Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. – Acts 4:36-37

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 31, 2014): Acts 4

A recent article exposed some of the plot holes in the Star Wars Saga. The plot holes that the article described included the idea that the Millennium Falcon was at once the fastest bucket of bolts around and yet was also way too slow for interstellar travel (the posted speed of .5 past light speed would not allow the ship to make any of the trips that the movie says it made), the curious idea that while Luke’s Jedi training is supposed to take “a long time,” when that story line is placed alongside the other story lines in the saga it appears that it happened in an afternoon, and the curious idea that Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi are all in hiding from the empire and the evil megalomaniac Darth Vader (Leia’s and Luke’s Dad) and yet they don’t seem to be hidden very well. In fact, it would seem that dear old Dad could probably find all of them without the use of the force. Leia is a high profile princess, Luke is living with an Uncle and has retained the family name of Darth Vader – Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi (also known as Old Ben Kenobi) apparently travels around wearing what amounts to the Jedi Knight Uniform (at least it is the same type of clothing as the other Jedi Knight wear in the first three movies) even though the Jedi had apparently been outlawed by the Empire. It would seem that if the empire was really looking for them, they would have been found.

Part of the problem is that the writers of the later movies were attempting to write a backstory that was over six hours long to explain what we saw in the first three movies. And in providing the backstory, some cohesion in the events of the story is lost (another example of this is that we find that Leia remembers her mother in Episodes four to six, yet according to the back story provided in episode 3, mom died giving birth to Leia and Luke. And if that is true then there is no way that Leia could have remembered her mom.) Confused yet? So are the rest of us.

Barnabas appears on the scene at the tail end of Acts 4. We are simply told the he sold a field and brought the money to the apostles. Luke simply sets Barnabas up as an example of the kind of things that the followers of Christ were doing in the days following Pentecost. But Barnabas also becomes an important figure in the new church. He is the one who, at great expense to himself, seeks out Paul who has been hiding out at home in Tarsus and convinces him that he needs to use his all of the talents and knowledge that made him a great Pharisee in defense of the Christian Church. Barnabas defended Paul to the disciples (indicating that he had some sort of status or reputation among the disciples) and he went on the first Missionary Journey with Paul. After Paul and Barnabas had a bit of a falling out (a very minor one over Barnabas’ cousin John Mark), Barnabas continued on his own Missionary Journeys, and according to church tradition was stoned to death because of the faith. Barnabas has also been suggested as a possible author of the anonymous canonical “Letter to the Hebrews,” although that is strictly conjecture and there is no proof that this is true.

But we have also been tempted to add a backstory for Barnabas. It has been suggested that he was likely one of the extended group of disciples, the seventy or seventy-two that Jesus sent out. And that is probable, but we don’t really know. But the backstory that I like the best for Barnabas would indicate that he wasn’t one of this extended group of disciples. In this backstory, Barnabas is the Rich Young Man who came to Jesus and asked what he needed to do in order to be saved. And Jesus told him to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor. The Bible says that Jesus loved this man, but he left Jesus broken hearted, because he possessed much. We have no idea really whether the young man and Barnabas were the same individual, but there is something incredibly satisfying in believing that finally the young man, a little older and more seasoned, followed what Jesus had taught and became the encourager of young Jesus movement. I don’t know that this is true, but deep down I hope that it is.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 5

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. – Acts 3:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 30, 2014): Acts 3

ABC’s new television show “Forever” is receiving mixed reviews in the early days of its network run. The show follows the adventures of Henry Morgan, who is over 200 years old (but doesn’t look a day over 40) and cannot be killed. Working as a medical examiner, Morgan struggles to solve crimes and if he is killed in the process he is miraculously transported naked to a nearby body of water. But for Morgan, this acquired immortality is a curse that he wants desperately to escape from – he wants to find a way to die. Morgan may be immortal, but unless there is a ratings bump the T.V. show might not be – “Forever” may be sort lived and Morgan’s wish for death will be granted by the network execs.

Peter is amazed as he talks about the execution of Jesus – and there is an element of “what were you thinking” in the story that Peter is trying to tell. I mean, exactly how do you kill the one who was intimately involved in the very beginning of the process of creation – the one who literally invented life? And yet that is exactly what happened. The religious leaders plotted and worked until the Messiah that they were waiting for was dead. But God raised the author of life, giving him back his life. And Peter stresses that it is this that he was a witness of – he knew the reality that Jesus was dead, but he also experienced a Jesus who had been returned back to life.

But for Peter, this immortality was not about a curse. Jesus life was simply the way that it was supposed to be - and it could be no other way. Life always finds a way, and when the author of life was raised from the dead, then he continues to bring life to everything that he comes in contact with. And in the end it is the real test of whether or not something is of God. Because if it is of God, and in contact with God, it cannot help to be alive.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 4

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” – Acts 2:40

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 29, 2014): Acts 2

There is an old story about a man who tries to avoid an appointment with Death. In the story the man is hard at work in Philadelphia when he hears that Death is coming to meet with him that very evening – that today is the day that his life will end. The man has a lot of things that he still wants to accomplish in life, so he decides that he is going to avoid Death by leaving the city. In fact, he decides to leave the country. He quickly grabs his passport and heads for the airport where he boards a plane heading for Toronto, Canada (apparently death has an aversion to the cold, so going to Canada makes logical sense.) Once in Canada, he sets himself to his business taking care of his Canadian connections and then begins an evening walk through historic downtown Toronto before going to his hotel for the night. He had already booked an early morning to flight back to Philadelphia – safe in the knowledge that Death would have left the city by that time. And as he walks by the Air Canada Center (home of the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs) he is met by a man who is hurrying along the sidewalk with his head down. The two men bump into each other and the man looks up into the eyes of Death himself. The man dies on the streets of Toronto, and the moral of the story seems to be that if you have an appointment with Death, that is an appointment that must be kept. Fate can never be cheated.

