CLUELESS

Leviticus 25:47-27:13; Mark 10:32-52; Psalm 45:1-17; Proverbs 10:22

 “’Listen,’ he said, ‘we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans.  They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.’  

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do us a favor….’”

I feel for James and John.  Talk about missing the point….  Jesus poured His heart out, and those guys trampled that sucker flat!  In a different context, it might be funny; here, it’s borderline pathetic.  How did Jesus keep His patience with them?

Better question: how does He keep His patience with me, Mr. Agenda Oriented?  The Spirit’s answers are drowned out by my questions.  So, as long as I’ve messed things up anyhow, Lord, I, too, have a favor to ask.  Would you teach me to put You and your heart first in my life?  I want to feel what You feel, know what You know.  What?  You want me to start by putting others first?  Hey, this is supposed to be a religious experience!  I want to be closer to You.

Well, O.K….  I am trying to stop interrupting my wife. (It’s a start!)  Y’know what?  Turns out she’s a pretty smart lady!  In fact, colleagues, friends, most everybody seems a little brighter and more interesting when I focus on them.  This “putting others first” is about a lot more than common courtesy, isn’t it?  I think I’m beginning to understand… that is the way to You.  If I empty my self in service, then whatever’s left is You. 

God’s agenda is always better, more productive than any other. More important, there is going to be a test someday, and the Holy Spirit has a lot to teach us between now and then.   Let’s pay attention.  Let’s be intentional.  We cannot learn, we cannot be prepared, if we don’t affirmatively put His Plan first. 

I’m tired of being clueless, Jesus.  I’m tired of priorities that don’t sustain, and that end up just draining my energy and my soul.  Send up a flare; I promise I will try to pay attention, and focus on what You want.

HOLDING LIFE WITH AN OPEN PALM

Leviticus 24:1-25:46; Mark 10:13-31; Psalm 44:9-26; Proverbs 10:20-21

“Then on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year, blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land. Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan…. The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me.”

 “Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. ‘There is still one thing you haven’t done,’ he told him. ‘Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ At this, the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”

“The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.”

What is there to learn from the Year of Jubilee?  It seems so arcane, so unfair, so impractical for everything to return to its original owner after fifty years.  Once I’ve invested that long in a place, I’ve got serious sweat equity.  Why should anyone have the right to benefit from my hard work, to reap where they haven’t sown, to coin a phrase?  Where’s the motivation to work at all, if I just have to give it away?  Hey, once I’ve lived and worked on some place fifty years, by God, it’s mine!

“No,” says God.  “It’s mine. Always has been, always will be.  You’re just a tenant farmer….” At this, the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he thought he had many possessions.  The Lord showed him how self-centered and selfish he really was, and he was ashamed….

There is nothing like the idea of permanent ownership to make us forget all about the fundamentals of sharing and loving and caring for others.  The related sense of entitlement, the claims of personal rights to possess and control exclusively, are subtle and seductive.  We honestly don’t mean to be selfish.  But when the Lord comes and says give it all back, we get mighty protective of “our” turf.  It’s only natural.  We’re just protecting what we think is ours, what we worked for, what we think we’ve earned.  We forget that all good gifts come from heaven. 

Especially for anyone who has benefitted from capitalism, finding out we really don’t own what we thought we owned is bitter medicine indeed.  We might, in fact, lose our motivation to improve things once we figure out there isn’t really much in it for us at the end of the day.  But on the other hand, if we cannot see and celebrate that we are working for Christ, if we are not dedicated to that end from the beginning, our motivation is misplaced anyway. God isn’t requiring socialism here. He’s mandating monotheism.  He knows that when we give anything greater import than Him, when we work for anything other than Him, we are headed down a very rough road.  Because no other priority is as worthwhile, as eternally important, as working for the whole Kingdom of God. 

The Lord knows we cannot serve God and money, even if we won’t acknowledge that limitation ourselves. So, every fifty years, He gave the Israelites a lesson in forced generosity.  He taught them to hold onto life with an open palm.  I’d like to think at least some of them even understood the greater lesson:  we’re all going back home sometime.  When we get there, no less than the Creator Himself plans to overwhelm us with blessings.  We will all reap where we have not sown.  We will all benefit from Another’s work.  It will be far better than anything we might have thought we owned here. 

Just maybe, if I keep that in mind, I will be a little less inclined to claim exclusive ownership, and a little more willing to share what was never really mine in the first place.

IN RECOGNITION AND EXPECTATION OF GRACE

Leviticus 22:17-23:44; Mark 9:30-10:12; Psalm 44:1-8; Proverbs 10:19

“Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not accept it on your behalf.”

 “He said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.  He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.’”

“They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory.
 It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them.”

