luke 16

At some point in our history, we decided that we needed gatekeepers, people who could restrict access to certain people or certain places. The gatekeepers are given the responsibility of deciding who gets in and who remains on the outside. Admittedly, sometimes gatekeepers are a frustrating reality of our society. The can be arbitrary and petty officials who get a sense of personal importance by being able to admit some people while keeping others out. Of course that could simply be my overly cynical view due to my recent experiences with my own set of gatekeepers.

The Law of Moses essentially functioned as a gatekeeper. It described, in no uncertain terms, who was in and who was out. The most obvious example, although not the only example, of the function of gatekeeper involved who was able to enter into the Temple. The tribe of Levi were proclaimed by the Law as the only ones allowed into the inner most parts of the Temple. The Law then specified that the next available space was to be the domain of the men who had been circumcised and who had followed the precepts of the law. The next area was the Court of Women. This was the place where Law keeping women were welcome. And then the last and outermost area was the Court of the Gentiles. This was the area where the gatekeepers were absent and anyone could come. But the Court of Gentiles was far removed from the place where the Jews believed that God resided. They were forever on the outside, looking (But in reality too far away from the action to see anything. From the time of Moses until the time of John the Baptist, this was the spiritual reality of the nation.

But then Jesus came on the scene. The message of Jesus was a little different, especially in regard to gatekeepers, because it made absolutely no provision for them – no expectation that some would be allowed in while others were kept out. And at the moment of Jesus death the curtain that divided the Holy of Holies, the most holy place and the place where only the High Priest was allowed by the gatekeeper to enter, and then only allowed to enter once a year, was ripped in two and this most holy place was laid open for anyone who wanted to take a look. The gatekeeper had suddenly (and violently) left and anyone was allowed to come in. the day of the gatekeeper was over, and this was the final illustration of what Jesus had always taught, that everyone was allowed entrance into the Kingdom. This was gospel message, literally the good news.

But the problem, especially for the religious structure of the day, was that the wrong people began to enter. This new movement started to be filled with the poor, and tax-collectors and prostitutes, and people who had up until this day been kept outside the outermost gate of the temple. For the first time the excluded became the included - the gatekeepers had mysteriously vanished – and the religious elite began to wonder what had happened to their ordered world.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 17

The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. – Luke 15:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 20, 2014): Luke 15

I am a “Baby-Boomer.” I know, that is something that shouldn’t be admitted publicly. Technically, it means that I was born between the years of 1946 and 1964. My sister and I were both born in the waning years of “Baby-Boomerness.” And I have often argued that I have spent so much of my life trying to learn about and communicate with Generation X (and even Generation Y) that I have come to exhibit traits that are more reflective of those generations than of my own, but none of this changes my birth date – I am a “Baby-Boomer.” And can I just say this, it is a little uncomfortable knowing that the generations who have come after us are waiting for us to die (enter “Boomer Deathwatch,” a blog dedicated to the “Baby-Boomers” who have already moved on past this life - with the secure knowledge that “one day, they’ll all be dead.” But let me get back to the main admission of this post, I am a “Baby-Boomer.”

Paul Begala, political consultant and fellow Baby-Boomer, called our generation “The Worst Generation.” (That’s right, Generation Y. You are what you are because we led you there.) Begala wrote that “The Baby Boomers are the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history.” We seem to truly believe that we are the only ones in the world that really count. The reality that we live with every day is that we are unwilling to make the changes necessary for the betterment of the world because we want what we want – no, we want what we feel we are entitled to. Solutions to climate change and the exhausting of resources are going to have to come from somewhere else, because we are apparently unwilling to make the necessary changes to rectify the situation. These are the tabs that we are continually adding to the bills of our children. They will pay for what we have refused to take responsibility. But, as the “Boomer Deathwatch” rightly proclaims, the good news is that the youngest of us will turn 50 this year, and we are not going to live forever. The only hope that this world has is that the generations who follow us will be able to do better than we did – that they won’t follow our example.

