DAILY BYTE
If you’ve been hearing the challenge of the gospel this week to risk yourself a little more for life’s sake and love’s sake, then I’d urge you to act. Now is the time for you to do something about that nagging sense of conviction you’ve been feeling inside – to invite someone to church, or get involved in a new area of service, or offer greater hospitality, or change your job, or open your wallet in greater generosity, or open our mouth more boldly in speaking out against injustice, or daring to love more lavishly. Whatever God is calling you to, I urge you to go for it. And you will discover God’s abundance flowing to you and through you in the most remarkable & joyous way.
As we bring this week’s devotions to a close, I’d like to share a personal story.
Earlier this year I was invited by the music teacher at my daughter’s school to be a part of a string ensemble that was to play at a special Easter concert. I was to play second violin. I knew the deal – music that was beyond my limited technical ability; just one practice immediately before the concert; and other musicians of superior ability. It just so happened that on this particular occasion the first violinist right next to me was none other than the associate concert master of the KZN Philharmonic. The double bass two seats to my right is also a member of the KZN Philharmonic. The chap on the cello next to me used to play for the KZN Youth Orchestra. And then there was me, just to round off the ensemble.
(Can you see where this is going?)
Well, it was an Easter concert, and thankfully this is an Easter story of good news. Because believe it or not, I didn’t screw up. I played. I participated. Of course, I missed many of the notes, and many that I played were wrong. But that’s not the point. The point is that I played, and the music sounded really really good. Which had nothing to do with the merits of my playing, but everything to do with the fact that a diverse group of people were risking themselves in making music together. And as I did so it was for me an experience of great joy.
Now I’m fully aware that if another member of the KZN Philharmonic had been playing second violin the music would have been even better. But dare I say it, what we had that day was certainly more…interesting.
Maybe that’s why the master entrusts his bounty to all, including the little ones, and asks us to risk putting it all into play.
And what if you risk and lose? Well, imagine another ending to the parable, as suggested by Paul Duke.
He writes, “Suppose the third servant did not hide his gift. Let’s say he took that million bucks and built a shelter for the homeless. He fed the poor, gave job training, gave literacy training, told them of God’s love. Some flourished, but others were not grateful, did not get better. And one night a gang of them stole everything and burned the place to the ground.
And the master came back. And the third servant having heard the fine reports of his friends, had to step forward and say, “I have nothing. I lost everything you gave me. And the master said, ‘Well done, I’ll give you more, come into my joy.”
Of course in the parable Jesus told, the ones who took the risk didn’t lose at all. That’s the amazing thing about God’s fortune in our hands – to give it, is never in the end to lose it.
Have you known anybody in your life who risked something for love’s sake or for Christ’s sake, and were sorry that they did?
The time for playing it safe is past. Take the great risk that God entrusts to you. It is truly a gift of great love.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Thank you, gracious God, for entrusting me with a part to play in your great ensemble. Thank you that under your hand, the contribution of my life can add to the music of love that can fill this world with healing and transforming grace. Help me to let go of my insecurities, uncertainties, inadequacies and fears and trust that your power really is made perfect in weakness. Amen.
Monday 31 August 2009
The Great Risk - Part 4
DAILY BYTE
Yesterday we wandered through the first part of the parable of the talents. Today, we pick up the story when the master finally returned, and summoned his slaves to give account. The first one reported an impressive return. Seems like the markets bounced back after all. Similarly the second had good news. The developer had made good on his promises, and the new airport had been a great help in pushing up property values in the area.
Hearing what they had done, the master said to each of these, “Well done, good and faithful slave. I trusted you and you have been trustworthy. I will continue to entrust my things to you. Come and share my joy.”
Now it’s the little guy’s turn. First thing he does is start attacking the master, “You’re a harsh man. You reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter seed.” What? Nothing in the story thus far supports this outrageous accusation. And nothing could be further from the truth. All the master does in the story is give and trust in the most prodigal way, and sow and scatter with reckless generosity, and invite others to share his joy.
And suddenly we understand why the third slave has been so afraid – because he’s got the master all wrong. He thinks the master is out to get him. And so he cannot trust the master’s trust in him.
He was invited to participate in the richly abundant life of the master, to risk himself in a whole new way, but he refused. And in his refusal he brings judgement on himself, and is thrown into outer darkness.
If that sounds harsh to you, and it does to me, maybe it’s because Jesus didn’t want to sugarcoat the difficult truth that ordinary people, like us, need to hear.
Yes, this parable speaks a challenging and uncomfortable truth. Whether we like it or not, God hands us an invitation that is both exciting and scary at the same time. It’s an invitation to take hold of this great gift of life, and to risk playing it, investing it, living it, in the audacious belief that it can become even more.
We did not choose this, but we can choose our response. We can refuse the invitation. We can refuse to participate. We can bury our hearts. Our dreams. Our passion to see this world renewed. We can bury our sense of being called.
Or, we can say OK. Let me risk it.
That’s what Abram said in response to God’s risky call for him to leave the comfort and security of the life he had always known. And that’s how the story of the people of God began. With a great risk. And in every age there have been others, ordinary people of faith, who in similar ways have risked themselves in the hands of God, and have found life in the process.
In the living of your life today, will you dare to join their ranks, as you abandon yourself into the hands of God and risk living your ordinary life in quite extraordinary ways?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord God, remind me who you are. Remind me what you are like. Remind me that you are a God of generosity, mercy, compassion and grace. Remind me that you long to bless me that I might be a blessing to others. Remind me of these things, because when I remember rightly who you really are, it is then that I can more freely embrace and trust the person that you declare me to be – a beloved child of yours. Amen
SCRIPTURE READING
Genesis 12:1-4
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed.
Yesterday we wandered through the first part of the parable of the talents. Today, we pick up the story when the master finally returned, and summoned his slaves to give account. The first one reported an impressive return. Seems like the markets bounced back after all. Similarly the second had good news. The developer had made good on his promises, and the new airport had been a great help in pushing up property values in the area.
Hearing what they had done, the master said to each of these, “Well done, good and faithful slave. I trusted you and you have been trustworthy. I will continue to entrust my things to you. Come and share my joy.”
Now it’s the little guy’s turn. First thing he does is start attacking the master, “You’re a harsh man. You reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter seed.” What? Nothing in the story thus far supports this outrageous accusation. And nothing could be further from the truth. All the master does in the story is give and trust in the most prodigal way, and sow and scatter with reckless generosity, and invite others to share his joy.
And suddenly we understand why the third slave has been so afraid – because he’s got the master all wrong. He thinks the master is out to get him. And so he cannot trust the master’s trust in him.
He was invited to participate in the richly abundant life of the master, to risk himself in a whole new way, but he refused. And in his refusal he brings judgement on himself, and is thrown into outer darkness.
If that sounds harsh to you, and it does to me, maybe it’s because Jesus didn’t want to sugarcoat the difficult truth that ordinary people, like us, need to hear.
Yes, this parable speaks a challenging and uncomfortable truth. Whether we like it or not, God hands us an invitation that is both exciting and scary at the same time. It’s an invitation to take hold of this great gift of life, and to risk playing it, investing it, living it, in the audacious belief that it can become even more.
We did not choose this, but we can choose our response. We can refuse the invitation. We can refuse to participate. We can bury our hearts. Our dreams. Our passion to see this world renewed. We can bury our sense of being called.
Or, we can say OK. Let me risk it.
That’s what Abram said in response to God’s risky call for him to leave the comfort and security of the life he had always known. And that’s how the story of the people of God began. With a great risk. And in every age there have been others, ordinary people of faith, who in similar ways have risked themselves in the hands of God, and have found life in the process.
In the living of your life today, will you dare to join their ranks, as you abandon yourself into the hands of God and risk living your ordinary life in quite extraordinary ways?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord God, remind me who you are. Remind me what you are like. Remind me that you are a God of generosity, mercy, compassion and grace. Remind me that you long to bless me that I might be a blessing to others. Remind me of these things, because when I remember rightly who you really are, it is then that I can more freely embrace and trust the person that you declare me to be – a beloved child of yours. Amen
SCRIPTURE READING
Genesis 12:1-4
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed.
The Great Risk - Part 3
DAILY BYTE
Over these next few days we’ll be looking at the difficult truth contained in the parable of the talents, particularly for the ‘little ones’ in this life who prefer to play it safe. Today, let’s walk through the first part of this challenging parable.
A man was heading out of town, and so summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them. He knew they had different abilities, and so apportioned his property accordingly. To one he gave five talents, to another he gave two, and to the third slave, the little one amongst them, he gave one. Notice he didn’t give all eight talents to the one with the most ability. All the slaves, from the greatest to the least, were entrusted with the master’s property. And then he leaves, for a long time.
To get this parable, it’s essential to grasp that a talent was a unit of money that was big big bucks. We’re talking lotto jackpot here. In Jesus’ day, one talent was the equivalent of 15 years’ wages. So for us to hear this story as the original hearers did, we could say that a talent was roughly a million rand, and we’d be more or less in the right ballpark.
So there we find these three slaves. One is holding in his shaking hand a cheque, with his name on it, for a million rand. Eish! The other is blinking his eyes as he stares at his cheque for two million. The third has one for five million rand. He’s the first to make a move. “I think I’ll take this off-shore, “ he says, “and play the stock market.” The little guy looks at him with disbelief, “Are you out of your mind?” he says. “Haven’t you seen what’s happened this year to the Dow, the FTSE & the Dax?” But the first slave isn’t listening because he’s already got a broker on the line.
The second slave then says, “Hmmm. Two million…. I know. Property development. KZN North Coast.” And again the little guy grabs his hair and says, “Don’t be crazy. The Reserve Bank Governor recently declared a recession. And what if the master returns and his money is all tied up? Or the developer goes bust? Or…” But the second slave has already gone.
So there the little guy stands, cheque for a million rand in his hand, terrified.
The master had given no instructions as to what he should do with the money.
The decision is all his.
Don’t you feel at least a little bit sorry for him? I reckon he felt pretty sorry for himself. I reckon he felt sorry that he had such a master, who would take such a great risk as to entrust him, no… burden him with so much.
And so he wraps it up. And goes outside. And digs a hole. And buries it.
Which is not just to say that he did nothing with the money, but that it had to be hidden away. Maybe because he could not bear to look at the audacious invitation for him to risk himself in a wild and prodigal way.
I think that this little guy in the story represents all of us, at some time or another in all of our lives. For who of us can say that there haven’t been times when we’ve turned away from life’s audacious invitation to risk ourselves in wild and prodigal ways?
Maybe right now you’re aware of something that you’ve buried, for fear. Maybe it’s your heart. Maybe you loved someone, and it didn’t work out, and it hurt so bad that you made a promise to yourself that you’ll never allow yourself to get hurt like that again. And so, rather than risking yourself in vulnerability and love, you’ve buried your heart.
Maybe you’ve buried a lifelong dream. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that it could never happen for you anyway and that you’re crazy for even thinking it might. And so, rather than risking yourself in a great, soul-stirring venture, you’ve settled for mediocrity, as you’ve buried even the possibility of trying.
