Celebration or Criticism?

I want to explore a miracle from the Bible today, but from a little bit of a different perspective - that of the crowd. We could look at the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, seeing the wonder of a man dead and buried for four days coming forth from the tomb completely bound in graveclothes, face muffled in a swath cloth. Unwrapped, free, alive and fully restored - now that is a miracle of astronomical proportions, is it not? I imagine Lazarus 'stood out' a little bit, as he had been to heaven and was now alive to talk about it. Yet, there were some in the crowd that day that stand out just a little bit themselves. The Jewish leaders - men of learning and intense study of the Law of Moses. Their response to this miracle? Some believed and some ran to the Pharisee religious leaders to 'tattle on Jesus'.

And so, at last many of the Jewish leaders who were with Mary and saw it happen, finally believed on him. But some went away to the Pharisees and reported it to them. Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council to discuss the situation. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “For this man certainly does miracles. If we let him alone the whole nation will follow him—and then the Roman army will come and kill us and take over the Jewish government.” And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots—let this one man die for the people—why should the whole nation perish?” This prophecy that Jesus should die for the entire nation came from Caiaphas in his position as High Priest—he didn’t think of it by himself but was inspired to say it. It was a prediction that Jesus’ death would not be for Israel only, but for all the children of God scattered around the world. So, from that time on the Jewish leaders began plotting Jesus’ death. (John 11:45-53)

There are always going to be some in the crowd that just cannot see the good in what God does when a life is restored. Standing before them is the greatest witness of the grace and goodness of God, and they just cannot accept it. Instead, they criticize, make fun of, and put down the life change. A man brought back from the grave - standing there with them in full view - and they don't glory in the revelation of God's redeeming grace - they criticize it. The world doesn't like to see transformed people - it frightens them! They cannot understand the grace of God - the transforming power of the one true God. So, God uses those he has transformed to tell his story - because all those who look on will do is criticize and attempt to squelch that message of transformation.

In bringing Lazarus back to life, Jesus showed his power. If you look at the account, you will note that Martha kind of thinks Lazarus is 'beyond restoration' because she reminds Jesus in no subtle manner that Lazarus has been in the grave four days and he 'stinketh'. In other words, the decay of death has already been at work in his body. Tombs in Israel were not air-conditioned morgues - they were sweltering pits, sealed up, and allowed to do their work. Bugs would have invaded the space, heat would have begun to speed the decomposition of his body, and he indeed would 'stinketh'. Jesus knows exactly the condition of Lazarus' body, but it doesn't matter - he knows there is more power in one word from his mouth than all the forces at work in that decaying body!

The world cannot help but point out how much a person has done wrong and just how 'impossible' their 'return' from that fallen state would be. They completely forget that though a man's life 'stinketh' because of the 'decay of sin', God's redeeming words, "Come forth", speak health, hope, and healing into the most disgusting of lives. Criticize if you want, but I am one of those disgusting lives, made whole, redeemed by grace, and fully restored. How about you? Do you hear the words to 'Come forth' from your place of captivity - the place where sin has done nothing good and left you to rot in place? Don't fear the criticism of those who won't celebrate the miracle, but come forth, be whole, stand as God's pride and joy before them. Let God celebrate that miracle! Just sayin!

The two wings

Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven. (Michelangelo)

Michelangelo may have a portion of this 'going to heaven' thing correct, but I know the only death that really mattered was Christ's. The only thing that draws us all into his arms is his intense love for each of us. So, it is indeed a death and some pretty amazing love that bears us to heaven...but...none of us are 'good men' or 'good women' without Christ. So, even the goodness of mankind is reliant upon the love of God!

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. (John 3:16-18)

God didn't send Christ to earth just to have him experience all the things we experience in our lifetime, but it certainly made the connection a little more 'real' to some of us, didn't it? God didn't reach out to a hurting and mixed-up group of sinners just out of curiosity - as an experiment in human nature designed to see how we'd respond to his intense love. God knew his love would be a little foreign to us - because we don't actually fully understand love without conditions. 

The good news is that he came. He lived his life on this earth, making that earthly connection with us, and now he sits at the right hand of his heavenly Father, carefully drawing each and every one of us into his loving arms. Can we resist his love? You betcha! Have we probably done that on occasion? Likely so, but hopefully we don't do it too often, or for too long. Is his love drawing us closer to our heavenly home? Yes, and as we feel his arms bear us up each day, we are drawn closer and closer into his presence. We may not need to experience death to experience life. Just sayin!

Never more than

 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

What do you really "want" today? I have to ask myself this from time to time because I forget quickly what it is I am working toward or attempting to see accomplished in my life. I get off-track soon enough and you know what that means - - - a whole lot of back-tracking. If you have ever left a room in search of something you needed, then midway stopped short totally forgetting whatever it was that you set out to find, you know how back-tracking can sometimes actually show you where you got off-course and re-establish your goal. Sometimes we just need to take those steps back in order to take the right steps forward.