The idea of an inescapable fate is a mainstay in a lot of tragic writing, and especially the Greek tragedies. But it has also obtained a foothold in Christian tradition. The idea that everything that you will ever do in life is already written in the Great Book of Life is just another way of saying that we are great believers in an inescapable fate. And this is an aspect of Christianity that I have struggled openly with. The idea of an inescapable fate may be comforting to some, but it seems to take a lot of the striving out of life. If what will be, will be on autopilot, then why should I bother to keep trying hard for the things that I want out of life – because it seems that either they will be or won’t be outside of any effort that I might put in. And if people are either saved or condemned ahead of time, than why bother putting effort into missional and evangelical endeavors. The fix is in, and there isn’t anything that we can do to change it.

Some like-minded people have argued that this belief in Christian fate, especially that there is nothing that we can do to be saved, is a lie of Satan that the church has adopted. Luke says that Peter warned them and pleaded with them to make the change in their lives. Peter did not seem to believe in this idea of an inescapable fate, but rather he seemed to believe that every man was in charge of his own destiny – and that every person is responsible for his own salvation. If he is obedient to the dictates of God, then God’s grace will cover him. But we can also choose another way, and in that we become like someone who refuses a blanket even though they are cold. It is not that the blanket isn’t there, but we still have to be willing to wrap ourselves up in it if we are going to make use of its benefits.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 3

So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. – Acts 1:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 28, 2014): Acts 1

The early 20^th Century humorist Kin Hubbard (Frank McKinney Hubbard) once remarked “We'd all like to vote for the best man, but he's never a candidate.” The comment has summed up the frustration and disillusionment of many voters with the people that are running for political office. While the comment would probably produce head nods of agreement with every generation of voters since (and most likely before) Hubbard made the observation, the problem is a little more complicated. For most voters, the reality is that it is not that the best man or woman is not running, it is often that we just don’t recognize him or her soon enough to elect them to office.

Personally, my favorite United States President was Jimmy Carter (now, if only he was a Republican). For me, the Carter presidency would seem to be highly underrated. Yes, he left with only a 34% approval rating and a 55% disapproval rating, but he was also the president that was given the unenviable task of trying to restore confidence in the American political system following the Nixon scandal, and he left office in the midst of the Iran hostage. As a President, he did his best in responding to very troubled times. And since he has left office, Carter has been probably the most effective of all the former presidents. The British newspaper, The Independent, once commented that "Carter is widely considered a better man than he was a president" (January 22, 2009). Personally, I can think of a lot worse things to say about someone’s political career.

Luke continues his story about the newly emerging Jesus community by mentioning that the community felt it needed to replace Judas. It was a move that would keep the number of apostles at twelve. As far as we know, this is the only time that this happened. The next apostle to die would be James, the brother of John, and his death would take place just over a decade after this election. But there is no recognition that the church felt the need to replace James. Instead, the number of apostles just begins to dwindle until John, ironically James’ younger brother stands alone and is the last of the Apostles to die.

Little is known about Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias; the men nominated to replace Judas. But church history has always maintained that both were very good men. It is thought that they were both part of the larger disciple community (they were both members of the seventy disciples that followed Jesus) and had been sent out by Jesus earlier in his ministry. It is unclear what it meant to be numbered among the Twelve. Both men went on to have significant ministry careers in the young church, and it is likely that both men were martyred. At least one tradition holds that Matthias was stoned and then beheaded in Jerusalem while Joseph called Barsabbas or Justus became the Bishop of Eleutherpolis, a small town in the first century, and was very likely murdered when the town was destroyed by Vespasian in 68 C.E.

But regardless of how they died, the evidence that we have is that both men were simply good men and worthy of the honor of replacing Judas among the Twleve – although only one would be selected.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 2

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. – John 21:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 27, 2014): John 21

I recently read an article on the “Seven Unexpected Perks of Being Married.” The article was written by a woman, so admittedly there were few perks for those of us who aren’t female. The advantages included a lot of mundane things like a division of household tasks (so that the one partner doesn’t have to do all the tasks that they loathe doing), a closet full of comfy oversized clothes (obviously a woman thing, no one wants to see me in my wife’s clothes and there is no way that it would be comfy) and being able to go dutch on dates. It also apparently meant that food is never wasted, the guy is always willing finish the fries (but in my experience seldom the salad.)

There is something so wonderfully mundane about this passage that it seems hard to believe that this is resurrection passage. There are no lights going off and no walls being walked through. There is a miraculous catch of fish, but Jesus doesn’t disappear suddenly like he did when the disciples broke bread with him in Emmaus. Just an invitation to breakfast – and a chance for a bunch of friends to sit and catch up.

The Bible doesn’t tell us if there were any leftovers from breakfast (with 153 fish I suspect that there was.) But it is apparent that the disciples had a chance to just spend some quality time with Jesus. The breakfast might have almost seemed something that I am not sure that the disciples had experienced for quite a while – it was almost normal.

And it underlines something that I think that we sometimes miss, but that we really shouldn’t. God doesn’t just inhabit the extraordinary moments of our lives. He isn’t located in just in the miracles that we experience and he doesn’t only live in the moments that we spend in church. The reality that we need to understand is that God inhabits the wonderfully mundane moments of our lives. He even inhabits our breakfasts.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 1

Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. – John 20:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 26, 2014): John 20

Once again we are waiting for Jesus’ return. John Hagee has suggested in “Four Blood Moons” that we should expect Jesus to return sometime between now (or actually this past April) and March 2015. Not to rub it in, but the Haggee prediction follows on the heels of the failed prediction of Grigori Rasputin (August 23, 2013), the 2012 end of the world phenomenon, the October 2011 phenomenon return of Christ hysteria (both of these dates were predicted by several different people), Pat Robertson’s prediction of April 27, 2007 – and the list of failed predictions for the end seems almost endless.

The problem is that there are apparently some things we just can’t expect to be able to predict – and even the Bible says that the Second coming of Christ is one of those things. And what we sometimes forget is that the first coming of Christ was also one of those unpredictable moments. As much as the prophecies around the coming of the Messiah had dominated the thoughts of the children of God, they just didn’t know when he was going to come.

