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Opportunity in Interruption

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For two whole years Paul stayed [in Rome] in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!
Acts 28:30-31 (NIV)

Over the past few weeks, I’ve mentioned that our local gathering of Jesus’ followers has been talking about “interruptions.” Sometimes life interrupts us with unexpected tragedies, challenges, or obstacles. Sometimes God interrupts us like Saul on the road to Damascus. When interruptions happen, how do we react, respond, and cope?

Today’s chapter is the final chapter of Acts. Luke obviously brought it to a conclusion before Paul’s earthly journey was finished. The events and experiences Paul went through, even in today’s chapter, are a good reminder that life does not always turn out the way we want or expect. Paul is shipwrecked. A poisonous viper bites Paul and dangles from his outstretched hand before he shakes it off. The castaways find themselves spending three months on the island of Malta, which none of them had even heard of, and dependent on the kindness and hospitality of others. When Paul finally does get to Rome, he is literally chained to a Roman soldier day and night while under house arrest.

I spent some time meditating on how I would have reacted and responded to these circumstances: shipwreck, castaway, snake bite, house arrest, and chained to someone 24/7/365 for two years.

Luke ends with a rather positive proclamation regarding Paul’s attitude. He was welcoming, upbeat, bold, and optimistic. He used his chains as an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with his guards and to be an example through his words and actions as he welcomed guests and extended hospitality to everyone. Paul was able to see the golden opportunities in life’s interruptions, including his chains.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about life’s most recent interruption that surfaced this past Friday evening. It was one of those moments when what you’ve been planning and expecting to happen for years suddenly vanished with the receipt of one unexpected email. Life’s trajectory suddenly changes. I can react with anxiety and/or fear. I can brood about how unfair it is. I can even look for a scapegoat to blame for this interruption. Or, I can “trust the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. In all my ways I can acknowledge Him knowing that He will make my path straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I have learned along life’s road that when interruptions occur, my immediate emotional reactions aren’t very healthy or productive. When my mind, will, and spirit work together to respond with faith, I have the opportunity to see God’s opportunities.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Wells and Walls

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Wells and Walls (CaD Acts 7) – Wayfarer

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!”
Acts 7:51 (NIV)

Of late, I’ve been reading a series of posts by a fascinating Orthodox believer and mystic in Ireland. I’d never heard of this before, but there are a great number of “holy wells” scattered across Ireland and he’s been seeking them out and documenting the adventure. There are all sorts of legends and stories that surround each well and many of them are located in extremely remote locations. Finding some of them sounds like a bit of a pilgrimage in and of itself. No matter how hard they are to find, I’m always surprised at the photos showing many people had been there and left tokens of their visit. Many obviously still believe that these wells are “thin places” where the veil between the physical realm and the spiritual realm is more permeable.

I find the “holy well” phenomenon intriguing, and it’s obviously rooted in the history of 1500 years ago when wells, and fresh water, were more critical for survival. With Jesus’ claim to be “living water springing up to eternal life,” it makes sense how a well could take on layers of metaphorical and spiritual significance. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced here in America, though our modern history only goes back a couple of hundred years and was arguably rooted in more “enlightened” times.

Along my life journey, it has always been church buildings that I have observed people treating like sacred spaces. I can remember being taught this as a child, literally as if the building was holy and had some special divine indwelling. While I fully understand that a building dedicated to the gathering of believers in worship can take on all sorts of significance for people, the very idea of a church building goes against the core of what Jesus taught.

In today’s chapter, a young believer named Stephen is brought before the same religious rulers who conspired to have Jesus killed. The charges against him included him “speaking against this holy place” (meaning the Temple in Jerusalem) as Stephen quoted Jesus saying He would “destroy this Temple and rebuild it in three days.” For the Jews, the Temple was sacred, so when Stephen argues that “God does not dwell in houses made with human hands” he was taken out and stoned to death.

