Passion Week Meditation: A Fierce Tenderness

Tis The Season for Pictures of Jesus on the Front of Magazines.

At any checkout line at our local grocery stores it's hard to miss the differing portraits of Jesus  prominently displayed for us to buy. One magazine asks "is the Resurrection fact?" another one asks "What did Jesus really teach?" and one other questions "Was Jesus an alien?" My question is: did he really have baby blue eyes?!

Even with all the differing portrayals of the Son of God for us to impulse buy, one thing is almost always true: Jesus looks bored if not boring. He looks mild and tame. The pictures exude a sense of "niceness" that is attractive for a moment, but easily forgotten the next. This portrayal of Jesus is "safe" and we are safe from having to respond to him. This Jesus is sweet to us, but he definitely does not command our attention, much less our respect.

Then I Read the Gospels...

I see a very different portrait of this man when reading the Bible. Matthew very simply states "And Jesus entered the temple and DROVE OUT all who sold and bought in the temple, and he OVERTURNED THE TABLES of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons." (Matthew 21:12 ESV; my emphasis)

Jesus drove them out. Jesus drove them out! (I had to say it again) That is not something tame men do. Merely "nice guys" stay outside of a problem so as not to cause a fuss...create a mess. The very same man whose hands would, very tenderly, heal a broken body and who would unashamedly weep over the loss of a friend (See John 11:35) deliberately and willful drove men out of the temple. 

This Draws Out Questions

Does that shock you like it does to me? Does it seem "wrong" that he would do that? Does it seem out of character for him?

That's just it, this is as much the real Jesus as any other biblical picture. As a matter of fact, this encounter with Jesus makes every other encounter with him not only look different, but add a depth to those stories that we wouldn't have otherwise. When Jesus heals on the sabbath with the scoffers in full view of his "crime" we see the same strength of love. When Jesus calls people to his rest, we know that it isn't the type of "rest" that retreats from the world, but the type that engages the real issues of our lives. When we see Jesus give himself to the cruelty of a Roman cross we see that he was no push over who passively went, but was driven to that point with a righteous passion.

Jesus Welcomed Others Close

I intended just to write about Jesus cleansing the temple. In my imagination, Jesus drove out the money changers and "robbers" and then left the area, on to the next part of his days' agenda. But, rereading it again before typing I noticed something that shocked me even more: "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. (Matthew 21:14 ESV) This is right after what we might perceive as an "outburst"!

Who is this man?! One moment he is making a bold statement by driving people out of this house of prayer -used for selfish gain -and the next moment the weak and the outsiders feel safe enough with him to approach him. Where one group saw fierceness and fled another group saw graciousness and gathered near him.

Can Jesus Be Both at the Same Time?

I will speculate here, but I think it is fair: if Jesus is nothing but loving then it means he was loving in this scene. He didn't turn "loving" off for a few minutes to overturn tables and ruin the five year plan of small business owners. No, as a matter of fact, in both scenerios he was consistently loving, doing what each group needed more than anything. May I be bold enough to say that Jesus' tenderness towards those he drove out was to give them what they really needed- a shake up that is a strong reminder that their way is the way to destruction? May I be bold enough to say that Jesus was fierce towards the ones who came near to him to be healed? With a fierce compassion he healed them and welcomed them close.

Whether what I say is foolish or not, one thing is true: Jesus will not be domesticated. He will not be defined and controlled. He will not submit to being God in an image we try to create.

Unreservedly Who He Is

He will joyfully be exactly who he is: fiercely tender. When the magazines at our store portray him as a Righteous Warrior with Uncompromising Compassion then I might follow my impulse to buy one and read it. Until then, I want God's word to paint the picture of Jesus I need to see.

Passion Week Meditation: A Triumphant Entry?

[See Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-15]

I Wonder...

I've always wondered why that title in my Bible calls this story the "triumphal entry." Those titles printed on the page were not originally part of text of the gospel, but they seem meaningful. Someone thought it made sense with the passage!

Maybe it is because the crowds saw it as a triumph. That would make sense. There was a group of people made up of those who were affected by Jesus: those that used to be sick, those that used to be lame, and those that used to be guilt-ridden. All of them probably hoping that the One who restored them would restore the honor to the nation they loved, too.

They Longed For A Good King And In Meeting Jesus They Knew They Had Found One.

The crowd celebrated because, for them, this entrance is a real turning point. The promises of scripture and the longings of their hearts for things to change- really change- were on the verge of happening! A real, uncontainable joy was unashamedly erupting from underneath years of desperate hoping and anxiously waiting...one in which if they did try to hold it back would cause the rocks to break their long silence and praise their Creator. 

