Oct 21 - Matthew 5:31-32

Jesus said,

“It was also said,

‘Whoever divorces his wife,

let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

But I say to you that anyone

who divorces his wife,

except on the ground of unchastity,

causes her to commit adultery;

and whoever marries a

divorced woman commits adultery."

Matthew 5:31-32

When we were in Israel, the Beduin lifestyle was explained to us.

The Beduins are a nomadic group of Middle Eastern shepherds, and a typical Beduin man has three wives. Hmmm.

But don’t worry about the poor guy. If he gets tired of one, all he has to do is (something like) say "I divorce you" three times. Instantly the marriage is over (and a new bride can be brought into the tent).

Interestingly, many modern Americans are treating marriage only slightly more seriously.

The modern focus of marriage is on "me, myself, and I." And if you are making me, myself, and I happy, then we should stay married. But if me, myself, and I find something more satisfying, the principle of self-fulfillment demands that me, myself, and I should seek out a new soulmate to -- in a more satisfying way -- fulfill my heart (or at least tickle my loins ... as the case often is).

Fortunately, the Biblical picture of marriage does not follow the paradigm of me, myself, and I. It follows instead the shape and paradigm of the cross. Though directed originally at the husband, I believe both husbands and wives are called to "love your [spouse] as Christ loved the church."

In other words, the heart of marriage is sacrificial love ... not selfish desires.

It's about "what can I do for you" ... not "what can you do for me."

Yes, some spouses will inevitably try to take advantage of that ... but most will respond with joy and will reciprocate with wholehearted service for you too (when Jesus' sacrificial model of the two becoming one is joyfully followed).

Wait ... let's try that last thought again: Yes, some spouses will inevitably try to take advantage of the other person's sacrificial love ... but that's why a Christian marriage is not just between two people. That's why Christian marriage includes three -- you, me, and Jesus. If Christ is the focal point and the goal -- instead of "me first" or even "we two" -- then his love will transform us both.

·       We'll adopt his priorities.

·       We'll learn his forgiveness.

·       We seek to serve rather than be served.

·       We'll discover the power to begin putting sin, carnality, and selfish desires behind us.

·       We will see our spouse through Christ's eyes -- meaning, we will see with renewed wonder.

·       We will begin to truly live.

Jesus' sharpened older teachings on divorce -- no quick and random dismissals like the Beduins are allowed. Rather, he taught us that marriage is designed to not only protect marriage ... but to reveal our own weaknesses. If we try to do marriage on our own, we’ll eventually fail and fall. We will make a hopeless mess of things. Therefore, we need a Savior! Not only to save and transform us eternally ... but to save and transform our marriages day-by-day!

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is an awesome husband

(Ha! Not because of what I can do,

but because of the Awesome One

who makes me way better than just me)

Oct 20 - Matthew 5:31-32

Jesus said,

“It was also said,

‘Whoever divorces his wife,

let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

But I say to you that anyone

who divorces his wife,

except on the ground of unchastity,

causes her to commit adultery;

and whoever marries a

divorced woman commits adultery."

Matthew 5:31-32

Having just come from a Sunday School class on marriage (and divorce), I'm sensitive today to how I write this. In fact, I will take two days to write on this topic.

Tomorrow will focus on Jesus' uncompromising call to work on and for your marriage.

But first, I must address today an accidental fault of churches: Too many of the victims of divorce don't feel welcome anymore in church.

The church must be family friendly. In an age when the family is under attack by all the forces of culture, church must be a place of hope, refuge, teaching, and celebration for family.

But in the midst of this focus (and celebration) the "victims" of divorce (often an abandoned spouse who didn't wish for this separation) often feel unwelcome in the pews that once felt so comfortable.

They sometimes feel like lepers. Untouchable because their peers don't know what to say.

They sometimes feel like they're wearing a scarlet "D," judged for something that isn't their fault or desire.

