Thursday, April 14, 2022 – The King on Trial

The following is a synoptic account of Jesus trial and execution. It is the combination of the four gospel accounts. If one of the gospels included it, it is included here. If two or more of the gospels included the same passage, the fullest passage was included here, and the others omitted. This reading is longer than other posts, so, if you like, you can spread it out over the Easter weekend. This is the last Lenten blog post for this year. The reading begins with Jesus’ arrest in the garden.

 “Am I some dangerous revolutionary”, Jesus asked, “that you come here with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.”

Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away. 

They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered. Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.

Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find evidence against Jesus, so they could put him to death. But they couldn’t find any. Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they all contradicted each other. Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.’” But even then, they didn’t get their stories straight!

Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?”  But Jesus was silent and made no reply. 

Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I AM.  …In fact, you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

At this, the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!”

Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. 

“Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.

Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire. She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus.” But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed. 

When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others, “That man is definitely one of them!” But Peter denied it again. A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.”

Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying - I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” And immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down, went out, and wept bitterly.

Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor.  His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. So, Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, 

“What is your charge against this man?” “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. 

Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” 

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” “So you are a king?”, Pilate said. “You say I am a king”, Jesus responded. “Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. And all who love the truth, recognize that what I say is true.”

 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “This man is not guilty of any crime. Then they became insistent. “But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes—all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!”  “Oh, he’s a Galilean, is he?” Pilate asked. When they said that he was, Pilate, sent him to Herod, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time.

 Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus. He had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.  

Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence …and find him innocent. Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.” 

Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us! (Barabbas was in prison for murder.) Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

 For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So, I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.” But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, …and their voices prevailed. 

So, Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for murder. Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal robe on him. “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns. And Pilate announced, “Behold, here is the man!”

When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” “Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.” 

The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 

He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.” When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. 

Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”  “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!” “Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back. Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross, soldiers escorted Him to the place called the Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. And they went out to Golgotha and they crucified Him there. 

The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall, (to dull the pain) but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. A sign was fastened to the cross above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 

Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So, he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! He trusted God, so let God rescue him now… if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 

Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way. But Jesus prayed… “Father, forgive them, they have no idea what they are doing”. One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God, man… even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then that criminal said to Jesus, “…remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe… but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.”  So that is what they did.

Standing near the cross were: Jesus’ mother, his aunt, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Woman, behold your son.” And he said to this disciple, “behold your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (Sa-back-than-i), which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 

Now, Jesus knew that his mission was finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I thirst.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips.

The present darkness had been across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. Suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn right down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”

When Jesus had tasted the sour wine and said His final prayer, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.

When Jesus died the earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 

The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “Surely this was the Son of God!”

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 – The King Surrenders

After the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples left the city, probably out of the gate at the south-east corner of the city, which led down into the Kidron valley. They would follow the valley floor northward about half the length of the city and then climb the opposite slope of the valley. Not very far from the valley floor was the Garden of Gethsemane. 

This is where Jesus prayed and sweated drops of blood while his disciples dozed off. The gospel of John doesn’t mention this, but simply says, ‘Jesus knew all that would happen to Him’ (Jn.18.4). This is the setting where Judas, sometime in the middle of the night appears in the garden with a band of soldiers, some chief priests, and some pharisees. 

Jesus is expecting them and approaches. 'Are you looking for someone?', He asks them. ‘We’re looking for Jesus of Nazareth’, they reply. ‘Are you him?’. “I am”, Jesus said. Now, John notes that when Jesus said, “I am”. “…they drew back and fell to the ground”. 

Ok, I’ve been around awhile, but I miss things here and there. And yet, I don’t recall much discussion about this verse – John 18.6. Its like it didn’t catch any one’s attention. I’m going to make an assumption, that it’s not normal for a squad of Roman soldiers and high-ranking Jewish officials to fall backwards onto the ground when a suspect identifies themselves. This is significant, isn’t it?

Was it this falling back that emboldened Peter to draw his sword and begin the attack? We don’t know, but I don’t believe this is insignificant. Why did John include this in his gospel? Well, John’s stated purpose in writing is that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Jn.20.31). He begins his gospel, "In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God”. The name that God gave to Moses to tell the Israelites He was going to save them from slavery was, “I am”. 

I’m indebted to an Old Testament professor of mine who expounded on that name. He noted that the name was a short form of the fuller revelation given to Moses in Exodus 3.7. “I have seen the affliction of my people … and have heard their cry. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them.” ‘I am’ is short form for ‘I am the God who sees affliction, hears the cries, knows the suffering and comes down to deliver’. 

This is the name that Jesus uttered in the garden when they asked for Him. “I am”. And at the name of the Almighty, every knee in the garden that night buckled under the weight of God’s name. Jesus in that moment was displaying the very essence of God’s character and His saving nature. Jesus was not weak in this moment but possessed the omnipotence of God to fulfill God’s purpose in ‘coming down to deliver’. 

Jesus is not overpowered in the garden. He surrenders. He offers Himself to be sacrificed. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. …Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Is.53.7,11-12)

Tuesday, April 12, 2022 – The Deserted King

When Jesus was fulfilling the greatest act of love ever committed toward humankind, those same humans turned their backs on Him. We did this in a variety of ways. Some deserted or defected, many actively denigrated Him, one denied Him, and more than a few were indifferent. All of these were anticipated in the Messianic Psalms, which Jesus would pray and understand that these psalms were about Him. They were quite literally, His prayers. 

We remember Judas’ treachery. Psalm 41.7-10 “All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. But you, O LORD, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them!”

Psalm 55.20-21 “My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.”

And we remember the religious leaders who hated Jesus and were jealous of His popularity. Psalm 22.12-15 “Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.”

Psalm 109.2-5 “For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate and attack me without cause. In return for my love, they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So, they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.”

Of course, there are the occupying Romans carrying out the execution. Psalm 22.16-18 “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet — I can count all my bones — they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Psalm 2.1-3 “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us’.”

Neither can we forget Peter’s denial and refusal to be identified with Jesus at the hour of His greatest trial. Psalm 69.8-12 “I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons. For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.”

Psalm 88.8-10 “You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you. Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah”

Psalm 22.11 “Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.” 

At the beginning of passion week – on Palm Sunday – Jesus was surrounded by supporters. By Friday, not a single one was left. 

Monday, April 11, 2022 – The Servant King

In the days leading up to Good Friday, we will consider a few of the events which occurred in the week between Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem as a King seeking peace, and His crucifixion as a rejected King, just a few days later. 

Today let’s remember Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. It’s difficult for us to unknow something once we know it. What I mean by that is this: once we know how events turn out, its hard to fully comprehend the anxiety and feelings that were part of the story before the end results were known. The disciples living out the events the week of Jesus’ death and resurrection, had little, if no idea what was transpiring around them. 

They knew that Jesus had been teaching about the kingdom for three years. They knew that Jewish folk for generations had been hoping for and expecting a messiah – an anointed king to usher in a new era of sovereign reign. They knew that Jesus had made overt claims to messiahship. They knew that He had been welcomed as a King to the temple city, Jerusalem days earlier. They also knew that Jewish authorities were antagonistic to Jesus and that the occupying Romans didn’t tolerate uprisings.

Were they expecting an armed conflict, a coup? Peter had promised to lay down his life for Jesus (Jn.13.37). Thomas expected trouble in Jerusalem, when he urged the rest of the disciples to accompany Jesus to the city. “Let’s go too, that we may die with Him” (Jn.11.16). At least a couple of them had a sword at his side (Lk.22.38). This was a time of high expectation and high emotion – and it was the Jewish high feast of Passover – a good time for something dramatic. 

But Jesus was taking a different path from what His disciples were expecting. It was the path that He had been on since the beginning – a path that began as the crown prince of heaven and descended into vulnerable human embryo, meandered through obscure lower/middle class life and after a brief stint as a prophet, with all its perks and persecutions, was on the eve of giving up his life for the world He created. 

John says, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet…”

The shock and shame of what was happening in this moment can hardly be grasped. Kings have servants, they don’t get down and serve like this! We know that none of the disciples were willing to stoop to this level. And Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet (at first). It was completely up-side-down in the disciple’s minds for the King to act as a lowly servant – taking upon Himself the lowest status in the room. 

Yet this path of servitude would continue right down to the shame and humiliation of the cross. The disciples had no idea to what lengths Jesus was willing to go to serve and save the world. The Apostle, Paul describes it to the Philippians. This is Eugene Peterson’s translation: 

“Christ Jesus had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.” (Phil.2.5-8)

Saturday, April 9, 2022 – optional reading

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is Palm Sunday – the day the King entered Jerusalem. It marks the beginning of Passion Week which crescendos in Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Lent is almost complete. 

Well, it’s been an interesting past two weeks for those of you who have endured all the talk of death in these blogs. Death is not a topic we take up for our enjoyment (not me, anyway), but it is an important topic and one we should know about. Ignorance on the topic of death doesn’t serve us well, I don’t believe. In any case, I’m happy these death blogs are complete. 

If, however, you want to pursue further reading on the topic, here are a few books that have informed and shaped my understanding of death. We’re going to assume that the Bible is probably the most primary of sources and to a great extent, the source from which most (but not all) of the books on this list draw their basic data. 

The Cost of Discipleship – by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Penetrating. It was Bonhoeffer who penned the famous quote in the lines of this book, “When Jesus calls a man, He bids him come and die.” 

Markings - Dag Hammarskjold

Beautiful. Hammarskjold was a Swedish civil servant and Secretary General of the UN until his death in 1961. His personal diary contained a loose paper letter addressed to a friend explaining that the diary was a sort of ‘white book’ concerning his ‘negotiations with himself and with God. Markings is the published sections of the diary. There are poignant passages where Dag considers death. 

The Great Divorce - C.S. Lewis

Mind-bending. An allegory on mode two of existence; the primary aim of the book is not to teach the metaphysics of the after life, but to demonstrate how sin dehumanizes, degenerates, and isolates so that unredeemed humans find ‘heaven’ a place they’d rather not be.

The Doctrine of Humanity – Charles Sherlock

Theology. It was Sherlock who tipped me off to the shocking ‘up-side’ of getting kicked out of the garden, and how death brings the providential opportunity to free us from the curse. 

With the End in Mind – Kathryn Mannix

Emotional. Mannix is a palliative care doctor from England. She shares stories of patient’s end of life experiences and teaches readers what the end of life looks like. Sensitive and caring. 

Except for Six – Evan Coons

Documentary. Coons is an actor, producer, and writer. This may be his only documentary. It follows the last months of a terminally ill man and encourages honest dialogue about our own mortality. I first encountered Coon’s work in a series called ‘For the Life of the World’ which I also found encouraging. 

Imitation of Christ – Thomas à Kempis

Serious. The second most published book in the world (the Bible is first). Written in the 1400s a decent contemporary translation is immensely helpful if you decide to read it. à Kempis has sections where he faces the reader with both self denial and mortal death. It’s Catholic, of course, because there was no Protestantism until the 1500s. …just letting you know. 

The Resurrection of the Son of God – N.T. Wright

Exhaustive. The third of his theological trilogy, Wright’s strengths as a historian and theologian are palpable. I appreciate Wright’s work to restore the importance of the resurrection in contemporary theology. 

Surprised by Joy  – N.T. Wright 

Accessible. A primer on historically orthodox Christian eschatology (the end). It is encouraging and hopeful. 

The Fountain of Age – Betty Friedan

Long. Feminist writer, Friedan articulates the development and enriching inward journey of aging. Counter-cultural in that she embraces the positive inner soul growth that can, should, and does occur in aging adults. 

 To conclude, let me remind you of the obvious: All my ideas were someone else’s first. 

