Stumbled by "Don't be a Stumbling Block" – Part 2

S - 1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-11:1 (NIV): "“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. … 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

O - This instruction has always been a problem for both individuals and groups. It is an awesome recognition of the full freedom followers of Jesus have AND the focus their lives should maintain … the glory of God and the good of others. The confusion (and it is a tragic confusion) is not over the focus but the means … not causing one to stumble regardless of their cultural/religious moorings. What seems to happen at this point is the not stumbling becomes the focus rather than God's glory … the list of unacceptable behaviors (lawful by God's word … which is all about his glory… but) deemed unacceptable due to stumbling concerns. It becomes an intense conversation and expectation of what one may not do and this is so contrary to Jesus, the Kingdom and real life. People will zealously not do certain things and demand others not do them as well and all the while they are not LOVING their neighbors as themselves. Love is an action and it is the foundation of all the King and his Kingdom are about. How can not engaging in tangible acts of love be acceptable as long as one does not do the current don't do list? Many people who are hostile toward "the church" seem to be so for the lack of love not because they saw a church member drink or smoke or chew or go with those who do. The hypocrisy the church is most often accused of involves people whose lives failed in the scriptural prohibitions while maintain the cultural ones (e.g. sexual or financial scandal, etc.). Religious people, following hard after the list of "don’ts" begin to withdraw from all the "sinners" who do. This also is polar opposite to Jesus who is the friend of sinners. Paul's point of seeking the good of all was that all could hear and have the opportunity to come near Jesus not so folks would isolate themselves. The application of this stumbling block concern is directly connected with following the example of Jesus … Sabbath breaking, friend of sinners, get the inside of the cup clean, Jesus.

A - I am never exempt from loving. I am never exempt from getting the 2x4 out of my own eye. I am never exempt from the written voice and its clear instruction of what to do and what not to do. I am never exempt from taking my current understanding and lining it up with the example of Jesus and making sure I am at least in his shadow if not directly in his footsteps. Jesus wants me to keep the main thing the main thing. Religion/culture is always straining at gnats and swallowing camels. Jesus' focus is on the inside and what is currently unseen … religion/culture is only focused on the outside and what is seen. What is seen is temporary and passing away. What is unseen is eternal. Once stumbling blocks are about what is seen we've slipped to that which is not the point … ever! The parable of the Good Samaritan applies here. The three Hebrews (religious) had no problem being seen passing-by their fellow Hebrew and leaving him to die on the side of the road but they would never be seen failing to wash their hands. Jesus' question remains true for me and for all: why do we hold on to the traditions of men and set aside the commands of God? We stumble and fall over the tragic misunderstanding of what a stumbling block actually is. If helping the lost be found and the unsaved saved is the goal then not doing does not carry the day. Only the doing of love … for God so loved that he gave!

P - Lord of Life, Love and me,
I don't want to get indignant with others over this issue … I want to get my little life right on this issue with you! Lord, let your life come into me and your life come out of me. Lord, forgive me for ever and whenever the focus has shifted to a list of what not to do rather than your commands to love, believe, hope, listen, and obey. Against loving there is no law:)! Thank you for loving me with all my faults and failures … my blind spots and misapplications. Lord, enable me to learn your ways and not the ways of mere religion. I admit I have some religion/culture because I am human. But you never want me to mistake my culture/religion for the kingdom. Lord, help me be a reason someone else might believe. Help me live out loud in such a way as to bring you glory, make you glad and be a source of life and refreshing to all. Jesus, thank you for being the friend of sinners so you could be my friend and I could be yours. Lord, your kingdom and kingship come on earth, in me, like it is in heaven. Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Steve

Stumbled by "Don't be a Stumblng Block" - Part 1

S - 1 Corinthians 8:1, 4-6, 8-9 (NRSV): "Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. … Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. … "Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak."

