Preparing for the holidays at the feet of Jesus

“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!
There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” - Luke 10:38-42 (NLT)

This Friday was the worst...okay, the biggest shopping day of the year. The day after Thanksgiving, which also officially ushers in the holiday season in the U.S. 'Tis the season for many preparations and distractions, not too much unlike what Martha was struggling with… you’ve got Christmas parties, shopping, making food, having company, traveling to family, and on and on...

Now, I don’t want to give you another typical Mary and Martha story. Many people have taught on this passage. And I read this, I thought to myself... I’ve heard this all before…” This story has kind of turned into a “Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus” thing. The typical, “Mary is the worshiper and Martha is the “doer, blah, blah, blah” But I don’t think that was point of the story. I'm sure Martha loved Jesus just as much as Mary…probably sat at His feet too. But I do think there is something here that is probably the most important point of the whole Bible.

"There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

So here's the question you and I need to answer...exactly what did Mary discover?

For this is the most profound question of all time. Every other search or pursuit pales in insignificance compared to its blinding light. When pondering Mary's actions here, I am reminded of two parables Jesus taught in Matthew 13 about the hidden treasure in the field and the pearl of great price. He said that these people sold all they had for it, they risked it all. Sold all...risked all...for what? Here's the thing...if we don't know what it is, we haven't found it yet. And until we do, we will probably wear ourselves with many distractions, all for a Person we don't really know.

Once you’ve discovered this one thing, nothing else in the world really matters. Everything else that was once so important in our lives now pales in significance. You would do anything; go anywhere…not for a meeting, a conference, an anointed Charismatic preacher, even a worthwhile ministry...but for Jesus! This is what Paul meant in Phillipians chapter three when he said that all his lofty, religious accomplishments were like garbage, even a dung heap, compared to knowing Christ.

I remember one time when I was before the Lord, just quietly waiting on Him, not talking but listening...when this profound truth hit me…there is nothing more important than what I am doing right now! Nothing I can do or accomplish will ever make me more successful, be more affirming, unlock and satisfy every longing in my heart, make me feel more significant, or will ever come close to making me feel more alive than when I am at Jesus’ feet! When I come to work in the morning, if I don’t spend time at the feet of Jesus, nothing else I do matters. My agenda and all my accomplishments are a waste of time without it. Martin Luther discovered this treasure and it transformed his priorities…he said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” You see, we have it all backwards…we get so busy with doing things for Jesus that we have no time for him. We don’t get it.

If this one thing isn’t something we would die for, sell everything we have for, we haven’t discovered it yet. Everything…this world, our existence, all that is and ever will be…centers, culminates and crescendos with, in, and for Jesus…all of Scripture IS Jesus; everything we are to do, live, and breathe is about knowing Jesus. In Him we live and move and have our being. There is nothing that matters that doesn’t not come from intimately knowing Christ! To move away from this fact is to have completely miss everything… it is to have lived in vain, it is, by definition, the ultimate waste of time!

Does this mean that we should now become Trappist monks, living in recluse, spending all our time gazing at Jesus, lovingly lodged at His feet? No. It means that everything we do and are starts and ends at Jesus’ feet. Jesus was the champion of social justice, He healed the sick, He spent time with His family, He was not a recluse…but He only did what He saw the Father do. Everything He did found its source in His relationship with His Father.

And being captivated by Jesus doesn’t mean we’ll be this curmudgeon-faced zealot in camel-hair, always railing against everything and telling people they’re going to hell either. These kind of people have not been with Jesus. They just like the idea of looking righteous, thereby, they become judgmental and self-righteous. Which is exactly what I become when my heart has not been continuously tenderized by His touch. For there is no one so tender, so patient, so unassuming, so compassionate and so merciful as someone who has been with Jesus. Indeed, all the attributes of love in I Cor.13 can be found in someone who has truly spent time at His feet. (Look in the Bible yourself. Jesus only railed against the self-righteous, not the sinner.)

And what about Mary here. What did she learn at His feet? Well, you can take a look in John 12...“Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.”

Could it be that Mary knew some things...secret things... that even the disciples didn't know? For later in this passage, Jesus said that she did it in preparation for His burial. Keep in mind, this was taking place while the disciples were still waiting for Jesus to crush the Roman Empire and reestablish the kingdom of Israel. But Mary's worship was prophetic...it was extravagant and costly. Like us, the other disciples called it wasteful and unreasonable. They didn't get it either.

So...here I am today. What gift can I give the King of kings, the Lover of my Soul this holiday season? Is it found it all my "doing's" in Jesus' name? To work tirelessly in ministry? Or, in my righteous indignation against all the evils of this world?

It truly is a season to spend with family and friends that I love. Jesus spent time with family and friends. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were friends He hung out with. But Jesus also said that if my love for them doesn't seem like hatred in comparison to my love for Him, I cannot be His follower (Luke 14:26-27). That's quite a statement that I'm not sure I am ready for yet.

