Happiness is not found in being conservative or liberal but in simple devotion to Christ.

Do we sometimes get caught up in placing our hope in our conservative or liberal way of looking at Theology, the Bible, Politics and the World and miss the main thing? I think sometimes we place our too much faith in our ideological lenses which influence our vision, magnify some issues over others and curb our fears (whatever they may be). We can talk too much about “being conservative” or “being liberal” or even “being moderate” that we sometimes fail to come back to a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. What has me thinking about this today is my study of a righteous and devout man from Jerusalem named Simeon who was waiting for God to console Israel’s sorrows and met a six-week old Baby Jesus, as he was promised, before he died.

Simeon was part of a group of people called “The Quiet in the Land” who had a unique way of viewing the Coming of the Kingdom of God. Unlike the Pharisees (the conservatives or “religious right” of the day) who believed if Israel would only keep the Law perfectly for one day the Kingdom would come. And unlike the Sadducees (the liberals or progressives of the day) who were not so much interested in the kingdom as they were motivated by influencing public policy so that they might retain their wealth and political influence. “The quiet in the land” (neither conservative or liberals) thought of the Kingdom in terms of quiet devotion to God through prayer and patience.  Through spiritual eyes they saw the depth of Israel’s lost state and spiritual sadness and knew that only the Lord’s Messiah could bring them deep happiness. Only a small number of these folks are known to us namely: Simeon, Anna, Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the baptist, Mary, Joseph and perhaps their families.

So while nearly the whole nation of Israel was unbelieving and even irreligious (much like today) and the religious denominations were either morally self-righteous or politically self-righteous (no wonder they rejected him) there remained a small remnant of sincere followers of Yahweh whose hope was simply placed in the coming of the King to establish His Kingdom.  We can learn a lot from Simeon, a righteous and devout man of no reputation, a societal oddball, neither “a liberal” nor “a conservative” but one who was waiting for the consolation of Israel with sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 11:3 strikes my heart today, “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Let’s not be led astray from devotion to Christ even by our well-intentioned religious and political orientations.

The Birth of the Perfect Lamb of God was first announced to men who prepared lambs for Passover sacrifices.

Have you seen the show on Discovery Channel, called Dirty Jobs?  The show profiles the unsung American laborers who make their living in the most unthinkable — yet vital — ways. They highlight jobs such as Charcoal Maker, Disaster Clean-up Crew member, sewage plant worker, and bone black plant technician. It is interesting to note that in the Christmas Story, the birth of the Good Shepherd was first announced to a small group of Shepherds who had one of the dirtiest jobs of the time.  The birth of the Perfect Lamb of God was announced to those who prepared lambs used for temple sacrifices during Passover.

When the King of Kings sent out his baby announcements, he started with those at the bottom of the social register and invited men from the despised class with a lowly job, a group of devout men who smelled like sheep dung and crusted animal blood under their fingernails. Because of this they remained unclean and were unfit to attend corporate worship.  But in the Lord’s heavenly wisdom He determined to utilize the marketing network of this small lonely group of dirty shepherds to make known the birth of His Son. A group of men, who likely knew more sheep by name than they did people. He chose outsiders, men who didn’t get invited to anything so that even you and I could come to Him, no matter how much dirt, guilt or shame we have. With dirty shepherds at the party,  we would never feel out of place.

“If then we desire to come to Christ, let us not be ashamed to follow those whom the Lord, in order to cast down the pride of the world, has taken, from among the dung of cattle, to be our instructors.” – John Calvin

In Christmas, we encounter a Savior who was refused lodging so that heaven might be opened to us, not as temporary lodging but as our eternal home.

It was likely late December 5BC when the time came for another Census to be taken and everyone, including Mary and Joseph, was directed to go back to their ancestral homes to be counted. The First Couple traveled 90 miles to Bethlehem where they found the residences overflowing with family members and the local hotels filled with Roman government workers who had come to count the people and assess their taxes. From this scene comes one of the most familiar lines of the Bible, “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Also from this text comes one of the most familiar and adequate preaching applications, “there was no room for them in the inn, is there room in your heart for Him?”

