Mud, spit and Jesus

I was watching television last night, kind of flipping through the channels as I waiting my little one to go to bed and TBN was airing the “Gospel of John.” I haven’t seen it before so I was watching a little television before bed, and well the scene from John 9 that floored me. I’ve read it numerous times and for whatever reason seeing the opening scene from John 9, where Jesus heals a man born blind from birth, the one where Jesus spits and makes mud and touches the man’s eyes and it moved me. I don’t think it was because I was extra tired, but seeing the tender compassion of Jesus for one who was dirty, broken and desperate moved me.

As a discussion, I would love to hear your favorite stories of Jesus. What is it about Jesus that moves you? What is your favorite scene from the Gospels?

For me, I would have to agree with Don Miller in his Searching For God Knows What, that Jesus saved my faith. I was introduced to a religious system that was/is at times highly legalistic. The early years of the journey almost sucked the life out of me, but then as I began to read the Gospels I encountered Jesus. He loved the unlovable. He was always surrounded by the undersirable, so I got to thinking…if he liked to spend time with

Christmas time again

In our Walmart as of about a week ago next to the Halloween stuff there was the usual barrage of Christmas trees and other seasonal decorations. Is it just me or does it just seem to get earlier and earlier every other. This week was the first week of Fall, so Christmas stuff comes out before the end of the summer. Are moving towards a yearly Christmas season? It’s all about the money anyway, right?

The Cost of Following Jesus 2

What are you willing to give up follow Jesus? Let’s continue our look how Jesus defines discipleship. 

Matthew 8:18-22 and Luke 9:57-62, the story goes something like this:“57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
      But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family.”

 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Lk. 9:57-62

“18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

 20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

 21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew’s version.

Three men, three would be disciples. We aren’t told if these would be followers turn into real followers, but we can glean a few things from these two accounts.

The second man:

Whereas the first man offered to follow Jesus on his own, here the second man is extended an invitation by Jesus. Luke tells us that they were walking on a road and Matthew records that he was a disciple. Apparantly, he was a member of the crowd that gathered to see this Jesus fellow. But, for whatever reason, Jesus offers the invitation to move to a deeper level of committment.

The response of the second man seems reasonable at best. Notice what he says to Jesus, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father” (Lk. 9:59). Given proper burials to one’s father was extremely important in this culture. So, the request of the man seems honorable. There are numerous OT stories where the sons were the one’s responsible for seeing through with their father’s burials (Ishamel and Isaac, Jacob and Easu, Jospeh…) Anyway, the reponse of Jesus is shocking he says, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” I think at what Jesus is getting at is this, there are some things that are more imporant than others. This man was about to pass up the greatest opportunity of his life. How many of us know people that have wasted opportunities? For some of us, we are the ones that have squandered an opportunity for deeper intimacy with Christ because we let something else come between us and Jesus. I think there is also an element here that we may not always consider, funerals in the culture of Jesus’ day were lengthy, loud, and draining affairs. Earlier in Luke 9, we read that “Jesus resolutely set out for Jersualem,” literally set his face towards. Jesus was on a mission to rescue humanity from the clutches of sin, and wasn’t going to wait around to see who was with him and who wasn’t. I think devotion is another aspect here. I am reminded of our Lord’s words over in Matthew 10:37-39, “37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” I guess I just see in this passage, a question: are you committed or not?

Another element that keeps popping up all over the gospels is this notion about the kingdom of God. Jesus told the man, let the dead take care of themselves, but you go proclaim the kingdom of God. This man was about to miss an opportunity to enter the kingdom. The Kingdom of God demands our total committment. It always an issue of allegiance? We can’t be seeking the kingdom first if we are more loyal to any system, whether it be religious or social. We can’t be seeking the kingdom first if we are more loyal to any nation or flag. So, in effect we are being asked “what will it be for you?”

The Cost of Following Jesus

Last night I got to share from Matthew 8:18-22 and Luke 9:57-62, the story goes something like this:

“57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
      But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family.”

 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Lk. 9:57-62

“18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

 20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

 21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew’s version.

Three men, three would be disciples. We aren’t told if these would be followers turn into real followers, but we can glean a few things from these two accounts.

The first man: 

The first man is called a scribe in the NASB in Matthew, and a teacher of the law in the NIV. This man was a student of the Law. He was one of the few “teachers of the Law” who may have gotton along with Jesus. But, even this scribe refers to Jesus as teacher. He offers to follow Jesus wherever he goes.

Maybe the man was a little too ready to follow. He had amazing qualifications. He was brilliant, knew the Word backward and forward and offered to follow maybe for all the wrong reasons. Jesus’ reply was “foxes have holes, birds have nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Jesus knows the hearts and thoughts of all men. So, I think he knew the motive of this man’s hearts. Jesus’ words here are a rude awakening to any notion that following him would be safe and comfortable. Following the Son of Man would require giving up the luxuries and securities of this world. In other words, this world is not our home. We are resident aliens living in the shadow of the second coming.

We also encounter the phrase “Son of Man” used by Jesus here. I believe in Matthew that this is the first time he uses the phrase for himself here, but it is certainly the favorite phrase Jesus uses for himself. As a matter of fact, Jesus uses the prhase in reference to himself some 80 plus times. The phrase Son of Man is not a rejection of his deity, but as a matter of fact it is one of the best fulfillments of the incarnation. Jesus fully identifies with humanity in every way, he takes on our weakness and brokenness to give us heaven’s best. I like the way C.S Lewis puts it, “The Son of Man became man to enable to become the sons of God.”