They feel like their alone, because too many of us hide our sins and insecurities, hide our own brokenness and past disappointments (even divorce) under a mask of present piety.

They feel irrelevant when the church (very rightly) celebrates marriage.

They feel hopelessly judged by scripture whenever passages like this talk about the sinfulness of divorce.

Therefore, it is your job -- as a good church member -- to reach out to EVERYONE around you. You may or may not know their story, but you can offer friendship. You can assume the best of them.

When you find out about a grief (including the grief of separation), you can be quick with a hug.

It's not your job to judge. It's your job to love.

Generally speaking, your pastors are probably working (behind the scenes) to make sure that the neighbor at the other end of your pew is in a biblical state of renewal -- whether they're the victim who needs healing or a fellow sinner who needs the healing power of repentance. Your job isn't to judge that. It's to love.

And the same is true of the people in your neighborhoods and workplaces. We must love ..: and yes, we can do so without condoning a culture of easy divorce. In fact, that is what we are called to do.

In Christ's Love,

a pastor who grieves over

all the pains surrounding divorce

Oct 19 - Matthew 5:29

Jesus said,

And if your right hand 
causes you to sin, 
cut it off and throw it away; 
it is better for you to lose 
one of your members 
than for your whole body 
to go into hell.
Matthew 5:29

Yesterday, I promised you a story.

Look back to yesterday's devotional

to more fully appreciate the context!

Question: Imagine you're walking along the edge of a cliff, and you trip and fall. Someone throws down a lifeline to save you. Does it matter whether you're attached to the top of the rope, the bottom of the rope, or just that you're attached?

 

The same is true with life. Sin trips us. We fall off the edge of a cliff. If Jesus doesn't throw us a lifeline -- which he did with his cross -- we'll crash and burn. Literally. Without Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice, scripture teaches repeatedly that our whole bodies will burn in the fires of hell. 

So here's the question: Does it matter where on Jesus' rope (called the cross) it is that we catch ahold of this lifeline? 

 

The answer is no. The drug addicted prostitute who reaches up from the pit and cries, "Jesus, save me," is just as saved as the Mother Theresa's and saints of the world. 

So the answer is no ... except when it's yes!

It actually does matter where we are -- positionally -- upon that rope. Not from God's perspective, of course. Grace is eternally grace, right?! 

But ... from our limited human perspective, it matters tremendously where we position our hearts along that lifeline. 

Every object has gravity. The bigger the object is, the more gravity it has. The massive sun has more gravity, for example, than our comparatively little earth. So why don't we float away from earth and get sucked up into the sun? Because we're closer to the earth. 

Jesus has more gravity than sin, hell, and death. But when we fall off the cliff -- and we all fall because we all sin -- and when we only allow ourselves to grab on near the ground, we find ourselves more drawn to the gravity of the world than the lift in Christ's light. 

And when we're hanging -- often intentionally compromised -- by a low-hanging thread, we're liable to let go, thinking that the ground below us looks solid. But what's below us is sinking sand. Death. Destruction. 

 

But when we're hanging higher -- closer to Christ -- we're more likely to climb higher. His "gravity" (his truth and light and power) will captivate us. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is proud to be

attached to Christ with anyone,

including drug addicts

and prostitutes

 

 

Lyndy's Baptism This Monday, 7pm - You are Invited

 

F R O M   P A S T O R   N A T E   A N D   G R E E R

 

Dear Spirit of Joy family,

 

Greer and I would like to invite you to Lyndy’s baptism!  It will be this Monday the 19^th at 7pm.  Afterwards there will be cookies and punch to celebrate!

 

I know this is late notice, and we had hoped to do it on a Sunday, but here’s the really exciting news: my Aunt Lyndy (for whom baby Lyndy is named) is going to be be in town!  We didn’t think she would be able to be out from California to attend but she’s going to be available this one evening, so we’re jumping on it so she can be there! 

 

We sincerely hope you can come, celebrate this sacrament with us, and also get to meet our family members who will be there. 