God never gives second best.  He provides only the finest guidance, protection, strength, light and victory.  He offered His own Son, the perfect, flawless sacrifice.  He shares His love, unconditionally.  It’s no wonder He isn’t delighted when we respond with defective sacrifices, tainted tithes and hollow worship.  I tend to give Christ only what I can safely lose, attempting to “sacrifice” without real cost.  In responding to grace, I need to do better. 

Emptying ourselves, sharing our valued resources, actually frees us to more fully accept the bounty of God.  If our hands and hearts are full of earthly things, we cannot grasp Christ’s blessings.  We rely too much on the material, and ourselves.  Our good becomes the enemy of His best.  God recognizes this; it is why He calls us to a life of service, and radical reliance on His power and provision.  He knows that, when we shortchange the Spirit, we actually shortchange ourselves.

That’s why tithes, sacrifices and worship are supposed to cost something.  They represent an offering of ourselves, not as a condition of salvation, but in recognition of exactly what that salvation cost God, and in expectation of His daily blessings.  In that light, my “sacrifices” of only what I think I can afford are just pitiful.  God freely showers us with grace.  When I treat that grace as mundane or unworthy of great thanksgiving, I demean not just the Gift, but the Giver.

It shames me to think of how much I hold back from Jesus, especially in light of what He gave for me.  I have to fight the tendency to do or offer the acceptable minimum.  God has no acceptable minimum.  When He talks of making our bodies living sacrifices, He’s not kidding.  I am not ready to give at all until I am ready to literally offer a piece of myself for His redemption and use.  

FEARLESS FAITH

Leviticus 20:22-22:16; Mark 9:1-29; Psalm 43:1-5; Proverbs 10:18

“The evil spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. ‘Anything is possible if a person believes.’

“The father instantly cried out, ‘I do believe, but help me not to doubt!’”

“Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live.
 There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy.”

“Help me not to doubt!”  I understand that father’s lament.  It is the worry of every man and woman who is serious about learning to trust God.  Lord, help thou my unbelief; overcome that part of me which keeps wondering if you’re going to drop the ball after I give it to you.  Supernaturally cut off the lack of faith that keeps me from trusting You.  (Note: all the above could be read as, “Make it easy on me, will you, Lord?”)

God does not work that way.  The step of belief is the one step we must take toward Him on our own.  Just one small step, and His Spirit can and will do the rest.  Still, it is a step many are afraid to take.  Perversely, they would rather be stuck in their situations without God than to risk the change He promises.  Sometimes, more fundamentally, they actually choose to suffer “little defeats” rather than risk (they fear) the loss of their last great hope.  They may be willing to open their lives to Christ, but actually specifically relying on the Spirit for the fundamentals is another thing entirely.  It’s scary.  Perhaps that’s why one of the most quoted statements of God in the Bible is “Fear not!”  It is a command, something we have to will ourselves to do.  It is not optional.

So, how do we learn to fearlessly believe God?  Three words: practice, practice, practice.  Understand why Jesus never said another word to the father after challenging his lack of faith.  Even the Lord cannot – will not - talk us out of our unbelief.  Jesus instead simply did what He does best, and will do for us given the chance – ACT!  He leaves it up to us to decide what to think about the consistency of His actions (especially when they include a decision not to act). 

Words are cheap in any time of crisis (or blessing, for that matter).  Jesus knew this and let His actions speak for Him.  If we are to truly believe, to abide in Christ, and He in us, we have to get in the habit of giving Him unconditional permission to act (or not) as He sees fit.  When I doubt – a not infrequent occurrence – I have to remember that, in fifty some-odd years of life, I cannot think of a single time God has failed me.  Not once.  As in never.  To be sure, some “victories” are only realized in retrospect.  But if I am patient and fair, God has been absolutely consistent in showing me He is dead serious about making all things work to good.  In fact, some of my worst temporary defeats have turned into God’s greatest victories.  I just need to pay attention and let His Light and truth guide me.

We wrestle with belief because we don’t trust God absolutely.  We don’t trust because we are reluctant to give Him free reign to act in the way that His sovereign Spirit says is best.  Consequently, we don’t see the results of faith.  Let me be absolutely clear, and personal: when I interfere with God’s work in my life, trying to limit His sovereignty and His Lordship, it is me, not Him, who fails.  When I wrestle with doubt, inevitably, it is because I am not paying close enough attention to all the blessings in my life, and the Lord’s hand in every one!

GREED KILLS

Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17

“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop.  It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

“Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul?’”

“Why am I discouraged?  Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!”

“People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray.”

What’s wrong with grabbing every grape?  If it’s my field, and I’ve done all the work, then it’s my crop and my right to harvest every grape.  Right?  Wrong!  But not just because “the Bible says so.”  And not just because “it all belongs to God” – even though it does.  God tells us not to take every grape because He knows greed kills.

