Tag Archives: Sin

Chapter-a-Day

Lost and Found

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“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
Luke 15:20 (NIV)

On Saturday morning at breakfast, Wendy read an article about a lamb. She giggled.
She cried out with laughter.
She clapped her hands.
Wendy’s family raised sheep when she was growing up. The article brought back a flood of memories for her. I got a full account of just how sweet and stupid and endearing they can be.

Sometimes, they just wander off.

Last Friday I stepped into the chapter’s context. Jesus, heading to Jerusalem to die, has dinner with a prominent religious leader. His host and the powerful guests gathered there represented the very ones who will execute Him. True to His teaching Jesus literally…

Sat at the table with His enemies.
Blessed them with His presence.
Pled with them to repent.

In today’s chapter, Luke shifts the context. The contrast is stark.

Jesus is gathered with tax collectors and sinners.
But the religious leaders are in the room, too.
Watching.
Judging.
Plotting.

Jesus? He tells stories that land like arrows—soft feathers, sharp tips.

One.

A shepherd has 100 sheep. One wanders.

He leaves the 99.

Let that sit a second.

This is not efficient.
This is not strategic.
This is not… safe.

This is love that doesn’t run spreadsheets.

He searches until he finds it. And when he does — no scolding. He lifts. He carries. He celebrates.

And here’s a tidbit worth savoring:
The sheep does nothing to contribute to its rescue. It is found… because it is loved.

Two.

A woman loses one coin out of ten.

She lights a lamp. Sweeps the house. Searches carefully.

This is quieter than the shepherd story… more intimate. Almost obsessive.

And when she finds it?

Party time again.

And again, this quiet little truth:
The coin also contributes nothing. It doesn’t cry out. It doesn’t move closer.

It is pursued with intention.

God is not just wildly emotional—He is meticulous about finding what is His.

Three.

This is the climax of Jesus’ teaching in three acts.
You can almost hear the music swell…

A son looks his father in the eye and basically says,
“I’d rather have your stuff than you.”

He takes the inheritance. Burns it. Ends up feeding pigs—rock bottom with a side of mud.

Then… he comes to his senses.

He rehearses a speech:
“I’ll go back. I’ll be a servant. I’ll earn my way…”

But the father?

He sees him while he’s still far off.

And then—this is the scandal—

He runs.

Middle Eastern patriarchs don’t run. It’s undignified. It exposes the legs. It’s… embarrassing.

But love doesn’t care about dignity.

He runs.
He embraces.
He interrupts the apology.
He restores the son before the speech is finished.

Robe. Ring. Feast.

No probation period.
No performance review.
No “let’s see if you’ve changed.”

Just… welcome home.

And then—plot twist.

The older brother.

He’s furious.

He stayed. He obeyed. He did everything right… and somehow never learned his father’s heart.

Just like Jesus’ religious critics in the room.

Now here’s where Luke 15 leans in close and lowers its voice.

I am in this story.

Some days I’m the sheep Wendy remembers—wandering, unaware, needing to be carried.

Some days I’m the coin—still, lost in the dust, waiting for light to find me.

Some days… I’m the younger son—running hard, tasting freedom that turns bitter.

And if I’m honest?

Some days I’m the older brother—standing outside grace with crossed arms, offended by mercy I didn’t earn.

Heaven celebrates recovery more than consistency.

Heaven throws parties for found things.

Not polished people.
Not perfect track records.
Not religious résumé builders.

Found things.

Wherever I am…

The Shepherd is already moving.
The Light is already searching.
The Father is already running.

And oh… when He finds me?

He doesn’t scold.

He celebrates.

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

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Chapter-a-Day

Of Yeast and Fruit

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https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ZLWDnv3OysdpqHrZkG4U8?si=no3PICEVQ16pJLeow_a3Jg

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
James 2:10 (NIV)

Monday was one of my favorite days. Wendy made fresh, homemade Italian bread. The aroma wafting up the stairs into my home office was intoxicating. Whenever Wendy makes Italian bread she always cuts off a slice while the loaf is still warm from the oven, bathes it in butter, and brings it to me.

A little slice of heaven on earth.

The last couple of times Wendy made her Italian bread things didn’t go as planned. She’s not sure what happened. Fresh bread can be finicky, especially in the rising.