Can you feel the deep sense of disappointment, and waste, and regret that this kind of response ultimately generates. Is that what you want for your life?
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 25:18
But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
Over these next few days we’ll be looking at the difficult truth contained in the parable of the talents, particularly for the ‘little ones’ in this life who prefer to play it safe. Today, let’s walk through the first part of this challenging parable.
A man was heading out of town, and so summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them. He knew they had different abilities, and so apportioned his property accordingly. To one he gave five talents, to another he gave two, and to the third slave, the little one amongst them, he gave one. Notice he didn’t give all eight talents to the one with the most ability. All the slaves, from the greatest to the least, were entrusted with the master’s property. And then he leaves, for a long time.
To get this parable, it’s essential to grasp that a talent was a unit of money that was big big bucks. We’re talking lotto jackpot here. In Jesus’ day, one talent was the equivalent of 15 years’ wages. So for us to hear this story as the original hearers did, we could say that a talent was roughly a million rand, and we’d be more or less in the right ballpark.
So there we find these three slaves. One is holding in his shaking hand a cheque, with his name on it, for a million rand. Eish! The other is blinking his eyes as he stares at his cheque for two million. The third has one for five million rand. He’s the first to make a move. “I think I’ll take this off-shore, “ he says, “and play the stock market.” The little guy looks at him with disbelief, “Are you out of your mind?” he says. “Haven’t you seen what’s happened this year to the Dow, the FTSE & the Dax?” But the first slave isn’t listening because he’s already got a broker on the line.
The second slave then says, “Hmmm. Two million…. I know. Property development. KZN North Coast.” And again the little guy grabs his hair and says, “Don’t be crazy. The Reserve Bank Governor recently declared a recession. And what if the master returns and his money is all tied up? Or the developer goes bust? Or…” But the second slave has already gone.
So there the little guy stands, cheque for a million rand in his hand, terrified.
The master had given no instructions as to what he should do with the money.
The decision is all his.
Don’t you feel at least a little bit sorry for him? I reckon he felt pretty sorry for himself. I reckon he felt sorry that he had such a master, who would take such a great risk as to entrust him, no… burden him with so much.
And so he wraps it up. And goes outside. And digs a hole. And buries it.
Which is not just to say that he did nothing with the money, but that it had to be hidden away. Maybe because he could not bear to look at the audacious invitation for him to risk himself in a wild and prodigal way.
I think that this little guy in the story represents all of us, at some time or another in all of our lives. For who of us can say that there haven’t been times when we’ve turned away from life’s audacious invitation to risk ourselves in wild and prodigal ways?
Maybe right now you’re aware of something that you’ve buried, for fear. Maybe it’s your heart. Maybe you loved someone, and it didn’t work out, and it hurt so bad that you made a promise to yourself that you’ll never allow yourself to get hurt like that again. And so, rather than risking yourself in vulnerability and love, you’ve buried your heart.
Maybe you’ve buried a lifelong dream. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that it could never happen for you anyway and that you’re crazy for even thinking it might. And so, rather than risking yourself in a great, soul-stirring venture, you’ve settled for mediocrity, as you’ve buried even the possibility of trying.
Can you feel the deep sense of disappointment, and waste, and regret that this kind of response ultimately generates. Is that what you want for your life?
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 25:18
But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
The Great Risk - Part 2
DAILY BYTE
Yesterday I shared the fictional story of the great risk that a golf pro by the name of Roy McAvoy once took in the US Open, as depicted in the movie Tin Cup. But there are real-life stories of risky heroism that could be shared as well.
Recently, I read the story of Ellen MacArthur, a young British sailor who a few years back broke the world record for the fastest non-stop solo circumnavigation of the world. It was the most unbelievable story of courage and endurance as she risked herself in this heroic quest. Over and over again, in seemingly impossible situations on the high seas, she chose to go for it, and in the end the record was hers.
The only trouble with fictional stories like Roy McAvoy’s, or real-life ones like that of Ellen MacArthur, is that these courageous risk-takers seem so far-removed from ordinary people like us. Let’s face it; our lives are lived on a much smaller stage. And many people are content with that. They’re aware of their limitations and shortcomings, and accept that in the great scheme of things, they are one of the little ones, whose lives will pass by largely unnoticed. And who think that great risks are not really for them.
If you’re one of those people who prefers being anonymous as you get on with your life in a largely unnoticed way, then I’d remind you that no-one, in fact, is anonymous to God, and no-one goes unnoticed by Him. In fact, there is no-one who does not have a very particular part to play in God’s great plan to mend the entire universe. Which means that everyone faces the great risk of colliding with a call from God upon their lives, sooner or later.
Jesus noticed the little ones. He took great interest in their lives and wellbeing. The fullness of life that he came to bring was not just for superstars, but for ordinary people, for whom he had a particular love and concern. So much so that he was unafraid to speak hard truth into the lives of ordinary people.
Over the rest of this week we’ll take a closer look at a story that contained such difficult truth. It’s known as the parable of the talents. In preparation to hear its challenge, maybe you’d like to read it now and begin to reflect upon what it might be saying to your life. It’s found in Matthew 25:14-30.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Forgive me Lord for the times when I hide behind my own sense of inadequacy, assuming that my limitations are limitations for you. Remind me that you are the Sovereign Lord of all the earth, and that when you call ordinary people like me into your service that you know what you are doing. Help me to trust that even my little life can be lived out on the great canvass of your purposes for the world, not because of any merit of my own, but because of the immensity of your grace. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 8:3-9
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Yesterday I shared the fictional story of the great risk that a golf pro by the name of Roy McAvoy once took in the US Open, as depicted in the movie Tin Cup. But there are real-life stories of risky heroism that could be shared as well.
Recently, I read the story of Ellen MacArthur, a young British sailor who a few years back broke the world record for the fastest non-stop solo circumnavigation of the world. It was the most unbelievable story of courage and endurance as she risked herself in this heroic quest. Over and over again, in seemingly impossible situations on the high seas, she chose to go for it, and in the end the record was hers.
The only trouble with fictional stories like Roy McAvoy’s, or real-life ones like that of Ellen MacArthur, is that these courageous risk-takers seem so far-removed from ordinary people like us. Let’s face it; our lives are lived on a much smaller stage. And many people are content with that. They’re aware of their limitations and shortcomings, and accept that in the great scheme of things, they are one of the little ones, whose lives will pass by largely unnoticed. And who think that great risks are not really for them.
If you’re one of those people who prefers being anonymous as you get on with your life in a largely unnoticed way, then I’d remind you that no-one, in fact, is anonymous to God, and no-one goes unnoticed by Him. In fact, there is no-one who does not have a very particular part to play in God’s great plan to mend the entire universe. Which means that everyone faces the great risk of colliding with a call from God upon their lives, sooner or later.
Jesus noticed the little ones. He took great interest in their lives and wellbeing. The fullness of life that he came to bring was not just for superstars, but for ordinary people, for whom he had a particular love and concern. So much so that he was unafraid to speak hard truth into the lives of ordinary people.
Over the rest of this week we’ll take a closer look at a story that contained such difficult truth. It’s known as the parable of the talents. In preparation to hear its challenge, maybe you’d like to read it now and begin to reflect upon what it might be saying to your life. It’s found in Matthew 25:14-30.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Forgive me Lord for the times when I hide behind my own sense of inadequacy, assuming that my limitations are limitations for you. Remind me that you are the Sovereign Lord of all the earth, and that when you call ordinary people like me into your service that you know what you are doing. Help me to trust that even my little life can be lived out on the great canvass of your purposes for the world, not because of any merit of my own, but because of the immensity of your grace. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 8:3-9
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
The Great Risk
DAILY BYTE
Some of you may have seen the movie Tin Cup. It’s about a washed up golf pro by the name of Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy, played in the movie by Kevin Costner. He lives in a caravan on a dusty armadillo-infested driving range in some backwater town in Texas.
When a beautiful, sophisticated woman by the name of Dr Molly Griswold, played by Rene Russo, signs up for some golf lessons, she thinks that McAvoy is just a dead beat frat boy whose future plans extend only as far as his next beer. And so, to show her that he is, in fact, made of sterner stuff he sets out to qualify for the US Open, which he does.
In true schmaltzy Hollywood style, the movie comes to its climax with McAvoy needing a birdie on the final hole to win the US Open. He’s faced with a tough decision. Should he play it safe by laying up in front of the water hazard on this long par 5? Or should he play a far more risky shot, hitting over the water and going straight for the green? In earlier rounds he had tried the riskier option, and on each occasion had failed. The conventional wisdom was that he should play it safe.
But McAvoy would have none of that. He’s convinced he can pull off this audacious shot, and so he goes for it. And sure enough, hits the ball in the water. Undeterred, he takes out another ball, and tries the shot again, and again hits it in the water. So he takes out another ball, and another, and another, and another. Each time, hitting it into the water. Until he has only one ball left in his bag, and in even schmaltzier Hollywood style, he hits that last ball into the hole.
This movie was hardly a cinemagraphical tour de force, but it made a compelling point. There are times when life presents to us a risky choice, and we must decide: do we go for it, or do we play it safe? How we choose in those defining moments, shapes the kind of people we will be.
As we will be discovering in our devotions this week, God’s intention for us is to take the great risk of giving ourselves completely to this magnificent, miraculous gift that is our Life.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord Jesus Christ, you held nothing back in risking yourself completely in your great adventure of love by coming to share life with us. May we be inspired by your example to give ourselves completely to that higher purpose to which you call each one of us. Help us, today, to live in such a way that demonstrates our desire to trust you completely. Amen.
A FURTHER THOUGHT FOR THE DAY“A ship in harbour is safe – but that is not what ships are for.” John A. Shedd
Some of you may have seen the movie Tin Cup. It’s about a washed up golf pro by the name of Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy, played in the movie by Kevin Costner. He lives in a caravan on a dusty armadillo-infested driving range in some backwater town in Texas.
When a beautiful, sophisticated woman by the name of Dr Molly Griswold, played by Rene Russo, signs up for some golf lessons, she thinks that McAvoy is just a dead beat frat boy whose future plans extend only as far as his next beer. And so, to show her that he is, in fact, made of sterner stuff he sets out to qualify for the US Open, which he does.
In true schmaltzy Hollywood style, the movie comes to its climax with McAvoy needing a birdie on the final hole to win the US Open. He’s faced with a tough decision. Should he play it safe by laying up in front of the water hazard on this long par 5? Or should he play a far more risky shot, hitting over the water and going straight for the green? In earlier rounds he had tried the riskier option, and on each occasion had failed. The conventional wisdom was that he should play it safe.
But McAvoy would have none of that. He’s convinced he can pull off this audacious shot, and so he goes for it. And sure enough, hits the ball in the water. Undeterred, he takes out another ball, and tries the shot again, and again hits it in the water. So he takes out another ball, and another, and another, and another. Each time, hitting it into the water. Until he has only one ball left in his bag, and in even schmaltzier Hollywood style, he hits that last ball into the hole.
