Monday, December 30, 2019

685 - Bad Judgment


Spirituality Column #685
December 31, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Christianity

Bad Judgment
By Bob Walters

“When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” – Matthew 7:28-29

These two verses are how Matthew in his Gospel concludes Jesus’s famed “Sermon on the Mount” in chapters 5-6-7.  And if you know how to read this line, and somehow were able to think like an ancient Jew on the side of that mountain where Jesus taught, you’d know this whole sermon is God taking a great big giant condemning swipe at the Jewish leaders of that day.  “… not as their teachers…” is a total “diss.”

The crowds could discern the Godly authority of Jesus … an authority long since passed from the Jewish “teachers of the law,” i.e. the rabbis, Pharisees, Sadducees, Sanhedrin, and scribes.  Jesus was openly attacking the Jewish leadership’s hypocrisy and arrogance, while describing God’s true groundwork for the Kingdom of Heaven.  It was nothing like what the Jewish leaders were teaching, the way they were living, or the truth they were espousing.  Power, pride, status, and control were what they craved.

My friend and blogger extraordinaire Brent Riggs says it this way, “They (the Jewish leaders) were a part of the system; the World.  Christ said we are to be salt and light to the system, not be a part of it. … They had denied the Word of God and established their own traditions, rules, and regulations.  Christ reestablished the affirmation of His Word – God’s Word – alone.”

It is so easy to read the Sermon on the Mount in modern error, thinking it only a list of somewhat mysterious but otherwise rational directions for leading a “good life” before the world and in the company of other Christians.  Do good, feed the hungry, help the poor, etc., is how we read it.  To the Jews, Jesus’s words were shocking.

Where Jesus says something akin to, “You say this …; but I say this…,” he was severely criticizing what the Jews had done to “religion.”  Jesus was presenting the new covenant of faith and strongly condemning their failure with the old covenant of the law. The Jews had missed God’s point of humility and instead built a nation of pride.

“Blessed are the meek… the poor in spirit …they will inherit the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 5:3-10) is not just a Jesus shout-out to the oppressed; it is the harshest of  rebukes toward the Jewish leaders’ priorities and values mirroring the world, not God.

Today’s favorite Bible verse for all who do not actually understand the Bible is a similarly condemning assertion that the modern world loves to self-righteously and incorrectly quote as a declaration of freedom.  It’s right there in this sermon, Matthew 7:1.  We all know it well: “Do not judge,” contemporary code for, “Get out of my face!”

Emphatically, it is not that.  It was Jesus telling the Jewish leaders they had lost their authority to judge Godly things because they had assumed worldly values.  The dumbest taunt you can level at any human is “Don’t judge!” and think it means, “Let me do whatever I want.”  Bald permissiveness is the opposite of what Jesus was saying.

What I’m saying is, my New Year’s goal is to improve my judgment, not ignore it.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that better judgment always starts with love.
Monday, December 23, 2019

684 - What's He Doing Here?


Spirituality Column #684
December 24, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What’s He Doing Here?
By Bob Walters

“Therefore … the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and call him Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [Isaiah 7:14] “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means 
“God with us”). – Matthew 1:22-23

It takes more of a Bible geek than me to know, just off the top of one’s head, who King Ahaz was and what he did.  Want to take a shot?  Do you know?  We’ll wait.

Time’s up.  King Ahaz of Jerusalem appears in the book of Isaiah and is key to the explanation of the “Therefore” that precedes the prophetic Isaiah 7:14 passage foretelling God’s sign of Immanuel (Emmanuel, if you prefer) noted above. 

The word “Therefore” always makes us ask, “What’s it there for?”

Without replaying the whole passage, Ahaz feared an attack on Jerusalem – in part by other Jews in the tribe of Ephraim – and God told Ahaz not to worry: “It will not take place” (Isaiah 7:7), and “Stand firm in your faith” (Isaiah 7:9).  Ahaz was unconvinced Jerusalem could be saved.  In verse 10, God commands Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”  Ahaz refused, saying, “I will not put the Lord to the test” (Isaiah 7:12). 

