Nathanael said to him . . .
- From John 1
Nathanael has a reputation. Most serious Bible students are probably familiar with the verse that includes "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And in the minds of most people, I would bet their picture of this, is Nathanael rising to his feet, stoically, sternly, with a furrow across his brow and disdain in his voice: "Hmmmph! Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
You know . . . like a guy wearing robes in front of the Church, with several doctoral degrees. White hair, deep, booming voice.
But like all the Apostles, Nathanael was blue collar. He was not educated. And when I read this passage, I see something more like one of my funny, snarky uncles. Nathanael grinned, shrugged and said "Oh really? As if anything good came out of Nazareth!" And then the bystanders all joined in some hearty laughter.
Nathanael had a sense of humor. He loved sarcasm and irony. He was quick with his wit, and kept people on the edge of their seats. "What's he going to say next?"
But the problem is, he was about to engage in three years wandering around with the Son of God, and King of Kings. Wasn't Jesus serious all the time, like a Vulcan? Imagine Nathanael mouthing off at almost everything that came from Jesus' mouth, or one of the others! He got on the nerves of some of them, especially Judas. "Why don't you get serious?! Don't you have any dignity? You're making us look bad!"
Jesus just smiled and moved on.
And often, Jesus, too, laughed at Nathanael's clever rejoinders!
The Scribes and Pharisees found Nathanael proof positive that the Jesus Movement was a hoax, a passing fad. They couldn't stand his irreverence, and his lack of class. A real holy man would not put up with it.
Yes . . . God chooses people that drive the educated class crazy.
God has a sense of humor.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Monday, January 8, 2018
First, Master Yourself
“All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
- From 1 Corinthians 6
The law was a very good thing. It still is a good thing. We all prefer to live by some code. It gives our lives structure. It takes out some of the unpredictability (research shows that humans generally do not like surprises).
But it is hard to feel free when you're under the law, and God wants us free.
Think about someone you know, that is always stressing about details; doting over this or that; always asking questions, checking up on others; parenting, where parenting is not appropriate. Does that person seem particularly happy to you?
Look at a person's language. Do they use the word "have to" a lot? Do they say "I have to be at work at 8:00"? This is a sort of tip-off that they are under the law, to some degree. Rather, they should say "My work starts at 8:00". You don't have to do anything. If you're a Christian, especially, please consider talking like it. Our language says a lot.
But if you're free, it means you can choose to be holy. You can choose to serve. And when it's a choice, it is something you can do eagerly.
The passage today gives emphasis to sexual purity. It is something that has been lost in our generation. Even Christians have caved on this one. Paul says that you can have mastery over your body. Sexual sins are a base giving-in, and a failure to keep oneself focused on truly important things. The sexual act is (usually) a highly selfish thing. Would we want to do it, if it didn't feel so good?
And if we can master that one, perhaps we are on our way to mastering other sinful attitudes and actions. Place the most fundamental human drive into its proper context, and believe it or not, you have taken a couple giant steps to true freedom.
- From 1 Corinthians 6
The law was a very good thing. It still is a good thing. We all prefer to live by some code. It gives our lives structure. It takes out some of the unpredictability (research shows that humans generally do not like surprises).
But it is hard to feel free when you're under the law, and God wants us free.
Think about someone you know, that is always stressing about details; doting over this or that; always asking questions, checking up on others; parenting, where parenting is not appropriate. Does that person seem particularly happy to you?
Look at a person's language. Do they use the word "have to" a lot? Do they say "I have to be at work at 8:00"? This is a sort of tip-off that they are under the law, to some degree. Rather, they should say "My work starts at 8:00". You don't have to do anything. If you're a Christian, especially, please consider talking like it. Our language says a lot.
But if you're free, it means you can choose to be holy. You can choose to serve. And when it's a choice, it is something you can do eagerly.