Well, look at the second man tomorrow.

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our 4th anniversary

Yesterday was mine and Jen’s 4th anniversary. We didn’t get to do much yesterday, but we did go out to eat dinner. What I have learned in four years of marriage:

1. Saying “I love you is important.”

2. Making time for each other is a necessity

3. your wife is your best friend.

4. man and woman are different

5. marraige takes two people to make it work

6. communication is important

7. knowing how to fight is important too. next time you are in an argument, try fighting while holding hands

8. let your kids see you kiss and hold hands

9. tell your spouse you think she is beautiful

10. when it comes to football and your spouse, choose wisely!

What would you share about marriage and relationships, what would you add as being central to a healthy marriage?

questions about auditoriums and the evolution of playing church…

Last night was an area wide youth rally over in Lawton. There was a decent turnout last night. I know this next observation is rather obvious, but there is quite a bit of variety in churches of Christ. I want to focus in on here this morning on the feelings auditoriums elicit.

Have you ever been in an auditorium that was uninviting? There was a cold, distant feeling present. Have you ever been in place that was warm and inviting? Does the lighting, color schemes, pews, auditorium set up affect people’s perception of your church? What could we do differently to make people feel welcome?

Another observation for this morning:

When I first began to follow Jesus there was a mysteriousness, an eager excitment, expectation abounded when I attended church. Over time the feelings of excitement wore off, and left was a feeling of duty and obligation. Gone was the mystery, and in its wake was holy boredom. Now, the mystery is back and the excitement is growing again. But I have questions, and my heart breaks for the people gathered in assemblies. Why aren’t we excited about being in church on Sunday or other times during the week? Where is the transformational living? Where is the desire to change the world with the news of the in-breaking kingdom of God?

I would love to hear about your church experiences, where are you in your feelings about church?

random stuff

Saturday was our youth group’s annual trek to Six Flags over Texas. I was one of three Buckeye fans present among a sea of burnt orange. Anyway, my kids have a fun day. It wasn’t to hot, and Six Flags is always a good time. I didn’t really ride much Saturday. My wife went with us, and since she is pregnant she can’t ride anything, so we spent an afternoon holding hands and walking around Six Flags.

I didn’t get to watch the game Saturday, but I did catch it on AM radio. It was interesting listening to the game from a Longhorn perspective. My hats off to the Buckeyes.

 Jen has a doctor’s appointment today. I am watching the girls, then it’s off the gym and then have to mow the jungle in my backyard.

I would like to give some lawn tips to the blogging world:

1. When it rains alot your grass will grow, mow it before your grass grows taller than your children stand. We are still looking for our oldest daughter (just kidding).

2. If you cut brush, don’t leave it laying in the yard expecting to get it later on. Later on, never comes and now it really does look like a jungle in my back yard.

3. When it rains alot, even in Oklahoma, your grass will start growing again.

college football

 I am a native Ohioan, and my loyalties during college football season are in Columbus. I will be cheering on my Buckeyes this weekend as they face off with the Longhorns.

Go Buckeyes!

First steps and some important news!

Yesterday at the Northpark Mall in OKC, my youngest daughter, Kenzie took her first two unaided steps. It was a monumental day for a dad.

 Also, Jennifer and I expecting again. Jen is two months along and our due date is April 13, 2007. So, let’s take some guesses, will it be a boy or a girl? Honestly, I don’t care. I am praying for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

Questions we must answer…

There are a couple of scenes in ther Gospels that raises some questions and convict me. 

The first one is in Mark 9 the disciples are talking with Jesus and John tells Jesus that he saw a man driving out demons in Jesus name, and John tells Jesus, rather confidently I assume, that he told this man who wasn’t in the right group to stop. Jesus tells John that if someone isn’t against him they are on his team. I think what he is saying here is just because they look a little different, maybe even do things a little differently they are still on my team. No one can say good things about me one minute and then the next say contradictory things. I have observed behavior in the church world today of this same thing happening. There are some of us who are still into defending the walls around the castle rather than extending the kingdom beyond the fortress walls.

Another scene is really found in the Synoptics, the feeding of the multitude. In the feeding of the 4000 and the 5000, the disciples respond to the needs of people the way we in the church do. If you turn to Matthew 15, you will see that Jesus and his disciples are on the move and a large crowd is following them, all wanting their time with Jesus. Jesus does what he came to do, he is healing the sick and extending the kingdom to those who are like sheep without a shepherd. Then we get to v. 15-17, “As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. The disciples do what, dare I say, we’ve done too. In response to the real needs of others we have sent them away. It is as if we fear those who beg for help, or we even judge those that are poor and smell of booze and cigarettes. If they are coming to churches for help and we are sending them away, where else will they go? But, some object, “well these people abuse the system, they only want a free handout.” Jesus never said not to help someone more than once especially if they have wrong motives for why they need help. He just tells to feed them. Are we feeding those that come hungry to churches. Sometimes, maybe even most of the times their hunger extends beyond a need for a meal. We need to realize how the church is an outpost of the kingdom. Look at what Jesus says here in v. 18,
Bring them here to me…” While they come for whatever need, we need to make sure we are attempting to connect their physical need with the deeper spiritual hunger. We don’t need to beat them with the Bible till they repent, but we can’t expect a hearing with people we are unwilling to serve.

So, I ask you: what scenes from the Gospels leave you up at night?