The Apostle Paul at the Super Bowl - a targum of Acts 17:16-34

At the close of my sermon yesterday I shared a targum of Acts 17:16-34. Targums were used by rabbis to paraphrase Scripture in order to help foreigners understand Scriptures in their current times. This is my attempt at a targum that i've titled "Apostle Paul at the Super Bowl. May it encourage you to engage the world around you like Paul did.

16 While Paul was a missionary in the United States of America he happened to be touring during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the NFL’s championship game and host of the world’s most watched television programming. This single event contained worship of many things like sports, music, sexuality, greed, and hyper-capitolism.

17 So he used his fame to submit articles for Time magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, spoke on shows on all the major news networks, and even recorded a sermon that could be viewed online on the matter, and it went viral. He also went to the sports bars and the grocery stores and struck up conversations with people who he overheard talking about their Super Bowl plans.

18-21 The news stations ridiculed him, but a few executives saw their chance to gain viewers by the outlandish opinions that Paul had concerning modern day idols and the ironic religiosity of football being played on Sundays, the day that Jesus, the true target of our should-be worship, who was resurrected once for all.

22-28 In a surprising nationally televised address, he spoke, and began saying, “People of ‘Merica! I see that in every way Super Bowl Sunday strikes up worship in your heart, but your worship falls on athletes who fade, on guacamole that last only a few chips (way too few, the guac to chip ratio is always too low if you ask me, anyway), at a television screen that can’t really hear you, nor a team who benefits from you, nor do you really benefit much from them. But worship itself is not where your fault lies, but the fault is in where you aim your worship. Your adoration, your praise, your energy, your money, your cheering, your time-orienting should all be centered around Jesus, for He centered His all around you so you could have football. For it was He who created football and nachos and music and everything else this world has to offer. He is not swayed by your cheers for one team or another, nor does He listen to your heartfelt prayer for that field goal to go through the goalposts or wide of them. But what He has done is this, He has placed human beings in the past, like Adam, Abraham, and Jesus, like your parents, their parents, and their parents’ parents, in the nations they lived knowing that you, yes you as an individual, would one day live in a nation that produced something like a Super Bowl and would be inspired to set your heart, your stomach, your eyes, your energy, your wallets totally aside for one Super Day and one Super Team, when your heart, your stomach, your eyes, your energy, your wallets were always meant for one man: Jesus. Though it is Coldplay who sings at halftime that “You’re a sky, ‘cause you’re a sky full of stars, I’m gonna give you my heart… ‘Cause you’re a sky, ‘cause you’re a sky full of stars I want to die in your arms.” It is God who feels this way about you, you are the stars that fill His sky, and He has died for you. When you believe in His love, His death, and resurrection it is He that sings “Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try and fix you.” For He does fix us through and through, by and by, and he fixes us a spot in heaven to eternally worship Him as well.

29-31 “Don’t you see it’s silly to put all of your worship eggs in this one bowl? It’s ok to enjoy the game, the music, the guacamole because they all have God’s fingerprint on them, though they have been crafted by mere human hands. God overlooked such silliness in the ages before Christ. But with Christ having come, fully revealing God’s nature, through His death and resurrection, through His forgiveness and mercy, He also has set a future date for his reappearance to judge who or what we’ve worshipped with our lives. It’s time to decide now on your end what He will see on His end on that day when He comes back. What will you want to say you worshiped: the God who gives us all these good gifts of football, music, and delicious foods, or the plate of wings and a soon to be forgotten sporting event?

32-34 When he was finished, Anderson Cooper and Stephen Hawking were in tears, repenting openly and recognizing the error of their ways. The Commissioners of the major sports weren't’ convinced but all wanted to hear more, and yet many businessmen, professors, and even some very strict and religious Christians all snickered and said “this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” A dejected janitor named Steven had no idea his new friend he made just the other day at the bar was going to speak on national television and change his heart forever. In fact, many like Steven who listened to Paul enjoyed the game (and the guacamole), but worshiped the Creator instead of the game that Sunday.

I'm short.

I'm five feet, nine inches tall.

On a good day.

I was the starting center for the basketball team.

In sixth grade.

I was on an intramural basketball team where the average height on the team was six feet, three inches.

Mind you, i "contributed" to that average.

I'm not super short, but i have settled on the fact that for a guy, i'm short.

Matthew 6:27 can be translated "Who of you by worrying can add a single cubit to his height?"

Worry silently kills even our best days, let alone our bad ones.

Worry is the belief that you somehow have the ability to do a greater amount of bad than God can do good. At the end of the day, worry is at best a distraction and at worst an idol that is unable to eclipse the Son.

You should not worry not because God commands you not to, but because your worry hides you from God and His goodness.

That chapter in Matthew ends with the command, "But seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (v. 33)

Do you trust that His storehouse of goodness does not compare to the worst-case-scenario? Do you trust enough to seek. Because seeking takes faith.

Trust is for what has already occurred. Faith gives us the boldness to step into what hasn't yet occurred. We need both to stand and then move forward in any scenario of our faith.

Worry keeps us in our seats.

Keeps us short, and more importantly, non-effective in our faith.

You are the light.

As a little leaguer i got hit by the pitch a lot. A whole lot. As in "i was the kid with the facemask in little league" - a lot.

As a result, i was afraid of a particular kind of pitch: the fast one. I was naturally a good hitter, but i remember sometime around the age of 15 i reached a point where the pitcher was throwing 90 miles per hour. That was the first time i understood the term "radio ball" so named because the ball made a sound as it came in that sounded a lot like the "fuzz" you hear on the radio between radio stations. That's just how fast the ball was moving.

I had never feared a pitch more in my life, and yet i remember being faced with this reality:

Nothing i could do with a pitch that fast would prevent me from getting hit by it. Am i going to be afraid of something i have no control over? Or am i going to decide against my fear, and go all in to standing in there and taking a full hack at the ball.

