Faithful Foreigner

10/31/2016

Mark 7.30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. – St. Mark

In Mark 7, a woman from the Gentile district of Tyre (NW of Judea) came to Jesus to ask Him to deliver her daughter from a demon. The account gives us no information of what the demon was doing to the little girl, only that she was possessed by this supernatural infestation. Initially, Jesus (apparently) refused  to help the woman. His attitude appeared to be: Go away!

Not to be dissuaded, the woman pressed the Lord for a response and a bit of an interchange resulted.

Jews then didn’t associate with foreigners – unless, of course, there is some sort of tourism or trade money associated. (I’m not trying to be cute, but with all the Christian visitors to the Holy Land each year, you’d think there would be a tremendous return of modern Jews to Christ. But there isn’t. The Jews of today don’t associate much with foreigners either.)

However, Jesus wasn’t outright refusing to associate with her, He was probably testing her. She knew about the Jews and their attitudes, but she also had heard about Jesus and she had a need. Her daughter was in serious trouble. I think Jesus tested her resolve. In resolve, she pressed Him for help.

It is interesting to me that we here, in the enlightened west, don’t quite know what to do about demons. We write them off as myths or stories because of our devotion to science; and then we treat serious spiritual problems with medication, not spiritual authority. Foreigners to our world wonder why we let the demon possessed just walk about among us…

But the woman had a need, and she asserted herself to Jesus to elicit His help. When Jesus rejected her in the manner He did, she wasn’t moved, she simply responded to His objections, and He granted her what she wanted because of her faith. Faith knows no foreigners. Faith responds to the believer regardless of race, gender, or nationality. Jesus responds to faith.

And Jesus told the woman foreigner, “For such a [response], you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” The demon couldn’t stand up to a connection of faith with Jesus Christ.

The story isn’t a story about foreigners but a story about faith. (Although we could make a case for foreigners in the Kingdom of Belief.) The only way to gain access to the Kingdom of Belief is with belief. We call that faith. It doesn’t mean we believe in a made-up Kingdom, it means we assert ourselves to God for access into His realm. His realm isn’t made-up; His realm is unseen. The needy access the Kingdom believing, that though unseen, it is still there.

It doesn’t matter who we are or where we’re from, the Kingdom is the Kingdom and only the faithful find God there. What are we fighting today that can only be resolved by faith in the King of Kings?

Father in Heaven, You know I need Your help and need Your touch to fix me. I come in faith like the woman of old, perhaps not as a foreigner, but as a child who needs a touch from the King. I can only come by faith. I can only be healed by faith. And I can only proceed by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please You because those that come to You must believe that You are; and that You reward those who diligently seek You – only the faithful are accepted… Amen.

The Partnership

10/30/2016

Job 21.4 Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient? – Job

Ah Job, what are we going to do with you? You do have quite a case, but we’re having trouble buying the whole: all of your troubles were brought on by the God; and somehow you deserve special restitutive treatment from Him… C’mon Job! Man up and admit you’re wrong!

If we read Job as if we’d never read it before, it might take on a different meaning. If we read Job exclusive from the rest of the Bible, it would take on hugely different meaning. Nothing like what happened to Job had ever happened before, and those who sought to arrest Job from his mentality were having difficulty believing him that God was somehow “at fault”.

I have thought about Job’s relationship with God and I think I have come to a new place in my thinking in that: I think Job (a non-Jew) viewed God much like Muslims view Allah. Job believed there was a God and that God was supreme. Job believed God was involved in his life, but I believe he saw God at a distance. Job knew he was an upright soul, but he only knew that because of how he lived his life: he lived to keep God happy. He had a very uncomfortable view of what happened when God wasn’t.

Yes, Job judged himself by his righteousness, but he was, in his own way, righteous. And when it all hit the fan Job had only God to blame; so, he asked God, “Why!?” Followed with: “What have I done!?” Job knew this: there was a God, and he wasn’t Him; and he was seeking God for answers to his plight.

Job’s friends perhaps knew of God but if Job’s view of God was stunted, his friend’s views were infantile. So, Job’s response is: “Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient?” In other words, I am asking God for an answer and He isn’t cooperating! There it is, an uncooperative God.

Job knew of God, and respected Him. Job lived a decent life and treated people well. He was also well thought of – but his respect for God wasn’t necessarily translated into love for God. I think love for God was outside of Job’s wheelhouse. I think Job’s concept of a love for God might be like that of many moderns: silly, goofy, effeminate, and unmanly! Job needed a God to come to his rescue. Moderns think that way too. Job needed a God to keep the wheels of his life from falling off. We think that way too.