Friday, April 8, 2022 – Let’s get Physical 

I am unqualified to write on the subject of today’s blog… and even more unworthy. I will not do the subject justice, nor will I inspire the kind of awe that it should engender. But to leave it unmentioned at all, however poorly communicated would not be right, either. So, with the disclaimer in full force, here we go. 

God became a man. We Christians forget how incredible this is. I love how the Nicene Creed puts it. “We believe in one Lord - Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and was made human.”

Imagine, if you can, eternity past – extending as far into the past as eternity extends into the future. God is eternal and has existed in eternity as a Spirit outside of Creation; before creation; transcendent from creation. Then, about two millennia ago, God entered into His own creation by becoming a creature – a man – the creature which He made in His image. The fundamental metaphysics of God changed at the incarnation. God became a physical being – a human being. It is the quintessential condescension. 

As believers we celebrate his incarnation at Advent and his death and resurrection at Easter. Then Jesus returned to heaven promising to return. Many years ago now, I had this realization that dumbfounded me. I had heard the life story of Jesus from my infancy. But for some reason, I had made an assumption that I now believe to be false. It was the realization of its falsehood that left me awestruck. In this lightbulb moment it occurred to me that Jesus was never going back to being just the Spirit God. He was for eternity going to be God and man; spiritual and physical in one being. 

How much does God love us humans, that He entered into eternal solidarity with us as one of us! We wonder, maybe, how much God loved the world. The incarnation of the Son of God tells us how much. We wonder, maybe, how much God cares for the earth He created. The incarnation tells us how much. We wonder, maybe, how much God longed for those created in His image to be reconciled to Him. The incarnation shows us how much. 

The incarnation is the beginning of the new creation. Its pattern and hope are modeled on Jesus. Adam is a model of the first creation – the one taken hostage by the effects of sin. But Jesus is the model of the new creation – the one freed from sin and its effects and the one that can endure forever. This is one of my more recent favorite verses: “just as we have born the image of the man from dust, so we will bear the image of the Man from heaven” (1Cor.15.49). When we speak about God’s faithfulness to His creation this is undeniable proof. 

Even more amazing to me is the reason God took this radical action – for us and for our salvation. “God, help us get this truth into our thick skulls!”. 

Thursday, April 7, 2022

They say, ‘cats have nine lives’. And humans have, ‘one life to live’. I don’t know much about cats, but I disagree with the statement about humans. You may think, ‘sure, there’s two lives… this life and the next life’. But I say there are three lives – well, technically you would be right because we only die once, but let me put it this way: there are three very distinct modes of existence of which the Bible speaks for the believer. 

The first mode of existence we are in right now – this life. No more needs to be said about that, I presume. Then death – also fairly familiar to us – at least the concept. The next mode of existence is nothing any of us has experienced. We need to get our information about it from somewhere else. 

The Bible mentions this second mode in a few places. Here are the ones I can recall in order of clarity. In Luke 16 a rich man and Lazarus both die. Lazarus is carried to ‘Abrahams side where he is comforted. The rich man and Abraham have a conversation indicating consciousness. We also note that this second mode of being is separated into places for the faithful and unfaithful and no way to get from one place to the other place. This is the most concise depiction of the second mode of existence I know. 

Jesus mentions this second mode to the thief on the cross when He promises that they would be in paradise together that very day – the day of their death. The term paradise indicates positive surroundings and the absence of adversity. 

In 1Samuel 28, King Saul consults a medium and has her raise Samuel from the realm of the spirits. Though this text raises more questions than it answers for me, on the surface it gives every indication that Samuel’s spirit was indeed the spirit to whom Saul spoke and Samuel was not very happy to be disturbed and called back to the mode one sphere.

Then there are three other references that are less persuasive on their own, but attached to the preceding have some import. The crowd of witnesses in Hebrews 12 are envisioned as alive and engaged. Matt.22.31-32 Jesus says, ‘God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and is not the God of the dead, but of the living’ (there is a reference to the resurrection in this passage, but the verb tense is present not future). And then in 2Samuel 12, King David’s infant son dies and David declares, ‘I will go to him, but he will not come back to me’. Without the clearer passages above, this reference could simply mean that David will die too, but in light of the other passages it projects a different image. 

There is more information on the third mode of existence in scripture than the second mode. The third mode of existence is bodily resurrection to eternal life. This third mode reunites spirit and body which were separated at death. The body is physical, but not subject to decay like the body we have now. It is eternal. Two primary sources give us information about this third mode of existence. The first is Jesus’ own resurrected body. It could be touched, he ate food, he interacted with other humans, but His body could also appear and disappear (apparently between dimensions) and was suited to life in both heaven and earth. Then, Paul compares the future resurrected bodies of believers with Jesus’ resurrected body in 1 Corinthians 15. The habitat of this third mode of existence seems to be the renewed and united heaven and earth that begins our eternal reign with Christ (Rev.21-22). 

With this vision as our great hope, we don’t need 9 lives. 

Wednesday, April 6, 2022  

Our church is a Pentecostal church and Pentecostals believe in healing – supernatural healing. When someone breaks a bone and the doctor sets it and puts the limb in a cast, over time it heals, that’s natural healing. God is involved in that kind of healing, just as He is involved in giving and sustaining life for the whole world. But sometimes God acts in ways that are faster, more extraordinary and beyond medical explanation. This is what I mean by supernatural healing. And God does this kind of healing in our day still. 

Now, there can be a bit of a problem when we mix together Pentecostals, healing, and death. They don’t always mix well. The problem flows out of the fact that illness often precedes death and illness can be healed. So, we might reason: no illness = no death. But we have to account for the fact that Pentecostals have no distinguishable advantage with regard to the death rate compared to, lets say Baptists, Lutherans, or any other Christian group. We’re all hovering around that 100% mark. As Pentecostals, we have to come to some understanding of the apparent paradox: healing is possible; death is inevitable. 

This topic is bigger than a blog post but let me suggest one key to unlock the paradox. Pentecostals, believe in the operation of spiritual gifts working in the church today, just like in the book of Acts. Healing is one of those gifts, but so is discernment (the spiritually empowered ability to discern, detect, and understand which direction God is moving or what God is doing in a particular situation). Jesus had this ability displayed when He said, “I only do what I see my Father doing” (Jn 5.19). Discernment helps us figure out when healing is what God is doing and when it's not what God is doing. And then, sometimes it seems God sees it's best not to tell us. 

Now this assumes that healing is always temporary (I think this is a reasonable assumption). All the healings of Jesus were temporary. Scripture calls healing and other miracles, ‘signs’ – signs of the kingdom. Now, signs are not the thing to which they point. There is a sign just south of the Toronto airport that says, ‘Algonquin Park 268km’. The sign points to the park, but it's not the park. It just says there’s a park 268km ahead. Healing points to the kingdom in its fulness when Christ returns, and sickness is a thing of the past. 

When Pentecostals fail to use the spiritual gift of discernment along with the gift of healing, we often heap shame and false guilt on those who are dying for their lack of faith to be healed. I remember a young wife and mother diagnosed with terminal cancer. We all prayed that God would spare her, but some of her extended family were insistent that she generate enough faith to be healed. Shame and insult were added to grief and sadness where grace, mercy and compassion would have been a more Christian approach to ministry. 

I also recall an older man who felt strongly that healing was always available for believers. When he was dying, he experienced a deep crisis of faith that was more tormenting than his physical pain. His misery was self-induced. Those around him were appropriately gracious and caring. Yet, he died in terrible agony of heart due to poor theology (in my opinion). 

Then, there was a man, remembered by some of us at Glad Tidings, who was diagnosed with a terminal disease and given a very short period of time to live. He prayed. He prayed for healing, He prayed for God’s will and discernment. And he discerned that this disease was going to end his life. Once he knew this, the dying was not spiritually tortured, rather it was spiritually honoring. Sad, yes, of course, but full of faith and anticipation of life after life. 

“Precious in the sight of the LORD, is the death of His saints” (Ps.116.15). 

How can a Pentecostal die well? We need the spiritual gifts of knowledge, discernment, and faith to be present and functional at their proper time. 

Tuesday, April 5, 2022 - …and That’s a Good Thing

Remember Martha Stewart? She was like the incarnation of the Proverbs 31 woman – though less spiritual. I’m pretty sure the Proverbs 31 woman wouldn’t be caught up in insider trading on the stock market. That aside, Martha always used to say, ‘…and that’s a good thing’. Just in case you thought whatever project she was working on was not worth the trouble (and I did think that… a lot). For the record, I didn’t watch a ton of Martha Stewart tv. I feel compelled to tell you that, even though it makes this opening paragraph a little long. But the paragraph is now ending… and that’s a good thing. 

Here's a bit of a thought experiment: what would have happened if God didn’t kick Adam and Eve out of the garden after they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Let’s go back and look at that for a minute. In the second chapter, God tells Adam that he can eat from all the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now we learn later in chapter three that there is a tree of life in the middle of the garden. The fruit of this tree was not forbidden, just the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We also learn in chapter three that eating from the tree of life would grant eternal life. Adam and Eve, in the garden, had the resources to live perpetually. 

Of course, what happens is that Adam and Eve disobey God’s commandment and incur the curse of sin both in themselves and in the created order. This original sin creates a barrier in the relationship between God and humans, severely disrupts the fruitfulness of the earth, and introduces sickness and death inducing powers into creation. The tendency to flourish is replaced with a tendency to decay. 

Then we overhear this conversation between God and Himself (or maybe, some other heavenly beings, I’m not sure), in which He says, ‘look, the humans have become like us, knowing good and evil. What happens if they eat the fruit from the tree of life and live forever?’. Good question! What would happen if the curse we incurred in ourselves by sinning never ended? As Paul says in Romans 7, the law is enforceable only on the living. We can convict the dead of all sorts of crimes, but we can’t enforce any kind of penalty on them. They are beyond the reach of the law. As long as we are alive, the curse of sin applies; if we stay alive forever, the curse of sin becomes an eternal curse. 

It seems, God did not what this to be the case. So, He drove out the humans from the garden and placed an angel with a flaming sword swinging ‘round the tree to guard it from anyone trying to live forever. And here’s the bit we need to catch: God wanted to ensure the curse was temporary – ending at death; knowing that resurrection to a life freed from the curse was part of His plan of redemption. When we understand death in this way – the release from the sin curse– it becomes more a friend than a foe – a backhanded blessing; a victory snatched from the very jaws of defeat. 

Paul tells the Corinthian church, ‘…the dead will be raised imperishable and when the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’

Our eventual death, though daunting, mysterious, and inevitable, is also a breaking of the curse of sin and the doorway through which we must pass in order to be resurrected to an incorruptible and eternal life… and that’s a good thing. 

Monday, April 4, 2022

Major League Baseball’s ‘Spring Training’ has become, for me, the preeminent sign of spring. It usually begins a few weeks after the Super Bowl (football). Those weeks without football or baseball are the deepest, darkest part of winter. Both sports have a multitude of statistics which measure degrees of success in every aspect of the game. Yet one statistic is quintessential – wins. 

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how this works, but at risk of offending your intelligence, let me proceed along this line. The team with the most points wins. When, in the first or second inning, team A scores a run, we say, ‘team A is ‘winning’. Then in later innings they score more runs, and they are still winning. But, in the last inning, team B scores more runs than team A has tallied in the previous 8 innings, and they win the game. Ah, baseball! Team A was winning all game, right up to the last moment, but they lost the game. And here’s the intelligence-offending revelation we learn from this: the winner and loser are determined by the score at the end of the game; the score in the middle of the game is irrelevant. 

