Whenever we’re talking to someone who starts elaborating on how they are the object of everyone’s hatred; saying that everyone they know is out to get him – we usually sum that person up as paranoid.  I suppose Jesus’ disciples listening to some of the things he forecast for himself might have been tempted to think their teacher was lapsing into paranoia, but certainly not after the authorities came to arrest him and put him on a cross. The fact is, Jesus warned us a lot about being hated by people and it could sound a little unhinged if it weren’t how truthfully it’s played out through history up until this very day.

We’re going to be reading John 15:18-16:15 this Sunday and Jesus will make just that sort of warning.

The book of Acts plays out Jesus’ prediction here – and the first 300 years of the church’s history is one of cyclical persecution. To this day you can track how Christians are persecuted and hated all over the world through organizations like Voice of the Martyrs or World Watch List so I think its safe to say that Jesus wasn’t being paranoid in his predictions.

In all fairness, we have to acknowledge the many times in history that the church has been guilty of promoting it’s own brand of persecution against people of other religions or those they have deemed sinners. There is no excuse for it and it is a blight on our history, all we can do is mourn such folly. The Gospel is the final victim of that sort of stupidity.

Nevertheless, the church’s mistakes don’t diminish the reality of Christian persecution – and it was sort of promised to us by Jesus.

In this passage, in light of the world’s system rejecting the gospel, ch 15:26-27 tells us God’s response and what our intended response is supposed to be. Is it back out of the world? Is it give up and leave them to themselves? What is the response of God and his church to rejection and hatred?

Chapter 16 outlines how the Holy Spirit will interact with this world and with us.  Do you get the picture of human ingenuity in how the gospel will spread or something else? What picture do you see? Who does Jesus say will lead us into all truth?  How would you understand your role, or the church’s role in this activity of God’s Spirit?

I hope this will be a challenging, albeit sobering study this Sunday! Hope to see you there!

 

 

“If only I had been alive when Jesus was walking the earth. Things would be so much simpler. It would have been so much easier to believe. If I had a question,  I could just go ask him and he’d clear everything up. Yeah…I wish I had lived back then when trying to be a Christ follower.”

Have you ever thought those thoughts? Many people do, I know I certainly have.

The thing is, based on what we learn from the Gospel of John (as well as the rest of the New Testament), that line of thinking is flawed. For one thing, there’s no evidence given in the Gospels that Jesus’ disciples had an easier time of believing than we do. In actuality, maybe just the opposite. Those who were closest to him were still so unsure about him that betrayal and denial were still ready options. When push came to shove their lack of certitude about him made it easier for all of them to run and hide rather than stand with him in his arrest.

One could argue that they didn’t start taking shape as solid believers until after he wasn’t with them physically.

The reason for that may be found in the passage we’ll be reading this Sunday, John 14:15-31.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “If you keep my commandments I’ll love you”. The only “if” of this statement is connected to our love for him. Obeying isn’t a condition required in order to be loved…it’s a symptom of a condition of love. How does living by Christ’s teachings reveal love?

Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit to us in this passage. Jesus seems to indicate that our journey with him will be that much more stable because he’s sent the Holy Spirit in his stead. Now, instead of being with the Holy Spirit as he’s operated through Jesus, he will be in us, guiding, teaching and helping us on our way. That indicates a quantum leap in our journey. Think of it – a 24 / 7 Counselor and Friend within us, available to us at all times. He will teach us and guide us and empower us. What of life’s puzzles and dilemmas do you bring to the Helper? How has His presence in you provided guidance for your life?

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will teach us and lead us into truth? If He is the teacher, how can we properly understand the role and place of “teachers” in the Body of Christ?

Just as he’s about to be arrested and crucified – with the launch of the church in view with all of the persecution and turmoil it has faced throughout history – Jesus says he will leave us with peace. How can we understand what he’s saying? How can we be peaceful even when there is turmoil surrounding us?

The characteristics of this relationship with God are profound. God IN us manifests in our lives as love, discovery and peace. For as much as I’d really like to see Jesus, I still think we’re better off where we are right now.

This should prove to be an interesting (albeit heady) exploration this Sunday. Hope to see you there!

 

 

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” ~ Jesus

How hard or how easy is it for you to live this encouragement out in real life? Do you ever feel overwhelmed by your difficulties? Have you ever found yourself frustrated by verses like the one above because, try as you may to believe, your troubles are relentless? I know I certainly have.

We’re going to be reading John 14:1-14 this Sunday, where Jesus issues the directions quoted above. It is couched in the section commonly called “Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples”. Judas has gone out to betray Jesus to the authorities, Peter has been identified as one who will deny Jesus in a crisis, and Jesus has made it clear that he will soon be gone from them. All in all, the evening has really turned into a bummer. We can just imagine the distress and confusion that is beginning to mount in the midst of this group.

So Jesus gives direction – truth to calm their troubled hearts. His encouragement isn’t given in a promise to make all the troubles go away – but rather, in providing a fresh perspective from which to view the looming wave of tribulation.

This section is interesting because it contains *three familiar passages that have often been isolated and, I believe, misrepresented. Something we’ll take a look at as we go on Sunday.

Jesus’ first encouragement is a promise about his Father’s big, big house, with lots and lots of room (if you were a Christian in the 90’s, you’re welcome for the ear worm that should be playing in your head right about now). We mostly take this as a picture of heaven, which I think the idea does contain, but it has more a sense of the bigger picture of redemption, which is unfolding right now in our lives.  How does thinking about life after life now, or the way that God redeems broken things provide a sense of encouragement and assurance in times of trouble?