But I’m more struck by looking at this scene through a wider-angle lens. This is the Son of God who came from His Father’s heavenly mansion which included a comfortable, spacious room, yet according to the plan of redemption which involved punching a hole in the top of the world and lowering Himself into it, the Son of Man would have no place to lay His Royal head.  While temporary lodging was refused to the first family we are reminded that he came to prepare a place for us through the opening of an eternal door of heaven in order to increase his family. In this scene we encounter a Savior who was refused lodging so that heaven might be opened to us, not as temporary lodging but as our eternal home. So maybe it would be better to say “there was no room for them in the inn, so that He could prepare a room for you in Him.” Jesus comforted his disciples some thirty years later with the words,

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going. John 14:1-3

 

Christmas: Deep Happiness or a Dull Reminder that We’re Depressed?

The Nativity, the birth story of Jesus, is a very human story with the hand of God’s providence orchestrating  each and every detail to bring Good News of Great Joy to us through the Birth of the Son of God. But is our “ho-hum” response to the Christmas story wrapped up in the fact that we are just not interested in the Angelic proclamation of God’s version of Great Joy for our lives? Preachers have wrongly nuanced the concept of Joy as they’ve told us that God is not interested in our happiness anyway but that he wants to give us Joy, as if Joy was of some other essence than happiness. We should instead think of the relationship of happiness and joy as one of intensity from lesser to greater and not of a relationship of diametric opposition. Maybe it is strange to think that God wants to satisfy our minds, hearts, souls and bodies with the deepest happiness that can be found anywhere in the universe.

Jonathan Edwards, perhaps America’s greatest theologian said of the First Christmas, “Christ’s incarnation was a greater and more wonderful thing than ever had yet come to pass.” This most wonderful thing is about making possible the most meaningful reunion of the rebellious creation with the Creator through the mediator of Christ in order that you and I can experience the love we were designed to have and feel the deepest possible happiness. Still, we would probably rather seek happiness in having God Bless our Plans and Baptize our Pleasures. The consequence of living as as though our deepest happiness can be found in our plans and pleasures is that we have become the most depressed and anxious generation our country has ever seen. When our plans fail we become anxious; when our pleasures betray we get depressed. John Calvin says, “God invites all indiscriminately to salvation through the Gospel, but the ingratitude of the world is the reason why this grace, which is equally offered to all, is enjoyed by few.”

Does the Baby Jesus ever grow up?

Sometimes kids help us to question things we’ve always accepted. Like the one child who asked his father, “Does the Baby Jesus ever grow up? Seems like he’s the same age every Christmas.” There’s a scene in a recent Will Ferrell movie where he is praying to the baby Jesus. He responds to the criticism of his family by saying, that he likes the Christmas version of Jesus the best because he’s cute and cuddly but still omnipotent. Some are offended by the scene in the movie while I think we should pay attention to what it reveals about us.

Ferrell’s words resonate a little bit with our wandering, independent hearts because we like the Christmas version of Jesus the best too. You see, if Jesus never grows up, He never makes any real demands on our lives. The baby needs us, we don’t really need the baby. But Christmas is more than cuddly omnipotence and Jesus does grow up to fulfill the offices of our Prophet, Priest and King.  But perhaps the most important thing about the Christmas Story is not that Jesus is/was a baby but that in the Incarnation, God lowered Himself to the lowest levels of humanity to communicate to us about Himself using baby talk so we could understand.

Just for fun, here’s a link to a clean, edited version of the above referenced scene in the Will Ferrell movie, Talladega Nights:

What is Ministry?

People tell me all the time that they want the Lord to use them in ministering to others but they don’t know how or don’t really understand what this thing called ministry is. Well, ministry is not Brain Surgery which (I imagine) would be quite complex. Ministry is about bringing people to meet the One who Gives Life.

Jesus enlists His disciples in the ministry of bringing the Blind Man to meet Him. Not because Jesus needs their help, He simply chooses to allow them to share in the joys of hope-giving. But Jesus also enlists their help because blind men need guides to find and meet Him.  The disciples eagerly called to Bartimaeus, “Take Courage, get up! This is Your Day! The Savior wants to meet you!” The words of the disciples bring great courage to Bartimaeus to help him to face his fears. That’s what ministry is. It’s giving hope to the hopeless. It’s bringing happiness to the sorrowful. It’s telling people that they no longer need to dread the Majesty of God as He has provided His Son as the satisfaction for His wrath and our sin. It’s attempting to connect people with the Life Giver. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)

Casting off Adult Appropriateness for Childlike impulses

As children, we’re taught by our parents to know our place, not to intrude or interrupt because doing so would be rude and inappropriate. But when we apply these same rules to our relationship with God, we settle for a rigid mechanical connection which barely ever touches our hearts.

