How long can you stare at a blank screen before you come up with something to write? I think I’m going for the record today. ... The problem is it matters. I know that sounds pathetic. Either it always matters or there isn’t any point in doing it. Or in the greater scheme of things some words on a page aren’t going to amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. So why get all bothered by trying to find the right ones?
I don’t know, to be honest. Except that these next three weeks are a hinge upon which the plans for the whole year swing. If I don’t get this right, then the impact of our “Year of Taking Jesus Seriously, Take Two” will be diminished. And I realize that I may be the only one who cares about that. But I do care. For some God knows why reason, I do care.
The title of the three week series leading us up to the beginning of Lent is “In Him was Life.” It comes from the prologue to the Gospel of John. And it is, I am beginning to believe, the core of Jesus message to the church. If we could come to grips with this message, the message of life, as Jesus presents it, we would be well on the way to being the church, being the body that he calls us to be. It is because we have missed this, or obscured it, or moved it from its place of prime importance, that we are foundering on the rocks of doubt and despair. It is because we have lost our grip on this essential truth that we are a shadow of ourselves at work in the world today, diminished influence, shrinking numbers, hesitant voices, empty shells.
Whoa, dude, chill out. I know, it sounds ... well ... like I should take a pill and lie down for a while. Don’t think I haven’t tried that. And to make matters worse, I chose to open with a passage that doesn’t really explain it. This life thing. This gift that Jesus came to give, this thing that would make us never hungry and never thirsty. This life that would so fill us that questions would recede into the background and doubts would be squeezed out.
Instead I chose a passage that tells us just how important it is. This one, remember?
Matthew 18:1-10 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 6 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes! 8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire. 10 "Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.
Being greatest? Is that what this is all about? Is that the hinge, the key, the big deal that is causing all this angst today? That’s what draws our attention, I’ll give you that. That is the question that disciples asked one day after a hard day of not getting what he was talking about. Befuddlement is hard work, let me tell you. This isn’t something that Jesus comes up with. It isn’t a teaching point he planned on. It came because of the question. Who is the greatest?, they asked him, hoping the answer was going to be “you guys!” They had their “we’re number one” foam fingers hidden behind their backs ready for the celebration. Which became pointing fingers when they got the answer. It always trips us up, that question. We want to be special, we want to be first in line, we want it to be all about us. But it isn’t. Which is what makes this faith thing such a hard sell these days. When hair color commercials tell you that you are worth it, prayers of confession, of unworthiness don’t go down so well.
But no, that isn’t what this is all about, this time. Maybe it is the children, then. We like children, we like talking about them, about sentimentalizing them, about thinking about Jesus holding them, blessing them. We like that. Cute, we think. Better than cute, it is sweet. And filed with all the other sweet things that we look at from time to time when we need a sweet fix, like baby bunnies and newborn horses trying to stand on their skinny legs, rainbows and precious moments figurines. Ignoring completely that Jesus didn’t bring a child into the circle to be sweet, but to turn their worldview upside-down.
But no, that’s not it either. Look closer. Originally, I only picked two verses for this week. Verses 8 & 9. "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.”
Oh, you are saying, that’s what this about. Hell. Or avoiding hell. Fire insurance. We’re about fire insurance. Yeah, that’ll bring them back to the pews. Right.
Wrong. Look again. This is about life. About living, not about dying, or final destinations. This about passion, about wanting what Christ has to offer so much that you would do anything to have it. It is better to enter life, says Jesus, enter life. Don’t let anything, he argues, get in the way, drag you down, distract you, from the fulness that he has to offer.
Jesus sits with the woman at the well and says “if you drink from the water I give you, you will never be thirsty again.” Never! Never? Why are we still thirsty? Why does it still feel like there is something missing from our lives? Why does this abundance thing, this joy pressed down and spilling over, this water gushing up to eternity, seems to be ... lacking? Less than advertized.
Oh, we’re used to that, I guess. Used to things not living up to the press. Things disappointing us. It looked so good in the commercial. It read so well in the advertizement. But it never – whatever it might be in the moment - it never lives up to the sell. So, we’ve lowered our expectations. We’ve decided to not want so much. Not pay so much. Not sacrifice so much. Learn to be satisfied with less.
Which is great when it comes to the stuff all around us. That stuff will never fill the longing in your soul. Will never bring contentment to your heart. Will never challenge your mind. Will never build up your real strength. But when it comes to life, the life on offer from Christ, the life that is eternal, the life that is abundant, then never settle for less. Because less is fit for the fire.
The fire, not hell so much, as the garbage heap. Not a place of torment as much as a place of emptiness, of uselessness. “Throw it away” describes so much of our culture. But please, Jesus implores us, let it not describe you. Or us. The church, the body of Christ. The beloved of God. What are you willing to surrender, to cut off, in order to know this life? An arm or a leg? Or what? What is in your way? What have you put in God’s way that prevents the outpouring of a life of meaning and joy and purpose? What needs to be cut off?