So when the word of the empty tomb finally gets to the disciples, John and Peter simply take off running. They are desperately trying to figure out what it was that was happening, because as much as Jesus had predicted that he would rise again from the dead, that apparently was something that the disciples simply had not understood – or even really expected.

So Peter and John begin to run a race to the tomb. And John, maybe like a typical male specimen of the species, needs to tell us who won the race – he did. And as much as the rest of the events may have been a surprise to the disciples, the winner of the race really wasn’t. The winner of this foot race was something that we should have been able to predict. For starters, John is much younger than Peter. Peter is starting to suffer a little bit from the wear and tear of life. No, he isn’t real old, but he is beginning to age. And John was probably in the absolute prime of his life.

But it might also be that Peter was not fully into the race. He desperately wanted to see the empty tomb for himself; to believe that Jesus had risen just as he said that he would. But he is also very scared about the idea of meeting the risen Christ. As much as he wants to see his teacher, he also knows that he denied knowing him three times. And he is scared of what the teacher might say to him about his lack believe and faith in what Jesus had said. And the bottom line is that while we are not supposed to know that date of the second coming, Peter most likely in this moment, as his pace begins to slow, is thinking that he should have known that the grave would be empty. Just like the winner of this race was not a surprise, neither should the empty tomb have been much of a surprise.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 21

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. – Luke 24:30-31

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 25, 2014): Luke 24

The earliest mention of the communion ritual in the Bible is actually found in the Letters of Paul. The gospels were all written later than the Letters of Paul. And there is good reason for that. The early church really expected that Jesus would be coming back soon. The eyewitnesses to the story of God coming down to earth were still present in the churches. The stories were told from person to person throughout the early years of the church. What the church really needed were theologians who could explain what the stories meant to the everyday life of the church. Enter Paul. He became the predominate teacher of the first century – and he was the prime shaper of early Christianity.

The celebration of the Last Supper was one of the earliest rituals of the young church. And it is a ritual that Paul examined closely. His description of the ritual in the Corinthian Church (found in 1 Corinthians 11) is not all that complementary. The theologian of the early church is sure that the Corinthians are missing the point. Specifically, the Corinthians seem to celebrating the supper in a very individualistic way, when the celebration that Jesus taught on the night before his crucifixion was designed for the community. Paul chastises the church for not being aware of others in the worshipping community as they celebrate the ritual. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 13:29-30). The phrase “discerning the body of Christ” in Paul’s thought meant recognizing the Christian Community in the ritual. Only when communion is celebrated in community, and we are willing to see Jesus in the other, do we really understand the full significance of the ritual.

And it is this idea of Paul that seems to be echoed in the story of the two men on the Road to Emmaus. The two man were travelling together when they are joined by a third. The three men pass the time on their journey by telling the stories of Jesus, especially the events that had happened in Jerusalem during the past few days. But while the third man seems to be ignorant of these recent events, but he does seem to understand the teachings of Jesus. And he brings a bit of understanding for the disciples, insight into the life of Jesus and the connection he had with the scripture, as they traveled together.

But when they arrive at their destination, the two disciples invite the third man to eat with them. And as he breaks the bread, they recognize their new friend as being the risen Jesus– and then he disappears from their sight. It is interesting that according to Luke, the body of Christ was not recognized or discerned until the bread was broken and celebrated in community of others. And in Emmaus, it was not until that moment that Jesus was finally recognized.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 20

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. – Mark 16:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 24, 2014): Mark 16

The Christian Church has had, and continues to have, a bad reputation with regard to Women’s Rights issues. We have been way too slow to take action on wage equality, job security and a myriad of other issues that primarily concern women. We have also developed this quaint belief that women should only be allowed to come alongside men in ministry rather than believing that women have the ability to lead in their own right. This latter idea I have had some struggles with. The reality is that if it wasn’t for the wonderful leadership of certain women in the early days of almost every Christian denomination, the church as it stands today just wouldn’t be here. We owe a debt of thanks to the women who have led us to where we are, but more than that, we need to recognize their value in leading the Christian Church to the place that it needs to be in the future.

But we also need to recognize the Bible as being a revolutionary book with regard to women’s rights. The Bible, written in an extreme patriarchal society where women did not count and were never asked their opinion about anything, tells the story of the ministry of the Church both before and after Jesus and the unique countercultural ways that women led throughout our shared Judeo-Christian history. And as we get to the end of the story of Jesus and the incarnation, the Bible stresses in an amazing way the role of women. It was a group of women who stood with John at the Crucifixion (the men had all run off.) And on the Sunday following the death of Jesus, it was a group of women who have the courage to go to the tomb, which was being guarded by Roman guards, and see the lifeless body of Jesus and perform the needed burial rites on the teacher that they had loved. This mention of the female followers of Jesus is an unprecedented occurrence according to the cultural beliefs at the time.

So Mark notes that these women are invited into the tomb. This is the moment that they personally witness the fact that Jesus is gone. Mark then notes that they were trembling and bewildered, and that they fled from the tomb. Mark, whose whole gospel has centered on action, continues that motif with this image of a group of women who are confused as they enter the tomb, and then quickly leave in fear.

Interestingly, Mark also says that the angel told them specifically to go and tell Peter and the disciples everything that they had seen and heard. But apparently, the women were too much a product of their culture and were too scared of how the men of this patriarchal culture might react, to say a word. Mark simply states that they remained silent.

But there is no way around the fact that it is these women who were at the forefront of the ministry of Jesus. And it was the women who first experienced the news of the resurrection. It was the women who had the courage to support the fledgling church then, and they are the ones that God wants to use to shape the church today.

Note: It is likely that this verse is real end of the book of Mark. What follows after these words have the appearance of being added later, and were most likely added to battle early church heresy. If that is true, then Mark ends his gospel with a vague question about Jesus. There are no resurrection appearances, just the promise that Jesus had gone ahead of the disciples to Galilee and that he would meet with them there. Amazingly, Mark ends with these words of the angel to a group of women who would not have been even allowed to testify in court because of their sex (women of that day were not thought to be able to be witnesses of anything – that was another job of the man.) And yet these women are the ones that the angel trusts with the resurrection message – that they can know that Jesus has risen just like he said.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 24

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” – Matthew 28:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 23, 2014): Matthew 28

There is an old joke about a pastor who insisted on taking a day off every week. One of the parishioners jokingly asked the pastor why he insisted on taking a day off, after all, the devil never takes a day off. The pastor thought a moment and then answered, I guess I take a day off because if I didn’t, then he would be the devil.