One of the things that I love most about Jesus was that He moved God’s presence out of buildings with walls made with human hands to the table where “two or three are gathered” over a good meal and conversation. God is there because God indwells the believers at the table, and there’s a shared presence in the gathering together. My body is the temple. God’s Spirit is in me and goes everywhere I go. To ignore this and believe that God resides in a sacred church building down the street where I visit Him on Sunday means I don’t get Jesus’ teaching at all. In fact, it makes me no different than the stiff-necked religious rulers throwing stones at Stephen.

So, in the quiet this morning I am reminded once again that God is in me, and my body is the temple. This means that the divine is a part of every piece of my day, even the mundane and ordinary bits. It means that when Wendy and I gather for coffee and our usual blueberry and spinach smoothies in just a few minutes there is something holy taking place if we will simply take time to recognize it. And, I don’t have to go hunting in remote locations to find a holy well, though that does seem like a really fun adventure.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Empire v. Kingdom

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Empire v. Kingdom (CaD Jhn 18) – Wayfarer

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
John 18:36

Along my life journey, I’ve personally observed corruption at different times and in different venues of various organizations. When money, power, and status are added to the mix of any human system, humans act to control and wield that money, power, and status. It’s easy to quickly think of government and business as cradles of corruption, but it happens all the time in religious systems, as well.

As John recounts the story of Jesus’ arrest and trials, he carefully sets up some of the interesting contrasts. First, there is the plot line of Peter, whom Jesus prophesied would deny he knew Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. At the arrest, John mentions Jesus’ stating “I am He” three times, then recounts Peter’s three denials, two of which are direct opposites of Jesus’ admission as Peter says, “I am not.” John is also careful to state that Peter drew a sword to protect Jesus and even cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. Jesus then states to Pilate that if His kingdom were of this world “my servants would fight to prevent my arrest.” However, Peter did just that. I find Jesus making two points in his statement to the Roman Governor:

First, Peter still does not understand that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. Coupled with Peter’s denials, Peter has dug a pretty deep hole for himself. Jesus is also making the point that He has freely and willingly submitted to a set of trials that are both illegal and illicit. He has submitted precisely because His kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world, especially the human empires that are currently judging Him.

The religious ruling council is one of those kingdoms. They wield power and control over the people of their nation. Through the temple’s sacrificial and financial systems, they generate tremendous wealth, and they enjoy the status of being on the highest rungs of status on their socio-economic ladder. Back in chapter 11, John quotes the high priest regarding their desire to get rid of Jesus: “If we let [Jesus] go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation.” The high priest and his cronies didn’t care about Jesus’ teaching or miracles. They cared about their hold on status, power, and money.

This brings us to the Roman Empire, arguably the greatest and longest-lasting human empire in history. They were an occupying force and ultimately held sway. In order to execute Jesus, the religious council needed the Roman Governor to make it happen.

Corrupt human empire vs. the eternal Kingdom of God.

What a contrast.

And in the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that all along this is what Jesus has been teaching and exemplifying to His disciples and followers. At some level, we have all observed and/or experienced corruption, scandal, power games, and the game of thrones. When Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” I believe He was praying for me and every other believer to live our lives as Kingdom people in a world of human empires both small and large.

Like Peter, I don’t think I truly got this for many years. The further I get on this earthly journey, the more I see it and understand it. Like Peter, I’ve made my own mistakes and have failed miserably as a disciple. But, Peter’s journey isn’t over in John’s account, and neither is my earthly journey. I woke up this morning, so I at least have this day to live like a citizen of God’s Kingdom in a world of human empires. The Serenity Prayer is rising in my spirit as I write this:

God, grant me
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Amen.

