The Shepherd's Call

      I was reading a web page written by a shepherd of Icelandic Sheep. He actually raised Icelandic Sheep in Virginia. He was under the considered opinion that sheep are not that discerning when figuring out what their names are or what exactly the shepherd is saying. According to him the naming of sheep is quite an art form and a complicated industry. Even so, he goes on to say, the sheep are very responsive when the shepherd calls. It does not seem to matter what animal or name he uses when he calls. This particular owner claims they, the sheep, come running when he calls "kttty, kitty, kitty", at the cat's feeding time, or if he whistles in the pasture for the horses. The sheep "hear his voice" and know the sound of it, but they may not  be that discerning about what he is saying.
          This guy had a complicated system for naming his sheep. Jacob I am sure had some thoughtful systematics too. Knowing the names of the sheep is the shepherd's responsibility.  It may be for the shepherd who is responsible before God that he knows the sheep's name, but is it the main issue for us, His sheep? Do we need to know if God knows our names? The Icelandic shepherd still will take care of his sheep, even if they don't know their names. So whats the dif?
        I have to admit it is disturbing to me that the sheep, according to this Icelandic sheep herder, don't know their names. I am sure he is wrong and just  has not invested the time to get to know his sheep.  There are two reasons I know he is wrong. (1) John 10:3 clearly states that the "good shepherd" knows his sheep by name and calls them by name,  τὰ ἴδια πρόβατα φωνεῖ κατ’ ὄνομα,  and they follow him. Jesus knows His sheep by name and he calls them (us) by name and they follow.
   (2) Years ago I heard a preacher say that every Christian should stay on his/her knees until she/he hears the Lord call him/her by name. Now that struck me as something I wanted. I searched the scriptures to see if God called people by name, and He does. He does it in the OT and the NT. So I spent a lot of time on my knees, mostly, falling asleep  until one day I heard Him call my name, "Doug". I have had that experience many times since. I know He knows his sheep by name and calls to them. I know because I heard him!

       "My sheep hear my voice, and I call them by name they follow me." There is a quality that is in sheep that wants to follow their shepherd. This quality is very important. Once He has named you, you belong to Him and are responsible to follow Him. His name becomes greater in our lives as we realize we are His sheep. Then His name is honored about every other name. To me His name is the one I enthrone as my Lord.  John Stevens in an article that he wrote called To Be A Christian said, "It (being a Christian) means that I honor His name above every other name, and place obedience to Him above every other obligation...It is His responsibility to lead, my to follow."
     A dear Christian friend of mine just had his 60th birthday. At his party he said the most important thing now for him was letting Him (Christ) lead. His days of independence, were over. This was an eye opener. This guy to my estimation has always had a close walk with God. It reminded me of what Christ told Peter about how to shepherd the sheep. When you were younger you went where you wished. You are older now and another will gird and take you where you would not (John 21:18). A good shepherd is a lead sheep. Learning to follow is prerequisite to leading. Christ said "Ego eimi" the good shepherd. He was because he followed the Father in perfected obedience. He did what the Father told him to do and said what the father told him to say. I would like to develop that instinctive ear that responds positively to the shepherds voice no matter what His voice is actually saying and follow Him even if it is where I would not have gone before. I want to be responsive when the shepherd calls.

Magical Caroling Christmas People

Santa and his train 

    Every Christmas Eve for the last 25 or more years on the streets of North Hollywood and Taluca Lake during the time when  tiny tots find it hard to sleep and mom and dad finish wrapping the presents the Magical Christmas Caroling Truck comes to town. Santa in his sleigh, er.. ah train,  is accompanied by a very large truck filled with carolers and followed by at least 11 ladies dancing. The whole procession, for 6 to 7 hours, goes up and down the neighborhoods to the great delight of all who dwell along Santa's run.
     Of course the wonderful residents along the route line their front yards and intersections where the truck often stops and the carolers and dancers put on their magical show of Christmas cheer and expectations that warms every heart and brings to mind once again the real meaning of why we celebrate Christ's birth. They sing and dance to songs that ring in our hearts and minds and deck the halls of our memory of great Christmases past, present and those still to come.

Dancers dancing

      And the birthday celebration goes on along back streets of a Los Angeles suburb and, I am sure and reassured every Christmas Eve, that it is happening along the roads, streets and neighborhoods of  middle America. I know this for sure because I have had the privilege of driving our support vehicle following and watching the movable celebration. As I roll past the crowds, they are standing,  basking in the after glow of the truck. When I pass by it is easy to see how wonderfully touched and equally grateful all the people are. I am one of the lucky recipients of all their gratefulness. As I wave and wish them a last "Merry Christmas", I hear, "Thank you so much you made our Christmas", "I wait all year for this time", "God bless you all" and on it goes. America expressing gratitude not to me,  and really not to the show itself, but to the heart being expressed that they identify with. There is so much in the news, however you get it, that paints America and the world as a dark, ugly, glacier melting event. Sometimes it can leave us thinking that good and goodness, has hidden itself in a cave. But as I watch everyone as they come out of their homes and stand arm in arm, husbands and wives, boys and girls, friends and lovers, I know that goodness is alive and living in the hearts and in the homes along the streets of North Hollywood and Taluca Lake. That the warm home fires are still burning with hope and faith for tomorrow. And I feel that this is reflective of the true America and the real meaning of Christmas. "And so I'm offering a simple phrase, to kids from 1 to 92, although it's been said, many times, many ways", let this be a very meaningful Christmas to you.

Not the Daddy

Not the momma?

      In John the eighth chapter, we see Jesus talking with the "Jews" in Jerusalem. There is a very interesting theme that runs through this discourse, vv 30 - 59.  This theme can be summed up in one statement, "not the daddy."  Jesus and "the Jews" go toe to toe over who is their father.
      C. H. Dodd has remarked that Jewry of the first century had an almost if not complete sub-conscious understanding that since they were "Abraham's seed" that that alone would make them blessed (Brown p.360). They believed that all nations would be blessed through them  (Genesis 22:17-18).  Abraham had in himself the power to save. This idea can be seen in the story of Lazarus who was in the bosom of Father Abraham and the rich man prayed to Abe to "let Lazarus dip his finger in the water and come cool my tongue for I am tormented in the flame".  (Note to self: Once a person has been rich and spoiled by being waited on hand and foot, its a hard to break the habit, even in hell.) Anyway, they had internalized this idea that all Jews are blessed because Abraham was chosen of God and they were Abraham's sons. Jesus had to fight this same conditioning in Nicodemus (chapter 3- Born of the Spirit). He was not a spiritual man, but earthy. Here, these Jews thought the same way. Their right to righteousness cames through a natural blood line. But Abraham had received the blessing through acts of obedience (Hebrews 11:8).
       Paul attacked this same thinking in Galatians 3. "If you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed". Interestingly the Jews base their thinking on Genesis 22:17-18. Exegetically, Paul saw the word "seed" as being singular, sperma (LXX), ergo Christ. It is in Christ that all the nations shall be blessed. Christ is the true seed of Abraham, son of God. Christ obtained the blessing the same way as Abraham, through obedience to the Father (Genesis 22:18 and Heb. 5:7-8). And we obtain sonship through obedience too. There is no blood line of the righteous, not natural anyway. You can not be born a son of God or raised a son of God. Just as the Jews could not be born a son of Abraham or God. Like them we, in and of ourselves, alone, can become a son.  Who is the true Jew? Who is the true son? The one who does the will of the Father (John 5:30). {Hear more about this - Learn Obedience! }
       Even in extra-Biblical material we see this persuasion of the divine right of Jewry. In the philosophical discourse of the early church,  Dialogue with Trypho by apologist Justin Martyr we can see this same thinking. Trypho the Jew argued for Jewry's claim that the Jews as seeds of Abraham expected to receive the Kingdom of God, no matter what they did. It was promised to them (CXL 2; pg. 6:797). Yet in Matthew 3:7-10  John the Baptist claimed to the circumcision that God could raise up sons of Abraham from the stones on the ground.  And just as pointedly Jesus threatened the Hebrews that strangers would sit at the feasting table and the children could be thrown out (Matthew 8:11-12). And more to our point here, Jesus warned that you should "call no one your father, except your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9).
      All these warnings, threatenings and pointed comments will lead us straight to the heart of this discourse. In the end the Jews called Jesus fatherless, a bastard.  Jesus countered that they are the sons of their lying father the devil. All in all it was an ugly name calling event; an event ending with the Jews wanting to stone Jesus as they had earlier in this chapter wanted to stone the adulterous woman.  Jesus miraculously slipped out from their midst going as he came to the feast, encrpto, in secret.
    What does this exchange mean to me? I remember a sitcom that had a brief stent about 20 years ago. It was about dinosaurs. It began with the baby dino sitting on the shoulders of the father dino with a milk bottle in the baby's hand. If I remember correctly the baby was hitting the daddy on the head with the bottle and saying "not the momma, not the momma".  I know it is "the momma" the baby is saying and not the daddy, okay. But in a strange way it reminds me of this scene. Jesus is hitting the Pharisees on the head and saying "not the daddy, not the daddy".