Greed kills relationships.  My wife was in a long line for a sandwich at an airport shop when the cashier started waiving.  Thinking she was waiving at him, a flight attendant boldly pushed forward, presented his order… and risked a lynching.  Several minutes were spent in shouts and gestures.  Turned out, the cashier was waiving at a friend and ended up surrounded by enemies.  My wife lost her appetite, and brought back only disillusionment.  It is hard to befriend anyone who puts self above all.  When selfishness is so ingrained that we automatically assume life is all about us, life as God intended it is lost altogether. 

Greed kills sensitivity.  See above.  When our focus is on ourselves, our needs, our schedules, there is little to no tolerance for, or appreciation of, others’ issues.  We tend not even to notice other’s needs.  Ever get on the wrong elevator, just assuming those waiting are going the same direction?  Who hasn’t honked at the slow starter when a red light turns green?  These are simple symptoms of a deadly disease.

Greed kills our souls.  It has been said – or should have been – that the soul is our divine connection with each other.  When we wrap our hearts in a shroud of self-interest, we suffocate our souls and bind our emotions to the point of atrophy.  The best part of us – that which would lead us to the Body of Christ – eventually dies.  Or is, at least, forcibly evicted.  Our world contracts.  We isolate ourselves, creating barriers even the most generous cannot hurdle.  We become black holes of the spiritual world, sucking everything in and giving nothing back.

Only the provision of God, only His abundance, can satisfy our desperately empty and voracious souls; can restore our sensitivity; and rebuild our relationships.  So, why not take every grape, really?  Just to prove we don’t have to – to ourselves and to the world.  Christians have an abundance that utterly transcends our grain, our grapes and any amount of any other stuff we may or may not have.  This is a great time to remember that we don’t need every single grape.  Sometimes, simple generosity is the best witness of all!

WORDS, AND EARS

Leviticus 16:29-18:30; Mark 7:24-8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 10:15-16

“So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.  You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.  If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them.  I am the Lord.  Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways.  Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there.  I will cause the land to vomit them out.”

“A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.  Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, ‘Ephphatha,’ which means, ‘Be opened!’ Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!”

“‘O Lord,’ I prayed, ‘have mercy on me.
 Heal me, for I have sinned against you.’”

Does anyone besides me wonder if the world has abandoned plain talk?  It is important that our language not alienate unnecessarily.  However, wrong is still wrong, right has not changed, and calling a square a circle does not round its corners off.  God created boundaries for a reason.  So, how long will I put up with my own disobedience and excessive tolerance?  I continue to excuse my own sins on the flimsiest of reasons, to the point it has become automatic and my conscience is muted.  God wants it to stop.

Life has clear rules.  We cheat at our peril.  Many of the Lord’s commands in Leviticus actually make good, sanitary sense, for example.  Had the Hebrews disregarded them, a lot of genealogies would be radically different today.  But the bottom line is sin is a self-centered affront to our Creator and, often, others as well.  It needs to be identified, acknowledged and removed.  When we fail to deal aggressively with sin, we become captive to its effects: depression, greed, addiction, laziness… the list is daunting.  And it has very little to do with the way any sane person would want to live for very long. 

We have obscured and qualified the truth of God to the point we no longer know our boundaries.  I, for one, am glad to worship a God who is not afraid to offend, if that’s what it takes to heal me.  Because God’s ability to heal is impacted by my decision to stop listening.  Sometimes, Christ has to go beyond blunt to get my attention.

I am much better at not listening than hearing.  I practice deafness.  Today, everyone who has an opinion or thought seems to fear being ignored and compensates by being louder and more repetitive.  We substitute length for depth.  We interrupt without apology.  It is no wonder we stopped listening: there is little worth hearing, but much to confuse and mislead us.  Still, when these habits extend to our prayers and relationship with God, they have gone too far.

God never stopped speaking plainly.  We just aren’t focused on His voice or direction.  We have to be willing to listen when His Spirit calls to our conscience.  We need to start listening to the right things.  Sometimes, the things we most don’t want to hear are the things we most need to hear.

LESSONS OF THE SCAPEGOAT

Leviticus 15:1-16:28; Mark 7:1-23; Psalm 40:11-17; Proverbs 10:13-14

“The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.”

“Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’  For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition. Then he said, ‘You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.’”

“As for me, since I am poor and needy, let the Lord keep me in his thoughts. 
You are my helper and my savior.  O my God, do not delay.”

There is more than one way to die, and there are worse things than physical death.  Isolation is both a way to die and can be worse than physical death.  Make no mistake: isolation is very different from being alone.  One can be alone yet not isolated, and one can be isolated in a crowd.  Regardless of how it occurs, though, little is worse than being isolated by our sins and left in a desolate place to wander without companionship, guidance or solace.  The irony is that, sometimes, our sin is found in our very religiosity, and it is our sense of spiritual superiority or immunity which condemns us to the life of “dead men walking.”