I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please feel free to search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me on Facebook Messenger, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Watershed Moment

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Watershed Moment (CaD Jhn 11) – Wayfarer

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
John 11:8 (NIV)

Certain movie scenes stand out in my memory because of the way the entire storyline of a movie hinges on that one moment. For example, in The Godfather, it is Michael’s late-night visit to the hospital to find his father alone. In the darkness, he whispers to his father, “It’s okay. I’m with you now.” From that point on, the son who wanted nothing to do with his father’s business will be on a trajectory to become the very thing he once despised.

Today’s chapter contains a similar dramatic and pivotal episode in Jesus’ story. This is the seventh and final miraculous “sign” that John chooses to share before shifting to Jesus’ fateful and final days. It is not only the most dramatic of the seven because of the miracle itself, but because the event pushes Jesus’ enemies into a conspiracy to commit murder and rid themselves of Jesus once-and-for-all.

The conflict between Jesus and the chief priests in Jerusalem was already at a boiling point. Jesus had escaped attempts to arrest Him and stone Him the last time He had been in Jerusalem. Because of this, He left the region altogether. But now Jesus gets word that His good friend, Lazarus is gravely ill. Lazarus and his sisters live in Bethany, a stone’s throw from Jerusalem and the Chief Priests.

By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been lying in the grave for four days. Mourners from Jerusalem had gathered to comfort the family. There is a big crowd on hand.

Part of the drama of the moment for me is in John’s careful crafting of the human emotion of the moment. He emphasizes Jesus’ love for Lazarus and his sisters. There’s the wailing and lamenting of the friends gathered with the sisters at the tomb. John also records Jesus’ own emotions with the simple declaration “Jesus wept.” And then, amid the grief and despair, Jesus orders the stone rolled away and loudly commands Lazarus to exit the grave.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead was a watershed moment on multiple levels. The crowd of witnesses and the public display ensured that word would spread like wildfire. The proximity to Jerusalem ensured that word would quickly reach Jesus’ enemies. With this particular sign, Jesus also foreshadows the impending end of His own earthly journey through death to resurrection. Lazarus, meanwhile, would be a living witness to Jesus’ miraculous power, leading Jesus’ enemies to conspire to send him back to the grave as well.

As I meditated on this dramatic scene in the quiet this morning, it once again seemed clear to me that Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was very clearly driving the action. Jesus had already declared how His earthly journey would end. With the raising of Lazarus, He was putting the wheels into motion that would lead right where He always knew things would end up.

Along my own earthly journey as a disciple of Jesus, I have been able to look back on my journey and see how certain watershed moments in my story were instrumental in driving the action. Even difficult and hard times have resulted in spiritual growth, deeper levels of maturity, and they have led to places where I’ve experienced life in greater and more fulfilling ways.

The story of Lazarus is really a microcosm of the Great Story itself. Death leads to new life just as winter leads to spring. Or, as David penned in his lyrics of Psalm 30, weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

I find this a good reminder for the start of a new work week. Just as Jesus shared with Lazarus’ sisters, if I believe Jesus truly the Resurrection and the Life, I am assured that the darkest of earthly circumstances eventually end in light, the saddest of times ultimately give way to joy, and even death itself is simply a gateway to new life.

I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Seeing and Believing

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Seeing and Believing (CaD Jhn 9) – Wayfarer

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
John 9:39 (NIV)

A few weeks ago there was a congressional hearing regarding prejudice, specifically anti-semitism, on college campuses. The Presidents of three elite universities were asked simple, direct questions. Their responses were evasive, murky, and unclear. Two of the three resigned in subsequent weeks.

These events came to mind today as I read today’s chapter. This is the third chapter in a row in which John gives witness to the rising conflict between the religious leaders in Jerusalem and Jesus. The religious leaders were elite, educated, and wealthy. They occupied the highest rung of their society. Jesus was a sharp contrast. Jesus had no formal or elite education in the established educational system. Jesus was not wealthy, and He depended on the generosity of others to fund His traveling ministry. Jesus lived and operated in the rural, backwater regions of the country.

