Tag Archives: Parable

Chapter-a-Day

Dealing Swiftly with Troublemakers

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Dealing Swiftly with Troublemakers (CaD 2 Sam 20) – Wayfarer

Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bikri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted,

“We have no share in David,
    no part in Jesse’s son!
Every man to his tent, Israel!”
2 Samuel 20:1 (NIV)

One troublemaker is all it takes to bring ruin to an entire group. I have experienced this on teams, in a cast/production, in churches, in civic organizations, and in business. Years ago I witnessed a business suffer from the schemes of a troublemaker who happened to be the son of the owner. The father refused to discipline or deal with his son while the son connived to gain more and more power within the company. Eventually, the father sold the business to his friend. When the transaction was completed and the new owner was in place, the former owner advised his friend to fire the son. The new owner thought to himself, “Even though he told me to fire his son, my friend will surely hold it against me if I actually do it.” So the new owner refused to deal with the troublemaker for many years and the son continued to be a source of contention and strife within the organization. I remember watching this unfold. It felt like one of Jesus’ parables come to life.

I thought about that business this morning as I read today’s chapter. Like the father in my example, David refused to acknowledge and deal with his troublemaker son, Absalom, until it was almost too late. Still stinging from the fallout of Absalom’s failed coup, David appears to have learned his lesson. He moves swiftly to deal with the troublemaker, Sheba.

When Sheba flees to hide in the town of Abel Beth Maakah, David’s army surrounds the town and lays siege to it. A wise woman in the town arranges for a parlay with the general, Joab, and learns that the entire village is being threatened with destruction because of one troublemaker, Sheba. The wise woman quickly surmises that it would be better for the whole city to expel the troublemaker than face possible ruin. The townspeople kill Sheba, cut off his head, and hurl it over the wall to Joab and David’s army. The threat is eliminated.

The further I get in life’s journey the more intolerant I have become of troublemakers and crazy makers. I have discovered that there is a difference between a reasonable person with whom I am having conflict and a troublemaker with whom I cannot reason. Wisdom and discernment are required, but once it is clear that I am dealing with a troublemaker or crazy maker, I have found that acting quickly to diminish that person’s exposure to me, my life, and my circles of influence is ultimately in my best interest.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Wisdom to Know the Difference

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Wisdom to Know the Difference (CaD Rev 14) – Wayfarer

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Revelation 14:6-7 (NIV)

One summer during my college years, my friend Spike and I were in need of money. It happened that a large institutional church was holding their national conference here in central Iowa and someone I knew told me they were in need of people to help with daycare for children and youth for a week. It paid well, so we signed up.

Being male college students, those in charge of the daycare program put us in charge of the older boys. I had the boys ages 11 and 12 in my group. If I remember correctly, Spike got the 9 and 10-year-old boys. Most of the boys were “Pastors’ Kids” (aka “PKs”), and PKs have a reputation for being particularly rebellious. Perhaps it’s because so many people expect the Pastor’s kid to be particularly virtuous that so many of them take normal unruly childishness to particularly rebellious extremes.

A few of my boys were the worst of the worse. The truth is that I really liked them, but whatever they were told to do they refused to do. Given the opportunity, they would go to great lengths to get into trouble. Their disruptions and antics made it virtually impossible for the others to enjoy themselves.

One episode happened on an old school bus that had taken all the kids to a museum. One of my worst offenders had purchased a kazoo in the museum gift shop. He was being particularly obnoxious with his kazoo as the bus was on the interstate heading back to the conference, making himself a pest to everyone around him. I calmly warned him twice to cease his kazoo playing. My warnings only stoked the fires of his defiance and he only intensified his obnoxious behavior. A third time I warned him, and this time I told him that if he didn’t stop I was throwing his kazoo out the bus window (the bus had no air conditioning and all the windows were open). He looked at me with insubordinate eyes and played the kazoo right in my face. I grabbed his kazoo and threw it out the window.

