An Unexpected Meditation – Bible Journey Day 17

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” A sign was fastened to the cross above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:34-43 NLT)

I know, I know. I’m a terrible blogger. I plan to step off for a couple of days, and next thing you know, it has been a month since my last blog and it took an electronic crowbar to pry me off my tail and put my feet back on the trail. Thank you, you-know-who!

Well, here I am! And, ironically, I used today’s text as the anchor for last Sunday’s communion meditation. I love offering the communion meditation more than just about anything else. It requires a kind of focus and prayer that I might otherwise never practice — to try and help the gathered people see the multitude of witnesses and the joy of heaven surrounding us as we share in the Supper. I had a little help from my friend Josh Graves to get this one started; you may judge whether I served our Lord well. So, without further ado, lock arms with me again (I might need dragging from time to time) as we embark once more on this Bible Journey.

Right now, I’m not sure where some of you are at in your spiritual walk. I know some of you are on fire with faith and God is closer to you than the breath in your lungs. And I know some of you have been walking the path for a long time, and God is your steady companion, trusted like the foundation of your life. And some of you, some of us, aren’t quite sure why we even got up this morning. Things have calmed down enough in our Sunday gathering right now that you might be asking yourself, “What in the world am I doing here?” You’ve been walking in the wilderness, and there’s just mess and wreckage and grief all around you, and what you’re really wondering is if God can take your life and the mess you’ve made or your complacency or your hard heart or your grief, and redeem it and make something new and good and holy. Does He care, and is He capable?

This bread reminds us of the body of Jesus Christ, the one who healed the hopeless, forgave the foolish, and put broken lives back together one piece and one day at a time. As you share this bread, remember the one who said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and loaded down, and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The one who said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Is he capable? Oh yes, he’s capable. But does He care? Maybe he only cares about people who have it all together, who know their Bibles backwards and forwards, who haven’t missed church in recorded history. Maybe. But as you share this cup, this reminder of the blood of Jesus Christ, remember this: on the cross, whipped and nailed and crowned with thorns, watched by his mother, innocent of any crime, this Jesus said some things to his abusers. Think about it: what would you say to people who were killing you and making fun of you while it was happening?

Yeah, me too, but not this Jesus. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And when he saw his helpless mother, about to be hopeless and voiceless, a widow without a firstborn in a patriarchal society, he called on one of his friends to care for her. And when a nearby criminal heard how this Jesus spoke, gave Him glory, and asked for hope, Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Is he capable? Does he care? Oh yes… remember that as we pray.

Don’t Fence Me In!

Just poking my head in to remind you RSS folks that I exist — not that I’ve got much to say these days! I’m looking forward to getting back to writing, though!

While I’m off treading the boards, check out these two great blogs!

Tim Archer wrestling with a fence

My babyluv venting about arrogant people

 

keep your feet on the path and your eyes on the horizon!

nick

“We Will Miss You” – Doug Young

In lieu of my own writing, allow me once again to pass along a recommendation.

Check out my friend Doug Young’s blog on Christian leadership and holding to essentials. It is entitled, “We Will Miss You!“

have a great week, and I’ll be back and better than ever on November 1.

in HIS love,
nick

Journey on Short Hiatus

Good morning, and I’m sorry!

I just realized this morning that I forgot to tell my three avid, passionate readers that the telling of my Bible Journey would be on a short hiatus until November. Between Holly Hill’s Men’s Retreat (our congregation retreats more than the French army, but that’s a whole different issue), stage managing and acting in the local production of Jekyll and Hyde, and various and sundry other obligations, my writing time has been severely curtailed.

In the meantime, drop by my friend Jennifer Gerhardt’s blog and read Submission is Empowering — it will bless your day!

Thank you for your patience, and look for Bible Journey Day 17 on November 1st!

in HIS love,
nick

If We Said We Were Blind…? Bible Journey Day 16

Bible Journey – Day 16

If We Said We Were Blind…?

Isaiah 34-43

I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way;

I will guide them down paths they have never traveled.

I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,

and level out the rough ground.

This is what I will do for them.

I will not abandon them.

(Isa 42:16 NET.)

In Isaiah 42, we meet perhaps the most intriguing character in the Hebrew Scriptures: the mysterious servant of YHWH. Somewhere around my trainwreck of an office is a printed copy of this essay by NT Wright on Jesus and the Servant of YHWH – maybe I should have read it before writing this? Maybe not; I’m not doing commentary here, but more trying to share the story of this year-long journey. (I hope my Constant Readers don’t mind my weird little asides!)

I don’t know what’s going on in my head right now, but I have figured this much out: I am bloody clueless when it comes to being holy. I might talk a good game, but I’m a wreck inside. Patrick’s helping me learn to live out loud, but it is pretty embarrassing when you’re as blind as I am.

Then a grace note rings out: in the midst of this glorious, perplexing introduction of the Servant of YHWH, and the dramatic depiction of what the Servant and YHWH will be doing together, is this tender description of what they will do for the blind.

I don’t want to be blind. I’m not proud of it. I fight it! But He will not abandon me, and that is enough.

in HIS love,

nick

The Foolishness of Prodigality – Bible Journey Day 15

Bible Journey – Day 15

The Foolishness of Prodigality

Proverbs 24:23-26:16

Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control

(Pro 25:28 NRSV)

I think more hiring committees and human resource (wow, how I hate that phrase) managers would succeed in their endeavors if they’d read Proverbs – especially this section! Listen to some of these!

Like tying a stone in a sling,

so is giving honor to a fool.

Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard,

so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

Like an archer who wounds at random,

so is the one who hires a fool or hires any passer-by.

Like a dog that returns to its vomit,

so a fool repeats his folly.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?

