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Posts Tagged ‘way of Jesus’

Power of Grace

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 15:11
“No! We [Peter speaking of Jewish disciples] believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they [the gentiles] are.”

Grace, grace and more grace. It is grace that does all the work. Grace = Jesus.

No human being can operate faithfully and fully within the laws of God alone. It is simply impossible. We are fallible, imperfect, careless, and prone to err. Perhaps we intend the best, but we bring far less to the table of life. We are handicapped in one way or the other. We hurt each other. We fail each other.

My daughter has told me how I am the only one she can trust, that I have been steadfast, that I am her hero. And I tell her… get ready, because I will fail you eventually, whether perceived error or truly just blowing it. I keep trying to bend her trust toward the only One who is totally reliable. It’s not me, I know.

God has poured so much grace upon me already. I am thankful for family, shelter, work, food on the table, transportation, freedom, and health.

Who are the gentiles of today? Isn’t it possible that God will pour out his grace on those unlike us… whose lives are different than our own? Who are we to decide what someone else’s faith walk will be like?

There was much damage done by many well-intentioned missionaries who entered cultures unlike their own and did everything they could to recreate those cultures. Look what the well meaning “whites” did to the Native Americans here in the United States… not just condemning their faith, but stripping Native Americans of their dress, their music, their land, and their history. Or, what of the Africans who were brought to this country? They too were forced into a new life, often under the trappings of “saving their souls” because they were categorized as barbarian or primitive.

Grace is more powerful than anyone’s culture. Grace knows how to integrate into any culture and reach the heart. It is the power of grace that transforms the human spirit. Lives are not changed at my insistence that they worship the way I do or read the text the way I do or pray the way I do.

The Jews who had accepted Christ had to a make a huge shift in thinking in order to embrace the gentiles. Can we do any less to those of other cultures, sexual orientation, or race? Let us trust Grace.

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Giving Up Circumcision

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 15:5
Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”

Circumcision was one of the most important signs or acts that a Jewish man did. It went way back and it was sacrosanct. And yet, here was Jesus turning something else inside out. I mean, at this point in all the conversions, there were even Pharisees who had become believers. The Pharisees were taught to obey the law to its “nth” degree. And yet, here was Paul, who had also been a Pharisee, saying that gentile believers did not need to be circumcised just because Jewish believers were circumcised. That’s huge!

The question that comes to my mind is how many customs and traditions have Christians developed over the years that are just like circumcision? For some it’s baptism of a certain type, for others it’s speaking in tongues (or other manifestations), for others it’s going to church, for others it’s communion specifics, for others it’s designations of priest or pastor to sanctify various things, for others it’s certain social issues, for others it’s sexual orientation, for others it’s certain types of prayers… you get my point.

If God pours out the Holy Spirit on someone who does not match our rules and customs, what then? Is it any different from giving up circumcision?

Jesus turned the Jewish world upside down… but I think Jesus is still turning worlds upside down.

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Conversion in a Vacuum

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2009| 2 Comments »

Acts 13:21b-22a
Then they [Paul and Barnabas] returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.

There were no Bibles for the new Christ-followers in Asia Minor, particularly the gentile converts. There were no “new believers’ kit” and there were no pamphlets. There were no “4 Spiritual Laws” and there were no welcome packets or prayer cards. There were no mentors nearby and no “big sisters or big brothers.” There were no pastors or Jesus-believing rabbi’s.

They had each other.

They had what they could remember from the introductory teachings of Paul and Barnabas. And, if they were lucky, they might have access to a free-spirited Jew who might share with them what he (or she… maybe) knew of the Law or perhaps there was someone who had memorized portions of the psalms and would sing/speak them. Only later, did they have the letters. And still much later, they had a few visits from other believers who trusted Paul and Barnabas and were willing to teach the message of Christ to the gentile converts.

They had prayer, their first and most vital connection to their faith. They had the Holy Spirit.

Their ability to “remain true to the faith” was under girded by the Holy Spirit. And I believe the message was a simple one. They were not dissecting the written word. They had the witness of Paul, Barnabas, and the resonance of truth within.