One of the reasons that Jesus told parables was because simple stories are often metaphors for deep spiritual truths. In one of His parables, Jesus told of a farmer who sowed his wheat in a field. His enemy came in the night and sowed weeds amidst the wheat. The farmer told his workers to leave the weeds, as pulling them might uproot the wheat, as well. “Wait for the harvest,” he said. “At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” Jesus then told His disciples the meaning of this metaphorical parable:

“The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Matthew 13:37-43 (NIV)

I thought of both Kazoo Boy and the parable of the weeds as I read today’s chapter. We are in the end times. This is the “harvest” in Jesus’ parable. Seven seal judgments and seven trumpet judgments have already occurred. The final set of judgments in the trinity, the bowl judgments, are about to be unleashed. God sends three angels to make proclamations “to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language, and people.” Wishing that none should perish, the first angel proclaims the good news of God’s love and salvation. The second angel warns of the kingdoms of the earth that are about to be taken down. The third angel warns the people of what will happen if they continue to defiantly worship the “beast and his image” and it’s not pleasant.

In the quiet this morning, I was struck by two things. Even at the very end of the Great Story, God is pleading with humanity to repent, believe, and be saved. It’s never too late to accept God’s gift of salvation. Second, those who remain through the judgment have chosen to be there just like my choice in yesterday’s post. I find myself in the tension between gratitude for God’s kindness and sadness for the oppositionally defiant.

Kazoo Boy would be in his late 40s at this point. I wonder about his story and his own journey. I said a little prayer for God’s goodness and blessing on him wherever he is. I’m so glad that we all have the opportunity to grow beyond the little twits we can be as children. As Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

God, grant me the grace to put childishness behind me while living this day with child-like faith. Give me the wisdom to know the difference.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Shrewdness

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Shrewdness (CaD Jos 9) – Wayfarer

However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”
Joshua 9:3-6 (NIV)

Today’s chapter is a fascinating story of how one of the people groups living in the Promised Land dupes Joshua and the Hebrew tribes into making a binding oath not to destroy them. The Gibeonites use a little improvisational theatre to make Joshua and the tribal elders think that their delgation had made a long journey from a distant land in order to make a treaty with the Hebrews.

Joshua, who just a couple of chapters ago made the mistake of not asking God what the battle plan should be before attacking the city if Ai, makes the same mistake of not taking this decision to God and asking for God’s wisdom. He and the tribal elders fall for the ruse and make a binding, sacred oath not to destory the Gibeonites. They quickly discover that they’ve been duped.

Having made the binding oath, they conscript the Gibeonites to perpetual service as woodcutters and watercarriers for the Hebrews and the temple-tent (aka Tabernacle) used for worship.

As I read this chapter, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ parable about the business manager of a rich tycoon. The manager had allowed local merchants to run up a ton of debt which the business manager had never collected. Realizing there was a cash flow problem, and suspecting that his business manager is not doing his job, the tycoon calls a meeting, demands a thorough audit, and plans to fire the guy.

The business manager, seeing the handwriting on the wall, realizes that he’s about to be put into a lose-lose situation. He won’t have a job, and he’ll also have the reputation of being a bad manager. Thinking ahead, the business manager realizes that he’s going to need good connections and leverage with other potential employers in order secure a new job. So, the business manager calls all the merchants who owe his boss money and tells them cut their bill in half. Now he’s got a whole host of potential employers who both appreciate that he saved them a ton of money, and who now owe him a favor.

After telling this parable, Jesus says, “The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” He then tells His followers, “use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

I realized this morning that Jesus could have used the Gibeonites as Exhibit A as an example of His parable. They found themselves in an imppossible position and acted shrewdly to survive. God’s man and God’s people fell for it.

Jesus turns this worldly shrewdness upside down and asks me to consider myself in the role of the business manager and God in the role of my master.

Who do I know who lives at my Master’s mercy? The poor, the needy, the down-trodden who have nothing and need a hand-up.

Who owes my Master a debt they’ll never be able to repay? Sinners who have yet to repent and be forgiven.