This section also contains another of Jesus’ clear self-identifications as being united with God the Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like. To trust in Jesus is to find the way home to God. Jesus actually promotes an intentional trust; “LET not your hearts be troubled” – don’t live there, don’t form your identity from your difficulties. Instead, we’re called to trust Jesus in an act of our will. What are some ways we can intentionally trust Jesus when all hell is breaking loose? Can you identify ways in which that intentional trust would promote assurance in your heart?

*V2, V6 and V13-14 are problematic verses in this section. V2 is charged with encouraging an irresponsible escapism; V6 is accused of advancing religious intolerance and bigotry; V13-14 have been abused by some to promote “Christian” materialism. Do you have thoughts you want to share about these controversial verses?

Did you ever use Cliff Notes in school to write a report from? I did a few times, but usually even that was too ambitious for me. In the days before E-Books they used to put plot summaries on the dust jacket of books, and with the addition of enough empty paragraph padding, I would often write my report solely from that. I should mention that I got terrible grades, so there is a moral lesson to be learned there.

Summaries can be helpful though, if we are trying to assemble a quick understanding of information that we’ve already gathered. “Here’s the story so far” can be very useful if we’re trying to get oriented in a developing plot. In John 12:44-50, which we’ll be reading this Sunday, Jesus provides a sort of summary of his own ministry just before he stops speaking publicly. Its as though Jesus makes one last appeal to the crowds and tries to get them up to speed about who he is, what he’s doing and why it matters.  That’s what we’ll be considering as we explore this section.

The first important thing Jesus wants to get across is in v44-45. What sort of connection does Jesus describe between himself and God the Father – and what do we understand about Jesus’ purpose from that? If you’ve followed along with this study, we’ve talked about John’s overall theme: If you want to know what God is like, take a long hard look at….who?

The second important thing Jesus summaries himself by is found in v46. This isn’t new, he’s said this same thing several times already, most notably in chapter 8. What is the difference between the way we proceed through a dark room and the way we proceed through a room that is well lit? How does the light effect things? What does this tell us about the nature of Christ’s light – how and what does he illuminate?

Finally, Jesus sums himself up in v47-50. What does Jesus say he didn’t  come to do, and what does he say he did come to do? How do you understand the idea that his words will be the judge? Jesus sums up God’s message through him in v50 – what does he say? What should our mission and message be as the church who represents Jesus in this world? How can we better represent him to the world around us?

I hope this will be an enlightening (pun intended) study – hope to see you there!

I grew up in a decidedly non-liturgical home.  We were evangelicals, but my father was ordained in the Methodist church, so I’m a bit confused as to why we were so far removed from liturgies…but, such is the case for me.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for most Western Christian churches who observe liturgical calendars.

I have never observed Lent in my whole life.  I honestly didn’t even know for sure what it was until a few years ago.  Lent, in case YOU don’t know either, is a period of forty days prior to Easter, where the Christian, in imitation of Christ’s forty day wilderness temptation, observes a time of penitence, fasting, charity and prayer.

People practice the denial of self in a great variety of ways during lent.  Some abstain from certain types of food…I have one friend who gave up deserts for forty days (and consequently lost a lot of weight).  It was very meaningful for him.  I had another friend who quit watching TV for forty days.

Having grown up completely outside the reaches of liturgical observances, recently I’ve become quite fascinated with them.  Several years ago, I began the practice of praying the “daily office”, from the Celtic Daily Prayers book.  It has had a profound effect on me.

Today is Ash Wednesday, and for the first time ever we will have a small Ash Wednesday service during our Worship Wednesday meeting.

What is this about, you ask? Ash Wednesday is a practice that began in the middle ages – intended as a time for followers of Christ to prepare their hearts for Easter. The main thrust behind the imposing of ashes on a forehead is summed up in REMEMBER, REPENT, and RETURN.

REMEMBER – that we are mortal – from dust we were created and to the dust we return. Material wealth, plastic surgery, advances in science…none of these things can prevent our inevitable death. The ashes connect us with the reality of our finite, human condition.

REPENT – acknowledge that we don’t do this Christian thing very well, and commit our hearts to change. It does the heart a world of good to come clean with God and admit our struggles to him, and appeal for his help in our resolve to live the life he intended for us.

RETURN – the ashes are brushed on the forehead in the shape of the cross. We are mortal and destined for the dust – but the cross changes everything. The cross of Christ, the love of God in action is the only means by which we now have hope of everlasting life. The ashen cross on our forehead bids us to leave off our pursuits of lesser lovers and  return to the only source of life there is.

The ashes are supposed to be made of burned palm fronds left over from the previous year’s Palm Sunday service….which, as you know, we didn’t do. However…I did just trim all my palm trees whose fronds were dead from the freeze – so I’m burning those and bringing the ashes.

I think this could be a meaningful service for us. If you’ve never observed Lent – this might be the right launching point. Myself, I’m going to observe it through daily meditations. If you have the You Version Bible app for your phone or tablet, you should check out the daily reading plans they have for Lent. I’m going to use the “Lent for Everybody” by N.T. Wright – but there are others to choose from.

Hope you can make it tonight – and I pray that all of our hearts are more finely tuned to God’s redemption.