Jesus

Joy and The Race Marked Out for You

August 28, 2019 0 Comments

The little exercise I run through sometimes creates more disequilibrium than I intended. I start with the space I can see. Then I recall that I live in Vancouver, in Canada, in North America, on planet Earth, in this solar system, in this galaxy, and then… Well you can work it out too. The ever expanding universe. I’m in it. I’m in it with you.

Does God really have plans and purposes in which we can reside and understand ourselves in this cosmos and in our community? Do these plans even in spaces of enormous injustice and struggle include joy in this life? The Gospel of Jesus says, “Yes!” Hebrews 12:1-2 suggests that Jesus lived with joy as a reality He knew He could enter.

The Gospel pulls my head out of the clouds. The Gospel of Jesus offers a grounded view of the meeting of heaven and earth and reveals our participation in a great cosmic struggle in which the glory of God will prevail. We are all living some form of life. But it may not be the real life that God intended for us. Jesus extends an invitation to real life now — knowing God and following Him. Fatalism is a joy-killer. Fatalism robs of us agency. Suggests that we cannot change. Fatalism says, “You are stuck and hopeless.” It sets us in this generation without meaning beyond the desires of our bodies. Fatalism tells we have no choice. Who would want that? Yet, fatalism can be very persuasive.

How can fatalism can be set aside? Such meaninglessness and its despair must give way to the glory of being loved by the Creator of it all who is revealing Himself in it all, just as the night gives way to the morning.

As we read the life and relationships of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we must take note of the many times Jesus comes to intersections in which His “steps,” His “way,” His “participation” in the Father’s work and life is tested, challenged, and flat out opposed. These challenges did not end with the “temptations” we famously attend to in Matthew 4 and Luke 4.

Jesus’s temptations were legion! Through it all Jesus did not depart from His Father’s work and way. He confesses (John 5:16-23, 30 NIV):

16So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”18For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.19Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him… 30By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Jesus’ joy in relationship motivated Him and centred Him even as He parked Himself just inside the gates of Hell. The relationship to the Father and Jesus’ union with the Father is the source of His joy. And Jesus invites us into His life of joy (John 15:9-13, NIV):

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.10If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.13Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

So here’s why this matters to me so much. When I need a way to get my foggy head out of the clouds and the disequilibrium of the cosmos it comes down to this: Because I have been befriended and loved by Jesus, I now have neighbours and Jesus who are I am to treat as friends. I am to love them. Through the power of the crucified One raised from the dead, through the power of His Holy Spirit, I am to love.

The race marked out for me is in this space, with these people, and in the communion of God. The race marked out for me and for you, though they are different in so many is ways are similar in this way: it is meant to be full of love and punctuated with joy.

To be loved by Jesus is to enter into His new creation.
To pray is to love and to enter into His communion.
To love even in a struggle of life and death is to enter into the promise of His joy.
And His joy is real.

Discipleship, Jesus, Relationships

,

Meditation on Joy

August 26, 2019 0 Comments

God is doing a good work in you. He provides us with many reasons to rejoice through the good times and the challenging times of our lives. Joy has become a topic of philosophical and self help discussion. Our joy in Christ comes from the overflow of our relationship with Him, even as the Holy Spirit pours the love of God into our lives.

In the last few years Miroslav Volf, professor at Yale University, has been working on a theology of joy. He was asked the question, “Why isn’t happiness enough?” “Happiness,” he says, “generally is today understood as a kind of pleasurable feeling… Joy has something specific about it. We rejoice when we are united with the object of our love, with things that we love.”

Jesus often speaks of God’s joy.  Read Luke 15:1-7, NIV.

1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Notice the joy in Jesus’ parable. In this parable and in the next two we see Jesus confronting the “joy-killers” with the Father’s joy.

The Joy of finding–God feels it.
The Joy shared–God invites it.
The Joy multiplied–Lots of joy in Heaven when we repent.
Lots of Joy and delight–When we turn to God.
Lots of Joy–when we return to Him.
Lots of Joy–When we take a step of faith.
Lots of Joy–When we respond to His love.
Lots of Joy–When we abide in His love.

Let us enter into His joy by listening to the Holy Spirit, returning to God, agreeing with God, and changing our lives in response to His grace in Christ Jesus. He embraces us joyfully.

God has a specific joy in being united with you, the “object” of His love.
Do I have joy in being united with Him?
If not, what would Jesus have me know?

The promise of joy fortified Jesus for the suffering of the Cross. The author of Hebrews writes:  (Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV)

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.


Jesus is my specific source of joy. I am included in Jesus’ specific sources of joy. Possible?

Yes! This is the real — The joy of your salvation!
Oh God, grant me this mercy that like Jesus I shall not lose heart!
I receive and abide in your joy.


Read more of Volf’s interview published by RNS.

Change, Discipleship, Jesus

, ,

Temples and Borders

July 3, 2019 2 Comments

Reflections on John 2 and Jesus prophesying about “this temple.”

Borders define. Who is in? Who is out? Who belongs? Who does not belong? Who has power? Who does not have power? Whose authority are you under? Whose authority has reached its limit?

Borders easily become zones of violence. The authority to enforce and establish borders is usually external to a person. Border enforcement has to be granted. At a border it can feel like some bodies are worth less than other bodies.

Watch Jesus at The Temple.

13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.