Next, consider that all of my money, power, and position belong to my Master and His business. Let’s say I use my money, power, and position on this earth to “make friends” with those whose life circumstances leave them living at God’s mercy. Let’s say I treat those who owe a debt of sin with grace and forgiveness.

Someday I will be fired from this earthly employment for my Master. All of that wealth, power, and position I had on earth will be stripped away and left behind on Earth. Then I will arrive at Heaven’s gate. What I will find there, Jesus is telling me in the parable, will be a welcoming committee of “friends” to meet me.

Jesus will then look at my “friends” and then look at me. Then will He say, “for when you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.”

Time to “make some friends.”

Note: Wendy and I are taking a long weekend’s rest. I plan to be back on this chapter-a-day journey next Wednesday. Cheers!

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

Chapter-a-Day

The Context

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The Context (CaD Matt 22) – Wayfarer

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’
Matthew 22:8-9 (NIV)

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve observed that it’s easy to read with a mental microscope or magnifying glass to inspect every word, every verse, or every parable as if they exist as individual and/or exclusive works of divine wisdom. I’ve come to observe that there’s more to be gained by launching my mental drone to rise above the text and see the word, verse, and parable within the larger tapestry of the Great Story. Today’s chapter is a great example of this.

The entire chapter takes place at a very specific time and place. It’s the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. He is in Jerusalem and spending His day at Herod’s Temple, the seat and center of Hebrew religious power and worship. There is an escalating conflict emerging between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day. Public opinion is on Jesus’ side for the moment, and the religious leaders are working their fundamentalist political playbook. They keep sending different groups with questions in hope that Jesus will make a gaffe, say something stupid on the hot mic, or make a partisan comment which will offend His audience and give them political ammunition to publicly discredit Him. This is the same kind of political theater that plays out in press conferences and the media every single day.

They ask Jesus about paying taxes to Rome because it’s a hot-button issue. Most of Jesus’ audience hated the Romans, and they hated paying taxes. The religious leaders even make sure that Rome’s local political puppets, the Herodians, are there to witness the answer. They hoped Jesus’ answer would be treasonous enough to arrest Him.

A religious faction, the Sadducees, try a trick question on Jesus that was rooted in a hot-button theological debate about whether there was a resurrection or not. The motive was to trip Jesus up and make Him look like a fool. Jesus nailed the answer and discredited the questioners.

They tried another theological question, but Jesus nailed that one, too.

Then Jesus decided it was time for Him to ask the question. He asks about the popular term being used for the coming Messiah, the same one they were indignant about children applying to Jesus in yesterday’s chapter: Son of David. Jesus discredits the term (perhaps in response to their indignation the previous day?) based on David’s own lyrics.

This is a political tennis match with Jesus volleying back and forth with the religious leaders. And it’s in the context of this rising conflict that I must understand Jesus’ parable of the Wedding Banquet. The guests invited to the feast who ignored the invitation are Jesus’ religious enemies. They’ve ignored the heart of God’s commandments to cling to their power, greed, and fundamentalism. The servants who get beat up and killed are the prophets. The King sending His army to destroy the murderers and raze the city is prophetic, as this is exactly what happened in AD 70 when the Romans razed Jerusalem and the Temple. The King’s decision to go to every corner and invite “anyone you can find” is equally prophetic. It is what happens in the book of Acts when the Jesus Movement breaks out of the shackles of Hebrew fundamentalism and embraces anyone, Jewish or not, who chooses to repent, believe, and follow.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself asking what this means for me today. My heart’s desire is to always follow Jesus, but I can look back on my journey and see ways in which I’ve been more like the religious leaders. I’ve been religious, but I confess that there’s hard evidence that my religion has at times been more about being right, condemning others, and holding appropriate political and doctrinal views instead of being about love, grace, and mercy. That makes me more like Jesus’ enemies.

Mea culpa.

Whenever personal faith intertwines with human institutions and systems, it’s hard for it not to get sucked into the same trap that the Hebrews fell into. And that’s as true for me as it is for anyone else.

