Tag Archives: Christianity

Chapter-a-Day

Jews and Romans

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Jews and Romans (CaD Acts 13) – Wayfarer

But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.
Acts 13:50 (NIV)

I once spent three years living in a small town of just over 300 people. It was a great experience, and it inspired a play I wrote many years later called Ham Buns and Potato Salad. One of the things I learned living in such a small town was how the community operates, unofficially. Sure, there was an official mayor and city council, but that doesn’t mean they actually ran things. There were individuals who held sway behind the scenes if they felt strongly enough about a matter. It’s the way the world works.

In today’s chapter, Luke records the events of the first missionary journey taken by Saul and Barnabas. Luke has just spent the previous few chapters explaining how the Holy Spirit led the Jewish leaders of the Jesus Movement to understand that Jesus’ Message was for all people, both Jews and non-Jews (Gentiles). Today’s chapter provides a great example of how Saul and Barnabas operated in taking Jesus’ Message to places that had never heard that message.

The first stop they made upon entering a town was the local Jewish synagogue. Saul and Barnabas started with the Jewish locals. Luke records the message Saul gave in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch proclaiming Jesus was the resurrected Messiah. This created quite a stir and people crowded to hear more, but it angered the local Jewish leaders, so they “incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.”

The Jewish leaders knew the individuals in their community who held sway. Paul and Barnabas quickly went from being popular visitors to having the welcome mat yanked out from underneath them. Their response to this persecution was right out of Jesus’ playbook. They shook the dust off their feet and switched focus from the Jews to Gentiles in the area.

One of the Gentiles who became converts on this journey was a man named Sergius Paulus. He was the Roman proconsul on the island of Cyprus. He was a documented historical figure. To have a Roman official of such a high level become a believer would have been a huge deal. He wasn’t big fish in a small pond like the “women of high standing” in Pisidian Antioch. He was a big fish in a big pond. Sergius Paulus was a powerful man within the Roman Empire. As a believer, he could influence all sorts of people throughout the Empire itself. Some have argued that it was this high-profile conversion that led to Saul taking on the name Paul. He’s first called Paul in today’s chapter and will be referred to as Paul by Luke from this point on.

In the quiet this morning, I meditated on the contrasting experiences that Paul and Barnabas had with the small-town power brokers of Pisidian Antioch and the Roman Governor of Cyprus. It’s the beginning of a major shift in the Jesus Movement. It will not be long before the burgeoning number of non-Jewish Greek and Roman believers outnumber the original core of Jewish believers in the leadership of the Movement. There’s a storm on the horizon.

As a disciple of Jesus, I’ve had to understand that things change and the spiritual journey is one of constantly managing those changes. I’ve observed that organized religion, on the other hand, loves tradition and will often shun change at all costs to avoid the discomfort of change. I find this to be a tragic mistake, and one I want to avoid for the rest of my earthly journey.

Featured image is Sergius Paulus by Raphael

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

Chapter-a-Day

Game Changer

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Game Changer (CaD Acts 10) – Wayfarer

He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.
Acts 10:28 (NIV)

When I was in high school, our school had the most diverse student population in the state of Iowa. At least, that’s what I remember being told. Between desegregation and the wave of Asian immigrants who entered the state after the Vietnam War, we had a mix of three very distinct ethnic groups. Layer on top of that mix the fact that the white kids had very distinct social groups of nerds, jocks, burnouts, etc.

Our educators created a group made up of leaders within all of these ethnic and social groups. The idea was for the leaders to get to know each other, talk to each other, and share with each other their stories and experiences. As a teenager, this experience was pretty amazing. It taught me a lot about empathy and respect for others.

I believe it is hard for a modern reader to comprehend the level of religious, cultural, and ethnic separation that existed between first-century Jews and the non-Jewish (aka Gentiles) around them. God had been clear in the Law of Moses that His people were not supposed to mistreat foreigners living among them but rather to bless them. Over time, it became less about blessing and not mistreating and simply became segregation. In today’s chapter, Peter himself says that it was inappropriate to associate with anyone who wasn’t a Jew.