Feast of Dedication, Chanukkah

Feastival of Lights

        In John chapter 10 we have the only mention in the Bible of the feast of dedication, or as we know it today, the feast of lights, or Hannukkah,  Chanukkah, Hanukkah, et al. I am not sure how Jesus spelled it, probably "dedication". I am kidding of course.  In Hebrew the word for dedication is "Chanukkat". In any event, in Jesus' time this was the feast that celebrated the miracle of the lamp not going out for 8 days. John 10:22 tells us that Jesus had returned to Jerusalem for this purpose.  This verse gives us a window into the life and times of first century Jewish culture. Many modern Rabbis read the NT as a historical record for them. No where else do they have personal accounts and records of what Jewish life was like 2000 years ago. This passage is an example. What a great confirmation for them. Here is the only record of this celebration in the NT.  A. J. Robertson says that this verse reflects the feast of lights and that it was set up "for eight days about the middle of our December, and was instituted by Judas Maccabeus, B.C. 164 in commemoration of the cleansing of the temple from the defilements of pagan worship by Antiochus Epiphanes (1Macc. 4:59)." It is fun to think of Jesus going into Jerusalem to celebrate during this time of feasting. I wonder if they exchanged gifts? Did they light candles on their Menorahs? Where did Jesus celebrate it?  Even though Jesus went to C.J., many scholars think that this was one of the few feast one could celebrate locally without going up to the City of Jerusalem. 
         As we watch our "elder brothers" begin celebrating their Hannukkah festival, we are reminded that our Lord thought it was important enough to travel to Jerusalem to participate in it in the middle of winter. I have been in Jerusalem during March and it snowed! So I know it can be cold. If it was important to Him then I think it should be important to us. We should respect it and wish all our Jewish friends Happy Hannukkah!!  
     
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvY337zKttA&feature=pyv&ad=7216194952&kw=chanukah

Eternal Existence,

Religious Art by Colin McCahon

      In the eighth chapter of John, a chapter filled with discourse between Jesus and the Pharisees, Jesus makes a bold statement. He says flatly "before Abraham was born I was"(v 58). One of the verbs used here is ginomai meaning "to be born". John uses it in reference to the birth of all the mortal realm.
       The other verb used in contrast here is ei∆mi√, meaning "to be". This verb is often used to describe God's existence. These two verbs are used by John to set up a contrast. This contrast is seen clearly in the prologue to John's gospel. It is between mortal birth and heavenly existence (John 1:1-3). The Word was, but everything else came into being (Brown, Anchor Bible, p.360).  John is not the only writer who makes this distinction.  Biblical writers often use the verb to be to express the existence of God. God Himself used it.  The classic case was God introducing Himself to Moses on Sinai (Exodus 3:15). Moses asked what is your name? God answered using this to be verb,  h¡RyVh`Ra r∞RvSa h™RyVh`Ra "I am who I am." (This is of course the Hebrew).This is a name that some Jews called "no name." It is simple, straight forward, eternal and well, undefensive.  It is similar in tone to Jesus' response to the Jews, "Before Abraham was born, I am". Wow. Did that smack them in the face!  There is a variant reading here from some of the Western evidences that states it even more emphatically, "Before Abraham was, I am".
   John is famous for his "ego eimi" responses from Jesus. I am the vine, I am the bread, at this feast I am the light and I am. This use in comparison to Abraham's existence ends the discourse with distinctive meaning. This discourse, since verse 30, has been about Abraham. Jesus puts a bottom line on the arguement with this statement of existence and authority, "I am".
     The next verse lets us see that the Jews got the comparsion. "They picked up rocks". This was an instinctive response. Right there on the temple mount, where according to tradition Abraham sacrificed Issac. "How dare he!"  But Jesus encryted  (e∆kruvbh) Himself and escaped.

Great I Am by Colin McCahon

     Finally we see the Psalmist use this great eternal verb in chapter 92:2, "before the mountains came into being ... from age to age You are." This again is simple, direct and undefined. But God who may have wanted to stay undefined and eternal,  rethought His position. Instead of telling the Jews that "I am " sent Moses, God came Himself. The Great undefined became defined. Since we could not handle that concept we picked up stones. I guess in the last analysis God is easier to deal with if He stays "out there", in the eternal ether, massless, matterless, is-less. When He becomes the "I am" in front of us, we have to face our unbelief. "He is" became one of me. Can I become an "I am" like Him? Is that right?   Can I become eternal? Can the Great  "I am" become the Great(er) "We are?"

Eucharistic Feast

The Fullness of the Lord

      John the evangelist tells us an interesting story of Jesus facing a culinary problem. We are in a time of eating and feasting, Thanksgiving. A great time of the year. Every year I watch my wife prepare for this feast for our family and friends. There is a lot of food preparation going on as I am sure it is all over America. The anixiety is always will there be enough? A natural problem for any host no matter what the occasion.
       Jesus faced this same problem. He had to feed the crowd on the hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee. His answer to this problem was especially appropriate for this season. John tells us when Christ saw the hungry people, He took what little He could find, and He gave thanks and broken the bread. That blessing feed everyone on that hillside. It was thousands. Twelve baskets were filled with left overs! Talk about Thanksgiving left overs! The Greek word for this "Thanks given by Christ" is  eujcaristhvsaß. It literally means "giving thanks". It is also the word we use for the eucharist. The root word is "grace". Saying grace,  giving thanks, communion with Christ,  all tied into one. 
       It is no wonder that thanks giving creates the atmosphere for the miracle of fullness. Giving thanks  brings us into communion with our Father and His family where all fullness dwells. Happy Giving Thanks everyone.

What Would You Choose?