So, for me, that’s the take-away. I want to be diligent in living out my “religion” in Jesus’ terms:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 (NIV)

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

Chapter-a-Day

The Old Couple Who Lived Up on the Hill

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The Old Couple Who Lived Up on the Hill (CaD Matt 20) – Wayfarer

“…they began to grumble against the landowner.  ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’”
Matthew 20:11-15 (NIV)

I was surprised to get the call. I barely knew the old couple who lived up on the hill. I’d visited them once or twice, despite people telling me not to waste my time. They’d been described as cold, grouchy, and cantankerous, but I found them pleasant enough. I don’t think they ever learned my name. I was always just “Preacher,” which I discovered happens a lot when you’re the pastor of the only church in a small town.

Granted, I don’t ever remember talking to them about much of anything except the safe pleasantries of rural Iowa conversation between acquaintances. I asked them about their lives and their stories. We drank coffee and enjoyed the quiet majesty of the view from their house, which overlooked the rolling Iowa countryside. I never invited them to church. I don’t recall that Jesus ever came up in our conversations.

The call came late in the afternoon, asking me to come immediately to the ICU unit of the regional hospital about a half-hour’s drive away. The moment I walked into the room and saw the old man who lived up on the hill, I knew the situation. I reached out and took his hand.

“You’re dying, aren’t you?” I asked gently as I took his hand and smiled.

He nodded, wordlessly.

“You don’t know where you’re going when it happens, do you?” I asked.

He shook his head.

I shared about Jesus in the simplest of terms. He listened. I asked if he’d like me to pray with him for Christ to come into heart and life.

“Yes,” he said.

By the time our short, child-like prayer was done, the tears were streaming down his cheeks. He was suddenly filled with an energy that seemed absent in his mind and body just moments before,

“Preacher!? You have to go visit my wife. Right now. Tell her what you told me. Tell her I want her to have Jesus in her heart, too. Go. Now. Right now.”

So I went, and I did as he asked. I shared in the simplest of terms. I offered to lead her in prayer as I had her husband. She prayed. She cried. I told her I would come back and visit to check on them, but I never got the chance.

He died in the ICU unit a few hours later,

A few hours after he passed on, she followed him, dying quietly at home.

I did the funeral in our little Community church with both caskets sitting in front of me. It was a tiny gathering. They hadn’t built many positive relationships in their lives. I got to share about the call, our visit, their prayers, and I talked about it never being too late to give one’s life to Christ.

After the service, I was approached by an elderly couple who told me that they had, for many years, ceaselessly visited the old couple on the hill. They’d loved on them, they’d shared Jesus with them, they’d begged them to ask Jesus into their hearts. They’d been rejected time and time again. And while they seemed glad to hear that the old couple on the hill had finally made the decision, I felt a hint of indignation underneath the surface. They’d done all the work and seemingly experienced no reward for their spiritual labor. I showed up at the last minute to harvest what they’d been sowing for all those years.

That experience came to mind this morning as I read Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard. I find that there are certain parables that mean more to me the further I advance in this life journey, and this is one of them. Each group of workers agrees to work for the same wage, but when the workers who slaved away all day watch those who pitched in for the final hour receiving the same reward, they become indignant. I find it such a human response. It is neither fair nor equitable in human terms.

The economics of God’s Kingdom, however, doesn’t work like the economics of this world. That was Jesus’ point, and He famously pins this epilogue to His parable: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

In the quiet this morning as I mull over the story of the old couple who lived up on the hill, I find myself asking about the motives of my own heart. Why have I followed Jesus these forty years? I find that reward is not something I think much about. I have been so blessed in this life I just assume that I’ll be among the “the first shall be last” crowd, and that’s okay with me. The reward is not my motivation. It’s gratitude for what I received that I never deserved that fuel’s my journey. It’s Paul’s words of motivation that ring true in my soul: “Christ’s love compels us.”