Oy.  God graciously invited / commanded Ahaz to ask for proof.  Ahaz – evidently figuring he already knew everything he needed to know about God – said, “No.”

In verse 13, Isaiah notes that it was a terrible idea to refuse God’s grace and sign, disobedience which also cost Ahaz the peace God was offering.  Then comes verse 14 and the prophecy of the sign above all Godly signs to come: Immanuel – God with us - being conceived of a virgin.  God Himself would appear among man.

Now let’s fast forward 700 years or so to the quiet Bethlehem manager where Joseph and Mary would bring into the world the baby Jesus.  Jerusalem again was being wildly disobedient to God.  Israel’s attention was entirely taken up with legalistic reconfiguration of God’s commands and fear of the conquering Romans.  God’s sign, Jesus, is revealed in the humble environment of a baby in a manger while Israel would ignore all prophecy of His coming, hoping instead for a power to conquer the world.

Jesus came to conquer our sin, to reveal the true God, to restore humanity to its original relationship with God and His Kingdom, to share the truth of God’s love, to prove the worth of our faith in God, to offer hope of God’s ever-abiding presence and power, to invite humanity into eternal life, and to allow us in this life to know God is real. His truth, the real truth, would come to life.  Talk about tidings of comfort and joy …

Isaiah is a complex book, but Ahaz’s disobedience is a message that survives simplification. Notice that Joseph did not argue with God, he obeyed.  Mary obeyed.  Jesus obeyed.  And in obedience they, like us, found and find the gift of God’s glory.

Christmas is about God Almighty come to save us – in love, not in punishment.
Isaiah and Jesus – the names – both mean, “The Lord saves.” Isaiah foretold God’s coming sign of salvation, Jesus, who saves God’s own glory and saves our lives.

That’s what He’s doing here; Jesus is the proof, the sign, of God’s saving grace.

All I can say to that is Merry Christmas!

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) asserts that “Peace on Earth” is an affirmation of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts.  Graciously, let’s keep it there always.


Monday, December 16, 2019

683 - Automatic Renewal


Spirituality Column #683
December 17, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Automatic Renewal
By Bob Walters

“Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old.” – Lamentations 5:21

Traditionally the prophet Jeremiah, who witnessed the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., is thought to be the author of Lamentations.  Perhaps the most spiritually tortured of the prophets, Jeremiah had a lot to lament.

Jeremiah saw the divine judgment on Jerusalem, among the lowest earthly moments in Israel’s history.  Whether Jeremiah penned Lamentations or not – technically its writer is anonymous – the book, says my NIV study Bible, “poignantly shares the overwhelming sense of loss that accompanied the destruction of the city, temple, and ritual as well as the exile of Judah’s inhabitants.”

Lamentations, which follows Jeremiah in the Old Testament, is a deeply poetic and heavily structured cry that complains not about God’s judgment but about Israel’s disobedience. “Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean.” (Lam 1:8)

I bring this up just before Christmas not as a lament that the sincere “Christmas message” about hope and Jesus tends to get lost in the secular swirl of commercial Yuletide largesse, but because I notice throughout history that God keeps coming back for us.  He does it every year at Christmas.  It’s like an automatic renewal offer on a life insurance policy, and it extends over many eras.  We must return to Jesus.

I was surprised to learn just recently, for example, that Christmas Day, December 25, formally became an official United States federal holiday not until June 26, 1870, and then by decree of President Ulysses S. Grant.  Yes, it was right after the Civil War and it provided a common point of celebration and reconciliation for severely torn and previously regionally isolated national cultures.  Before that Christmas was barely noticed, gift-giving was basically unheard of, and in America, school was in session.

But notice this.  Just then in history – 1870 – as science in both Europe and America academically began to overtake theology, philosophy, and the thinking arts, that is precisely when Christmas was installed here as a national holiday.  The scholarly world was falling for Darwin and technology; and Christmas was put on the calendar.

Looking back you could almost see it as a place-holder for America to re-find its Christian bearings.  Christmas became popular at precisely the point in history that science sought to nullify Christ.  Jesus never goes away very far.