I took a deep breath and decided that would be the day i stopped fearing the ball. On the second pitch i rocketed a single right back at the pitcher's head, narrowly missing his face.

I can't say i lost 100% of my fear from then on (i ended up facing a guy that threw 94 mph once. Yahtzee! I went 2 for 4.) but i can say that i was forever changed.

In a really odd way, i wonder if we have the same sort of fear when we come across Matthew 5:14 when Jesus looks to a crowd and declares to them that they "are the light of the world."

When i put aside my fear, my ability to hit the ball came right out into the open and now the pitchers had to think twice about facing me.

When we put aside our fear and recognize that Jesus declares us to already be the light of the world, and to "let your light shine before men" (v. 16) we often well up in fear rather than show up in light. What if Jesus would have worded it, "Let your light shine so the darkness has to think twice about you."

What is it exactly that we fear? What will people say? What if i offend somebody? What if i'm wrong? What if i come across as prideful?

Here's what we fear: that we won't be in control.

Once i let go of the fact that i could not control that fastball from hitting me, i hit it.

The only thing the darkness can do is hide us, but it can not control us. And we can not control it. We can only drive it back by not succumbing to it and its fear-mongers.

Worse off, our fear drives us back from the thing we want the most. Success.

Perhaps success will be one for another time. But for now, consider the passage in Matthew 5:13-16 where Jesus proclaims that you are the light to the world. What are you going to do with that passage? Fear it, or hit it right on the sweet spot?

Hoax.

Whether or not you are a sports fan, you probably got a fair dose of this word:

hoax

Whether it was Lance Armstrong answering to Oprah for a decade and a half of lying, cheating, and intentionally suing other people to maintain his lying and cheating or it was Manti Te'o revealing that his girlfriend that recently passed away not only did not pass away, but she didn't even exist.

I have plenty of opinions on both stories and what I think about the characters in these stories (for one I'd like to invite Armstrong over to lunch and ask him if he things he could ever make amends to all the people he's hurt in his life like he suggested at one point. I think receiving God's grace would make a much better solution to his situation. And for Te'o, I think he needs a friend, and an assuring word from his dad. But anyway...) it amazed me that such incredible degrees of deception have occurred on such a public stage.

There is a lot of evil in the world, and many many words to describe all the evils. But intentionally deceiving someone, or what we have been calling this past week a "hoax," is at the heart of the throne of satan. And I don't just say that to add drama. In Genesis 3 and Luke 4 we see satan in clear view, intentionally deceiving the likes of Adam, Eve, and Jesus. satan whispers half-truths, outright lies and deception in attempt to increase his own rule, his own kingdom. To what end? To be honest, i'm still not entirely sure. Does he want the attention? The authority? Is he just plain evil? I honestly couldn't tell you. But what I do know is that his plan and his hoax can be thwarted.

Colossians 1:12-14 says, "[God] has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness (or of satan) and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (emphasis by italicizing and parenthetical statements are mine.)

One of the promises of God is that He has delivered us from satan's rule, the "dominion of darkness," and brought us into His Son's kingdom, one of light. Light often represents truth, and the presence of God. And though i cannot guarantee that growing in your relationship with God will act like a force-field keeping us far from the efforts of deceptive people, I can promise that it means that we ourselves grow into people who despise deceiving others. This is why Jesus was so emphatic about maintaining our "yes to mean yes and our no, no" in Matthew 5:33-36, even including that "anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

Unfortunately, many have been deceived by those from within the church, and it's time for us to take our citizenship in the Kingdom of Light seriously from here on forward. And do not think for one second that you could never end up like Lance Armstrong, deceiving people to the (international) level that he has. That is the very step on a very slippery slope. The moment you think such a thing is the moment you allow yourself to have one foot in the kingdom of light and one in darkness.

I'll leave you with Psalm 37:3-6 and a last word:

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

Notice that our light increases as we dwell in the land (the kingdom of light, if you will), delight ourselves in Him (not in darkness), and commit our way to Him.

May your light grow like the dawn and its increasing light, all the way to the noonday sun.

Dead Dogs and Echoes of the Soul

You must read II Samuel chapter 9 or be very familiar of the story of David and Mephibosheth to understand this post. Feel free to click here to read II Samuel 9 before reading on.

And for the sake of me having to type out Mephibosheth, he will now be referred to as Bo.

Bo goes through a classic case of identity that i believe we all are going through in one way or another. Bo is crippled in both feet, and even though he has a royal lineage (he is the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, Israel's first king) he sees himself as a "dead dog" (v. 8).

How many of us judge ourselves according to what we see in the mirror? Or what we see on the report card? Or in our annual review at our job? Or in (or what's not in) our wallet? And when we do look at such things, no doubt the result is we see ourselves as good as a "dead dog." We all have an ache somewhere in our lives that cries out, and the yell bounces off the walls of our own soul and somehow echo back:

"dead dog!"

But in this passage David restores Bo in two huge ways.

The first is provision. Did you see the message that was repeated FOUR times in this one short chapter? It was the fact that Bo "ate at the king's table" (or something equal to that) in verses 7, 10, 11, and 13. Look at the question in life that particularly bugs you. The question underneath it probably lies in the realm of provision. Will there be enough money? A high enough social standing? A good enough resume? Etc. But one of the great promises of God is provision. Look at these passages:

Matthew 6:25-33

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

II Peter 1:3

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

Do you believe these promises to be more true than the echoes of your soul telling you otherwise? I promise you that Scripture always holds more sway than our fear of lack in our lives. 

The second way that David helps restore Bo is through fruitfulness. 

