Luke 13 :: You're Invited

Luke 13

"People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

-Jesus in verses 29-30

The Feast.  It's one of Jesus's favorite ways to describe the Kingdom of Heaven--a huge gathering and a reason to celebrate.  No expense will be spared.  God himself is the Host, and the guests of honor are the people society--and even the church--have convinced that they don't belong.


How different is this picture from the way we so often think about God and His Kingdom.  God as Party-Thrower.  Jesus, the King, serving the guests of honor at the King's table.  Music and decorations, dancing and partying in celebration that God is good.


We are not just invitees to the Feast.  We are also invitation deliverers.  What a privilege!  Our message is not "sinners in the hands of an angry God," but "sinners like us all get invitations."  When we invite people to our tables, especially those outside the regular circles of church, we reflect the Heavenly reality.  Who is God adding to your invitation list?  Who does God want sitting next to you at the Feast of the Kingdom?

Luke 11 :: If You Can't Say Something Good...

Luke 11

I was no different than most kids I know.  When I was a kid my mom used to tell me, "If you can't say something good, don't say it at all."  I may have even thought, at one point, that this was one of those "bible verses" that aren't found in the bible.  But Jesus didn't seem to follow this teaching.  At the end of Luke 11, Jesus appears to be fed up with the religious leaders.  His harshest words up to this point are not given to a thief, a prostitute or a murderer.  Nope.  They have been reserved for good, religious people - the Pharisees.  These were the ministers of the day.  As a pastor today, I must look closely at these words that Jesus had for these people.

Check out the list of warnings Jesus gives to these strict, religious people:

• Hypocricy - v39-41
• Inequality - v42
• Pretentiousness - v43
• Impossible Demands - v46
• Intolerance - v47-51
• Exclusiveness - v52

Did you know that Pharisees were originally a group of normal, laymen, who desired to separate themselves from impure things and people?  I believe that their original intent was not much different than the small group of guys who go and meet for breakfast every week to help ensure that each one is living the standard to which Christ calls us.  Eventually these men became leaders in their faith.  Once there they began to impose on people things that Jesus never meant to be imposed.  I am blown away by the intensity in the words of Jesus.

All of us struggle with each of these things, don't we?  We can't really cast stones at the Pharisees because our own behavior often looks very similar.  Underneath the strong language of Jesus, is a man with a very deep connection to the people the Pharisees are offending.  The value that those people have to Jesus is what causes him to be so stern.  I see a bit of a momma-bear image at the protection Jesus has for the poor and the vulnerable.  This has been consistent in the life of Jesus from the very beginning.

How are we to respond?  Are we advocates for the poor and the suffering?  Are we standing up for the rights of people who cannot stand?  Are we creating opportunities for everyone to come to Jesus, in spite of their bondage to sin today?

Remember that Luke is the same man, who in Acts 15, recorded James' speech to the Jerusalem church, where he said “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. (19)" 

Luke 10 :: REAL LOVE

Luke 10

My thoughts on Luke 10 came in the form of a Sunday teaching yesterday.  The story that received the most attention from me was Luke 10:25-37.  The story is commonly knows as the Good Samaritan story.  Jesus cuts across the cultural version of love where we reach out to those like us and calls us to a REAL LOVE that risks our lives, offers concrete care and advocates for those most different than us.

You can listen here if you'd like.

Luke 9 :: Who is this man?

Luke 9

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” -Jesus in verse 20

This is not only the central question of chapter 9; it is the central question of Luke's gospel. I can imagine what it was like for the disciples on that day when Jesus started asking who people thought he was. I suspect there was passion and urgency in his voice. Are people figuring it out? Do they understand I am their only hope? Who is writing me off, demonizing me, or trying to use me? Who thinks I am less than I really am? And what about you guys? Surely you, who are with me all the time, know that I am the Messiah, the Son of God. Well, at least Peter knows.

Jesus said many profound things, and did many profound things. But his primary mission was not to teach us how to live better, or even to heal the sick. His mission was to reveal himself as the Son of God, and to rescue mankind from eternal separation from God. It is not coincidence that Jesus foretells his crucifixion and resurrection immediately after Peter's response. Guys, here is what this is all about. We're not just traveling around doing miracles. This journey leads to a cross in Jerusalem, and then to an empty tomb.