The story highlights our misunderstanding of God’s expectations of us – especially his expectations of us at rest. I have met Christians that almost seem to exist in a state of panic – they have a drive within them, a need to tell people about Jesus and change their destinations from hell to heaven. They never want to take a break – after all the time is short, and the Day of the Lord – the day of the Second Coming of the Messiah -  is getting closer as each moment passes. The problem is that this state of panic never seemed to be modeled to us by Jesus. Jesus made a practice of removing himself from where the action was taking place in order to pray. He seemed to practice the Sabbath, although admittedly he believed that the Sabbath was not a day of empty ritual done so that we can somehow entertain God, but rather he taught that the Sabbath was a day that God gave to the human race because humans were designed to live and work with one day off to rest out of every six – humans needed the Sabbath in order to remain healthy.

But Jesus seemed to go even beyond the idea of an occasional day off. Most of the action after the resurrection would seem to happen in Jerusalem. And at the ascension, Jesus will tell his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until after the Holy Spirit had met with them (which happened on the day of Pentecost). But Jesus instructions at the resurrection is that he plans to meet his disciples in Galilee. Galilee was a place away from the hustle and bustle and the busyness of Jerusalem. Jesus and the disciples would meet among the peaceful hills in Galilee. For the moment, they would be far removed from the turbulence and the hatred that seemed to dominate Jerusalem.

But it was not that they were going to stay there among the peaceful hills forever. Jesus was allowing them a moment to gather as friends and come to terms with everything that had happened. And then they would return to Jerusalem to accomplish all that they needed to accomplish there. The peace of Galilee was preparatory for all that would come later.

And the model was set for us. Sometimes we simply need to get away and find our place of peace – so that we can prepare for the job that is ahead. And that is the model that Jesus set for us.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 16

The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” – John 19:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 22, 2014): John 19

As a people, we are so full of pretence. We have learned early in life that we have to have a reason for the things that we do. I can’t miss work just because I want to sleep in, I need to have to a reason (and obviously the desire to sleep in is not a reason, or at least it is not a good reason.) This need for a reason is why every day some kid gets up from their bed and places the thermometer under a light bulb – and then says Mom, I can’t go to school. I have a fever of 125 (or 50 for the devotees of the Metric System.) As a kid, I delivered an early morning paper for a while (which people who know me struggle to understand because I am allergic to early mornings). So my schedule every morning was to be up by 4:00 and then home again by 6:00 - and then I would go back to bed for an hour or an hour and a half before I would get up for school. But one day I remember waking up at 7:30 and I was just tired. In fact, I was too tired to hold the thermometer up to the light. And on this morning my mom came down to wake me up, and I just rolled over and told her I was just too tired, and mom decided to just let me sleep. It wasn’t a good excuse, but on this day mom honored my need for sleep.

The Jewish leaders had been on a campaign for the death of Jesus. Part of the problem was that Rome held for itself the right to put people to death (although admittedly Israel often seemed to ignore that law). So Israel created a list of charges. And at the top of that list was that Jesus believed that he was King of the Jews. This Jesus was a revolutionary king. His intent was to lead a rebellion against Rome – he didn’t just want to be King of the Jews, he wanted to be the Caesar of the Earth. And for this reason Caesar needed to put Jesus to death.

But the argument was all pretense – nothing more than false reasoning, an excuse for an action that the leaders wanted to undertake. Jesus had never made himself a threat to Rome. In fact, he had supported the idea of Rome. When asked about whether or not it was right to pay taxes to Caesar, Jesus asked that a coin that was used to pay the tax be brought to him –

“and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’

“’Caesar’s.’ they replied. Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s’” (Matthew 22:20-21).

I have often heard preachers say that Jesus was tried on trumped up charges, and this idea that Jesus promoted rebellion and that he was a threat to Caesar – or even to Herod – was exactly the charges that they were speaking about.

But then we have this one moment when all of the pretense is stripped away. Now Jesus is not a threat to Caesar, it is not the politics of Jesus that the religious leaders have a problem with – it is that he claimed to be God. In their mind, Jesus simply did not measure up to their idea of a Messiah – and for that reason, and no other, Jesus had to die.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 28

When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. – John 18:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 21, 2014): John 18

Last week, as the Western media continued to ponder what the absence of Kim Jong Un (North Korea’s Supreme Leader) really meant. One observer noted that there has been almost as much ink written about the dictator during his absence as there was while he was actively threatening his neighbors and the Western coast of North America with nuclear weapons. Media outlets outside of Korea seem absolutely bewildered by the absence of Kim. The fact that we care and that North Korea commands so much attention on the world stage is amazing considering that we are talking about an extremely small and poor nation with an autocratic government which jealously guards its internal workings.

But the fact that we do not know the whereabouts of Kim Jong Un should not be much a surprise. We know relatively little about the Korean Leader. We aren’t even really sure how old he is (we suspect that for some reason North Korea is insisting that its leader is a year older than he really is.) All that we know about Kim Jong Un are the things that defectors have told us about him, and many of these reports seem contradictory. But what we do understand is that Kim Jong Un rules through the force of his personality, so the question that plagues those outside of Korea is this – what would a power vacuum mean (if something grave were to happen to Kim Jong Un) inside the North Korean political  infrastructure.

As we read the story of the events in and around Israel 2000 years ago, we begin to understand the strength of the personalities that were involved in the story. At the time, Caesar would have been the biggest of the personalities, but there were several other honorable mentions. The force of Pilate’s personality was what seemed to sometimes get him into trouble with his superiors. Pilate’s attitude often seemed to be “I am in charge and there is nothing that you can do to change that.” But Herod was the King of Israel and again presented a big personality as well as a belief that he was above the law. In Herod’s world, everyone was made to serve him – and would serve him as long as he could keep Caesar – really the only person that Herod had to serve - happy. Kim Jong Un would have found good company among alongside of Herod.