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

Chapter-a-Day

Finding Forrest

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Finding Forrest (CaD Matt 13) – Wayfarer

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.
Matthew 13:34 (NIV)

I have a confession to make. The first time that I saw the movie Forrest Gump I bawled like a baby on the way home. I remember being absolutely perplexed as I drove the tears pouring down my cheeks. I didn’t know why I was crying. I had no clue what it was about the movie that so obviously touched something so deep inside my soul.

Forrest Gump was released in 1994. That particular waypoint of my Life journey was an important one. I was 28 years old with two wee girls at home and a struggling marriage. My life was not turning out to be anything I expected it to be. I couldn’t see it at the time, but I was about to embark on the most important stretch of self-discovery of my life. It was a difficult stretch that would lead to some deep, dark valleys before I would find my way back to high places.

It would be twenty years or so before I would add a layer of self-understanding in learning about being an Enneagram Type Four. Equipped with that lens, my emotional reaction to Forrest Gump finally becomes clearer. An Enneagram Four’s core fear is that there is something hopelessly flawed in me, like Forrest’s diminished mental capacity which he can do nothing about. A Four’s core desire is to be special. The entire story of Forrest Gump is that of him being uniquely special, intersecting with the most famous people and moments of history, and most importantly having a life-changing impact on loved ones like Jenny and Lieutenant Dan. Forrest Gump tapped into core fears and desires I didn’t see at the moment. It resonated so powerfully and deeply within my being that I wept uncontrollably while having zero understanding why. I found a piece myself in the story of Forrest Gump. Such is the power of story.

In today’s chapter, Jesus speaks to the crowds following Him in a series of parables. They’re simple metaphorical stories and Matthew says that during this stretch of Jesus’ ministry He exclusively used them in teaching the crowds. Gone is the direct, plain language of the message on the hill. Jesus tells little stories about sowers, seeds, farmers, wheat, pearls, treasure, and weeds. Jesus tells His disciples that the purpose of the parables is to both reveal and conceal for spiritual purposes.

Jesus paints a simple story that draws listeners in. Once I am in, one of three things happens. First, I might not see, hear, or understand what Jesus is saying in the story. Whatever Jesus is talking about is concealed to me at this time. Second, I might find myself in the story. I am the seed that fell on the soil. I am the weeds springing up among the wheat. I am the woman who would sell everything she had in order to have the treasure Jesus is offering, and this understanding propels me forward in my spiritual journey. Third, I might find myself in the story and utterly reject what has been revealed.

In the quiet this morning, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic as I remember back to 1994. I thought that I knew so much about myself. I thought I knew so much about Jesus. Driving home from Forrest Gump weeping for unknown reasons was spiritual significant in ways I couldn’t see or understand. I found myself in the story, and it propelled my spirit forward on the journey to discover more.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Sow What?

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Sow What? (CaD Mk 4) – Wayfarer

Again [Jesus] said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
Mark 4:30-32 (NIV)

It is spring in Iowa, arguably the best place to grow things in the world. Growing up, our state used the tag line: “A place to grow.” I always found this a great tag line full of metaphorical layers. I’m sad it got buried under slogans like “You make me smile!” and “We do amazing things with corn.”

Spring brings my perennial desire to plant something and make it grow. I have to confess that when it comes to being a child of Iowa I’m a bit of a prodigal. Growing things has never come naturally to me. I’ve done okay with my rosebushes, but I think it’s because they do well on their own despite me. Last spring we planted some herbs on the patio. I even got to use them to make fresh seasoning a few times before they died.

It’s a beautiful thing about the cycles of life, isn’t it? It is perennial. Hope springs eternal with Easter. Every spring the Cubs have a chance to win the World Series and I have a chance to successfully grow something. It doesn’t matter that the odds are 1:108. There’s still a chance, and each spring the hope is intoxicating.

Last year, Wendy and I bought actual herb plants. Undeterred by their premature death, I decided that this year we’re going to grow them from seeds. If I’m going to commit serial herbicide, I might as well make it more difficult. So, we got three grow-kits with pots, dirt, and seeds.