Notice that at the end of the passage Bo actually bears a son. The son's name is Mika which curiously can mean "Who is afraid?" or "Who is a wimp?" The ultimate show of fruitfulness in the Old Testament (and still today in many ways) is to bear a child. It's part of God's command of fruitfulness in Genesis 1, it's the long awaited promise for Abraham, etc. And Bo names his son Mika, I believe as a testimony that he (Bo) is no longer afraid, and no longer sees himself as weak/a wimp! It's a nomenclative brushing off of the shoulders! It's Bo's way of saying "I'm provided for, therefore I can be fruitful. Nothing can stop me."

Colossians 3:1 says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." And where is Christ seated? On a throne.

Even more interestingly we are reminded with the very last words of this passage that Bo is lame in both feet. And yet his whole identity has undergone a giant transformation! Now, I believe our God is one that can heal feet, but He is also one that is not afraid to keep our circumstances the same until our soul, our identity is elevated to that of royalty. Kingdom of God royalty.

Provided for, fruitful, the divine meshing with human, from dead dog to

royalty. 

Resolutions

We are all guilty. We all have fallen short. None of us have ever reached the top.

No I’m not talking about the affects our fallen, sinful state. I’m talking about New Year’s resolutions!

How many times have we promised to lose the weight, pick up that new hobby or habit, or made vague
promises about becoming a better person? We all have in one way or another, and most often around
this time of the year. The question that always weighs on my mind as I work with college students is this:
how does a person actually change?

If the answer was quick and easy, we would go to the drive-thru of the McResolutions or download the app or buy the product for 3 easy payments within the next eight minutes or of course miss out. But the answer is not easy; no, the answer is Biblical in its proportions! Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That is the NIV’s rendering of it. Here’s the Phil Living Translation:

“You have a choice. Live out the story that the world offers you and feel hollow, or choose to live out the
story that God offers you and become fully alive.”

Too often we make these resolutions without considering what the best overarching story would be
for our lives. I believe this makes us like waves tossed in the ocean (see the warning in Ephesians 4:14).
I have come to believe that if we really want to change, we must become enchanted by the story of
God’s great love for us, a love that frees us to be history makers and world changers. A story that reflects God's story, His love.

I'm also amazed around this time that we as followers and children of God don't lead the charge on making and keeping great resolutions, around New Year's and all the time! In Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus tells us not to swear by anything, whether it's heaven, earth, Jerusalem or our own head. I think the idea here is that we would no longer say things like "I swear by my mother's grave" or "cross my heart..." type phrases. But i also think Jesus would address our need to always "Betchya" that we can do something. But why does He give us the standard of "Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No."?

Because imagine if God was any different. Imagine if God had to coax us into His promises! And keeping oaths or promises or resolutions wasn't a new level of legalism that Jesus was setting up for us, nor a new level of perfection, per se. He was setting us up for a new level of responding to and reflecting His love expressed to us and to creation.

Again, keeping our oaths, promises, resolutsions, etc. causes us to reflect His likeness on earth, in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods, in our circles. Anything less displays a God that has to somehow coax us and lay wagers on His dependency!

May you have grace and peace and boldness going into this new year, especially along the lines of your New Year's resolutions/reflections of God! The following are a few books that have helped me along the lines of this blogpost in my own day to day life. Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------

“Engaging God’s World” by Cornelius Plantiga Jr. A brief Biblical look on how the overarching story of
God impacts the way we live out our faith.

“Boundaries” by Cloud and Townsend. This duo has penned several books that get into the practicality
of taking back our lives so we can fully offer them to God.

“Reordered Love, Reordered Lives…” by David K. Naugle. I haven’t finished this book yet but Naugle
offers a fantastic look into our own souls to help us discover how happiness effects our lives every day in
every way.

“A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller. Miller is being touted by many as being the voice
to the young adult generation. I consider this his best book! It isn’t going to aide you on the practical
end, but it will change your life from the inside out. It’s the best book out of this group I’ve offered.

Smyrnan Wealth

To the Church in Smyrna

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death."

Revelation 2:8-11

The most shocking verse in this section to me is this:

"I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich!"

When was the last time you looked at "your afflictions and your poverty" and said to yourself, "my spiritual wallet is full because of these." "To God, i am rich in this moment of affliction." It's totally like God to look at the poor and afflicted and see them as wealthy. It's totally unlike us to see ourselves in the same way, the way God sees us. 

I'm completely on board with us when we look to God for healing, wholeness, completion, redemption, etc. in any of our situations. But often times, when what we are looking for in our circumstances doesn't happen the way we want or change the way we want, we think we have become "spiritually poor." Or that something's wrong. Or we go as far as thinking that God Himself must be wrong!

But fortunately we have the promise of the "crown of life." I don't necessarily see this as something that is only received when we "get to heaven." I believe that we can wear this crown of life on this side of heaven by persevering through our afflictions that we have now. And by seeing that we become wealthy (crown-wearers if you will) by persevering through the things that seemingly kill us, give us death.

Our first look at Jesus in this passage is one that shows us that He is the one who died and came to life again. If we are to follow Him, we will follow Him all the way to and through death and (back) into life. I once heard a preacher say "You can't have a resurrection without a death." And again, I'm not saying this is a literal death, these are the things that kill little parts of us, greeds, lusts, idolatry, all sorts of evil desires (Colossians 3:5-11). And lastly this is not punishment by any means. If anything it is reward because now we have the opporutnity to see His love in a way that we become zealous and repent (Rev 3:19 ESV). 

We all have at least one story where we can look back and say "I'm glad I went through that really bad thing, because now I'm better for it." What Jesus longs for us to see is that in our moment of affliction we can have a "living hope" (I Peter 1:3) through the things we see as affliction. 

Are you willing to see your afflictions and poverty as a means to your truest wealth?

The Ephesian Slump

Revelation 2:1-7 should be read before reading this post and can be found HERE.