"He chose... Poorly"

     Lately our fellowship has been focusing on lessons of obedience. The lessons have been coming in concert with the principle found in Deuteronomy 15:16-17 KJV.  What happens when the Lord sets you free? What do you do when the obligations to serve are removed? Reading this scripture we get a clear understanding of a choice that a slave can make after serving for 6 years. He can leave or stay. Simple. If he chooses to leave, the master was to give him provisions and allow him to leave with his blessings.  God is saying we have the same choice.  Not that we could ever 'leave' the Lord, but He might want us to take another, deeper step in walking with Him and serving Him. A step that might cost us some of our precious freedoms. We can choose to go with his blessing or we can choose to stay for a deeper commitment to him. The slave if he stayed would have an aul place through his ear as a sign. This was done, I am sure with a cube of ice.  I wonder if they had stylish rings? Maybe a star of David or a brand for that particular ranch. There might have been a ear-ring shop with beautiful stones, you know, so at least it would look nice.  I am having a little fun because in real life who would choose to be a permanent slave? Really? Because it does sound great, spiritual, religious, righteous and we all want that or we wouldn't be going to church and sing about Jesus being our Lord. But is there a difference between going to church and being a servant, a live-in maid type servant, 24/7. It makes me stop and think. Who really chooses to do that? Certain things I want to submit to God then there are times I want for myself, like facebook. Come on. (Did you read about the preacher in New Jersey who made his staff get off of Facebook or lose their job?) Is he requiring servitude?
     I grew up in the still proud, "hell no we ain't forgettin'", region of the world, the rebel south. There were many stories, in fact there is one in my own family, about slaves who refused to leave their master after the Civil War. My great however many great grandfather had a slave that willingly stayed on after the great conflagration.  In fact this particular slave requested to be buried at my g-grandfather's feet after he died. I have seen their graves. This is repulsive to most people you talk to these days. And rightfully so, no person should own another. Yet, this is definitely what this scripture says. This goes against every independent thought which is nearly every thought of this age. "But I want to be free, free, free and I just got to be me, me, me." That's actually a song by Deniece Williams. 

       Christ gave himself freely to do His father's will, so I know that it is possible. But it is not something you can just mix up in the sink, like Love Potion #9. In fact at first my religious self said "yeah, I can do this". But the more I worked with it and considered the cost of obedience it became simplistically hard. The choice was too overwhelming. It seemed I needed an intermediate step between "thanks for loosing my bonds" and "put that hot iron through my lobe, I'm astayin'".  Who would choose an aul in the ear unless something else happened first, like a preparation of heart. I know that is a duh, but sometimes I need help.  I found an old sermon by J.R. Stevens titled What Would You Choose?(This Week Volume VI, p.243). It is taken from the scripture in Psalm 51:15-17 and I think it helps me to get down the road to deeper obedience.

       Psalms 51 prophetically said in verse 16, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings".  But I thought we were talking about sacrifice? Isn't it a sacrifice to be obedient, to be a slave? I have done a lot, what else do I need to do to be that 'real' servant?  I realized that at some point sacrifices stopped being that meaningful to God. The one sacrifice that counted was Christ's and His sacrifice was obedience. Another place these verses in Psalms 51 are quoted is in Hebrews 10:6-9, "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God."  Not in offerings and sacrifices, but to do His will. What is the step between these two verses? I guess that is were I am. The motivation to serve, I guess is what I am looking for.  I believe between stopping my own works and entering into His works is a broken spirit. I think that is why David put it there. "Only A broken and a contrite heart will enter" isn't that Indiana Jones - "Search for the Holy Grail? 

Holy Grail

       So what does God delight in that I might be obedient. There has to be something I can do that helps me reach that spot. Well simply enough David tells us in verse 17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."  Now when I finally get down to this quality of spirit my resistance leaves. My desire changes. I want what he wants. I can't explain it, in fact it may be magic, like that Indian ink sink potion. Once my spirit is broken then the serving Him is all I want. It is a choice I can freely make. Stevens said "The dealings of God are designed to bring about that which in the sight of God is of the greatest value. I know that He is concerned that you walk with Him, that you be led by Him. I know that He is concerned about your dedication to bless one another and to minister to one another. But in the final analysis, the greatest thing of all is that He looks down upon you and says, “To this one will I look—the one who has a broken and a contrite spirit before Me” (Isaiah 66:2). A man may have many other things, but nothing is going to equal a broken spirit before the Lord." Again the writer of Hebrew said,
      "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (but a broken and contrite spirit, I will not despise) Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God". 

          

Sunday Morning - a picture to hang on a peg.

Sunday Morning by A.B. Durand

    I was raised in a Southern Baptist minister's family. My dad was a pastor, what we might now call a "senior pastor".  Sunday mornings as you might understand, were very important to my family. Mom would put on a vinyl of George Beverly Shea, Dad would be standing, shaving at the mirror, reciting his sermon and Steve and I would be hiding under the covers waiting until the last possible threat from our mom before getting up. No one was allowed to be emotional or loud on Sunday morning. Dad wanted a certain atmosphere so he would be ready for the "Sunday show". It was Sunday morning, after all, the Lord's Day.
     All my years growing up in our home we had a picture on our living room wall entitled, "Sunday Morning". It was a colonial era picture of a family walking out of their home going to church. The artist was A. B. Durand. After I married and I had a family of my own, I told my natural family I wanted this picture for myself. That was a mistake. Suddenly the value of that painting skyrocketed and everybody including some visiting ministers wanted that picture! It has since "disappeared" into the dark recesses of my family.
       Thinking about that picture made me decide that I would just get a copy and have it framed and be done with it. So I began, not knowing the painter's name, to google "Sunday Morning" and I clicked "image". How difficult could it be? Sunday morning as it turned out was a popular name for nearly everything imaginable.  Let's see there were; tranquil pastoral scenes, busy streets, gross looking breakfasts of eggs and bacon, alluring men and women, well I could go on but you take a look. The page looked like every thought I'd ever had of anything, except, you guessed it, A.B. Durand's idealized Sunday Morning.
         Sunday Mornings in our day has taken on different meaning from those days of Durand or even mother's tranquil mornings with George Beverly Shea. Sunday used to be the Lord's day! Whatever happened to that concept? Come to think of it,  it was probably Jesus' fault. Wasn't it Jesus who said "Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath"(Mark 2:27 KJV)? One look at that page and we can see what man did with the Sabbath. One in about every 10-12 pictures was a church or something family, everything else was snap shots of man's mind, cluttered and crazy. This was certainly man's Sabbath.
      The Sabbath may be made for man but wasn't man made to honor God? It made me question myself on how much am I honoring the Sabbath or the Lord's day or the Lord on any of His days. I know we do not celebrate Saturdays, but worship on Sunday. Somewhere, it seems, in the shuffle something got lost. If I find a copy of that picture I want to hang it prominently on our wall.  It should symbolize my placing the Lord first in my life. Like the peg, a nail driven into the wall prophesied by Isaiah as a hanger for what the Lord wants (The Peg in a Firm Place, This Week, Volume IX (1978)p 160). To be obedient to what He wants is what the picture now means to me. Sure, I probably have the freedom to do otherwise but the freedom I want is to do His will. I will count myself lucky if I am able to do his will with the time I have. Maybe I am still facing the day with Lord like I did those Sunday mornings hiding under the sheets. Maybe I 'll go get a vinyl, well a mp3, of GB Shea and start facing my day with more of an atmosphere for God, like the painting has been saying all along, "Step out, motion gently to your wife, show her the way down the road to the house of God. Hurry up that son of yours to get that shoe tied. Don't  be late. Get out there behind your father. He's been walking that way for a long time."
  Sunday Morning, an oil on canvas, by Asher Brown Durand.

The Reluctant Messiah

Nadine Rippelmeyer
Gethsemane to Golgotha

    Where in the scriptures do we read about Jesus learning obedience? Certainly in Gethsemane Jesus suffered and became obedient, "even unto death"(Phil.2:8). In Hebrews the author unpacks for us what that looked like. Jesus became obedient through the things he suffered (Heb.5:7-9).  A Son becoming obedient to His Father's will.