Jesus tells a parable which, although told more than 1900 years before the first “Baby-Boomer,” sums up “Baby-Boomerness.” It is the story of a young man who demands of his father the things to which he feels entitled – he wants his inheritance. To be honest, the demand itself is outrageous. Not only is there this over the top sense of entitlement to what it was that his father has worked for all of his life, but in making the request (because an inheritance is generally something that is received after someone dies) he was saying to his father that he wished that his father was dead. The almost unbelievable message was that this young man was more concerned about the things of entitlement than he was about his father’s own well-being.

Maybe the most amazing thing about this story is that this isn’t where it ends. The next verse does not include the way that the father killed his child. But the child’s sense of entitlement also became his downfall. His entitlement led him down a path where in the end he was unable to care for the inheritance that his father had given to him so generously.

And maybe that is the lesson that we “Baby-Boomers” need to hear. We cannot continue on the path that we have taken this far. It is not too late (I hope) to move from this selfish entitlement to a stance of care for what comes next. Like the father in the parable, our parents (the Builder Generation) haven’t killed us – yet. And we still have, because of our numbers, incredible weight to throw around. What would happen if we could transition and begin to throw our weight around chasing after what is right. What if we became proponents of measures to stop climate change and began to model fiscal responsibility – no matter what that meant that we would have to give up? What if, even just for a moment, the world became more than just about us? Even we might be amazed at what we can still accomplish before our time on this stage is done. Maybe then, when the last of us dies, the generations who have come after won’t be so happy that we are gone. We can hope, anyway.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 16

Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.’ – Luke 14:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 19, 2014): Luke 14

There is an argument in some Christian circles concerning whether we should use attractional or incarnational methods within our church structures. The argument, employed by incarnational ministry supporters (those who believe that the church needs to leave the protective confines of the church and go into the world to minister Jesus Christ where the people are living), is that the church has depended for too long on their attractional programs (programs designed to attract people outside of the church into the church.) According to the supporters of incarnational ministry, the time has come for the church to move into the world. Incarnational ministers often seem to believe that attractional ministries are simply lazy and an unfortunate echo from the Christian ministries of the past. But the reality would seem to be that the Bible supports both models of ministry. In fact, the biblical model might not be one or the other, but rather both at the same time.

Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast. But the invited guests all find one reason or another why they cannot attend the feast. The Master of the Feast is offended. The food as already been prepared and now it simply needs to be enjoyed by the guests, but none have come. And so the Master of the Feast sends his servants out to compel the people to come to the feast. The act of being sent out to find the people to attend the wedding feast is exactly the model proposed by incarnational ministry supporters. We are to go, to seek out and find people to be invited to the feast wherever it is that we can find them. But we are also to compel them to come in. The word compel is an interesting word choice. It means to force or necessitate the people to come to the feast; and it implies the necessity of ministry to be attractional in some way. We are to both be sent out and to attract people in at the same time.

Ministry cannot be either incarnational or attractional, it has to be both. We are not designed to hide behind the walls of the church building and wait for people to come to us. We are being sent out to the place where they are – to make a difference in the place where they live. But the going out cannot be the end of the process. We have to also attract them into the church because we are to exist in community together. So as we go out, we also have to gather in. It is only as we are sent out and as we attract people to gather in that God’s Kingdom is able to continue to grow – and to continue to change the world..