 

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Nate and Greer

 

Oct 17-18 - Matthew 5:29

Jesus said,

And if your right hand

causes you to sin,

cut it off and throw it away;

it is better for you to lose

one of your members

than for your whole body

to go into hell.

Matthew 5:29

We get in our own way.

Our eyes wander and we lust. We covet and want and our hands steal things. We feet walk us into the wrong places. We mind dwells on the wrong things.

Cut it out!

And yes, you should read "cut it out" in either of two important ways.

·       First, cut off or out every source for your sin.

·       More importantly -- just stop! (Indeed, as I said to my boys when they were acting out, "Hey, kids! Cut it out!)

Let's be clear ... With statements like this, Jesus isn't contradicting the fact that were saved by grace and suggesting that we rely on our works to keep our whole body out of hell. No.

He's simply revealing a simple truth: Our conduct often reveals the state of our heart. And we dare not let anything -- including our hands or eyes -- lead us into terminal temptation.

(For Monday’s devotional, I'll tell you my favorite story to go along with this truth!)

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs a hair cut

(I'm not sure how my few hairs

are causing me to sin,

but I'll be glad to cut them off)

Oct 16 - Matthew 5:29

Jesus said,

If your right eye causes

you to sin, tear it out

and throw it away;

it is better for you to

lose one of your members

than for your whole body

to be thrown into hell.

Matthew 5:29

"Mom, why aren't there more one-eyed men,"

That was the question that Pastor Fran's son asked one day. And in the context of "lusting in one's heart" and pornography, statistics reveal that even in the church we ought to be a nation of cyclopses. (Male and female.)

The scriptural warnings are dire ...

·       let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. - Heb 13:4

·       Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers ... will inherit the kingdom of God. - 1 Cor 6:10

·       For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure ... has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. - Eph 5:5

·       For this is the will of God ... that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. - 1 Thes 4:3-5

·       If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. - Jesus himself in Matt 5:29

Ouch.

Those are frightening words in a culture as perverse as pagan Rome ... and with pornography as quick as a click away.

Freedom begins with an even more important word from Jesus, though. His very first sermon and definitive message: "repent and believe the Good News."

The Good News is forgiveness and freedom. As its says in 1 John 1:8-9, "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

That's the freedom! But it begins with Jesus' first word, "repent."

·       Repenting is turning away from our sin and turning toward God.

·       Repenting is turning off the tempting computer, and returning to the simple, wonderful gift of our wives.

·       Repenting is valuing real relationships over images that are nothing more than seductive lies. (Sure these images have a power. Men's brains, especially, are wired to be stimulated this way. But ultimately pornography is a blinding lie. They makes us less. They make our real relationships less. It eats a slow hole from within. It destroys.)

Repent. Renew. Restore. Rejoice more fully.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who hopes he doesn't see more

Matthew 5:29, one-eyed people at church ...

but more 1 John 1:9, repentant freedom fighters

with better real relationships

Oct 15 - Matthew 5:28

Jesus said,

“everyone who looks

at a woman with lust

has already committed

adultery with her in his heart.”

Matthew 5:28

Russell Brand is a wild, crude, rude, and historically misogynistic comedian ... which makes him a fascinating commentator on the dangers of pornography. 

A few observations about the modern obsession with lusting in our hearts, and then I'll return to this unlikely cultural commentator. 

In modern America, one is eight online searches is for erotic content. And it's not just "the world" that's "addicted." This is a very Christian problem too. 

John Stonestreet of Breakpoint says, "You might want to sit down for this—Barna [Polling Group recently] found that 64 percent of American men and 20 percent of women view pornography at least monthly. And for Christian men, that number is 55 percent."

More than half of even Christian men. It's an epidemic that is cheapening real relationships, establishing unrealistic expectations, and destroying marriages.  And even a notorious bad boy comedian recognizes the destruction. 

Read the article.

