Tag Archives: Religion

Chapter-a-Day

Anonymous Cogs

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Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest [Jesus] because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away. Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words.
Mark 12:12-13 (NIV)

Many years ago I stumbled upon a business blogger who went by the pseudonym Anonymous Cog. “AC” was one of those front-line minions in the institutional labyrinth known as corporate America. His vocation was fodder for the comic strip Dilbert and he blogged about the daily travails of being an “anonymous” cog in the giant corporate machine. AC and I began a back channel correspondence. I almost instantly recognized a kindred spirit in his words. Now, whenever I see people working inside of any human institution, I think to myself: “Anonymous cogs.”

Enneagram Type Fours are often known as the Individualists, and that’s me. Along my life journey, one of the things that I’ve learned about myself is that I’m typically (not always) better off when I am able to operate independently. Whenever I’ve found myself operating inside a large bureaucratic system it brings out a rebellious streak in me because they are typically full of silliness, foolishness, inefficiency, and injustice. They become insularly focused on power, internal politics, and of course money.

The Great Story is, at the heart of it, about an eternal conflict between the Kingdom of God and human empire. I’ve observed that human empire can be embodied in an individual human being, but it’s easiest to see it at work in the large institutions of this world. This includes, but is not limited to, the worldly kingdoms of government, commerce, finance, labor, academia, and even religion.

In today’s chapter, Mark is careful to name all of the institutional cogs that had set themselves up against Jesus. He names chief priests, teachers of the law, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. Jerusalem was a regional seat of power, not only for religion, but also for government and commerce. The Roman Empire, the regional government of Herod, and the Chief Priests of the temple were all separate institutional powers who fought for wealth, clung to power, and controlled the lives of the anonymous cogs living in the region. These institutions held a constant and uneasy tension in the flow of power and wealth.

Jesus was a wrench in the works for all of them.

The clearing of the money-changers out of the Temple courts was Jesus’ way of shining a holy light on the corruption of the religious institutional human empire that the Hebrew leaders had assembled at the Temple. The crowds Jesus was drawing and Jesus’ sharp criticism was a potential powder keg. If riots broke out it would bring down the wrath of Rome, and that threatened both the power and money that flowed out of the Temple and into the hands of Herod and the Chief Priests.

The Son of God, an upstart outsider from rural Galilean backwaters, stands alone against the human institutional empires of government, commerce, and religion. That’s the picture that Mark is painting for us in today’s chapter. One of the things I’ve observed along my life journey is that human empires will always attempt to crush or eliminate any anonymous cog who threatens their system or the power and wealth of its leaders. I refer you to any daily news outlet for evidence.

In the quiet this morning, my individualist heart is stirred by this David vs. Goliath scenario that emerges from Mark’s stylus and the events he reports. At the same time, I have to return to what I wrote just a few paragraphs back. Human empire can exist in me. My individualism can be transformed into a personal empire with me on the throne of my own life, rigging everything I control to consolidate the flow of power, wealth, status, influence, and appearances so that it benefits me above all else. If I allow this to happen, I become a microcosm of the very institutional worldly empires that stand in opposition to God’s Kingdom. The anonymous cog becomes emperor of his own world.

Jesus calls me to live a Kingdom of God life amidst a world of human empires. He calls me as His disciple to seek after eternal things rather than temporal things. He calls me to serve rather than expect to be served. He tells me to be extravagant in my generosity rather than hoard things and money for myself. He calls me to humbly surrender my personal desires rather than demand my own way.

Kingdom of God or personal human empire? That’s the daily conflict. Every day I choose a side.

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

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Of Motives and Outcomes

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So Herodias [King Herod’s wife] nursed a grudge against John [the Baptist] and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head.
Mark 6:19-20, 26-27 (NIV)

Along my life journey, I’ve been a part of a handful of regular gatherings of Jesus’ followers that drew large crowds, in a large part, because of the gifted teaching and/or charismatic personality of the leader. Looking back, I find each one of the experiences to have been a living parable of one form or another. Man, do I have some stories.