Whoever wants - I think this means if we 'set out' and somehow get distracted along the way, there is a way back. There is always a way forward, even when we don't think there is any hope of ever getting back on track. It may not be all that hard to find our way back, either! We sort of attempt to do all the work of coming back to 'right-standing' with God, don't we? It is like we expect he won't be happy with us for having left the track we were on with him and therefore we must have to convince him we are sincere this time! If we lose our lives, we find them. It is at the end of loss that we find life!

Let that one sink in a bit, my friends. At the end we find the beginning. We don't lose anything really - it is all there waiting for us just as though we never got lost along the way! As long as what we 'lose' is our self-righteousness and self-interest, we are going to find his righteousness and become enthralled in the things that mean the most to him. As you may have realized already - to grow one needs to actually allow a little death. Death indicates loss, doesn't it? We may not want to admit it, but when we allow some of the weights that have burdened us for so long be shed, we become immensely free and are transformed.

Want to see God's best in your lives? Lay down you life. Want to get freshness in life - don't be afraid to take the steps back into his graces. Allow death to occur - as uncomfortable as that may sound - it is essential. The way we think our lives should have 'played out' may not be the way they actually did, but that doesn't have to be the place where we live forever. The journey doesn't always look like the destination - sometimes we take a different journey and find we are now in quite a different destination than we planned. Whenever we trade the pleasures of the moment for the enjoyment of eternity, we will always be disappointed 

Today, there might be some need to lay down the destination in order to figure out where we were headed and what it was we were seeking to find in the first place. We want to quit when it is hard and we cannot figure out where it is we got off course. God says it is time to commit even when we don't see how God is going to work within our lives. Don't jump out of his grace - stay there, my friends. As you lay down that burden, allowing death to be a place of rebirth, you won't be disappointed. Just sayin!

A little here, a little there

I recently paid to have my trees trimmed by a professional tree trimming company in the valley. They had never been properly trimmed in the 24 years I have lived in this house, so they were way overdue. I could have attempted to 'make do' with my minimal reach and tools, but they were really needing a professional's touch. While it was a hefty price to pay, the results were astronomical! The dead branches, wayward growth, and excess weight is all gone now. The trees look remarkably healthier, although they are 'scrawnier' and not totally full right now. When the wind storms came just a week or so after they were pruned, I had hardly any fallen branches or dead leaves in the yard. In fact, I think the damage others suffered with the storms bypassed my house because the trees were trimmed in such a way that supported the wind going through rather than pushing against the trees and ripping at their branches. It is amazing what the right tools, in the hands of the right person, can do to complete a task in the correct manner!

"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken." (John 15:1-3)

Why does a tree or vine need to be pruned? Doesn't it hurt it? Won't it die if we do all that cutting? I remember watching Dad take out the pruning sheers, oiling them a little, sharpening the blades, and then cutting the bushes, vines and trees until they barely resembled what they were. In the end, they looked "naked" - cut back almost to the point of what I considered to be "death" - much like the trees when the tree experts had finished with them. What some of us do not understand is that proper pruning produces even more growth and prolongs the life of the tree or bush. In fact, an un-pruned tree can actually be a hazard - branches breaking off in windstorms or causing damage to roofs and surrounding structures as they sway and are pushed upon by the wind. In our yards, we want things that enhance the beauty of the yard, so the purpose of pruning is to keep things "in shape" so that they contribute enhancing effects to the landscape. In the orchard, pruning has a significantly different purpose - it is designed to get more fruit, earlier fruit, and healthier fruit.

Pruning is usually done during the dormant season - when the tree or bush has less sap flowing, leaves are not consuming all the life-flow of that sap, and the health or lack of health of the branches becomes very evident. The right tool produces the right cut. Use the wrong tool and you may splinter off the branch, leaving a ragged cut that is neither beautiful, nor conducive to further growth the next season. In fact, "where" you cut the branch is just as important as the tool you use to do the cutting. How high up you cut the branches also determines the health of the trunk, because too much sunlight against the bark of the tree trunk can require the tree to demand much more water. You always cut near the "collar" of the branch - where it joins in with the branch you want to have remain. Why? It produces a better cut that ends the life of that pruned branch and focuses the growth potential on the branch that remains. You go to where a large branch "V" occurs and cut it off at the "V" - leaving no indication that the branch existed except for evidence of the "cut". This forms the tree into the shape you desire, allowing overlapping branches to be trimmed away and exposing the remaining branch to the needed sun. Sometimes a tree needs to be 'topped'. For those of you that don't know what it is to "top" a tree or bush, it is the arbitrary cutting to do nothing more than shape the tree/bush. There is no care in where the cuts occur. What ends up happening is that the tree or bush sends off many more shoots from that area, increasing the wildness of the growth instead of stopping growth in that area.