When I first asked Christ to guide my life, I was alone. I had had the witness of one fallible man, Tom, who had tricked me into reading the New Testament. And on the night I finished reading that Gideon edition of the New Testament, I could not call the essential message a lie. And if it was not a lie, then I had to reckon with the truths.

It is the essential messages that reach the heart: God loves human beings so much that God sent his son-self as a human to teach and show people the nature of the kingdom of God. Jesus proved himself and the kingdom over and over again. He loved and he served and he died (by choice). That sacrificial act made it possible for people to commune directly with God. Jesus then arose from the dead by the power of the Spirit. And that same Spirit manifests the kingdom of God within those who believe to this day. This is how faith operates. This is why we can commune (pray) with God.

But people want to codify the faith. They write, they translate, they extrapolate, they simplify, they complicate, they erase, they add, they emphasize, they minimize, they err, they correct, they change, they rearrange, they chisel, they smooth, they broadcast, they whisper, they blog, they twitter, the IM, they sing, they proclaim, they conceal.

Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [Luke 10:27]

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A Miracle Gone Wrong

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 14:10b-11
…”Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

Miracles are tricky things. In Lystra, the people who witnessed a crippled man healed at the word of Paul, completely mistook this show of power and called both Paul and Barnabas gods (Hermes & Zeus respectively). They responded to that event, that miracle, within the context of their own culture.

We are no different. We often take what we don’t understand and integrate it into what we do understand. We do all we can to make sense of it. It is very difficult to absorb something so outside the norm and make it fit our world.

Jesus could have done many more miracles than he did. But how would people understand them? Even today, we try to attach formulas to miracle working: oil anointing, laying on of hands, prayer, fasting, and commands, just to name a few. We are trying to recreate the circumstances in which we hope healing can take place.

But here’s the truth: it’s not about the words, the actions, or even the faith. It’s the relationship we have with Jesus, with God, that sets the stage for miracles. It’s our ability to “hear” the Spirit… feel the Spirit… know the Spirit is ready for us to broker a miracle. God chooses. God says, indicates, reveals: this one but not this one is to be healed. This circumstance, but not this one, is to be changed. This mountain, but not this one, is to be moved.

Jesus knew that miracles could overshadow the message. He chose carefully. Each miracle had an intent and a message. This overshadowing was the case for Paul and Barnabas in Lystra. Paul knew the man could be healed… but perhaps Paul missed the timing or the method. Paul was not Jesus. Paul was fallible just as we are fallible.

We all want miracles in our lives. It might be for the healing of a loved one, ourselves, or a transformation of a situation. I pray each day that God would heal my daughter of fibromyalgia. It is a debilitating and chronic pain condition that is overwhelming for a teenager. And yet, I know, with each day that she is not given a miracle of healing, there will be another day, a moment, when that miracle will come for her… it may not look like the miracle that either of us expect, but it will come. Miracles cannot be dictated… not in their timing or their effects.

I have said before and will say again, miracles are not private. Miracles happen for the person, yes, but also for the witnesses and bystanders. As believers, we must trust God’s timing. And when the miracle comes, give praise and acknowledgment where it is due.

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Do you have an appointment?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on November 11, 2009| 1 Comment »

Acts 13:48b
“…all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”

My husband is totally annoyed by telephone marketers. We have put ourselves on all the “don’t call” lists and yet, every once in awhile, it still seems as though a few get through. If they do call and it’s Mike that answers the phone, he yanks their chain a bit and asks them, “do you have an appointment?” It really throws them off their game. And in the end, he tells them that he does no business on the telephone unless they have an appointment. I am waiting for the industrious sales person who actually writes Mike and requests an appointment.

When we lived in Atlanta, we had a friend who was very interested in Calvinism, Armenianism and predestination. I am not a good one to explain the nuances but I do know that there are many people who hold to the idea that only those who are “predetermined” or “chosen” will accept Christ. While others, believe that anyone can be saved. Some denominations are known to follow along these lines, Presbyterians are generally Calvinistic while Methodists are Armenian.

Certainly, this scripture fragment seems to imply that only those who were appointed for that time accepted the message that Paul and Barnabas preached.