Sooner And Not "Later" They Would See the Promised King On The Throne

I would imagine I would also be in that crowd expecting that my greatest hopes were about to be fulfilled, but, knowing what will happen later that week, my mind turns to what Jesus was thinking. Did he feel triumphant? Was this a moment in which he could smile deeply and fully enjoy the party or was there always the haunting thought that this praise would soon die and give way to either a silent watchfulness or a defiant chorus of curses towards him? 

What Really Stands Out Is That He Doesn't Tell Them To Sit Down

Jesus does not tell them to settle down and be realistic. This is the part that really surprises me. He doesn't stop them to correct them, but lets them celebrate! No, more than that, he encourages them to celebrate. He knows their expectations of him and knows he won't be the king they want, but at the same time joins the jubilee.

The Romans watch the scene and scoff because they would do it better- with more glamor and bravado- and most would all but forget the scene before going to bed that night. 

The jealous Jewish leaders watch with contempt as this pretender makes a fool of himself as some pseudo-messiah, like others had done. Soon enough, this crowd would know the truth and would see the wages Jesus earns for his blasphemy.

I picture Jesus with a wry smile as he rides in on this borrowed donkey without any hint of asking the emboldened crowd to stop. Somehow he knows this is a foretaste of what will happen later rather than sooner. This is a warm up party before the ultimate entry when he rides in on a war horse and he triumphs over all of the systems that press people, the powers behind those systems, and the sin that fuels it all. (see Revelation 19:11-16)

The Real Glory They Longed For Would Soon Be Revealed

But also, in the quietness of his soul, he knows that between him and the triumph where all things are made right stands a cross. This cross is the throne that will display his glory and will ever define what it means to be a triumphant king. 

The accomplishment in that moment is not that he would be carried in celebration by a stubborn donkey, but that Jesus would willingly carry the sins of the world with no fanfare.

They celebrated good king that day, but it wasn't until later that they could see just how good he really is. It wasn't a political coup that would show his triumph, but his passionate sacrifice.

Repenting of Not "Lenting"

Earlier this week my friend shared with me how he is spending time over the next few days reading through the story of Jesus' final week before his crucifixion. 

Spending that much time entering in those crucial days in the life of Jesus (and the life of the world) seems like a valuable way to spend some of my life, but in hearing it sounded like so. much. work!

Then I heard my friend share about the time he has spent, not talking about the toil and pain he endured (there wasn't any), but the joy he has experienced! He very winsomely shared how he entered in to Jesus' life in the pages and, more than that, he got to experience that very same Jesus through those pages.

Okay, how could I find any fault in that? I can't. He has been "lenting" and the encounter he has had with the Living Savior has been worth the "sacrifice."

"Lent" to me in the past has been a foreign word to me. I have understood that it is meant to be a time of preparation and reflection, but it seemed too "traditional," too "liturgical," or too "I have to prove myself to God"-ish.

I am slow to learn the "why" behind things, especially when it is easy just to write a people or a practice off because it is not "my tradition."

Also, with a smug self-righteousness, I am tempted to say "I celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection all year not just for 40 days!" The truth is, though, that's not true. Most days I deliberately don't seek to treasure Jesus through meditating on his glorification at the cross and out of the tomb. Spirit, please change that in me!

Whether it is Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or some Ordinary Monday, what seems to matter most is that I might be AFFECTED by this one who would walk through the ultimate valley of the shadow of death and come out joyful on the other side. I want this to not only be meaningful, but to mean something to me! I want the passion week to fuel a like hearted passion for my Savior.

So, even though I am late to the event, I am repenting of not Lenting. 

This is not a work to gain God's favor for me. It is a work because I have God's favor as his child. (Romans 8:31-32) This is not mere traditionalism, but a tradition that stands up because it can mean something, well, meaningful.

What that means is that I am going to seek to be awed by this Man. I will sacrifice a little time to enter in Jesus' experience to know him deeper, to trust him more. And, as a response, write about that here.

Would you consider reading through this part of his life with me this next week? Its not full on Lenting, but I'm learning.

The Lie in our Bloodstream

Quote from Sinclair Ferguson's book The Whole Christ:

"The lie [of the serpent from Genesis 3] was an assault on both God's generosity and integrity. Neither his character nor his words were to be trusted. This, in fact, is the lie which sinners have believed ever since- the lie of the Not-to-be-trusted-because-he does-not-love-me-False-Father... [this lie has] entered the bloodstream of the human race..."

As quoted in Preaching by Timothy Keller, page 53.

Simply Faithful

I have read Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret four or five times in my life. It is a book that is so good that it is worth diving into again and again just to remember what the Spirit of God will do in the life of a person surrendered to Him.