What struck me as I planted the seeds was how minuscule they were. Seriously, I felt like I was sprinkling dust particles in the dirt! I followed the instructions for watering and a week or so later Wendy and I went to the lake for a long weekend. When we got back, there were actual plants growing in two of the three pots. What did I do wrong with the third plant? I’m telling you: I can kill a plant before it even sprouts! When I contacted the grow-kit company I was told that sometimes you can get “bad seed.” I’m not sure what that means, but it felt like a pardon from the Governor. I sanded out a couple of notches off the handle of my garden trowel.

I thought about my little herb garden as I read today’s chapter. Jesus uses planting seeds as a word picture of God’s Kingdom. The seed can be as small as a speck of dust, but it can sprout and grow into something huge. Which is why earlier in the chapter Jesus told another story about a person who was sowing seed as they journeyed along. The seed was sown everywhere, which got me mulling this over.

Jesus told His followers that the seed is the Word. In the Great Story, I learned that Jesus is the living Word and also incarnate Love. So, one way I sow the Word along my life journey is by sowing love that is joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, faithful, good, and self-controlled. In doing this, I’m scattering that hopeful possibility of spring that the seed might happen to fall upon a soul that it good soil for that seed to germinate and grow into something exponentially huge in relation to that little seed sown in a gentle word, a gesture of forgiveness, a random act of kindness, or a timely hug.

Of course, the Great Story also talks about bad seed that can equally be sown. The seeds of hatred, anger, malice, chaos, violence, rage, jealousy, envy, selfishness, dissension, and division. Bad seeds don’t grow much of anything.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself once again looking within and without. What am I sowing in my thoughts, words, actions, reactions, posts, tweets, replies, and comments? I look outward at the things I see in the media, on social media, and the people I “follow.” What is being sown? Good seed? Bad seed?

I don’t want to be judgmental, but I do want to be wise.

I can’t control others, but I can control myself.

I am embarking on yet another day. Day number 20,088 of my earthly journey.

It’s spring in Iowa. A place to grow.

What am I going to sow today?

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

Chapter-a-Day

You Never Know

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You Never Know (CaD 2 Pet 3) – Wayfarer

You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 3:17-18 (NRSVCE)

As a young man, I was asked by a friend to accompany him to a friend’s wedding. I didn’t know the couple getting married, but my friend didn’t want to go to the wedding alone. “Tom? Do you know what a young, single man is at a wedding?” he asked me. I shrugged, wondering where he was going with this. “A carcass,” he answered as though bestowing his wisdom upon me.. “Every single, unmarried woman at a wedding sees you as nothing more than the piece of meat who might be the one to marry her.”

It was then that I realized that my egotistical friend, who happened to be engaged, asked me to be his wingman to help ward off the single women he assumed would be flocking around him. Arrogance and cynicism aside, I have attended and officiated a lot of weddings along my life journey. From what I have observed, there is a thread of truth beneath my friend’s hubris. When you’re young and unmarried and all your other friends seem to be getting married, it’s fairly common to wonder “What about me?” And then you start dreaming of a story in which you met “the one” at your friend’s wedding. Come on. We’re all human. It happens.

Jesus told a story about a wedding. In the Hebrew tradition of His day, weddings were at night. The groom and his entourage would arrive at the bride’s house where the bride and her virgin, unmarried bridesmaids waited to escort the wedding party to the groom’s house where the wedding would take place and the marriage consummated. Keep in mind there were no street lights in those days. The bridesmaid’s job was to carry an oil lamp or torch to illuminate the wedding party’s trek across town. The lamp/torch served a dual purpose. Not only did it light the way for the wedding party, but it also illuminated the bridesmaid herself who was an unmarried virgin looking for a husband. You just never know when one of the groom’s unmarried friends might “see her in a good light,” shall we say, and decide he wants to marry her. If a virgin bridesmaid was unprepared and missed the entourage or didn’t have enough oil in her lamp or on her torch to make the entire journey it would be considered a disgrace and a bad omen, but she might miss out on winning the eligible groomsman lottery.