But there were also the personalities that clashed with Herod. John the Baptist repeatedly proved that he really did not care what Herod had to say. He served God and not man – and he was in no way intimidated by the current occupant of the throne of Israel. But what might have bothered Herod even more than the prophet’s attitude was the fact that the people supported him – and really believed that John was from God.

And then there was Jesus. But with all the personalities who believed that they were in control, only the rabbi from Galilee really was. Even as the soldiers come to arrest him, Jesus power comes to the forefront. The question that the guards asked was a simple one – which of you is Jesus. And Jesus steps forward and actually in the Greek speaks only two words – I Am. The words just happen to be the same words that God used when Moses asked who it was that he should say had sent him into Egypt. God’s response - “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). Jesus spoke the words “I Am” with such force and authenticity that there was no doubt to the soldiers that they were in the presence of God. And the only thing that they could do was to kneel before the Holy One of Israel standing in their midst. There were no personalities big enough to stand against the Great I Am. And one day we will all kneel when we hear the words “I Am” spoken in our presence – no matter how big our personalities might be.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 19

 

 

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. – Luke 23:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 20, 2014): Luke 23

As a kid I remember going to the circus whenever it came to town. Once there and safely sitting in my seat, I was enchanted by the trapeze artists and wire walkers performing their trade high above the circus floor, and amazed by the lion tamers entering the cages with the dangerous animals and enticing them to do their tricks, and of course I was astonished by the dancing elephants and a number of other jugglers and sword swallowers and other minor functionaries that were trying desperately to keep my attention and provide for me an evening of entertainment. For a kid, the circus was always a magical place. It is a place of dreams and wonder, a place where things can be seen and experienced that can be experienced absolutely nowhere else. And what is seen has the ability to spark the imagination of the young who gather to watch – and to dream.

According to Luke, the Pharisees had at one point warned Jesus to get out of town because Herod wanted him dead (Luke 13:31), but while Luke records the words of Pharisees, he does not just accept them. And according to Luke, the Pharisees friendly warning was not based in fact. The truth was that Herod couldn’t wait to meet the miracle worker of Galilee.

But Herod wanted to meet Jesus as a curiosity, not because he believed in the claims of Jesus. Specifically, Herod had heard that Jesus might be John the Baptist come back to life. And Herod, as the one who had ordered the execution of John, wanted to check the rumor out and see if Jesus truly was John.  At the very least, he was hoping that Jesus would provide entertainment for the afternoon – that finally the circus was coming to town and Herod was going to have a front row seat. For the king, who probably didn’t believe that he could chase after the rabbi and still maintain his dignity, having the rabbi sent to him was a great stroke of luck.

But Herod was not really chasing after God. All he wanted was the show. What he wanted was the gifts that flowed from the hands God. But what God had always desired was to be simply wanted for his presence. King David wrote “My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek” (Psalm 27:8). We are simply to seek God’s presence, and not the things that flow from his hand.

We still struggle with wanting the gifts of God. As long as things are going right and we receive the benefits and actions that flow from the hand of God, we feel that God is honoring us. But we seldom get quiet and just enjoy the presence of God in our lives. Herod had one of the greatest opportunities that could be presented to anyone living on this planet. God was coming to be with him – the very presence of God was going to meet with Herod. But Herod passed up the presence of god in hope for a moment of entertainment. And he probably never understood how much he had lost on the one afternoon that he spent with Jesus.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 18

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. – Mark 15:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 19, 2014): Mark 15                              

The request for U.S. ground troops in Iraq first began to surface just over a week ago. The requests were in no way official, but the fact that some high ranking strategists are beginning the conversation is probably a good indicator about how fast the situation is declining inside of Iraq. It didn’t seem too long ago that all Iraq wanted was for the United States forces to leave their territory. But now the situation has turned desperate – and some reports indicate that without U.S. boots on the ground in Iraq, the nation will fall. Some analysts believe that without U.S. boots on the ground, Iraqi forces will simply stop resisting. For many Americans, the fact that Iraq is vulnerable is not something that they will lose a lot of sleep over. But if the Islamic State could ever get control of Iraq, Syria would also most likely fall. And the resultant Islamic State would destabilize the entire region – and the destabilization of the Middle East would quickly become a World Wide problem that no one will be able to avoid. The U.S. boots on the ground are needed because it is becoming apparent that only the U.S. has a chance to stem the tide of the Islamic State.

The crowd wanted Jesus to be crucified. The reality was that, at least officially, the Jews had no ability to accomplish the death of Jesus. The conviction of a person of a capital crime was a process that Rome kept exclusively to herself. The religious elite wanted Jesus dead, but that was something that they could not do themselves.

So the Jews request Pilate, the Roman Governor, for help. At first, Pilate resists. He can find no basis for the charges that the Jews are bringing against this small-time rabbi. But the reality that Pilate lived under was that it was his responsibility to bring stability to Judah – his portion of the Middle East. But Pilate did not have a great record of being able to do just that. While his predecessors had removed all of the images and effigies when they entered the City of Jerusalem in an attempt to honor Jewish Custom and placate the people, Pilate had caused a disturbance by bringing the images into the city at night. Then Pilate had ordered gold shields to be set up in Herod’s Temple. The shields were said to honor the Emperor Tiberius, but Jewish philosopher Philo writes that the shields were set up "not so much to honor Tiberius as to annoy the multitude". The resultant outcry from the Jews caused the Emperor Tiberius to criticize the leadership abilities of Pilate. It seems that even then, what the world needed was a stable Middle East.

And it is all of these considerations that are plaguing the mind of Pilate in this moment. The last thing that he needs is another reprimand from the Emperor. But even Pilate, who had never been accused of being fair, can find no reason to end the life of this man. And in the end he flogged and killed Jesus for no other reason than that his career required him to keep the peace. And it was becoming apparent that the execution of the teacher would do just that – at least for a little while.