Now, let me offend you even further. Let me congratulate you on the fact that you are winning in your epic struggle against death. ‘Wow! you say, ‘this writer has a sick sense of humor’. You’re not wrong. As a human race our win-loss record with death is zero wins – all loses. But there is hope. All the people alive today are winning their games.

I’ve said all this in an attempt to shift our thinking a bit on this topic. I believe we wrongly assume that the ‘end of the game’ comes when we are not alive enough to play anymore (I guess this would be like ‘sudden death overtime’). Secularists believe that death is the end of the game, but Christians don’t. For believers, death is somewhere in the middle of the game. In fact, it seems that it is an integral and essential part of the game – not even our opponent, really. When we try to win, by staying alive (or staying young), we have lost sight of the goal. 

We have this expression in Christian circles, ‘victory over death’. I’d like to change it slightly to be more biblically aligned. What changes in our thinking if we used the expression, ‘victory through death’ instead?

Hebrews 11 is a list of the biblical ‘heroes of faith’. They are all dead. The last few listed are described this way: ‘They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. … destitute, afflicted, mistreated … all these, though commended through their faith,’ did not finish the game without us who have taken their places on the field and continue the game. Then Hebrews chapter 12 continues this thought by saying we are surrounded by this great crowd of witnesses (the literal word is martyr), like in a stadium in which we are competing. But we are not competing to stay alive. We are competing to stay faithful to Christ. 

The believers in Thessalonica thought that those who died had missed out on Christ’s return, but Paul comforts them by informing them that the dead will rise first at Christ’s return (1Thess.4.13-18). 

Then there is this bit in the Revelation. ‘Here is a call for the endurance of the saints: and a voice from heaven said, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord…’ (Rev.14.12-13). 

Lastly, have we ever considered modeling our approach to death after Jesus’? He didn’t come to be born only, but to die, be resurrected, and to come again.  

Saturday, April 2, 2022 - Optional reading

I had an interesting conversation with two dead guys the other day. Whoa! Now that I write that, it sounds a bit crazy, doesn’t it? Ok, just give me a minute to try to explain this. 

A little back story: One of my favorite authors is Dallas Willard. Willard is a philosophy professor at USC and a Southern Baptist minister. He writes mainly on the spiritual life, but as many Baptists are, he is good at explaining things in clear terms. I’ve read almost everything he has written. The most well known of his works are a trilogy of sorts: Hearing God, The Spirit of the Disciplines, and The Divine Conspiracy – the later being the most known of his works, I believe. 

The first book of this trilogy has been re-titled at some point. It was originally titled In Search of Guidance: developing a conversational relationship with God. 

In 2013, Willard died at the age of 78. Coincidently, he was born the same year as my father – 1935. My father passed away in the fall of 2020. 

My dad was not an avid reader. His ‘library’ consists of the following:

- 20 or so hymn books and a few piles of sheet music (he was a musician)

- almost complete sets of Golden Nature Guides, Golden Science Guides, and Golden Field Guides

- a couple books on wild edible plants

- two books on survival in the wild

- a pile of back-country maps

- two books on ‘the end-times’

- a few Bibles of varying translations

- a book on Revelation by Darrell Johnson that we both appreciated and about which we shared a number of conversations… when he was alive. 

- And finally, a copy of In Search of Guidance which I never knew he read or even knew about. 

Upon finding this book, I noticed it was marked, quite prolifically, with underlining and comments and questions in the margins.  Right away I realized that these were dad’s notes. 

One of the paragraphs in the book is about animals recognizing their master’s voice. In the margin, there is a note that says, ‘our dog Duffy!’. Now, my memory is not always reliable, but I believe the ‘Duffy era’ was early 1980’s… perhaps a clue to when dad was reading this book. 

When I found the book, I was looking for something else… I think maybe fishing related, but once I put my hands on this book and understood this connection between my dad, one of my favourite authors, and me, I became quite focused on the conversation that was beginning with the two dead guys and me. 

For the next hour or so, I read Willard and listened to dad make comments and ask questions and offered my own thoughts too. I enjoyed the interaction immensely! It was engaging and emotional. Dad even noted – and corrected – a few grammatical errors in the book… so dad!

I miss hearing my dad’s voice – his opinion, his approval. Since his passing, I’ve been tending to the lawn at the homestead like a shrine. I was sitting on the back steps after mowing last summer and admiring how the lawn looked and wishing that dad could see it – ‘cause I know he’d be impressed and say so. But there was just silence. 

Its in the context of the normal silence of the dead, that my conversation with dad and Dallas was a gracious gift. And in this sense, the dead still speak on occasion. 

The preacher to the Hebrews takes a similar view, I believe, when they reference the first guy to die – Abel. The line, “though dead, his faith still speaks…” is the operative idea here, I think. 

I don’t know if there is a moral to this experience or a lesson to be learned here, but to follow the Hebrew’s preacher’s argument – all these faithful dead people may be dead, but they are alive somewhere else… cheering us on, encouraging us to keep the faith. Sometimes we may even hear, out of the roaring cheers of the dead, particular familiar voices saying particular things. 

One thing that Dallas wrote and to which dad added an exclamation point… an ‘amen!’, if you will, was this line: “that we do not hear does not mean that He [God] is not speaking to us”. 

And maybe that’s the lesson: I should listen more.  

Friday, April 1, 2022 – Is Death Optional?

The advances in healthcare in the last few decades is significant. I can’t remember who to credit, Malcolm Gladwell or Steven Levitt, but one of them noted, ‘advances in heart medicine have come so far that people of a certain age are almost guaranteed to die of cancer’. They have a way with words, don’t they? Yet certainly, one cultural change that has resulted in advanced healthcare is the shift from viewing death as inevitable and natural to viewing death as optional and competitive. From a biblical worldview, I believe this is presumptuous. So far, no one has out competed death perpetually. 

Scripture does not view death as losing a battle to anything. A couple expressions from the Old Testament that I’ve come across recently are more gentle and natural – ‘sleeping with the fathers’, and ‘going the way of all the earth’. 

Ecclesiastes is even more positive about death. “Better the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.” (Ec.7.1-8). And, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ec.3.1-2)

Following Ecclesiastes, it seems good to be reminded that we will die and its not a bad thing. Sure, the people left living grieve and mourn deeply, but for the soul that dies its different. Believers whose spirit lives on, and whose body will be resurrected at Christ’s return surely see death differently from those with no faith. The Apostle, Paul said, ‘to live is Christ and die is gain’. And, ‘though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day’. 

There seems to be inversely related trajectories in the life of Jesus’ followers. The mortal body grows weaker and breaks down as we age (This first trajectory is the same for believers and unbelievers alike). Yet for disciples of Jesus, as the body slowly loses strength and begins to deteriorate, the spirit grows stronger in faith, grows toward union with Christ, grows in sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and grows in the virtues of love, mercy, humility, kindness, wisdom, and patience.  As we age and get closer to death, we become more spiritually alive. 

When does this begin to happen? For men, they say that our physical peak strength is achieved between 25 and 30 years of age. After that its downhill – barely noticeable at first, but the downward physical trajectory has begun (I don’t know about women). Spiritually, so, the inner life, begins to grow when we encounter the Holy Spirit, the gospel, and the friendship and salvation of Jesus. Unlike our mortal bodies, our spiritual life does not reach maturity and then begin to decline. Its trajectory has the capacity to keep growing up into Christ (Eph.4.11-16).

This growing up spiritually happens at various rates depending on our willingness to trust Jesus and follow Him, because it often involves letting go of certain things we think we need to find enjoyment or fulfillment in life. What helps us immensely here, is to remember that this mortal life is temporary, but our spiritual life is eternal. This helps us invest our energies in the things that matter for eternity rather than just the short term (2Cor.4.16-18).

So, it appears that a significant help in growing up spiritually and maturing as a believer is remembering and coming to peaceful terms with our mortality. Ironically, I’m not sure the great advances in healthcare have helped us here. 

Thursday, March 31, 2022 – Death as a way of life

Following yesterday’s idea that, in baptism, we have died to our old, sinful self and been raised to new spiritual life, there is a sense in which death is a way of life for the believer. This needs some explanation, I think. 

There are four or five ways to think about death as a way of life. The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, “I die daily”. By which he means that the threat from opponents of Christianity is such that martyrdom is an ever-present threat for him. There is a scene in the Revelation that depicts our enemy as a dragon who tries to devour Christ but having be thwarted takes his vengeance out on his followers (Rev.12). This opposition is still present in our world, but in our town, it usually takes more subtle forms. 

In certain times and places, the animosity toward Christians has been so severe, that to become a believer was a virtual death sentence. Think about how evangelism must be practiced in these settings. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life’, might not be a very honest approach. I remember Bill Hybels talking about evangelism one time and he asked the question, ‘when do we tell them about the lions?’. The gospel we believe and share must account for this, I think. 

Another way death is a way of life is when we make decisions that are motivated by compassion, mercy, justice for others, and self-sacrifice over against decisions that are motivated by selfish gain, pride, or status building. This is what Jesus calls, ‘laying up treasures in the heavenly realm instead of our earthy storehouses’. It is dying in a figurative sense. We give up what some would call living for the sake of other and the sake of Christ. 

Looking inward, at our own life, the Apostle, Paul commands that followers of Jesus ‘put to death all that flows out of the sinful nature’ (Col.3.5). Then he uses the metaphor of clothing to help us picture taking off sinful, selfish acts and then put on godly qualities like compassion, humility, meekness, patience, and kindness. Killing the old sinful nature is definitely ongoing work, in my experience, but its another way that death is a way of life for the believer. 

Lastly, Romans 12.1 says, “…present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. This is your spiritual worship.” In offering ourselves as sacrifices suggests a kind of death, but Paul qualifies the sacrifice as ‘living’. So we offer our living selves to God, for God. This means we give over the will of our lives to God to do His will. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? You are not your own. You were bought with at price (Christ’s sacrifice). Therefore, glorify God with your body.” And, of course, we use our body to bring glory to God by the way we work, play, rest, visit, help, worship, and much more. 

The more we move toward this detachment from the selfish demands of our sinful nature, the closer we move toward union with Christ… the fear of physical death diminishes as the spiritual life grows more vibrant. … the goal, I suppose, is to be completely dead before we die.  I’m sure not there yet. But I believe this is the direction in which Jesus calls us - gently, but convincingly. He says, ‘if you give up your life for my sake, you will actually find it’ (Matt. 16.25). 

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Baptismal fonts for baptism by immersion have traditionally been constructed in the shape of a cross. Why, you ask? It follows from our conversation yesterday about taking up our own cross and following Jesus. The cross is an instrument of death – we get that part. The connection to baptism is maybe less apparent. 

Baptism is five different pictures (symbols or metaphors) in one physical act. I’ll leave four for another time, but one of the scenes pictured in baptism is a death and burial of the old sinful life and a resurrection to a new, Spirit empowered life received from Jesus and His saving work on the cross. The baptismal candidate has decided to follow Jesus and as such has taken up their cross and is experiencing a death to the old life. The candidate is literally buried in the cross-shaped watery grave. But rather than their life coming to an end, they are raised from the grave and live a new resurrected life under the power, rule, and authority of Jesus. 

Baptism teaches us a new way to understand death – as a beginning. To those who can’t believe in life after death, the way of life taught by Jesus is foolishness. And, conversely, those of us who are convinced of life beyond death are compelled to forego many of this life’s self-indulgences for the sake of life beyond. Following Jesus only makes sense if there is life beyond this life (1Cor. 15.19). 

Another way to understand the life/death picture in baptism answers the question, when does the eternal life begin? The most obvious answer is after death. Yet in baptism we have already died (symbolically in water, but in real spiritual terms we have died to the sinful old person we used to be). There is a real sense in which we have already died and are beginning to live the eternal life in the kingdom of Jesus Christ even now, before our physical bodies have given up their life (Rom. 8.9-11; Rom 6.3-11). In this, we are like Schrodinger’s cat – alive and dead at the same time. 

