The King of Kings and of Paupers

Daily Readings: Acts 4:1-12
Psalm 116:1-8 , John 21:1-14 

My daughters left early this morning with my wife this to grandma's house to watch the royal wedding...they were still in pajamas (the kids)  and had their bears and blankets. I had no intention of watching the wedding. Not that I had anything against the wedding, but I'm playing catch-up after Easter.
So I say down with a cup of coffee and curiousity made me switch on the TV and I am still at a loss for words for what I saw: the future King of England, the heir to the throne of one of the most powerful nations of the world kneeling next to his soon to be wife in front of millions around the world.

They were on their knees before Jesus, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

All around the Name above all Names was being spoken. Choirs sang of His glory and the notes wafted up and up and up.

Prayers that I have prayed over common people were read, asking God's blessing for children, for health, for unity in life, for a marriage modeled after the Unity of Christ and His Church.

Jesus Christ is the King of both Kings and Paupers alike. For Royal heirs and royal messes. For the worshipers gathered in majestic cathedrals and under sun-worn tarps.

"let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is

`the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;

it has become the cornerstone.'

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."

chew bubble gum and kick a**

Today's Readings: Acts 3:11-26
Psalm 8 or 114 or 118:19-24
Luke 24:36b-48 

My buddy ran a series this Lent showing how the Gospel Message is found in the most bizarre films...like Toy Story III. So it got me thinking where is the message of what to do now that we are living on this side of Easter. What should our lives look like in light of the empty tomb and the power of the Holy Spirit?

The 1988 film "They Live" nailed it. Directed by John Carpenter and starring (not yet Rowdy) Roddy Piper, a drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over Earth. He walks into a bank after his epiphany, and proclaims the message that is our call as well. "I have come to chew bubble gum and kick a**, and I am all out of bubble gum."

Luke says it this way:
"And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out"

We who live as follower of Christ on this side of the Resurrection have had our eyes opened and we are given the task of kicking butt on all the things that have been unleashed against God's people. Its scope is complete. Tim Keller writes:
"As agents of the kingdom, the church seeks to bring about substantial healing of the effects of sin, in all areas of life, including psychological, economic and physical." 


Do you have your glasses on? You can't sit back any longer. We can no longer chew bubble gum. It is time to kick a**.

Full, sealed, silent

Today's Readings; Psalm 31:1-4, 15,16, Lam 3:1-9, 19-24, 1 Peter 4:1-8, Matt 27:57-66

It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith

It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane

When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod

And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God

Andrew Petersen, "Silence of God"

It was not a partial death. Jesus was not unconscious. He suffered mortal wounds. His death was witnessed and attested to. His killers were professional murderers. They knew what they were doing. He had to suffer. We have to suffer as well..

His suffering was redemptive and required according to the covenant God had made with Abraham. Humankind had forsaken God. He had called  faithless Israel back to himself time after time, after time. But they were a stiff-necked people and would not listen. 

And finally the Messiah came fulfilling the prophecies. He brought sight to a man who never had it. He raised the dead, hearing to the deaf, made the lame walk...he brought hope to the hopeless and healing in his wings. 

...and yet, he suffered to the point of death. 

and we are called to look at the tomb today. It is full. It is sealed. It is silent. We are forced to ask why. And when we come up with the answer, we suffer....

Why? Because it should have been us. If we don't suffer in this thought than we have never truly understood why Jesus died. We have never honestly repented. We wailed to God out of fear, not love. We wanted to save ourselves and the life we cherished.  We did not cry out in repentance for the hurt and death we caused our Father by our disobedience. This is repentance. This is why the tomb is full. This is why Jesus came. This is Judgement. 

...he suffered death for us 

waiting (a poem)

Today's Readings; Psalm 22, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, John 18:1-19:42

Sitting, waiting. Seconds, minutes, hours

Sitting, waiting. Creak of the wood beneath by body.
Cold stone floor. A cough from the corner.

Sitting, waiting. Praying.

A door opens and shuts. I hang on the long slow creak that breaks my silenence gnawing on every decible like a starved dog on a stolen piece of meat from a garbage can.

Sitting. Waiting. Praying.

I shift, hands in my pockets. Eyes closed I listen to my breath and am thankful for the moist heat.

One, two, three, four....oh there it is!
five, six, seven...I count off the bells ringing from the tower. Eight...

Oh no, no no! Noon! Twelve! My Master! Please, please, please. Stop, stop, Stop!

Nine, Ten, Eleven...I had forgotten and gotten lost in the wait! Please no, please no!