Jesus had already laid down both the teaching and the example that His Message was for all people. He’d commanded the disciples to take His Message to all nations and to the ends of the earth. We’re now several years into the Jesus Movement and it’s still primarily operating as a Jewish sect centered in the Jewish capital of Jerusalem.

In telling the history of those early years, Dr. Luke chose to confine the story to some of the most pertinent events. The acceptance of, and mission to, Gentiles will be a radical game changer for the devout Jews who have, to this point, made up the core of those in the Jesus Movement. It will create huge rifts and there will be a tremendous struggle for Jewish believers to let go of the cultural divide they’ve lived and believed in their entire lives.

In setting us up for this tectonic shift, Luke shares two key events.

The first was the radical conversion of Saul, who became the greatest and most zealous proponent of taking Jesus’ Message to the Gentiles. Being educated and well-connected in the Jewish establishment, Paul will also leverage his clout and former standing to give Jewish believers an example to follow as well as comfort in the shift.

The second key event happens in today’s chapter. Peter, the undisputed leader of the Twelve, is given a vision and then a divine appointment with a Gentile. Not only was Cornelius a Gentile, but he was also a Roman Centurion who was reviled by zealous and patriotic Jews living under Roman occupation. God makes it clear to Peter that the old Jewish rules of “clean” and “unclean” food and people no longer apply. Jesus’ Message and the indwelling Holy Spirit are for people of every tribe, nation, and language.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the cultural divides that still exist, even in my own fairly heterogeneous small town in Iowa. My job is to love others in my circles of influence, but that includes all of those with whom I have contact. Even in a small community, I confess that it is easy to stick with my peeps. How many people do I have the opportunity to engage, but choose not to because it’s uncomfortable breaking out of the normal, daily, cultural routine?

I can do better.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Radical Conversion

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Radical Conversion (CaD Acts 9) – Wayfarer

Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 9:22 (NIV)

While I was in high school there was a bit of a spiritual revival that broke out at our school. Among those who placed their faith in Jesus were some individuals with reputations for being pretty wild. I can remember hearing the news and immediately feeling skepticism. It was such a radical conversion in some cases, that it was hard to actually believe it.

Today’s chapter contains one of the most dramatic life changes in history. Saul of Tarsus was a zealous, educated, and well-connected Pharisee who was fully committed to imprisoning Jesus’ disciples, snuffing the Jesus Movement out of existence, and even killing people if necessary to make it happen. Jesus appears to Saul and calls on him to switch teams. In an instant, the enemy becomes an ally. The hunter becomes the hunted. Saul, who will become Paul, becomes arguably the greatest example of what can happen if you follow Jesus’ teaching, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Paul would later write a letter to believers in Corinth and describe all followers of Jesus as the “body of Christ.” It’s a powerful word picture because he makes the distinction of the body needing all of its parts to function in a healthy way. With Paul’s conversion, the body of Christ added a key part.

Unlike the Twelve, Paul was educated by the best. Paul was a man uniquely gifted for establishing the theological foundations of the Jesus Movement and could go toe-to-toe with any Jewish critic.

Paul was part of the Jewish establishment, yet he was also from Greece and knew the Hellenistic world and customs. Just a few chapters ago, Luke records that there was tension between the Greeks and Hebrews among Jesus’ followers. Paul was uniquely suited to help bridge this rift, as well as being uniquely suited to take Jesus’ message to the Greek world while still having respect for non-Greek Jews within the movement. Paul was also a Roman citizen, which would become instrumental in his witness and his missionary journeys.

In the quiet this morning, I spent some time meditating on the very nature of the body of Christ in the “holy catholic” sense of it being made up of all believers of all types around the globe. God uses so many different people with different gifts in different ways to accomplish His purposes on a grand scale that is hard for me to even fathom. At the same time, every member of that Body is a gifted part of it and has a part to play in it. My job is to consciously use my gifts as God leads me in accomplishing His purposes within my circles of influence.