I don’t play video games, but most killing games, I imagine, follow the basic rule of ‘once dead always dead’. That is true for the nameless enemies in the game. As the player, you can always start over, but that’s a different rule. That first rule seems as true to life as it gets. Once you kill something, it’s dead and no longer a threat. That’s why the evil powers killed Jesus – He was a threat. This is why we fear death so much – it’s the end. Yet, baptism helps us envision life beyond death and once beyond death, there is nothing left to fear. Paul says it like this: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal.5.20)

What frightens you about death? What aspects of your life do you wish were dead? Can you think of any ways that you are living the eternal life now? Is there anything you can imagine about life beyond death to which you look forward?

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

When we understand what crucifixion entailed, Jesus’ words to would-be followers, had to result in some fear and trembling.  "Take up your cross and follow me", still has that ring of seriousness, thousands of years later (Mk 8.34-38). 

For many throughout history, the invitation was fulfilled literally in martyrdom. Even in the present day, Christian sisters and brothers are executed for their faith in, and fidelity to, Jesus. All of the Apostles (except John, possibly) were executed for their faith – some of them literally crucified on their own cross. 

Yet many of us (well, I guess all of us who are alive) have not taken up our cross this literally, yet. I suppose we could take Jesus’ command as applying only to the Apostles. But most of us have this gut sense that it applies to us also – somehow, someway. So, how should we ‘take up our cross’ … at work, at home, at school, on the rink or sports field, on the trail or lake, at the hunting camp?

Here are some thoughts on this question: First, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have this command couched in a paragraph with virtually verbatim language. For some reason, it’s easy to miss the fact that there are actually two commands in Jesus’ sentence (three if you count ‘follow me’). The first is ‘deny yourself’. Well, deny ourselves what? The rest of the paragraph gives good hints. There is a life of chasing and adding the things that make life more comfortable, that in the end has no value, no meaning. I’m softening this a bit – Jesus’ words are starker. Think of it this way: what’s the opposite of denying yourself? Enriching yourself, engorging yourself, satisfying yourself, pampering yourself, living the self-centred life.  If those things are primary to our life, are we following Jesus?

Second, trying to understand what ‘taking up our cross’ looks like metaphorically (so, any way that is not literal martyrdom) is more difficult – hard to figure out, and hard to execute (pardon the pun). We must consider what the cross represented to those who saw it in action. Here are a few ideas: The cross might represent an opposition to the present power struggle. Rebels dying for a particular cause is an example. The cross represents punishment for crimes. The act of taking up one’s cross is a strong sign of impending death. When someone is carrying their cross, they’re not going to be around long. The cross is a bearing of shame and humiliation. And the cross might be considered a calling - literally to martyrdom, but figuratively to other self-sacrificing, noble ventures. 

Matthew and Mark help us a bit here, in that they record Jesus speaking further about being ashamed of Him, immediately following the command to take up your own cross. So, the cross as a symbol of shame is certainly part of what Jesus is talking about. And this makes sense. The opposite of shame is something like honor and the opposite of honor is very much something like the cross as we know it. Being a believer in Jesus isn’t very often the most popular choice in life. The values of Jesus’ kingdom – forgiveness, patience, meekness, servitude, and others are heading in the opposite direction of what we think of generally when we think of the good life as its described to us by tv, media, social media, and advertising. 

To take up our cross is to ‘give up our life’ (the one prescribed by our culture) but find a different life of joy and love that doesn’t end when the mortal life ends, but extends to eternity. This is a significant act of faith, but following Jesus goes in this direction. 

What does your cross look like? How do you bear it? What metaphor does it resemble? 

Monday, March 28, 2022

It might be worth mentioning that we have two weeks before Palm Sunday – the beginning of Passion Week, which ends Easter Weekend.  I draw this to your attention, partly because a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ might be a good thing, given the general motif for these next two weeks is ‘death’. I’m feeling almost apologetic in this, but it is an important topic, also pertinent to the season. So, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Today, we remember that the way Jesus died – crucifixion – was a method of execution. As believers long separated from those grotesque scenes of bloody justice, we can easily, and sometimes conveniently ignore the trauma of witnessing it. In Canada, our legal system does not practice capital punishment. So, executions are not something we confront very often. Even Western democracies that exercise capital punishment, do it in relative privacy. 

To compare Roman execution by crucifixion to something we might have seen or heard about is difficult. If you’ve ever seen documentaries on the drug trade in Mexico and Central America, you may be familiar with the tactics used by drug lords to discourage competition and punish enemies of the cartel. All manner of torture and disfigurement is implemented prior to death. Then the bodies of those enemies are often hung from a bridge or some other public structure as an example of what happens to those who oppose the cartel. Obviously, this example is not state-sponsored or condoned, but the rationale matches what Roman execution hoped to accomplish. 

The goals of crucifixion went beyond ending the life of a criminal or enemy of the state. It was meant to dissuade witnesses from committing the same crimes or picking up the same cause as the victim. The Romans understood that executing a popular or charismatic rebel can sometimes embolden their followers. So, crucifixion was intended to be slow, agonizing, gruesome, humiliating, and public. Death would normally take days to occur. Breaking the legs of victims, shortens the process for less influential victims or lazy guards. 

In our Western perspective, we often focus on the physical pain as the worst part, but in Eastern cultures, the humiliation and shame of a public crucifixion was perhaps the worst thing. The victim was hung completely naked, alive, and conscious in the most public place available. Can you imagine being hung naked outside the town post office for a few days while everyone in town sees you and you see them, maybe words are spoken? Do you get the sense of humiliation? 

Hebrews 12 says, ‘Jesus endured the cross and scorned its shame’. He did it to achieve the joy on the other side of it – the redemption of creation and its people from the penalty of their sin. Because of this, we often short-hand the cross as something beautiful (and there is a glory in it), but when we forget the shame, humiliation, and pain of the cross, we short-change its glory and possibly misunderstand the path to glory. 

The three faces of faith are belief, loyalty, and works. We can see this a bit clearer when we change the form of the word from faith to ‘faithfulness’ or to ‘the faith’. Belief and faith are virtually synonymous, but belief and faithfulness are not. So, I conclude that faith is more than just belief. It is that, but its also more. 

‘The faith’ is a term that covers all that the Church and church people do to express faith. Its both doctrine and practice. We encourage each other to ‘keep the faith’, by which we mean to keep living in response to Jesus’ saving grace. James says, 'I'll show you my faith by my works'. Jesus says, 'a tree is known by its fruit'. And again, James, 'faith without fruit, fails' (James 2.14-26).

Loyalty or faithfulness is also part of faith. Fidelity is another synonym. When a person is unfaithful, we say they ‘break faith’.  So, faith is a relationship word, not just an intellectual ascent to a set of propositions. 

Faith in Jesus is certainly belief that He is who He says He is, and that His salvation is the only way to eternal life. Faith in Jesus is forsaking all other means of attaining the good life and looking to Him only as our source of life. It is also a relationship commitment to Him to be faithful in obeying His commandments (Luke 6.46). 

These three aspects of faith – belief, loyalty, works – roughly correspond to three aspects of our person – mind, heart, hands. It reminds me of the greatest commandment. “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength”. Faith, then, is a well-rounded idea that when understood in all its facets helps us Love Jesus more fully. 

Friday, March 25, 2022 – The Menu

Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6.54). What does He mean here? Or, how do we do it?

There are a few things going on here that come together in Jesus’ statement. The first thing to know is that the day before Jesus fed the crowd of 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. The crowd followed him and expected another meal. Their expectation is expressed when they remind Jesus that Moses gave them bread in the desert (for 40 straight years). Of course, Jesus is not that interested in running a free kitchen for the nation, but uses the occasion to draw a spiritual parallel. Just as the manna kept people in the desert alive, so Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection will give people eternal life. He says to them, He is the true bread from heaven. 

But Jesus takes the metaphor beyond normal bounds when He talks about eating his flesh. This is sacrifice language. And in a sacrifice, the worshiper shares in the meat that is offered. The meat that is burnt on the alter is God’s portion. So then, it is a meal shared between covenant partners. To eat the flesh is to partake of the sacrifice and share in its covenantal effects. Those outside of the covenantal relationship do not take part in the sacrificial meal. 

So, there is this double exposed picture in John 6. Manna in the desert pictures God’s people being sustained on heavenly food. But, laid over top of this image is Jesus’ body being offered as a sacrifice for sins in which God and His covenant people will share together in covenant relationship. The manna communicates ongoing sustenance, and the sacrifice communicates covenant. While Jesus’ sacrifice was done once for all time, the manna suggests something repeated – like our practice of the Lord’s Supper. 

Now then, what is it about our practice of Communion that offers us spiritual sustenance? Or, what do we lack by not participating in it? Christians have differing ideas on this question. We are agreed on one thing – that we need to be faithful in practicing it. It’s the only thing on which all streams of Christianity insist. After that there are varying opinions on the meal’s spiritual effects. My opinion on its effects has changed over time. I have come to believe that there is more grace bestowed in the meal than we can immediately detect. I have also come to accept that there is a mystery in the grace bestowed that is beyond my comprehension. The meal needs to be repeated not because Jesus’ sacrifice needs to be repeated, but because my need of His sacrifice is perpetual. 

We call the meal a sacrament – from the same root as sacred or holy. In our church it is probably the only thing we would call holy and takes the form of physical things – a cracker and juice. This is stretch for some, but for me it reminds me that my salvation includes a resurrected body on a re-created earth (both physical things) united with heaven. The Word became flesh. Communion is faith that we can taste, smell, touch, and digest – literally. 

Thursday, March 24, 2022 – The Next Last Supper

Both the Gospel writers and Paul end their passages on the Last/Lord’s Supper with a vision of the future. Its like reading a good novel and we get to the last bit of the chapter and the immediate problem is mostly resolved and then from out of nowhere a new wrinkle that captures our curiosity arises just before the chapter ends. The Lord’s supper looks back with gratitude and amazement, but it also looks forward with hope and wonder. Even at the apex of God’s saving plan – Christ’s atoning for the sins of the whole world – there is a lifting of the gaze, from the cross of Christ to its goal in the future. Another supper. 

Matthew ends the Lord’s supper passage with Jesus declaring that He will not drink this wine again until He drinks it new in His Father’s kingdom. Paul ends with the declaration that every time this meal is celebrated it declares the Lord’s [atoning] death until He comes. Those two phrases – ‘new in My Father’s Kingdom’ and ‘until He comes’, look forward from the meal to another meal at His return. 

A glimpse of this future meal is given by the Apostle John in the Revelation. John hears a huge multitude of people shouting out in unison so that it sounds like thunder or a waterfall. They are saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, 

and his Bride has made herself ready”. An angel tells John to write this: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb’ (Rev. 19.6-9). 

Lots of metaphors here! The Lamb, of course, is Christ. The bride is God’s people from beginning to end of time. The imagery is similar to passages in Paul’s letters (Eph. 5; 2Cor. 11) where he likens the church to Christ’s bride. And it is not far removed from how God’s people in the Old Testament were likened to a wife (Hosea). Then, there’s the supper. Unlike Western weddings where we wait for the bride, Weddings in first century Palestine, waited for the groom. 

Jesus tells a parable where the ‘maids of honor’ were waiting for the groom, and he was long in coming and some ran out of fuel for their lamps and missed his coming. Jesus said that those who were ready “went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut” (Matt. 25.1-13).