" To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." -Revelation 2:7

I played organized baseball for 11 years of my life and only once have i ever really suffered "a slump." I remember doing all of the right things that a dedicated baseball player should do while they were in a slump:

*I hated the fact that i was in a slump.
*I took extra batting practice.
*I consulted my coaches and asked them for their advice.
*I made adjustments to my batting stance.

I basically did everything a coach could ask for, except for one thing: I still wasn't hitting the ball!

That was until one day i was about to go up to the plate and bat but i was abruptly stopped by my 6' 5" coach grabbing my shirt right under my throat, staring me in the eyes, and firmly saying "Quit overthinking. See the ball - hit the ball."

He scared the slump right out of me. I went 4 for 5 that day and hit nearly .600 the rest of the season (which for those of you who don't know, is really good). I finally focused on the right thing to do rather than not doing all the things i shouldn't do.

I feel as though the Christians in Ephesus were in a similar slump but probably didn't realize it. They hated the right things. They probably didn't do the wrong things. They did do all the right things that would be asked of them. But the main objective still wasn't being completed! And that objective: love.

They were already praised for enduring harships, so in verse 7, "To him who overcomes" is probably directed at those who are to overcome their own need to be right about what to say and who to "not tolerate" and why to have the reasons you do about anything (how to spend money, who to vote for, what music to like, how and when to baptize, and all the other hot-buttons). Very few people fall in love and ask about what rules to follow and what not to do; they simply act out what's inside them!

Jesus seems to be calling the church in Ephesus, and us, back to acting like we have just fallen in love.

With Him.

With people.

With the creation around us.

Maybe if we spent more time being madly in love, and acting on it, people would respect our opinions on all the hot-buttons more. (Or maybe not!) But the overcomers overcome the need to be right about all the negative things in society and fall in love again. And somehow this grants us access to a Tree of Life in God's paradise.

May we find each other at the Tree eating deeply because we were focused on how to do the right things rather than focused on how to not do the wrong things.

Shortings

"I can't get no satisfaction." -Rolling Stones, Satisfaction

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." -Proverbs 13:12

Over the past several months i shut down blogging for a bunch of reasons that i'm sure i would make sound very poetic if i explained them on here. But one of the reasons, to be perfectly honest, is that i didn't push myself or i didn't set any goals worth achieving.

I'm also very dissatisfied with my writing and blogging as a result.

And yet i also have learned a lot over the summer, particularly from receiving a concussion. How i got my concussion isn't necessary to this blog post, but i suffered it on July 6th. Since then i've had moderate symptoms almost every day. The last week and a half have finally brought relief, but before that i often suffered from headaches, "sea legs," dizziness, light headedness, fatigue, and a sudden onset of a severe lack of focus that would come about at any moment. My recovery has meant the world to me though, not just from the symptoms but through them.

The two months of almost constant symptoms and my constant attention to not pushing myself reminded me that satisfaction never comes quickly. And if it does, then it probably didn't.

Even in the Rolling Stones day, they couldn't "get no satisfaction" from "the guy on the radio" or "the guy on the T.V." because of the quick solutions they offered through "useless information" and squeaky clean clothes. I wonder how the world of the internet and cell phones would affect this song today? Either way, "a longing fulfilled is a tree of life" according to Proverbs.

The problem is we've been satiated by too many shortings. Think about it. How many times do we skip the long and hard work for the thing that comes easily? We settle for fast food when a Thanksgiving dinner is right before us... if we would just long after it long enough.

Technology and simple solutions aren't evil, they simply aren't solutions to our longings. And ever since an angel with a flaming sword was set to guard the Tree of Life at the end of Genesis 3 we have not had access to it. Or have we?

If a longing fulfilled is a tree of life, then maybe a longing fulfilled is one of the few passwords allowing us entrance to this precious fruit. But my guess is that the sentinel in the Garden can see it in our eyes when we want to eat of it too soon. I would even wage a guess that we somehow back ourselves into the garden without knowing it on this one. And the sentinel need not ask us the password when we approach correctly.

Dig deep in your heart for what it truly longs for, and live for those things. Take the daily risks and work hard. Trust in the long haul over the quick fix.

The Coming Flood, Part 2

The passage we worked with last post, and will work with for a few more is this from Luke 6:46-49:

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”


The first sentence in this passage says a lot that we may very well overlook if we don't pause on it.


"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

For the most part we use the word "Lord" and without realizing it we confuse it for Savior. I don't mean this to sound harsh, but most of the time when people get talking about the Lord and all that He has done and will do, it's typically in the context of Him saving us and providing for us. Granted, Jesus is Savior, and He provides for sure. But calling Him Lord is not so much about what He does but who He is to us, in relation to us. In authority over us. Or i could put it this way...

Calling Jesus Lord isn't so much about what He does but about what we do.

And calling Him Lord means we do what He says. Otherwise one could say we are like a man who builds a house on sand and... well, you know that one by now!

For most of us reading this, calling Him Lord has become synonymous with calling Him Savior, calling Him Jesus or even just plain ol' God. But i want you to evaluate your heart on this matter, and not just in getting the nomenclature correct.

There are some areas, if you will, of my heart that are quick to call Jesus Lord. Most of these areas are as a result of trials in my life i've been given and have overcome (physical illnesses, being single for a long time, divorce in the family, etc.) but all of these areas took time to dig deep and have a solid foundation of one thing: doing what i know Jesus would have me do.

However, there are other areas of my heart where i am not quick to do what Jesus says, and these areas are doomed to experience the storm. I've not dug deep, i continue to use cheap resources, find quick ways out, just get by, trust simply in forgiveness rather than build upon forgiveness with long-term sustained obedience. These areas are often areas that i have fear, doubt, wounds from the past, temptations and greed in. But notice this: all of those areas can also become areas where i can call Jesus "Lord." There's potential laden in all of them. So now it is up to me.