I think that the gift Jesus is asking me to give is my first love to Him. How easy it is to forget this…or maybe I have never discovered it in the first place… for then I am merely going through the motions of being a Christian without Christ’s burning passion captivating my heart. I am to be consumed with Him, where nothing else matters…to be so desperate for His touch…knowing that there is no hope for me apart from Jesus’ rule and reign in my life…for I know I am too lazy, too proud, too distracted, too addicted, too everything…my only hope is Jesus...if I don’t have Jesus, I know for certain that I will become another clanging cymbol, a religious Pharisee, I will create God in my own image, I will create a life of my own control...I will even shake my fist at the world in self-righteous defiance, but I won’t love it like Jesus did.

It's so easy to get caught up in everything but Jesus in the busyness of life, even in preparing for the holidays where we wish to honor Him. Have we, too, no room for the King? But as Jesus promised Mary, when we discover this one thing, nothing can take it from us. Amen.

Coming to grips with growing up

"Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature." I Cor.3:1-3 (NLT)

There are certain books Christians should never read...that is, if we are happy with our safe, mediocre relationship with the Lord. One such book is "The Importance of being Foolish" by Brennan Manning. In the book, Manning talks about how our desire for security, pleasure, and power become diversions that numb our desires for the things of God.

I am reminded of Jesus' words, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Matt.5:6) Maybe we're not hungry because we're already full of other things...perhaps the cares of this life, the obsession with our financial security, the need for approval, and for survival. The life Jesus calls us to is not safe; it is a landscape constantly changing and shifting. It is life requiring faith and trust which, of course, you don't need either when things are in your control. We don't like change and uncertainty so we go to great lengths to avoid this tumult designed by God to help us grow. To quote John Eldredge, we go after "Lovers less wild." These "things of earth" distract us from the child-like simple faith of seemingly reckless abandon that Christ calls us to.

As Manning further points out, "Creativity and flexibility give way to repetition and rigidity." We become mummified by middle age. "Fear of failure prevents any surprise by the Spirit. As security seekers, we become enemies of openness."

Of course, when we shut down all the machinery of adventure and change, we begin to feel secure, but this quiet desperation of our hermetically sealed existence drives us to seek compensation through all kinds of pleasurable experiences. Rest and relaxation are good balancers to revitalize body and spirit, but when they are sought for themselves, they send us on a roller-coaster ride of sensations and thrills, each one needing to be greater than the last.

To quote Manning again, "How easy this quest for pleasure turns into obsession and obsession turns into a kind of soul death." He goes on to say, "Yet many Christians practice an ambivalent "prudence of the flesh" that seeks a sort of guilded mediocrity: the self is carefully distributed between flesh and spirit, with a watchful eye on both..."It is a vision of those who have received the Spirit but remain spiritual infants because they do not subject themselves fully to the domination of the Spirit; they yield to their passions, thus letting their drives confine them to an infantile spirituality. Or to quote the Scarlet Pimpernel... " There is nothing so bad in life as something that is not so bad."

The final leg of this spirit-numbing triad is the lust for power. We have convinced ourselves that we must have power (prestige, influence, reputation) in order to be happy. We conclude that a successful person is a happy person. And Manning astutely points out that "Our ineffectiveness in developing deeply loving relationships--with others as well as with God--is rooted in our power addiction. We see other people as objects that either enhance or endanger our prestige." Even my desire to bring this subject up in my ponderings (along with other books I talk about) could be my own way of achieving recognition as an "interesting" person. Selah.

One more quote on power. "Christians who succeed in seizing power, collecting disciples, acquiring knowledge, acheiving status and prestige, and controlling the world are estranged from the mind of Jesus. We grow fearful when a disciple swipes our baton, cynical when feedback is negative, fitful when challenged, and distraught when defeated." I must ask myself as a pastor, will I use position and God-given authority to appease my need for approval and prestige? If I cannot give up control of my own life to the ways of the Spirit, I will also not give up control over other's lives that God has placed in my care. Like I said, not very comforting words...but good for me, nonetheless.

Finally, Manning summarizes with this..."Life driven by our desire for security, pleasure, and power dims the Light within us and introduces unnecessary mental and emotional sufferings, which are often misconstrued as spriritual trials or the inevitable growth pains of life in the Spirit. This is erroneous discernment. They are borne out of our own will, not the will of God." (italics added for emphasis) I really think we need to ponder this one.

So I am left asking myself, what is stopping my own growth in the Spirit? Am I so addicted to security and the need for approval that I won't venture out of the boat with Jesus? To die to my self-designed life for one not so comfortable and predictable? A life requiring my utter dependence upon the Lover of my Soul? Have I numbed and shut down these wild places in my own heart and substituted security, pleasure, and the need for power?

Like the children in Narnia learned about Aslan, I must learn that God is not tame, but He is good.

Politics and the current state of evangelicalism

We live in interesting times. Those liberal dems have taken over the House of representatives and Senate...this coming on the heels of the Ted Haggard shocker http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227568,00.html all which seems to have thrown evangelicals into a tizzy. There is no joy in Who-ville for the wicked old Grinch has stolen Christmas!