When we celebrate the Lord’s supper we look back at Jesus’ sacrificial death and His atonement for our sins, but the meal also prompts us to look forward with anticipation and joy to the day when we celebrate His return to rule and reign and our being with Him in the Father’s Kingdom. In this sense, the communion meal is not the last course of the Last Supper but an appetizer for the marriage feast that is planned for Christ’s return. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2022 – The Last Supper

The Gospel writer, Matthew sets the scene for the Last Supper by informing his readers four times in the span of three verses that it is the Passover meal that they are celebrating (Matt.26.17-19). It’s an important point of reference because we need to understand what Passover means to comprehend fully how Jesus fulfills it, re-interprets it in Himself, and expands on its meaning (we recall yesterday’s post). 

Two passages are central to the inauguration of this meal for the Church. The Gospel passage which we find in all the gospels except John and Paul’s writing to the Corinthians. Take a look. They’re not long. 

Matthew 26.26-29 - Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

1 Corinthians 11.23-26 - For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 

You will notice that these two passages are quite similar, but there are some subtle differences. Paul’s bit doesn’t mention Passover, whereas Matthew was at pains to make the connection. What I think going on here is two points of a process whereby Jesus’ sacrifice to free sinners was initially informed by understanding the Passover, but on that basic skeleton was laid tendon, muscle, nerves, organs and skin (to borrow an earlier metaphor). So, the Lord’s supper is greater than the Passover at least in this: the Passover saved one generation of Jews from Slavery and birthed one nation; the Lord’s Supper celebrates Jesus’ sacrifice that saves every generation from every nation on earth. 

A second subtle difference is Matthew’s use of ‘the covenant’ and Paul’s use of ‘new covenant’. There’s more to say on this than would interest us, but this bit might be helpful. Matthew wants to highlight the continuity of God’s action for His people – from the beginning, now in Jesus. Paul wants to highlight the discontinuity now that Christ has come. Both are valuable to us. What do we lose if we forget how our faith connects to God’s work before Christ? What do we lose if we forget that Christ’s work is so much greater in scope and glory than anything prior? This is why our communion table is inscribed with the word remembrance. We forget too much. 

In a nutshell, what we see here are three generations of God’s saving providence. We see how the Passover gave birth to the Last Supper which in turn gave birth to the Lord’s Supper that we celebrate together. 

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 – The First ‘Last Supper’

Central to our understanding of the communion we celebrate at church is the account of the first Passover. Abraham’s son, Isaac, fathered Jacob who fathered the 12 tribes of Israel. One of the sons, Joseph, was sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers, but rises to power in Egypt and eventually saves his family from starvation by moving them to Egypt where there is food. There, the family grows in numbers but find themselves enslaved by their Egyptian hosts. They call out for salvation and God ‘saw their affliction, heard their cries, felt their suffering, and came down to deliver them’ (Ex. 3.7, 8a). 

After God, at Moses’ hand, executes 9 plagues on Egypt in response to Pharaoh’s refusal to release his Israelite slaves, the 10th and final plague is planned. God will send the angel of death to execute every first-born in the land – human and animal. In order to be saved (passed over), participation in a family ritual is required. 

Each family household will take a year-old lamb, with no imperfection and on the 14th day of the first month every household of Israelites will kill their lambs at twilight. The blood of the lamb is painted on the doorpost and the lentil of the house as an identifying mark. The meat of the lamb is roasted on the fire and shared among the members of the family along with unleavened bread. The meal is eaten in anticipation of imminent salvation – ‘with belt done up tight, shoes on, and walking stick in hand’. 

Then at midnight, the angel of death passes through Egypt and destroys every first-born of the land. The only exceptions are the households marked by the blood of the Passover lamb – these, the angel passes over. In the middle of the same night, Pharaoh releases his grip on his slaves, and they go free. This is the Passover – a meal, a celebration of liberation and God’s saving action. 

For more than a thousand years after the first Passover, Jews commemorated it. It was this Passover celebration that Jesus celebrated with His disciples on the night he was betrayed. It was the Passover lamb with which Jesus identifies when He says, ‘this is my body. In middle Eastern culture the pot of roasted meat is shared as each participant dips their bread into the pot like a spoon. Picture Jesus taking the bread, breaking a piece off and dipping it into the pot of lamb and getting a good scoop. Then raising it up to draw attention to it, looking at it says, ‘this is MY body’. The symbolism is clear. Jesus is saying, ‘I am the Passover Lamb’. I am the sacrifice that will save my people from slavery to sin. 

Jews celebrate the Passover to this day, but Christians celebrate the Lord’s supper – the meal that Jesus commands be eaten with Him in mind and Paul says proclaims the Lord’s death, until He comes (1Cor. 11.23-26). Praise be to the Lamb whose life frees us from slavery!

Monday, March 21, 2022 – God will provide the Lamb

I don’t know if you’ve noticed that each week, the Lenten blog posts have a common theme. Week one, traditions, week two, the interior life, and week three, the love of God. You didn’t need to know it. But this week, I think it is helpful to keep the theme in mind. This week the theme is communion, by which I mean the sacrament we celebrate at church with the juice and cracker. 

Let’s explore some of the ideas that lay underneath what we hear, taste, see, and touch. Think of those biology mannequins where we see what’s underneath the skin that makes the body work – muscles, blood vessels, nerves, airways, organs, tendons, bones. This week we’ll look ‘under the skin’ of communion to see some of the things that makes it ‘work’. My hope is that as we expose each ‘underneath bit’ it adds depth and beauty to the sacrament of communion for you. 

Genesis 22 tells us about the time God told Abraham to offer is son, Isaac, as a burnt offering on

Mount Moriah (the eventual site of Solomon’s temple). Added to the sufficiently horrifying idea of human sacrifice, was that Isaac was the one and only son – the son born to Abraham at 100 years old and Sarah at 90years old – the miracle child. 

In obedience, Abraham takes wood, fire, and the boy on a three-day journey to the mountain. Isaac inquired about the lack of animal for sacrifice, to which Abraham responds with this important statement, “God will provide for himself the lamb…”. Indeed, God had already miraculously provided Isaac, and Abraham in his thoughts on a long journey reasoned that God could resurrect Isaac even after he was sacrificed (Hebrews 11.17-19).

With this hope and faith in his mind and heart, Abraham follows the command to sacrifice Isaac right up to the point of drawing the knife across his son’s throat. Just before the deadly stroke, the angel of the Lord halts the procedure and draws Abraham’s attention to a ram, right behind him caught in a thicket by its horns. They sacrificed the ram instead of Isaac and Abraham named the place, ‘The Lord will provide’. 

Here are a few things to note: One, the prophetic statement of Abraham about God providing a lamb for Himself is fulfilled in the story itself but looks also at a further horizon when God provides for Himself, the Lamb (Jesus Christ) for a sacrifice. Two, Abraham’s act of covenant faithfulness in giving his one and only son, is a reflection and prefiguring of God’s covenant faithfulness in giving his one and only Son. Three, look at these parallels - Both Isaac and Jesus were miraculously conceived, angelically announced, offered as covenant sacrifice, and ‘received back from the dead’ (Isaac figuratively, Jesus literally). Four, the covenant between God and Abraham, the friendship, the promises do not come to an end with Christ, but are fulfilled and begin to flower in Christ (Rom. 4; Rom. 11; Gal.3). 

Finally, an important part of sacrifice is the common meal, in which the meat of the sacrificed animal that is shared between God (the part consumed on the alter) and the worshiper. Do you see connections here to our celebration of communion?  

Saturday, March 19, 2022 – Optional Reading

Life gets complicated sometimes, doesn’t it? Do you find that?

I’ve heard coaches of sports teams who aren’t doing well tell reporters, “We have to get back to the basics. We have to simplify… We have become so engrossed in the details that we have lost sight of the fundamentals.” It’s not just sports - I think life can get like that…do you agree? And if you just happen to be one of those people who are trying to live a GOOD life, it can be even more complicated.

Robert Fulghum, lamenting the complexity of life finally came to the conclusion that all we really need to know about how to live a good life we learned in kindergarten. The secret to the good life is not found on the mountains of higher education… but on the sand hill in preschool.

What was it we learned in Kindergarten? Here’s his list:

 Share everything.

 Play fair.

 Don’t hit people.

 Put things back where you found them.

 Clean up your own mess.

 Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

 Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone.

 Wash your hands before you eat.

 Flush.

 Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

 Live a balanced life…

 Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.

 Take a nap every afternoon.

 When you go out into the world watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

 Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

 Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the cup – they all die. So do we.

God’s Word is a thick book of many words… 783,137 to be exact. But even this can be distilled down to 5 words - the basics - “Love God, Love each other”.

In the book of Mathew chapter 22 we find the Pharisees and Sadducees trying to trick Jesus in the intricacies of the Law. The Law in their mind was complicated and it took an expert to interpret it and live it. Consider Matt 22:34-40. “Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

Did Jesus simplify things for us here? I think so - Because I think everyone can understand these rules of life. Love God; love each other. When life gets complicated, we can always go back to the basics. 

Heavenly Father, 

We tend to complicate life with all kinds of stuff.

Help us to do the important things well.

Help us to Love you.

Help us to Love each other.

We thank you for Christ who died that we might be able to love you.

We thank you for Christ who lives to help us love each other.

In Jesus’ name, 

Amen.

Friday, March 18, 2022  - God is like a good hunting dog

Frances Thompson was born in the town of Preston, England in 1859. His schooling included many years at a Catholic seminary where he routinely finished 'top of his class' in English and 'bottom of his class' in math. Thompson wanted to be a writer, but his father, a doctor, insisted he enroll in medical school, and he spent 8 years there – failing to pass his final medical exams three times, at which point he was forced to withdraw from the program. 

Free from his obligation to become a doctor, Thompson moved to London to follow his writing aspirations. He worked odd jobs and did his best to write. Having suffered a nervous breakdown previously, his prescription for Laudanum (a form of opium) became an addiction. Before long, Thompson was living on the street, selling matches and trying to write – a frail homeless man. 

One day, Thompson gathered a few of his writings – dirty, crumpled, stained copies of his writings and dropped them off at the office of Wilfrid Meynell. Meynell was the editor of a Catholic magazine publication. Meynell read the material and immediately worked to set up a meeting with Thompson. When they finally met, the contrast between homeless Thompson and well-established Meynell was stark and awkward. But Meynell believed in Thompson and began to help Thompson by providing lodging (initially at his own home), money for food, medical care, and comradery. 

With Meynell’s help, Thompson waded through the long bog of recovery from his opium addiction. It required a long stay at a monastery away from any potential slip from sobriety. Meynell also paid for this. It was at the monastery in the countryside where free from the fog of drugs and clear-minded, Thompson began to write prolifically. 

His most famous work is a poem – autobiographical in scope – which describes his life as a flight; a running from something not known to him. He first becomes aware that he is being chased. Then, he tries evasion tactics; then hiding places; then distraction, but nothing could shake the pursuer. Finally facing the thing hounding him, he discovers it is God himself who is pursuing him. 

The poem is entitled, ‘The Hound of Heaven’ – perhaps the most well-known Christian poem in the English language. Its English is dated, like Shakespeare and the King James Version, but it also carries the beauty of the old language as well. 

The opening lines read, 

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

Up vistaed hopes I sped;

And shot, precipitated,

Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.

But with unhurrying chase,

And unperturbèd pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

They beat—and a Voice beat

More instant than the Feet—

‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’

Each stanza ends in a similar way to the first. 

…Still with unhurrying chase,

And unperturbèd pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

Came on the following Feet,

And a Voice above their beat—

‘Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.’

…Nigh and nigh draws the chase,

With unperturbèd pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy;

And past those noisèd Feet

A voice comes yet more fleet—

‘Lo! naught contents thee, who content’st

not Me.’

