Compassion or Sacrifice?

S - Matthew 12:7-14 (NAS): ""But if you had known what this means, `I DESIRE COMPASSION , AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent. "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.  And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? "How much more valuable than is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him."

O - Why, in the mind of the religious leaders, was healing considered "work" and lifting a sheep out of a pit "not work" and therefore  acceptable on the Sabbath?  The Scriptures do not forbid either.  As for healing as work, how would they know?  As far as the record shows, healing was not a part of their world or their activities.  Yet, this is the universal conclusion of the First Century's religious leadership. Why, after the healing takes place, would they be inspired to plot the murder of Jesus rather than rejoice in the healing of the man?  Considering such dynamics can help us understand the tragic nature of and oft repeated warning about the yeast of the Pharisees.  Consider the following:

1.       The question they asked was not for clarity but preconceived conclusions and desired condemnation.

2.       Rather than focus on the value of the human being they focused on their definition of a principle of religious culture.

3.       While working a list of what not to do, they completely overlooked the more important what to do.  It is always lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

4.       The Lord's desire is for mercy not sacrifice.  Religion's desire is for sacrifice not mercy. 

A - The religious leaders think they are "in".  Jesus keeps warning them that they are missing it all.  This dynamic is so critical because I think I'm in (as do most folks who lay some claim to Jesus).  Am I using the Scriptures to justify my conclusions or to rectify my life?  Is my life about mercy or sacrifice?  Am I willing to accept the collateral damage of people to protect a principle?  Is my religious life centered on what not to do or on what I am called to do?  Is my primary motive to not do something wrong OR to fully engage that which is right, life-giving and an imitation of Jesus? 

P - Lord over all,

Thank you for this day and for calling me to yourself according to mercy.  I need, want and promise to give the way I've received, the mercy which saves, heals, brings hope, lifts up and sets free.  I praise you for considering us so valuable and for calling us to think and live this way about ourselves and ALL others.  Lord, today let your life come into me and flow out of me.  Lord, let me make you glad and bring you glory.

Steve

Zealous Deception

S - Romans 10:2-4 (NIV): " For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."

O - True righteousness is not something we strive for; it is something, someone we submit to.  Righteousness is not primarily a code of conduct, it is a person (1 Corinthians 1:30). Zeal without the knowledge of Jesus becomes a trap and bondage in its pursuit of perceived righteousness .  It wants to establish its own standard which will NEVER be sufficient to God or the zealot.  The zealot will never be able to fulfill the demands of such  self-imposed rigor and so begins to compartmentalize its own failings (self-deception) while  pretending with others and judging others according to a measure they are not living up to.  The end is a focus on self and self-deception.  Jesus makes an end to this sad and futile cycle.  He calls all people to himself to receive wisdom, redemption, righteousness and holiness.  With Jesus it is not try harder but come nearer.  Real life is not found in more sacrifice but in ongoing submission. 

A - Being not doing is the priority for sons and daughters.  The doing flows from the being NOT the other way around.  Any zeal I have is to be engaged for the pursuit of ongoing relationship with Jesus (and his Father and the Holy Spirit) and loving my neighbor as myself.  Jesus ends all performance and calls all to the beauty of adoption.  Today I get come near and stay near … unto the wisdom, redemption, righteousness and holiness that is Jesus.

P - Father of Jesus and Father of me,

Thank you for wanting us/me unto adoption.  Thank you for giving us our identity and for growing us up to join you in the work you are already doing.  Lord, please let me work with you.  Lord, please protect me from working for you.  Lord, I submit to you, welcoming you, your will and your way as you wish.  Let today be a day that your life is flowing into me and out of me.  I ask for open doors, open heavens and an open purse.  Let me love you back and my neighbor and brothers as myself.  Thank you, Jesus for becoming for all wisdom, redemption, righteousness and holiness.  Let me/us life up and carry your name today.

Submitted to you,

Steve

Heaven's Work Ethic

S - Daniel 4:29-32 (NIV): "Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"  The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.""

