Luke 20 :: All intimacies will be with God

Luke 20

Sub-headings in the Bible aren't necessarily inspired, but I really like this one in the Message, between verses 26 and 27: "All intimacies will be with God."  Jesus is asked what is essentially a legal question about marriage, and he answers it with a glimpse into heaven.  In the next life, God occupies His rightful place in human relationships.  All people will know God and be known by Him without hindrance or obstacle.

Some may be disturbed by this passage; after all, the promise of being reunited with people we love is one of the main reasons we look forward to heaven.  I don't read Jesus as saying that human relationships don't matter.  I read him as saying that all relationships will be different because God will be central in all of them.  Matters of remarriage will not hinder relationships.  Unresolved conflicts in this life will not be relevant.  All the things that made relationships difficult in this life will be swept away.  We will still love the people we love, and they will love us--not less but more, in a way we may not have experienced in this life.

We have an opportunity now to catch a glimpse of that life to come.  When God is central to our marriages, our relationships with our kids, relatives, friends, neighbors, and even strangers, those relationship are better and more meaningful.

Romans 12:17-21 :: But I don't want to love them...

Romans 12:17-21 (The Message and TNIV)

17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

 20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Wow, I just had a flashback to my early years and hearing my mother say, "Don't hit back!"  Then I was snapped back into today, when I heard myself say to my kids, "Don't hit back!"  I think that we are wired up by God to treat others the way we want to be treated.  The misfire in our wiring is a result of sin in our world and instead, we often treat others the way they treat us.  When we were kids it was about sharing toys and hitting each other, and as adults it may not be about much different.  When I hear adults talking poorly about someone, I often discover that they were wronged in some way by that person earlier.  We fail to treat people how we want to be treated and fall into treating them the way they have treated us - good and bad.

Think about this in terms of how we live as Christ-followers.  Do we discover beauty in everyone?  It's easy to see beauty in people that are like us or those that treat us well - you know the waiter that is prompt and friendly, not the one who forgets about us and is short with us when she does come to the table.  What about the co-worker who believes different than you when it comes to politics?  Maybe the neighbor down the street who doesn't watch his tongue when kids are around?  It's easy for us to pick up the gavel and be judge of those around us, but it's difficult to let God take care of it, not insist on getting even and seeing the beauty in everyone.

This is a struggle for me.  I do not find it easy to invest in things that do not give me a good return.  Investing soul energy in someone who treats me poorly is hard.  Loving the unlovable is difficult.  That is why I continue to rely on the strength of God to build into me the love he wants to share with others through me.  I can't do it.

I think this is still Paul's point.  It's not about us doing it, but about God reviving our dead hearts and breathing new life of love into us.  What do you think?  Is it easy for you?  If it is, tell us your secret.  If it's not, what helps?

Romans 8:31-39 :: Unconditional means Without Conditions, Right?

Romans 8:31-39 (The Message and TNIV)

I love today's reading.  This is one of those passages in the bible that speaks into the darkest place of my heart.  That place where I feel inadequate to handle what is coming at me.  That part of me that feels like I can't go another day.  That part of me that wants to give up the fight.  If it bothers you that one of your pastors has that place in his heart, then you might want to stop reading now and move to another blog where a pastor doesn't.

For someone like me, the preceding verses about how God knows everything about us could be a little intimidating, considering the things I think in that place. What keeps it from being intimidated is right at the beginning of today's reading.  "With God on our side..."  No matter my failures, my insecurities, my own dysfunctional self, God is still on my side.  He's in my corner.  He has my back.  And no matter who or what stands up against me, he can kick their...yeah that's right, he can!  Nothing can come between his love for me and my lack of love for him.  Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture.  Do you hear that?

This carries some incredible weight in my life for two reasons: First, it impacts the way that I love myself.  Nothing I have done, am doing or will do can drive a wedge between me and his love for me.  Nothing.  Second, it impacts the way that I love others around me.  Nothing they have done, are doing or will do can drive a wedge between them and his love for them.  Nothing.  Therefore it shouldn't for me, either.

Can you imagine the splash we could make in the lives of others if we lived this out?  We live with wedges between us and others because of what they have done, don't we?  Imagine if those were gone.  Imagine not having that twinge of discomfort when Muslim man enters the plane after you've taken your seat, because the wedge is gone.  Imagine not cracking a joke to your friends when a gay man walks in to the restaurant where you are eating, because the wedge is gone.

Imagine opening your home to your neighbors even thought they believe differently than your family, because the wedge is gone.  Imagine spending a weekend serving the less fortunate and most vulnerable, because the wedge is gone.  Imagine speaking the truth in love with your co-workers, because the wedge is gone.

What are you imagining being different because there is no wedge between others and your love for them?  What might be different if you realized that the wedge between you and God is completely gone?