"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

Though he were a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered; 

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; "

     The scriptures tell us that he was a Son and there are many places in the Bible that show this about Christ.  The places where He, like any son, had to learn to obey are not as easy to find. In Hebrews 5: 7-9 we get a window into the process of learning to be perfect. The word for perfection in the Greek is teleiow. It is the same word where we get 'telos' or 'teleology'.  The aspect in Greek colors the translation to mean finished, completed, perfect product. This process of perfection, completion or maturation, whatever word you want to use, in the Christian walk can be difficult. Because it can be so difficult, it is nice to have an example for us to follow. Christ was our earthly example. I personally believe the perfection continued to the cross. To the final, completed act of God's will for Christ. In John 19:30 Christ used this same word as the last word he spoke on the cross, "It is finished" tete√lestai. Was He finishing or  completing the will of His Father?
       The Gospel of John seeks to prove Christ Deity. To most of us this is accomplished, it is clear. But in my life I need to see his humanity, too. If we magnify his Deity above His humanity, we have mostly God, some man.  Our Nicene heritage tells us that Jesus was fully God, fully man. What about His humanity?
      Most pictures of Christ are rendered to show his divine nature not His humanity. It's hard to find a picture of Gethsemane with Jesus sweating blood. Most pictures show him in perfect repose. Some have angels attending Him. Others have a divine light shinning on him. Few if any have sweat drops of blood running down his face.  I always thought sweat of any kind was, well earthy. A picture of a sweaty, bloody praying Jesus, I can't find.  We might not want to see that it was hard for Him to do the Father's will. We might want to make excuses for him, after all it was his death he was trying to avoid. But avoidance was HIS prayer. This picture of Jesus can be problematic for us, but it may contain connections for our perfection. Is there another place where Jesus was reluctant to do God's will?

      Another place Jesus' actions showed indecision was in John 7. Here we see Jesus trying to avoid going to the Feast in Jerusalem. This pericope has caused translators/scribes problems throughout the centuries. The problem was Jesus' unwillingness to go to the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. He was talking with his brothers who were taunting him. Obviously, Jesus had already thought about the feast. This was a big event and all Jews were commanded by their religion to go. He had already made up his mind. So the bros wanted him to go and reveal himself publicly at the feast for they said "no one does these things (signs/miracles) except he show himself to the world." Jesus flatly told the bros that he was not going to the Feast, "it was not his time". They should go on without Him.  Yet, He went later to the feast and presented Himself to the "world" publicly, just as His brothers recommended. This has not set well with Biblical scholars. Early in some manuscripts we find the word "yet" redacted. You read "You go up to the feast, I don't go yet to this feast." The "yet" is not in the best original copy and was placed there by one of the copyist.  The KJV has this "yet" clearly in its text. Other commentators spill a lot of ink trying to explain this situation. Not one has suggested that Jesus missed it. That he evidently realized his bros were right and he needed to be at the Feast. His brothers were right, even though they did not believe that their half-brother was the Messiah. Don't we have to be open to God speaking to us through vessels we may not think are worthy? Christ clearly lectured them and put them down, and then recanted and went to the Feast. He probably ate some of that good old Tabernacle humble pie when He saw them. I wonder if crow is kosher?  Anyway, this is how I know my saviour was fully human, fully God. He, as I,  had to learn obedience to the Father. He admittedly was better at it than I, but it is good to see His human side, too. We are suppose to see the human side (John 1:14).  That is part of whom Christ was. That is the reason he came to earth. And yet this is not the first time Christ changed His mind. :-(
     In John the second chapter the author showed us this vascilating side of Christ. Jesus, his mother and his entourage were at a wedding in Cana. His mother told Him there was a problem at the wedding. The host was out of wine. She told him to do something. He called her "woman", not an endearing term.  He said "woman, my hour is not yet come." Nearly the same thing that he told his brothers!  He was very reluctant to perform his first public miracle. He went ahead and made the wine, even though he had said no. He went ahead to the feast even though he said no. I guess it was His time. Or was His timing off?  How do you read these two incidents? Maybe you have a good explanation. To me it shows the struggle of the human to submit to the divine. Our will, our way, instead of His will, His way.  It was preparation for the Cross. It foreshadowed Gethsemane. Christ could sweat blood so that God would have HIS way, so that He could end His conversation with "nevertheless, not my will but yours". He had learned that the Father's way is the best.
      This could be a disturbing picture we have of Jesus. We want Him to flow effortlessly through the pages of his life without making a mistake or saying one thing and doing another. We want Him to be decisive and clear. Right on every time!  "No and I mean it!" is the way we want Him to be. Not "No! Well,  okay, maybe your right and I'm wrong." This is not the Messiah we want. Oopsie, that sounds a little like the Jewish leaders. They were looking for a different Messiah too. But our Messiah is the one who came to do His Father's will, not His own.

      What Messiah are we looking for? One that was acquainted with our sins. One that lived in our flesh and suffered what we suffer. One that struggled with life. That had trouble relating to His family, or vice versa. An anointed one that might have had trouble doing the will of His father. These two Biblical stories show Jesus stumbling to know and do "what the Father does". He sometimes tried to do what he wanted and then changed to do what others suggested. Could this be a case where Christ was learning obedience? Maybe the Father set up the water to wine scenario. And He sent the brothers to push Jesus to go to the feast. Maybe we are seeing the "perfecting" of Christ's obedience. I react to situations in my life, too. Someone, maybe someone close to me may suggest I do something. It may be the right thing for me. But I can react, be abrupt and put them off. Sometimes tell them why they are wrong. Then relent and realize they were right. Isn't that what Jesus did in these two stories?
       We see this certainly in Hebrews 5: 7-9 as a process. The word for obedience finds it root in the Greek word akouo, hearing, obeying. Reluctance to hear and do God's will can be connected. Our will is often cries too loud to hear God's gentle voice. Christ showed us the way as it says in Hebrew 5:6 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; This is our example and application of how to learn obedience, on our knees in prayer. To me He is the perfect example of learning obedience. Obedience like all of our salvation is received.  No one is born with perfect submission. We are born with free will. We have to learn to lay it down. In the learning we have to identify where the reluctance is to do God's will. Maybe His humility was recognized by the brothers when they saw Him at the feast. Who knows. James and Jude ended up being important men in the early church. But the importance for me is that obedience is even something Christ had to learn. The scriptures say that because of His obedience I can receive obedience. "And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,"  


A message by Gary Hargrave entitled "Learn Obedience!" was brought in North Hills, California. 