As I revisit every one of these experiences in my memory, I can quickly conjure the names and faces of individuals who were a regular part of the gatherings. These individuals were prominent members of their communities, leaders of commerce, local government officials, affluent, and influential. I observed over time that many of these individuals led lives that were unabashedly incongruent with Jesus’ teachings. I mention this, not in judgement, because I didn’t know them intimately nor did I know their stories. I was always glad they were interested enough to be there. I rarely, however, witnessed much, if any, change in these individual’s lives in response to what they heard.

This came to mind this morning as I read about King Herod Antipas and Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. John was a wildly popular preacher. Crowds regularly flocked to hear him preach in the wilderness and to be baptized. King Herod was intrigued and fascinated by the rogue, prophetic, wild man. He liked to hear the preacher. He even carried a deep level of respect for the man.

It’s important to know that Herod, along with his father (Herod the Great) were card-carrying members of the Jewish faith. This was, of course, politically expedient since they ruled over a constituency that was mostly Jewish. Herod, however, did not live like he gave two-bits about the Law of Moses and how God prescribed for His people to live. So, when Herod married his own brother’s wife, John loudly and publicly call him out on it. Herod found it expedient to arrest John to manage PR and control the narrative.

What’s fascinating about the story is that even with John in prison, Herod protected John, and even gave him audience. Mark describes that Herod respected that John was the real deal, a sincere and holy man of God.

Nevertheless, when Herod’s step-daughter performed a dance for him at a party full of the rich and influential brokers you’ll find at the center of any worldly center of power, John makes the mistake of offering her up-to half his kingdom as a reward for her amazing performance. At her mother’s suggestion, she chooses the head of John the Baptist, and he reluctantly delivers.

And this brings me back to those rich and influential local brokers I’ve observed gathering around talented and charismatic teachers along life’s road. One of the things that my observation taught me was to consider both motives and outcomes, first in myself, and then in others. Jesus Himself exemplified this. In John’s biography of Jesus, he records that Jesus refused to “entrust” Himself to the crowds that gathered to listen to Him because He knew their motives. Then when the crowds followed Jesus after He fed 5,000 with a couple of fish and five loaves, John records that Jesus called their motives into question and called them to set their sights on a different outcome:

Jesus answered, “You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free.

“Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”
John 6:26-27 (MSG)

Herod may have respected John the Baptist. He may have recognized John as a man of God and protected him. The truth of the situation was, however, that Herod protected John only when it was expedient for him to do so. And when it came to Herod’s daily life, it was obvious that God’s message through John fell on a heart of stone just like Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed a few chapters ago. And, the evidence is that Herod never changed. Herod viewed John as an amusement, and a couple of years later he would treat Jesus the same way on the morning of His crucifixion, dressing the beaten and bloodied Jesus up in glittery robe and begging for Jesus to entertain him with a miracle.

In the quiet this morning, I come back to the only motives and outcomes I can control, and those are my own. What are my motives for going to church, being a disciple, and reading a chapter-a-day? What outcome does it have in my daily words, actions, and relationships? Along life’s road I’ve observed that crowds are fickle, fame is fleeting, what’s popular isn’t typically true, and people are generally attracted to all three like flies to feces. I’m reminded this morning as I head into another work week that Jesus said, “small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

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

Chapter-a-Day

Opposition!

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Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
Mark 2:18 (NIV)

One of the things that I have learned along my life journey and in my career is that when you step up into the spotlight in front of a group of people, and you have something to say, you make yourself an easy target. When the something you have to say pushes against the orthodoxy of whatever group you’re addressing, then you’re an easy target stirring a hornet’s nest.

Mark’s biography of Jesus is the shortest of the four biographies of Jesus known as the “gospels” (Gospel means “good news”). In fact it’s 3700 words shorter than the next one on the list as far as word count (John) and almost 10,700 words shorter than Luke’s account.