O - So much for the American-Puritan Work Ethic as the means to great success.  While I can only guess, I'm thinking that being the despot of the known world is a fairly high pressure and high energy gig.  I'm thinking this great historic figure has worked pretty hard to build and maintain Babylon.  Nevertheless, his hard work is NOT the reason for his "successful reign".  It is not the reason he gained and it is not the reason he will maintain it.  There is a higher power and more deeply ingrained principle in the created order.  Jesus confirms that God really does have a will on earth and his will carries the day everyday. The point is not an absence of work but a recognition of purpose.  Jesus' cousin understood this dynamic and offers to us a clear and helpful worldview.  He said(John 3:27): "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven." 

A - Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers is a great book confirming this dynamic in a most engaging way.  Today, I even want to work hard, but the issue is at what?  Will I run off in a flurry of frantic activity aiming for my own success or will I work with the Lord in his brilliant purpose and the success he's designed me for?  The first can get a lot done and inspire heart numbing hell serving pride.  The latter will bring the greatest blessing here and hereafter.  I think I'll believe John and Jesus. 

P - Lord who works,

Thank you for setting the example in all of this.  You work, the Father works, the Spirit works and you've called me/us to work with you in your will on earth like they do in heaven.  Your will affirms NO competition for limited resources and refuses a worldview which accepts and causes collateral damage.  Lord Jesus, I want to work hard and working hard with you … you who are life and in whose kingdom everything lives … vibrant, irrepressible.  My answer is yes!

Steve

When it Comes to Faith What's Your Bottom Line?

S - Acts 1:21-22, 2:21-24,32 (NIV): "Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."  … And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. … God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact."

O - The bottom line for replacing Judas and the bottom line for the focus of apostolic ministry is the same … the resurrection of Jesus not his crucifixion.  The crucifixion is not minimal but it is not the proof of anything.  What sets Jesus apart is the resurrection.  Paul would affirm this awesome reality and says (1 Corinthians 15:17) "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." What is the bottom line in our faith and focus on/of Jesus?  Resurrection or crucifixion?  Do we view his purpose in coming as establishing amnesty with God OR adoption by him?  Salvation and adoption, according to Scripture, begins with (Romans 10:9) "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

A - The cross is absolutely essential and absolutely not the point. Resurrection is the point because life is the point … eternal, irrepressible, vibrant, now.  Jesus has called me/us to himself today and in this day his resurrection is THE point of witness, of assessment, of confession, of faith, of death defying life.  It is the proof of his person, Lordship, word, relationship to the Father and his relationship to us.  "Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:   He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. [1 Timothy 3:16]"

P - Living God,

I praise you for your defiant mercy, relentless love, awesome brilliance, limitless power and extreme goodness.  I praise for the resurrection of Jesus from dead.  Death could not hold him but it would hold me without his willingness to come and be the friend, savior and life of sinners.  I am overjoyed to be among your adopted children because of Jesus.  I gladly confess that he is Lord and I do believe that you raised him from the dead.  Today, cause your life to come into and out of me that I might be a reason someone else would believe.

I love you back,

Steve

Relationship not Real Estate

S - Matthew 28:1-10 (NIV): "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

O - Why didn't the early disciples try to "recover" the cross?  Why didn’t they try to protect and lay claim to possessing the empty tomb for proof, history and as a place of worship?  Religious folks tried all that hundreds of  years later but the thought apparently never crossed the minds of those who were eye witnesses to all this.  Why?  In fact, this  oversight was true for the generations of believers which followed for quite some time.  I don't think it was a short range view based on some perception of Jesus returning so quickly it wouldn't matter.  A week, a year, a decade, a century and the significance of the cross and the empty tomb doesn't increase … it's incalculable from the very beginning. So why this glaring inactivity or even failure?  The reason lies in the very nature of God's will on earth. His will is for ongoing relationship with the humans he created.  Jesus is the point, the life, the way, the truth.  His significance in NOT found in the cross or the tomb … it is in who he is.  These are symptoms of his love, greatness, life, power, mercy, tenderness, brilliance and goodness.  The reason to leave the cross and tomb unclaimed is because Jesus has claimed all who will come to him … not to his cross or tomb or even words … but to him.  He saves us not the cross, the tomb or the words.  They are his … he does not belong to them; and they are only reflections of his awesome person. 