John carefully chose the healing of a blind man as one of the seven miracles, or “signs” as he chooses to call them, as it fits perfectly with the narrative on multiple levels. In the previous chapter, Jesus refers to Himself as “the Light of the World” multiple times. As if to literally prove His point, today’s chapter begins with Jesus healing a man who had been blind since birth. Out of the darkness of his blindness, the man can see for the first time in his life.

This event led to three hearings before the elite, educated, powerful religious leaders. The first was with the former blind man himself who recounted the event of his healing. There is division among the religious leaders. Some are entrenched in their fundamentalist belief that the fact Jesus performed this miracle on the Sabbath (the religious “day of rest”) negates the “godliness” of the miracle. Others argue that the very act of giving sight to a man born blind can only come from God.

Then, something fascinating happens. These educated elites ask the formerly blind beggar his opinion, but they aren’t happy when the man proclaims Jesus a prophet. Some of the religious leaders are so adamant in their disbelief of Jesus that they choose to believe that the blind man is lying about being blind since birth.

Hearing number two is with the blind man’s parents. John records that they are “afraid” of the religious leaders and the power these elites have to excommunicate them from the synagogue and socially ostracize them. This is another clear indicator of toxic fundamentalism. The elite few at the top of the food chain use power and fear to control the masses. In this instance, the parents testify that their son was born blind, but when it comes to his healing and his testimony about Jesus, the parents know the narrative their overseers want to hear. They deftly plead the fifth and deflect to their adult son.

The blind man is called back before the leaders for the second time. It’s classic. The dumb, poor beggar responds to the repeated questions with wisdom and reason. He makes the leaders look foolish in the mental gymnastics they are exercising to justify their unbelief. The result is what one might expect from humiliated fundamentalist elites. They insulted him, threatened him, and threw him out.

John then records that Jesus introduces himself to the formerly blind man. The man proclaims his personal belief that Jesus was the Son of Man, and he worships Jesus. Jesus then proclaims that He came “so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

A couple of thoughts in the quiet this morning. First, I love the progression of the formerly blind man’s faith. He begins not knowing who Jesus was or who healed him. He then calls Jesus a man, then progresses to calling Jesus a prophet. Finally, he meets Jesus personally and places his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and worships Him. Healing the man’s physical blindness led to the healing of his spiritual blindness. Jesus not only opened the man’s physical eyes, but his spiritual eyes as well. Which leads me to my second thought.

Along my spiritual journey, I have encountered religious, label-wearing Christians who I observed to be spiritually blind. I have also encountered individuals who claim no faith label but I observe that they clearly see the heart and Spirit of Jesus’ teaching. This is a constant reminder to me that every person is having their own conversations with Life and that God’s Spirit is perpetually at work to open the eyes of our spirits to see the Light of the World. Today’s chapter is a reminder that staunch, educated religious people can be spiritually blind while humble, uneducated and irreligious individuals can have spiritual sight that is 20/20.

A friend once asked me about my increasingly poor hearing. I told him that if my impaired physical hearing contributes to being able to hear spiritual things with greater clarity, I will always choose the latter.

I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Showdown

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Showdown (CaD Jhn 8) – Wayfarer

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44 (NIV)

A few weeks ago I watched an HBO Documentary entitled Let Us Prey. It tells the stories of three women who grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist denomination and were sexually abused by men in authority within the church. Echoing the same scandal within the Roman Catholic church, the church hushed up, shuffled perpetrators to other locations, and stonewalled attempts to hold those involved criminally responsible. It is difficult to watch.

Along my spiritual journey, I have observed that any human religious institution can become a perpetrator of evil.

This is precisely the heart of today’s chapter. John established from the beginning of his account that there was a conflict between Jesus and the institutional leaders of the Jewish religious council. Today’s chapter is set in the council’s backyard, the Temple courts at the Feast of Tabernacles. Today’s chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. The conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders comes to a head and becomes a public showdown.