While not trying to minimize all the "bad stuff" going on today, I will postulate that we may just be headed for better things. Yes, we live in the proverbial "perilous times," and the end is certainly nearer, but these are not necessarily bad times, at least, from God's perspective. In fact, God often presents us with opportunity in the midst of crisis.

I do believe that the reform that is necessary is not a political one; our hope is not in the Republican or Democratic party, especially, as Christ's Church. Nor is the answer one that gives up on truth. It lies more in how these timeless truths we believe are to be communicated in the times we find ourselves in. I think the perceived crisis America (and possibly other parts of the industrialized word) is experiencing is that we no longer live under the shadow of "Enlightenment" or modernist thinking. So, at least in this sense, America is perceived to be going morally down the drain...because the very cultural fabric of this country was founded on these puritanical/scientific reformation principles --logic, reason, uniformity, science...and those methods are now broken as the mainstay of societal thought. So, indeed, there is the possibility, even if only temporary, of a cultural vacuum being filled with all kinds of humanistic gobbledy gook.

Apologetics and modern evangelicalism won the day for many years in America because our national DNA is just as much based on John Locke as Jonathan Edwards. But modernist-style books like "A Case for Christ" (a good book) are not going to cut it anymore. These books may encourage believers to believe with more confidence, but they are not going to reach this so-called post-modern culture. Furthermore, you can no longer argue or scare people out of hell or "prove the Bible" by using scientific methods. Btw, I don't necessarily believe we live in a "post-Christian" world because I'm not sure we really know what that means. I realize that what I am saying here is almost heretical to modern evangelical dogma but, as a culture, we may not be any more or less "Christian" than we ever were. Maybe, we're just coming to grips with the naked truth for the first time. But, at least, this idea of morality is being redefined, even reinvented, so as Christians we better have a voice in what that is; but it needs to be God's voice, with His heart and from His Spirit.

We definitely find ourselves living in this so-called post-modern worldview. And "post-moderns," like ourselves, have been saturated by clever marketing schemes and they know that "truth" can be manipulated. As Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis) points out, "God spoke, and the rest is commentary." We all have a bias and we perceive "truth" through our own admittedly limited and culturally colored filters. When it comes right comes down it, we believe what we want to believe. We often argue to prove we are right, not necessarily to be heard or to hear. Everyone has an opinion...but the only truth that matters is the one that actually works in reality. So,it's not really a question of whether people can believe in "absolutes" anymore, but will they see those truths absolutely working in us.

Gone are the days where a preacher can manipulate people into believing what he or she wants them to believe. No longer can people just be told what to believe. And people no longer want to be preached at, then see no evidence of what is being preached in the preacher (again, case in point, Ted Haggard). We must BE the truth, which requires constant repentance, accountability, humility, and utter dependence upon the Spirit of God working in us. It can ONLY be Christ in us, the hope of glory. And I would point out here, isn't this the way the world was actually won in the New Testament?

So...I ponder as I type...is the demise of modernity and the age of enlightenment and reason really a bad thing? I mean, didn't modernity also give us "I won't believe it unless I see it with my own eyes or can prove it" or "there no such thing as ghosts" too? Maybe this is indeed a new "reformation" and we are in the birth pangs? And does not the death of ourselves--our expectations and dreams of how things should be--ultimately bring new life? And none of these things in any way affect the Truth.

Paul said he didn't use human persuation or clever speech to win the lost, but by the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 2). We should not want to miss that point. No one will ever be argued or boycotted into the Kingdom. Our influence is in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in our cleverness or apologetics. Of course, Paul's point being, so that ALL the credit (glory) would go to God. This means...not Paul, not to mega-church celebrities (no matter how popular their books are), or T.V. evangelists, big shots...or little shots like me.

So in a sense I am actually encouraged by all this. Yes, we are in time of transition, even crisis. But again, is that a bad thing, at least, from God's perspective? And, again, does He not also reveal to His people new opportunity in the midst of crisis? May we tremble before our awesome and terrifying holy God, Who is a consuming fire, Who sees us as we really are, naked, blind, and poor...yet Who is so kind, patient, and gentle and Who still loves us so incredibly that He would call us His own! (I still can't get my mind around that one!)

Btw, I am in no way pointing a finger of condemnation at the public exposure of hypocrisy in people like Ted Haggard. He was just an example of what I see happening in the body of Christ at large, and I submit again, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I see God is at work! I see my own hypocrisy and it drives me to my knees, hopefully, teaching me to reverently fear the Lord and depend on His amazing grace and mercy more and more each day. I must give up my religious idolatries and let Christ win out in this clay pot. Two's company in this case! I preach to myself a lot more these days... :-)

Some good books on this...
"Permission Granted to Do Church Differently in the 21st Century" By Graham Cooke and Gary Goodell
http://www.amazon.com/Permission-Granted-Church-Differently-Century/dp/0768423805

"The Great Giveaway" by David Fitch
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Giveaway-Reclaiming-Organizations-Psychotherapy/dp/080106483X

"The Next Reformation: Why Evangelicals must embrace Postmodernity" by Carl Raschke
http://www.amazon.com/Next-Reformation-Evangelicals-Embrace-Postmodernity/dp/0801027519