And The Journey Begins!

Dear Faith Family,   

"Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
(John 12:24)

For much of the global Church, today marks the beginning of the season of Lent. A season in which we fall with Jesus into death and rise with Jesus into life again and new. 

The first day of this journey of bright sadness is marked as Ash Wednesday. On this day, many traditions within the Church gather to consecrate themselves for the road ahead and the Lenten Rhythms by imposing ashes. The ashes remind us that we have our origin in dust, and from dust, we will return, by the absurd and gracious gift of Jesus' life, to a life full and forever. Ashes may be our end, but they are not the end. 

While it is not our tradition to impose ashes, it is our tradition to join with the saints around the world on this day, praying the "Litany of Penitence" as our first steps toward the grave and abundant life. We start our journey of Lent by sharing our need for God's grace and receiving grace upon grace in Jesus. 

Pray with and as the Church:

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another, 
and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, 
that we have sinned by our own fault 
in thought, word, and deed; 
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. 

We have not loved you with our whole heart, nor mind, nor strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. 
Have mercy on us, gracious Father. 

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Jesus served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ.
We have grieved your Holy Spirit. 
Have mercy on us, compassionate Father. 

We confess to you, Father, all our past unfaithfulness:
the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives. 
We confess to you, humble Father. 

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways,
and our exploitation of other people, 
We confess to you, self-giving Father. 

Our anger at our own frustration,
and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves, 
We confess to you, generous Father. 

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts,
and our dishonesty in daily life and work, 
We confess to you, just Father. 

Our negligence in prayer and worship,
and our failure to commend the faith that is in us, 
We confess to you, patient Father. 

We turn to you, Father, and away from the wrongs we have done: acknowledging our blindness to human need and suffering,
and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, 
We hold fast to you, always-present Father. 

Acknowledging false judgments, uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and prejudice and contempt toward those who are different from us, 
We turn to you, ever-chasing Father. 

Acknowledging our waste and pollution of your creation,
and our lack of concern for those who come after us, 
We hold fast to you, never-changing Father.

Restore us, good Father, and let your anger depart from us; 
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great. 

Bring to maturity the fruit of your salvation, 
That we may show forth your glory in the world. 

By the cross and passion of your Son our King and Friend, 
Bring us with all your saints into
the complete joy of his resurrection. 

Amen. 

Love you, faith family. God bless! 

Best To Be Prepared

Dear Faith Family,   

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, but whoever loves less his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
(John 12:23-25)

These are the words Jesus spoke not long after having transformed death into life eternal through the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Words spoken by Jesus after the crowds had sung their "Hosanna!" at his prophetic and meek arrival (John 12:12-18), but before they shouted "Crucify, crucify him!" (Luke 23:21). 

In other words, these words were spoken by Jesus on his way to the cross, to the paradoxically named "Good Friday," before those time-altering events of Easter morning. Words spoken by Jesus to those who had come a long way, "some Greeks" (John 12:20) to see him. Words spoken in preface not only to Jesus' death but first, to an invitation to follow where he was going: 

"If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also." (John 12:26) 

For most of the Western Church worldwide, the season of Lent begins a week from today. Lent is a journey of "bright sadness" that involves following Jesus to and through the cross, into the tomb, and up again into life eternal.

The spiritual journey of Lent is a downward movement, a choice to take Jesus up on his invitation to die with him, to let his death be our death so that we also might take up his life. "Great Lent," as one Orthodox scholar contends, "is a school of repentance to which every Christian must go every year," allowing us to experience (enter) the reality that "Death is no more! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave!" [1]

Yet, before we embark on such a journey, it would be wise of us to prepare. To ready our hearts, minds, souls, and wills for the days ahead through the words of Jesus spoken just before he entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Words spoken, as Jesus "was passing through" another biblically significant city, 

"He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich." (Luke 19:1-2)

We probably all know the story of Zacchaeus, that "wee-little man" who "climbed up into the sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see," only to be told by Jesus, "Zacchaeus, you come down, for I am going to your house today." Good luck getting that song out of your head now! 

Ironically enough, the final words of the Sunday School song were always sung with the teacher wagging their finger as if Jesus was scolding some overly energetic child who had ventured into the disobedient act of scaling the forbidden wood. I say ironic because, as we were reminded on Sunday, Jesus is actually the only one in the story who doesn't rebuke Zaachaeus but instead takes on the rebuke for him. 

"And when they [the crowd who'd moments before had been jeering at the treed traitor] saw it [Jesus rebuke-less rescue of Zacchaeus], they all grumbled [about Jesus], 'He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."
(Luke 19:7) 

In order for us not to get lost in Lent--lost through self-condemnation or self-righteousness or self-saving--we need to see the Jesus Zacchaeus saw that day. Jesus who sees us exposed, vulnerable, and condemned and who trades our condemnation for his. 

In order for the journey of Lent not to be just another ritual or new tradition but truly a journey through death to life whole and forever, today, we also need to be more like Zacchaeus, willing to give up our life to see Jesus and as a response to what Jesus has done and continues to do when we are facing the consequences of our sin. 

So, my friends, this week, let us prepare our hearts, minds, souls, and wills for the days ahead by meditating on a familiar story anew. May we be strengthened and sobered by humility, our own and Jesus'. 

Love you, faith family. God bless! 

Not The Path We'd Choose

Dear Faith Family,   

"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." 
(John 11:11)

Knowing how the story ends sometimes keeps us from epiphany in the middle. Like with the famed Psalm 23. With the Lord as our shepherd, we know we'll end up beside "waters of rest" as we're led on "right paths" to "dwell in the house of the Lord forever." And while we may not ignore the fact that the "right path" takes us straight "through the valley of the shadow of death," we certainly don't choose to dwell there. 

Perhaps because we naturally (and rightly!) seek and expect relief and comfort, rescue, and consolation from the Lord, we are prone to ponder their apparent fulfillment in both the Psalm and the nearly as famed story of Lazarus. Yet, as we discussed on Sunday, it is not the end of the story that provides the "awe ha." Instead, the revelation is found right smack in the middle. 

You might think it odd to connect Psalm 23 and the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus, but that is what John does in his Gospel. In John 10, Jesus reveals himself to be "the good shepherd" who knows and lays down his life for his sheep (10:10-18). Not long after this, one of his own, Lazarus, whom Jesus loved (11:3,5), falls ill (11:1). 