At the center of Jesus’ argument is truth and lies. While I mentioned it in yesterday’s chapter, it is in the showdown with the religious leaders that Jesus famously says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus then contrasts the truth and freedom He offers with the actions and motivations of the religious leaders. The religious leaders are trying to have Jesus killed, they are trying to hold on to their earthly power and the wealth, status, and control it affords them. Jesus then points to the evil one and makes a case that it is the evil one that the religious leaders are following.

Across the Great Story, the evil one is always anti-God. God is for life so the evil one rejoices in death. God is for truth so the evil one uses lies and deceptions. In Jesus, God shows that His way is one of love, truth, humility, selflessness, service, and sacrifice. As the “Prince of this world” the evil one and the kingdoms of this world are about hatred, lies, pride, selfishness, power, and control. Jesus simply points out that the religious council needs only to see their own actions and attitudes toward Him to see who they are really following.

As a disciple of Jesus, I can’t help but think about current events through the lens of Jesus’ own words, teachings, and example. I find it fascinating the extent to which truth is ignored today to perpetuate false realities. Women, with whom God said there would be special enmity from the evil one, are once again being subjugated. This time it is from those who are biological males simply claiming to be women. From a spiritual perspective, I observe this to be simply a new form of the same old misogyny that the evil one has perpetuated from the beginning.

Of course, I can’t point the finger without three fingers pointing back at me. In the quiet this morning, I am equally reminded by Jesus’ showdown with the religious leaders of His people that any religious system can be corrupted, even the ones with which I am involved. This reminds me of Jesus’ admonition to His followers: “Be as shrewd as serpents and as gentle as doves.” This is not only true as I walk in this world but also in the human institutions that wear the label of my own faith.

I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Best of 2023 #1: I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know

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I’m on vacation for three weeks. While I’m gone, please enjoy the top 15 posts from 2023 based on total number of page views and podcast plays. Cheers!

I Don't Know What I Don't Know (CaD Job 34) – Wayfarer

‘Job speaks without knowledge;
    his words lack insight.’
Job 34:35 (NIV)

It’s been almost two decades since my first marriage ended. Back in those days there was quite a public stir around the divorce. A lot of speculation was making the rounds on the local grapevine, most all of it incorrect. I remember the feeling of helplessness to stop or control any of it. I learned many things during that stretch of my life journey.

One of the lessons that I still carry with me from those days is the fact that when it comes to what others are going through, I don’t know what I don’t know. I think of all the ignorant speculation that swirled around my divorce from people who knew very little about me, my marriage, or my circumstances. I also can easily make ignorant speculations about others despite having very little knowledge and without having all of the facts. I have become much more reticent to make speculative judgments of others. As a disciple of Jesus, my default is to be love not judgment.

In today’s chapter, Eli the younger continues his discourse. Once again, he recalls Job’s own words in an effort to refute them. Once again, he gets Job’s words mostly, but not completely, right. Young Eli then defends God from what he perceives to be Job’s insistence that God had done evil in his circumstances. He passionately defends God’s goodness, rightness, and just judgments.

Young Eli then makes the statement that Job “speaks without knowledge.”

This caught my eye because he is correct. Job has no knowledge of the conversations that took place between God and the evil one. But the same is also true of young Eli and his three elders. They have all made speculative arguments in reaching their conclusions.

In the quiet this morning, my mind conjures up the names and faces of individuals in my own circles of influence who have been at the center of public scrutiny for a variety of reasons. I’m thinking back to my own thoughts, words, and actions towards those individuals both in their presence and when they have come up in conversation. My endeavor is to be gracious and humble in the knowledge and acknowledgment that I don’t know what I don’t know.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Hidden in Plain Sight

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Hidden in Plain Sight (CaD Lk 18) – Wayfarer

Those who led the way rebuked [the blind man] and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Luke 18:39 (NIV)

Happy New Year!