From ancient of days, yeast was used as a metaphor for sin. The Law of Moses prescribed that the Hebrews should eat bread without yeast. Jesus warned His followers to “beware the yeast of the pharisees,” meaning that for all their self-righteous pomp and religiosity, their hearts were full of corruption. Jesus didn’t want His followers following a similar path.

Back in the days when everyone made bread fresh at home, yeast was a meaningful metaphor. Everyone knew that a teensy-tiny pinch of yeast will spread through the entire lump of dough, causing the whole thing to rise. In the same way, one tiny sin infects my entire being.

In God’s economy, there is no more-or-less sinful. Sin is a binary measurement. It’s all-or-nothing. If you’re sinful the whole person is infected. No one “has just a touch” of the Bubonic plague.

And, that’s James’ point in today’s chapter as he continues to argue that God’s ways are not our ways. The world loves to play favorites. The wealthy and famous get maximum screen time and VIP treatment. When it comes to the poor and homeless we look the other way and quickly scurry past them on the street. In God’s economy, everyone is measured by the yeast standard. As Bob Dylan sang it, “Ain’t No Man Righteous — No Not One.”

But then James does something amazing. He applies the reverse logic to faith. If sin is like yeast that spreads to the whole lump of dough and causes unrighteousness of all kinds to rise within me, then faith is like a tiny mustard seed that germinates, takes root, grows and bears the fruit of the Spirit. And what fruit does the faith-fueled seed produce?

Works. Deeds. Tangible acts of love towards other human beings that reveal…

Joy.
Peace.
Patience.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Gentleness.
Faithfulness.
Self-control.

James is poking at the very principle he’d heard his big brother preach on many occasions. If a tree isn’t producing fruit that you can see, pick, and taste, then it tells you something about the tree.

A teensy pinch of yeast? The whole dough is tainted.
No fruit on the branches? No faith in the root system.

And this, in the quiet of this morning, leaves me meditating on how desperately I want the measurement of God’s economy to be different. I want sin to be a sprained ankle not a deadly infection coursing through my entire being. I want faith to be measured by the appearance of healthy leaves on the branches. Pay no attention to the fact that there’s no decent fruit to be found.

I can’t do that, and James knows it. I can’t take an honest look at myself in the mirror and pretend that I don’t see the honest truth staring back at me.

I am hopelessly infected by sin.

Jesus’ love-fueled grace and mercy is the only cure.

If I have faith to believe and receive the cure.

It will be evidenced in the tangible outpouring of that love to everyone around me.

Paul told the Corinthian believers that when Jesus’ Love gets inside you and then starts pouring out it creates a spiritual aroma.

I’d like to think it’s like the aroma of fresh baked Italian bread.

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

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Chapter-a-Day

A Sage Warning

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“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Numbers 32:23 (NIV)

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m currently writing a book about my business. I have spent over 30 years in the world of Quality Assessment (QA). You know, the ol’ “This call may be monitored for quality and training purposes.” I estimate that I’ve analyzed over 100,000 calls in my career. So the working title of my book is This Call May Be Monitored with the subtitle What Eavesdropping on Corporate American Taugh Me About Business and Life.

One of the things that has amazed me in my career is what people will talk about on the phone at work when they know their calls are being recorded. I’ve heard conversations about the sex orgy people participated in over the weekend. Ew. TMI! Once, I even got to talk to the FBI because a recorded call revealed that someone was spending time at work on the phone setting up their illegal drug operation.

One of the things I love about this chapter-a-day trek is that I’m constantly reminded of the source of what has become commonly known sayings and idioms. In today’s chapter, it’s the moral reminder I’ve heard since I was child: “Your sin will find you out.”

Sayings become cultural idioms when they are true. I can personally testify to the voracity of the saying “Your sin will find you out.” Not because I’ve caught people on a recorded line starting a drug business, but because I’ve repeatedly gotten caught making stupid decisions throughout my life journey. I have stories. Buy me a pint and I’ll share a few.

In today’s chapter, two of the twelve Hebrew tribes decide that they’d rather settle in the land east of the Jordan River where the tribes are currently encamped rather than crossing the river and entering the Promised Land and having land there. These tribes had huge livestock operations and the land was perfect for raising and grazing the herds.

This request was a potentially a serious problem for the larger Promised Land initiative. The request to stay put and not cross into the Promised Land could be seen as a matter of disunity that would discourage the other tribes. It brought up memories of the spies of 10 tribes refusing to cross into the promised land 38 years earlier. It hinted at the fact that these two tribes cared more about their possessions than God’s covenant promise.