What a chance this is for Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to demonstrate just how good he truly is by coming to the aid of his dear and needy friend. Instead, Jesus, the one who does what no "hired hand" would do nor worthwhile shepherd could do, "stayed two days longer in the place where he was" before making his way to Bethany (11:6).

Don't you find it interesting, especially knowing how the story ends, just as Jesus apparently did (see 11:4), that he doesn't rescue his friends from the pain and suffering of death on the front end? It's not like Jesus needed to prove his power. After all, bringing people back from the dead isn't something new for Jesus (see Mark 5:21-43 & Luke 7:11-17), nor was healing them from a distance (John 4:46-54). So why another object lesson? Especially when Jesus' own resurrection just a few weeks later will make Lazarus' seem redundant? 

Perhaps Jesus, as he does in each of his "I AM" statements, desires to reveal something more than a literal interpretation. Perhaps, Jesus is offering more than mere comfort to his faith-filled, grieving in hope friend when he says to her and us,

"I AM the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."
(11:25-26)

Perhaps, like the psalmist, Jesus is revealing that the "right path" doesn't take us around death--whether physical (we all know that!), nor spiritual, emotional, circumstantial, relational, vocational, aspirational, etc.--but rather through death to life eternal now, and always:

"The Prince of life is ever the conqueror of death [all the "little deaths" too]. Not only is he this by and by in the resurrection on the last day;
he is this always.[1]

Jesus does something to death, not just at the end, but in all the ways death makes its way into our living in the middle. Jesus does something through death, especially for his "friends." He transforms death from an end, from a "deep darkness" casting its shadows over life, to a sleep from which we are awakened into a new day. 

"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." 
(John 11:11)

This does not mean the deaths between the story's end are easy or joyful. After all, "Jesus wept" (11:35) with those mourning even when they were about to experience resurrection and life. But it does mean that Jesus' presence to us in the laments of living provides more than comfort, but life through death. Making death something utterly different than we expect, almost like what we think of as death, is never something we actually taste. 

"Do you believe me?" (11:26) Jesus still asks this question. How will you and we answer him? 

My prayer is that our answer will sound a lot like Martha's amid the shadow of death (11:27), 

"Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world..." into my world, to raise life through death. 

Love you, faith family. God bless. 

Entangling Imagery

Dear Faith Family,   

"This figure of speech [allegory] Jesus used with them,
but they did not understand what he was saying to them." 
(John 10:6)

If you have ever wanted for clarity after reading Jesus's words, you're not alone! Whether read or heard, Jesus's words often require time and reflection, what the psalmist calls meditation, to unravel in our minds and unravel our hearts. 

Sometimes, Jesus helps start the unraveling by pulling back the layers as he does with the Parable of the Sower in Matthew's gospel (13:1-30). Other times, as in the case of Jesus' "wayside saying" or allegory in John's gospel (10:1-9), rather than unraveling the mystery, Jesus' elaboration invites us to get more entangled in its imagery and its context. 

When we think of Jesus's imagery in John 10, the image of "the Good Shepherd" (10:11) first comes to mind. Open your Bible, and you'll probably find this image as the section title for the entire chapter. Jesus being the Good Shepherd is of great significance for our life of faith, so it is no wonder it is featured so promately. Still, the image Jesus uses leading up to the famed description also significantly influences how we live our lives of faith in Him with others. 

As we discussed on Sunday, the image of a "sheepfold" with a singular "door" or gate into which sheep of multiple flocks are led for set periods to receive care, comfort, and protection and led out again into their daily life in the pasture by recognizable shepherds (10:1-5), is an image of Church. So, when Jesus expands on his depiction in verses 7-9, he invites us to see His role in bringing us together and our responsibility to one another, whether sheep or sheepy shepherds. 

So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I AM the door of the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 
I AM the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
(John 10:7-9)

Jesus is our way into life together ("the sheepfold") and into life itself (the "pasture"). As we all know, we need trusted others to accompany us and lead us into rest and work as we follow the Good Shepherd. In some ways, that is the very definition of the Church: those gathered together through Jesus, walking together as they follow Jesus into everyday life. 

In this life together, we need trusted others, both approved shepherds to whom "the gatekeeper opens" (10:3) and other sheep who have been around long enough to distinguish the motives and voices of those calling us to follow. As Jesus tells us, it is inside the sheepfold where we'll encounter those who want something from the sheep, not something for them ("thieves and robbers"). Likewise, along the way of living, we'll run into "strangers," ones whose intentions we don't immediately recognize. Because this is the reality of our life as the Church, God's gathered flock, the implication is that we should be discerning sheep. In fact, Jesus presumes that we can and will be, 

"A stranger they will not follow...the sheep did not listen to them [thieves and robbers]."
(John 10:5,8) 

Perhaps unlike any time in history, we sheep of Jesus' flock are bombarded by a cacophony of voices vying for us to follow them. Are we discerning? Do we recognize how they come into our lives and our life together? Is it through Jesus, his words, his ways, his Spirit? Do we know them and what they want for us, or if they only want something from us? Can we see where they are going because they have walked with us and are walking the Way before us? 

Jesus presumes that together, we'll be able to recognize who leads us through Him and who doesn't. So, what voices are you following and encouraging your fellow sheep to follow or flee from? 

"...blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear."

(Matthew 13:16)

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

I AM Inevitable

Dear Faith Family,   

"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." (John 15:8)

"Prove yourself by producing something that brings glory to God; the more, the better the proof and greater the glory." If read this way, Jesus' words sound like a sad summation of American Evangelicalism: prove and produce. However, if we read Jesus' exhortation in this manner, we'd also miss both the heart and the truth of Jesus' finale metaphor. 

What Jesus says before and after verse 8 matters what verse 8 means for you and me. 

"I AM the true vine, and my Father is the vinedressor...you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing...

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that  you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you."
(John 15:1, 5, 16)

Indeed, the expectation and demarcation of our faith are that more life, more life full and forever, would be the product of our daily living. However, the end and the means are the same: abiding. 

Notice that abiding goes two ways. We abide in Jesus, "abide in me....Abide in my love" (15:7,9), but only because we are doing what Jesus does, "my words abide in you...I...abide in [my Father's] love" (15:7,10). And, isn't doing what we see our Master doing the very definition of being a "disciple" or apprentice? 