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 15

Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? – Luke 13:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 18, 2014): Luke 13

John Bradford was one of the Protestant Reformers in England. He is described as a lover of the Church of England – the Anglicans. In 1548, Bradford who had been studying to be a lawyer, left his law degree and began to follow a path that would take him into the ministry. He was ordained in 1550. But in 1553, something significant happened in England. King Edward VI died without an heir. And so it fell on Mary Tudor to become Queen of England. Mary Tudor was a devout Catholic. And she became known as Bloody Mary because of the number of people that she put to death. During the first month of the new Queen’s reign, John Bradford was arrested on the charge of “trying to stir up a mob.” After the arrest, Bradford was confined in the Tower of London, and from his room he could see the men being taken out who Bloody Mary had ordered to be executed. Some of the men that were being taken to their deaths were the friends and colleagues of Bradford, and their crimes were identical to his. They were going to die for no other reason than that they opposed the Catholic Church.  It was in this moment that Bradford coined a phrase which we still use almost 500 years later. As he watched the men march toward execution, he would say “There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.” A phrase that we have still in our language as “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

Sometimes I think that we forget the pain that Bradford experienced when he spoke those words and coined the phrase. Too often we use the phrase like the Pharisee who looked over at the tax collector and said, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evil doers adulterers – or even this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). “God, I am thankful that I am not living out life like these people, you have made superior. There, but for the grace of God, go I.” But that is not the meaning that Bradford was expressing as he spoke the word. The men who were dying were exactly like him, and yet he lived yet another day – by the grace of God. Grace is a salve, not one that is applied to the places where you are healthy, but rather to the places where you are in pain. And in the Tower of London, John Bradford was in pain, and every day was the reality that this one could be his last. And it was to that pain that God’s grace needed to be applied.

Jesus looks at the people around him, and they seem to be smug in their assurance that they are not like other people. So Jesus mentions two instances where death had occurred within the City of Jerusalem. The second of these instances was the day that the tower of Siloam collapsed killing eighteen people. We really don’t know the event, a couple of theories have grown up around this Passage. The first is that we do know that the Romans had been wanting to bring water into Jerusalem by a series of aqueducts similar to the ones that they had used in other cities. If the pool of Siloam was part of that system, then the collapse of the tower would have been considered to be a deserved judgment on anyone who dared help the Romans further their plans in the Holy City. Or, another theory is that it might be that the tower fell on some sick people who were trying to get into the pool to find healing. In this case, the sick were already under a curse from God and the collapse of the tower would have simply been God’s confirmation. But Jesus warns those listening that they are all under a curse unless they are willing to repent. This incident did not exonerate those that lived, but should serve as warning to all who live without God.

In 1555, John Bradford made his walk from the Tower of London to the place where the wood was piled up ready to produce the fire by which he would be burned for his crime of going against the Catholic Church. But he did not die outside of God’s grace. As the flames went higher, so did the grace of God for this man who wanted nothing more than to please the God he served.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 14

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. – Luke 12:51

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 17, 2014): Luke 12

President Obama has stepped forward to talk about his fight against the Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria. His comment is that this cannot be America’s fight alone. It has to be a coalition of nations willing to take a stand in defense of human rights. All through the speech I hear echoes of “we will do things different this time, this will not be like the involvements we have had in the past.” They are great words – and they are comforting words. Which is probably why they have been words spoken by every American President in recent history before the decision to bomb or to send troops or to put soldiers in harm’s way has been made. The problem that the American President, and the British Prime Minister, and political leaders all over the world face in moments like these is that just that – they are political leader’s dependant on the votes of the people to maintain their position of power. Politicians revel in words like coalition and consensus. They search hard for the mediating positions on a subject. The specific problem that President Obama faces is that he entered Presidential politics with a promise to remove the United States from the various conflicts in which the nation had found itself entangled. And now, as the specter of another global problem emerges, similar to the global problems that forced other Presidents to take military action, Obama seems to be making the same decision and following the same plan as his predecessors - he is deciding that military action is needed and appropriate.

It might be that the problem stems from asking the wrong question. This action of the President of the United States may not be able to be reduced to a consensus or a coalition. The question that needs to be is asked is not “will others stand with me” but rather “is it right?” As much as I understand the political party’s need to stay in power, this is Barak Obama’s last term, sometimes what is right must take precedence over a concern for vote and re-election. If the move to engage ISIS and other Islamic extremist groups is right, then it shouldn’t matter if there is a coalition or consensus over the issue. And if the move is wrong, then it will still be wrong no matter how many of our allies are willing to stand with us.

