loving our enemies

It is especially hard when one or more of our enemies used to be friends and even names the name of Jesus. But in following Jesus we’re called to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to do good to them.

I find that I have to forgive over and over again people for the wrongs done to me. When I do there comes a kind of release to live well in God’s will. But before that there is struggle and bondage, and surely sin. I am lashing out, or perhaps just deeply hurt.

But there is no escape. And this is the way of following Jesus. Of being “perfect” as our heavenly Father is perfect, merciful in the same way he is. It must become a way of life for us.

Sometimes you simply have to do something for the heart to follow. We rightly say with Jesus that it is out of our hearts that evil thoughts come, as well as the words we speak. But when I’m repenting of a wrong attitude, I find that as I begin to pray for someone, I experience a kind of release. I pray for their well being. Seeking to love them, while under no illusions that I am in any way their friend. Yet I’m to love them as if they were a friend. I’m not to hold anything against them.

Yes, it is written his commands are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. And yet it is the way of the cross. Jesus didn’t find the will of the Father easy for him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Of course what he was facing as well as doing was unique. But we’re to share in his sufferings. I think the point of the word in 1 John 5 is that by faith we can obey God’s commands, that they don’t weigh us down in the sense of us not being able to do them. Even when they go against the grain and cut right across the heart.

Loving one’s enemies means being willing to befriend them. And wanting reconciliation through God’s reconciliation in Jesus. It is a part of our following Jesus.

And so we take the way of the cross in following Jesus. We are weak in him, so that his strength might be at work in and through us. Together in Jesus for the world.

 

 

out of one’s comfort zone

There is no doubt that we all like to get into some kind of zone, for most of us a routine that is to our liking. And we want life to go our way so to speak, relationships well, health of loved ones and ourselves well. And the better everything is doing in our world and beyond, the more comforting and comfortable it is.

But when Jesus calls us to come follow, he bids us come and die (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). Invariably we are taken out of our comfort zone, and put into a place in which our only hope and prayer is the Lord and to the Lord himself. Sometimes it seems like we’re just barely holding on, not so much to our faith, but more like to life itself. Of course all actually does depend on the Lord, our faith included. Even though in the mix of life, God has made us interdependent on each other in Jesus, as well.

God does comfort us in the uncomfortable places. That we might comfort others with that same comfort (2 Corinthians 1). But we will time and time again find ourselves up against it, sometimes nearly lost, or at a loss, clinging on for dear life to the faith we have. Looking to the Lord anew and afresh for what only he can give us.

I don’t like discomfort. But what’s the alternative? There is only one way in following Jesus in this life, and it’s the way of the cross. Death to self, and life to God. That is essentially what it means to be in Christ, baptized into him, into his death, burial, and indeed- resurrection. Only in this way do we experience his life. Surely we can say that to the degree we enter into this reality in our experience, to that extent we do experience his resurrection life. In the words of Paul:

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Philippians 3:10

God, Help me today to embrace my cross, the way in and through Jesus. In all the down to earth ways needed, let me not hesitate. But follow him, come what may. Give me discernment in that direction together with others in Jesus. For your love and glory to be known. Amen.

 

following wisdom

While to search out a matter is the glory of kings (Proverbs 25:2), we all too often can fall prey to our own wisdom in doing so. Our own habits ingrained in us from years of practice.

The problem oftentimes in my own life, I think, is that I’ve followed my own wisdom, or depended on it, rather than seeking God’s wisdom, really finding it, and holding on to it, putting it into practice.

God’s wisdom actually covers all of life. When we ask God for it, he will give it, but we have to be open to receiving it. We have to look for it, and then we’ll begin to catch glimpses of it, or see it. And what ends up being just as important: we’ll need to begin to put it into practice. Over and over again. Which also means we’ll have to set aside our own way of doing things, our own way of solving the problem, our own wisdom.

This indeed will involve a new orientation of life, but it is part and parcel of the way of wisdom for us. It is found in Jesus who is the way, as well as wisdom to us. A wisdom we pursue in our lives, and together with others in Jesus in the way of Jesus for the world.

born in weakness

The circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth were profoundly humbling, as is well known. And yet surrounded by glory, to be sure. Jesus was indeed born in weakness, a sign of what was to follow. (Luke and Matthew’s accounts.)

Who likes weakness? And yet from start to finish that is the way of Jesus, from his birth to his death. And lived out now in him by the Spirit. It is the new way of being human in the face of the old. A kingdom of serving rather than lording it over others. It is the way of the cross, the way of obedience out of love. Period.

From that comes God’s answer. Resurrection. Vindication. Salvation. All in Jesus who made this way for us. By faith we follow in this salvation. Together for the world. But in the way of Jesus. Together in weakness.

Yes, our precious Savior was a baby boy. Born like all the rest of us, though unique in his conception and person. But just as human as you and I. What a wonderful gift from our Father! A gift for the world.

We in him are all bearers of that gift. Individually and together. In weakness that the world might know God’s strength and saving reign in and through Jesus.