Will you call Jesus "Lord" and reflect to Him a life that shows it to be true?

The Coming Flood, Part 1

Here is the passage from Luke i referred to in the last post. It is Luke 6:46-49


“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”


I will be breaking this down into several themes over the next couple posts, but for today i want to look at the flood that came upon the houses. Notice that the flood comes first to the one who built the house well, not the one who didn't. We as Christians often think in a default manner that judgment first comes to "those sinners over there." But here we see that Jesus first points judgment at those that have built well. Even if this didn't happen chronologically it happened first in Jesus' telling of it. In I Peter 4:17 it says, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God." The Lord brings the flood, judgment and, yes, even sufferings (if you read on in I Peter 4) not to harm the children of God but to exalt them! "He who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:14. What is more humble than hearing the word of God, and then obeying that word? 


If you humble yourself and do what God says, most likely you will have some sort of suffering come your way. This is to test the quality of the materials you are using to build your house. ("If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work." I Corinthians 3:12-13) 


If you are suffering, it is time to humble yourself even more. For your exaltation will bring others to knowing God in such a way that they will see how to build their lives on the Rock Himself. No one really wants to suffer, but i believe the mature see that in times of suffering that there is opportunity to see A) what their house is really built on in a certain area of their life and 2) where the Gospel of the Kingdom is really effective in reaching the hearts of others.


Think about it in terms of this really simple example: if i'm in line for lunch and it looks like it's going to be five minutes longer than normal, what is my reaction? Do i complain and moan and make things more miserable for others? If so, the storm has come and revealed that no work of God in the area of my patience has stood. In the area of patience i have built with wood, hay, and straw.


Next, we will talk about this idea of the different areas of our souls going through floods in more detail.

This is My Home

I picked up a brick for at least the fiftieth time. It was the end of a long day, and i was doing something charitable for those who suffered from the worst hurricane in U.S. history, but i couldn't help but not feel like my efforts were being a little wasted. I was picking up bricks from the destruction of a gateway that led to a gigantic ocean side house that withstood Hurricane Katrina and all of her rage. Meanwhile i knew that there were millions suffering from leveled (or even missing) homes, and here i am cleaning up a really rich man's driveway decoration that told everyone around him his (high) economic status.

The owner would come by every now and then and humbly thank us for doing something so mundane. He had a wheelbarrow and was working pretty hard himself but often seemed distracted. This often led me to believe he was lazy. I soon found out i was horribly, incredibly wrong.

As the man smoked a cigarette and called his golden retriever to him i detected a tear in his eye that escaped the shadow of his shaggy sun-bleached hair. A couple of us started asking some of the typical questions, "How long have you lived here?" "What was the hurricane like for you?"

He began to tell us how the only thing he had left was his dog and his FEMA trailor. I asked him "Well, what about your house over there?" as i pointed to the three story mansion. He gave a half hearted chuckle and said, "Oh, sir. That's not my house, this... THIS is my house."

What he pointed to was nothing. Literally, flat ground that revealed a couple cynder blocks, broken bricks and a barely recognizable foundation. The bricks we were picking up weren't to the driveway of the mansion, but of the walls of a small one story house that got swallowed up by the ocean.

I've never felt so shallow in my whole life. I walked away in shame and refused to even make eye contact with the man as i did my best to pick up even pebble sized portions of brick in honor of this man. And his dog.

I did overhear him say one more thing though before we left.

"This is my home. A lot of people are moving north, fleeing to the hills, looking for a new place to live. But Pass Christian is my home whether i have a house or not."

This man's circumstances did not deter his perseverance. My next blog (i'm attempting to blog on Sunday evenings now, but will be gone next Sunday because of Spring break, so the next one will be in two Sundays) i will go into the passage in Luke where one house stands against the flood and one house falls and what that means for us going forward. But until then, know that there are a few things we must place deep in our hearts for this coming season:

*perseverance can only be found in trying times
*there are no accidents, just opportunities
*no matter what structures stand or fail, know where your true home is

What's The Expression on God's Face

If God walked into the room where you are sitting right now, what would the expression on His face be?

Would He be upset with you? Indifferent? Angry?

We typically believe the first thing God would do is lecture us about is His constant displeasure with us. Why is this?

Somewhere along the way we have elevated the concept of and the consequences of our sin above the characteristics of God Himself. We know and trust His anger, judgment and wrath above the idea that "God is love."

I'm not pleading ignorance of His judgement, i'm stating that along the way we have magnified this facet of God's love (yes, His love) over His love itself. For "God is love." (I John 4:8, 16)

When i ask the students i interact with the "expression on His face" question, i rarely ever get the one i've come to know as the true answer. This one is the one where in Luke 15 the father, the God-figure, cuts his son's repentance speech short to honor him as a cherished member of the family after seeing him come over the horizon from "a long way off." This is moments after Jesus colorfully portrayed him as a sinner worthy of the worst of Jewish punishments.This is moments before the son was going to request to be a slave instead of being considered a son.  The father runs and gushes and kisses and clothes and gives jewelry and throws a feast large enough for the entire village because he was in his son's presence.

On to first impressions.

In Genesis 3 we have the first act of rebellion against God, and God's first opportunity to show us that scowl we think we always see on His face in response to our sin. After Adam and Eve both eat of the forbidden fruit, what would you guess God says?

Well, He says, "Where are you?"

What type of person (or God in this case) says something like "Where are you?" (God didn't misplace Adam!) One student responded to this question with, "I would ask 'Where are you?' if i missed someone."

Wow! What if our Gospel to people who don't believe in God became more like that?

"God misses you."

"Plan A for Plan B" or "I'm the Vending Machine"

(Let me begin by stating this before i begin: the views i reflect on this blog post are not necessarily those expressed by my fellow staff members from either The Shippensburg First Church of God or the CCO [the Coalition for Christian Outreach] nor of either organization as a whole. But even my restating of this hopefully compels you to read on with the understanding of just how important this is to me, and how important i think this is to those who have ever or is currently involved in the life of the Shippensburg community.)