So Jesus says that he has not come to bring peace, but division. To be honest these words rank among the top things that theologians wish that Jesus had never said. Here we have a leading pacifist – remember, he also said that if someone strikes you, you should turn the other cheek – admitting that peace is not among the top things on which he is focussed. In fact, if you should choose to follow this “Prince of Peace,” you will most likely find yourself at the center of division. And there is a reason for this. Jesus never advocated either consensus or coalition. He advocated living according to the will of his father – he advocated a life that was filled with right decisions and right action (Orthopraxy – right action – always trumps Orthodoxy – right belief – and ritual in Jesus’ teaching). But if you decide to do what is right, you will find that there are detractors that will stand against the position you are taking. If you decide to follow what is right, people will vehemently oppose you.

Sometimes it might be refreshing to hear a politician get up and speak not of consensus and coalition, but rather about what is right. To just stand before the nation and say that we will do this for no other reason than we believe that it is right. We believe that we have a responsibility to the nations that makes this action necessary. We desperately hope that other nations will join us, not because they are coerced but because they too recognize that this is the right thing to do. And so we embark on this path. My intuition tells me that even if the move is a blunder, we might be surprised at how many people would stand behind that approach. Oh, there will be those who will oppose and petition and strike against the action – right action always brings division. But in the midnight hours we can be assured that we followed not the actions of someone else, but what in our heart of hearts we knew to be right.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 13

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” – Luke 10:25

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 16, 2014): Luke 10

In Islamic thought, salvation is tied to the Five Pillars of Islamic practice. The five pillars are 1) a confession that Allah is the only God and that Muhammad is his prophet, 2) the practice of consistently performing the five daily prayers, 3) Fasting throughout the month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the 354-355 day Islamic Lunar Calendar), 4) developing a practice of giving to the poor, and 5) making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life – providing that you can afford it. With these practices a follower of Allah can hope (Allah always casts the deciding vote on whether a soul will end up in heaven or hell) that when death comes, as it always does, then the soul will eagerly anticipate meeting God – and eternal life is gained.

But the practices often cause Christians to look down on our Islamic brothers and sisters because of what we see as being a misunderstanding that eternal life is a gift, and not something that can be earned. Yet at the same time we seem to develop our own pillars of actions designed to please God. Maybe it is following the Ten Commandments, or consistent church attendance, or even adopting the fourth Islamic Pillar of giving to the poor. But in the end all we have really done is developed our own Pillars of Christian Practice aimed at gaining favor from God.

This is really the question that this expert in the law has in mind. And the key is that this is an expert in the law. He has studied the rules and regulations of the Law of Moses and he knows the ins and outs of the regulations. What he needs Jesus to do is confirm, because he already knows, that there are practices that needs to be followed in order to please God – that there are Pillars of the Faith.

The expert is in favor with these pillars being the same laws that Jesus agreed were the basis for all of the Laws of Moses – love God and love your neighbour. These are the two pillars of the faith and the basis for all of the Law. But he still wants it defined just a little more. What actions are really necessary to please God?

But Jesus is not willing to play the game. There are no practices that can be performed. There are only practices that proceed from our character. And that is all that really matters to God. And when your character reflects the practices of God, it doesn’t matter who your neighbor is. Only then is God truly honored.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 12