The passage today gives emphasis to sexual purity. It is something that has been lost in our generation. Even Christians have caved on this one. Paul says that you can have mastery over your body. Sexual sins are a base giving-in, and a failure to keep oneself focused on truly important things. The sexual act is (usually) a highly selfish thing. Would we want to do it, if it didn't feel so good?
And if we can master that one, perhaps we are on our way to mastering other sinful attitudes and actions. Place the most fundamental human drive into its proper context, and believe it or not, you have taken a couple giant steps to true freedom.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Voice
The Voice of the Lord . . .
- From Psalm 29
Epiphany. A New Beginning. A Light in the Darkness.
A light that is so bright, it should be impossible for us to sleep through it. Like the Star of Bethlehem, perhaps the light is moving, slowly, across the sky. We follow it all the more. We're afraid that if we stop, or slow down, it will pull away from us and we will lose it. We'll lose our opportunity to see the great light.
There's something else that permeates the darkness. For, the darkness is accompanied by a profound silence. The darkness is complete, and the silence is maddening. The light appears in the darkness. But also . . . a VOICE in the Silence.
Epiphany begins, and the first thing we notice is the Voice of the Lord.
With one Word from the LORD, everything comes into focus. God's thoughts are more real than we are.
And if we can continue, unmoved, after hearing God's voice, then we have some serious problems indeed.
What kind of a year will we have, if we commit to acting, once we've heard God's Voice?
How will we respond, if we choose not to sleep through the blinding Light of Christ?
Brother Keith Green's piercing song, from forty years ago, puts it all quite plainly.
The Voice of the LORD!
- From Psalm 29
Epiphany. A New Beginning. A Light in the Darkness.
A light that is so bright, it should be impossible for us to sleep through it. Like the Star of Bethlehem, perhaps the light is moving, slowly, across the sky. We follow it all the more. We're afraid that if we stop, or slow down, it will pull away from us and we will lose it. We'll lose our opportunity to see the great light.
There's something else that permeates the darkness. For, the darkness is accompanied by a profound silence. The darkness is complete, and the silence is maddening. The light appears in the darkness. But also . . . a VOICE in the Silence.
Epiphany begins, and the first thing we notice is the Voice of the Lord.
With one Word from the LORD, everything comes into focus. God's thoughts are more real than we are.
And if we can continue, unmoved, after hearing God's voice, then we have some serious problems indeed.
What kind of a year will we have, if we commit to acting, once we've heard God's Voice?
How will we respond, if we choose not to sleep through the blinding Light of Christ?
Brother Keith Green's piercing song, from forty years ago, puts it all quite plainly.
The Voice of the LORD!
Saturday, January 6, 2018
The Point
Arise, shine; for your light has come . . .
- From Isaiah 60
There's a lot about Isaiah, that I would like to study in depth. I need a better sense of his placement in history. What was going on around him? What were the conditions in Judah, at the time? (I'm thinking Israel was gone by then, and that Judah was the focus.)
I have read that he came from a wealthy family, and had the world at his fingertips . . . yet he became a prophet. And as a prophet, he had a reputation of being excessive, severe, a little off balance.
I have read that the Book of Isaiah may be read in two parts. In the first part, a God of vengeance and anger is presented. And Isaiah's tone matches it. But in the second part, we get all of the messianic promises. There is warmth, hope, and great joy foretold.
I need to study Isaiah, looking for those things.
God's mystery is revealed today, on the Day of Epiphany. An "epiphany" is a profound revealing. A sudden change comes over you, something happens in your life, and everything changes.
Everything did change, when Christ was born. And Epiphany is the day that the world realized it. Pagan kings and Wise Men traveled far, to see this wonder. They wanted to understand. The world went on about it's way. During the days of Christ's infancy, commerce continued. The poor languished and the rich got fat. Wars advanced here and there. There was relative silence in places like the British Isles, and the future North America.
But still, the world itself knew something was up. It would have been interesting to have lived during those weeks, somewhere on the other side of the world . . . just to see what it was like in far-off places. Because I am convinced that something had changed, and it was obvious.