24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

John 2:13-25, NIV

Jesus walked right into the domain of the Temple border patrol. That’s why the authorities who observed Jesus clearing the temple courts were questioning him. He had run some bodies out of the Temple. He had made room for other bodies in the Court of the Gentiles. To progress through the thresholds of the Temple was to move across several border zones. The further in one went towards the Holy of Holies, the smaller the crowd. The Temple had clear borders: The Court of the Gentiles, The Court of the Women, The Court of Israel. The Court of Priests. Jesus had cleared the Court of the Gentiles, so they ask him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

Throughout his ministry Jesus entered the border zones of Israel and disrupted their  standard operating procedures. When he entered the Temple as a thirty year old he did not come with the questions and explorations of a twelve year old boy seeking to be about “His Father’s business.” Jesus entered and took up what appeared to his disciples to be a zealot’s reformation enthusiasm. They recalled, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

It was a busy day just before Passover when Jesus ran the sellers of sacrificial animals and the money changers for the temple tax out of the temple courts. He had cleared the Court of the Gentiles and was saying to them, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” Perhaps Jesus had come there because the cry of the nations had risen up to the ears of the LORD. Now the persons of power were asking for signs, just as Pharaoh had asked.

What sign will you show us?

Jesus offered them one sign.

“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

His answer must of been shocking. The splendour of Herod’s temple was great. Even the disciples later sought to engage Jesus in consideration of its awesomeness. Those listening to Jesus blurt out, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”

Only when they could look back from the Resurrection and the Cross did the disciples begin to get Jesus. 

“But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” 

Jesus treated His body as The Temple. Jesus treated bodies as temples. Yes, zeal for His Father’s house consumed Him. Jesus ached to see people become gloriously occupied as temples of the Holy Spirit.

The Temple was a border.

The Temple was a meeting place of Heaven and earth.

The temple Jesus had spoken of was His body.

Jesus’ body is a temple.

Having come from the communion of God, He embodied His own authority.

Jesus’ body crucified and resurrected is His promised sign.

The body is a temple.

When Jesus cleared the Jerusalem Temple He was making room for bodies.

Jesus cleared the Temple to make room for Gentile bodies.

The body as temple is of utmost concern for Jesus.

You are of utmost concern to Jesus.

There is no body that is worth less!

Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?

You have been bought at a price!

Jesus has authority to make room for you.

But you have authority to make room for Jesus in the temple of your body.

The bodies of people at borders are temples.

The bodies of people at borders are sacred.

Where is our zeal for our Father’s house?

Jesus knows what is in a person.

Jesus can see into our temples.

We can’t easily see what’s in each temple.

But we can treat all bodies as temples, just as Jesus did.

Holy.

This the Way of all who are His Temple.

Temple politics are strangely differentiating.

So are borders.

Jesus, Relationships, Society

, , ,

The Morning After

June 13, 2019 0 Comments

A Witness to Our Lives

The morning after a friend became a follower of Jesus he started walking. He walked all through the city of Vancouver. He said he walked all day and that it was one of the most difficult days of his life.

As he walked the Spirit of God began to walk him through the memories of his life. He said it was as if “Jesus turned on all the lights.” All these things that he had forgotten came flooding back from childhood and his years in a gang. He said, “I began to remember one act of deceit and violence after another.” He began to give a full account to Jesus. And with every violent remembrance laid at the feet of Jesus, my friend received forgiveness and freedom.

Jesus was cleansing his life. When the day of his baptism came it was a glorious celebration!

My friend began the journey with Jesus and continued living in it the way he began: Having trusted Jesus for the forgiveness of sins the Holy Spirit activated repentance and belief. This is the way for all of us who name the name of Jesus as Lord.

Repentance and Belief

Our Heavenly Father, no matter our family story, our education or our nationality desires that repentance and belief be the reflexive responses to Jesus and His Word prompted by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul reminded the elders of Ephesus,

“You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Acts 20:20-21, NIV

Repentance is a response to grace and truth in which we change our mind about God, ourselves, people, and the stuff of earth. John declared that Jesus had come full of grace and truth and has shown us the glory of God. So if you have a collision with Jesus you have choices to make.

Godly Sorrow verses Worldly Sorrow

The Holy Spirit can bring about a godly sorrow but the enemy prefers worldly sorrow (See 2 Corinthians 7:10-11). Worldly sorrow will sink us deep into deathly shame and will mobilize us to play blame and denial games. But under the influence of godly sorrow we will receive the prompting of guilt (the truth about our attitudes, actions, and beliefs) and will turn away again from that which is opposed to Jesus.

Then, we are learning the ways of grace and keeping in step with the Spirit. Hopefully you will have some company in this. James says,

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each others so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:13-16, NIV

Set Free to Love

The goal of all this is love. We cannot love if we are bound up by shame. We cannot love freely if we are bound up by oppressive spirits. The deliverance of God is available to us. My friend started a great journey with Jesus that night. And the next day he started to walk with Jesus. He had to keep on listening to the Holy Spirit and discern, “What is God saying to me?” and “What am I saying to God?” That’s repentance and belief. For all of us, the morning after receiving Jesus is just the beginning of life that is meant to be abundant, it is meant to be progressively more free as we live in The Truth.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Jesus
Matthew 7:13-14, NIV

Racism: Willful Participation and/or Stupid Complicity

Racism presents one of the big challenges of repentance for the followers of Jesus: to realize both our willful participation in that which is wrong and/or our complicit participation in that which is wrong. Repentance of attitudes and actions and faulty beliefs about people is necessary. To walk with Jesus and His church means that we enter into repentance and belief with him most definitely even when it concerns our complicity with oppression.

Paul knew the Holy Spirit’s movement of repentance and belief personally so he is able to write,

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29

But Paul, he not only had the words, he had the relationships and actions born out of repentance and belief. Do we?

Change, Discipleship, Jesus, Relationships

, , ,