… but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. – John 10:26

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 15, 2014): John 10

I am convinced that life should come with a “faith required” tag. Or maybe all of the lies of the past have just made us really cynical. And it is not just the people who believe that Adolf Hitler and Elvis are still alive (I saw them having coffee together in New York just last week. By the way, Hitler would be 125 years old while Elvis would be only be a spritely young age of 79.) But it amazes me the number of people who refuse to believe that man has ever walked on the moon, or even that such a simple thing as gravity exists (I was told recently that there is no Law of Gravity, only the Law of Repeated Events. It is not that there is an attraction between bodies, only that the apple will always fall down.) We seem to exist in an area of life where if we have not experienced an event first hand, or if it does not fit into our belief pattern, then we do not believe in its truth or reality. Faith in every area of life precedes knowledge. (Enter the Creation vs. Evolution debate. Both sides have long made up their mind long before the first salvos of the discussion are fired. They believe in what they have faith in [Creation or Evolution.] It is the only explanation that I can come up with why some extremely smart people hold some really stupid beliefs – ah, but that is probably just my faith shining through.)

If you are wondering where I stand on some of these major issues, I am a Science Fiction reader and there is nothing that intrigues me more than the thought that one day we might be able to travel through space. My faith, if you want to call it that, not only allows for the belief that we have already been to the moon, but for the possibility that even now we are planning to colonize Mars. That one day we will be able to mine much needed resources from the Asteroid Belt and that we will have a Jupiter base on the one of the many moons orbiting that planet – maybe even Ganymede. And someday, we will figure out how to travel faster than the speed of light and we will be able to visit other solar systems. But before belief comes faith.

I am a scientist and the wonders of this world are very real to me. I see a unique beauty in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution that a number of my colleagues seem to miss. My faith allows me to believe that minute changes accomplished over time can make a huge difference – and that the species separate and develop because of them. But my faith also knows the reality of God, and all that I know that God can do. I believe in evolution … but I love Jesus. And the thought that in the beginning God, through the person of Jesus Christ, used evolutionary techniques to mold our world, and ultimately us, to me is a very beautiful thing. My faith has taken me there. And the reality that I seem to understand in the world is not that without faith we can all believe what is rational and objective. The reality is that without faith we can believe in nothing.

Jesus says that in spite of all of the evidence that he is the Christ, the Son of Living God come down from heaven, some do not believe because they are not his sheep – they have no faith in him. As much as we may want to argue logically for God, the cold hard truth is that no one will find God who is unwilling to first take a step of faith in him. And this does not just pertain to God, but to everything that we believe in life. Faith must come first before we can see the truth in anything.

 Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 10

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” – John 9:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 14, 2014): John 9

Science fiction author Frank Herbert (1920-1986) has been considered to be one of the masters at understanding cause and effect in his writing. Chapterhouse Dune, a novel released just prior to his death and the sixth novel in the Dune saga, was actually written as a valiant attempt to tie up all of the loose ends that the previous books had produced – all of the scattered causes that seemed to be without an effect. In a Frank Herbert world there just couldn’t be events that just happened – there was a reason, and a story, behind every occurrence in the life. And it was these connections that made his stories come alive for those fans who read his books.

But we don’t live in a Frank Herbert world. In the world in which we live, sometimes stuff just happens. As much as we want (and often need) for there to be a reason for the things in life, sometimes there just isn’t. Accidents happen. We want to put the blame somewhere, but there is just no appropriate place to put it – no place where the blame really fits. A friend of mine had a serious accident when a steering rod broke in his car and sent him careening into the ditch. My friend and the members of his family travelling with him survived, but his youngest daughter continues even today to have serious health problems because of the accident. And my friend does not go a day without wondering if there was something that he could and should have done differently. But there is really no one to blame. The accident was just that – and accident that just happened. To believe anything different is to pretend that we are living in a world designed by an author like Frank Herbert.

The disciples are suffering under a very similar delusion. They need for there to be a cause and effect in every situation. And so as they pass this man who was born blind, a question arises. In the minds of the disciples, the blindness of the man had to be related to a sin. But since the man was born blind, than who sinned? Is this blindness the cause of a parent’s sin or is it caused by something that the man had done in the womb. One of the questions that the disciples were struggling with is really one that we also struggle with – at what age do we become responsible for our sin? Is it possible to have to suffer through consequences of sins we committed when we were very young?