In the midst of a Silent Night . . . a great light has come. Our path is no longer dark. There is a Way. There is a destination. There is a point to all of it . . . there always has been . . . except that now, we know what the point is.
And all the world is being drawn into that single, defining, essential, eternal, Point.
- From Isaiah 60
There's a lot about Isaiah, that I would like to study in depth. I need a better sense of his placement in history. What was going on around him? What were the conditions in Judah, at the time? (I'm thinking Israel was gone by then, and that Judah was the focus.)
I have read that he came from a wealthy family, and had the world at his fingertips . . . yet he became a prophet. And as a prophet, he had a reputation of being excessive, severe, a little off balance.
I have read that the Book of Isaiah may be read in two parts. In the first part, a God of vengeance and anger is presented. And Isaiah's tone matches it. But in the second part, we get all of the messianic promises. There is warmth, hope, and great joy foretold.
I need to study Isaiah, looking for those things.
God's mystery is revealed today, on the Day of Epiphany. An "epiphany" is a profound revealing. A sudden change comes over you, something happens in your life, and everything changes.
Everything did change, when Christ was born. And Epiphany is the day that the world realized it. Pagan kings and Wise Men traveled far, to see this wonder. They wanted to understand. The world went on about it's way. During the days of Christ's infancy, commerce continued. The poor languished and the rich got fat. Wars advanced here and there. There was relative silence in places like the British Isles, and the future North America.
But still, the world itself knew something was up. It would have been interesting to have lived during those weeks, somewhere on the other side of the world . . . just to see what it was like in far-off places. Because I am convinced that something had changed, and it was obvious.
In the midst of a Silent Night . . . a great light has come. Our path is no longer dark. There is a Way. There is a destination. There is a point to all of it . . . there always has been . . . except that now, we know what the point is.
And all the world is being drawn into that single, defining, essential, eternal, Point.
Friday, January 5, 2018
The Twelfth Day: Where is the Child?
"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? "
- From Matthew 2
It is the Twelfth Day. Now is the time to say . . . "We made it."
If you have been following the Twelve Day Journey, then perhaps by now you have a sense of the length of time that it takes. Twelve days is a long time. We're well into January, and 2018!
But for the Wise Men from the East, it was a journey that took weeks, even months.
When you present a nativity play on Christmas Eve, with a role for the Wise Men, you have cut the narrative way short. You get no sense at all, of the passage of time. You lose the sense that, once the baby has been born . . . it is time to seek the baby, even if it takes days . . . weeks . . . months . . . a lifetime.
Twelve Days seems a perfect length of time to practice seeking. Advent for waiting. Christmas for seeking. And tomorrow, the Epiphany, for finding.
It is a perfect length, because so few people last this long. The Christmas Eve service, just passed, in which I participated as the "Frankincense King," now seems a long time ago. I caught and got over a flu since then.
When Columbus made his first voyage across the Atlantic, there was constant pressure, for weeks, to turn around .There they were in the middle of nowhere, in the most terrifying conditions his sea-hardened men had ever faced. Yet their visionary leader gave the order to continue. But one day a bird appeared. And then a few days later, some wood, or bark, or grass, began to show up on the water's surface. And then eventually, land. Journeys are always attended with the words "Are we there yet?"
The true spirit of Christmas past, present, and future, is to make it a journey. And to keep moving forward, and to keep asking: "Where is the child?"
I am going to break protocol now and speak directly to the reader.
My first Twelve Days blog post this year had over 50 views. With each successive post, the readership dropped by a dozen or so. My most recent one had only eleven views, which is about average in this blog, when I do not link it to my Twelve Days Facebook page. I've clearly been droning on too much, and have not written much of interest.
2018 is the bicentennial of the beautiful carol: Silent Night. This milestone needs to be recognized and celebrated this year. It's going to take all year. Three points:
- From Matthew 2
It is the Twelfth Day. Now is the time to say . . . "We made it."
