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Archive for the ‘Christmas Through Epiphany’ Category

Dead Man Named Jesus

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

To some people, Jesus is just another dead man in a long list of religious zealots or crowd-fabricated leaders. Many cannot wrap their sensibilities about the idea that he resurrected. Nevertheless, this is core; the ultimate miracle.

Acts 25:19
Instead, they [Jewish leaders] had some points of dispute with him [Paul] about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. [Festus speaking to King Agrippa]

Christianity is a miracle-based faith. Becoming a follower on the Way includes several leaps of faith. During this time of year, we have the first miracle to digest: a baby born to a virgin. Then we get a 12 year respite. After that, but then, this same Jesus, as a boy, engages learned scholars in the temple after a high holy day. That’s no less miraculous. But then, nothing. For twenty years, Jesus lives and works in obscurity.

Just by his appearance at the waters of John the Baptist and his baptism there, Jesus’s short ministry begins by a miraculous voice… dove… light… whatever. And then he goes into the desert for forty days without food or drink. Only a miracle could allow for that kind of fast.

From there, it’s one miracle after another. Is his death and resurrection such a surprise?

If the first leap is made, that Jesus is God come down to dwell among human beings… Emmanuel… then the none of the subsequent miracles are really miracles, they are a “norm” in the world of God.

Jesus is not another dead man. He is alive because God is alive. And to be on the Way is to connect with God’s Spirit and live the life that God is calling people to live. I can be alive in Christ Jesus.

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Do me a favor

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , on December 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Doing or giving favors sounds like a good thing and yet, as soon as it’s done in the political arena, it’s dark and convoluted. Instead of extending good will alone, it also carries an expectation of paybacks. Am I doing any better than this?

Acts 25:9
Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

The best favor is the one not expected or requested. A true favor comes from the heart. It’s a “token of good will” and requires nothing in return. But if we ask for a favor, aren’t we really saying … “do this thing for me because you are able to do it and when something comes along that I can do for you, I will.”

A true favor is an act of grace and is imparted to someone whether they deserve it not. There should be no expectation of a “return.”

When both of the governors, Festus and Felix, wanted to do a favor for the Jewish leaders by trying and/or condemning Paul, their expectation was that the favor would bring cooperation later on. It was a gesture that would show the Jewish leaders that they wanted a peaceful relationship… no more uprisings.

This is an abuse of the its true nature. But this norm has come down to us in our own time.

Instead of asking for favors, I’m going to look for opportunities to give favors. In order to anticipate a need, it’s important to know a person. A useless item or action is no favor at all. It’s a gratuity.

Keep me mindful today that I might favor those around me in a meaningful way. Amen.

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From Fear to Denial

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Fear is a powerful driver. When we are afraid, we may choose to run… or fight… or stand like a deer in the headlights… or just deny anything is happening at all. If nothing is happening, there is no fear. I see now I have chosen denial all along and it has been like a cloud over my life.

Acts 24:25
As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”

I am a librarian in a small community and I have many responsibilities including service to teens. I try to go to the local high school once or twice a year to talk about good books to read. Just recently, among the books I brought to share with them was a book entitled After by Amy Efaw. This is a disturbing book about a teenage girl who has a baby in her home (alone), wraps the newborn in a black plastic bag, and then discards it in a dumpster. When arrested, she claims she didn’t even know she was pregnant. Before now, I always thought this was absurd.

But, I have discovered this story is not about unwanted teen pregnancy… it’s about denial. The girl was in such denial she could not accept or believe her pregnancy was possible. And of course, once the child was born, the emotional tearing in her spirit was overwhelming. A person in denial will go to extremes even in the face of staggering evidence.

Isn’t this how sin is perpetuated in our lives? Isn’t this how we justify unfaithfulness? Isn’t this how we enter into unhealthy relationships and stay in them? Isn’t this how we drink too much… smoke too much… eat too much? Isn’t this how we rationalize breaking the law? Isn’t this how we put our pain in a box? Isn’t this how we ignore our past and its impact on our actions today? Isn’t this how we get into debt? Isn’t this the seed that births the lie?

Gad, it’s even possible to be in denial about being in denial.