What that means is that Mark is moving fast through the story and he’s only sharing the essentials. John wrote at the end of his biography that if all the stories were told about Jesus that could be told then all the libraries in the world could not contain them all. So, it begs the question of me as a reader, what can I learn from the choices Mark is making?

In today’s chapter, Mark shares four quick scenes from the early days of Jesus’ ministry. In each of the four, Jesus’ words or actions are challenged by others. Three of the four challenges come from different constituencies.

Jesus tells a man that his sins are forgiven, and “teachers of the law” told him he’d committed blasphemy. “Teachers of the law” refers to Scribes, which can be considered vocational lawyers who spent their lives interpreting the Law of Moses (the first five books of the Bible).

In the next scene, Jesus is having dinner with His new disciple, Levi (Matthew). Matthew was a tax collector, which meant he was seen as a Roman collaborator, he had money, and he didn’t hang out with good, religious Jews. Jesus is challenged by “teachers of the law who were Pharisees.” The Pharisees were a quasi-political party who held sway over the Jewish religion in Jesus’ day. So these challengers were not only vocational lawyers, but they were members of the most powerful political party within the rulers of Judaism. They challenged Jesus for mingling with socially and religiously unacceptable people.

As Jesus is beginning His ministry, His cousin John the Baptist, is at the height of his own popularity. John was rogue preacher. The same religious and political establishment who challenged Jesus, challenged John as well. John had a huge following with a lot of his own disciples. So in this next scene, it becomes clear that John has his disciples fasting and they notice that Jesus’ disciples are not. I love that Mark mentions “some people” who questioned this because along my life journey I’ve had many experiences with being told that “some people” have taken issue with something I’ve said or done. Even Jesus is getting the “some people” challenges from within the constituency of people who would naturally be His likely supporters and followers.

The final scene Mark shares has to do with rule-keeping. This time it is the straight-out members of the Pharisees who challenge the fact that Jesus’ disciples were picking off grain in a field for an afternoon snack. It happened to be the Sabbath, a religious day of rest that Pharisees policed to a fault.

In these four scenes, mark is telling us:

Jesus claimed to have the divine authority to forgive sins, and did a miracle to prove it. The religious establishment called it blasphemy.

Jesus socialized with people who were socially unacceptable to the fundamentalist and orthodox religious set.

Even the anti-establishment, populist types who were followers of John and were keenly interested in what Jesus was doing challenged the fact that He didn’t demand the same rigorous spiritual disciplines that John did.

And Jesus taught His disciples to follow the Spirit of the law of the Sabbath and not worry so much about the rule-keeping bureaucrats who took it upon themselves to police such things and punish the rule-breakers. Those rule-keeping bureaucrats got stirred up like hornets when Jesus claimed that His authority as “Lord of the Sabbath” trumped their authority as bureaucratic, establishment minions.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded of a quote by Albert Einstein who said that “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” I can’t help but be reminded that life is not only full of challenges, but also challengers. Mark seems to be telling me that Jesus Himself was challenged and opposed on all sides by both His supporters and His detractors. In the same way, I can expect to be challenged when I am being who God calls me to be, doing what God calls me do to, just like Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus, I already know what He expects of me when challenged. It starts in my spirit which He tells me should be love, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. It then comes out in the form of blessing and praying for those who challenge me, hate me, and say all sorts of bad things about me. Jesus said,

“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.”
Matthew 5:11-12 (MSG)

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

Chapter-a-Day

Flyover Country

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Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Mark 1:38-39 (NIV)

Other than a four year sojourn to the outskirts of Chicago for college, I have lived my entire life in Iowa. As I network for work with business people on both coasts, I find that most people a) don’t know exactly where Iowa is on the map and b) have never been here. Iowa is known as “flyover” country. Business, politics, and culture in America are driven primarily by people on the either coast. Here in Iowa It’s mostly rural farmland dotted with small towns. We’re an easy target for comedians. The only reason anyone pays attention to Iowa is our first in the nation caucuses every four years that kick of the presidential race, and every four years the important and elite talking heads on the coasts gripe in the media about us having that little sliver of the political pie.