Jesus’ death did not relieve me or any of us from personal responsibility for sin.  Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins, but my sins sent Him to the Cross as surely as if I had been the Roman guard who nailed Him there.  Any refusal to admit that, or blaming others instead, only separates me from the Body of Christ and condemns me to wander in isolation.  In fact, my reluctance to admit my own role in Christ’s death also separates me from the grace His death purchased for me!  That’s why Jesus made no bones about it: making others our personal scapegoats unwittingly makes us the most unfortunate goats of all!

Christ had no tolerance for those who misused what they claimed was God’s law to make spiritual scapegoats of others.  We should not tolerate the tendency to elevate ourselves at the expense of others any more than Jesus did.  It would be helpful if we started by refusing to blame others for our own shortcomings.  Jesus cannot, will not clean up anything we refuse to see as dirty.  And what He does not clean – we may rest assured! – eventually will leave us alone and isolated.  

Yes, the secret to success IS knowing who to blame.  But we don't need to look very far....

PERILS OF A HARDENED HEART

Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 10:11-12

“Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things…. They still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.”

“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed.  They will put their trust in the Lord….  Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand —
you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.”

“Their hearts were too hard to take it in.”  Is there a sadder line in all of Scripture?  Jesus wants to teach us a new way of thinking, a new way of seeing His world.  He wants to give us abundance before we even ask for it.  He wants to put a song on our lips and in our hearts.  People will be amazed at the Lord’s power to lift us up and steady us.  But somehow, the Spirit has to make us listen before we will understand.  Otherwise, we miss it all, even with blessings right in front of us.  Because we are a hard hearted bunch….

God doesn’t want our external gifts and sacrifices if they do not represent an offering of ourselves.  He wants our hearts, completely, all or nothing.  He knows – and we should admit – that we have never fully trusted Christ until we have allowed Him in the very center of our lives.  Until His Spirit can work on us from the heart out, we are no more than interested observers at a hockey game who don’t quite grasp what is going on.  We can still appreciate and wonder at the great plays and talents of those who are actually in the game, but everything we see leaves us personally unaffected and strangely cold.

Christianity is not a spectator sport.  It is, in a word, transformation: recovery and renovation from the inside out.  Whatever is not Christ at our center has got to go, and we have to be willing to let it go.  Jesus is like an architect/builder who has to tear down some interior walls before He can remodel and improve the home.  We are like homeowners who cannot (or worse, will not) read the plans and so can’t appreciate or accept the beauty of their (our) design.

When I look at all the things that separate me from Christ, they all come down to one thing – a hard heart that resists remodeling.  I hold back my heart even knowing, absolutely, that His way is best.  I stubbornly refuse to follow His plans.  Consequently, I miss much of the beauty of the life He actually created me to live.  No wonder David implored God to, “Create in me a clean heart, oh God!”  Transformation begins with the heart, or it doesn’t begin at all.

HOMETOWNING

Leviticus 13:1-59; Mark 6:1-29; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 10:10

“Then Jesus told them, ‘A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.’  And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their unbelief.”

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
 My only hope is in you.
 Rescue me from my rebellion.
 For even fools mock me when I rebel.”

“People who wink at wrong cause trouble,
but a bold reproof promotes peace.”

Even Jesus had family and friend problems.  Those who lived with Him the longest, and were around Him the most, had the most difficult time coming to grips with who he really was, and what He could do.  They just could not, or would not, buy into the idea that the carpenter from down the street was anything special.  Probably, they even saw Him as presumptuous, if not worse. 

I suspect their real problem was an all-too-human one.  It can be hard to think of a family member or friend as “better” than us.  We love to compete, to compare ourselves to others.  But we hate to lose.  And to avoid losing, one of our most unattractive tactics is to drag everyone around us down.  Why else do we gossip?  What other reason could there be for jealousy?  Does familiarity really breed contempt?  It can.  More often, though, the proper diagnosis is envy.

It takes no character whatsoever to cut another person down.  It is never “for their own good.”  Gossiping, criticizing others, is a nasty, self-centered way of dealing with our own insecurities.  I know from experience that the more I am struggling, the more critical I am of others.  I’ve learned transference is a terrible way to vent personal frustrations.  Yet, the temptation can be irresistible. 

We need to resist anyway.  The alternative carries too high a price.  It cuts us off from positive relationships, spoils our perspective, and to anyone paying attention, says a lot more about us than it does the person we gossip about or criticize.  Just possibly, it could discourage a believer.  We don’t need to bring people down to our level.  God is not impressed by how well we perform compared to others.  If we must compete – and sometimes, it does seem we must – let’s make it a healthy competition.  Lift others up.  Bring others to Christ.  Build the Body of Christ.  Be the best at putting others first.  And remember what gossiping tells others about us….