I am not sure where I am going with all this. But I know one thing: I don’t want to live a life of denial anymore. I want the courage to face and walk in truth. I want the freedom that truth can bring to my life. I want self-acceptance.

These are the true roots of joy…. not happiness per se, but joy.

Oh Jesus, as I am on your Way, open my eyes and give me courage.

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Nazarene Sect

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 26, 2009| 2 Comments »

If we just call it a “sect” or a “faction” or even a “cult,” we can marginalize everyone within that group. These labels already carry negative connotations without anyone needing to know any actual beliefs or doctrines. It’s a technique for categorizing the world and justifying our actions.

Acts 24:5-6
We [Sanhedrin] have found this man [Paul] to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. [Tertullus, the lawyer, speaking against Paul to Felix, the Governor, in Caesarea]

I have always been intrigued by labels. It’s something that humans do automatically. It’s how we “understand” what we are seeing or hearing. We look at an object and our brain identifies it as a chair or an animal or a tree. And then there are the sub-categories like particular designs of chairs or specific animals or breeds or types of trees. We do this with people too. They are categorized by how they look by skin color, body part shapes, hair color or texture, size, etc. People are also sorted by their sex, clothing, their neighborhood, their country, their language, and their incomes. And of course, they are classified by their associations, whether religious or secular.

But how do we understand or embrace something or someone new? How do we recognize it? If that thing or person does not fit into any of the normal designations, then what is it? Who is it?

I always thought the ancient prophets, whose writings and prophecies are peppered throughout the scriptures, were beleaguered with this categorization problem. They were seeing visions of a future they could not know. How would a primitive person describe an airplane, a rocket, or a space ship? How would they describe an atomic explosion? Are we any better at explaining or understanding miracles?

We use our limited understanding, our own frames of reference. We shove the unfamiliar into the closest or most familiar box. If there is no shape we recognize, we give it shape. We name it.

Jesus was outside the box. He was doing and saying things that made no sense to most of the people he encountered. Paul wasn’t much better.

Christianity of today evolved its own norms. It has taken the recorded words of Jesus and scrutinized, categorized, dissected and analyzed them to the extreme. And yet, when folks start pulling at the edges of Christianity, there is no less resistance than there was in Jesus’s day. We are still afraid of being deluded, of believing a lie, of breaking the law.

But God does not need us to “protect” the truth. God knows the heart.

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30th Anniversary

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Thirty years ago, I finished reading the New Testament all the way through for the first time. I had a decision to make. Was it the truth or a lie? I kneeled beside my bed and confessed to this Jesus that the words felt… they resonated like truth. That decision changed my life forever.

Hebrews 5:14
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

In some ways, I feel as though I am still on “spiritual milk” and have not matured as I should. After all, it’s been a long time. I have professed followership of Jesus for many, many years. And yet, I still struggle with many of the basics: love, trust, faith, hope…

Perhaps that is the maturity… I recognize I am still struggling. When I was younger in the Lord I can remember attending spiritual retreats where confession was a signature event where we pounded our written sins onto a cross. For many, it was extremely cathartic. But for me, in those early years, I’d struggle with the writing. What should I put on that little piece of paper? What great sin had I committed that still needed to be confessed. Hadn’t I confessed them all by now?

That makes me laugh. These days, I confess my sins daily. They accumulate quickly. I place even the smallest sin at the foot of the cross before that sin can grow, like yeast, to a besetting mountain of emotional pain or denial; before it can darken or harden my heart any more than it already has. And, unfortunately, I confess, some days, it’s the same sin… judging, pride, resentment, self-pity, anger… to name a few familiars.

I understand now, more than ever before, what it means to pray the Jesus prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”

My sins are legion, which reminds me of the demoniac [Luke 18:30] who was possessed of many demons. In the same way that many demons can be “swept away,” they can also come back to look for purchase in a newly cleaned “soul.” Sins also reappear [Matthew 12:43-45] to plague the spirit.

This is my message to any believer, young or old: confess often, accept grace and forgiveness daily, and give to others what Christ gives to you.

This is not just the beginning of the church year, it is also the beginning of my own new year in Christ. Continue to teach me, guide me, and renew me. Amen.

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