Christmas, a 4th-century Roman creation, is not mentioned in the Bible.  In fact, no holidays, feasts, temples, or festivals are prescribed in the New Testament.  The Old Covenant of Israel had all that stuff as a way to be in the presence of God, but the New Covenant in Christ teaches that God’s love is in our hearts everywhere, all the time.

“Old Fashioned Christmas”?  I’d say that didn’t even exist much before the 1930s, or maybe the post-World War II American cultural reset.  It is interesting to note the centuries-old development of celebratory Christmas traditions – trees, gifts, wrapped gifts, lights, Santa Clause, music, greeting cards, family gatherings, community events, feasts, and charity services – that are really developments of the last century or two.

Many of us do not need Christmas to remember Christ.  But for many others, it provides an automatic renewal of a reminder that Jesus is a very big deal.  It’s up to us to tell the story of God’s love, and I notice God is right there willing to help us.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) loves Jesus but is a sucker for Christmas traditions.  BTW, here is a link to an interesting article about the development of Christmas traditions: Christmas in 19th Century America | History Today

Monday, December 9, 2019

682 - What It Is ... and Is Not

Spirituality Column #682
December 10, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What It Is … and Is Not
By Bob Walters

“Be still, and know that I am God.” – Psalm 41:10

Peace is not absence of war, of strife, or of anger; it is calm trust in God and knowing Jesus, our peace.

Obedience is not the absence of sin; it is working for the Glory of God.

Patience is not the absence of hurry; it is the acceptance of God’s timing.

Joy is not absence of concern; it is assuredness in God’s truth.

Righteousness is not me being better than you; it is God being best all the time.

Love is not the absence of hate; it is the art and insistence of putting others first.

Salvation is not the absence of Hell; it is the excitement of Heaven.

Forgiveness is not the absence of blame; it is freedom from the past.

Divine rewards are not a pending “let’s see” transaction; they are God’s promise.

Grace is not the absence of judgment; it is the action of sacrificial love.

Judgment is not the opposite of mercy; it is the proper complement of mercy.

Mercy is not turning a blind eye; it is seeing things God’s way.

Thankfulness is not a debt; it is the joy of recognizing God’s gifts.

Freedom is not the selfish exercise of my rights; it is my recognition of God’s will and my responsibilities – to Him and to humanity.

Rebellion is not only Satan’s example; it is our failure to accept God’s love and assert God’s freedom.

Truth is not just the absence of a lie; it is the presence of the person Jesus.

Eternity is not just the absence of time; it is the quality and substance of the life of God.

Science does not replace God; it reveals God.

Doubt does not have to be the absence of faith; it may be the discipline of curiosity.

Hope is not a gamble on the future; it is our awareness of the reality of God.

Faith is not a blind idea; it is our living experience with God.

Church is not for being fed; it is for feeding each other.

The Gospel is not just the Good News of Jesus Christ; it reveals the perpetual light of the Spirit, truth of Christ, and love of God.

The Incarnation is not just the birth of a Savior and Emanuel-God-now-with-us; it celebrates humanity’s reunion with the Kingdom of God.

The Crucifixion is not just a horrible settlement for sin; it is the glorious, gracious, selfless, and complete obedience of Jesus Christ; it is Jesus’s human nature surrendering to God’s divine nature.

The Resurrection is not just the defining evidence of the love and power of God; it is our release from sin, the end of death, and the promise of life everlasting.

God’s glory is not merely God’s pride; it is His love He shares with us and the freedom He affords for our own response to the gift of His son Jesus, our savior.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) first dashed off this column as punctuated verse, but alas – as his wife Pam the retired English teacher pointed out – Walters is not a poet.  Walters is however sensitive to and observant of positive vs. incomplete, simplistic, secular, and/or negative doctrinal proclamations (and somewhat panicked by the latter). Humans tend to rebel against God rather than seeking to replace our nature with His.

Monday, December 2, 2019

681 - Don't Judge, But ...