God never prunes us for the sake of just "pruning" - he always has an intention in mind - healthy growth, staying some wayward growth in our lives, and/or the production of fruit. He uses the best technique for the "pruning" in order to accomplish the desired results - if it is to stop us in our tracks before we become too "wild" in our growth, then he even does that. God is concerned with the end result - not just with the appearance of health. He wants to see solid growth, productive lives, and healthy relationships. To that end, he prunes. He always uses the appropriate instrument to get the desired result of his pruning. Sometimes it is a saw, producing a more noticeable "cut" in our lives - other times, it is the sheers, just barely cutting away a small sucker or a branch that is not looking as healthy. We have a great "gardener" in Jesus. We can trust him with his "pruning" techniques and the exact timing of his work. He is skilled at what he does and he understands what each "pruning cut" will produce. We can embrace the pruning if we trust the one doing the pruning! Just sayin!

Wings that bear us to heaven

Michelangelo may have had a different meaning in mind when he penned the words, "Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven," but I believe these two things do indeed create the pathway for our entrance into the heavens. It was the death of Christ and the insane love of God that created the pathway we follow into heaven. Nothing short of these two, nor any other path has the potential of creating the same degree of peace, harmony, or path to change in a person's life. It was God's love that set out the course of the path and it was Christ who walked it faithfully on our behalf!

God is light, and in him there is no darkness. 6 So if we say that we share in life with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars, who don’t follow the truth. 7 We should live in the light, where God is. If we live in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood sacrifice of Jesus, God’s Son, washes away every sin and makes us clean. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we are saying that God is a liar and that we don’t accept his true teaching. (I John 1:5-10 ERV)
We share in this life with God, not through any of our own efforts, but because Christ walked that pathway of death on our behalf. We may experience physical death at some point in our lives (in fact, it is statistically pretty close to 100% who can count on this one). That physical death doesn't have to be the end for us, though. It can be the magnificent entrance into the dwelling place of the divine if we have allowed the love of God and the sacrifice of Christ to speak eternal life into us. Death may seem like a "dark path" for some of us because we don't understand death's sting has been taken away through the sacrificial love and obedience of Christ. It isn't something to dread, but something to embrace as it approaches, for we know that path leads directly into the presence of the heavenlies.

Notice our passage today - it speaks of "sharing" in life with God. This is only possible because God makes that pathway "open" to each of us. He has provided the means by which we travel this path and it is one that moves us from a plaguing place of darkness into a permanent place of light and peace. It is this pathway we consider this morning, for as John so aptly reminds us - it is all about the light we experience and the dissipation of the darkness which "true light" produces. The point of light we follow isn't a "broad" light, like that of a lighthouse. It is the pinpoint accurate light of a "laser". We are focused on one thing - eternity. We are determined to live by one thing - trust. We are committed to one thing - truth. We are motivated by one thing - love. The path of light we follow isn't "broad spectrum", but radiant focus!

Along this path, we discover the wretchedness of our inner condition. We come face-to-face with the reality of the darkness that dwells within - the places where light has yet to reach and where light so desperately needs to make discovery. We open up to the possibilities of healing only when we understand we are sick and in need of that healing! Sometimes we think death to something means there will never be any life again - but the exact opposite is the truth. The death to one thing (that thing we have held onto so fervently) can open the path to the possibilities of something much greater once we let it go. Sin may not seem like much until there is the evidence of light - the presence of God's permeating love and his tender mercies that seek it out. Light isn't going to heal us, but his love will. Light merely opens us up to the point of realizing we need health in our lives - we need life anew. Just sayin!

The burden he carried

As I sat at dinner last night, celebrating with my oldest grandson his twelfth birthday, my youngest grandson wanted to tell me what he had written in his journal at school yesterday.  As he spoke, it become apparent to me this little guy was actually listening in his Sunday School class!  I am not going to do this justice, but here is pretty close to what he wrote:  "Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a grave.  Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the grave to separate us from our sin and death."  Those aren't the exact words, but he was so articulate, not veering one word as he restated it from family member to family member around the table.  Obviously, this little guy got the message - we are no longer separated from God because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ!

So he was despised and forsaken by men, this man of suffering, grief’s patient friend. As if he was a person to avoid, we looked the other way; he was despised, forsaken, and we took no notice of him. Yet it was our suffering he carried, our pain and distress, our sick-to-the-soul-ness. We just figured that God had rejected him, that God was the reason he hurt so badly.  (Isaiah 53:3-4 VOICE)

I re-read passages in scripture which come to new life for me on occasion - the above passage was that moment for me this morning.  As I frequently do, I look at scripture in different translations, simply because there can be a kind of "freshness" to the same passage.  A couple of things really stood out to me from this passage:

- Jesus was grief's patient friend.  I don't know how you handle things which bring you grief in life, but on more than one occasion I have simply walked away from them. Whatever it was became "too much work" for me to continue to "nurse along", so I just gave up on it.  It may have been a hobby - like when I tried to learn to play the flute.  It could have been that second language I endeavored to master - like when I tried to learn Spanish while driving to work in the morning.  These things brought me more "grief" than I actually wanted to endure.  Grief is often something which brings us discomfort - so we want to avoid it at whatever cost. Jesus was grief's patient friend - he may have wanted to turn his back on the pain he felt repeatedly when his purpose and plan was rejected by mankind, discovering just how deep man's hatred could be toward others in their place of deepest need.  Yet, despite the pain of grief, he endured - not because he "had to", but because his love is so intense toward us that he "wanted to".