If you have been following the Twelve Day Journey, then perhaps by now you have a sense of the length of time that it takes. Twelve days is a long time. We're well into January, and 2018!
But for the Wise Men from the East, it was a journey that took weeks, even months.
When you present a nativity play on Christmas Eve, with a role for the Wise Men, you have cut the narrative way short. You get no sense at all, of the passage of time. You lose the sense that, once the baby has been born . . . it is time to seek the baby, even if it takes days . . . weeks . . . months . . . a lifetime.
Twelve Days seems a perfect length of time to practice seeking. Advent for waiting. Christmas for seeking. And tomorrow, the Epiphany, for finding.
It is a perfect length, because so few people last this long. The Christmas Eve service, just passed, in which I participated as the "Frankincense King," now seems a long time ago. I caught and got over a flu since then.
When Columbus made his first voyage across the Atlantic, there was constant pressure, for weeks, to turn around .There they were in the middle of nowhere, in the most terrifying conditions his sea-hardened men had ever faced. Yet their visionary leader gave the order to continue. But one day a bird appeared. And then a few days later, some wood, or bark, or grass, began to show up on the water's surface. And then eventually, land. Journeys are always attended with the words "Are we there yet?"
The true spirit of Christmas past, present, and future, is to make it a journey. And to keep moving forward, and to keep asking: "Where is the child?"
I am going to break protocol now and speak directly to the reader.
My first Twelve Days blog post this year had over 50 views. With each successive post, the readership dropped by a dozen or so. My most recent one had only eleven views, which is about average in this blog, when I do not link it to my Twelve Days Facebook page. I've clearly been droning on too much, and have not written much of interest.
2018 is the bicentennial of the beautiful carol: Silent Night. This milestone needs to be recognized and celebrated this year. It's going to take all year. Three points:
- I am volunteering my time and talents to make our Silent Night celebration worthy and momentous. Let Christmas Eve 2018 truly be a "silent night," globally. In the World Wars, as allied and axis troops stopped shelling each other on Christmas Eve, while all joined in singing the classic hymn, let war cease, at least for a few moments, this December 24th.
- I'm asking my readers, of the blog and of the Facebook groups, to help out by sharing some of your reflections of Christmas 2017. Please share three things that were great, in your Christmas this year, and then share something you want to do more of, or differently, next year. Let's start the year off with some dialogue.
- On the 5th, and 25th, of every month this year, starting January 25, I am going to set aside time for prayer and planning, for our 2018 Silent Night and a truer, deeper Christmas experience next year, one that . . . as the song says, will last the whole year through.
Where is the Child?
Merry Christmas, Everybody!
Thursday, January 4, 2018
The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Joy and Justice
...which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ ... that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
- From Ephesians 3
The demeanor of Christians should be something that would, typically, inspire passersby to ask: "Why the happy face?"
Joy to the World!
But really . . . why "joy"? What did the shepherds, the Wise Men, and all those that followed the star have, that we don't, that made them feel such "joy"? Because, it seems to me that "joy" is a special kind of "happy." There's a childlike thrill you get, when you're feeling "joy."
Real joy should be lasting joy. You should still be feeling it eleven days after you sang it, among the trappings of lights, carols, goodwill, and lots of other smiling faces.
When a child opens the very gift she had been asking for, and waiting for, for most of the year, you can see "joy" on her face.
For my entire childhood, I wanted one of those Matchbox cars service stations. Something like this. From about the age of 7, I asked Santa Claus for one. I reminded my parents, year after year, that this is what I wanted.
Now, my parents were (and are) wonderfully generous people. It seems they got me everything else I ever asked for, and more. But apparently they always had to make budgetary choices and for whatever reason, the service station never made the cut. When I became an adult, I began to playfully remind them of this every year. And then finally, when I was about 26, I received one for Christmas. It was perhaps one of my favorite gifts ever. I felt joy,
But joy is not all about getting material things. Not totally. But if you want some understanding of it, just recall one of those memories. Joy is something like that.