…Now of that long pursuit

Comes on at hand the bruit;

That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:

‘And is thy earth so marred,

Shattered in shard on shard?

Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!

And the concluding stanza in full: 

Strange, piteous, futile thing!

Wherefore should any set thee love apart?

Seeing none but I makes much of naught’ (He said),

‘And human love needs human meriting:

How hast thou merited—

Of all man’s clotted clay the dingiest clot?

Alack, thou knowest not

How little worthy of any love thou art!

Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,

Save Me, save only Me?

All which I took from thee I did but take,

Not for thy harms,

But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.

All which thy child’s mistake

Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:

Rise, clasp My hand, and come!’

Halts by me that footfall:

Is my gloom, after all,

Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?

‘Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,

I am He Whom thou seekest!

Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.’

Happy are those who are pursued and found by the Hound of Heaven. 

Thursday, March 17, 2022

When we look to scripture with the question, ‘how much does God love me?’, we often turn to the parable of the prodigal son, and it doesn’t disappoint. But what if the love of the Father is even more profound than we’ve considered before. I believe we’ve been missing some of the best parts because our Western culture doesn’t see it in the same way that Jesus’ hearers would have. 

Consider that in asking for his inheritance, the son is stating in no uncertain terms that he wishes his father dead. This is outrageous anywhere, but in the East, it would trigger a community response of public denouncement and exile. They even have a ceremony for it, called ‘kezazah’. It’s a very public shaming and an irrevocable expulsion from the community. No father would ever consider such a request, even if it’s just to protect a foolish son from humiliation, but this father does. 

Now, if the son fails to succeed in his venture (and the father knows he will), and he returns to the village any less than a wealthy landowner, the kezahah ceremony would be back on. The shame he brought to his father would be heaped on him upon his return. Knowing this, if the father wants his son restored to him, he must meet his son before the community, so he watches daily, moment by moment. If the town sees the son before him, his son is lost forever. 

But seeing him first is only part of it. He must also greet him first. This is the scene that plays out in Jesus’ story. The father sees the son far off and ran to greet him and embraced him and kissed him. Eastern patriarchal men do not run. It would be a humiliation to them. It would ruin a reputation beyond recovery. Yet the father pulls up his robes, exposing his legs and runs through the busy, crowded street to the edge of town where he falls on his son and kisses him. The townsfolk are absolutely gob-smacked! This father, in order to find and restore his son displays a self-emptying humiliation that has never been copied. To run like this is to take the place of a servant (servants run, dignified men walk – slowly). To run like this is to act as a mother would act. This father is abandoning his status and position in the community to restore his son. 

The community is astonished that the father would give up so much for a worthless son who deserves excommunication and shame. In fact, the great amazement of this story is that the unqualified rejection of the son is only matched by the unqualified acceptance of the father. How much does God love us? More than we would believe. More that the any community would believe. 

“How deep the Father’s love for us; How vast beyond all measure; That He should give His only Son; To make a wretch His treasure.” (Stuart Townend)

 The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled,

And pardoned from his sin.

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure—

The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

(Frederic Lehman)

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Have you ever wondered if you’ve come to the end of God’s patience and love? For believers, the longer we are disciples, the more Christ-like we are supposed to become, but alas, I’ve been a disciple for decades and no one ever has mistaken me for Jesus Christ. This ‘sanctification gap’ between Jesus and me is ready fuel for the fiery darts our enemy aims at our conscience. 

In grad school, I was required to prepare a lesson plan on systematic theology and teach it to a first-year class of undergrads. One of the exercises we did was to imagine we could ask God any question we wanted, and He would satisfy our curiosity on that question – because that is essentially what systematic theology is… all the things that we want to know about God organized into categories. We got lots of questions about angels, demons, end of the world, creation, sins, and others that nicely represented categories of systematic theology. But then a young girl shyly raised her hand to add her question to the list. Her question was a different sort of question – not just a question of curiosity, but of a deep soul necessity. “What does God think of me?” was her question. That’s essentially Mrs. Kim’s question from yesterday’s post. Indeed, what does He think of me; you? 

Let me introduce you to a little Hebrew word named hesed (this is the English transliteration; the Hebrew is seen in the picture above). When you pronounce it you have to shape your mouth and make the sound as if you are gathering phlegm from your mouth to spit. Its kind of fun, and if anyone looks at you funny, you can tell them you are practicing your Hebrew. 

Hesed has been translated into these English words (and compound words): Steadfast love; mercy; unfailing love; lovingkindness; sure love; faithful love. 

Hebrew scholars have described it in these terms: loyal love; tender benevolent affection; persistent, determined, steadfast love of God, which transcends every other love by its nature and depth. It is a covenant word that denotes the attitude of loyalty and faithfulness maintained toward their covenant partner. As such, it is God’s default disposition towards those whom He has created and especially those who turn to Him for eternal life. So, even if we are faithless, He remains faithful (1Timothy 2.13).

The old King James version, translated in 1611, translated hesed as ‘mercy’, but as we can see, the meaning is broader and more nuanced than just that. In fact, when we use the more descriptive compound words to express hesed, the result is an image of God in the Old Testament that is more loving than we might have imagined. His loving kindness, His steadfast love, His persistent, determined love is written 225 times across the pages of the Old Testament. 

If you wonder what God thinks of you, give Psalm 136 a read. You’ll get a good idea. 

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

I enjoyed the tv show, ‘Kim’s Convenience’ on CBC. It ran for five seasons and concluded a year or so ago. Of course, after five seasons, we as watchers, are fully invested in the characters – we care what happens to them. 

Here’s the plot of the penultimate episode: Mrs. Kim has, recently diagnosed, Multiple Sclerosis and experienced unanswered prayer with regard to her illness. In this episode a number of other prayer requests for others appear to have negative affects on those for whom she prays. It's a crisis of faith for Mrs. Kim. But the episode concludes in a beautiful, moving scene where, normally bombastic, Mr. Kim listens to His wife’s confession and responds with affirming truth, even speaking as though he were Jesus… or perhaps better put, speaking the words of Jesus to Mrs. Kim. I’ll tell you what he said in a minute, but following this episode, I dubbed Mr. Kim ‘the Korean priest’, because what he did was act in the role of a priest. 

Now our pastors are not called priests and we might have notions of people in vestments with elaborate liturgies when we think of priests. But there is another aspect of priesthood with which we should be familiar. 

The foundational material for biblical priesthood is found in Leviticus. There, the role of the priests was to attend to God, represent God to the people, represent people to God, accept people on behalf of God, as well as serve as health care professionals. In one sentence, priests are mediators between God and people. 

This priestly work was consummated by Jesus. This is why protestant churches do not usually call pastors priests – Jesus is our mediator. Christ fulfilled priestly roles in His earthly ministry, His sacrificial death and resurrection, and His continuing ministry through His Spirit and His church. Now, it’s this last aspect where believers can and should act like priests for others as partners with Jesus in His priestly ministry of reconciling people to God when appropriate (1Pet.2.4,5,9; Rev. 5.9-10). 

Sometimes we need to fulfill the role of priest to one another. Our faith isn’t always strong, but our faith is rarely frail at the same time as others. Sometimes we lean on them, sometimes they lean on us. 

Mr. Kim, acting as a human priest to his wife says this to her: “The Jesus never push away only pull close.” Then, speaking as Jesus, “…you feel we are far apart, but I am right here. I don’t hold grudge. I love you”

The words of Mr. Kim (the Korean priest) are true, and they encourage us to speak the affirmations of Jesus to those who are discouraged. Has anyone every done this for you? Have you ever done this for someone else?

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/kims-convenience/s05e12 (four vignettes in the episode carry the story starting at time stamps 3:30, 7:20, 13:44, 17:53)

Monday, March 14, 2022

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins is the original artist for the Jazz/blues classic, ‘I put a spell on you’, which came out in 1956. It’s been covered by dozens of artists, but the first time I heard it, it was sung by Nina Simone. The plot of the song is this: the singer’s lover is ‘running around’ behind their back, but this singer’s love for them is still strong and they are going to do everything in their power to get them to remain faithful, even magic. In Hawkins original version, he screams and groans to express the deep anguish of betrayal, which is how he got the moniker ‘screamin’’. Simone is more subdued. 

Not too long ago, I was introduced (by Youtube) to a very young singer from Norway named Angelina Jordon. She has been on those tv talent shows a bit. I heard her rendition of ‘I put a spell on you’ and was thoroughly impressed. I’ll share it here with you in a minute, but this is not the heart of what I hope to say here, today. 

The plot of this song is very close to the plot of the book of Hosea. The singer would be God and the wayward lover is you and me. In the book, unfaithfulness to God is compared to unfaithfulness in marriage and as God’s people ‘run around’ on Him, the twin feelings of anger and forsakenness are on full display - especially in the early chapters of Hosea. But  also the plan to woo her back. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards… And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.”

The anger of God gets a lot of press, and its certainly here in Hosea, but the marriage metaphor couches it in a more emotional story. God pursues His one love through His anger and hurt. And this is how God loves us. 

To somehow comprehend that our sin hurts God deeply in the same way that infidelity hurts a spouse is progress. If we don’t understand this, we don’t understand how much God loves us. This is where music can help us. They say that “words make us think thoughts, music makes us feel feelings, but songs make us feel thoughts”. That’s what this jazz classic does for me when I think of it with the message of Hosea in mind. 

But what kind of spell might God put on us? We don’t generally use ‘magic’ jargon when we speak of spiritual things, but it’s not unprecedented – C.S. Lewis does it. Think of some of the ways God urges us to follow and be faithful. He makes his presence felt; His Spirit prods us. His Word is made intelligible and compelling; His providence manufactures life circumstances that funnel us to Him. We may, at times, wish that God were not so intent on pursuing a relationship with us, but the alternative is hell… literally. I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said, “in the end there are two kinds of people – those who say to God, ‘thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘thy will be done’”. God’s will is that we respond to His love and reciprocate it. 

Here's the link to Angelina Jordon covering ‘I put a spell on you’. Take a listen with the thoughts above in mind. 

Angelina Jordon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwFloCPXzCs

Saturday, March 12, 2022 (optional reading)

I was watching Jeopardy the other night. During one of the commercials – I think it was a travel booking website add – I heard an old pop ballad from the 1970s called “All by myself”. The commercial changed the lyrics to suit the add, but I recognized the tune. 

The song was written by Eric Carmen, but Carmen borrowed a good bit of the melody from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto #2, composed around the turn of the last century.  For me, Russian music – and literature, for that matter – often seems to carry a brooding darkness to it… a loneliness, perhaps. And this mood certainly carries the sentiment of Carmen’s lyrics. To say is bluntly, it is a sad song. 

After Jeopardy was over, I decided to indulge my sense of nostalgia (the song got radio time in my teen years).  So, I looked up the song on Youtube. It was easy to find a performance there and the one I watched even had an extended piano solo interlude where the Rachmaninoff melody was easy to spot. 

Now, Youtube likes to suggest things… “if you liked that, you’ll love this!” And of course, they list a bunch of stuff that is easy to click. 

The next thing I clicked was a music theory video on a particular key modulation that Celine Dion uses when she covers Eric Carmen’s “All by myself”. Most the jargon was above my comprehension, but I discovered that Dion has been covering this song in her performances for several years… maybe back to the late 1990s. This video had short clips of Dion singing the song, but I wanted to hear the whole song sung by Celine. I mean, Carmen is ok, but Dion can really sing! 

No surprise, Youtube already suspected that I might want to hear her sing and had a few performances all lined up. I clicked on the first one in the list – Boston 2008. It was excellent, and impressive as expected. 