O - In the previous chapter it is establish that circumcision (religion/culture) is nothing and so is uncircumcision (religion/culture), that everything is obeying God's commands. This section affirms commands and presents cautions in culture. Religion/culture is weak on the commands and very strong on the culture. The commands are:
1. Love more than/over knowledge.
2. One God and one Lord who made all and for whom all exist.
3. Food (culture) is never the point.
Religion makes culture the point and does not love. It will "affirm" what it considers to be right performances but not love those who so perform. Love does not fail, but one who fails the culture/religion is no longer affirmed. Religion engages this passage with a focus on "not stumbling the weak" and uses as its only measure the current cultural taboo list. This list is not about commands (Scripture) but other opinons and ideas. It uses this cultural concern to enforce its religious rigor and to mercilessly judge and reject any who do not publically hold to "the company line." This cultural concern is misused to take and hold hostage any and all who succumb to its pressure. It speaks very plainly and loudly where the Scripture is silent AND sets aside (ignores) where God's written voice (Scripture) speaks plainly. This is more than tragic … in the spirit it is criminal because it makes the focus that which, ultimately, is nothing and does not really affect ones standing with God.

A - Stumbling block items in American culture/religion have included bowling, movies, make-up, smoking, drinking, dancing, motorized vehicles, while often supporting or allowing segregation, greed, gluttony, genocide (Native Americans) and gender discrimination. It is more than interesting to note that the written voice is, in fact, silent on the religious stumbling block list and speaks very directly on the items ignored. The law, and therefore the cultural concern, is summed up in one directive: love your neighbor as yourself. This is the point. This is how Jesus lived among us and how God showed or demonstrated his love to us. In this all people will know that we are disciples of Jesus -- if we love each other. This failure is why the holiness movement was not holy. It is why all religion ultimately fails and it is why the followers of Jesus will not. Jesus, friend of sinners. Religion, friend to no one. Jesus, fulfills the commands. Religion, ignores them. Jesus, loves forever. Religion never truly loves.

P - Dear Jesus,
Thank you for highlighting the concern of love and to be aware of my culture. You lived in this awareness and refused to cave into the company line. You said that the commands are two, fulfilled only in real love and even at their most difficult demands are life securing, life producing, life protecting and life sustaining. Please enable me to love. Help me shed the pressure and refuse the deception of this tragic and brutal human miscue. Let me be life giving and holy as you intend … quick to forgive, starting at mercy and leading with love. I ask in the authority of your name.
Steve

The Game of Life and How it is Played

S - 1 Corinthians 1:27-31; Psalm 40:9-11, 17 (NRSV): "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." … I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. … As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God."

O - The fortieth psalm belongs to David and the Corinthian correspondence to Paul … and all belongs to us, to all, who follow Jesus. The Lord does take thought of us because he loves us and calls us to love him back. He has chosen the weak and little, the poor and needy … and the truth is we are all weak and little, poor and needy. Those who don't think they are have missed the point and have become self-boasting and therefore self-deceived. This capacity is not reserved to the rich, famous and talented … it is very present in all who are human. Nevertheless, for those who recognize their true condition (blessed are the poor in spirit) the good news gets better still because not only are the poor in spirit among those whom God chooses and takes thought of, they are those whom God helps and delivers. They are those to whom and through whom his will is done on earth as it happens in heaven. His steadfast love and faithfulness are to be openly talked about. The glad news of his interest and desire for all is never to be concealed or denied … even when troubled times come upon us and God's delay (from our perspective, delay) results in bouts of discomfort, discouragement and depression (cf. the Hebrew for poor and needy) .

A - When playing games or sports as a kid growing up, the beginning of each game held the choosing of captains and then the choosing of teams. The captains were always those who held the greatest skill and they chose with the same modus operandi. What this meant for me is that I was never among the captains always among the last chosen. This is the way of competition and sports. However, in real, lasting and forever life there is a major shift. The captain actually is the best of the best, the unparalleled and unequaled of the human race, Jesus. He then chooses his team -- and this is where the game of life has been forever changed. He chooses the weak and little, the poor and needy, the clumsy and awkward, the rejected and disabled. He chooses for love not for talent, for relationship not for performance, for forever not for the duration of a game or the completion of a task. Though the competition is fierce and the stakes real, he never loses and never is at a loss as to the next move. He is never without the capacity to turn the tide, to turn the tables, to turn everything on a dime. This great captain takes thought of me, chooses me, helps and delivers me. While I join King David in his ‘do not delay’ expressions I also join him in the constant affirmation of the Lord's great goodness, spectacular brilliance and awesome power. Today, I need to be glad I'm on the team, confident in the outcome (no matter how it looks right now) and play my heart out … its how he's playing today and everyday!