Twelve.
It is finished

Jesus didn't wash North American feet, I know first hand

Today's Readings: Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19, Exodus 12:1-42, 1 Cor 11:23-26, John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Last year while preaching at a choir camp in Urambo parish (area) Tanzania,  the Holy Spirit inspired me to wash the feet of those present. I thought it was to show them that I had not come as a muzungu (white man) to be given the best chicken, soft drinks and place to sleep but rather to serve them as Jesus did.

...The Holy Spirit had another agenda. I learned just how deeply God served me.

In America no matter how hard I try I always wash North American feet on  Maundy Thursday. They are nice feet.  At times someone wears fuzzy socks or nylons, either of which only leads to slight embarrassment.

Our feet do not walk unshod through chicken and cow manure. They do not spend their entire lives without shoes or socks walking in dust for mile after mile after mile. They do not have half-inch-thick callouses on the entire sole, nor are they prone to fungus, bacterial and other diseases which can make the owner gravely ill and in some countries die.

They do not walk barefoot in places North Americans would not want to walk barefoot.

And as I washed the many feet of those who came to me and felt the grit and years of use God broke my heart, for my heart was as hard and as dirty as the feet I was washing when He offered up His life for me. The first feet I washed were those of a little sick albino girl. Last summer there was a rumor that albino's were lucky and some were being killed and sold to witch doctors for money. These are the feet Jesus came to wash. These are the feet he called us to wash.

I has changed my life.

run naked?

Today's Readings; Psalm 70, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Hebrews 12:1-3, John 13:21-32

There was a popular bumper sticker that used to read "surf naked". It spawned a whole litany of "naked" sayings; ski naked, party naked and the like. Folks didn't actually follow what they preached (thankfully). If they had, well, I just don't want to go there.

But today, Paul is saying that followers of Jesus are to run naked. And he means it, and he did it.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus , the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1,2

 Nakedness is what brought us shame and death before God (Genesis 3) and yet we read here that it is our willingness to become naked before God that saves us. David understood this when he was caught up in the Spirit of God when the Ark was brought back to Jerusalem (2 Sam 6). His passion for God superseded his self-consciousness.

This brought two reactions from two people;
Michal, daughter of Saul ridiculed him for his actions.  His reply to her? "I will become every more undignified that this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes" (2 Sam 6:22). She grew old and died childless.
God, however, responded to David's dance differently. "This is what the Lord says...now I will make your name great...and I will provide my a place for my people Israel" (2 Sam 7:8ff).

When we see God's glory and greatness, when we run with all our passion and might to enter the Gate, we are caught up in the presence of God. We are called to shed our grave clothes that encumber our stride just as Lazarus had! When we shed all that holds us down we look very odd to the world, naked to he honest. We have nothing to fight back with, talk back with, lash out with, defend ourselves with, or save ourselves with.

If we could shed everything that holds us down, we would look like Christ, right before he breathed his last.....
The last two things Jesus shed? blame for those who killed him...and himself to death

are you running naked?

CVS, the Passover Seder and personal hypocriscy

Today's Readings: Psalm 71:1-14, Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, John 12:20-36

Last week my kids had a nasty stomach bug and it caught up to me Saturday night. I preached Palm Sunday at a combined service with our friends at the United Methodist Church in Watertown so I had to pick up some medication to help me out. The clerk's name was Hillel, so I had to speak up. "Your name means 'praise', right?" Well he light  up with surprise and launched into an animated discussion. He asked if I was going to a Seder this week ( I was wearing a collar) and I told him no, as a Christian I believed that the final Paschal Lamb, Jesus, had been slaughtered for all time.

But I asked him if he could tell me about the Matzoh Tosh and the Afikomen used at the Seder. Oh, he said, that's just to keep the kids busy. I told him I had heard it taught that it was representative of Jesus but the conversation went on. So I asked if he burned the leaven in his house since he told he was Orthodox. Oh yes! But we "sell" our bread to the Rabbi who "sells" it to Gentiles. We give him money like we sell it to him and no longer own it but he just holds onto the down payment and  doesn't take it to the bank. We keep the bread in  our homes and just cover it with a cloth. After the Passover we buy it back.

Perhaps it was because I was so ill, or that the Lord shut my mouth but I kept quite. It just seemed like such a loop hole!