But then, I clicked the next one in the list – Los Vegas 2016. 

I’ll tell you now, what I learned after the fact. This performance was the first performance following the passing of Celine’s husband in January of that same year. Her brother also died two days after her husband’s death. Here is where the song lyrics and its grieving mood align with Celine’s situation in life. 

Here is a brief description of what happens in that video: The song proceeds normally up to the dramatic key change and her powerful, climactic high E-flat. In fact, the high point in the song is immediately preceded by a couple lines of the chorus sung acapella – the stage dark and the only light on Dion. It’s only when she ascends the key change and hits the high E-flat that the orchestra is fully and instantly illuminated, and the audience becomes visible. It’s a moment where – in the performance, anyway – she goes from being alone to being with a crowd. It’s powerful theatrics, to be sure. 

Yet this Las Vegas performance was different from previous performances. Following that high E-flat, Celine broke down… the emotion and meaning of the song and the emotion and meaning of her real-life situation aligned and it overtook her. She just wept. 

The orchestra kept going. It became, for a moment, an instrumental interlude. The crowd, stood to its feet and clapped and cried with empathy and lent their own hurts and griefs to the moment… only the music carried on… everybody else was on pause. 

It’s a pretty cool moment to capture on video. But, I’ve seen this sort of thing before – without strobes or elaborate staging or professional singers. I’ve seen it in Christian worship, in small settings with modest, regular people. When a song comes alongside real life and aligns in such a way that a pause is required… the emotions have to be released and reality felt in the deepest parts. I’ve seen it when scripture does the same thing… it cuts and divides and penetrates to the heart… and the response is not only logical, but emotional and time is needed to process and collect. 

I wondered, after watching the Dion video, if this is what Selah is? Is it time given to express the emotional response to a truth that aligns so closely to present circumstances that it requires time – a pause? Maybe the Selah moments happen with greater frequency in musical praise because music helps us feel emotion more easily than other forms of expression and our faith is so deeply and closely related to our identity, our soul? 

It’s a word found in Psalms, but nowhere else in scripture (Habakkuk, but he is citing Psalms, I believe). So, it does seem to be a music word. 

I think its also something I appreciate about Pentecostal musical worship – its open to moments where we want, or maybe even need to respond emotionally to the Word, the Spirit, the Presence. I think, sometimes its good if the music just goes on a bit, while we have a Selah moment. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok-O_KzZ07w

Celine breaks down during song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S29wlq6J0iY

Lang plays Rachmaninov Concerto 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-6X7VR9Abo

Eric Carmen – All by myself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epqYft12nV4

‘The most eloquent key change’ – music theory video 

Friday, March 11, 2022

I don’t suppose that we would be all that eager to confess our sins if upon confession we were fined, jailed, or executed as law breakers. And this is how it works in the legal system in Canada, as I understand it. But with God, through Christ, confession brings forgiveness, joy, and a deepened love. 

The Apostles Creed states simply, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” Yes, indeed! Can you imagine how our faith would be different if forgiveness were not offered to us? The only people who have a problem with forgiveness are the self-righteous types, who (blindly) don’t see the need for it and begrudge the sort of people who can get into Christ’s kingdom with just humility and repentance. 

Sometimes, though, those who are honest about their shortcomings and failings have some difficulty receiving Christ’s forgiveness. And our spiritual enemy tells us we don’t deserve it. Which is true – except it doesn’t have any bearing on the matter. The Spirit of God always draws us toward Christ in love. Our forgiveness is based on God’s lovingkindness and Christ’s atonement. God wants you to receive forgiveness and live in the joy and freedom it provides. To help us get a sense of this certainty, what follows is a handful of scriptures that we do well to believe apply to us. 

Psalm 32.1-5 - Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah 

1John 1.8,9 - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

Psalm 103.2-4 - Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy… 

Romans 5.7-8 - For one will scarcely die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Psalm 103.8,12 - The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 

A great song that combines lines from Psalm 103 and 145 into a cool blues feel is a nice conclusion to these thoughts for today, if you have an extra 6 minutes. You can find it here. (don’t forget to turn your sound up). 

Thursday, March 10, 2022

One thing that sometimes shows up when we quiet ourselves, is our sinfulness. In fact, it seems a general rule that as we draw close to Christ, we become conscious of how unworthy we are of His love and salvation. Yet when we listen to the Spirit of Christ, His call is always to come near. The discordant resonance in our hearts at these times is only resolved by confession. 

Confession of our sins and/or sinfulness (particular sins are not always front of mind) is the best option. The other option would be to withdraw to a safe distance from Christ, busy ourselves with noise and action so that our minds are distracted from the inner spirit. This second option is not the best option. 

The prototypical feeling when drawing near to God is unworthiness and reverent awe. Three biblical examples are, one, the nation of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai as it burned, shook, and thundered under God’s presence (Ex.19.9-25; Heb. 12.18-28). Two, Isaiah encountered God sitting on His throne in the heavenly temple (Is. 6.1-7). Three, when Jesus met Peter, Peter immediately sensed Jesus’ holiness and pleaded for Jesus to leave, because Peter was unworthy and sinful (Lk 5.1-11). 

Its counter-intuitive – the more mature a believer, the more holy they become, the closer to Christ they draw, the more keenly aware of their sinfulness they become. The Apostle Paul, exasperated with the depth and breadth of sin in his being exclaimed, “who can deliver me from this body of death!?!” His next thought, however, is exquisite. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Again, it's humility, confession, forgiveness and the receiving of forgiveness that perpetually free the believer into joyful unity with Jesus. 

Its not that we consistently need to be re-saved or that we vacillate between states of faith and states of apostacy. Its more like the Holy Spirit having taken up residence in our soul works to expand the territory of Christ’s lordship within our soul. To think of it allegorically, think of the Israelites taking possession of the promised land. There was the initial siege, a setback, the second extended siege, then a long, protracted expansion over long years with victories and defeats along the way. Many people can point to a time and place when they became saved. About half of us can’t point to a specific time. But for all of us salvation is a process. The apostle Paul said, ‘he was saved, he was being saved, and he would be saved’. 

Now, where were we going with that? Oh yes, its not that we need to be re-saved every time we become aware of our sin/sinfulness, but the habit of confession is the faith response to those occasions when we become keenly aware of Christ’s closeness and our unworthiness.  

The classic prayer of confession is this: “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer)

Psalm 51 is King David’s prayer of confession. Its also worth a read. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Have you ever heard anyone say that they heard something from God or God told them something? Or have you ever experienced a message that you felt was God communicating to you? When we pray, we assume that God hears us, and we may assume that He could, if He so chose, speak to us. But what does that look like or feel like? 

In scripture there are a number of different ways that God communicated with people (and its important to remember that these were real people serving the same God as we). Both Moses and Paul heard an audible voice accompanied by a mysterious phenomenon – the burning bush and a blinding light. Joshua, Joseph, and others encountered an angel. Peter and Joseph received messages in dreams/visions. Samuel heard an audible voice. God spoke through the prophets. And Elijah heard God speak in a ‘still small voice’ The book of Hebrews begins this way: “In long ago days God spoke in many ways at many times and by the prophets…”.

The next phrase of that verse says that in these last days (the days in which the author was writing), “God has spoken to us by His Son”. So, (beware the gross over-simplification here) God used a variety of means to communicate with His people up to Christ, but more direct ways after Christ. Again, this is a generalization with more than a few exceptions, but I’m hoping it serves as a decent starting point. 

Arguably, the clearest communication humans have ever received from God, was from the mouth of Jesus when he lived in Israel. His disciples upon hearing that Jesus was leaving – going back to the Father, were understandably upset. How could they have an ongoing mission in the world as disciples of Jesus when they couldn’t communicate with Him anymore? This is when Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to be the disciples’ constant companion after Jesus leaves (John 13.36-14.18). 

Then, the apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church these truths (I’ll summarize): God reveals His plans by His Spirit. A person’s spirit knows the thoughts they think, and God’s Spirit knows God’s thoughts. We have the Spirit of God. Therefore, God’s Spirit and our spirit reside in our soul together (1 Cor. 2.9-16). Dallas Willard explains it this way: ‘those who have the Spirit of God have access to God – Spirit to spirit - so that we are spoken to by Him through our own thoughts’. 

This sorts some of it out, sort of. We might come to expect to hear God speak to us within our own thoughts, even using our own inner voice – the voice we use to talk to ourselves. Many people who have heard messages from God have explained it similarly down through the centuries. But this is not the whole of it. You are probably already ahead of me here in asking, ‘if God speaks using my own inner voice, how do I know when its Him speaking and not just me?’ Excellent question. But let me add a bit more complexity. It seems evil spirits also have the ability to suggest things to our minds and emotions, so that there are three possible voices in our heads. It sounds dreadful, but its not like this this is new to you – the voices have been there. Its much better to understand the possible sources instead of assuming its all me or its all God. That doesn’t work well. 

Here are the things that help sort it out: Knowing scripture helps us know the kinds of things God might say and the kinds of things He wouldn’t. Experience teaches us both when we are mistaken and when we get it mostly right. Humility is indispensable. Wise counselors are also indispensable. And there’s this: God is quite able to guard your soul from the pitfalls and He’s certainly able to get through to you when He needs to. So, take heart. 

There is much more that could be said on this subject. Four books that have helped me on this topic are: Hearing God by Dallas Willard, Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, Opening to God by Thomas H. Green, and to a lesser extent, The voice of Jesus by Gordon Smith. 

“Settle yourself in solitude and you will come upon Him in yourself” 

Teresa of Avila 

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Yesterday we talked a bit about silence. Today, lets consider silence’ partner, solitude. Its hard enough to be silent by oneself, let alone with others around. And by others, we mean their physical presence, but also their words and pictures which they might broadcast on tv, radio, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, letters, books, photos… am I missing anything? What we find is that solitude is hard to find in our society. We’re so connected that its hard to unplug. 

The sensory inputs of today’s lifestyle here in Canada are nearly continuous. Except for sleep, nearly every moment of the day has at least one stream of input within the range of our senses. Many of these are designed for our entertainment, enlightenment, or interest. Some are necessary for work or school or maintaining relationships. None are evil (though all of them can be hijacked for ignoble purposes). As humans, we seek out stimuli that stirs the emotions… nothing wrong with that. But there is a problem when we get too much stimulation without adequate breaks for our brain and limbic system (not to mention our spirit). 

This problem is relatively new to human history. Never before have we had access to an uninterrupted stream of stimuli with no automatic shut off. I can remember when tv broadcasting concluded for the day… there was literally nothing on. And the effects of this never-ending stream of stimuli are felt in unexpected ways – a medical condition called Anhedonia.

“Anhedonia refers to the reduced ability to experience pleasure. And it is a phenomenon that is growing in leaps and bounds. Scientists are adamant that as we push the stress level and exciting stimulation higher and higher, we are literally overloading the pathways to the pleasure center of the brain. This overload causes our brains’ pleasure center to demand a further increase in the level of stimulation before delivering more feelings of pleasure. This results in a decrease in our pleasure system’s ability to deliver enjoyment out of ordinary simple things.” 

  ...from “Thrilled to Death” by Dr. Archibald Hart

If this is true (and I’m convinced it is), then stepping out of the gushing torrents of media, withdrawing from the madding crowd, and finding a place of peace and quiet, is a good thing. Its good for our emotional health as well as for our spiritual health if we share this space with Jesus.

Next time you are reading through the gospels, notice how often Jesus stole away from the crowds and the disciples to be alone in silence with His Father. If Jesus needed this space, how much more do we?

How do you feel when there are no visual or auditory stimuli in your space? What do you feel are the positive and negative effects media has on you? Could our level of joy in life be enhanced by experiencing less stimuli? Can we begin to comprehend how wilderness (proverbial or real) might be part of a healthy rhythm in life?