Which has me thinking about my brothers and sisters from that revival back in high school. I didn’t really know those I referenced personally. It was a large high school, they were older, and I operated in different social circles. Still, I wonder how their stories have played out. Like Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed falling on different types of soil, I imagine there is a spectrum of stories and outcomes. I spent some time this morning picturing faces, recalling names, and praying for them wherever they are and whatever God’s purposes in their life journeys. I may be in a different part of the body, but I can certainly pray for each and every other part.

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.

Chapter-a-Day

Growing Things Change

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Growing Things Change (CaD Acts 6) – Wayfarer

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen.
Acts 6:1,9 (NIV)

I saw a funny meme the other day of a father holding his three-month-old baby. The baby had doubled in weight in the three months since birth. At this rate of growth, the father calculated, the kid would weigh trillions of pounds by the time it was ten years old.

Healthy things grow…
Growing things change…
Change challenges me…
Challenge leads me to trust God…
Trusting God leads to obedience…
Obedience leads to health…
Healthy things grow…

A friend shared this with me many years ago, and I know that I have referenced it at least once before (After blogging for 17 years, I’m bound to repeat a few things!). I have always loved this little mantra because I have experienced it to be true in my life, and I have observed it to be true in both others and in healthy and growing human systems.

The early Jesus Movement was an organic, growing human system. In the first six chapters of Acts, Luke references the growing number of believers five times. At the beginning of the book, Luke records the number of believers right after Jesus’ ascension as about 120. In chapter 4, Luke numbers the believers at 5,000. He’s mentioned rapid growth twice since mentioning the 5,000.

Growing things change…

Having been a leader in a number of different systems and organizations along my life journey, I can only imagine the changes required by the Apostles to accommodate the rapid pace of growth. It was not only a change in numbers, but in geography too. Many of the first believers on the day of Pentecost in the second chapter were from all over the known world. In today’s chapter, Stephen is sharing Jesus’ teaching with a synagogue outside the Temple. The cozy little group of early believers sharing all things in common wouldn’t have been cozy for long.

Change challenges me…

Luke records the first challenges faced by the growing Movement in today’s chapter. There is a challenge from within in the form of anger between ethnic factions within the Movement. There were also challenges from without in the form of false accusations made against them to the Temple rulers who had already persecuted the Apostles.

Challenge leads me to trust God…

Luke also records in today’s chapter that the Apostles appointed more men to help with the daily duties the Movement had established for caring for the daily needs of its members. The needs of the system are expanding, and with it the system has to distribute responsibilities to more members of the system. This, in itself, requires trust not only in the members taking on the responsibilities but also in God to provide for and enable a rapidly growing organism.

In the quiet this morning, my meditation on the changes in the early Jesus Movement has me thinking about change in general. Life never stops changing. I’m facing some life changes right now, in fact. This means there will always be challenges. How I handle the change is, I believe, a barometer of my spiritual health. I can follow the path of trust and obedience to greater levels of spiritual health and growth, or I can follow the path of anger, resentment, complaint, and depression which becomes an unhealthy cycle for me and everyone around me.

Lord, help me trust and obey that I might spiritually grow with every challenge.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Purpose & Timing

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Purpose & Timing (CaD Acts 2) – Wayfarer

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Acts 2:1 (NIV)

One of the things I’ve observed throughout the Great Story is the fact that God does things with both purpose and timing. The purpose and timing happening in today’s chapter can easily go unnoticed by the modern and casual reader.

In reading and meditating on the first two chapters of Acts, I couldn’t help but notice a pattern:

Before His ministry began, Jesus spent 40 days of preparation fasting, and praying. He was then baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and His ministry was effectively launched.