Romans 4:12 :: Rainbows and Reconciliation

Romans 4:9-12 (The Message and TNIV)          Reading Plan

For the past few days, we have camped in one segment of Paul's letter.  What are we to take away from this text?  Is the takeaway "circumcision"?  Or is there something broader Paul is communicating.  I believe that Paul's radical inclusion of the Gentiles as God's people provides the start to a much broader principle that affects us today:  the removing of all outward distinctions in the face of God's grace and the universal offer of the gospel according to Jesus. Our church is called to be a genuinely "counter-cultural" institution, where the usual association barriers - race, nationality, economic status, etc. - have no relevance at all.

While most of us would agree that the universal Church does look like this, most individual churches rarely do.  Yesterday, Rhonda and I worshiped with some family at Reunion Church in Dallas.  As I stood in the foyer before the service started, I couldn't help but notice the diversity in the room.  There were white people, black people, brown people, poor people, rich people, homed people, homeless people, fit people, fat people, healthy people and addicted people.  It was a rainbow of people who had tasted the grace of God or were exploring the option.  There was something powerful in that space yesterday morning.

Take a moment this morning to watch this video of the pastor of Reunion Church, Richard Ellis.  Watch the video where he is wearing the colored shirt, in particular.  Both are good, but the second one really speaks to our text today.

Let us know what thoughts you have about this "inclusion" concept of the gospel?  Is it easier to say than to do?  What keeps us from being more radically diverse as a church?  Do you even think we should be trying?

Romans 4:6-8 :: To Whom Much is Given, Much is Given

Romans 4:6-8 (The Message and TNIV)          Reading Plan

Paul isn't teaching something new.  From his perspective, this is how it's always been.  Works have never made us right with God, but rather our believing that "only God sets things right": FAITH.  In verse 6, he uses David to support this.  David was the king of all kings for the Israelites.  When he says David, everyone's ears peak.  David did many great things in his reign as king and was known as "a man after God's own heart."  But...if we think our leaders have made mistakes, take a look at his life.  David made mistakes, most notably a affair covered up with a murder, that many may have seen on TMZ...okay, maybe not.  Nonetheless, David was keenly aware of his inability to set-things-right-with-God on his own, but that only God doing it for him could it happen.

The people I know with "greater sins" in their past seem to be the most in touch with the FAITH Paul speaks of and the grace that wraps it up.  Outside of the church, the people who have made the largest mistakes are often the most compassionate and less judgmental people.  Inside the church, we too often see that the most vocal people against a particular sin, secretly struggle with that sin.  It's not a rule, and thankfully so, but it happens too often.  Of all people, we ought to be people who understand the depth of failure and reach out and into the lives of others who have failed also.  Much grace is given by people who have received much grace.  Judgment and holier-than-thou attitudes arise when we lose touch with our sin or our capability of sin.

The way we respond to shocking news from others says a lot about our view of the grace we've been given.  How would you respond if a good friend opened up and told you they were gay?  How about if someone told you they were tired of being married and were going to leave their family?  How about if someone told you they don't know if they really believe God exists?  How about being addicted to drugs?  Maybe gambling?

Acts 22 :: Where's Your Identity?

Acts 22 in the Message and TNIV translations

It was okay for the Roman centurions to put a Jew in chains and beat him without charging him of any crime, but it was not okay to do the same to a Roman citizen.  If a Greek entered the temple, the Jews considered it defiled (ch. 21, v. 28).  When Paul wanted the Roman commander to listen, he spoke Greek; when he needed the Jewish mob to listen, he spoke Aramaic.  Paul himself, before he met Christ, was able to persecute Christians and have them killed without any legal consequence, but now he could not mingle with the Gentiles and encourage brotherhood between Gentiles and Jews without facing fierce resistance.  The people around him--both Jew and Gentile--viewed the world through the lens of ethnic identity.  But Paul and his fellow Christians had become citizens of Heaven with a higher allegiance.

I think it's a built-in survival instinct for us to seek identity outside ourselves, which is both right and beneficial.  The wildebeast outside the herd becomes dinner for the lions.  But you can see in the chapter how terribly wrong this instinct can go: preserving the group becomes more important than anything; all outsiders become the enemy; outsiders are less human in our eyes than our "own kind."  Because of the group I am secure.  I have power and influence in the group.  I am accepted, I am somebody.  Without it, I am none of those things.  So you better not mess with the group.  And no, we don't need any new people with new ideas coming in here and shaking things up.

Like so many things in our lives, God redeems this innate group-drive.  He makes us citizens of Heaven, with an identity that rests securely in Him.  In the Christ-group, all the upside is available without the necessity of fighting to maintain the status quo.  His group is not closed, and is not threatened by newcomers or outsiders.  It does not have to be preserved and does not need its own language or external markers to separate insiders and outsiders (although we've developed them anyway).  Jesus made the marks of his citizenship love for Him and for others.