Watch the video.

http://thinkchristian.reframemedia.com/russell-brand-on-the-problem-of-porn

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is vulnerable

... because that's

the world we live in

and the flesh we live in

Oct 14- Matthew 5:27-28

Jesus said,

You have heard that it was said,

'You shall not commit adultery.’

But I say to you that everyone

who looks at a woman with lust

has already committed adultery

with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:27-28

We have a generation of chronic adulterers.

Why? Because pornography is a murderous modern addiction. 

It devours fine men. It is increasingly seducing more and more women. It is undermining true intimacy and too many marriages. It is even quicksand for strong pastors and legions of "good" churchgoers. 

We are a nation of addicts. 

And our children are the pawns of the deceitful logic that what one or two consenting adults do behind closed doors is their own business. 

Why?

·       Because the easy access to porn is enslaving our children. The online sites funded by this addiction aren’t just frequented by of-age adults. Too many children are too addicted at way too young an age. Thus, our children are our pawns. 

·       Because pornography is ruining real adult relationships with unrealistic expectations and the counterfeit satisfaction of intimacy. The net effect includes more out-of-wedlock sex, fewer marriages, and later more divorce. This means, in part, that because of pornography there's more fatherless children. (And this means children are again pawns … as fatherless households are one of the biggest predictors to things like poverty and drug use.) 

·       As people use more and more porn, it takes more and more “stimulation” to elicit the same "effect." This leads to increasingly "less traditional viewings" ... a spiral of addiction that too often progresses to child porn. (Are we complicit in making children pawns … even when “that” isn't our flavor of the moment?)

·       Similarly with higher stakes stimulation comes a rise in prostitution. And who is being used and trafficked most? Teens and children. They're the most vulnerable pawns of the growing sexual addiction in our culture. Internet pornography directly fuels sex trafficking and slavery – including the slavery of children. 

·       Furthermore, compromised adults abuse children. 

·       And likewise compromised teens abuse children too.

·       Compromised teens also abuse and cheapen one another. 

We need to quit winking at the titilation that defines our culture. 

We need to quit (passively) approving the deceitful logic that what one or two consenting adults do behind closed doors is their own business. 

We need to confess our own vulnerability and guard our own hearts. 

We need to get help for our addiction. (And statistics say that probably half of you reading this a compromised. It’s not time to be silent. It’s time to be freed.)

In Christ's Love,

a guy who found it

nearly impossible to stay pure

in an age when access to mess

was a thousand times more difficult

than it is today

... and a pastor who wants

to help us all do the impossible:

stay pure in an impure world

(Call me if you want help.

It’s confidential.)

Oct 13 - Matthew 5:25-26

Jesus said,

Come to terms quickly

with your accuser while you

are on the way to court with him,

or your accuser may

hand you over to the judge,

and the judge to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Truly I tell you, you will never get out

until you have paid the last penny.

Matthew 5:25-26

·       Do not go to court.

·       Do not sue.

·       Do not expect justice or to feel better afterwards.

Those aren't commands ... as if from God on high. They're simply my wisdom and advice from being a pastor for twenty years.

My advice: If you go to court, you lose.

The first loss is usually financial. (It's like gambling. In Las Vegas, a few lucky folks walk away rich from a court battle. But most walk away poorer. In court it’s not fun. And the house always wins.)

The “house,” in this case, is the legal profession. There are many honorable lawyers, but a massive industry is built richly around two sides not being able to compromise or forgive. And in my increasing experience, bigger money usually rigs the system against the little guy … often simply outspending the poor until they give up or give in. And if the house wins, you almost always lose. (And yet there are enough occasional jackpots to keep the little guy gambling.)

Wait.

Buried in that last paragraph was the second way we lose when we go to court. Here's the quote: "a massive industry is built richly on two sides not being able to compromise or forgive."

Too many people expect "justice" (pay back) to make them feel better. Forgiveness is hard, but it's usually forgiveness -- not pay-back -- that helps us move on. That sets us free.