This is not a post about whether it's right or wrong for Shippensburg University to have a vending machine on it that dispenses the Plan B pill. This is a post about why it is Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, of all places that somehow managed to make national headlines because of a vending machine and its moral implications behind it. This is a post proposing a Plan A for Plan B.

The vending machine is a perfect analogy to represent the larger yet hidden story of all that is going on here, and in most of western civilization. A vending machine allows you to turn your back to the rest of the world, pay a small price in a private moment, and receive a momentary and hollow solution to your problems whether it's a possible pregnancy or a case of the munchies or feeding a caffeine fix. When someone pens up their anger and then types a coded status on Facebook or Twitter "expressing" themselves, they've just used a vending machine. When i text someone i should call, or call someone i should visit, i've used a vending machine again. When i say i'm ok and i'm not ok: vending machine. I turn my back on the world, make a tiny (yet too small of a) sacrifice and find a quick solution that does not fix a thing.

I'm thankful for a university that does employ people to help counsel people on all sorts of matters: academic, professional, health, physical, mental, and spiritual. And in fact, i think Shippensburg does it very well, all things considered. And yet this vending machine in the health center can't console a teenage girl who has made a choice she regrets and makes another choice she may regret as a result. It would be great to know that counseling would be offered as you engage the vending machine and not in a different corner of the campus from the vending machine. This is not to blame the university though. This is a reflection of the society, the system in which we live.

The system is one of fear. We don't want to admit we need help, that we hurt, yes, we ache with all sorts of burdens we've carried into desperate situations. And since we are all scared, and all ashamed, it's even easier to seek a vending machine for help. The vending machine is stoic (won't make fun of you) yet responds with exactly what you want it to respond with rather than what it should respond with: timely advice, hope, and ironically in this case, a plan.


Unfortunately we, as the body of Christ, have become all too good at pointing the finger in blame rather than towards a hopeful future. We quickly echo Adam in blaming someone else ("kids these days" or the government), or blaming what we've been given (i.e. a pluralistic society with lacking morals). Instead, shouldn't we be like the father in the Prodigal Son story, searching the horizon for those with aches and pains and debauched lives looking for a place to call home and providing them with family? Shouldn't we be the ones that echo our favorite of verses in Jeremiah 29:11 that says "I know the plans i have for you, plans with hope and with a future, and with prospering"? But even worse than not being the solution for a prodigal culture, i fear we are at the source of this vending machine culture.

I Peter 4:17 says, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God..." In Romans 5 it talks about how sin and death came through one man, Adam, and how righteousness and justification came through one man, Christ. You see, Scripture points to the "family of God," whether it was Adam years and years ago, Christ 2000 years ago, or the church now, it is the family of God that is the means through which the world receives its nourishment. "Can a spring bring both freshwater and saltwater?" begs James... no. And this is why God's judgment begins with the family of God, because God understands that the proposed solution for the world will happen through His children, not in spite of them nor will it be administered after their existence. However, if we take the curious case of the vending machine and do not take our own temperature and see what if anything is a result of us, then we will not notice our own need for a new plan to offer to the world. If we take the thermometer and put it in our own mouth we will see that it reads vending machine. We have mastered a vending machine version of the Gospel, and it's taking on flesh in the facets of our society.

You see, when we offer a gospel, "the good news," in a form where one can simply whisper a prayer, be forgiven of all misdeeds, and wait to one day fly away to heaven, we offer a gospel where you place a couple quarters in a machine and slowly watch the vending machine vend a high sugar high calorie sweet piece of candy devoid of relationship, devoid of care. We offer a solution that's quick to obtain, quick to receive, and easily discarded with after we receive its momentary benefits. (We offer eternal life, but is it really eternal if it doesn't come with lasting results on this side of heaven?) When really the good news is a Thanksgiving dinner in contrast to a mere Snickers bar.

The good news is that God came and is here and continues to chase after us all. He forgives and He offers hope on this side of heaven as well as a home in the other side. And not only that, but He recruits you and i to take part in the cosmic solution to all the world's deficiencies, aches, pains, homelessness, hurt and suffering. You become His superheroes, infused with His very Spirit. We become X-Men of a sort where are human bodies are infused with a supernatural call and ability. And one day, all of this work will usher in the fullness of God's joy and His ways and His healing as heaven comes and fully collides with earth shattering away all of its pain.

The problem is, when we offer a vending machine version of the gospel, we live a vending machine sort of life. We refuse to take risks. We don't value hope and "long-suffering" (the true translation of the word "patience" in the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5). We become very comfortable and even demand ease.

The worse problem is this: we offer a vending machine gospel and even if people don't believe it they live it out. And what do you get? A society where you can turn away from relationship and turn to a faceless, helpless machine for your hope... and receive it in pill form.

If we really want to make a difference in our society, we will throw away our vending machines in our every day lives and commit to providing an every day Thanksgiving dinner mentality to those who desperately need spiritual food, spiritual family and spiritual recreation (my family is the best at playing games on Thanksgiving evenings).

In the midst of the mocking and shocking headlines there is good news in all of this. Very good news.

Shippensburg has the ability to be a city on a hill, a beacon of hope to the world. How?

Do you need more proof? Is Tosh.0, Leno and Saturday Night Live not enough proof? What about CNN and all of the evening news shows and all of the news websites? A couple of my friends and i believe in Shippensburg. We've started families, joined churches, established businesses, bought homes, and invited others to join us. We pray and live for its well being (the exact prescription explained in the beginning of Jeremiah 29). And over this past winter break a few of us even began whispering, wondering and, especially looking in hindsight, prophesying that Shippensburg would have the anointing to be a light to the whole world.

