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Posts Tagged ‘Rob Bell’

Eye of the Needle

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on June 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 19:24
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

That’s us, the rich man. I don’t think we want to hear that, but it’s true. I’m reading Rob Bell’s “Jesus Wants to Save Christians,” and found a list of disturbing facts. Here are just a few:

  • The U.S. consumes 20 million barrels of oil a day. (Next in line is China, 5.6 million barrels a day.)
  • America controls 20% of the world’s wealth with only about 5% of the world’s population.
  • Every 7 seconds, somewhere in the world a child under age 5 dies of hunger while Americans throw away 14% of the food we purchase.
  • Nearly 1 billion people in the world live on less than one American dollar a day.
  • More than half of the world lives on less than $2 a day, while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week.
  • 40% of people in the world lack basic sanitation while 49 million diapers are used and thrown away in America every day.
  • 1.6 billion people in the world have no electricity.
  • Most people in the world do not own a car; one-third of American families own 3 cars.
  • One in seven children worldwide has to go to work every day just to survive.
  • Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half of the world does on all goods

I’m only saying: we’re the rich man. All of us. So, how will you get through the eye of the needle to enter the Kingdom of God?

I am counting on the mercy and grace of Christ. That’s it. There is no other way.

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Fish Not Figs

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , on June 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 6:8-9
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

What would have happened if the boy would have had figs instead of fish? I think they would have feasted on lots of figs. God uses what we have and works the miracle with us. We are part of the miracle.

In Rob Bell’s Jesus Wants to Save Christians (p.32), he pulls this same idea from the 2nd of the ten commandments. The second commandment prohibits the creation of an image in the form of anything to represent God. This was primarily in contrast with the norm of that day of having “idols” that would help the people understand “what their god was and what their god was like.” But our God is seen through the people, his followers, the believers, his priests.

In I Peter 2:5, it says, “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” And in I Corinthians 12:12, it is written, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” We are Christ on earth now.

We are the ones who collect the fish, the bread, even the figs, and multiply them. We distribute them to those who don’t have what we have. We touch and our touch is healing. By telling our story, we are telling His story, because we are His.

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A Rabbi’s Yoke

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , on April 4, 2009| 3 Comments »

Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I am reading a fascinating book called Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell. I have always been interested in language and the meaning/interpretation of words. So often, we take the most common words for granted. This kind of questioning started back in my theatre days when we were challenged to investigate, “what does this phrase or word really mean?” The Bible is full of words that are loaded: love, grace, sin, hope, faith, truth… that’s just a few for starters!

Anyway, Rob Bell speaks of this meaning and interpretation of words as one of the responsibilities of a Rabbi. And those disciples who studied under a rabbi understood that he was the one, after much study and prayer, who would make the final determination/interpretation. For instance, if the law said that no work could be done on the Sabbath, it was the Rabbi who interpreted what “work” might mean. Different Rabbis had different interpretations. One might say that walking 3 miles was permissible but walking more was work. While another might say 2 miles, etc. As a result, people would choose or align themselves with a rabbi whose set of interpretations they would follow. This set of interpretations was called the Rabbi’s Yoke!

Of course, you can see where I’m going here: Jesus, the Rabbi, brought a new yoke to the people. He even announced it and invited others to follow because His yoke was easy! This is the way of Jesus even today.

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