In Jesus’ story. The bridegroom was waylaid. He and his entourage were taking forever to arrive. Some of the bridesmaids got distracted and felt like they had plenty of time. They didn’t have their lamps oiled and ready to go. The groom shows up suddenly, the unprepared bridesmaids ask to borrow some of their fellow bridesmaids oil, but no virgin bridesmaid is going to freely hand her ticket for the eligible groomsman lottery away. Besides, the less competition the better the odds. Are you with me?

So the unprepared bridesmaids run to the local Walmart for some oil. By the time they get back, the wedding has taken place. The reception is in full swing and the DJ has the whole crowd dancing to Love Shack. The groom’s servant at the door takes the young bridesmaids for wedding crashers and won’t let them in.

That’s the story. So, what was the point of the story?

Jesus was very adamant that someday He would return from heaven in what will be the climax of the Great Story being told from Genesis through Revelation. Jesus didn’t just hint at it. He was very clear about it. In fact, after Peter saw the risen Jesus ascend into heaven, there were angels who said to him and the other disciples: “In the same way you just saw Him ascend, someday He’s going to come back.” Peter, Paul, and the rest of Jesus’ original followers were convinced that Jesus could return at any moment. In fact, they fully believed it would happen in their lifetime even though Jesus said that even He didn’t know when it would take place. The original Jesus followers used a Greek word, maranatha, meaning “He’s coming back” as a salutation when greeting and parting with one another.

Of course, we’re still waiting 2,000 years later.

Today’s final chapter of Peter’s letter to Jesus’ followers, Peter addresses the issue of Jesus’ return for two reasons. The believers who were raised in Greek culture didn’t have any kind of developed understanding of apocalypse, eternity, or a judgment day that had developed as part of Hebrew and Christian teaching. So, the Greek believers struggled to understand it. Second, there were cynics who were like, “You keep talking about Jesus returning, but it isn’t happening.”

In essence, today’s chapter is Peter addressing the bridesmaids in Jesus’ parable. They were acting as if they could do whatever they wanted and there would be no accountability for their choices. Jesus wanted His followers to behave as though today is the day that He will return and settle accounts on a grand, eternal scale; Not being so foolish as to not plan for the future, but being wise enough to live each day with the understanding that tomorrow is never guaranteed.

With that, I head into day 19,890 of my earthly journey. I’m going to do my best to do it well.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Seeds, Soil, and Fruit

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Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Mark 4:9 (NIV)

As I am fond of saying, God’s base language is metaphor. Jesus was famous for speaking in parables, similes, and word pictures. In today’s chapter, Mark chronicles four different parables. All of them are examples from the everyday life in the agrarian culture in which Jesus and His listeners lived:

  • A farmer sowing seed over his field and the different things that happen to the seed that is sown.
  • An oil lamp like the kind of lamp every one of Jesus’ listeners used in their homes at night.
  • Crops that grow to maturity and produce fruit despite the sower doing nothing other than scattering the seed.
  • A tiny mustard seed that grows into a giant tree.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of Romans 1:20 as I read:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

In the same way that an artist’s work reveals things about the artist, God’s creation reveals things about his divine nature. Jesus simply identified the ways that creation reveals truth of God’s Kingdom and turns them into a parable.

The thing I found myself contemplating this morning was the fact that Jesus knew not all of His listeners would hear and understand what He was getting at. Some would have the spiritual “ears” to hear what He was saying. Others would hear the words but be deaf to its meaning. Jesus accepts this as a matter of course and embraces it.

I became a follower of Jesus during my Freshman year of high school and was an active follower during those high school years. This past year I attended my 35th high school reunion and really enjoyed renewing acquaintances with my classmates. In the course of conversations, I got to hear stories of others who had themselves become followers on the course of their own journeys even though it happened on a different stretch of road than it did for me. Wendy has had similar experiences with former classmates and sorority sisters whom she has discovered became followers; Individuals she would have never expected to have any interest in spiritual things.