Monday, March 7, 2022

“Shut up and listen.” That’s a rough paraphrase of Psalm 46.10 which, in a published translation says, “Be still and know that I am God.” To heed this command, we must lay down the two primary instruments we use to control and craft our immediate environment – our words and actions. We use our words to order or ask for things, to shape other people’s perception of us, to position ourselves on this side or that side of an idea, argument, or group. We do this without much thought, but we all do it and it’s done both nobly and ignobly depending on our motives. And our actions, it goes without saying, we use to craft and control our environment – everything from fluffing our pillow to killing the neighbour’s marauding cat (I’m not condoning this, just noting the extreme ends of the action scale. And even killing the neighbour’s cat is not the worst action that can be done, but I’m talking to good Christian folk here, right?).

So, to be still, to be quiet, is to stop striving to shape the world around you. This can be a fearful thing because we give up control when we stop using the instruments of control. Nor would it be a wise thing unless… unless we are certain that our world, our environment is being supervised and superintended by a qualified power. What I’m saying is this: to be still (not striving or working to shape our environment) and to be silent (not trying to exert ourselves with people or God) is a significant act of faith in God. We trust God with our environment (our family, friends, workmates, enemies, bills, work, school) and we trust God with our soul (we’re not trying to persuade Him to treat us in a particular way). 

The Psalm, from which the verse above is taken, spends a good deal of time explaining why God is trustworthy and therefore qualified to protect us and our world while we are still and quiet. The Psalm begins, “God is our refuge and strength”, and ends, “The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress”. All this to say, it is good to be still, to shut up – not all the time, but every once and a while at least. 

The second part of the command is ‘listen’ and ‘know’. The Hebrew word for ‘know’ is yida. It covers a range of meanings from intellectual facts to experience. This is the word used when Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son to God and God stopped him and said, “now I know that you revere Me”. The same word is used in Genesis when Adam knew Eve and she conceived…” When we cease to strive, when we are quiet, that’s when we most often hear God speak and/or experience His presence in special ways. This doesn’t happen routinely or right away (at least that has not been my experience), but if you want to experience God in a relationship more profoundly, this discipline of silence is pretty nearly indispensable. 

In your prayers, how much time do you spend speaking to God and how much time do you spend listening for God’s voice? Can you be comfortable being silent, still, and trying to become aware of God’s presence with you?

Saturday, March 5, 2022

Optional reading for today is located here

(the link is a pdf download)

Friday, March 4, 2022

I grew up in Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church and I have attended Pentecostal Churches my whole life. This is my spiritual heritage. So, being familiar with Pentecostals, I know that some Pentecostals are suspicious of ‘traditions’. I think it conjures images of nominal Christianity, where people go through the motions and rituals, but seem unaffected by them. Or their lives don’t seem to reflect a genuine faith. And, of course, this happens. 

There is a historical element to this as well. The first Pentecostals (in the early 1900s) came from established mainline churches. When they received their baptism in the Spirit, the ‘old-time’ religion of the established churches seemed dry and dead compared to the exaltation of the Holy Spirit revival. Many aspects of old church life were jettisoned at the new Pentecostal churches, so the ‘old and dry religion’ wouldn’t hinder the Spirit. This remained the pattern for many years. 

In the early 1960s, the Pentecostal revival began to expand within mainline churches (prior to this, believers who experienced baptism in the Holy Spirit would leave their existing church and join a Pentecostal Church, unless, of course, they were a new believer with no prior church family). Now these newer Spirit-filled believers would more often stay in their old church and continue to practice their church traditions as Charismatics (the technical term for Pentecostals who stayed in their mainline church). 

One thing that has resulted from this far-reaching Pentecostal revival is a renewed appreciation for the Universal Church that transcends the different streams of Christianity and denominations. Of course, this appreciation is not completely realized, but this history gives an explanation why Pentecostal churches are rediscovering and benefiting from the practice of Lent, Advent and other Christian traditions.

When I was young, I remember getting new dress clothes for Easter… (and chocolate, of course). This tradition sent a message that this was not a regular Sunday. It helped set it apart. I also remember the celebratory spirit of the Easter service. It seems in my memory that on these Easter Sundays the sun shone brighter in the church sanctuary. I’m sure that’s not actually true, but that’s how my memory has recorded it. 

When I was a teen and young adult, what often happened on Easter Sunday is that I would show up for church and only then realize that it was Easter. That happened more than once. On those occasions, I felt as if I had cheated the occasion of its possible significance for me. There was no early warning system in those days to tell us that Easter was on the way. I remember celebrating Easter Sunday, but not Good Friday. We didn’t celebrate Lent or Advent or, strangely, Pentecost Sunday. Now memory is a slippery thing, these things might have been celebrated, but I don’t remember it. 

My introduction to the celebration of Lent (also Advent and Pentecost) came when we moved to Peterborough and attended another Pentecostal church pastored by a former Presbyterian. I’ve come to embrace these traditions that have been practiced by believers for almost 2000 years. For me as a Pentecostal, I have welcomed them and been enriched and encouraged by them. For me, they are great additions to our Pentecostal traditions of laying on of hands when we pray for someone, inspired speech, healing, miracles, and an openness to Spiritual discernment. 

What is your spiritual heritage? What traditions have enriched your faith?

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Not everyone is gung-ho for traditions. I’m aware. And we can easily lose the meaning of traditions over time so that they become empty or dry or drudgery. However, when everything is as it should be, traditions are perpetuators of faith and life. 

Paul urges believers to “hold to the traditions that were taught by [him], either by spoken word or by letter” (2Thess. 2.15). The Greek word that is translated ‘tradition’ is paradosis.  It has a literal meaning and a figurative meaning and it’s the figurative meaning that we understand as tradition. However, the literal meaning is also informative. Paradosis is literally the passing custody of a prisoner from one jailer or authority to another. So, traditions are passed down or over… with care not to let it escape… it’s important to keep it and guard it and pass it on to other responsible people. It’s a community or family responsibility. 

Here's another thought: Traditions are intrinsically linked to a shared value or meaning. Empty traditions are activities or actions that have no significant commemorative or representative meaning. This happens when the deeper meaning of a tradition is forgotten, or it is no longer valued. So, the difference between ‘empty’ traditions and meaningful ones is the reason/reality behind the tradition. If the meaning is trite, so is the tradition. If the meaning is false, so is the tradition. If the meaning is significant, so is the tradition. 

Third thought: The meaning doesn’t need the tradition to be real, but the tradition needs the underlying meaning to be real. So, why not just go with the meaning and jettison the tradition?  A couple reasons, I think: First - if there is no tangible response to the meaning, is it really important? Humans routinely respond to things they perceive as important by commemorating or celebrating them in tangible ways. It’s a human psychological thing. It’s what we do. Second, without the tangible expression of the meaning’s value, the meaning itself cannot be maintained. As the Apostle James says, “…you show me your faith with no outward manifestations, and I’ll show you my faith by what I do” (Jas. 2.18). A less inspired way to put it is this: Maintaining meaning without tradition is like trying to carry water without a bucket. 

If the things we call core to our faith have no physical manifestation in our lives, we either are deceived about their value to us, or we value them, but risk losing their value by not giving them physical time and space in our life… often this takes the form of traditions, habits, and practices. 

I think a primary reason why some of us are not too keen on spiritual traditions is that in the passing down from one person to another, there has been some carelessness and the prisoner has escaped. The meaning, the value, the truth has been lost and the rituals have become empty.

What traditions do you maintain? What is the meaning/value behind them? Do you have any empty traditions? What has caused them to become empty? 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 (Ash Wednesday)

Problem: The holiday of Easter has too much meaning to comprehend in one day, especially if it catches us unprepared. 

Solution: Lent. This is a primary purpose of Lent. It is a season of preparation for Easter Holiday (literally holy day). Just as Advent prepares us for Christmas, so Lent prepares us to appreciate more fully the passion of Christ and His resurrection. 

Have you ever noticed how the shadow of a tree will move from one side of the yard in the morning, to the other side in the evening? Well Lent is like a moving shadow of the cross. It reaches across the weeks and catches our attention.  We are reminded throughout Lent, that there is a cross coming. And because there is a cross coming, Lent is a solemn time. 

When Jesus was about to enter His earthly ministry, which had its climactic victory in the cross and resurrection, He entered the desert to fast. In Lent we imitate that pattern of going into the wilderness - in symbolic ways, of course, to recenter our life on the most important things. So, Lent is a time of soul-searching, confession and repentance. 

Let’s consider two traditions of Lent – the ashen cross and fasting (giving up something for the duration of Lent). 

First, the ashen cross. Today, watch for people with a smudged cross on their foreheads. Many believers will attend a service where a leader will finger paint a cross on their forehead with ashes. It is a symbol of confession and of sin atoned for by Jesus’ death (ashes are a symbol of mortality as well as repentance; the cross a symbol of forgiveness). This tradition helps people make the beginning of Lent real to them and it is an outward witness that we live under the authority of Jesus Christ. 

Lent is also a time for fasting. It is a time to follow Jesus into the wilderness and pay more attention to the Spirit than the selfish demands of the physical body and mind. 

That’s why a common practice for believers in the season of Lent is to give up or abstain from something. I’ve given up different things over the years – tv, treats, the news, coffee, … one year I even gave up solid food. Here’s what I’ve learned: 

- The year that I gave up the most was not more blessed than other years.

- The leverage point of the thing I give up is a mnemonic trigger. Every time I reach for the thing given up, I remember Lent and the bigger picture.

- I understand just how connected I am to things that are relatively unimportant (compared to my life of faith in Christ). I’ve learned that I am a slave to coffee, easily tempted by treats, and my emotions are definitely affected by the media I consume. 

- Intentionally leaving something from my ordinary life behind and entering the proverbial wilderness where a person takes only the essentials for life on our back, has been a helpful tradition for me. 

So, Lent looks a little different for each disciple. It is very personal. We each need to be open to the Holy Spirit in discerning the best path for us as individuals. 

Optional Bible reading: Hebrews 12.1-14

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 (Shrove Tuesday)

We humans tend to want crucified, those we don’t like. …we call it ‘canceling’ in today’s lingo. 

The basic logic of the instinct is reasonable, I think. ‘If we eliminate evil when and where we find it, then only good will be left.’ 

The problem… or problems, plural, is that we humans have a terrible historical record of not accurately distinguishing between good and evil. And very few things or people are pure good or pure evil. We are all a messy tangle of good and evil. How is it possible, then, for good/evil hybrids to judge other good/evil hybrids and come to an accurate judgement? 

If we want to ‘cancel’ evil, we should begin canceling the evil we find in our own hearts and lives. (Matt. 7. 1-5)

The symbolism behind Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday is the using up of yeast in a household in preparation for a time of frugality and serious consideration of the important things of life.

This recalls two Biblical points of reference: 

1. The eve of the first Passover, where households ate the Passover lamb with unleavened bread before the exodus out of Egypt and into the wilderness.  (Ex. 12.1-20)

2. Yeast is commonly used to illustrate how sin infects everything it touches.  (1Cor. 5.6-8)

Shrove Tuesday is the eve of Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of the season of Lent - the season that leads to the commemoration of the cross of Christ. The goal of Lent is to arrive at Easter weekend full of joy over the cancelation of our sins… not the proverbial, abstract ones, but the real ones that constitute the evil that clings to us and us to it. 

Lent is our metaphorical entering the wilderness where the only evil present is that which is our personal enemy and never far from us. It is a serious time for serious disciples.  A person doesn’t engage with the traditions of Lent for fun, but for good. So, its worth it.