So, it seems that abiding is an unavoidable activity of who we, Jesus' followers, are. And, it seems, abiding is also the assured means of producing that coveted fruit, 

"As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." (John 15:4) 

Verse 8, it seems, is not the exhortation by which we set our life of faith, but rather Jesus' revelation of the inevitability of living as ones whose faith knows Jesus to be the source of life and the light of life, empowering us to know the Way of life. "By this" abiding, then, we bring glory to the Father because it is in this mutual abiding--us in Jesus, Jesus in us--that produces a life that lasts, life like Jesus'. 

So, verse 8 should not leave us asking how we prove our faith through production. That question is already answered: abide. But the question we should be asking is how we abide. 

Abide means to "remain," to "endure," to "continue," to "stay," or to "settle," making a home, a life in Jesus as he makes life in and through us. And, as we unpacked on Sunday, we abide by praying and loving like Jesus.

Before you dismiss that last line as just another church truism with no practical benefit, think briefly about what it means to make a life in Jesus through prayer. More specifically, to Jesus' words in John's gospel, letting the Father's glory (his distinct splendor and beauty) lead us into and through our daily prayers. After all, that is how Jesus taught us to pray:

"Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, you will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10)

It's not where our prayers end (i.e., "In Jesus' name we pray") but where they begin and to what end they seek that helps us abide.

Likewise, while loving like Jesus can often become so generalized or spiritualized that it fails to lead to much of anything other than sentiment, Jesus was sure not to be so ambiguous with his apprenticed companions, 

"This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:12-14)

Friendship. We love like Jesus by opening our lives with the Father to others (v. 15) and giving ourselves to others in friendship, even those who would not choose us as friends (v. 16). While we can generalize a love for all, we all know what it takes to be a true friend and truly befriended. 

How do we abide, and so experience life that lasts? We seek the glory of the Father into prayer as we build loving friendships. Can you imagine what would be produced if we truly lived this way?! 


Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Trusting What You Know

Dear Faith Family,   

"And you know the way to where I am going."
(John 14:4)

Those are the words of Jesus to his gathered friends the night before his body would be broken for our sins, and his blood poured out, making way for Life to fill us. Words that, as we discussed on Sunday, seem to come from a place of trust, not the disciples trusting of Jesus, but Jesus' trust of his apprentices. 

Admittedly, trusting that Jesus trusts us, that indeed, trusting that he is our source of life and the light of life empowers us to know the Way of life, is not always easy. After all, like Thomas, we know the limits of our knowledge and have doubts about ourselves, 

Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' (John 14:5) 

It's a good thing for us that knowing the Way isn't left up to just you. As Jesus would tell his friends, Jesus' going to prepare for us life eternal (Jn. 14:1-3), our end, and the means to the end (Jn. 14:19-21), doesn't leave us orphaned and alone, but with both the "Helper...the Spirit of truth, whom...dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:16-17) and all those included in that "you." 

Why does Jesus trust us? Because he has not left us alone, but given us the, 

"...the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom...will teach you all things and bring to your mind remembrance of all that I have said to you." (John 14:26)

"You," who know the way, have the Spirit to remind you of the Way, helping you discover and discern all that is necessary to live life full and forever. I think we know that, even if we have plenty of room to grow in our "walking by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16). 

It's those other "yous" that we, at least we in our individualistic society and faith culture, often neglect. The "you" in Jesus' opening words, as well as all the "yous" that follow in Jesus' farewell discourse, are plural. It is the you of fellow apprentices and pilgrims—those who, alongside you-you, are following the Way in life. 

Why does Jesus trust us? Because he leaves us in Gospel Community, walking through life with sisters and brothers who encourage us as we encourage them to hold fast to the truth we know and who we truly are, even when we doubt. The Spirit in you-- in all the yous in life together who know the Way. 

So, my friends, You know the way, 

Therefore, brothers and sisters...have confidence to enter the holy places
by the blood of Jesus...the new and living way...
through his flesh...draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith...
and...hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering...
And...consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another...all the more... (Hebrews 10:19-25)

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

It's Not What We Say, But What He Reveals

Dear Faith Family,   

"my testimony is true,
for I know where I came from and where I am going..."
(John 8:14)

Who am I? What am I made for? Every philosophy, populace, religion, and culture has asked and answered these questions to varying degrees. And not just once, but over and over again, as one generation fades and interactions with the world contain as many, if not more, differences than similarities. 

Who am I? What am I made for? These questions have untied us in our humanity across space and time. They are questions we share in the diversity of our daily existence with everyone, everywhere—well, almost everyone.

While Jesus, in his humanity, shares many things with us, he does not share our existential angst. He is neither confused nor wondering about his person or place. He knows perfectly who he is and where he is going. While, as we said last week, our lives are sustained by what Jesus shares with us, it's actually good news for you and me that Jesus is different in this particular way. 

Only because Jesus perfectly knows as he is perfectly known can he be what he proclaims, 

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) 

The good news for you and me is that we don't have to know; only be known. And, in our being known, in our making ourselves at home in what the light reveals, we

"...will know the truth and the truth will set us free." (John 8:32)

As we shared on Sunday, it is not so much how we answer those universal questions that matter. In fact, it seems that we are as often as not poor judges of others as well as ourselves (see John 8:14-59). What matters for you and us as a faith family is what Jesus knows about our condition, "you will die in your sin" (John 8:21) and what Jesus does about it, 

"...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36) 

So, how do we make our home in his word, apprenticing ourselves to his life (John 8:31)? Well, we open ourselves to what he reveals through an old faith practice called confession.

The word confess comes from the combination of two Latin words: cum, alongside, and fessio, to divulge or speak truth that would otherwise remain hidden. Confession is a relational practice; with Christ, the light of the world and life alongside us, we speak the truth of what comes to light, both our sins and his grace.

Because what matters is what Jesus knows about us, our condition and our destiny, our entanglements, "everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34), and what we are made for, we can pray, 

"Let me know you, O you who know me;
then shall I know even as I am known…
the abyss of the human conscience lies naked to your eyes,
O Lord, so would anything in me be secret
even if I were unwilling to confess to you?
I would be hiding you from myself,
but not myself from you…" (Augustine)

Let us not hide Jesus from us, faith family, but rather, make our life in the light, for He is the light of life, and in Him we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). 


Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Do Something Different

Dear Faith Family,   

"Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me,
not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of loaves."
(John 6:26)

There is something satisfying about the Christmas season and the days of building anticipation that precedes. Even if things don't go exactly as planned or are accompanied by grief, the mere fact and sheer amount of pondering and praising the gift of God with us and for us, echoed in the affectionate wrappings under trees and in stockings, leaves us full.

Similar to those receiving the multiplied abundance from Jesus in John 6, for a moment, whether lingering or quickly passing, "you ate your fill" of the season's abundance.

And, similar to the multitudes in John's gospel, the satisfaction of a full belly, somewhat ironically, compelled us to want more, to desire again what sooner or later dissipates. And so, we go seeking, laboring, and resolving to experience again the fullness, the satisfaction of life, good. 

I don't know about you, but I've often heard Jesus' words to the once satisfied and still hungering crowd as a rebuke of their shallow appetites, especially in light of Jesus' follow-up statement: 

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." (John 6:27)

Yet, as I shared on Sunday, I no longer hear Jesus' words as rebuke but instead as revelation. Jesus is enlightening the crowd, and those of us similar to them, to the fact that our hunger for what is filling drives us. More than our observational acuity, "not because you saw signs" of the Kingdom, the desire for a satisfying life leads us, not just through life, but to Life Himself (Jn. 1:4-5), which is a good thing! 

Think about it. That basic drive to satisfy your hunger is a God-crafted means not only of your physical and temporal survival but of life full and forever, i.e., eternal. What you long for leads you to the One who can give you what you desire. But, there is more to this epiphany.

While your desire for life compels you to seek Jesus, Jesus offers you more than you could ever find in your resolute labors. Jesus offers you something that is more, "food that endures," that ever-satisfies, not just momentarily fills. 

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35) 

As we begin a year anew, hungering for life, good; willing to labor for that which might satisfy or once before has satisfied, and making plans to do so, might we do something different. Instead of making resolutions, even good ones, might we begin the year feasting on Jesus, "the bread of life...the living bread" given "for the life of the world," including our life. 

Daily, coming to Jesus, believing in Jesus with and for one another, the Church in our city, and the souls of our city are the goals of TRUE BREAD, which is our commitment to 21 days of prayer and fasting. Will you join us? 

Regardless, do something different this new year. Let the longing that drives you into labor to satisfy you draw you to a place where you can receive the satisfaction you seek. 

"Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things."
(Psalm 107:8-9) 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Ring Out The Old...Ring In The New!

Dear Faith Family,   

We've nearly made it! In just a few hours, it will be the first day of a new year. And then it will be time to turn the calendar for 2025 will officially be here!

And yet, as is often the case, the calendar's turning is no guarantee that change is coming or for good. Indeed, many wondrous and beautiful things in the year behind us were worth celebrating and praising. Still, we cannot deny that there has also been loss, sickness, strife, and all the ills plaguing our human condition. I suspect the same can be said for many past years and will be repeated in years ahead.

So what are we to do? Well, as the themes of Advent prepared us, and the prayers of the Christmas Season are encouraging us to wonder within, we are to live through hope, within peace, in joy because of the transforming reality of Love made manifest among us for our forever good. 

So, with humble confidence and empowered courage, we can ring out the old that is passing away and ring in the new that will be forever. 

And so, that is what we will do: ring out the old and ring in the new! And will do so through what has become a tradition for our faith family, praying together this poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. A poem that can be prayed over and over until the new that is Christ in us, through us, and for us and neighbor is all that is left. 

Love you, faith family! Happy New Year, and God bless. 

In Memoriam CVI | Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night; 
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 
Ring, happy bells, across the snow: 
The year is going, let him go; 
Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more; 
Ring out the feud of rich and poor, 
Ring in redress to all mankind. 

Ring out a slowly dying cause, 
And ancient forms of party strife; 
Ring in the nobler modes of life, 
With sweeter manners, purer laws. 

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times; 
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes 
But ring the fuller minstrel in. 

Ring out false pride in place and blood, 
The civic slander and the spite; 
Ring in the love of truth and right, 
Ring in the common love of good. 

Ring out old shapes of foul disease; 
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; 
Ring out the thousand wars of old; 
Ring in the thousand years of peace. 

Ring in the valiant man and free, 
The larger heart, the kindlier hand; 
Ring out the darkness of the land, 
Ring in the Christ that is to be. 

Merry (First Day of) Christmas!

Dear Faith Family,   

I hope you are having a truly wonderful day, this first day of Christmas! That's right; today is just the start, the beginning of "counting up" the abundance of what our True Love gives. On Christmas day, we begin unwrapping all those gifts for which we spent the previous days "counting down" their arrival. Gifts that add up exponentially, from 1 to 78 in just twelve days! 

If you haven't picked up on my less-than-subtle clues, what I'm saying is that we've entered the "Twelve Days of Christmas." That's right, the twelve days start today, on Christmas Day! 

The process of connecting the feast of Christmas (December 25th) to the feast of Epiphany (January 6th) began in the fourth century, and eventually, all the days between the two special days on the church calendar were "proclaimed sacred and festive." That means the celebration doesn't stop after the presents are opened and all the food is safely tucked away in our bellies! 

While culturally, in the words of Gabe Huck, "We take our Christmas with lots of sugar. And we take it in a day," the Church over the last fifteen-hundred-plus years has extended the holiday well into the New Year! Christmas really is a beginning! 

So why not join in?! Why not keep your tree and decorations up a bit longer, until the end of the twelve days, January 6th? Why not plan a couple more special activities with friends, family, and kids? Why not keep the Christmas carols ringing and Christmas prayers praying for a few more days? 

That last one, keeping the Christmas prayers praying, I can help you with! 

Starting with the sonnet below, I'll share a poem to pray each of the Twelve Days of Christmas via our Collective Prayers. 

You might recognize the poems. They are responses to our Advent O Antiphons. Now, rather than praying with longing for what we need, we pray with (for) the perfection of what we've received.

I won't send a push notification every day, but just a few times to remind you to extend the holiday! After all, as Bobby Gross contends, "If Advent is a season of waiting, Christmas is a season of wonder"! 

May our wonder grow exponentially as we take the time to behold the ever-expanding gift of this Christmas Day and are drawn into His marvelous mystery! 