I understand the factions that do not want boots on the ground in Iraq. Iraq is beginning to look like it might have the potential to become another Vietnam, which absolutely no one wants. But the reality is that some move may be necessary if the Middle East is to be stabilized. And I do not envy the people in power who have to make that decision – just as I really don’t envy the choice that Pilate was left with. If he had not already been chastised by Tiberius, if he had not brought the images and effigies into the city and set the gold shields in the Palace of Herod, things might have been different – and there may have been other choices that the governor could have made. But in his reality, all he could do was placate the people and hand Jesus over to be flogged – and to be crucified.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 23

So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” – Matthew 27:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 18, 2014): Matthew 27

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

William Shakespeare placed these iconic words in the mouth of Juliet in his play “Romeo and Juliet.” The words themselves have gone beyond the play to the point that even those who have never seen or read “Romeo and Juliet” have heard the words – although they may not know where the words were first spoken. Shakespeare seems to be alluding to something that we know all too well. The name doesn’t matter. All that matters is the essential character of the one whose name we are calling. And sometimes, people live up to their names, but often they don’t. And sometimes people can even restore honor to a name that has been dragged through the dirt.

And we know this, yet we sometimes seem to expect the name to mean something. A couple of years ago I was visiting a friend in another city and we decided to go to a local music store. While I was there I was looking at a new keyboard, and I happened to give my business card to the salesperson dealing who was dealing with me. She noticed my name and asked – are you an Eastern Mullen or a Western Mullen. I told her I was a transplanted Eastern Mullen (we were in a Western city), and while my closest relatives live Ontario and West, my roots are from the Atlantic Provinces. She nodded and added that she was also an Eastern Mullen, and then she added a question – are your relatives all drunks too. For her, the name carried an expectation of uncontrolled alcohol consumption – maybe stereotypical of our Irish roots. But in this conversation, the name meant something specific.

Matthew makes a point of giving us the full name of the man that most of us in the church simply know as Barabbas, and according Matthew the full name is Jesus Barabbas. Church historian Origen was so insulted that anyone with Barabbas’ pedigree could share the name of the Messiah, that he had the name removed from any of the texts he had control over. He was convinced that the name was slipped into the text by scribes bent on destroying the Christian faith. But the evidence that we have leads us to the conclusion that Matthew was right – the name of the man who was sentenced to death and then released in the place of Jesus Christ really was Jesus Barabbas.

And this is where the story begins to get weird. Not only did Jesus, who is called the Messiah and Jesus Barabbas share a name, but they also shared another designation. Barabbas literally means “bar” – son, combined with “abbas” - of the father. The question that the crowd is really being asked is, which “Jesus, Son of the Father” do you want freed? Barabbas was quite likely a revolutionary working for a military overthrow of Rome. And Jesus the Messiah was working towards a spiritual overthrow of Satan. Pilate’s unintentional question was which “Jesus, Son of the Father” do you want released?

And the question still hasn’t changed. Which Jesus are you chasing?   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 15

For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. – John 7:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 17, 2014): John 17

Is there anything that you will give your life for? The question itself makes us extremely uncomfortable in the West. And it is what we don’t seem to understand about some of the terrorist forces who are active in the Middle East. If we ask the question to someone who has spent their lives in Europe or North America, most likely we would be greeted with blank stares and silence. We really don’t have an answer. But if we ask someone from the Middle East, the answer is quick – they are willing to die for God and Country. And that is simply something that the cultural West struggles to understand. (It is also the reason why any wars we fight in the Middle East are going to be long struggles. We may have the advantage in weaponry, but overcoming a willingness to die for a cause is difficult, even with the superior weaponry we possess. And it is also probably impossible to overcome without boots on the ground.)

Jesus says that it is for those who choose to follow him that he sanctifies himself. Ordinarily the word would indicate the process of making something holy; the act of being prepared to be set apart for use by God. It is a word that is applied to the instruments and tools used in the Temple. But the struggle we have with what Jesus says is that he was already holy and set apart for use by God – he was the Son of God, and there is no way that he could become holier.

So what exactly is Jesus meaning when he says “I sanctify myself?”  The best answer to the question is that Jesus was in the act of consecrating himself as he was preparing to make the big sacrifice for our sin. And by consecrating himself, he made it possible for those that followed to also be sanctified and made free from the penalty of our sins. By his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

But if we apply the word consecrate to the act of Jesus in sanctifying himself, don’t we also have to apply it to the followers who are sanctified as a result of this act of Jesus. And the answer has to be yes. The Christian Church has no room to cry out about our religious rights. The Church, and all of the followers of Christ inside of her, has been set apart and consecrated so that the world can be saved. We have no rights, except the right sacrifice and serve the world in which we live, so that all might know and experience the love of God – and may be saved.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 27

I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” – John 16:28

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 16, 2014): John 16

There is always a question with regard to the limits of our own free will. How far can we let it go? A teen-ager was arrested last week at an airport in Chicago because he was angry with the nation he called home and it was believed that he might be running away to join the armies of the Islamic State. The possibility that the teen wanted to cause harm to his home nation was deemed to be serious enough to signal the arrest. But the question that is now being asked is simply is that possibility enough to thwart the teen’s free will. Or maybe it was his age that caused authorities to step in? The question that continues to define us is where exactly does free will end?

The standard response is that my free will ends when it interferes with the free will of others. If I plan to harm someone else, in any way, then I lose my ability to choose my own path. And some would extend that revocation of free will to the point where if we want to harm ourselves then our free will is also considered to be void. For our teenager, he was possibly about to cross both free will thresholds – and therefore his ability to choose had to be removed.

Jesus is closing off his Thursday night conversation with his disciples. These have been the things that his disciples needed to know. But now he reinforces a couple of important points. First, the disciples needed to understand that Jesus chose to come into the world. It was a message he had given to his disciples before. His time on the earth had happened for only one reason. Jesus chose to come. He used his own free will to enter into our world and teach us about the spiritual things, answering the spiritual questions that we were already asking.