In a compromise, the tribes agree to send their men into the Promised Land armed for battle and support the military effort until the job was finished. Moses agrees to the terms, but then warns the leaders of the two tribes that if they fail to keep their end of the bargain “your sin will find you out.”

It is a sage warning that has stood the test of time for thousands of years, even before phone calls were recorded for quality and training purposes!

In the quiet this morning, I simply find my heart and mind wandering back through painful memories of getting caught in foolishness and tragic decision making. Of course, I’ve also learned that pain is a great teacher if I am willing to let it instruct me.

As I head into this, another day, Jesus’ words echo in my soul this morning:

“…there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” Matthew 10:26 (NIV)

“For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” Mark 4:22 (NIV)

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

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Chapter-a-Day

Snake on a Stick

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They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
Numbers 21:4-5 (NIV)

Wendy and finally returned last night from what was supposed to have been a six-day trip that began with a client event and ended with a visit to see our kids and granddaughter in South Carolina. What it became is eight days of the worst air travel I’ve experienced in over 30 years of regular business travel.

I’ll spare you the details (and there are many, many details) but United Airlines delayed or cancelled almost every flight we were on. They chose not to put our luggage on the plane from Chicago to North Carolina for weight reasons, but then couldn’t get us our luggage for over two days, which meant we didn’t have our materials for the client event. We had to shop for clothes and necessities for over two days. Our return flight was cancelled and it took over two days for them to get us home. At one point, Wendy said to me, “They’ve completely broken me. I have no more emotional energy to even care.”

It is good to finally be home, but you can imagine that we’re still stinging from our travel week from hell. So, when in today’s chapter the Hebrew tribes grow “impatient” and begin to complain, I feel their pain.

One of the things that has become obvious to me in our current chapter-a-day trek through Numbers is that the events recorded are not random coincidence. Everything is connected to each other. We just had the death of Aaron and Miriam, two of the trinity of sibling leaders of the tribes. As happens when a family experiences the loss of a patriarch or matriarch, there was gathering, grieving, and remembering. It brings family together. There is connection, camaraderie, and commitments made.

The very next thing that happens is a tragic and unexpected attack from a Canaanite king. The Hebrews handle this appropriately. They unify, go to God for direction, and follow the Lord’s command. They are victorious.

But how quickly the afterglow of the unity of grief and the victory over the king of Arad lasts. It doesn’t take long for the people to grow impatient, complain, and grow angry. Their complaint to Moses is strong and bitter. They call the manna God has been providing “detestable.” Scholars have noted that this is spiritually equal to rejecting God’s grace. Their impatience and anger lead them past complaining to the point of rejecting both God and Moses. They’re broken.

What happens next is a critically important moment in the entire Great Story. Venomous snakes invade the Hebrew camp and start biting people. Now what are snakes and their venom metaphorical for in the context of the Great Story going back to the Garden? Yep, the evil one and his death dealing lies. God does something strange. He has Moses make bronze snake, put it on a pole and lift it up. Anyone who looks at the snake on the pole is healed from their deadly snake bites. They live.

Fast forward thousands of years to a clandestine meeting in the late watches of the night between Jesus and member of the Hebrew leaders named Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nick, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:14-15 NIV) Jesus, on the cross, took upon Himself the sin of the world. As Paul put it to the believers in Corinth: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.” Jesus was the ultimate snake on a pole, “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

What happens through the rest of the chapter? After they look at the snake and are healed, the Hebrew tribes go on winning streak like they’ve never experienced before. Blessing, favor, victory.

So, in the quiet this morning I look back to tremendously trying week. Our client event was great despite the fact that we were wearing clothes hastily purchased on a late-night Walmart run. We felt beaten down by a system we didn’t control. We were just small anonymous cogs stuck in the depths of United’s global operations. Yet, even in the midst of our impatience, anger, and frustration Wendy and I took time to initiate the chain reaction of praise. We stopped our bitching for a moment, in prayer we looked up to Jesus – the snake on the stick – and we offered praise in the midst of our pain.

There were no miracles. But, our prayer and praise helped us endure, it pushed us to have faith and persevere, and yesterday afternoon we finally returned home. Now, our week of travel hell will fade into memory. Forgetting what lies behind, keeping our eyes on Jesus, we press on into the good things God has for us.