But here’s my answer to all of this… an appointment can be for today or it can be for tomorrow. Just because someone’s appointed time is not today does not mean that he/she will not have another appointment with Christ in the future. It is not for us to judge. I believe I missed some of my appointments with the Lord and surely, my life would be different today had I accepted Christ in a meaningful way as a teenager or in college.

Now, I know that the Calvinists take it the next step and say that the appointment they are talking about is the “ultimate appointment.” In other words, everyone who is chosen by God in advance will eventually find God. Since God is sovereign, no one can really resist God. We have free will but, really, God can hit the override button at any time.

So, in the end, because I agree with that one key part, that God is sovereign, I believe God can override any destiny … any destiny. There are none who need to live out their lives separated from the grace, peace and love of God.

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Resurrection Starting Point

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 13:30
But God raised him from the dead…

God raising Jesus from the dead is pretty much the starting point.

This miracle part of the Jesus story is essential to the faith. None of it quite works if this part didn’t happen. Otherwise, it’s all smoke and mirrors.

I mean, if he didn’t die at all and just pretended to be raised from the dead, that would pretty much go against everything else Jesus had ever taught or said. He would be a charlatan and we would all be fools.

If Jesus died and that was the end of the story, then that’s exactly what would have happened: the end of the story. The story lives because Messiah Jesus lives. And what about all those witnesses? They all lied? That doesn’t exactly go with the teaching either. What would be the point of promoting a lie so that you could teach people to love each other, share with one another and ultimately, not lie?

Nope, I’ve never had trouble with any of the miracles. Once I accepted the idea of God in Christ, then I figured anything could happen. If people can be raised from the dead, then people can be healed. If people can be raised from the dead, then a virgin can have a baby. If people can be raised from the dead, then blind people can see, deaf people can hear, and crippled people can walk. If people can be raised from the dead, then criminals can be forgiven and turn their lives around. If people can be raised from the dead, I can be whole.

If we start with the miracles, then our lives become a miracle as well.

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Really Full or Ready to Empty?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 13:9-10a
Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil…”

This incident happened on the initial leg of Paul’s first missionary journey in Cyprus. Apparently, it is on this journey that Saul changes his name to Paul, which historians surmise he did to be more accessible to the Greeks. And it is here that he and Barnabas encounter a sorcerer named Elymas who opposed them when they sought to speak to the proconsul that Elymas had been serving up until then.

But what is of greater interest to me is this phrase about Paul being “filled with the Holy Spirit.” As far as I can tell, this particular phrase, or ones similar to it, are only mentioned a dozen times in the New Testament. And yet, this is a phrase that many contemporary Christians (particularly Charismatics and Pentecostals) bandy about as a frequent experience marked with outward expressions like tongues, laughing, shaking, and the like. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying these expressions of the Spirit are not authentic, I’m just not sure they represent being “filled” as in filled to overflowing.

I think that true fullness would, by its very nature, pour out on others. Most of the “filled” examples in scripture are followed with a time of emptying by speaking and prophesying, literally speaking for God. Anything else is probably less than full. I just think we have diminished the impact of what it means to experience the Holy Spirit in this way.

I have used the phrase myself. But now, I think I have been merely touched by Holy Spirit. Whatever experience I had was just a breath of the Spirit compared to being filled. There is so much more. If a person is actually filled to overflowing, something happens… something changes. Power is exercised and by its very nature, it is according to the direction of God for the sake of another. Someone else is changed, not so much the person who is filled.

I am ashamed to say but I believe I have sought these “infillings” for myself and not for others at all. Oh, it sounds so pious, to seek the Holy Spirit and to go deeper into the things of God. But really, isn’t the whole point of my faith supposed to be to touch others?

So many traditional church folks are afraid of the “postmodern” movement because it is so inclusive and yet, there is one thing the emergents and postmoderns have over a lot of the other Christians… they “get” the “relationship” message. They are loving and serving others as a natural outpouring of their faith and their walk “in the way of Jesus.” They are living with and serving the poor and the unlovely. They are not trying to get more filled… they are trying to empty. They are pouring themselves out for others.

Clearly, I am still holding on too tightly to what I have. I am afraid to empty myself because I don’t really trust God to keep me filled. Forgive me.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

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