The Way of Change

    This weekend I spend time in San Diego on some business for Shiloh University. While there I attended the Church of His Kingdom. The Senior pastor brought a word on change. It was a pastoral word to his sheep and being good sheep they received it as it was, a word from God. This is a formula for change. The whole service was refreshing to me and my wife who live life in an intense environment, i.e. Los Angeles. San Diego has always been a place of "R & R" for us. We took a ferry ride around the harbor passing right beneath the Midway aircraft carrier. It was a beautiful day. Well, I digress.
     Oh yes, the point I was making was the depth of theology in God's people.  The sheep Sunday morning understood a very basic theological principle, exposing ones heart to the logos, the word, Christ, the Big Bambino, causes change. We are changed by beholding Him.  In this respect we are all theologians. Every person who thinks about God in some part is doing theology. In fact every Christian is a theologian, good or bad. According to Stanley Grenz "Every Christian is a theologian. Whether consciously or unconsciously, each person of faith embraces a belief system. And each believer, whether in a deliberate manner or merely implicitly, reflects on the content of these beliefs and their significance for Christian life."
    Well, I would like to think that every Christian has at some point consciously thought about his/her faith. I know those congregants last Sunday were way into thinking about their faith. In fact I would venture to say that the flock of CHK, has been trained to think about their walk with God. They examined their lives and looked for areas that needed change. Change is not easy. "Reflecting on the content of their beliefs" requires an openness to God who does not change (Mal.3:6a), but demands that we evolve into His image. Paul fortunately gives us the avenue for this transformation in 2 Corinthians 3:18. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (KJV). The Greek word for changed, or transformed (NIV) is metamorfow, That is right, metamorphosis. Like the butterfly we go from a worm to a beautiful butterfly. The worm has no idea that he will fly, much less be so delicate and drink the nector of beautiful flowers. What a change that is! To go from squirming around in the dirt and making little girls scream, to flying in the air and having people marvel at your beauty, is mind boggling. Only God could do something like that. Really the study of science, life, physical, or theoretical is a practical theology course. It depends simply on your orientation to life. 
     The worm never studied science so he has no idea what he is changing into. Do we? "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him"(1 Cor. 2:9). Our ideas about who we are going to be can block what God is doing for us and in us. I bet the worm was glad he wasn't asked his opinion about what God was doing. Little did he know. And little do we know. But that is good. All we have to do is open our hearts in faith to the Lord, beholding Him and metamorphosis happens! John  Stevens in His revolutionary sermon called The Course of Change, said this, "How can you accelerate the process of becoming identical with Him? How can you absorb His nature? Efforts to discipline yourself to pray and read the Bible a certain amount every day are good, but they can easily become only a legalistic bondage. It is not how much you read the Word or listen to messages that determines your growth; it is how much you see and partake of Christ in it, how much you are truly exposed to Christ in it." That is the way of change. Exposing yourself to Christ, in the word, in prayer, in your brother and sister of faith, in our own hearts, this is how we transform ourselves. This is the end result of good theology. As Paul the great eccesliastical architech and theologian put it so simply, "That I might know him and the power (dynamite) of his resurrection..." (Phil.3:10).

The Feast of Flesh and Blood

  

  As  I was translating John 6,  I came to the section where Jesus talked about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, starting around verse 51. This pericope begins with one of John's "I am" pronouncements. "I am the bread which came down from heaven".... After Jesus made this statement an argument started among the Jews. Who can blame them? It is hard for me to understand that this bread was the "food of angels". Do angels eat?  So I could see the Jews murmuring. Then Jesus said He was that bread. What does that mean, in a practical sense? I think scholars are still surmising what that meant in any sense!
      Jesus of course knowing that this caused a stir, proceeded to stir the pot more. Naturally.  Remember He is in the synagogue in Capernaum teaching! If you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will not die like your fathers did. That's an eye opener.  I bet no one was asleep during this service.  You eat my flesh and drink my blood you will live forever. If you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, I have no part in you! Wow, He said this to clean, pure, sanitary, kosher Jews no less, eating human flesh and drinking blood!  Even symbolically that sounds crazy.


 oJ trw◊gwn mou th;n sa◊rka kai… pi√nwn mou to; ai»ma e“cei zwh;n ai∆w◊nion, ka˙gw˝ a˙nasthvsw* aujto;n th≥: e∆sca◊th≥ hJme√ra/.  The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day.


      This sounds like your reading from Twilight. It is small wonder some of his disciples had a hard time with this. Some have argued that Christ is talking about the Eucharistic Feast (Brown), but that is a little revisionism. I think he was challenging those he was teaching, rather than talking about the sacrament. What would those Capernaum Jews known about the Eucharist? He had not instituted the sacrament, yet. He was talking about a deeper dedication and that is why we see a few of the disciples leaving. Have you ever googled images of "bread and wine?" Beautiful pictures of the communion table and it should be, I suppose. But Christ was not talking about "bread and wine and the communion table". Google "flesh and blood" and see what you get! Yeah, we might have been offended that Saturday morning too sitting in the prime seats of the synagogue, you know by the window with the sea breeze blowing gently through the curtain from the Sea of Galilee. 'Flesh and Blood', some commentators say is the Hebrew way of referring to the whole man. Why were the disciples offended?  No it is what it is. As Robertson said, "Jesus has here presented to this Galilean multitude the central fact of his atoning death for the spiritual life of the world."  And I might add real life of the world. This type of talk (teaching?) is challenging. Often to me, Christ's demands to follow him and "drink" his cup have a humbling aspect to them. Acceptance of this teaching takes obedience graced with humility.
     Christ was obedient to the Father unto his death. This is why He related eating his flesh to the resurrection.* Obedience and life are tied together in both the OT and the NT. In Deuteronomy 30 Moses told the Israelites to choose life or death. You chose life, Moses said, by obeying the voice of God.  In NT, Paul said Christ was obedient to death, therefore God exalted Him (Philippians 3).  That Saturday morning in Capernaum,  Christ invited us to "eat my flesh and drink my blood in obedient practice and I will raise you up and you will live forever." The words "eat" and "drink" are present participles, which carry a continuous action in their Greek aspect (Robertson). You keep eating my flesh and keep drinking my blood and you will remain in me.  Our continual dedication to be obedient to God, will have us remaining "in Christ".  He said as much in verse 56.


 oJ trw◊gwn mou th;n sa◊rka kai… pi√nwn mou to; ai»ma e∆n e∆moi… me√nei ka˙gw˝ e∆n aujtw/Ç.  The one who eats (again the present participle) my flesh and drinks (pp) my blood remains in me and I in him. 


       The insititution of  the Lord's Supper was the night before the Cross. He gave his life that I might live. And he gave us the Eucharist so we could practice this oneness with Him.  I am finding that as I am obedient to Him in his death, it brings life to me.  The areas in my life where I am being obeidient there is life. Otherwise there is striving and death. The fathers ate the bread in their disobedience and died in the desert, verse 49. We eat Christ food of obedience and keep practicing it, we will live. This is what it means to be a disciple of Christ. 
      As an application I am going through my life and the areas I find where I am not obedient to His will,  I am taking communion in faith that it will change. The areas I don't know His will, I have faith He will reveal it. His death in exchange for my life, righteous for the unrighteous. I may be taking a lot of communion in the days ahead. Bon Appetite.

Holy Laughter

     I was watching a clip from "Mary Poppins" that someone put on Facebook from YouTube. It is the part where Mary, Bert and the kids go visit uncle Albert,  played by Ed Wynn. "The more I laugh, the more I'm a merrier me." They all go flying up to the ceiling. Its a great scene and Ed Wynn was an adorable actor. We love to laugh and be full of Joy. The Bible says that "in His presence is fulness of Joy and by his right hand are pleasure evermore" (Ps.16:11). Actually the Hebrew has the "abundance of joy is before you" or "your face". I don't think it means God has a funny face. I think it means what KJV translates "in His presence or before His face" is abundance of Joy.

     Have you ever had Holy Laughter come on you? That is what that scene from "Mary Poppins" reminds me of. You laugh until you think you will never stop. You realize how wonderful it must be in His presence. Joy is such a wonderful gift. And to see us straight faced most of the time as Christians is, well, not right. If we laugh in his presence or at least are full of joy so, well, some might be forced to crack a smile, it might be what God wants. 

     On Sunday we had a visitor to our fellowship from Brazil, Silas Esteves.  He is the senior pastor in our sister church in Niteroi, Brazil. In fact he is over all of our churches in Latin America, including Mexico. It was delightful having him with us. He talked to us about obedience. Something we in our fellowship recognize  about him is that he is a very humble and an obedient man of God. Silas said many  important things about obedience, but this one thing kept cycling through my mind. He said "obedience draws His presence." I went home thinking about that one thought. But soon I sat down to a football game and that thought receded to the back of my mind. 