Love you, faith family! And looking forward to worshiping together in the New Year*! Until then, God bless! 

O Sapientia | Malcolm Guite 

I cannot think unless I have been thought, 
Nor can I speak unless I have been spoken; 
I cannot teach except as I am taught, 
Or break the bread except as I am broken. 
O Mind behind the mind through which I seek, 
O Light within the light by which I see, 
O Word beneath the words with which I speak, 
O founding, unfound Wisdom, finding me, 
O sounding Song whose depth is sounding me, 
O Memory of time, reminding me, 
My Ground of Being, always grounding me, 
My Maker's bounding line, defining me: 
You've Come, hidden Wisdom, come with all you bring, 
You've Come to me now, disguised as everything. 

Slow Down...We Are Almost There!

Dear Faith Family,   

It's hard to believe that we are on Advent's home stretch! Kids get out of school in just a day or two, then, before you know it, the morning that has garnered so much of our attention, efforts, and even anxiousness over the last month will finally be here! And then, on that morning of mornings, most will be up early in the middle of a half-groggy haze while a frantic tearing into the treasures built up under our trees ends in the living room covered in paper and ribbon shrapnel. All this before we splurge on sweets and family staples as we move from one gathering to the next. The thought of it all rises in me a mixture of elation and angst!

While much of life seems too swift, it is even more true of the final sprint to Christmas morning. In every good story and song, the pace quickens, building to the crescendo, which is why I want to invite you to join me in an Advent practice we started a few years ago. A habit meant to help us do what we've been doing all month: slow down and keep awake these last days before Christmas rather than be swept up by them. 

In the first centuries after Christ's resurrection, our faith forerunners developed a custom of praying seven great prayers to call afresh on Jesus to "come." These prayers are prayed without our customary designations for Christ; instead, they address Jesus by titles found in the Old Testament, especially in Isaiah: "O Wisdom!" "O Root of Jesse!" "O Emmanuel!" etc.

They called these prayers the "O Antiphons," for they are sung as much as prayed. Seven brief songs call us into the crescendoing anticipation of our salvation needed and provided.

Priest and poet Malcome Guite explains their design and aid for you and me this way.

"Each antiphone begins with the invocation 'O' and then calls on Christ, although never by name. The mysterious titles and emblems given him from the pages of the Old Testament touch our deepest needs and intuitions; then each antiphon prays the great Advent verb, Veni, 'Come!'

There is, I think, both wisdom and humility in this strange abstention from the name of Christ in a Christian prayer. Of course, these prayers are composed AD...but in a sense, Advent itself is always BC! The whole purpose of Advent is to be for a moment fully and consciously Before Christ...Whoever compiled these prayers was able, imaginatively, to write 'BC,' perhaps saying to themselves: 'If I hadn't heard of Christ, and didn't know the name of Jesus, I would still long for a savior. I would still need someone to come. Who would I need? I would need a gift of Wisdom, I would need a Light, a King, a Root, a Key, a Flame.' And poring over the pages of the Old Testament, they would find all these things promised in the coming of Christ. By calling on Christ using each of these seven several gifts and prophecies, we learn afresh the meaning of a perhaps too familiar name.

It might be a good Advent exercise, and paradoxically an aid to sharing the faith if, for a season, we didn't rush in our conversation to refer to the known name, the predigested knowledge, the formulae of our faith, but waited alongside our non-Christian neighbors, who are, of course, living 'BC.'  We should perhaps count ourselves among the people who walk in darkness but look for a marvelous light." 

The O Antiphones officially began yesterday (the 17th) and will continue through the 23rd. We'll post them in our Collective Prayers and send a push reminder daily via the app. 

So today, amid the prayers of the past, take a moment and consider Guite's exhortation to ponder afresh, "Who do you need to come this Christmas?" and "Whose arrival is my friend...my family member...my neighbor awaiting?" and find in Jesus' arriving of both!

Love you, faith family! Happy Advent, Merry Christmas, and God bless. 

Don't Be So Negative!

Dear Faith Family,   

On Sunday, we lit the second purple candle on our Advent Wreath, the "Candle of Peace." Moments before, Sloane told the story of Gabriel's visit to Mary and Mary's response to her world being turned upside down. For most of us, such news would lead us to unease, not peace! No wonder Gabrial had to speak peace to her through the revelation that she had "found favor with God" (Lk. 1:30).

The same revelation was spoken to us repeatedly through the season's symbols, the stories we shared, the scriptures we read, and the songs we sang. Each element of the Advent gathering helped us keep awake for the arrival of the "Prince of Peace" (Is. 2:9). 

This Advent season, we are looking at the themes of Advent, which represent the gift of Christ's once arrival, His ever-arriving, and His final arrival to come. One of those themes is the gift of Peace.

Peace is a gift we all long for in some measure, even if we practically understand peace to be a negative, an absence of struggle and anxiety. Yet, because we seek an absence, our conception of peace often causes us to avoid the spaces and relationships that cry out most for peace, those places where we do or might experience struggle and anxiousness. I am sure you can name a few of those spaces...and people!

Yet, as we were reminded on Sunday, the biblical vision of peace is not an absence but a presence. We are bound by peace. Peace is a reality we find ourselves living within.

I, therefore (see 3:14-21 for the wonder behind the 'therefore'!), a prison for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
(Ephesians 4:1-3)

Specifically, peace is a right relationship with God and others because of God's favor, as the angels sang that first Noel (and to which Angel gave witness on Sunday!)

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men...among those whom he is pleased! 
(Luke 2:14)

The peace we long for, then, is not something we find but a place in which we find ourselves that shapes how we live within the unsettled experiences of life. And the wonderous gift of God with us is that amid the places and among the people where we experience struggle and anxiety, we are within peace, bound by the Prince of Peace in the favor of God. For we have one who continues to speak, 

"Peace be within you!" For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good."
(Psalm 122:8-9)

May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts today and throughout this Advent season. 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Time To Stay Awake!

Dear Faith Family,   

Sunday officially sparked the beginning of the Advent season! It's here once more, a special time of the year in which the anticipation of something wonderful and new fills our hearts, catches our sight, echoes in our ears, and swims in our dreams. It is truly one of my favorite seasons, and I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment!

One of the things that makes Advent so refreshing for my faith is that it is a journey, not an event—a marked movement, day by day, that is taking us somewhere. While the destination is the most exciting thing, getting there is the most enlightening.