For example, you've been hit by a bus. You want justice ... and a little help with your medical bills. So you sue. Four years later, after subtracting all the legal fees, you might get a few thousand dollars more than you would have gotten in the first place. But look at the cost. For four years, you've been mired in something you could have moved on from years before. For years, you’ve been embattled and embittered against a bus driver (who probably made a simple human error, not unlike the dozens that you make everyday.) For four years, you've poisoned his life. And for four years, you've poisoned your own. Instead of moving forward, you’ve been stuck reliving the past with every call from the lawyer (that costs you another hundred dollars).

Forgiveness is more freeing than bitterness!!!

And the desire for your slim chance at a jackpot (a win at someone else's expense) is not worth years of bitterness and unforgiveness.

Jesus' reasons for not going to court further the advice. What if the non-guilty is declared guilty?! (Settle out of court!)

Yes, work to settle. Strive to compromise. Make it a priority to forgive. That’s how you move forward. That’s how you are set free. And it take trust – the confidence that the God of justice will set the scales right in the end!

In Christ's Love,

a former advertising professional

that the National Bar Association

is not hiring to lead their next

advertising campaign

 

Oct 12 - Matthew 5:23-24

Jesus said,

"So when you are offering

your gift at the altar,

if you remember that

your brother or sister has

something against you,

leave your gift there

before the altar and go;

first be reconciled to

your brother or sister,

and then come and

offer your gift.

Matthew 5:23-24

Which is more important -- worship of God or reconciliation with man?

I'm guessing you know the answer. 

"The chief end of man," begins the Westminster Confession, "is to glorify God ..."

And here's the key, the heart of Jesus' meaning: Love of neighbor -- including forgiveness -- is part of loving God. Indeed, we can fully worship God until we reconcile with our neighbors. 

You knew that, right?

So ... who do you need to forgive before you can truly worship God?

Actually, let me add an incentive. The Westminster Confession adds four more words to what I wrote already ... "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever."

Now add that key piece of being human -- that chief end of man -- to my statement just before the last paragraph: "So ... who do you need to forgive before you can truly enjoy God."

You can't fully enjoy God, nor life, until you forgive others. It's hard. But you're the one in bondage until you forgive. You ... not the other person who may not even know they hurt you. You. Jesus sends you away from the altar as part of worship. He wants you to go and discover the key to greater joy and worship -- forgiveness. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wonders

if masochism is the

path to greater joy

(No! But the more I'm hurt,

the more I have to forgive.

And the more I forgive,

the more I get to enjoy God)

Oct 10-11 - Matthew 5:21-22

Jesus said

"You have heard that it was

said to those of ancient times,

‘You shall not murder’; and

‘whoever murders shall be

liable to judgment.’

But I say to you that

if you are angry

with a brother or sister, 

you will be liable to judgment

Matthew 5:21-22

I'm not angry today. But I surely have been in the past. As a young man, I had too quick of a temper. 

Am I therefore liable for judgment?

Yes. 

My fate is certain. I am guilty. 

The penalty is death. 

I'm not being dramatic. This is my condition -- sinner. This is my judgment -- guilty. This is the appropriate punishment -- death. 

Sinner. Guilty. Death. That's your situation too. 

Too often people think of Jesus as the one who loosened the law and defeated legalism. No! He sharpened the law. 

Why? To convince us that we are guilty. 

 Have you ever been angry? Guilty! Have you ever lusted in your heart -- much less with your body? Guilty. Have you ever fudged on your taxes or not given your employer a fully day's work? Thief!

Jesus' point is this. You are guilty. You deserve death. 

Why is that Jesus' message? 

Because until we realize that we need a Savior, we are proud hypocrites. We are insufferable bores. We are deceived liars. We think we can be good enough, and therefore try to do life without God. 

It's only when we realize how sinful we are that we reach back to God. 

The Savior wanted you saved. Therefore, to keep you to think you could save yourself with your own goodness, he showed us the real sharpness of the law and the real futility of our sinful nature. 