So, what is our response when the wheels do fall off? God, where the (bleep) are You!?

Since we do read Job in context with the rest of Scripture, God’s love is a concept that is presented in the rest of scripture. Our love for God is awakened in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus enables us to love God, and to love others. Job didn’t know of Jesus, but he did know of God. Job knew God. Lived for God. But Job didn’t know of God’s love and got frustrated when God didn’t come to his rescue as quickly as he thought He should. Sounds an awful lot like us. Impatient, impatient, impatient…

Father, may my life with You be reflected in my love for You and may my love for You be reflected in my cooperation with You. Help me to hear, and to see, and to do, because You command it, and expect it. Like Job, may I accept the good and the bad, but may I do so with a heart that understands Your love for me, and somehow may that be translated in my love for You. Our life together is a partnership. Long live the partnership! Amen

A Jobian Ride

10/29/2016

Mark 4.40 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” – St. Mark

I’ve been in a funk. I feel like I’ve been in a boat, out on the lake, and the winds have come up ferociously and my Lord is sleeping in the back on a cushion. I’ve wanted to scream at Him, Hey! You! Wake up!!

And then I come back to reality and remember that He may have slept back then, but He’s anything but sleepy now: Jesus Christ, the Savior King is fully in control and fully in command. And He sees me, hears me, and knows the season I’m going through. And He, though I can’t see, is working on my behalf.

I’m currently reading the Book of Job. It’s an annual affair, every year on October 17 the journey starts, and every year on November 15, I read the last chapter, and it’s off until the next year. This year, the journey has been remarkably different. My circumstances are different, and I have a new appreciation for the Book and its main character: the man, Job. It seems this year, I’m having a bit of a Jobian ride…

The thing about Job, he couldn’t understand why what was happening to him, was happening to him. He knew he hadn’t done anything to make God mad, but he sure felt like God had dealt him a death blow. And then his friends came to comfort him and he found their comfort was more like rebuke and an insistence that he’d somehow pissed-off God, and was getting his just desserts. Friends can be like that sometimes, can’t they.

Job began to do some heavy introspection. I’m sure he asked himself, What have I done to deserve this? I think we all have a tendency toward the, Why-Me’s. And then the questioning, the searching, the reviewing, the agonizing. What is going on here, and how did I get in the middle of this – and, WHERE IS GOD!? Shhh! He’s in the back, snoozing…

But then the sun comes up, and the question comes up: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” In other words: if God is God and He’s led us here thus far, child, why has your faith slipped because of a Jobian season in your life? Job questioned. WE question. God asks:  where is your faith? Am I not God of the good seasons, and the bad (as you call them)? Do you still not believe in Me?

I think that’s at the crux of the Jobian crucible: our faith – my faith has suffered some slippage; If He is not God of all, He is not God at all. It’s that simple. The math is always the same. It’s my application of the math that comes into question.

A friend of mine – very unlike Job’s friends (who, by the way, only wanted to fix their friend Job) came into my office and counseled me in his friendly, rancher sort of way: “Paul, you’ve gotta relax and trust that God has this.” And that’s what it really boils down to in our Jobian seasons, however long they last: Does God, sleeping or no, have this? Are we still safe in His care? Do we trust that He does care? And friends, Jesus asks: “Why are you [we/I] so afraid? Do you [we/I] still have no faith?” It’s worth thinking about…

Lord, today is a new day and Your mercies are new as well. Thank You for a night of sleep and for a new perspective today on my faith. No, Lord, I am not afraid; and, no Lord, I haven’t run out of faith. I rejoice in You this morning and trust in You for this day; it’s all under Your control and command! Amen.

Their Belief

10/28/2016

Mark 2.5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  - St. Mark

The friends carried the man to Jesus. The friends believed. The friends tore a hole in the roof large enough to lower the friend through. The friends carried the man up the stair and onto the roof. The friends, apparently, had a way to lower the man; maybe they had rope. And Mark wrote (as Peter recounted to him), ‘when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”'

I wonder how the conversation got started in the first place – did the man come up with the idea to get in front of Jesus or was it the friends’ idea? Did they originally plan to just bring the man to Jesus, but when they got there, the crowd was so large that they had to go to Plan B? And then with whatever plan they came up with, what was their overall expectation? Full healing? Partial healing? Rejection?

And, when Mark wrote “their faith”, was it the faith of the friends or the faith of the whole group: man, mat, and men? Do we have to separate the man from the friends?