For all that Advent is and can be, it is most pointedly a season for staying awake. And this year, we want to keep awake for the fullness of Christ's arrivals between His arrivings. As we say in this season and were reminded on Sunday, Christ has come! Christ will come again! Christ is in us, the hope of glory!

Through the signs, songs, and stories of Advent, we are reminded of the truth that Jesus has come, born of woman, swaddled under the expanse of angels singing. And that he will return, as the Lamb slain and risen, King of kings, arriving once more to complete what he started in us and the world. All the while, we are being called by Jesus to "Stay awake" (Mk. 13:37) to the truth that he has never once left us, and we can expect that he never will.

Little advents, Jesus arrivals, continue to occur all around us if only we keep awake to the fullness of what Christ brings: hope, peace, joy, and love. These themes of Advent Sundays, along with the daily and weekly rhythms  "call us to a posture of alertness...watchful and ready...for the signs of hope," that draw us into full and forever life even in our waiting.  

So, this Advent, let us join together in asking our Father for eyes to see in the signs and stories and spirit of the season, the faithfulness of His presence, and the fullness of God with us.  

"May the God of great hope fill us up with joy,
fill us up with peace,
so that our believing lives,
filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit,
will brim over with hope!"
(Romans 15:13)

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

In Preparation for Giving Thanks

Dear Faith Family,   

Tomorrow, you'll likely be around a meal with friends, family, or both. Whether the meal is labored over in traditional preparations or arriving via APP, is part of a more extensive day of activities, or humble hospitality, there will be a moment around the table where you'll be encouraged to remember with gratitude the actions and relationships that brought about your living, here and now, testifying to the light in your life. In other words, tomorrow, you will be encouraged to witness to grace and encouraged by the witness of grace.

Some of our friends and family witnesses may not accredit the light of their life, the grace from which gratitude flows, to the Giver of grace, but my prayer is that you and I will.

My prayer is that we will recognize the "true light which enlightens everyone" (Jn 1:9) of the thanksgivings we hear tomorrow, seeing in them "the glory of the only Son from Father, full of [the] grace..." of God with us and God for us (Jn. 1:14). And, in seeing in our shared lives "the Life which is the light of humanity" (Jn. 1:5) we would speak with humble, bold gratitude the name through which "we have all received grace upon grace": Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:16-17). For, as we've been reminded lately, 

 ...from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen.
(Romans11:36)

So today, amid all the other preparations for tomorrow, perhaps we could take a moment to prepare our hearts and minds for what we might see tomorrow around the table in our thanksgivings by remembering what we've received in, 

the Word becoming flesh, dwelling among us...
from his fullness we have all received grace up grace...
grace and truth...through Jesus Christ
(John 1:14, 16-17) 

I am giving thanks for His grace that is you and manifest through you. Love you, faith family! Happy THANKSGIVING! 

Are You Prepared?

Dear Faith Family,   

It's probably no surprise to you to hear that our home, inside and out, is prepared for Christmas. Yes, we are "those" people who start the move towards everything Christmas on November 1st. Just as quickly as the calendar moves from October to November, Fall decorations disappear, trees a light roll out, and holiday sounds and scents fill the house.

While the transition always starts on November one, sometimes it takes us a couple of weeks to complete the decorative process, especially since I always seem to discover a few extra "pieces" to unpack and find a place for each year! But eventually, the house, from front to back, top to bottom, room to room, is fully immersed in the affections of the season. 

Part of the reason the transition drags out a bit is the fact that for everything put out, something has to be put up. Preparations are not merely an addition to the usual decor; they replace what is common with something new, something special. We can not just layer Christmas on top of what sits on our shelves, hangs on our walls, or fits in a particular space; we have to prepare the way for Christmas by moving out some of the usual stuff. 

Similarly, our All About Jesus story from Sunday is meant to help you and me clear out the usual stuff in our hearts in preparation for Christmas, for Christ with us.

If you missed Sunday, I'd encourage you to take a few minutes and let Chaz guide you through the heart-paving way of John the Baptizer from Luke 3. If you were there, and after you've listened, continue with the prep work, especially with Advent just over a week away.

Below are some of the questions John's All About Jesus story invites us to consider. As with the Pace home, so with our hearts, transformation takes time and preparation. 

"Prepare in the wilderness the way of the LORD;

make his path straight." 
(Luke 3:4) 

• Who are the unexpected heralds of the Good News in our present culture? In my life in particular?

 

• What in my heart is crooked and rough and needs clearing away? 

 

• How is God calling me to put away these tendencies?

 

• Where have I seen the fruit of repentance decorating my actions, words, or thoughts?

 

• What is God refining (replacing the common with something special) in me so that I can live more fully into his purpose--into who he has made me to be? 

 

• Am I prepared for Jesus' arrival? 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

Exactly What You Should Expect

Dear Faith Family,   

And Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After forty days and forty nights of fasting, he was hungry. (Matthew 4:1-2)  

Let's be honest with each other for a moment; we tend to read scripture with ourselves at the center, don't we? We'd, of course, never say that we are at the center of any of the stories. Still, we can't help but read incredibly familiar stories like The Temptation of Jesus in Matthew's gospel without identifying ways we are like Jesus. 

Like Jesus, we are living our lives led by the Spirit, perhaps even feeling led by the Spirit into unknown places. Like Jesus, we feel the pangs of hunger, the fatigue of faithfulness, the disorientation of knowing who we are and what we are here for (Matt. 3:15-17), and yet with still so much further to go. Like Jesus, we, too, experience the temptations to do what we are able to do to fulfill our desires rather than be sustained in our waiting. Like Jesus, we are tempted to twist scripture to our advantage, forcing God's hand in our favor. Like Jesus, we are tempted to speed up God's promises, to get what is ours through the means directly before us.

Relatively easily, and perhaps inadvertently, we've made this story about us! About what we are going through and how Jesus has been through something similar. And, there is great comfort in knowing that Jesus has been through what we are going through, especially as we struggle to be faithful like Him, as the author of Hebrews attests: 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:15-16)

Yet, as we discussed on Sunday, while the similarities of Jesus to us are comforting, it is how He is different than us that makes all the difference for us. 