In the 40-plus years that I’ve been studying this Great Story from Genesis to Revelation, one of the things that I find lost on most people is the giant cultural divide between the worldly powers of Jesus’ day and where Jesus chose to begin His earthly ministry. For those living in Judea, the center of everything elite and important was in Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was New York, L.A., and Washington D.C. rolled into one. Just as people flock to those centers of business, politics, and entertainment to “make it” in the world today, so would those who wanted to “make it” in Jesus day go directly to Jerusalem. Every one who was anyone of power and prestige was in the big city.

The north shore of Galilee, on the other hand, was the “flyover” country in its day. That’s where Jesus chose to begin his ministry. When I visited the area I was amazed how remote it still feels today. To get to some of the little villages where Jesus taught we had to navigate back-country roads to places it’s obvious few people ever visit. It’s remote, isolated, and about as far away from “worldly power” as one could get.

Today our chapter-a-day journey begins a trek through the gospel of Mark, written by a man named John Mark, who has his own interesting story. Mark was a young man when his mother, Mary, became a follower of Jesus. He was among the throng of followers who are often forgotten in the shadows behind The Twelve who got most of the attention. Mark’s mother was among the women with means who financially supported Jesus’ ministry and in the events after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus’ disciples and followers met at and lived in Mary’s home. Mark is in the background of most of the events of those early years of the Jesus’ Movement. He was with Paul on the first missionary journey, spent much of his adult life living with and assisting Peter. At the end of Paul’s life, Mark is there by his side.

I felt a spiritual connection between person and place this morning as I meditated on the first chapter of Mark’s biography of Jesus. Jesus chose to center His ministry in a rural area dotted with small villages of simple people just trying to catch fish, grow crops, and survive. Jesus’ followers were, for the most part, blue-collar workers with little education and zero prominence in the world. People like Mark, who was just a kid whose mom decided to follow Jesus, and so he lived his life in the background of events that would change the world. He was a stage-hand in the drama of the Jesus Movement – listening, learning, and then sharing Jesus’ teaching. Just one of those names in the program to which no one really pays attention.

And, I think this is the point. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said that His ways are not our ways. He doesn’t do things the way Wall Street, Washington, Hollywood, or Silicon Valley believe that things should be done. God sent His Son to flyover country to simple people living in rural areas who are just trying to make a living and figure out life.

I find something endearing and profoundly significant in this, especially in a culture where popularity, fame, and influence have become the currency of power in an online world that has become an endless cacophony of voices. Jesus’ message has never broadly resonated in the power centers of this world where the kingdoms of politics, education, commerce, and even religion hold sway. I am reminded that at the very end of the Story in Revelation, those kingdoms will still be lined up against God.

And so, in the quiet this morning, I sit in flyover country. Few people can find me on a map, and most people will avoid visiting. The further I get in my life journey the more I appreciate it. Jesus taught that I should seek first the Kingdom of God. Along life’s road I discovered that the closer and more enticed I become with the Kingdoms of this world, the harder it becomes find the eternal treasures that Jesus said were most important. I think Mark understood this. What a great role model; Living life in the background listening, learning, and sharing Jesus’ teaching among simple people who are just trying make a living and figure out life.

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

Chapter-a-Day

“The Why”

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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

On a shelf in my office you’ll find some notebooks. The notebooks contain character studies of different parts I’ve played as an actor. When I trained as an actor in college, I was taught that being an actor is not so much pretending to be a character (like putting on a costume, from outside in) but understanding a character so thoroughly that you transform into that person from the inside out. A great performance on stage begins, not on stage, but in my study with a notebook, the script, and all the resources I can muster. Understanding why my character makes certain choices, says the words he says, and does the things he does requires a cocktail of psychology, imagination, investigation, and meditation. The “why” is critical to the “what.”