And the second message, as well as the point of this Thursday night conversation, was that Jesus time on the earth had now drawn to a close. It was time to leave. Jesus does not say that the time has come for him to die, although the fact that he would die and rise again was a message he had given to his disciples earlier. But here Jesus simply says that he needs to leave. The words simply indicate that he would no longer be with the disciples. Just as he had chosen to come into the world, now he was choosing to leave it.

But the leaving was not the end. He was just going back to join the Father who he had left to come to the earth. This is not the end of the story. But it is a plot twist. And it is a twist that it would take the disciples time to understand – as they considered the choices of God.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 17

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. – John 15:18

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

“Let them hate me as long as they fear me” is noted to have been a favorite statement of Caligula, the third Emperor of the Roman Empire, who reigned over the Empire from 37-41 C.E. The statement itself is actually a quote from the Roman author Lucius Accius, a writer of tragedies, whose career ended over a hundred years before Caligula’s career began. The actual Accius quote is “Let the hate, as long as they fear.” And there was no doubt that Caligula was hated. The man seemed to make enemies with every breath. In the mind of Caligula, the Empire only existed to serve the needs of the Emperor, who quickly proclaimed that he was a god. His conflicts with the Roman Senate over his short career are legendary. Caligula dealt with everyone in a manner that reminded them that they simply did not matter. The only opinion in the world that was of any importance was his own. Caligula was mean and harsh, not just with his enemies, but with the few friends that he had gathered around himself.

But while he was hated, it is an open question as to how much he was feared. Oh, I am sure that the Roman population feared whatever Caligula had dreamed up in his mind to do next. But sometime hate can overcome fear – and that was a truth that Caligula did not seem to understand. Even his name was more evidence of hate then fear. The truth was that Caligula, the only name that we remember the Emperor by (he was born Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), was a nickname given to him in childhood. Caligula literally means “little boots” and there might be nothing less fear inspiring then King Little Boots. Yet, as much as the king hated the name, he didn’t seem to have it in his power to stop the Senate and the people from using the nickname. Caligula was hated for good reason. And that hate overcame the fear the Emperor engendered.

I struggle sometimes with Christianity because we seem to take our cues from the wrong people. I know of several people that might be right at home with Caligula’s quote. Sometimes we even take pride (as I am sure that Caligula did) in the fact that we are hated. And we will often point back to this verse. Didn’t Jesus say that we would be hated because we follow him? But that is also the root of the problem. Yes, Jesus said that we would be hated because we follow him. But according to Jesus, we would be hated for no other reason than that we follow him. The hate of this world toward Christianity is supposed to be an irrational hate. They will hate us because they first hated the one who came to love the world. It is a hate that should be hard to understand.

But that is part of my problem. The world’s hate for the Christian Church would often seem to be well founded. We are hated because we are an arrogant, self-centered and egotistical people. We are hated because we seem to believe that we are the only ones in the world that matter, and definitely the only ones whose opinion is in any way important. We have learned by example, except that the example for the Christian Church seems to have been “Little Boots” – not Christ.     

The message of Jesus was consistently that we were to serve the world. We were to actively love it in everything that we did. And if we accomplished that, and we were still hated, we needed to remember that the world hated him first. Maybe it is time to leave “Little Boots” behind and begin to be hated for being the loving community that Christ intended us to be in the first place.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 16

If you love me, keep my commands. – John 14:15

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

In 1995, relationship counsellor Gary Chapman published his book “The Five Love Languages. Chapman argues that we can only receive love according to how we perceive love internally. According to Chapman, it is not important how the giver likes to give love; what is important is how the receiver has learned to understand love. If the giver gives love in a manner that is not the love language of the one receiving that love, then the communication will not be completed and the one receiving the love will not feel that they have been loved – even though the giver of the act of love will feel that they have shown love. Chapman lists his love languages as gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service and physical touch. Author Mindy Meier argues, possibly with a dose of sarcasm, for food being the sixth love language. But Chapman insists that there are only five. So Chapman instructs couples that those that we love not only need to be shown (instead of being told) that we love them, but they must be shown love in a love language that they innately understand.

Jesus would seem to argue that God’s love language is “acts of service.” The Bible, both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Testament, repeatedly puts forth the idea that in the eyes of God, obedience is more important than sacrifice. Jesus simply says it this way - if you love me, do what I have told you to do.  

The problem is that we seem to keep forgetting the instruction. We seem to keep wanting to buy off God, or to just spend quality time with him (by being in church on Sunday and at Bible Study some other time), or maybe it is the physical touch of our devotional life that is the way that we communicate love. And none of these things are bad. In fact, if we love God we will do all of these things. But they will not be the motivating factor of our love. What will motivate us is that we simply want to do what Jesus has told us to do.

And one of things that Jesus repeatedly told was to love. It is the overwhelming message of Jesus. Anything that is not love is not what Jesus told us to do – which means even if we bring our tithe into the church, and have good church attendance records and maintain our devotional time with him, if we are not loving others then we are not following what Jesus has commanded us – and we are not showing our love to him in a way that God understands.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 15

Note: New messages have been added to the VantagePoint Community Church Webaite. You can find the Links below.

October 5, 2014 - Messy Spirituality - Messed Opportunities (Speaker - Garry Mullen)
September 28, 2014 - Messy Spirituality - The Mess of Sin (Speaker - Garry Mullen)

You can find the Link Here.

July 6, 2014 - Eight - Getting Wet (Speaker Garry Mullen)

You can find the Link Here.

 

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” – John 13:37

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

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave the speech that has come to be known historically as the “Man on the Moon” speech. The President was embroiled in what came to be known as the Cold War. The Vietnam War, which came to be seen as a  struggle between the democratic United States and Communist China – and would not end until after the 1960’s had turned into the 1970’s and had advanced half way through that decade, was already proving to be a stalemate for the American Military. And the Soviet Union had already begun to make strides toward securing space. As a result, the pride and identity of the United States was beginning to sag. And Kennedy new that the people needed something to chase after. So in 1961, the President spoke these words:

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish… But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the Moon--if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.    

The nation once more had a focus and a goal that the people could be committed to chase.