A - I would like the cross and the empty and even the words to console me when I can't seem to get Jesus to act or move in my desperate moments the way I want him to and think he should.  I think on better days I would just settle for them and go on my way … but they aren't life and can't give me life.   Jesus wants all the world and all of me … not a crowd of admirers but of brothers and sisters … not my religious self but my whole self in ongoing relationship/connection.  I am very grateful for the words, the cross and the empty tomb … but they testify of him and I must come to him for life.  Thank God they didn't capture the cross and possess the empty tomb! I must be on my guard against the yeast of the Pharisees … who used the words of Scripture but changed and refused the meaning.

P - Lord whom death could hold,

Thank you for your love, your will, your purpose and your methods … brilliant, varied and at times heart stopping and even heart crushing.  I am grateful that you want me … even at my worst.  Lord, I am relying on you and your awesome brilliance, limitless power and extreme goodness.  Thank you for letting me belong to you by choice, though I am already yours by right.  Thank for including everyone in your death without asking for their agreement.  Thank you for dignifying us in giving us the choice to join you in your irrepressible life.  Lord, according to grace and because of love, I choose you back!

Steve

Go Climb a Tree!

S - Luke 19:1-10 (NIV): "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.""

O - What if Zacchaeus hadn't climbed that sycamore-fig tree?  What if his desire to see Jesus was overcome by his lifelong "shortness"?  What if he had simply accepted the sad circumstance and went back home alone?  What was it that inspired him to not settle for just trying and instead to climb the tree?  Scripture doesn't tell us but I wonder if this great differential can be described by the term desperate as distinguished from willing?  Willing would have carried him to the crowd not to the tree.  Willing would have ended in a nice try and then accompanied him back to business as usual.  Desperate is more than willing.  We normally think of it as reserved for frantic and threatening circumstances beyond our control and capacities.  None of this appears to us in the life of Zacchaeus.  He is rich, successful and healthy.  He's not looking for a miracle for himself or another--he just wants to catch a glimpse of Jesus.  Desperate is defined as overwhelmed with urgency, drastic, reckless or extreme as the only suitable response. What if we lived toward Jesus like Zacchaeus did? What if we were more than willing for this or that but we were desperate for him?  Jesus said (Matthew 7:7-11): ""Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

A - This subject of countless flannel graph stories told in Sunday School room for the last 150+ years is recorded for me/us to see more than an event in the life of Jesus but an event to be welcomed into each day.  What if I live desperate rather than willing?  What if my lifelong liabilities are not used as a definition of my limits but as an inspiration for the desperation (risk, urgency, extreme) Jesus deserves and the joy it will bring to me/us/earth?  Today, I need to desperate enough to climb a tree!  Today I am looking to climb a tree.

P - Lord who loves sinners,

Thank you for wanting us to be near you and to stay near. Lord, help me to engage the love inspired desperation which you deserve and I want to give.  Thank you for being desperate in your love for me/us.  You are extreme, urgent, in your love for us and call to us.  Lord, I yield to you and all you are doing on planet earth.  Please let me know my assignment with you in the work you are doing. I want to live out loud a desperate response to you.

All my all,

Steve

The Only Real Good to Great

S - 1 Corinthians 13:1-2, 4-5, 13 (NLT): "If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody.  … Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. … things that will endure … the greatest … is love. "

O - Clearly tangible acts of love and relational connections are the pages we may put the name and words of Jesus on AND be heard.  The challenge comes in living out the dynamics and limitations of love under pressure.  Impatient, unkind, proud and rude are all very easy responses to slide or jump into … especially with those who are the closest to us.  Not irritable and keeping no record of wrongs … how many couples and families live this out?  What enables love, real love as described here, to carry and win the day?  It must be that the One who is love has empowered us to be like him.  Jesus not only commands us to love he empowers us to love.  He also does not require us to learn and live a life of love flawlessly, just blamelessly.  In the Kingdom of Jesus, the Kingdom which lasts and really matters, good to great has only one measure.  It is not sharpened skills, organizational advance, increased efficiencies nor broadened influence. The greatest of these … of all is love.