Along my journey, I have found this to also be a spiritual truth.

Today’s chapter contains two verses that are foundational to an understanding what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-9 are well known verses:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

I have found, however, that this is one of the most difficult truths for people to truly believe. Not just cognitively understand, but experientially understand. Throughout my life journey I have continually observed believers who pressure themselves (and their children) to do the right things, say the right things, and keep up appearances of goodness in order to conform to religious social pressure, avoid being ashamed, and to hopefully live a good enough life to be welcomed into eternity with a “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

The problem with this scenario is not in the what but in the why.

As I meditated on the chapter in the quiet this morning, it struck me that I’ve heard Ephesians 2:8-9 quoted regularly my entire life. Not once, however, have I heard someone quote verse 10 with it:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Yet this is a critical and essential context! The “good works” flow immediately out of being “saved by grace through faith.” If I were an actor doing a character study of a sincere disciple of Jesus, I would dig into the “why” of their good works and find that the motivation is gratitude for Jesus’ kindness, grace, and mercy. I have observed in others that their good works are motivated by ingratiation — both the hope of maintaining acceptance and social status among the religious set and also punching one’s ticket of admission into heaven.

This distinction of “the why” is critical for any true understanding of Jesus and His teaching. I make certain choices, say the words I say, and do the things I do “because of his great love for me, God, who is rich in mercy, made me alive with Christ even when I was dead in my transgressions.” The good works don’t flow into salvation but out of it.

If I, in my heart and soul, don’t get the “why” right, then all of my good works are simply a shitty performance on the stage of life.

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

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God’s True Desire

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God’s True Desire (CaD Ezk 14) – Wayfarer

…even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
Ezekiel 14:14 (NIV)

There was a credit card company who used to use the tag line: “Membership has its privileges.” And, there are certain places in life when this is true. After three decades of regular business travel, I now have certain lifetime perks as a member of various hotel and airline loyalty clubs. It certainly makes travel a little easier.

I have observed along my life journey that it’s easy to think that being a member of a church or denomination has its privileges, as well. There is, however, danger in that line of thinking. Jesus repeatedly reminded the most religious people of His day about this. Just as Ezekiel is doing in his prophetic messages.

In today’s chapter, Ezekiel is given a prophetic word for the elders who served as leaders of the exiles in Babylon. God warns them of the people’s continued idolatry and specifies that they have “set up idols in their hearts.” The original Hebrew is, however more aptly translated “set up idols upon their hearts.” It was customary and fashionable in ancient Babylon for people to wear idols and amulets on necklaces. It is possible that the Hebrew exiles had taken up this practice themselves.

In his prophetic message, Zeke mentions that God’s anger was so great that even if “Noah, Daniel, and Job” were present they alone would be spared. To Ezekiel’s listeners, this would have been a brash statement that’s lost on modern readers.

The Hebrews were proud of their status of being children of Israel, referring to Israel (aka Jacob), the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. But before Israel or the people of Israel existed, there were characters of antiquity regarded for being righteous. They were never considered Hebrews because they existed before the Hebrews existed and were therefore considered non-Jewish gentiles.

Two of these characters we know from the Great Story itself. Noah and Job. The third figure, Daniel, is not the Daniel we know. That Daniel, of the lion’s den fame, was a contemporary of Zeke, and his story is being lived at the same time Zeke is delivering his prophesies. The Daniel Zeke is referencing is found in non-Biblical ancient texts from Canaan. They mention an ancient king from the region named Dan-el who was a man known for his incredible righteousness and justice. He cared for the widows, the orphans, and ruled with unparalleled goodness.

I find two important lessons in Zeke’s reference to these three men.

First, they were characters renown for their righteous faith and corresponding lives. Noah was a man of righteousness and goodness while the world around him was going to hell in a hand-basket. Job, despite his incredible suffering at the hands of the evil one, refused to curse God and held fast to his faith in God despite the physical, mental, and spiritual trials his suffering put him through. Dan-el was a man of justice who cared for the poor, the needy, and the outcast.