Before their ministry began, Jesus’ disciples spent 40 days of preparation. According to their own testimony, the risen Jesus appeared to them during this period and taught them. They were then baptized in the Holy Spirit and their ministry was effectively launched. (FYI: At this point, the disciples [“follower”] became known as apostles [“sent”]).

But that’s just the top layer. The pattern gets even deeper and better, because the events of Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and the outpouring of Holy Spirit are purposefully timed. They correlate to events and festivals God established through Moses back in Exodus and Leviticus at the time God established His law. What God was doing through Moses and the Law are linked to what God was doing through Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The Passover festival was a celebration of God’s deliverance of His people in the final climactic plague on the Egyptians that led to the end of their slavery and the beginning of their freedom. In that plague, death came to the first-born male of every household unless the blood of a sacrificial lamb was spread across the door. The spirit of death “passed over” the households whose doors were covered in the blood of the lamb.

Jesus’ death and subsequent resurrection at the time of the Passover festival marked God’s deliverance for any who believes, leading to the end of slavery to sin and the beginning of spiritual freedom. Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, His blood poured out for all. His victory over death and resurrection made it possible for death to pass over any and all who would believe.

Pentecost was another ancient Hebrew festival, known as the Festival of Weeks. The first fruits of the harvest were celebrated and brought to the Temple as offerings. It was also traditionally commemorated as the day when God gave Moses the Law back in the book of Exodus.

So on the day of commemoration of God giving the Law through Moses, God gave the Holy Spirit to all believers. In His Message on the Mountain, Jesus said, “I didn’t come to abolish the Law (of Moses) and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.” The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was this fulfillment. To the believers in Corinth Paul wrote: “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (emphasis added).

In kicking off the harvest celebration by the bringing of first-fruit offerings, Jesus has all of the disciples, the first fruits of His early ministry. As He once told them, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the launched ministry of taking Jesus’ Message to the world, it is a celebration of a spiritual harvest of souls reaping eternal life.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself comforted in the reminder that God works with purpose and timing. I believe this is not only true in the events described in today’s chapter, but in my life, as well. There was a lot that the Apostles still didn’t see or understand about what was happening. In the same way, I often find myself on life’s road without clarity or understanding of what God is doing or where I’m clearly being led. Nevertheless, I know God works with purpose and timing, and I will continue to trust that today as I press on in the journey.

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

Chapter-a-Day

The Unknown Disciples

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The Unknown Disciples (CaD Acts 1) – Wayfarer

“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
Acts 1:21-22 (NIV)

Over the centuries, followers of Jesus in many different varieties have adopted certain texts that are regularly used in corporate gatherings. One of them is known as the Apostle’s Creed, which is a statement of core beliefs. Among the stated beliefs is that of “the holy catholic Church.” For those of the Protestant persuasion, this statement prompts a lot of head-scratching. “Wait a minute. We’re not Catholic!?”

The word catholic is an adjective meaning “broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.” The Apostles Creed isn’t referring to the institution of the Roman Catholic Church, but rather it is referring to all believers around the globe of every persuasion.

Along my journey, it has been my observation that most believers don’t give this specific belief statement much thought. We tend to think in terms of our particular silo like loyal fans of a particular sports team. We stay in our lane, attend our team’s gatherings, and largely don’t think much about the other teams in our league, let alone in other leagues around the world. Yet, the Great Story ends with a picture of eternity in which there are people of “every tribe and language and people and nation.”

Today we begin our chapter-a-day trek through the Acts of the Apostles or just Acts. It is the history of the early Jesus Movement from Jesus’. resurrection through the first, roughly, thirty years. It is written by Dr. Luke, the same man who investigated and wrote an account of Jesus’ story that we know by his name, Luke. A physician by vocation, Luke became a follower of Jesus whose investigation into the Jesus story led him to become an associate of the Apostles. He eventually traveled with the Apostle Paul, writing some of Acts of the Apostles as an eyewitness account of what happened.