I pray that we always keep asking the question, "Who do you say that Jesus is?", and keep helping people discover the answer that brings life and hope. How we, our friends and neighbors answer that question makes all the difference in the world.

Luke 7 :: A Hooker and a Pharisee

Luke 7

At the end of the chapter, Luke recalls a story about a sinful woman, a woman of ill repute, a harlot...a hooker.  Included in this story is a Pharisee, a member of the religious elite, a socialite of all socialites.  The two prove to be an unlikely lesson on the grace of God.

The Pharisee has invited Jesus to his home for a meal.  Jesus's acceptance of the invitation shows that he was not spurning the Pharisees socially, but that he indeed was here for them also.  The woman has taken advantage of the social customs of the day which allowed her to attend a banquet to wait around for left-overs.  She was allowed to come get scraps, but she wanted to see the Savior.

She brings along an expensive bottle of perfume.  Where she got this, I have no idea.  She may have bought it with her "earnings," or she may have received it as a "gift" from a client, or she may have taken from a client.  She could have also come by it honorably, I presume.  She does to Jesus what she knows to do.  I speculate that this was not the first time she had washed the feet of a man, while crying and splashed some expensive perfume on his feet.  It's the sort of demeaning thing that a john would have requested.  She was expressing love for Jesus in the only way she knew how.  When the Pharisee saw her doing this, he wasn't shocked, but he says, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him."

Jesus then addresses the Pharisee with another story.  Two men in debt to a banker - one owes 500 pieces of silver and the other 50 pieces of silver.  If the banker cancels both debts, which of the two would be more grateful?  The host answers reluctantly, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most."

Looking back at the woman, he continues his conversation with the host.  He explains that she has done much more for him than the host has done.  She has been forgiven much and is very, very grateful.  Jesus then tells her that her sins are forgiven and that her faith has saved her.  Now she can go.  She has what she came for.

Wow!  I am absolutely blown away by this story.  I am floored at the willingness of Jesus to love the unlovable.  I find myself saying, "Yeah!  Take that Pharisee."  I have to ask myself, what does this say about Jesus?  Jesus accepts us where we are when we come to him.  Jesus deals with us where we are when we invite him in.  Jesus accepts our offering no matter what it is.  Jesus cancels debts - both large and small.  Jesus notices our offerings.  Jesus notices our ambivalence.  Jesus forgives sins.  Jesus saves the woman based on her faith - not her church attendance, not her walking an isle, not her commitment to attend temple every week after that, not her quitting her profession...

This really is good news.  This really is the expression of the gospel that people are searching everywhere hoping to attain.  This is the love and the compassion I want to flow through me.  Incredible!

Romans 15:14-16 :: When Criticism Is Not Criticism

Romans 15:14-16 (The Message and TNIV)

Paul seems to begin verse 14 with an outright lie.  I mean, I've listened to every word of this letter from verse 1 of Chapter 1, through verse 13 of Chapter 15 yesterday.  For Paul to say he is "completely satisfied" with who they are and what they are doing blows my mind.  So what in the world does he mean?

I speculate that Paul, amidst his intense passion for the kingdom of Jesus, realizes that his language has been strong and might be misunderstood as criticism.  Haven't you been there too?  I have.  There are times with my kids when I so want them to do well, that my language takes on an unwanted tone.  I think Paul felt this way, thus the need to clarify.

His intensity is not reflective of their behavior, but rather the gravity of the message he has delivered to them.  If the Message is going to take root in the world, it must take root in the people at Rome.  Paul cannot do this alone and he has to have their help, so he is pushing them to new heights.  The serving of the spiritual needs of the "non-Jewish outsiders" is of vital importance to the kingdom of Jesus, thus ought to be of vital importance to Jewish Christians there as well.

This beckoning is as relevant for us today as it was for the Romans.  The kingdom of Jesus is not about exclusion, but including those who have been left out, tossed out and run out.  They've been included by Him, now we must follow the Christ that we say we follow.  Right?

Romans 15:8-13 :: A Good Bridge

Romans 15:8-13 (The Message and TNIV)

My reading came a little late today, but I still got there and I'm glad that I did.  I like music and I particularly like songs with a good bridge.  The song I am singing often throughout my days is "I Will Follow" by Chris Tomlin.  We did this song for the first time at our last gathering.  I like every word of the song, but I particularly like the bridge.  There is something about singing the words "If this life I lose, I will follow you" followed by the bridge: "In You there's life everlasting/In You there's freedom for my soul/In You there's joy, unending joy/ And I will follow."  I love the build that a good bridge gives to an already good song.