This movie was hardly a cinemagraphical tour de force, but it made a compelling point. There are times when life presents to us a risky choice, and we must decide: do we go for it, or do we play it safe? How we choose in those defining moments, shapes the kind of people we will be.
As we will be discovering in our devotions this week, God’s intention for us is to take the great risk of giving ourselves completely to this magnificent, miraculous gift that is our Life.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord Jesus Christ, you held nothing back in risking yourself completely in your great adventure of love by coming to share life with us. May we be inspired by your example to give ourselves completely to that higher purpose to which you call each one of us. Help us, today, to live in such a way that demonstrates our desire to trust you completely. Amen.
A FURTHER THOUGHT FOR THE DAY“A ship in harbour is safe – but that is not what ships are for.” John A. Shedd
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Pyromaniacs
DAILY BYTE
Jesus’ Gospel is a challenging commitment - since it doesn’t make sense to the world’s power, and it can even pull apart the closest personal relationships in families, as the Gospel of Luke says. Even Jesus had to leave his family, and his commitment to the truth of God’s loving family cost him everything.
As we know, Jesus did hesitate, as he approached the cross, asking God to take the cup away from him. We also hesitate often in our commitment to following Christ, speaking the truth of the Gospel in the world. But, the fire that Jesus rains down in Luke is a fire of the spirit. It is a spirit of truth that rises up within us and helps us to press on when we’re weary and doubtful.
Not too long after the plane touched down in Johannesburg my first time in South Africa, I was in a kombi driving to Pretoria. It was pitch black outside, except for the fires blazing along the median strip between two sides of the highway. I and my friends looked at each other with wide eyes – it seemed like some sort of Armageddon. We were literally at the end of the earth. Our driver calmly said - oh, it happens all the time here - no need to worry... And so, my first view of South Africa was of a country in flames. And perhaps, that was appropriate. This country is in God’s flames. God wants to start a fire. He’s a bit of a pyromaniac – lighting fires that don’t just destroy, but they transform.
Fire makes you decisive - it makes you commit to one course of action or the other. When you light a match, you have three options. You can let it fizzle down so that it burns your fingers. You can put out the fire. Or, you can share it.
Healing in our lives comes through the confrontation and disruption of sharing the fiery passion of the Word of God in the Gospel. Jesus talks in Luke about having to go through a baptism. We begin baptism with water, but it continues through our lives as baptism by fire - a journey where our parents commit us and we commit ourselves to dying and then living every day as followers of Jesus through many fires. In these fires we die to our fear of speaking truthfully with one another and die to our fear of living united.
Now having been in South Africa much longer, I've gotten used to the fires, and I've learned that there is a debate about whether or not burning the brush is good for the earth. But, I confess, that whether it's good for the soil, or not, I love to see the bright green blades of grass poking up through the ashy blackness of the burn. Through fire, the earth is transformed from death to new life.
Jesus says in Luke (The Message): "I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up…! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront!"
When we dare to disrupt and confront one another in our personal relationships, in our church, and in our world, the scripture calls us to do it through Christ, humbly and graciously, speaking not out of resentment or anger but out of a wise, prayerful discernment of truth.
This might mean division, but it is a division not of fear or power but of love and integrity. The prophet Jeremiah says "let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully." We have God's Word. If we speak it faithfully, through God's grace, all divisions can and will one day heal in greater wholeness for us, for the church, and for the world.
FOCUS READING
Luke 12:49-51 (The Message)
"I've come to start a fire on this earth—how I wish it were blazing right now! I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront!
PRAY AS YOU GO
Blazing God, you showed us what true commitment and fiery passion were in the person and life of Jesus Christ. Fill our lives with a fire for you. Strengthen us so that we can boldly but humbly share the truth of Gospel so that one day your dream for the world’s unity may be realized. Amen.
Jesus’ Gospel is a challenging commitment - since it doesn’t make sense to the world’s power, and it can even pull apart the closest personal relationships in families, as the Gospel of Luke says. Even Jesus had to leave his family, and his commitment to the truth of God’s loving family cost him everything.
As we know, Jesus did hesitate, as he approached the cross, asking God to take the cup away from him. We also hesitate often in our commitment to following Christ, speaking the truth of the Gospel in the world. But, the fire that Jesus rains down in Luke is a fire of the spirit. It is a spirit of truth that rises up within us and helps us to press on when we’re weary and doubtful.
Not too long after the plane touched down in Johannesburg my first time in South Africa, I was in a kombi driving to Pretoria. It was pitch black outside, except for the fires blazing along the median strip between two sides of the highway. I and my friends looked at each other with wide eyes – it seemed like some sort of Armageddon. We were literally at the end of the earth. Our driver calmly said - oh, it happens all the time here - no need to worry... And so, my first view of South Africa was of a country in flames. And perhaps, that was appropriate. This country is in God’s flames. God wants to start a fire. He’s a bit of a pyromaniac – lighting fires that don’t just destroy, but they transform.
Fire makes you decisive - it makes you commit to one course of action or the other. When you light a match, you have three options. You can let it fizzle down so that it burns your fingers. You can put out the fire. Or, you can share it.
Healing in our lives comes through the confrontation and disruption of sharing the fiery passion of the Word of God in the Gospel. Jesus talks in Luke about having to go through a baptism. We begin baptism with water, but it continues through our lives as baptism by fire - a journey where our parents commit us and we commit ourselves to dying and then living every day as followers of Jesus through many fires. In these fires we die to our fear of speaking truthfully with one another and die to our fear of living united.
Now having been in South Africa much longer, I've gotten used to the fires, and I've learned that there is a debate about whether or not burning the brush is good for the earth. But, I confess, that whether it's good for the soil, or not, I love to see the bright green blades of grass poking up through the ashy blackness of the burn. Through fire, the earth is transformed from death to new life.
Jesus says in Luke (The Message): "I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up…! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront!"
When we dare to disrupt and confront one another in our personal relationships, in our church, and in our world, the scripture calls us to do it through Christ, humbly and graciously, speaking not out of resentment or anger but out of a wise, prayerful discernment of truth.
This might mean division, but it is a division not of fear or power but of love and integrity. The prophet Jeremiah says "let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully." We have God's Word. If we speak it faithfully, through God's grace, all divisions can and will one day heal in greater wholeness for us, for the church, and for the world.
FOCUS READING
Luke 12:49-51 (The Message)
"I've come to start a fire on this earth—how I wish it were blazing right now! I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront!
PRAY AS YOU GO
Blazing God, you showed us what true commitment and fiery passion were in the person and life of Jesus Christ. Fill our lives with a fire for you. Strengthen us so that we can boldly but humbly share the truth of Gospel so that one day your dream for the world’s unity may be realized. Amen.
The Division of Unity
DAILY BYTE
We’ve looked this week at two kinds of division, but there is a third. This is the kind that blows in with God's new season on earth. It is cut with the hard truth of the gospel and happens not through being lukewarm or hardened but through becoming a fiery people.
I don't mean the kind of fiery that says - watch out or she'll burn you to smithereens. I mean the kind of fiery that catches onto everything it comes in contact with because it is a powerful, passionate blaze that goes where the wind blows it.
Jesus says, "I've come to start a fire on this earth ... how I wish it were blazing right now!" We think of Jesus as being placid, gently reaching out his hands to embrace children and heal sick people. And the scriptures do show that Jesus was gentle, but when we think about the kinds of things he did in his ministry and the radical truth that he stood for, we see the blazing of the spirit through him.
Really think about it. He healed sick people no one could bear to touch. He gathered large groups of people together without discriminating between who could come and who was not allowed. He was unafraid of speaking truth to his friends and to people in power, even overturning tables in the temple with the truth that every thing and every person belongs to God alone.
One of the greatest causes of division in the world is peoples’ fear of the Gospel's unashamed commitment to this radical unity. The world might shy away from challenging people and circumstances, and we might try to dominate or segregate those we’ve judged to be wrong, but the Gospel refuses to surrender the truth that we are all one. The division Jesus talks about bringing to earth comes because people both inside and outside the church can't seem to handle the truth that God loves us all.
The kind of division Jesus brings is ironically caused by commitment to unity.
When true Christian unity happens, people must look at followers of Jesus, petrified of the immense power that they find in that storm of love that breaks down walls between people of every colour, sexual orientation, nationality, and socioeconomic situation. That kind of love actually has the power to conquer the world.
Relinquishing our power and our kingdom to God’s power and God’s season of unity that will outlast every one of the world’s divisions is the difficult and wonderful commitment that we make when we are baptized and when we live out of our baptisms every day.
But when it doesn't happen, I'm sure people outside the church look at it and say - the church is so divided and exclusive - those people don't even believe their own gospel. So why should I?
Do you believe your own gospel? And if so, do you commit yourself to the kind of unity Jesus speaks of – the kind that can cause division?
FOCUS READING
1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
IF YOU ARE FEELING BRAVE…
Pray again for God to reveal to you a division that exists in your life, in the life of the church, or in the world. Ask God for the strength and wisdom to act in some way that might bring about healing and reconciliation. Discern clearly with others in the community of faith, and go do it!
We’ve looked this week at two kinds of division, but there is a third. This is the kind that blows in with God's new season on earth. It is cut with the hard truth of the gospel and happens not through being lukewarm or hardened but through becoming a fiery people.
I don't mean the kind of fiery that says - watch out or she'll burn you to smithereens. I mean the kind of fiery that catches onto everything it comes in contact with because it is a powerful, passionate blaze that goes where the wind blows it.
Jesus says, "I've come to start a fire on this earth ... how I wish it were blazing right now!" We think of Jesus as being placid, gently reaching out his hands to embrace children and heal sick people. And the scriptures do show that Jesus was gentle, but when we think about the kinds of things he did in his ministry and the radical truth that he stood for, we see the blazing of the spirit through him.
Really think about it. He healed sick people no one could bear to touch. He gathered large groups of people together without discriminating between who could come and who was not allowed. He was unafraid of speaking truth to his friends and to people in power, even overturning tables in the temple with the truth that every thing and every person belongs to God alone.
One of the greatest causes of division in the world is peoples’ fear of the Gospel's unashamed commitment to this radical unity. The world might shy away from challenging people and circumstances, and we might try to dominate or segregate those we’ve judged to be wrong, but the Gospel refuses to surrender the truth that we are all one. The division Jesus talks about bringing to earth comes because people both inside and outside the church can't seem to handle the truth that God loves us all.
The kind of division Jesus brings is ironically caused by commitment to unity.
When true Christian unity happens, people must look at followers of Jesus, petrified of the immense power that they find in that storm of love that breaks down walls between people of every colour, sexual orientation, nationality, and socioeconomic situation. That kind of love actually has the power to conquer the world.
Relinquishing our power and our kingdom to God’s power and God’s season of unity that will outlast every one of the world’s divisions is the difficult and wonderful commitment that we make when we are baptized and when we live out of our baptisms every day.
But when it doesn't happen, I'm sure people outside the church look at it and say - the church is so divided and exclusive - those people don't even believe their own gospel. So why should I?