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

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Chapter-a-Day

Maturing Takes Time

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“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty and must confess the sin they have committed.’”
Numbers 6:6-7 (NIV)

About a month ago, our grandson Milo attended worship with us among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. Milo is seven and is an explosive bundle of unbridled, kinetic, little-boy energy. Underneath the exterior of all that normal physical energy lies one of the softest, most genuinely open hearts I’ve ever experienced in a boy his age. He asks big questions. He thinks big thoughts. He feels big feels. And, he has a passionate curiosity about God.

What was fascinating to watch that morning was the mixture of both. He was, at once, a squirrelly little boy who at times needed discipline and a sweet little boy who was genuinely trying to understand and interact with the divine. He was so eager to go up for the bread and cup that Yaya had to hold him back multiple times while it was still being prepared.

He is a boy. He is maturing. It takes time.

Today’s chapter is one of those chapters with which casual modern readers struggle. It has to do with purity and fidelity, but it is easy for the surface of the text to produce intense negative reactions. At the heart of it, God is repeating what He has already established in the priestly instruction manual, Leviticus. If God, who has delivered them from slavery, is going to live in the midst of the Hebrews, if He is going to travel with them through the wilderness and lead them to the Promised Land, then there are going to be some ground rules. He is a holy God and they have to learn to be clean from the outside in. That means dealing with their bodies, their relationships, their emotions, and their consciences.

Specifically, what God deals with in today’s chapter is:

Skin diseases (physical issues on the outside)
Interpersonal conflicts (issues within the community)
Marital infidelity (issues within the marriage covenant)
Jealousy (intense negative emotions that may cause unjust harm)
Guilt and honesty (being spiritually honest with God and self)

The example given for the last three is man who feels jealous and believes his wife has been unfaithful. He has no proof and she is adamant about her fidelity. He is to bring her to the priest. The priest is to bring her before the Lord. A test is rendered to determine if she is being honest, in which case she is cleared – or if she is lying, in which case she is potentially cursed.

By modern standards it seems harsh and politically incorrect. For human civilization in the ancient near east, this was a radical, revolutionary, giant leap of social development. In that day, and that culture, a man would typically just follow his jealousy into violence against both his wife and the man he suspected she slept with. There would be no accountability and no civil recourse. There was no law. In most small people groups there was no developed or official justice system. It was a king-of-the-mountain free-for-all in which the powerful beat, clawed, and killed their way to the top. Those who were weak simply tried to survive the powerful doing whatever they wanted however they wanted because no one would stop them.

Now Yahweh, the miraculous God who freed these weak, just surviving Hebrews from slavery to the king-of-the-mountain Egyptian empire, is telling them “You must do things differently.” He is a holy God. He demands people to be clean outside-in.

But they’re not.

They have physical ailments they can’t control.
They have conflicts and misunderstandings.
They have intense negative emotions that lead to conflicts.
They are at times not honest with themselves or others.

In each case, God provides a process for addressing each of these.

This is a human civilization in the toddler stage of development. They throw tantrums. They can’t control their emotions, and they are constantly acting out of their sheer emotion. They aren’t educated, can’t write, can’t read, and have been slaves for generations.

Father God is doing what good parents do with toddlers. He is teaching them one step at a time.

“Let’s wash your hands.”
“Give her back her ball. It’s hers, not yours.”
“Now, say you’re sorry and give her a hug.”
“Did he really hit you? I didn’t see anything.”
“Are you lying to me?”

In other words, like Milo trying to understand why he can’t just run up in his excitement and grab the bread and cup, this fledgling group of humans is slowly maturing.

It takes time.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on the reality that human civilization has matured over thousands of years. We are more educated and more developed than any generation in the history of human civilization. Yet, with all we’ve learned…

We have physical ailments and tragedies we can’t control.
We have conflicts and misunderstandings.
We have intense negative emotions that lead to those conflicts.
We are at times not honest with ourselves or others.

Lord, have mercy.

Obviously, there’s something broken we can’t fix ourselves.

And, Father God is still holy. He still demands we be clean outside in.

So, He sacrificially made a way for that to happen. It’s a gift.

I just have to receive it.

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

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Chapter-a-Day

Inclusive vs. Exclusive

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Exclusive vs. Inclusive (CaD Matt 9) – Wayfarer

But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”
Matthew 9: 34 (NIV)

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about the spiritual revival that broke out while I was in high school. I wrote about the fact that I was merely an observer of the revival because I had insulated myself inside of my fellow holy huddle with other believers.