And then, through the cross, he offered us the only path to life. 

In Christ's Love,

a sinner who now

comprehends grace

Oct 9 - Matthew 5:20

Jesus said,

"For I tell you, unless

your righteousness exceeds

that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will never enter

the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:20

For the last two days we focused on the Law ... indeed, the doing of the Law. Why? Because Jesus focused on the doing of the Law.

But ... as the Savior says here, "being good" doesn't save us. Indeed, our degree of righteousness (exceeding the Pharisees or not) is not what punches our ticket and buys us a trip to heaven.

So ... God's law is important. He gave it to Israel as a way to live successfully in the Land. He gives it to us as a way to live joyfully in the Kingdom. But ... it's not what saves us.

Jesus hints at this truth here. The rest of the New Testament states it more clearly. We are justified by God's grace, effective through faith and apart from the works prescribed by the law -- Romans 3:23ff and scores of other passages.

Why is grace the rule rather than righteousness? Because no matter how perfect we try to be, we will inevitably fail. We will sin and fall short. We'll soil ourselves and deserve condemnation rather than an invitation into the presence of a holy God.

We must be saved, therefore, by God's action. By grace.

And if it's his action, rather than our own that makes us righteous, Jesus is saying, "get off your high horse ... because it's not really very high."

He's saying, "Quit being a Pharisee!"

Wait. A Pharisee used to be a good thing, an honorable thing. The Pharisees were passionate God-followers (if rule-followers was what it meant to follow God).

But by the time of Jesus, their rule following became legalism. And they became judgmental hypocrites.

And that's what we become when the Law of God becomes the focus.

Grace must be the focus.

God's grace to us.

Our grace to others.

This doesn't encourage permissiveness. Grace doesn't excuse sin. The Law is still the path to human joy and success in the Kingdom. Obedience is still a path to bringing God joy. But it's not about legalism and judgment. It must be, instead, about freedom and joy.

We must seek to set our neighbors free. And we do that by loving them. And introducing them to the Prince of Grace. And letting him discover peace by following this Prince ... and this freedom ... and this life.

In Christ's Love,

a guy whose righteousness

does not exceed the Pharisees

(and yet I'm righteous nonetheless

through the One whose does)

Oct 8 - Matthew 5:19

Jesus said,

Therefore, whoever breaks one of

the least of these commandments,

and teaches others to do the same,

will be called least in the kingdom of heaven;

but whoever does them and teaches them

will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:19

Jesus did not come to abolish the law -- see verse 19.

Indeed, Jesus reveres the Old Testament. He sees it at God's explicit Word. He states here that he reveres God's law ... and that we should too. Indeed, he says that he came to "fulfill" God's law -- see verse 17 again.

But that's not the focus I heard when reading this passage today.

To me, the main phrase is, essentially, "teach others."

·       Teach others to revere the Law.

·       Teach others to love the Old Testament.

·       And most of all, teach others to follow the one who fulfills the Law.

Jesus completes us and history. And that is what we're called to teach.

In Christ's Love,

a great guy

… or at least, one

who sees the path

to being "great"

Oct 7 - Matthew 5:17-18

Jesus said,

"Do not think that I have come

to abolish the law or the prophets;

I have come not to abolish

but to fulfill. For truly I tell you,

until heaven and earth pass away,

not one letter, not one stroke of a letter,

will pass from the law until

all is accomplished."

Matthew 5:17-18

Many "good Christians" say that they don't like the Old Testament with all its blood and laws. That they prefer instead the New Testament. (That's okay. The world without a Savior IS a mess!)

What's not okay is saying that they don't like the God of the Old Testament. No. That's not okay. Why? Because it's "the same God."

And God is consistent. Consistently loving. Consistently holy. Consistently law-giving. Consistently grace-filled.

As Jesus says here, not one dot of an i has changed with the coming of the Messiah.