This quote has arrested me many times, and is worth sharing with you.

"But Hudson Taylor did not start out to impact "millions." He started out to love God, to honor Him, and to share His love with individual sinners who needed so desperately to know Him. Jesus called Taylor (and us) to be "faithful," not "successful." And God added the increase. So shall it be with us, I pray." (page 12)

Unsettled

Just reading the title of the post might cause anxiety. Somehow it does for me because I tend to be a homebody. I like thinking that tonight I might be able to snuggle up next to my wife to watch a show on Netflix on our couch in our living room knowing our little girl is asleep in our house.

Abram's (Literal) Walk of Faith

The last few weeks I have been asking a lot about what it means to live "by faith." Last Sunday night we talked about Abram's [Abraham's] journey of faith from his home in Haran to the land God promised him. Sounds exciting to think about! It reads like and adventure story!

There is something though I didn't consider in the text: when the Lord spoke to Abram to leave his home what followed was that Abram would also leave his house. 

The Spirit though the writer of Hebrews didn't miss it though: Hebrews 11:9- "By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise."

The Thread of Unsetting Through Scripture

 God's people often live unsettled. Similar to my Little League coach always challenging me to be "on my toes" while playing third base, our good Father keeps his people in a place where we are alert to trust him:

• Abraham and his family though four generations
• The people of Israel in their journey through the wilderness
• God's people being exiled to a foreign land in Babylon.
• The Son of Man who had no place to lay his head.

A Loving God Could Love No Other Way

Why though? Does it unsettle you like it does me that our loving God would let us be unsettled? God commanded Abram to leave all that was safe for him and their family. In the same way, think of the times Jesus led his closest friends onto a boat that would end up in a storm. God knew what was ahead of them!

I think there are two precious parts to the answer. Precious and confidence-building answers that settle our soul once we can embrace them:

First, Abram could go unsettled because God promised him a home again, not just a house. Hebrews 11:10 says "For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God." Since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, we have longed for the home we were made for. Every place we dwell is "home," but not "home" enough. Abraham could obey, leave his family, living in tents, because something in God's words to him told him that in living by faith he would find his home. His REAL home where he would be fully and finally settled.

But even more important than the first answer is the second answer: wherever Abram went by faith, the Lord went with him. This is the precious promise of following our God: we may be unsettled, but our God walks with us out of our safety and into His journey. Like Abram, we might not know the details of where we are going, but (whether we feel it or not) our God delights to walk with us. He takes the initiative to be present with us and nothing in this world dissuades him from that. When Jesus told his disciples to get on a boat and they ended up in the storm, he was always in the storm with them! (see Mark 4:35-5:1)

Houseless, but Not Hopeless

When the Lord unsettles us (and he will as we learn to trust him), though we often feel the loss deeper than is comfortable and wonder when our good Father will come though, he is at work to remind us that we have a better home awaiting us. We have something to look forward to. The best days for followers of Jesus are always ahead of us, either in this life or the fullest life when we get to see Jesus' face with our own eyes.

And what we have to look forward to the most is that our heart's true Home is not just waiting ahead of us, but He is with us as we walk the unsettled path he planned out for us. 

Gigglechops

Jeremiah 29:7: "But seek the welfare [peace, wholeness] of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."

It seems strange that we would spend a Sunday evening in which we usually "go to worship" going to hand out flyers about a business in our neighborhood. It feels weird doesn't it?

Our Mission

As we have stated here, our mission statement reads: "We will express that Jesus is our treasure by...seeking the peace of the city (and the nations) through the Gospel." Simply put, our love for Jesus and the effect of the gospel on our lives, motivates us to seek the good of our neighbors and our neighborhood.

Or maybe even more simply put, our worship of Jesus moves us to love our neighbors.

"Worship" is more than singing his greatness, it is seeing his greatness and love in a way that creates a desire to respond in love. It is the inclination of our heart to treasure Jesus as a response to his love for us demonstrated on the cross (See Romans 5:8). 

Worship always acts in love to our God...and it always acts in love to our neighbor.

Our Neighbors

So why Gigglechops?

I want to support our local business, not just because they are businesses or because there is a trend towards "local," but because there are people who our God loves who are behind the business. Not only that, this specific business seeks to love a group of people I do not fully know how to serve well, people who live with "special needs and learning differences."

"Seeking the peace of our city" means supporting those that are already doing that...and often times following their lead and learning from them.