During the twelve days, we remove layers of God's plan. We don't don't do it as well as our medieval forbears did, but we're trying. We should be enhancing our understanding of what Christmas is all about, day after day. You really can't get Christmas fully, if you just cut it off on the 26th.
Paul writes to the Ephesians, something that sounds like "Hey . . . here it is. This is the great mystery. All of history, everything in the universe, hinges on this next piece of information. Are you ready for it? Here it comes - - - - God's gift is now offered to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews!"
And this should bring us great joy. It's why there is joy to the world!
Look at politics, perhaps the one topic that creates even more angst, more anger, more division, more stress, than religion! What's it all about?
Justice.
We just want fairness. We just want someone to notice us. To take care of us. To lift us up when we're down.
But we just want all of that compassion, justice, mercy, and love to be bestowed equally upon everybody. Therefore, we invented politics.
Is that not the ONE thing that drives us all, at some primordial level?
FAIRNESS!!
The great mystery of Christmas is that God has extended His love, His plan, His offer of eternal life, to everybody!
And if we all have eternal life, well, what could be more fair?
I think we could stand a special day along the way, just to reflect on that.
- From Ephesians 3
The demeanor of Christians should be something that would, typically, inspire passersby to ask: "Why the happy face?"
Joy to the World!
But really . . . why "joy"? What did the shepherds, the Wise Men, and all those that followed the star have, that we don't, that made them feel such "joy"? Because, it seems to me that "joy" is a special kind of "happy." There's a childlike thrill you get, when you're feeling "joy."
Real joy should be lasting joy. You should still be feeling it eleven days after you sang it, among the trappings of lights, carols, goodwill, and lots of other smiling faces.
When a child opens the very gift she had been asking for, and waiting for, for most of the year, you can see "joy" on her face.
For my entire childhood, I wanted one of those Matchbox cars service stations. Something like this. From about the age of 7, I asked Santa Claus for one. I reminded my parents, year after year, that this is what I wanted.
Now, my parents were (and are) wonderfully generous people. It seems they got me everything else I ever asked for, and more. But apparently they always had to make budgetary choices and for whatever reason, the service station never made the cut. When I became an adult, I began to playfully remind them of this every year. And then finally, when I was about 26, I received one for Christmas. It was perhaps one of my favorite gifts ever. I felt joy,
But joy is not all about getting material things. Not totally. But if you want some understanding of it, just recall one of those memories. Joy is something like that.
During the twelve days, we remove layers of God's plan. We don't don't do it as well as our medieval forbears did, but we're trying. We should be enhancing our understanding of what Christmas is all about, day after day. You really can't get Christmas fully, if you just cut it off on the 26th.
Paul writes to the Ephesians, something that sounds like "Hey . . . here it is. This is the great mystery. All of history, everything in the universe, hinges on this next piece of information. Are you ready for it? Here it comes - - - - God's gift is now offered to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews!"
And this should bring us great joy. It's why there is joy to the world!
Look at politics, perhaps the one topic that creates even more angst, more anger, more division, more stress, than religion! What's it all about?
Justice.
We just want fairness. We just want someone to notice us. To take care of us. To lift us up when we're down.
But we just want all of that compassion, justice, mercy, and love to be bestowed equally upon everybody. Therefore, we invented politics.
Is that not the ONE thing that drives us all, at some primordial level?
FAIRNESS!!
The great mystery of Christmas is that God has extended His love, His plan, His offer of eternal life, to everybody!
And if we all have eternal life, well, what could be more fair?
I think we could stand a special day along the way, just to reflect on that.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
The Tenth Day of Christmas
He shall defend the needy among the people . . .
-From Psalm 72
The Direction of the Gifts
By the time you get to the Tenth Day of Christmas, in modern Western society, it is hard to find any of the trappings, or the symbols, of Christmas.