Shalom,
Derek
I don’t know, to be honest. Except that these next three weeks are a hinge upon which the plans for the whole year swing. If I don’t get this right, then the impact of our “Year of Taking Jesus Seriously, Take Two” will be diminished. And I realize that I may be the only one who cares about that. But I do care. For some God knows why reason, I do care.
The title of the three week series leading us up to the beginning of Lent is “In Him was Life.” It comes from the prologue to the Gospel of John. And it is, I am beginning to believe, the core of Jesus message to the church. If we could come to grips with this message, the message of life, as Jesus presents it, we would be well on the way to being the church, being the body that he calls us to be. It is because we have missed this, or obscured it, or moved it from its place of prime importance, that we are foundering on the rocks of doubt and despair. It is because we have lost our grip on this essential truth that we are a shadow of ourselves at work in the world today, diminished influence, shrinking numbers, hesitant voices, empty shells.
Whoa, dude, chill out. I know, it sounds ... well ... like I should take a pill and lie down for a while. Don’t think I haven’t tried that. And to make matters worse, I chose to open with a passage that doesn’t really explain it. This life thing. This gift that Jesus came to give, this thing that would make us never hungry and never thirsty. This life that would so fill us that questions would recede into the background and doubts would be squeezed out.
Instead I chose a passage that tells us just how important it is. This one, remember?
Matthew 18:1-10 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 6 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes! 8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire. 10 "Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.
Being greatest? Is that what this is all about? Is that the hinge, the key, the big deal that is causing all this angst today? That’s what draws our attention, I’ll give you that. That is the question that disciples asked one day after a hard day of not getting what he was talking about. Befuddlement is hard work, let me tell you. This isn’t something that Jesus comes up with. It isn’t a teaching point he planned on. It came because of the question. Who is the greatest?, they asked him, hoping the answer was going to be “you guys!” They had their “we’re number one” foam fingers hidden behind their backs ready for the celebration. Which became pointing fingers when they got the answer. It always trips us up, that question. We want to be special, we want to be first in line, we want it to be all about us. But it isn’t. Which is what makes this faith thing such a hard sell these days. When hair color commercials tell you that you are worth it, prayers of confession, of unworthiness don’t go down so well.
But no, that isn’t what this is all about, this time. Maybe it is the children, then. We like children, we like talking about them, about sentimentalizing them, about thinking about Jesus holding them, blessing them. We like that. Cute, we think. Better than cute, it is sweet. And filed with all the other sweet things that we look at from time to time when we need a sweet fix, like baby bunnies and newborn horses trying to stand on their skinny legs, rainbows and precious moments figurines. Ignoring completely that Jesus didn’t bring a child into the circle to be sweet, but to turn their worldview upside-down.
But no, that’s not it either. Look closer. Originally, I only picked two verses for this week. Verses 8 & 9. "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.”
Oh, you are saying, that’s what this about. Hell. Or avoiding hell. Fire insurance. We’re about fire insurance. Yeah, that’ll bring them back to the pews. Right.
Wrong. Look again. This is about life. About living, not about dying, or final destinations. This about passion, about wanting what Christ has to offer so much that you would do anything to have it. It is better to enter life, says Jesus, enter life. Don’t let anything, he argues, get in the way, drag you down, distract you, from the fulness that he has to offer.
Jesus sits with the woman at the well and says “if you drink from the water I give you, you will never be thirsty again.” Never! Never? Why are we still thirsty? Why does it still feel like there is something missing from our lives? Why does this abundance thing, this joy pressed down and spilling over, this water gushing up to eternity, seems to be ... lacking? Less than advertized.
Oh, we’re used to that, I guess. Used to things not living up to the press. Things disappointing us. It looked so good in the commercial. It read so well in the advertizement. But it never – whatever it might be in the moment - it never lives up to the sell. So, we’ve lowered our expectations. We’ve decided to not want so much. Not pay so much. Not sacrifice so much. Learn to be satisfied with less.
Which is great when it comes to the stuff all around us. That stuff will never fill the longing in your soul. Will never bring contentment to your heart. Will never challenge your mind. Will never build up your real strength. But when it comes to life, the life on offer from Christ, the life that is eternal, the life that is abundant, then never settle for less. Because less is fit for the fire.
The fire, not hell so much, as the garbage heap. Not a place of torment as much as a place of emptiness, of uselessness. “Throw it away” describes so much of our culture. But please, Jesus implores us, let it not describe you. Or us. The church, the body of Christ. The beloved of God. What are you willing to surrender, to cut off, in order to know this life? An arm or a leg? Or what? What is in your way? What have you put in God’s way that prevents the outpouring of a life of meaning and joy and purpose? What needs to be cut off?
Shalom,
Derek
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