- Many took no notice of him.  In some areas of my community, there are homeless lining the streets, often just "hanging out" with their carts and belongings in tow.  Some lounge on grassy areas, keeping cool under the boughs of an elm or just enjoying the shade afforded by the shadow of a building close by.  Others sit on benches at the local bus stops, no intention of catching the next bus, but simply lounging their to catch a few moments of rest.  I am caught by the stark reality of just how many pass by in their cars and trucks, oblivious to their existence, their intense need never even crossing the minds of these passers-by as they make their journey from one place to the next.  Sometimes it is easier to "take no notice" than it is to actually pay attention to those God brings across our path.  I wonder how different it would have been for Jesus had some who "took no notice" actually stopped long enough to deeply consider what he said, how he acted, what he was doing?

- It was our suffering he carried, our pain and distress, our sick-to-the-soul-ness.  He didn't just carry his own pain and distress over being rejected and despised, forsaken by mankind.  He carried OUR pain, OUR distress, OUR sickness of soul.  I don't know many in this world who step up to carry the burden of another without thought to the intensity of their own burden they are also carrying.  He wasn't put off by our pain. Our distress of mind, emotion, body - none of it kept him from picking up that burden and carrying it as his own.  Our soul-sick, sin-full, and stubborn spirits - he carried them all.  Herein is the example of love we can emulate - to carry the burden of another, even when the weight outweighs anything we have carried before.  

WE were the reason he hurt - though we might want to have shifted that blame to God - something we do all too well. If we ever doubted God's love for Jesus in allowing him to die on the cross those many years ago, think again.  It was his intense love for us that allowed him to die in our place, but it was also his intense love for Jesus (and us) which allowed him to not remain in the grave!  Just sayin!

No longer "married" to sin

I like when we come across illustrations in scripture which help us "cement" an idea into our minds and get it worked deep into our spirits.  One such illustration is found in today's passage - comparing marriage, becoming a widow, and then remarriage to this idea of being "free" to enjoy life in a new way.  Let's break this down a little.  Laws have power over people who are alive.  In today's culture, marriage is a little more "disposable" than it was in the time Paul penned these words to the Roman church.  I think we can understand the concepts taught if we understand the time in which they were written.  Marriage was between one man and one woman - a life-long commitment to remain faithful to one another.  This is where we get this idea of "till death do us part" in our modern day marriage ceremonies.  If a marriage ended in one spouse passing away, the remaining spouse was no longer "under the obligation" of marriage to his/her first spouse.  The death separated them from this obligation to remain "faithful".  They were free to take another spouse.  It would not be viewed as "adultery" - the "conditions" of marriage no longer existed at the point of death.  This might seem a little "contractual" to us at first, but it is kind of those contractual terms which are being used here to illustrate the difference between being in a relationship with sin and then having this relationship severed because of the death of sin in our lives.  When sin is dead, we are no longer under "obligation" to sin's relationship - we are free to pursue another!

My friends, you surely understand enough about law to know that laws only have power over people who are alive. For example, the Law says that a man’s wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful. That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God. When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die. But the Law no longer rules over us. We are like dead people, and it cannot have any power over us. Now we can serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit, and not in the old way by obeying the written Law. (Romans 7:1-6 CEV)

We are entering into a new relationship with Christ at the point of our saying "yes" to him, much in the same way the widow would enter into a new relationship with her new spouse when she accepts his hand in marriage.  While she is in relationship with the first spouse, she is not free to pursue any other relationship than that which she has committed to with her first spouse.  When we were committed to sin in our lives, living for ourselves and apart from God, we could not pursue any other relationship but this one.  It was our primary focus and purpose in life, much in the same way a spouse commits to the relationship of marriage.  Two become one - no longer seeking others, but committing to just one.  Pair up with sin and this is who your "bed partner" is until that relationship ends up in death to sin!  Yet, once sin is dead, by the power of the cross in your life, you are free to pursue the relationship of a lifetime!  You are free to pursue Christ with all your passion and purpose.  