Sure, we might need to interpret the laws differently -- read: correctly. (As Jesus showed, might need to loosen some of the legalism on some laws like the Sabbath, making it again about the freedom of rest and the pleasure of worship, rather than strict duties of a day. But on the other hand, we might need to sharpen our understanding of other laws. For example, yes, the act of adultery is an obvious sin, but, as Jesus says, so is the simple, divisive "lusting in our hearts.")

Indeed, God's laws haven't changed. Why? Because human hearts haven't changed.

I've often envisioned a tight-rope. Jesus was the only human ever to walk that tight-rope perfectly, not falling off on either the side of legalism or permissiveness.

You and I fall off of that tight rope all of the time ... and sometimes on different sides for different issues. Sometimes we wink at sins we like, saying, "It's not that bad," while making a "Federal case" about a sin that offends us.

So here's what I've found helpful ...

If I find I'm too legalistic or too permissive about anything that's clearly in scripture, then I probably need to lean a little in the other direction to attempt to stay balanced on the tight rope.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to be able

to walk across Niagara Falls

on a high wire and not fall off

(but I'll practice on the wire

of legalism and permissiveness

until I get it right)

Oct 6 - Matthew 5:16

Jesus said,

"In the same way,

let your light shine before others,

so that they may see your good works

and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

This phrase is part of our baptismal liturgy.

And every time it prompts me to make this observation: Baptism is God's action. He takes us. He washes us. He forgives our sins. He adopts us into his family. Yes, we have to show up. Yes, we have to submit to the waters. But this phrase is the only thing we're asked to do.

And what is it?

We are called to let our light shine.

Why? So that God will see our light and God will love us more?

No. So that others will see our light and maybe they'll love God more.

The only thing our baptismal liturgy asks us to do is be light so that we can draw other to THE LIGHT!

In Christ's Love,

a guy who used to have

a Snoopy night light --

while my night light

fights the Red Baron,

I'll fight "this present darkness"

Oct 2- Matthew 5:14-15

You are the light of the world.

A city built on a hill cannot be hid.

No one after lighting a lamp

puts it under the bushel basket,

but on the lamp stand, and

it gives light to all in the house.

Matthew 5:14-15

Having just returned from Israel, my favorite place was the region around the Sea of Galilee.

Not much has changed since the days of Jesus.

Galilee is really a lake more than a misnamed sea, just a couple miles across. And though this is the only freshwater body in Israel, they've kept it remarkably rural, agricultural.

If "Lake Genneseret" -- it's alternate title -- was in the U.S., there'd be scores of water skiers and jet skis. There'd be craziness and noise and commotion. But there must be a rule against motorized craft.

Thus, this quiet agricultural region is the easiest place to imagine a first-century carpenter wandering the hillsides and teaching beside the shore.

There's just one rising city nowadays near the shores of Galilee. Tiberius -- a literal city on a hill rising out the sea -- cannot be hid. No matter where you are at night in the Galilee region, the bright lights of Tiberius gives you your bearings. 

In Jesus' day, the villages would have been much smaller ... and obviously, the glows would have been much less bright without electricity. Nevertheless, the hills of nighttime Galilee would have been dotted with pinpricks of light, like little stars amid the hills.

"A city built on a hill cannot be hid."

Jesus calls you and me light. We shine whether we like it or not.

·       Some of us with brightness, reflecting the brilliance of the true and greater Light.

·       Others of us sink to level of the world, becoming part of the red light district. Indistinguishable from anything else -- except for our hypocrisy.

·       Others of us try to hide our light, not wanting to draw attention to the Light that we say lives among us.

And the problem is ... the shores of our Galilee are no longer peaceful. Our corner of the world is getting darker. Jesus is asking, will you leave the compromises of the red light district a and come out from under the bushel basket? Indeed, will you boldly shine?

In Christ's Love,

a Baked Alaska

(if I'm going to be

some sort of a flame,

I might as well be a

sweetly flaming desert)