P - Captain of the Team and Lord of all,
How will I ever be able to thank you enough for choosing me (us) right off the bat? No hesitation, no delay, no carefully weighing of the odds. Openly, diligently and without reservation you make your choice for the world to see. I ask for your help and deliverance on the inside and in our/my situation. I ask that you would help me, come what may, to play my heart out each day and every day while it is called today. Let me be, little and weak though I am, a channel of your life and blessing to others, an encouragement to ALL my other team members and a reason for someone else to join the team (believe). Lord, thank you for leading, for being the way, for requiring me to believe, to trust and enabling me to serve the Living God.
Game on,
Steve

Grace is Always Amazing, but its Sweet Sound is Up to Us

S - Galatians 3:1-7, 13-14, 27-29 (NRSV): "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? Just as Abraham "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. … Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. … As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise."

O - Faith does include obeying (Romans 1:5), but it is not an obedience to gain righteousness or standing before God. It is not an obedience which makes one better than another or is used as a comparison or standard with another. If ever obedience takes the lead in one's response to Jesus, to God's promises and person way to right standing, then faith has been disabled and grace is being refused. We receive from God because we believe. Because we believe we want to do those things which 'make him glad.' We begin in Spirit and must remain "in Spirit" for spirit life, real life (vibrant, refreshing, irrefutable and irresistible) really is exclusively about believing. Abraham's trip up Moriah did not change his standing before God, it did crystallize his faith and his interface with all God's blessings … Abraham would forever be God's friend first and the father of Isaac second. Those who start with the Spirit and try to work it out by the flesh are called foolish. Those who start with the Spirit start there by faith and those who stay with the Spirit stay the same way. Life in the Spirit is not cause and effect -- my doing producing my standing before God. Life in the Spirit is all about cause and cause -- by believing Jesus who is God's life and righteousness (causes) he becomes our life and righteousness (cause).

A - Over time I am compelled by some mysterious inner religious force to think that doing and not doing certain things is the basis for what I've received, have and hope to have from God. This will always be worse than flawed thinking -- it is fatal thinking; death producing and life defying in me and through me to others. Faith is death defying and life giving. Jesus is life and in Jesus death is defeated. Jesus defies death, sin and the devil. The grace that is in Jesus does this in and through me. Cause and Cause … Jesus and grace … all by believing. The obedience of faith is not about standing before God or improving my status … it is about believing so that my thoughts, words, deeds and attitudes all take on the trajectory of amazing grace -- sweet in its sound, its effect and its benefits.

P - Dear Jesus,
You are grace and truth, I am neither. You are life and I am not. I admit my thoughts are not well focused on this critical point but you are never blurry. I know that I don't have to understand it to receive it and that childlike faith is what pleases you. I guess a part of my inner religious self tries to "perform" especially when delays in receiving go on and on. However and whatever, there is no life in such actions, even actions that are right and honorable. If faith leads such can be life giving and sustaining … if religious/theological doing leads then such are not just lifeless they are life taking. You are life and you call me to follow you, to come near and stay near. In this day and in my current condition I come. I welcome your promises by faith; I put on you and your grace for this very day. You alone are life and you have loved us/me more than life. O great and only King … thank you for the Spirit and for the work the Spirit does. I choose to believe, and to stay yielded to the work you are doing. I refuse to attempt to do my own work … holy to you not holy for you. Thank you for letting me pray and live in your Name.

Steve

The Only Foundation for Relationship with God

S - Deuteronomy 10:12-13, (NRSV): "So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. … For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen."

O - The Lord's requirements: fear, walk, love, serve and keep. These are the verbs used to describe Israel's ongoing response to the Lord who brought them out of bondage to be their God. In this passage, fear is the gateway to all the others and the only one mentioned twice. The wholesome dread of displeasing the One you love (my working definition of the Fear of the Lord) is essential to all the others. It is the beginning of wisdom and when this fear is active all the other requirements find their way out in our lives. When this one is absent, the others will fade and warp. The lack of this essential relational foundation with the Lord is evident in the Pharisees (those who think they're "in") who set his ways aside for their own, honored him with their lips but their hearts were far from him, and served their own desires while claiming such to be his. The result was partiality, bribes, the perversion of justice, the oppression of orphan and widow and the complete disregard for the stranger. With out this fear, we use his words (written voice) to fashion 'a god' in our own image, understanding and likeness … claiming it to be the real God. Without the fear of the Lord, we keep and use the words but lose and refuse their meaning. We end up praising the work of our own hands rather than partnering with him in his awesome work and becoming witnesses to what he has done and is doing.