Life may not have been all "rosy" in the first relationship and you bring a lot of baggage into the second, but here is the good news - that baggage can be unpacked and the bags can be discarded because of the loving concern our new "spouse" has for us!  When we come to Christ, he doesn't want us keeping steamer trunks full of hidden hurts and wrong choices hidden away in the attic. He doesn't want us burying emotions left raw by the things we faced when we were enthralled in relationship with sin in our lives.  He wants those out in the open - so he can embrace them, heal them, and create new experiences for us to replace those emotions left raw by the former relationship we had pursued with such passion.

I have no greater hope than to be set free from sin and to live for another. I know you have no greater hope, either.  There is but one relationship which matters - that which comes when the former is dead and we are left wide open to pursue the one which Christ offers to us.  We are no longer under obligation to the contractual relationship of the former life of sin - we are not bound to any former ways of living, choices, or memories.  We are set free to pursue new choices, making new memories, and engaging in new life activities which build us up and make us stronger.  Just sayin!

Don't just play dead

As I was growing up, we had a little Manchester Terrier named Judy.  She was this shiny black bundle of energy and warmth.  I received her in an ice cream carton on my first birthday.  I taught her to sit, but try as I might, she didn't quite learn the "play dead" command very well.  She had too much desire to be up in our laps, running after things, or just plain being loved on to actually "play dead".  If you haven't seen a dog "play dead", it is kind of humorous to watch.  There is this sudden lack of movement, even down to the eye contact ceasing, until they hear the command to get up.  They aren't really dead, they are just "playing" along for a treat of some kind!  I wonder how many times we "play dead" to sin in our lives, all the while having just an overwhelming desire to be up and running toward something we desire again?  I also wonder how many times we are just plain "playing dead" to sin, but all the while imagining the "treat" awaiting us if we can only be awakened again to that passion or desire?  I think it might just be one of the toughest things to move from "playing dead" to actually "being dead" to sin's pull!

If we shared in Jesus' death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him. We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so that our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin. We know that sin doesn’t have power over dead people. (Romans 6:5-7 CEV)

Many times were are "deathlike" in our attempts to walk away from sin, but in essence, there is still life in the old beast!  Deathlike is not dead, though.  It is just "play acting".  If we want to live above the pull of sin in our lives, we have to embrace death, not just play like we are dead.  The cross was a means of death in the times Jesus walked this earth and it wasn't a very pretty death.  Crucifixion, or death by the cross, was a practice which probably originated with the Persians.  The main thing we need to remember about the cross is the purpose of it - slow, but certain death.  Nails were driven into the wrists, attaching the arms in an outstretched fashion to the crossbar of the cross.  Those who drove the nails in became proficient at missing arteries because they wanted to simply attach the person to the crossbar, not cause them to "bleed out" in the process.  The cross was designed to be a slow death - not instant by any means.  Maybe this is why we have this idea of our death to sin being rather slow, instead of instantaneous.

We must keep in mind that no one survived the cross.  If it took days for the person to actually succumb to death, then they stayed up there until they had breathed their last breath.  The insects could attack the open wounds; birds of prey pick at open flesh; and dehydration begin to takes the toll on the body - but the individual would not be released for burial until there were no signs of life left in the body.  Kind of gruesome, I know, but I want us to understand the purpose of the cross - it wasn't for looks; nor was it something casual from which someone could walk away at the "end of their term".  This was permanent in all senses of the sentence!  No one survived!  Families couldn't even bury the remains until a Roman judge declared the person dead and gave permission to release the body from the cross.

Bringing us back to our passage, we see this death we experience was by "proxy" - Jesus experienced the actual cross (crucifixion) for us - we just "enter into" his death by being baptized (symbolizing death to the old and resurrection to the new).  If we all had to die a physically torturous death to overcome sin, none of us would be up to the challenge.  We'd be like my little terrier - too antsy to get on with "life" that we couldn't sit still long enough to actually be "deathlike"!  Too many times I think we might have the belief that "deathlike" is the same thing as dead, but trust me on this one, no one could "fake" their death on the cross.  When we enter into the death of the cross through baptism, we aren't "faking" death to sin - we are trusting God to bring that death as surely as he has brought newness of life into us by his gift of salvation!

There is an exchange which occurs at the point of baptism.  I think this is why Jesus commands us to be baptized.  It isn't a "magical" experience whereby we mysteriously are "changed".  It is an acknowledgement of just how deeply we are trusting God to bring death to the sinful parts of our lives - giving us the ability to walk into newness of life and stay there where we belong!  There is an actual "exchange" which does happen at the point of baptism though - we identify with the death of Christ, accepting his death as the means by which we can finally walk away from sin and toward new life (right behavior).  It isn't until we realize this "exchange" that we actually enter into the reality of how "permanent" our separation from sin is.  Separation from sin is possible ONLY in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.  In those actions on his part, we are set free from sin's penalty in our lives.  It is by his Spirit which now resides within that we experience the newness of life which actually impacts our desire to move toward sinful behavior any longer.  In fact, his Spirit within is what moves us "away" from sin - making death to sin a permanent and lasting part of our lives!