One of the things I can expect every New Year in the media is the so-called experts’ picks of the “best” and “worst” things from the previous year. I’ve come to learn that my agreement with such lists is highly dependent on how aligned the “expert” and I am in the determination of what makes a good movie, song, or book.

When I was in college, there was quite a bit of consensus among movie critics and experts that Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane was the greatest movie ever made. If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth watching. The tale of a man who gains the whole world and loses his soul along the way is truly a masterpiece.

One of the things I love about both great movies and great books is the way that stories are crafted. The entire story of Charles Foster Kane is presented to us in the opening scene of Citizen Kane. As viewers, we simply don’t know it yet. I can watch great movies countless times because I can perpetually find things I’ve never seen before. The writers and directors placed things into scenes and dialogue that are hidden from me in plain sight.

In the same way, as I make my way over and over again through the Great Story, I perpetually see things that have been hiding in plain sight. I long ago realized that one of the mistakes I made for years was allowing myself to focus too intently on one word, one verse, or one passage a time that I missed the larger picture that the Author of Creation has connected throughout the Great Story. Today’s chapter is a great example.

In most modern Bibles, the text is broken up into chapters. Within each chapter, there are sections and verses. In today’s chapter, there are six different episodes or sections that the editors have called out for me with titles. This very paradigm of layout causes me to mentally compartmentalize as I’m reading and thinking. Yet, I’ve learned on this chapter-a-day journey that the meaning is often in the connection between the episodes just as there are connections between the books in the larger Great Story. I’ve had to train my brain to look at the larger story, books, chapters, and episodes for the connections between them.

Today’s chapter begins with a parable about a poor widow who pesters a Judge begging for justice. He ignores her at first, but her persistence leads to him taking her case just to shut her up. Jesus says prayer works like this. Keep praying, He says. Don’t give up.

In the very next episode, Jesus tells a parable contrasting a self-righteous religious leader who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips with a poor wretch of a tax collector who knows the depth of his own sins and failures. The latter simply prays for the same thing over and over again (just like the persistent widow), “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Later in the chapter, Jesus once again tells The Twelve that He’s been a dead man walking on this trip to Jerusalem that they’ve been on since chapter nine. He’s going to Jerusalem to be betrayed, arrested, and executed, before rising from the dead. Luke then makes the observation that The Twelve did not get what Jesus was talking about even though this is the third time He has said it plainly. “Its meaning was hidden from them,” Luke writes.

In the final episode of the chapter, Jesus has a huge crowd around Him as He approaches the city of Jericho. Jericho is eighteen miles from Jerusalem, so Jesus is getting close to His destination. There is a blind man who is told that the commotion he’s hearing is because Jesus the Nazarene preacher everyone has been talking about is passing by. The blind man immediately begins shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!“

Let’s connect the dots.

The blind man begins shouting the same thing over and over, just like the persistent widow, so that everyone around him is annoyed just like the judge in Jesus’ parable.

What this poor blind wretch shouts is “Have mercy on me” just like the tax collector in Jesus’ parable.

In his repeated cries, the blind man calls Jesus “Son of David.” In Jesus’ day, this was a term people used to refer to the coming Messiah because the prophets had declared the Messiah would come through the line of David (which Jesus did, btw, Luke established that in the genealogy he put into chapter three, yet another connection. In recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, the “Son of David,” this blind man on the side of the road saw what others couldn’t see just as we learned that things were “hidden” in plain sight from Jesus’ closest followers.

The blind man saw who Jesus was while the fullness of Jesus and His mission were hidden from those with 20-20 vision. Jesus heals the annoying man who was shouting his repeated prayer for mercy, showing mercy just as the Judge had done for the poor widow in His parable.

By the way, how fascinating that this happens in Jericho, where God once miraculously caused the walls to come a tumblin’ down. I find something prescient in this connection.