Do you believe your own gospel? And if so, do you commit yourself to the kind of unity Jesus speaks of – the kind that can cause division?
FOCUS READING
1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
IF YOU ARE FEELING BRAVE…
Pray again for God to reveal to you a division that exists in your life, in the life of the church, or in the world. Ask God for the strength and wisdom to act in some way that might bring about healing and reconciliation. Discern clearly with others in the community of faith, and go do it!
Division
DAILY BYTE
Yesterday, we reflected on the divisiveness of sweetly smoothing over the truth. Obviously, there are helpful and unhelpful ways of speaking and hearing truth... The opposite of bland niceness is not meanness and judgment. That leads us to the second cause of division.
A few weeks ago, I was traveling with a group around South Africa, and we met a woman whom I will call Esther. But unlike Queen Esther of the scriptures, this Esther lives by herself with her son, who is about eight years old in a one-room shack. All fifteen of us crowded into her tiny room, while she sat dignified on her bed, holding her son in her lap. The minister with us calmly asked her to tell us a little of her story. She was a beautiful woman with proud eyes, but the fire in them diminished, as she shared her life. She had been married, and her son became very, very sick. She went to the doctor and discovered that he had HIV and TB and was on the brink of death. Do you know anyone whose story sounds like this?
The doctor asked if he could test her to see if she had it, too, and she did. She hadn't known that her husband was HIV positive. He hadn't told her, and the unspoken truth almost killed her and her son. And not only that, but when her husband found out, he left, which is what we do when we want to avoid the truth, is it not? She found herself completely alone. Her family turned their backs on her. They cowered away in judgment of her condition and the possible choices she had made in her life that brought her to that place.
We divide ourselves from one another in relationships and as the church when we stubbornly defend our own position, allowing no room for listening or compromise. We divide ourselves from the people we love and people we barely know when we allow our hearts to harden in judgment instead of opening them to discern where Jesus and the truth of the Gospel are in their life.
Divisions brought about by niceness and by judgment are both tragic. Perhaps, they are some of the dividing walls that Paul speaks about in Ephesians - so prevalent in our lives that we act as though these are the kinds of division that the Gospel of Luke talks about Jesus bringing. As relationships come apart, the church continues to splinter into pieces, and the world dukes out its judgment in war, we act as though these are the only ways we know how to operate.
Do you operate with these kinds of division in your life? Do you desire to live a different way?
GUIDING SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 2:14 (NRSV)
For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, open my eyes to dividing walls that I put up between myself and others. Help me to break them down humbly and graciously so that I become a part of Your healing and reconciliation in the world. Amen.
Yesterday, we reflected on the divisiveness of sweetly smoothing over the truth. Obviously, there are helpful and unhelpful ways of speaking and hearing truth... The opposite of bland niceness is not meanness and judgment. That leads us to the second cause of division.
A few weeks ago, I was traveling with a group around South Africa, and we met a woman whom I will call Esther. But unlike Queen Esther of the scriptures, this Esther lives by herself with her son, who is about eight years old in a one-room shack. All fifteen of us crowded into her tiny room, while she sat dignified on her bed, holding her son in her lap. The minister with us calmly asked her to tell us a little of her story. She was a beautiful woman with proud eyes, but the fire in them diminished, as she shared her life. She had been married, and her son became very, very sick. She went to the doctor and discovered that he had HIV and TB and was on the brink of death. Do you know anyone whose story sounds like this?
The doctor asked if he could test her to see if she had it, too, and she did. She hadn't known that her husband was HIV positive. He hadn't told her, and the unspoken truth almost killed her and her son. And not only that, but when her husband found out, he left, which is what we do when we want to avoid the truth, is it not? She found herself completely alone. Her family turned their backs on her. They cowered away in judgment of her condition and the possible choices she had made in her life that brought her to that place.
We divide ourselves from one another in relationships and as the church when we stubbornly defend our own position, allowing no room for listening or compromise. We divide ourselves from the people we love and people we barely know when we allow our hearts to harden in judgment instead of opening them to discern where Jesus and the truth of the Gospel are in their life.
Divisions brought about by niceness and by judgment are both tragic. Perhaps, they are some of the dividing walls that Paul speaks about in Ephesians - so prevalent in our lives that we act as though these are the kinds of division that the Gospel of Luke talks about Jesus bringing. As relationships come apart, the church continues to splinter into pieces, and the world dukes out its judgment in war, we act as though these are the only ways we know how to operate.
Do you operate with these kinds of division in your life? Do you desire to live a different way?
GUIDING SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 2:14 (NRSV)
For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, open my eyes to dividing walls that I put up between myself and others. Help me to break them down humbly and graciously so that I become a part of Your healing and reconciliation in the world. Amen.
Monday 24 August 2009
The Trouble with Being Nice
DAILY BYTE
If we’re talking about God’s season on earth, the idea of ‘division’ is a scary place to begin. We often speak about being 'united in and through Christ.' We say Jesus has come to bring peace to the world, not conflict! But in Chapter 12 of the Book of Luke, Jesus says that he’s bringing division instead of peace and that he’s bring fire to the earth… This doesn’t necessarily sound like the Jesus we see in pictures, cuddling fuzzy lambs… So, what does Jesus mean?
Well, this week we’ll talk about three different kinds of division and where God’s season might be in that. The first kind of division goes back to our conversations about the weather. We spend a lot of time being simply civil and nice to each other! South Africans have the perfect word for being civil, welcoming, nice, and sufficiently avoiding - "Howzit?" Howzit is a very handy word, but it's also a difficult one to respond to - is it a question? Is it a statement? It seems it's both... End of conversation.
Now, as we've said, there is nothing wrong with being kind and welcoming. And many of us - especially the introverts among us - struggle with conversation. It's hard to be real, particularly when you're stressed or tired.
But niceness can be divisive when it takes over even our closest relationships so that our fear of hurting others' feelings and our desire to avoid conflict actually mean that we cover over the confusion within us and cut off the communication between us so that we don't actually know one another.
And if we don't know one another, we cannot speak truth into one another's lives, and if there is no truth in a relationship, then inevitably, it drifts apart. Or, people walk away from one another. It's easier, isn't it? Just to be lukewarm people that wander in and out of relationships instead of committed people who speak truth to one another? Stanley Hauerwas was named by Time Magazine in 2001 as America's Best Theologian. He's an ethics professor at Duke Divinity School, and in a lecture to the students on how to be a Christ-filled community, he emphasized that being nice is far too often used as a mechanism for covering over the truth.
Do you use being nice as a way of avoiding issues in relationships? Has this caused division in your life? How might this be keeping you from God’s desires for your life and relationships?
FOCUS READING
Luke 12:49; 51
"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!...Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!
If we’re talking about God’s season on earth, the idea of ‘division’ is a scary place to begin. We often speak about being 'united in and through Christ.' We say Jesus has come to bring peace to the world, not conflict! But in Chapter 12 of the Book of Luke, Jesus says that he’s bringing division instead of peace and that he’s bring fire to the earth… This doesn’t necessarily sound like the Jesus we see in pictures, cuddling fuzzy lambs… So, what does Jesus mean?
Well, this week we’ll talk about three different kinds of division and where God’s season might be in that. The first kind of division goes back to our conversations about the weather. We spend a lot of time being simply civil and nice to each other! South Africans have the perfect word for being civil, welcoming, nice, and sufficiently avoiding - "Howzit?" Howzit is a very handy word, but it's also a difficult one to respond to - is it a question? Is it a statement? It seems it's both... End of conversation.
Now, as we've said, there is nothing wrong with being kind and welcoming. And many of us - especially the introverts among us - struggle with conversation. It's hard to be real, particularly when you're stressed or tired.
But niceness can be divisive when it takes over even our closest relationships so that our fear of hurting others' feelings and our desire to avoid conflict actually mean that we cover over the confusion within us and cut off the communication between us so that we don't actually know one another.
And if we don't know one another, we cannot speak truth into one another's lives, and if there is no truth in a relationship, then inevitably, it drifts apart. Or, people walk away from one another. It's easier, isn't it? Just to be lukewarm people that wander in and out of relationships instead of committed people who speak truth to one another? Stanley Hauerwas was named by Time Magazine in 2001 as America's Best Theologian. He's an ethics professor at Duke Divinity School, and in a lecture to the students on how to be a Christ-filled community, he emphasized that being nice is far too often used as a mechanism for covering over the truth.
Do you use being nice as a way of avoiding issues in relationships? Has this caused division in your life? How might this be keeping you from God’s desires for your life and relationships?
FOCUS READING
Luke 12:49; 51
"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!...Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!
Slightly Cloudy
DAILY BYTE
At varsity after a meal, my roommates and I would often say to each other, ever so nonchalantly, as we grinned awkwardly showing our pearly whites, "How's the weather today?" And if the answer was, "Slightly cloudy," we would race to the ladies' room to try and dislodge the spinach stuck between our teeth. Now, this tactic may not have been as suave as we thought, but we jokingly chose a phrase about the weather because people start SO many conversations like that.
But, Scott Ginsberg says on his website, 'Think before you speak: Strategies for Combatting Conversational Crappiness," that "Starting a conversation about the weather means you’ve settled for starting a conversation about the weather! This makes your conversation partner feel like you’ve settled for them too" [http://www.hodu.com/think-before.shtml].
Now, this is not to say that we should never talk about the weather. But, we do often settle for being a bit bland and civil and well, just nice.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says in Eugene Peterson's Message version, "When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, 'Storm's coming'—and you're right. And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, 'This'll be a hot one'—and you're right. Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don't tell me you can't tell a change in the season, the God-season we're in right now."
Jesus coming to earth and existing wherever you are means that as we head into spring there is another kind of change in the season. Jesus means that things cannot be as they were before, and we've been given the task this week of discerning what season God is calling us to be in right now.
How’s the weather in your life? What new and different season is God blowing in to the world?
FOCUS READING
Luke 12:54-56 (NRSV)
He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens.
You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
At varsity after a meal, my roommates and I would often say to each other, ever so nonchalantly, as we grinned awkwardly showing our pearly whites, "How's the weather today?" And if the answer was, "Slightly cloudy," we would race to the ladies' room to try and dislodge the spinach stuck between our teeth. Now, this tactic may not have been as suave as we thought, but we jokingly chose a phrase about the weather because people start SO many conversations like that.
But, Scott Ginsberg says on his website, 'Think before you speak: Strategies for Combatting Conversational Crappiness," that "Starting a conversation about the weather means you’ve settled for starting a conversation about the weather! This makes your conversation partner feel like you’ve settled for them too" [http://www.hodu.com/think-before.shtml].
Now, this is not to say that we should never talk about the weather. But, we do often settle for being a bit bland and civil and well, just nice.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says in Eugene Peterson's Message version, "When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, 'Storm's coming'—and you're right. And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, 'This'll be a hot one'—and you're right. Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don't tell me you can't tell a change in the season, the God-season we're in right now."
Jesus coming to earth and existing wherever you are means that as we head into spring there is another kind of change in the season. Jesus means that things cannot be as they were before, and we've been given the task this week of discerning what season God is calling us to be in right now.