I think someone came up with the idea to get the paralyzed guy to Jesus. I think others were persuaded and the plan hatched. I think they intended to just go find Jesus, and have the Lord touch the man and heal him. I don’t think they factored in the size of the crowds attracted to Jesus. I think when they got to Jesus, they went to plan b (hastily concocted) because of the failure of plan a, and the size of the crowd.

And when Jesus saw their faith – man, mat, and men – he said to the paralyzed man: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Whoa! I thought Jesus was supposed to say to the man: You’re healed! What happened? The plan was going so right! Your sins are forgiven!? Who said anything about sins!?

Well, the men and the man were only part of the story. The rest of the story included the crowd and some religious types who thought Jesus was some sort of a Sham-Wow pitchman. The crowd thought healing was the big item on the menu, and then Jesus started talking about sin. The sin Jesus was referring to was: unbelief. Sin doesn’t cause paralyzation, but sin keeps one away from God, the Healer.

You can’t forgive unbelief. (We can’t really forgive anything if we’re unwilling to forgive everything). The unforgiveable sin is simply unbelief. It isn’t murder, or abortion, or infidelity, or porn. These things are terrible and awful but they aren’t unforgiveable. Only unbelief is. And it is unbelief that got Jesus crucified. Unbelief is unforgiveable because if one cannot believe in the forgiver, one cannot be forgiven. Without belief in God, there is no pardon from God. Hmmm...

So, Jesus said to the unbelievers: Is it easier to forgive sin or to heal? And to the paralyzed man he said: “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” It is easy for God to do both: forgive sins, and heal people. But the bigger issue with God is this: the sin of unbelief; and even God cannot forgive that…

Lord, our lives are all about what we believe. We do what we believe. May my life be all about belief in You. You’re my only Hope. You are my Forgiver. Lord, also be my Healer. Thank You Jesus, amen

Graciously Granted

10/27/2016

Acts 27.23-24 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ – St. Paul

In the swirling chaos of a storm at sea; a fairly small vessel, and the fear and trepidation that gripped them all, Paul got a visit from an angel. It wasn’t his first rodeo; nor, do I think it was his last. God had a mission for Paul and used a series of difficult events for him to testify of the Good News before the greatest figure in the then-known world: Caesar.

Like Pharaoh centuries before, God wanted to get His message across to a world ruler: trust Me, obey Me, and all will go well with you. World leaders at times are smart and clever, but they, despite their worldly power and influence, are only human with all the subsequent weaknesses thereof.

Paul’s journey to Rome began sometime in his ministry out on the road, and in Acts 19.21 he said, “I must visit Rome also.” Later in Acts 23, God said: “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” So between the two, God and Paul, the strategy was to get Paul to Rome, the center of the then-known world. God’s love for people and Paul’s willingness to obey got Paul to Rome to share the Gospel. And to Rome, despite treachery and nature, Paul went…

The angel on the ship was interesting because: a) no one else, to our knowledge, got an angelic visitation, and b) the angel reassured Paul that God had graciously granted them survival in the storm. God, in His heavenly governance of the universe, had His eye on a small ship out in the Mediterranean Sea with 276 people aboard. And in His governance, God granted life for all. Some were granted life only to face execution, and others were granted life to follow the path God lad laid out for them. But all were graciously granted life to face whatever awaited them.

I think sometimes we overlook the God who graciously allows us to face trying times and difficult circumstances. I think sometime we think God is too big and too busy to stop and peek into our tiny little lives and graciously grant us much of anything at all. But in the midst of His Heavenly, and Universal governance, God is keenly aware of who we are, where we are, and what we’re facing; and He grants graciously for us to face whatever comes next.

On the whiteboard in my office are the letters WASWGWD. They stand for, Wait and See What God Will Do. God is graciously granting life to me and I am to wait (not panic) and see (through eyes of faith) what God (has graciously granted) will do (as I face what I face, and whatever comes next). I’ve yet (to my knowledge) to have an angel stop by to encourage me, but the letters on the whiteboard are there to encourage me to keep on keeping on in this life that God has graciously granted that I have. In His governance of all He governs, I am included. I pray for a doosie…

Father in Heaven, thank You that I am included in all You do. Thank You that You’ve graciously granted for me to partake in all You’ve planned for me. And thank You that I am graced to face what comes next. I yield myself to You; and in the midst of my storms, I trust You. Today, I am waiting. Amen

Show Me

10/26/2016

Acts 26.20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. – St. Paul

In the 1964 musical, My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle, complains about Freddy’s promises. She cries out: Words! Words! Words! I’m so sick of words! I get words all day through; first from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do!? She went on: Don't talk of stars, burning above, if you're in love, show me! Tell me no dreams. filled with desire, if you're on fire, show me! In other words, Freddy, shut up and do something!