What struck me in Luke’s opening chapter was his mention of just how many followers were around during Jesus’ resurrection and in the earliest days of the Movement. I tend to think just in terms of the eleven disciples (the Twelve, minus Judas) and the Marys who were at the tomb. Luke describes about a hundred and twenty people who were regularly meeting together with Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection. When it came time to fill Judas’ open position in the Twelve, the stipulation was that it had to be a person who had been a follower and member of Jesus’ entourage from His baptism all the way through to His resurrection. There were enough of them that two were appointed who then drew straws.

I contemplated these 120 unnamed, largely forgotten believers. Many of them had been just as faithful in following Jesus throughout His ministry as the Twelve had been. It wasn’t just the Twelve and a few women who interacted with the risen Jesus. In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul states the total number of people who witnessed the risen Jesus was around 500 over the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension. Paul even states that most of them were still alive if the Corinthians wanted to corroborate his statement.

In the quiet this morning, I meditated on the fact that relatively few individuals got mentioned and top billing in the history of the Jesus Movement. There was a whole host of unknown, unmentioned followers who had their own personal Jesus story. They were a crucial part of participating in and carrying out Jesus’ mission. It is not unlike the realization of what it means when I say the Apostles Creed and state that I believe in the “holy, catholic Church.” I’m stating that I believe there are fellow believers of different persuasions around the world, but do I really think about them in more than a mental acknowledgment that they exist?

For the past several years, Wendy and I have regularly prayed for a group of orphans being raised in an orphanage on the other side of the world. We have photos and names of each one of the orphans in a little photo album. We pray for them each by name as part of our daily prayers. We support the work that is providing for them. It’s amazing how, over time, our prayers have led to genuine care and concern for them. It’s a small thing, but it’s a tangible way to put action to our belief statement. If I really believe what I say I believe, I want to be both mindful and active in supporting all of the unknown and (to me) anonymous disciples around the world.

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.

Chapter-a-Day

Shepherd and Sheep

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Shepherd and Sheep (CaD Jhn 10) – Wayfarer

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…”
John 10:14 (NIV)

I mentioned in previous posts that John’s account of Jesus’ story is put together thematically, and John chooses seven miraculous signs of Jesus to introduce us, his audience, to Jesus. Seven is not an arbitrary number. Throughout the Great Story, the number seven is repeatedly used and indicates completeness. At the very beginning, in Genesis, God creates everything in seven days, calls it good, and establishes a complete week. In Revelation, the final judgments come in three sets of seven, where three represents the divinity of the judgments and seven indicates their completeness.

John also chooses to share seven metaphors and “I am” statements that Jesus used about Himself:

“I am the Bread of Life.”
“I am the Light of the World.”
“I am the Gate.”
“I am the Good Shepherd.”
“I am the Resurrection and the Life.”
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
“I am the True Vine.”

These metaphors are not confined to Jesus’ declaration as each has deep connections throughout the Great Story.

The metaphor Jesus uses in today’s chapter is that of the Good Shepherd. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel were shepherds and Israel referred to God as the Shepherd of their lives. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. The prophets repeatedly referred to the kings of Israel and Judah as the appointed shepherds of God’s people. Jesus repeatedly used the metaphor of the Shepherd and sheep in His parables. In Revelation, Jesus is referred to as the Shepherd who leads His sheep to springs of living water. In claiming to be the Good Shepherd, Jesus is channeling the metaphorical thread that God has woven throughout the Great Story itself from beginning to end.

As I meditate on the metaphor of Jesus being the Good Shepherd, I can’t help but focus on David’s famous lyrics in the 23rd Psalm. As a life-long follower of Jesus, the opening line is particularly poignant: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” There is a relationship and intimacy between the Good Shepherd and His sheep. The Shepherd is a provider, protector, and guide. The Shepherd knows and calls each sheep by name. The Shepherd will leave the flock to find one lost sheep. When predators attack, the Shepherd will lay down his life for them.