And today, as we enter into the second day of Holy Week, we see that the Holy Spirit is exposing the loopholes in all our lives. God has revealed Himself to us Gentiles and made us his vehicle to spread abroad his message of reconciliation (Ps 71:1-14). He has purposely chosen a ridiculously scandalous message (1 Cor 1:18-31) so that trust will be the mark of his disciples. And when we are asked by the world to prove God we are left with one picture and one picture alone; the Cross. Our sin and need for help is the only story we have.

So while I secretly laughed at the hypocrisy of  Hillel hiding his leaven under napkins as if God couldn't see through it, I was reminded of how we all use napkins to cover the leaven (sin) in our lives. Yet God in his mercy never says "silly little man, I can see under your napkin!" but rather claims "I have a more perfect and complete covering for you, the blood of my Only Son, Jesus"

So Father, we join the request of the Greeks who found Philip and asked to see Jesus. As we enter into Holy Week, be kind and show us that we do not need to hide our sin and how futile our attempts have been. Show us Jesus, for Jesus does not cover, but blots out and causes you to not even remember we had leaven in our house. Master, give us grace to not buy back our Leaven (sin) after Holy Week for you paid for it with your life and that is a cost that cannot be taken back. You did so willingly, and not out of compulsion. May that fact drive our lives closer to your will.

dental onlays, goat's blood and Jesus

Today's Readings;
Psalm 36:5-11,Isaiah 42:1-9, Hebrews 9:11-15, John 12:1-11

I was at the dentist's today having a broken tooth repaired. I love my dentist. He's supported all of my trips to Africa and he and his wife give much of their time and resources personally in mission.

So today a number of his staff are out on vacation and they had a couple of "substitutes" to help out. Here's the short conversation I had while waiting for my dentist

"so you have two girls, three's a charm. Maybe you'll get lucky and have a boy!" "Oh, no thanks, two is fine for us." "Oh, you never know, maybe you'll get a boy, three's a charm."

Now I have to tell you that I am careful talking about the son we lost, and I didn't bring him up to shut this lady up (she was nice) but it seems like if I don't talk about him I am denying him. "well" I said "our first was a son, but he died".

"oh, I am so sorry. That was meant to be. I'm a Buddhist. Maybe he came back reincarnated as one of you daughters"

"can I ask you a question? How does reicarnation work?"

"well, I'm no expert on my religion, but all the bad we do in this life, the stealing, the lying, everything will be paid for. Then we try again in the next life"

...now I'm keeping my mouth shut on the doctrine of Original Sin..and a few other things. I really wanted to get her understanding on reincarnation. 

"so if I wrong someone and ask for forgiveness I still have to pay for it after I die?"

"yes"

"Wow. I guess Jesus could never fit into your religion. We believe that he paid for the wrongs of others"

"Oh I know that. My friends have taken me to their churches. But every thing has to be paid for by us. Down below, then we will rise, in due time"

And I came home and read this "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood having obtained redemption. 
Hebrews 9:12

No wonder the Cross seems so scandalous to most of the world

sheep, dogs and Jesus

Today's Readings: Psalm 119:145-176, Jeremiah 25:30-38, Romans 10:14-21, John 10:1-18

...years ago I was talking to a priest about this passage and he said "you know, I don't like refer to us Christians as sheep, they're really not that smart"....to which I replied, "well if the hoof fits"

There is a command that shepherds use to call their dogs to retrieve sheep that have left the fold; "come my way". This forces the dog to do and end-around-run so that the sheep is between the dog and the shepherd. They are trained to do whatever it takes to drive the sheep back to the master. When there is real danger present, this can carry a huge cost.

...so I was told by a man who trained sheepdogs in Newfoundland. The sheep graze on rocky precipices along a very hostile coastline. It is not uncommon for sheep to literally slide of the edge and into the sea. The master will give the command "come my way" and the dog will dive in and swim around the lost sheep in an attempt to drive it back to shore.

The waves, the sheep's fear, the exertion of both animals at times causes the dog to miss the release command when a sheep refuses to turn. The result is tragic. The dog gave it's life to save a sheep. He followed the command to his death.

...and this is the most powerful image I have ever heard of our salvation.

"I lay down my life for my sheep...for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again...this charge I have received from my Father."

there's probably no God, now stop worrying...