Those might also have been the words of Paul to the Gentiles; he said, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. We don’t prove our repentance by words; we prove it by a changed life, a life of action. Don’t talk of Jesus, show me!

Full disclosure: I’m a talker; I love to have deep conversations about God and His presence in the world. I like to discuss theology and how it applies to modern man. My men’s group on Thursdays is a talk-fest. But talk means nothing if there isn’t some action to back up the speech. That’s what Paul meant by demonstrating our repentance by our deeds. He meant deeds of kindness, acceptance, and love that are the direct result of our present relationship with Jesus in our everyday life.

Eliza was frustrated by Freddy’s bold speeches of his undying devotion to her. She wasn’t having it – she wanted Freddy to put actions to his intentions. Paul (and others in the New Testament) said the same thing: proof of love for Jesus is shown not in only in our talk, but also in our actions.

Our repentance must be demonstrated to be validated. Our repentance needs to be visible and tangible. Our repentance needs proof; and the proof is in our doing. The proof is in relationship, whether it is three bucks given in compassion to a needy guy in a parking lot in Boise, or taking someone to lunch to show there’s more depth in our relationship with them that just, “Hey, how’s it going?” The proof is in the doing.

I am convicted today. I’m convicted by my penchant for words and my lack of tangible expression of God’s love. If life is just about learning to do as others do, then my crowd would be a boring bunch of eggheads droning on about this concept or that. Like the Athenians of old, [we’d spend our time] doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas. Ideas without actions (deeds) are useless. Life is about action and life is about doing to other as we would have others do to us.

Father, there is more to my life than talk. Life abundant, as Jesus promised, is life with others, and deeds done showing the depth of the relationship I have with You deeds expressed in love and kindness with them. May my walk of Jesus be more than talk; may my life with Jesus be demonstrated in my walk, and how I relate to others by what I do for You. Amen

Un-Coded Truth

10/25/2016

Job 16.5 But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief. – Job

The dialogue in Job between Job and his friends often seems to boil down to a war of words – much like a current presidential election. I have a friend who sometimes reads my posts and even comments on them; I like it when he does. But he also posts some of the most vicious political polemics and I don’t like it when he does. Job didn’t like it when his friends called him a secret sinner…

I sometimes read articles that I probably shouldn’t read where the authors use words that are too big for me. One of the big words is, schadenfreude (shodden – froy – deh). Schadenfreude is a German word for taking or deriving pleasure at another’s misfortunes. Schadenfreude is not as old as Job but it seems taking pleasure at other’s misfortunes is: Job’s friends were convinced Job was a secret sinner.

I watched the first part of the movie, The Imitation Game last night. I would’ve watched all of it, but these days, when bedtime calls, one obeys; or suffers for it the next morning… In the movie, the main character, Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) said this, “People speak in code; they say one thing, but mean another.” I thought about Job as I watched the movie.

And we do; we say one thing but mean another. And we do that all the time.

Job was innocent in his eyes. He didn’t ask for his misfortune and hadn’t a clue that the Almighty had given permission for him to suffer as he did. Job also hadn’t a clue that God loved him. He thought all he did out of his obedience to his upbringing impressed God. He didn’t realize God loved him. And neither did Job’s friends realize the love of God for Job, and for themselves. So, they talked in code and when they became exasperated with each other, they retreated to schadenfreude: if you won’t admit I’m right, I’m going to smile wickedly, and watch as you burn.

Job is a book for the ages, but Christ is the Savior for eternity. Eternity, depending on how one views it, isn’t a concept for then, it’s a concept for now. When does eternity begin? It’s already begun; it’s already going. Jesus is the Savior of eternity – meaning, He is eternal. His life on earth was limited to a specific point in time, but He is eternal. And, so will you and I be, if He is our Savior for eternity.

Job is a book about stuff happening, and stuff happens. But stuff happening is apart from God’s eternal presence. And God’s love is above the wars of words and the ensuing schadenfreude. For the modern reader of Scripture, Job (the book) is a reminder that in the midst of stuff happening (for whatever reason it happens), God is present and loves us in the midst of it; His love sees us through it. We are called to believe that. We’re called to speak the truth (non-code) in love and as Job says above: my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief. O, that we could learn that.

Father in Heaven, You didn’t give us half the story; You gave us the whole thing (or at least as much as You deemed necessary for us to understand). Lord, we are to speak the truth in love and we are to comfort and encourage one another, not battle over words. Help me to be an encourager and to speak Your un-coded truth. May I be a blessing to others and a comfort to those in sorrow – Amen.