Spirituality Column #681
December 3, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Don’t Judge, But …
By Bob Walters

It’s the news I pay the most attention to – Christianity, doctrine, heresies, and witness – and from where I sit religion has had a big past few weeks in the media. Let’s review …

- Newly-announced Christian Kanye West – the acclaimed, formerly profane, and award-winning rap music artist – has been saying everything right since his very public profession of Jesus last summer.  He’s released a Christian music album in his genre but with a solid faith message.  Christian bloggers everywhere (I read a lot of them) are going from “wait and see” mode leaning toward, “This guy appears sincere.”

- All well and good; I pray Kanye is sincere and so far I’m thankful for his witness.  November 24 Kanye spoke at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church with its 20,000 or so attendees who gather in the former arena of the Houston Rockets.  Osteen is famous for his book, “Your Best Life Now,” and is a frequent target of doctrinal satirists for his refusal to mention Jesus.  “Jesus is too controversial,” Osteen told 60 Minutes a few years back.  He really said that.  Osteen is all God, Bible, and “this life,” but no Jesus.

- My favorite Christian satire provider is the BabylonBee.com, a daily compilation of “news” memes that arrive via email (it’s free). You have to be a little bit of a church wonk to appreciate its humor, but the Babylon Bee is always on Osteen’s case big time about not mentioning Jesus.  It’s having fun with Kanye, too … but taking him seriously.

– Then there was the news that Paula White, queen of the American prosperity gospel scene (I can’t capitalize gospel in this context) which promises if you donate enough money to her you’ll earn more earthly blessings from God, was brought on as White House spiritual advisor to Donald Trump.  Ummm … whence VP Mike Pence?

Call your office Mike … we need your help here.  Bring your Bible.

– I was accepted recently (you have to apply) into the “Fans of David Bentley Hart” Facebook discussion forum of esoteric theologians and philosophers who enjoy Hart’s writing.  “DBH” used to teach at Notre Dame but I grew to know his truly brilliant talent through the wonderful journal, First Things.  Wow … can that guy write an essay.

However, all the rage now among the DBH set is the doctrine of “Universalism,” which basically states and believes, in the most flowery, complex, theological, and academic language imaginable, that “All Will Be Saved,” the title of Hart’s recent book.

I enjoy the forum’s and DBH’s word-smithery, but I also read the Bible and can’t find anything that says heaven is an all-skate.  I pray for everyone to be saved, sure.  We all must; every soul saved is glory to God.  Jesus himself said He came to “save all mankind,” (John 3:16), but also says He is the only door (John 14:6).  Many disbelieve. 

God is love, God is infinitely good and merciful, and God is also absolutely righteous.  That’s why I believe there is an inside latch on heaven’s gates.  Philosophers and theologians worry me when they imagine their wisdom and mercy outpaces God’s.

- And, headline heartbreak: the Chick-fil-A Foundation “reprioritizes.”  The restaurants will continue to be awesome and do things right, I’m sure, but it used to be fun marching in for a chicken sandwich and tasting the excitement of being a vicarious rebel for Christ against the foul winds society stirs against Christianity’s very existence.  Truett and Dan Cathy’s one foundation was Christ.  Chick-fil-A’s one Foundation, now, is chicken.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), as penance for the above shot at Chick-fil-A, bought lunch there Saturday.  It was cram-crowded inside with drive-up cars lined around the building.  Walters then shopped at Hobby Lobby and put $5 in the Salvation Army kettle.

Monday, November 25, 2019

680 - Thanks Any Way


Spirituality Column #680
November 26, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Thanks Any Way
By Bob Walters

“…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

“Every blessing I don’t turn back to praise turns into pride.” – Rick Grover, E91 Pastor

Some years ago in this column I made the point that I’d broken myself of the habit of saying I was “proud” of this or that because too often, pride is a sin.

Life has presented to me its share of successes and failures, but Christian and biblical study later in life has made it plain that rather than be proud of this or ashamed of that, pride and despair aren’t where I want to spend my time.  Satan smiles when we dwell there, but I think “be thankful and pray a lot” is the far better way of Christ.

It is a common human station – when we come to a full encounter with the truth of our salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus – to want to look at the sin and problems and fear in our lives through the lens of guilt and shame.  True and present as all those items may be, and surely they are why Jesus died on the cross, our lives won’t really change if we remain mired in the neurosis of our misbehaviors.

