tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49339258305986740382024-03-13T13:47:44.705-07:00breathing roomJessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11997649836341503143noreply@blogger.comBlogger327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-18145879133153608982014-10-26T16:51:00.001-07:002014-10-26T16:51:21.972-07:00New Humanity // Wineskins<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 10/26/2014</em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-bxw7WiVO0E0/VE2Ivo-9qdI/AAAAAAAAHEs/WRO8JHitFAc/s1600-h/image%25255B81%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-atXCt1Phn4Q/VE2IwXOcRdI/AAAAAAAAHEw/Qq1WCDLWD58/image_thumb%25255B49%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a></p> <p>New Humanity whiteboard recap… <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-pQZrFs4ie5o/VE2Iw6NtxTI/AAAAAAAAHE4/K6k_2S7ia_U/s1600-h/image%25255B79%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-iwRfnKuon1k/VE2IxJtg7GI/AAAAAAAAHFA/8C8sRcZbcfg/image_thumb%25255B47%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a><i><sup>18</sup></i><i>Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees</i><i> were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>19</sup></i><i>Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. <sup>20</sup>But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.</i> <p><i></i> <p>This maybe sounds strange at first – there’s not an actual wedding going on, is there? Is Jesus getting married? – so we’ll talk about it more later. To help us stay with the flow of the conversation though, it helps to know that wedding feasts were seven days long, and fasting or any other act of mourning wasn’t permitted for you if you were a guest or participant in the wedding feast. Jesus, in other words, is claiming that he and his disciples aren’t fasting because there is a hidden wedding feast in progress. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--IH39h5mop4/VE2IxjEmscI/AAAAAAAAHFM/iVu4LAz6g0M/s1600-h/image%25255B77%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-jLSK1Jl2F0M/VE2IyUEoepI/AAAAAAAAHFQ/-8KaiddIHKs/image_thumb%25255B45%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>21</sup></i><i>“No one sews a patch of unshrunk</i><i> cloth on an old garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. <sup>22</sup>And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”</i> <p><i></i> <p>On the surface this is pretty self-explanatory – we understand how fabrics can shrink with time and water and heat. And although it’s not something we are intimately familiar with today, we can imagine how wineskins (which were made from a goat’s hide) would stretch by the fermenting process of wine kept in them, making them unable to withstand the fermentation of new wine put in them after they’d already been stretched; they would only burst, ruining the container and the contents. As to why Jesus is saying this, we’ll talk more about it later. For the moment, perhaps it might help to just consider that Jesus is saying something brand new is happening through him, and we’ve got to let go of the old and embrace the new to understand and benefit from it. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eh2ltoK_Y64/VE2Iys-xK4I/AAAAAAAAHFY/H2OnkT3gYjY/s1600-h/image%25255B75%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6Hu7ae3jwSE/VE2IzPeTdwI/AAAAAAAAHFk/faCuM75AmaY/image_thumb%25255B43%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>23</sup></i><i>One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields,</i><i> and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. <sup>24</sup>The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”</i> <p><i></i> <p>The Sabbath was an important day in Israel; observing it is one of the ten commandments, in fact. It happened every week, from sunset on Friday evening to sunset on Saturday. On the Sabbath, everyone in Israel was legally obligated to rest from work, and by the time of Jesus, there were very detailed stipulations about what kinds of activities were allowed and what were not. Picking grain was not allowed. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-UKcI8yKQAV8/VE2Izk-1OGI/AAAAAAAAHFo/URtzxr6NTUk/s1600-h/image%25255B73%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-R0HJr2j-9rU/VE2I0AY6_aI/AAAAAAAAHFw/k2jYuYTwzy8/image_thumb%25255B41%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>25</sup></i><i>He answered, “Have you never read</i><i> what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? <sup>26</sup>In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”</i> <p><i></i> <p>This story Jesus references about David is an important one, and we’ll explain it and talk about it more a little later. But basically Jesus is saying that there is precedence for his actions in something that happened in the life of one of Israel’s most beloved heroes, David. <p><i><sup>27</sup></i><i>Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. <sup>28</sup>So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”</i> <p><i></i> <p>This last verse is incredibly profound; we’ll probably save it for next week, when some more drama involving the Sabbath happens at the beginning of Mark chapter 3. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-O_JhIeV0S14/VE2I0mT4IvI/AAAAAAAAHF4/k3krSrbGw6k/s1600-h/image%25255B71%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-AsGTupB16ag/VE2I1Fr-xnI/AAAAAAAAHGA/pjT6fvuuch0/image_thumb%25255B39%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Let’s talk about fasting, since that’s what sets this section in motion. <p>Fasting in Israel happened on feast days remembering the past; in particular, remembering times of tragedy or disaster. There were fast days, for example, connected to the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. They were used to reflect, to mourn, to repent, to petition God to forgive sins and restore relationship with Israel. John the Baptist and the Pharisees and their disciples all were observing these fasts, but Jesus’ disciples were not. They were going about their normal lives. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3SneQWgUjKs/VE2I1UwOgNI/AAAAAAAAHGI/7T6bhQo3Nz8/s1600-h/image%25255B68%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-B7au1QStB5Q/VE2I12dvMGI/AAAAAAAAHGQ/QV1WjpHMex8/image_thumb%25255B36%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Jesus’ response about the bridegroom gives us the key to understand why Jesus and his disciples aren’t fasting. In Israel, not only were weddings a big deal – 7 days of feasting – they were the basis for one of the primary metaphors about God rescuing Israel. Israel saw herself as a wayward or unfaithful bride that one day God was going to forgive and win back to himself, and that he would come and marry her, and there would be a feast for the ages in celebration. <p>When Jesus responds to the question about fasting, he references himself as the <i>bridegroom</i> and his disciples as the guests at the party. In other words, Jesus is saying that he himself represents YHWH and his disciples represent Israel and the party has gotten started. <i>Right now, through me</i>, Jesus is saying, <i>God is doing the thing everyone has been fasting and praying for. </i>The disciples are so caught up in the good new thing that is happening that they are simply <i>unable</i> to fast. This is a time for looking <i>forward</i>, not backward. Fasting doesn’t make any sense right now. <p>(There is that note about the bridegroom being taken away, which seems to be the first reference to Jesus being crucified; <i>that</i> isn’t going to be like a wedding feast; fasting will be appropriate then. It will be too dark to look forward. All the disciples will be looking backwards, filled with sober reflection, petitioning God to <i>do</i> something, to show them where they went wrong.) <p>Ok. So what does this have to do with New Humanity? <p>Thanks for asking. That’s a really great question. <p>But it’s not time to answer it yet, not until we’ve talked about the next thing Jesus says. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-OwF-4Jy5bvw/VE2I2Rt5ndI/AAAAAAAAHGY/elfCLMnTfDE/s1600-h/image%25255B66%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Q7XsznvQHzE/VE2I27lPoJI/AAAAAAAAHGg/70ev-TPo-a8/image_thumb%25255B34%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>21</sup></i><i>“No one sews a patch of unshrunk</i><i> cloth on an old garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. <sup>22</sup>And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-H20L3qR19B4/VE2I3TrbsyI/AAAAAAAAHGo/waqAm-oiAgA/s1600-h/image%25255B64%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-J95M1n5G6kg/VE2I3g8Ns2I/AAAAAAAAHG0/tFcSWf5unds/image_thumb%25255B32%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="440" height="335"></a> <p>Now we are getting somewhere. What God is doing in and through Jesus, the way in which he is rescuing Israel by sending Jesus with forgiveness and healing for sinners, inviting them to follow him into child-like faith in the kingdom of God, is profoundly <i>new.</i> <p>Something so new that trying to stitch it together with the old will only make the old less useful, tearing its holes even more wide open. Something so new that to try to hold it with the containers of what came before will cause those containers to burst, making a mess. <p>What’s happing in and through Jesus, what Jesus is teaching his disciples and inviting them into, is so new that it’s <i>painful and overwhelming</i> for the old humanity. It’s so new that the only way to receive it, to enter into it, to enjoy it is by throwing off your old clothes and ditching your old wine supply, receiving new clothes and wine bottles Jesus has to give you. <p>Sounds great… <p>but what in the world are we actually talking about? <p>Well, what do clothes do for us? They keep us warm and dry, and they keep people from seeing us naked. In other words, they protect us in our weakness and cover the source of our shame. They protect us from our vulnerability. <p>And what do wineskins do for us? They keep our wine from going bad too quickly, and from evaporating. In this case, in the ancient world, wine was a symbol for life-giving nourishment. And for the Israelites, wine (along with grain and oil) had become a technical term for the covenant blessings promised by God to Israel. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-m2FCk5RC7lI/VE2I4EMrfUI/AAAAAAAAHG4/BLQc7JhbE7w/s1600-h/image%25255B62%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IOmkTpxzLIc/VE2I4t5IylI/AAAAAAAAHHA/BTq_zoFcthw/image_thumb%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Just for fun: <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord…</i> <p><i>New wine will drip from the mountains</i><i></i> <p><i>and flow from all the hills</i> <p><i><sup>14 </sup></i><i>and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.</i> <p><i>They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them;</i> <p><i>They will plant vineyards and drink their wine,</i> <p><b><i>Amos 9</i></b> <p>So in other words, wineskins hold the source of the life that we are constantly longing and thirsty for. They protect us from neediness. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-cL-zTq6q_9A/VE2I5VGW0sI/AAAAAAAAHHM/m83AvEiP2ow/s1600-h/image%25255B60%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-PC6mqJqo3I8/VE2I55MCThI/AAAAAAAAHHQ/STblDMGnq8c/image_thumb%25255B28%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>In the old humanity, what are our clothes and wineskins? What protects us from the pain, discomfort, and shame of our vulnerability? What makes us feel secure in light of our never-ending needs? <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-UYb3uNGno1U/VE2I6POr4bI/AAAAAAAAHHY/-euEb2VHYEg/s1600-h/image%25255B58%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hDQ_hbBb_dg/VE2I6gYIE-I/AAAAAAAAHHg/EIYJsxRH4UQ/image_thumb%25255B26%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Everything has to do with strength. Physical strength. Intelligence. Knowledge. Political power. Personal reputation. Physical Beauty. Wealth. Talents and skills. Relationship networks. Family, tribal, and national loyalties. Stuff. Actual clothes. Houses. Cars. Weapons. And on and on. <p>In the new humanity, what are our clothes and wineskins? <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3AY5XFjq6AY/VE2I66hf6uI/AAAAAAAAHHo/kwhS2VuCr8Y/s1600-h/image%25255B56%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sGeruGF-hq4/VE2I7Y-2ZEI/AAAAAAAAHH0/l_F09Qoq8ts/image_thumb%25255B24%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Child-like Faith that the God who loves us will address our needs. Which actually requires us to <i>face and embrace</i> the pain, discomfort, and shame of our vulnerability and the depth of our neediness as we discover with Jesus that none of those things have any power to keep us from resurrection life. <p>This doesn’t mix with the old humanity’s perspective, does it? It will just tear it open more if we try. Burst it. And try we do, all the time, don’t we? We try to depend on God <i>to give us</i> physical strength. Wealth. Power. A good reputation. A nice car. And on and on. And when it doesn’t give us the life we’re really longing for, or when God doesn’t give us what we’re asking for, we have a crisis of faith. <p>After which we might say <i>forget it!</i> – which is deeply painful and in the end non-productive. <p>Or we press into following Jesus in true child-like faith, which for Jesus, means coming to the end of his strength, being condemned as a traitor, executed with criminals, betrayed by his best friends, penniless, powerless, naked. But so full of real, true life all along the way, and resurrection life in the end. <p>Take fasting, for example. <p>The old humanity fasts because we are desperate for a way out of our need and vulnerability, as a way of demonstrating to God that we are truly sorry, that we are earnest in our good intentions now, trying to prove to him that it’s worth his time to give us another a chance, that we have learned our lesson and now are worth a shot. <p>The new humanity fasts as a way of reminding ourselves that our current condition of feeling full from food only masks the reality that we are in fact desperately needy and that that need is a blessing to move us towards God, our only true hope in our need. And to remind us that the fullness we enjoy when we are not fasting is a gift of grace, a sign of God’s love for us as his children, not a sign of his approval of our strength or earnestness. <p>The old humanity prays to impress others with our holiness, or to coerce God into doing what we desire. <p>Not the new humanity. The new humanity prays because he’s our only hope, knowing that we may feel extra vulnerable as we wait for God to address our needs, knowing that he may ask us to move or act in ways that require courageous vulnerability or make us look like fools. <p>New wine for new wineskins. The only way to have it is to abandon our old wineskins, with the old wine still in them. We can’t eat from both the tree of knowledge of good and evil <i>and</i> the tree of life. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-K2krwyNBF64/VE2I71cBImI/AAAAAAAAHH4/LM8oPUoZOT0/s1600-h/image%25255B54%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fsMhmh1eR_Y/VE2I8Z2WlII/AAAAAAAAHIA/_gJw0GEY_gc/image_thumb%25255B22%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Which brings us to the Sabbath section. We’re just going to touch on it, and then close with practical suggestions, saving most of it for next Sunday. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-MtrWtdMmQOU/VE2I8l1jldI/AAAAAAAAHII/NPs61pbLI1Q/s1600-h/image%25255B52%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--GVbjXoUPG0/VE2I9K1-pRI/AAAAAAAAHIQ/Dsl3gxtMLfE/image_thumb%25255B20%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>When Jesus’ disciples are found to be in violation of the Sabbath rules, and Jesus is questioned about it, he doesn’t deny what they are doing or say that it’s not a violation. Instead, he talks about David doing something similar centuries earlier. David was traveling with his men, who were hungry, and the only food available was bread consecrated for the Lord, normally available only to priests. He asked Abiathar, the high priest at the time, for the bread and gave it to his men to eat. <p>David is likely a somewhat familiar Biblical character to you, even if you haven’t read the Bible. No doubt you’ve probably heard the story of David and Goliath. David was also an accomplished songwriter who wrote many of the Psalms, and eventually David became a powerful King in Israel. But this story Jesus references happened before David had taken the throne. That’s significant. <p>David had been chosen by God and anointed the King of Israel by the prophet Samuel, but Saul, the current King, a king demanded by the people in their fear, selected because of his strength and good looks, hadn’t given up his power. David was going through the countryside, avoiding Saul’s forces, gathering support, waiting for his time. He and his disciples were hungry, needy, vulnerable. And the only thing available to them was God’s provision. <p>Sound familiar? Jesus has been anointed King at his baptism, where the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. But the prince of this world, the accuser, Satan, the one we put on the throne in our fear, is still on the throne, and trying to destroy his rivals. Jesus is going through the countryside, gathering support, waiting for his time. Jesus and his disciples are hungry, needy, vulnerable. And the only thing available to them is God’s provision. <p>His disciples eating this grain, in other words, is no accident. It’s a <i>sign.</i> A sign that the true King of the world is on the move, and the illegitimate king will be dethroned. <p>To whom do you desire to give your allegiance? The one who calls you to strength and condemns you for your flaws? Or the one who calls you to faith, and loves you in your weakness? <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-HD-1YLcbauw/VE2I9jIe4jI/AAAAAAAAHIY/2F2BIzW9HLY/s1600-h/image%25255B49%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-OFj7l9kKaj0/VE2I-GilToI/AAAAAAAAHIg/HjOSGNT_59o/image_thumb%25255B17%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p>1. <b>Slip Into Something Less Comfortable.</b> Take off your strength suit and put on a humility jacket. Some conflict with a spouse, or relative or friend. Some situation at work. Maybe in anger you’re accusing, or standing secure in your rightness, or being defensive to protect your reputation. Instead, in vulnerability reveal the hurt you’re experiencing, or fear, or own the part you play in the current difficulty. It may not successfully move things forward the way you desire. But it may open the door to God’s life for you. <p>2. <b>No More Sorrow, No More Shame.</b> <i>Or, Stop Saying I’m Sorry and Toss Your Shame in the Trash.</i> Perhaps there is something you beat yourself up about, especially in relationship to God. Something you feel sorrow and shame about. Something that seems to get between you and God. He’s not looking for more “I’m sorrys” from you; he’s not worried you’ll hurt him if he embraces you – there’s no need to prove yourself to him. Your sorrow is for you, to move you in a new direction, but once it’s served its purpose, it goes rotten. And the shame you feel is disconnected from the reality of God’s love for you. Yes, you may be deeply flawed. But that doesn’t affect your belonging. You belong because you are God’s child, and he loves you. So try imagining yourself naked before God, not wearing sorrow or shame, but just you as you are, and ask him to show you what his response to you is. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-54913085459446866342014-10-26T16:34:00.001-07:002014-10-26T16:34:18.542-07:00New Humanity // Forgiveness<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 10/19/2014</em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RV2NnIYi6f0/VE2Eqn0NH-I/AAAAAAAAG-k/eyfxlNP1Qy0/s1600-h/image%25255B70%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XxBp15hGbbs/VE2EqzbT9CI/AAAAAAAAG-o/G-6K3Ns03nI/image_thumb%25255B24%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a></p> <p><b><i>2 </i></b><i>A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. <sup>2</sup>They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. </i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iT3Sq8BkD-k/VE2ErdFiXFI/AAAAAAAAG-0/viI9zOYfgOU/s1600-h/image%25255B72%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DRhsV4vZQMk/VE2EsO7CODI/AAAAAAAAG-4/nqhNo4WZzAQ/image_thumb%25255B26%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>3</sup>Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. <sup>4</sup>Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. <sup>5</sup>When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4UZb5xjPl7k/VE2Esnom8II/AAAAAAAAG_A/x_VV3OwTyW4/s1600-h/image%25255B74%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_rSNJ35qWX0/VE2Es0kjtCI/AAAAAAAAG_M/NsS42w2QuaQ/image_thumb%25255B28%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i>Now some teachers</i><i> of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, <sup>7</sup>“Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>8</sup></i><i>Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? <sup>9</sup>Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? <sup>10</sup>But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sberaFL5YkY/VE2EtxM83KI/AAAAAAAAG_U/AuQc2fUlt08/s1600-h/image%25255B76%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-s4u_bILQeTU/VE2EufXt-HI/AAAAAAAAG_Y/yfM9iH101so/image_thumb%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i>So he said to the man, <sup>11</sup>“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” <sup>12</sup>He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. <sup>14</sup>As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qJ26HHqQTvY/VE2Eu1DrhXI/AAAAAAAAG_k/0syFU_xe4ho/s1600-h/image%25255B78%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Xh8jadwP5-0/VE2EvfW8LzI/AAAAAAAAG_o/MAebhGdDCWY/image_thumb%25255B32%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>15</sup></i><i>While Jesus was having dinner</i><i> at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. <sup>16</sup>When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>17</sup></i><i>On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”</i> <p>In Mark 2, for the first time, the powers that be start getting upset with Jesus. Why? <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--WsbtdIy0Ao/VE2Ev23NSiI/AAAAAAAAG_w/dupuqZBOUgA/s1600-h/image%25255B80%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-WS90eaC5MmM/VE2EwNH7aNI/AAAAAAAAG_4/wX-RagFUHds/image_thumb%25255B34%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><b>Because <i>he treats sinners differently</i> than they do</b>. He heals them, forgives them, invites them to be in his inner circle. Thirteen chapters later, this is what gets Jesus killed. Relating to sinners not in the way of the old humanity, but in the way of the new humanity. <p><b>Why is this such a big deal?</b> Why is it so threatening to the people in power? And what does it mean to us, either as people who can identify with Jesus’ enemies, or as people who can identify with the people Jesus ends up blessing? <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6Nv-broR5ZY/VE2Ewiov5KI/AAAAAAAAHAA/AjI_S1fO8r4/s1600-h/image%25255B82%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-2dzNx71eG8I/VE2ExLzX7BI/AAAAAAAAHAI/KuugTYzwW8s/image_thumb%25255B36%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>We’ll start with the concept of moral judgment. The idea that we can get a sense of what is right and what is wrong about another person’s actions. This passage is full of moral judgment, isn’t it? <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NXCpjnClf4k/VE2ExZbSKpI/AAAAAAAAHAU/7cpnopYbieo/s1600-h/image%25255B84%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-CAR8x_e4vhY/VE2EyFohCUI/AAAAAAAAHAY/PbuGB_dojj0/image_thumb%25255B38%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><b>The paralytic is judged to be somehow in the wrong</b> because of his paralysis. A very common judgment at the time, even though it might seem bizarre to us modern people. Although when we look at how the legal system judges beautiful people vs. those who are less so, we see that the same basic dynamic happens even today (even if it only happen subconsciously). <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IaliR6xSoLk/VE2Eya-pweI/AAAAAAAAHAg/5MrdtDBemEw/s1600-h/image%25255B86%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-b7TMU-zxL7o/VE2Ey91kDNI/AAAAAAAAHAo/nSzez3QalPE/image_thumb%25255B40%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><b>The tax collectors are judged to be in the wrong</b> because of their disloyalty to Israel, and presumably because of the way they have accumulated wealth through dishonest means, at the expense of their fellow Israelites, to boot. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rZTd4i7ijR4/VE2Ezb82p1I/AAAAAAAAHAw/PDpfAmFeaUI/s1600-h/image%25255B88%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7A9ud_JQ07A/VE2EzpdkEkI/AAAAAAAAHA4/kSculSSQEtI/image_thumb%25255B42%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><b>Jesus is judged to be in the wrong</b> because (1) he doesn’t seem to share in the moral judgments of the teachers of the law, and (2) he has the audacity to go so far as to <i>forgive</i> the sins of the paralytic and to <i>share meals</i> with tax collectors, not to mention inviting one of them to be his disciple. <p>To see what’s going on here between Jesus and the teachers of the law, we need to get to the bottom of a basic question. <p><b>What’s moral judgment all about, anyway? </b> <p>We all do it, don’t we? How does it work? How do we think it serves us? <p><b>All moral judgment is rooted in <i>fear</i></b>. <p>All moral judgment is a response to the perception of a threat. <p>Listen to this clip from Edward Scissorhands. Edward (a gentle, compassionate, lonely character with scissors for hands, played by Johnny Depp; don’t ask – it’s a Tim Burton film) has been taken in by a local Avon representative and her family. They begin to engage Edward in a conversation about morality. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2rRPD6qFPVo/VE2E0N_mEII/AAAAAAAAHBA/yntjbXa6VIA/s1600-h/image%25255B90%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--uOHOJ7VcyQ/VE2E0pXcEJI/AAAAAAAAHBI/JIkAWLY-jaY/image_thumb%25255B44%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/uoreule1278s49g/edward%20scissorhands%20moral%20dilemma.mp3?dl=0">[Play clip…]</a> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>BILL</i></b> <p><i>Okay, a little ethics. You are walking down the street. You find a suitcase full of money.</i> <p><i>There's nobody around. No human person is in evidence. What do you do? </i> <p><i></i> <p><i>A. </i><i>You keep the money. </i> <p><i>B. </i><i>You use it to buy gifts for your friends and your loved ones.</i> <p><i>C. </i><i>You give it to the poor. </i> <p><i>D. </i><i>You turn it into the police.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>KIM</i></b> <p><i>That is really stupid.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>PEG</i></b> <p><i>Kim!</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>KEVIN</i></b> <p><i>I keep the money.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>PEG</i></b> <p><i>Simmer down.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>BILL</i></b> <p><i>Edward…? Edward, we are waiting.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>EDWARD</i></b> <p><i>Give it to my loved ones?</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>PEG</i></b> <p><i>Oh, Edward, it does seem that that's what you should do, but it's not.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>KEVIN</i></b> <p><i>You dope, everybody knows he's supposed to give it to the police.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>BILL</i></b> <p><i>Good thinking, Kevin.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>KIM</i></b> <p><i>Well, think about it, you guys, I mean, that's the nicer thing to do. That's what I would do.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>BILL</i></b> <p><i>We're trying to make things easier for him, so let's cut the comedy for a little while.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>KIM</i></b> <p><i>I am being serious. It's a nicer thing to do.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>BILL</i></b> <p><i>We're not talking nice. We're talking right and wrong.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>KIM</i></b> <p><i>Shut up.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>PEG</i></b> <p><i>Oh, goodness sake, no wonder poor Edward can't learn right from wrong living in this family.</i> <p>Think about it yourself. How many of you would answer A – keep the money for yourself? How about B – use it to buy gifts for your loved ones? C – give it to the poor? D – turn it in to the police? <p>Now, <b>think about how you felt when you heard someone else give a different answer</b> than you. <p>Perhaps you felt something along the lines of: <i>I’m not so sure I’d like to live in a world where that’s how people behaved.</i> Perhaps you thought, <i>well that seems like a reasonable person who just raised their hand, so I’d like to hear why they say that and then judge for myself if that kind of choice would help create the kind of world I’d feel safe in.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hnphWJ9Bl9c/VE2E1D-w-QI/AAAAAAAAHBQ/43tJ_Um0Ly4/s1600-h/image%25255B92%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-as1ZYOhM_oo/VE2E1VaRIeI/AAAAAAAAHBY/zV5rVDP4pXU/image_thumb%25255B46%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Generally speaking, although we may all have different rationales in our heads for the answer we give, most of us are actually answering the way we answer because we feel like a world where our answer is the right answer is a world <b><i>we feel safest in.</i></b> And when we judge a different response to be “wrong,” we do so because it feels threatening somehow to us. We may even feel like we don’t trust the person who suggested that “wrong” answer as much as we did before. Like we’re just a little bit afraid of them now. <p>Of course this is a low-key, hypothetical exercise. <b>So maybe think about these questions..</b>. <p>How easy is it for a parent to enter into moral judgment about another person’s son’s behavior – <i>when that boy is dating their daughter? </i> <p>How easy is it to enter into moral judgment about the way your boss handle’s the company’s money – <i>when it threatens to put your job in jeopardy?</i> <p>How easy is it to enter into moral judgment about a neighbor who you find out is fudging on their taxes – <i>when they are running for office in the state legislature?</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>All </i>moral judgment is rooted in fear. For some of us, it’s distressing to <i>even think</i> <i>that might be the case</i>, because it’s our moral judgments that we count on to keep us safe! This, of course, is what the Biblical story is getting at when it says that the old humanity chose the tree of knowledge of good and evil over the tree of life. <b>We chose, and we keep on choosing, to address our neediness and vulnerability ourselves, out of our own strength</b> (this is why we feel so <i>strong!</i> when we are exercising our moral judgment), <b>instead of letting our needs and vulnerability drive us to God for him to address our needs out of his love</b> (this is why we feel so weak and vulnerable when we think about withholding judgment and asking God for help). <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-onalvu3sOUs/VE2E1_b_8oI/AAAAAAAAHBg/cmZuZdP8o1M/s1600-h/image%25255B94%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-t4J4CIuTspU/VE2E2QJ5IyI/AAAAAAAAHBo/HABo3uoykoY/image_thumb%25255B48%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>One last thing about moral judgment and fear, and then we’ll get back to the text. <b>The fear that all moral judgment is rooted in has two faces.</b> A “good” face and a shadow face. “Good” fears are the fears that are concerned with the good of the world around us, for the sake of the many. “Good” fear is wearing an altruistic disguise, and we feel more objective when we think about it (examples…boy, boss, neighbor). The shadow fear is the one we try to hide, but is the one that has the strongest grip on us, and about which we are least able to be objective and reasonable until we can acknowledge it’s presence (examples…boy, boss, neighbor). <p>All that to say, when the teachers of the law condemn jesus for forgiving sins and eating with sinners, <b>it’s a pretty sure bet that they perceived Jesus forgiving sins and eating with sinners as a threat. </b>All of their moral judgments are rooted in fear, in the same way that ours are. <p>What’s their fear? <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-__MAQmIpgIw/VE2E2szACcI/AAAAAAAAHBw/bsJ8tJdsUcM/s1600-h/image%25255B96%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rUwl_KaaHJs/VE2E3GWvrkI/AAAAAAAAHB8/DjjQoo1BJIY/image_thumb%25255B50%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>“Good” fear – Israel will remain in exile as long as it remains out of God’s favor because of the presence (and tolerance by Israel’s leaders) of sinners. Jesus welcoming these sinners, and forgiving their sins, would only encourage them to more sin, since sin is fundamentally attractive and exile is the only thing to motivate them to stop sinning. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-SLV5VCdxKzM/VE2E3hUnJOI/AAAAAAAAHCA/-fbRKU9qcrE/s1600-h/image%25255B98%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-mcrttW_x4T4/VE2E4HYATUI/AAAAAAAAHCI/wgx9O_1rI9U/image_thumb%25255B52%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Shadow fear – Teachers of the law’s power and privilege comes from being the arbiters of right and wrong, who’s in and who’s out. Jesus welcoming these sinners, and forgiving their sins undercuts their power and could lead to the loss of their privilege, rendering them obsolete. <p>The irony is that <b>their shadow fear is “true”</b> so far as it goes (which isn’t far enough, of course, as is the case with all fear) but <b>their “good” fear is false</b>. Jesus <i>is </i>a threat to their power and privilege; but that’s not a bad thing, since God’s life doesn’t come from power and privilege. Jesus’ forgiving sin and eating with sinners is not a threat to God’s favor delivering Israel; on the contrary, it’s a sign that <i>it’s already happening</i>. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tWkBe__tM3M/VE2E4XzfUCI/AAAAAAAAHCQ/BtfcRwksPkM/s1600-h/image%25255B100%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-SYyul0Fk9oI/VE2E487XB0I/AAAAAAAAHCY/oWyfI49p9RQ/image_thumb%25255B54%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><b>Here’s the thing about fear.</b> We experience it either as actual, naked fear (which can be very helpful to us, actually) or as fear in the disguise of anger / disgust. One makes us feel weak and small, the other lets us feel big and strong. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-X2mn0qw_Vx4/VE2E5By7xCI/AAAAAAAAHCg/pTv_68WemFY/s1600-h/image%25255B102%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Rt33_K32B5k/VE2E5xEAXbI/AAAAAAAAHCs/CDe1pQy2lSI/image_thumb%25255B56%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>And when it masquerades as anger and/or disgust, we feel <i>bothered</i>. <i>Something is not as it should be</i>, we think. We either need to marshal our energy and resources <b>to <i>stop</i> the threat</b> (that’s what anger is for), or we need to at least keep the source of that threat <b>as far away from us as possible</b> (that’s how disgust functions). <p>And remember the role of moral judgment in the sinful world of the old humanity: it’s what we do when we become so uncomfortable with our vulnerability that we decide we need to address our fears ourselves. <p>We either say to the source of the perceived threat, out of our fear, <p><i>you shouldn’t do that!</i> <p><b>Or we say, </b> <p><i>you disgust me!</i> <p><b>Or we turn to God in a twisted way, </b>saying, <b></b> <p><i>you should stop this, because it’s wrong!</i> <i>Or disgusting!</i> <p><b>Or we try to use God to stop the thing,</b> saying to the wrongdoer, <p><i>you should stop this because God will punish you for doing evil!</i> <p><b>or</b> <i>you should stop this because God is disgusted with you!</i> <p>And of course <i>what we almost never do</i> is simply <b>feel afraid</b>, <p><b>recognize our discomfort</b> with our vulnerability, <p>and in child-like faith <b>bring our fears to God</b>. <p>So it sure seems that’s what’s happening in this passage. The Teachers of the law – just like us, whenever we enter into moral judgment – are afraid but probably unaware of their fears. They feel <i>bothered. </i> <p><i></i> <p><b>What’s Jesus’ response?</b> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-D-WNonJMaj4/VE2E6Xjg-HI/AAAAAAAAHC0/T8j-j-ShF14/s1600-h/image%25255B104%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7pL13Ani9vM/VE2E60k2DiI/AAAAAAAAHC4/Ag1Fy3VySlI/image_thumb%25255B58%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>8</sup></i><i>Immediately Jesus knew</i><i> in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? <sup>9</sup>Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? <sup>10</sup>But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>So he said to the man, <sup>11</sup>“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” <sup>12</sup>He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”</i> <p><i></i> <p>First, <b>Jesus is trying to expose their shadow fears.</b> The fears that lurk in the dark and enslave them to their moral judgments, keeping them from bringing their fears to God like children bring their needs to parents. The fear that Jesus is a threat to their power. Because only if that fear is brought into the light will they have the opportunity to recognize it and bring it to Jesus for him to address. <p>So Jesus says the bit about which thing is easier, forgiving sins or healing this man’s paralysis. And then, as we see, instructs the man to get up, pick up his mat and walk, and for heaven’s sake, he actually does. <p>If the teachers of the law were imagining that their moral judgment was all about the good of others and wanting to make sure God was honored, then <b>they are going to have to applaud what Jesus has just done, aren’t they?</b> It would take a special brand of insanity to stand in moral judgment against this man being healed. Which is why the text talks about everyone being amazed and praising God; what Jesus has done can no longer be perceived as a threat to the general good. It’s only a threat to the power of the teachers of the law – and an even bigger threat than they might have previously imagined. <i>Seriously, paralyzed people are walking now? Oh snap. </i>They <i>should</i> feel afraid for their power. Very afraid. <p>What a beautiful way to bring the teachers of the law face to face with their shadow fears. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Ol8saeXx1tA/VE2E7QS4C0I/AAAAAAAAHDA/khYEKeODl9I/s1600-h/image%25255B106%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Twnb8BH5CuQ/VE2E7pFcurI/AAAAAAAAHDI/WnU2PKxGaV4/image_thumb%25255B60%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>But Jesus also addresses their “good” fear in a profound way, when he says <i>the son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. </i> <p>Remember, their “good” fear is that Jesus forgiving sins will keep God from acting powerfully to deliver Israel. Which is why Jesus talks about himself as “The Son of Man.” <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yWR5SZYbiuU/VE2E8IwJ78I/AAAAAAAAHDQ/259ng7wMkXE/s1600-h/image%25255B108%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-EF6ZIE0a6uA/VE2E8mo3k0I/AAAAAAAAHDY/k4PSoOe_tlk/image_thumb%25255B62%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Jesus is referencing a prophecy the teacher of the law would have been very familiar with from their Holy Scriptures. It’s from Daniel, chapter 7 (Daniel was the guy in the lion’s den, made famous by Sunday School stories). Daniel, living in exile under Babylonian rule, prophecies about God giving someone called “the Son of Man” power and authority to defeat all of Israel’s enemies, set Israel free from oppression, and establish God’s kingdom on earth. When Jesus calls himself the Son of Man and proves it by exercising God’s power to deliver this paralyzed man – representing Israel under oppression – <b>he’s demonstrating that God is right now, <i>through him, through Jesus</i>, doing exactly what the Teachers of the Law are afraid God might <i>not </i>do because of Jesus forgiving sins.</b> In other words, Jesus forgiving sins and hanging out with sinners is exactly the way to accomplish everything the teachers of the law claim that they want to see happen in the world. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vin-Dv35PH8/VE2E8700XAI/AAAAAAAAHDg/-ww0yC33VyU/s1600-h/image%25255B110%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fI2Q1o3_A1g/VE2E9eVn94I/AAAAAAAAHDo/t8xBfYZY9w0/image_thumb%25255B64%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>A small but important note before we conclude. When Jesus says he forgives sins, the word the writer of Mark chooses to describe it, the Greek word that is translated “forgive” is <i>aphiemi</i>. Aphiemi means, literally, <i>to send away</i>. It doesn’t mean Jesus says your sins don’t matter, or aren’t a big deal, or anything like that. <b>It means Jesus <i>sends sins away. </i></b>Kicks them out. Throws them in the trash. <p>We imagine our sins are sticky, that they’ve made us dirty, that we’ve been corrupted and made irreparably impure by them. But Jesus sends them away. Like he separates them out from us like a world-class surgeon removing a tumor and disposes of them. As far as the east is from the west, the psalmist prophecies, so far has he separated our sins from us. <p>Remember earlier, how Jesus dealt with the <b>demonized man</b>? He kicked the demon out, sent it away, leaving the man whole and free. Remember <b>Simon’s mother-in-law</b> with the fever? The bible says that the fever “left her” when Jesus healed her. Remember <b>the leper</b> whom Jesus cleansed of leprosy. It says his leprosy “left him.” <p>Jesus treats our sin like he treats every other aspect of our broken humanity. It doesn’t keep him from coming close to us. He doesn’t stand in judgment over us. He draws near, a friend of sinners (that’s what they called him; they meant it as an insult, but for Jesus it was a title of honor), and with his exousia (remember that word translated “authority” that really means the liberty to do what really pleases him?) it pleases Jesus, it gives him joy, it delights him <i>to send away</i> everything that’s keeping us from a full share in God’s life. And now <b>all we’ve got to do is come to him in child-like faith</b> with our needs and fears for him to address. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-d88b0FaubCQ/VE2E9vf9AAI/AAAAAAAAHDw/_QP2x2dHIro/s1600-h/image%25255B112%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dPoY9aERscA/VE2E-MUwDBI/AAAAAAAAHD4/mJMmOahZwcc/image_thumb%25255B66%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><b>Practical Suggestions:</b> <p>1. <b>Put some notches on your judgment belt.</b> We tend to wear our judgments with pride, don’t we? Keep track of each moral judgment you notice yourself making in a single day. Towards others. And yourself. Just a hash mark on a score-card would do the trick, but if you really want it to sink in, use a leather belt that doesn’t fit any more and put a mark on it. At the end of the day, notice how much pride went into that belt. And think about what you use that belt for. Is it to beat others? To beat yourself? Or is it to keep your pants from falling down and leaving you naked before God and the world, so that you don’t feel vulnerable? Let Jesus talk to you about that belt and do with it whatever he suggests to you. <p>2. <b>Look under the bed (on which your judgments rest).</b> There is always a fear there, hiding out like a monster in the shadows. Somewhere down there, lurking. Even if your judgments are “right.” That’s irrelevant. Find that fear. Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help to <i>see</i> it. When you find it, let go of your judgment and bring it to Jesus to address. Maybe he’s downstairs watching TV, or reading a good book. No matter, bring that fear to him; he’ll come up to your room and turn on the lights and deal with that fear personally so you can have peace and the rest for your soul that judgment has never truly brought you. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-70324203292443421762014-10-26T16:18:00.001-07:002014-10-26T16:18:16.874-07:00New Humanity // Sinners<p> </p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 10/12/2014</em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yHMWAv4FkKM/VE2BCd0wRbI/AAAAAAAAG68/Q0_nhhyX0a8/s1600-h/image47.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uzByNYHPJFg/VE2BC4s1JsI/AAAAAAAAG7A/hb2G90IUHuE/image_thumb16.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p>New Humanity theme…(recap via whiteboard) <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bNyyATS-_jQ/VE2BDXsPyXI/AAAAAAAAG7I/1M4WE9eg4ok/s1600-h/image49.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gBjKOkdaGq0/VE2BD8PiT6I/AAAAAAAAG7Q/bny5jmhM2qQ/image_thumb18.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b><i>2 </i></b><i>A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. <sup>2</sup>They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. <sup>3</sup>Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. <sup>4</sup>Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. <sup>5</sup>When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-00vZp9TeGdA/VE2BEeE4Z2I/AAAAAAAAG7Y/hwdcHJYb1xA/s1600-h/image51.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9QB1cEyhcQE/VE2BEo8_GMI/AAAAAAAAG7g/4--lEvwqq78/image_thumb20.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i>Now some teachers</i><i> of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, <sup>7</sup>“Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>8</sup></i><i>Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? <sup>9</sup>Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? <sup>10</sup>But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-aF3eVjvYUJ4/VE2BFLnGfNI/AAAAAAAAG7o/8Sk8PJgytPM/s1600-h/image53.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WN1lNhf4mCs/VE2BFhXWbfI/AAAAAAAAG7w/1rRpY5rYlLs/image_thumb22.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i>So he said to the man, <sup>11</sup>“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” <sup>12</sup>He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. <sup>14</sup>As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-S-sc2KzYMCc/VE2BGGBHDMI/AAAAAAAAG74/3td_9CE8c2g/s1600-h/image55.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wNGYB3QYjTs/VE2BGvoA2PI/AAAAAAAAG8A/Hcc5Qt6rbAM/image_thumb24.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>15</sup></i><i>While Jesus was having dinner</i><i> at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. <sup>16</sup>When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>17</sup></i><i>On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tQuHMnvkgps/VE2BG3HITSI/AAAAAAAAG8I/DwL7s_-R32o/s1600-h/image57.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aiNMjedaoL8/VE2BHV1OqsI/AAAAAAAAG8Q/_D65bHuWK50/image_thumb26.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>First things first: Mark 2 starts with <b>a profound picture of child-like faith in action</b>. A group of friends helping a paralyzed man bring his needs to Jesus for Jesus to address, none of them particularly concerned with propriety. <p>This is what the New Humanity is all about. Vulnerable, needy people <b>bringing their needs to God in child-like faith and trusting God </b>for whatever happens next. Not wrapped up in concerns about strength and appearances and right and wrong and justifying themselves. Trusting God will address their needs however he sees fit. Ready to follow his instructions, whatever they might be. <p><b>How easy would it be to critique</b> their actions from tree of knowledge of good and evil perspective? <i>They’re cutting in line</i> – everyone else had to get up early to get good spots, and these guys just push right through. And what’s the rush, anyway? The guy’s been paralyzed his whole life for all we know, and <i>it’s not like everyone else doesn’t have important, pressing needs, too.</i> <i>They destroy property</i>; roofs aren’t cheap to replace, you know? They interrupt Jesus’ teaching, <i>which is rude and inconsiderate, disrespectful to everyone around</i>, not least of all Jesus himself. <p><b>They seem single-minded, though, in getting their friend to Jesus.</b> He needs Jesus, and they are going to do whatever they can to bring him to them, seemingly confident that they’ll be received with favor by Jesus despite the potential reactions of everyone else around. It’s worth a shot – what have they got to lose? Which is so child-like, isn’t it? The tree of knowledge of good and evil be damned; all they can see is that the tree of life is so close! <p>What’s Jesus response?<b> Jesus receives them like a loving parent would receive a beloved child</b> – even calls the man “Son.” Jesus just seems delighted to see their child-like faith. <p><b>He starts by forgiving the man’s sins</b>, whatever that means. No doubt it’s a big deal, given the controversy it sparks. <b>And then Jesus heals him</b>, which is universally acknowledged as cool and amazes everyone. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TOYQPzUSKdk/VE2BH2aJDRI/AAAAAAAAG8Y/CIvluSWQ-5s/s1600-h/image59.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hOKriVkewbM/VE2BIeqfANI/AAAAAAAAG8g/cLIdmhUcmBc/image_thumb28.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Since “sin” plays such a prominent role in the drama of this part of the story, and later on, with Levi and all the sinners Jesus is eating and drinking with, <b>let’s begin there.</b> <i>What does sin mean? How is sin understood by us, usually, and the characters in this story? How is it understood by Jesus? How does the New Humanity approach questions of sin and its counterpart, righteousness?</i> <p>Then we can dive into the more significant application for us: <i>what do these stories tell us about Jesus and the New Humanity he’s inviting us to be part of? What do they tell us about the old humanity he’s inviting us to leave behind? What do they tell us about ourselves?</i> <p>When we think of sin, <b>we usually think of it in terms of some kind of moral transgression</b>, some kind of objectively <i>wrong</i> behavior or action. Sort of like breaking the law, except that the law we’re breaking has deeper roots than a code of ethics or governmental legislation. We think of sin as violating some kind of fundamental morality. <p>Research in the field of moral psychology suggest we have a variety of warrants we appeal to when we make moral judgments. Warrants such as <i>harm/care, or justice/fairness, or authority, loyalty, or purity,</i> for example. When a behavior or action violates one of these warrants, we say that it’s a wrong behavior or action. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-MqIcr7NZMcA/VE2BIjJInuI/AAAAAAAAG8o/5zRapvT7taE/s1600-h/image61.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-H6nQUmnMkQA/VE2BJJ52akI/AAAAAAAAG80/Z9FHANw7OKM/image_thumb30.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We tend to think of sin the same way, with the slight tweak that <b>it’s not <i>our</i> moral warrants we are talking about, but God’s.</b> Which adds some intensity, some punch to it, doesn’t it? (7 deadly sins, Sin City, sin/guilt/punishment web of associations) <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nH9LDTak8lE/VE2BJoAtHLI/AAAAAAAAG84/APMambJlBOQ/s1600-h/image63.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sLVbkyRnc4I/VE2BKHNzYcI/AAAAAAAAG9E/RfEq-HxLRlE/image_thumb32.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The Greek word from which we get the translation “sin” here, and the root of the word translated “sinner” later, is<i> hamartia</i>. It’s a word that is used for something like what we usually mean when we say sin – i.e., some kind of moral transgression, some kind of wrong action. But its primary meaning is a little different. <p><b>The first meaning of the Greek word hamartia is <i>to be without share in</i>.</b> And its secondary meaning is related, <b><i>to miss the mark</i></b>. It’s not until you dive into the 4<sup>th</sup> and 5<sup>th</sup> layers of meaning down that you find concepts of morality and wrongdoing. <p>Which makes powerful sense in these stories here, doesn’t it? The paralytic man is without a share in much of life, isn’t he? He can’t participate in so many things because of his paralysis. And when Jesus forgives and heals him, he’s got a full share again. <p>Same with Levi. As a tax collector for Rome and Herod, the corrupt king in Israel, he’s considered a traitor to his own people. He’s got no share in their life together. He’s not allowed in the temple or the company of any Israelites in good standing in their community. But when Jesus calls him to be his follower, he’s got a full share in God’s kingdom again. <p><b>Why, then, is hamartia translated “sin” in our Bibles?</b> It’s not that the translation is poor; it’s that our understanding of sin is poor. Like with so many things in the old humanity, we look at everything through the lens of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and that’s rarely helpful to us. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Z_A47cn5-YU/VE2BK3-gAmI/AAAAAAAAG9I/o6_X1eI-HtY/s1600-h/image65.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lrz98CVPE-E/VE2BLEut9MI/AAAAAAAAG9Q/yYWF_4FP9qY/image_thumb34.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>In the Biblical story, <b>sin is all about losing our share of God’s life</b>, our missing the mark. It starts with a form of distorted seeing that eventually becomes a blindness that enslaves us to darkness. We look at our vulnerability and needs and see them not as blessing that connects us to God, our source of life, but as curse, problems that need a solution. And so we try to become what we imagine gods are – without needs or vulnerability – so that in our strength we can meet our own needs and protect ourselves from all that might harm us. We abandon the tree of life and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. <p>All sin, in all its various forms, comes down to the same thing. Abandoning child-like faith in God in favor of ______________. Fill in the blank. <i>All</i> of that is sin. We’re bathed in sin. We live in sin. (Whether we’re “shacking up” or not.) <p>Heck, we might even do “good” things in our sinfulness. “Good” things that aren’t rooted in the peace and humility that comes from having child-like faith in God, “good” things that give us no share in God’s life. And heaven knows, we do more than our fair share of “bad” things, too. <p><i>Anything</i> that comes from abandoning child-like faith in God is sin. It separates us from our share in God’s life. That’s all sin is, when you get right down to it. <i>Here’s what I’m providing for you</i>, God tells Adam and Eve. <i>Enjoy! Just don’t go try to provide for yourself instead – that will just lead to death</i>. <p>(That’s what the prodigal son story is all about, if you’re familiar with that. The son takes his share, leaves his dad, goes off on his own, the inheritance runs out, and he’s got nothing.) <p>So to be a sinner, in actuality, is to be in the posture of dependence on one’s self (and others who are not God, for that matter). And to be righteous, in all actuality, is just to be in a posture of child-like faith in God. <p><b>To be righteous, </b>to be in a posture of child-like faith in God<b>, is to have a share in life.</b> To be a sinner, to be in a posture of dependence on one’s self and others who are not God, is to be without a share. <b>To eat from the tree of life is hit the mark</b>. To eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is to miss the mark. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GdicZ243i2M/VE2BLkzp-qI/AAAAAAAAG9Y/AqBDRscsVlc/s1600-h/image67.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TLRA7zFtGmk/VE2BMKJINSI/AAAAAAAAG9g/63ElXQiUmV4/image_thumb36.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>When Jesus says the healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick, he’s saying that <b>the people in desperate need of a doctor are those who are dying because they’ve gotten sick from not having a share in God’s life.</b> When he says he did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, he’s saying he didn’t come to call people who already had a full share in God’s life, but rather he came to call those enslaved in the darkness of sin to follow him and learn child-like faith in God again. <p><b>Which brings us to the teachers of the Law</b>, the religious leaders in Israel. These teachers of the Law saw<i> themselves</i> as righteous. Not righteous in the sense of having a child-like faith in God. But righteous <i>as they defined it, based on their understanding of good and evil.</i> Which in this darkened world tends to be something you’ve got to be very grown up, indeed, to be. It’s something that takes a lot of work and expertise and effort and strength. <p>Righteousness, as understood by those who’ve eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, means that one does only good, and doesn’t do what is bad. To be the <i>most</i> righteous, in that system, in fact, is to be the ones who <i>are in charge of determining what qualifies as righteous. </i>The grown-ups, in other words. <p>The challenge for the teachers of the law, of course, is that they think they have a full share in God’s life. They think because of the “goodness” of their life, they are righteous. Meanwhile, their lives are as empty as any other sinner, maybe even moreso. They are judgmental, bitter, fearful, anxious. And worst of all, they ARE completely unaware that they might be missing out on the real life God has for them, if they’d just bring their needs to Jesus like children. <p><b>In contrast, the “sinners” in this story</b>, the paralytic and his friends, Levi the tax collector and his friends, <b>were demonstrating in their response to Jesus <i>a trust</i> in him.</b> Which is of course how child-like faith in God begins. It wasn’t like all of their actions were “good” now, at least not in terms of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But their actions <i>were</i> leading them to bring their needs to Jesus, and that’s <i>faith</i> according to Jesus, and <i>that’s</i> what restores their share in God’s life. That’s where true goodness begins – a righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees. <p>[<i>you may remember the Bible describing God telling Abram that he was going to have all kinds of descendants, even though he was old, impotent, and childless. And Abram believed him, which, the Bible says, “God credited to him as righteousness.”