Throughout the prophets, it’s easy to focus on the idolatry that is the surface problem the Hebrews are dealing with. But it’s not just the idolatry that God is mad about. It’s the consequences of the idolatry in which the people have become self-centered, arrogant, and immoral. They aren’t doing the things that God desires most: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.

It’s important to recognize that in referencing three gentile characters from antiquity who were not Israelites, Zeke was making the point that even gentiles who didn’t have the Law of Moses acted more righteously than God’s people were. They should not expect that simply being a member of God’s people to mean they had the privilege of escaping God’s judgment. It would not shield them from God’s anger because God even considered non-Jewish gentiles more righteous than they.

I’m reminded in the quiet this morning that even today it’s easy to fall into the trap of dutiful religion (e.g. being member of a church, throwing a buck in the plate, volunteering) while ignoring the things that God tells us He really cares about. God’s true desire is that I live daily life in a way that reflects His love, generosity, mercy, and righteousness. That includes how I treat my wife and family, how I live with my neighbors, how I conduct my business, and how I conduct myself in every situation. If my heart isn’t seeking after God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, then my religious acts and church membership are a hollow waste of time.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Paths and Footsteps

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Paths and Footsteps (CaD Ezk 8) – Wayfarer

He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger?
Ezekiel 8:17 (NIV)

Over the past week or two, Wendy and sat down to re-watch the first three seasons of The Chosen before we dug into the fourth season. We’re halfway through the fourth season, and we’re thoroughly enjoying it. It has done a great job of contrasting Jesus’ teaching and example with the fundamentalist religious legalism that God’s people had turned God’s law into. It will prove to be lethal.

As I read today’s chapter, it is obvious that Ezekiel is dealing with an entirely different problem than Jesus, and I find the comparison fascinating. Today’s chapter is the beginning of a vision that will take us through chapter 11. It has five major sections and begins with God taking Zeke to Jerusalem to show him the extent of the idolatry being practiced inside Solomon’s Temple.

What’s not immediately clear to modern readers is that the “tour” of idol worship inside the temple includes Canaanite, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian deities. The final act of idolatry mentioned refers to the men of Jerusalem turning their back on the altar of God and bowing down to worship the sun. It’s interesting to note that the date of this vision at the beginning of the chapter places the timing of this vision with the autumnal equinox when the rising sun would shine directly through the doors to the Temple. All of the cultures that surrounded ancient Israel worshiped a form of sun-god worship. Many scholars interpret this act of sun worship as the people adopting a mixture of sun-god worship into their worship of Yahweh.

As the chapter draws to a close, God says something very interesting to Zeke. It’s not just the idolatry being practiced that has stirred God to wrath: “Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger?“

When God established the Hebrews as a nation in Exodus He gave them laws and a system of worship that was about living clean and ordered lives in which people loved God and loved others through gratitude, respect, honor, and respect. As the people forgot God’s laws and adopted the forms of pagan worship from the people groups around them, they also adopted the acts and behaviors that went along with them. Often this included behaviors that were completely contradictory to God’s ways. It wasn’t just the idolatry, it included adultery, sexual immorality, and the cursing of others. It also led to violence and a disregard for others and for life itself.

The history of Kings and the words of multiple prophets describe King Mannaseh of Judah, who was largely responsible for turning Solomon’s Temple into a carnival of idol worship. They all speak of his violence and the “innocent blood” he spilled.

One of the things that I’ve observed throughout the Great Story is the fact that human beings repeatedly fail to find the heart of what God, what Jesus, is asking of us. In Ezekiel’s day, God’s people chased after lustful appetites that the paganism of their day catered to, which led to many of the acts of the flesh Paul describes in Galatians:

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…

By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the pendulum had swung to the other side. God’s people had turned God’s rules into a fundamentalist system of legalistic and religious rule-keeping. This produces the other acts of the flesh that Paul lists:

hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy

In both cases, the people were missing the heart of God’s intent. To love God and love others in such a way that our lives increasingly produce love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When that happens, our lives, our families, and our communities become places of peace, generosity, and order.