Jesus came to break that chain: to give us hope in the Kingdom still to come and confidence in the eternal truth of God.  We mustn’t miss the blessing of not only our restored, original relationship with the Father through Jesus the Son, but the truth we know through Jesus of God’s love, goodness, and righteousness.  Pride blots that truth.

So I’m thankful … thankful for my wife and her many talents, for my sons and their many successes, for my church and its steady fellowship, for purposeful work to do, and for so many more blessings and challenges.  Praise God for an interesting life.

Pastor Rick’s quote above came in Sunday’s message he delivered about gratitude as a heightened virtue when blessing becomes praise.  He used the familiar story of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19, where ten were healed by Jesus but only one, a thankful Samaritan, returned “praising God in a loud voice.”  Leprosy, Rick explained, kills the feeling in our bodies leaving us susceptible to the worst kinds of rot and infection because we cannot feel pain. 

Two things occurred to me. 1) The other nine were more interested in showing the priests they had been cleansed than in praising God, and 2) Jesus the great healer knew their (and our) pain, which the Jewish law – and Jewish leaders – did not.

We don’t know how many of the ten were and were not Jews, but the great lesson is that it was a pagan Samaritan – not a Jew – who most appreciated the gift and glorified God with his thanks and praise.  While Jewish Law was occupied with “clean and unclean” and the other nine focused on the priests, Jesus focused on the cleansing, and the Samaritan – who didn’t need the priests or the Law – focused on praising God. 

Our thanksgiving to Jesus shines because our spiritual “feeling” is restored and the spiritual rot in our lives is replaced by the great, gracious spiritual cleansing and renewal we are afforded in Jesus Christ.  In Him, by Him, and through Him we are assured of God’s loving truth, the reality of His Kingdom, and our eternal home in it. 

I’m always thankful for a good meal, but a full stomach is no match for a full heart.  My prayer is that no matter what Satan tempts, what this life presents, or what my own pride attempts, I’ll hold tight to Jesus and say “thanks,” any way and every way.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes: happiness is when you get stuff; joy is when you give stuff. Happy Thanksgiving! … and pass the stuffing. 
BTW … here is a link to that “pride” column from 11-26-13, #367 - Pride, Peace and Thanksgiving. Six years ago to the date.  Hmmm.  Coincidence.

Monday, November 18, 2019

679 - 'I Didn't Need That'


Spirituality Column #679
November 19, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

‘I Didn’t Need That’
By Bob Walters

“That’s life in the NFL.” – character Sean Parker in the movie, The Social Network

Let’s talk about the NFL last week, starting with … Sheesh.

My old mentor and minister Russ Blowers was often heard to say, “God loves to see His kids play!”  But that helmet-swinging, head-kicking, beat-down, street-fight melee at the end of the Steelers-Browns game last Thursday I’m sure doesn’t qualify.

Who needed that?  I can’t possibly be the only person who viewed replays of the carnage and thought all of the NFL was in desperate need of either a deep, general soul-searching suspension of play, or at least a serious come-to-Jesus reckoning.

For full disclosure, I’ve mostly tuned out the NFL since the Colin Kaepernick protests. I was a sportswriter in my career which included a brief turn as PR Director of the Colts when they first moved to Indianapolis, so I completely “get” the grandness of high level sports and human endeavor for excellence.  It’s such a great platform, and I believe Russ is right.  God does indeed love to see His kids play.

And then the thug ethic of unconstrained and unthinking criminal mayhem bursts into bloom.  This destructive moment on national TV and the ensuing, endless televised and social media replays sully the sport’s grandeur into the gutter.

Yet … there are also NFL players like Nick Foles.  Remember him?  He was the 2017 MVP quarterback for the Lombardi-Trophy-hoisting Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia Eagles.  Foles eloquently witnessed for Jesus Christ after the win.  Not, “Jesus wanted us to win,” but “My purpose in life is Jesus, not football.”

Foles started this NFL season in Jacksonville with the Jaguars but broke his collarbone 10 plays into the first game.  Just last week he returned to practice and in the interview afterwards a scribe asked him about coming back, inquiring, “…I know you are a man of faith but you’re also human and didn’t you ever have any doubts?”

