Stubborn Grace and Losing Focus

In yesterday’s sermon at Christ Church Mansfield we completed our study of Mark’s Gospel called The Way of Paradox: Following the Right-Side Up King in an Upside-Down World. We ended by seeing how Jesus is the center of it all – the gospel, the Christian faith, even reality itself.

One of the main themes that we reiterated week in and week out was that the world as we know it is not normal; it’s abnormal. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be. But when Jesus comes into the scene, we get a glimpse, a picture, of what that right-side up world is supposed to look like.

I have been forever impacted and indebted to Tim Keller for introducing me to Cornelius Plantinga, and his monumental work on sin. Of all things, this book, and particularly the following quote has left an impression on me in regards to understanding the gospel, Jesus Christ, and what it is that His life and His work is really all about.

If you were with us this past weekend for the sermon “The Center of it All”, here is the quote I read at the end:

“Evil rolls across the ages, but so does good. Good has its own momentum. Corruption never wholly succeeds. (Even blasphemers acknowledge God.) Creation is stronger than sin and grace stronger still. Creation and grace are anvils that have worn out a lot of our hammers. To speak of sin itself, to speak of it apart from the realities of creation and grace, is to forget the resolve of God. God wants shalom and will pay any price to get it back. Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to win its way. Moreover, to speak of sin by itself is to misunderstand its nature: sin is only a parasite, a vandal, a spoiler. Sinful life is a partly depressing, partly ludicrous caricature of genuine human life. To concentrate on our rebellion, defection, and folly—to say to the world ‘I have some bad news and I have some bad news’—is to forget that the center of the Christian religion is not our sin but our Savior. To speak of sin without grace is to minimize the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, and the hope of shalom.” – Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (p. 199)

One of the best books I’ve ever read – thanks Tim Keller!

Desiring to Know the Real Reason

English: Saint paul arrested (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love this simple statement Luke includes when he recounts the trial of Paul in Acts 22.  Paul had been preaching the gospel, sharing his story of encountering Jesus, and it caused a stir.  People were upset.  They couldn’t handle what he was talking about.  And their reaction was to hand Paul over to the authorities.

 

The Romans did what they were trained to do – get the truth out of Paul any way that they could.  Their interrogation methods included flogging.  Nothing like a few lashings to get to the truth.  But before they made it that far down the particular path, Paul explains that what they are about to do us unlawful, for although Paul is a Jew, he was also a Roman citizen by birth, and thus he had some legal protection from being bound and interrogated without cause.

What strikes me about this story though is not Paul’s social and political savvy, or even his practice of what some have labeled “riot evangelism.” (Not arguing against this either.  The demonstration and proclamation of the Gospel should cause a stir!).

No, what I find fascinating is that the Roman tribune came to back to Paul, “desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews.” (v. 30).

Do our lives and our words have that kind of effect?

 

Not just the effect of causing a stir or a controversy.

Not just the kind that instigates a riot.

Not just the kind that shakes the comfortable and complacent out of their apathy.

But the kind that draws others closer, “desiring to know the real reason.”  

 

The real reason for the hope that we profess.

The real reason for our experience of God.

The real reason why some would struggle to the point of wanting to condemn, ostracize and even punish  us for what we believe, what we proclaim and what we demonstrate with out lives.

That’s the kind of impact I want to have.  To see men and women and children be so moved with desire to want to know the real reason why I believe the gospel.  This is why I’m excited to see more interest being taken up in the realm of “gospel neighboring” and if you haven’t yet stumbled upon Andy Stager’s  blog and podcast on this subject, you really should go check it out here.

It’s when we live with such radical hospitality, in close proximity to others in our communities, that the distinctiveness of our lives shaped by the Gospel will begin to have the effect of disrupting the perceptions and preconceived notions of Christianity and Christians themselves, and that space for desiring to know the real reason is created – in relationship.

Can you imagine what would happen if our words and lives had this as their aim and intention?

Can you see your family members, neighbors, and coworkers being so drawn to ask you that kind of question – “Tell me the real reason why……

….so-and-so seems out to get you?

….you’re not holding that grudge against that guy who threw you under the bus?

….you’re not falling apart when your husband lost his job?

….you’re neither a fundamentalist, prude, nor are you a anything-goes kind of person?

….you love your kids and yet your world doesn’t simply orbit around them and their schedules?

….you’re life has changed so dramatically?

….you go to that church?

….you are a Christian?

Can you imagine the folks in your particular sphere of influence asking you these kinds of questions? That’s the kind of person I want to be, and the kind of people God wants us to be as we seek to live a distinctively Christian life in the world He has placed us.

Related articles

• Paul: A Citizen of Two Cities (readingacts.wordpress.com)

Less is Really More, and Beware the Hunt for the Masses

Image via CrunchBase

Seth’s Blog: Most people.