How’s the weather in your life? What new and different season is God blowing in to the world?
FOCUS READING
Luke 12:54-56 (NRSV)
He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens.
You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Monday 17 August 2009
Even When God Seems Small
DAILY BYTE
We are all, therefore, ‘on our way; through a world where we struggle against the mammoth pulls of materialism and greed, where we wake up daily to new tales of frightful suffering and evil, where we painfully face the reality of our own weaknesses, and where we constantly encounter people who live with very small images of God indeed – angry, wrathful, petty God’s – and so it is vitally important that we daily grapple with the following question:
‘Is my God big enough to deal with all of this?’
Scripture answers an emphatic YES!
We may not always understand God, we may only often perceive realities through a hazy mist, but God is certainly big enough to deal with the worst and ugliest of them.
What is important to remember though, is that God will not always appear to us to be big, certainly not in the way the world likes to define ‘big.’ This is because God has chosen to work through the very vulnerable way of love. Furthermore, God seems to delight in appearing to us in small, little ways – just like that human figure of Jesus was dwarfed by those temples.
It is for us to learn to believe that anything is possible for this God.
Like Peter eventually learnt. For although Peter was initially horrified to hear Christ speak of being vulnerable because it just didn’t fit his perceptions of what ‘big’ should be, he soon learnt through his experiences that God is not only big enough to face suffering and death, but also big enough to conquer it. During Peter’s spiritual journey his perceptions of God was exploded by the Resurrection and Pentecost.
So then, take heart as you go ‘on your way,’ that if you keep on trusting in God, no matter how frightening your circumstances may be, God is big enough to bring you through them.
Perhaps then, we should learn to wake up everyday and say, ‘My God is soooo big!’
That is because it is exactly by making ‘our way’ through everyday life and trusting in God despite the odds that our faith grows and God becomes so much more.
It is in facing off every temptation by just leaning on God that little bit more; it is clinging onto God no matter how hard life tries for us to let go; it is exactly all that which ‘unblinds’ us to God’s true nature and size, and it is exactly that which opens our arms just that little bit wider because we find that our God is soooo big.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O Lord, we pray that like you did for Peter, you would grow our imaginations, minds and perceptions to take in more and more of you. Help us to make our way through every tough situation carrying with us the truth that you are a God who just cannot be contained by human ideas and limitations. Thanks be to you, Our Great and Wonderful God. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Mark 8 : 34-35 (NIV)
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
We are all, therefore, ‘on our way; through a world where we struggle against the mammoth pulls of materialism and greed, where we wake up daily to new tales of frightful suffering and evil, where we painfully face the reality of our own weaknesses, and where we constantly encounter people who live with very small images of God indeed – angry, wrathful, petty God’s – and so it is vitally important that we daily grapple with the following question:
‘Is my God big enough to deal with all of this?’
Scripture answers an emphatic YES!
We may not always understand God, we may only often perceive realities through a hazy mist, but God is certainly big enough to deal with the worst and ugliest of them.
What is important to remember though, is that God will not always appear to us to be big, certainly not in the way the world likes to define ‘big.’ This is because God has chosen to work through the very vulnerable way of love. Furthermore, God seems to delight in appearing to us in small, little ways – just like that human figure of Jesus was dwarfed by those temples.
It is for us to learn to believe that anything is possible for this God.
Like Peter eventually learnt. For although Peter was initially horrified to hear Christ speak of being vulnerable because it just didn’t fit his perceptions of what ‘big’ should be, he soon learnt through his experiences that God is not only big enough to face suffering and death, but also big enough to conquer it. During Peter’s spiritual journey his perceptions of God was exploded by the Resurrection and Pentecost.
So then, take heart as you go ‘on your way,’ that if you keep on trusting in God, no matter how frightening your circumstances may be, God is big enough to bring you through them.
Perhaps then, we should learn to wake up everyday and say, ‘My God is soooo big!’
That is because it is exactly by making ‘our way’ through everyday life and trusting in God despite the odds that our faith grows and God becomes so much more.
It is in facing off every temptation by just leaning on God that little bit more; it is clinging onto God no matter how hard life tries for us to let go; it is exactly all that which ‘unblinds’ us to God’s true nature and size, and it is exactly that which opens our arms just that little bit wider because we find that our God is soooo big.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O Lord, we pray that like you did for Peter, you would grow our imaginations, minds and perceptions to take in more and more of you. Help us to make our way through every tough situation carrying with us the truth that you are a God who just cannot be contained by human ideas and limitations. Thanks be to you, Our Great and Wonderful God. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Mark 8 : 34-35 (NIV)
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
Frightening Forces
DAILY BYTE
Peter’s view of God was not big enough for him to handle the idea of Jesus voluntarily entering suffering and hardship, so he thought he had to pull Jesus back into line. In fact, this is where he himself was brought back into line through the challenge of Jesus’ strong rebuke.
‘Get behind me, Satan!’ may sound an overly harsh rebuke to our ears, especially after Peter’s recent confession of faith, but Jesus was not telling Peter to leave him forever because of his miserable failure.
No, Jesus was telling Peter to get back where he belonged, behind God and following God not trying to lead God.
If we keep in mind that this story is meant to be heard by all Jesus’ disciples, then perhaps we should hear this rebuke for ourselves as well. Don’t ever try to fit God into presupposed boxes that neatly fit our very human ideas of who God should be.
God will not be tamed! God will not be confined by human perceptions and ideas!
God is far too big for that, far bigger than we could ever possibly begin to imagine. Perhaps then, because it is meant for all of us, it is time to bring Jesus’ question directly to you once again:
‘Who is Jesus to you?’ ‘How big is your God?’
You know, we spend every day amongst very large and frightening forces. If we are honest with ourselves, then sometimes our view of who God is can be dwarfed in comparison with our fears regarding these forces. Just like the tiny figure of Jesus was dwarfed by those temples, so God (or rather our view of God), can seem so small in comparison with what we encounter everyday.
For example, next to the power that materialism and money seem to have on the world we live in, and indeed on us personally, God and what God values can seem so puny. I remember once walking through the centre of London – the banking sector – and feeling dwarfed by the skyscrapers, and feeling spiritually dwarfed by this overwhelming sense of ‘mammon’.
Or next to the insidious and draining grip of our weaknesses, our own failings and temptations and addictions, God can sometimes seem so tiny. We try and try and always seem to fail and so wonder if God really is powerful enough to make a difference.
Or next to the stark realities of evil, of human suffering and need, our perceptions of God can be horrible dwarfed. Like Peter, most of us struggle to connect the idea of divine love with the idea of human suffering. A couple of years back, in the States, a little girl’s father killed his estranged wife and then kidnapped her. He fled with her along a highway, until he finally became so desperate that he shot himself. Later film footage of this terrible family tragedy depicts his car being pulled up onto a tow-truck, and as it does so a sticker on the car comes into view reads: ‘Jesus is the answer’.
Sometimes we encounter such chilling evil and suffering, that our faith is almost swept out from under us because our perception of God is so small in comparison.
PRAY AS YOU GO
In your prayer time today, consider what daily ‘forces’ you encounter that you most struggle with in terms of threatening your faith. Commit these fears to God in an open and honest way.
FOCUS READING
Mark 8 : 29-33 (NRSV)
He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Peter’s view of God was not big enough for him to handle the idea of Jesus voluntarily entering suffering and hardship, so he thought he had to pull Jesus back into line. In fact, this is where he himself was brought back into line through the challenge of Jesus’ strong rebuke.
‘Get behind me, Satan!’ may sound an overly harsh rebuke to our ears, especially after Peter’s recent confession of faith, but Jesus was not telling Peter to leave him forever because of his miserable failure.
No, Jesus was telling Peter to get back where he belonged, behind God and following God not trying to lead God.
If we keep in mind that this story is meant to be heard by all Jesus’ disciples, then perhaps we should hear this rebuke for ourselves as well. Don’t ever try to fit God into presupposed boxes that neatly fit our very human ideas of who God should be.
God will not be tamed! God will not be confined by human perceptions and ideas!
God is far too big for that, far bigger than we could ever possibly begin to imagine. Perhaps then, because it is meant for all of us, it is time to bring Jesus’ question directly to you once again:
‘Who is Jesus to you?’ ‘How big is your God?’
You know, we spend every day amongst very large and frightening forces. If we are honest with ourselves, then sometimes our view of who God is can be dwarfed in comparison with our fears regarding these forces. Just like the tiny figure of Jesus was dwarfed by those temples, so God (or rather our view of God), can seem so small in comparison with what we encounter everyday.
For example, next to the power that materialism and money seem to have on the world we live in, and indeed on us personally, God and what God values can seem so puny. I remember once walking through the centre of London – the banking sector – and feeling dwarfed by the skyscrapers, and feeling spiritually dwarfed by this overwhelming sense of ‘mammon’.
Or next to the insidious and draining grip of our weaknesses, our own failings and temptations and addictions, God can sometimes seem so tiny. We try and try and always seem to fail and so wonder if God really is powerful enough to make a difference.
Or next to the stark realities of evil, of human suffering and need, our perceptions of God can be horrible dwarfed. Like Peter, most of us struggle to connect the idea of divine love with the idea of human suffering. A couple of years back, in the States, a little girl’s father killed his estranged wife and then kidnapped her. He fled with her along a highway, until he finally became so desperate that he shot himself. Later film footage of this terrible family tragedy depicts his car being pulled up onto a tow-truck, and as it does so a sticker on the car comes into view reads: ‘Jesus is the answer’.
Sometimes we encounter such chilling evil and suffering, that our faith is almost swept out from under us because our perception of God is so small in comparison.
PRAY AS YOU GO
In your prayer time today, consider what daily ‘forces’ you encounter that you most struggle with in terms of threatening your faith. Commit these fears to God in an open and honest way.
FOCUS READING
Mark 8 : 29-33 (NRSV)
He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
How BIG am I to you?
DAILY BYTE
Today we are going back to the story we looked at on Monday. Mark is very precise on the geography of this story, he makes it clear that Jesus and the disciples are going to the ‘villages around Caesarea Philippi’. Most first century listeners would have understood the relevance of this straight away.
That is because the outskirts of Caesarea Philippi, were renowned for being littered with about 14 different pagan temples, included two very large ones. One built by Herod and dedicated to the Roman Emperor for the purposes of Emperor Worship, and the other was an older one built around a cave for the purposes of worshipping the Roman god of nature (Pan).
I just love the sense of drama that Jesus has here. Now Jesus’ height is never mentioned in the Gospels, so we must guess that he was probably of average height. However, as you can well imagine, no matter how tall he was he would have been dwarfed by the surrounding temples.
So picture this tiny figure of Jesus, standing dwarfed by these great temples dedicated to false and pagan gods, asking of his disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am’ – ‘How big am I to you?’
Peter, to his credit, answers ‘You are the Christ.’ After journeying with Jesus and witnessing his miracles and hearing his teachings, Peter’s sight is now clear enough to believe that Christ is bigger than any other god, even one with the awful force of a Roman Emperor.