But it's not New York City or L.A.? Right. One of my favorite passages in Scripture is when Philip (great name) invites Nathanael to come to see Jesus of Nazareth and Nathanael responds with "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" and Philip responds with "Come and see!"

The thing that changed Nazareth from a place of "Can anything good come from there?" to a place renown for being the hometown to the whole creation's Savior was a move of God witnessed by a man committed to sharing the news about it. The good news.

Listen, i've been there. I've had my doubts about Shippensburg. I've smelled the farms, i've stepped in buggy exhaust, i've seen people dancing drunk and naked outside at 6 in the morning (on Easter morning mind you). I've doubted it's importance. I've bemoaned the fact that i overheard my tenth graders i was student teaching at the time in a nearby school district were making plans to go to Shippensburg for the parties that weekend. My tenth graders.

I've also lived the vending machine life in many ways. Choosing laziness, video games, and personal ease over responsibility, being a good friend or attending the church or community function.

However, the only thing holding back Shippensburg from "light to the world" status is a group of people committed to not blaming the other person or the society, to not offering a vending machine version of the Gospel, and rather committed to discovering the full potential of the life afforded us while we are on this side of heaven and living it out.

There are several churches in the area that i know are viewing the good news in this way and are sharing. I go to one of them, and i'm excited about that. I know a bunch of great families committed to being a community of good news. Will you search for what the good news really is and not settle for anything that sounds too cheap and easy? Will you provide hope rather than pointing a finger anywhere other than at yourself? Will you confess that you've led a vending machine life too long already and you're willing to turn and be a Thanksgiving meal for others? Will you point to Shippensburg and say "Come and see!" while being busy making it a place worthy of such an invitation.

I hope you will.

The Good Confession

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time." I Timothy 6:12-15

Isn't this interesting that there's this little teaser to what the "good confession" is? Now before you go through your Bible or search Biblegateway for what the conversation between Pilate and Jesus is like, i want you to think about what your mind already tells you the "good confession" is.

If you are like me, you just LOVE frosted brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts.

But you also probably thought of a confession like, "Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior."

Well, ok then, let's put this, and whatever other instant reactions you had, to the test. Here's the passage in Matthew 27 Pilate asks Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And Jesus responds with, "Yes, it is as you say."

But in John 18 we get even more of this conversation. Stunning.

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” Pilate asked.

Here's an attempt at summarizing this "good confession":

1) Jesus states that His Kingdom is not of this world.

What if our good confession included yet went beyond Jesus being Lord and Savior but admitting that "what rules over me is not the ways of the world. My ruler is not money, my job, my grades, sex, drugs, obsessions, addictions, NOTHING rules over me except Jesus Himself and all His ways of living life."

B) Jesus is truth.

Around the Christmas season i love reminding myself of this passage because Jesus says, "For this reason I was born... to testify to the truth." Which earlier in the book of John Jesus called Himself "the Truth" (14:6). What's even more amazing is that Pilate asks, "What is Truth" right before dismissing it/Him to His death. What if part of our good confession included standing by what is Truth at all costs.

III) Jesus is speaking.

"Everyone on the side of truth (an earlier part of our "good confession") listens to me." Jesus could have said "listened" but didn't. What if part of our good confession included to constantly gain an ear for His voice in our lives. Through His Spirit inside of us, through others speaking into our lives, through Scriptures, through praying, and through listening.

Perhaps we should reconsider what it means to confess our faith to something more expansive than just WHO Jesus is but also to WHAT He is, what He is like, and having nothing else maintain rule over us.

Judah and Israel

"When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel His dominion." Psalm 114:1-2

The second half of this passage is what really caught my eye. If we break down some of the name and word meanings, we gain interesting insight.

Judah means "praise." Sanctuary means "sacred place" and connotes safety. When we praise God, He find a safe and sacred place there. In the King James Version in Psalm 22:3 it says that the Lord "inhabitest the praises of Israel." When we are able to praise Him, God is able to find His home. The place where He can be Himself. But for us to do this we must see Him as good, as available, and as a provider. And when we respond with praising Him for this, He enters OUR presence. Conversely, consequently, we enter His presence.

Israel means "wrestles with God" or "He will rule as God." Dominion means "place of rule." When we wrestle with God, we find out He rules, He dominates. Jacob experienced this personally, He wrestled God. Literally. But the story makes it sound like the wrestled all night, and that it was Jacob that was resolute about not quitting until he was blessed by God. C.S. Lewis mentions that we often settle for playing with mudpies when a vacation at sea is offered to us by God. But too many of us won't actually wrestle with God. We don't wait. We encounter Him and leave. The main reason for this? We don't see opposition as God. Yes, God is for us, but even that facet of His character explains opposition, not defies it or contradicts it.

A good coach knows this. He or she will know his players and will know when to encourage, and when to push or even discipline. The best athletes will even discipline themselves. Will do the sprints in the offseason. Will run a lap before the coach even commands it. Will seek correction, or if you will, opposition.

Will you practice praise? And by doing so setting a place at the table and making a bed for God in the home of your soul.

Will you encounter God through opposition? Finding out that in the end, like Jacob, you may limp but you will know that God rules over our lives and will transform us.

The Forgiveness of Man

Just had this thought given to me...

How come we have come to know the events of Genesis 3 (the chapter with the talking serpent, Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, you know, all that) as "The fall of man" or "The temptation in the garden"?

Why isn't it more referred to "The Forgiveness of Man"?