How do we know when our identity has drifted away from the Kingdom of God to some other kingdom?  We start to view other people as adversaries.  We become preservers of the status quo.  We become arrogant.  We focus on external markers that identify us and others as "in" or "out."  For first-century Jews, they were circumcision, language, temple worship, ceremonial washing, and associating only with other Jews.  What are those things for us?

Acts 20 :: the Message and the Life

Acts 20 in the Message and TNIV translations

In chapter 20 we get a picture of Paul's amazing passion for people and for Christ.  I read Luke's account of Eutychus falling out of the window as a kind of comic relief story, his way of making fun of Paul for being so long-winded.  But beneath that is an immense respect for Paul's devotion.  I suspect a lot of people made comments about Paul talking all night, but nobody had to wonder whether he cared about them or whether he was the real deal.  People will put up with your shortcomings when they know your heart.  I hope that can be said about me.

Verse 20, "I have taught you publicly and from house to house."  Paul's investments were in two places: in the community and in the houses of the believers.  It's such a far cry from our perception that the gospel is proclaimed mainly in Christian houses of worship, literally and physically separated from the community.  As Christians, it's often lost on us that people who aren't inside our buildings on Sunday (which is most people) don't have a clue what happens in there.  Or if that does sink in, we think our main goal is to get them in the building.  In the first century, Christianity was being proclaimed and lived out in public and in the neighborhood.  God is helping us recapture that at the Springs.

They stayed up all night together.  Prayed together.  Hugged and kissed and shed tears for each other.  The city of Ephesus didn't just hear a guy preach Christianity, they watched a community live it.  People respond to the message so much more when they see the life.

Acts 2 :: We Have Liftoff

Acts 2, The Message and TNIV translations

Acts 2 is one of the pivotal chapters in all of Scripture.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed for the first time (and in dramatic fashion!).  Due to God's strategic timing, representatives of 15 countries (by my count) hear about Jesus and respond. Important side note: at this point, Christianity is still an exclusively Jewish faith.

Then we get the first, and perhaps to this day the most important description of the life and activity of the very first Christian church, the Church at Jerusalem.  The portion of the three thousand new believers who lived in Jerusalem began to live in community with each other in a way no one had ever seen before.  While much is made of the miracles and spiritual authority of the apostles, I strongly believe the first Christians' radical commitment to the life together was the more powerful proof of Christianity.  Jesus said that his disciples would be known by the love they had for each other, and the first believers fulfilled that by embracing each other, growing together, serving one another sacrificially, and enjoying each other's company on a daily basis.  And while they were devoted to each other, the community was not internally focused or closed off.  They lived this life together in a rather public way, in full view.  More and more people wanted to be a part of it and embrace the Savior who had transformed them.

I've read this passage dozens of times, maybe even hundreds (like I said, it's a really important passage), and the same question always seems to pop up for me: how did we start with Acts 2:42-47 and end up with what we experience as "church" today?  When you read this passage, what aspects of early church life do you long for?  What parts are you experiencing today, and what parts do you think are sorely lacking?

Core Practice::Biblical Community

We fellowship with other Christians to accomplish God’s purposes in our lives, others’ lives, and in the world.

All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:44-47

Go back and read that passage again. It's radical. The first followers of Christ took this community thing really, really far. They had major skin in the game: money, time, property. They lived very communally. This is not a recipe for some kind of government social program. These were believers who knew each other in the neighborhood. They hung out together, shared meals together, praised God together. They loved God and loved each other sacrificially. Their spiritual development was not compartmentalized. They learned information about following Jesus in a context of close relationship and mutual care.

What would that look like in my neighborhood? If the family from that church, and that church, and my church started being the church in my neighborhood, we could get close. If we started sharing meals together, sharing our stuff if we needed it, spending casual time together, talking about the Scriptures with each other, challenging each other to grow. If one of us sold some of our stuff because another one of us was in need.... It would make headlines, because people just don't do that.

I'm thrilled to say that the seeds of that kind of life are sprouting in my neighborhood. We know who the other believers are on our block. We have been blessed with one other family who has taken the plunge with us. All our neighbors don't share our vision or even understand it, but some do. We PLAY together, BELONG to a degree. We don't' GROW together or SERVE together much yet, but we're getting there. In many cases, relationships take time and repeated investment.

How to get started:

1. Get to know people in the neighborhood (which itself is major step for some of us).
2. Pray for and identify one other person or family in your neighborhood who is a Christ-follower, who you think may be willing to pursue biblical community with you.
3. Agree to devote yourselves to the four functions: PLAY, BELONG, GROW, and SERVE together, which fulfill the practices of the first Christians in Acts 2. You might start with just sharing meals periodically, and build from there.

Parenting this practice:

Biblical community is more caught that taught with kids. How our kids define community will depend on what they experience. Because most of us were raised to believe that biblical community was about attendance at church functions, we struggle with the ideas mentioned above. If our kids, however, experience true biblical community in our homes and neighborhoods, it will be a no-brainer for them as adults. I already see this happening, and it is very cool.