But Jesus sidesteps the question. The blindness was not created by sin – sometimes things just happen. It is a lesson that we need to learn desperately in the church. Too often I come in contact with people who are struggling with connecting the unfortunate events of their lives with sin. And sometimes there is a connection (although it is seldom these events that people struggle with – these are the “I have lung cancer because I smoked for forty years” conversations.) But often there is no reason – only a question. Is your faith in God big enough to survive even these circumstances in life? And, maybe, are you willing to allow God to work through this moment of your life – this moment of your weakness?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 10

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group – John 8:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 13, 2014): John 8

As I spoke this past weekend I was reminded once again of the inequity position of women in our religious writings. After speaking on Psalm 51, a Psalm that was written by King David after his unfortunate moral failure with Bathsheba, I had several women who wanted to speak with me about Bathsheba as the victim. Not only was her character maligned by David and the one who recorded the biblical story, but it has also been maligned by the thousands of biblical teachers who have taught on the story and refused to acknowledge the absolute powerlessness of Bathsheba to resist the wishes of the king under these circumstances. One lady painted a beautiful and tragic picture of Bathsheba as a woman who was kidnapped against her will and had her beloved husband murdered, all to service the desire of the king – and there wasn’t the first thing that she could do about it. She openly wondered if there might have been other children that Bathsheba had loved and who had to be left behind as she started her new life with the King of Israel. She asked if it were possible that Bathsheba cried herself to sleep at night remembering all of the things that she had lost, and if there might be just a little hate for the man with whom she now shared a bed, and I had to admit that all of these things were very possible.

The church, well, at least parts of it, seem to be trapped in this hierarchical idea of the pre-eminence of the male of the species. And we come back by this idea honestly – we can support the idea with many biblical texts including the story of David and Bathsheba. But what we refuse to acknowledge is that the biblical texts which argue for a dominance of the man are culturally derived, not spiritually. In fact, the Bible also seems to argue want to spiritually argue the opposite position. All through the New Testament, and even in Paul’s writings, women are exalted to the positions of being the main supporters of the fledgling Christian Church, hostesses to the needs of the prominent (yes, male) heads of the church, and, in the case of Priscilla, even the prime teachers within the church. And all of this argues strongly for an equality between the sexes, not just in life, but in spiritual matters as well.

Even in this story of the adulteress being brought before Jesus, one of the lessons that needs to be heard is Jesus unwillingness to blame the woman for the sins of the world (no matter how some people feel about the sin of Eve in the Garden.) In this situation, a woman is brought before Jesus who had been caught in the act of adultery. Many have quite correctly wondered why it was just the woman who was brought before Jesus, after all, to be “caught in adultery” absolutely requires the presence of another person – and in this case it requires a man. But the subtext of this story from a cultural point of view seems to argue that the man was innocent, it is only the woman who needs to be punished for her sin. It is likely that the man, the one with whom she had slept with moments before being dragged out naked to meet this Jewish Rabbi named Jesus, was even now picking up a rock and preparing for her execution.

But Jesus stopped the proceedings declaring that this was a game he was unwilling to play. Was the woman guilty of sin? Yes. Was she the only one? No. She was a pawn in someone else’s game plan and Jesus was not about to execute a pawn. It might even be that, as he said the words asking that the one without sin be permitted to throw the first stone, Jesus was searching for the partner of the woman in the crowd - the one who had shared in the woman’s sin. And, in the eyes of this counter-cultural Jesus, he was the one who was even guiltier of the current charge of sin than the naked woman who now laid in front of him. The culture may have been willing to blame the woman, but Jesus wanted the man who was the power behind the sin.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 9

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. – John 7:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 12, 2014): John 7

At the climax of the Rock Opera “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Judas Iscariot questions Jesus concerning the purpose of his death. Tim Rice, who wrote the lyrics for the Andrew Lloyd Webber production, places these words in the mouth of the stories antagonist -

Did you mean to die like that?
Was that a mistake or
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record breaker?