</i>] <p>Which helps us begin to understand why the teachers of the law get upset when Jesus forgives the sins of the paralyzed man and eats with Levi and his friends<b>. They are just deeply confused</b>. The old humanity doesn’t see issues of sin and righteousness through the same clear eyes that the new humanity does. The old humanity’s eyes are full of cataracts from eating so much fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. <p>There’s more to the blindness of the Teachers of the Law have than that. There’s a reason Jesus is so enthusiastic to forgive sins and hang out with the sinners, and there’s a reason the teachers of the law are so opposed to him doing that. And the reason has to do with the fact that all human moral judgments of others are rooted in fear, and all exercises of exousia are rooted in love (Exousia is the word translated “authority” here, when Jesus says “the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins”). But we’re going to save that part of the story for next week, because it is, to use an old fashioned word, a doozy. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-I18eZdbcFUM/VE2BMchqdXI/AAAAAAAAG9o/qTLAcTRS-2A/s1600-h/image69.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bXElfUKf4ks/VE2BMyeBcTI/AAAAAAAAG9w/BO3DXvkiRfU/image_thumb38.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>For now, simply consider this</b>. What are the implications of Jesus’ perspective on sin and righteousness for your life? <p>For example, has the thought of your own mistakes and errors and bad decisions and addictions and hurtful actions towards others and shameful secrets – your sin – kept you from coming to God with help for your life like a beloved child comes to a gracious and generous parent? Does all of that just seem like an insurmountable barrier between you and God? Do you imagine that when God looks at you, all he sees is the garbage that’s accumulated because of that? <p>What if that’s just all a distorted perspective? What if when God looks at you, what he sees is a child who’s tried to play grown-up for too long, and it’s destroying you and everyone around you, and all he’s longing for is for you to trust him that you can repent – you can stop playing grown-up, see that you are needy and vulnerable like a child. Maybe even moreso now because of all your mistakes. A snotty, puffed-eyed from the tears, dirty-fingered, muddy-booted child. A child whom he loves and will forgive and heal, even if the only way you can get to him is to interrupt him by having your friends dig through his roof. <p><b>Jesus is the light of the world</b>. He wants you to see you as you really are. Not as you see yourself through the distorted lenses of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And he wants you to see him – God himself inhabiting needy and vulnerable human flesh – as he is. Ready to welcome you in his home. Ready to forgive you. Heal you. Be your doctor. Eat with you in your home, with your friends. Invite you to join him on his saving the world adventure. Be your rescuer and teacher. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Un8RkVkszoY/VE2BNUDYnZI/AAAAAAAAG98/g9JmD5X4ajM/s1600-h/image71.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Elid9fu9hQM/VE2BNyzd7ZI/AAAAAAAAG-A/GmBm2CyP8FU/image_thumb40.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p>1. <b>Start with Your Sin, Finish with Your Need.</b> Identify a place where you’ve missed the mark most in your life, or a “sin” you struggle with most often. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see in what way you are trying to address a need you have on your own or by winning the favor or fear or respect of others. Take that need to Jesus in prayer every day this week. Very simply, like this: <i>Jesus, I feel the need for ______________. I’m going to keep asking you to address it and waiting for your answer until you do. In the meantime, is there anything you want me to do?</i> Then see what happens. <p>2. <b>Stop Being Satisfied</b> (with your level of righteousness). Perhaps your faith journey has stagnated because you’ve understood righteousness like the teachers of the law. You’ve gotten decent enough at doing the right things and avoiding the wrong things and most of your faith energy is spent advocating for others to do the right things and avoid the wrong things. That’s what you think about when you think about being a Jesus follower. Forget that! Think about your <i>needs.</i> All of them, practical ones, relational ones, deep ones having to do with significance and purpose and identity. Are you trying to take care of them yourself or by staying in the good graces of others (or even God!), or are you bringing them, day after day, to Jesus for him to address? That’s where true righteousness lies. That’s where the tree of life is! Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-46175298690996766092014-10-26T16:13:00.001-07:002014-10-26T16:13:03.125-07:00New Humanity // Exousia, a Demon, a Mother-in-Law, and a Leper<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 10/05/2014</em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-OqIbbypmQqw/VE1_uyi3tXI/AAAAAAAAG2c/41s-1Wg_0Vk/s1600-h/image52.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jM7MLja86sI/VE1_vds3heI/AAAAAAAAG2g/iH6jfozaFak/image_thumb18.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>In our new humanity series, we’ve been talking about child-like faith. About how that’s the kind of faith Jesus has, and that’s the kind of faith he’s inviting us to have. In a nutshell, it boils down to bringing all of our needs to Jesus, day after day, moment after moment, for him to address – much like a child would bring her needs to a loving parent – and then waiting for his response. So that our posture in relationship to the reality of our neediness and vulnerability is one of a child who looks for satisfaction and peace in its parents strength and promises and favor, except that the parent we are looking to is God. And living our lives, directing our actions, making our choices based not on our judgment of right and wrong, but based on our discernment of what he’s leading us to do, and where he’s leading us to go, because we trust him completely, and that trust expresses itself in obedience to his Holy Spirit. What the bible calls “following” Jesus. <p>Of course, one of our common fears when we consider such an approach to life and faith is that to have a child-like faith is that we’ll be perceived as childish in all kinds of negative ways. Silly. Weak. Immature. That somehow <i>this</i> is what we’ll turn into: <p><object width="420" height="236"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/MOs5K5-NtXs?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/MOs5K5-NtXs?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="236" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> <p>So if that’s one of your fears, I’d suggest two things to you. One, ask yourself why it makes you nervous to be perceived that way. Is it possible it’s related to the primary manifestation of the old humanity at work in us, the underlying fear that if we’re not strong and sophisticated in our understanding of what plays well with others that we’ll be on our own in the face of our neediness and vulnerability, rejected by others and unable to fend for ourselves? <p>But secondly, and more to the point today, read this description of Jesus from the second half of Mark chapter 1, starting with an awareness that what you are about to see is what happens when someone with child-like faith plunges into the real world, hitting the ground running. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zpw6VE1TAh8/VE1_v29S1pI/AAAAAAAAG2o/mIAB8GaopO4/s1600-h/image54.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-OgtUDNVsMSk/VE1_wYoC_vI/AAAAAAAAG2w/2I4tjbOijSg/image_thumb20.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>21</sup></i><i>They went to Capernaum</i><i>, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. <sup>22</sup>The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. <sup>23</sup>Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, <sup>24</sup>“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-b7SK-i5wweg/VE1_w7bIzgI/AAAAAAAAG24/hYIWc8Tqj7c/s1600-h/image56.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kN2LrmalYxc/VE1_xcJZ4LI/AAAAAAAAG3A/QRMxn67euZ8/image_thumb22.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>25</sup></i><i>“Be quiet!” said</i><i> Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” <sup>26</sup>The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>27</sup></i><i>The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” <sup>28</sup>News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-58hWIVwAfvc/VE1_x2ZBjsI/AAAAAAAAG3I/lF99rqZ4n_c/s1600-h/image58.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3wvGYlPqcdQ/VE1_yUUtx0I/AAAAAAAAG3Q/NAknEdb4G1I/image_thumb24.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>29</sup></i><i>As soon as they left the synagogue</i><i>, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. <sup>30</sup>Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. <sup>31</sup>So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>32</sup></i><i>That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. <sup>33</sup>The whole town gathered at the door, <sup>34</sup>and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0ZgwYSnE_ZY/VE1_yyXXZNI/AAAAAAAAG3Y/ZTQlLG_1tc8/s1600-h/image60.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ZVahZqG6-TE/VE1_zXeNOhI/AAAAAAAAG3g/jFniNFtzOxQ/image_thumb26.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>35</sup></i><i>Very early in the morning</i><i>, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. <sup>36</sup>Simon and his companions went to look for him, <sup>37</sup>and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>38</sup></i><i>Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” <sup>39</sup>So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9M8u4QjEifY/VE1_zlQL54I/AAAAAAAAG3o/h1r-BgnOx60/s1600-h/image62.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iv1UcX0eKJg/VE1_0dU9hoI/AAAAAAAAG3w/9-3IBMA7E14/image_thumb28.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>40</sup></i><i>A man with leprosy came to him</i><i> and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>41</sup></i><i>Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” <sup>42</sup>Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XOJwX2vzcnQ/VE1_0nCZa8I/AAAAAAAAG34/3OcZ6UCVz9Q/s1600-h/image64.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-quxrX6aEDJo/VE1_1AAv-hI/AAAAAAAAG4A/6uqY91OkXoA/image_thumb30.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>43</sup></i><i>Jesus sent him away at once with</i><i> a strong warning: <sup>44</sup>“See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” <sup>45</sup>Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eCh-EqJhpVI/VE1_1juzbMI/AAAAAAAAG4I/F6-dqBzDQ-E/s1600-h/image66.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-FaozaN_Tjcw/VE1_2EgQQmI/AAAAAAAAG4Q/JUcrNvb_F8Y/image_thumb32.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The central word in this passage is “<b>authority</b>.” It’s the thing that gets people’s attention about Jesus. The original Greek word is exousia. It means <i>power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; power; strength that is possessed and/or exercised; authority.</i> <p>The new humanity, revealed in and pioneered by Jesus, has exousia. It has the power of choice, the liberty of doing as it pleases. It has power, strength that it both possesses and exercises. It has authority. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iAYgeSSBTwY/VE1_2lAFqjI/AAAAAAAAG4Y/xOwMqrgx4fw/s1600-h/image68.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-O_1Zu6jlfC0/VE1_2y5yCMI/AAAAAAAAG4g/ZgCFr_mZ6_4/image_thumb34.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This is the great paradox. The old humanity chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in order to become like God, knowing right from wrong. That choice – the last time we freely exercised our free will – expresses itself now in a tangled web of ways. We struggle to be strong and to look strong in this world. We are consumed with anxiety and judgment is our go-to drug, both of which crowd out true joy in our lives. It was advertised as a way to become free of God, to become like gods ourselves (which we imagined meant the freest kind of free). But as we know, it meant we became enslaved. Enslaved primarily to our bellies, and every appetite they represent. Powerless. No choice, really. No liberty to do as we pleased. Because our misguided pleasures ruled our lives, and lead us to death. <p>How often do we say that about choices we hate to have to make –<i> I wish I had a choice, but I didn’t really have any other options</i>…? Deep down, don’t we know that it’s our choices that have put us in that place where we feel like we have no choices anymore? And don’t we really mean that any other choice feels like it will leave us unacceptably vulnerable or subject to the judgment of others? <p>From Pitchfork’s review of Interpol’s self-titled 4<sup>th</sup> album: <i>Elsewhere he's pleading for someone to just tell him what to do, because his own desires are leading him in the wrong directions…The whole thing sounds like the eighth day of an endless party where everyone's already slept together, burned themselves out on drugs that used to be fun, and developed systems of grudges and resentments that make it barely worth talking to one another. And yet the party goes on and there they sit, sighing bitterly while confetti pours down and the drinks go around.</i> <p>This experience is in such contrast to the experience of the new humanity. The new humanity maintains a child-like faith in God’s promises to care for it, depending on God for every need. Which <i>seems </i>so powerless, doesn’t it? And yet, the new humanity discovers that in fact it has exousia. The power of choice, the liberty of doing as it pleases. The new humanity chooses first to let God show her what to do. Discovers her desires becoming like his, leading her in all the right directions. Discovers that she has power, strength that she both possesses and exercises. She has authority. Because when a desire comes from a place of humility and peace, rather than pride and fear, it is rooted in Love and has Love’s full force behind it. And the new humanity is always rooted in Love. And what it pleases is always the pleasure of Love. <p>Real exousia, real power, real strength comes from child-like faith. That’s what these stories are showing us. <p>Let’s zero in on a couple of these scenes. We’ll skip the mother-in-law for today (nothing against mothers-in-law, of course) for the sake of time, and just look at Jesus’ encounter with the demonized man and then with the leper. <p>First the demonized man. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XzlZ1dC53_A/VE1_3aLcYCI/AAAAAAAAG4s/5dcUmKXIKyM/s1600-h/image70.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZgFGe2fWGJ0/VE1_4MHtSAI/AAAAAAAAG4w/0Thvq_j3w2E/image_thumb36.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>23</sup></i><i>Just then a man in their synagogue</i><i> who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, <sup>24</sup>“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”</i> <p><i><sup>25</sup></i><i>“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” <sup>26</sup>The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.</i> <p>The old humanity – that’s us - we’d probably feel under attack, under accusation, a little bit afraid. And so we’d try to turn it to strength, look good to the crowds around, level the playing field. We’d say something like, <i>“Damn straight, I’ve come here to destroy you. And yup, that is who I am. Who do you think you are?”</i> Of course if we did that, we wouldn’t really be free, would we? We’d just be playing the demon’s game, pride and fear at the center of our actions. <p>Do you notice how <i>free</i> Jesus is here? <p>Does Jesus – the new humanity - <i>let the dem</i>on set the terms of the conversation? Nope. <i>Be quiet, come out.</i> Because Jesus is coming from a place of humility and peace. He’s rooted in Love. What pleases him is for this man to be set free. That’s what Love’s pleasure is in the world. And Jesus has exousia, the liberty to do as he pleases. <p>Notice a little bit later when it’s talking about Jesus driving out other demons: <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1Zvs9PcfcEs/VE1_4pswjQI/AAAAAAAAG48/eyVqrfV9hgI/s1600-h/image72.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QhC-0R4U39w/VE1_5YqHHPI/AAAAAAAAG5A/i8GvgQrYdK4/image_thumb38.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>He also drove out many demons</i><i>, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.</i> <p>Wouldn’t he want to let them speak, seeing as they were getting the word out about who he was? Nope. For three reasons. <p>One, he isn’t concerned about people knowing who he is by way of titles. If he gets famous as the Holy One of God, he knows people have all sorts of ideas about what that means, and they’ll start to come to him <i>not for him to address their needs</i>, but to watch him do the things they expect the Holy One of God will do. Like overthrow Rome, for example. Which won’t bring them any life at all, not real life, the life of the heavens. All Jesus is interested in is people bringing their needs to him for him to address as he desires. Because then he’ll get famous as someone who addresses the needs of people who put their trust in him. And that will actually bring life to people. <p>[<i>maybe we should let that sink in when it comes to how we talk about Jesus</i>…] <p>Secondly, Jesus doesn’t want people to hear the testimony of evil about him, especially not through the mouth of an enslaved person. Jesus wants people to hear the testimony of freed slaves saying, <i>Jesus is the one who set me free.</i> Sure, it might be exciting to hear a demon talking about Jesus – <i>Whoa! That’s something else!</i> – but if you hear a freed or healed person talking about him, you think, <i>Hmm, maybe he could do that for me if I went to him and asked hi</i>m. <p>That’s why later you see Jesus happily healing people who come to him with their needs, but not responding when he hears “everyone is looking for you!” Instead, he goes off to other towns to announce his good news about God’s kingdom. He’s on a mission to save people from the enslavement that comes from dependence on themselves and others by showing them they can depend on a God who loves them and has forgiven them. Jesus becoming a celebrity doesn’t do the trick. Jesus widely demonstrating the faithful love and liberally available power of God’s kingdom does. <p>And finally, Jesus <i>hates</i> to see a human being being used by evil, even if evil seems to be using that human being for some “good” purpose. Because it’s not life-giving for the human being who is being used, and Jesus didn’t come to get life for himself, but so that we could have life, and life overflowing. Jesus, in other words, wants to use his exousia to give us exousia. <p>Let’s fast forward to the man with leprosy. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-korjKzleicE/VE1_50aZxiI/AAAAAAAAG5M/96d3U2LpK9A/s1600-h/image74.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xqhZkCvXqCw/VE1_6ce7lmI/AAAAAAAAG5Q/Bsh7GSpJbxw/image_thumb40.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>40</sup></i><i>A man with leprosy came to him</i><i> and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>41</sup></i><i>Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” <sup>42</sup>Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.</i> <p>Notice the man’s statement and Jesus’ response. <p>If you are <i>willing</i>… The word for willing here in Greek suggests something like: <i>if it pleases you.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-SlDrfPa1cVs/VE1_6ySceYI/AAAAAAAAG5Y/XEdwFjmXUv8/s1600-h/image76.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GU1dDaMqHyQ/VE1_7cFt0dI/AAAAAAAAG5g/UhCFdXzTMa4/image_thumb42.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The text doesn’t say what made Jesus indignant, but I think it might be because this human being is on his knees begging. I think Jesus hates that this is what eating from tree of knowledge of good and evil has reduced human beings to. This leper has almost no exousia left. He doesn’t have the power of choice or the liberty to do as he pleases. He’s reduced to staying away from human community, to walking through the streets shouting “Leper!” to warn people away from him. What little exousia this leper had, he mustered to get close to Jesus and ask for help, on his knees begging. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XAyqlr-I_q8/VE1_7nXU59I/AAAAAAAAG5s/T16Kt9cIwWo/s1600-h/image78.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0mVoOCdqG4M/VE1_8Xfh-RI/AAAAAAAAG5w/q34WP2JUYUo/image_thumb44.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>So Jesus reaches out and touches him. The word there for touch is more like grasps, or clings to him. It’s not a dainty touch. It’s full on contact, unafraid. Restoring dignity. Maybe the first touch this man has had in years. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-wOmHgH_cfAU/VE1_87rdsiI/AAAAAAAAG54/mQc7xkYPTcw/s1600-h/image80.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-0COT1OaTz-4/VE1_9uGXniI/AAAAAAAAG6A/YC3fcw34qwA/image_thumb46.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>It does please me,</i> Jesus says. Of course it pleases Love. <i>Be clean!</i> <p>If we follow Jesus on the path of child-like faith, this is what will please us as well. Touching the untouchable, unafraid. Freeing the enslaved. Healing the sick. Using our exousia to bring others into an experience of the exousia of the new humanity that comes from child-like faith. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sWZrkf9MPQE/VE1_-Dwn1YI/AAAAAAAAG6I/TOHgvfGZ7zM/s1600-h/image82.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZHsxddsIEkg/VE1_-vL7UuI/AAAAAAAAG6Q/GunvQZmBzd4/image_thumb48.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The passage ends with this interesting interchange where Jesus warns the man to not go talk to others but to go to the priest first. Leprosy was a big deal at this time. Just touching him was a violation of major taboos on Jesus’ part. Which is why when the man ends up not following Jesus’ instructions but instead spreading the news around, it creates a huge stir and he can’t go into cities anymore. It makes Jesus go viral, we might say today. Which, again, isn’t what Jesus wants. Jesus trending on Twitter doesn’t help us bring our needs to him to address in child-like faith. It doesn’t help us have life in him. <p>And here’s the twist: disregarding Jesus’ instructions doesn’t help this Leper have exousia – the power of choice and the liberty to do what pleases him – either. Because in that culture, at that time, according to the laws of Israel, this man needs not just healing, but the approval of a priest to re-enter normal society. You can look it up in Leviticus 14 for yourself if you’d like sometime, but the process sounds crazy-complicated and bizarre to our ears, and took over a week. It involves an inspection by the priest, birds dipped in other birds blood, cedar sticks, thread, bushy herbs, shaving one’s whole body (twice!), ritual washings, sacrifices, blood and oil spread on one’s ear lobes and toes, and more. Only then were you good to go. <p>I think about it this way. Many of us are like lepers, having gotten sick from a lifetime of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We want to enjoy the life of the Kingdom of God, but we find ourselves stuck in the leper colonies of the old humanity. Jesus is the one we’ve come to in our desperation, for help and healing. And he loves to heal us – to address our needs. But more than anything, he wants us to experience the life of the new humanity, the life in God’s kingdom, where we can enjoy exousia – the power of choice, the liberty of doing what we please, true strength and authority. And for us to do that we’ve got to go to the Priest. And for us, of course, Jesus is also the priest. And there is a lot to be done to let go of the old humanity and put on the new humanity. There is a lot to be done to learn what it means to live with child-like faith. It requires continuing to be dependent on him, patiently following his instructions, trusting that he has more to teach us than we’d ever guess. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-b1grqAsDpkA/VE1_-z47RdI/AAAAAAAAG6Y/J4xA5y7jMwk/s1600-h/image84.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-oShQMS4KL6E/VE1__cHh48I/AAAAAAAAG6g/ZYMWiERw3D0/image_thumb50.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p>1. <b>Exercise Your Exousia.</b> <i>Do Something that Pleases You.</i> Not just something that feeds an appetite you have, but something rooted in Love, something that flows from a place of humility and peace. Your favorite sport or hobby. Playing an instrument or dancing or painting or photography or poetry or some other art. Serving someone in need. Some act of generosity. In truth, all exercises of exousia are worship. And all true worship is an exercise of exousia. <p>2. <b>Come to Jesus for Deliverance. </b>Jesus wants to<b> </b>set you free from whatever is limiting your exousia, so you can have child-like faith. That’s what everything he is doing is all about – casting out demons, healing fevers, cleansing leprosy, forgiving sins, announcing good news, you name it. So come to him and ask for deliverance for whatever is most getting in the way of you doing what truly pleases you, in the way of your possession and exercise of strength, in the way of your power, your authority over your own self as child of God. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-16950365779002502512014-10-26T15:58:00.001-07:002014-10-26T15:58:37.877-07:00New Humanity // What Compels You?<p><em></em> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 09/28/2014</em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-t-1NuBNZYWU/VE18YNOvT8I/AAAAAAAAGxs/c3x9xOQDh04/s1600-h/image57.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-PeUhDZyMNXk/VE18Yr2ZBPI/AAAAAAAAGxw/m69sWQ2I2R8/image_thumb21.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6zy-c5t2XP0/VE18ZAClg3I/AAAAAAAAGx4/47HRAnIpjWU/s1600-h/image60.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WAWLOfFqfOg/VE18ZqYyglI/AAAAAAAAGyA/_oLSbSra9hA/image_thumb24.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>14</sup></i><i>Now after John</i><i> had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God <sup>15</sup>and saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-aUoYnGQ_2xM/VE18aCb0uSI/AAAAAAAAGyI/D9JZ_iHy4QY/s1600-h/image59.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8KuvIEzJFM0/VE18aRB5qGI/AAAAAAAAGyQ/36jJxBHKMpM/image_thumb23.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>16</sup></i><i>As he was going along</i><i> by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. <sup>17</sup>And Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of people.” <sup>18</sup> Immediately they left their nets and followed him.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_Y79CQlLGYY/VE18axMYdJI/AAAAAAAAGyc/gIJH0iCKD18/s1600-h/image62.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-A4Y5vTdqfCc/VE18bieVUMI/AAAAAAAAGyg/Y0cKiAwBl4I/image_thumb26.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup></sup></i> <p><i><sup>19</sup></i><i>Going on a little farther</i><i>, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in a boat, mending their nets. <sup>20</sup>Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and departed to follow him.</i> <p><b><i>Mark 1</i></b> <p>[<i>show <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/gr0jvmocodmht8g/IMG_1366.MOV?dl=0">Colin airplane video</a></i>…] Mark’s gospel has something like that kind of pacing. We’ve just passed a slow motion section with Jesus’ baptism by John, and the heavens open up before he heads into the wilderness, but now the action starts fresh. The pace picks up, gets brisk. Jesus is on his mission now, and things are happening. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3_XROYCKaGg/VE18bxHWWqI/AAAAAAAAGyo/180V6fsDKQY/s1600-h/image64.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-lWPK2Mu13T8/VE18cdTN87I/AAAAAAAAGyw/EB-NI_i2sr4/image_thumb28.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus came, <p>he’s going along, <p>he saw and said, <p>immediately they left, <p>going on, <p>he saw, <p>immediately he called, <p>they left. <p>+ a whole mess of “ands” <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3bjmRp8Tgsw/VE18c4vqXmI/AAAAAAAAGy4/Bc8yPmj0PwI/s1600-h/image66.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XxNGronxpU4/VE18dc8sx5I/AAAAAAAAGzA/cr2I7cjCqPg/image_thumb30.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This breathless passage is the hinge text for us. Like a door on its hinges, everything hangs on it, and turns on it. Right there in the middle… <i>for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, I and will make you become fishers of people</i>.” <i>Immediately they left their nets and followed him…</i> <p>What’s going on is dramatic. The first of the new humanity – Jesus – encounters members of the old humanity going about their business, and invites them to join him, with the promise to make them like he is. And they leave their old lives behind, representing their old humanity, and follow after him into the new. In other words, Jesus’ good news about God’s kingdom coming near goes off like an Electro Magnetic Pulse bomb, disabling the circuitry of the old humanity, and human beings begin turning away from everything they’ve known about navigating life via their knowledge of good and evil and embark on a journey to eat again from the tree of life. <p>Let’s dig into the story and see what we can see. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vbTAYpITKUA/VE18d-zDBGI/AAAAAAAAGzI/xaeRbcZIu98/s1600-h/image68.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-2lSkcDxG3JU/VE18eThrKVI/AAAAAAAAGzQ/c7wrquToTlw/image_thumb32.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>I suspect the first question most of us have when we read this passage is this: why do these fishermen leave to follow Jesus so quickly, and with such little hesitation? They leave the lives they’ve known – their nets, their boats, their businesses, their livelihoods, their villages, their families, fathers, mothers, wives, children – and they do it immediately. At once. Without delay. <p>And more than that, maybe, they <i>leave </i>leave. The word for left is sometimes translated “forsake.” This isn’t a “hey, just a minute, I’ve got to go grab the mail, pick up a gallon of milk at Kroger. Save a hot pocket for me.” This is more like some kind of sleeper agent in one of those spy movies where they hear a code phrase on short-wave radio and something clicks in their brain and they are activated. <p>Except they aren’t sleeper agents. They are the normal-est people, living the normal-est lives, and yet they do something so not normal when Jesus comes along. They seem <i>compelled</i>. Almost as if something <i>had</i> been sleeping in them, and now is wide awake. <p>Why? What woke up, or what did they wake up to? What compels them? <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-toT49JEMtZY/VE18ewSlbaI/AAAAAAAAGzY/vVk-9s_sPDg/s1600-h/image70.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UAoMwWBzsfU/VE18fLf1A4I/AAAAAAAAGzk/hFrtWTAD-XY/image_thumb34.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>One way to say the answer would be to say that their hunger compels them. Just like their hunger has <i>always</i> compelled them. Except that now their hunger is driving them to Jesus for <i>him</i> to address their needs instead of driving them to depend on themselves or to win the favor of others. The good news Jesus has announced has woken them up to the fact that Jesus has satisfaction for their hunger unlike any other thing they’ve gone after. <p>Think about it. <p>What is the very first thing that compels us as human beings? What drives our first actions, the actions we uniquely own ourselves? It’s our hunger. Hunger that comes from our experience of neediness, awareness of our vulnerability. <p>Our hunger drives us to our moms, assuming they are available. We’ll accept substitutes, of course, because as babies we don’t have a lot of mobility or wherewithal, but it’s our moms we want and seek out. Because mom means good food. Mom means comfort. And that goes on for quite some time, barring circumstances that make it impossible. <p>It’s not until we’ve grown up a certain amount that we start to ditch our moms and go after food and comfort for ourselves. We talked about that some already, but it’s worth keeping in mind. Our first “sins” in many of our memories are going to get unauthorized food on our own, aren’t they? <p><i>Who took those cookies!? Who started eating before I said it was OK? Why is it so hard to just wait a minute!? Or just to ask me before you take something? Do you think I’m going to let you starve or something!?</i> <p>We human beings stopped relating to God as our mother or father, though, when we abandoned the tree of life and started eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We stopped having child-like faith, and figured we’d be better off if we had a grown-up faith in our own ability to figure out what was good for us and what would satisfy our hunger best, according to our own developing tastes.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gIEUBwQFS30/VE18fq-GEzI/AAAAAAAAGzo/j9hBflwrYT8/s1600-h/image72.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ch9vDy1ll3U/VE18gIAcifI/AAAAAAAAGzw/odB39jInmOQ/image_thumb36.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>So if you’re Simon, or Andrew, or James, or John, you are born on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and your parents – along with the whole community around you, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, village elders, religious authorities – teach you that the absolutely best life you can live and have is as a disciple of a famous Rabbi. Those are the honored people, they’ve got the support of everyone and God himself. They are like the professional athletes or fighter pilots or musicians or world famous surgeons or attorneys or self-made entrepreneurial millionaires of our day. <p>Only the best of the best get selected for those positions, so you’ve got to prove yourself, give everything you’ve got. <p>You try. You try to memorize the Bible, every waking moment reciting. Showing off your progress at holiday celebrations. You have big dreams, you’re going to make something of yourself, have an amazing life. <p>But you’re not the best; others are better than you, and they get picked by the Rabbi’s, who say to them, “Come, follow me.” You don’t make the cut. Your parents still love you, but you can tell they are just a little disappointed, even though they try to hide it. They hoped you’d bring honor to them through your excellence. <p>You settle for joining the family fishing business. You throw yourself into it, reluctantly at first, but then, eventually, you embrace it. Day by day, it’s a struggle, catching enough fish. It’s hard work, but you make a life for yourself, the best you can. It’s probably what you were made for, anyway. It would be silly, juvenile to think otherwise. You marry the girl your parents pick for you, have a couple kids, are successful enough to provide for them. <p>It’s a pretty good life; everyone would say the same thing. And you can’t argue with them. Even though you wish you could. The part of you that wants more, the dreams you had as a kid, you have to shut that down. Put them to sleep, deep sleep. If only you could kill them off completely, life wouldn’t be as painful. <p>Can you identify with them at all? The truth is, this is the condition of the old humanity. All of us are settling, one way or another, even if we’re lying to ourselves about some aspect of it. Some of us have tried to be the best of the best, to have the amazing lives we dreamed about as kids, only to come up short and embrace (or spend forever resisting) the best life we can make for ourselves, given the circumstances. And a few of us have succeeded in being the best of the best, at least at some level, but we’ve discovered what everyone else discovers sooner than we do. Being the best of the best doesn’t really buy you what you thought it would buy you. You’re still hungry, never truly satisfied. So all of us, as we talked about last week are either still pushing for harder, better, faster, stronger, or we’re worn out enough that we gave up. <p>Then Jesus shows up. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7qVILOt4Lhc/VE18gmCjzYI/AAAAAAAAGz4/XCXVEKnVKWc/s1600-h/image74.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-kpxvTBmg1sw/VE18g5rOwFI/AAAAAAAAG0E/rbKFpMpXR-g/image_thumb38.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Good news,</i> Jesus announces. And the good news is that God’s kingdom is near. Which means that the place or world where everything works according to God’s good desires is right here, coming close, available to us. And God’s made his desires clear to us, so if we’re Simon or Andrew or James or John, we know that means that God loves us, and wants to provide for us, if we’ll just bring our needs to him to address. It means, if God’s kingdom is here, all that struggling to take care of ourselves through our own strength, to win the favor of others so we can have their support and aid, to protect ourselves from evil and our vulnerability, all that struggling is over. We can be like kids in God’s kingdom. Our hunger not pushing into the rat race, but driving us into his loving arms with our needs, for him to address as we wait for him to respond out of his perfect love for us. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-9RHGyxZOBU8/VE18hVOOkJI/AAAAAAAAG0I/m9gVB7T5w5k/s1600-h/image76.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ooeZAQA4_EI/VE18h5MghGI/AAAAAAAAG0Q/z7ES7XqXyek/image_thumb40.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Repent</i>, Jesus says. Which just means turn around, or turn away from one thing and face a different direction. For Simon or Andrew or James or John, that means stop trying to satisfy your hunger by being as strong as you can and by getting as many other people as you can to love you or fear you or respect you. It means turn towards God like a child would turn to a parent, and let <i>him</i> satisfy your hunger. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7ZwpasAdqEE/VE18iZwZoEI/AAAAAAAAG0Y/5-bT9n2n3uM/s1600-h/image78.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-saQLnTw8L0Q/VE18ipOQLoI/AAAAAAAAG0g/PnpbyHQsci8/image_thumb42.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Believe in the good news,</i> Jesus says. Which means have confidence in the announcement I’m making that God is really here to embrace you and address your needs in his perfect timing if you’ll just bring them to him and wait for his response, following his leading in the meantime. For Simon or Andrew or James or John, that means it’s safe for the part of you that you’ve put to sleep to wake up. It’s safe to feel what you’re really hungry for, deep down, in life, and bring it to God, and trust his promise that he loves you like a son and will move heaven and earth to satisfy your hunger. It’s safe to stop playing it safe (if that’s what you can call doing what everyone else expects and demands of you and has always done to survive in this world ruled by the prince of this world) and do what the God who made you and loves you is leading you to do, because there will be pure, sweet, true life in that direction, because his kingdom is here now. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UuIGMEpzJpY/VE18jHtBgkI/AAAAAAAAG0o/Bdk4Zn5t0Bg/s1600-h/image80.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-31yuEueK2As/VE18jhXms9I/AAAAAAAAG0w/mL3OY5Ikq1k/image_thumb44.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Come, follow me,</i> Jesus says, <i>and I’ll make you fishers of people.</i> <p>This is a two parter; we’ll take it one part at a time, and then be done for today. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XAt7fEhZW6M/VE18kEJ4gdI/AAAAAAAAG04/nFMv7kPKpfA/s1600-h/image82.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-EtrKgV4Aejw/VE18kSrGcCI/AAAAAAAAG1A/Wuo2k3_MHK8/image_thumb46.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Come, follow me</i>. This is the biggest surprise for Simon and Andrew and James and John, because this Rabbi is inviting them, and they are the dropouts, the ones who didn’t make the cut. They’re hungry, as hungry as anyone else in this world, but they figured they’d have to wait their turn because they hadn’t earned a spot at the front of God’s line. Only Jesus is showing up and saying, <i>You! You follow me. </i>Can you imagine the thrill that must have run through them? <i>You’re the next contestant on God’s Going to Meet All Your Needs, come on down!</i> <p>And the other thing about it, beyond the surprise that they qualify, is that <i>following Jesus</i> is how all this happens. They don’t have to bring their needs to the Temple, or fill out some kind of form on some complicated website. They bring their needs and vulnerability to Jesus himself. They don’t necessarily understand it all yet, but they do get that what it actually means to repent and believe in the good news is dead simple. It’s to recognize that the God who is offering to address all their needs and lead them to life like no one has ever known, has come to them personally in this Jesus person, and all they have to do is say <i>OK, I’m in.</i> <p>What a burden lifted off! The weight of struggle to survive, to win, to provide, to protect themselves, to worry about the future, to cover up all their failings, to live up to expectations, or to bear the heaviness of judgments, it’s all gone. Every morning, to wake up and not think about everything that’s got to get done that day, but rather, <i>where’s Jesus and what should I tell him I want to do today? I’m hungry, let me find him and tell him what I’m hungry for, he makes the best breakfasts.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-2vj-vud8WXA/VE18k4dYYWI/AAAAAAAAG1I/GwpzMZG0R0g/s1600-h/image84.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Bx2Y6Sv9gjk/VE18lYJuUKI/AAAAAAAAG1Q/rTiSm6CdcH4/image_thumb48.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>They are kids again! That’s it. Child-like faith in Jesus. The new humanity God is making in the world is woken up by the good news and the invitation of Jesus to <i>Come, follow me. </i>You can tell they are like kids. They’ve forgotten about all their responsibilities, they are leaving their rooms a mess, they aren’t telling anyone their plans, they are just running out the door because the world’s greatest ice cream truck has just rolled into town. <p>And we could eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and condemn them to hell for it, couldn’t we? Think of the accusations we could lob. <i>They left their dads. They left their wives. Their kids. Their employees. They are deadbeats.</i> <p>But they wouldn’t have ears to hear it. Because they are kids again, and the new humanity is out of earshot of the accuser. And the truth is, we’d just be yelling at them because we’re jealous. <p><i></i> <p>Wouldn’t you drop everything and go after him? <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-yU6AOcBYAtE/VE18lqMoIoI/AAAAAAAAG1Y/YKcceXtEpbE/s1600-h/image86.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JbEkmBw1m64/VE18mKiCDkI/AAAAAAAAG1g/zAt8lY_Q75A/image_thumb50.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Which brings us to that last little phrase. <i>I’ll make you become fishers of people.</i> <p>The old humanity works hard for the sake of solving its own hunger and vulnerability. We fish to get food for ourselves, to survive. We build boats to protect ourselves from the sea. But the new humanity fishes because that’s what Jesus is doing, and we love hanging out with Jesus. Because Jesus. <i>Is awesome. Meets our needs. Plays with us. Takes care of us. Is fun to be around. Cleans our room. Is funny.</i> Fill in the kid’s note to mom from pre-school and you’ll get the gist. <p>And Jesus is fishing for people because people in the sea, under water, can’t breathe. Jesus is fishing for people because we need to be rescued from drowning. And the old humanity – all of us struggling to survive on our own, fighting a losing battle against shame, pursuing perfectionism and busyness, wearing masks to impress others, hiding our flaws, wearing ourselves down to the bone – all of us are drowning, aren’t we? <p><i>Good news! God’s kingdom is here. Turn, trust in the good news. Come, follow me. Yes, you, you follow me. I’ll make you become like me. Breathing clear air, in deep breaths, unafraid, without shame, alive, compelled not by the need to survive, but by Love for life, like a child.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--Y4kBAHmJJk/VE18mlUJbWI/AAAAAAAAG1o/OIK-VW2AsYk/s1600-h/image88.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TRteFygsi8g/VE18m9_ZQ7I/AAAAAAAAG10/hEn7EAlCIjg/image_thumb52.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p>1. Do something spontaneously and possibly irresponsibly fun this week (on your own or with your family or friends). Notice what you have to let go of to do it. Notice how it feels. In what ways is your experience of beginning to follow Jesus similar or different for you? What might need to change in your conception of faith or Jesus to close the gap? <p>2. Come, follow Jesus. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-74974668126963416422014-09-23T07:19:00.001-07:002014-09-23T07:19:01.332-07:00New Humanity // Put to the Test<p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 09/21/2014</em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MFUXL6mseUc/VCGBDxu134I/AAAAAAAAGl4/rfH43Wj4MW8/s1600-h/image%25255B80%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Tx36OGrlwVA/VCGBEfsZcyI/AAAAAAAAGl8/lpqozt9DqKA/image_thumb%25255B27%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We left off in Mark 1 last week with Jesus being baptized and then being led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he would be surrounded by wild animals and encounter the accuser. Mark leaves it at that, but Matthew’s gospel fleshes it out a bit, describing the toe to toe encounter. Let’s read. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LTJ-OYSFLeE/VCGBE9IW8PI/AAAAAAAAGmE/kb-_kp0nALo/s1600-h/image%25255B82%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_1avFnRRRxU/VCGBFeCjlOI/AAAAAAAAGmM/HDlpa6XK-kg/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Then Jesus was led by the</i><i> Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. <sup>2</sup>After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. <sup>3</sup>The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i>Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-x-wV6m2j_48/VCGBFu_yEsI/AAAAAAAAGmU/HScxKTTVc6E/s1600-h/image%25255B84%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-o05iKs_9YlE/VCGBGOnLgnI/AAAAAAAAGmc/xbfYGNNo4K0/image_thumb%25255B31%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>5</sup></i><i>Then the devil took him</i><i> to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. <sup>6</sup>“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,</i> <p><i>and they will lift you up in their hands,</i> <p><i>so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>7</sup></i><i>Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cCOuPcI5EUU/VCGBGrJ7gNI/AAAAAAAAGmk/2JmofICLsPE/s1600-h/image%25255B86%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-10fGzxZ4oIw/VCGBHHeJjtI/AAAAAAAAGms/fDu5_7tcGLk/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>8</sup></i><i>Again, the devil took him</i><i> to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. <sup>9</sup>“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>10</sup></i><i>Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>11</sup></i><i>Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Uqor1B3CKVY/VCGBHaq5WAI/AAAAAAAAGm0/gpGZURWdJQ0/s1600-h/image%25255B88%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wfsJkPUTZJ8/VCGBHxTCsrI/AAAAAAAAGm8/p3y0Q5K48HM/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>It may not be immediately obvious to us, but this is a story of the first of the new humanity encountering the prince of the old creation. This is a story of child-like faith encountering a world full of evil. <p>Which is really important for us to witness, because one of the things we get nervous about when we consider following Jesus and having the kind of child-like faith he invites us into is this whole question about <i>can a child-like faith really survive in a world where mature, grown up evil is prowling around?</i> Don’t we need a sophisticated knowledge of good and evil to hold our own and stay faithful to a good God? <p>And if you’re not a Jesus follower already, the question you might have about trusting Jesus is, well, <i>is the life he’s offering me any better than the life I might be able to get for myself?</i> And I think this story shines some light on the kind of life Jesus enjoys, even in this broken, often threatening and fearful world. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DvZnFnTwVmM/VCGBICd24AI/AAAAAAAAGnE/inQs4H6zxe8/s1600-h/image%25255B90%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hqGL0fo7ZHk/VCGBIlimG7I/AAAAAAAAGnM/5izIpeia09g/image_thumb%25255B37%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The story begins with hunger – much like the Genesis story of Adam & Eve’s encounter with the serpent. Jesus fasts 40 days and 40 nights and he gets really hungry. That makes sense, and actually, his experience of hunger is the foundation for the whole encounter. Because as we talked about last week, hunger reveals one of our core vulnerabilities as human beings. So I want to pause on the story for a bit here at Jesus’ hunger, and just spend some time outlining a few of the basic ideas for our new humanity series. <p><b></b> <p><b>Needy.</b> <p><b>Vulnerable.</b> <p>These two words describe the basic reality for every human being in this world. No matter how rich or powerful or good or strong. We need food, water, air, shelter, protection from the elements. And that’s just for starters. We also need love, belonging, significance, freedom, and so on. If we want to thrive, and not just survive, that is. <p>Some of us get our needs met more reliably and easily than others, for sure. And some of us feel our neediness more often than others. But every single one of us – without exception – is needy. <p>We’re vulnerable, too. We can’t meet all of our needs on our own. And things beyond our control can hurt us, or keep our needs from being met. We get sick, injured. All of us, eventually, die. No matter how hard, or well, we try to fight it. <p>So what are our options in light of our neediness and vulnerability? <p><b></b> <p><b>Ourselves.</b> <p><b>Others.</b> <p><b>God.</b> <p>Admittedly, some would argue that the third option (God) is theoretical at best, but for the sake of argument, and since we’re here to explore the potential benefits of faith, we’ll keep that option open. <p>Let’s start with the option most of choose, at first: ourselves. If we’re going with ourselves, we’re counting on having one thing. <p><b>Strength.</b> <p>We’d better hope we were dealt a good hand, for starters. We’ll need – at least – intelligence, physical strength, physical adaptations suited to our environment, emotional & mental resilience, good health. If we’re on our own, our best shot at survival is to maximize those traits. For some of us, that’s the story of our lives. It’s hard work. [<i>Daft Punk – <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/612r0xte08cmtfe/better%20faster%20etc%20clip.wmv?dl=0">Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger</a></i>] <p>Most of us, though, at some point realize that ultimately we’re going to need the support or aid of others. At the very least, we’ve got to keep others from opposing us. So what does that take? <p>Really only three main pathways to getting help from others. <p><b>Love. </b> <p><b>Fear. </b> <p><b>Respect. </b> <p>If others love you enough (we’re not talking about real love here, of course, but the conditional kind), they’ll work with you or for you. You’ve got to be strong, and frame it or market it in such a way that others can see it. You’ve got to strut your stuff. <p>Alternatively, if others fear you enough, they’ll work together with you or for you in order to protect themselves from you (assuming they can’t hide or avoid or run from you for some reason), in order to stay on your good side. Which, again, means you’ve got to be strong and make sure the world can see it. <p>Then there is this issue of respect. Can your strengths and skills be counted on? Is your “goodness” reliable? Or your badness, for that matter? It had better be, because if you’re loved or feared but not respected, you won’t get much cooperation from others. That’s a lot of pressure, a lot of energy spent making sure others get the right impression of us, and accounts for no small amount of our general anxiety. <p>In other words, if we want the support and aid of others, we need to be strong and we need to maintain a good reputation. <p>Notice this: how many of you cringed at the words “support” and “aid”? We don’t like them because they suggest vulnerability and need. We prefer the idea that we’re “working together” with others, or “gaining their cooperation.” That sounds a lot less needy and vulnerable, doesn’t it? <p>Anything that shows the world our neediness or vulnerability threatens to make us less loved, less feared, and less respected. We want to show <i>just enough</i> neediness or vulnerability that others feel like we’re “real” – so they can trust us – but not enough to look like we’ll be an energy drain on them. Because none of us feel like we have too much energy to spare on others if we don’t get a return on our investment. <p>As we’ve been exploring in our “New Humanity” series, this is the nature of life for the old humanity. We’ve chosen to depend on ourselves and others, instead of God. In the language of the biblical story, we’ve eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we keep on going back to it. So much so that we’ve forgotten the location of the tree of life, and can’t even remember what it’s like to completely depend on God. <p>As a result, our lives and our world are full of things like shame, worthiness, comparison, busyness, addiction, perfectionism, defensiveness, hypocrisy, deception, manipulation, and anxiety. <p>Jesus shows us, and opens up for us, and invites us into a new way of being human, a new humanity. And it all revolves around choosing option three – <b>choosing God</b>, choosing to eat from the tree of life – in response to our vulnerability and neediness. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-O6-nM8i_kEY/VCGBJLyIoxI/AAAAAAAAGnY/p-y9Qc7KkeA/s1600-h/image%25255B92%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hFs_K6SoB6M/VCGBJnpU3-I/AAAAAAAAGnc/5Oio5mdojbw/image_thumb%25255B39%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>That’s what Jesus’ discussion with “the devil” in the wilderness is all about. Jesus has a child-like faith in God and the devil wants him to abandon that and depend on himself and others. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-u2PwT5F9hSk/VCGBJ2IEycI/AAAAAAAAGno/vwum1q9GnrE/s1600-h/image%25255B94%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pEJ4mX9yHfI/VCGBKnC1uCI/AAAAAAAAGns/0pQMv3C98qU/image_thumb%25255B41%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>I highlighted “the devil,” because the Greek word is <i>diabolos</i>, which means slanderer, or accuser, a person who brings false accusations with the intent to destroy or harm. Literally, someone who “casts through.” Later, when Jesus calls him “Satan,” it means the same thing. Satan is the Hebrew and Aramaic name (the language Jesus would have spoken) that means “Accuser.” <p>Let’s think about that for a second, before we break down the exchange between Jesus and the Accuser. <p>If a human being is going to choose to eat from the tree of life, to choose, faced with the fact of their vulnerability, to depend on God completely for their needs being met, what helps them do that? The answer the bible gives is confidence or trust in God’s promises. <b>Faith.</b> [go back to whiteboard] <p>That’s all faith is, when you get down to it. God promises that he’ll address our needs as we bring them to him in faith, waiting for his response. God promises he loves us and relates to us as the best father relates to his children. God promises that we have nothing to worry about if we depend on him, because he’s good and he’ll be faithful to all his promises to us to give us life, and life overflowing. <p>So let’s say something or someone evil wants to destroy or harm someone who is needy and vulnerable. All they’ve got to do is get that person to lose confidence in God’s promises, to stop waiting for God to address their needs, and start to depend on themselves. And it just so happens that slander and accusation work <i>really</i> well for that purpose. <p><i>God didn’t really say that.</i> <p><i>God didn’t mean it when he said it.</i> <p><i>God may do that for other people, but not for you.</i> <p><i>Look what happened to so and so – God obviously didn’t follow through on his promises to them, did he?</i> <p><i>Look at you – you’re all messed up – why would God care about you?</i> <p><i>Look at your life. God hates you, obviously, or at least has forgotten about you; you’re all on your own.</i> <p><i>You’ll never measure up to God – the best you should expect from him is punishment. You’d be better off on your own; maybe you can make a better life for yourself at this point anyway.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-teRrPA-xNaM/VCGBK5NFjuI/AAAAAAAAGn0/4QhCpYidsdo/s1600-h/image%25255B96%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xcc8JTt6XmA/VCGBLShufCI/AAAAAAAAGn8/tKfK0aKFY8k/image_thumb%25255B43%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This is why in Paul’s letter to Timothy, he tells Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith.” Holding on to God’s promises about who you are and who he is and how he cares about you are the key to eating from the tree of life. When the accuser confronts you in the midst of your neediness and vulnerability, it’s like a fight to keep trusting those promises of God, to keep coming to him to address your needs, and waiting for his response, instead of wandering off in search of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and figuring out how to take care of yourself or making yourself appealing to others so you can win their support and aid. <p>So Jesus is hungry. Really hungry. He’s as vulnerable as a human being can be, alone, in the wilderness, hungry and tired and weak and surrounded by wild animals. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2Nx5yYNfpAk/VCGBLhuAslI/AAAAAAAAGoE/m9gd_SZZ-ZE/s1600-h/image%25255B98%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-t8XhpUajnpg/VCGBMPjLYQI/AAAAAAAAGoM/NJ4gSOwdsAM/image_thumb%25255B45%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>If</i> you are the Son of God. Twice the Accuser starts this way. <i>If</i> you are the Son of God. This is the fundamental form of the destructive slander that began in genesis, calling something God has said into question. <p>It’s potent because our faith rests on God’s promises. Trusting God’s promises is what empowers us to bring our needs to him to address. <p>The promise to Jesus is that Jesus is God’s son and that God is pleased with him (It’s what the Voice said at his baptism 40 days earlier). The accuser wants to call that into question, slip a wedge under it and lever it away. <p>It works on the old humanity, but not on Jesus, the new humanity. What’s the difference? <p>The difference is that when the old humanity experiences accusation, we want to defend ourselves. We want to <i>respond</i> to the accusation. We know we live in a world where people judge one another, where we evaluate one another constantly. Is this person good or bad? Can I trust them to help me survive, to help me be less vulnerable in this world? An accusation calls that into question, and we know others will judge us based on our response. Our deepest insecurities revolve around that question about ourselves, don’t they? Am I a good person? Will I be accepted or rejected, ultimately? By others? By God? All of our instincts are shaped by this awareness that we need to mask or hide or cover our vulnerability, that we need to defend ourselves against accusation, prove our doubters wrong. We want people to respect us. Love us. Fear us, if that’s all we can get. At least then they see us as strong, not weak. The last thing we want is disrespect. Pity. <p>Not Jesus. The new humanity is created to draw its life from the new creation, where its citizens have been delivered from the curse of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, where they are nourished by the tree of life. The new humanity has <b>a child-like faith</b> in God. [<i>write on board</i>] Accusation comes, the question is very simply – <i>is God saying anything to me in this that I need to hear?</i> The new humanity listens to discern God’s voice. Does it sound like him? <p>The new humanity doesn’t need to defend herself. What’s the point? Her survival as a vulnerable person is not dependent on the moral approval of others, nor their positive evaluation of her strength. She has no reputation to maintain, only a faith to hold on to. A faith in God’s promises that are as sure as the heavens and cannot be taken from her, only let go of. And even then, the God who made the promises will not let go of her, not ever. <p>The Accuser’s suggestions are interesting, too – expertly crafted to work on the appetites of the old humanity. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PqKoBj51sC8/VCGBMpzU77I/AAAAAAAAGoU/hTfDbdv0UX8/s1600-h/image%25255B100%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0G3F5g02O0w/VCGBM315bQI/AAAAAAAAGog/U2x1weriv08/image_thumb%25255B47%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Tell these stones to become bread.</i> <i>You’re hungry, God hasn’t fed you yet, so take care of yourself. </i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mjYaSOvEaR4/VCGBNeTpryI/AAAAAAAAGok/n8I2Y76kD6o/s1600-h/image%25255B102%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-CK6m71GiW7E/VCGBOPp8DcI/AAAAAAAAGow/7htMqqPKHlc/image_thumb%25255B49%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>It just doesn’t work on the child-like faith of Jesus, though. Jesus knows the purpose of his hunger is to continually move him towards his Father to address his needs. Because life comes from God, ultimately, not food. That’s why he quotes this passage from the Old Testament about every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. It’s a quote from Deuteronomy about when the people of Israel were on their way through the desert to the promised land, having just left slavery in Egypt, and God provides food, manna, from heaven for them. Fresh on the ground every day. So that they’d learn to depend on him, not themselves, and not the Egyptians. <p>Our appetites are what bond us to God, and God is the one who gives us life. The Accuser wants <i>our appetites to become our gods</i> and lead us to destruction. No dice, Author of Vice! <p>Imagine a little kid being offered a Happy Meal. The deal is though, they have to leave their mom – forever – to get it. No way! This is child-like faith. The meal does look good, but it pales in comparison to mom. Because if the kid is like a child in relationship to his mom, but grown up in his thinking, he realizes that that happy meal will taste good, and then be gone, and then what? That would be stupid. Thanks but no thanks. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-amXvAOywh4I/VCGBOkpFowI/AAAAAAAAGo0/9FyLenTzpDA/s1600-h/image%25255B104%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-IQDa9B4zSsg/VCGBOyO83cI/AAAAAAAAGo8/taUv1MEA4SE/image_thumb%25255B51%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Next up: <i>Go up to the top of the temple, jump off, and watch as angels catch you. You look like a fool out here, starving in the desert. Why not show the world how important you are to God, when they see how he rescues you?</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-fgnE2EMq3SI/VCGBPZiQkbI/AAAAAAAAGpE/kNXdxmzWGDU/s1600-h/image%25255B106%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FEwewucYCdc/VCGBPtv1y2I/AAAAAAAAGpM/d14C4Hi6CLM/image_thumb%25255B53%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This doesn’t work either on Jesus. It’s simple, child-like faith. <i>My dad didn’t tell me to do that. Why would I care about being vindicated in my confidence in him? Either he’s coming through for me in my life or not. And if he’s not, I’m screwed because I have no other options. So no, I’m not putting him to the test. My whole life is the test.</i> Again, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy, where the people of Israel in the wilderness get really thirsty and they start fighting with one another because they become impatient waiting for God to address their needs. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-BAIZkpO8Ma0/VCGBQCbF-QI/AAAAAAAAGpY/f2hpj1XXuOo/s1600-h/image%25255B108%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QMF4ERurnVk/VCGBQ1tdjXI/AAAAAAAAGpg/NWe9mibYK30/image_thumb%25255B55%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>In a bit of beautiful, poetic irony, Jesus <i>is</i> going to be brought up to the Temple by the Accuser later in his life, and then let himself be led down from it, only his foot <i>will </i>hit the stone. The stone nail that goes through it as he’s nailed to the cross. No angels will protect him. His vindication doesn’t come until after his death, until <i>after</i> he looks more the fool than anyone in human history has looked the fool. Until after people mock him saying, <i>if you’re the son of God, <b>save yourself</b><b>!</b></i> That’s child-like faith. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-33BYf_CXbcw/VCGBRACHhGI/AAAAAAAAGpk/vQNLC8w5AQo/s1600-h/image%25255B110%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2eKpfY3H0is/VCGBR50nsII/AAAAAAAAGpw/NiQZp4z_kmw/image_thumb%25255B57%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Finally:<b> </b><i>Here, just worship me and I’ll give you all the military and economic and political power in the world. Why stay a kid with a Father who’s given you nothing so far but some nice words at your baptism, when you can be king if you’ll depend on me? </i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-r-xbE3kYR7w/VCGBSRqwpAI/AAAAAAAAGp0/UM0dnUgL52M/s1600-h/image%25255B112%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-J8_CcuxZIXU/VCGBStGqRQI/AAAAAAAAGp8/yaI9S1qcbSw/image_thumb%25255B59%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus seems to just be fed up at this point. <i>Really? You’ve got to be kidding. I love my dad. I’ll take my chances on his promises over yours. Go away. </i> <p>This is child-like faith at its finest. Jesus quotes from the same story he quoted both other times, in Deuteronomy. Let me read you the part that leads up to it, the promise that Jesus is holding onto from God, the promise that he has child-like faith in, the promise that keeps him coming back to God with his needs for God to address, and keeps him waiting for God’s response, as long as it takes. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ipEAKoxMNi8/VCGBTTtnpOI/AAAAAAAAGqE/-en0H26_c_A/s1600-h/image%25255B114%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jZddCSOmLTE/VCGBTtHiAZI/AAAAAAAAGqQ/TuvGWfXOfC4/image_thumb%25255B61%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>10</sup></i><i>When the Lord your God brings you</i><i> into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, <sup>11</sup>houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—<b>then when you eat and are satisfied,</b> <sup>12</sup>be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. <sup>14</sup>Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.</i> <p><b><i>Deuteronomy 6</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Rud8ZAxpZ60/VCGBUKOmfbI/AAAAAAAAGqU/Q9KHztn2RIY/s1600-h/image%25255B116%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UsGQQ97dzJo/VCGBUnCT0CI/AAAAAAAAGqg/PVAaoauWdpw/image_thumb%25255B63%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestion: <p>Just two. One for now & one for later. <p>1. Notice Your hunger, and bring it to Jesus during communion. Notice what you’re hungriest for, right now, in your life. Food? Success? Good health? Better relationships? Someone to love, or to love you? Better finances? A great vacation? As you come up for communion, bring that hunger to Jesus, asking him to address that hunger today, this week, this year. <p>2. Fast like Jesus. Just for a day or a meal or 2 this week. Everytime you’re hungry, bring your hunger to Jesus to address, like you are a child going to a parent. See what it teaches you about child-like faith. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-62651196736926706122014-09-15T21:02:00.001-07:002014-09-15T21:02:00.505-07:00New Humanity // The Two Trees<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 09/14/2014</em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bugkSYxwLzA/VBe1-ipVTII/AAAAAAAAGhI/R-nadm6jHAs/s1600-h/image%25255B46%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Ta04OleFAlA/VBe1_Du_X9I/AAAAAAAAGhM/0u_4nEFE0Qs/image_thumb%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Welcome to the young people among us today. I have a question for you as we get started. How many of you sometimes don’t like the food your parents give you for lunch or dinner? Do they ever make you eat it, or discipline you if you don’t? Is that one of the hardest things about being a kid, sometimes? <p>And adults, for those of you that remember your childhood – can you empathize with these kids? Do you still carry scars from that part of your life? <p>For those of you that are parents, can you imagine how much you’d pay to have someone wave a magic wand and make all the battles around food disappear? <p>Alas, I can’t do that, and I don’t think that’s the business God’s in either, but hold those experiences in your heart, because I think they’ll help us understand something of the New Humanity we’ve been looking at in the Bible. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-c4ShX_hzgOA/VBe1_ioX95I/AAAAAAAAGhU/OimX2OTpCbY/s1600-h/image%25255B48%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VJ4wiQ9RkDs/VBe2AH6hq5I/AAAAAAAAGhc/NbbsBez5KEw/image_thumb%25255B18%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Just last week we began a new conversation, a set of lessons – what we adults call a “sermon series” – called New Humanity. Humanity just being a fancy word for people and what it means to be people together in this world. We’re talking about how Jesus is a whole new kind of person, who sees the world differently than anyone has ever seen it before, who relates to himself and to God and to other people in a whole new way, never seen before in history. We’re talking about how Jesus, this first new kind of person, shows us what it means to become, and makes it possible to join him in becoming, a whole new kind of person. He invites us to follow him as he transforms us into new kinds of people born, through the Holy Spirit, just like he was, into a new world that’s standing shoulder to shoulder with the old world we’re all used to. You know the old world I’m talking about - the world where hard things happen all the time, scary things, and ugly things. The world that brings out the worst in us, and the world that we ourselves have helped make difficult and scary and ugly by our own failings and fearful, self-protective actions. <p>Last week we started with this story from the book of Mark. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-CHJT8xbD1hU/VBe2Aup9XYI/AAAAAAAAGhk/Qc0gK8TNWA0/s1600-h/image%25255B50%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2LMoHb99tQ0/VBe2BOY8qSI/AAAAAAAAGhs/c-aYGHYwheY/image_thumb%25255B20%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>1 </i></b><i>This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It began as the prophet Isaiah had written: “God said, </i> <p><i>‘I will send my messenger ahead of you </i> <p><i>to clear the way for you.’ </i> <p><i>Someone is shouting in the desert, </i> <p><i>‘Get the road ready for the Lord; </i> <p><i>make a straight path for him to travel!’ ” </i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-SWQcWlbcNx4/VBe2BmIjxMI/AAAAAAAAGh0/Z_0MU0j4BYo/s1600-h/image%25255B52%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-oKVHkX1cc5E/VBe2COVJanI/AAAAAAAAGiA/thYZ16zO7A0/image_thumb%25255B22%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i> So John appeared in the desert, baptizing and preaching. “Turn away from your sins and be baptized,” he told the people, “and God will forgive your sins.” <sup>5</sup>Many people from the province of Judea and the city of Jerusalem went out to hear John. They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the River Jordan. </i> <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i> John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. <sup>7</sup>He announced to the people, “The man who will come after me is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to bend down and untie his sandals. <sup>8</sup>I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” </i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hd-JnIPaqoc/VBe2CQArZ8I/AAAAAAAAGiI/PxbGkFVBxPo/s1600-h/image%25255B54%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-aUU6jWxY89U/VBe2DKd--jI/AAAAAAAAGiQ/wthJsA23KdA/image_thumb%25255B24%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>9</sup></i><i> Not long afterwards Jesus in the came from Nazareth province of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. <sup>10</sup>As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw heaven opening and the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.” </i> <p><i><sup>12</sup></i><i> At once the Spirit made him go into the desert, <sup>13</sup>where he stayed 40 days, being tempted by Satan. Wild animals were there also, but angels came and helped him.</i> <p>Younger people, your parents and other adults may find some parts of this conversation more suited to them, but feel free to tune in as much it all makes sense to you. Some of it has to do with things we can learn from you, actually, and some of it may help you have much more and better life from God in your own life, so keep your ears open. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0sVIF1oV71s/VBe2DWEhiQI/AAAAAAAAGiU/YuILq6bKBMQ/s1600-h/image%25255B56%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-yQo65dtFsRo/VBe2D5MvWtI/AAAAAAAAGic/N_EEGcdrLIY/image_thumb%25255B26%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Last week one of the most important things noticed about Jesus, and the new humanity revealed in him, is that he isn’t afraid of the fact that to be a person in this world is to be vulnerable. He’s happy to let other people look better or more powerful than him, and he has no shame about that. Jesus lets his cousin baptize him, as if Jesus is a weak and messed up person just like everyone else, someone who needs God’s help so much that he’s willing to let the whole world see it. <p>We noted that when we see our vulnerability, we are deeply disturbed by it – we hate that it reminds us of that we might die, and that others might reject us because of it, if they see it, because it reminds them that they might die and that we might not be much help to them in preventing that. All we want to do is get rid of it. Cover it. Hide it. Fix it. Distance ourselves from it. Comfort ourselves that others are more vulnerable than we are. Run from it. Live in denial, pretending it isn’t there. Or just as bad, be consumed by it, depressed by it, cowering in shame and fear, bitter, angry. [<i>Ever notice how much kids love band-aids…? And how they love their boo-boos being kissed…?</i>] <p>But not Jesus. He steps right into our vulnerability. First as a baby, and then in his baptism, and eventually in his death on the cross. <p>This is where the new humanity starts. With an embrace of our common vulnerability in the wilderness, made possible by a child-like confidence that God will address our needs as we take the steps he leads us to take, without fear of loss or hurt or the negative judgments of others, without the need to make ourselves look good or defend our reputation or secure our standing. With freedom from the cursed concerns about comparison and worthiness and strength and sufficiency. With a singular view towards <i>what is it God would have me do today, right now? What is the posture God would have me take before others?</i> The new humanity, in other words, begins with a naked faith in Love. A lot like a baby that’s just been born. <p>Jesus is so committed to not hiding his needs, or pretending they aren’t there, or finding ways to protect himself from the reality of his needs, that after this amazing thing happens where God makes it clear that Jesus is really something special, who has his favor, Jesus doesn’t try to take advantage of that for his own sake. Instead, he heads off, into the wilderness where he’ll be more vulnerable than he’s ever been in his life, alone except for wild animals, Satan, and some angels. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-F0etm2fARiU/VBe2EY7Za0I/AAAAAAAAGik/C8lC5uNDkM0/s1600-h/image%25255B58%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-oOrwLI0_wNU/VBe2EuHjAgI/AAAAAAAAGis/pKdXsW02JEA/image_thumb%25255B28%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We’re going to talk about that part of the story more next week, but this week we’re going to talk about two trees. About two potential, competing sources of life and strength for human beings who are vulnerable in this world. One tree that the old humanity chose – and that we usually choose over and over again. And the other tree that Jesus chose, and keeps on choosing (and in fact, becomes) and invites us to choose with him. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yzaBDA-oOJs/VBe2Ffia2_I/AAAAAAAAGi4/BG1k-GfYO_4/s1600-h/image%25255B60%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-SwhbJ-iZIlM/VBe2FnDpmeI/AAAAAAAAGi8/W7K699XRQlo/image_thumb%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Remember, Mark’s gospel starts with “the beginning” and has all kinds of signposts pointing to the first beginning, the account of the original creation story in the book of Genesis. There is a temptation scene in Genesis that includes important background for our understanding of the new humanity revealed in Jesus. <p>Maybe you’ve heard the story. God makes the world, and human beings in it, and provides everything they need to thrive for them. In the middle of this great garden he shows them two trees – the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He warns them, though, that although they are free to do whatever they choose, and eat whatever they desire, that they shouldn’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because if they do, they will die. And then, we read this: <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-O8aRTEp4ags/VBe2GDuYrVI/AAAAAAAAGjE/Mj0g3bw5kCs/s1600-h/image%25255B62%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LjaAlJHp84o/VBe2GiMp7oI/AAAAAAAAGjQ/ArIhJMNBAyE/image_thumb%25255B32%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>3 </i></b><i>Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”</i> <p><i><sup>2</sup></i><i>The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, <sup>3</sup>but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Hwus0yAhqaQ/VBe2HDuKXEI/AAAAAAAAGjU/ELeM1tSd3Ec/s1600-h/image%25255B64%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ZczIRIJU4JQ/VBe2Hv0UzeI/AAAAAAAAGjg/6RMJJe9-hbM/image_thumb%25255B34%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i>“You will not certainly die</i><i>,” the serpent said to the woman. <sup>5</sup>“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”</i> <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i>When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. <sup>7</sup>Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.</i> <p>Human beings need to eat. If we don’t eat, we’re in trouble. And we’re not self-sufficient – the food has to come from outside of us, from the world around us, and it’s dependent on a whole lot of things we don’t have direct control over. <p>It’s no accident that this significant event takes place with eating at the center of it. Our need to eat is a core expression of our vulnerability, our neediness, along with the need to breathe, and have shelter and protection from the environment. But our need to eat is a <i>special</i> expression of our neediness, in that we get to choose what we eat, from a wide variety of foods. Our freedom expresses itself first, in fact, in our eating. <p>Think about it. <p>We don’t <i>choose</i> the air we will breathe. We take the air we can get. At least at first. <p>And we don’t struggle about clothing choices or our houses, not until we’ve grown quite a bit. We humans generally wear whatever our caregivers clothe us in and live in the places we are given to live. [<i>case in point – do these look like pictures of someone who has chosen their clothing?</i>] <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vZ2HdY77An0/VBe2IBBAT0I/AAAAAAAAGjk/O7GZeNxYWvo/s1600-h/image%25255B66%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hUemP-EGiPA/VBe2ImGhMhI/AAAAAAAAGjw/Iv-fgNZs9ss/image_thumb%25255B36%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>But food is another story, isn’t it? Human beings are picky eaters. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-I74EEeMfTO0/VBe2JJffHLI/AAAAAAAAGj0/yPMZ8hCdpg8/s1600-h/image%25255B68%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-QNponmhjNbU/VBe2Jk7CHVI/AAAAAAAAGj8/jcZ_b9qwiog/image_thumb%25255B38%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The early battles over food that only escalate, it seems, as kids get older and develop strong preferences and disgusts… [<i>engage with kids and parents, shows of hands about various food questions</i>…] <p>The joy and struggle of the baby latching on to the mother… <p><i>What will we eat in order to survive and grow?</i> This is our basic and first question as human beings, and it’s at the heart of all the other choices we will ever make in our lives. <p>This is the question before Adam and Eve, and before Jesus. <p>The serpent says, basically, you can eat what your dad provides for you and says is good, or you can say, <i>“Dad, I don’t need you anymore. I’d rather figure out for myself what’s good and bad and take care of my own survival and growth.”</i> <p>Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They chose to stop having a child-like faith in God, to stop bringing their needs to God to address, and receiving from him whatever he provided. They chose to try to find a way out of vulnerability into self-sufficiency. They chose to stop being kids, to leave home and go out on their own, confident that they could do a better job than their divine parent. They thought, <i>if I could just know what’s good and what’s bad – like God does, or better! – then I could take care of myself. I’d be able to have the wisdom I need to make a good life for myself. I wouldn’t need a dad anymore. </i> <p>They chose to live in denial of reality, denial of their fundamental vulnerabilities, and to instead pretend to be gods. <p>That hasn’t worked out as well as we’d hoped, has it? We’ll talk about that more next week. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5brjV7Uy5cg/VBe2KLK6gXI/AAAAAAAAGkE/cDLlxWOFeDE/s1600-h/image%25255B70%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uTgiFLX1zPA/VBe2Kfgt9ZI/AAAAAAAAGkM/HuwbaQlyRhM/image_thumb%25255B40%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>But for now, notice that Jesus, the first of the new humanity, never ate from that tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He’s still eating from the tree of life. He’s still like a child, vulnerable and aware of it, depending on his Father to lead him and give him what he needs. <p>That’s why the voice says <i>“You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1wklyVIoJmg/VBe2K7604yI/AAAAAAAAGkY/8s33oTKnDb4/s1600-h/image%25255B72%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EhROEfAc0l0/VBe2LbR5KGI/AAAAAAAAGkc/4Pg5XVIjtZg/image_thumb%25255B42%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>It’s because Jesus only eats from the tree of life that he doesn’t use that favor to go into the city where he can capitalize on it and use it as a strength to get others to serve him. Instead, he follows the Spirit’s leading, like a child, into the wilderness, where he’s going to be hungrier than ever. He doesn’t become an expert at judging what’s good and what’s bad for himself or others. He’s just becoming an expert at recognizing his father’s voice, bringing his needs to him, waiting for his dad to respond, receiving what his dad gives him, going where his dad directs him, doing what his dad is doing. <p>Growing up for him means learning to desire the same things his dad desires, so that he’s not judging for himself what’s good and bad, but rather learning to love what his dad loves and receive what his dad gives him, and reject what his dad rejects and not receive anything that comes from anyone who isn’t giving it under his dad’s authorization. <p>This is how the new humanity thrives and grows, vulnerable and needy in the world under the authority of its Father. I think that might be part of why Jesus joins in the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance isn’t mainly getting a better idea of what’s morally right and wrong, and deciding to do the morally correct thing. (Good luck with that!) Repentance is turning away from depending on one’s own strength and/or the favor of others to survive in the world, and turning towards God for help, recognizing oneself as a child in need of God’s leading and provision. (More on that in coming weeks). <p> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IiOHpbqv444/VBe2L12RH6I/AAAAAAAAGkk/CdzepB467z4/s1600-h/image%25255B82%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-YTYPVpy0tiI/VBe2MrkxElI/AAAAAAAAGks/Xr24g0ud7tM/image_thumb%25255B48%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>1. Use mealtimes to reflect on your neediness as a human being. <i>God, our hunger reminds us that without your loving provision, our life is in limited supply. And this food reminds us that not even death can remove us from your strong and loving care. We bring you all of our hungers, and wait for whatever food you desire to feed us. Thanks for being our Father.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-P8mGZ6nXR00/VBe2NKSSzoI/AAAAAAAAGk4/C-8j7zbmBv0/s1600-h/image%25255B84%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-702egUq0bsg/VBe2Nvkfv9I/AAAAAAAAGk8/4YCiZbZggP8/image_thumb%25255B50%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p>2. Help in children’s ministry, with the goal of learning to be like a child, bringing your needs in faith to God to address, as Jesus does. Ask the Holy Spirit each week that you serve to teach you something you need to learn to put the old humanity to death, and put on the new humanity the Spirit is creating in you. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-59610301396609729042014-09-09T07:30:00.001-07:002014-09-09T07:30:04.210-07:00New Humanity // The Beginning<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 09/07/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p>[<i>have monopoly board out – reflect on playing monopoly over labor day and vacation</i>…<i>pretty good at it, but it kind of brings out the worst in me, stuff that’s been the shadow side of my strengths my whole life</i>…] <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-HeX0HOy_c1I/VA8OuTK-rmI/AAAAAAAAGc4/02L4XjM21l8/s1600-h/image40.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-MjVidvdaoQw/VA8Ou_DtRFI/AAAAAAAAGc8/zfwqJUXXXp8/image_thumb14.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>We're starting a new message series today called "New Humanity." </b>As summer comes to a close and a new season (and school year and all the rest) begins, it's a great chance for us to consider and embrace the good news that the living God has something profoundly new for each of us. <b>A new us</b>, in fact. A new way of seeing the world. A new world arriving, right before our newly opened eyes. A new way of being in this new world. A new humanity. <p>Mark’s gospel (meaning “good news”) is the first of the four biblical accounts of the life of Jesus. Mark is understood to have been the travel companion and interpreter of the famous disciple, Peter, so we might think of Mark’s account as Peter’s. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-f62nriSjEnM/VA8Ovd02QlI/AAAAAAAAGdE/8zkGz0AyEJQ/s1600-h/image42.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-lJlsI1zdi-A/VA8OvwJ1mgI/AAAAAAAAGdQ/2TmfvZmwvGQ/image_thumb16.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b><i>1 </i></b><i>The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,<sup>,</sup> <sup>2</sup>as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“I will send my messenger ahead of you,</i> <p><i>who will prepare your way”—</i> <p><i><sup>3</sup></i><i>“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,</i> <p><i>‘Prepare the way for the Lord,</i> <p><i>make straight paths for him.’ ”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Pn4FT0eLi1o/VA8OwdLEhuI/AAAAAAAAGdU/yUn46IEpVOQ/s1600-h/image44.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1iqjfppVxBc/VA8OwoqJw1I/AAAAAAAAGdc/FrSdGGn_klg/image_thumb18.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i>And so John the Baptist</i><i> appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. <sup>5</sup>The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. <sup>6</sup>John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. <sup>7</sup>And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. <sup>8</sup>I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-o6uqG9tIceQ/VA8OxDZsXKI/AAAAAAAAGdo/YInarB05m7I/s1600-h/image46.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-faMqQ6ELFVY/VA8Oxv00PNI/AAAAAAAAGds/zoaVfqu4Uv8/image_thumb20.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>9</sup></i><i>At that time Jesus</i><i> came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. <sup>10</sup>Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. <sup>11</sup>And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>12</sup></i><i>At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, <sup>13</sup>and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gjkkM3B10Rc/VA8OyKfWr9I/AAAAAAAAGd4/zie8o5phr4Y/s1600-h/image48.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Zsi4o8MbjJ0/VA8OyzgjPmI/AAAAAAAAGd8/cg2ahlHbfl4/image_thumb22.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>I have to imagine that when we look around at ourselves and one another and this world in its brokenness, we would welcome some good news. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we see heroism, and love, and beauty, and mercy and other good and hopeful things. But more of the time, we see the parts of ourselves and our world that are crumbling and painful. We see our failures, our anger, our shame, unworthiness, frustration, fears, and vulnerability. We catch ourselves doing exactly what we set out not to do, and then rationalizing it, even though we know deep down that we are lying to ourselves. We see people around us doing exactly what we know will only hurt themselves or others, sometimes oblivious, sometimes well-aware of the path they are on. We see people and families and groups and nations relating to one another in ways that spell pain and disaster. We see our natural world falling apart under the strain and violence it endures as a home to people like us, struggling to self-correct, groaning under the weight of our ravenous appetites and collective obesity. <p>For good news to be truly good news to this broken creation, and to us, it would have to be pretty flippin’ good news, indeed, wouldn’t it? And that’s what Mark, and Peter, and the others who were first-hand witnesses to Jesus are claiming. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hqjbOlUs7lY/VA8OzaglMcI/AAAAAAAAGeE/S21rKPoel1w/s1600-h/image50.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-x_PbI7LX4Vo/VA8Oz5sCjdI/AAAAAAAAGeQ/4zfYqmPF7WU/image_thumb24.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>The beginning of the <b>good news</b></i><i> about Jesus the Messiah... </i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eXKnqNlfA2k/VA8O0Ztd3cI/AAAAAAAAGeU/H_B4EAI3gZM/s1600-h/image52.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-46MFXfI4LHc/VA8O0umR3cI/AAAAAAAAGec/DPicT96C71I/image_thumb26.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p>Anything sound familiar there at the start? <i>The beginning</i> is signaling something to us. It's reminding of us of our first beginning - <i>In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth </i>(Genesis 1:1) - and letting us know that we're about to be let in on some news about a <i>new</i> beginning. Good news about nothing less than a new creation, a new humanity. A new self with a new way of being in a new world coming with and in and through and around Jesus, made visible by his light. A new human community with Jesus at its center. <p>And you may notice that the phrase “the beginning” isn’t the only connection to the book of Genesis and the first creation. Mark also includes references to water and the Holy Spirit, to God being pleased, to wild animals, and to temptation. All elements that factored meaningfully into the story his readers were familiar with from their Jewish faith. Of course, they are all rearranged and organized not around Adam and Eve, but around Jesus (someone that another biblical author calls “the second Adam”). <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GXtdD1e51rM/VA8O1F3_ReI/AAAAAAAAGek/6-hn1IlWiW8/s1600-h/image54.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-hSXH-2ZgWPw/VA8O18LG5tI/AAAAAAAAGes/b5v9aXDeP5Q/image_thumb28.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Here’s my thesis, a summary of what we’ll be exploring in this series. Jesus is the flesh and blood start of a new chapter in human history (what a later biblical writer calls “the firstborn of a new creation”) who lives with new, vital motivations and a revolutionary capacity for good empowered by a transformative, divinely enabled revelation of an in-breaking reality (a reality that Jesus calls “the kingdom of God”). And even more than that, Jesus makes it possible for us to be participating members of this new humanity, inviting us to join him in living in the light of what he can see clearly, and what we are learning through trusting confidence in him to see as well. This is at the heart of what Jesus’ first students called discipleship, and involves letting go of our seasoned, sophisticated, grown-old-beyond-our-years understanding of how to survive in the old creation and adopting the child-like faith required for thriving life in the new. A new creation that is present, at least in part, at least present enough to be able to draw life from, <i>right here, right now</i>. At your work. At play, and rest. In your wider community – your neighborhood, your city, your world. In your family life. In your personal relationships. In the part of your life that you think of as your spiritual life, the place where you long for a soul connection to God, to Love itself. <p>Let’s dig into this a bit, see what Mark is getting at. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nAoq6oiIKDo/VA8O2IaQ1JI/AAAAAAAAGe4/2hAxOZIlZUw/s1600-h/image56.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jlXrxHJ2ZwY/VA8O2w2CyNI/AAAAAAAAGe8/3koqKWIseTI/image_thumb30.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The story starts with John the baptizer (also an older cousin of Jesus, as we learn from other gospels), an eccentric prophet type out in the wilderness, calling people to repentance. John represents, in many ways, the best of the old humanity. He’s devoted his life to God and to helping people become part of God’s family. (That’s what baptism is all about – the Jewish people baptized non-Jewish people as part of the initiation rites into Judaism. It was symbolic of the Jewish people going through the red sea when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt, on their way to the promised land. So when people are coming out to be baptized, it’s their way of saying they’d wandered from God’s path, and they were turning back, re-affirming their commitment to be God’s people.) <p>And yet, still, like all of humanity, John lives in the wilderness, not in the garden, reminding us that all of us, like Adam and Eve, are cast out of the garden, no longer at home with God and each other, no longer naked and vulnerable, no longer safe in Love. John’s even wearing a leather belt, reminding us that he is clothed in the death of an animal, like God clothed Adam and Eve to cover the shame of their rebellion against him in the garden of Eden. <p>There’s more too, something else that’s telling about the old humanity, the way all of us, including John, experience ourselves and the world. <p>Let’s try an experiment. Listen to verses 7 & 8: <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eNR8slOLKaU/VA8O3O1K6RI/AAAAAAAAGfI/cheRBcuDYR0/s1600-h/image58.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8eG3ndzZHPo/VA8O3sVe9WI/AAAAAAAAGfQ/uHmeV0dgVUQ/image_thumb32.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>7</sup></i><i>And this was his message</i><i>: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. <sup>8</sup>I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”</i> <p>What do we hear when we hear this, what do we take away? I suspect that what we hear is that someone is coming who is going to be pretty impressive indeed. And that, of course, <i>is</i> what John’s message is – <i>don’t get caught up in your enthusiasm for me; keep your eyes peeled for the One who is coming – he’s the one who will change everything!</i> <p>But that’s not exactly <i>how</i> John says it, is it? John’s message is framed in the context of comparison, of seeing the goodness and strength of Jesus relative to the unworthiness and inadequacy of himself. <p><i>One is coming</i>, he says, <i>who is “more powerful than I.”</i> John says that he’s not worthy, or sufficient, to even stoop down and untie the sandals of this one who is coming. John is speaking of himself, relative to Jesus, as lower than the lowest of slaves, the ones who have the job of attending to the dirty feet of their masters. Why isn’t John worthy even of such a demeaning task? In his worldview, it’s because of the depth of his weakness, his insufficiency, in comparison to the One who is coming. Even John, this holy, wild man out in the desert, surviving on locusts and honey feels unworthy. <p>John speaks using the same shame-framed language of strength and sufficiency, vulnerability and worthiness that characterizes the first humanity. <p>Isn’t this how we think about ourselves, from the earliest ages? We constantly evaluate <i>how we measure up</i>, in strength, in attractiveness, in intelligence, in wealth, in talent, in goodness. We feel shame about our flaws, feel like we will be judged unworthy as a result, feel like we don’t belong with those who are stronger, more attractive, smarter, richer, more talented, more good. <p>This whole paradigm is an essential part of the old humanity that Mark is setting up in contrast to Jesus, who is about to appear in the story. As we’ll talk about next week, it’s connected to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Genesis story, in contrast to the tree of life, which God placed at the center of the Garden of Eden for humanity’s benefit. <p>One more note, before we move on to Jesus’ arrival on the scene. John says that the thing about Jesus is that while he, John, baptizes with water, Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. In the first creation story in Genesis, at first the earth is formless and void, deep water covering everything. John – the representative of the first creation – immerses people in water, the symbol of the first creation, a good thing in and of itself, the thing out of which the creation was formed. Jesus, on the other hand – the firstborn of the new creation – immerses people not in water, but in the <i>Holy Spirit.</i> In the Genesis account, the Holy Spirit is the one who hovers <i>over</i> the chaotic waters. It’s the Holy Spirit that broods over the water like a mother broods over her chicks, overseeing their development from pre-embryos to soaring birds of the air. Jesus, in other words, is up to something very, very special. <p>And, in fact, something extraordinary happens when Jesus arrives on the scene. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yRaQygmdP6k/VA8O4WZUlMI/AAAAAAAAGfU/7ezXRzZzVoM/s1600-h/image60.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3O0GI_X9Nxo/VA8O46zC6dI/AAAAAAAAGfc/kttwvbLAuiY/image_thumb34.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>9</sup></i><i>At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee</i><i> and was baptized by John in the Jordan. <sup>10</sup>Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. <sup>11</sup>And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”</i> <p>So yeah, pretty cool that the Holy Spirit shows up, like a dove descending, hovering just like he did in the first creation, but this time over Jesus, the start of a new humanity. And pretty cool that heaven is torn open, and God’s voice affirms Jesus as his Son, whom he loves, and all of that. Not to belittle any of that - because we’ll get to that more as the series develops - but none of that is the<i> first</i> extraordinary thing. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WXloTsaBiPc/VA8O5ExHG6I/AAAAAAAAGfk/E9iTyQXzQwM/s1600-h/image62.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--NIiTLSk2Ik/VA8O5lUKLUI/AAAAAAAAGfw/MY4Q5bPwF6Q/image_thumb36.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The first extraordinary thing is that <b>Jesus is <i>baptized</i> by John</b>. Jesus, the powerful, super-worthy-sandaled one, bends down below the unworthy-to-untie-his-sweet-sandals weak one. Jesus, the m,,,,,,,,c sinless, flawless, perfect one participates in the repentance-for-the-forgiveness-of-sins baptism by letting the flawed, sinful one baptize him. What is going on here? <p>Well, there are lots of theories as to why Jesus might have done this, of course. Some of them holding merit. But I want to leave those alone for now. And I want to invite us just to look at what’s happening and see it for what it is, on its face, unconcerned for now with the question of why. <p>The unbroken, unflawed, powerful, sufficient, good, perfect new creation is <i>humbling himself</i> before the broken, flawed, weak, insufficient, evil, sinful old creation. Letting himself be immersed in the waters of the old creation, joining himself in with the plight of the vulnerable children of God. The first glorious new human placing himself head down in service below his cousin, the soon-to-be-beheaded prophet who could not imagine himself worthy even to serve him. <p>This is a picture of a man who doesn’t look at the world through the lens of shame and worthiness, strength and weakness, power and vulnerability. Jesus doesn’t even play that game, does he? He comes over to the table, takes the game board, flips it upside down, and says, can I get you anything to eat or drink? Do your feet need washing? <p>We see our vulnerability, and all we want to do is get rid of it. Cover it. Hide it. Fix it. Distance ourselves from it. Comfort ourselves that others are more vulnerable than we are. Run from it. Live in denial, pretending it isn’t there. Or just as bad, be consumed by it, depressed by it, cowering in shame and fear, bitter, angry. <p>Not Jesus. He clothes himself in it. <p>This is where the new humanity starts. With an embrace of our common vulnerability in the wilderness, made possible by a child-like confidence that God will address my needs as I take the steps he leads me to take, without fear of loss or hurt or the negative judgments of others, without the need to make myself look good or defend my reputation or secure my standing. With freedom from the cursed concerns about comparison and worthiness and strength and sufficiency. With a singular view towards <i>what is it God would have me do today, right now? What is the posture God would have me take before others?</i> The new humanity, in other words, begins with a naked faith in Love. A lot like a baby that’s just been born. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ybMsxoyKPVE/VA8O6M20ZwI/AAAAAAAAGf4/KndE6S6zAZM/s1600-h/image64.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8eU2R7WR5dM/VA8O6qkZg-I/AAAAAAAAGf8/FxFnqvl3i7I/image_thumb38.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions (a la carte): <p>1. Pray the Lord’s prayer like a 3 year old. Spend a minute remembering (or imagining, if you can’t remember) what it was like to be inside your head and heart before you compared yourself to anyone else, before you had thoughts of worthiness or unworthiness, thoughts about being flawed or insufficient, or how you measured up. To just be you – limitation and all, but minimal shame – and pray the Lord’s prayer from that place. Do it at the beginning of the day each day this week, closing with this: <i>help me to maintain this kind of child-like faith in You today.</i> <p>2. Sing or Dance or Pray with a Child (or an with an animal or alone, with God). Sing a song. Dance a dance. Pray a prayer. Or something you’re not great at, not comfortable doing with other old creation grown-ups. Once a day this week. As an exercise in experiencing the gap between the old humanity and the new. <p>3. Serve someone. Someone with less power (strength, money, talent) than you have in this world. But do it asking God to make you unconscious of that dynamic, and wakefully conscious of your shared vulnerability in the wilderness that is this world. <p>. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-61962543818650496812014-08-03T20:19:00.001-07:002014-08-03T20:19:46.793-07:00The Summer of the Spirit // Gifts, Part 2<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 08/03/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7w-YaJv6JBc/U977em5ylAI/AAAAAAAAGWg/C_Cl-Em24aI/s1600-h/image%25255B67%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Z6VNJLjaWvk/U977fSvVL9I/AAAAAAAAGWo/nv_VLvK58zs/image_thumb%25255B41%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>You may think of yourself or your life as unpredictable, un-patterned, or chaotic, but it’s not true, not really. Your heart beats regularly. Thump thump, thump thump. Your breath too, steady and smooth, rising and falling, in and out. You, waking and walking, showering and brushing teeth, eating, digesting, eliminating, exercising and working, tracing much the same path through your home and your local world, sleeping and then waking again. Day after day after day. A wonder of order. <p>Look around you. You can’t see it, probably, but the air around you isn’t like you, not at all. It’s in chaos. Molecules of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water zooming around, colliding, moving in new trajectories, random, pattern-less. (Which, by the way, is why smells travel in every direction, even when there is no wind.) <p>Now take a breath. <p>Those disordered molecules are becoming ordered almost as soon as they enter into your body. Each molecule sorted, recruited, finding a place, a purpose. Joining with the incredible structure and life-giving purposes of your body’s systems and cells. The systems and cells themselves order-making machines. You yourself ordered and patterned, distinctive and functional. <p>Some scientists, in fact, suggest that may be one of the best functional definitions of life that we have. Life takes in this disordered, random, wild stuff and gathers it together, tames it, shapes it, gives it form and function. <p>This connects to the big picture story of what’s happening in the universe, doesn’t it? To the big question about what’s happening in our lives. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LfMBpaj3t9c/U977gKsZzqI/AAAAAAAAGWs/lilblxOjB1c/s1600-h/image%25255B65%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lPVrXiFjCAs/U977gnACsDI/AAAAAAAAGW0/dhSxVdEXdI0/image_thumb%25255B39%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>There is the fear that randomness and disorder are in fact running the show somehow, that everything is devolving into chaos. That the end of the story is one of isolation and coldness, making it all meaningless. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-2ddQ9YOf1HE/U977hWsueXI/AAAAAAAAGXA/bR1hakFXk70/s1600-h/image%25255B63%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-A59tHIAPUTc/U977iDDtNSI/AAAAAAAAGXI/_2OPzuSBlCs/image_thumb%25255B37%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And standing against that fear, Love itself. The hope that Love is gathering everything together for a purpose, entering into the chaos and bringing out of it something beautiful, something ordered and purposeful, something that tells a <i>good</i> story. Full of meaning, power, warmth and life. <p>The announcement of the Bible, the witness of the people who encountered the God who is Love, YHWH, the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father in the heavens revealed by Jesus, is that the true story is <i>a good news</i> story. And at the center of that story is the Holy Spirit whom we’ve been talking about all summer. The non-material, energetically animating, personal presence of the living God. <p>We first meet the Holy Spirit in Genesis One: <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-th4-nyeLX0w/U977i656wZI/AAAAAAAAGXQ/oajPZoKXCo0/s1600-h/image%25255B61%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-DCGDIW3wQTc/U977jgVuUJI/AAAAAAAAGXY/iA1k5OzYFy8/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>2</sup></i><i>Now the earth was formless and empty</i><i>, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit [Breath] of God was hovering over the waters. </i> <p><b><i>Genesis 1:2</i></b> <p>This Breath of God is the same Spirit that is poured out on Pentecost to Jesus’ first followers. And to us. God’s favoring and forgiving presence transforming us from anxious, disintegrated, enslaved persons into whole, self-differentiated, free human beings, bearing God’s image afresh to one another and to the creation itself. <p>The Holy Spirit that hovers over the chaos, the welter and the waste, bringing forth all of creation, and life itself. Order, form, function. The Spirit takes the formlessness and darkness, and out of it shapes a story – a good story. <p>Listen to the next two verses: <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-R7oR4VljWmw/U977kWruBJI/AAAAAAAAGXc/kmJOpnVV6_k/s1600-h/image%25255B59%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-HbRtPhxQifY/U977k-dfSuI/AAAAAAAAGXk/fGYIBm2sjY0/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>3</sup></i><i>And God said, “Let there</i><i> be light,” and there was light. <sup>4</sup>God <b>saw </b>that the light was <b>good</b>…</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>Genesis 1:3,4a</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_U-aqAmLZ7Y/U977lvBQj2I/AAAAAAAAGXs/OUJt9idDCDQ/s1600-h/image%25255B57%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-qzqiubLV78g/U977mIkPFUI/AAAAAAAAGX0/EVB1iuISRPA/image_thumb%25255B31%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>As we’ve explored in our Summer of the Spirit series, one of the primary activities of the Holy Spirit is helping us <i>see</i>. <p>And <b>what he helps us see is the order he’s bringing out of chaos</b>, the life that’s springing up from the dust, the truth that the story that everything tells, if we have eyes to see it, is a good news story. That love wins, not fear. That perfect Love is driving out fear. We see who we ourselves are – children of the Father in the heavens. Finite, vulnerable, and needy though we may be, we are children of a good Father. We see who all the people around us are – brothers and sisters, beginning under evil like us, broken and flawed, but also children of the same Father. And we see who God is – neither a competitor nor an ally, but a dad who loves and forgives us, and whose glory it is to address our needs as we bring them to him and wait on him. A father to whom we can come with our needs in courageous vulnerability and discover joy is set before us. And through the Holy Spirit, we see what the world around us is – a creation awaiting renewal, awaiting integration with the heavens, awaiting the image-bearers to begin bearing the creator’s image again, longing for God to dwell here in fullness. <p>The Holy Spirit is the primary gift that our Father gives us; the gift that is so powerful and priceless that Jesus himself told his followers it was better that he go to be with the Father so that they could have this gift. A statement that begins to make sense as we as the Spirit empowers us to bring our needs to God for him to address and we experience the fruit that the Spirit brings. Fruit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. <p>And the Holy Spirit, the One who is the Father’s gift to us, distributes even more gifts of grace to us. Gifts, freely given, out of God’s favor to each and every one of us, for the bringing together initiative that was inaugurated, that began in earnest, in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-AtRFqUYw4So/U977m44YSwI/AAAAAAAAGYA/IjTZOmInEAw/s1600-h/image%25255B55%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-9dmptiX2aSU/U977ndE9iSI/AAAAAAAAGYE/Cj9AnxhYMPM/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>7 </sup></i><i>Now to each one the manifestation</i><i> of the Spirit [<b>the Spirit’s revealing</b>] is given for the common good [<b>the bringing together</b>]. <sup>8 </sup>To one there is given <b>through</b> the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <sup>9 </sup>to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <sup>10 </sup>to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. <sup>11 </sup>All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.</i> <p><b><i></i></b> <p><b><i>1 Corinthians 12</i></b> <p>We began unpacking this last week, so I’d like to continue that today, making it more concrete and practical for us. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-W1ZCRCWmHeA/U977oIvKw0I/AAAAAAAAGYQ/guOEjYD4eQk/s1600-h/image%25255B53%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--Z12ZKz9Apk/U977scDMXhI/AAAAAAAAGYU/TZmaubzR-30/image_thumb%25255B27%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Spiritual gifts are,</b> in essence, <b>the particular ways in which the Spirit helps us <i>see </i>some aspect of reality as it really is, and the way the Spirit helps us connect that seeing with Love’s reconciling, bringing-together purposes.</b> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9L0ciRHmDfw/U977s8JeVUI/AAAAAAAAGYc/rnVj__6JecY/s1600-h/image%25255B51%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-c8spQhFrB7k/U977tXw_pBI/AAAAAAAAGYo/BrGhLUMuvKE/image_thumb%25255B25%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We talked last time about how that phrase “the common good” (Greek - symphero) might be translated more directly as “the bringing together.” Theologically, we might understand it as the reconciling of all things to Christ that is written about in the first chapter of the letter to the Colossians. We’ll get practical with that in a few minutes, just hold the thought for the moment. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KK5rGnNZCqs/U977uBOmc6I/AAAAAAAAGYs/eENC1cHgrPk/s1600-h/image%25255B49%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QbkKFWG_ns4/U977umvoqEI/AAAAAAAAGY0/v0fe49BljmM/image_thumb%25255B23%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Right now, notice the phrase “the manifestation of the spirit.” In Greek, the word translated manifestation is phanerosis (we get the English words fantasy and phantom from this word) – and it means to make visible. Another way of translating this phrase – a translation that makes more sense to me in context – is “the Spirit’s revealing” or “the Spirit’s revelation.” In othe-r words, the Spirit reveals things to us, <i>helps us see</i> some aspect of reality that was previously hidden, shines light in darkness so that we can participate in the bringing together, the common good. <p>We already know, in normal everyday life, that seeing is central to repairing non-functioning things. Things where chaos has had its way over order. <p>Like your broken car. What’s the first thing the mechanic does that maybe you can’t do as well? <i>“Let’s take a look and see if we can figure out what’s wrong.”</i> The mechanic <i>sees</i> what’s wrong, and <i>sees </i>a way to fix it, and then, using his talents and experience and resources, does the actual fixing. <p>Or you take your sick and broken body to the doctor. The doctor has to first diagnose the problem, and diagnosis is all about seeing, understanding, making connections between different, seemingly random data points and weaving it together into a true story about what’s happening. And then seeing what the way forward to health is. And then using her talents and experiences and resources to do the actual healing. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-LX4V-KF-mbA/U977vhet0YI/AAAAAAAAGZA/Nb-hy-tx2Uw/s1600-h/image%25255B47%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7v3al4dBeBk/U977wehdu9I/AAAAAAAAGZI/yyDjpwKSW4M/image_thumb%25255B21%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Plumbers, electricians, engineers, teachers, administrators, accountants, builders, entrepreneurs, artists, everyone involved in improving the world is doing the same thing. Remember how Michelangelo described his creative process? <i>“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to others as mine see it.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Ccs8WxSt2Ik/U977xJEq2_I/AAAAAAAAGZM/v-EtJKwBd1k/s1600-h/image%25255B45%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BC5s9RDK-qc/U977xkr8EqI/AAAAAAAAGZY/fdJ33chq74A/image_thumb%25255B19%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>When spiritual gifts – these varied, graceful ways the Spirit helps us see – are combined with loving, cooperative, obedient action, you have miraculous results. As Jesus said, the Father shows him everything the Father is doing, and Jesus does the same thing. The end result? Water changing to wine. Cripples walking. The dead being raised to life. Exiled, oppressed people experiencing true hospitality and welcome. The blind seeing. And on and on. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9nQJ6K4yg48/U977yVpDp7I/AAAAAAAAGZc/8p3gjYap_44/s1600-h/image%25255B43%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-d3Zm8hKByqw/U977y4zemWI/AAAAAAAAGZk/AES_ZqURTfM/image_thumb%25255B17%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This is why there is such a variety of gifts; the things which the Holy Spirit will help you see, and the ways in which he will invite you to cooperate in responding to what you see, are potentially infinite. And that is why you will have some gifts, and I will have others, and others will have still others. We are each of us <b>uniquely wired, experienced, impassioned individuals whom the Holy Spirit is gifting with sight</b> and inviting to respond to that seeing with all the talents and training and resources we have. <p>Practically, we’re talking about God inviting us to participate with him as he makes the world whole again under the authority of his son Jesus. <p>For example, imagine someone who has been damaged emotionally, mentally, physically – perhaps by their own sins, perhaps by sins committed against them, perhaps simply as a symptom of being a part of this broken world – being made whole again. A mended, healthy heart, a clear and integrated mind with a healthy view of the world, a healed and healthy body. <p>How might a spiritual gift work in this case? If it’s a message of wisdom you receive through the Spirit, then perhaps you have an insight about the way forward for the person, an action they can do or a new way of thinking that moves them towards wholeness. If it’s a message of knowledge, perhaps you understand something about the nature of their brokenness or hurt that they can then use to cooperate with God in their healing. If it’s faith you receive through the spirit, maybe it’s a surge of confidence to ask God for a particular kind of help for the person, or to encourage them to ask God for, and then in the asking God addresses that need in just the right way that the person can receive. If it’s a gift of healing you receive, perhaps it’s the kind of seeing that doctors and nurses do that lead to healing, or perhaps it’s the kind of seeing Jesus does that leads to authoritative prayer that leads to healing. We can imagine all kinds of gifts of the spirit – ways the spirit helps us see that we then cooperate with – that could participate in the bringing together God is doing for a hurting person. Hospitality – seeing the kind of welcome that would communicate God’s love and favor to a person, or meet them in their specific needs. Prophecy – seeing the words that God wants to speak to the person but that they might only hear and receive if you speak them to them. The distinguishing of spirits – helping a person sort through which voices in their head, or which cultural winds they feel pushing them in one direction or another, are the inclinations of fear and which are the inclinations of Love. <p>The bringing together can have a wider meaning, too. For example, two people who’ve been divided by fear and hate, having a restored relationship, forgiveness and love at the center. Or two communities, or two races, or nations, divided by years, decades, centuries of animosity, brought together in peace and understanding, forgiveness and love at the center. Surely Spirit empowered seeing in the form of a message of wisdom or knowledge or a gift of healing or the effecting of miracles or the distinguishing of spirits, combined with people willing to give their talents, training and resources to cooperate with God in what they see might be the only hope for this kind of bringing together. <p>The bringing together applies to a person who hasn’t been on good terms with God, or who has assumed God isn’t on good terms with them, discovering a joyful loving connection to him. I think the speaking in different kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues is probably often given by the Spirit for this kind of bringing together. It involves a seeing at a primal, profound level that you can be freely yourself before God, and that he is present to the deepest core part of you. <p>You may notice that spiritual gifts are sometimes hard to separate from natural abilities. Of course! In fact, I’d argue that this is the only way it could be, if the scriptures bear true witness to the nature of God. The Holy Spirit is described by Jesus as the paraclete – the one who comes alongside. The Spirit comes alongside of us and empowers to do what we can’t necessarily do on our own, but what we can most assuredly do in cooperation with him. Doesn’t that sound like Love? Doesn’t that sound like a God who cares about relationship and has created a universe that is fundamentally relational? Doesn’t that sound like a God who revealed himself in Jesus as a divinely incarnated human being? Wouldn’t anything beyond that actually be less? <p>Which is why spiritual gifts can be exercised in all areas of life – work, raising family, personal relationships, art, music, the political sphere, business, caring for creation, social justice, community development, sports, and on and on. <p>We could go on, but perhaps we should stop here, for now. We’ve just scratched the surface, in truth. But for today, for this series, we’ll conclude by asking ourselves a couple of questions. <p>Do we want to be part of the bringing together that God is doing in the world? In ourselves? In our relationships, personal, family and community relationships alike? <p>Then we would do well to receive and begin to exercise the gifts that the Spirit has for us. We would do well to invite the Spirit to help us see in the particular ways that will give us the most life in God, and will allow us to share that life most freely with the world around us. This is where so much of the fun is to be had in the life Jesus has made possible for us. <p><i>You</i> have been given gifts. The Spirit is at work helping you see. Don’t imagine that you are hopelessly blind to the reality of your self or others or God or the world around you because of your own brokenness or inadequacy or flaws. The gifts of the Spirit are for you out of the incredible favor of God, freely given to you. <i>You</i> get to be part of the team. <i>You</i> get to play. <p><i>Use</i> the gifts you’ve been given. Don’t be like the doctor who can see the diagnosis and says nothing. Or who can see the cure and does nothing. Put all of your talents and training and resources into exercising the gifts the Spirit is giving you; there is no better investment of those things, because the wind of heaven is at your back when you point your energies in the direction that the Spirit’s revealing leads you. The more you cooperate with the Spirit’s gifts, the more your confidence will grow in how the Spirit is blessing you in God’s great Bringing Together, and the more freely you will play in heaven’s playground. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eF3SwicOcZM/U977zt9qxZI/AAAAAAAAGZs/qT0yGsaioOg/s1600-h/image%25255B41%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-YU-LcJCDl40/U9770HGwX2I/AAAAAAAAGZ4/V-AqjaEqNoA/image_thumb%25255B15%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical suggestions: <p>1. <b>Get help identifying your gifts</b>. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you one of your gifts, one of the ways he seems to help you see. Still feel in the dark? Ask someone in the church to help you. Others often have eyes to see us more clearly than we see ourselves. <p>2. <b>Practice using one of your gifts</b> in the service of the church. <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>12</sup></i><i>…Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.</i><i></i> <p><b><i>1 Corinthians 14</i></b> <p><b><i></i></b> <p>The gifts are given for the bringing together of the whole world, in every nook and cranny, but the church is the place where we learn, practice, give and receive feedback, grow together in the way of Jesus. Plus, if the church is built up through the gifts, than together we can exercise them even more effectively for the blessing of the whole world. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-20552090782424735632014-08-03T20:05:00.001-07:002014-08-03T20:05:14.765-07:00Summer of the Spirit // Gifts, part 1<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 06/27/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fgYr4Ufut-w/U974COG28kI/AAAAAAAAGRg/49I1eoCxjOk/s1600-h/image95.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vEgNbULIoys/U974Cj4DNzI/AAAAAAAAGRk/glZDDOgDdxI/image_thumb51.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>Spiritual gifts. They are our topic this week (and next) in our Summer of the Spirit series. <b>Big picture</b>, what are spiritual gifts? <b>Practically speaking</b>, how do they work? <b>What role to do they play</b> as we grow to experience more life in God? <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ltz_gUbq6fo/U974DZHZaUI/AAAAAAAAGRw/9iVE2JZ8dbc/s1600-h/image97.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hjZr2g6zuj4/U974E8W4UQI/AAAAAAAAGR0/UfqZAKD7eus/image_thumb53.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Spiritual gifts can seem so... well, so <i>spiritual</i>. <p><b>We <i>get </i>the idea of talents</b> – the product of genetics, environment, and training. Talents are amazing to witness, and wonderful to possess, but they aren’t magic. We’ll even call them gifts, especially if they appear at young age, or seem to be connected to genetics and internal wiring even more than practice. <i>Wow, she is a gifted athlete!</i> Or, <i>he has some incredible musical gifting.</i> As in, a gift from God, or nature, or parents or whatever. <p><b>But spiritual gifts</b> – I don’t know, say something more generally regarded as spiritual, like healing, or sensitivity to extra-dimensional realities, or prophetic-type stuff, or really profound wisdom, maybe – <b>they land in a different category</b>. Disconnected from the natural world somehow, separate from our genetics and environments and even training. Like someone got zapped somehow, or brushed up against something and caught it like a cold, or who knows, maybe even some kind of spiritual experience in the womb or on a mountain top where they were touched by God or an angel. <p>As we've said over and over this summer, <b>the Holy Spirit isn't magic. </b>Supernatural, yes. Powerful, yes. A mystery, even. But not magic. <p>I think <b>mystery is a fundamental aspect of our experience</b> as human beings. Mystery is meant to invite us in, to cause us to wrestle and probe, to engage with it and reward us in the engagement. It’s not meant to cause us to leave it alone and write it off as something we’ll never understand anyway, so why bother? <p>What are the implications of that for our understanding of spiritual gifts? <b>How might we be rewarded if we wrestle with the mystery </b>of spiritual gifts? What might we see when we look below the surface? <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-aqIKLO_jaTw/U974Ff7cxnI/AAAAAAAAGR8/H5dpA2heZbI/s1600-h/image99.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ubDwXk9odHU/U974GLtyiXI/AAAAAAAAGSI/lt_pGfIv2kQ/image_thumb55.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Recall how, in Luke 11, <b>Jesus contrasts the world we’ve known</b> and grown up in <b>with the kingdom of the heavens</b> that is breaking in to our world through him? He says we’ve begun our lives “under evil.” <p>Beginning under evil, the rule of fear, has <b>distorted our vision</b> of our world, ourselves, one another, and God. We see <b>a world of scarcity</b>, of not-enough, where we have to fight for our survival. We see <b>ourselves as on our own</b>, needing to present an image of strength, to use our power to get ahead, or at least to win the favor of those that can help us get ahead, far enough ahead until we feel secure. We see <b>others as either competitors or allies</b>, to be resisted or supported depending on their inclinations towards us. We see God in much the same way, if we see him at all – he is simply <b>a more mysterious and powerful other</b>, <b>one who condemns us</b> for our flaws, and whom we would do best avoiding, <b>or perhaps he is an ally</b>, if we can do the right things to remain in his favor. Our lives are <b>characterized by striving, by shame, by the disintegration</b> that comes from wearing many masks, by <b>perfectionism</b> and numbing <b>busyness,</b> by <b>addictions </b>and other escapes, <b>by violence, by anxiety, by stress.</b> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-oflmq29oU0c/U974G6mNuEI/AAAAAAAAGSQ/wwFMWat77zE/s1600-h/image101.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-kGPKubORFGw/U974HihJ5cI/AAAAAAAAGSY/IPq0J_Z5gJM/image_thumb57.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Into that broken world</b>, our world, <b>steps Jesus</b>, the beloved one of a kind son of the living God, wearing our flesh, our blood running through his veins, our suffering and temptations his daily companions. <b>He announces, embodies, and demonstrates a new and different world under the authority of Love</b>, the kingdom of God. This announcing, embodying and demonstrating is <b>empowered by God’s Holy Spirit</b>, the non-material, energetically animating personal presence of the living God who is Love. Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, helps us see (and creatively brings into present reality) <b>a world of <i>enough</i></b>, ruled by a God who favors and forgives us, who invites us to be his children and bring our needs to him, day by day, for him to address for the sake of his glory. And Jesus promises us that after his work reaches its fulfilment in his death and resurrection, he will send that same Holy Spirit to all of us, for the purpose of <b>bringing us into the full freedom of the children of God</b> that he enjoys. <p>Jesus follows through on that promise, as he does on every promise, and 50 days after his death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit is released in Jerusalem, and from there all across the planet. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--eVUDLdcg1Q/U974IEf28BI/AAAAAAAAGSc/hlu0MeoqUgk/s1600-h/image93.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LDYSSJUkHjg/U974I40NRPI/AAAAAAAAGSo/xKuFHbFDiMM/image_thumb49.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>So here we are</b>, human beings <b>set free</b> from anxiety and shame by the gift of the Holy Spirit, <b>learning to live</b> as children of our loving Father in the heavens, <b>bringing our needs to God</b> day after day for him to address, <b>waiting in faith</b> for his responses, and <b>experiencing the fruit</b> that comes from that well-directed investment of energy and faith: love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It’s sweet fruit, life-giving, and filled with seeds poised to multiply. <p>That’s not all there is to the Holy Spirit, though. That’s just the beginning. What comes next are the <i>gifts </i>of the Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QHny4xf-tho/U974JqggT6I/AAAAAAAAGSw/1cAbdAOAhKY/s1600-h/image91.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_2WQq3K8kW8/U974KXvgQ1I/AAAAAAAAGS4/4SCnLiHcypk/image_thumb47.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>12 </i></b><i>Now about the gifts of the Spirit [<b>spiritual things</b>], brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. <sup>2</sup>You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. <sup>3</sup>Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-vJj1zr-cqa8/U974LK505lI/AAAAAAAAGTA/a2XZLGBrBLo/s1600-h/image89.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-9d0esCgh6KU/U974LqIJo_I/AAAAAAAAGTI/YgyKCzNddIE/image_thumb45.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i>There are different kinds of gifts</i><i>sy [<b>Greek:</b> <b>charisma</b>], but the same Spirit distributes them. <sup>5</sup>There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. <sup>6</sup>There are different kinds of working [<b>effects</b>], but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1O6uqKlhCgI/U974MeiKo8I/AAAAAAAAGTQ/GKtKX97Gq8M/s1600-h/image87.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ygmtE54bXmo/U974NFVGDxI/AAAAAAAAGTY/2UCdVCG3_SM/image_thumb43.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>7</sup></i><i>Now to each one the manifestation</i><i> of the Spirit is given for the common good [Greek: <b>symphero; to bear or bring together</b>]. <sup>8</sup>To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <sup>9</sup>to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <sup>10</sup>to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. <sup>11</sup>All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.</i> <p><b><i>1 Corinthians</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TqKVe2KrseI/U974N_XXikI/AAAAAAAAGTg/H6p97HebPW0/s1600-h/image85.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uauxroybG4o/U974POGrn3I/AAAAAAAAGTo/yREnzUcIhik/image_thumb41.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Let’s start relatively simply, by <b>defining gifts.</b> The word in Greek is charisma, which has come to mean, in English, a kind of compelling attractiveness or charm that causes people to feel attracted to or inspired by someone. At the time this was written to the Jesus followers in Corinth, in the first century, <b>charisma meant <i>a gift of grace, freely given.</i> </b> <p>This is significant mainly because it means that these spiritual gifts, whatever they are, <b><i>aren’t</i></b> the sort of thing a human being earns from God through earnest, disciplined effort, or great devotion, or anything like that. <p>Some gifts are like that in our world, aren’t they? If we accomplish something – graduating with honors, making someone happy with our efforts, pooping on the potty – it’s not uncommon to be rewarded with a gift. Or some gifts come with strings attached; <i>you can have this, as long as you _______. </i>[<i>Trumpet/iPad examples</i>] <p>The spiritual gifts described in the Bible are different. They are gifts of <i>grace</i>, <i>freely</i> given. It appears <b>God gives them because of his favor towards us as his children,</b> pure and simple, no strings attached. You can’t earn or achieve a spiritual gift, and it’s not conditionally given. (Experience tells us that we can strengthen or develop the gifts the Spirit distributes to us by exercising them faithfully, but that’s a topic for another day.) <p>All of which makes sense, seeing as <b>gifts of the Spirit are a defining feature of the world under the rule of Love.</b> Love is characterized by giving and receiving (activities of free persons), not by taking and earning (activities of the unfree). <p>This text also suggests a couple of other defining features of these gifts given through the Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-B-Igc6TVB_s/U974P_f9RTI/AAAAAAAAGTw/_ZB58J0JBy0/s1600-h/image83.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-M8buTl-j9ak/U974Qmg_ZBI/AAAAAAAAGT0/TjH_Eu0iiJI/image_thumb39.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>First, <b>there are a variety of gifts.</b> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i>There are different kinds of gifts…different kinds of service…different kinds of working…</i> <p>This particular list includes messages of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in languages, interpreting those languages. (This list is suggestive of the breadth of variety, but not at all comprehensive. There are others listed in other parts of the New Testament, and experience tells us that the number of gifts could be as infinite as there are human beings and ways in which grace can be used in Love’s employ.) <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-iAAyZAeGD4E/U974RJu2vCI/AAAAAAAAGT8/ZGMM2UyZMrQ/s1600-h/image81.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-mUbaZE4ul70/U974Rm_FOkI/AAAAAAAAGUE/8aznOQxmvaQ/image_thumb37.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Secondly, <b><i>everyone</i> gets gifts.</b> <p><i><sup>7</sup></i><i>Now to <b>each one</b> the manifestation of the Spirit is given…to one…to another…to another…to another…to still another…to another….to another…to another…to <b>still </b>another…</i> <p>Perhaps yours remains in its packaging, unopened. Perhaps you’ve left it in the basement, gathering dust. Perhaps you haven’t noticed in your own life the gifts that you see in another person, and you imagine that means you don’t have any gifts, or as many gifts. Regardless. Everyone gets gifts from the Spirit. You, particularly <i>you</i>, included. <p>Maybe today is the day you awaken to their presence and receive them. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-h6tbiOsl5Do/U974SXScPfI/AAAAAAAAGUM/4uhVfi15ZQA/s1600-h/image79.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nacUwoydob8/U974TPNU--I/AAAAAAAAGUY/34ZERU_3YzQ/image_thumb35.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Thirdly, <b>the gifts of the Spirit are distributed by the Spirit as the Spirit sees fit.</b> <p><i><sup>11</sup></i><i>All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.</i> <p>Which means we can desire gifts, and ask for gifts, but we don’t necessarily get to pick (unless, of course, the Spirit invites you to pick). It’s a <i>gift</i>, after all. The Spirit has good purposes in his gift, both for the individual to whom the gift is given, and for the “common good.” Literally, for the “bringing together.” Whatever that might mean. <p>Which brings us to a fourth defining feature of spiritual gifts. <p><b>Spiritual gifts have a purpose</b>; they are <i>for</i> something. <p>Something having to do with a “bringing together.” <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ebuEZHGTpQw/U974TvhTjlI/AAAAAAAAGUg/IceQnT944Ck/s1600-h/image77.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-w5h_2Tly2os/U974UmDU_dI/AAAAAAAAGUo/JKSVgxGO91g/image_thumb33.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>7</sup></i><i>…the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good [Greek: <b>symphero; to bear or bring together</b>].</i> <p>After all, this is the work and agenda of Love, isn’t it? To bring together what fear has driven apart. To make whole that which has been broken. Isn’t the good news of God’s kingdom that t<b>he Father is reconciling his estranged children to him again</b>, his lavish forgiveness bringing together a family torn apart by sin? Ending the exile of humanity from God, of earth from the heavens? <p>Is yours <b>a gift of wisdom</b> empowered by the Holy Spirit? It is given to you to be exercised <b>for the bringing together of dis-integrated people</b>, for the bringing together of <b>fractured, anxious communities</b>, for the bringing together of <b>fearful people and the Loving God</b>, for the bringing together of <b>the place where God dwells and the places that have suffered so much </b>under our failure to bear His image. <p>Is yours a gift of knowledge? Faith? Healing? Miracles? Prophecy? Tongues? Interpretation? It is given to you for the same purpose, by the same Spirit, under the authority of the same Lord, <b>to have the same effect that true Love <i>always</i> has.</b> To do <i>good</i> in this world. To bring together. To reconcile all of creation to Christ. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-plVqlJ3596o/U974VLHh_CI/AAAAAAAAGUw/VlDt6JaRTa4/s1600-h/image75.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hCUZK3G24D0/U974Vz92S-I/AAAAAAAAGU0/HW8eOIhhST4/image_thumb31.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Now, perhaps, is as good a time as any to ask the question – <b>how do these gifts actually <i>work</i>?</b> Is it some kind of supernatural ability, almost like in the matrix where Neo could hook himself up to a Kung Fu module and suddenly be a Kung Fu master? Is it more like some kind of magic amulet that doesn’t actually become part of you, but that you have possession of and can pull out and use when needed, like the Ring of power that Bilbo and Frodo had? <p>Let me offer to you my understanding, recognizing that <b>we are dealing with mystery</b> here, and <b>confessing that I’ve been dissatisfied</b> with most of the literature I’ve read on the subject, because most of it sounds to me like religious mumbo jumbo. And also acknowledging that what I’m about to say may just sound like a fresh variation on religious mumbo jumbo. But at the very least it’s been helpful to me. <p>I believe spiritual gifts are a continuation of one of the primary works of the Holy Spirit in human beings; namely, that <b>the Holy Spirit helps us <i>see</i></b>. See in the broadest, deepest sense – <b>to perceive, understand, make connections, put it all together and apprehend what reality truly is.</b> <p>We know from the scriptures that the Holy Spirit helps us see who God is, who we are, who others are, the truth of the good news, and on and on. This is an essential activity of God’s Spirit, because <b>love and sight go hand in hand</b>. We love God when we see him for who he really is. We love ourselves when we see ourselves truly. When we really <i>see </i>another, we find ourselves loving them. And it’s a two way street. When we love, we see even more clearly – <b>because fear is absent in the presence of love, and fear always distorts sight.</b> Which is why the scriptures describe the Enemy as someone who blinds, who puts people in darkness. And why Jesus is described as the light of the world. <p>Notice a detail in the first paragraph of 1 Corinthians 12. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fnSPWdEuH3Y/U974Wb5KhPI/AAAAAAAAGVA/yEoNUyEwTYU/s1600-h/image73.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NxzQeSL0Bbo/U974XB9tADI/AAAAAAAAGVI/6NFC1C5oZXI/image_thumb29.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>3</sup></i><i>Therefore I want you to know that no one</i><i> who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.</i> <p>When we look at Jesus without the <i>seeing</i> <i>that the Holy Spirit empowers</i>, we see a failed revolutionary executed by the Roman Empire and succeeded by a group of deluded, fanatical followers. A poor man hung naked and publicly humiliated on a makeshift tree, with a legacy of crazy to his name. Jesus of Nazareth is a false messiah under the curse of God. <p>But when we see him empowered by <i>the seeing that the Spirit of God brings</i>, we see everything differently. We see love triumphing over evil in the humble, vulnerable obedience of the innocent victim. We see, in Jesus’ resurrection, God raising a servant to the position of king over the universe. We see the brutal violent Roman Empire, in service of the prince of this world, having spent its worst on him, to no avail. We see that Jesus, not Caesar or any other power, is Lord. The author is arguing that no one can see that and say, as a result, <i>Jesus is Lord</i>, except by the seeing the Holy Spirit brings. <p>There’s more to say on this, but we’ll save it for next week as we conclude our Summer of the Spirit series. <p>For now, some practical suggestions. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GBWxudO73Nw/U974XxY6c1I/AAAAAAAAGVQ/LKIlugIHS6w/s1600-h/image69.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qR0_QdYwWT4/U974YoYS6mI/AAAAAAAAGVU/HOqr8L3hYyU/image_thumb25.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>1. <b>Green-light God’s Gifts</b>. Give God permission to give you the gifts he desires for you by expressing a willingness to receive them. <i>“Father, I receive whatever you desire to give me. I trust that you see me, and you see what I need and what will bring me life and joy, and you see what bringing-together you want me to be a part of in the world around me.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-WNTIKF0zm3s/U974ZZbk6sI/AAAAAAAAGVg/MaAR0aJoJ5E/s1600-h/image67.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QCgDUDPzY2c/U974aOQDLZI/AAAAAAAAGVo/dn24xTqhbOk/image_thumb23.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>2. <b>Summer Reading Assignment</b>: Read John 9-11 in light of 1 Corinthians 12:3. Picture Jesus as a human being whom the Spirit has gifted with sight. Imagine him doing and saying everything he is saying not as some divine power, but as a vulnerable human able to see by the gifting of the Spirit. Notice who else in the passages are receiving the Spirit’s gift of sight, and who are clinging to their own sight. Notice who experiences fear and anxiety, and who experiences peace. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see as you read. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-2507897487776659742014-08-03T20:00:00.001-07:002014-08-03T20:00:53.224-07:00Summer of the Spirit // Fruit<p> </p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 07/20/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6agDLciLw9I/U973IlE3bmI/AAAAAAAAGM0/calPu2dGT3w/s1600-h/image68.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-njVKCpWWplM/U973JHRDXRI/AAAAAAAAGM4/RHy3Y_VwAzs/image_thumb40.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Recently, the podcast Radiolab featured a fascinating story called 9-Volt Nirvana about the surprising effects of electrical stimulation to targeted areas of the brain. Seemingly without effort, people were able to learn markedly faster, entering a state they describe as "flow." Like learning to be a sniper. Or to see those 3d pictures where you have to focus your eyes just right. And there were other effects as well, maybe even more interesting. Sally Adee, an editor at New Scientist who underwent military simulation training with an M4 assault rifle using this technique, describes what she experienced afterwards…. <p>[full radiolab program <a href="http://www.radiolab.org/story/9-volt-nirvana/">here</a>] <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TvSdF0vK8u0/U973Jqj9q2I/AAAAAAAAGNE/G5IizMkz8Jw/s1600-h/image66.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-dz7_m4cwIv8/U973KS9fAmI/AAAAAAAAGNM/hTp6boRO-Ho/image_thumb38.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Of course, this is a relatively unexplored field of study – there’s a lot that hasn’t been verified, and a ton that isn’t understood about it; if you’re skeptical about all of this, you’re probably in very good company. But I think Sally’s experience might shine some remarkable light on some things we’ve been talking about when it comes to the way the Holy Spirit works in us, when it comes to growing to experience more life, as we’ve been talking about in our Summer of the Spirit series. In particular, there are a couple of things I’d like to draw out of this account, to point our attention towards as we move in a few minutes to the Bible passage that will be our primary text today. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-0fGS0PT00Zg/U973K_ZBN6I/AAAAAAAAGNc/_iTg6t2MGjM/s1600-h/image64.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-zObeltLCQ24/U973LhlfUoI/AAAAAAAAGNk/ezkyyBsQnSQ/image_thumb36.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>“I was just this person that I hadn’t experienced before</i><i>…maybe this is just the actual core person who I am when all my baggage isn’t weighing on me. It was like someone had wiped a really steamy window, and I was able to look at the world for what it was.”</i> <p><i></i> <p>The first thing to note is the variety of interesting parallels between what this electrical stimulation did for Sally, and what the scriptures teach us about what the Holy Spirit does. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_21G8HF-_Bs/U973MWGWzgI/AAAAAAAAGN0/a7tng3o2wTg/s1600-h/image62.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-x25hkcnuAUk/U973M_1eQpI/AAAAAAAAGOE/agOwFE_VPn4/image_thumb34.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The experience of being set free from anxiety. <p>The real Sally emerging. <p>Being able to <i>see</i> reality as it really is. <p>All three interrelated, working together for freedom, for joy, for <i>life</i>. Just like we’ve talked about with the Holy Spirit, nothing had changed in Sally’s external circumstances, and yet all of sudden, her <i>experience of life</i> was radically altered. She was free, clear-eyed, alive. <p>Of course, the effects of the electricity wore off, so it was only temporary, but perhaps even that is illuminating – the Holy Spirit, the non-material, energetically animating, person presence of God, seems to be the sort of thing Jesus’ followers are to ask for day after day, like we ask for food. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XxXg2YMVyJI/U973NgMjDBI/AAAAAAAAGOQ/H52hYVKqkRk/s1600-h/image60.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gltiBMOj4Fs/U973Oar2gVI/AAAAAAAAGOc/UmVMHMT-da4/image_thumb32.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And even the power connection might be revealing. The Holy Spirit is referred to over and over with the Greek word <i>dunamis</i>, meaning power – it’s where we get our English word <i>dynamite</i>. <p>The second thing to note is that all of the good results Sally experienced were <i>not </i>the product of her strenuous efforts. She didn’t try harder to learn. She didn’t try harder to not be anxious. She didn’t try harder to see her actual core self. <i>She</i> wasn’t even the one who’d wiped the really steamy window clearer. <p>Don’t get me wrong, she’d really exerted herself in different ways along the way. She’d gone through quite a bit to fly from London to L.A. to get hooked up to the tDCS (trans-cranial direct current stimulation) equipment. It had taken courage and vulnerability to allow herself to be hooked up to it. She’d cooperated with instructions she was given. But at the end of the day, her efforts weren’t directed towards the positive experiences she was having. Those good things were the happy result of the other things to which she’d given her energies. <p>And this dynamic, too, seems to be the case with the remarkable transformation that the Holy Spirit brings about in us as we follow the way of Jesus together. <p>Let’s look at Galatians 5 to see what I’m talking about. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-FC4JQwI9f60/U973Ox8Af3I/AAAAAAAAGOg/XwZysdbNSbo/s1600-h/image58.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Xg_9V3dNFkM/U973PkrFwgI/AAAAAAAAGOo/GPsyYarbCIM/image_thumb30.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>19</sup></i><i>The acts of the sinful nature are</i><i> obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; <sup>20</sup>idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions <sup>21</sup>and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-aYkL2fbqLaI/U973QINxl-I/AAAAAAAAGO0/WCuial7KVtg/s1600-h/image56.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-NBKd_C-vGAM/U973Q7qNI_I/AAAAAAAAGO8/nEC_bUUvdsI/image_thumb28.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>22</sup></i><i>But the fruit of the Spirit is love</i><i>, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, <sup>23</sup>gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. <sup>24</sup>Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. <sup>25</sup>Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. <sup>26</sup>Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.</i> <p>Big picture, what’s happening here is that Paul is explaining to the people following Jesus in Galatia that there are two competing approaches to life, one of which has all kinds of negative outcomes, and another which has all kinds of positive outcomes. And Paul, obviously, is advocating for the one that results in love, joy, peace, etc. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-terHBhQxrDI/U973RT4FFoI/AAAAAAAAGPA/B1WBwXFlEuI/s1600-h/image54.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-cMscUI8-los/U973SAi2VUI/AAAAAAAAGPI/d3HQCCLIJSU/image_thumb26.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The first approach Paul describes in Greek as the “ergon ho sarx.” Literally, the <i>work of the flesh</i>, translated in our bibles as the “acts of the sinful nature.” <p>Basically, he’s saying that when we are living in a world ruled by fear (you may remember how we saw Jesus describing it last week, “beginning under evil”), when we buy into the story that fear tells, we learn to play by fear’s rules. We think we are on our own, that our survival depends on us, that we’ve got fight and claw and get whatever we need in competition with everyone else around us. Sure, maybe we get civilized about it all, so it doesn’t look so primitively violent, but even then we are just masking our vulnerability so that others can’t see our weakness, trying to win the approval of others so that we can be more secure around them, gaining their help in surviving. Either way, it’s a lot of work, constantly being on guard, constantly fighting through anxiety and protecting ourselves from perceived threats. All of that shapes our embodied selves (our <i>flesh</i> – brains and emotions and reflexes and bodies, even our social structures) in such a way that what living from that approach results in – the work or acts of that flesh – is sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Paul’s not actually saying anyone living in the world ruled by fear has put all their energies into doing those things, but rather that anyone living in the world ruled by fear who puts their energies into trying to survive by playing by fear’s rules, buying into fear’s story, will find that those things are the end result. <p>Perhaps we can identify with that. Perhaps that’s what life ends up looking like when the anxiety gnomes get the last word, when there is so much steam on the window that we can’t see clearly anymore. Perhaps it’s hard to even see who we are, at core, anymore, so dis-integrated are we from all the masks we’ve had to put on in one setting after another, just to survive. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-j1LwHl6k_LA/U973SnxIWmI/AAAAAAAAGPU/FkQjVgyhNf4/s1600-h/image52.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-h79aZnPaDcM/U973TQCSb6I/AAAAAAAAGPY/CDBnmufmpUc/image_thumb24.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>But then Paul contrasts that approach to life with another approach. Not life that springs from the flesh, but life that is driven by the wind of the Spirit. A wind that blows not from the world ruled by fear, but rather that blows from the heavens, from the world ruled by Love, the kingdom of God. <p>When we are living by the Spirit, we are living surrounded by the living, breathing presence of God. A God who favors and forgives us. A God who announces, through the incarnated witness of his beloved son, Jesus of Nazareth, <i>good news</i>. Good news that fear has been telling lies. Good news that our vulnerability isn’t something we have to cover in shame, but rather something that he enters into with love. Good news that our needs don’t put us on the outside of his favor, but rather draw us into relationship with him in the way that the needs of children draw them into relationship with their parents. Good news that he is doing something about the evil that we began under, that he’s defeated it, putting it on the run, and that he’s going to have the last word. Good news that we don’t have to fight for our survival, but rather bring our needs to him in trust, and wait for him to act on our behalf. Good news that is evidenced by the presence of the living God, right here with us now, in the person of the Holy Spirit. <p>Paul says that the <i>fruit </i>of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. <p>Notice that fruit is a very different word than work. The world under fear is full of laborious, back-breaking work. The kind of labor into which slaves are forced. But the world under Love is full of a different kind of labor – the labor of organic growth. The kind that a plant does when it produces fruit. (And not surprisingly, a lot like the kind of work involved in the other ways Jesus describes God’s kingdom growing: yeast working through dough, a seed buried in the ground and growing into a tree.) <p>After all, what is fruit? <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZRYFVDhxT-U/U973T7RJ1TI/AAAAAAAAGPg/D9oS6aojA8g/s1600-h/image50.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Ex73la0Oucs/U973UT1FwUI/AAAAAAAAGPo/CMrw692lHhk/image_thumb22.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>fruit / froot / (n) the ripened ovaries of a flowering plant, often sweet</i> <p>Fruit looks beautiful, seems to come out of nowhere as delightful surprise, often tastes sweet, brings nourishment and energy, and carries seeds of life in it. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-lROFQxyZLrE/U973VHUTmHI/AAAAAAAAGP0/92buoCyW7oE/s1600-h/image48.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-pNJh1bVTf8g/U973V0ko0-I/AAAAAAAAGP4/sd2A0WlNDg4/image_thumb20.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Isn’t that like love? Joy? Peace? Patience? Kindness? Goodness? Faithfulness? Gentleness? Self-control? <p>Which is astounding and beautiful and wonderful all by itself. Lending some appeal and credibility to the story that Jesus tells about the world and the salvation he brings. <p>But where does the rubber meet the road? How do we get in on this fruit? How do we live by the Spirit instead of the flesh? What does that mean, practically speaking? Tomorrow morning, for example, what do we actually do? <p>The temptation is to say that what we actually do is resolve to work hard at doing the things in list 2 and avoiding the things in list 1. To strive to love, and have joy, and be kind, and faithful, and self-controlled, and so on and so forth. To strive to avoid sexual immorality and hatred and selfish ambition and envy and so on and so forth. <p>No! Say “No!” to that temptation. <p>That’s the flesh talking. Our brains and bodies and emotions and social systems and all the rest have developed, grown up in, been shaped by this world under the spell of evil, and what the flesh drives us to do is to strive for the wrong things with good motivations. The flesh knows it can enslave us just as well that way as it can by getting us to strive for the right things with bad motivations, or for the wrong things with wrong motivations. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3IkumDvQRCQ/U973WcESLDI/AAAAAAAAGQE/u3hdChDawEQ/s1600-h/image46.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uaP212hmDJk/U973XehS3VI/AAAAAAAAGQI/2C8Xh2t3Dxk/image_thumb18.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>What the Spirit drives us to do is very different. It nudges us awake with the awareness that God is near, with favor and forgiveness. It nudges to open our eyes to the reality of our neediness, and helps us see God’s longing to meet us with help. It nudges us to courage to bring our needs to him in faith. It waits with us as we wait for God’s response, sharing with us in, and empowering us for, the hard, hard work of waiting. It helps us see his goodness all around us in the gift of life right here right now, building our faith in his promise of future provision. It tells us a truer story about our lives to date, revealing to us God’s hand along the way, showing us that we were, in fact, never alone, and that Fear is a liar, a fraud, and a cheat. <p>As we receive the Spirit’s presence (by which I mean, simply, that we say yes to him, that we give him permission to be present), and respond to the Spirit’s nudges (by which I mean, simply, that we bring our needs to God to address, every one of them, as we become aware of them), and fill our eyes and minds with the truth the Spirit shows us (by which I mean, simply, that we discipline ourselves to give attention to the stories around us that Love is telling), it’s like someone has sent an electrical charge through our cranium. The anxiety is diminished. Our true selves, in Christ, emerge as the weight of the baggage is lifted. The fog and confusion around us are wiped away. <p>And then, lo and behold, what starts to show up…surprising, sweet tasting, nourishing and energizing, loaded with life-carrying seeds? <p>Fruit. <p>Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. <p>All the ways of living that make perfect sense in light of the good news of the kingdom. All the ways of living that bring life to the trees rooted by streams of living water which are bearing the Spirit’s fruit. <p>The organic, (super) natural result of the Spirit. Not the result of effort or striving – except the effort of trusting in God, of asking him for help with our needs. <p>Which suggests an important clarification. <p>Have you noticed how you can spend extraordinary amounts of energy in both work and play? How you can have the bad pain of broken muscle and torn tissue that threatens to keep you from working again? Or the good pain of hard play and exercise that strengthens you for a lifetime of joyful exertion? And how one kind of expenditure of energy can drain you of life and one can fill you up? <p>Life lived by the Holy Spirit can be just as demanding and strenuous and filled with suffering as life lived by the flesh. Perhaps even moreso, if Christ Jesus’ example is any indication. But that’s where the similarities end. Because a life lived by the Spirit directs its energy into asking and waiting and obeying in trust, not into trying to survive on its own. A life lived by the Spirit is like an investment of energy with an incredible rate of return, rather than a spending of energy on a cheaply made product which proves unusable and toxic to boot. A life lived by the Spirit produces fruit that brings life and growth to everyone in its orbit, rather than sucking the life out of everyone with the misfortune to rub shoulders with it. <p>It’s because energy expended in slavery squeezes the life out of a person. But energy expended in freedom brings growth. The way of freedom is the way of the Spirit. And the way of the Spirit is the way of Jesus, the way of courageous vulnerability, bringing one’s needs to God for him to address, day after day after day. You want to be loving? Start by asking God for the Spirit, and for help with your needs. You want joy? Start by asking God for the Spirit, and for help with your needs. Peace? Same thing. Patience? Kindness? Goodness? Faithfulness? Gentleness? Self-Control? Start by asking God for the Spirit, and for help with your needs. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ouwfDBVRh8w/U973YImzmbI/AAAAAAAAGQU/WiWu81KaUdU/s1600-h/image43.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-an7ZmXFyrGY/U973YgI2hPI/AAAAAAAAGQY/_w1LG1raZB0/image_thumb15.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestion: <p>3 Minute Spiritual Exercise. <p>Minute 1: Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the connections between fear and the works of the flesh in your life. To show you the needs you have that the enemy suggested to you that you had to meet on your own, because if you didn’t take care of it on your own, your needs wouldn’t be met. <p>Minute 2: Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of his presence right now, here, in this place. To make you aware of God’s love for you. His favor towards you. His forgiveness for any and all of your flaws and failings and shortcomings. Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of the good news that Jesus gets the last word on everything, and that the last word sounds like resurrection, not death. <p>Minute 3: Now ask your Dad in the Heavens for more of his Spirit. And bring your needs to him – especially the ones that fear likes to tell you bad stories about. One after the other. <i>Dad, I/we need ________________, and I/we need your help with it.</i> <p>Now close with this prayer of faith: <i>Father, Jesus told us that you know what we need before we even ask. And he told us that we are your children, and that you know how to give good gifts to your children. So we wait now, trusting that you will address our needs with your good gifts. Thanks, Dad.</i> Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-11246962749633550522014-08-03T19:58:00.001-07:002014-08-03T19:58:20.423-07:00Summer of the Spirit // Ask<p><em></em> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 07/13/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-TQrn6mxnY2Q/U972LC5o6kI/AAAAAAAAGFk/mJb4FB_LIjo/s1600-h/image154.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1XE2-wfPoKQ/U972LzUUJLI/AAAAAAAAGFs/FO7vFiYh3bY/image_thumb90.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>A quick recap of the Summer of the Spirit; lots of Holy Spirit big ideas so far, etc. <p>· Growing our capacity to experience more life. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Y-Jsw7XySKk/U972MSWVVcI/AAAAAAAAGFw/dkyH062qDaw/s1600-h/image152.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-TAWmXQq_71M/U972NLXhdMI/AAAAAAAAGF4/CMOVsSWTn0c/image_thumb88.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>· Enabling each of us to be the same person everywhere, all the time, with everyone, because our source of life is internal and independent of our external circumstances. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-N5RyEECN_rk/U972N_LTvEI/AAAAAAAAGGE/FBa1RTaBLl0/s1600-h/image150.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bjwrl8gZ6_c/U972OQLrM4I/AAAAAAAAGGI/L06iZzxJC1U/image_thumb86.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>· Increasing our security, confidence in God’s love and favor, transforming and freeing us at a core level to live in love and joy and faith, instead of in anxiety and the posturing, sword-wielding and hiding that goes along with it. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EWjdeb4JRkQ/U972PQeyW8I/AAAAAAAAGGU/HdQBFZoWYdo/s1600-h/image148.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7YqHisjnKdU/U972QDaU_NI/AAAAAAAAGGc/xuyYy4y6EM0/image_thumb84.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>· Empowering us to be self-differentiated, non-anxious, loving presences in our communities, creatively participating in Jesus’ liberation of the world from the grip of fear and tyranny of anxious systems. <p>Going to make it a little smaller, more personal today. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7s7kAPlxRVY/U972Q1cbCBI/AAAAAAAAGGk/ZXLa8J4F8zg/s1600-h/image146.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_3FIyA6H8nI/U972R5bDqGI/AAAAAAAAGGo/ibJAg4Kt5OQ/image_thumb82.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The Holy Spirit’s pretty great. But how do I get it? Or more of it? Not that that’s even the right way to say it – I mean, I know the Holy Spirit is a person, God himself, and all that… Seriously, is there actually something I can do to <i>experience in real life </i>what we’ve been talking about? Because if I knew what it was, I’d probably do it. <p>Yes, there is something you can actually do. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-h8Q4YJUFIs8/U972SQlse6I/AAAAAAAAGGw/P1az0eUdvNs/s1600-h/image144.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rhrcG0eOpOM/U972TDQ2ImI/AAAAAAAAGG8/5tEArUOxnak/image_thumb80.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>You can <i>ask.</i> <p>As in, ask God to give you his Holy Spirit. <p>No, it isn’t rocket science. <p>It’s less complex than rocket science. And math free. But <i>way </i>harder. <p>Because rocket science feels like something we can control, master, get a handle on, with enough work. Which is a really good feeling for most of us. It feels <i>safe</i>. <p>Asking feels....well asking feels different for each of us, because we’ve all had different experiences with asking (and the kinds of responses we’ve gotten along the way). But at the end of the day, asking sets in motion a process that we aren’t in control of anymore. <p>Which isn’t our favorite feeling. It makes us feel vulnerable. <p>And asking is an admission of vulnerability. Which is terrifying for lots of us. <p>As a pastor, I hear lots of stories of people asking God for things. And lots of stories of them reporting God responding to their requests. Big requests and small. Parking spots. Good deals on stuff at the mall. Tickets to be available to the game. Pink Cadillac’s (seriously!). Growing to 6 feet tall. Weather. Finding lost things. Lost pets. Success or guidance with business or work. Jobs. Spouses. Healing from serious health problems, addictions. Healing from colds and bumps and bruises. Restoration of relationships. And on and on and on. <p>What’s going on with these stories? Does God really care about the little stuff, what with all the more serious stuff going on in the world? What about the things that seem worse than trivial, maybe falling in the category of sinful or unhealthy? Was it even God, or just things attributed to God, but actually coincidence or heaven forbid, the devil himself? I don’t know. Obviously. As if I get that kind of info. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-CDPbfaIg5PY/U972T9_gqPI/AAAAAAAAGHA/342Pi8IQYiA/s1600-h/image142.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PeLWhW-R7Qc/U972UpqTFkI/AAAAAAAAGHI/aGYQGwzTycA/image_thumb78.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>But I’d recommend a perspective that makes room for those stories to be true in a way that strikes me as consistent with the God revealed in Jesus. And that perspective is this. God <i>wants</i> us to bring our needs to him to address. All of them. It’s at the very heart of faith. So much so, that I can imagine him addressing all kinds of needs out his love for us in such a way that might seem surprising to us. I can imagine him helping someone find the right 10 million dollar home of their dreams, for a million dollars below listing price, in order to teach them to bring every need that matters to them to him for him to address. Because for that person, their current step in discipleship was all about learning to bring their needs to God to address. And yes, you getting that parking spot maybe means someone else isn’t – someone else who is now frustrated and late. But I can imagine God is creative enough to sort out the details when two people ask for the same parking spot. And more than that, I can imagine him being so interested in someone’s growth as an asker that he would reward even the most trivial asks to demonstrate his desire to be engaged with a person. Simply because if God can develop that kind of <i>faith</i> in human beings, foster that kind of relationship with us, everything else can come along for the ride. <p>And because if that <i>never </i>develops in us, if we keep trying to meet all our needs on our own, out of the fear of embracing our vulnerability and need, we’re doomed. <p>Luke 11 is our text today. We looked at a brief portion of this on Father’s day, but now we’ll expand our view a bit. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jY82ZPnC-Sk/U972VI3rDYI/AAAAAAAAGHU/IPrSbEkqTtM/s1600-h/image140.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-z16ZtEuZGy8/U972V8TBlUI/AAAAAAAAGHY/141tXttAQUc/image_thumb76.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>11 </i></b><i>One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>2</sup></i><i>He said to them, “When you pray, say:</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_M256IZbjEc/U972WqDDosI/AAAAAAAAGHk/TjWT49EubyU/s1600-h/image138.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-U9a19TYa_2c/U972XM4zffI/AAAAAAAAGHs/E7iL219Uxlc/image_thumb74.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>“ ‘Father</i><i>,</i> <p><i>hallowed be your name,</i> <p><i>your kingdom come.</i> <p><i><sup>3</sup></i><i>Give us each day our daily bread.</i> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i>Forgive us our sins,</i> <p><i>for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.</i> <p><i>And lead us not into temptation.’ ”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3axvwFbhL1I/U972X2-0lnI/AAAAAAAAGH0/C-mk9lL2iLw/s1600-h/image136.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mpi5bbJQPNk/U972YT_L1mI/AAAAAAAAGH4/dBpenkx37tI/image_thumb72.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>5</sup></i><i>Then Jesus said to them</i><i>, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; <sup>6</sup>a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ <sup>7</sup>And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ <sup>8</sup>I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tjzor93H7Cg/U972ZURe9hI/AAAAAAAAGIE/Bn5et9Nvg8s/s1600-h/image134.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-h9XtpeCYiUs/U972ZzKbNKI/AAAAAAAAGIM/l4gzmmeV4kA/image_thumb70.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>9</sup></i><i>“So I say to you:</i><i> Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. <sup>10</sup>For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>11</sup></i><i>“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? <sup>12</sup>Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? <sup>13</sup>If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-iWunasjVE3E/U972audmiNI/AAAAAAAAGIU/ngZtWtRJ0rg/s1600-h/image132.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-5uED3oxVxQ0/U972bd-PheI/AAAAAAAAGIY/wp-q6L4H9Yk/image_thumb68.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We could summarize this section of Jesus teaching this way: When Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them to talk to God, Jesus tells them to <i>ask God</i> to address all of their needs. And, maybe most importantly, he tells them that what they need most of all, and what they should ask for most of all, perhaps, in fact, what he asks for and receives most of all from God, <i>is the Holy Spirit</i>. <p>But summaries flatten all the details, and it’s in the details that the shape, texture, and power of Jesus’ teaching are revealed. Shape, texture, and power that are sometimes the difference between being impressed and being changed. So let’s dig in. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3121ov_4pI8/U972b1Fj2jI/AAAAAAAAGIk/uoT8PjlTi6M/s1600-h/image130.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-dgCndEvHkr0/U972cuhMq1I/AAAAAAAAGIo/ztNaRg6Xc6s/image_thumb66.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Father.