Nick responded, beautifully: “No.  Right when I felt this thing break and going into the locker room I realized, ‘God, this isn’t exactly what I was thinking when I came to Jacksonville.’ [But] at the end of the day if this is the journey you want me to go on I’m going to glorify you in every action, good or bad.”  Now that is life in the NFL.

“You know, I still could have joy in an injury,” he said. “People say ‘that’s crazy’ but when you believe in Jesus, and go out there … it changes your heart.  And you only understand it when that purpose is in your life.”  Talk about “come-to-Jesus” reckoning.

Foles added, “Just like when I hoisted the Lombardi Trophy [after the Super Bowl win] the reason I’m smiling is [because] my faith was in Christ and at that moment I realized I didn’t need that trophy to define who I was because I was already in Christ.

“That’s my message when I play; the same thing happens when I get injured 

“My purpose isn’t football; my purpose is impacting people, and my ministry is the locker room. … I’m a better person than I was before because of the trial that I just went under.  I know that’s a sermon in itself.  [But] it’s not always about prosperity.  I don’t believe in the prosperity gospel.  Read the Bible; there will be trials along the way. …”

The video link is here: Nick Foles Jaguars Press Conference.  It’s wonderful.

The reporter’s question, “You’re a man of faith but you’re also human; didn’t you have doubts?” begs a subtle point: did you ever notice that in Jesus … we doubt less?

Trophies? “I didn’t need that,” Foles said.  I’m sure God loves to see him play.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) would rather see replays of Foles than the fight.
Monday, November 11, 2019

678 - Reasonable Faith

Spirituality Column #678
November 12, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Reasonable Faith
By Bob Walters

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” – 1 Peter 3:15

I had a zillion Bible and theological questions when I became a serious, baptized, born-again Christian back in 2001.

At age 47 I was a blank slate when it came to Jesus.  Thankfully, God put some great people close to me early on – Russ Blowers, Dave Faust, George Bebawi, John Samples – who could field any question.  I needed answers and definitions and in that season of my life, for better or worse, I was blessed with time to read the Bible.

And I mean, I read all of it.  Genesis to Revelation.  I cheated just a bit skimming some of the repetitive sections in Deuteronomy and Chronicles, and I didn’t always read absolutely every name or place in every chapter.  I discovered that reading Psalms – in order, en masse – was counterproductive.  Better to take them one-at-a-time; better to pray over them, better to let them soak in, better to pray them to God as you go. Slowly.

Anyhow, Russ – who died 12 years ago this past weekend, Nov. 10, 2007 – loved people and taught me to see chaos in the world not as punishment but as evidence of a fallen world, hence the need for Christ, hence the hope of eternal joy.

Dave, the church pastor who baptized me, taught my first “Bible study” and suddenly this “old book” (that’s what I used to call it) that made no sense to me earlier in life came vibrantly alive.  I met God and Jesus on its pages.  The Spirit turned out to be no joke.  Life’s moment-by-moment “reality” shifted to solid reliance on eternal truth.

George – good grief, where would I be without George Bebawi? – laughed when I asked him early on, “Why was evil allowed to enter the Garden of Eden?”  “Bob, it is a story” he answered in jovial assuredness.  That response threw me at the time but when we realize, unquestionably, that God communicates in stories, it was a perfect answer. I learned to focus less on Satan, sin, and the snake and more on the truth of the story: that God is righteous but gives His created beings freedom to love Him or not.

Why?  God is good and God is love, but love cannot be coerced.  Neither can it be defined.  When we define love, we lose it because we have given it limits.  Neither God nor love has limits. I wrote recently that love is never a list but that truly divine and sacrificial love allows us to join God’s grace, obedience, and example that we see in Christ.  Jesus is the model for God’s perfection of humanity.  Our joy is chasing it.

John Samples – pastor, friend, counselor, and encourager – has trusted me with teaching his Bible study class and standing in a small pulpit for him, preaching Christ.