In the quiet this morning, I look back on my life journey. There are stretches of my journey in which I ran headlong down the path toward the world and the things of this world. The consequences were disastrous for me and the people I love. I also have had stretches of my journey when I followed a path into legalistic, religious rule-keeping. The consequences were equally disastrous but in a completely different way.

The further I get in my journey, the harder I find myself ignoring paths and simply following Jesus’ footsteps. As I walk in His footsteps, follow His example, and obey His teaching (His actual words, not the religious rule books and religious hoops that people turn His teaching into), I find life much more spiritually fruitful in all the good ways.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Honoring Our Differences

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Honoring Our Differences (CaD Rom 14) – Wayfarer

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.
Romans 14:1 (NIV)

For three years I served as pastor in a Quaker (a.k.a. The Society of Friends) congregation. It was a unique situation in that the small, rural congregation itself was comprised of members from all sorts of diverse denominational backgrounds from Pentecostal and Roman Catholic to Reformed. Those who actually were raised as Quakers were a minority, but that was the heritage of the church and everyone respected it. The church was looking for a pastor who would respect the Quaker traditions but would also embrace and speak to members from all denominational backgrounds. I was happy to do so.

It was a fascinating three years in which I learned a tremendous amount from my “Friends.” They taught me the power of silence and spending time in quiet. My denominational background didn’t teach me about getting spiritually centered as preparation and part of worship. I also know no other Christian denomination that wholeheartedly believes and practices the reality that God can work through and speak through anyone regardless of gender, age, or education.

That doesn’t mean I agreed with everything in Quaker doctrine. The Friends don’t practice either of the traditional sacraments of Baptism or Communion. The original Quakers rebelled against the notion that a baby was “saved” simply by being baptized by his or her parents. Likewise, they rejected the idea that taking a weekly Eucharist somehow made you right with God. So, they did away with the sacraments and found different ways to define them. While I respected the ideas, I never fully bought into them. I think my Friends threw the baby out with the bathwater in this regard. Nevertheless, I respected their ideas and simply agreed to disagree. My guiding principle for those three years was from St. Augustine: “In the essentials unity. In the non-essentials liberty. In all things charity.”

In today’s chapter, Paul addresses the fact that believers have diverse beliefs about many “non-essentials.” He mentions beliefs around dietary restrictions and holding certain days as more sacred than others as examples. Paul urges the believers in Rome to be respectful and honor those who have strong beliefs that we don’t particularly share. It would be like me ending my sermon in the Quaker church by inviting anyone who wanted to be baptized to follow me down to the river after the service. That would be dishonoring and inappropriate. “If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you [are doing],” Paul writes, “you are no longer acting in love.”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself grateful for the experiences I’ve had with many different flavors of Christian traditions and belief systems. I have discovered that there is a lot for me to discover and learn from other traditions that make my own faith journey deeper and richer. I may disagree at certain points. In fact, I almost always do. The Law of Love, however, calls me to be respectful, not hostile. It demands that I honor, not insult.

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

Chapter-a-Day

The Law of Love

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The Law of Love (CaD Rom 13) – Wayfarer

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:9 (NIV)

Those who have never read The Lord of the Rings and have only watched the movies miss out on the book’s masterful conclusion. The fallen wizard, Saruman, does not die as the movies depict. Rather, Gandalf makes multiple attempts to give his colleague a chance to repent of his folly and come back to reason. Gandalf offers Saruman grace and mercy.