</i><i></i> <p>It all starts with Father, and ends with Father. <p>Father is to whom we speak when we pray. <p>And it’s our Father in the heavens who gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. <p>Asking is not some spiritual formula for succeeding in life, in other words. This is a <i>relationship</i>, a personal, child to parent relationship. Which means being a human being is really all about being a child with a father. <p>Teach us to pray, the disciples say. Teach us to do the thing that you do all the time that seems to be so much at the center of who you are and how you live and how you do what do and experience things the way you experience them. <p>I’m a kid, and God’s my dad. So I go to him for help with everything I need. And you can too, if you’d like to. I know <i>he’d</i> really like you to. Because you’re a kid too. And God’s your dad, too. <p>It all starts with a Father and ends with a Father. <p>Growing to experience more life. <p>Being the same person everywhere, all the time, with everyone. <p>Being secure, confident in God’s love and favor, transformed and free at a core level to live in love and joy and faith. <p>Being a self-differentiated, non-anxious, loving presence in your communities, creatively participating in the liberation of the world from the grip of fear and tyranny of anxious systems. <p>We kids need our dad for any of that to happen. <p>Jesus goes on. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-WgdniVTKu_0/U972dYP5zII/AAAAAAAAGI0/xqQPpXZ3Pxk/s1600-h/image128.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ymANS9q81UI/U972d_CX5aI/AAAAAAAAGI8/9QFtLwefjpo/image_thumb64.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Hallowed be your name</i><i>.</i> In other words, <i>Dad, we want you to have a great reputation – the greatest of anyone, anywhere.</i> <p>So that when people think of you, they’d say, <i>now that’s someone who’s proven himself capable of greatness and power beyond our imagination.</i> So that when people think of you, <i>they think, now that’s someone we can count on in any kind of jam we ever find ourselves in.</i> So that when they think of you, they think, <i>now that’s someone who loves us so much, he’d do anything for us. </i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-vA8Xmqhwsk4/U972ekiBrbI/AAAAAAAAGJA/cwSy_Ric7c8/s1600-h/image126.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-jwpZHNBkpuI/U972fEOQkqI/AAAAAAAAGJM/MOUZKKHCG9c/image_thumb62.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Your kingdom come.</i><i></i> <p>In other words, we kids want our world to be ruled by you, by Love, not by the current prince of this world, by Fear. Because when it’s ruled by fear we’re all fighting for ourselves, for survival, and it’s ugly and brutal and violent and discouraging and lonely and ultimately futile. But when you’re in charge, when Love rules, together we can share our needs with you, and ask you for help, and share our needs with one another, and help one another. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-1-GcKkH286U/U972fzStOrI/AAAAAAAAGJU/pHTRmTD1wWQ/s1600-h/image124.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-55sbGT6vWiU/U972g_pfYWI/AAAAAAAAGJY/t6zM9gEh40U/image_thumb60.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Give us each day our daily bread.</i><i></i> <p>In other words, we’re kids with needs. Lots of them. The kind that at best we can satisfy for a little while before they crop right up again. Like we need bread, food. Subsistence. Protection. Affection. And on and on. All the way to identity and freedom. So we’re coming to dad, saying, Dad, can you help us with this stuff? We’ve got so many needs, and so many desires, we can’t even sort out all the time what we actually need to make it through today. You’re our dad; we trust you to take care of us. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Kq7G4w43dF0/U972hQ83i9I/AAAAAAAAGJk/9inneI6A8_s/s1600-h/image122.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-53sPfzV4YDI/U972iGSozRI/AAAAAAAAGJs/VXZCNwCEKm8/image_thumb58.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>Forgive us our sins</i><i> as we forgive everyone who sins against us.</i> <p>In other words, us kids realize we’re deeply flawed, broken, confused. We’ve gotten off track with ourselves, and others, and you, and we get off track all the time, it seems like. That terrifies us, because in the world we grew up in, the world ruled by Fear, most of the time when our flaws get exposed it means we’re out. It means we aren’t worthy of belonging anymore, because we look like damaged goods unlikely to help anyone else survive. So we’re pretty harsh on ourselves and on everyone around us, and it doesn’t seem like it’s really done anyone any good, even though at the time it seems like the only <i>right</i> thing to do. Would you forgive us? Embrace us, make our belonging with you secure, in spite of our flaws and brokenness? Then we can do the same with each other. Together we can put an end to this Shame business. And get on with love. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lFY8_xuj9nA/U972i7XbfJI/AAAAAAAAGJw/7ZKKe5h6B8M/s1600-h/image120.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tYw06EVGoWE/U972jaehQ7I/AAAAAAAAGJ4/7QTNyQOFCfU/image_thumb56.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And lead us not into the trial. (Note the misleading translation of peirasmon as “temptation.” Peirasmon is probably better understood as “trial”.) <p>As a general rule, as kids, there are things bigger than we are, that are more than we can face successfully. This is a basic reality of being a vulnerable mortal alive in this world. So one of our basic needs is to avoid such things. Trusting that if in fact we must face such a thing, our Father will have some good purpose for it, and find some way to put us back together afterwards. As he did, in Jesus’ case. <p>That’s it, all of our needs as vulnerable, flawed human beings, presented to our heavenly Father to address. <p>Which, as we noted earlier, is <i>difficult</i> for us to do. Because to ask for help with our needs means our next step is to wait on God. Wait for his response to our request. Wait and see how he’ll address our needs. Receive whatever he has for us. That’s hard. That’s a vulnerable place to be! <p>And it’s hard because to even say we are kids coming to our Father for help is to admit we are vulnerable in this world. Vulnerability is so terrifying we spend most of our time trying to hide the fact, even from our selves. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-c3jJCiBW5fA/U972kN25CPI/AAAAAAAAGKA/DM4gmVzF9wg/s1600-h/image118.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1Bu2WT6VkOw/U972ku_3BbI/AAAAAAAAGKI/4g2QR_Jm7l0/image_thumb54.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus gets how hard this is, so he tells this next story to encourage us. The one about going to the friend at midnight, asking for bread for a friend that has arrived after a long journey. What’s the key line here<i>? “…and I have nothing to set before him.”</i> <p>This is an admission of need, isn’t it? Of lack. Of the inability to provide on one’s own for one’s friend. This is vulnerability. <p>At the same time, it’s also picture of real abundance in the face of need. You don’t have bread for your friend, but <i>you do have a friend</i> with bread. And in the end, having a friend with bread, and having the courage to ask, and keep on asking, is all you really need. <p>Jesus’ point, which he makes a little later, of course is that God is more even than a friend to us. He’s a Father, and a good father at that, one delighted to give us good gifts. <p>But the point within the point is that there is no getting around asking. Ask. Ask. Ask. This is the relationship between us kids and our Father. And this is the relationship between us kids and each other. Vulnerable before each other. And well provided for. <p>Finally, let’s notice this, right at the end. The last sentence. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GrQkA9T4qE8/U972lHHKRhI/AAAAAAAAGKQ/13PcOVTjUs8/s1600-h/image116.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UmCtZ3eRZpg/U972l-wqgqI/AAAAAAAAGKc/TIxtGNBMWuc/image_thumb52.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>If you then, though you are evi</i><i>l, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. </i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nDM8sK4cWXQ/U972mq4-_4I/AAAAAAAAGKg/1UUTA0lQUqs/s1600-h/image114.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Zqq04DHegV4/U972nfz6j9I/AAAAAAAAGKo/c1WGmGbhAII/image_thumb50.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>If you then, beginning under evil (translated again, unhelpfully, “though you are evil”)… <p>In other words, if we, who have grown up in the world where Fear rules, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Father, the one who lives in the heavens, where Love rules, give the Holy Spirit to us when we ask. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6jLjP5u-fb0/U972oMxvokI/AAAAAAAAGK0/OAmU8b6mKwI/s1600-h/image112.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UoBO7OR8dvw/U972pMWcWjI/AAAAAAAAGK8/CAofZJ_Z15E/image_thumb48.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Because when we ask, addressing God as Father, we need the Holy Spirit to see him as Father and to see ourselves as his children. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-iuslBJ_WDjk/U972pu3JAHI/AAAAAAAAGLA/pPZ71m_clOI/s1600-h/image109.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-VGl1MSy-bQ0/U972qdh37LI/AAAAAAAAGLM/a7n_AGKrJVc/image_thumb45.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>For those who are led by the Spirit of God</i><i> are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.</i> <p><i></i> <p><b><i>Romans 8v14-16</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_fWTICDx7R8/U972rHLuNkI/AAAAAAAAGLU/Q6eOWr6Gqs0/s1600-h/image107.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-lEUQZeG4yMM/U972ryaIv7I/AAAAAAAAGLY/5teXwrJGPIM/image_thumb43.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And when we ask for God’s name to be hallowed, we need the Holy Spirit to see him as someone who loves us, to whom we can bring our needs to be addressed, so that he can be glorified in answering our needs. Because that’s how God’s name is made great: in coming through for people who wait on him. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5qnkqok1BEM/U972sTwGxZI/AAAAAAAAGLk/aXZIlsT3_8Y/s1600-h/image105.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bVl7wA203R8/U972tFYJZ7I/AAAAAAAAGLs/PK6xra77Hxs/image_thumb41.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i>Since ancient times</i><i> no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. </i> <p><b><i>Isaiah 64v4</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-at5vTPstADs/U972t-Cpm8I/AAAAAAAAGL0/mgjeQkDXg7o/s1600-h/image103.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-fgGXV7Chs2g/U972uiuJIsI/AAAAAAAAGL8/RLNIuvpsO_M/image_thumb39.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We need the Holy Spirit in order to pray for our daily bread too, and for forgiveness, and to be spared the trial – all of our weaknesses… <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--EO2VSK5qT8/U972vWUykEI/AAAAAAAAGMA/e0tdJJdMYKM/s1600-h/image101.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-P1X-EYJKPjQ/U972v9XIfZI/AAAAAAAAGMI/3CJeMDVn8t4/image_thumb37.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>In the same way, the Spirit helps</i><i> us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. </i> <p><b><i>Romans 8v26</i></b><b><i></i></b> <p>The whole of the life of faith begins here, with the Holy Spirit letting us see the truth of our neediness, the truth of our Father’s love, and reminding us of everything Jesus taught us about bringing our needs to our Father to address. And out of that experience of his forgiveness (the end of our exile, the reality of his embrace of us despite our sin, because of the saving work of Jesus on the cross) and provision, we come to our heavenly Father with our needs, he addresses them, and we grow up, step by step by step, more and more under the rule of love. At ease with our vulnerable nature – because we’re not naked in the garden any more, we’re clothed with power from on high! – and at ease with each other – because we have no need of judgment but rather a call to love, something we can do even more profoundly when we are at ease with our own vulnerable nature – and at ease with God himself, because we have been adopted as sons and daughters through the Holy Spirit. <p>Listen to Jesus, as we close. <p><i>All this I have spoken while still with you. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit</i><i>, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Ojf_EaWCUV8/U972wfMh8QI/AAAAAAAAGMQ/VVtzjwb-MFY/s1600-h/image99.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-AN9jTaGuFnQ/U972xOhPzdI/AAAAAAAAGMY/eTMJQaVBRJY/image_thumb35.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>John 14v25-27</i></b><b></b> <p>And it all begins by asking for the Holy Spirit. And waiting, that most vulnerable form of worship, for our heavenly Father to respond. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WL2MGo32Si0/U972xielPwI/AAAAAAAAGMk/8fyla5qga9Q/s1600-h/image97.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-CVK5h35IoNE/U972ya6JMNI/AAAAAAAAGMs/mnhtf2wdeRE/image_thumb33.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestion: <p>1. Pick 6 and Ask. The first 6 needs that come to mind, each morning. I’d recommend at least 3 are your own personal needs. Write them down. Then pray, “Dad, would you address these needs for me/us? And I want your Holy Spirit. As much as you know that I need today.” And then wait. <p>2. Keep at it. Do this until your natural response when you come into awareness of a need is to bring it to God to address. And to ask for the Holy Spirit when you feel the anxiety that usually accompanies an awareness of need. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-10785871494836383772014-08-03T19:55:00.001-07:002014-08-03T19:55:11.920-07:00Summer of the Spirit // 2 Stories<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 07/06/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p>Ugandan anti-homosexual legislation introduced in February, carrying harsh penalties for homosexual activity (up to life in prison, having recently dropped the provision for the death penalty after international pressure), as well as a 7 year sentence for aiding and abetting homosexuality, which includes renting property or housing a homosexual. In the time since its passage, there has been an increase in reported cases of persecution of homosexuals of between 750-1900%. Things like violent attacks, arbitrary arrests, blackmail, and evictions. <p>For example, this letter from landlord to a tennant: "You are a wonderful woman as well as a tenant who hasn't given me any trouble over rent whatsoever," but added that "[d]ue to what is going on in the country ... I am sorry but I think you are a depraved person who I can no longer tolerate in my house. I also cannot fight against the government." <p>Regardless of your particular moral convictions or your interpretation of biblical sanctions regarding homosexuality, imagine that you are the parent of a gay child living in your home, and feeling compelled to ask your child to leave your home for fear of prosecution from law enforcement agents. Or a doctor to whom a gay person has come seeking medical attention. Or a server waiting on a gay person. What do you do? Follow your conscience, your best sense of what Love is calling you to do, perhaps risking imprisonment? Or say <i>I am sorry, I cannot fight against the government.</i> <p>Now imagine that you are Pepe Julian Onziema, a transgender human rights advocate living in Uganda, being interviewed on Ugandan television. <p>[full program on YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKP-PUAI96U">here</a>] <p>Two things stood out to me as I watched him (and really, you get a better sense of it throughout the whole hour long program, which you can find on youtube). First, he seems to have extraordinary emotional maturity. He’s so calm, emotionally level, and focused on his primary goal, which is advocating for his country to treat homosexuals with dignity and respect, as human beings. He’s this way despite the ignorant questions and statements made by the moderator. Despite the tirades launched at him by opponents who call in via phone and show up in the studio. Despite the threat of arrest from the government. And secondly, he <i>stays</i>. He stays in the studio, and he stays in Uganda. Despite every kind of pressure, internal and external to disconnect, to leave it behind, to say, <i>enough of this</i>, he remains. It almost seems, as you watch him, that despite being essentially powerless and on the wrong side of all kinds of circumstances, he’s well. He’s in charge of himself. He’s alive and experiencing life. <p>What gives a human being this remarkable capacity? <p>My answer is the Holy Spirit. <p>I suppose it’s possible some combination of other environmental and internal factors in Pepe Julian’s life could produce a similar capacity. <p>But my money would still be on the Holy Spirit being at the heart of it all. <p>Because the witness of the scriptures is that what we see in this Human Rights Advocate is precisely what the Holy Spirit makes possible for a human being to set them free from the dis-couraging clutches of an anxious system, and allow them to become a non-anxious presence in that system, and ultimately an instrument of transformation. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-i6sFMi1C41E/U971sG27tLI/AAAAAAAAGBw/7A80AGNWxY8/s1600-h/image82.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-JQ_Nh8CZXlA/U971tDbXidI/AAAAAAAAGB0/eZ2FjT4TcSY/image_thumb48.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>That’s our thesis, in fact, for our Summer of the Spirit series. That the Holy Spirit is the gift of God that allows us human beings to grow in our capacity to experience the <i>life</i> Jesus invites us to, makes possible for us, gives us, and leads us into, despite the anxieties and fears rampant in our world. That the Holy Spirit is the personal, favoring, enlightening presence of divine Love that drives out fear and establishes a beachhead for the kingdom of God, both in us personally and in our world’s systems. True emotional maturity can only develop in the context of that kind of Love. <p>Last week we began to look at the way the Holy Spirit transformed Jesus’ disciple Peter from a shadow of Peter – afraid, insecure, posturing, violent, lying, betraying his best friend and his best intentions – into the <i>real</i> Peter. Secure, confident, standing up without shame, paying attention to others, authoritative, alive with full life because of the favoring presence of God present to him through the Holy Spirit. <p>This week we’re going to see a scene where we see Peter acting a lot like Pepe Julian Onziema. Except that Peter’s not advocating for the opportunity to live free from persecution. Peter’s advocating for the right to bear witness to reality. And as we’ll see, Peter demonstrates that same kind of emotional maturity, calm collected, that same focus on his goal, and that same commitment to stay, to remain, despite persecution, as long as it’s possible to stay. <p>Background…healing of cripple, response of the crowds… <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-05z5VewJYp0/U971tkIY6VI/AAAAAAAAGB8/cvOiphMiUFc/s1600-h/image80.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LVpAJHdnJfQ/U971ubjbb9I/AAAAAAAAGCI/GpWm8PwdRqw/image_thumb46.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>4 </i></b><i>The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. <sup>2</sup>They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. <sup>3</sup>They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. <sup>4</sup>But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-skq1rd4ssRs/U971wdnrL4I/AAAAAAAAGCM/da-jtCUnpU0/s1600-h/image77.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8MwcNxf9BwQ/U971w897bqI/AAAAAAAAGCU/vdGIbA4ZLTU/image_thumb43.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>5</sup>The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. <sup>6</sup>Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. <sup>7</sup>They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MdG5s9muRNM/U971xuil1dI/AAAAAAAAGCc/UPeI-d5qYyo/s1600-h/image75.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-S7b-Lqr04YY/U971yZmlUHI/AAAAAAAAGCo/OQqVnTJE0QQ/image_thumb41.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>8</sup>Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! <sup>9</sup>If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, <sup>10</sup>then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. <sup>11</sup>Jesus is</i> <p><i>“ ‘the stone you builders rejected,</i> <p><i>which has become the cornerstone.’</i> <p><i><sup>12</sup>Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4BLsFfNyTcE/U9710M1Xz2I/AAAAAAAAGCw/nZLRaq8E07c/s1600-h/image73.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-fEnID3GY_iA/U97109AKR9I/AAAAAAAAGC0/1dx4OzD8Rqo/image_thumb39.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i><sup>13</sup>When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.</i></b><i> <sup>14</sup>But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. <sup>15</sup>So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. <sup>16</sup>“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. <sup>17</sup>But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-IRhFzt1NpbA/U9711eyKGeI/AAAAAAAAGDA/yqz7q7PWOZw/s1600-h/image71.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zN5_nF1-_Uk/U9712BxkGfI/AAAAAAAAGDI/Bn88zu_J_Ww/image_thumb37.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>18</sup>Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. <sup>19</sup>But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! <sup>20</sup>As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”</i> <p>2 stories happening here. One in its middle chapters, in full stride; the other just being introduced. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-w1IA0N_ld38/U9712-tgvoI/AAAAAAAAGDM/6TxficBg9Ss/s1600-h/image68.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tHKkKI10Cns/U9713cCO1TI/AAAAAAAAGDU/5tDP6BSH-6o/image_thumb34.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Story one:</b> transformation of Peter through the introduction of the Holy Spirit. <p>He’s arrested, jailed, placed at the center of power, questioned. <p>He doesn’t posture, he doesn’t pull out a sword, he doesn’t lie. <p>He’s free, confident. Alive. <p>This is the work of the Holy Spirit. <p>As miraculous and supernatural as it might be, it’s not magic. It’s Divine Creativity working through powerful loving presence to restore a human being to the fullness of an image-bearer. <p>God’s Holy Spirit is his personal, favoring presence <i>with</i> Peter. Making Peter aware that he <i>belongs</i> with God, that he shares an identity with Jesus as a beloved child of the living God. The Holy Spirit brings Peter into an awareness that God <i>loves </i>him, and perhaps even more than that, mediates to him an <i>experience</i> of God’s loving presence. Producing a confidence that God will provide for him, whatever he needs to thrive in this world. Whether it’s food or protection or affection or rest or understanding of the world around him or a worthwhile task that fits his longings and passions or the gifts and empowering he needs to succeed. Whatever Peter needs, the Holy Spirit reminds him to ask, and waits with him for God to address his needs. <p>That’s the work of the Holy Spirit in you at work, facing a looming quota. Or a glory hogging co-worker. Or an upset customer. Or dysfunctional boss. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit in you at home, with your kids at their worst, or you at your worst, for that matter. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit with you in your ministry, teaching or serving or leading or bearing witness through words or actions or art to the goodness of God. <p>It’s miraculous, and supernatural. But it’s not magic. It’s Love. Right here. Right now. With you. Helping you grow in your capacity to experience <i>Life.</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-esRtCwjHnao/U97135fm4HI/AAAAAAAAGDc/DtAxPgliZgE/s1600-h/image66.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-E1fqsI2WLFg/U9714-YWUqI/AAAAAAAAGDo/t2gyilhDw2o/image_thumb32.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Story two</b><b>:</b> transformation of the world’s anxious systems. <p>This is a story that’s still in process, even today, so here in Acts 4 it’s just the beginning of the story. But like any great first chapter, all the makings of the story to come are present in it. <p>And again, although it’s a miraculous and supernatural transformation that’s happening, it’s not magic. Here in story two, its divine creativity working through the powerful loving presence of spirit-filled, self-differentiated, non-anxious people. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-H6gltflOIo0/U9715qqFwkI/AAAAAAAAGDw/y3CiZYoKriw/s1600-h/image64.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-l1aI_Fzpz2o/U9716GHYQnI/AAAAAAAAGD4/FFVQwnniiEY/image_thumb30.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Remember, the Bible is bearing witness to two worlds in conflict, two kingdoms at odds with each other. The first the kingdom of the prince of this world, the world under the rule of fear, the second the kingdom of God, the world under the rule of love. <p>World under the rule of fear is an anxious system. Anxious systems organize themselves around the least emotionally mature members. Those who throw the biggest fits. <p>Leaders in anxious systems, in spite of their best intentions and big dreams early on, usually end up spending most of their energies managing the emotional outbursts of the least mature members. Edwin Friedman calls this a “failure of nerve.” And it happens because the leaders themselves are subject to the same fundamental anxieties of everyone else in the anxious system. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ErrWe9FdEQQ/U97162DHxWI/AAAAAAAAGEA/xNP5L21RQT0/s1600-h/image62.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-g7z6Rwi62jc/U9717_IVdcI/AAAAAAAAGEM/yZWFeXttgm8/image_thumb28.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Priests, captain of the temple guard, Sadducees are such leaders in an anxious system. Perhaps at one time in history they were actual leaders, in the true sense of the word, as in <i>leading </i>people some good where for some good purpose. But now they are pre-occupied with keeping their power and privilege. They’ve got to keep Rome happy by keeping the peace among the people. They’ve had a failure of nerve. They are caught in spiderweb upon spiderweb of anxious systems causing them to perceive Peter and John as threats. <p>What’s the threat? <p>Firstly, the people are excited about Peter and John (because they healed the cripple). This is always a threat to a leader caught in the web of an anxious system. The leader imagines that his or her power is a function of the favor of the people they lead. Which is why they respond to the fits of the emotionally immature. So, if someone else has favor, it feels like a threat to their power. (Parents!) <p>Secondly, Peter and John seem to be responding to the authority of someone outside the anxious system. This is always a threat too, for a leader caught up in the anxious system, since someone outside the anxious system is unresponsive to the system and therefore unpredictable to those in the system, who have come to organize all of their actions around the rules of the system. This kind of unpredictability is always dangerous to power players <i>in</i> the system. <p>Thirdly, Peter and John are announcing the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees believed that there was no afterlife, no reward, no punishment. This justifies their “just try to survive and get what you can” approach to their position of power. But if there is something <i>more</i> than this life, something that may include reward or punishment for the actions in this life, it changes the equations they depend on to maintain power in the anxious system. What if someone isn’t motivated by rewards here and now? What if someone becomes less concerned about punishments now? This disturbs the system, and thus also disturbs the leaders in that system, who have been trained to spend all their energy maintaining equilibrium. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-RMMZXOzS3bg/U9718oBaceI/AAAAAAAAGEQ/4PSrSFvzfpk/s1600-h/image60.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Q-bgyiAdUMQ/U9719cNwYJI/AAAAAAAAGEU/K1IP5oyyh7Q/image_thumb26.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Now here’s the interesting thing about anxious systems. The only hope for them is self-differentiated leaders who maintain a non-anxious presence in the system and stay connected. People who have a clear sense of themselves, who are motivated by an internal passion, a dream, a vision, something they are going after, and who stay connected to the people in the anxious system. When anxious systems are led by self-differentiated leaders, the least emotionally mature members actually grow in the direction of the leaders, rather than the leaders losing their nerves and organizing around their immaturity. <p>It takes two things to be a self-differentiated leader who maintains a non-anxious presence and stays connected. <b>First</b>, it takes remarkable <b>security </b>– a sense of belonging independent of the favor of the anxious system – the kind of security not provided by or achievable from within the system. And <b>secondly</b>, it <b>takes the ability to <i>see</i>.</b> To see who oneself is, what is included in the self and what is not, to see where oneself ends and where another begins, to see the thing, the vision, the passion that one is going after, spending one’s life on, to see the anxiety in the system and the immaturity of its members, to see them for what they truly are beyond, or under, their immaturity and anxiety. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-uynMUn6c6Pg/U97198PvVLI/AAAAAAAAGEg/eyYsLNEkLmo/s1600-h/image58.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-C3TcqyiDfXA/U971-muiycI/AAAAAAAAGEo/HHbgJ8BhaS0/image_thumb24.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This is the miracle of the work of the Holy Spirit in Peter, and in every human being. The Holy Spirit brings the security a vulnerable and flawed human being <i>needs</i> to be free of fear. <p>We’re vulnerable, meaning at the end of the day we all have needs we can’t meet on our own, so security can only come in the form of promised provision from someone more powerful than we are who has favor towards us. And we’re flawed, so security can only come from someone who has demonstrated that our flaws cannot threaten his favor towards us. The Holy Spirit is the perfect love of God made personal and present, fulfilling the promise and demonstrating unrelenting favor, driving out fear. <p> </p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nREYjhxohtw/U971_XMrQCI/AAAAAAAAGE0/hQiPeLXCTLI/s1600-h/image56.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-JdgjuW7eEys/U972AdUr-gI/AAAAAAAAGE4/TEpwfoxNACY/image_thumb22.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And the Holy Spirit helps people <i>see</i>. See in the word’s fullest metaphorical sense. As in perceive, understand, notice. We’ve talked about this before; it seems that this is in fact the primary <i>work</i> of the Holy Spirit. The Holy spirit helps us see ourselves, see God, see one another, see reality around us as it <i>really</i> is. <p>Isn’t this beautiful!?<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uH-sQTw7GBk/U972A8lAN2I/AAAAAAAAGFA/3OiAH8wBqJ4/s1600-h/image54.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NwYRB65BnVw/U972BrYcVyI/AAAAAAAAGFM/b6i5TAEypcs/image_thumb20.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>How it is that God goes about rescuing humanity from evil, from sin, from death, from fear, from violence, from oppression, from slavery? <b>God enters our anxious world as a self-differentiated, non-anxious presence, and stays connected.</b> He incarnates himself as the most self-differentiated, non-anxious leader in human history, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, secure, fearless, filled with the Holy Spirit, seeing himself as messiah, seeing God as the favoring, forgiving Father, seeing people as lost, anxious sheep without a shepherd, seeing the good news of God’s kingdom coming, present, arriving, spending his life on that mission, regardless of its cost, confident in the possibility of resurrection and therefore immune to the fundamental anxiety of our anxious system. And Jesus trains a community around him, to whom he gives his Holy Spirit so that they too might become self-differentiated, non-anxious leaders who would spread throughout the world, penetrating every anxious system with the announcement of good news and offering the gift of the Holy Spirit to every person who came to desire the <i>life</i> that Jesus offers. Thereby undoing the anxious systems and replacing them with the kind of system only love can work out. <p>And it works. It works because people actually want something more than a system organized around their emotional immaturity. They want <i>life</i>. It’s just that they settle for less than life – when it seems like life is impossible. (again, toddlers! Parents!) <p>The healing of this cripple is a sign of life. It’s a sign of the life present in Peter through the transformation the Holy Spirit has done in him. It’s a sign of the life of the risen Jesus, by whose authority this healing happened. It’s a sign of real life available to a cripple, who represents all of us living limited capacity lives, begging for what little we have, and then getting more than we ever thought possible from Jesus. <p>It’s a sign of life that signals the end of anxious systems and their fear-based leaders, and the beginning of the reign of the risen Jesus and his kingdom of love taking hold through the Holy Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wO4slswqEa8/U972CT8j4GI/AAAAAAAAGFU/y45T7w811Ys/s1600-h/image52.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ZXcz-3lapOM/U972DfES-vI/AAAAAAAAGFY/NhJT2eEPFxA/image_thumb18.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p>1. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you <i>see</i> the anxious systems you are part of. <p>2. Receive the Holy Spirit, intentionally. Before you go to bed, say to yourself: “Tomorrow I will receive the peace of the Holy Spirit when I am _______________, and I will ask God for what I need, trusting that he will address my needs.” Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-75950348987790468682014-08-03T19:51:00.001-07:002014-08-03T19:51:27.204-07:00Summer of the Spirit // Will the Real Peter Please Stand Up<p> </p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 06/29/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-f1tBAviJTvg/U97039xgt8I/AAAAAAAAF98/IxLqswYZWdg/s1600-h/image72.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-i-Zn27rblPI/U9704gcDCpI/AAAAAAAAF-A/91UEkgDijoE/image_thumb42.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>Riding bike at night, cool wind against skin, music, stars, road rushing under wheels, body alive, sense of connectedness and love, free. Aware of needs, but not angry or distressed in that moment. Peaceful. Joyful. Content. Lucky. <i>Life.</i> Not all of it, of course – not even close. But a slice, a bite, of <i>life</i>. The good stuff. <i>Being</i> alive. <p>So much working together for me to have that experience of life. Thought about the kind of growth that had gone into that even being possible for me. Thought about how much more was needed to have that experience in a way that wasn’t dependent on my external circumstances. The people I’ve known for whom that’s the case. Jesus in particular. <p>Isn’t that what we all want, really, at the end of the day? To grow into the kind of people who can experience the reality of life, more and more, day after day, in a way that is independent of external circumstances? Sure, we want leisure, or protection, or belonging, or a meaningful outlet for our creativity, or food on the table, or better understanding of confusing or troubling things, or a more rooted sense of identity, or affection, or the freedom to pursue our own passions, or whatever it might be in any particular moment. But at the end of the day, don’t we want all of those things because they are part of getting to the experience of <i>life</i>? <p>Here’s my theory. Faith – our lives in trusting, intimate relationship with God - is meant to make a transformative impact on us at every level of human need. And God’s gift to us, the Spirit, is at the center of that transformative impact. <p>In other words, our experience of trusting, intimate relationship with a God who is as near to us as our next breath, with whom we can have some kind of personal interaction and communication, whom we come to know as Love, and as revealed among humanity in Jesus of Nazareth is the only sure way to <i>life</i> in the most meaningful sense of that word. <p>And when we look at the full spectrum of human experience - from anger and envy and selfish ambition and jealousy and hatred and hopelessness and desperate meanness on one end, to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity, self-control on the other – the catalyst changing the script from one to the other is what Jesus’ first followers understood to be the Holy Spirit, the breath or wind of God. (for a primer on the Holy Spirit, consider listening to or watching our series called “Life After Easter” that we recently concluded.) <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JgOGiVWcahQ/U9705MlZKyI/AAAAAAAAF-M/RQFQ51PPe4k/s1600-h/image70.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-v2UoP-D1vHE/U970519PgVI/AAAAAAAAF-U/gV7C4SAuuSQ/image_thumb40.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>So we’re kicking off a series to run through July called “Summer of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is our topic. In particular, the role the Holy Spirit plays in the growth of our capacity as human beings to experience the <i>life</i><i> </i>Jesus came to give to us. <p>Today we’re going to look at how the gift of the Spirit brings about transformation in Jesus’ disciple, Peter. <p>First, though, a brief primer on our needs as human beings. Because faith – and the Holy Spirit, who is so central to faith – makes a transformative impact on us right at the level of our needs. <p>If you google “fundamental human needs” you’ll come across a taxonomy of Human Needs developed by Manfred Max-Neef and his colleagues. He’s a Chilean economist and researcher who spent much of his life working on problems of human development in third world countries. Max-Neef argues that the needs we have because we are human beings are few, finite, classifiable, and constant through all human cultures and across historical time periods. Here’s the list of needs: <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-r4QHegvmnFg/U9706oD5GmI/AAAAAAAAF-Y/AGMHsFln-9c/s1600-h/image68.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-n2uuiW3tVnY/U9707G2OrDI/AAAAAAAAF-k/OBKGR5TctrM/image_thumb38.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Subsistence <p>Protection <p>Affection <p>Understanding <p>Participation <p>Leisure <p>Creation <p>Identity <p>Freedom <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rRQMggXrBp4/U97073QfocI/AAAAAAAAF-s/ftubjh1EV2Y/s1600-h/image66.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZzYDZurh96Y/U9708UBf3aI/AAAAAAAAF-0/5zxaAPjeKOY/image_thumb36.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>His theories are interesting on their own merits, but what’s important for our purposes is how the faith of Jesus – his life in trusting, intimate relationship with God – has a transformative impact on his needs. Take subsistence. He brings his need for food (and our need for that matter) to God, and God addresses it. Protection, same thing. Affection? Check. Understanding. Participation. Leisure. Creation. All the way on down the line to Identity and Freedom. Nothing lacking. He even tells his disciples, <i>look, your Father knows what you need before you even ask.</i> Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, fully incarnated as a human being, brings every one of his human needs to God, finds them satisfied through the Spirit, and has all the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity, self-control one could ask for. Jesus’ life, day in, day out, in the midst of the pressures and the struggles and the persecution, has the <i>chock-full-of-life</i> <i>quality</i> of my midnight bike ride. <p>That strikes me as incredibly attractive. I <i>want</i> some of that. As much of <i>that</i> as I can get. <p>The witness of the Bible is that the Holy Spirit is what makes that possible. The personal, non-material, energetically animating, favoring presence of the living God as near to Jesus as his indrawn breath. <p>We see the Spirit at work in that way in a powerfully relatable way in the life of Peter. The fisherman who joins Jesus’ ragamuffin band of followers and later goes on to be a hero in faith. <p>We pick up in Luke 22, during the famous Last Supper, Jesus’ last meal with his students before his arrest and eventual crucifixion. (Peter is also called “Simon.”) <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zpebXEBVPEI/U9709X-u6wI/AAAAAAAAF-8/hzh3nIKfD70/s1600-h/image64.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PfF-HxlTnig/U970-ODlBoI/AAAAAAAAF_A/27UfD9TsIqI/image_thumb34.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>24</sup></i><i>A dispute also arose among them</i><i> as to which of them was considered to be greatest…<sup> </sup></i> <p><i><sup>31</sup></i><i>“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. <sup>32</sup>But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”</i> <p><i><sup>33</sup></i><i>But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”</i> <p><i><sup></sup></i> <p><i><sup>34</sup></i><i>Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”</i> <p>The implication here is that Peter was part of this “greatest” debate, and that Jesus identifies him as one having a special place among them – and yet warns him that his strength is not what he might think it is. In the middle of it we see Peter asserting his commitment and faithfulness, saying “I’m ready to go with you to prison and to death!” The point is not that he’s wrong, it’s that he’s doing it all. It shows something about what’s happening inside of Peter. He’s insecure. And it leads to posturing. <p>All bragging, posturing is a form of insecurity, and it reveals deep down anxiety. We want people to think highly of us. Because if they think highly of us they will include us, we’ll belong. We’ll have help surviving. We’ll receive their protection, their affection. We’ll be given opportunity to participate. Our identity is tied up in others’ perceptions of us. <p>What would have given Peter life in this situation? Maybe listening to Jesus’ words about the difficulties coming. Maybe taking them seriously, asking for help, advice, direction. Embracing reality, and his vulnerability in the face of it, engaging the world as it really is, as he really is. <p>But no, his insecurity and anxiety get the better of Peter. So he postures, brags. Doesn’t <i>really</i> hear what Jesus is saying. Has his weight on the wrong foot, so that when the real world blows against him, it’s that much easier for it to knock him off balance. <p>Peter’s heart is warm towards Jesus, though, which is part of the tragedy here. He <i>does </i>love him. He <i>wants </i>to be ready to go with him. But that gets twisted by anxiety into this spectacularly useless posturing. <p>It’s a nice sentiment Peter offers – <i>I’m ready to go with you</i> – but it’s not actually true, is it? Peter <i>isn’t </i>ready. But he can’t see that about himself, because he can’t see what’s coming, and he can’t see his own vulnerability in the face of it. Why not? Anxiety, insecurity. Run of the mill stuff we all experience every day. We can relate to Peter here. <p>Minus the insecurity and anxiety, maybe Peter embraces his vulnerability. Says to Jesus, <i>“Jesus, I want to be helpful to you. I want to go with you all the way to prison and death if I have to. But I’m not sure I’m ready. What should I do?” </i> <p>And maybe Jesus says to Peter, <i>“Peter, this road leads to a place I have to walk alone. As much as part of me wants you with me, the truth is it’s more than you can handle. It’s more than I can handle, in fact, but I’m called to go there, so I know I’ll find the grace I need when I get there. You, you’re calling is different. Listen to your calling, be faithful to it, there will be grace for it. Have no fear; ask God for the help you need when you find yourself alone. He loves you, as he loves me.”</i> <p>A little later on, that night… <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-m6QiLJseXlM/U970-mroopI/AAAAAAAAF_M/J6gm2q5ZofU/s1600-h/image62.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-cBW2OqSEBa8/U970_fchvvI/AAAAAAAAF_U/6oHgiS22uLQ/image_thumb32.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>45</sup></i><i>When he rose</i><i> from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. <sup>46</sup>“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation (enter the trial).”</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DZ_Y2PqFg18/U971AM_Zc9I/AAAAAAAAF_o/KIIJHsRClsE/s1600-h/image60.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-kygUt51K4yc/U971BAk-ydI/AAAAAAAAF_0/z0xzyStoSnk/image_thumb30.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>47</sup></i><i>While he was still speaking</i><i> a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, <sup>48</sup>but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”</i> <p><i><sup></sup></i> <p><i><sup>49</sup></i><i>When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” <sup>50</sup>And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.</i> <p><i><sup></sup></i> <p><i><sup>51</sup></i><i>But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.</i> <p>Peter is at the center of this story, too, as other accounts tell us. He’s the one who cuts the ear off the servant of the high priest. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-odptEaAqax8/U971CAUDv0I/AAAAAAAAGAA/gMLHooKjndA/s1600-h/image58.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UYNZOU2SJUU/U971CzV13LI/AAAAAAAAGAE/I7pDkV18Y4Y/image_thumb28.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>What are Jesus’ instructions to Peter? <i>Pray that you will not enter the trial.</i> That’s supposed to be Peter’s weapon. Bringing his needs to God, in his vulnerability, for God to address them. That’s the protection he wields in his vulnerability. <p>But that’s not what Peter does. He pulls out a sword. It looks like courage in the face of a terrible threat, but it’s not. Not truly. What it is is abandoning his trust in Jesus and putting his trust in a sword. And once again it’s because he is afraid, anxious, insecure. As we’ll see, even the most heroic looking courage, when it springs from fear, is less than the kind of confidence that comes later from the Holy Spirit. <p>And now one more scene with Peter before the Holy Spirit comes on the scene… <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--hGgTrD4CV0/U971DVm0VSI/AAAAAAAAGAQ/RLCTq8qvOjA/s1600-h/image56.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9b5yYC5R_EY/U971EDTNxTI/AAAAAAAAGAY/wPqzC1gQN4E/image_thumb26.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>54</sup></i><i>Then seizing him [Jesus], they led</i><i> him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. <sup>55</sup>And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. <sup>56</sup>A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>57</sup></i><i>But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>58</sup></i><i>A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-yH-v072IgzU/U971EsBZhgI/AAAAAAAAGAg/joF9qxTvauI/s1600-h/image54.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-hQn28CIBbPk/U971FYPKw2I/AAAAAAAAGAo/9gaCuBZfERQ/image_thumb24.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>59</sup></i><i>About an hour later another</i><i> asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>60</sup></i><i>Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. <sup>61</sup>The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” <sup>62</sup>And he went outside and wept bitterly.</i> <p>Now Peter’s courage has failed entirely. This is always what happens to courage that comes absent the awareness of God’s presence. Peter is separated from Jesus, alone, and he’s acting fully out of fear and desperation, like a cornered animal. Peter’s fear is especially visible in contrast with Jesus, the one who’s been arrested and is facing trial and torture, who looks Peter full on in the eyes, unafraid, unangry. Jesus, seeing clearly in peace, looking at Peter running blind in fear. <p>Now, let’s fast forward 7 weeks or so. Jesus has been raised from the dead, forgiven Peter, restored him, and slipped into the heavens to rule over the new creation that has begun with his resurrection. Peter and the other disciples have been waiting in Jerusalem, as instructed by Jesus, for the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit is dramatically and powerfully poured out on Pentecost, and the disciples start giving thanks to God in all kinds of foreign languages that they’ve never studied or learned before. Which creates, as we might imagine, quite a scene. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-f5hhPuHl9lM/U971GMrfOGI/AAAAAAAAGAs/vF5fSEHKHkQ/s1600-h/image52.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-MEIiiPzp1HQ/U971GwDt0bI/AAAAAAAAGA0/fzFtxwZCT-k/image_thumb22.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>2</sup></i><i>Amazed and perplexed,</i><i> they [the crowd] asked one another, “What does this mean?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>14</sup></i><i>Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: </i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say….</i> <p>Zoom in on Peter for a second. Peter, taking his <i>stand</i>… <i>raising </i>his voice… <i>declaring.</i>.. <p>All in the face of a mocking crowd. <p>And then going on to give a speech without defensiveness, but confident, eloquent. <p>Is this the same Peter we saw 7 weeks ago? <p>Well, yes and no. Yes, it’s Peter – the Peter we met on his fishing boat, laying it all down to run after Jesus, and the Peter we saw walking on water, and announcing that Jesus was the Christ; we’ve known he had this in him – but something’s changed. He’s not acting like a person acts when he or she is insecure and anxious. Not at all. <p>You can only give the kind of speech he gave here, unprepared and impromptu, when you aren’t battling anxiety. This is Peter, secure, peaceful, unafraid. <p>Next chapter, it continues. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-hTus0r2IkvA/U971HrvUSII/AAAAAAAAGBA/rPNU0AJX5Gk/s1600-h/image50.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zPXRSlmu6as/U971IQcl1PI/AAAAAAAAGBE/RfeQPV_cSuM/image_thumb20.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>3 </i></b><i>One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. <sup>2</sup>Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. <sup>3</sup>When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. <sup>4</sup>Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” <sup>5</sup>So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ERnEPPUMDGI/U971JIRky0I/AAAAAAAAGBQ/L3PUjbHDM5k/s1600-h/image48.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-qm8Pn8pY8Yo/U971Jrb49UI/AAAAAAAAGBU/3gG1bam98o0/image_thumb18.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i>Then Peter said</i><i>, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” <sup>7</sup>Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. <sup>8</sup>He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.</i> <p>"...what I do have, I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene - walk!" <p>What Peter had to give was <i>authority.</i> <p>Authority can only be exercised effectively when one is secure. (Seizing the man’s hand, raising him up...) <p>And what Peter had also was that he could walk after having been a cripple himself, metaphorically speaking. The transformation we’ve seen already in Peter is mirrored in this beggar. Begging, crippled to standing upright, walking, leaping, entering the temple, praising God. Peter is giving away what he himself has received from God. Who gives away what they’ve received? People who are secure and unafraid do, confident that they will be provided for. <p>We’ll stop here in the story, for now. There’s one more bit of it that we’ll get to next week, but for now, I think we can already see what an incredible difference the Holy Spirit makes in Peter. <p>Which Peter is more likely to be experiencing <i>life</i> as Jesus is training and inviting him to experience it? Which Peter is more likely to be growing and thriving? <p>Which Peter is more likely to ask God to address his needs for <p>Subsistence <p>Protection <p>Affection <p>Understanding <p>Participation <p>Leisure <p>Creation <p>Identity <p>Freedom? <p>The Peter with the Holy Spirit, that’s which Peter. <p>Which Peter is the true Peter? <p>Peter, like any one of us, is this extraordinary mix of personality and experience and dreams and passions and hurts and strengths and weaknesses, and like all human beings, vulnerable and flawed. Before the Holy Spirit he’s all those things but he’s also profoundly alone, anxious, afraid, and insecure in the face of a dangerous and sometimes cruel world. With the Holy Spirit he’s all those things – including vulnerable and flawed – but he’s also profoundly <i>not alone</i>, secure in his belonging with God, confident that he is beloved and cared for and provided for. And that changes everything. <p>God desires and offers that for each and every one of us through the gift of the Holy Spirit made possible in Jesus’ saving work on the cross. <p>This kind of transformation we see in Peter is the work of the Holy Spirit, in cooperation with the person. It’s not like a magic pill or some kind of hypnotic spell – we’ll talk about that more, next week. It’s, at the most basic level, what happens when God himself is present to a person who receives and cooperates with him. And God is presenting himself to us through the Holy Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-woRsTI_2f0k/U971KQI6w-I/AAAAAAAAGBg/coq1PFTziIs/s1600-h/image46.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-rG_Uybh4EZo/U971LdWX0-I/AAAAAAAAGBk/F6f9WNzdReU/image_thumb16.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions (a 3 minute guided exercise, to try now and practice each morning): <p>1. <b>Remember a Life experience</b>. Bring to mind the time you last experienced <i>life</i>. <p>2. <b>Consider your Life strategy</b>. Think about the ways you’ve been trying to get more of it, the ways you’ve been trying to either get your needs met yourself (the posturing or the sword or the lying) or insulate yourself from the pain of not having them met. <p>3. <b>Consider Jesus’ approach.</b> Decide whether or not you trust Jesus’ approach that the way forward is actually bringing your needs to God to address. <p>4. <b>Take stock of your fear.</b> Consider the role fears or anxieties or insecurities play in keeping you from trying Jesus’ approach. <p>5. <b>Ask God for the gift of his Holy Spirit</b>, for him to make himself present to you in a new way for you to receive and cooperate with. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-70073946451818300682014-08-03T19:48:00.001-07:002014-08-03T19:48:54.217-07:00Alive // Life After Easter / Father’s Day<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 06/15/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p>Father’s Day. <p>For some of us, that’s a happy thought. You have, or had, a great dad, one that’s easy to celebrate and honor, one you’re thankful for. Or perhaps being a dad is rewarding and a source of life for you. <p>If that’s you, may you experience great joy and blessing today. <p>Others of us have conflicted or negative feelings about Father’s day. Your dad was distant, or absent, or abusive. It’s no easy task to celebrate and honor and be thankful for your dad. Or perhaps if you are a dad yourself, things aren’t good between you and your kids for some reason; there is pain around the subject of fathering for you. Or maybe you want to be a dad, but aren’t, or can’t be, for some reason. <p>If that’s you, may you experience comfort and hope today. <p>I want to focus on something else this Father’s day, however. I want to talk about the gift that Jesus’ Father loves to give, maybe more than he loves to give anything else. The gift of the Spirit. The Spirit we’ve described as the energetically animating, non-material, profoundly personal presence who is part of the three-in-one God revealed in the scriptures. So that this Father’s day, we can <i>all</i> have something to celebrate and be thankful for. <p>Listen to what Jesus says: <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-e3KKSQQv37s/U970A-hhn-I/AAAAAAAAF38/k_mLCFzno38/s1600-h/image100.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6rlOLlfq53I/U970BVajozI/AAAAAAAAF4A/S3d_gGCh1M4/image_thumb52.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>“If you then, though you are</i><i> evil,</i><i> know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”</i> <p><b><i>Luke 11v13</i></b> <p>I remember hearing this passage the first time and thinking <i>this is classic religious lameness. </i>Like, <i>if I were God</i>, I could think of all kinds of cooler gifts than that. Not that the Holy Spirit isn’t cool and all, but it just seemed, at least to me, then, to be so <i>religious. </i>So <i>spiritual. </i>Like, I know the Spirit is spiritual, duh; that’s the definition, after all. But I mean, we’ve got lots of real, concrete needs. And the Spirit, well, when it comes to gifts, the Spirit seems like a birthday card with nice words, but no cold hard cash in the envelope. <p>That’s not what I think now. <p>I think the Spirit is what we need <i>to actually have really good life</i>. To set us free from anxiety, from shame, from fear. I think the Spirit solves problems that all the cold hard cash in the universe can’t make a dent in. I think the Spirit can put an end to violence, oppression, slavery, hatred, racism, sexism, and all the other isms. I think the Spirit is the only hope we have of seeing reality clearly, ourselves clearly, one another clearly. I think the Spirit can make peace possible at the deepest level of the human being, and at the deepest levels of human relationships. I think the Spirit is the difference between misery and joy on planet earth. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-xJd01ULX3LY/U970B74y3jI/AAAAAAAAF4M/cXxN1rHF7Fo/s1600-h/image101.