Luke 17 :: Vultures

Luke 17

“Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

-Jesus in verse 37

Reading this, and writing this, I have the same feelings I had when I watched The Passion of the Christ.  It was almost unbearable but I had to watch because in my soul I knew it was true.  Verse 37 is like that.  His followers are trying to find the Kingdom of God, which seems like a beautiful thing, and he tells them that his dead corpse will mark the spot where the Kingdom begins.

If Jesus is the dead body, who are the vultures?  The chief priests and the Jewish council, who already want Jesus dead?  Or perhaps Pilate and the Roman authorities, who will preside over his execution?  I think those answers are too easy.  We are all the vultures.  This analogy that Jesus uses is the offensive, gruesome truth of Christianity.  The world will gather around his dead body and find life, spiritual scavengers all.

And Jesus is clear: we are scavengers, not predators.  We fancy ourselves eagles, but no: Jesus gave his life, it was not taken from him.  We don't come to Jesus to take what we need, but rather to receive what he freely gives.  Ours is a humble role, unglamorous, but there is life there.  Jesus would, of course, reinforce this idea at the last supper.

If you can take any more of this, read on.  One of my favorite American poets, Mary Oliver, captures this idea in her amazing poem, "Vultures."

Like large dark

lazy

butterflies they sweep over

the glades looking

for death,

to eat it,

to make it vanish,

to make of it the miracle:

resurrection.  No one

knows how many

they are who daily

minister so to the grassy

miles, no one

counts how many bodies

they discover

and descend to, demonstrating

each time the earth’s

appetite, the unending

waterfalls of change.

No one

moreover,

wants to ponder it,

how it will be

to feel the blood cool,

shapeliness dissolve.

Locked into

the blaze of our own bodies

we watch them

wheeling and drifting, we

honor them and we

loathe them,

however wise the doctrine,

however magnificent the cycles,

however ultimately sweet

the huddle of death to fuel

those powerful wings.

Romans 5:15-17 :: Changing the Story

Romans 5:15-17 in the Message and TNIV translations

On Sunday, Brad challenged us to consider what kind of story we were living. Today, Paul talks about the story the whole world was and is living, and how Jesus changes the story.

Every great story has a main character, a hero. In the Hebrew story of humanity, that character was Adam. The first man. The prototype. His name means "man" in Hebrew, and is also a wordplay on the Hebrew words for "made" and "earth." He was Adam, but he was also Man. He was the world. He was all of us, and he was a hero. But his story was a heroic tragedy, the story of great potential spoiled by a fatal flaw. And his story became our story--yours and mine. A story of what could have been, and wondering whether it can still be.

The world still lives this story today, striving for the limits of human potential, struggling to make sense of the fatal flaws that hold humanity down. Some still hold stubbornly to the heroic view, that the original Adam greatness is latent in each of us, just trying to get out. I, for one, am less optimistic.

Throughout chapter 5, Paul describes Jesus as the new Adam. If Adam was the prototype, Jesus is the archetype, the perfect example of a human being. He was everything a hero was supposed to be. The theme of Adam's tragic story was God's Justice. Jesus' epic theme was God's Grace, that secret ingredient that overcomes the destructive power of our fatal flaw. And because of Jesus' sacrifice, we can live his story instead of Adam's.

Jesus is called a lot of things these days: my buddy, my co-pilot, my homeboy...how about "my hero"? The churchy term "savior" meant this, but we lost that meaning along the way.

How is Jesus your hero?

Throughout chapter 5, Paul describes Jesus as the new Adam.

Romans 4:16 :: Our Faith Father

This is why the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions and those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that’s reading the story backwards. He is our faith father.  (Romans 4:16 The Message)

I cannot tell you how much I love that God's promise is a promise and not a contract.  Do you remember the last time you eagerly awaited a promise to come true?  Maybe it was the promise of an event you'd get to attend?  Maybe it was the promise of a mate forever?  Maybe it was the promise of a father that he'd be at your game?  Whatever your promise was, can you remember the anticipation that was in your heart during those days?  Most of us know the pain and anguish of a promise broken also.  The event that got cancelled, the marriage that didn't last, or the father that never sat in the stands.  Promises are double-edged swords.  You know that to be true because even as I write about promises you feel a weird feeling inside you that hangs somewhere between joy and sorrow, love and hate, happiness and anger.