DEFYING DISHONESTY

Leviticus 11:1-12:8; Mark 5:21-43; Psalm 38:1-2230-40; Proverbs 10:8-9

“I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.”

“…She thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’  Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.  At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.”

“The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.  The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.”

When has the Lord ever led me to trouble; when has His guidance ever been flawed?  I honestly cannot think of a time.  Believe me, I’ve tried – it would have made this day’s entry much easier to write.  But I’m left with a tough question: why do I not just wholeheartedly give myself to Him?  If I know – and I really think I do – that He will never hurt me, and wants to provide only the best for me, my response to God’s Lordship is simply irrational when I don’t accept it.  Unless… I just don’t want to be holy, or healed.

Oh, my gosh!  What can I conclude, then, but that I would rather be sinful than holy?  Do I honestly prefer a life with me at the center, rather than God?  That is calling a spade a spade, for sure.  It’s painful.  It makes no sense.  But there are times when it is absolutely true, and I have to own it if I am ever going to get past it! 

Here I am, walking intentionally through every word of the Bible, teaching others the Gospel in Sunday school, and I still prefer sin to holiness?  How can I be so wretched?  Somehow, the answer, “I’m only human” doesn’t cut it.  This sin nature thing is stronger than we ever dare imagine. But not thinking about it, not acknowledging it, not confronting it, does NOT make it any less real.

We Christians face a very real, very deadly enemy: ourselves, that part of us which makes self-preservation and self-satisfaction its Prime Directive.  We don’t choose the Spirit, because we know the Spirit will dethrone self.  No wonder it takes Power to heal us!

Jesus Christ offers to break the bonds that cause us to prefer sin to holiness, and self to God.  That’s no dream; it’s the Lord’s own promise, but more than that, it is His Desire.  We just have to accept it.  He can heal us; we only need to draw close enough to touch His cloak; believe He can make us better than we are; and accept His Lordship.  We have to want to be free from the insatiable desire for comfort, security, wealth and all that promotes self ahead of God.

This is a time for introspection, for self-examination.  More than that, though, it is time for a new priority.  It is a time to defy dishonesty… with ourselves, and with our God.

THE OTHER SIDE OF PREPARATION

Leviticus 9:7-10:20; Mark 4:26-5:20; Psalm 37:30-40; Proverbs 10:6-7

“Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded.  So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord.  Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when he said, ‘I will display my holiness through those who come near me.
 I will display my glory before all the people.’”

Aaron remained silent.”

“With a shriek, he screamed, ‘Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!’ For Jesus had already said to the spirit, ‘Come out of the man, you evil spirit.’ … And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.’”

“The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.
 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.”

There is, obviously, another side to preparation: we have to be willing to accept and follow wise counsel – to the letter.  The problem with this is seen a lot, especially in church.  Someone gets genuine inspiration, others catch the vision, and things go great for a while.  Then, people start to engraft their own ideas onto God’s (“Let’s just improve things a little bit, Lord.”),… and are shocked when things fall apart.  It is so hard to see when we start to hijack the Spirit’s work for ourselves and/or our own glory.  It’s an easy trap to fall into, though, and we need to be aware of and sensitive to it.  Just ask Aaron’s sons.  Even the best motives can be corrupted and corrosive if they are not from God.

Then, there’s the “addressee refuses” response.  “Great idea, God, but I’ll pass.  It sounds painful, too much like work.  Besides, I like me; may not be perfect, but I am comfortable….”  Godly preparation can do nothing with us if our hearts are hard.  We have to be part of the process.  We have to want to be prepared, and we have to accept and act out our preparation.

I wonder why the townspeople asked Jesus to leave after he healed the demoniac.  Were they nuts?  Who wouldn’t have been lining up to have their demons cast out? After all, we all have one kind or another.  Uh,… maybe I wouldn’t.  Seems like the guy underwent a pretty radical change.  I’m OK with Jesus smoothing off my rough edges, but changing my essence?  Hey, that’s all I know of who I am!

So it comes down to this: whose vision for our lives will we accept?  Go with Christ and – it’s a given! – there’s gonna be some serious upheaval.  No doubt, He’ll ask us to go to some real unfamiliar places and do some uncomfortable things.  Maybe we don’t want to.  But who ever said what we want to do is what we should do?  Only a very unwise creation would ever presume to tell its Creator how it should be made or used….

PREPARATION

Leviticus 7:28-9:6; Mark 3:31-4:25; Psalm 37:12-29; Proverbs 10:5

“Then Moses told them, ‘When you have followed these instructions from the Lord, the glorious presence of the Lord will appear to you.’”