I’d like to unpack that experience a bit further as I meditate on today’s chapter. In it, Jesus begins to experience opposition from the institutional religious leaders of His day. They have their own holy huddle going.

I have observed along my spiritual journey the difference between an inclusive spirit and an exclusive spirit.

An inclusive spirit is one that is outreaching, arms wide open in anticipation of God who can do exceeding, abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine. An inclusive spirit fully embraces the Apostles Creed when it says “I believe in the holy catholic church,” which means the expansive true church made up of all believers of every nation, tribe, language, race, people, and denomination of which God alone truly knows the number and the full membership. An inclusive spirit sees God working in His enemies like Nebuchadnezzar, the Roman Centurion in yesterday’s chapter, and Saul of Tarsus, and drawing them to Himself. An inclusive spirit understands that Jesus is not slow in returning, but rather patient wanting everyone (including my personal enemies) to repent and believe.

An exclusive spirit, on the other hand, is one that feels that it is right and only those who agree are acceptable. An exclusive spirit has arms extended in a defensive and warning posture. Only those who pass the litmus test, are pure in their doctrinal agreement, and visibly shun unacceptable actions, words, beliefs, and political/social affiliations are accepted in. Most people are excluded, and exclusive thinkers are convinced that God thinks and acts in lock-step with them.

Jesus was being inclusive when, in yesterday’s chapter, He healed the Roman Centurion’s servant and handed His enemy an invitation to the feast of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in God’s Kingdom. Jesus was being inclusive when He and His disciples feasted at Matthew’s house with unacceptable tax collectors (e.g. politically incorrect Roman collaborators) and their sinful social circle. He was certainly being inclusive when He called Matthew to become one of The Twelve.

His political and religious opponents were exclusive in their thinking. They alone were exclusively “God’s people,” “Children of Abraham,” and anyone who disagreed or believed differently was obviously not “of God.” Jesus refused to walk, speak, act, and believe in lock-step with their exclusive religious world-view. Therefore He could not be of God despite the miracles He performed. If He is not of God, then He must be of Satan.

So, in the quiet this morning, I look back at that revival in high school. It taught me another important spiritual lesson. Yes, I missed out on being a part of it because I was too busy in the exclusivity of my holy huddle. At the same time, me thinking that I needed to be a part of it is a different brand of exclusive thinking. God was doing something amazing and He didn’t need me to be involved. He was working through others whom He had prepared, raised up, and through whom He was flowing. I could be envious, jealous, and think (exclusively) that anything I wasn’t a part of doesn’t count. I could also open my arms, rejoice, and embrace that God was at such powerful work in others all around me. I chose the latter.

The further I get in my journey, the more open my spirit has become to God doing whatever He wants to do in whomever He wants to do it in order for all things to work together for good and accomplish His ultimate purposes in this Great Story. I long ago took off my Junior Holy Spirit badge pretending that I had exclusive rights, insight, or editorial control of that Story for myself or anyone else. The result is that I approach each day of this journey with a sense of awe and wonder.

God, what are you going to do today?

I’m open.

Surprise me.

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

Fasting and Temptation

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Fasting and Temptation (CaD Matt 4) – Wayfarer

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1 (NIV)

It is the season of Lent, a time when many followers of Jesus around the globe choose to fast in preparation for the annual memorial of Jesus’ death and subsequent celebration of His resurrection. Fasting is an ancient spiritual discipline. It is the conscious choice to deny oneself of physical appetites in order to focus heart and mind on things of the Spirit.

The first time I fasted for Lent was when I was a young teenager. It was sort of a bet with my father. My parents always ragged on me for how much Coke I drank, so I chose to fast from all pop/soda for Lent. My dad chose to fast from television. The thing was, Coke was easily replaced by other sugary drinks or even candy. My dad was a CPA and Lent always happens during tax season. So, I watched him come home and work all evening doing taxes at the dining room table rather than laying on the couch watching television. I’m not sure that either of us understood or embraced the “focus heart and mind on the things of the Spirit” part of the fasting equation.

Along my spiritual journey I have observed that people make one of two errors when it comes to traditions like Lent and fasting. One mistake is to take it too seriously so that over time it becomes an empty and impotent religious ritual. The other mistake is to ignore it completely as if it has no value. In that case, one misses out on the tremendous spiritual lessons and benefits that the traditions hold.