But then comes the crunch, because although Peter’s view of God has clearly grown since he was first called away from his fishing nets, it is still not large enough to carry him through all life’s challenges.
This is why he needed to hear Jesus’ rebuke.
Peter may have believed God was bigger than those pagan temples, the very same temples that he and most Jews hoped ‘the Christ’ would destroy, but as soon as Jesus began to speak of his own suffering and death, Peter faltered. I mean if Christ destroyed those temples, well then Peter would share in the glory, but if the Christ was to suffer and die – what would that mean for Peter?
Like most of us, Peter was fine with his faith as long as it promised him prosperity, but as soon as it threatened to lead him through adversity or hardship then he hesitated.
His view of God was not big enough for him to properly grapple with the idea of God voluntarily entering suffering and hardship, it was not big enough to see that for God at least, being ‘big’ means squeezing down into all the fragility of a human frame and risking humiliating death – all for the cause of love.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord you are a great and glorious God who delights in surprising us. We acknowledge that many of our ideas of what it means to be great and ‘big’ differ from your own. We know that whoever we are, and whatever we have done with our lives so far, we still need to grow and so we pray that you would bless us with an ever increasing ‘picture’ of who you are. Help us to learn to see ‘big’ for what it really is. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Mark 8 : 27-31 (NIV)
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ."
Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
Today we are going back to the story we looked at on Monday. Mark is very precise on the geography of this story, he makes it clear that Jesus and the disciples are going to the ‘villages around Caesarea Philippi’. Most first century listeners would have understood the relevance of this straight away.
That is because the outskirts of Caesarea Philippi, were renowned for being littered with about 14 different pagan temples, included two very large ones. One built by Herod and dedicated to the Roman Emperor for the purposes of Emperor Worship, and the other was an older one built around a cave for the purposes of worshipping the Roman god of nature (Pan).
I just love the sense of drama that Jesus has here. Now Jesus’ height is never mentioned in the Gospels, so we must guess that he was probably of average height. However, as you can well imagine, no matter how tall he was he would have been dwarfed by the surrounding temples.
So picture this tiny figure of Jesus, standing dwarfed by these great temples dedicated to false and pagan gods, asking of his disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am’ – ‘How big am I to you?’
Peter, to his credit, answers ‘You are the Christ.’ After journeying with Jesus and witnessing his miracles and hearing his teachings, Peter’s sight is now clear enough to believe that Christ is bigger than any other god, even one with the awful force of a Roman Emperor.
But then comes the crunch, because although Peter’s view of God has clearly grown since he was first called away from his fishing nets, it is still not large enough to carry him through all life’s challenges.
This is why he needed to hear Jesus’ rebuke.
Peter may have believed God was bigger than those pagan temples, the very same temples that he and most Jews hoped ‘the Christ’ would destroy, but as soon as Jesus began to speak of his own suffering and death, Peter faltered. I mean if Christ destroyed those temples, well then Peter would share in the glory, but if the Christ was to suffer and die – what would that mean for Peter?
Like most of us, Peter was fine with his faith as long as it promised him prosperity, but as soon as it threatened to lead him through adversity or hardship then he hesitated.
His view of God was not big enough for him to properly grapple with the idea of God voluntarily entering suffering and hardship, it was not big enough to see that for God at least, being ‘big’ means squeezing down into all the fragility of a human frame and risking humiliating death – all for the cause of love.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord you are a great and glorious God who delights in surprising us. We acknowledge that many of our ideas of what it means to be great and ‘big’ differ from your own. We know that whoever we are, and whatever we have done with our lives so far, we still need to grow and so we pray that you would bless us with an ever increasing ‘picture’ of who you are. Help us to learn to see ‘big’ for what it really is. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Mark 8 : 27-31 (NIV)
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ."
Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
Seeing MORE!
DAILY BYTE
Interestingly enough, just before Jesus addresses his question to his disciples, (remember yesterday’s focus reading), there is a story of a blind man being healed.
I am convinced that the author of Mark’s Gospel included this particular story just before Jesus’ question because he intended the two stories to be read as one.
I am not saying he made up this miracle story just to suit his point, but rather that he chose this particular one out of hundreds of miracles stories because he wanted to make a spiritual point with it (just like preachers do all the time).
And that point is to further emphasise ‘hodos’ or ‘on the way’ (again remember yesterday) in that like this blind man, the eyes of disciples are gradually opened to see who Jesus really is and how big God really is.
This is such a powerful illustration because it is just so true for ALL of us.
That we begin be being totally blind to who God really is, and that everyday after we decide to intentionally follow Jesus in his Way, then our eyes are slowly opened to see more and more and more of God.
Sometimes life seems as ‘clear as mud’ to us, but if we keep on trusting then we will begin to more clearly see God’s purposes in this world and within us.
Sometimes we make the very big mistake of seeing this hazy picture of God and then deciding, ‘Well, that’s it! That’s all there is to this.’
And we live with an inadequate view of God meaning God has to grab us by the shoulders and challenge us in order to grow us – just like what happened with Peter a little later in Mark 8.
The point is that we will never know all there is to know about God, so we can always be growing and learning. We should beware of any attitude that says otherwise for we can then lead ourselves down some very arrogant and close-minded paths.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving God, thank-you for the very gracious way you work in our lives. Help us to humbly accept that when it comes to matters of spirituality, we often don’t get the whole picture. Help us to allow you to work in our lives exactly as you want to, help us to keep on trusting you even when we become impatient at how slowly we may feel you are working. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Mark 8 : 22-26 (NIV)
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village."
Interestingly enough, just before Jesus addresses his question to his disciples, (remember yesterday’s focus reading), there is a story of a blind man being healed.
I am convinced that the author of Mark’s Gospel included this particular story just before Jesus’ question because he intended the two stories to be read as one.
I am not saying he made up this miracle story just to suit his point, but rather that he chose this particular one out of hundreds of miracles stories because he wanted to make a spiritual point with it (just like preachers do all the time).
And that point is to further emphasise ‘hodos’ or ‘on the way’ (again remember yesterday) in that like this blind man, the eyes of disciples are gradually opened to see who Jesus really is and how big God really is.
This is such a powerful illustration because it is just so true for ALL of us.
That we begin be being totally blind to who God really is, and that everyday after we decide to intentionally follow Jesus in his Way, then our eyes are slowly opened to see more and more and more of God.
Sometimes life seems as ‘clear as mud’ to us, but if we keep on trusting then we will begin to more clearly see God’s purposes in this world and within us.
Sometimes we make the very big mistake of seeing this hazy picture of God and then deciding, ‘Well, that’s it! That’s all there is to this.’
And we live with an inadequate view of God meaning God has to grab us by the shoulders and challenge us in order to grow us – just like what happened with Peter a little later in Mark 8.
The point is that we will never know all there is to know about God, so we can always be growing and learning. We should beware of any attitude that says otherwise for we can then lead ourselves down some very arrogant and close-minded paths.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving God, thank-you for the very gracious way you work in our lives. Help us to humbly accept that when it comes to matters of spirituality, we often don’t get the whole picture. Help us to allow you to work in our lives exactly as you want to, help us to keep on trusting you even when we become impatient at how slowly we may feel you are working. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Mark 8 : 22-26 (NIV)
They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village."
Big
DAILY BYTE
As soon as children are old enough to speak, the first question parents like to ask them is, ‘How big are you?’
Children almost always give the same answer, ‘I’m soooo big!’
They generally raise their hands and stand on tiptoe to gain additional stature, as if to say, ‘I’m huge – a giant. There’s no telling how big I’m going to get.’
Do make careful note, however, that this is not a scientific answer that can be used in every context. If another member of your household, say a spouse for example, happens to ask you: ‘Do my hips look big in these jeans?’
You might not want to throw your arms wide and exclaim, ‘Your hips look soooo big!’ (Adapted from John Ortberg).
I think though that this is the basic question Jesus asks in today’s focus text (see below). When he says to his disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ he is actually enquiring, ‘How big am I to you, how important am I in your life?’
Now there are two points of interest about this text that are necessary for us to understand from the beginning. The first is that when Jesus says ‘Who do YOU say that I am,’ that ‘you’ is in the plural, because the author of Mark’s Gospel meant it for the ears of ALL disciples (yes that does include you).
The second point of interest is found in v27b – ‘on the way he asked them’. That phrase ‘on the way’ or ‘en tei hodoi’ is used in Mark on at least 4 significant occasions, always to make a particular point.
For you see ‘hodoi’ or ‘Hodos’ can simply refer to a road or path, OR it can refer to a WAY of life. This phrase caught on with early Christians because they described themselves as ‘Hodos’ or ‘the Way’. Mark used this phrase to emphasise the idea of spirituality as a process, of being a journey of growing awareness and gradual transformation and not just a one off event.
So to sum up these two points, it seems that the message of this text is that growing our picture of God is a journey that we all need to grapple with on a daily basis.
It’s as if that question Jesus asks his disciples – ‘who do you say that I am?’ – cuts through all time and history until it arrives in our own consciousness, addressed directly to us.
So then … who is Jesus to you really? How big is God in your life?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Holy God, as we may our ‘way’ through this week, it is our prayer that you would help us to truthfully grapple with the question that this text addresses to us. We pray that this grappling would be a growing experience. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Mark 8 : 27-29 (NIV)
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ."
As soon as children are old enough to speak, the first question parents like to ask them is, ‘How big are you?’
Children almost always give the same answer, ‘I’m soooo big!’
They generally raise their hands and stand on tiptoe to gain additional stature, as if to say, ‘I’m huge – a giant. There’s no telling how big I’m going to get.’
Do make careful note, however, that this is not a scientific answer that can be used in every context. If another member of your household, say a spouse for example, happens to ask you: ‘Do my hips look big in these jeans?’
You might not want to throw your arms wide and exclaim, ‘Your hips look soooo big!’ (Adapted from John Ortberg).
I think though that this is the basic question Jesus asks in today’s focus text (see below). When he says to his disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ he is actually enquiring, ‘How big am I to you, how important am I in your life?’
Now there are two points of interest about this text that are necessary for us to understand from the beginning. The first is that when Jesus says ‘Who do YOU say that I am,’ that ‘you’ is in the plural, because the author of Mark’s Gospel meant it for the ears of ALL disciples (yes that does include you).
The second point of interest is found in v27b – ‘on the way he asked them’. That phrase ‘on the way’ or ‘en tei hodoi’ is used in Mark on at least 4 significant occasions, always to make a particular point.
For you see ‘hodoi’ or ‘Hodos’ can simply refer to a road or path, OR it can refer to a WAY of life. This phrase caught on with early Christians because they described themselves as ‘Hodos’ or ‘the Way’. Mark used this phrase to emphasise the idea of spirituality as a process, of being a journey of growing awareness and gradual transformation and not just a one off event.
So to sum up these two points, it seems that the message of this text is that growing our picture of God is a journey that we all need to grapple with on a daily basis.
It’s as if that question Jesus asks his disciples – ‘who do you say that I am?’ – cuts through all time and history until it arrives in our own consciousness, addressed directly to us.