“Then he added, ‘Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.’”

“It is better to be godly and have little, but the Lord takes care of the godly.  The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”

A wise youth harvests in the summer,
but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace.”

Preparation is tough.  Especially for someone who bills by the hour and gets cranky over any inefficiencies.  Already, I find I am growing impatient with Leviticus.  (“Can we get on with it, Lord?”)  I knew this time would come and am only surprised it came so soon.  But then I see today’s Scripture; remember why I am doing this; and something reminds me that most all the best in life only comes with good preparation.

I have an interesting project right now.  It involves a lot of people and is entirely dependent on the vision of two or three leaders.  We have our Moses, and she is consummately prepared.  However, one of her Aarons is another thing entirely.  Last night, we wasted a ton of time watching this Aaron try to recreate what we had done before (without any memory or decent notes of his previous instructions).  Then, he tried to figure out what he had told us before, while everyone else tried to help.  It was truly like blind men describing an elephant.  Though well-intentioned, each of us remembered something different, and we just could not put it together.  It would have been funny if it had not been the end of a 16 hour day.  An entire night’s work was wasted.  I was a bit miffed….  OK, I was pretty darn mad.

So, of course, today’s Scripture is about preparation.  God always calls me on it when I try to lead without being prepared.  Today, I appreciate much more how the lack of any leader’s preparation is really a betrayal of trust.  It betrays the trust of those who need direction, and it betrays God’s entrustment of leadership.  The flock depends on the shepherd for good pasture.  If the shepherd doesn’t know where the good grass is, the flock is left hungry and unsatisfied. 

As Christians, we are blessed to have the Great Shepherd, who is always prepared, always ready to lead us, if we will follow His instructions.  We are called to lead others the same way, with the same level of preparation.  Godly leaders must be well prepared to effectively communicate both the vision and the way to get it done so those who follow can follow.  When we fail in this, we put the entire flock at risk.

Preparation takes time, perhaps the most precious gift of all, besides Christ.  I think I’ll go spend some more of it in Leviticus now….

ALL TIED UP!

Leviticus 6:1-7:27; Mark 3:7-30; Psalm 37:1-11; Proverbs 10:3-4

“One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. ‘He’s out of his mind,’ they said….  Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. ‘You can’t enter a strong man’s house and rob him without first tying him up. Only then can his house be robbed!’”

  He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun….  Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.  Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.  Stop being angry!  Turn from your rage!
 Do not lose your temper — it only leads to harm.”

It’s comforting that even Jesus got too busy to eat.  I understand his family thinking he was out of his mind; every time I work through lunch, my wife says the same thing about me.  Hey, does working through lunch make me more Christlike?!?  Apparently, …NOT!  But Jesus getting caught up in His work maybe made Him a bit more like us….  He can sympathize, at least.

Jesus understood the fastest way to spiritual impotence was to get all tied up.  Whether with work, worry, impatience, anger or envy, David lived the point. (Remember, for example, Bathsheba?)  David lost more than his house; he lost a child.  Satan has many poisons to keep us from God.  But David also understood there is only one antidote.

“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

I need to remember that!  It is so easy to get tied up that “tied up” has become a cliché, an excuse everyone understands, and too many of us just accept.  “Bad day” is no excuse for not trusting Christ.  “Too busy” is no reason to brush off the Spirit.  They may be explanations, but they are not excuses.  And whatever they are, if we are committed to the Lord first, they become inapplicable.

Life happens, and things other than God do have their place in that process.  Wherever that place is, though, it needs to be out of the way of our commitment to God and our trust in Him.   

SINS OF THE RIGHTEOUS

Leviticus 4:1-5:19; Mark 2:13-3:6; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 10:1-2

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. This is how you are to deal with those who sin unintentionally by doing anything that violates one of the Lord’s commands….Or if they come into contact with any source of human defilement, even if they don’t realize they have been defiled, they will be considered guilty as soon as they become aware of it.’”

“But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with such scum?‘ When Jesus heard this, he told them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.’”

One day in high school, I felt eyes boring into the back of my head.  Turning, I saw one of the most obviously “religious” students staring intently.  “I have a confession,” he said.  “I think I’m a better Christian than you.”  How does one respond to something like that?  I chose what I thought was the truth: “You probably are.”  End of discussion.  No one was drawn closer to Christ.

Why do I still remember that brief, unnecessary conversation?  Why did we even have it?  Maybe the guy truly was wrestling with humility issues.  But I don’t think so.  It’s just too easy to be drawn into measuring our faith by human comparisons.  It’s an easy way to let ourselves off the accountability hook.  I’ve done it myself….  And learned evaluating spirituality by appearances is flat wrong. 