A - I am clearly not loving flawlessly … and do not need to agonize over this truth.  He knows how I am made and made the way for blameless living.  So, in my world, love is NOT rewarded.  It is tolerated and even enjoyed but it is not rewarded.  Production, power, performance, shoving your way forward, making something work at most any cost is rewarded.  Love is okay as long as it does not interfere with goals and this world's measures of success.  Has any Hall of Fame anything ever inducted someone because they loved?  Has corporate office given bonuses for loving?  Does the Church reward or use those who love?  All this to say, the good to great which will matter does not matter to the world (secular and religious).  It does matter to the Judge of all and it’s the assignment he gives me today while it's called today.  The superlatives produce a superlative life here and hereafter … and heaven rewards those who so live.

P - Lord who is love,

I admit my failures, recent and consistent, in this regard.  Loving enemies, those who hurt and reject, those who are close and those who are far away is formidable on a good day.  There have been many not good days and the pressures of things less than love combine to distract, dissuade and discourage.  Lord, empower my little life to make you glad and to do this according to love … not as a performance for you but as a partnership with you … for you LOVE the whole world.  I want to give the way I've received.  Jesus, enable me to think, speak, act and love like you.

In them,

Steve

Play Ball!? … NOPE!

S – Daniel 3:16-18, 28, 29 (ISV): “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “It’s not necessary for us to respond in this matter. Your majesty, if it be his will, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the blazing fire furnace, and he will deliver us from you. But it not, rest assured, your majesty, that we won’t serve your gods, and we won’t worship the golden statue that you have set up.” … Nebuchadnezzar spoke up and announced: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego! He sent his angel to deliver his servants who trusted in him.  They disobeyed the king’s command and were willing to risk their lives in order not to serve or worship any god except their own God. … there is no other god who can save like this.””

O – Why wouldn’t these three “play ball” with the king? He wasn’t asking them to refuse to worship their god/God … only to add his statue to their routine.  Should it have been that big of a deal? I mean, in that day and age that was how “things were done.” It’s the way the world of that time worked. Their entire earthly existence depended on accepting the world as it was and accommodating oneself to its practical matters of daily living … or did it? The Scriptures are clear from beginning to end … we really can’t worship more than one. Jesus put it this way (Luke 16:13): “No servant can serve two masters, because either he will hate the one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and wealth!”

A – 2 Corinthians (4:4) speaks of the god of this world blinding minds and keeping people from seeing Jesus.  This tragic dynamic is possible for all humans not just for those who’ve never expressed some kind of faith.  The god of this world doesn’t mind us following Jesus as long as we add him to the way things work on earth.  We can say his words, hold religious services and claim to represent his ideas but when push comes to shove in the practical matters of daily living and one’s future … if this world dictates my course of action and compels me with the threat of impending doom for failure to comply and I do--I am playing the game of multiple masters which Jesus warns me to refuse. He said to Nicodemus and he says to me (John 3:12): “If I have told you people about earthly things and you do not believe me, how will you believe me if I tell you about heavenly things?” This world (secular and religious) wants me/us to “play ball” with it and ultimately to die with it.  Jesus calls me to believe him and really live here and hereafter.

P – Lord in heaven above and on earth below,

Thank you for calling me/us to yourself today and forever.  You are the God of daily bread. You know our needs before we ask and you are pleased to meet our needs. I admit I cannot (and do not want to) serve two masters … and money wants me to serve it and love it but it will never love or care for me.  Today, I am thrilled to be able to say yes to you and no to all others; to join the ancient three in living out loud the fierce personal loyalty (trust) you deserve and offer.  I believe you will do all that you have said in providing and protecting. You are life and I want only to be with you and on your teamJ!

Yes to you and no to all others,

Steve