      We were keeping our grandson all weekend. He is a great kid, although he is having trouble in school with his teacher. After the game I played "school" with him. I mentioned that he was going to school tomorrow and he started to cry and said he didn't want to go to school. Suddenly the two ends came together. Joshie (his name) didn't like school because he was not being obedient to the teacher. Obedience draws His presence, and in his presence is fulness of joy. These two would come together for Josh when he decided to listen and do what his teacher told him. "I only do what I see my father doing" is what Christ said (John 5:19 ff).  He learned obedience. Josh has to learn obedience. He will enjoy school when he does. I wonder if a lot of our dislike for learning is because we are not giving ourselves to be obedient to the process. Josh is getting ripped off of the joy of learning, that makes me mad.We can be in His presence more than we know. It does make me wonder if the places that I am unhappy are the places I need to reconnect with the Lord and become more obedient. Our obedience draws the Lord's presence, and His joy. 

     When I am doing what God asks me to do, I am staying in His presence where the fulness of Joy resides. The Hebrew word shema and the Greek word akouo both mean to hear and obey. Obeying has the element of really listening and hearing what is being said. A good student listens. It is amazing the battle on kids hearing. Think of all the sound that bombards them every day and yet it is hard for them to really hear. I want to have the ears that truly hear. I want my grandson to have the same. I want to live in His presence where there is fulness of Joy, to be caught up in His presence full of laughter. Is it possible that that is what the scene from Mary Poppins meant? No. Forget it, Jake, it's Holywood. 

"I love to laugh long and loud and clear, I love to laugh it gets worse every year".  Now don't watch this next part your gonna laugh.  Holy Laughter (please disregard the notation before and after) I can't watch that second one without laughing. God is Great. 

 Except for the laughter part, you can hear a more direct word on obedience entitled, "Our Obedience- The Way Into His Kingdom" by Gary Hargrave.

The Geometry of God

Isosceles Triangle

     Deep in the fifth Chapter of John we find Jesus talking to the Pharisees about His relationship to the Father. This give and take resulted in the Jewish leadership initiating the persecution of Christ. What did he say that caused such a reaction? John tells us that the  real reason was not that He did miracles on the Sabbath,  but that He made himself out to be equal with God. Robertson points to the Greek word,  "Isos is an old common adjective (in papyri also) and means equal. Here some argue that Christ did not mean equal with God (Bernard)." Robertson pushes back, "He (Jesus) never corrected this understanding and Paul claims the Pre-incarnated Christ to be Isas theoi, equal with God." An understanding of the reading, if one can accept the reaction of the Jews as the litmus tests for translation, then it can be seen in verse 18 that they wanted to kill Christ because he made himself equal with God. Certainly this was a bold and dangerous way of thinking in Jesus' day just as it is in our day.
      The coming together of this theory of equality for Christians began to formalize at the meeting called by Constantine in the fourth century at Nice. The strategy of Constantine was to unite the Christians for political reasons and get beyond the division being caused by Arius. Arius claimed that God and the son were not equal substances. Suffice it to say that Arius lost and we now have a working model of the Trinity. I say working model because new revelation is appearing from theologians of today on how the Trinity functions and what affect it has on the body of Christ.  Fiddes, Buxton, et al., have been working with the "community" of Christ explaining how the Trinity draws us into the "dance" of the Father with Son and the Spirit.
      This is all interesting, but the real challenge for us is that Jesus is equal with the Father.  This is the point we need to ponder here.  If I said that I was one with the Father and part of the Trinity,  would you want to pick up scriptures, theological phrases and arguments to hurl at me? Would we seek to "slay" anyone who made themselves out to be equal with God? It is still a very personal and dangerous sounding statement. Yet Jesus' prayer in John 17 (especially v 21) is for us to have the oneness with the Father that He had. This is the same Jesus and same statement that caused the Pharisees to want to slay the Messiah.  Their Messiah was standing in front of them and they could not see Him. The Father wanted them as His sons.
       He wants us for His sons also.What holds back our accepting the oneness?   Are we waiting for the end of all things before we can be one? Is it pushed off until the eschaton? Maybe  that is where it belongs in the sweet by-and-by.  Is it really something that we can achieve before the Lord's return? But really Christ wanted the oneness as a sign or witness to the nations. We see in John 17 that our oneness is to be a witness to the world (again v 21). John Stevens points to our oneness as an identity change.  "I’m not just identified with Christ (Christian, little Christ); I’m identical with Him. When Paul says in I Corinthians 12:12–14, that the Body is not one member but many, yet it is one Body, and so also is Christ," he is not speaking blasphemy. Christ intends to manifest Himself throughout eternity in a many-membered Body, made one in Christ" (Identical With Christ). This is not blasphemy as the Jews thought. This is our salvation and really theirs. 

A quandary.

        The wonder of it all is that God wants us to be one with Him. I can sometimes feel my inner Jewish leader, the Pharisee in me, the religious self which says it can not be clean enough to approach God,  resisting this thought of being one with God.  Can we be part of the Trinity? Has Christ done such a thorough salvation? But to even see this, we have to go back to Nicodemus. To understand Spiritual things of God we have to have a new level of birthing by the Spirit. This step into the Kingdom is going to take a whole new level of faith to receive what God has done. "I and the Father are one". How can this corrupt body of flesh be able to be in community with the Trinity? It can not. Paul stepped on that thought in Romans 7:24-25. Who can deliver us from this body of this death? "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." "We suffer with Him that we be glorified together"(Romans 8:17, NASB) Wow that is amazingly hard believe. Lord I open up to see your salvation on a new level.  I receive it. It is His gift to us. The author Steven Covey says "Self-growth is tender; it is holly ground. Be patient with yourself."  Let us be tender with our selves and patient as we open up to what God is doing. Be gentle with our selves and with others for the new life that is being expressed in the community of God. May be this is where the Kingdom of God will be manifested. May be the Messiah's return is in among his people. My pastor this morning exhorted us to think on the good things of God as he read from Philippians 4:7. May be the pathway to the Kingdom is dwelling on what is being revealed in one another. Thinking about what a good and a wonderful thing God is doing in His community.
        The more I read the story of Nicodemus the more I feel very kindred with his need to see Spiritually the kingdom of God. God's plan is beyond what eye has seen. What a salvation we have. 
Post Script. 
       Theorem: Equal with God, if a=b (God = Jesus) and b=c (Jesus = Holy Spirit)  and b=d (Christ = body of) then a=b=c=d. Maybe its more of a quadnity than Trinity, or really a quandary. 

Nick at Night

       The story of Nicodemus is found only in the Gospel of John. John's dualistic themes of light and darkness shine through the texture of this intrigue. Jesus, of course, is the Light  (John 1.5) and Nicodemus represents "the people that walk in darkness"(Is.9.2). The contrast of shadows and light reminds me of a 50's film noir.  This quick-shot narrative is hard hitting and wastes no time getting to the punch line. Nick is a Pharisee who came to see Jesus by night.  In his introduction to the story the author sets up the scene and the character in one and a half verses.

1.#Hn de… a⁄nqrwpoß e∆k twÇn Farisai√wn, Nikovdhmoß o[noma aujtw/Ç, a⁄rcwn twÇn =Ioudai√wn` 

2. ou|toß h\lqen pro;ß aujto;n nukto;ß....  The literal translation   reads:  "And (now) there was a man of the Pharisees, name to him is Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This one (He) came to him (Jesus)  by night."