God made a promise to Abraham.  A promise to build a great nation from him and his wife.  It was a promise that was outlandish.  He was 99 years old!  It must have sounded like an insane proposition, more than a promise he could trust, but he trusted in the One making the promise, not the fulfillment of the promise.  It's a big difference to trust in the one who promises, isn't it?  There is more risk...but maybe more reward also.

Thankfully for us, the One Abraham trusted was completely worthy.  This wasn't like when your parents promised you ice cream when you made all A's.  That's just payment for something you did.  Sure, we called it a promise because we wanted to make sure that what was said would happen would happen.  But it was more like a contract.  A promise would be to get ice cream, with no conditions.  Then it wouldn't matter if you made an A or a D, you would still get ice cream.

God's promise to Abraham, and now His promise to us has nothing to do with what we do or don't do.  It has everything to do with who He is and what He wants.  Everyone has the chance to get in on this, whether you follow all the rules or you don't even know what the rules are.  Abraham is our faith model.  Abraham is our faith father.

Is this good news for you because you know what it's like to mess up?  Or do you feel like it might be a little unfair that God offers the same thing to others who don't follow the rules, when you do everything right?

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?

Romans 4:4-5 :: Gift v. Wage

Romans 4:4-5 (The Message and TNIV)                               Reading Plan

Have you ever received a gift?  I don't mean a gift at a birthday, or Christmas or a gift thanking you for something you did or even from a parent just grateful for whose you are.  I mean a real gift, one that you never expected and absolutely didn't deserve?  As an adult this sort of gift might be hard to receive.  We live in a society of earning.  There are no "gifts" as an adult, really.  We earn what we get, don't we?  It's built into the DNA of our country: work hard, accomplish great things and get rewarded.  What about giving a gift?  Have you ever given someone a gift for absolutely no reason other than you wanted to do so?  How did that make you feel?

Today's reading just made me smile.  My "getting set right with God" is not a wage.  It's not something I earned.  In fact, if it were up to me earning it, I would have never received it.  Paul likens it to "something only God can do, and you trust Him to do it."  This trusting Him to do it is what we call FAITH.  All of this reminds me of another set of verses in Ephesians, where Paul says that our "saving is all His idea, and all His work.  All we do is trust him enough to let Him do it.  It's God's gift from start to finish!"

I think, for self-sufficient Americans, this message is something we have or will wrestle with.  When you stop and really think about this, no matter what you've been told in the past, our reconnected relationship with God isn't initiated by us, but by Him.  It won't finish with us, but with Him.  This is absolutely GREAT NEWS!  If it's all about Him from start to finish, and I did nothing to earn it, I don't have to live worried that if I mess up enough, I might lose it.  I don't have to live paranoid that "God is not going to love me if He knew that certain something about me", that "He's going to abandon me just like my father did" or that "I'm not as good as her because she does this or that."  Wrestling and embracing our reading today brings with it a freedom that only comes from God through trusting what Christ did to make us right with Him.  That's it!

If we, as a person, a family, a citizen, a church, embrace this truth in our daily lives, how will it change the way we treat others?  The way we do church?  The way we parent?  The way we live?

Romans 4:1-3 ::

Romans 4:1-3 (The Message and TNIV)                    Reading Plan

I think it's a fairly common belief that the New Testament teaches us about grace and the Old Testament is all about obedience - rule following.  The truth is that both the Old and the New Testament point toward faith as the only means to reconciliation with God.  In the Old Testament, Abel brought a sacrifice to God, Noah built a ship, Abraham left a land to go where God said go, Sarah had a baby, Abraham offered the baby as a sacrifice, Isaac blessed his sons, Joseph prophesied and Moses led the Israelites out of slavery.  The list can get pretty long, can't it.  Wasn't it their obedience that made them right with God?

The bible teaches us that it was actually their faith that made them right with God and led them to obedience.  Hebrews 11 prefaces each of these acts of obedience with "By and act of faith" (MSG) and "By faith" (TNIV).  Faith precedes any act of obedience that credits anyone before Jesus' sacrifice, and faith in Jesus makes us right with God after.  The question will always be, "What is FAITH?"