For me todays reading is like a good bridge.  I like how Paul has spent his whole letter pointing out how the work of Christ has made us all equal.  No one is better than the other.  No insiders or outsiders, just people in need of God.  Now he points us to what could be - when insiders and outsiders come together!

As I read this, I think about where I live and who I am still separated from because of my own prejudices and arrogance.  One day, we will worship together.  One day our differences will be put aside and our common voice will echo the renown of the One who has unified us.  What a day that will be!

Romans 15:1-7 :: Maturity Marks

Romans 15:1-7 (The Message and TNIV)

Paul is bringing his whole letter to an end and he is ending with how the Church ought to interact and treat one another.  I love this phrase from our reading this morning:

May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. v5

First, I gravitate toward the opening description of our God - dependably steady and warmly personal.  Other translations do a better of job of indicating what God does with this endurance and encouragement, but I like what I read when I read the words dependably steady and warmly personal.  Part of becoming mature in my relationship with God will involve me becoming more dependably steady and warmly personal.  I like that.

This whole verse has a love God/love neighbor feel to it for me.  One of my personal marks of maturity is my capacity to get along with others.  I don't want to simply be a peacekeeper, but one that loves well just like Jesus did.  I wonder if the Pharisees read these words and thought, "With friends like Jesus, who needs enemies?"  His strongest words seemed to be reserved for them.

Getting along well with each other goes to the core of who we are.  We are to be of the same attitude of mind (TNIV) toward one another.  Our goal needs to be the same - we need to accepting one another and "welcoming one another to God's glory" no matter where we are on the maturity scale.

Romans 14:19-23 :: Eat and Drink Freely

Romans 14:19-23 (The Message and TNIV)

Paul seems to now make a shift to those who do eat and drink freely, without the hindrance of abstinence.  All food and drink is good, but can be turned badly by the way that we partake.  Just as the strict adherents to the dietary laws could cause problems with others by their insistence on not, those who are free can also cause problems with their freedom.

The point:  "When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love." (v21)

When we differ with someone else in our freedoms, whether eating or drinking, our primary concern is how we share the life of Jesus with each other.  No matter what side of the fence we stand, grace (the free exchange of love) should rule the relationship.

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 12:9-13 ::

Romans 12:9-13 (The Message and TNIV)

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. (9-10)

How did we get to this point?  How did followers of a man best known for the way he loved people become the people listed in this video?  These perceptions are simply "unchristian," they are not like Jesus.  If we are going to be Springs of life to those around us, we must be different.

Paul is clear that we ought to be people who love from our core.  It's not that we do loving things, but that everything we do comes from love.  It's the "I want you to want to" debate that spouses have every day.  Just doing loving things does not make us loving people.  Oh, but I wish it did.  Wouldn't it be much easier if just going to a local soup kitchen would make me love.  Activity is not the change-agent of our selfish hearts, though.  God is the changer of our centers.  He is the one who works his love into us so that no matter what we do - pushing papers, cleaning roadsides, performing surgery, working taxes, taking food to a friend, sitting with the elderly, defending the most vulnerable - it is the fruit of love.  Loving actions are the fruit of love, love is not the fruit of loving actions.

Paul then says we are to run for dear life from evil, but hold on for dear life to what is good.  When the Romans heard "evil" from Paul, it likely conjured up images of hard labor and hardships, toil and peril.  The evil is about doing things.  When they heard "good", they understood Paul as referring to their being, their nature.  The good is about being.

Be good friends who love deeply.  Paul is charging the Romans to a mutual, give-recieve, kind of love.  This kind of love stems from a relationship between two people.  In relationship we are given our greatest leadership exhortation - practice playing second fiddle.  Put the needs of others above your needs.  When we have a relationship with someone, that relationship drives us to step aside.  When we fail to lead and love out of relationship, we slip back into activity and it will lead to apathy.

Let's direct a new video.  Let's be a people who follow the one who love greater than any person in history.  Let's let him open up a fountain of love in us, that we may be known as a people who love.