           We see right away the character of Nick. Wanting to know more but afraid of his peers, lacking understanding, being in the dark, and not comprehending,  he nevertheless came seeking Jesus, like a moth drawn to the flame.  He cannot help himself. We know this guy. Yeah, he was us once and maybe still is hiding in the shadows of our mind and heart. The uncommitted, uncomprehending, fearful half-believing church goer, maybe even a leader.  But enough of this personal, investigative stuff. Lets get back to the real story.
         John has established in Chapter one of his Gospel that "He (Jesus) was the light and the light shined in the darkness and it comprehended it not". The Pharisees, Nick being an example, were in the dark and did not comprehend what was going on. Even so, Jesus was shocked by his ignorance. "You are a teacher of Israel and do not know these things? You must be born anew to see the Kingdom of God."  What caused this darkness? The Jews were God's people. How could they be living like the blind? Because they chose to live in hope that the Messiah would come and conquror their oppressors, the Romans.  The darkness that Israel lived in was their desire to see God and His Messiah the way they wanted. They just wanted what they wanted. Sound familiar?  Their Messiah was going to establish an earthly kingdom that would overthrow the Romans. Instead, in Chapter 2 of John we see Jesus "cleansing the temple". This had to piss the Pharisees off . This went against their eschatological scheme. Jesus was running the Jews out of their temple, instead of the Romans out of Jerusalem.
      If you read all the Messianic prophecies in the OT it is easy to see how Nick and friends could believe in a physical take-over by God, which most Jews, even John the Baptist waited for. Here is a short list of Messianic prophecies:
Genesis 3.15; 12.3; 18.18; 22.18; 49.10
Leviticus 16.
Numbers 21.6-9; 24.17,19;
Isaiah 2.2-4; 4.2-6; 7.13,14; 9.1,2,6,7; 11.1-10; 25.6-9; 26.1, 19
Daniel, Joel, Amos, Micah, et alii.
             So thinking on a natural plane was easy for the Jews who wanted God to set up a kingdom "like unto David", only everlasting. What did Jesus do in face of this unspoken demand?
           Jesus hammered away at Nick about the Spirit realm. He did not answer any of the Pharisee's  questions the way he wanted them answered. He ended by recapping exactly what Nicodemus had done. "But he that does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds might be made manifest, that they are made in God."  We can hope that this was Nick's experience that night. That he had come out of the darkness and he was exposed to the Light of men, and from then on he did the truth. (To the author, John,  knowing was not enough, the truth was something you did, 1 John 1.6, the Greek word here is poiou:men meaning "to do or make). What was this truth that Nick sought and Jesus held out before him? 
      I was listening to  a group of Christians talking the other day. They were talking about the end time. They were saying. "now we know for a fact that there is going to be a battle, a war, an armed conflict called Armageddon, the end time apocalypse."  I think we as Christian are as sure about Armageddon as Nick was about the first coming of the Messiah. Is His second coming of His kingdom still going to require us to see it? Could His Kingdom already be manifesting and we are looking the wrong direction? This reminds me of one of my kids. Our family would be riding in the car and see something exciting and literally point at it and say "look at that" and he would instinctively look the other way. It was amazing. It became a family idiom. "David Look!" when you wanted someone to do or see what they are not doing or seeing. Are we looking the right way. Are we sure it is going to be physical and just as overpowering as the Jews thought it was going to be the first time? Could we be in any way like Nicodemus, needing to be 'born again' to see anew. 
      Christianity has coined the phrase "born again" to mean those who really, really, I mean really have Jesus in their hearts. But was Jesus using this term in the same way? Lets look at it one more time. He said, "you must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God." Not to have Jesus born in your heart. Not to become a Christian. Not even to have your sins forgiven. Nick did sacrifices and fulfilled the law. He had his sins forgiven according to the Mosaic Law. What did he not have? The ability to see the kingdom of God. Are we seeing it? Or are we like Nick waiting for its coming?  Do we live in the realm of Spirit or are we still living in the realm of flesh? If we are seeing the Kingdom of God clearly would be different from those who don't?  Can we tell the difference between Christians and non Christians? 

Mary's Sixth Sorrow

      I teach at a Christian school. Sometimes it is hard for me to tell the difference between those professing salvation and those who are not saved. How much more difficult is it to tell the difference between those who seek the things of the kingdom and those who seek the things of the world. The 
conversations are all the same. The dreams and ambitions all seem similar. I think we need an experience in God that will blast us out of this age. Shake the desires, hungers, ambitions, loves, likes, wants, greeds, off of us and get us seeing straight. I want an experience that opens my eyes to the beauties of God. I want to be sure I am seeing the kingdom. For the Ephesians Paul prayed that,

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints "(Eph.1:18). Paul was talking to Christians.

We see Nick again two more times in John's Gospel. The last time in a very tender and touching moment he brings myrrh and aloes for Jesus' body, in what tradition refers to as "Mary's Sixth Sorrow". I do not know what happened to him after that. He disappears back into the shadows of history. But I do know I am grateful for his questions and his desire to see Jesus. Without this conversation we would not have John 3.16 or 3. 21 or even the phrase "you must be born again."

For a serious look at this story listen to the CD by Gary Hargrave entitled "Born of The Spirit".

The body of Christ, Part Five

Missions

      Here in this word is found a change on the face of Christian theology. The old definition of "missions" as a segment of the Christian church's outreach is disappearing. An example can be found in Van Engens thoughts on the turning away form old thinking. He says in Dyrness-Karkkainen's theological dictionary, "It is rather that all theology is intrinsically missiological since it concerns the ...the mission of God"[1] Here we see the tying in of God’s inner nature as being missional, as concerned with His love. The giving of the inner communal nature of the trinity overflows to what Moltmann will talk about as Christ's mission to earth. This interpenetration of the triune God is expressed in the word Perichoresis. This word represents the movement of the inner life of the triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This movement of the inner life also expresses itself in an exterior life with creation. As Pannenberg was able to explain the process from Origen to Athanasius on the development of the Father and the son, he clarifies the statement that the Father cannot be the Father without the Son. Thus he opened the door for the preexistence of Christ.[2] This is important for the missional aspect of Jesus to earth. The inner relatedness of the Triune Being of God has an external expression that took its form in the Anointed One being sent to earth. Pannenberg argues that in light of Easter the historical Jesus proves his triune existence with the Father. Moltmann agrees with this understanding of Jesus and his mission as being a part of the trinity. He says "We ought not to interpret Jesus’ resurrection merely in eschatological terms. In its inner most process it is Trinitarian too." [3] It has to been seen as movement of the triune God as the Spirit of God raised Christ from the dead. But in a larger sense the movement of Christ to earth has to be triune as it is the creative force for the creation of the church. The ecclesia, which becomes the expression of the trinity upon the earth, is the expression of the trinity because it expresses God. God is triune and so is the copy of the body of Christ. The very involvement with this thought brings into play the existence of the trinity in our mist. Salvation is in the knowing. The knowing is in the loving. The love is God. This simple semi- syllogism is the basis for John's discussion of the body in his first epistle (esp. 1 John 4). Intrinsic to the workings and flowing of the body is the existence of God at the intersections of the members. This we have discussed previously but it warrants readmission here as we are emphasizing the purpose of Jesus’ mission in the Trinitarian light. Here Buxton brings the focus of the mission of the fellowship into clear focus. "Mission, however, is something that not only creates fellowship in all its richness: ... it derives from the faith-community's fellowship with the triune God."[4] Christ was sent to establish in the world his body as a representation of the kingdom of the God. This is the same message that Christ preached and lived. We are given the same message and mission. We are to be the expression of word and deed implanted as it is in and among God's creation. Again Buxton states the "mission of the church is the proclamation, in word and deed, ... it is the freedom for fellowship with God, man and nature."[5]                                          

            In many ways the freedom that Christ felt in His fellowship with the Father is to ours also. In our mission to the earth and God's creation, we should not restrict the understanding of what that may look like or how it may play out. Christianity in the past has defined Church as that which happened in the four walls or in the presence of certain clerical authority. Christ said, "where two or three of you gather in my name, there I am in your midst"(Matthew 18:20). Since the Second Vatican council, the redefining of the mission of the church, Ad Gentes,[6] has helped to redefine the nature of what is church. The impact has been a ripple affect. Thought originally to have only to do with the Catholic Church the breaking down of traditional ways of thinking has had its effects felt as far as the Liberation theology, the Charismatic movement and Roman Catholic Church. This is because the mission of the church has been redefined as Trinitarian in its dynamics. The authority of the hierarchal church is shifting to allow for the focus to be more on the movement rather than on the structure of  the fellowship. Again from Fiddes we read  "When transferred to the concept of Trinity, we should not think of a perichoresis of actions exercised by one subject, but simply the perichoresis of actions themselves (italics mine).[7]