At the end of the chapter Adam graciously calls the woman "Eve" since she will be "the mother of all the living." Where did Adam get that idea from? Didn't Eve just give him the fruit that would cause all to die, not live? And yet Adam must have seen love in God's judgments upon them. Psalm 145:17 proclaims "The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all that He has made." This includes Adam and Eve, and includes the more harsh things said from God in that chapter... it's all still righteous and loving. I believe Adam saw this and couldn't help but respond in a similar way towards Eve, naming her Eve as a result. Think about it! Adam could have easily named her "Big Eternal Screw Up" or "Fall" or... you get the idea. And there would have been no righteousness or love in that at all.

Nor any forgiveness.

Forgiveness isn't just about our past mistakes, but it is also an action bent on the potential of one's future. The original meaning to forgive was to "completely give" or "give completely." When we think of forgiveness as just grace towards our past mistakes, it leaves us with no direction. Adam forgave the woman, and gave her direction in the area of her truest identity: to give birth to all of the living.

One of the truest acts of forgiveness and restoring one's identity is wrapped up in Adam's naming of Eve, which stems from Adam's perception of who God really is and was in that moment. This is a true fulfillment of "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:14

If i ever write a translation of the Bible, the subheading for chapter 3 will be "The Forgiveness of Man."

I've been tricked.

When Jesus was asked "Who is my neighbor?" it was meant to be a trap. He turned the trap and the question on its head masterfully by pointing out that the question was the wrong question. We are all to be the good "neighbor," not try and justify who we should or shouldn't love. We should be the good neighbor that shows compassion to all. I can hear the guy that asked Jesus the question think, "I tried to trick Him, and I've been tricked."

I think He does the same thing with the question of the greatest commandment... He turns it on its head entirely. Here's the passage from Mark 12:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

Did you see it? Well, if you didn't see it that's ok. Many of us have been taught that Christianity is about all these laws to follow, morals to live up to, and deeds to perform... or else. And we have been taught this so much that whenever the concept of love comes up, it manages to come through the same filter: another law to follow, a moral to live up to, a deed to perform.

The "turning on its head" above is this: you can not command someone to love. Go ahead. Try it. Go up to that girl you've had a crush on for the last year and say "Love me." That's not a flip we can switch. However, the wonderful part about this is that the only way we can fulfill that is by falling in love.

Right?

And if you are sitting there thinking, "yeah, but i must love my neighbor" or "yeah, but i have to do my devos" well then you aren't really doing either of that out of love. You're most likely trying to climb some sort of religious ladder.

So, then what?

Preach to yourself the Gospel over and over and over and over again until you realized you are loved. 100%. God has NO regrets about loving you. NO regrets about dying for you. NO hesitation about living in you through His Spirit.

You are created good.
Sin has tainted that experience.
Christ paid the penalty to remove the tainting.
You can live gratefully loved in response, on this side and the next side of eternity as a result.

The greatest "command" is this... a natural response to just how

LOVED

YOU

ARE.

Your Enemy is Bread

In Numbers 13 we learn that Moses sent spies into the Promised Land, Canaan. The spies came back and told of its glories by saying it was a land that "flowed with milk and honey." I imagine a modern day translation would be something akin to "flowed with bacon and Bolthouse farms beverages." (If you have sampled Bolthouse, you KNOW what i am talking about!) The spies also cowered at the size of its inhabitants saying that the Israelites were "like grasshoppers" compared to them. But Caleb tries to rally the troops saying that they can indeed win in battle. His reasoning is in Numbers 14:9:

"Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."

How can two people who saw the same thing have such opposing reactions and reports? Simple: perspective. One saw the size of the people and their abilities and reported back that they should fear and flee, even back to Egypt where they were slaves. The other, Caleb, saw the fact that "the Lord is with us" and that their opponents' "protection is removed from them," assuming that it was the Lord who removed it.

When you perceive from your own point of view, then it is easy to succumb to fear, laziness, defeat and the like towards whatever your "promised land" is. Maybe it's that project you always wanted to complete, running a marathon, buying a house, becoming an avid reader, being more philanthropic... whatever! In some way we all have opposition that faces us when it comes to doing good. But what is your view, your perception of that opposition?

Will you let that perception be fear? Or apathy? Giving in to the enemy and its apparently overwhelming size? Or will you see that Jesus has stripped the enemy of all his power and has left him defenseless, and through perseverance, trust, faith, and hard work you can enter the promised land of your most ambitious dreams and goals?

When you begin to see any opposition in your life as "bread," that which doesn't oppose you but actually NOURISHES you towards your goal, then you already have victory over that enemy. Now you must simply walk past that enemy of fear and into victory.

Mother's Day tribute.

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

²¹ “What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

²² “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

²³ Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

One thing i never quite noticed before is that James' and John's mother doesn't get a lot of attention in this story, but maybe she should. What if when we worshiped Jesus (in greek, "kneeling down" is the same word for "worshiped") and when we get to that place where we know we have His attention, we begged and aspired (the greek for "asked" in that verse) for God's absolute highest blessings. By the end of this conversation Jesus has the disciples, the sons in position for martyrdom, an honor of the highest degree in the Kingdom. Now, whether the Father has them sit where they want is still in question by the end. And though the end is still unclear, the means have become very clear. And the tone of this doesn't seem like a rebuke either, in fact, it seems more like a teachable moment. Later on, the rest of the disciples all get a lesson in how "to be the greatest" as well.

As we aspire to "make disciples of all" i believe there's a nugget hidden in this. We don't want to simply make disciples (sons and daughters) by just getting people through their tragedies and dramas... don't we want to beg and aspire for Jesus to bless them with things we don't even understand? The highest blessings of heaven? And how unselfish is this of their mother too! She has Jesus full attention, He asks her (think about this for a minute) what SHE wants! And then her response has nothing to do with herself or her well being! So what if she has no idea what she's asking for... it's AWESOME!

I don't believe this to be some sort of formula we can follow, but at the same time i feel like there's treasure here that we can see. Worship, grab the attention of Jesus. Then let Him address you. Then address Him with your highest desires for your closest friends. And then let Jesus direct them.