There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!

A lion in the streets!”

Like a door that turns on its hinges,

so a sluggard turns on his bed.

(Pro 26:8-14 NET.)

But my favorite from this section has to be the one quoted at the beginning. What a vivid image – talk to any mental health professional or substance abuse counselor, and they could go on for hours telling stories of how people have destroyed their lives just like a population tearing down its own walls and letting itself be pillaged by roving enemies. One such professional has told me that he wished it was legal to make pre-teens and teenagers sit in on therapy sessions, so that they could see and hear first-hand the wreckage and disaster created by what began as “the cool thing to do.”

in HIS love,

nick

A Different Kind of Covenant – Bible Journey Day 14

Bible Journey – Day 14

A Different Kind of Covenant

Hebrews 8-9

“Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. “It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers…

When he speaks of a new covenant, he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear. Now the first covenant, in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary.

(Heb 8:8-9; 8:13-9:1 NET.)

Okay, I could get in trouble for this one, but I might as well be as brave as my friends (and erstwhile mentors, whether they know it or not!) Patrick and Keith.

Hebrews 8-9 is some of the most brilliant exposition ever written of the meaning of the coming of the Christ in light of the whole story of Israel. It’s offensive to religious people and just plain dumb to the non-religious and the pagan. This gospel is not about going to the right place and doing the right set of stuff. It is about dedication to the cause of a guy that looks like a total failure – a joke!

Every other religion has detailed instructions for how to worship.

The Christian Scriptures don’t even describe an entire worship assembly!

The world wants a hero: a good-looking, strong, charismatic person who sails to the top of all the popularity structures! Power, Fame, Sexuality – if you can win at all those games, the world will worship you.

The Christ died the most shameful death imaginable – naked public execution – slaughtered by the most powerful, popular, sexually attractive person in the Greco-Roman world, the mighty Caesar. His own friends abandoned him. No monuments were built to him. He was celibate and quite possibly plain or even ugly (Check Isaiah 53).

His commands? Follow me. Live like me. Die like me. Love like me. KNOW me. In Him, King and Kingdom are perfectly united — where He is, the Kingdom is. This is a different kind of religion – not based on a checklist of right doctrines or riding the coattails of a powerful icon. Rather, it is about believing – against everything your gut says – that this one man knew what He was talking about and that his way of living and dying is the real way to live. TRUST him. Defect from serving yourself and the rulers and systems of this world, pledge your loyalty to Him, and then start DOING it.

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If we die with Him, we’ll be raised like Him.

This is a different kind of covenant, and I’m not fighting about the old kind anymore.

in HIS love,

nick

Ironic Praise and Jesus’ Memory – Bible Journey Day 13

Bible Journey – Day 13

Ironic Praise and Jesus’ Memory

Lk 22:63-23:31

A great number of the people followed him, among them women who were mourning and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For this is certain: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’

(Luk 23:27-29 NET.)

Luke narrates an amazing scene in Luke 11 – a woman shouts out a benediction to the rabbi! Ironically (for many in Christian traditions), Jesus doesn’t tell her to shut up and go home where she belongs! Surely some of the men in the crowd would have thought that the appropriate reaction, but instead the rabbi interacts with her, teaches her, reorients her towards the kingdom, and eventually remembers her words at the most amazing time.

She says, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” Jesus has taught the crowds how to pray, he’s been casting out demons, and helping them see that he is their only real hope against the evil one. Her heart, full of passionate thanksgiving, bursts forth with this benediction – seemingly the right response for the Messiah or even just a prophet, right?

You can almost even hear Him say, “Even the Gentiles give birth and nurse!” You see, her natural worldly praise is no longer appropriate in a kingdom born from above. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” I think Luke (and Jesus) intend us to remember this earlier scene when we come to the day Jesus dies, the day Jesus ‘comforts’ the mourning women with this cryptic benediction. “If they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry” indeed? But still, now and always, “Blessed is the one who hears the word of God and obeys it.”

in HIS love,

nick

Salvation Belongs to our God! Bible Journey Day 12

Bible Journey – Day 12

Salvation Belongs to our God!

Isaiah 24-33

The LORD who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain.

At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine —

tender meat and choicest wine. On this mountain he will swallow up

the shroud that is over all the peoples,

the woven covering that is over all the nations; he will swallow up death permanently.

The sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from every face,

and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.

Indeed, the LORD has announced it! At that time they will say,

“Look, here is our God!

We waited for him and he delivered us.

Here is the LORD! We waited for him.

Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”

(Isa 25:6-9 NET.)

I don’t really have any commentary for this. It’s just too wonderful to waste my words on. If you must have something, here are a few things that stick out for me:

• God parties with old wine.
• God parties with his people.
• God’s battle is with death, and when it’s gone? Oh WOW how awesome our life will be!

In HIS love,

nick

The Intoxication of Passion – Bible Journey Day 11

Bible Journey – Day 11

The Intoxication of Passion

Proverbs 22:17-24:22

Do not make friends with an angry person, and do not associate with a wrathful person, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

(Pro 22:24-25 NET.)

You ever have that one friend whose social parameters were a little bit… different from the rest of the world? Maybe they were just oblivious to the stares of bystanders? Class clowns and divas seem to have this attribute in spades, and there is something intoxicating about being their friend. As long as you are not on the receiving end of the torrent of craziness, there’s something impressive and awe-inspiring about watching a completely unselfconscious tirade. It gets your adrenaline going, and you just can’t believe what you’re seeing! WOW!

But the wisdom of Solomon calls us back from intoxication to a sober-minded reflection. Why do you think it is so dangerous to be friends with an angry person? What kind of snare is Solomon warning against?

In HIS love,

nick