All this is to say that, more than what we will ever “know,” it is our relationships that magnify a walk with Christ, just as they illuminate the eternal community within the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, Spirit.  In our relationships we taste, briefly, the obedience, grace, love, and glory of Kingdom life.  It is real, though I cannot – and have learned that I do not need to – define it beyond the great peace and hope of knowing Jesus.

Yes, learn about the Bible, the Church, history, tradition, and 2,000 years of human intellectual and spiritual investment that tells us when we know Jesus, we know truth exists.  But I’ve learned that the reason for my faith is not what I know.

The reason for my faith resides in the relationships my faith has created.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that 1 Peter 3:15 (above), says to give an answer for “your” faith; not the faith of others around you … that’s the Spirit’s job.
Monday, November 4, 2019

677 - Let's Do This


Spirituality Column #677
November 5, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Let’s Do This
By Bob Walters

"Jesus never asked anyone to form a church, ordain priests, develop elaborate rituals and institutional cultures, and splinter into denominations.  His two great requests were that we 'love one another as I have loved you' and that we share bread and wine together as an open channel of that interabiding love." - Cynthia Bourgeault.

That quote/meme showed up on my Facebook feed recently and I thought, “Hey, true enough.”  We do tend to complicate and encumber our simple faith in Jesus with a great many earthly and “un-requested” human structures and rules.

And Lord, we do love structures and rules.  Then I looked at it again thought, “Uh-oh.”  Am I alone or do you see the problem, too?  What’s up with “requests”?

I couldn’t resist and immediately posted this Fb reply: “So true … so simple … but those are commands, not requests.  John 13:34, 1 Cor. 11:25, RSV.  We call it ‘Maundy’ Thursday because it means ‘mandate.’ As in … ‘do this …’ It’s not a negotiable.  Oops … sorry. Got carried away there.  But Jesus didn’t say ‘please.’”

There it is.  We are pretty crummy slaves of Christ if we think He is asking us for assent to His will and purpose.  Jesus wasn’t one for small talk or begging for approval.  Everywhere in the Bible He speaks, he speaks with authority.  And it is not just the authority of knowing His material, but the tacit Godly authority of, “This Is How It Is.”

Now, the miracle and mystery of Christian faith is that we have total freedom to accept or reject Christ.  We are not slaves by coercion; we make ourselves slaves because we see in Jesus not only God’s grace and glory, but we understand that His message is, if I may offer an apt, homemade summary of all Jesus’s teaching:

“Here is how divine things will go best for you. I speak the truth. I Am the Truth.”

We have no idea what the informal, cajoling, conversational Jesus might have sounded like, because we never see it in the Bible. At the wedding at Cana, He speaks in direct tones.  With Nicodemus in the night, He speaks of rebirth.  With the woman at the well, He speaks of living water and her own life.  With the Pharisees, he speaks in vexing parables revealing their failures before God. With Pilate, He is mostly silent.

What we never see is a request.  What we never read is, “Hey, do you agree with this?” or “Yeah, I see your point.”  Jesus is quite comfortable with His own counsel.

I’m aware modern culture hates the “S” word – slave.  But it’s appropriate here because in Christ or really even in the world, our greatest freedom is our freedom to choose that to which we will bind our love, our loyalty, our industry, and our faith.  If it is within my God-given freedom that I can choose to honor my fiercest obligations, then I’m happy to pledge my life to Christ regardless what you call it.  This is my identity.

So no, Jesus isn’t requesting that we “follow Him.”  Our life is on the line, period.

I Googled the quote’s author, Cynthia Bourgeault.  She is an Episcopal priest and expert on contemplative prayer.  That’s the “going deep” kind of prayer that plumbs our deepest consciousness rather than our superficial, on-the-fly reactions to the world.  I watched her “one-minute explanation” and was struck that she mentioned the Dualist “yin and yang” but not God, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit.  To me, that’s a problem.

Her sentiment about institutional religion bears merit but I can’t help noting the attendant irony of her station within the Episcopal Church and the absence of Christ.

Let’s just say that when it comes to Jesus, I’d rather do this, not that.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) loves history and tradition … but Jesus most of all.

Archives

Labels

Enter your email address to get updated about new content:

Popular Posts