                                      (Superstar – Tim Rice)

It is an old question. It questions exactly what it is that we mean when we begin to talk about the idea that Jesus knew that he was going to die a horrible death on the cross. Was the death of Jesus some sort of suicide plan? Or was it a miscalculation on the part of Jesus? Or was it something else? Why did Jesus feel that he had to die (and even these words are loaded with assumptions)?

As John 7 opens, chronologically we are now about six months away from the cross that Jesus seemed to know that he was travelling toward. And there has been about six months that have passed since the memorable events mentioned in John 6. John opens this part of the story with the comment that Jesus had spent this interim time in Galilee because he knew that the religious leaders in Judea wanted to kill him.

But there is some controversy in passage. The question concerns the emotions surrounding Jesus decision to stay away from Judea. Some interpretations, like the NIV, simply indicate that Jesus did not want to go to Judea. The language is similar to what we find in the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) all agree that Jesus did not want to go to the cross. In fact, in the last moments before his arrest, Jesus asked his Father to find another way, hoping to be able to complete what needed to be accomplished without his death. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). The message seems to be clear, Jesus did not want to go to the cross, but at his Father’s command he would go to the cross.

The words of John could also be interpreted as Jesus making a purposeful mental decision not go to Judea, but rather to stay in Galilee. But there is another possible interpretation. Some manuscripts seem to indicate that it was not that Jesus did not want to go, and it was not that he had made up his mind that he would not go, but that at this point in time Jesus felt that he did not have the authority to go into Judea. Tim Rice had it wrong (at least in the song “Superstar.”) The death of Jesus had nothing to with either a mistake on the part of Jesus or an aspiration on the part of Jesus to be remembered. It had everything to do with the fact that he was himself under the authority of, and obedient to, the Father.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 8

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. – Matthew 18:21-22

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 11, 2014): Matthew 18

Forgiveness is one of the most selfish actions that a person can take. Unfortunately, we seldom understand that fact emotionally. When we are wronged, what we want is payback. And we are willing to go to any length in order to get it. But by not forgiving someone, all we are really doing is holding ourselves hostage to the actions that someone else has taken against us. Rather than getting payback, what we really do is relive the events that have hurt us over and over again as we refuse to forgive the ones who have caused the hurt. By not forgiving, we give our enemies the power to hurt us over and over again.

Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone. And he suggests what he feels is the perfect number- seven. To be honest, even seven sounds like a lot of times to forgive someone – and that was probably exactly what Peter was thinking. But instead of jumping on Peter’s suggestion, Jesus turns the table on him. No, it is not seven times that he needed to be willing to forgive, it was seventy-seven times – or maybe even seventy times seven chances to forgive. The number of times that we need to be willing to forgive is an unthinkable number. But there is a good reason for why the number is so high. Why would we limit the number of times that we are willing to let ourselves off of the hook.

Today has become a day of remembrance in Western Culture, and especially in North America. 9/11 changed the way we think about the world. It has been thirteen years since planes crashed into twin towers in New York and into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. And the world is not a whole lot different today than it was in 2001. We still live in fear that another 9/11 may be just around the corner. Terrorists continue to seem to take a special pleasure in targeting the West. And it just might be that watching us live in terror and complaining about the continual disruption of our travel is exactly what our enemies have been hoping to achieve.

And we have tried a number of ways to get back at them, to obtain our payback, but maybe the one thing that we have not tried is simple forgiveness. Forgiveness is our selfish action that says that we are not going to let our enemies dictate the way that we live. And it might just take away one of the purposes that the terrorists are trying to achieve – provoking our anger and our terror. Is it overly simple? Definitely. But it might be exactly what Jesus would do.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 7

Note: Messages from VantagePoint Community Church (Edmonton) are available here.