People are proudly proclaiming that they have taken down their Christmas decorations. Maybe they have even declared themselves "tired" of hearing carols.
Maybe this is one reason there are twelve days. How many have lasted this far into the journey? Have you?
Pastor Matt Hook, of Dexter United Methodist Church, will often begin his Christmas Eve sermon with the words: "We made it!" Because, the Advent season is one of waiting and preparation. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve is a crammed, busy, frantic period with a deadline that everybody scrambles to make. Well would we say "We made it!" At Christmas Eve, you can finally rest. At least, the stores are closed and you can't do any more shopping, anyway.
But there's more.
In the Twelve Days . . . by Day Ten . . . there's not much left. There aren't even any college bowl games left to watch. (Not counting the Championship Game and All-American games).
In Scripture, the focus has now made a turn to practical things. We look ahead to the visit of the Wise Men, and of the Epiphany. We look forward now, to the revealing of the King of Kings, and the Son of Man. He will deliver us from death. But what else will He do?
Our attention turns to the warm promise of protection and justice, for the poor. That's right. On Judgment Day, you'll be better off if you lived as a poor person, than a rich one.
God has given us the tools to solve all of the world's problems. It doesn't take many of us.
One feature of Day Ten, may be the updates from friends and family that have been vacationing. They're returning home now. They've had a great time.
But Christ will rescue the poor.
We have had ample feasts, lots of great parties, plenty of food.
But Jesus will deliver the poor from their distress.
We'll be upgrading our homes to newer, better, more modern stuff.
But the Lion of Judah will have pity on the poor and lowly.
Sorry, but I had to go there. There need not be any poor on earth. I believe that. The Good News is actually the Passive Aggressive News: If we won't solve poverty, Christ will.
Not the government. Not the UN. Not the schools and not the politicians.
You. And Me.
On the Tenth Day, our focus goes to Christ's mission: Part Two.
Defend the poor.
-From Psalm 72
The Direction of the Gifts
By the time you get to the Tenth Day of Christmas, in modern Western society, it is hard to find any of the trappings, or the symbols, of Christmas.
People are proudly proclaiming that they have taken down their Christmas decorations. Maybe they have even declared themselves "tired" of hearing carols.
Maybe this is one reason there are twelve days. How many have lasted this far into the journey? Have you?
Pastor Matt Hook, of Dexter United Methodist Church, will often begin his Christmas Eve sermon with the words: "We made it!" Because, the Advent season is one of waiting and preparation. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve is a crammed, busy, frantic period with a deadline that everybody scrambles to make. Well would we say "We made it!" At Christmas Eve, you can finally rest. At least, the stores are closed and you can't do any more shopping, anyway.
But there's more.
In the Twelve Days . . . by Day Ten . . . there's not much left. There aren't even any college bowl games left to watch. (Not counting the Championship Game and All-American games).
In Scripture, the focus has now made a turn to practical things. We look ahead to the visit of the Wise Men, and of the Epiphany. We look forward now, to the revealing of the King of Kings, and the Son of Man. He will deliver us from death. But what else will He do?
Our attention turns to the warm promise of protection and justice, for the poor. That's right. On Judgment Day, you'll be better off if you lived as a poor person, than a rich one.
God has given us the tools to solve all of the world's problems. It doesn't take many of us.
One feature of Day Ten, may be the updates from friends and family that have been vacationing. They're returning home now. They've had a great time.
But Christ will rescue the poor.
We have had ample feasts, lots of great parties, plenty of food.
But Jesus will deliver the poor from their distress.
We'll be upgrading our homes to newer, better, more modern stuff.
But the Lion of Judah will have pity on the poor and lowly.
Sorry, but I had to go there. There need not be any poor on earth. I believe that. The Good News is actually the Passive Aggressive News: If we won't solve poverty, Christ will.
Not the government. Not the UN. Not the schools and not the politicians.
You. And Me.
On the Tenth Day, our focus goes to Christ's mission: Part Two.
Defend the poor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