So then … who is Jesus to you really? How big is God in your life?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Holy God, as we may our ‘way’ through this week, it is our prayer that you would help us to truthfully grapple with the question that this text addresses to us. We pray that this grappling would be a growing experience. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Mark 8 : 27-29 (NIV)
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ."
Friday 7 August 2009
Lifted Up
DAILY BYTE
We wouldn’t be doing this parable justice unless we also carefully considered the other major role player in the story – the tax collector. It is well known how despised tax collectors where in that day, and how by the very nature of their profession they were classed as ‘sinners’.
He also went to the temple to pray that day. But the word used to describe his praying was very different from that used to describe the Pharisee. Instead, he stood up in a very fearful sort of way – we can almost imagine his knees trembling as he did so.
His prayer also focussed on himself, but in an entirely different manner. ‘Lord,’ he cried out, ‘have mercy on me, a sinner’. In fact, that translation is not quite right – it would be more correct to say, ‘have mercy on me, THE sinner.’
Interestingly enough, Jesus describes this man as being justified before God and then says that everyone who ‘humbles themselves will be exalted’. To be exalted can be understood as being lifted up into something. A biblical understanding of ‘exalted’ would not be that of being lifted up into wealth or great power, but rather into grace and love (God’s primary values and priorities).
Humility lifts us up; it lifts us up from where pride causes us to FALL!
Humility is perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts of Scripture. Humility is not being a doormat, nor is it a lack of courage. In fact, the Biblical understanding of humility seems to suggest great inner security.
Frederick Beuchner defines humility as thinking of yourself as neither better nor worse than you really are. I really like that definition, but perhaps there is more to it than even that.
Jesus links the tax collector’s justification before God and ‘exaltedness’ back to the way he prayed. It strikes me, therefore, that we can learn much about humility from this prayer.
It’s just seven words – ‘Lord, have mercy on me, THE sinner,’ but perhaps they will be among the most important we ever learn to pray.
Jesus is teaching us that to be humble is recognise our need! That’s how we find grace, that is how we are lifted up from our fall, when we realise how much we NEED God in all things.
As John Baillie says: ‘Humility is the obverse side of confidence in God, whereas pride is the obverse side of confidence in self.’
So if they are opposites, and pride leads to us falling from who we were created to be, then humility is that quality that allows God to find us and LIFT us up into grace. Furthermore, if pride damages relationships, then perhaps humility is one of the greatest qualities we need to build relationships. Perhaps it is because as we realise how equal we all are in our need for God, and how gracefully God has lifted us up from our own ‘fall’, that we can in no way stand in judgement over others for their mistakes and failings.
If the essence of this parable is to learn to see yourself in it, can I encourage you to see yourself in both the Pharisee and the Tax Collector? For like mine, your prayers may often begin by being selfish and self-absorbed, they may even reflect vanity or arrogance or self-righteousness. Hopefully, they will in a way because our prayers should reflect the truth of what is on our souls.
But unlike the Pharisee, don’t make the mistake of allowing your prayers to END there. For it is when we realise how full of self our spirituality can be, and how good we are at hiding from that and pretending it isn’t so, it is then that it is a very good time to move onto the tax collector’s prayer and to say, ‘Lord have mercy on me, the sinner’.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, have mercy on me, THE sinner.
FOCUS READING
Luke 18 : 13-14 NIV
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and they who humbles themselves will be exalted.
We wouldn’t be doing this parable justice unless we also carefully considered the other major role player in the story – the tax collector. It is well known how despised tax collectors where in that day, and how by the very nature of their profession they were classed as ‘sinners’.
He also went to the temple to pray that day. But the word used to describe his praying was very different from that used to describe the Pharisee. Instead, he stood up in a very fearful sort of way – we can almost imagine his knees trembling as he did so.
His prayer also focussed on himself, but in an entirely different manner. ‘Lord,’ he cried out, ‘have mercy on me, a sinner’. In fact, that translation is not quite right – it would be more correct to say, ‘have mercy on me, THE sinner.’
Interestingly enough, Jesus describes this man as being justified before God and then says that everyone who ‘humbles themselves will be exalted’. To be exalted can be understood as being lifted up into something. A biblical understanding of ‘exalted’ would not be that of being lifted up into wealth or great power, but rather into grace and love (God’s primary values and priorities).
Humility lifts us up; it lifts us up from where pride causes us to FALL!
Humility is perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts of Scripture. Humility is not being a doormat, nor is it a lack of courage. In fact, the Biblical understanding of humility seems to suggest great inner security.
Frederick Beuchner defines humility as thinking of yourself as neither better nor worse than you really are. I really like that definition, but perhaps there is more to it than even that.
Jesus links the tax collector’s justification before God and ‘exaltedness’ back to the way he prayed. It strikes me, therefore, that we can learn much about humility from this prayer.
It’s just seven words – ‘Lord, have mercy on me, THE sinner,’ but perhaps they will be among the most important we ever learn to pray.
Jesus is teaching us that to be humble is recognise our need! That’s how we find grace, that is how we are lifted up from our fall, when we realise how much we NEED God in all things.
As John Baillie says: ‘Humility is the obverse side of confidence in God, whereas pride is the obverse side of confidence in self.’
So if they are opposites, and pride leads to us falling from who we were created to be, then humility is that quality that allows God to find us and LIFT us up into grace. Furthermore, if pride damages relationships, then perhaps humility is one of the greatest qualities we need to build relationships. Perhaps it is because as we realise how equal we all are in our need for God, and how gracefully God has lifted us up from our own ‘fall’, that we can in no way stand in judgement over others for their mistakes and failings.
If the essence of this parable is to learn to see yourself in it, can I encourage you to see yourself in both the Pharisee and the Tax Collector? For like mine, your prayers may often begin by being selfish and self-absorbed, they may even reflect vanity or arrogance or self-righteousness. Hopefully, they will in a way because our prayers should reflect the truth of what is on our souls.
But unlike the Pharisee, don’t make the mistake of allowing your prayers to END there. For it is when we realise how full of self our spirituality can be, and how good we are at hiding from that and pretending it isn’t so, it is then that it is a very good time to move onto the tax collector’s prayer and to say, ‘Lord have mercy on me, the sinner’.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord, have mercy on me, THE sinner.
FOCUS READING
Luke 18 : 13-14 NIV
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled, and they who humbles themselves will be exalted.
Falling
DAILY BYTE
To sum up so far: this parable teaches us that self-righteousness and pride are the ‘basic sin’ causing us to FALL from who we were originally created to be, and also causing devastating damage outside of ourselves. Most specifically in the area of our relationships ... did you notice at all how the Pharisee’s pride caused him to place himself above so many others?
This is because pride and self-righteousness seem to suck all the grace and tolerance and acceptance and forgiveness out of how we may deal with and perceive others.
Think about a person you may be struggling with. They may well be both annoying and irritating in their own right, but is at least a part of your struggle with them because you think you are better than them? Or perhaps they annoy you so much because they remind you of your own weaknesses that you don’t want to admit?
Or think about a close relationship where there may presently be some tension, perhaps a family member or friend. Have any of those struggles been because someone is too proud to admit a wrong, to say sorry, or to accept a compromise. In his book, ‘What’s so amazing about Grace?’ Philip Yancey tells the story of a couple who didn’t speak to each other for decades because both were too proud to admit fault or to be the first to say sorry.
Or what about the great Christian call of community beyond boundaries? Do we struggle to enter relationships with others who are different from us ONLY because of those differences? Or is it because in a place deep down and well hidden, we secretly think that our differences actually do make us better?
Now, I can’t actually answer any of those questions for you. I can only ask them of myself, and can only emphasise that the story is teaching us that there seems to be no greater destroyer of relationships than self-righteousness and pride. It can destroy churches, marriages, friendships and yes, or course, as we see in Adam and Eve, and in this Pharisee, it can also adversely affect our relationship with God.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Almighty God, we ask you to specifically pin-point what relationships we may be damaging because of our pride. Forgive us for the times we place ourselves above others in any way and help us to engage with others with humility and grace. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Luke 18 : 11 (NIV)
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.’
To sum up so far: this parable teaches us that self-righteousness and pride are the ‘basic sin’ causing us to FALL from who we were originally created to be, and also causing devastating damage outside of ourselves. Most specifically in the area of our relationships ... did you notice at all how the Pharisee’s pride caused him to place himself above so many others?
This is because pride and self-righteousness seem to suck all the grace and tolerance and acceptance and forgiveness out of how we may deal with and perceive others.
Think about a person you may be struggling with. They may well be both annoying and irritating in their own right, but is at least a part of your struggle with them because you think you are better than them? Or perhaps they annoy you so much because they remind you of your own weaknesses that you don’t want to admit?
Or think about a close relationship where there may presently be some tension, perhaps a family member or friend. Have any of those struggles been because someone is too proud to admit a wrong, to say sorry, or to accept a compromise. In his book, ‘What’s so amazing about Grace?’ Philip Yancey tells the story of a couple who didn’t speak to each other for decades because both were too proud to admit fault or to be the first to say sorry.
Or what about the great Christian call of community beyond boundaries? Do we struggle to enter relationships with others who are different from us ONLY because of those differences? Or is it because in a place deep down and well hidden, we secretly think that our differences actually do make us better?
Now, I can’t actually answer any of those questions for you. I can only ask them of myself, and can only emphasise that the story is teaching us that there seems to be no greater destroyer of relationships than self-righteousness and pride. It can destroy churches, marriages, friendships and yes, or course, as we see in Adam and Eve, and in this Pharisee, it can also adversely affect our relationship with God.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Almighty God, we ask you to specifically pin-point what relationships we may be damaging because of our pride. Forgive us for the times we place ourselves above others in any way and help us to engage with others with humility and grace. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Luke 18 : 11 (NIV)
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.’
The Legend of Faustus
DAILY BYTE
Do you remember the old story of Dr. Faustus? Well, Dr. Faustus became impatient with the limitations placed upon him in the study of law, medicine and theology. No matter how much he learned in these fields, he found that he was always in the service of something greater than himself – justice, healing or God.
Dr. Faustus chafed under this service and wanted out. So he made a pact with the devil, under which in terms of their agreement, he would live for the next 24 years in an all-powerful-like way. He would have no limits meaning he would be in control rather than in relationship, and he would exercise power rather than love. But after those 24 years were completed, he would then enter eternal damnation.
Eugene Peterson makes an interesting comment on this story:
“There have always been Faustian characters, people in the community who embarked on a way of arrogance and power; now our entire culture is Faustian.
We are caught up in a way of life that, instead of delighting in finding out the meaning of God and searching out the conditions in which human qualities can be realised, recklessly seeks ways to circumvent nature, arrogantly defies personal relationships and names God only in curses.
The legend of Faustus, useful for so long in pointing out the folly of a god-defying pride, now is practically unrecognisable because the assumptions of our whole society (our educational models, our economic expectations, even our popular religion) are Faustian.