I have tried to strike a balance between these two extremes by approaching each Lenten season open to where I am in my journey and how God’s Spirit is leading me wherever I am on Life’s road. After all, today’s chapter states that it was the Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. I believe that the Spirit’s leading is an ingredient that should not be ignored. Some years I have not fasted at all as I was not led. Other years I have been prompted by God’s Spirit to seriously fast for one reason or another. This is one of those years.

Perhaps because I’ve completed almost four weeks of my Lenten fast, today’s retelling of Jesus being tempted by the Evil One resonated deeply within me on multiple levels.

I have observed over the years that people tend to think of “sin” in terms of gross immorality, obvious deviance from what is socially acceptable, and behavioral over indulgence in sex, drugs, and alcohol. It was the same in Jesus’ day. He got in hot water with the religious establishment when he feasted with “sinners” who were known for their indulgences in such “sinful” things. Jesus made clear that His religious critics were nothing more than hypocrites, for the problem of sin is far more expansive than obvious public immoralities.

At the heart of it, the Evil One’s temptations were from his basic playbook. It has been said that evil cannot “make” it can only “mock.” Evil really isn’t that creative. The Prince of this World tempted Jesus in the same way he tempted Adam and Eve. Basic human appetites.

Lust of the eyes:
Adam and Eve: “It was pleasing to the eye”
Jesus: “All the kingdoms of the world and their splendor can be yours.”
Me: “Oh, I want that!”

Lust of the flesh:
Adam and Eve: “It was good for food”
Jesus: “You’re hungry. Turn these stones to bread.”
Me: “If one serving is good, then two is even better!”

Pride of life:
Adam and Eve: “It was desirable for gaining wisdom”
Jesus: “Prove me wrong. Fall and let the angels catch you.”
Me: “I’m good enough. I will do what I want to do.”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the things of heart and Spirit that my Lenten fasting have brought to light for me this year. I am reminded how easily basic and good human appetites can be indulged in unhealthy ways. I find myself realizing that sin is not so much about gross immorality as much as it is about simply not being content. And, I find myself struck at how Jesus’ temptation is connected to Adam and Eve in the Garden, to the Hebrews in their wilderness wanderings, and to my own personal temptations springing from the Evil One’s well-worn playbook.

Fasting in this season is teaching me about surrender, contentment, and helping me understand my own unhealthy coping mechanisms. When Jesus was done with His testing in the wilderness, He launched into His ministry with spiritual vigor. I wonder what God might choose to launch me into at the end of this season. On the other hand, perhaps this season is not about launching anything but my own spiritual health. Fasting is teaching me about surrendering my own desires and expectations. If this season is about nothing more than me relearning some valuable spiritual lessons, then I’ll be as content with that as I am with the simple portion that is all I need.

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

“Acky”

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“Acky” (CaD Lev 15) – Wayfarer

“‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.’”
Leviticus 15:31 (NIV)

Wee ones are hilarious as they are developing their vocabularies. A few I remember from our girls was that an umbrella was a “rainbrella” (made sense). When grandma was having a heat flash and suddenly her face was covered with sweat, she was “raining.” When something was dirty or nasty or something you shouldn’t touch, it was “acky.” This, as I recall, became a euphemism for when they did the number two in their diapers. They would tell me they were “acky.”

Today is the last of several chapters regarding the distinctions of “clean” and “unclean” that God gave the ancient Hebrews. These distinctions were part of system of rituals and offerings given to newly appointed priests. God was preparing the ancient Hebrews to live in community with God dwelling in the center of their camp in a traveling tent temple. A Holy God, Creator of the heavens and the earth who created human beings. When they were deceived and disobeyed God’s one prohibitive command, they became “unholy.” A series of judgments followed and they were sent from God’s presence.

A Holy God desires only holy things to be in His presence.

A good parent teaches a their young child that we can’t abide with “acky” in any of its forms in our home community. Mom and Dad won’t put up with it. It could be a poopy diaper, it could be dirty hands and clothes after playing outside, or it could be that gross moldy leftover in the fridge. If it’s “acky” then we need to avoid it and clean it up. We want a clean and healthy house.

God is teaching His toddler children the same spiritual lesson through daily life rituals. And, as I pondered these things in the quiet this morning I was reminded that the ritual cleansing for most of these forms of “acky” were as simple as washing up. The ritual “uncleanness” lasted no more than the end of the day. Being unclean wasn’t a condemnation. The cleansing wasn’t punitive. The entire was system was about what was good for the community and God not being able to abide “acky” in His people and His presence at the tent temple

Today’s final chapter of “unclean” distinctions is all about human “discharges” that made a person ritually unclean. It included both male sexual discharge and female bleeding that happens with her monthly menstrual cycle. As I read the part about men being unclean for the rest of the day after having sex, I couldn’t help but laugh. I am quite sure that his was a “thing” between Hebrew dudes in the day.