While it is easy to get lost in the individual temptations and Jesus' particular responses to each, the story, taken as a whole, should remind us of another story, the story of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and their run in the woods with the tempter (Genesis 3). Like them, the tempter comes to Jesus, playing on his needs, desires, and even his promised destiny. Like them, Jesus is forced to discern truth and choose to trust, to have faith in what He has heard, even if he can yet see it, even if he would want something different and immediate. Yet, unlike them, He stays faithful to the one who has led Him here and who will finish what has been started through Him. 

In this story, Jesus resets the world as we know it. Here, in a place similar to places we've been in, Jesus recreates the universe and reality as we know it, becoming for us what we could not become in sin nor through our efforts alone: righteous. 

Therefore, as the trespass of one [Adam] led to condemnation for all men, so the act of righteousness of one [Jesus] leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous.
(Romans 5:18-19)

What we do not do, are unable to do, He has done. It is Jesus' faith and faithfulness, His "obedience," that makes you and me righteous (in a right relationship with God) and so able to live righteously (in a right relationship with God and one another). In Jesus' faith, we can anticipate our faith's beginning, persevering, and end: 

...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith... (Hebrews 12:1-2) 

May being reminded of this essential truth lead us to see that not only this story but everything that makes up our daily living is All About Jesus for us, 

For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36) 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

An Unexpected Recommendation

Dear Faith Family,   

And Jesus said to her, 'Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' But she answered him, 'Yes, Lord; yet even the dog under the dogs under the table eat the childrens' crumbs.' (Mark 7:27-28) 

The story of the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 and Matthew 15 is admittedly an uncomfortable passage. Even if the story ends positively, the disgusting lack of compassion and disturbing and evident prejudice cloud the entire scene. Ironically, the "cloudiness" is actually the point of the story! 

As we discussed on Sunday, Jesus' bias towards this particular woman was actually a display of what clouded the hearts of his disciples. Jesus' actions expose the unarticulated prejudice, pride, fear, and resentment clouding the hearts of his friends and keeping them from living fully by the faith that was theirs. Clouded hearts kept their faith small, just as they do you and I still today. 

And still today, Jesus doesn't clear up the cloudiness by condemning what is small but rather commending what is great:  

Then Jesus answered her, 'O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.' (Matthew 15:28)

What Jesus saw and commended in this woman seared this story into the disciples' minds, clearing their hearts and expanding their faith into the persons of great faith we met in the Book of Acts. In this way, the unnamed woman was more than an example of faith; she was a means of grace for the faithful. 

Through one they least expected, the disciples' faith was both exposed as small and strengthened for their life in Christ still to be lived. The same is true for the disciples of "the church" in Barbara Robinson's The Best Christmas Pagent Ever. You may have read this little Christmas book, which has recently been made into a feature-length film.

Our family saw an early release of the film this past weekend. While many funny, human, and entertaining moments make this an enjoyable movie, there is more to it in the same way that there is more to the story of the Syrophonecian woman. I won't spoil it for you, but let's just say that Deedra and I left the theater in tears, with the twins asking, "Why are you crying?" To which we could only respond, "Because Jesus is so awesome!" 

Typically, I end these notes with an encouragement to participate in a faith practice or consider the questions our scripture demands. But this week, with the unnamed woman's story seared in our minds, I encourage you to watch this movie. Remember a story, watch a movie, and let Jesus clear up what clouds your heart so your faith might expand. That's my prayer for you anyway! 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

What's The Real Difference?

Dear Faith Family,   

Mary has chosen the better portion,
which will not be taken away from her.
(Luke 10:42) 

I don't know too many friends and followers of Jesus who would not say that they are after "the better portion" in their life of faith. What that better portion is and how they are going after it, now that's where these friends and followers have their differences! 

The story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) has, at least in modern times, pitted "the doers" against "the thinkers," those geared toward action against those geared toward contemplation, and perhaps worst of all, those inclined to service against those inclined to worship. "Are you a Martha or a Mary?" is a question asked either to convict a particular response or as an indicator of personality type. Yet, as Dylan pointed out to us on Sunday, the sad irony of our misguided reduction of this story is that we have separated and put into conflict the singular image of a disciple of Jesus our scriptures give us: a person who hears and obeys, who sits a the feet of Jesus and follows him into action, because they are a child of God. 

The true question the story of Martha and Mary demands we ask is: "What is keeping us from taking full advantage of the better portion?" 

As we discovered on Sunday, "portion" means "inheritance." Specifically, in the context of our scriptures and story, an inheritance was not something earned with effort or even character but rather a given and sure promise based solely on being a child. Of course, parents could squander the future inheritance, and children could choose to turn down an inheritance or squander it after the fact, but no one could "earn" what could only be gifted. The expectation for the inheritor was to make and perpetuate life on what was given her or him, taking full advantage of what is theirs because of the relationship. 

Martha's issue is not that she was a doer. Martha's frustration stems from the fact that she was "distracted" (v. 40) from what was hers to enjoy fully: a portion of God's life that invited her to lay down her anxious toil, to cross the societal boundaries keeping her from dinning as a child and not a servant, let Jesus (his life and words) shape her expectations of life with God, freeing her from the fear of losing what "will not be taken away."  

Why can we "present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God" (Rom. 12:1), offering our day, lives, and selves wholly to our Father without anxiousness and fear? Because our lives are lived (made and perpetuated) on "a better portion which will not be taken away" because it was gifted, not earned; given because of familial relationship, not our ability or lack thereof. So, what is distracting you from taking full advantage of what is yours because of the life, death, and life forever of Jesus? That's the question the story of these two sisters, two friends, and followers of Jesus, compels us to ask each other as fellow friends and followers of Jesus. 

May our asking and answering free us to sit and listen at the feet of Jesus, following him into actions of our day, joyfully confident that we can make a life, good, because of the portion we've received. 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

When Believing Is Not Enough

Dear Faith Family,   

This week in class, I had my students read Acts 16-22, asking, "What is the message, and why does it cause so much trouble?". In case you don't remember from our summer in the Book of Acts, this is the section of the story with riots, arrests, beatings, murder plots, and a tremendous deepening and expanding of the picture of "church."  

The way our discussions work in class is that a student will throw out an observation or interpretation, and then we will "work it," trying to see if we can move the initial thought closer to the text and context to see the why undergirding it. In this particular discourse, one student offered a first attempt at the message in the section: believe in Jesus. Whether in Sunday School class or Theology class, an answer like that is a safe starting place! Ha!