But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him. – Mark 9:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 10, 2014): Mark 9

I struggle with a very literal interpretation of the Bible. I understand why we want to follow a literal interpretation. It makes sense and it seems easy – this is what the Bible says and so this is what the Bible means. It is a very similar argument to the one that declares that a certain translation of the Bible is the one that is holy and meant to be followed. The practice makes it easy to preach from because it removes the problem of translation and the question of whether or not the translators have got it right.

I really do understand the strength of the approach, but at the same time I think the practice is irresponsible. The Bible was written in a different time, a different culture, and in a different language. And I believe that God wants us to wrestle with all of these things as we interpret the instructions that he has given to us in the Bible. And as far as a literal interpretation of the Bible is concerned, it is also something that I believe we are supposed to wrestle with. Over and above all of this, even the Bible does not interpret itself literally.

This passage is a good example of the Bible interpreting itself in a nonliteral way. The expectation that Elijah would precede the coming of the Messiah is from Malachi 4:5.  “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes” (Malachi 4:5 – NIV). So the expectation of the people, a very literal expectation, was that before the coming of the Messiah Elijah would arrive. It is no wonder that the followers of Jesus are a little confused. If Jesus really is the Messiah, then where is Elijah? Doesn’t Elijah have to come before the Messiah?

Jesus does not argue that they are wrong. Their interpretation of the words of Malachi that Elijah had to precede the Messiah was correct, but Malachi was not talking about the literal return of the great Hebrew prophet. Jesus says that Malachi was speaking of a type of prophet that would be of the same mold as Elijah. While the people were waiting for the literal return of Elijah, Jesus declares that they had missed the coming of the man that Malachi was really speaking of, the one that we know of as John the Baptist. John was not the reincarnation of Elijah. He was not Elijah returning from heaven on a chariot of fire. But he was a prophet that had been called by God to minister to Israel in the role and the spirit of Elijah. And Jesus says that Israel did what they wanted with this type of Elijah. They ignored him, and in the end they killed their new Elijah. And now that their Elijah had come, it truly was the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 18

They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief. – Matthew 17:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 9, 2014): Matthew 17

Occasionally the sports world comes up with unexpectedly good human interest stories. And one such story came out of the Cincinnati Bengals last week. As the team was making their final cuts and getting ready for the beginning of new season, it became apparent that defensive tackle Devon Still was not going to make the team. And in some ways, that was not a big surprise. In recent days Devon’s mind has been on something other than football. Back in June Still learned that his four year old daughter had stage four pediatric cancer. When the news came out last Saturday that he had been cut from the team, Still totally understood the move. The Bengals needed someone who could give 100% to football, and at this time in his life that was more than Devon Still could possible give.

But it also presented Still with a problem. Without a job there was no way that the now former football player would be able to afford the basic things of life let alone his daughter’s cancer treatments. But the Bengals were not done. Next the team made what has already been heralded as the move of the season. They signed the defensive tackle to one of their ten practice squad positions. And as a member of the practice squad Still would receive $6,300 a week as well as full health insurance coverage for his daughter. It is likely that the Cincinnati Bengals had it planned all along, And all Devon Still could say as the team announced their plans is how unbelievably grateful he is for the Bengals generosity.

Jesus speaks for a second time about his death. It was not a discussion that his disciples really wanted to be a part of, yet it was still something that needed to be said. The time was coming when the rabbi would be arrested, beaten and executed. And Jesus needed his friends to understand that when the day came and all of this came to pass that everything was still going according to plan.

And that there was a part two to the plan. On the third day after Jesus was executed (he was very specific about the timing0, he would rise again. The story was not over. There was more to come. Yet the disciples were filled with grief. They were still focused on the first part of the story – Jesus was going to die.

But when Jesus would rise from the dead, the disciple’s grief would be turned into joy. And the disciples would be grateful that there was a plan that carried beyond what they believed was the end. That even then, God was preparing a place for them.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 9