We may "play act" a little when it comes to dying to sin, but if we want to really get on with the death experience, we need to stop pursuing what we have been declared to be dead to already!  Until we stop pursuing what produces nothing but death within, we won't fully experience the newness of resurrection.  Resurrection is only possible where there has been a declaration of death and the subsequent burial of the "remains".  That which is dead is dead!  Once and for all - but it must fully die to experience new life on the other side of the grave!  Just sayin!

No death is ever without multiplied effect

The disciples were not a whole lot different than you and I - simple folk, living day-to-day, making a living with the labor of their hands and the skills of the mind.  They asked questions when things didn't make sense and ventured to solve issues which they had no real business getting involved in.  Their needs were similar, ranging from daily bread to new sandals.  They didn't always recognize when greatness was in their midst, and seldom realized scripture was being fulfilled right before their eyes.  When Jesus wanted to get a point across to them, he often had to call attention to what he was saying - simply because they were distracted, only listening half-heartedly, or because they didn't recognize the significance of what he was saying directly to them.  In these ways we are also like the disciples - needing Jesus to tell us plainly when it is REALLY important for us to hear something!

Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.  (John 12:24-25 MSG)

Such is the case when Jesus uttered these words - distractions, questions galore, things just not making sense at the moment - he has to call their attention to the fact he needs them to hear something very important.  He is about to be taken from them - his death is imminent.  The day was filled with crowds of curious onlookers, questioning Greek scholars, and pompous Pharisee religious leaders - but to his disciples, he directs his attention.  In turn, he asks them to direct their attention fully toward him.  God has a way of doing this whenever he wants us to "get" something - perhaps even something he has been telling us in multiple ways for quite some time.  When it is time for us to "hear", he asks for us to really "listen".

The crux of his message - he MUST die in order that THEY might live.  His message to them - be as reckless in your love as I have been in mine.  This is a pretty big challenge, don't you think?  Be as reckless in our love as he has been in his love toward mankind - what does that look like?  Maybe reckless suggests to you this idea of throwing caution to the wind.  Or perhaps just being so unconcerned with the consequences that you just do something.  I don't think this is what Jesus had in mind for us.  In fact, Jesus is talking more about what we live our life FOR more than anything else.  He wants us to recognize that kingdom living requires reckless abandonment of all our own agendas and plans - in order to take up his.

To illustrate the point, he uses the analogy of a grain of wheat falling (or being purposefully planted) into the ground.  Once inside the soil, surrounded by the warmth and nutrients of the ground holding it so tight, it begins to "breakdown" on the inside.  The change to the kernel of wheat is not visible on the outside at first, but the process of transformation begins deep within the tiny kernel.  Maybe this is what Jesus was really directing the disciples to learn - all growth begins as a matter of death - death producing a life transforming change which begins from the inside.  His death was necessary for our life-transformation.  Our death to self is necessary for the life-transformation he so desires for each of us.

No death is ever without multiplied effect.  This is the second principle Jesus taught.  His death would result in many more millions than we'd ever be able to count coming close to the Father's heart in intimate relationship through Jesus, his Son.  Our death would bring untold numbers into the revelation of God's transformational power.  A life laid down at the foot of the cross will enable the multiplied effect of God's transforming power.  We can struggle to hold onto our life, but our stubborn hold on living life by our own terms will never yield exponential growth.  The only way to experience growth is through death.  A hard truth to embrace, but a necessary one!  Just sayin!

Space - it is necessary!

Breathing Room:  The "space" we create whenever we don't fully occupy every iota of "space" in our lives with stuff!  This is as close to the definition as I could come to - something which I heard my pastor preach this last weekend. As I have returned from vacation, one thing really means a lot to me whenever I can enjoy these times away - they create some "breathing room" in my life.  As I have already shared in past blogs, the time away is really to refresh, renew, and regain what the tough schedule of work and family can take out of me.  In returning home though, I was met with a couple of tragic events right here in my immediate neighborhood.  I learned of the tragic taking of the life of my neighbor's 23-year old son and the sudden death of my other neighbor across the way.  As I heard of these events, the tragedy of a young man taking his own life and the tragic end of a "closet alcoholic's" life, it made me think about the importance of "breathing room" all over again.

God, listen to me shout, bend an ear to my prayer.  When I’m far from anywhere, down to my last gasp, I call out, “Guide me up High Rock Mountain!”  You’ve always given me breathing room, a place to get away from it all, a lifetime pass to your safe-house, an open invitation as your guest.  You’ve always taken me seriously, God, made me welcome among those who know and love you.  (Psalm 61:1-5 MSG)

I think there are times when we don't realize just how little "breathing room" we give ourselves.  We pack in emotional turmoil until it bubbles to the surface, almost volcanic in its capacity, until one day we just cannot take it anymore.  No space exists for anything else - especially not hope.  We fill every empty space in our lives with things which will distract and numb whatever once filled those spaces.  No space exists for the things which matter most - relationship, love, and security.  The danger in "filling" without taking a close look at what is "filling" the space is we often don't realize the destructiveness of what fills the space!