A - Clearly, the idea of a relationship with God is NOT a concept reserved for the NT or something Jesus and his followers "adapted" from the OT. Amidst all the regulations and prescriptions, the OT consistently calls people to an ongoing heart response to the living God. Interestingly enough, the key for the human being is found in the fear of the Lord. Without this, even the awesome and amazing grace of Jesus is rendered ineffective. The wholesome dread of displeasing the One I love will inspire, convict, provoke, call, command and otherwise make plain my course on a day to day basis. It will cause me to turn in rather than out. It will keep me acclimated to the real truth rather than religious preference. It will cause me to keep the words and their meaning.

Facing the facts,
Expecting His help,
Adopting His priorities and
Refusing to exempt myself from his word (written voice),
this how I may consistently engage the fear of the Lord which is pure, life giving, life sustaining and the beginning of everything wise. As Jesus points out in Luke 12, when I/we fear the Lord, we never have to be afraid. This is my assignment today and everyday while it is called today.

P - Awesome and Everlasting God,
Thank you for wanting the whole world, every human being to come near and stay near in ongoing relationship with you. Thank you for making us in your image and for setting your affection on us - no matter what. Thank you for making the way for us to follow, for dignifying our lives with the grace to choose and with the power of your grace which enables our choice to become a living reality in us and through us. Everything in your kingdom lives, water, stones, sacrifices and words. You alone are life and show us the way of life. I really do want to love you back, to live in the wholesome dread of displeasing you, to fear you so I never have to be afraid. I welcome you and your will on earth like they do in heaven. I admit and rejoice in you and your purposeful intersections and allowances. I admit my need to experience you and to learn your ways, which are not like me or this earth. I admit that I can fear others … but you call me to fear you alone. Again, dear Lord, this is how I want to live this day and everyday unto the walk, love, serve and keep which you both desire and deserve. My answer to you today and everyday is yes. None like you, none like you.
Steve

The Right Face in the Face of Opposition

S - Acts 6:9-10, 15 (NRSV): "Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. … And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel."

O - At some point there is going to be an "objection" to what is being said about Jesus. His name will be a polarizing force and those who will not come near most often want to argue the point. Stephen is willing to have the "conversation" but his response is more than accurate information or well constructed arguments. While these two components are included in Stephen's dialogue there was another factor which is mentioned … the Spirit with which he spoke. Now this may be a reference to the Holy Spirit and either way the Spirit of God was involved strongly. But spirit also includes and implies the demeanor, the purpose, the attitude with which he spoke. To me this indicates not only the anointing on his life but his intent … he was not looking to simply win an argument but be a reason for others to believe and a witness to the person of Jesus. This combination of wisdom and spirit was something that they could not withstand, resist, cope with or stand up against. Open hearts would have yielded; hard hearts would have turned away; rebellious hearts only response was to kill the messenger.

A - While confessing my need for the Lord's Spirit to anoint my words, I need to cooperate by having an accurate command of the information and be seeking the best method of response. However more is required to really please the Lord and present the witness to his person. The spirit in which I speak is also critical. The goal is for me/us to win the person not just the argument; knowledge puffs up but love edifies. Alive right, not dead right is the point. It's too bad that in this fallen world wisdom and spirit are not enough to prevent being killed.

P - Lord of all and Lord of me,
I praise you for this morning and the day which is flowing toward me. This day is your creation and gift, it is the context for our relationship to grow, it is the platform for me to experience you and to bring you honor. I want to be a life receiving and life giving human being; a disciple that refreshes the hearts of those he is with and one which makes your heart sing. Please put your Holy Spirit on me and shepherd me and my day so that wisdom and spirit combine to be a flow of life that is something irresistible to all. Thank you for all the events on my calendar and the people I am scheduled to see. I admit that you may have unscheduled events and meetings; I want to embrace this day according to faith and pay attention to what you are doing. Help me to lose my life so you will find it … to lay it down so you will take it up again. Great King, I lean my head on your chest and say: have mercy on me because I am a sinner; have mercy on me because yours it is to pity me and have mercy upon me; have mercy upon my because if you don't there is NO hope for me. Lord of mercy, as you do this my promise, assignment and desire is to give the way I've received. Thank you that not hating is not enough … you have command me to love. I set my heart to do this for you have loved me first.
Steve