Mary’s Song

Mary’s Song, called the Magnificat, is political in nature, as she rejoices over God’s move in history, even through her. She was looking forward to nothing less than the coming of God’s kingdom in and through her son. The fulfillment of the promises in scripture. A kingdom destined to rule over the entire earth forever.

Mary lived during hard times. Many Jews had come home, in fact temple worship had been established, Herod the Great took* the title, “King of the Jews.” But essentially the promises surrounding the return had yet to be fulfilled. Israel in a true sense was still in exile, under the heavy arm of the Roman empire, subject to heavy taxation. Yet living in some freedom. But awaiting God’s promise of the coming Messiah.

Now at last, Mary had received the news that she was to be the bearer of the promised one. And her soul breaks out in song:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

From the beginning until now, while Messiah has come, it has not been like anyone supposed, surely including Mary. But her words, politically charged in terms of God’s kingdom bringing in shalom, remain important and appropriate for us to understand what the good news that Jesus is the Messiah means to and for the world.

Mary learns that the way of Jesus is not the way of the sword, nor is it the way of living faithfully according to Torah**. In his coming was a fulfillment that no one had dreamed of. Yes, found in scripture but not expected in his day, as we can see from the narrative in the gospels. Indeed a sword would pierce deeply into Mary’s soul, as was prophesied to her. Jesus’ way was the way of the cross.

It is through the church that God puts the authorities and powers on notice that a new day has come and that their days are numbered. And it is the church faithfully being the church with all that means from scripture, which accomplishes this. Actually God at work through the church to do this.

I don’t see an overt kind of activity by the church to accomplish this. We know its completion happens, or better put, the resolution, when Jesus reappears. But in the church as the light of the world and the salt of the earth through Jesus, the world is to be impacted now. We are those in the world, but not of it. Not only in terms of a personal relationship with God through Jesus. But also as those who are not to be part of the world’s system. If there are any Daniel’s today, I take it they are likely few and far between.

Indeed we are called to mind our own business, work hard with our hands, so that our daily lives may win the respect of outsiders. Always being ready to give an answer to anyone who asks us to give a reason for the hope we have, doing so with gentleness and respect. Caring for the poor, oppressed and bereft.

As we live out this witness faithfully before the world, showing the way in Jesus, God is at work. In grace, salvation and judgment. Justice with mercy are characteristics of God’s kingdom come in Jesus.

Anything less than this is not the full gospel of King Jesus.

See The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus, by Scot McKnight.

*Not Davidic of course, but provisional under Rome.

**As did the Pharisees. Jesus didn’t violate Torah. Its intent was fulfilled in him. In his identity and life (which includes his death and resurrection, and what follows after). See Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way

Eugene Peterson on Jesus: our way to God and God’s way to us

The way we come to God is the same way that God comes to us. God comes to us in Jesus; we come to God in Jesus. It is the same way, the Jesus way. God comes to us in Jesus speaking the words of salvation, healing our infirmities, promising the Holy Spirit, teaching us how to live in the kingdom of God. It is in and through this same Jesus that we pray to and believe, hear and obey, love and praise God. Jesus is the way God comes to us. Jesus is the way we come to God. “The way up and the way down is the same way.”*

Jesus is the way of salvation. We follow his way. Jesus is the way of eternal life. We follow his way. The way Jesus does it is the way we do it. Jesus is the way we come to God. Period. End of discussion.

And Jesus is the way God comes to us. On earth, Jesus is the way of faith and obedience and prayer–to God. From heaven, Jesus is the way of God’s revelation, God’s salvation, God’s blessing–to us.

Everything we need to know of God comes by way of Jesus. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory” (John 1:14 RSV). St. John’s Gospel, carefully and in a most leisurely way–”unresting, unhasting, and silent as light”** tells us the story, all the operations of the Holy Trinity revealed to us in Jesus, the Christ.

Several decades ago Charles Sheldon wrote a book that was widely read, What Would Jesus Do? Good question, But if another question is not given equal billing alongside it, it yields answers that are only a half-truth. We must also ask, What is God doing? Jesus tells us what to do; at the same time he tells us what God is doing. Jesus is God in action. Jesus is God speaking. Jesus is God touching lepers. Jesus is God forgiving a condemned and dying criminal and an adulterous woman hounded by men holding rocks and poised to kill her. Jesus is God blessing children. Jesus is God giving sight to Bartimaeus, life to Lazarus. Jesus is God calling down judgment on religious posturing. Jesus is God weeping over Jerusalem.

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus is the way we come to God. Jesus is the way God comes to us. And not first one and then the other but both at the same time. Not God’s way to us on Sundays and our way to God on weekdays. It is a two-lane road. Much mischief has been perpetrated in the Christian community by not keeping both lanes open. The road up and the road down are the same road.

Psalm 84 speaks of men and women “in whose hearts are the highways to Zion.” We know something about highways and we know what happens when an accident blocks the lane we are in. We sit there stuck, while the cars on the other side of the road are free to drive home, or to work, or to the mountains to ski, or to the ocean to surf and swim. It is not enough to have a single lane. We require a highway with the traffic going both ways–Jesus. Our way to God. God’s way to us.

Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way, 37-39.

*”Heraclitus, the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher” from Charles H. Kahn, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1979), p. 74.

**”From the hymn by Walter Chalmers Smith, “”Immortal, Invisible, God only Wise,” The Hymnbook (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Publishing Co., 1955), p. 82.

going slow

I have a job which at certain points is rather hectic. I have to watch that I don’t carry that spirit over into much of life, or even part of it.

I like where I can to go slow.

You might gather that, as I think it’s part of a carryover in how I’ve been blogging. I think shorter often is better, though not necessarily so.

I’m not too interested in blogging anymore. I don’t care for theological debates, though some of that is inevitable. And not all of it am I averse to, especially if we can do so in a good spirit, hearing each other out. I find it rather lonely with little interaction. There are good places to go for edifying interaction online. And in the real world as well.

I guess what keeps me going is the love to read and write. And the conviction that words and thoughts are quite important and foundational to life. If that were not so, would God have given us the written word?

In the meantime I’ll go it slow. Hopefully to find my way in the Jesus way. I’m kind of lost right now. Not in regard to the Jesus way, but my own way on it.

heaven-bent

Often the term hell-bent is used to express determination to get something done. With the idea that nothing will get in the way. Steely resolve.

The Jesus way is one of being heaven-bent. Following the way of Jesus in loving and praying for our enemies, turning the other cheek after being struck, going the second mile after being asked to go one mile. Being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect is set in that context.

This is not something we come up with by simply reading scripture. We must read the gospels and be led by the Spirit.

What is our demeanor? Are we growing to become more and more like our Master, the one we profess to follow? Do we love to the end? Is our love active and proactive? Are we thinking about the good we can do, and doing it?

What marks us, marks our lives? I hope it’s the mark of the Lamb of God, that we too are sheep in that way, the way of the cross. Even though all hell rages against us. Knowing that in the end heaven wins. And it begins to win even here and now through us – in and through Jesus.

love in Jesus wins

Love wins in Jesus. This is what we in Jesus are to live out in the world. No matter what else is true, if love is not in who we are and what we do, it is of no value in God’s eyes.

Fairly regularly I repeat and want to do so all the more, the “Jesus Creed” from Mark 12:29-31 and along with that the Lord’s/Our Father Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13, during the course of a day. These help center me on God and his priorities for us in and through Jesus. The centrality of loving God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves, along with praying for God’s honor and kingdom along with our needs in this world.

Love in Jesus wins. No matter what the barrier it can and in our eyes indeed should be broken down. Barriers are due to sin, and broken relationships. God in Christ brings reconciliation of humankind to God, to each other, and to creation.

But it is only through love, even love for our enemies in and through Jesus, which means the way of Jesus for us, the way of the cross. That love and only that love wins in God working out his will in the world in the sphere of his kingdom.

Of course God’s kingdom in Jesus is active in all sorts of ways. And Jesus is a Lion (the Revelation) no less, not tame (C.S. Lewis). Judgment does come at times from God. But it is in Jesus and in the way of Jesus in which we are to live in this life. A way that is marked by love. In Jesus for the world. And through Jesus that love indeed wins, beginning now.

different cultures

Sometimes one can be lost or confounded, either not knowing or misunderstanding due to the different culture they are in. There are many cultures at various levels. Some on what we might call macro levels representing people groups such as American natives, and others on micro levels within those groups, such as the academics. Each people group for the most part is likely to have some of the same subgroups such as the formally educated, and those who are not.

I think it helps us immensely to understand the difference in these cultures so that we won’t be lost, and perhaps may even be able to contribute something. To those who don’t know the Lord, sharing our faith in him, for example. For those in academic pursuit, learning to appreciate what they’re about so we can learn from them, and perhaps join in, in our limited way.

Paul said he became all things to all people that he might win to Christ as many as possible. Paul was willing to identify with them and their way of life as long as while doing so, he was able to follow Christ. In fact this was a part of his following the Lord, to better understand people. So that he could identify with them as fully as possible, even as Jesus fully identified with humans in the incarnation, and with those he was sent to.

We often can misunderstand or take something personally when it has little or nothing to do with us, but is simply due to the culture we’re interacting with. I like to interact a bit with academics, to take one example from my own life. But I’m not an academic. So I need to remember that. I still want to participate in it, acknowledging my own limitations, and not expecting to be received on a level with them. After all, they’ve read the books (and journals). I haven’t.

We all have our place, and it is unique. In that sense each of us lives within a distinct culture. One does well not to measure others by themselves, as we read elsewhere. However the one culture we are to become steeped in is what might be called the Jesus culture. Yes, we each have our distinct place or uniqueness in that. But that is the culture in which we’re to grow and live. A culture which is inclusive in the sense of reaching out and inviting in all others. As we accept them in love unconditionally. Learning to understand and appreciate their worlds, so that they might come to understand and enter the way in Jesus.