In the quiet this morning, I’m once again blown away by how the Great Story connects. I’m humbled to think that I am not persistent enough in my prayers, and for all my knowledge I acknowledge just how many spiritual realities of God’s kingdom are hiding from me in plain site just like the story of Charles Foster Kane is hidden in a falling snow globe and the cryptic whisper, “Rosebud.”

As I enter a new year, a new work week, a new day – the echo of my heart is set on a persistent, repeating prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Listen Carefully

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Listen Carefully (CaD Lk 8) – Wayfarer

Therefore consider carefully how you listen.
Luke 8:18a (NIV)

Along my life journey, there are so many people I have met and with whom I have shared the journey for a particular season of life. Over forty years I have spent stretches of my journey amidst at least eleven different local gatherings of Jesus’ followers across two states. In each case, I had some opportunity to use the gifts I’ve been given in some kind of spiritual leadership.

I woke up this morning and the lake. My father and I made a quick trip down yesterday to winterize things and button the place up for the winter. As I sat in the quiet this morning, watching the sun come up over the cove, I let my mind linger in the memory banks. I thought of each of those gatherings. Faces and names came to me that I had not thought about in so very long. There are so many lives and stories.

There were so many individuals that I have no idea where their journeys led them or what has become of them.

A beautiful, intelligent, and personable young woman whom I visited in the suicide watch section of a mental health clinic. The death in her eyes concealed so many secrets.

A young man with so much happening inside of him, and he didn’t know what to do with all of his anger. He had flaming red hair to match that anger and he struggled as the only child with a single mother and absent father.

The rough, rebellious, foul-mouthed, drug-using offspring of a fundamentalist family system. Man, I loved him. His rough exterior, which put so many people off, hid a heart of gold. Come to think of it, I imagine Simon Peter was a lot like him.

The beautiful trophy wife of a wealthy, prominent attorney. No amount of expensive clothing and cosmetics could hide the loneliness and pain that had her dying inside. Her exterior was so put together for someone so spiritually desperate.

Then there are those whose stories I’ve known or learned about along the way.

The prank-pulling, immature dude who was not serious about anything ended up getting his act together, succeeding in business, and being a great husband and father to his kids.

A different beautiful, intelligent, and personable young woman whom I watched walk through her suicide attempt, struggle with her inner demons, and find her way.

Several individuals came out of the closet, (some to me personally) and found very different roads leading to very different places.

Multiple seemingly wise individuals made very different tragic and foolish decisions that led to painful consequences affecting so many others, which also led to very different places.

In today’s chapter, Luke presents a series of episodes from Jesus’ ministry, when the crowds were huge and He was riding a wave of popularity. The chapter begins with a parable Jesus told about a sower who scatters his seed. The seed falls in different places on different types of soil which leads to very different results. Jesus tells His disciples that the parable is about how God’s Word lands with different individuals which leads to very different results.

As I meditated on the chapter, I thought about all the different individuals mentioned in the chapter:

The wife of Herod’s house manager who became a member of Jesus’ entourage and a financial supporter of His ministry.

The man possessed by many demons, who after being delivered by Jesus, asks to join His entourage. In this case, Jesus tells him to stay home and tell his story to the people in his community.

The angry pig farmer whose pigs (and livelihood) the evicted demons entered and killed.

Jesus’ own biological family members trying to get in touch with him (and who, at the moment, think he’s crazy).

The little girl who dies and whose spirit leaves her body, only to be called back by Jesus. What did she experience while she was absent her body?

So many individuals encounter Jesus, hear Him, touch Him, and witness His interactions with others. So many different lives. So many different experiences. So many different outcomes.

Each person has their journey. Each person has their story. Each person ends up in different places with different outcomes.

I found it fascinating that after the parable of the sower, Jesus tells His followers: “consider how carefully you listen.” With each story choices are being made about listening, receiving, and responding. With each choice, different directions lead to different places. My story, my journey, and my trajectory in life that led to intersections with all of these different individuals I mentioned are rooted in how carefully I listened, how receptive my heart had been, and how I chose to respond. It led me to each of those people.