I am an avid reader of Seth Godin (books, blogs, anything really).  I love his ability to crystalize and disseminate wisdom that can be applied to creative (writers, artists) and organizational leaders (marketers, managers, etc.).  In this short blog, he writes on the importance of “less is more” and the danger of following after the masses.

Enjoy!

God’s New Thing

Came across this quote while doing some research work this week and thought it

Courtesy of Jonathan Grassmick

worthwhile to share.

“The God who remained apparently silent on Good Friday is having the last word. He is answering the unspoken questions of Jesus’ followers, and the spoken question of Jesus himself on the cross. And what God is doing is not just an extraordinary miracle, a display of supernatural power for its own sake, or a special favour to Jesus. What God is doing is starting something new, beginning the new world promised long ago, sending the disciples to Galilee in the first place but then, as we shall see, on to the ends of the earth and the close of the age with the news of what has happened. A whole new world was opening up in front of them.”

– N.T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Vol 2, (198-199), on the Great Commission in Matthew 28.

What’s the best book for better understanding the Bible as a whole?

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

People ask me often, “What is a good book to read to better understand the Bible as a whole?”

My answer has been for the past five years, “The best single book to better understand the Bible as a whole is Sally Lloyd-Jones’ The Jesus Story Book Bible.”

And you can Pre-Order it for Kindle for only $3.99 by clicking the link below (this is a steal, trust me).

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name: Sally Lloyd-Jones: Amazon.com: Kindle Store.

Hardcover edition (click here)

Curriculum Kit (click here)

What Mattered Most to Jesus: Miracles or Message? (Mark 2:1-2)

Jesus Preaching to the Crowd

After traveling to the villages nearby (cf. Mark 1:38-39), Jesus returns to Capernaum and is welcomed by many people gathering at this home.  So many people in fact that there was not enough room for them and they spilled out past the doorway.

What do you think the crowds wanted?  What drove them to crowd and clamor around Jesus so much?  Jesus has begun his public ministry and is used to drawing a crowd.  Mostly what drew people were the healings and exorcisms he had performed.

So it’s funny that Jesus “preaches the word” to them.  This is a classic moment of Jesus having the crowd in the palm of his hand.  If he wanted more popularity, more attention, and more people flocking to him, why not simply do more healings, more exorcisms, more spectacular good works and miracles?  Why preach to them?

Jesus has been going around preaching the good news – the gospel – of the kingdom of God, so preaching was important.  And great miracles and good works accompanied it.  These miracles and good works were important, but they weren’t central.  What was central was that Jesus is a new kind of king, setting up his new kingdom and now everyone is being challenged to respond to this king.

The healings, the miracles, the exorcisms and the all-around good works were all bearing out the implications of this kingdom, but they were not in and of themselves the central or primary thing.  Jesus was.

Links to Various Teaching/Preaching

Had the privelege of preaching with Martin Ban and Anthony Bianchini for Christ Church Santa Fe Christmas Day Service. We each took 2 minutes to reflect on Luke 2:10-12. Plus, it was very cool to see one my dad’s (Jim Gensheer) art pieces being used as the artwork for the bulletin (and Podcast).

Click the link, take a listen and share your thoughts.

Sermons: http://www.christchurchsantafe.org/media.php?pageID=6

Education Hour/Sunday School Teachings: http://www.christchurchsantafe.org/media.php?pageID=63

Always time to begin again

Prince of Preachers, C.H. Spurgeon

Read today’s first reading in the C.H. Spurgeon classic devotional Morning and Evening, and this quote stuck out to me.  It reminds me of the misnomer of thinking that “eternal life” means “later” when in fact it means something much more profound.  Its a quality of life, over and above a time-stamp.  In a way, its more like a vintage wine where the “born on date” is significant, but only serves as a factor in the overall flavor and experience of the wine itself.

In other words, today is yet another great time to begin again with God, because we have the hope of beginning our life “forever with the Lord” now through the person and work of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“They did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”

– Joshua 5:12

“Israel’s weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: they came to the land which flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of the land. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be thy case or mine. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest which remaineth for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought, and rejoice with exceeding great joy, in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be “forever with the Lord.”

– C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Day 1

Maybe the Inconceivable Happens

The following is what I imagine a conversation might have been had between Joseph and a friend once Joseph resolves to marry, Mary. This is an imaginary conversation, obviously.  It is springing from what we read in Matthew 1:18-25:

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). ²⁴When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

A Conversation between Joseph and a “Friend”

Friend: “What???  You are carrying on just as before”

Joseph: “Yes I am”

F: “Why?”

J: “Because I believe that the child is someone special, and that Mary is innocent.”

F:  “Have you proved that?”