It is commonly understood that sacrifice follows vision. The idea is that if we want people to sacrifice in order to attain a goal, then we had better be able to paint a picture of what it is that we want to accomplish. And this was really the purpose of the “Man on the Moon speech. It outlined the precisely the reason why the people should sacrifice to attain the goal of putting a man on the moon and what it was that could be attained if they all could work together. The vision had been painted, and now the chase began (and the goal was actually achieved on July 21, 1969 when Neil Armstrong first, and then Buzz Aldrin stepped out on the lunar surface.)

As the final meal with Jesus and the disciple’s progresses, Peter thinks that he understands the vision of the Master. And his response is that he is willing to go wherever it is that Jesus is going. If there is anyone that is committed to the vision and willing to sacrifice to attain it, he is the guy. In fact, he is so sold out to the vision of Jesus that he is willing to give his life so that the goal can be attained.

Too often we think that somehow Peter lied - or at least that he was writing a check with his mouth that he was unwilling to back up with his life. But that is unfair. And it is not what Jesus thought. Jesus knew that Peter’s problem was not a question of his commitment, but rather that he was still sold out to the wrong vision. In the next few hours, Jesus was going to paint a picture of the real vision. And in the middle of that painting, Peter would not be so ready to give his life to the vision that was being revealed, partially because he would still be in the midst of understanding the real vision of Jesus.

But in the end, Peter would live up to the commitment he makes on this day. Once he understood the true vision of Jesus, and had digested all that it meant, he would find his way to his own cross in support of the one who died to prove his love for the world. He would really go where Jesus went, and give up his life in the process.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 14

He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters … – Luke 22:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 12, 2014): Luke 22

I have to admit that I love Spy novels. I especially enjoy the part of the story where the protagonist enters into a dangerous situation – a place where words would be unwise. Maybe it is a smoke filled café – or just a dark alley. But either way, the hero communicates stealthily with the shy informant and gets the information that he needs from the stranger dressed in a certain way or hidden by dark shadows so that he can solve the mystery. In real life, it is the image, albeit probably false, that we have of real life informants like “Deep Throat” in the Watergate Scandal and the iconic parking garage where he met with the reporters Woodward and Bernstein, giving to them inside information of the goings on inside the Nixon Whitehouse. There is just something intensely exciting about that kind of a story.

It would seem that the disciples were involved in a very similar situation. Jesus’ instructions are cryptic. When you enter the city you will be met by a man carrying water, follow him to the house to which he will lead you. This is the place where we will share the Passover meal together. Some have argued that this was all set up by Jesus ahead of time to get the disciples to the appropriate spot without being noticed by their enemies (just as would happen in any good spy novel.) Jesus had previously met with the owner of the house and set the signal (a man carrying water) so that the disciples would be brought to the right place. No one who might be watching on the street would be any wiser about what was happening. It would look like it was nothing more than a chance meeting. But others have argued that the theory just doesn’t hold up. At this time, with the Passover meal this close, there would naturally be dozens of men on the street carrying water. There is absolutely no way for the disciples to know which man carrying water they were supposed to follow. (Which is another plot that I have read in some spy stories. The dilemma of the hero wondering which mysterious man is the one he is intended to meet is usually this is overcome with some sort of special spoken password response.) But whether or not this was set up beforehand, the disciples were depending on instructions that Jesus had given to them in order for them to find the right place.

And the instructions work. Whether the man carrying the water realized that he was leading the disciples to the place where they would share their final meal with their master, or not – the disciples found the place where they could enjoy their final moments with Jesus in peace. But to find the place they had to trust.

That is also our own bottom line. To find the place where we are supposed to be we have to be willing to trust. As Christians, often when we fail it is because we refuse to trust the one that we follow. We are not sure that the man carrying the water will lead us to the place where we need to be. So instead we follow our own wisdom and fail. If we only knew that, however strange the instructions might sound, Jesus has set it up and if we would just follow him we will succeed, we might be able to save ourselves a lot of grief.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 13

Personal Note: Happy Birthday Mom.

The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. – Mark 14:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 11, 2014): Mark 14

Our world is filled with persecution, the current situation in the Middle East is just the latest and most publicized portion of the persecuted world. The reality is that every day good men and women and children – die. We want to believe that we can change the nature of the world. We work hard (and should) at eradicating the social ills of this planet. But the unfortunate reality of our lives is that our natural bent is toward evil. And if we need proof of that, really all we have to do is look at the story of the early church.

The early church existed in a culture of persecution. Most of the disciples were executed for no other reason than that they professed a faith in Jesus Christ (the only exception – and we aren’t even really positive that he was an exception – was the apostle John. But even John was exiled and had hot oil poured over him as a result of his profession of faith.) And in the early church there were waves of this kind of persecution – times when just the act of proclaiming that you were a Christian was enough to make yourself vulnerable imprisonment, torture and even death.

But early in the fourth century all of that changed. A man named Constantine came to power in the Roman Empire and he decided that from that point forward the culture of the empire would be Christian. Really, for the first time, to admit that you were a follower of Christ was to put yourself in the cultural elite. For the first time, people actually pretended to be Christian, because Christianity would bring them the power that they wanted. And if you were a student of culture at that time, you might have predicted that the change in the spiritual life of the people would bring a more tolerant age. But that isn’t what happened. In practice, Christians just made the transition from being the persecuted to the persecutors.

I believe that the story of the early church is proof that a focus on the social ills of society just doesn’t work. It is not that we shouldn’t, as followers of Jesus, focus on poverty and social justice issues – it is just that if our focus is just on the social problems of our culture, then we run the risk of losing sight of Jesus and he is really the only solution.

So Jesus goes to a party and says, “The poor will be with you always, but I won’t.” If you focus on the poor, at some point you will become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. It is the nature of this world. And the only solution to our social problems is Jesus. If we focus on the social ills of our culture, we will just become part of the problem. If we focus on Jesus, only then can the social problems be solved. So Jesus just repeated the message – look at me.

The message still hasn’t changed. We are called to make a difference in this world. But that won’t happen because we set out to focus on what is wrong. It only happens if we set out and focus on Jesus.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 22