            This challenges our security and safety of traditional actions toward God and in reality toward one another. Because in the end, the ecclesia, the soma, is us. We are related as Christ was with the Father in the dance of interrelatedness. We dare not focus on our movement but upon the movement of that which is between ourselves and the other. It is here where God is and it is out of this that the mission and energies of the church will flow. In his work entitled The Creative Day of the Kingdom, J. R. Stevens states that "there is a creative, positive ministry" that God has given to the church to lose all creation from futility (Romans 8). This ministry will affect areas of science and construction that will change the way mankind lives. The body of Christ is just starting to see its affect on the earth that goes beyond the four walls of our churches. The power of the resurrection which exposed the inner power of the triune God has yet to be 'resurrected' in God's church which is really the implanted body of Christ on the earth. The mission of Christ according to Moltmann had its proof and justification on 'Easter' when he was risen from the grave by the Father. The church too will have its justification when we have our resurrection morning and are empowered by the Triune God. Paul says that without the resurrection, we are to be most miserable (Corinthians 15:19). This approach to mission is also seen in the work of John Taylor in his untraditional role as the Bishop of Winchester, England. He pushed against the traditional liturgical roles used in the church at that time. Buxton points to this radical interpretation of the mission of the church with similar outlooks as Stevens. "Taylor also points us away from a restricted interpretation of mission."  He goes on to say that it is 'wide-ranging in its scope' and that it copies the 'enormous breadth and range of the mission of the Creator Spirit.[8]

            Even though the range of the mission of the church is being greatly challenged as to its restrictive nature, the core of missions has not changed. That is because the purpose and prime cause of missions is the otherness of the triune God. Because God is a triune being and shares his being with the inner others, this compels him to share with others on the outside, i.e. the world he inhabited. The giving of his Son is at the core of Him giving himself to the others in the trinity and they in turn giving to each other. According to Buxton the orientation of the mission that is based on others "reflects a celebration of otherness in all its diversity and richness, patterning the triune life of God."[9] 

            Why is this so important?  We live in a culture of death. Moltmann insists that the mission of the church is to resist this culture and preach the kingdom of life. "In this divine sense mission is solely a movement for life."  Not life that allows the existence of death, but life that overcame death is the mission of the church.[10]  God sent himself in the form of man to bring life. "I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10b).

            In the end Christian life should be an overflow from our participation in the divine dance that is going on between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The life, living in oneness is the source of our love and knowledge of knowing God. The life of God that took on as His mission the responsibility of loving mankind must find its expression in the communal interpenetration of one another in our fellowship here on earth as Christians. This expression will show in our oneness and just as importantly in our love for one another. In fact John indicates in his epistle that this is one way that we know we "have passed from death unto life is our love of each other." The act of love between the members of the community not only becomes the sign to the world that Christ lives and the resurrection is real, but also is living proof that we have over come death and thus entered into eternal existence.

Summary

            The world exists as an outflow of eternal love. This, according to Grenz, is from the relationship of the Father, Son and the Spirit. He suggests that God's purpose for the earth is its participation in this Trinitarian existence.  It is the "social Trinity" that created the world with the intent on its becoming a part of this "community".  "God is the eternal fellowship of the trinitarian members, so also God's purpose for creation is that the world participate in "community".[11]

     This community was created by the love of God which Grenz says is the "essence of God'.[12]  But this love is not completely and solely agape love. That is, traditionally the love of God has been expressed as the selfless love of the Greek word agape. Some feel that God's love includes the selfless expression but goes beyond this. The expression of God in the community and toward the community involves other aspects of love that may have been corrupted from their original purity. According to Moltmann, men and women are beings that possess eros love for one another. He points to the Song of Solomon and asks, "Does this erotica book belong in the Cannon?" His answer is a definite yes.  This love is exciting and full of desire for one another. Mankind has soiled the term that can be pure and passionate toward God. Moltmann says "The community of love is an erotic community: God's loving community with his beloved creation is erotic; the forces which differentiates and unites all creation is erotic; the rapturous delight of lovers in one another is erotic."[13] LaCugna uses the term "plenitude" when referring to the way that eros should be viewed. It has been corrupted by many but should be reclaimed by Christians as an example of the expression from fullness and not from human need.[14]

          Remembering the Nicene definition of the Son, fully God, fully man (my italics), we see that God has invested Himself, and how could he not, in mankind. If His essence is love (Grenz) then this is going to be expressed in knowing and being fully involved with the triune being's love. As stated in 1 John to love Him is the knowing. This knowing is a full triune commitment of humanity to one another. This is the body, soul and spirit commitment reflecting the makeup of the community of the Creator. This interpenetration of humanity to humanity is no less than the participation with God and humanity. The oneness is not stopped at some point nor does it avoid the triune expression found in humanity.  We may find that every form of love finds expression in the community of God and His creation. Less would be less. 

        This all consuming living in the 'spaces' (Fiddes) with the triune God, giving and receiving love from one another, is the atmosphere for pastoral care and ministry. This 'dance' or 'movement' of members create the expression of ministry itself. The fostering of this community allows for the body of Christ to take on the dimension of being a living organism rather that an organization. The latter demands maintenance and energy to keep the system working. The minister becomes an overworked mechanic or maintenance engineer. The larger the system the more impossible it’s ability to function in divine love and it becomes machine like in its programs and organization. The former lives off of the life that "every joint supplies". Each member then becomes a mature member in love expressing its love in these 'spaces' between the members. The members are not only expressing compassion but are receiving as well as giving. The reflection of the triune God is created in this community. The care of the pastoral ministry then becomes a process of bringing others into this 'divine dance'. The participation of one with another is the inter action and interpenetration of God with mankind, which may be seen as the ultimate incarnation.

            We have looked at several areas of ministry, prayer, worship, community and missions as examples of how the pastoral ministry may function in relationship to the community defined as the triune expression of God. The expression and definition of what this means and what it may look like was examined through the lenses of several theologians. Their explanation of living in the spaces and the dance that takes place in the true community of God is a wonderful picture of the intensions of God. It is the redefining of our Nicene Creed. Maybe better than that it is the application of God to mankind. This application or explanation is crying for actualization. The community described is yet to be fulfilled. We live in the "already, not yet" tension of Christian existence but that is not a theological excuse for not pressing for fulfillment of the triune God in this earth.  That His prayer, that is found in John 17:21, may be answered. The interpenetration of the Son with the Father and us with them by the Spirit, then the world "may believe".

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     [1] Dyrness-Karkkainen, 551.

     [2] Pannenberg, 371.

     [3] Jurgen Moltman, The Trinity and The Kingdom, (Minneanapolis, First Fortress Press, 1993) 88.

     [4] Buxton, 184.

     [5] Ibid., 184.

     [6] http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651207_ad-gentes_en.html

     [7] Fiddes, 73.

[8] Buxton, 185.

[9] Ibid., 186.

[10] Jurgen Moltmann, The Source of Life, (Minneapolis, First Fortress Press, 1997) 20.

[11]  Stanley Grenz, Theology for the Community of God  (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994) 112.

[12]  Ibid. 113.

[13]  Moltmann, 261.

[14]  From Buxton, The Trinity, Creation and Pastoral Ministry, 174, footnote 133.