Romans 9:24-29 :: It Was, Is and Will Be About Grace

Romans 9:24-29 (The Message and TNIV)

"In the very place where it was said to them, 

   ‘You are not my people,’ 

   they will be called ‘children of the living God.'"

How good and pleasant it is to hear these words from Paul.  I am not his people, but I get to be called a child of the living God.  Can't you just see this on a decorative piece in the gift section of the local christian bookstore?

Paul quotes from Hosea 1:10 here.  Check out the original context of these words.  Just prior to this, in verse 4, God tells Hosea that he will put an end to the kingdom of Israel...break Israel's bow.  Led by Jehu, Israel had conducted a massacre at Jezreel.  God is definitely not heaping praise when Hosea 1:10 is uttered.  He is removing his blessing from Israel and now including Judah into the family.  This had to blow some minds.

Fast forward to Romans 9.  Paul is planting his argument firmly into the larger story of God's history.  God's inclusion of Gentiles in salvation is not unprecedented.  God has reached out to those who were not loved by him and loved them.  So, if we FF to today, should we expect anything less from God?

I am indebted to God's grace forever because he reached out to me, not in his family, and made me part of his family.  That grace ought to be the same grace that pushes me outside my comfort zone to those who are not yet part of the family.  That grace doesn't produce hospitality in me...it is the hospitality in me.

If you want to get the devotionals for chapter 9, click here for the pdf version of Chapter 9 in the Reading Plan.  Chapters 9 & 10 will be included in the updated pdf and epub files this weekend.

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 7:1-6 :: Law and Marriage (It's not what you're thinking...

Romans 7:1-6 (The Message)

  You shouldn’t have any trouble understanding this, friends, for you know all the ins and outs of the law—how it works and how its power touches only the living.  For instance, a wife is legally tied to her husband while he lives, but if he dies, she’s free.  If she lives with another man while her husband is living, she’s obviously an adulteress. But if he dies, she is quite free to marry another man in good conscience, with no one’s disapproval. 
  So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to “marry” a resurrection life and bear “offspring” of faith for God.  For as long as we lived that old way of life, doing whatever we felt we could get away with, sin was calling most of the shots as the old law code hemmed us in. And this made us all the more rebellious. In the end, all we had to show for it was miscarriages and stillbirths.  But now that we’re no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin, and out from under all those oppressive regulations and fine print, we’re free to live a new life in the freedom of God.



Paul takes a moment to compare our relationship to the law to marriage.  Before we receive God’s gift of salvation through faith in Christ, we are bound to the law.  Being bound, we hare hoping that the good things we do amount to more than the bad things we do, so the ledger tips to our favor in the end and we get whatever good reward their may be at the end of this life.  The problem is that we can never do enough good to cancel out the sin.  Compare this to a marriage where the wife is bound to the over-demanding and abusive husband.  No matter how hard she tries, she can never please him.  Now suppose he dies.  She is now free to marry again - no demands and no abuse this time.  Our life according to the law is like that marriage.  The law is defeating - never satisfied and ever demanding.  We cannot ever make things right, no matter how good we are or how many good things we do.

When Christ died, so did our bondage to the law.  No longer do we have to continue to strive to be better to gain God’s approval.  No longer do we have to stack up our good deeds against our bad deeds and hope for the best.  Christ died to free us from that kind of living.

Now we are free to live the way we were created to live.  This freedom produces incredible fruit in our lives.  People we talk to experience the life through our words.  People we serve experience the life through our deeds.  This kind of life-living produces life in others who move on and pass it along to others as well.

Romans 5:18-21 :: Out Of It v. Into It

Romans 5:18-21 in The Message and TNIV

This morning as I read through our text for today, a few things popped out at me.  First, there is the issue of the phrase "many people in the wrong" (MSG) or "many were made sinners" (TNIV).  Why didn't Paul say, through one man "all people were made sinners."  Another thing that stands out is the idea that the law actually increases the number of lawbreakers.  I resonate with this because I have kids, and we parents know that as soon as we declare parent law on some activity, they want to do that activity.  It's just how we seem to be wired up...or messed up based on our previous readings.