J: “No.”

F:  “Then how can you know for sure?”

J:  “I can’t.”

F: “Then why?”

J:  “Because God has asked me to believe it and to act on faith in what He says.”

F:  “That is inconceivable Joseph!”

J:  “Yes, it is, isn’t it?…But isn’t that like God?  Wasn’t it inconceivable for the barren fore-mothers of our nation to conceive and bear children, yet it happened.  And what if what we expect of God and His Messiah isn’t completely right?  After all, when Isaiah prophesized to Ahaz about a “son” being born to a woman of marriageable age, there was Isaiah’s own son that fit the bill…until the Assyrians came in….

Maybe what we expect to happen as usual, is really extraordinary….

…and what if the extraordinary is really usual?”

F:  “What are you talking about Joseph?”

J: “I’m not completely sure.  I only know that God has showed up in the past in unusual ways, and saved His people in unusual ways.  Maybe what we expect to happen, isn’t altogether right.  Maybe its not the way we think its supposed to be…but He still shows up nonetheless.  And that no one can deny.  Why should I deny this?”

F:  “So you’re just going to go forward, pretending?”

J: “No!  This is not pretending.  This is taking it on faith that what God has said is true and worthy of my response.”

F:  “And that’s easy for you?”

J: “No!  It isn’t!  Are you kidding me?  Do you know what its like to walk down the streets and here the whispers under people’s breaths?  ‘Slut’.  ‘Tramp’. ‘Whore’.  Do you not think I hear that?  Do you not think I find myself saying that in my head myself?  Do you not think I have considered divorce?…

…. Or what about what I hear people saying about me?  ‘Sinner’, ‘Unrighteous’. ‘Imbecile’.  ‘Idiot’. ‘Second-class’. ‘White-trash’. Do you not think I hear those things either?  No!  I carry those words and those thoughts every day of my life.  You ask if this is easy?  I assure you it is anything but.”

F:  “Then why do it?”

J: “Because maybe…just maybe, the inconceivable is just what is appropriate.  Maybe…just maybe, the problem we have is not just that our circumstances are such that they are – that we are held captive by a foreign nation.  We tend to locate the problem ‘out there’.  ‘It’s the Romans; lets get rid of them.’  Before, it was the Babylonians, Assyrians, Canaanites, etc…  Well, ‘friend’, do you not realize we have been saying that same thing from before we ever became a nation?”

F:  “What do you mean, Joseph?”

J: “What I mean is that is exactly what Adam did back in Eden.”

F:  “Explain?”

J: “When God came to Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit, and after He asked where they were because they were hiding because of their shame, He then asked Adam, ‘What have you done?’  And do you remember what Adam’s response was?”

F:  “Sure, it was ‘we ate the fruit we weren’t supposed to’.”

J: “No!  Friend.  His response was ‘the woman you gave me deceived me…’  Adam located the problem of his disobedience onto others.  Eve for sure.  And look at how men have historically treated women ever since. They are inferior.  They are to blame.  We tell ourselves that if I cheat on my wife its because she has ‘Daddy’ issues and I just need a break.  Or she’s incapable of understanding my needs, so I take the initiative in my own hands to satisfy myself.  We justify our treatment of women because after all, they are to blame!…

…And then we blame God!  ‘You’re the one who set this whole thing in motion.  Now where are you?’  ‘Why have you made us to do this wicked thing, God.’  ‘Why have you allowed us to suffer.’  ‘Why are you so evil, God, to let this all happen and not get rid of the problem?’.”

F:  “And what’s so wrong with that Joseph?”

J: “What’s wrong is that maybe we’ve misjudged where the problem lies.  Maybe we’ve determined that the problem lies ‘out there’, outside of ourselves….

….Maybe, just maybe, the problem is with us….

…and God hasn’t gotten rid of the problem because He still loves ‘the problem’, even when it doesn’t make any sense for him to do so.  Maybe God knows something of having to deal with the dilemma of the people He loves betraying Him, and yet He still chooses ‘what is difficult all one’s days/as if it were easy’ [Auden, “For the Time Being”, found in his Collected Poems]….

…Maybe, just maybe, the exceptional is really usual…

….Maybe, just maybe, the exceptional is really the way its supposed to be…

…because deeper problems need exceptional solutions…

…after all, the inconceivable happens.”

Inspiration by Purposeful Rest

Just read this quote on another blog and was struck by the timeliness of it as I am in a constant state of worrying about all the things I need to write.  My problem is that I can not really act on this advice because everything is due in a week and a half.  But for the future, I would like to incorporate this into my work in terms of writing – sermons, articles, and school related assignments:

The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day … you will never be stuck. Always stop while you are going good and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start. – Ernest Hemingway

(HT: Write to Done)

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