Spiritual superiority is a very subtle and deadly disease.  Jesus knew it.  The Pharisees were oblivious.  It cost them and, ultimately, all of us.  Because Christ was not crucified by obvious sinners.  He was crucified by the “religious” people of His time.  I’m not slamming religion, just pointing out that the obvious are not always the most sincere.

Maybe that’s why God established a sacrifice for those who didn’t think they needed one.  Maybe that’s why Jesus told us not to let our right hand know what our left is doing.  We do tend to get puffed up and self-satisfied, and He wants to save us the embarrassment… and the confusion.  Christianity isn’t about appearances, or looking good.  It’s not even about being good.  It is about being literally connected to Christ by and through the Holy Spirit.  Period.

The Emmaus Walk movement has a prayer “for those who need it the most, and for those who think they don’t need it at all.”  Great prayer.  It seems, at least in retrospect, that I ALWAYS need Christ the most when I think I need Him the least.

HE WANTS TO HEAL

Leviticus 1:1-3:17; Mark 1:29-2:12; Psalm 35:17-28; Proverbs 9:13-18

“A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. ‘If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,’ he said.  Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.”

Jesus Christ, Master and Creator of the Universe and everything in it, actually wants to heal me.  And you.  Personally, up close, where it counts.  Think on it; it is really pretty amazing.  The Lord’s heart’s desire is that each and every one of His children is made whole, that their “God-shaped void” is once more filled by the Spirit, and that we live life the way it was always intended, eternally, with Him, and without anxiety or guilt.

Sounds good!  I’m up for that.  So, what’s the problem?  Come again, Lord?  You want to actually touch me?  Seriously?  Aw, c’mon, Jesus, you’re God.  Don’t put yourself out; just say the word.  That’ll be easier on us both.  You can keep your distance, and I might just be able to hang onto a little of my pride.  After all, accepting healing isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Admitting any weakness is tough.  It’s really uncomfortable letting anyone get close enough to see the true need in my eyes.  And being able to reach right out and touch it….  Are you sure You want to get that close? 

Am I sure I want you that close?

It’s an interesting illness, leprosy: a disease specifically spread by touch, and almost uniformly contagious to those who do come into physical contact with a carrier.  Understood in that light, the Scripture today takes on a much deeper meaning.  It’s not just how we feel about being exposed to the tangible touch of God, but how we think He feels about touching us. 

It can be hard to accept that Jesus would ever really want to touch us, or expose Himself to our sin.  For example, it’s one thing to give a dirty beggar a promise of prayer and best wishes.  It’s another thing entirely to physically lift him up; see, smell and feel the texture of his rancid clothes; and then trade our new, clean clothes for his.  We know how we’d feel about that kind of contact.  Most would want to bathe and change as soon as possible, and erase all memory of the incident.  Stands to reason Jesus, being holy, would be ten times more grossed out by the idea of taking our sins and weaknesses and pain on Himself. 

The leper had a very real, very considerate question.  “How serious are you, Jesus, about this healing thing?  Why on earth would You risk catching what I’ve got? It’s terminal, y’know….” The why behind Jesus’ touching remains unspoken and virtually unfathomable, even today.  Maybe just because….  Maybe because that’s what love does.  Whatever; don’t overthink it, just accept it.  He wants to heal, truly.  We should probably let Him take His best shot.  

SIGNS AND WONDERS

Exodus 39:1-40:38; Mark 1:1-28; Psalm 35:1-16; Proverbs 9:11-12

“Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.”

“This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.  It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written: ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.  He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
 Clear the road for him!’  This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven….  John announced: ‘Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals.’”

What makes a good sign? 

First, it has to have a message.  A sign with no message provides no information.  At best, it is worthless; at worst, it’s distracting.

Second, it has to lead or point to something else.  A sign that merely points to itself is redundant and unnecessary.

Third, a good sign is obvious.  It does not hide behind bushes or shrink into obscurity.  It boldly proclaims its message of guidance and direction.

Finally, a sign never makes itself; it is created by something or someone else.

John the Baptist was the perfect human sign.  He had a message: repent and be baptized, for the Kingdom of heaven is near. He was obvious, shouting, eating locusts, claiming attention not for himself, but for the Kingdom.  Most important, he pointed to something – more precisely, to Someone – else, the Messiah.  Wonder of wonders, he did not get all caught up in himself, either, or claim he was indispensible to the work of God.  He never saw his ministry as preeminent.  He was willing to get out of the way when the time came. But until then, he never left his flock without guidance.  From God.  Neither he nor his message were self-appointed.

I try to be a good sign.  Sometimes, it works out OK; I have a message, and no problem with shyness.  I’d like to think I’m even getting better at pointing others to Jesus.  But I’m still working on that self-importance thing, and the line between God’s Word and my words is still way too indistinct.