Here's the real tragedy in these two events - on the surface everything looked as it should be.  The young man was successful, doing well in school, top of his graduating class, good job, nice car, all the electronic devices young people thrive on.  The single man and his dog - nice home, all the toys a man could want - camper, nice truck, fishing boat, big screen TV.  On the surface, all looked well.  Deep inside - not so much!  

I hope you will hear the intent of my heart today - no one should be without some "breathing room" in their lives and there is no other place to find or create it than at the feet of Jesus!  All the rest will only provide a miserable substitute for that which he provides with his presence, power, and purpose fully occupying the space it is intended to occupy within our lives.  There is no "breathing room" like that which God provides when he enters into the "space" of our lives.  It almost seems contradictory - something enters space and actually gives us more space?  Yep, when his love and grace enter the "space" of our lives, the stuff which only paints a picture of security, happiness, and purpose begins to fall away - creating more space for the stuff which really does matter.  

As David says in this passage, God will always be the one to give us "breathing room".  He is a place to get away from it all.  In this, we should find comfort for our weary souls and healing for our wounded emotions.  We cannot live at the pace we keep without reaping the consequences of the unending demands.  We cannot fill every crevice of space in our daily routine and expect to "find time" for God.  He must be our priority - for when he is, all the "space" we need really seems to get set in order in our lives.  It seems contrary to practical knowledge - it is!  Give him more space and he will actually "create" space (breathing room) in our lives!

Remember the families of those I have mentioned here today.  They will need God's comfort in the healing process.  Most importantly, examine your own lives today.  Do you need some breathing room?  Are you living to the limits? Are you merely "fronting" an experience of happiness and contentment in life? In getting real, taking down the "fronts" and asking God to put a "right order" to the things in your life, you will find the "space" he gives will actually fulfill more than you ever imagined!  Just sayin!

Bury this!

Burial:  In the simplest terms, it is the act of placing a dead person in the ground.  The remains have no further use - so we bury them.  Oh, don't turn me off yet, thinking this is going to be some morbid and disgusting topic dealing with physical death.  I want us to look at burial in the sense of some of the "stuff" we actually might do well burying!  There were customs of burial dating back something like 130,000 years ago, so this idea of "burying" the dead has quite a long history.  One of the reasons some think burial came about was to attempt to bring "closure".  It was a way of bringing an end to something.  There is more to this burial thing than just the placing of someone's physical remains into a tomb or a grave.  In fact, we might just find something of value in considering just what gets buried and why!

So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!  (Romans 8:12-14 MSG)

We bury a whole lot of "stuff" in life.  Some of us bury past hurts - trying to accomplish some type of closure to the events which have caused us such pain.  The problem with burying these hurts is the "decay" they cause in their "place of burial".  Others of us try to bury our failures and faults - hoping they will live unnoticed, but somehow they just keep "coming back to haunt us".  Still, there are times when we "bury" the emotional stuff we just cannot deal with right now because it is not a convenient time - but even buried emotions surface, coming back at the most inopportune times.

What we fail to recognize is the way we "bury" things determines if the closure will be permanent.  When we just "put things under the surface" in our lives, we might conceal them for a while, but it is more like creating a "time capsule" rather than a final disconnection with these things.  Time capsules are created for the purpose of "revisiting" the items in them, are they not?  They are a means of "connection" in the future with what we put there in the present.  The sad thing is - we want disconnection with these things, but we deal with them in the wrong way.

I think the idea of "burial" is a good illustration of how God wants us to deal with our past hurts, our present sins, and our emotional upsets.  Yet, if we don't understand the principles of "burial" as he taught them, we might just be burying them in such a way which affords us unnecessary issues in return.  If a human body is buried too near the surface, what happens with the first really good rain?  Isn't it exposed again?  If the human body is buried too near a source of some other resource, such as a water supply, will its decay not cause some contamination of the resource?  I think the "manner" and "place" of burial is important because burial for the sake of dealing with stuff which gives us problems requires expertise we don't possess!

The "manner" and "place" in which God asks us to deal with the things which we need to give "closure" to in our lives is to take them to him and lay them at his feet.  Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you, but let me assure you, we don't always think something "buried out in the open" like that will work.  So, we try our own methods of burial because they seem to at least "cover over" the thing we want closure with.  The problem with this is things not dealt with out in the open often come back to cause us problems at a later time.  Maybe this is why God asked his people to lay things on altars, lay hands on the sacrifices they offered, etc.  There was a connection, but also a way of showing the manner in which God deals with our "stuff" which needs closure.  He puts it right out there in the open - then he deals with it!  