“Hey Josh? Want to grab some grilled goat poppers and wine in the market with me and the bros?”

“Nah! I’m ‘unclean ’til evening,’ if you know what I mean.”

“Ha! Good for you, dude!”

Joking aside, the downside of the ritual distinctions came when the realities of living in a fallen world of sickness and death made being ritually clean impossible. Such as a woman who because of a medical issues has been vaginally bleeding continuously for twelve years. There was no easy ceremony. Being ritually clean was impossible. This was a tragic circumstance.

When Jesus arrives on the scene a thousand years later, He makes it clear that it was exactly these kinds of tragic situations that He came to “clean up” once, and for all. His sacrifice would provide a way for anyone, now matter how perpetually unclean, to be washed in Living Water, to be made holy, and to have God’s Spirit take up residence inside them.

This larger spiritual truth is beautifully embodied in the story of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Perpetually unclean, she was an outcast. Her family kicked her out. She had no friends, no life, and no hope. Her perpetual, “ritual” uncleanness made her every day existence unbearable. In desperation, she throws a Hail Mary. She thinks to herself that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ cloak, perhaps she would be healed like all the others she’d seen Him heal.

Driven by her faith, she pushed her way to Him through the crowd that was pressed in like a can of sardines. In doing so, she was making everyone she touched ritually unclean, and if they found out the consequences could be socially (and perhaps physically) lethal. Jesus doesn’t even know that she is there until her fingers touch his cloak and He feels the holy flow of divine power. She knew better than anyone else that she was “unclean.” Her faith in what Jesus could do for her forever healed her.

The beauty of her story is that it points to the larger spiritual lesson that God has forever been telling from the beginning of the Great Story. Our sin is “acky” and can’t be abided in God’s House. We can no more clean up our own sin than our two-year old granddaughter could change her own diaper. No, someone has to do that for her. That’s what Jesus came to do through His sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection.

Jesus cleaned up my perpetual, spiritual “acky” condition, and then He came to abide in me.

If you’ve never seen it, may I highly recommend that you watch this compilation of scenes from The Chosen that tells the story of the woman who was bleeding for twelve years? It’s well done, and captures the heart of what I’ve been trying say better than I could ever write it. Have a good weekend, my friend.

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

“Unclean!”

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“Unclean!” (CaD Lev 13) – Wayfarer

“Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.”
Leviticus 13:45-46 (NIV)

We live in the most ridiculously healthy era of human history. Never has have so many human beings on the face of the earth had access to medical care. Never has humanity, on the whole, been as healthy and wealthy. I encourage you to take four minutes and watch Dr. Hans Rosling show you the animated data from the past 200 years. When I saw how poor and unhealthy the people of the world were in 1800, it gave me some perspective to imagine how much worse it must have been around 1500 B.C. when the Hebrew tribes were wandering in the desert becoming a nation.

Today’s chapter is strange, repetitive, and more than a bit boring for modern readers. It is all about skin diseases and mold. To get at the heart of what’s going on in today’s chapter I have to put my feet in the sandals of the Hebrews. There is no healthcare. There are no doctors. There’s no pharmacy. And yet, there is an understanding that disease can quickly wipe out an entire population. God through Moses is setting up a triage system as it relates to skin diseases, infection, and substances that can create health problems for their community as a whole. There’s even a system of quarantine for those who might have something that could be contagious. This is a giant leap forward for these people who will be protected from untold health and medical issues going forward through the priests examining, diagnosing, and prescribing quarantine when needed.

But there’s a spiritual element to this as well. According to the Creation story in Genesis the consequence of sin was that our bodies became subject to death and illness. Despite the fact that I will live 50-60 years longer than the average American in 1800 and have access to the greatest healthcare in human history, I can’t escape the eventual physical decline that aging will bring. I am doing to die. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” Paul writes to the believers in Rome. He goes on to remind them, “The wages of sin is death.”

I am spiritually “unclean.”