Indeed, that process continues today and each day of this earthly journey.

Lord, help me listen well, be receptive, and respond appropriately to Your Word and Spirit.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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The Deeper Need

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The Deeper Need (CaD Lk 5) – Wayfarer

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 5:20 (NIV)

I have a sticker on my iPad cover of Caravaggio’s The Calling of Matthew. It’s one of my favorite works of art both because no artist has brought the dramatic moment to life than then the troubled Italian. And, it’s one of my favorite stories in all of the Great Story because of what it represents.

In today’s chapter, Jesus continues his Miracle Ministry Tour as the crowds of followers continue to grow. Twice, again, in today’s chapter Luke mentions the swelling and astonished crowds as Jesus prompts a miraculous catch of fish, heals a leper and then a man with paralysis.

But underneath the obvious miracles and the public spectacle, Jesus begins to hint at something deeper.

When the paralytic man is lowered through the roof to reach Jesus, Jesus initiates the encounter, not by healing his physical paralysis, but by forgiving his sins and healing what sin had done to his soul. For the first time, the religious leaders get bent out of shape, because they know only God can forgive sins. Jesus uses the conflict as a teaching moment, healing the man’s physical paralysis as well.

In the very next episode Luke shares, Jesus calls the local tax collector to be one of his disciples. Remember that Jesus’ base of operations in Capernaum is a diverse population of both Jews and non-Jewish (aka Gentile) residents who were Greek an/or Roman pagans. Levi was considered a traitor by his fellow Jews because he worked for Rome and got rich off the taxes he charged and collected. I’ll bet Levi made sure Peter made a hefty tax payment on that miraculous catch from earlier in the chapter. Jesus’ choice of Levi (aka Matthew) could not have been popular with his growing crowd of Jewish followers.

Jesus, however, ignores His Jewish critics and visits Levi’s house for a dinner party. Being a tax collector Levi rubbed shoulders with other tax collectors as well as prominent Romans and Greeks who were pagans who also lived in Capernaum. Jesus’ own people considered these people dirty and socially unacceptable. Simon, James, and John would never have crossed the threshold of Levi’s doors so as to show consideration for the Roman traitor or to be contaminated by the Gentile “dogs” he considered friends.

But Jesus did. I think The Chosen captures the moment well:

Once again, the good Jewish religious leaders are appalled by this Miracle Man. He certainly does miraculous things, but He refuses to stay in the well established and accepted Jewish lane.

Jesus response? “The healthy (God’s people) don’t need a doctor, but the lost sheep (Levi) and sinners (Levi’s Gentile friends) do.” Jesus’ choice to dine with Levi and his Gentile friends would have made Him a pariah to his Jewish followers, but would have won a lot of friends among their Gentile neighbors who were typically treated with contempt by the Jewish residents.

In both the forgiving of the paralytic, the calling of Levi, and his attendance at Levi’s dinner party, Jesus is firing a shot across the bow of the religious establishment. He can heal people all day long, but a paralytic who now walks makes just another walking sinner in need of a remedy for his spiritual affliction. Jesus’ mission is to bring spiritual freedom and healing to every tribe and nation and people and language.

In the quiet this morning, I confess that for many years I ran in certain Christian circles, and the religious establishment among those Christian circles were no different than the Jewish establishment of Jesus’ day. I was told to avoid modern-day Levis and their non-Christian ilk, just like Jesus. The further I got in my journey as a disciple of Jesus, the further away I was led from those religious establishments.

I love that Jesus was so bold in crossing religious and cultural boundaries right out of the gate. I love God’s heart, that all the way back in Genesis looked at everything that He created and loved it. Being a disciple of Jesus has led me to believe that any human religion that does not reflect the love of God for all of His creation does not reflect the heart of God.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.