I love the example of the Blind Man, Bartimaeus in Mark 10 who calls out to Jesus with an inappropriately loud voice that made the mannerly people around him uncomfortable. His manner is childishly and inappropriately  persistent. His intrusion brought noise and chaos into the somewhat ordered environment where everyone else was acting like adults.

What audacity!  Bartimaeus would not be impeded from approaching Christ. His faith is persistent as he cries out to God continually until he knows he has been heard. A childlike faith that is not concerned about what others think but that also knows innately that there is nowhere else to go. Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Only One who hold the words to eternal life.

So today, try to trust your unconscious, childish impulses and inspirations when it comes to your time with the Lord and allow His love to dissolve your typical rigidity. Can you find it in yourself to compete for Jesus’ attention? What holds you back from grabbing his attention?

Transformation and the rewiring of your brain

Neuroscientists have long known that people’s changes in attitudes, lifestyles, and habits coincide with the rewiring of their brains. But they haven’t always known the catalyst for the rewiring and change. Recent research has revealed that an important part of how people change is through the process of telling their stories to an empathetic listener.

When a person tells his story and is truly heard and understood, both he and the listener undergo actual changes in their brain circuitry. The one telling his story feels a greater sense of emotional and relational connection with a decreased sense of anxiety about the future and a relief of guilt from the past.

Even the listener’s brain is changed and the result is a greater awareness of and compassion for the suffering of others. As human listeners we can connect with the idea that we have a sense of empathy when we hear someone tell us their story. Empathy is the intellectual and emotional identification or the vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts or attitudes of another.

If as humans, we can experience empathy for another and have greater compassion toward them as a result, imagine how inviting the empathy, care and compassion that the God-man, Jesus Christ has for you when you tell Him what’s on your heart. Being God and having suffered as a man, Jesus has the highest capacity for compassion for your suffering, stress and temptation. In Jesus rests a visceral mirror of your emotions, frustrations, and anxieties. He feels what you feel when you feel it. He Gets Us! So why not approach Him with what is on your heart today? This is crucial if we want transformation in our lives.

With Jesus, even givers become receivers

The way it works with those who trust Jesus is that our seemingly inadequate resources are multiplied. This doesn’t mean that we can be stingy and Jesus will make us look generous. It means that when we bring it all under His Leadership and Direction, then He will pour out blessings on us and others like we can’t even imagine. The result of the feeding of the multitudes was that all 5,000 men and their families were was stuffed to the gills and they collected twelve basketfuls of leftover surplus (leftovers are always a sign of the Lord’s blessing). One basketful of filet-o-fish sandwiches for each disciple to take home to feed his family.

With Jesus the insufficient becomes an abundance; the Loaves become a Feast. So we need not hold anything back from Him or others with the fear that we Might Run Out and have nothing left for ourselves. With Jesus, even the givers become receivers. This is the pattern of God’s Grace to those who trust Him. Paul Tripp says this about grace: “Grace is God’s unrelenting commitment to deliver every resource you need to be what you’re supposed to be and do what you’re called to do.” He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

Can we then trust the Lord with our finances? Can we continue even in uncertain financial times to bring the first 10% of our income into the storehouse of the church? “Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

He wants EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!

What is God asking of you? He is asking you to bring EVERYTHING YOU HAVE! As Jesus directed the people to sit down on the grass He took everything his disciples had: five loaves and two fish. He looked up to heaven, gave thanks, broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples who turned and gave them to the people.

Jesus clearly shows that He is willing to meet community needs through completely exhausting all of the personal resources of His own followers. Here He multiplies their loaves and fish. But why does He even ask for it? He doesn’t need some bread to make lots of bread; this isn’t Amish friendship bread which requires 1 cup of live yeast starter and will create an infinite number of sweet loaves. He can make all the bread he wants out of nothing. But He chooses to use what they bring to multiply it. While He certainly doesn’t need us nor does He need our meager contributions, His pattern is to spend us. He wants you to bring EVERYTHING YOU HAVE: time, talents, financial resources in order to multiply it to meet needs for His Glory!