It is difficult to recognise pride as a sin while it is held up on every side as a virtue, urged as profitable and rewarded as an achievement. What is described in Scripture as the basic sin, the sin of taking things into your own hands, being your own god, grabbing what is there while you can get it, is now described as basic wisdom: improve yourself by whatever means you are able; get ahead regardless of the price, take care of me first. For a limited time it works. But at the end the devil has his due. There is damnation.”
Can you see how important this is yet? Can you see how easily our own pride can hide from us? Can you see how easily we can deflect it onto others because ‘we are not like them,’ but all the while our own particular vanities hide from us, living in our hearts and twisting our souls.
Remember that it is the very nature of pride and vanity that make them so hard to acknowledge and own within ourselves (yet so easy to see and judge in others).
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving God, we bring before you all those particular areas of pride, self-righteousness and vanity that we have identified over the last two days. We confess them to you, and we pray that you would cleanse and heal our hearts and souls from their taint. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Proverbs 16 : 18 (NIV)
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Do you remember the old story of Dr. Faustus? Well, Dr. Faustus became impatient with the limitations placed upon him in the study of law, medicine and theology. No matter how much he learned in these fields, he found that he was always in the service of something greater than himself – justice, healing or God.
Dr. Faustus chafed under this service and wanted out. So he made a pact with the devil, under which in terms of their agreement, he would live for the next 24 years in an all-powerful-like way. He would have no limits meaning he would be in control rather than in relationship, and he would exercise power rather than love. But after those 24 years were completed, he would then enter eternal damnation.
Eugene Peterson makes an interesting comment on this story:
“There have always been Faustian characters, people in the community who embarked on a way of arrogance and power; now our entire culture is Faustian.
We are caught up in a way of life that, instead of delighting in finding out the meaning of God and searching out the conditions in which human qualities can be realised, recklessly seeks ways to circumvent nature, arrogantly defies personal relationships and names God only in curses.
The legend of Faustus, useful for so long in pointing out the folly of a god-defying pride, now is practically unrecognisable because the assumptions of our whole society (our educational models, our economic expectations, even our popular religion) are Faustian.
It is difficult to recognise pride as a sin while it is held up on every side as a virtue, urged as profitable and rewarded as an achievement. What is described in Scripture as the basic sin, the sin of taking things into your own hands, being your own god, grabbing what is there while you can get it, is now described as basic wisdom: improve yourself by whatever means you are able; get ahead regardless of the price, take care of me first. For a limited time it works. But at the end the devil has his due. There is damnation.”
Can you see how important this is yet? Can you see how easily our own pride can hide from us? Can you see how easily we can deflect it onto others because ‘we are not like them,’ but all the while our own particular vanities hide from us, living in our hearts and twisting our souls.
Remember that it is the very nature of pride and vanity that make them so hard to acknowledge and own within ourselves (yet so easy to see and judge in others).
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving God, we bring before you all those particular areas of pride, self-righteousness and vanity that we have identified over the last two days. We confess them to you, and we pray that you would cleanse and heal our hearts and souls from their taint. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Proverbs 16 : 18 (NIV)
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
The Pharisee’s Prayer
DAILY BYTE
Now it was tradition at certain hours of the day, that people would go to the temple to pray, and this is where we first find our Pharisee. He stands up in the temple to pray, and the word used to describe his standing suggests a very firm, almost aggressive movement. It was as if by his very stance he was separating himself from others.
The text then says, “and he prayed about himself;” which he certainly did do because his prayer contains the word ‘I’ four times in just two sentences!
Now, this Pharisee was in all likelihood not a bad bloke. Had you known him, you might even well have liked him. He tried hard to follow God righteously. He had good morals and ethics. He would have been the kind of person you would have been thrilled to have as a neighbour!
So we should be careful not to demonise this Pharisee at this point, or at any point really, because when we do that, we are separating ourselves from him JUST like he separated himself from others. If we see ourselves as better than him, well, isn’t that precisely what the story is challenging?
We should rather embrace the Pharisee and treat him as one of our own, because truth be told, we CAN be like that. Perhaps not so obviously, we may be a whole lot more subtle about it, but it is still there.
This really is the point of the parable – that pride and self-righteousness are very easy to see in others, but incredibly hard to perceive within ourselves.
Yet, it is vitally important that we learn to do so because pride and self-righteousness are extremely dangerous to us.
I would not be exaggerating to claim that pride is one of the major roots of everything else that can go wrong within us. It is the ‘basic sin’, others follow in its wake, and it is so often the first of many bad choices.
Proverbs tells us that pride comes before a fall. It is an interesting choice of word – ‘fall’ – because we are also told that Satan FELL from heaven because of his pride in his own beauty and because he wanted to be God. We also know that Adam and Eve are a picture of all humanities FALL in trying the same thing in a different way.
The basic element of this good man’s mistake – the FALL of this Pharisee – was that he tried to take his salvation into his own hands; he relied on his own goodness to save him and not God.
It should frighten us to hear Jesus’ plain words that he did not go home ‘justified’ before God.
What I mean by that is our areas of pride and self-righteousness should frighten us – because they can do so much damage within us, and also outside of us in terms of our relationships.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord God, help us to hear this message of how very dangerous pride and self-righteousness can be to us. Once again, we pray that you would reveal to us the particular area of pride and/or self-righteousness that we may be struggling with. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Luke 18 : 10-12 NIV
Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
Now it was tradition at certain hours of the day, that people would go to the temple to pray, and this is where we first find our Pharisee. He stands up in the temple to pray, and the word used to describe his standing suggests a very firm, almost aggressive movement. It was as if by his very stance he was separating himself from others.
The text then says, “and he prayed about himself;” which he certainly did do because his prayer contains the word ‘I’ four times in just two sentences!
Now, this Pharisee was in all likelihood not a bad bloke. Had you known him, you might even well have liked him. He tried hard to follow God righteously. He had good morals and ethics. He would have been the kind of person you would have been thrilled to have as a neighbour!
So we should be careful not to demonise this Pharisee at this point, or at any point really, because when we do that, we are separating ourselves from him JUST like he separated himself from others. If we see ourselves as better than him, well, isn’t that precisely what the story is challenging?
We should rather embrace the Pharisee and treat him as one of our own, because truth be told, we CAN be like that. Perhaps not so obviously, we may be a whole lot more subtle about it, but it is still there.
This really is the point of the parable – that pride and self-righteousness are very easy to see in others, but incredibly hard to perceive within ourselves.
Yet, it is vitally important that we learn to do so because pride and self-righteousness are extremely dangerous to us.
I would not be exaggerating to claim that pride is one of the major roots of everything else that can go wrong within us. It is the ‘basic sin’, others follow in its wake, and it is so often the first of many bad choices.
Proverbs tells us that pride comes before a fall. It is an interesting choice of word – ‘fall’ – because we are also told that Satan FELL from heaven because of his pride in his own beauty and because he wanted to be God. We also know that Adam and Eve are a picture of all humanities FALL in trying the same thing in a different way.
The basic element of this good man’s mistake – the FALL of this Pharisee – was that he tried to take his salvation into his own hands; he relied on his own goodness to save him and not God.
It should frighten us to hear Jesus’ plain words that he did not go home ‘justified’ before God.
What I mean by that is our areas of pride and self-righteousness should frighten us – because they can do so much damage within us, and also outside of us in terms of our relationships.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord God, help us to hear this message of how very dangerous pride and self-righteousness can be to us. Once again, we pray that you would reveal to us the particular area of pride and/or self-righteousness that we may be struggling with. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Luke 18 : 10-12 NIV
Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
Boomerang Parable
DAILY BYTE
This week we will be looking at the topic of humility using the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector as our guide (see Luke 18. 9-14).
The parable begins by intentionally establishing exactly who its audience is: “To some who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.” Now, because the Gospel’s relate so much of Jesus’ battle with the Pharisees, and because this particular parable is centred on a Pharisee, we tend to immediately assume that the Pharisees were the target audience of the parable.
That’s a mistake, because in the story that takes place just before this one, it is made clear that Jesus is in the midst of teaching his disciples. Furthermore, the author of Luke’s Gospel would no doubt have included this story as a message to HIS disciples – obviously those belonging to his faith community would have been his primary target audience.
What I am trying to get at is that the intended audience of this parable is ALWAYS disciples – meaning you and me. The point of any parable is that we would learn to see ourselves within it. Not our family members, not our neighbours, not our friends, but ourselves.
Granted with this parable it is especially difficult to do that. It is one of the quickest to read, but the longest to learn. This is because it deals with the topic of self-righteousness and pride which are incredibly easy to identify in others, but so very, very difficult to perceive within ourselves. The very nature of pride and self-righteousness makes that so.
However, this parable is remarkably like a boomerang. As soon as we want to throw it away because we feel that it doesn’t really apply to us, we find that it swings around in an arc and hits us on the back of our head.
Like the Sunday School teacher who taught this parable to her class, and then prayed afterwards: ‘Thank-you Lord that I am not like this Pharisee’.
So this is how the parable sets us up. By establishing that we, not others, but WE are its intended audience. Our first exercise of humility, really, is to find ourselves in its story.
Read the whole parable carefully and then pray the following prayer.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Holy God, we pray that through the course of this week, you would help us to see who we are more clearly, while at the same time, we ask that you would help us to know who you are more clearly. Pray identify within us those areas of our lives that may be filled with pride and self-righteousness. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
This week we will be looking at the topic of humility using the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector as our guide (see Luke 18. 9-14).
The parable begins by intentionally establishing exactly who its audience is: “To some who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.” Now, because the Gospel’s relate so much of Jesus’ battle with the Pharisees, and because this particular parable is centred on a Pharisee, we tend to immediately assume that the Pharisees were the target audience of the parable.
That’s a mistake, because in the story that takes place just before this one, it is made clear that Jesus is in the midst of teaching his disciples. Furthermore, the author of Luke’s Gospel would no doubt have included this story as a message to HIS disciples – obviously those belonging to his faith community would have been his primary target audience.
What I am trying to get at is that the intended audience of this parable is ALWAYS disciples – meaning you and me. The point of any parable is that we would learn to see ourselves within it. Not our family members, not our neighbours, not our friends, but ourselves.
Granted with this parable it is especially difficult to do that. It is one of the quickest to read, but the longest to learn. This is because it deals with the topic of self-righteousness and pride which are incredibly easy to identify in others, but so very, very difficult to perceive within ourselves. The very nature of pride and self-righteousness makes that so.
However, this parable is remarkably like a boomerang. As soon as we want to throw it away because we feel that it doesn’t really apply to us, we find that it swings around in an arc and hits us on the back of our head.
Like the Sunday School teacher who taught this parable to her class, and then prayed afterwards: ‘Thank-you Lord that I am not like this Pharisee’.
So this is how the parable sets us up. By establishing that we, not others, but WE are its intended audience. Our first exercise of humility, really, is to find ourselves in its story.
Read the whole parable carefully and then pray the following prayer.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Holy God, we pray that through the course of this week, you would help us to see who we are more clearly, while at the same time, we ask that you would help us to know who you are more clearly. Pray identify within us those areas of our lives that may be filled with pride and self-righteousness. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
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