Today's Readings; Psalm 31,35, Jeremiah 24:1-10, Romans 9:19-33, John 9:1-17

So this is the latest campaign by the British Humanist Society. I would say that most folks who would agree with the campaign have little to worry about in their lives. Enjoying life is hard when life is hard. The ad would have to read "there probably is no God, now stop worrying and just deal with your cr**py life"

Yet, most folks, and most CHRISTIANS, live this ideology. It's called "functional atheism". Gerald May in The Dark Night of the Soul nails it when he writes that most of us go to our church meetings and say a quick prayer that God would be with us (like there is a place he is not) and guide and direct us and then effectively leave God after the compulsory "amen"

Not so with a man born blind who received his sight. He couldn't leave God after the amen. Everything he saw reminded him of God's gift...simply because he could see. We are blind. We are functional atheists. We forget that God gave you the eyes you are reading this with, and the fingers you used to type with to get you here.

So stop worrying. There is a God. Be thankful. Don't leave God at the door after your amen.

What are you eating? Wonder Bread or the Bread of Wonder?

Today's Readings: Psalm 101,109, Jeremiah 18:1-11, Romans 8:1-11, John 6:27-40

I'm 45 years old now. My developmental years happened during the 70's. I grew up on white bread, Wonder Bread to be specific. Back then there were two types of bread most folks new about; Wonder or Sunbeam. Your home had the white bag with colorful dots or not. No one had thought to count the types of grains, or sprout them, or follow ancient bread making concepts. There were a few exotic ethnic varieties that I new about; Jewish Rye (with or without seeds), and German Pumpernickel (reserved for Holidays). It all came from the store, no matter what.

I college I was as surfer and an odd blend of Dead-Head-Activists-Hardcore-Climbing-Thing and began to eat cool bread with stuff my dad used to say was "nuts and twigs". But now, having made four trips to Africa over five years I have learned a lot about bread.

The bread Jesus ate was not batter whipped. The grain grew by Grace and Providence, the water hauled and boiled, the pots made by hand, the clay dug for them, the wood searched for and cut, the wheat harvested with a knife, laid out to dry, separated with a winnowing fork, and baked in clay fire or over an open fire. It was the center of the meal. Each day, every day. It kept people alive. It still does today in the majority of the world.

Jesus told his followers to ask God for this. We look for coupons and many of us keep multiple varieties because our family members have certain preferences. They craved bread, they needed bread, they died without it. We cut it out of our diets because carbs are bad.

It is little wonder that we miss the boat on bread. Here is The Bread of Life, born in the House of Bread (that is what the name "Bethlehem" means), telling his followers to ask his Father for what they need to live. Not to simply thank him for it (as in a grace) but to ask him for it! Each and every day, we are to ask God for the Bread of Life, the source of all life, the Bread of which when we eat of it will keep us alive forever! We, as fallen yet Redeem Sons and Daughters of Adam what to shun this bread like a bad carb as apposed to run to him as the source of life.

And this bread was broken for us on the cross. He was more than whipped. He was killed. And his death has brought us life.

So I ask you, do you ask God daily for more Jesus? Do you work as hard to gain and be with him as the Jews did (and do) for daily bread? Is Jesus that precious to you? Are you eating the Bread of Wonder, or wondering where the bread is?

If a woman wrote the Letter to the Romans

Today's Readings; Psalm 79,73,22:13-23,Romans 8:12-27, John 6:41-51
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
Paul writes in our readings today that all of creation waits in "eager expectation".  I wonder how this would have been written if woman had written this letter? I'm not saying that Paul's writing or theology was off. Perhaps in the "comfortable" parts of the West we don't really get it.

For an average African woman, waiting in expectation is difficult. We've been lulled by sonograms, 3-d sonograms, fetal heart-rate monitors, non-stress tests...the list goes on. The majority of western waiting is wondering if the child will be a boy or a girl...that is unless we peeked or asked what parts were seen in the sonogram.

No, carrying a baby is a mix of pain, excitement, joy and nervousness all of which  is quickly absorbed as soon as the child is held by the mom. I bet the same will be true for God. When he finally holds us all who have been through the pain of being birthed in this sinful world, will he forget the pain he had when we walked away?

Do you wait with groans? Or are you lulled? Are you happy with this life, or are you waiting for the New Heaven and the New Earth? 

Jehovah Witness told me Jesus was a false god

Today's Readings;
Psalm 97,99,100, Jeremiah 17:19-27, Romans 7:13-25, John 16-27

A couple of days ago two Jehovah Witness's came to my door and as I always do I was very honest with them from the start. I know that they are trained evangelists and are taught the responses to all of the questions that will be asked of them regaurding their belief that Jesus wasn't God. I am a trained evangelist as well and understand apologetics.