That’s the thing I’ve observed about soil as I’ve lived most of my life amidst the farm fields of Iowa. Some years a field might be less productive because it’s too wet, too dry, or the soil isn’t right. Another year, the soil might have changed because the farmer worked it a certain way and the weather cooperated so that it was ready to receive the seed and allow it to take root, grow, and produce. And, there’s another parable.

Not every heart is ready to hear or see at the same time. Some soil takes time and seasons of preparation. Jesus drew large crowds with His miracles. It’s easy to draw a crowd if you provide a good show. At the same time, Jesus knew that not every one in the audience was ready to hear and He was okay with that. He was speaking to the few who’s hearts were ready to receive the seeds He was planting. In another message He would identify them as those who were asking, seeking, and knocking. Not everyone is.

In the quiet this morning I find myself reminded of another parable that comes from my observations in the Iowa heartland. Fruit from one season becomes the seed for the next season. The spiritual fruit my life produces today in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and the self-control that I extend to others today is the seed that I scatter. Without me ever knowing it, some of that seed will land in a heart or life that is primed and ready to receive it. Based on Jesus’ example, that’s the way it works.

Chapter-a-Day

The Pursuit

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Whoever pursues righteousness and love
    finds life, prosperity and honor.
Proverbs 21:21 (NIV)

A recently released study showed that the number of church-going Christians in the United States has dropped significantly in the past twenty years. As usual, I have heard a number of media outlets fanning the flames of fear, anxiety, and panic at the news. I’m not getting my undies in a bunch over it. There are some fascinating questions to be asked, contemplated, and discussed regarding the details in the data. Fear leads to all sorts of silly, reactive behavior.

When I was young and starting out on my faith journey, many institutional churches had a keen interest in morality and political power. There was, I know, a genuine motivation in being followers of Jesus. I experienced it first hand in my own life and in the sincere mentors I wrote about yesterday who taught me spiritual disciplines. There was also, however, a drive for size, numbers, and political influence within media-driven pastors and leaders. I myself witnessed and was often a part of a push to get people to pray the sinner’s prayer and walk an aisle to accept Jesus. While that launched many faith journeys, my own included, there were many who simply believed that they had received the heavenly stamp of approval. They had their spiritual “fire insurance” policy that would keep them out of hell, and their ticket was punched for heaven. This was often not the start of a faith journey towards becoming more like Jesus, but a transactional religious rite.

Jesus addressed this in His parable of the sower. The seed falls on all sorts of soil. Some show signs of life and growth, but never grows to maturity or produces a healthy, abundant crop.

My own observation is that there have been many who were part of institutional denominations and churches for reasons that were far different than a personal spiritual journey to follow Jesus. It could have been familial, cultural, and/or social expectation in a time when the institutional church was part of the fabric of our society. There has been a huge shift in the past twenty years. Denominations are imploding. The institutions are falling apart. In addition, being a follower of Jesus involves regular fellowship with other believers and worship. Membership and participation in an institutional church provide the opportunity for those things. At the same time, I have known many regular church members and attenders who neither worship nor participate in any real spiritual relationship with others. In addition, an institutional church is not the only place that the disciplines of worship and fellowship can be found.

This brings me back to the proverb from today’s chapter that I pasted above. It cuts right to the heart of the matter and makes me ask: “What am I pursuing?” If it’s simply a religious rite or a transactional moment that gives me some sense of eternal security, then it’s a very different thing than me being a follower of Jesus. What I have discovered is that being a follower of Jesus is a faith journey because it is a never-ending pursuit and a seeking after becoming the person Jesus calls me to be. As the proverb states, it’s not a pursuit of religion and heaven, but of righteousness and love.

Jesus said:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [life’s basic necessities] will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

So, in the quiet this morning I find myself asking the very simple question: “What am I pursuing?” Then there is a follow-up question that is difficult, but necessary: “What do I want to say I am pursuing, and what do my daily words, actions, relationships, purchases, time spent, and energy expended reveal to be my life’s pursuits?“

Righteousness and love.

Sometimes, I have to recalibrate and remember what the goal is. Otherwise, I get distracted pursuing so many other things.