So, here’s a tip of the hat to John the Baptist.  He was a human wonder we all would do well to imitate (well, maybe not the clothes or the locusts, but his message was right on).  In a word, he was the perfect sign, and he led people to the perfect destination: Christ.

FRUITFUL FEAR

Exodus 37:1-38:31; Matthew 28:1-20; Psalm 34:11-22; Proverbs 9:9-10

“Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!  Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

“Come, my children, and listen to me,
 and I will teach you to fear the Lord.”

“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
 Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.”

I wonder sometimes if we have put too much emphasis on having a “personal relationship” and “friendship” with Jesus.  Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with either concept.  God’s plan of salvation requires that we have a relationship with Christ.  But we (certainly, I) need to be careful not to overly humanize Jesus to the point of nullifying His divine authority or His righteous character.  Claiming Him as a friend without also having the sense of awestruck wonder and respect that the Bible calls “fear of the Lord” actually makes us less effective disciples.

Let me try this another way.  I dearly love, and am good friends with, my parents.  The friendship I have with them is in large part based on how they have exercised authority over me throughout the years, how they have disciplined me, and how that has helped determined the course of my life.  They will never be the friends my peers are; they will be much more, because they were never afraid of me being angry or disagreeing with them.  They never compromised their authority in the name of friendship, and eventually (yes, it took time to figure this out), we became better friends as a result.  One could fairly say I have discipled my own children in the way taught me by my parents, and it is gratifying to see them showing some of the same traits my parents taught me. 

Simply, we learn, and follow, only what we respect.  So it is with Christ: we can never truly be His friends without Him first becoming the undisputed Lord of our lives.  His Lordship gives rise to our friendship.  Any effort to reverse this divine order of things misstates God’s priorities and corrupts the Gospel. We need to understand this if we are to be the disciples Christ calls us to be.

Jesus is absolutely clear that we are to be disciples, bringing souls to Him and teaching them all He has taught us.  Scripture is equally plain that we are to teach “fear of the Lord.”  To some, there might be a dissonance there; how can one be a disciple of that which he or she fears?  The mature Christian understands the truth: it can never be any other way.

CURTAINS

Exodus 35:10-36:38; Matthew 27:32-66; Psalm 34:1-10; Proverbs 9:7-8

“Come, all of you who are gifted craftsmen. Construct everything that the Lord has commanded: the Tabernacle and its sacred tent, its covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; the Ark and its carrying poles; the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement; the inner curtain to shield the Ark in the Most Holy Place….”

“Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.  The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, ‘This man truly was the Son of God.’”

“I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.  He freed me from all my fears.”

“Curtain!”  The expression means so many things: the end of a play; the beginning of a play.  The finale of Hercule Poirot’s career.  That which separates, or a window covering that blocks the sun, or the view.  Doom. Scripture says a curtain is a man-made separation from the Holy of Holies, which God Himself tore apart at the Crucifixion in restoring our direct access to His Presence; another end and beginning.  I say a curtain is anything I erect or cause in an effort to shield myself from the Spirit and/or its scrutiny.  An end of relationship, and the beginning of death.

Still, I like my curtains.  It’s sometimes comforting to kid myself that I can hide from God.  Alas, the Spirit always sees what I am, even when I don’t.  Transparency is not optional with Christ.  He sees it all.  So, on to the real question: why is confession, transparency with God, so difficult?  It’s only partly a matter of pride.  I’m no fan of admitting personal failures, even though it’s become easier with experience.  But much more, down deeper where the answers really count, confession is tough because I’m just afraid God’s love and forgiveness are finally going to run out one day.  How often can I go back to the well and still expect Christ to give me His living water?

This is not an unreasonable question.  Human patience has its limits.  Even “seventy times seven” is a finite number.  Why wouldn’t God’s forgiveness have at least some quantitative, if not qualitative, limits?  Simply, it is because God’s love has no limits. 1 John says God is love, and 1 Corinthians makes it very clear that love never fails and hopes and endures all things.  Love is patient and kind, regardless of how we respond to it.  Mainly, though, true love is eternal.

Ever since Eden, humankind has been erecting curtains of one sort or another to shield ourselves from God.  Some have been tangible, others intangible and still others unintentional.  The Spirit of God has been just as busy tearing our curtains down.  There’s no need to go over old ground.  The point today is that Christ will not be stopped by curtains.  He literally rips right through them for just the chance to have us once more abide in Him.  He is a relentless pursuer.  Thank God He is!  I ran through my first 490 sins decades ago….

Through Christ’s intervention, we are again given access to that which we denied ourselves back in Eden.  It is not God’s desire to be separated from His Creation.  It’s worth remembering: humans do the separating.  Christ brings the barriers down.