If FAITH is what makes us right with God, then what is it and how do you get it?

Romans 3:27-28

Romans 3:27-28 in the TNIV and Message translations

Brad's commentary in the THINK section of the reading plan today is excellent.  If you don't have it, you can get it here.

Instead of more commentary, I'd like to contribute a few images.  Which one of the pictures below best represents the way you view life and/or your relationship with God?

Or perhaps a different image comes to mind.  What do you think about the image?  How does it affect the way you live?  Does it agree or disagree with Romans 3:27-28?

Romans 3:25-26 :: How and Why

Romans 3:25-26 (The Message and TNIV)
Reading Plan

25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (TNIV)


These two verses explain to us how God was able to make things right with people in Christ and also why He had to sacrifice His son.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement.  Some of the older translations render hilasterion (sacrifice of atonement) as a "propitiation" which would carry with it a sense turning away the wrath of God, but that doesn't appear to be how the people in Rome would have understood it, especially the Jews in the crowd.  For the Jew, hilasterion referred to the "atonement cover" of the ark.  The ark was the symbol of the presence of God for the Israelites, and sacrificial blood from animals would be sprinkled on the cover as a means of forgiveness of the sins of the people.  While "propitiation" leans toward the wrath of God being the central force that needed to be appeased, "atonement" places forgiveness of sins at the forefront.  Both agree that Jesus was the trigger for cleaning our sin-slate and reconnecting with God, though.  How does your rendering of this verse could impact your actions and how you see God?

He did this to...  The rest of this passage explains why God had to give His own Son as a sacrifice.  In the time prior to Jesus, God didn't punish sins with full severity.  Because of His mercy, He "passed over" the sins because there had not been an adequate sacrifice to atone for them.  By doing this, He acted against His character of holiness, which would have required a sacrifice.  By sending Jesus, He gives Himself as that sacrifice.  STUNNING!  The God of this universe chooses to give his people a bit of a pass for their sins, and then steps up to the plate and takes their sin on Himself.  Can you feel the weight of this?  His name was on the line here.  We tend to see God in the Old Testament as a God of Wrath and destruction, but that just isn't the case.

As I grew up as a Christ-follower, I was taught that Jesus' death was an appeasement of the wrath of God and instead of me absorbing that wrath, Jesus took it for me.  While this is true, this is not the only analogy for the sacrifice and only holding to that view can create a very judgmental view of sin and others.  I have come to see other analogies that serve to give me a more robust understanding of the event we celebrate on Sundays.  In Christ,

• God reconciles us - a relational view of our reconnection to God.
• God adopts us - a family understanding of things being set right between us.
• God sanctifies us - a cultic phrase implying a cleansing of our sin.

To see the various analogies active in this passage broadens our view.  If God is only appeasing His wrath in this passage, then we miss the grace and mercy.  If God is simply offering forgiveness of sins, we miss the severity of the sin and the violation against God that sin is.  To understand both balances our view of God and necessitates the "atonement cover" as a means to provide an appeasement and an atonement for our sins.  This is huge.  Understanding this keeps us balanced in our view of God in our world today.

Did I go to academic today?  What was the primary cause for Jesus' death that you learned in the past?  Was one more dominant?  If so, how did that impact the church where you learned from?  

Romans 2:17-24 :: Light in the Shadows

Romans 2:17-24 (The Message and TNIV)

For days, we have read Paul's scathing words to the Jews.  He chastises them for their haughty, spiritually arrogant behavior.  They know the right things, but they do not do them.  Their heads are filled and their hearts are empty.  Continuing to draw comparisons between the Jews of the first-century Rome and 21st Century American Christians may work, but it's exhausting.  Today, I want to flip the coin.  There is something cooler on the other side of the pillow.

Put yourself in the sandals of a first-century, non-Jewish Roman.  You have heard about Jesus and you have a certain affinity for the man/God.  You trust him, you believe in him and you want to follow his ways.  However, you also see the religious Jews.  They follow a different set of rules and are bent on getting everyone else to follow those rules.  They know the teachings of the Torah, their sacred book, but they treat people like crap.  They have this "holier-than-thou" attitude that says "no" to everything and "yes" to very little.  They dress a certain way, talk a certain way and act a certain way that just bothers you and most of your friends.  If it weren't for the Jews, you'd probably follow Jesus.