Saruman’s hard heart flatly refuses the offer. Unbeknownst to Frodo and company, the wizard uses his skills as a deceiver to raise a following of ruffians and travels to the Shire. He and his men take control and wreak havoc on the Hobbits’ homeland. When Frodo and his three companions finally arrive back in the Shire they find it barely recognizable because of the rules that had been implemented:

“Then the four companions went into the hobbit guard-house and made themselves as comfortable as they could. It was a bare and ugly place, with a mean little grate that would not allow a good fire. In the upper rooms were little rows of hard beds, and on every wall there was a notice and a list of Rules. Pippin tore them down. There was no beer and very little food, but with what the travellers brought and shared out they all made a fair meal; and Pippin broke Rule 4 by putting most of next day’s allowance of wood on the fire.”

This scene came to mind this morning as I pondered today’s chapter, in which Paul reiterates Jesus’ teaching regarding the Law of Love. Paul has waxed eloquent for several chapters regarding the Law of Moses and the rule-keeping that his Jewish brothers and sisters took so seriously. Now, he brings the conversation back to Jesus’ own teaching on the subject:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:36-40

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the “bare and ugly place” that the Shire becomes when it was enslaved by systemic rule-keeping. It is such a great metaphor for lives that become enslaved by religious rule-keeping. I love that Jesus came to free us from that burden and placed on us one simple law of love that is summed up in two commands: Love God. Love others. If I truly live by these two commands, all the other rules will take care of themselves.

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

Chapter-a-Day

The Difference

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The Difference (CaD Rom 4) – Wayfarer

What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:3 (NIV)

In the entirety of the Great Story, Abraham stands out as one of the most important and influential individuals. In fact, Abraham figures into current events to this very day. Three of the major world religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) trace their roots back to Abraham. The animosity between Muslims and Jews today is, in a sense, a family squabble from over four thousand years ago. Amazing.

In John 8, Jesus has a lengthy argument with his fellow Jews about Abraham. It’s a fascinating read along with today’s chapter because both Paul and Jesus are addressing the same problem in different ways. Their fellow Jews were proud of being “Abraham’s children” and letting everyone know it. Once again, Jesus points out the pesky sin problem that His people refused to see.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.“

Fast forward to Paul and his fellow Jews who were now followers of Jesus and making two basic demands. 1) That their non-Jewish counterparts become circumcised and 2) They follow the law of Moses. The problem with these demands is that they perpetuate what Jesus came to confront once and for all, and Paul continues the Message: Salvation is not dependent on keeping rules and/or removing the foreskin of your penis. Salvation is a gracious gift given through faith in Jesus alone. Period.

By demanding that their Gentile counterparts be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses, the Jewish believers were going back to the very problem Jesus came to address.

So how does Paul address this? He goes back to Father Abraham, and he points out to his fellow Jews what their own scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” He then goes on to point out that this act of faith and accrediting of righteousness happened before the covenant of circumcision was given, and before the Law of Moses existed. They have the salvation equation backward. From the beginning, from Father Abraham, salvation has always been about God’s kind and gracious gift that is activated by simple faith.

In the quiet this morning as I meditated on Paul’s words, I realized that I have long observed the same problem Paul and Jesus were dealing with 2000 years ago. It’s so easy to slip into the mode of rule-keeping and virtue-signaling. The history of humanity proves to me that this always ends up in hypocrisy, secret sins, condemnation of others, and self-righteous pride. How cool to think that all the way back to Father Abraham God was showing us the way.

Listen to God.
Believe what He says.
Have faith that God will do what He says.
Receive the gracious gift of God’s forgiveness.
Have righteousness credited to your spiritual account.

When I experienced this, it resulted in so much gratitude. My natural response was “What can I do for you God? How can I ever thank you for this gift I don’t deserve?”

“Live in the ways I ask you. Love others as I love them. Share with others what you’re experienced in Me,” God responds.

And so, I’ve been endeavoring to do that every day of this earthly journey.

Not because I have to in order to earn salvation. Salvation is already mine. I want to do the things God asks of me out of gratitude for that gift I’ve been given.

And that makes all the difference.

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