The "place" God requires for burial is at his feet.  The "manner" he uses to deal with the thing we need closure with is "out in the open".  Now, this doesn't sound like burial to me since there is no "covering" over the stuff we need closure with, right?  Yet, if we really see the transformation which occurs on the altar, we might just reconsider our "perception" of God's methods of bringing closure.  The thing on the altar is consumed - it is transformed - by the power of God.  The burnt offering probably was no longer recognizable by its "features" any longer - it was transformed by the fire.  God's means of dealing with our failures is not to point them out to us, but to ask us to place them on the altar, allowing him to alter them (transformation).  In turn, there is closure to the influence of the failure on us - we are free to live anew.

I think we might just give some thought to God's "manner" and "place" of burial in our lives.  Just sayin!

The Law of Sowing and Reaping

When I was a child, my mom used to say "Now, listen to me" whenever she wanted to get my attention.  She usually reserved this for the times when she had something pretty important to tell me.  It wasn't the regular stuff, like "do the dishes" or "put on clean socks" she was going to tell me.  It was something of a deeper, more life-altering purpose.  In fact, it usually began as  "Now, listen to me" whenever she either needed something particular FROM me or she needed me to get something particular FROM her.  There was an exchange about to happen - so she asked I tune it a little better and focus.  Isn't this one of the hardest things for us to do?  Focus is challenging because it means we have to shut out the rest of the distractions around us - and heaven knows, there are many!

Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.  (John 12:24-25 MSG)

Jesus uses this term as he speaks with his disciples on the road to the cross. He asks them to "listen carefully" - focus their attention on what he is about to say - because it is something they need to hear FROM him.  He begins with the word "unless" - here he is about to set up a condition which must occur before anything else can.  He doesn't want them to miss out on the truth he is about to reveal - so he tells them to tune up their hearing.  It is kind of like mom saying, "Now, listen to me".  Focus is nothing more than the point toward which attention is directed.  Even when we say we "focus" a lens on a camera, it is adjusted so as to take in what it is we are directing our attention toward.  As Jesus begins, he requires this "adjustment" to occur - otherwise, the disciples would miss it.  The truth is - we all need some "adjustment" if we are to be more aware of what Jesus is teaching!

Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground...  Jesus is not giving a lesson in how to produce a crop of wheat here - but he will use this idea to illustrate the law of sowing and reaping.  What does the sower really do?  He sacrifices the grain he has in order to see the production of grain ten or even a hundredfold.  The grain is sacrificed in order to provide - it is given to give again.  In the action of the farmer planting the seed, the action begins the process of growth which he anticipates will end in a harvest.  

In looking at this, Jesus is indeed speaking of the laying down of his own life for the many lives he will harvest by the shedding of his life - those who will trust in his shed blood of a means of reconciliation with the Lord God.  A means of "covering over" their sin - so they can approach a holy God.  Yet, in the lesson, there is much meaning for each of us as we look upon our own lives.

The grain must first go through a process of death in order to produce life.  This seems a little off, doesn't it?  Death must occur in order for life to be produced?  Think about it.  Where does growth begin in your life?  Isn't it at the point of of death?  Something we hold onto has to die in order for the newness of growth to come forth.  The seed is only free to produce what it is designed to produce once it begins the process of death!  Growth comes in our lives, not in holding onto the seed, but in laying it down.  The sower has to part with the seed in order to see it produce the harvest.  The same is true in our lives - we have to part with what we hold onto so tightly in order to allow it to die.  As it begins to die, there is something of life actually being produced!

The grain goes through a metamorphosis of sorts - the breaking down of the seed actually begins to produce the beauty of growth - the growth brings a promise of a harvest.  The importance of where the seed is sown is another topic of discussion Jesus had with is disciples at an earlier time.  The planting process is a matter of focus - being attentive to put the seed where it will have the greatest opportunity for unhindered growth is important.  As the seed is planted - there is as much importance in what surrounds the seed as in the fact it is out of the hands of the one sowing it.  As it leaves the hand of the sower, it takes on the care and tending of the soil in which it is planted.  There, it breaks down.  The beginning of the harvest is in this breaking down of the hardness of the outer portion of the seed.  There is much to be said about the breaking down of the hard areas of our lives - in allowing the soil of God's Word to impact our "seed" we might just begin to find the breaking down of the toughness of the "seed".

The grain dies - not because the sower did not care about it - but because the farmer cared more about the potential in the seed.  Jesus is that way - he cares about the potential in each of us.  If he ever requires us to lay down some "seed" in our lives, it is because he is asking us to focus not on the sacrifice of the seed as much as on the bounty of its harvest.  The process of the sowing is both sacrificial and painful.  The process of growth is hard - but the promised bounty makes all the sacrifice and pain in the process worth it all!

We can hold onto the seed God asks us to part with - to sow into the care of his good soil.  But...in holding onto the seed, we may never see the potential within the seed.  All growth costs us something - the sower knows this.  Harvest comes not in holding onto the seed, but in letting it go.  Just sayin!