Now, here comes one of their own who is different.  This Paul is coming down on them, instead of you.  He's telling them that they are no different than anyone else.  He's proclaiming that what Jesus did on the cross creates a level playing field for all people.  He's telling you that you don't have to be a Jew to follow Jesus.  No one has ever told you that.  In fact, you've only been told the opposite.  Now, you are granted access to God through Jesus, just like anyone...just like any Jew.

Wow!  In the midst of the shadows of criticism and rebuke we see light, and we are the beneficiaries of this light.  I am incredibly grateful this morning for Paul's commitment to the non-Jewish community.  Thankful that he did whatever it took for us to understand that Jesus is free to everyone!

Can you see that good news?  Have you experienced that good news?  What's your story here?

Acts 9 :: And Now, Paul...Rather Saul

Acts 9 in The Message and TNIV Translations

We were introduced to a man named Saul at the execution of Stephen in Chapter 7.  As I read that, I thought of Tyler Durden...you know, from Fight Club.  Tyler was young and mean, but he was also the badest of the bads.  Yeah, he fought, but most of the time Tyler was watching others, encouraging them, standing over them like some sort of guru.

I thought about that because I knew the rest of the story.  I knew who Saul was and what he did to the early Jesus-followers.  In today's chapter, we read that he was on a rampage.  Apparently, the stoning of Stephen set him on a spree.  He wreaking havoc on anyone and everyone who named the name of Jesus.  It's easy to jump on the guy, but realize that he was a Jew's Jew, an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God's law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting Christians; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God's law book" (Philippians 3:5-6).  If you were this committed to your faith in Jesus, and someone came around claiming that he was not who he said and that they had another Messiah, you would want to stop the spread of that as well.  This new movement was a threat to everything Saul had built his life upon.  He had to stop it.

I love the way Jesus gets right up in the face of Saul.  Jesus identifies himself as the one who Saul is persecuting (sounds a lot like "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me").  Paul is literally blinded by his encounter with Jesus and went into to Damascus for three days - eating and drinking nothing.  He then spends  a few days learning from a man named Ananias and learns what it means to be a Jesus-follower - and gets consumed by the Holy Spirit.  Then heads out to be the largest proponent of the Jesus-Life the

Now that's a testimony!  Sometimes I wish I had a good, juicy testimony.

Note:  It's common thought that Jesus changed Saul's name to Paul, like he changed Simon's name to Peter.  This is not what the text tells us, though.  We aren't sure when or why, but in chapter 13, Luke refers to Saul as the one called Paul.  Saul is a Hebrew name and Paul is the non-Hebrew Gentile equivalent.  Paul may have changed his name to reflect his change of life and/or to assist him in reaching the non-Jewish people.  We are simply left to infer.

Matthew26::the people Jesus died for

Everyone is being sifted.  There is no longer any room for middle ground.  Jesus has no mere acquaintances, no casual friends.  Everyone is either an intimate or an enemy, and sometimes both.

• The chief priests and elders, who finally conclude they must kill Jesus.
• The woman at Bethany, who abandons herself and worships Jesus by pouring perfume on his head as he reclines at the table.  What a shockingly intimate and extravagant act.
• Judas, who sells Jesus out.  He could see the inevitable clash that was about to happen, and determined he was standing on the wrong side.  It was his last chance to change teams--and line his pockets in the process--and he took it.  History has made Judas the poster boy for evil incarnate, but I see him as more of a tragic figure.  He came so close, and in the moment of truth he made a horrible choice. "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it."
• The disciples, who share their last moments with Jesus before his arrest and crucifixion. One of the great things about the gospels is that the disciples, who had the ability to control the narrative, made no attempt to make themselves look better when they retold these stories.  I can see them saying, "we were so stupid!  We fell asleep.  We all got scared and said we didn't even know him."
• Caiaphas the high priest, who runs the circus used to convict Jesus.  "I charge you under oath by the Living God."  What horribly ironic words, uttered to God himself in a human court.  God publicly announces his identity while on trial, is charged with the crime of claiming to be God, and sentenced to death.