How tragic for the person with incurable leprosy. Forever banished to live outside the camp, to wear torn clothes, look like a beggar, and cry out “Unclean!” whenever a “healthy” person was near to warn them off. It was necessary for the health and safety of the community, but what must it have done to the soul of the person? Never to be hugged or touched by your loved ones ever again. To have people shun you, children fear you, and still be condemned to proclaiming “Unclean!” knowing that it will forever perpetuate the bitter isolation and public scorn.

Which reminds me of an often overlooked episode of Jesus’ story. I picture what I have just described, a man condemned to this life as a leper. His clothes are torn. His hair is unkempt. He has a mask covering his face. His is a life of bitter isolation and public scorn. People literally “avoid him like the plague.” Day and night he shouts “Unclean!” if anyone draws near. Lord only knows how long it had been since he’d experienced a human touch, a kind word, or an ounce of kindness. He approaches Jesus on his knees and asks, “If you want to, you can make me clean.”

Mark is careful to describe that Jesus reached out and touched the man.

“I want to,” Jesus replied.

The man’s leprosy was healed.

Suddenly, this episode takes on a whole new beauty and meaning for me. I may not have leprosy, but I am a sinner stuck in this body subject to sin, sickness, and death. I am unclean. Who will save me from this state?

“Jesus? If you want to…”

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

Responsible

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Responsible (CaD Lev 5) – Wayfarer

“‘If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible.’”
Leviticus 5:1 (NIV)

Sin is a subject that carries a tremendous amount baggage with it. Along my life journey I’ve observed fundamentalist types who use sin as a tool for social control rather than treating it as the universal spiritual condition that it is. Particular sins get called out and heightened to a heightened level of public and social shame so as to ostracize those commit. Just recently I heard of a young couple who had sex and got pregnant before they were married. They were forced to stand in front of the church and publicly confess their sin and shame. Personally, I think every member of that church’s elder board should submit their tax returns for a thorough audit to see if any of them need to stand before the church and confess their greed. Subsequently, they should have a weigh-in at the next church potluck to see if anyone needs to stand before the church and address the sin of their gluttony and the abuse of God’s temple, their bodies.

As Jesus said to the fundamentalist religious types of His day, “he who is without sin can cast the first stone.”

As Shakespeare put it, “there’s the rub.” Religion loves to make a major deal about certain moral behaviors and particularly public sins, but then completely ignore others wholesale. The result is that the world sees the hypocrisy and dismisses the religion.

That still doesn’t address the problem of sin and the guilt of responsibility.

In today’s chapter God introduces the final of the five prescribed offerings for the ancient Hebrews to bring to His altar. It’s a guilt offering, and the chapter begins by calling out the responsibility one bears for speaking up when you have evidence of wrongdoing, and the guilt of remaining silent.

As I’m reading this, I put myself in Moses’ sandals and imagined him receiving this particular specific instruction. Moses was a murderer. During the old days in Egypt, Moses happened upon a slave driver who was beating one of his fellow Hebrews. Moses murdered the man. All of his fellow Hebrews who were there saw it. Moses was responsible for the act, and they were responsible to tell the truth about what they saw. I have a hard time believing that Moses didn’t feel something inside as God gives him these instructions for a “guilt” offering. That’s the key difference between a fundamentalist use of “sin” as a social control tool, and addressing the very real human need to take responsibility for the things we’ve done.

As I meditated on these things in the quiet this morning, I remembered an event that happened in college. I was driving with my sister late on a winter night. We witnessed a hit and run and I sped to try and get the license plate number of the person who “ran.” We hit a patch of ice, spun out of control, and into on-coming traffic. The young woman we struck was pregnant. Thank God, she and the baby were alive despite her injuries landing her in the hospital. A few days later, my sister visited the woman in the hospital to apologize and express her sorrow for what happened. I, however, didn’t go. The guilt and shame I felt was overwhelming. I was afraid to face her. I was afraid to speak up and be responsible. I still feel it as I remember and write these words.

That is the sin problem God came to address. I look back at my life journey and the road is dotted with things for which I know I am responsible. Not only am I responsible for the mistakes I willfully made and the wrongdoing I willfully committed, but I’m also responsible for the things I should have done and failed to do. How amazing that God not only initiated a way to address the problem for Moses and the ancient Hebrews, but that He ultimately chooses to sacrifice Himself in order that I might be graciously and mercifully forgiven.

The words of a Bob Dylan lyric come to mind:

“Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistake.
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break.
In the fury of the moment. I can see the Master’s hand,
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.”

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!