Your Invitation

The Invitation: come join us Sunday to serve our neighbor (even if you are reading this and don't "treasure Jesus"...yet) Act your worship with us. (for more info email Wes here)

ONE LAST THOUGHT 

I don't have a relationship with Jesus because I earned it. That's not possible, and that would never be a real relationship anyway. I have a relationship with Jesus because he sought me out and (because he paid my penalty by his death) he now says that he is "for" me...on my side... working out good for me for his name's sake. The more that truth soaks into our bones the more we will want to be "for" others, too.

Threads: Faith Compels Us

Notes from our Sunday Night Gathering: March 11, 2018

From Genesis 12:1-4 and 15:1-6 (click for reference)

Abram's Journey is Our Journey

I. Faith Compels to Risk and Relinquish

Our God took the initiative because he wants to show his grace to the world

How Could God call Abram to leave everything to live in tents in a strange land?

He calls us to a new object to treasure (he was emptied)

He wants us to see that he is going with us…not just sending away

An invitation to trust

II. Faith Compels Us to Walk While We Wait

We aren't given a road map, but the Lord does go with us to whisper "Come with me this way"

Abraham's Question is Often Ours: "How Long O Lord?!"

We live in a "fast food" world where people think "faster" is "better"

Everything that matters takes time to create

The Lord will brings us to the end of ourselves…so that we might be astounded by what he does!

Our God is remaking us as we walk and wait (weaning us from our expectations and selfishness)

III. Faith Compels Us to the One Who Wins Our Trust

This is not about our ability to believe, but belief in God's ability to come thorugh

The only faith is an imperfect faith

The Source of Our Faith: Jesus gives it though experience

There are no short cuts

What he has done shows what he will do

Jesus had faith first...and experienced the Father's faithfulness the most

Daily fellowship with the Father created his faith for the future

Jesus' faith was ultimately expressed in willingly going to the cross

Giving up his spirit (Luke 23:46)

Question to Consider

What would you do differently if what God said about himself was true?

Conquer My Unbelief

"In great spiritual agony, I wandered out on the sand alone. And there the Lord conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to God for this service [starting a missions organization for inland China]. I told Him that all the responsibility as to the issues and the consequences must rest with Him; that as His servant it was mine to obey and to follow Him, His to direct, care for and guide me and those who might labor with me. Need I say that at once peace flowed into my burdened heart?" [Emphasis mine]

-Hudson Taylor, missionary to China

Please Father, may this be true for us.

Faith is (Often) War

Last night in our gathering, a friend shared with us a passage (2 Chronicles 32) about what happens when you act in confidence that our God really is good. Honestly, I never paid attention to this passage in the way that he shared it with us.

If I Ever Have A Son His Name Could Be...

Hezekiah was king of the people of Judah and he went against the traditions of his fathers, not in an arrogant way, but humbly and faithfully following God's ways (see the end of chapter 31). It even says that he (Hezekiah) prospered in everything he did. Man, I want it to end there.

No Way I Would Ever Name a Son...

Sennacerib then enters the scene. As the chapter turns from 31 to 32, it says "After these acts of faithfulness...Sennacerib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah..." Its hard to understand the squabbles of ancient kings, but one thing is clear: Hezekiah didn't just act in faith and then get to coast in his prosperity. Somehow, in God's goodness (right? "goodness"?) he allowed this evil king to do evil things to a faith-filled man (Hezekiah) and his people.

The Heart Question

I have to stop right there for today. It brings up a lot of questions. Why would God allow this? Is God good because it sure seems like a good God would just turn this invading army away to "repay" Hezekiah for his faithfulness? 

For Hezekiah, this is done and over with. The story is written and the ending has happened. (Go ahead and read on...its worth it to see what God does!) What lingers is the question: who is God in all of this? Can I trust him? 

No Easy Answers...Just His Presence

Is God good? I have to believe he is, but just not always how we want him to be good. He will be good to us by rooting out all places in us where we are afraid to be confident in him and where we believe lies about him. God sends armies to besiege our cities, not to harm us, but to deepen us.

Grace Means He Wants To Show Us that He is Trustworthy

He wants us to see him come through. Let me say that again: he wants us to see him come through. Not just in someone else's life, but our life; to taste and see that the Lord is good...not just when we prosper, but when war is waged against us.

The real war, though, is the war that the Lord is waging against our unbelief. He wants to win our hearts away from foolish fear. Let me say that again too: he WANTS to win our hearts. For stubborn people like me, it takes being pressed beyond my ability to get me to look to see if God will come through, but that is when the taste of his goodness goes deep and settles our soul.

Often it is when an army encamps around us, but it is in those moments we get to see the faithfulness of a loving God, even when our fear is overwhelming.

The life of trusting God is not gathering up enough energy to believe, but a life of seeing our faithful God come through on our behalf. Over and over and over again.

"Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident." Psalm 27:3

HT: Jason Thibeaux