"You see, just at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:6-8

Matthew12::Signs and Wonders

Why did Jesus perform miracles?  For many reasons, perhaps.  Jesus loved every person he healed, and certainly did so out of concern for them personally (v.11-13).  But he didn't heal every person, even though he loved every person, so there must be more to the story.  Large crowds gathered when he performed miracles, and that certainly was a reason to do them (v. 15).  But there is at least one more important motive.  Miracles were believed to be the calling card of the Messiah, and by performing them Jesus was demonstrating that he was who he said he was.

But miracles only went so far.  They were a "proof" that he was the Son of God, but not all the people who witnessed them became his followers.  Some just chose not to believe what they saw with their own eyes; it wasn't logical, after all.  Some believed, but lacked the courage or the desire to become true followers.  Others believed, but opposed.  Ironically, the people most convinced that Jesus was the Son of God may have been his enemies.  If they thought he was just another Messiah wannabe, they probably wouldn't have felt so threatened by him.

So when they came asking for a miracle, for proof of his messianic credentials, Jesus refused.  He knew their hearts, that nothing he could say or do would soften them.  So he named the witnesses who would testify against them on Judgment Day:

1. The Ninevites, who responded to Jonah's message after he had spent three days in the belly of a fish;  the Pharisees would not even respond after Jesus spent three days in the grave and rose again.
2. The Queen of Sheba, who listened to Solomon's wisdom; the Pharisees would not listen to the wisdom of God in the flesh, standing before them.

He then pronounced perhaps the worst judgment on them.  All their efforts to be religious, he said, had merely created a vacuum in their lives, an empty house now filled with a gang of evil spirits.  It was not miracles they needed, it was new hearts.

When you and I come to Jesus, what are we looking for: a miracle or a new heart?  I am so often convinced that I need a miracle, but Jesus knows better.  Signs and wonders won't make a dead heart beat again, but a new heart is life and hope and joy.  A new heart is the greatest miracle.  There is no argument against it, no rebuttal.  It defies logic or explanation, except to say that Jesus has changed a person's life.

Core Belief :: SALVATION BY GRACE

We believe a person comes into a right relationship with God by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (TNIV)

On Friday morning, Cameron told me he had written a post for "Salvation by Grace" but got away from the house without publishing the post. He asked me to go online and post it for him. So I did just that...then something happened and I deleted it. Gone. Nowhere to be found. Oops. I'm sure that Cameron's post was probably life-changing for someone and now no one will ever know. Since that happened, I guess he's been tied up, so I wanted to pass along my thoughts on this core belief.

Salvation by Grace was one of the few mantras I remember from my churches growing up. I remember this phrase being thrown around often. Ephesians 2:8-9 was one of the first passages of Scripture I ever memorized. We quoted it before going out and sharing the message of Jesus to people who didn't know it...or at least hadn't embraced it like we had yet. Everybody in my church knew that you were "saved by grace" even if we didn't really know what it meant.

We believe that humanity's relationship with Creator God was severed through disobedience through one man - Adam (Romans 5:12). That's right. The one man created before all men. In Genesis 3, he disobeys God (he sins) and ushers death into our world. This death was not only physical death, but spiritual death as well. His sin separated us from God. Our relationship was not right. We also believe that Jesus came to make that relationship right again. His sacrifice and subsequent resurrection turned everything around. Now, through one man's (Jesus') sacrifice, life would redeemed and humanity could be restored.

So we believe that a person comes into a right relationship with God by His grace. His grace is the giving of His Son so we might have life. His son paid for our sin. His son set things right for us with God. We believe this happens through faith in Jesus Christ - trusting with your life that Jesus is our only way back into a right relationship with God.

How does this belief effect my everyday life? What difference does this make? Not only is our initial relationship reestablished by grace, but it's also sustained by grace as well. I cannot be the husband, the father, the friend, the pastor, the artist that I need to be apart from God's grace in my life. Nothing I do could ever earn this right relationship with God, and nothing I do could ever take this reestablished relationship away. I don't walk on pins and needles wondering if I've done enough good things to get to heaven some day. I don't worry about whether that reaction I had with my kids will reduce the love God has for me. I don't live my life in fear of Father. It's all because of Jesus I'm alive.

What does this belief mean to you? How does it impact your daily life?