Having grown up on a small farm, Wendy loves to reminisce about the sheep and lambs they raised and cared for. “They’re so dumb,” she tells me. This fact also gets added to the mix as I meditate in the quiet this morning. It’s easy to observe people, recount my own poor choices in life, and conclude that people are “dumb” too. I present myself as Exhibit A. We wander aimlessly through life, afraid, threatened, and needy. “Like sheep without a Shepherd,” is what the ancient prophets liked to say.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself comforted as I think about the Lord being my Shepherd. I am currently in a season of life in which many things are uncertain. It’s easy to feel fear and anxiety. Then I look back at my entire life and can easily recount the many ways that God has always led, directed, provided, and protected me. He has been a Good Shepherd to this dumb sheep, and I can trust Him to continue being so. It’s who Jesus is. He said it Himself.

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.

Chapter-a-Day

Who Am I Living to Please?

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"Who Am I Living to Please?" (CaD Jhn 5) – Wayfarer

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
John 5:30 (NIV)

I was 14 years old when I became a disciple of Jesus. My sister, Jody, joined me in this. This decision was not an institutional “profession of faith” or “confirmation” that was expected of us as part of the institutional church in which we were raised. In fact, both Jody and I had been through that established and corporate rite of passage. It provided us with knowledge. It resulted in us receiving a certificate and a box of offering envelopes. It did not, however, result in any meaningful transformation of spirit or of daily life.

When we willfully chose to give our lives to the Lordship of Jesus, and we committed ourselves to follow His teaching and example, everything changed. Some changes were immediate. Other changes took years, some took decades, and some changes are still in process. Being a disciple is a life-long journey of transformation.

One of the immediate changes for Jody and me was our relationship with one another, and our relationship with our parents. Jody and I had always been close as siblings, but suddenly we had experienced and shared a common love that transcended the petty sibling squabbles, rivalries, and conflicts that prevail in adolescence. In addition, without even thinking much about it, we became more respectful and obedient to our parents. Our parents would later testify that the change they saw in us led them to wonder what was going on, and eventually led them to the reaffirmation of their own faith.

John spends today’s chapter revealing and expounding on the “line in the sand” between Jesus and the ruling religious leaders in Jerusalem. We’re just 25% of the way through John’s account and he makes clear that the institutional religious leaders were already seeking to get rid of Jesus, whose popularity and anti-establishment rhetoric threatened their earthly power and authority.

When I read Jesus’ statement, “I seek not to please myself but him who sent me,” it resonated in my spirit. I find the question, “Who am I living to please?” worth pondering. The religious establishment crowd was trying to please itself. I’ve observed that human establishments and institutions end up serving themselves in what are often very unhealthy ways. I just finished watching the HBO Miniseries Chernobyl. I recommend it as Exhibit A. This is why the religious establishment saw a paralytic miraculously healed and walking for the first time after 38 years and immediately chastised him for carrying his mat on the day of rest.

John then records that Jesus contrasted this thinking by stating that He was interested in pleasing His heavenly Father, and him alone. I can’t help but ponder the fact that this motivation and commitment will only lead Jesus to conflict, persecution, prosecution, and execution by the establishment. That is what John is foreshadowing. This is the delineation between the establishment pleasing itself and the Son of God who wants only to please His heavenly Father and the Kingdom of God on His earthly mission. The line in the sand is clearly drawn.

As a disciple of Jesus, I must answer the question myself.

“Who am I trying to please?”

As a teenager, I saw how my desire to please God by honoring my parents had a positive impact on our relationship and on my parents themselves. I must confess, however, that I can look back at my life journey and see so many seasons, and so many examples, of me still choosing to please myself. The results were not so healthy or positive.

So here I am at the beginning of another day. I can’t change the past. I’m not promised a tomorrow. I have today. And so, my heart cries out in the quiet: “Heavenly Father, I choose this day to live to please you. May my thoughts, words, and actions toward others reflect Your ways, and the ways of Your eternal Kingdom, and not the ways of this world.”

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