Yet, unlike Sunday School, in our class, such an answer is only the start of the conversation, not the end. Quickly, another student jumped in, offering a pivoting observation: "It doesn't seem like belief is not enough; even the demons believed Jesus." Referring to the sons of Sceva story in Acts 19:11-20, the student observed that the exorcists who believed in the power of Jesus got beaten by the demons who knew Jesus and Paul, but not them. The story is a fantastic, if not a bit comedic revelation, that belief in Jesus is more than an affirmation of who He is or what He can do, but a giving ourselves over to Him because of what He has done. At least that's how "the believers" in Acts 19 interpreted the scolding of Sceva's sons: 

And fear [awe and wonder] fell upon them all,
and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled [highly praised].
Also, many of those who were now believers
came confessing and divulging their practices.
(Acts 19:17-18)

Our class discussion and the story in Acts 19 remind me of our conversation on Sunday through John 8, where Jesus invited those who believed who He said He was (8:12-20) and what He would do (8:21-30) to make themselves at home in belief by submitting their lives to Him: 

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him,
'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'
(John 8:31-32) 

Giving ourselves over, submitting ourselves to Jesus as "Lord" or "Master," is, as we discussed on Sunday, not always an easy thing for us, even us "believers" (see Jn. 8:33-38). Yet it is precisely this giving over, which the Prayer of Examen aids us in doing, leading us to "confess and divulge our practices," reviewing our days and weeks in a manner where we can make ourselves at home in who we are in Jesus, because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

So, let the Spirit examen us this week! And in so doing, may we discover, just as the believers in Acts 19 did, that belief is not enough, but it is the beginning of a truly free life given and giving over to our Lord Jesus. 

if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
(John 8:36) 

Love you, faith family! God bless. 

A Hard Truth To Accept

Dear Faith Family,   

You are a product of economics, conditioned to perpetuate the economic system in which you are formed. 

If you are like me, the above statement is unsettling on several levels. At one level, I want to claim more agency in my formation than the statement implies. Who wants their outcomes determined by some "system" they happen to be caught up in? At the same time, I also want to claim that I am caught up in some higher good than "economics" implies. Who doesn't want to believe their life is a part of something purposeful, even divine, not merely a base exchange?  

While we may recoil at the statement's blunt humiliation, we cannot escape the accurate reality it depicts. You and I and our neighbors are products of economics, conditioned to perpetuate the economic system in which we are formed. Until we admit to living in this reality, we'll have difficulty moving into "the new world" that Jesus has prepared for us.

As Dylan helped us see on Sunday, we, yes, even we disciples of Jesus and those longing for a life full and forever from Jesus, are products and producers conditioned by the economics of our time. 

Did you know that the root of "economics" comes from the Greek word oikonomia, meaning "household management"? That's right, the word that brings to mind money, its production, consumption, and transfer, originates in the ordering of our most fundamental and intimate relationships. As the American Economic Association claims, economics "...is not all about money... It's the study of scarcity, the study of how people use resources and respond to incentives, or the study of decision-making." In other words, economics is how we relate to one another. While we may consider economics primarily in relation to external goods and services and our role in the exchange of the two, the essence of the term is something more internal to our person, our identity as a person in relation to other persons.

It is no wonder then that Jesus, in Matthew 19, once again overturning the economic system of faith, brings in all the "household" relations: husbands and wives (19:1-9), children (19:13-15), fathers, mothers, homes, lands, brothers, and sisters (19:29). As Dylan pointed out, the disciples then, like us today, had been conditioned by the economics of their time and place to perpetuate a system of scarcity and competition, investing in others out of an expectation that there would be a return on the invest (19:27), making decisions to end relationships when the expected benefits changed (19:7), and dismissing those relationships which seemed to be of little resource or provide no incentive (19:10,13). 

It was this same economic conditioning that produced the question from "the rich young man":  

'Teacher, what good deed must I do to possess, make use of, eternal life?' (Matthew 19:16) 

Like us, the young man was thinking economically, considering how best to use the resource of eternal life, of life with God. Jesus reminds him, and us, that it is not what he gives God that will allow him to receive his inheritance (19:29), but rather relating to others as if he was already in possession of a whole and forever life: 

'You shall not murder...not commit adultery...not steal...not bear false witness...Honor your father and mother, and...love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 19:18-19)

Jesus reminds the young man that God's already given us what we need to possess and take full advantage of life with him in the way in which we manage our households. Jesus uses those simple Ten Words, that “natural law,” we looked at last summer:

Don't take life; cultivate its flourishing.
Don't break covenant; keep it.
Don't take advantage of others; take responsibility.
Don't speak to corrupt; speak truth.
Don't strive to overcome; honor because you're free.
Don't covet your neighbor's life; love it,
because you are content in what you've been graced. 

Still, like you and I, the young man has a hard time accepting that simply living for the good of others and not self or profit or production value is the economics of life eternal. So he asks another conditioned question, "What do I still lack?" (19:20). "What then," says the young man, and you and I, "do I need to get or give actually to take possession of life full and forever?" 

Jesus' response, 'If you would be perfect [whole, complete], go sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will possess treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' (19:21) has haunted believers for millennia. How could Jesus require such a payment? Does he require the same from me?! 

Well, in a way, yes. We've already said that what God demands is the only thing we have to offer: our life. But notice that Jesus isn't requiring payment from the young man for eternal life, but rather making a way for him and us into a new world (19:28), a new economic system.

Jesus does not say to give to the temple, the church, or even himself, but simply to those in need. Jesus is not demanding anything more than "the commandments" demanded; that the young man step out of the economic system that has conditioned him and give himself over to the economics of the life eternal. A life caught up in the flourishing of others because it is a life possessing, making full use of what is received (19:29), the abundant riches of God with us. 

Entering true life (19:17), daily living in the economics of the kingdom of heaven (19:23) that is so different than the life we are conditioned to live, seems impossible at times, as impossible as a camel going through the eye of a needle (19:24). Good thing for you and me and our neighbors, "with God all things are possible" (19:26). 

May we be products of the economics of life complete and forever, conditioned to perpetuate the system of relating which is forming us: 

And from Jesus' fullness,
we have all received grace upon grace.
(John 1:16) 

Love you, faith family! God bless.