I asked their names, where they were from, and how they came to into the Jehovah Witness faith. You see I believe, as do all the other major Christian Denominations, that were are preaching a false gospel. I had nothing against the two guys who were at my door and I told them so. I cared deeply for them, as does Jesus. But somewhere along the line someone had been decieved and believed a lie and it just got passed along down the family tree. And this simple lie was causing more life-threatening damage than any natural disaster ever could.

I asked them to explain a verse to me in their book, John 1:1. They read "In the beginning was the Word (their book, like the Christian Holy Scriptures has a capital "W") and the Word was a god"...and I stopped them right there. Why is that a small "g" what is a small "g" god? Do you believe in polythesim, are there multiple "gods"

"These small "g" gods are the false gods that Isreal worshiped in the desert. Like Baal" I was told. So here was a man on my front step telling me that his book reads:

"In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word (Jesus) was a (false)god (like Baal).

Today we read that Jesus walked on the water to his disciples in the boat. Did the false gods ever do this? God  demanded that his people shun the false gods they followed yet the Bible tells us to run to Jesus. How could this be if indeed Jesus was not God?  Do not laugh at those who had been lied to, do not smirk as if they had been "one-uped". Pray hard for these folks who have been lied to about Jesus. Pray hard for those who have a false image of Jesus. Jesus wants to reveal His true character. He wants us to spread light in the darkness.

I am not saying I have it all together, far from it. I relate to Paul in Roman's today. I try to do good but fail. I have just been blessed that God has allowed me to see the truth, and that has set me free.

bread for the journey

Today's Readings: Ps 89:1-18, Jeremiah 16:10-21, Romans 7:1-12, John 6:1-15

"after this a Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberius. And a large crowd was following him, and because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick"
                                                         John 6:1-2

I have heard it preached that the miracle in this story was that people were moved to share their lunch with each other. Now, these same people who preach this sermon deny that people are inherently bad (marked by original sin).  This makes absolutely no sense. If people were not by nature self-serving it would be no miracle that they shared! Would God (and many, many people who canonized the Scriptures as we know them) have seen fit to put a nice moral story int the Bible?

So what really happened, what is Jesus saying? Life is so much more that food (See Mt 5ff), don't worry about what you are going to eat God will provide and he can create and indeed work miracles.

If the church believed this, what would happen? Is this the message we are preaching? Why not?  Psalm 89:4 gives us some insight. "I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations". History tells us that David did not always have an offspring on the throne. They had suffered much under the hands of others. The intertestimental period (the 400 plus years between the Old and the New Testament) God sent no prophets. It is no wonder that many have a hard time believing that God "will" indeed supply our needs. But there's the problem, we want God to supply our perceived needs. God will and does indeed supply our needs.

When we read Psalm 89:4 in light of the Resurrection we see that God did indeed establish the Seed from the line of David to sit upon the throne forever. The crowds wanted everything in the here and now; food and a king. Jesus slipped away. The King will be back. And we will be given bread forever.

What are you waiting for?

when slaves don't know they are slaves

Today's Readings: Psalm 88, 91,92, Jeremiah 11:1-8,14-20, Romans 6:1-11, John 8:33-47

"They answered him, We are the offspring of Abraham and have never been  a slave to anyone. How is it that you say, 'you will become free'?'. Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed...you seek to kill me because my words find no place in you" John 8:34-36, 37b

People were  physical slaves know they are slaves. The marks on their  backs were evidence, as was the pain and blood that etched the scars forever on his body.  They could never forget them,  but they could escape the one who made them. Freedom could, however, cost them  their lives. Many slaves in America knew this risk to themselves and their families, yet they followed Harriet "Moses" Tubman and other Christians who worked the Underground Railroad to freedom. 

In a very real sense Jesus is telling us in this passage that we bear scars just as real, and that we are slaves as well. Our slavery, however, is our doing, not as with this innocent man. True, we were not stolen from our homes, we were tricked and went on our own accord (see Genesis 3). In the greatest reversal of all times, we were bought out of slavery, instead of into it.

Yet we refuse to admit we are slaves, just as the people Jesus was talking to in this passage. We suffer the delusion of our freedom. But our lives bear witness to scars in our lives. don't they?

Jesus tells us we are slaves, and points us to freedom (himself). But we don't hear the call or the way because we don't have ears to hear the songs of freedom. Why? We need to first admit that we are enslaved to sin as Jesus tells us. When we admit our position, we know which way to go. Then we will be free indeed!

Do you desire freedom? Are you willing to risk your life for it? "Anyone who will come after will take up his cross, deny himself and follow me. Who ever desires to save his life for my sake will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will save it.

Join me friends as we walk to freedom