But there was one idea that seemed to stand out above both of those to me.  The idea comes from the phrase "But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life!"  As I repeated this phrase over and over, I began to think of the times that I have viewed my relationship simply as God getting me out of something.  When I first became a Christian, God was getting me out of hell.  Then he was getting me out of my circle of friends.  Then he was getting me out of bad language.  Then he was getting me out of secular music.  Then he was getting me out of partying.  Then he was getting me out of trouble.  I am not convinced that this is a completely bad thing when you are young in the faith.  Jesus called his disciples away from what they were doing, so he could show them the way in which he would want them to live and love.  For me, I think there is a problem staying in this mode of living.

At some point, we have to move from seeing our relationship with God as getting us out of something and instead getting us into something.  If we don't, we become "No Christians."  You know what this is don't you?  It's the Christian who is always running away from things because they are not "spiritual" enough.  They are the ones who refuse to eat at the best burger joint in town because they serve beer.  They won't let "non-Christian" kids play with their kids because they will "corrupt."  They create fall festivals instead of heaving fun out in the neighborhood with all the people God loves deeply.  You got it right?

Now, if we are going to be people who "get into life", what do you think that will look like?  God infuses life into everything we do.  Maybe we are families who participate in city sports instead of upward sports, and we train our kids how to be Christ-like in difficult situations.  Maybe we trust God enough to let our kids play with the kids down the street who cuss all the time, training them to stand for what they believe and not be swayed by the actions of others.  Maybe we stay in that difficult job because there are people around us who need to hear the life-giving message of Jesus.  Maybe we see Halloween as an incredible opportunity to get to know our neighbors and discover that we actually like them.  Maybe we are a church who stands up for the poor and the unfortunate, rather than knocking down the people and companies that don't do it the way we think they should.  Just maybe...

What are your "maybe's"?  "All sin can do is threaten us with death.  Grace...invites us into life" (v20-21)  What ways can we live as Christ-followers who offer life rather than simply threaten others with death by our actions?  What ways do you see this being fleshed out in your life?

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 3:29-30 :: Restrooms and Water Fountains

Romans 3:29-30 (The Message and TNIV)
Click Here for the Reading Plan

I realize that for some of us, it may seem like Paul is beating a dead horse with all this everyone-is-equal talk, and we may be thinking, "Enough already, we get this."  I admit that I lean that way just a little this morning.  The only thing that straightens me back up is putting myself in the shoes of the Gentiles.

For the most part, we do not live in a society where blatant, open and encouraged racism exists.  I live on a street where my kids play every day with kids that have Russian parents, Vietnamese parents, African-American parents, Latino parents, New York parents, Florida parents, etc.  No one is holding meetings trying to see how to get anyone to move.  Our schools are not segregated and neither are grocery stores, restaurants, restrooms and water fountains.  Understanding the hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles just doesn't carry the clarity for me that it probably should.

Sunday night, I watched the 60 Minutes report on the Islamic Community Center that is in the middle of controversy in New York.  I'm sure you have some sort of opinion about that, and I don't want that to be our discussion.  I want to propose that the closest thing to the tension between the Jews and Gentiles in Rome, may be more similar to the tension between American Christians and Muslims.  The sort of resentment that wells up when a man wearing a keffiyah walks into a room, or the anger that boils inside some people when they think about a building with a prayer mosque being erected in the same general neighborhood as Ground Zero, might get us close to the animosity felt between the two groups in Rome.

Paul is jumping right into the middle of the heated racial/spiritual battle of the day and calling all equal.  No one has preferential treatment.  No one has a corner on God.  No one person is better than anyone.  No one person is worse than any other.

Today, I challenge you to ask God tap you on your spiritual shoulder every time you have an attitude of self-righteousness pop up.  I've been sitting here in McDonald's since 6:50 and I've already been tapped 3 times.  It's sick and I hate it.  Father, move in our hearts so we see and love the way You do!

Romans 3:19-20 :: Logs and Mirrors

Romans 3:19-20 (The Message and TNIV)

This makes it clear, doesn't it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin. (The Message)

As a pastor, I often fall into the trap of reading the bible simply to find new truths to share with others.  There was even a season where I would write down things from my bible readings that could or would eventually make it into a sermon, a blog post or some other teaching..."Not that there's anything wrong with it."  When I succumb to that temptation, I fail to see that the bible has something to say to me.  When I fail to see that the bible has something to say to me, I allow myself to live with blindspots that prevent me from experiencing the true life God intends for me.  When I read this bible we have, it is really reading me.

Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God.  Just knowing the right answers doesn't fix anything.  God's truth is like a mirror.  When you look in the mirror and see that your hair is a mess and you have chocolate on your cheek, you don't walk away thinking that it's fixed because you saw it in the mirror.  That would be crazy.  The mirror reveals the truth that your hair is a mess and that you have chocolate on your cheek.  The fix is not the mirror or in knowing you have a problem.

What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin.  The bible and God's reveal out part in the corporate nature of sin in our world.  When you sin, it affects me.  When I sin, it affects you.  True community has a deep understanding of this truth.  We are all in this "sinking boat" together and only God can fix it and bring us back into right relationship with Himself.  He does this through Jesus.

I have to admit, this was easy for me to admit when I became a Christ-follower.  I understood that I wasn't the only one who sins, but that everyone falls short of God's perfect plan.  However, I lose sight of this too often today.  I still fall prey to seeing the specks in others' eyes before seeing the log in my own eye.

What stands out for you in today's reading?  Or maybe there's something you've been wanting to share about something else you've read this week?  Do you buy into our sin affecting each other?

Romans 3:10-18 :: No Entitlement, No Earning

Romans 3:10-18 (The Message and TNIV)

In our section of reading today, Paul takes us on a journey.  He cites a collection of texts from what we call the Old Testament - mostly from Psalms.  Paul has made a logical appeal up to this point and now he appeals to scripture to bolster his point.  This is what my seminary professors called "proof-texting," and they warned us of dangers when we preach this way.  I am not saying Paul is wrong here, just that he does not take the text where it was and bring the truth from the text.  He employs a common technique for Jewish and Gentile Christians, by taking collections of scriptures together to support his point.  Not unlike many pastors today - in fact many proponents of "topical preaching" even point to Paul as one of their examples.

The point it seems Paul is making appears two-fold for me.  First Paul makes it clear that we are all in the same sinking boat apart from Christ, as Cameron wrote about yesterday.  He does not want anyone to miss the point that our birthrights do not make us right with Him, but rather faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  Second, Paul is addressing the people in Rome, both Jew and Gentile, who believe that keeping rules is what makes one right with God.  He doesn't know that there is no one, but he recites the words of God from the Psalms.  God is the one who sees all and knows that no one is obedient enough, no one speaks purely enough and no one is humble enough to earn their relationship with God.  No one.

Have you ever struggled with either of these two?  Have you ever thought that since you have basically been a good person that God will see that and grant you access to Him and to heaven?  Have you ever stopped and said, "But God, I do...and I did..."?  Maybe we treat God like a giant vending machine from time to time.  You know, we put our coins (prayer, church, compassion, service, etc.) in and expect God to produce what we want and if we don't get it, we shake the machine and reach up inside trying to get it.  What do these verses say to you today?

Romans 3:9 :: The Ground Is Level at the Foot of the Cross

Romans 3:9 TNIV and Message translations

"We are all equal in the sight of God."  You won't find many people who disagree with that statement.  But there is a problem: Paul approaches it from the negative side.  We are all equally needy, equally insufficient.  Instead of starting with the positive (we are all equally loved and valued by God), he starts on the opposite side: we're all in the same boat, and it's the Titanic.

Why?  Hasn't he ever heard of positive reinforcement, or self-esteem?  Well, in this case, self-esteem is actually the problem.  In this verse, Paul is speaking directly to a specific group: Jewish Christians, who remain convinced that there is something about them--through nationality or knowledge or good deeds--that gives them a leg up on people who have a different pedigree.  Paul's message is not a "sinners in the hands of an angry God" sermon to a bunch of people seeking Him.  It is a rebuke directed at Christians who have fallen into the trap of believing they are superior.

God still speaks to us through these words...harshly.  Who are you?  You think you're better than the next guy because of your Bible knowledge or Christian upbringing?  Think again.  Actually, you're just like him.  So act accordingly.

What are the subtle ways we undermine this message?  How do we communicate an insider/outsider, good people/bad people, or wise/ignorant people perspective to those around us?  If we truly understand this message, how will it change the way we view and/or treat people?

All the pride that would divide us comes tumbling down

Let it crumble into pieces at the mighty sound

Of the beating of the hearts of the grateful ones

All united in the power

Of Your all-embracing, all-including, all-forgiving, all-enduring love