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GG250b8ZAf4/U970Cl0qVMI/AAAAAAAAF4Q/rXzl_OcIZiQ/image_thumb53.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We talked last week about Pentecost. About the event that began in the upper room in Jerusalem, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection when his followers experienced the beginning of the Holy Spirit’s invasion of the cosmos. I call it an invasion, because the way Jesus talked about it, our world has been under the authority of what he called “The prince of this world.” The way Jesus painted the picture, the Father sending his Spirit would displace the prince of this world, and open the door to a whole new world, a world ruled by the Father, with Jesus seated at his right hand, his Spirit blowing everywhere, dwelling in the hearts of each person under his authority. Everyone set free, in other words, from this “Prince.” <p>The way Jesus told it in John’s gospel at one point goes like this: <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cX-M1wGrcxc/U970DaVifsI/AAAAAAAAF4c/PYIcPkpsL1Q/s1600-h/image102.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KFSdYWwlc0k/U970FeompvI/AAAAAAAAF4k/I3sTVTtkvwA/image_thumb54.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>7</sup></i><i>But very truly I tell you, it</i><i> is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. <sup>8</sup>When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment… because the prince of this world now stands condemned.</i> <p><b><i>John 16</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-J-Q55B0DwWk/U970F3fihwI/AAAAAAAAF4s/5W5Aya2svWQ/s1600-h/image103.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-haZLFJdPJOA/U970GliOC2I/AAAAAAAAF40/3884KwOyLnk/image_thumb55.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Here’s the 50,000 foot view. The world we know has been, for most all of recorded human history, been under the grip of fear. That’s the way the prince of this world has ruled. <p>In a world ruled by fear, here’s the experience and the ground rules: <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-FSpfnV4qNKg/U970HPufYuI/AAAAAAAAF44/upG7Uv-8mM4/s1600-h/image104.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-7nGKpNTydUE/U970H8n4oFI/AAAAAAAAF5E/XfIGRe5wIy4/image_thumb56.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>1. </b><b>We are on our own. </b> <p>When the prince of the world has his way in this world, this is the thing we feel to be true most profoundly. We are on our own. Maybe that’s not even the right way to say it. Not “we.” I. I am on my own. You. You are on your own. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tvRtShDolk8/U970IZ25MQI/AAAAAAAAF5M/sDWBZSbio54/s1600-h/image105.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KDxj3U209tw/U970JQw55VI/AAAAAAAAF5U/oxH776yIxl8/image_thumb57.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>2. </b><b>There is not enough for everyone.</b> <p><b></b> <p>Scarcity is our experience of reality in a world ruled by fear. Some will get plenty, but only because some are getting little or nothing. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JH_yCqizLTQ/U970J51HToI/AAAAAAAAF5Y/hO-eRbnqDJE/s1600-h/image106.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-88F4o_saBLc/U970KklmxuI/AAAAAAAAF5k/HJBwEBZpFZE/image_thumb58.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>3. </b><b>Scarcity means we need to <i>fight</i> f</b><b>or our own survival.</b> <p>Love and generosity are beautiful ideas, but at the end of the day, they have their limits. At the end of the day, you’ll need to make sure you do what it takes to get what you need. Even if that means someone else doesn’t. And if you really want to play it safe, you don’t wait for the end of the day; you get started at the crack of dawn. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-CIBelDo89Og/U970MsFbmvI/AAAAAAAAF5o/-j3GL6xbG4k/s1600-h/image107.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Nuph0N_FFy0/U970NR1rvAI/AAAAAAAAF50/A9APTZXcjH4/image_thumb59.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>4. </b><b>Belonging with others</b><b> is the key to successfully surviving.</b> <p>As a species, we know this deep in our bones. Together we are stronger than we are on our own, so it’s important to forge deep bonds with others – family, tribe, company, nation – for sake of surviving and thriving. On our own we are easy pickings for predators, the likely victims of natural disasters. At the very least, on our own we are likely to get less than those who are favored members of the successful communities. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qbjWr628Xnc/U970N5K2o9I/AAAAAAAAF54/tXq344Kv5z0/s1600-h/image108.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3t-KYXAlMWY/U970OuFIOvI/AAAAAAAAF6A/lFKE9NVjWj8/image_thumb60.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>5. </b><b>We are therefore careful to win the approval</b><b> of others, and deeply afraid of negative judgments which threaten our belonging, and therefore our survival.</b> <p>It’s this dynamic that makes it so difficult to be the same person, everywhere, all the time, because what wins approval and what subjects us to judgment is different in every social group. We are constantly doing the approval/avoidance of judgment dance – exhausting and dis-integrating our selves. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cNSUGlcWdbk/U970PAmIwEI/AAAAAAAAF6I/0sDTzVTr47w/s1600-h/image109.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TQYojZeBr30/U970PwzYOkI/AAAAAAAAF6U/mOm9l7G_cBk/image_thumb61.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>6. </b><b>We are vulnerable to not belonging</b><b>, to being excluded by the negative judgments of others because of our flaws; vulnerability itself is therefore terrifying. </b> <p>Our flaws are numerous, starting with the basic fact that we are mortal. We are vulnerable to death, and so every weakness or biological reality that reminds us of that is potentially something others will not approve of, and therefore exclude us from belonging. Add to that our own unique flawed mortality – our personal brokenness and sin – and we’ve got a massive vulnerability problem. We’ve got to hide it all. We may even try to hide it from ourselves. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-w9Is0G1rHXI/U970Qa_BerI/AAAAAAAAF6c/Ar3w129Sr9A/s1600-h/image110.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RhTNw8sluyM/U970Rc8IlCI/AAAAAAAAF6k/CVcLFRaUIfw/image_thumb62.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>7. </b><b>We feel this viscerally</b><b> as anxiety and shame.</b> <p>This is how we know we live in a world under the grip of fear. Anxiety and shame all around. We only aren’t <i>aware </i>of it when we are at the center of the best surviving groups that the prince of this world has herded us into. The powerful. Or the rich. But you can only really stay at the center if you keep acting in such a way as to keep anxiety and shame at bay. In such a way as to maintain the approval and avoid the judgment of that group. <p>If you’re not in one of those groups, though, you’re probably all too aware of your anxiety and shame. Unless you’ve numbed yourself one or another as a coping mechanism. Busyness. Substance abuse. Adrenaline. Lustful pursuits. Etc. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UdLvj9A6_T0/U970TFPYo3I/AAAAAAAAF6s/W3BKNA0vEPw/s1600-h/image111.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-aL-wQ3cjCkY/U970Ty9k4aI/AAAAAAAAF6w/zlHFWsrD2Tk/image_thumb63.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>8. </b><b>Violence is at the center</b><b> of a world ruled by fear.</b> <p>No matter how well intentioned we may be, we find ourselves trapped in systems of violence in a world ruled by fear. Maybe we become comfortable with violence, and adopt it as a strategy to fend of scarcity. Or we have so much violence done to us that we use it to defend ourselves or get revenge. Or maybe we participate in violent systems because non-violent systems are so few and far between it seems impossible to survive and not participate. Or maybe we only use violence soberly, somberly, and with grief that it has come to this, in order to defend the defenseless. We can be a victim or a victimizer. But there is no escaping the central role that violence plays in the world under the authority of its prince. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3CYYf7JtxOY/U970UX1U4yI/AAAAAAAAF64/PNgDEMdpTqs/s1600-h/image112.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Yrnkz7nmSkw/U970VD43s1I/AAAAAAAAF7A/quf-5tYCE8o/image_thumb64.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>I mentioned the book “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah last week. I’d like to read you a section to illustrate the reality we all live in, because his experiences show it in great relief. Ishmael was 12 when he fled attacking rebels in his home country of Sierra Leon. A gentle boy at heart, he was conscripted into the government army at the age of 13. He became a warrior, a soldier, capable of terrible acts of violence. He and his friends were given cocaine and other drugs to numb them to the trauma of war and hype them up for fighting. Eventually, he and some of his child squadmates were released into a UNICEF rehabilitation center. He was so confused as they drove him away from his military commanders, wondering how he had failed as a soldier to make them reject him. He was so distressed he looked for opportunities to steal the guns of the civilian guards who drove him to the rehabilitation center, kill them, and make his escape back to the army. <p>[read cafeteria fight scene from “A Long Way Gone”…] <p>I don’t think it’s an accident that Jesus calls the ruler of the world under the grip of fear a “prince.” It suggests a world in which no <i>Father</i> is around. Those boys in a Long Way Gone were fatherless too. They’d had to make their own way in a horrible world, and they couldn’t understand that there might be another way to be, that there might be another world. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-skJYW9ZgQpU/U970V-8Y0tI/AAAAAAAAF7M/kmQvd9Kot2c/s1600-h/image113.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MXgAPMhwM9c/U970WoytdlI/AAAAAAAAF7U/46lhhWqJL88/image_thumb65.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>A world where fear wasn’t in charge. A world where Love is in charge. <p>The Holy Spirit’s entrance signals the end of the reign of the prince of this world. It signals the beginning of a world where the Father is giving good gifts to his kids. A world where Jesus, the beloved son, who knows no fear, and only Love, is in charge. <p>[read Poppay’s story from “A Long Way Gone”…] <p>How could Poppay suffer their blows, and then return with a smile, seeing everything clearly, no concern for belonging, no value in violent strength, free to be vulnerable? <p>The Holy Spirit is how. Poppay lived in a world ruled not by the prince, but by Love. <p>Here’s the experience and the ground rules in a world ruled by Love: <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Jt28UtdbHM4/U970XKFoFDI/AAAAAAAAF7Y/w4Q-v80NHPs/s1600-h/image114.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-u1zWpM4iwZA/U970X8dXlFI/AAAAAAAAF7g/mDPyy4tepcM/image_thumb66.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>1. </b><b>We are not</b><b> on our own. </b> <p><b></b> <p>The Holy Spirit is <i>with</i> us in the most profound way. We have the <i>experience</i> of not being alone, not just the announcement. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Jf6duszacLE/U970YcihqLI/AAAAAAAAF7s/7J7wRoIR7to/s1600-h/image116.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-zXSnYEWZ7O0/U970ZGrR0RI/AAAAAAAAF70/ezvuiT8HCBQ/image_thumb68.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>2. </b><b><i>Enough</i></b><b> is true</b><b>; scarcity is an illusion.</b> <p><b></b> <p>Remember, one of the primary functions of the Spirit is to help us <i>see.</i> It is one thing to believe the promise that God will provide, it is another to look at the world around you and <i>see</i> that what God has been showing you is his faithful provision, day after day. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QnnmjBF1hhA/U970aLKqN2I/AAAAAAAAF78/HdmoFJHKfe4/s1600-h/image117.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-z5L-GZL14tw/U970aij9DSI/AAAAAAAAF8A/oYxUVpX8FPE/image_thumb69.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>3. </b><b>Because there <i>is</i> enough</b><b>, trust (expressed in waiting) is what we need to successfully survive.</b> <p><b></b> <p>How often do parents say to anxious kids – hold your horses, there’s plenty, relax, wait, I’ll bring it to you when it’s ready. The Holy Spirit is God himself with us, waiting for the time to be right for his provision. The Spirit within us waits, his timing impeccable, teaching us to trust. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-W45XfDRd9YI/U970bDMEJDI/AAAAAAAAF8M/lZVSfkgwYIU/s1600-h/image118.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LDB8Fg5aFNs/U970c9IFLgI/AAAAAAAAF8Q/pQCHLVyl5JE/image_thumb70.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>4. </b><b>Belonging matters still</b><b>, but it starts with God, and God alone. </b> <p><b></b> <p>The human being filled with the Holy Spirit has a profound awareness of the sufficiency of God alone. I know of no other way to describe this, except to invite you to ask God to experience it in a way that is true for you. It is a profoundly freeing experience. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-QJhnLVJsm-4/U970doYbOKI/AAAAAAAAF8c/R5HYCC13v8Y/s1600-h/image119.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LYqEMInpWlU/U970eA0Jg6I/AAAAAAAAF8g/wZrcKf2qyGU/image_thumb71.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>5. </b><b>God has forgiven our flaws,</b><b> so our belonging is <i>secure</i>.</b> <p><b></b> <p>Exile is always the opposite of forgiveness in the scriptures. The presence of God within us through the Spirit is the truest evidence of forgiveness. Again this is a security that can be believed through trusting, but is more potent when it is an experienced reality. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-SZtAoCeg_fw/U970eu3AWFI/AAAAAAAAF8s/p-bsIj2-KO0/s1600-h/image120.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-JmXBmC1CvJo/U970fRbS1cI/AAAAAAAAF80/iXwvvx_OBZw/image_thumb72.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>6. </b><b>Our shared vulnerability connects</b><b> us to each other and is the context in which we experience provision from God; Vulnerability is therefore embraced.</b> <p><b></b> <p>Jesus told his students to not leave Jerusalem until they had been “clothed with power from on high.” The gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s response to our vulnerability. He meets us in our nakedness and weakness and clothes us with his Spirit, with himself. He clothes us with an invisible Spirit that is power from on high. It’s God’s way of bonding us to himself and to each other in our nakedness, robbing nakedness of shame and robbing vulnerability of weakness. Vulnerability is therefore made beautiful and holy. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gEfcqG_aS1s/U970gBU1TQI/AAAAAAAAF84/XY4oLfBtg64/s1600-h/image79.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-qWUM1vIyuE8/U970goy5HXI/AAAAAAAAF9E/c3TAzyiZivM/image_thumb31.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>7. </b><b>Therefore we have nothing about which</b><b> to be anxious or ashamed. </b> <p><b></b> <p>The Holy Spirit is described by Jesus as a comforter and as a defense counselor. Comfort is what we need to be healed of our anxiety, and a defense counselor is what we need to be healed of our shame. The Father knows what he’s doing in the sending of his Spirit. He’s not a rookie at rehabilitation like the UNICEF team might have been for Ishmael Beah. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-4t_SFl5B4rg/U970hfJL6YI/AAAAAAAAF9M/DzGzVJWiOCc/s1600-h/image77.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uhlxb4KB7_Q/U970if0DXsI/AAAAAAAAF9U/SXBivuUB4Hk/image_thumb29.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>8. </b><b>Shalom (Peace<sup>4</sup>) is at the center</b><b> of this world. Peace with God, peace with ourselves, peace with others, peace with all of creation.</b> <p><b></b> <p>This is why Jesus enters that locked room after his resurrection and says to the disciples, twice, “Peace be with you.” And then breathes on them and said, “Receive my Holy Spirit.” <p>The prince of this world creates disruption in every relationship – with God, with our selves, with others, with creation itself. A disruption that always leads to violence. <p>But the Son of the Father, the newly anointed King, brings peace. The Spirit says <i>It’s Ok</i> from the God whom you just murdered. Says <i>it’s Ok</i> about you who see only your flaws. Says <i>it’s Ok</i> about others who threaten you. Says <i>it’s OK</i> about a creation that seems wild and scary on the one hand and unwilling to give up its provision unless you take it forcibly on the other. A peace mediated through the Holy Spirit, through his breath breathed on them, through a fresh wind blowing through a new creation. <p>This is what Alive – Life After Easter is all about. The Spirit of God poured out on us so we can say, as brothers and sisters of Jesus, the beloved Son, “Abba, Father.” <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GQvo4OC4d2E/U970iwvIypI/AAAAAAAAF9c/UPky_d4ADHA/s1600-h/image75.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-FVqPd2PlWJc/U970jkACwmI/AAAAAAAAF9k/fi1jOVSwyHM/image_thumb27.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>14</sup></i><i>For those who are led by the Spirit of God</i><i> are the children of God. <sup>15</sup>The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” <sup>16</sup>The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. <sup>17</sup>Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.</i> <p><i></i> <p><b><i>Romans </i></b><b><i>8</i></b><b></b> <p>So let us ask, wait, listen, go and do. Filled by the Spirit. Led by the Spirit. Born again into a new world where Love is in charge, displacing and making new a world previously in the grip of fear. Let us see reality as it really is, as the Spirit helps us see, and let us awaken one another to the activity of God’s Spirit, everywhere, all the time, in everyone. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tmcJnH_hTuk/U970kFU7vNI/AAAAAAAAF9o/D-K5XAKjsCQ/s1600-h/image73.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-P190dqgD52s/U970lLGNhYI/AAAAAAAAF90/xxpw4GtIBIQ/image_thumb25.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Practical Suggestions:</b> <p><b>1. </b><b>Receive a Father’s da</b><b>y present from the Father.</b> <p>Invite the Spirit into your anxiety and/or shame. Very specifically, tell God what you are anxious about or feel ashamed about, and ask him for the gift of the Spirit. Do this today, at the end of the day, before you go to sleep, as a way to celebrate Father’s day. <p><b>2. </b><b>Secure your kids’</b><b> belonging.</b> <p>(for parents of children): <b>tell your kids before the day is over that they are a great son or daughter. </b>Regardless of their behavior or affections towards you. As a way of imaging the Father who breathes his Holy Spirit on us; as a way of imitating Jesus who announces peace to us. Consider making it a regular habit. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-37295410878607439842014-08-03T19:44:00.001-07:002014-08-03T19:44:48.553-07:00Alive // Life After Easter / Freedom to Be<p> </p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 06/08/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p>18 years old, living in Belfast, playing basketball for Queen’s University. Going out to the pub with the team after games. Wanting them to like me, to fit in, to belong. <b>Trying to figure out how to <i>be</i>.</b> Knowing some of my teammates lived with me in this house of modern monastics. Knowing some of my housemates knew my parents back home. Wanting <i>my housemates and my parents</i> to approve of me, to fit in, to belong. Trying to figure out how to <i>be. </i>A constant tension, a push and pull, a tug of war. <p>Years later, I think to myself, <b>what would that experience have been like</b> without the energy and attention drain of that “imagined approval of others” tension? <p>From an early age, we learn to be <b>different people in different settings</b>. We act one way with mom, and another with Dad. We are one way at school with our teachers, and one way with our friends, and another way at home with our families. In part because <b>we discover we can get certain results</b> by being certain ways with certain people. And in part because this is just <b>how we figure out who we are</b>, trying on personalities like we try on clothes, seeing which ones fit and make us feel good about ourselves. This isn’t unhealthy, necessarily. It’s <b>part of growing up</b> and learning to navigate our world. <p>However, once we’ve matured, having this kind of “split-personality” experience <b>doesn’t serve a healthy purpose</b> <b>anymore.</b> It’s exhausting, wasted energy, unproductive, even counterproductive. <b>It’s a dis-integration of our selves</b>, and ultimately damaging both to us and those around us. <p>Perhaps you’ve experienced it. Being one person at work – because you know what gets the job done there, what wins people’s approval, what keeps you from taking too much flack. Being another person – or maybe a couple – at home. Someone with your spouse, someone else with your kids. Someone with your neighbors, or your teammates. Someone else at the club or the pub. If you’re a churchgoing type, maybe you add your churchgoing self, your Sunday self, to your growing collection of selves. At the end of the day, <b>you can feel like you’re lying to everyone,</b> even if just a little bit. And maybe you’re not even sure which self is the real you. <p><b>What if there was a way to become fully integrated</b>, to live as one human being everywhere, the same potentially incomplete, potentially growing, but genuine person in all of those settings? <b>What if faith</b> – the context for so much hypocrisy – could actually be the thing that was meant to open the door to that kind of experience, to give us <b>the kind of freedom we need to be the same person everywhere? </b> <p>What if part of being Jesus’ disciple was being given what you needed to not be organizing so much of your life around the imagined approval of others? So that you could be an employee or employer or spouse or friend or parent or child or teammate or regular at Cheers (or Fenders or whatever) and simply <i>be<b>.</b></i><b> Just you, exactly as you are</b> – giftings, talents, passions, hurts, history, dreams, flaws and all – <b>everywhere.</b> <p>This is part of what <b>the gift of the Holy Spirit </b>poured out on planet earth on Pentecost <b>is all about</b>. Giving us the freedom to be our in-process selves with one another, without fear. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sOQzICqaapo/U97zR5gG5BI/AAAAAAAAF0M/KvVFm7mamTY/s1600-h/image55.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-udiPaD4v0jc/U97zSk7n2cI/AAAAAAAAF0U/KdnOT2ER3oQ/image_thumb19.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Because to be filled with the Holy Spirit</b>, the divine breath that hovers over the waters of creation, the living, wild wind that blows where it pleases, the animating energy at the heart of all that we call Good, <b>is to be filled with Love</b>. And, as scripture and experience and research all bear out, perfect love drives out fear. Even, and especially, the fear that causes us to organize our lives around the things that we think will cause us to belong, or succeed, or give us protection from the negative judgments of others. <p>So we’re going to take 2 Sundays, starting today, on Pentecost, to talk about how <b>the Holy Spirit given on Pentecost empowers us to be the same growing-in-love person everywhere, all the time.</b> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--_CLiPf3U7Y/U97zTN4NolI/AAAAAAAAF0Y/iig1oAGpX5k/s1600-h/image57.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NBUqw0FpEcw/U97zTwxUfrI/AAAAAAAAF0g/Eh4VlHpWNkc/image_thumb21.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>As a reminder to all of us, and perhaps as an introduction to anyone newer, Pentecost is the day in the Christian calendar when we celebrate, remember, and reflect on <b>the remarkable and earth changing event that took place in Jerusalem 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection.</b> Pentecost just means 50, and it was the Greek name given to the Jewish festival of Shavuot, or Feast of Weeks. It took place 7 weeks and 1 day after the Passover (7 days X 7 weeks + 1 day = 50 days), thus “Pentecost.” <p>After his resurrection<b>, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem</b> until his Holy Spirit came. They weren’t entirely sure what he meant by that, or what to expect, but they had enough faith to do it, to be obedient. So they waited, praying, until something extraordinary happened on Pentecost. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-y9iYRtBvxxQ/U97zUUN2ghI/AAAAAAAAF0o/N9kLLm-kl3Y/s1600-h/image59.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Y44_64QfKhg/U97zUzbxKLI/AAAAAAAAF0w/9sR3h3uPqvo/image_thumb23.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>2 </i></b><i>When the day of Pentecost came</i><i>, they were all together in one place. <sup>2</sup>Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. <sup>3</sup>They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. <sup>4</sup>All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.</i> <p>Jerusalem is a crowded city, flooded with people from distant countries who have gathered for the Feat of Weeks, and this explosion of languages in loud praise draws attention. Some are amazed because they hear Galileans speaking in the native tongues. Some see just the weirdness and spectacle of it all and think these students of Jesus are drunk. <p>So Peter, one of their leaders, addresses the crowd and lets them know that they aren’t drunk, but rather <b>that a new age has dawned, something long promised by God, where our relationships with him and one another are transformed.</b> And he explains about how Jesus is the anointed king of this era in human history, where the kingdom of God has begun to come to earth. Thousands of people hear his message and get baptized and join with them, giving birth to the Jesus movement. And from that moment on, the Holy Spirit is everywhere in the world, changing our experience of God and one another and life in the ways we’ve been talking about these last several weeks. <p><b>So what does that have to do with freeing us</b> to be the same in-process person everywhere, without fear? Everything. <p>Let’s dig into it a little bit. <p>It will help to begin by seeing the parallels between what happened on Pentecost and a major event in Israel’s history. Shavuot (the Hebrew name for the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost) is a festival celebrating when God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. That’s significant, because God giving the Holy Spirit is the next major step after Sinai in his freedom-giving, love-drenching plan for humanity. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-9HClqnB0sT0/U97zVgK8e4I/AAAAAAAAF08/FjONYSYQ7bo/s1600-h/image61.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6hmYQUEu7Ew/U97zWC5fwcI/AAAAAAAAF1A/klEUsb-lyi8/image_thumb25.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Israel had been enslaved for 400 years in Egypt prior to what happened on Mount Sinai. <i>400 years</i>. Generation after generation after generation after generation who only knew what it meant to live as a slave. And <b>fundamentally slavery is the denial of in-process personhood. </b>The slave exists only to serve and contribute to the personhood of the master. Life in Egypt was entirely a fear-based response to the demanding and more powerful oppressor. <p>But interestingly, in the midst of their slavery, God gave a gift to the Hebrew slaves that was a sign of full freedom coming. That gift was <b>birth unbridled</b>. They kept having babies. More and more, despite the best efforts of the Egyptian slave masters to stop them. Slavery could not contain the freedom God intended. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-lu6IYc5aQcg/U97zWvyJqyI/AAAAAAAAF1M/6c-xVe1Z10s/s1600-h/image63.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YPBZsdL-azY/U97zYq20hhI/AAAAAAAAF1U/oS3z7KVCgHg/image_thumb27.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>After 400 years, God delivered the Hebrew slaves on the first Passover, in which they ate a meal of a slaughtered lamb while God dealt a crushing and costly blow to the Pharaoh and all of the Egyptians. A few days later, the Hebrews were liberated and crossed the Red Sea, and their pursuers were defeated. But the rag tag bunch that had been rescued had <b>no idea what it meant to live in freedom</b> yet. All of their habits and customs were derived from their lives as slaves. All of their actions had been dictated to them by their slave masters for the benefit of their slave masters; they had precious little experience living as free people. So 50 days after they crossed the Red Sea, they found themselves at Mount Sinai, and <b>something dramatic happened.</b> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--a2r5P6anck/U97zZrpFYJI/AAAAAAAAF1c/S3Gv4Ylh-Vc/s1600-h/image66.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TBraHMswscE/U97zaP8TGXI/AAAAAAAAF1k/laTXrHYekKk/image_thumb31.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>And it happened on the third day</i><i> as it turned morning, that there was thunder (qolot – voices) and lightning and a heavy cloud on the mountain and the sound of a ram’s horn, very strong, and all the people who were in the camp trembled…And Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD had come down on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And the sound of the ram’s horn grew stronger and stronger. Moses would speak, and God would answer him with voice. And the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the mountaintop, and the LORD called Moses to the mountaintop, and Moses went up.</i> <p>This bright and noisy birth is how it begins that the Hebrew slaves are formed into a nation, a people freed from slavery and devoted to God, <b>spoken to directly by God, given words that teach them the way of life as free people</b>, that are intended to keep them on the path of life and away from the path that leads back to Egypt, and to slavery, and to death. These words set them apart as God’s people. Holy words that <b>reveal God to Israel</b>, and are meant to shape them in ways that <b>reveal God to the world</b>, eventually opening the door for the whole world to the freedom that Israel is meant to enjoy. <p>Much in the way that parents have rules that <b>teach kids to live in life-giving ways while they don’t yet have a well-defined sense of self or awareness of the selfhood of others. </b>A wise parent’s intention might be that the child would grow up and become a fully-formed human being who can love herself and love others as she loves herself. <p>This seems to be God’s intention for Israel: for them to become a family of people aware of their unique identity as people specially beloved by the God who is Love, who can, out of their belovedness, extend that belovedness to the world. <p>But of course, it so happens that the nation of Israel, God’s firstborn son, <b>makes a mess of its freedom from the outset. </b>Israel does not allow its heart to be shaped by the gift given it on Sinai, but instead turns the law into an idol that <b>sometimes it worships and sometimes it discards and ultimately that it uses for its own purposes, </b>as a tool to exercise power over others. Sort of like the kid who uses his parents rules not to lead him to growing in love and freedom, but to keep his siblings in line so he can feel like he’s charge. <p>And so Israel missed out on the freedom giving purpose for which the law was given on Sinai, and Israel’s heart became like the stone the ten commandments were written on, and not living and active like the words themselves. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-LJFic6aOc9o/U97zbKpOf5I/AAAAAAAAF1s/D4pEqHgMrIA/s1600-h/image68.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cEcKtL8hQb4/U97zbp1yvWI/AAAAAAAAF1w/s4cw8F12Hqg/image_thumb33.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>That’s why we find this prophecy in Ezekiel<i>: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.</i> <p>What’s the difference between stone and flesh, after all? It’s the difference between slavery and freedom. A stone has no will or intention or selfhood, only moved from the outside by the external forces to which it is subject<b>. Flesh is alive, free to be moved from the inside by love</b>, by passion, by conviction, by choice. God made us to be his image-bearers, free as he is free, subject only to him, and subject only through the freely given love and devotion of one self to another. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GXwg1ikPPGo/U97zcBB-4II/AAAAAAAAF14/FVXLEeQeTHU/s1600-h/image70.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-vDQomXUrXMk/U97zcxYAivI/AAAAAAAAF2E/UmZgVYnJysE/image_thumb35.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>In Israel, after the last prophet Malachi speaks, there is a 400 year period of silence from God. A silence during which the nation of Israel finds itself under the occupation of the Roman Empire. <i>400 years.</i> <b>The same amount of time Israel had been under slavery in Egypt. </b> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mJtfrRc6MlY/U97zdZ5o3eI/AAAAAAAAF2M/7fNWkfQcQpk/s1600-h/image72.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-OKac2deOZ-E/U97zeXEBB6I/AAAAAAAAF2U/ny0-YSvyb90/image_thumb37.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Enter Jesus. The only begotten Son of God, <b>the Word made flesh, dwelling among Israel.</b> Filled with the Holy Spirit, living faithfully as Israel was meant to live, the freest human being on the face of the earth. Free from slavery to sin. Freely following the path of self-giving love, all the way to death. Like a lamb led to slaughter on Passover. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0XchwXWL2V4/U97zfBHpnvI/AAAAAAAAF2c/tXJka8JA1J4/s1600-h/image74.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-InzypNLX8TE/U97zf-RJDxI/AAAAAAAAF2k/14t7IKCOmuA/image_thumb39.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus and his students share a meal that Passover night, but that night will not be the night the Pharaoh’s firstborn is killed. That Passover the firstborn and only begotten son of God will be killed. A sinless death that deals a crushing blow to sin and death. And then, a few days later, all of humanity is liberated from sin and death in the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb, a new exodus, a new crossing over from slavery to freedom begins. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nN-czwkni4A/U97zglsowtI/AAAAAAAAF2s/r1FkpDNk2b0/s1600-h/image76.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MfxI-ApUitQ/U97zhaTWEyI/AAAAAAAAF20/bBkA7avxpTY/image_thumb41.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Now 50 days later, the disciples aren’t on a mountain, but they are in an upper room. <b>It’s time now for a people who have been enslaved to sin for every generation in human history to enter into full freedom.</b> For the first time. Full freedom. Full of freedom. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-rD5R-jbF1_E/U97ziWQL04I/AAAAAAAAF28/fiF9m0wWK84/s1600-h/image78.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ir_rzipf4fA/U97zjIpgAGI/AAAAAAAAF3E/RJ260a4PRPc/image_thumb43.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>2 </i></b><i>When the day of Pentecost came</i><i>, they were all together in one place. <sup>2</sup>Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. <sup>3</sup>They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. <sup>4</sup>All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.</i> <p>Do you see how much this is <b>like the giving of the law on Sinai</b>? There’s blowing and sounds and fire. And yet it’s not the same, either. <p><b>Receiving the Spirit of God is a lot different than receiving the laws of God</b>. It’s different on some pretty profound levels, differences that change everything about the lives we lead going forward. The Spirit isn’t etchings on stone; it’s <b>breath and energy capable of <i>resting on</i> and <i>dwelling in</i> </b>a person. Designed to empower the kind of freedom the law could only point towards and prepare us for. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EcdrHP9Ad8c/U97zkF-_IXI/AAAAAAAAF3M/XlwGPYJtT8Q/s1600-h/image80.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TB95fZnFFEk/U97zk07bb9I/AAAAAAAAF3U/IPQnsN8A7PE/image_thumb45.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We’ll unpack the particulars more next week, but for now, just consider <b>how different it is to live life from an internal compass and energy source vs. externally oriented motivations.</b> Because that’s the fundamental difference between a law on tablets and being filled with the Holy Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iDWuxEhomBk/U97zlht_b9I/AAAAAAAAF3c/TtQTUNHz_5k/s1600-h/image82.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--v34FV2de7w/U97zmfg-4gI/AAAAAAAAF3k/hF92SAN6rlo/image_thumb47.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>As Jesus said, when he described what life would be like for people filled with the Spirit<i>: “The wind blows wherever it pleases…so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” </i>Wherever it pleases. That’s the very epitome of freedom, isn’t it? <p><i></i> <p>Let’s start with an easy to translate environment like church. <b>Do you act like you act in church because of the rules of the church people?</b> Because of their expectations and judgments? (for example…) Or because of who you are and what you need and what you are longing for and hoping for and how you feel led by the divine energy and breath within you? (for example…) <p>Well, if you act like you act in church environments because of the rules and expectations and judgments, then <b>as soon as you’re out of the environment, you might as well be someone else. </b>Because other environments have different rules and expectations and judgments. Places like work or your family or the club or school or the bar or your team. (for example…) <p>But if it’s because of who you are and what you need and what you are longing for and hoping for and how you feel led by the divine energy and breath within you, then that doesn’t change when you leave the church environment, does it? It’s exactly the same at work or in your family or at the club or at school or at the bar or on your team. <b>Because you’re you and what the Holy Spirit is doing in you is the same thing he’s doing in you everywhere.</b> (for example…) <p>And it might even be the case that not only does being filled with the Holy Spirit free you to be able to be the same person you are becoming everywhere you are, <b>it also frees you to care about different things wherever you are.</b> So instead of caring about the norms of the place and everyone else’s expectations and judgments, you start to instead pay attention to how the Holy Spirit – the one who is energizing and animating you – is energizing and animating the place and the people around you. <p><b>You start to notice, and you start to nudge.</b> Because you’re free now, free like you’ve never been before. And that changes everything. The Holy Spirit changes everything. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-p_u-7aJ5VZQ/U97znMJrN-I/AAAAAAAAF3s/D8aSnR3ksjk/s1600-h/image84.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qnTonN-gXto/U97znitrEeI/AAAAAAAAF3w/xFrX060k9S0/image_thumb49.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Practical Suggestions:</b> <p>1. Identify Your Egypt. Where is the one place you act least like the real person you believe God’s Spirit is energizing and animating you to be? Church? Work? Family? Etc. Ask the Spirit to help you see (remember, that’s what he does first and most often) and to help you notice when it’s happening. Freedom begins with the noticing – ask Moses about that time he saw a bush on fire. <p>2. Identify Your Upper Room. Where is the one place you act most like the real person you believe God’s Spirit is energizing and animating you to be? Church? Work? Family? All by yourself in the woods? In your car? Ask the Spirit to help you see that the truth about that environment that helps you be at peace enough to be most fully the person God is making you to be is actually true everywhere else, even in your Egypt. Because freedom is experienced through faith. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-9365858994450270052014-08-03T19:42:00.001-07:002014-08-03T19:42:40.342-07:00Alive // Life After Easter / Everywhere<p><em></em> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 06/01/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jBMKzv_W06w/U97y3d655BI/AAAAAAAAFxM/bmdWjfmVj6Y/s1600-h/image52.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-H8337c-NBn0/U97y4JSm7DI/AAAAAAAAFxQ/g8l5yQHC5eA/image_thumb21.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>Looking to connect with God not long after my mom’s death, wrestling with identity questions. The spit had hit the fan in my life, feeling alone, disconnected, unsure of myself. Running at Riverside Park in Manhattan, evening descending, 18000 songs on random shuffle. A nudge to pay attention, that maybe the Spirit had something to whisper to me through the music. Next song comes on, a showtune. One of Ronni’s songs in my collection. No way God can speak through a broadway showtune (obviously!), so my fingers search for the skip button on my headphones, hoping to get to a U2 song, or maybe a worship song, something God might be present in. I pause, a nudge in my heart; let it play. So I do. <p><i>When you're a Jet, <br>You're a Jet all the way <br>From your first cigarette <br>To your last dyin' day. <br>When you're a Jet, <br>If the spit hits the fan, <br>You got brothers around, <br>You're a family man! <br>You're never alone, <br>You're never disconnected! <br>You're home with your own: <br>When company's expected, <br>You're well protected! <br>Then you are set <br>With a capital J, <br>Which you'll never forget <br>Till they cart you away. <br>When you're a Jet, <br>You stay a Jet! </i> <p>As I listen to the lyrics, it’s like God is in my headphones, speaking to me. And then I realize the name of the musical: West Side Story. I’m on the Upper West Side, the actual setting for the musical. Tears start to fall down my cheeks and blend in with the rain that’s started lightly falling. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-r2aFk7EeAds/U97y42eehPI/AAAAAAAAFxc/7x6FPzE2hf8/s1600-h/image51.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NWzNcqxlcRs/U97y5pYDoEI/AAAAAAAAFxk/udHSTkes48Q/image_thumb20.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Alive // Life After Easter is about Jesus alive, present <i>everywhere</i> now after the resurrection through his Holy Spirit. What does that mean for us human beings who live on the bright side of the empty tomb? Well, among other things, it means that the most important reality in our world, whether we are religious or not, is that the Spirit of the Living God is near, available, close, desiring to speak to us, to lead us, to teach us, to change our relationships with one another and with a God who has seemed distant and inaccessible. A Spirit who is a defense counselor, not an accuser or condemner. Love, alive and active in every corner of the world, inviting us to wake up to his presence and activity, and to join him in nudging everyone around us to wakefulness as well. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xsZAOMgA_p4/U97y6ZH-FTI/AAAAAAAAFxs/oJNAEF6Qa9c/s1600-h/image54.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-CmQdPQbWIBE/U97y7UTk2SI/AAAAAAAAFxw/sUbL6_J1LuI/image_thumb23.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Last week we looked at how Jesus nudged some friends awake after his resurrection, in a passage in Luke 24. Jesus calls us to join with him in being a nudger. People who are awakening each other to the presence of the God who is already here. A nudge here. A nudge there. <b>Our only agenda to bless, to serve</b>, to cooperate with God in announcing and demonstrating and embodying <b>the good news of the God of grace and peace.</b> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-c7l6tdXyhc0/U97y8FJSxwI/AAAAAAAAFx4/BIV3E3pqJfM/s1600-h/image56.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Ui7LmoL41oE/U97y8nD_R1I/AAAAAAAAFyE/sT0kdRYP3Po/image_thumb25.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p><b>A quick review of nudging...</b> <p><b></b> <p><b>The first goal of nudging is seeing. </b>Awareness. This is what separates it from the goals behind sales tactics and shoving. The misguided seller and the shover are content with action divorced from sight (examples...). Not the nudger. <p><b></b> <p>Nudges begin by<b> coming near and joining with.</b> <p><b></b> <p>Nudges involve<b> paying attention </b>to the nudge-ee, asking questions, noticing, probing or more, listening. <p><b></b> <p>Nudges are<b> non-anxious and proceed at a graceful pace.</b> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-VpueHNmN-Ns/U97y9eb8SaI/AAAAAAAAFyI/XK4E6YByMTQ/s1600-h/image58.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--oXyXZvz_hA/U97y97vtp2I/AAAAAAAAFyU/rhZb77mFCrA/image_thumb27.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b></b> <p>What we’ll concentrate on today is this: <b>Nudging counts on God being at work <i>everywhere</i> </b>through the Holy Spirit. All the time. In life after Easter, nowhere is off-limits for the Holy Spirit. It's a question for us of noticing. Of recognizing. Of having eyes to see him, no matter where he's present. <p>Let’s try an exercise. <p><object width="418" height="235"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/IGQmdoK_ZfY?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/IGQmdoK_ZfY?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="418" height="235" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> <p>For some of us, some of the time, in some situations and relationships and places, our problem is that <b>we're not expecting God to be present</b>... And because we aren't looking for him, or even because we're pretty sure he wouldn't be there, we miss what Jesus wants to nudge us into awareness of: God is alive and blowing like wind throughout the earth. It’s what almost caused me to miss him in the Broadway song. <p>It’s what happened to Jesus’ disciples on Easter morning, too. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Cp-BybBVmhQ/U97y-syj4PI/AAAAAAAAFyc/iSWl9TNIpCw/s1600-h/image60.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XRsILwaAnp0/U97y_erimRI/AAAAAAAAFyk/ToVUy5nvyLs/image_thumb29.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>9</sup></i><i>When they came back from the tomb</i><i>, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. <sup>10</sup>It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. <sup>11</sup>But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.</i> <p><i>Luke 24v9</i><i>-11</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-DSf__pHprL8/U97zAJWjJMI/AAAAAAAAFyo/UViDk7sgavk/s1600-h/image62.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TD7eXjIIJ78/U97zAlyACFI/AAAAAAAAFyw/SCD-r8ogZQw/image_thumb31.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Their words seemed to them like nonsense... more literally, <i>their words appeared, or were shining, in their presence</i> as nonsense. What we have here is a failure of sight, isn’t it? How can they not see these true words as true? <p>Two reasons. 1, in their minds, <b>women aren’t reliable witnesses.</b> This is a blindness that permeates their culture. And 2, <b>dead people in tombs stay dead people</b> in tombs. This is just an assumption about the way the world works based on their experiences. Which of course is a blindness rooted in the smallness of their worldview. <p>How often do we miss opportunities to find the Holy Spirit alive and kicking in our world because it seems like non-sense to us? Because we’ve got the wrong assumptions? <p>I remember a time, growing up, when I thought the Holy Spirit was only present in “Christian” things. Christian music, Christian books, Christian movies, Christian places, Christian people. And even then, some “Christian” people were suspect. <p>Perhaps you’ve written off the possibility of God being alive and present in your extended family. Or your workplace. Or your school. Or at your gym. Or at Prom. Or at some party this weekend. Or some “godless” activity or passion you have. Or in some painful situation. <p>Because dead people stay dead in tombs, right? <p>And maybe your blindness to the Holy Spirit’s activity and presence goes even deeper than that, like mine did. Not only did I think God <i>wasn’t</i> <i>present</i> in “non-Christian” things, I thought those things were somehow <i>hostile</i> to his presence. That they were somehow able to keep him out. As if the creation could exile the creator, or even want to. <p>Let’s cut the disciples, and ourselves, a little slack, though. Not on the discrediting women front, so much, that bit is foolish through and through. But on the basic idea that there are certain places we can expect to find God and certain places we can’t. Because before the resurrection, God was uniquely present on planet earth in a particular place in the Temple that Israel had built for him, under his instructions. A place called the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant was kept, with two angels on top of it. <p>In Exodus 25, we read about God saying this to Moses: <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NEVh1Q2542Q/U97zBVpM7bI/AAAAAAAAFy8/muwyp8uHv3g/s1600-h/image64.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Cp3jNiOnnN4/U97zCLADGzI/AAAAAAAAFzE/n_tPkUB7J68/image_thumb33.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>22</sup></i><i>There, above the cover</i><i> between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.</i> <p>So maybe we can be forgiven for not expecting to encounter the living God everywhere. Strike that, surely we can be forgiven. However, there were signs even then (one of which we’ll get to in a bit), and it’s especially true now, that God <i>isn’t</i> confined to the Holy of Holies. And he never was. He’s <i>everywhere.</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-am_JFyuo8ks/U97zCl4PL6I/AAAAAAAAFzM/GBDubh0pqoo/s1600-h/image66.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-IQgh8o7xjnU/U97zD-xjh6I/AAAAAAAAFzU/inohsdnh9bE/image_thumb35.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Perhaps you remember in Mark’s account of Jesus’ death, that when he breathed his last, releasing his Spirit (get it, spirit/breath, the same thing; Jesus’ spirit, the Holy Spirit), the veil of the temple, the huge curtain that separates the Holy of Holies from the outside world, was torn in two from top to bottom. The presence of God in other words, busting out into the wide, wide world. And a Roman centurion, one of the ones who oversaw Jesus’ crucifixion, the last person on earth you’d expect to have the Holy Spirit, <i>sees</i> who Jesus is for the first time. “Surely this man was the Son of God!” How did he <i>see</i> that if not for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who makes the blind see? <p>Here in Luke’s gospel, do you remember what the women found when they went to the tomb? <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pw3jNE5cqsA/U97zEkqk46I/AAAAAAAAFzY/IAoVEn9k8HM/s1600-h/image69.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-i7skxdPP870/U97zFCL6MxI/AAAAAAAAFzg/6zsFbnfN0so/image_thumb38.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>2</sup></i><i>They found the stone rolled</i><i> away from the tomb, <sup>3</sup>but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. <sup>4</sup>While they were wondering about this, suddenly <b>two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning</b> stood beside them.</i> <p>These two men are like the angels on the ark of the covenant, and the tomb is like the Holy of Holies, except of course it’s empty now. Because God is out, Jesus is alive, walking about in the garden, his Spirit soon to be everywhere.\ <p>Did we think God can be stuck in a box? Did we think God was only present in "godly" places and among "godly" people? Did we think we could only find him by looking for him where we last put him? <p><b>God has shaken off the chains of death and now he's roaming the earth,</b> his Spirit blowing like the wind. <b>Nowhere is off limits to the resurrected Jesus, nowhere is off limits to his Holy Spirit.</b> <p>In the beginning, God blessed everything. The earth - <i>it's good, </i>God says<i>.</i> The oceans, the land, the animals, the sky, the rivers, the plants. <i>It's good.</i> It's blessed. It's his, he can go where he wants, and he wants it all because it's good. <p>And then, in making us, <b>the soil itself has been infused with Spirit</b>, the breath of God. <p>Sure, the well-ordered and God-inhabited creation has been disrupted by sin. But God has never left the building. Or maybe better said, God <i>has</i> left the building - and now he's everywhere, arriving with peace, the truest kind of peace that restores good order and is marked by his nearness and favoring presence. <p>Listen to what happens when the big payoff finally comes, when all the blindness gives way to seeing. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WysKapCWV0g/U97zFsXljvI/AAAAAAAAFzs/akgD-Y0bp_o/s1600-h/image71.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vDsvbZ5GXrw/U97zGSUBwAI/AAAAAAAAFzw/FhIQ998MCtM/image_thumb40.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>36</sup></i><i>Jesus himself stood among them</i><i> and said to them, "Peace] be with you."</i> <p>That kind of peace is only possible when the Spirit of God is present. <i>Peace be with you.</i> <i>You, image bearer of God, peace be with you.</i> <p><b>Nothing made in the image of God or blessed by God is godless.</b> The word "godless" in the scriptures never means "devoid of God. It always means lacking reverence for God, or polluted, corrupted, profaned. <b>But never, ever "empty of God."</b> <p><b></b> <p><b>Consider a man named Ezekiel.</b> A priest who is the son of a priest. A good priest whose whole life and experience of God is wrapped up in the temple, the place where God dwells. And the temple is destroyed. And the children of God are exiled to the land where Ishtar is god. And his wife is dead. And Ezekiel is dragged through the gates of Ishtar into Babylon. And one day, by a river in Babylon, he has a fantastical, wild vision, with multi-faced creatures and spinning wheels with eyes, and he realizes, <b>God is here.</b> In Babylon. And he falls face down in worship. Right there in the land presumably belonging to Ishtar. Only it doesn't. Nothing belongs to Ishtar. <b>Because, as the people of Israel sing in psalm 24, <i>the earth is the Lord's and all it contains. The world, and those who dwell in it.</i></b> <p><b>Consider the disciples in a boat</b> out on the water, sans Jesus. And they see a figure out on the water. The water that is filled with terrors. They know, they absolutely know, that when someone shows up out on the water, not in a boat, it's a ghost. Something evil and undead. Only this isn't a ghost. It's Jesus. <i>Courage. No fear. I am.</i> <b>God loves to be outside of our safe boats.</b> Walking on the water all around us. Saying, <i>Courage. No fear. It's me. Awaken each other to me. </i> <p>The resurrected Jesus is everywhere through his Spirit unleashed on planet earth. Are we looking everywhere for him, with expectation? <p>We can’t be very effective nudgers until we are. Because nudging is awakening each other to the presence of the God who is already there. God <i>is</i> already there. <b>Wherever there is.</b> <p>Where have you stopped looking for him, expecting him? <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9RJGB8T494E/U97zG7ol_-I/AAAAAAAAFz8/9bDIVLLkDOU/s1600-h/image73.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xT-Sc2440U4/U97zHk6AYPI/AAAAAAAAF0E/SB3A1Kp848E/image_thumb42.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p><b>1. Turn and Burn</b>. <p>Repent of any false assumptions you've held along the lines of "dead people stay dead in tombs." <p>Do it this way: write down the name of a person or place or situation that you've written off as "godless" or as an unlikely candidates for God's presence and activity. Especially a place you go often or a person you would love to be part of them experiencing the fullness of God's blessing. <p>Get a candle that you like the smell of, and put that paper under the candle. Every time you light the candle or smell it's scent, allow it to remind you that the light of the world is shining there, or on that person, that the wind of the Spirit is blowing there, or on that person. Pray: <i>Jesus, Nudge me awake to your presence, so I can be a nudger. </i> <p><i></i> <p><b>2. Change your Identity.</b> <p>Resolve to stop thinking of yourself as someone who "brings" Jesus to a place or a person. For one, that's a lot of pressure... And 2, Jesus already beat you wherever you think you're bringing him, so you're wasting your time. <p>Instead, receive a new identity as a member of the New Creation Road Show. Like the Antiques Road Show, only you're helping people identify the hidden signs of new creation already present in their lives. Put NCRS on a wristband if you like, or stick it on your review mirror. If someone asks what it stands for, suggest: "No one Can Really Say." If they laugh and ask again, take it as a sign of new creation at work, and tell them what it really stands for. If they look at you like you're weird and move on to another subject, maybe the time for a nudge is still a little down the road. <p>Note, when we talk about new creation, we’re talking about the idea that what God is up to on this side of Easter is making a new creation, repairing, restoring, redeeming, renewing everything damaged by sin, by our lack of trust in him, by our going our own misguided way in so many ways. (For those who like putting pieces together in the bible, connecting the dots, the linen gravecloths in the tomb are probably representative of the linen garments that the high priest would leave behind when he exited the Holy of Holies the last time on the day of Atonement, as he represented God coming into the earth and cleansing his creation.) The Holy Spirit is the breath of God breathed into the new creation soil to bring it to life. So step one is allowing him to fill your lungs, to fill you and animate and energize your life. I’ll be here, up front, to pray for anyone who wants that, or more of that, in their spiritual lungs and lives. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-85029550678136102412014-06-08T10:09:00.001-07:002014-06-08T10:09:27.322-07:00Alive // Life After Easter / Nudge<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 05/25/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p>Difficult challenges a few years ago, taking their toll, not sure how I was going to get through them gracefully. The kind of experiences that led to hopelessness, despair, loneliness. Had dinner with an out of town friend, shared about life and the present circumstances and how I was handling it. He listened patiently, and then said, very simply, and with a sense of excitement that took me by surprise, “You’re getting a promotion.” <p>It was like the lights turned on in my world. Everything looked different. Disconnected things were connected, senseless things made sense. My perspective changed and hope made a fresh entrance into my life. <p>What he meant by a promotion, of course, wasn’t about a new job title or professional advancement or anything like that. It was a much more personal thing, having to do with what God was up to in my world and my life. The specific meaning isn’t really the point. The point is that my friend <i>saw</i> something, and nudged me just enough so that I could see it too. And once I could see it, that’s when everything changed. <p>I’d propose to you that my friend saw what he saw and said what he said with the help of the Holy Spirit. And further, I’d propose that something like that is what the Holy Spirit wants to help all of us do, all the time. <p>Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit as wind. Before wind fills our sails and really moves us somewhere, it gets our attention. It wakes us up. It makes us look around. It shifts things enough that we can see what we couldn’t see before. It moves the clouds so the sun can shine on the landscape in front of us. It shows us that the world around us is alive and calls us out into it. It arrests our wandering brains and gently (or not so gently) brings them into the present moment, where Love always dwells. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8RxruxTEW2s/U5SYUuftVuI/AAAAAAAAFmE/5uZbppFpuK0/s1600-h/image%25255B73%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-B6-fdt_niWc/U5SYVMUBoII/AAAAAAAAFmM/PkXe9WuiyEE/image_thumb%25255B25%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>When Jesus rose from death to new life, he spent almost all his energy getting his followers engaged in a new kind of life, a new era in human history. Life after Easter. Because God is alive among us in a new way. Or, at least, we're coming awake to his living presence in a new way. And he's breathing new life into us, too. So we can live energized by his life. Cooperating with his living presence. <p>Life after Easter is mostly about the Holy Spirit, really. What (or who) the Spirit is. What the Spirit does. How we hear and respond to and experience the Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-PGnLVdVIxy0/U5SYV-lz7mI/AAAAAAAAFmU/ExXWw3VSucE/s1600-h/image%25255B75%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Sdv-UsxqNQY/U5SYWTYDxQI/AAAAAAAAFmc/QfcnyNz5SNg/image_thumb%25255B27%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Today I want to begin talking about how the Holy Spirit brings us into a new kind of relationship with each other. The Holy Spirit makes us nudgers. <p>A little background first. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-V-wffVxf9T0/U5SYW-oXfFI/AAAAAAAAFmk/j1biesvRnqc/s1600-h/image%25255B77%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Svla7YMxlM0/U5SYXkR649I/AAAAAAAAFms/bwqsIlPc2jU/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>The Holy Spirit has been around from the beginning, hovering over the waters of the first creation, bringing order out of chaos. And throughout the Hebrew bible, the Holy Spirit is offered to individuals for specific purposes – ruling wisely, prophecy, art, etc. But it’s always temporary, situational - nothing like what we experience today, after Easter. <p>There is however, a promise, that things will change. That God himself will become more profoundly accessible and known to us, more intimate and personal. Jeremiah, the great Hebrew prophet, wrote this: <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3i1jkUtEVEY/U5SYYgNObCI/AAAAAAAAFm0/3aB5vIpcoKA/s1600-h/image%25255B79%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-utYPyY9b5I8/U5SYZb0wZAI/AAAAAAAAFm8/x15leKDNBew/image_thumb%25255B31%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>31</sup></i><i>“The days are coming,” declares</i><i> the Lord,</i> <p><i>“when I will make a new covenant</i> <p><i>with the house of Israel</i> <p><i>and with the house of Judah.</i> <p><i><sup>32</sup></i><i>It will not be like the covenant</i> <p><i>I made with their ancestors</i> <p><i>when I took them by the hand</i> <p><i>to lead them out of Egypt,</i> <p><i>because they broke my covenant,</i> <p><i>though I was a husband to them,”</i> <p><i>declares the Lord.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4Z0GDYSK62s/U5SYaGekLNI/AAAAAAAAFnE/jP8z5oVyGeU/s1600-h/image%25255B81%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ZcQiGSqE6lc/U5SYatDDEAI/AAAAAAAAFnM/0APruXvQab0/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>33</sup></i><i>“This is the covenant I will make</i><i> with the house of Israel</i> <p><i>after that time,” declares the Lord.</i> <p><i>“I will put my law in their minds</i> <p><i>and write it on their hearts.</i> <p><i>I will be their God,</i> <p><i>and they will be my people.</i> <p><i><sup>34</sup></i><i>No longer will they teach their neighbors,</i> <p><i>or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’</i> <p><i>because they will all know me,</i> <p><i>from the least of them to the greatest,”</i> <p><i>declares the Lord.</i> <p><b><i>Jeremiah 31v31-34</i></b> <p>Following Easter, Jesus’ disciples waited for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and after the Holy Spirit came, they understood that this new covenant had begun. <p>And notice that it doesn’t just change everything about how we relate to God (his law on our minds and hearts – inside of us!), but it also changes how we relate to each other. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4RjlvJVmWS8/U5SYbUx4ORI/AAAAAAAAFnU/zjhNCVC6MRM/s1600-h/image%25255B83%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7slOSfjZyHY/U5SYcEjDyAI/AAAAAAAAFnc/zzlSYsoA0Ss/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i>“No longer will they teach</i><i> their neighbors or say to one another…”</i> <p>Jesus himself said something very similar: <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Cc3kcwFrOcE/U5SYcieFckI/AAAAAAAAFnk/HzozzBbX9c8/s1600-h/image%25255B85%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-F16i39f0lEw/U5SYdIGkiQI/AAAAAAAAFns/qx0Xyxk6Ocs/image_thumb%25255B37%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>8</sup></i><i>“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi</i><i>,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. <sup>9</sup>And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. <sup>10</sup>Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Messiah. <sup>11</sup>The greatest among you will be your servant.</i> <p><i></i> <p><b><i>Matthew 23v8-11</i></b> <p>If we are living life after Easter in the community of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, we cannot have relationships where we are telling each other what to do, or how to think, or where to go, or anything of that nature – one person over the other - but rather relationships where we are servants, <b>nudging</b> each other to help one another see, to come into deeper awareness of the Spirit’s presence and power and prompting among us. <p>It’s not that “teaching” is some bad thing, necessarily, but the witness of the people of God through history is that it’s fraught with danger. <p>Two problems. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-i0oEJ7KTJ9s/U5SYdoVn_YI/AAAAAAAAFn0/az4Q7SJxXpY/s1600-h/image%25255B87%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-CSPCUdYpiGw/U5SYec9P8RI/AAAAAAAAFn4/eelovlDHN_k/image_thumb%25255B39%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>One, it’s so easy to lord it over one another, to use our power for our own gain, to manipulate others. We become sales people and shovers. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pLbMX4caERk/U5SYe8-pOeI/AAAAAAAAFoA/7pYn7r4iJv0/s1600-h/image%25255B89%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-YQJSar0MK9Y/U5SYfda-EbI/AAAAAAAAFoI/uDA-GED6WKM/image_thumb%25255B41%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>And, two, it tells a fundamentally untrue story about ourselves to one another, about what it means to be a human being. The true story is that we are all sisters and brothers, but we function in different roles than that all the time, don’t we? And those different roles can mask the truth of our sibling-ness, often to detrimental effect [parents, bosses, doctors, law enforcement, prison guards, etc.] <p>Nudging, on the other hand, is the kind of activity brothers and sisters can thrive on. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-oQiTUW4NeWc/U5SYf6rrrCI/AAAAAAAAFoU/58UyxU8x6U0/s1600-h/image%25255B91%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-rdZL-y1y5sw/U5SYgYg2N2I/AAAAAAAAFoc/X0dUueukJoE/image_thumb%25255B43%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>There's no manipulation or pressure in a nudge, is there? <p><b>Our job is to nudge.</b> <p>Nudge. <b>Wake up.</b> Look. <p>Nudge. Hey, <b>did you see that</b>? <p>Nudge. Look at you! <b>Well done</b>. <p>Nudge. I'm here, <b>how's it going</b>? <p>Nudge. Shhh...<b>something's happening.</b> <p>Nudge. Wow, <b>can you believe that</b>? <p>Nudge. Woah, <b>careful there</b>. <p>Nudge. Woah, <b>did you feel that</b>? <p>Nudge. Oops, did I press to hard? my bad. <b>Please forgive me</b>. <p>Nudge. <b>Do you need a hand</b>? <p>Nudge. <b>Here he is</b>. The one you've been waiting for, right there. <p>Nudge. Your number just got called. <b>It's your turn</b>. <p>Nudge. <b>Go for it.</b> I'm cheering you on. <p>Nudging <b>affects both</b> the nudger and the nudge-ee. <p>Nudging is <b>an act of friendship</b>, of love. <p>Nudging is <b>up close</b> and personal. <p>Nudging is invited, <b>welcomed.</b> <p>Or sometimes it's not - but even when that happens, or especially when that happens - it <b>can open the door</b> for more honest relationship. <p>Nudging happens <b>at the right time</b>, in the right place, and it can happen <b>anywhere, at any time</b>. <p>Nudging <b>isn't rushed or forced</b>, yet nudgers never hesitate or sweat bullets either, because <b>nudges happen naturally</b>, instinctively. <p>Nudges produce <b>smiles and embraces</b>, not narrowed eyes and clenched fists. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-uJl_WVRlRL8/U5SYhFMgNqI/AAAAAAAAFok/LOUPvismBpM/s1600-h/image%25255B93%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-V9QAn62yJzk/U5SYhlbDzfI/AAAAAAAAFos/L92Qh_Li4ec/image_thumb%25255B45%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>What is nudging all about? Our text today will be <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001-S8JOcynHV_xo0UCGC20OF13a3YaJOBmmDnCwibOIljaQCQ15_CVdvsqnkt7V6IB0MdwnFJ40vqJXBYGU4aMukTuf2cCMY7HwMRSVdllh8h9p7FS16ugNoNZm77pLCBtvIbdayu3CMP2vp4tClcwSA==">Luke 24</a>, where Jesus<b> awakens human beings</b> to their first awareness of the living presence of the God who they thought was dead. <p>It takes place a couple of days after Jesus has been executed on Roman cross, and everyone who loved him is despairing and despondent. <p>Let’s see what this story can teach us about nudging. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-DyQnlWkiKmA/U5SYiOzi37I/AAAAAAAAFow/3uwSclQlblw/s1600-h/image%25255B95%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Mtt_jhabMMg/U5SYijiDFWI/AAAAAAAAFo8/jRW2bYyE3Lo/image_thumb%25255B47%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>Now that same day two of</i><i> them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. <sup>14</sup>They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. <sup>15</sup>As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; <sup>16</sup>but they were kept from recognizing him.</i> <p><i></i> <p><b><i>Luke 24v13-16</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-f40-SYBDXWo/U5SYkaYC2pI/AAAAAAAAFpE/v062YJo7wF0/s1600-h/image%25255B97%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4YzbZFritzA/U5SYk7G02SI/AAAAAAAAFpM/vPdhwN2OvlM/image_thumb%25255B49%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Jesus <i>comes near</i> and <i>joins with</i>. This is the context for all nudging. Coming near and joining. This is the relationship we are to have with one another. A nearness that love inspires and fear despises. Fear says stay away or stay above. Love says approach, come close. Nudging isn’t possible without love. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-E5TYXD014wM/U5SYlXD-jYI/AAAAAAAAFpU/Sbyhmayi8So/s1600-h/image%25255B99%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cloYJ21dF8Q/U5SYmChBDcI/AAAAAAAAFpY/T_CMQAOWpcY/image_thumb%25255B51%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>17</sup></i><i>He asked them</i><i>, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”</i> <p>Jesus <b>pays attention</b> to them. Asks them a question. -Nudge. His nudging begins by getting them to pay attention to themselves. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mWep7fPzlvI/U5SYmn9hEbI/AAAAAAAAFpk/CMzKhbPledk/s1600-h/image%25255B103%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-U-ChxSnhzoE/U5SYnDXWdtI/AAAAAAAAFps/szLH1Mh8UbE/image_thumb%25255B55%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i>They stood still, their faces downcast</i><i>. <sup>18</sup>One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>19</sup></i><i>“What things?” he asked.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QEJL2DRK99A/U5SYngAjD6I/AAAAAAAAFp0/WMRcpqWHr1s/s1600-h/image%25255B105%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cz37gtT5geI/U5SYoWQgSeI/AAAAAAAAFp4/NKKlcDZV_dg/image_thumb%25255B57%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i>“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. <sup>20</sup>The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; <sup>21</sup>but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. <sup>22</sup>In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning <sup>23</sup>but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. <sup>24</sup>Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RP8-REDON30/U5SYoy8W34I/AAAAAAAAFqA/3zUVf4AjVUI/s1600-h/image%25255B107%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-9coY_GVVU1o/U5SYpxhx_mI/AAAAAAAAFqM/exrjOENMrLM/image_thumb%25255B59%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>25</sup></i><i>He said to them,</i><i> “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! <sup>26</sup>Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” <sup>27</sup>And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.</i> <p>Jesus <b>notices</b> their expressions. Probes for more. Listens to their answer. <b>Surprises them with a very different perspective,</b> an unexpected viewpoint - one that speaks to what they already know, <b>but tells a different story about it</b>. - Nudge. <p>The perspective that Jesus has comes from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the one who helps us see, and the Spirit is the one who helped Jesus see who he was and what his life was all about and what the scriptures were saying about him in the first place, years earlier. So what Jesus is telling them, the nudge he’s giving them, is a nudge that comes from the Holy Spirit. <p>I’m persuaded that all seeing that brings true new perspectives that had never been seen before can be the work of the Holy Spirit. And not just religious perspectives. Whether it’s Einstein or Copernicus or Galileo or Darwin or DaVinci or Rembrandt or Handel or Miles Davis or Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr, the Holy Spirit is the one who helps the seeing happen. <p>But back to Jesus in this story of nudges… <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nqqqqOD3HZ4/U5SYqgoJywI/AAAAAAAAFqU/0dfYkU5HH5o/s1600-h/image%25255B109%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tK9JViIq1AY/U5SYrLQr7kI/AAAAAAAAFqc/Mbieb8B0OeQ/image_thumb%25255B61%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>28</sup></i><i>As they approached the village</i><i> to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. <sup>29</sup>But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.</i> <p>Doesn't make himself a nuisance, <b>acts as if he's going on. </b>– Nudge. Some nudges can only be given when the nudger is strongly welcomed; Jesus is sensitive to this and waits to discover how they feel towards him before any further nudging. <p>We carry incredible anxiety with us, and anxiety is like static in communication. Especially when a person is anxious towards you, it’s almost impossible to nudge well. It will always feel like a threat, an aggressive attack. The wise nudger is sensitive to this, like Jesus. Better to wait until the person is inclined toward you and makes that clear. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-oopcLhrpPP4/U5SYrzK7AXI/AAAAAAAAFqk/jL0dDx5SKr0/s1600-h/image%25255B111%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zVZwyP56yCY/U5SYsba4UVI/AAAAAAAAFqs/jrf8OlC30xE/image_thumb%25255B63%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>30</sup></i><i>When he was at the table with them</i><i>, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.</i> <p>Jesus accepts their invitation. <b>Blesses their meal.</b> S<b>erves them</b>. - Nudge. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8xpuWTUtQos/U5SYtBvhzUI/AAAAAAAAFqw/gVEiV3Yf7Q4/s1600-h/image%25255B113%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-IYctNC9SyZo/U5SYtoUOrkI/AAAAAAAAFq8/7p4oesLF_pI/image_thumb%25255B65%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>31</sup></i><i>Then their eyes were opened</i><i> and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. <sup>32</sup>They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”</i> <p>Their <b>eyes are opened</b>, and <b>they see him</b>. And <b>they see themselves.</b> They see that <b>God has been at work in them</b> all along. <p>Can we see now what nudging does? The blind see. The Holy Spirit is having a field day. Seeing happening everywhere – God is seen, self is seen, the past is seen, the scripture is seen. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2aBJynjbhzc/U5SYuC2WhBI/AAAAAAAAFrA/RfdCsDK90Mc/s1600-h/image%25255B115%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-2oaOrPVlhTs/U5SYugFTLvI/AAAAAAAAFrM/Wz1K1wf23b0/image_thumb%25255B67%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p>Opened = torn asunder // it’s like there is a rupture between the dimensions where God dwells and the normal dimensions of our embodied existence. The heavens and the earth joining together, light shining. Order from chaos, new creation. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and it all starts with nudging. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-c8o6zYslin0/U5SYvJD3fAI/AAAAAAAAFrU/j83c7bjIb0A/s1600-h/image%25255B117%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ARA5UjTex8Y/U5SYvl6s8TI/AAAAAAAAFrc/HPzwfVLSbzg/image_thumb%25255B69%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><i><sup>33</sup></i><i>They got up and returned at once</i><i> to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together <sup>34</sup>and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” <sup>35</sup>Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.</i> <p><b>They turn around</b>. At once! – they are energized, animated, enthused - it’s the Holy Spirit at work, after all. <p>And <b>they tell their story</b>. <p><i>This</i> is the fruit of many nudges. <p>Now <b>they are witnesses</b>. <p>Now <b>they have eyes</b> to see. <p>Now <b>they can join in the nudging</b>. <p><i>This</i> is how life spreads in the kingdom of God. The shift from faces downcast, leaving the city of peace to running towards it, full of joy and energy, brimming with good news and eyes alive with wonder. It’s all the fruit of a<b> nudge here, a nudge there.</b> There is no wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am drama. No techniques. No systems. <p>Just <b>people paying attention to the resurrection-infused world</b> around them. And helping one another pay attention. <p>Jesus at the center of it all. Never pushing, always responding to their hunger and invitation. Patient. Never frustrated or angered at the slowness of the process. <p>Joining them in the normal, unexceptional things of life, looking for the right time <b>to reveal the holy and divine present in the midst of the mundane. </b> <p>Never defensive about their doubts of him. <p>Never cursing them. <b>Always blessing them.</b> <p><b></b> <p><b>Until all the nudges make a landing pad</b> for the Holy Spirit, until all the nudges <b>open the curtains enough for the light to flood in. </b> <p><b>Everything you need to know about Life after Easter </b>can be found in Luke 24. Things are not what they seem. Jesus is alive and present everywhere without boundaries, often unrecognized. We are often reading the signs wrongly, but the signs are there to be read. Every nudge is a part of long process. There is a bigger story to be told, if we can see it with God's help. The very things that disturb and frustrate and sadden us are sometimes the very things that bear witness to the Living God, if we have but eyes to see it. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-e2133fbwC3Y/U5SYwdYenSI/AAAAAAAAFrk/B3X2KbtcPCA/s1600-h/image%25255B119%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tALK7Nh5Za0/U5SYxWHf4OI/AAAAAAAAFrs/ieXpDNZRCRg/image_thumb%25255B71%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="420" height="315"></a> <p><b>Practical Suggestions:</b> <p><b>1. Get nudged. </b> <p>Put a target on your shoulder. Invite people close to you who love you and know how to pay attention to the God who is already there to nudge you. To point out something they see God doing in your life that maybe you didn't notice. Or to point out something they see God inviting you to join him in that you maybe haven't yet said yes to. Or to point out something they see God doing through you that you didn't notice was him so that you can cooperate with it more fully. Or to tell you a different story - a kingdom of God story - about the facts of your life than the story you've been telling yourself. <p><b>2. Repent of Sales Tactics and Shoves</b> <p>You notice how nice people who work at good stores are to you when you come in? It feels good, but deep down, you know they might be being nice just because they want you to buy something. Not because they actually love you. Is that why you're being nice to an unbelieving "friend." Because you want them to buy something? That's not how God relates to us. He calls us to love people because he loves people. Because it's a family he's inviting us into, not a pyramid marketing scheme. <p>And shoves miss the point as well. We shove someone when we think we know better than they do where they should be at a particular moment in time. God surely knows better than we do where we should be at any particular moment in time, and how often does he shove us? Most of the time God seems more content to let us fall flat on our face, or even let us get hit by a train, than he is to shove us off the course we choose for ourselves, doesn't he? Because he's inviting us into a life of following him, not a life on a leash. <p>So do some business with God and make a settled decision in your heart to get out of the business of selling and shoving. And to get into the joy of nudging. <p><b>3. Do a little homework. </b> <p>Read Luke 24 this week (there’s a lot more to the story!) and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you about nudging like Jesus nudges. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how Jesus has nudged you in your life so far. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-44138014842340190952014-05-18T11:34:00.001-07:002014-05-18T11:34:24.545-07:00Alive // Life After Easter / Sent<p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 05/18/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><em>[story of Evelyn and the bathroom at Denny’s]</em></p> <p>I think we have a longing in common, all of us human beings, whether we are religious or not. And that is a longing to experience love, to participate in love. <p>And if there is a living God – which I believe there is – a living God who is Love in personal, powerful form, most of us would love to experience communication with him in some way. To have the opportunity to connect with him, if connection is in fact possible. Which again, I’m convinced is in fact possible. For every single one of us. At any particular moment, without any pre-requisites except openness to that kind of connection. <p>So that’s why we are looking at this particular story in the book of Acts (give brief background)… <p>[Acts 13:1-12 (<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ud1do0gcv597d3/Acts%2013v1-12.mp4">watch video here</a>)] <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NZnKu-bS7Z0/U3j88Ma7NrI/AAAAAAAAFi8/otjrDDV5GMI/s1600-h/image%25255B13%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ijVI0GauaGU/U3j88wBiG-I/AAAAAAAAFjE/pIseg9tpSzs/image_thumb%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>We’ve talked about the Holy Spirit as the breath of God, the animating energy source at the heart of the universe. A Spirit with will, intention, desire, personality, purpose. A person, in other words, not an “it.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GzWbKhHN6tU/U3j89rxK2BI/AAAAAAAAFjM/qDnsvmVzNfo/s1600-h/image%25255B12%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3oQdaeCVi48/U3j8-D6RKGI/AAAAAAAAFjQ/XtLlSIEIeww/image_thumb%25255B6%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>Life after Easter is life which is animated, energized, directed, enlivened by that Spirit. <p>You and I know what it is to go through the motions. Day after day after day can pass colorlessly, like sand through our fingers. Life can be busy, stressful, anxious, exhausting – and empty. Life without life. <p>Or, we can have life that is full, abundant, life spilling over. Adventure and intense engagement in one moment, restful joy in another, pain and sorrow, even grief. Rhythm and routine, the spontaneous and the unexpected, love, laughter, failure and frustration mixed together. But always alive, even when it’s hanging on a moment. <p>The difference between the two, the mysterious ingredient? The Holy Spirit of the living God. <p>Of course, today, Life after Easter – the resurrection of Jesus - the Spirit of God is everywhere, all the time, available to everyone, but as we talked about last week, the question for us is our awareness and responsiveness.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vWivVvgMzII/U3j8-04gUlI/AAAAAAAAFjc/XlqknyeBo-M/s1600-h/image%25255B18%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tBqbSLptZko/U3j8_bXzPMI/AAAAAAAAFjk/5zwjHwqdIGs/image_thumb%25255B10%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>So perhaps it would be better to say the difference between Alive / Life after Easter and every other kind of life is the difference between being awake to the Holy Spirit’s presence, and being asleep. The difference between responding to the Spirit and ignoring the Spirit. <p>[<i>small group conversation / prayer / walk home experience</i>] <p>Let me tell you a story a man I know told me recently. <p>[Nathan’s vision about the two boats…and the impact on his life] <p>Notice, we’re not talking about the difference between successful lives and unsuccessful lives. We’re not talking about the difference between effectiveness and ineffectiveness, accomplishment and failure. <p>Life in the high performance speedboat might be successful, effective, accomplished. It’s noisy and busy and cool looking. But it’s not really living. When you wake up from it, you realize you’ve been unaware of the beauty and joy around you. And that there is a completely different kind of engine and experience available. <p>At the end of the day, it’s the difference between living in love and living in fear. Love is one kind of engine, fear another kind entirely. Both can power your boat, but only one gives you joy. <p>[<i>note that perhaps if the Holy Spirit were giving you a vision, it might be reversed – you lounging on the deck of an aimless cruise ship, bored out of your mind, Jesus inviting you to get on his speedboat, because that’s where you’ll really be alive. The point is one has joy and life, the other misses out on both</i>] <p>Let’s return now to the Acts 13 passage we opened with.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nGbFdsYWMEs/U3j9AEPY9kI/AAAAAAAAFjo/on7dbA6hJBQ/s1600-h/image%25255B23%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XtdH8kR9YpA/U3j9A2VkzUI/AAAAAAAAFj0/8rY2MhDTsI8/image_thumb%25255B13%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p><i><sup>25</sup></i><i>When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark. <b>13 </b><sup>1</sup>Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. <sup>2</sup>While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” <sup>3</sup>So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>4</sup></i><i>The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. <sup>5</sup>When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i>They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, <sup>7</sup>who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. <sup>8</sup>But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. <sup>9</sup>Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, <sup>10</sup>“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? <sup>11</sup>Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”</i> <p><i>Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. <sup>12</sup>When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.</i> <p>Beautiful and complex interplay going on here if we have eyes to see it… <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-oD6z1ne-M1E/U3j9BKg_boI/AAAAAAAAFj8/pYzMj7andCA/s1600-h/image%25255B28%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Fpd1zNTr0_c/U3j9B_4d7UI/AAAAAAAAFkE/kzMDPqBaxDI/image_thumb%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>[the church at Antioch] <i>Ekklesia</i>, meaning <i>called out into a public place to hear the emperor’s edicts</i> / subverted by the community of Jesus to mean those called out into a community to hear the Lord Jesus. Although, of course, with Jesus, the extra twist is that what they experience is much more personal and particular than edicts. They hear a person who knows them, who sees them, who loves them, who desires life for them, leading them and guiding them into joy. In truth they are the ones called out to listen to the Holy Spirit. <p>[worshipping the Lord] There are a couple of words translated “worship” in Acts. One is proskyneo, which is to bow towards, to kiss – something like what we participate in on a Sunday morning in song, or perhaps on a hike when we try to connect with God through the beauty of nature, for example. But here the word is <i>Leitourgeo</i>: originally referring to service to the state, at one’s own cost. What we might call today, positively, “public service.” The people’s work. <p>Of course, here in Acts, the context is a contrast between two kinds of experiences of authority – Caesar as Lord vs. Jesus as Lord. Under Caesar, in an outpost of the Roman Empire, we can imagine leiturgeo wasn’t so positive; more like the functional slavery of the oppressed. That’s not what the “people’s work” in Acts is all about. The work of Jesus’ people is very, very different. <p>What is the work Jesus’ people do, at their own cost? <p>In the relationship between people and the God revealed in Jesus and the scriptures, we aren’t the workers<i>, God is</i>. Our work is the work of asking, waiting, depending, receiving. This is a great arrangement, isn’t it? Bring on the leitourgeo! <p>We can imagine this probably meant for these people that they were praying. Talking to God about what they needed, praising and thanking him for provision, waiting for him to respond, listening for his voice. <p>And, they were… <p>[fasting] – <i>a spiritual practice of not eating, for the purpose of putting oneself in a posture to ask and receive/hear</i> <p>When Caesar is Lord, and you are one of the conquered, you hope to never hear from him. You hope he just leaves you alone. But when Jesus is Lord, you’re devouring his every word, because each one leads you to life and joy. Caesar’s ekklesia is a community ruled by and energized by fear, but Jesus ekklesia is community ruled and energized by love. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-WsOakBG9MDw/U3j9CaY6wmI/AAAAAAAAFkI/9Fr0GKNKvsY/s1600-h/image%25255B33%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-rRLemGJFDQM/U3j9C-y_cbI/AAAAAAAAFkQ/_RpEPG_Z17M/image_thumb%25255B19%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>So front and center in this story there is Authority. The authority of the Lord after Easter, Jesus the crucified and risen king. <p>There is voluntary submission or giving oneself to that authority on the part of his ekklesia. <p>There is the ekklesia asking that authority for input / direction – slaves whom the master has freed and made into friends, telling them everything about his business. <p>The community of submitted friends who’ve given themselves in devotion to the good King are asked to set apart a couple of its leaders to the King’s purposes. <p>There is an <i>invitation or call</i> to those leaders. <p>The community <i>asks for more help</i> discerning, gives blessing, releases the leaders <p>The leaders follow the leading or calling of the Holy Spirit, who sends and directs them <p>It’s incredibly free and dynamic, interdependent. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-f7nJ32WJAkU/U3j9DqQnJXI/AAAAAAAAFkc/_kywj0e3SEA/s1600-h/image%25255B38%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-FStwI2sMbP4/U3j9EaHNTJI/AAAAAAAAFkg/zC8A1UDdoww/image_thumb%25255B22%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And it’s all ruled by Love. Love that invites us to joy. Love that inspires us to submit in obedience and trust. Love that releases without fear. Love that moves out of comfort into the unknown with courage and confidence. <p>Then, this free and dynamic, ruled-by-love system – what the new testament calls “the kingdom of God” – moves across the ocean and lands in Cyrprus, where it encounters these two characters. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jr-e0bjm38s/U3j9FB14OEI/AAAAAAAAFks/ZwiHZqzSzYs/s1600-h/image%25255B44%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4i9FOF-Foa0/U3j9JLSAxgI/AAAAAAAAFkw/Pn6IytQBDus/image_thumb%25255B26%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>There is a proconsul summoning / inviting and seeking who wants to hear… <p>Who in the end gives himself to the good authority of Jesus, joining in the free, dynamic, ruled-by-love system. <p>And, in contrast <p>There is a false prophet (a manipulator), opposing… Resisting… <p>Who in the end we see wandering around blind, looking for help knowing what direction to go <p>To recap… <p>There is life ruled by a good God, revealed in Jesus, who longs for human beings to experience life, to experience joy in life-giving, personal relationship with him. This good God providing for them in love, freeing them from fear of every sort so they can love one another and be brought into loving community with each other, growing in confidence in his loving provision for them. <p>And there is life under the Roman Emperor. Someone with his own motivations to get the most he can from his citizens, usually through force and manipulation, ruling through fear, his most benevolent seeming acts only a disguise for hidden exploitative agendas. Which of course is a picture of all of human life under the influence of the enemy of life. It’s a form of slavery dressed in the clothes of freedom. <p>Now that Jesus is risen from the dead, all of us are in the position of the proconsul – under the employ of the emperor, but free to choose a new Lord, a new way of life. <p>That life is only possible with the Holy Spirit and an obedience born in freedom and love. <p>The other life – the life we are all too familiar with - always exists everywhere there is the absence of the awareness of the Holy Spirit and an absence of obedience to the Holy Spirit born in freedom and love. <p>One life is like is a joyful dance. <p>The other is like a chain gang. <p>The chain gang is ruled by whips, where the dance is ruled by music. Music is a very different kind of authority from a whip. You throw yourself into the music, love the music, welcome the music into your very being. Good music frees you to become who you truly are as it shapes and calls out of you the whole new you whom you only discover in relationship with its rhythm and melody and harmonies. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-VJiRpv_NLVU/U3j9Jt2BX0I/AAAAAAAAFk8/IRrDw-ECt4A/s1600-h/image%25255B55%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-NVjqvLRZkJg/U3j9KZYRQDI/AAAAAAAAFlA/b59p5YxqiHY/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Like a dance, joyful lives in the community of Jesus led by the Holy Spirit are characterized by a rhythm of purposeful stillness and directed motion. (ask, wait, listen/receive) + (go, do) Each pause shapes the next going and each going gives way to the next pause. <p>The Lord’s agenda for us, and for the world that’s been put under his authority, is life in all its fullness. <p>Every sending on the way is for that purpose. <p>Even the sendings that look like a sending to the cross. <p>Joy is set before us. Always. Always. <p>We’re driving speedboats but invited onto the Love Boat – a boat with a different kind of engine, belonging not to us, but to Jesus. <p>Which do you choose? <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--Rok3978jeU/U3j9K9d9jpI/AAAAAAAAFlM/jO3vN5WVb3M/s1600-h/image%25255B49%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Ocs1yfE0PeU/U3j9LoAl1tI/AAAAAAAAFlY/WIQ6aJofEQY/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p>1. Announce your availability to be sent. Try a prayer like this: Holy Spirit, my life belongs to you, for your purposes for me and for the world. So send me wherever you want today. Tomorrow. And every next day after that. <p>2. Try 1 Hour of Going. Skip 1 hour of television to make a call or write a card or take a walk directed by the Holy Spirit. Take the first 5 minutes asking “to whom” or “to where” and take your best shot at following whatever instructions you become aware of. Don’t worry at this point what you actually say or write or do; let that happen naturally. <p>Note: you can try this whether or not you are a Jesus follower yet. The Holy Spirit is everywhere, for everyone, all the time. This is part of the reality of life after Easter. So give it a shot, see what happens. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-91745081021215824992014-05-12T06:31:00.001-07:002014-05-12T06:31:36.296-07:00Alive // Life After Easter / A Mother’s Voice<p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 05/11/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p>[childhood word-twisting example... “Mom said you had to let me have it.”] <p>Setting aside my deceitfulness for the time being, what interests me in that experience is how my sister <i>knew</i> that wasn’t what Mom said. How did she know? She <i>knew</i> Mom. And something felt off in my report about what Mom was saying. It didn’t <i>sound </i>like Mom to her. And then, a little later, when I heard my mom say my name – “Jesse” – I heard a lot more than my name. I knew <i>everything</i> she was saying. I was busted. How did I know? I knew my mom’s voice. I’d been listening to it my whole life. Even if her voice had been muffled and distant, I would have known what she was saying. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-TXU7S7QmbgE/U3DNGCP3PkI/AAAAAAAAFgo/ckkfPC5w8T0/s1600-h/image%25255B38%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-mDZImtr9HSg/U3DNGwkx-GI/AAAAAAAAFgw/spmHyEke0k4/image_thumb%25255B22%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Which brings us to Alive // Life After Easter. Human beings – you and me-encountering a living God, alive in all the ways we think about being fully alive. Engaging in up-close and personal relationship with us, a relationship that wakes us up to all the life around us, and brings us to life, and gives a new way to live and a new purpose for living. Because at the center of encounters between living beings, and relationships especially, is communication. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--_-JR_0qejI/U3DNHdom0gI/AAAAAAAAFg0/mGW3EmBN55k/s1600-h/image%25255B37%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-snQ00phPlWI/U3DNH8_w2lI/AAAAAAAAFhA/EyJjWvSeMzs/image_thumb%25255B21%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Alive // Life After Easter is about a life in relationship with the living God primarily experienced through the Spirit of God. the energetically animating, non-material, foundationally real, sensually transcendent <i>personal presence</i> who is full of divine creativity, divine order, divine wholeness, divine favor, divine love, and divine goodness. <b>We’re talking about</b> <i>the Holy Spirit</i>, one of the Threeness that is the One God, along with the Father and the Son. Called in the scriptures the Counselor, the Come-Along-Sider. Showing up in the Bible variously and mysteriously in connection with fire or a cloud or a bird or oil. And most especially as the breath or wind of God, the one who blows where he pleases and whom it pleases to come among us <b>with personal intentions</b> and <b>new creation purpose</b>, and who <b>desires to speak to us, to send us on our way, and to fill us.</b> <p>Revisiting our main text that we read last week… <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/--1EAk-PD4C4/U3DNIdVgH5I/AAAAAAAAFhI/XDyrRAh9PwU/s1600-h/image%25255B36%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4s1bn6wGvZE/U3DNJKR8IeI/AAAAAAAAFhQ/D9Cxyfjnses/image_thumb%25255B20%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>In the church at Antioch</i><i> there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. </i> <p><i>Acts 13:1-3</i> <p>While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said… <p>The Holy Spirit <i>said.</i> <p>Say what? Say how? <p>Let me give you the whole answer in four and a half words: <p><b>I don’t know, exactly.</b> <p><b>Normal human speech is pretty awesome.</b> Electrons are firing around in your brain, <b>traveling down axons</b> and stimulating the release of neurotransmitters which <b>zoom across synapses</b> to the next neuron’s dendrites, all of these electro-chemical impulses speeding at up to 268 miles per hour, <b>eventually forming intentional movement of the diaphragm</b> and vocal chords and tongue, shaping vibrations in the air that we call words. <p>These words travel through air molecules as <b>sound waves which strike our eardrums</b> and are translated back again into <b>electrochemical impulses that our neural networks interpret as sounds.</b> If we have enough experience with those particular patterns of sound and the relationship they usually have with our external and internal worlds, <b>we have an experience of meaning</b>. And more electrons fire and more neurotransmitters cross more synapses, and <b>something of the what originator of the speech intended to communicate </b>is more often than not, miraculously, <i>understood</i> by the hearer. <p>But that’s not precisely what’s going on here in Acts 13, is it? <p>The Holy Spirit is <i>spirit</i>, as we talked about last weekend. The Holy Spirit has will and intention and desire and emotion and personality and intelligence and the capacity to communicate, but the Holy Spirit is also <b>non-material, non-physical</b>. The Spirit, so far as I am aware, doesn’t have a diaphragm and vocal chords and a tongue with which to vibrate and shape air and create sound waves that vibrate our ear drums. <b>Which makes things that much more <i>interesting.</i></b> <p>Which isn’t to say the God’s spirit isn’t capable of interacting with and influencing the natural, physical world. <b>Far from it.</b> Matter and energy were <b>preceded by and created by the Spirit</b>, so there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit can have his way with them. It’s just that the <i>ways</i> in which he has his way are mysterious ways. [<i>u2 mysterious ways song is about the Holy Spirit…she moves in mysterious ways…</i>] <p>When Luke writes <i>the Holy Spirit</i> <i>said</i>, he’s reporting <b>an experience of divine communication</b> by these worshipping and fasting disciples of Jesus <b>that isn’t likely to be quite the same</b> as the kind of speech or verbal communication that we normally experience human being to human being. Nonetheless, for Luke, this kind of divine communication has at least 4 things in common with our understanding of “saying.” <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-yuhU44Vh6tQ/U3DNJjPdT6I/AAAAAAAAFhU/e3Xi5GOz07g/s1600-h/image%25255B35%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UCHWIl6VzV4/U3DNKCkn5mI/AAAAAAAAFhg/sjTxeaXpOYs/image_thumb%25255B19%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>(1) that God’s Spirit had <i>something he wanted to say</i>, and (2) he <i>used some means of communication</i> to transmit his message, and (3) that the disciples <i>became aware of something</i> <i>that they perceived to be communication from God’s Spirit</i>, and (4) that they <i>understood the message as direction</i> <i>to set apart Barnabas and Saul</i> for the work to which God’s Spirit was inviting them. <p>For the disciples, and for us too, of course, it all starts with number 3 – <b>we become aware of something</b><b> </b>that we perceive to be communication from God’s Spirit. <p>How? How do we become aware? How do we recognize it as the Holy Spirit? <p><i>I don’t know, exactly.</i> <p>For me, the idea of dimensions a helpful way of getting at what seems to be going on. <p>Our lives take place within the 3 spatial dimensions of height, width, length and the 4<sup>th</sup> dimension of time. Yet scientists tell us the universe contains many more dimensions than this; it’s just that we don’t experience or have access to them. <p>It seems reasonable that God may well inhabit and have access to all of these extra dimensions, and would therefore be capable of being present among us, right here, right now, all the time, in fact, but we would be generally unaware of it. <p>Sort of like if we imagined that we existed in a 2-dimensional flat-land. Like drawings on a piece of paper. <p>What if a three dimensional being wanted to get our attention, and put his finger on the paper? We wouldn’t be able to see it as a finger, more like as a spot appearing in our world. Or what if that being spoke? We wouldn’t hear him – we couldn’t “hear” anything – but our world might well vibrate in some way in response, and that just might be perceivable, and profoundly mysterious. <p>Perhaps something like that is going on in the world after Easter. God is increasingly interacting with our dimensions in ways perceivable by us, leading us to life and bringing us to life with the kind of life that raised Jesus from the dead, embodied in a new kind of physical existence, equally at home in both our dimensions and God’s. <p>Take that if it’s helpful, leave it behind if it’s not. <p>Here’s what I do know. <p>I do know <b>the Spirit of God <i>wants</i> to communicate with us.</b> The Holy Spirit wants us to know <b>the forgiveness and favor and love</b> of the living, wise, wild, just, holy, awesome God. The Holy Spirit wants to <b>teach us and remind us of and reveal to us </b>the way of our strong and humble King Jesus. The Holy Spirit wants to <b>direct us and send us and deliver grace-filled messages</b> on his behalf to hurting and hoping and despairing and disconnected and disfavored and discounted people. <p>And because the Holy Spirit is spirit, and each one of us is, for lack of a better word, uniquely <i>wired</i>, <b>we may hear his voice in a limitless variety of ways.</b> <p>For example… <p>What people will often call <b>a sense, or impression</b>. Like a thought combined with a feeling of leading or instruction or urgency. Could come out of the blue, in a conversation with someone, when seeing somebody, while thinking about something or praying, when reading the scriptures. <p>A <b>feeling</b> in your gut. <p>A <b>dream</b>. <p>A <b>picture</b> or vision. <p>A <b>thought </b>that you can’t shake. <p>What seems like <b>someone talking</b> in your head – still in thought form, but not quite like your own thoughts. <p>What seems like <b>an audible voice</b>, but not coming from anyone else’s mouth, and not necessarily heard by anyone else. <p><b>Someone else saying something</b> but it lands differently, almost like their words have some extra oomph behind them, piercing to a different place in you. <p>A set of <b>connections all at once falling into place</b>, and <b>a dawning certainty</b> of the next right step. <p>A <b>circumstance or sequence of circumstances</b> that <i>say </i>something to you [<i>prayer/arrest story</i>…] <p>Being <b>emotionally moved beyond what you would normally expect</b> when you hear something or become aware of a circumstance or think about a group of people. <p>A <b>growing desire</b> that time and/or inattention and/or competing desires don’t seem to kill. Especially if it’s <b>a desire that leads you outside</b> of your comfort zone. <p>A <b>physical sensation</b> without an obvious natural cause. Chills, shiver, warmth, heat, breeze, tingle, lightness, weight – sometimes even pain. <p>This is mostly <b>pretty natural, non-spooky, non-sensational</b> stuff isn’t it? Which is what people saw in Jesus’ life. There was extraordinary activity of God going on in and through him and his actions, but <b>he wasn’t at all weird or manipulative or super religious or amped up</b>. His language was normal, his bearing was normal – he was what many like to call <b>naturally supernatural</b>. He’s the one we learn from and imitate, as best as we can. <p>Of course, one of the most challenging things about how natural it all is, is this: How do we know it’s the Spirit of God and not just us? <p>4 words. <p><i>I don’t know, exactly. </i> <p>But I’m pretty sure I can point you in the right direction. <p>There is one woman in our lives whose voice nearly all of us would recognize without fail. <p>[play “hey Mama” verse 2…] <p>(song charted in the top 10 despite never being released as a single – tells you about our connection to our moms, doesn’t it?) <p>We recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice in much the same way we recognize our mother’s voice. <p>How do you know it’s your mother on the other end of the phone? <p>She’s got a particular way of talking to you, doesn’t she…? She’s got language she tends to use with you, doesn’t she…? She’s got things she would be likely to say and things she wouldn’t say in a million years, doesn’t she…? <p>Here’s the thing about our birth mothers: before we know anything else about them, we know their voice. Before we know what they look like, what they smell like, what they taste like, what they feel like, we know what they sound like. <p>[<i>progression of fetal senses in womb: sensitivity to touch during end of 7<sup>th</sup> week, taste 13-15 weeks, smell at 11-14 weeks, hearing at 18 weeks, vision last to develop at 26 weeks when your eyes open for the first time, but you can’t touch, taste, smell or see your mother until after you’re born… however, you are recognizing and preferring mother’s voice to stranger at 25 weeks, heartbeat changing</i>.] <p>How can you recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice? In many of the same ways you recognize your mother’s voice. <p>It just might be the Holy Spirit if… <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-YxRAoajT578/U3DNKvRZYZI/AAAAAAAAFho/Q1ObBKd80-o/s1600-h/image%25255B34%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-wDwsYl-PiWw/U3DNLCJE0OI/AAAAAAAAFhw/hquojgKxd9g/image_thumb%25255B18%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>You just <i>know</i></b><b> it’s God’s Spirit.</b> <p>One evening, Jesus told an inquisitive man named Nicodemus that we must be “born” of the Spirit. <p>Life After Easter truly is a new life. Life that enters into its fullness, like our first, biological life, with birth. If we put our trust in Jesus, commit ourselves to his way of being in this world and his way of loving our neighbors and his way of loving God, if we repent and believe his good news of God’s kingdom, if we let go of our lives and our sin and hold on to his life and his goodness, then we experience <i>a new birth</i>. Which implies, doesn’t it, that when we become a new creation, that new creation takes place in a different womb than the one in which we were first created. New creation begins in God’s womb. <p>Something of the process of new creation gives us the capacity to recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice, the Spirit who gives birth to us. <p>You just <i>know</i>, even if you can’t explain it. We’ve been hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice our whole lives, even if just now we’re becoming aware of the person to whom the voice is attached. <p><b>Something comes into your heart or mind when God is near.</b> <p>You’re praying. Worshipping. In church. Walking in the mountains. Serving the poor. Etc. Sometimes the Spirit speaks out of the blue, of course. But pay special attention when you’re already aware of his presence. <p><b>The usual suspects are ruled out.</b><b></b> <p>You know what <i>you</i> tend to think about. You know the messages playing like a broken record in your brain. You know the weaknesses you have that the enemy of your soul likes to exploit. <p>If what you’re sensing/hearing/thinking is different from any of those things and is consistent with the message and agenda of Jesus, it just might be the Holy Spirit. <p><b></b> <p><b>You can’t shake it.</b><b></b> <p>A Jesus-consistent idea came into your head, or a Jesus-consistent emotion came into your heart, and now it won’t go away. Somebody said something to you, and you can’t stop thinking about what they said (and not because it hurt your feelings). <p><b>Your brothers and sisters in the community of faith affirm or confirm the message you’re hearing.</b> <p>Don’t be embarrassed. Ask for help. Bounce what you’re hearing off others and ask for their feedback. Your brothers and sisters in God’s family love you, and have the same mother you have, and they can help you discern his voice. <p><b>Fruit follows.</b><b> </b>Trusting and/or acting on what you hear produces “the fruit of the spirit” in your life or someone else’s life. (Galatians 5:22-23: <i>But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.</i>) This is the real test. <p>Love <p>Joy <p>Peace <p>Patience (long-suffering) <p>Kindness <p>Goodness <p>Faithfulness <p>Gentleness <p>Self-Control <p>These are particular directions the Spirit is always blowing. If the voice you are hearing is blowing you in a different direction, it’s not the Spirit of God. [<i>dreams</i>…] <p><b></b> <p><b>When in doubt, ask, wait & listen some more. </b> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UXrvi83lFRE/U3DNLyJ7HKI/AAAAAAAAFh0/HLG5STl9OF4/s1600-h/image%25255B33%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-UhZSLnx_f7I/U3DNMeuomMI/AAAAAAAAFiA/IJvyLK5ReuQ/image_thumb%25255B17%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>It’s up to the Spirit to make himself clear enough to us for us to act. It’s up to us to practice listening enough that when the Spirit is speaking, we’re paying attention. Fear not, with perseverance, you <i>will</i> start getting the hang of it. <p>Once the Spirit has made himself clear enough, … <p><b></b> <p><b>Go. Do</b><b>. See what happens. </b> <p><b></b> <p>There will always be a wind at your back if you take steps in direction of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. <p>Against such things there is no law. In other words, why not give it a shot if you think it’s the Spirit’s voice moving you in that direction? What have you got to lose? <p>If it leads to one of the above, or to repentance, or healing, or encouragement, or new creation, you’re learning to listen to and to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. <p>If it doesn’t, you’re learning too. <p>And either way, your mother will be proud of you. <p>Practical Suggestion: <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-FjIf6t8CgQQ/U3DNM4gjhtI/AAAAAAAAFiI/FU5YOH-ao-Q/s1600-h/image%25255B32%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VdeAOcbYg08/U3DNNvACPPI/AAAAAAAAFiQ/xAozCkFgXgQ/image_thumb%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Listen with Music + Silence. Pick a song you really enjoy (preferably one that helps you connect with God in some way), ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of his/her presence and to speak to you, and then stay in silence for a length of time equal to the song after, continuing to listen. Make note of any feelings/experiences/thoughts/sensations and repeat each day this week. Compare your notes at the end of the week. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-50998609599058532462014-05-04T13:52:00.001-07:002014-05-04T13:52:51.705-07:00Alive // Life After Easter / The Spirit<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 05/04/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p>Sometimes the resurrection can get us thinking about life after death. But Jesus seemed more interested in getting his followers engaged in a new kind of life, a new era in human history. Life after Easter. Because God is alive among us in a new way. Or, at least, we're coming awake to his living presence in a new way. And he's breathing new life into us, too. So we can live energized by his life. Cooperating with his living presence. <p>Because Christianity isn’t a religion, not at first. At first, it’s about an encounter with a living God, a God who is alive in all the ways we think about being fully alive, and more, and his response to us, and our response to him. It’s personal, in other words. A relationship. A relationship that wakes us up to all the life around us, that brings us to life, that gives us a new way to live and a new purpose for living. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Rh0vpJNnI_M/U2aoYFBdToI/AAAAAAAAFc0/h3gFQ8gfk5s/s1600-h/image%25255B88%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vcGtNHGQB1s/U2aoYxwrOxI/AAAAAAAAFc8/EUopK8RGQw0/image_thumb%25255B47%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Today, we’re launching a new sermon series called "Alive // Life After Easter." It's mostly about the Holy Spirit, really. What (or who) it is. What the Spirit does. How we hear and respond to and experience the Spirit. Because almost every interaction and experience we with have with the living God is an encounter with God’s Spirit, alive and active in the world, in our lives. And because a life of faith without any interaction with God’s holy Spirit is like being God’s Facebook friend. You can see each other’s status updates, and maybe comment on each other’s wall, but even those can get buried in a deluge of Farmville requests. Or maybe it’s like a marriage on paper only. It’s all well and good that you signed the paperwork and had the ceremony, but what was that all about? Tax benefits? Health insurance? <p>Life After Easter is about Jesus showing up, Alive, right where we live, and breathing his Holy Spirit on us and sending us out to be part of the most important thing happening on planet earth. It’s about God being with us, powerfully, every step of the way, bringing us and the world to life with the kind of life that the tomb couldn’t keep down. <p>At first, we'll just be trying to understand and get up close and personal with the mystery of God's Spirit ourselves. But, along the way, we'll also be talking about nudging others to notice and respond to the Living God in their own lives. Because God's alive, everywhere, all the time, with life for everyone. <p>turn to Acts 13:1-12 <p>The basic outline is straightforward; it’s a story that wouldn’t be out of place today. <p>A couple of Jewish guys living in Turkey – one of them <b>a sharp, fiery go-getter</b>, and the other the guy you want in your corner<b>, the guy you know has your back</b> - get <b>an idea for a business venture</b>, a brand new franchise that just might change the world. So they decide to <b>pick up and move</b> out. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LcuxEnoNSok/U2aoZvKyNZI/AAAAAAAAFdE/Us7ciYdYSU0/s1600-h/image%25255B86%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-gRr07G3AxkY/U2aoafMh-9I/AAAAAAAAFdM/gdbG4Xcq13M/image_thumb%25255B45%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>They figure they’ll <b>set up shop at first in the one guy’s home country</b>, an island called Cyprus, where he’s still got relatives and a network of relationships that might help them get a foot in the door. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_ccRR5WQI_Y/U2aobIJIRHI/AAAAAAAAFdQ/SpsaKxtap24/s1600-h/image%25255B84%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GP-QsMjmwXs/U2aoblE-DPI/AAAAAAAAFdY/iQREiZ5vhEE/image_thumb%25255B43%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p> Plus, it’s got great beaches. <p>Once they arrive at their destination and get to work, <b>some drama develops</b>. It all starts when a local bigwig and a really sharp guy, catches wind of these Johnny-Come-Latelys. He gets interested in what they’re doing, what their angle on the business is. So the bigwig <b>invites them to his place</b> on the beach to make their pitch. <p>Meanwhile, the big-wig’s assistant, who’s been getting his funding from this bigwig, realizes Mr. Deep Pockets could decide to get behind these new guys instead of him. This would be really bad news for him and his cash flow, so <b>he starts underhandedly trying to sabotage</b> the new entrepreneurs. <p><b>A big showdown ensues</b>. A face-off between the fiery go-getter and the big-wig’s assistant. Whoever wins gets the big-wig behind their business venture. That’s when things get a little bit Hollywood. I won’t tell you what happens – we’ll read it in a moment. <p>The basics, as I said, are straightforward. But as has also been said, the devil’s in the details. And so, it seems, is the Holy Spirit. <p>[Acts 13:1-12 (<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ud1do0gcv597d3/Acts%2013v1-12.mp4" target="_blank">watch video here</a>)] <p>That’s a lot of characters for such a short story, isn’t it? We’re going to zoom in on just one of those characters today. The one that seems to be the main player in this story. No, not Paul, not Barnabas, not Elymas, not Sergius Paulus the proconsul. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tfEogq1wtbc/U2aocZw26rI/AAAAAAAAFdg/geoPjuZkvlI/s1600-h/image%25255B82%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Nniq9mvbSCw/U2aoc4t2PXI/AAAAAAAAFds/DJzYYiq3LfY/image_thumb%25255B41%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The main player in this story, the main player in each of our stories, if we have eyes to see and a heart to respond, t<b>he main player in all the best stories after the resurrection of Jesus, </b>is the Holy Spirit. This whole story is the Holy Spirit’s show, isn’t it? <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jNzlFYVdgiQ/U2aodZBZdxI/AAAAAAAAFdw/I-eio2EmwXY/s1600-h/image%25255B81%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0jXTb0RAnHo/U2aod8sEt3I/AAAAAAAAFd4/Ur3TQkTXCpI/image_thumb%25255B40%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>2 While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, <i>who</i> said…? <p>4 The two of them, sent on their way by <i>whom</i>…? <p>9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with <i>what</i>…? <p><b>What does that really mean</b>, that the Holy Spirit <i>said…?</i> <p><b>What does that really mean</b>, that they were <i>sent on their way</i> <i>by </i>the Holy Spirit…? <p><b>What does that really mean,</b> that Paul was <i>filled with</i> the Holy Spirit…? <p>Many of us have a bit a<b> problem</b> when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We have a sort of <b>a vague, religious idea</b> about the Holy Spirit; to us he’s just the third person of the Trinitarian Godhead. But because our ideas about the Holy Spirit are either so religious or so vague, many of us may have <b>a hard time really picturing</b> what might have been going on in this passage. So we leave it in the category of “stuff that happens with the super-spiritual types who are really tuned in to spiritual things” and <b>we pass right over stuff that’s really all about our everyday lives.</b> <p>And that’s a modern day shame. What if, for all of us, all the time, <b>Jesus desires to speak to us through his Holy Spirit</b> and <b>send us on our way</b> through the Holy Spirit and <b>fill us</b> with his Holy Spirit? What if, because of the fluffiness of our notions of the Holy Spirit, or the religious categories in which we’ve got him locked away, we aren’t even aware of it? (So many of my meetings with people are all about paying attention to that reality...) <p>Today, with this passage in the background, we’re going to attempt to begin <b>understanding <i>some</i> of the what and who and how</b> of the Holy Spirit – not to demystify Him, because that’s not really possible; the Spirit’s mystery only becomes more profound the closer you draw to him – but <b>simply to be able to recognize and receive and respond and cooperate </b>with him. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1kFR-cSV5jA/U2aoef3Mt7I/AAAAAAAAFeA/LJmXTQx77G0/s1600-h/image%25255B80%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-489Qpj9MJrk/U2aofKq8WOI/AAAAAAAAFeM/FwQ_nl7VjCM/image_thumb%25255B39%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Let’s start by, for a moment, <b>setting aside religious or biblical terminology</b> and imagine how we might try to help someone <b>understand the idea of spirit generally</b>, someone who’d never read the Bible or seen a Pentecostal preacher on TV. And once we understand the idea of “spirit”, from there try to think about the <i>Holy </i>Spirit. <p>[Bring up a volunteer…use them to demonstrate for the following illustration…] <p>The idea of “spirit” is a little bit foreign to our understanding of the world, it feels a little bit primitive, because our scientific understanding of biological life has crowded it out of our imagination. We understand that expanding and contracting our diaphragms brings air into our lungs, air that contains 20% O<sub>2</sub>, which is extracted in our lungs and combined with red blood cells, which deliver it to every other cell in our body, allowing it to facilitate a series of metabolic reactions, converting biochemical energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphates and waste products like water and carbon dioxide…and on and on, energizing and animating our bodies. <p>However, imagine that you are one of the ancients, and you know none of this. You just know this person, full of energy and personality, vim and vigor, laughter and love, anger and enthusiasm. And then, one day, a coconut falls out of a tree and lands on his head. He falls to the ground, motionless. He looks exactly the same, nothing has changed about him at all. He looks exactly like he’s sleeping. Except. Except that he isn’t breathing anymore. And now that his breath has stopped, you’ve come to understand that his energy and personality, his vim and vigor, his laughter and love, anger and enthusiasm are all gone as well. <p>It’s out of this kind of experience that our ancestors developed the intuitive awareness that our <b>physical breath seems to be connected to a deeper force</b> that gives us life. Whatever the <i>it</i> is that makes us really <i>alive</i>. Whatever the <i>it</i> is that we call our “spirit.”<b></b> <p>Which is why the words for breath in the ancient languages of the Bible – ruach in Hebrew and pneuma in Greek – <b>are also the words for spirit</b>. When the one is present, the other is present… And vice-versa. When the one is gone, the other is gone... And vice-versa. <p>[<i>interestingly, the same intuitive process can be applied to understanding the animating energy of the natural world – wind seems to be the same kind of invisible, mysterious force that animates the natural world…as a result, ruach and pneuma are also used for wind, in addition to breath and spirit</i>] <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-t0IxdYGLzbk/U2aofhQpJzI/AAAAAAAAFeU/GiB1B4fG_E4/s1600-h/image%25255B78%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TsxLohZ2THE/U2aogOJzGHI/AAAAAAAAFec/4P2mDoKbk9Y/image_thumb%25255B37%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>There is some kind of animating energy source that we call spirit. <p>Something non-material, but just as real. <p>Something that goes beyond our 5 senses that we can nonetheless sense, and by which our sensory centers may be variously affected. <p>Because even though we know what breath is now –that it’s just a natural, biological phenomenon, there does seem to be <i>something</i> beyond breath at the heart of everything, <i>something</i> transcendent, or maybe subcendent, <i>from</i> which springs the “alive” part of life itself. <p>Something both <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-qJj4g-NPaK4/U2aog7U8-nI/AAAAAAAAFek/4FHoo-TRWII/s1600-h/image%25255B76%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-REwo_lQqKhI/U2aohQ6B-NI/AAAAAAAAFeo/na9IuO-Wq80/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Internal and external. [notre dame] <p>Individual and communal. [team spirit, group vibe, spirit of a city] <p>Creative and destructive. [something came over me, I got caught up in something…] <p><i>Now</i> let’s return to our passage, with more widely open eyes. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GFgvWIPFNgE/U2aoh7G-gXI/AAAAAAAAFe0/JQiE2-2Vn8k/s1600-h/image%25255B74%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-V-bGkuyJ3fM/U2aoif_BiZI/AAAAAAAAFe8/n_Ds7X8iipg/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>When Luke says “the Holy Spirit”, he’s not talking about your spirit, or my spirit, or the spirit of the dance. He’s talking about God’s spirit. The Holy Spirit – by which the Bible simply means the Spirit <i>of</i> God. <p><b>The personal animating energy source</b> at the center of the universe, the Spirit that hovered over the void at creation, the breath of God that when it is present, God is present, and when it is not present, God is not present, and when God is present, it is present, and when God is not present, it is not present. <p><b>Luke’s talking about <i>someone </i>that is non-material,</b> but is as real as real ever has been, or is, or ever will be. A personal presence that is the foundation of all reality – “God is spirit” Jesus says at one point. <b>Someone that goes beyond what our 5 senses can apprehend</b>, but whom we can nonetheless sense, and by whom our sensory centers may be variously affected. [<i>voice thundering in John’s gospel, people’s experience of non-physical presence</i>] <p>Luke’s talking about someone that <b>can be present within us</b>, right at the center of who we are, or as close to that center as we’ll allow him to come, <b><i>and</i> someone that can come to us</b> from outside of us and speak to us or move us or guide us. <p>Luke’s talking about someone <b>who may be present within an individual</b> and <b>also present within a group of people</b>, observable in their relationships and corporate activities and even shared spaces. <p>Luke’s talking about <b>divine creativity</b> and <b>divine order</b> and <b>divine wholeness</b> and <b>divine favor</b> and <b>divine goodness</b> present not in the form of an idea, but in the form of a personal presence with will and intention and desire and emotion and personality – someone you can get to know, someone who can have an impact on you through personal relationship with you. <p>In this one story, we’ve got these three encounters/experiences/accounts of the Holy Spirit’s activity, his observable, experience-able presence. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-bAwIGaRtFkI/U2aojHiu4aI/AAAAAAAAFfE/PX66K2LuA_s/s1600-h/image%25255B72%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-L3Z2YzK2Q2Y/U2aojjof3fI/AAAAAAAAFfM/z6vFK3ADorI/image_thumb%25255B31%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>2 While they were worshipping</i><i> the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit <b>said,</b> “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>4 The two of them, <b>sent </b>on their way <b>by </b>the Holy Spirit, went down…</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, <b>filled with</b> the Holy Spirit, looked…and said…</i> <p><i></i> <p>Here’s my plan. <p>Next week, Mother’s Day, we’re going to explore that first one in some depth: <b>what it means to be aware of the Spirit</b> communicating something, giving some leading, calling, instruction. <p>How does that happen? <p>What’s it look like? <p>How can you tell if he’s talking to you? <p>That sort of thing, which, as it so happens, has something to do with women, generally, and mothers, specifically. <p>Later in May we’ll explore being “sent” and “filled” and what that means in connection to the Holy Spirit. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DGA3WvOwNeY/U2aokJO2MsI/AAAAAAAAFfU/NK0FLnF6yAs/s1600-h/image%25255B70%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-guNy2QJtIYE/U2aokrEY2JI/AAAAAAAAFfc/dNbpFeBCL7k/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>In the meantime, today, we have a very simple question before us. Do you want the Holy Spirit? If Jesus is alive in the world, today, after Easter, through his Spirit, <i>do you</i> <i>want him</i> animating your life – your emotional, physical, spiritual, social life? Energizing it? Speaking to you? Sending you? Involved in your relational groups – your friendships, work relationships, neighborhood, marriage, family? Do you want to get caught up in the creative work he is doing? <p>Because the Spirit of Jesus does not come uninvited into our lives. He’s not like what the scriptures call “evil” or “bad” spirits, spirits that sneak in dark cracks while we’re not looking, or that fool us, or manipulate us, or insinuate themselves into our lives. No, he comes freely to us when our will is joined with God’s will. A process that begins, as Jesus teaches us, when we ask, and wait. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-RTC0rcNRPhQ/U2aolM7w5sI/AAAAAAAAFfk/O-xpCod4aGI/s1600-h/image%25255B68%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YSs6NIeKqv4/U2aolwtfYOI/AAAAAAAAFfs/HFZ9HTxcjBQ/image_thumb%25255B27%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>“How much more will</i><i> your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”</i> (Luke 11:13) <p>That’s why the disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came after Jesus’ ascended into heaven. Waiting is part of asking. It’s part of joining our will to God’s will. Our desires to his. He wants to give. Do we want to receive? Do we really? <p>Remember, God loves to bless anyone who will depend on him, who will ask him, who will take a leap of faith on him. It’s where he gets his glory. The most satisfied customers in human history are those who ask for the Holy Spirit, and who wait. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-mbD5UIH2LmM/U2aomcGB-sI/AAAAAAAAFf0/L9-QmbU_uWQ/s1600-h/image%25255B66%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TshFwWbALmQ/U2aonC0S_nI/AAAAAAAAFf8/ZGdPUOuErKw/image_thumb%25255B25%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b>Ask.</b><b> Wait. Listen</b>. (repeat as necessary.) <b>Go. Do.</b> <p>This is our pattern for life after Easter. Ask. Wait. Listen. Go. Do. We’ll talk more about that another time. Now is the time for asking, if in fact you desire the Spirit of the resurrected Jesus. If you desire the energetically animating, non-material, foundationally real, sensually transcendent personal presence who is full of divine creativity, divine order, divine wholeness, divine favor, divine love, and divine goodness. The Holy Spirit. The defense counselor. The come-alongsider. The Spirit by whom we cry “Abba, Father.” The one who blows where he pleases and whom it pleases to come among us with personal intentions and new creation purpose and who desires to speak to us, to send us on our way, and to fill us. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IFrkFzeqpJg/U2aonil7u4I/AAAAAAAAFgE/qQaedXW5EGU/s1600-h/image%25255B64%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4n1AAYeqO-s/U2aooZTN7tI/AAAAAAAAFgM/1LcEVDpxFls/image_thumb%25255B23%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestion: <p>1. Ask early and often. Everytime you become aware of your breath or the wind, pray “Come, Holy Spirit.” I don’t know what will happen, exactly. That’s the beauty and the terror of inviting another person into your life. Try it as a discipline for a week, an experiment with God and asking. A leap of faith. See what happens. We’ll talk more next Sunday. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-31271330485159920962014-04-29T11:50:00.001-07:002014-04-29T11:50:29.677-07:00Easter 2014: Incomprehensible Goodness<p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 04/20/2014</em> <p><em></em> <p><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p>[Dictaphone story, sale of Straight Talk Plus to Poinsettia on last day of quarter…] <p>God loves to do good to those who depend on him, who trust in him, who take a leap of faith on him. <p>I knew it on that day. I tasted and saw that the Lord was good. <p>In the midst of an anxious system, stress-filled people passing their stress around like the flu in a first-grade classroom, God stepped in with a little bit of life. <p><i>I’m so glad you leaned on me; I was hoping to bring you abundant life today.</i> <p>I don’t remember anything I bought with that commission. That’s not where the life was. <p>I do remember the feeling of being a star when I returned, because of the praise that came my way from Jane, but that’s not where the life was. I knew my star didn’t shine half as bright as the true light that had provided life for me that day. <p>No, the life was in the experience of God present with me in the midst of this stressed out world. The signs of his presence in Poinsettia’s light up the room smile and favor. The signs of his presence in the thrill of last second rescue. The wonder of his surprisingly generous response to my asking. The peace and faith that lasts with me to this day in the ever-fresh discovery that he is real, that he is good, and that he loves me in some kind of personal, aww-shucks, embarrassing and a little silly to talk about to another person way. <p>I have to think that was just the beginnings of a hint as to how the disciples felt when Jesus’ showed up in their locked room, the evening of that famous Sunday, the third day after he’d been killed on a Roman cross. <p>Here’s the story. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aEdv7YpdIbA/U1_0AcwkyzI/AAAAAAAAFWU/FJh86-03PQ8/s1600-h/image%25255B95%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tnsJZRYS5Hk/U1_0BWbUjTI/AAAAAAAAFWc/kv_fjWRnr80/image_thumb%25255B55%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><b><i>20 </i></b><i>Early on the first day of the week,</i><i> while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. <sup>2</sup>So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aWtQhJvyaMI/U1_0CAz5CTI/AAAAAAAAFWk/5sGrwde9i3I/s1600-h/image%25255B96%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_Elm0XMGzDw/U1_0Cuv7zLI/AAAAAAAAFWs/dStSKvcfL9I/image_thumb%25255B56%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>3</sup></i><i>So Peter and the other disciple</i><i> started for the tomb. <sup>4</sup>Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. <sup>5</sup>He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. <sup>6</sup>Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, <sup>7</sup>as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. <sup>8</sup>Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. <sup>9</sup>(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) <sup>10</sup>Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.</i></p> <p><i><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dWcpQunXU08/U1_0DSE1SpI/AAAAAAAAFW0/Y4-SeT3SuT8/s1600-h/image%25255B97%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-98fsKXunWjo/U1_0DwBrG6I/AAAAAAAAFW4/FbgZNIzy-E8/image_thumb%25255B57%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></i></p> <p><i><sup>11</sup></i><i>Now Mary stood outside the tomb</i><i> crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb <sup>12</sup>and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” <sup>14</sup>At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>15</sup></i><i>He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”</i></p> <p><i><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-S5jC9TDEavA/U1_0ESty2RI/AAAAAAAAFXA/mLQIKR9cEDc/s1600-h/image%25255B98%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-c2RmSlU4-xQ/U1_0FDvkqtI/AAAAAAAAFXM/K2F6R1EGsI8/image_thumb%25255B58%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></i></p> <p><i></i> <p><i>Thinking he was the gardener</i><i>, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>16</sup></i><i>Jesus said to her, “Mary.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>17</sup></i><i>Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>18</sup></i><i>Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-9pOBDmx6Jtc/U1_0Fm-05SI/AAAAAAAAFXQ/4bO7Q0WCYV4/s1600-h/image%25255B99%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tGlxIcqkRTE/U1_0GFJB_wI/AAAAAAAAFXc/bo2VE3jmSGc/image_thumb%25255B59%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>19</sup></i><i>On the evening of that first</i><i> day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” <sup>20</sup>After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>21</sup></i><i>Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” <sup>22</sup>And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. <sup>23</sup>If you forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”</i></p> <p><i><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-lOuYe6xvZqo/U1_0GtCOEGI/AAAAAAAAFXk/iVA49l0K2QM/s1600-h/image%25255B100%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FjUUD0HG7YA/U1_0HAMcIGI/AAAAAAAAFXs/XAaUc1hKl0U/image_thumb%25255B60%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></i></p> <p>We’ve spent the last 6 weeks talking about the goodness of God demonstrated in Jesus, and there is no doubt that the resurrection teaches us something about the goodness of God, because we see in it how the Father does good to Jesus who entrusts himself to him on the cross. After all, Jesus had taken the ultimate leap of faith, hadn’t he? <p>But the resurrection teaches us something <i>more</i> than that about the goodness of God. <p>Yes, God loves to do good to those who depend on him. The Resurrection is the ultimate “Amen!” to that truth. It’s the ultimate vindication of Jesus as the good king of God’s good kingdom, the ultimate “Yes!” to the good news Jesus has been announcing and embodying and demonstrating in his pre-resurrection life. <p>But God is really, <i>really</i> good. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-K6Az-PJLLPQ/U1_0H0s2CMI/AAAAAAAAFXw/fsUsxnvmUT4/s1600-h/image%25255B101%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KcPqkbiaMA8/U1_0IaoAgcI/AAAAAAAAFX4/ZiBttPq3EeE/image_thumb%25255B61%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>God loves to do good - <i>so much so</i> that he loves to do good <i>not just</i> to those who trust in him, but also, and even, <p><i>to those who reject him.</i><i></i> <p>To those who persecute him, who do violence to him. <p>Paul writes about it this way to the new disciples in the capital of the Roman Empire… <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i>You see, at just the right time</i><i>, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. <sup>7</sup>Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. <sup>8</sup>But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.</i> <p><i></i> <p align="right"><b><i>Romans 5v6-8</i></b> <p align="right"><strong><em><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-S9beQUWttIo/U1_0JFl_-II/AAAAAAAAFYE/Xz_8UYRhLqw/s1600-h/image%25255B38%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cZltMT8R30s/U1_0J-jz6qI/AAAAAAAAFYM/svp4STtlDv8/image_thumb%25255B20%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" align="left" height="328"></a></em></strong> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p>No one is exempt from the Resurrection-charged Love that Jesus brings to this world with his nail-pierced hands. <p>No one. <p>Not you. <p>Not the people you love. <p>Not the people who stress you out and cause you pain. <p>Not the people who tease you and disrespect you and take out their issues on you. <p>Not your worst enemy. <p>Not the person in your life that doesn’t want to hear another word, ever, about God. <p><i>No one</i> is exempt from Resurrection-charged Love. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-5DRqtcZgONw/U1_0KX_HOTI/AAAAAAAAFYU/-uJFCrgMahs/s1600-h/image%25255B43%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pQCx5ssrWeU/U1_0LMNBhJI/AAAAAAAAFYc/wujQJQJUsQs/image_thumb%25255B23%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We said at the beginning of Lent, the season of preparation for the Resurrection, that Jesus came that they might have life, and have it abundantly. “They” includes everyone, anyone who would receive him. <p>Life for the women in grief. <p>Life for the disciples in fear. <p>Life for the members of the crowd who mocked him and called for his crucifixion. <p>Life for the soldiers who whipped him and nailed him to the cross. <p>Life for the religious and political leaders who organized his arrest and mock trial. <p>Life for the “witnesses” who testified falsely against him. <p>Life for every single one of us who participates, often unwittingly, day after day, in the same enslaving systems of envious desire that focused its Satanic energy on him that Good Friday and whose power he dismantled on Easter Sunday. <p>It’s Jesus’ resurrection that demonstrates that most powerfully. <p>It’s his resurrection that makes it possible. <p>It’s his resurrection that opens the door to us, a door that cannot be shut. <p>Let’s talk about that. What does Jesus’ resurrection from a brutal, violent death have to do with all of <i>us </i>having life, and having it abundantly? <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EEoQJITJm2w/U1_0LpXodmI/AAAAAAAAFYk/IOYpGcyxCO0/s1600-h/image%25255B48%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-T72yICYmu4w/U1_0MZ4kBWI/AAAAAAAAFYs/8lCixULsPR8/image_thumb%25255B26%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Well, it has to do with the wholly unanticipated and striking forgiveness we <i>experience</i>, and are invited to extend, when the resurrected Jesus shows up out of the empty tomb. (<b><i>Forgiveness</i></b><i> is what the peace be with you is all about, and the showing, and the breathing…it’s <b>experienced…</b></i>) <p>A forgiveness I experienced that day at Dictaphone, in Poinsettia’s office. <p>A forgiveness each of us can experience, now that the resurrection has happened, anywhere at any time. <p>Right in the midst of our stressful work. <p>Or conflict with other people. <p>Or in the mundane anxieties of day to day life. <p>Or in the midst of depression or sickness or tiredness. <p>A forgiveness that meets us while we are all bound up by death and the brokenness of our broken desires and sets us free to participate, joyfully and freely, in Life. In God’s Life. <p>To help us see it – because it’s in the seeing of it, the experiencing of it, that its power is made real - we’ve got to go back all the way to the beginning. To Genesis. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-srhYDd55oAo/U1_0NP5CJoI/AAAAAAAAFYw/PGqyflbLpLk/s1600-h/image%25255B53%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ldT2rjmt_4M/U1_0NrxT29I/AAAAAAAAFY8/TtR991DEU1A/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>God is with the first human beings, Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden. Human beings, his image bearers. Meaning, at one level, people who are meant to be <i>like</i> him, to share in his purpose, to participate in his desires for themselves and for creation. Unique in the exquisite freedom of their desires, their wills. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KzRSIaWCuts/U1_0OC-6BSI/AAAAAAAAFZE/8FupJn4WgLI/s1600-h/image%25255B58%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DhRoC_ggOxM/U1_0OzYNyNI/AAAAAAAAFZM/Xn0ulmIfJqg/image_thumb%25255B32%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>I’ve got provision and life for you, </i>God tells them. All these trees, full of good food for you. A tree of life, even. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-rcH6jBq7T7U/U1_0PTIeIHI/AAAAAAAAFZU/FI-xiJs4kG8/s1600-h/image%25255B63%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_dTF80SpTM4/U1_0PxfhvoI/AAAAAAAAFZc/8COuSHU0oIE/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>But also in this garden is a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. <i>Don’t eat from that tree</i>, God tells them. <i>You’ll certainly die if you do</i>. And of course, God desires life for them – he always has – life, and life abundant. <p>Now, we need to notice something about human desire that is very helpful for understanding what happens next. Imitation and desire and powerfully linked. If one person desires something, other people who become aware of that desire are strongly inclined to desire the same thing. It’s even been suggested that <i>all</i> desires are, at root, borrowed desires. Advertisers know this; it’s why they’ll show a celebrity using a product and talking about how much they want it – it makes you and me more likely to want it too. Parents and child-care workers know this too. Picture a play room full of toys, with a single toddler playing with one of them – let’s say it’s a cheap happy meal toy, for example. Now another toddler comes in the room. Of all the toys in there, which toy does she want? The one the other toddler is playing with, of course. <p>So what happens to our ancestors, to Adam and Eve? These image-bearers, created for life, exposed to the desires of God for life, and offered the tree of life, come across a serpent. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gbbFWf6bQAg/U1_0QhCx36I/AAAAAAAAFZg/pjWb6nA5r1c/s1600-h/image%25255B68%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KgZWoDkcXvM/U1_0RKM-VPI/AAAAAAAAFZo/byB5Dot5Huo/image_thumb%25255B38%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>A serpent who points out the tree of knowledge of good and evil, who calls into doubt the idea that they will surely die if they eat of it. <i>You’ll become like God</i>, the serpent says. And in the account in Genesis, the fruit of this tree is now described <i>as desirable</i>. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UE5t61dOVoE/U1_0RnwNRyI/AAAAAAAAFZw/EBmT3evtlMw/s1600-h/image%25255B73%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_B7o3PwAYyE/U1_0SWMbSAI/AAAAAAAAFZ8/YROmwcVlWZo/image_thumb%25255B41%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Because now Eve <em>wants</em> it. She wants it, at some primitive level, because <i>the serpent</i> wants it. The serpent desires to be like God, the serpent desires death for human beings, the lords and priests of God’s good creation. And now she gives some to Adam, who wants the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because <i>Eve</i> wants it. <p>And thus begins what is sometimes referred to in theological language as original sin. Sin that prevents us from imaging, from imitating, God’s desires, God’s will, and instead imaging, imitating the desires of the serpent, and of one another. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3HIt0CgNxuE/U1_0SwZaFRI/AAAAAAAAFaE/9EIoufzGiUU/s1600-h/image%25255B78%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AIBxogH_rAw/U1_0Trb7o2I/AAAAAAAAFaI/SlL_IxZmU9c/image_thumb%25255B44%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We know what happens when our desires are tied up with what other people want. We become rivals. Just like the toddlers in the play room. Two happy kids now fighting over a limited resource. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-q9SIClMrJX8/U1_0UMV2xKI/AAAAAAAAFaU/vKcYxOsk_dA/s1600-h/image%25255B83%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ZDTbaWDagYY/U1_0UvR8v6I/AAAAAAAAFac/GDGtDMUgEt0/image_thumb%25255B47%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And at the end of that story, barring the intervention of Love, is always violence. And death. God in the garden was truthful with Adam and Eve. If you eat of it, you <i>will</i> surely die. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-y97zfTZauis/U1_0VaCy5cI/AAAAAAAAFak/WqdgAFJX9Qs/s1600-h/image%25255B88%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-OZDAO830sBU/U1_0VwEL6bI/AAAAAAAAFas/Oa24ICRdHjk/image_thumb%25255B50%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And thus began a cycle, a system of self-perpetuating violence in human history from which there is no escape from the inside. We can’t always kill our direct rivals, like Cain killed his brother Abel, because if we did, there would never be any civilization or culture. So instead, we temporarily find outlets for our rivalrous envy by unifying in hatred for someone we can pin the blame on for the stress we feel. A process we call scapegoating. We stand in judgment over these scapegoats – people we attribute all kinds of evil to, all the while maintaining our goodness (remember, the tree whose fruit we ate is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) – and we kill them. And remarkably, the tensions we previously felt because of our envy and rivalry calm down for a while, and we can get on with building our cities and countries and empires. But it only lasts so long, and we need new scapegoats. <p>We see the same dynamics in schools with the majority of kids getting along while they tease a couple of other kids – they always find some reason, and feel justified in it, blind of course to what’s actually happening. It happens in workplaces. In politics. In families. In teams and every kind of human organization. <p>Cultural anthropologists, scientists who study human beings and culture and civilization, observe that almost every major culture in history has a founding myth that involves a scapegoat, a person whose death gave rise to the building of that civilization or culture. <p>Scapegoating <i>works</i>, which is why it’s so powerful, and it’s evil at the same time. And when we’re in the midst of participating in it, we’re in darkness about it, feeling good and justified in our persecution of the scapegoat. (Unless you’re one of its victims, of course.) <p>Scapegoating can only give us the dimmest shadow of life, a shadow with a horribly high price tag – the lives of countless victims, and the ongoing price of an existence with fear at its center. Because any of us can become the scapegoat at any time; not one of us is wholly innocent. Every one of us, but for the Grace of the God who is Love, is inescapably caught up in the original sin of rivalrous desire. <p>God sees the violence and death and sin we are enslaved to, and it grieves him. He longs to deliver us, to set us free, to save us, to give us life, and life abundant. <p>Which brings us to Jesus. <p>At the beginning of John’s gospel, the story that ends with the resurrection, John writes about Jesus: <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sxn4vV9xy4A/U1_0WjQmNvI/AAAAAAAAFaw/FmGP29axv5g/s1600-h/image%25255B94%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-pNpEo6o7Fuc/U1_0XE9ANaI/AAAAAAAAFa8/p_yJmRTeV0w/image_thumb%25255B54%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="328"></a> <p><i>In him was life, and</i><i> that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome [could not comprehend] it.</i> <p align="right"><b><i>John 1v4-5</i></b> <p>Have you noticed that it’s almost impossible to understand what someone else is doing when their desires are fundamentally different from yours? This is why the darkness could not comprehend Jesus.<i> </i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8aUucYrQvd8/U1_0Xks1jAI/AAAAAAAAFbE/NRyeCqxuR0w/s1600-h/image%25255B111%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2iqiVigkVW4/U1_0YY0bSiI/AAAAAAAAFbM/G2eLVlCv1hw/image_thumb%25255B67%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus was free from rivalrous desire, from envy. He only does what he sees his Father doing. He was a true image bearer, an imitator of his Father in heaven. All of his desires flow from God, the God who is love. <p>Here’s where the plot gets really interesting… <p>Love’s desire was that God himself would allow himself to become the world’s first truly innocent victim of scapegoating. <p>Only, unlike any victim before him, return, alive on the other side of death, resurrected, to confront the “righteous” ones who heaped their sins on him. Forever taking the sting out of death, shining such a light on sin, on rivalrous desire, that it could be seen for the first time what it is – an imitation of the serpent’s desire, that which is <i>not</i> Love, and be sorrowfully repented of. <p>John continues: <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_bd0d1ULf1A/U1_0Y9IyY2I/AAAAAAAAFbU/a--dbuMPlG8/s1600-h/image%25255B106%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9ptPDZBAVBA/U1_0ZanGT0I/AAAAAAAAFbc/G3h7f4BfixQ/image_thumb%25255B64%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i>The true light that gives light</i><i> to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. </i> <p align="right"><b><i>John 1v10</i></b> <p>We have come to understand that Jesus was present and active in the creation of the world in Genesis, of course. But this text hints at something more. This world – this present system of cultures and civilizations built on scapegoating, was made through the blood of sacrificial victims. Jesus is coming as God, identifying himself with the victims of sinful humanity, becoming one himself. John is saying, in a sense, that not only did Jesus create the world originally, but it was also built on him in his revelation of God himself as the ultimate victim of the scapegoating system. And the world didn’t recognize him. It couldn’t recognize him, so blinded was its sin. God, a victim!? Never!! The gods of this world are always the ones to whom victims are offered. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XUSIadz9FrU/U1_0aJxlF-I/AAAAAAAAFbk/FyzIoKZwR4U/s1600-h/image%25255B116%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qD4eVR0JA0k/U1_0ahIpwwI/AAAAAAAAFbs/pAvleukprGs/image_thumb%25255B70%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Not until Jesus hung on the cross, and the Roman Centurion, the tip of the spear for sin our world, looked up at the shining, holy, blameless victim hanging there, and said, <i>“Surely this was a righteous man.”</i> It’s no surprise there were earthquakes at the crucifixion of Jesus – something earthshaking, history altering was happening. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NAlu7-gu8NQ/U1_0bNCK3qI/AAAAAAAAFb0/eX5VxIjobkA/s1600-h/image%25255B121%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WAL18VCcVPY/U1_0btSFT0I/AAAAAAAAFb8/-WxVERcl0SY/image_thumb%25255B73%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>And now Jesus is alive. Death couldn’t hold him. The blood soaked earth that held so many victims previously, upon which had been built our broken world, had to open up and let him out. Jesus, bearing the wounds of our sin on his body, so that we might see the truth of the awful darkness of sin every time we encounter him, and see at the same time the absolute fallacy of the fear of death that might keep us from following in his footsteps as his disciples. Jesus, coming to us not with vengeance or retribution for what we’d done to him or all of our other victims, but with <i>forgiveness.</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ltfUQFC15bw/U1_0cVd5hEI/AAAAAAAAFcE/_R-SgzgmK1M/s1600-h/image%25255B126%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ichrSRsgHY8/U1_0c8UogZI/AAAAAAAAFcM/SrMZdemmaJw/image_thumb%25255B76%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Peace be with you! <p>Again Jesus said, <i>Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.</i> <p><i></i> <p>He was sent to us with forgiveness, and we are sent into this world with it as well. <p>So let us <i>see Jesus</i>, the light of the world, this Easter. Jesus, the innocent victim of our sin, meeting us with the forgiveness of God, setting us free. Jesus, walking out of the grave into a garden from which springs a new creation, one in which we are free to take up our image-bearing role again, imitating him in his imitation of the Father, imitating him in love. <p>Let us see Jesus everywhere we encounter the goodness of God in our lives, whether in provision as we depend on him or in forgiveness as we ignorantly and willfully crucify him afresh – and see his goodness in the light of the resurrection. <p>The world of the first creation, the City of Man ruled by the Father of lies, is built on the blood-filled tombs of mythologized victims, their pain and cries for justice silenced by death and buried by the judgments and accusations of their killers. <p>But not the New Creation. <p>Because the Prince of that world has met his match in the Prince of Peace, and death has lost its sting, swallowed up in the victory of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. <p>The world of the New Creation, the Kingdom of God, is built from a garden growing up around an empty tomb, its once-but-never-again tenant now alive and well, making all things new through his loving justice, announcing forgiveness with his Spirit-filled voice, a voice that roars like a lion and lands like a kiss. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-18843194806886241732014-04-13T20:02:00.001-07:002014-04-13T20:02:30.086-07:00Leap of Faith – The Mystery of Goodness<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 04/13/2014</em></p><em></em> <p><br><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-jmiuxki0_eQ/U0tPgkWZdGI/AAAAAAAAFRY/-deQmou81sQ/s1600-h/image%25255B57%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ZDIsXTzcmzo/U0tPhYsRWdI/AAAAAAAAFRg/MpTVl2eA4WA/image_thumb%25255B21%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a></p> <p>How many of us have had the experience of our worst fears (in some dire-seeming situation or another) <i>not</i> coming true? Like you were sure you were about to be fired, and then you weren’t. Or like you were sure going to have to owe more taxes than you could afford to pay, and then it wasn’t all that bad. Or you thought something was going to be impossible, or that you were going to die, or whatever, and then it wasn’t, or you didn’t, or whatever. <p>[<i>earliest experience – 9 years old returning from Germany, only to discover plane was overbooked and my seat was taken</i>...] <p>Have you ever thought to yourself, in the aftermath, “Phew, God is good?” <p>Sure, those kinds of experiences are encouraging, but the truth is, sometimes our worst fears are, in fact, realized. What then? Will we be ruined? Where is God in those moments, in those situations? What do we see of the goodness of God then? <p>This is precisely the situation Jesus faces in Luke 13. He’s warned that King Herod wants to kill him. And of course, even though Herod ends up playing a relatively minor role, the threat isn’t empty. Jesus <i>will die</i> at the hands of the authorities, and not long from now. How does Jesus respond? What does his response teach us about the goodness of God? What goodness is revealed in him? Let’s read. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tFVlTh85O58/U0tPhz2d3FI/AAAAAAAAFRo/0zy_zn-HRZ0/s1600-h/image%25255B56%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Xgc19T4zPHU/U0tPiZw4TXI/AAAAAAAAFRw/nn7AHoVzLfg/image_thumb%25255B20%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>31</sup></i><i>At that time some Pharisees</i><i> came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-swlWSuAM6B4/U0tPi25WkbI/AAAAAAAAFR4/KpsI47WOEOM/s1600-h/image%25255B59%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zHtiuTSQ5lQ/U0tPjfetzUI/AAAAAAAAFSA/TSZvTN8nQnk/image_thumb%25255B23%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>32</sup></i><i>He replied, “Go tell that fox</i><i>, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ <sup>33</sup>In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_o4ZAS9NH4E/U0tPj45JfGI/AAAAAAAAFSE/zTOJPqyWGMA/s1600-h/image%25255B61%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-DlZoyE2gZ3Y/U0tPkRzyIbI/AAAAAAAAFSQ/mcrdWvS9D_4/image_thumb%25255B25%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>34</sup></i><i>“Jerusalem, Jerusalem</i><i>, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. <sup>35</sup>Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”</i> <p><i></i> <p><b><i>Luke 13v31-35</i></b> <p>Before we dig into it, a few things to mention. <p>This passage has connections to the last week of Jesus’ pre-resurrection life, the week he spends in Jerusalem before he is crucified (we’ll explore those connections in a bit). Here in Luke’s gospel, it shows up earlier, but in Matthew’s, it takes place a day or two after Palm Sunday. <p>Palm Sunday, which we celebrate today in Christian tradition, is the day Jesus enters Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, to the acclaim of crowds of Jewish people who recognize him as the long promised Messiah. They lay palm branches on the ground in advance of his path, thus the term “Palm Sunday.” <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-m0_TYU12k0M/U0tPk3eEagI/AAAAAAAAFSY/C6TUmCyEPOY/s1600-h/image%25255B67%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lPezSLnEHvE/U0tPlbMeRjI/AAAAAAAAFSg/Sh0LISKaXc8/image_thumb%25255B31%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This is a special season for those of us who keep company with Jesus. Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week, when we remember, reflect on, and celebrate the events of Jesus’ life as he approaches the cross, and as he dies, and is buried in a tomb until his resurrection on Easter morning. For us, this is the week in which all the goodness of God that we see shining in Jesus comes head to head with all the horrible darkness of evil present in our broken world, in demonic powers, in institutions of power, even in fearful people. This is the week in which all the longings of our lives are gathered up with Jesus’ fate, and from which all of our hopes for a good future spring. It’s the week which shapes all the joyful possibilities of our lives in the present. <p>What can you be doing to prepare for and get the most out of this week, and the Easter celebration that follows next Sunday? <p>Invite someone to church next Sunday. There can be a lot of barriers to someone coming to a church, but a personal invitation goes a long ways toward lowering many of those barriers. Invite them to join you for breakfast at 9; it’s always pretty phenomenal. <p>We often have a larger turnout on Easter, so please park farther away if you can to make space for new guests, and sit in the middle of the row (the outside seats are the prime real estate). <p>Blow some money or time on one of your 6 this week, if you haven’t yet. Make it a “Good Friday” for them this year. (Don’t forget about the community-wide Good Friday service, too – the Tenebrae service at People’s should be really interesting). <p>And finally, if you have the chance to come to the church on Wednesday morning between 6:30 and 8, this is the last of the Lenten prayer hours before Lent gives way to Easter. <p>So, <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-F9VLfa_N3Ts/U0tPmCtgspI/AAAAAAAAFSo/_og-xQUAr1g/s1600-h/image%25255B65%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-uuxe1BitzP4/U0tPms6yKwI/AAAAAAAAFSw/QwfH9GXWlGE/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We’ve been talking all Lent about the goodness of God. About how Jesus is really good. Which matters to us, because the key to getting life from God is taking a leap of faith on him – it’s trusting in him for help, depending on him, waiting for him, coming to him. Because he’s a God who gets all his glory from working on behalf of those who look to him for everything they need. As Jesus puts it, he’s come to give us life, and life to the full. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-u7R4czGPMl0/U0tPnEueM-I/AAAAAAAAFS0/A5f6ErV9upg/s1600-h/image%25255B66%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-9WIgPre8FNo/U0tPnv-DMPI/AAAAAAAAFTA/rXPkpHr5l3s/image_thumb%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Here, in this passage from Luke, we’re going to discover that the goodness of Jesus is both the most visible, and the most mysterious, in the face of the greatest darkness and horror. The mystery of Goodness revealed as Jesus allows himself to be overwhelmed by the mystery of evil. <p><i><sup>31</sup></i><i>At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”</i> <p>We don’t know if these particular Pharisees are looking out for Jesus’ best interests, or just want to get him off their turf, but it’s not really the point. The point is their message – “Herod wants to kill you” – and Jesus’ response. <p>Herod is a king because his dad, Herod the Great, was the most effective thug around, and the Roman Empire made him king to carry out their agenda in Israel. So in a sense, Herod’s desire to kill Jesus is just the tip of the spear of all the powers of evil out to bring destruction on humanity. He’s a puppet, and a maniacal puppet at that. <p>If Jesus’ voice is the voice that says, “I have come that they might have life, and life to the full,” Herod’s voice is the voice that wants to silence the voice of life. Herod’s voice says, “I have come that he might die, and die with much suffering.” [<i>some of us hear that voice too</i>…] <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QCCbOmnslFw/U0tPoA5qznI/AAAAAAAAFTI/OgLzxAnCaJA/s1600-h/image%25255B69%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-aL_iBDUWk9Q/U0tPojCyeiI/AAAAAAAAFTQ/Y4_rZS5WeC4/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>32</sup></i><i>He replied, “Go tell that fox</i><i>, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ </i>(A symbolic reference to two days of work, with a victorious conclusion on the third day; Jesus is prophetically talking about <b>his death and resurrection</b>.) <i><sup>33</sup>In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!</i> (This reference to dying outside Jerusalem is loaded with sarcasm. Because, of course, Jesus <b><i>will die</i></b> outside of Jerusalem. As in directly outside the city walls, on a hill taken over for the purpose of killing criminals outside the city.)<i></i> <p>Do you hear the snarl and spine here, the blood and fire and spit and bone? Makes me like Jesus just a little bit more than I already do. He’s just not intimidated at all. Even though he <i>knows</i> the worst is coming. <p>It’s interesting to me just how free Jesus is of the curse of catastrophic thinking. <p>Catastrophic thinking is a form of less-than-rational thinking that happens when our brains begin to imagine and dwell on worst-case outcomes, especially when something happens to discourage or threaten us – even if it’s something minor. We picture it as the start of some major catastrophe in the works. Like me at the airport when I was 9. [<i>Other examples<b>…”You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone, Mommy.”</b></i> …play video …] <p>Catastrophic thinking is rooted in anxiety. But we often don’t notice the anxiety behind it because anxiety is such a normal state of being for us that we just think of it as normal reality. It’s incredibly destructive because it takes all of our energy away from living life and put it’s into worry or unnecessary defensive and protective actions. It’s like getting the wind knocked out of you – even though you’ll survive it, it feels awful, and you can’t do much else until you get your wind back. And for many of us, it happens all the time, day after day after day, because our world is steeped in anxiety. <p>But notice how Jesus isn’t caught up in anxiety or catastrophic thinking at all, even though the worst case is coming, and he sees it. He’s free as free can be, responding with humor in the face of threat, pressing on with purpose in his mission, eyes wide open. As we said a couple of weeks ago, clear eyes, full heart, <i>can’t lose.</i> It’s the <i>can’t lose</i> part that’s so extraordinary. He has so much confidence in the goodness of God that even though he knows he’s about to lose, he’s not afraid of losing. Losing isn’t the end of the story for Jesus. <i>What’s up with <b>that</b>? How do <b>we </b>get some of that?</i> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hxgiyZ3FrgU/U0tPpMfPFSI/AAAAAAAAFTY/JYRXROJDzQo/s1600-h/image%25255B71%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kSMwHqGrJT4/U0tPpr-SPuI/AAAAAAAAFTg/ETq-30BiBzM/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>34</sup></i><i>“Jerusalem, Jerusalem</i><i>, </i>(city of peace – “Jeru” + “Salem” as in, Shalom – an irony here)<i> you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. <sup>35</sup>Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”</i> <p>A few things here. Maybe the most important things of all. <p>Jesus is speaking here about two terrible & related events that are going to be happening in Jerusalem. The first is his death on the cross. The second is the bloody sacking of the city and the fiery destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, 30 years or so after his death, when the Roman army invades Jerusalem in response to rebellion by Jewish zealots. <p>Everyone in Israel at this time understood that a great crisis was coming. Tensions had been building with the Roman occupation. Jewish people were crying out for a Messiah, an anointed leader sent by the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be established as the true king Israel and end the exile and oppression. You could feel it in the air, everyone was talking about it. Prophecies foretold it. All the signs were pointing to it. Many people thought Jesus himself might be the Messiah who would lead them through the coming crisis to victory. They weren’t afraid of the coming crisis; they were embracing it, knowing that Israel had a great calling (the blessing of the whole earth, for Heaven’s sake!) and that with great callings come great tests. <p>Except. Except Jesus himself was advocating a way of peace, not a way of war. He was saying, in many ways, on many occasions, lay down your arms. Don’t pursue this path of violence, or violence will be visited on you and you will regret taking that path. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. <p>Jesus was a different kind of Messiah than anyone expected. He was offering to lead them through the crisis to victory, but it wasn’t going to be a military victory. It was going to be an offering of his own life at the hands of all the evil powers – Rome included, but also sin, and death, and fear – in order to defeat evil in the most profound and lasting way possible. His instruction to his disciples was <i>not</i> “take up your arms against your oppressors” but rather, “take up your cross and follow me.” <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lgAr-dH3BOM/U0tPqNTHFcI/AAAAAAAAFTo/grj2qG4Sjkk/s1600-h/image%25255B73%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QVes_LZoBOA/U0tPqhx8ZAI/AAAAAAAAFTw/Y49UySmzF64/image_thumb%25255B37%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus knew that Israel, on the whole, wasn’t listening. They didn’t <i>want </i>to do what he was proposing. That’s what Jesus means when he says “you weren’t willing.” Jesus saw that they would persist in their violent path, and he would be unable to protect them from the suffering that would sweep in like a wildfire in 70 AD. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-D_hL2bEzR0Y/U0tPrOjaaoI/AAAAAAAAFT4/zssBHy8-tfI/s1600-h/image%25255B75%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4s7Gwl9V7uA/U0tPr9nZu4I/AAAAAAAAFUA/wM7uJtnuZng/image_thumb%25255B39%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus’ comparing himself to a hen – in stark contrast to Herod the fox – is a pretty staggering image of his goodness and love. The metaphor Jesus is using would have been familiar to his hearers, but perhaps not to us. Flash fires were a common threat at the time, and there were no fire departments to stop them. The scene is a barnyard, and animals scurrying to and fro to escape an out of control fire, and a mother hen gathering her chicks to protect them with her wings. There are reports of those cleaning up after such fires have discovering a dead hen, blackened and scorched, live chicks sheltered beneath her wings. <p>What love! Like a mother, fiercely protective in the face of threat. At the same time, gentle and good down to the bone, laying down her life so her children could live. This is Jesus’ desire, his purpose, his offer. To take all the heat that evil has to offer, so that anyone willing to be gathered up under his wings could live. <p>You are probably familiar with the Lord’s prayer, the prayer Jesus taught his followers to pray. One line is almost always misleadingly translated: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9EcC-9ILkrQ/U0tPsYA-SgI/AAAAAAAAFUI/I27PCESttU4/s1600-h/image%25255B78%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-c9G0AulfAmM/U0tPsgpWQVI/AAAAAAAAFUM/AfMQPDpIh_c/image_thumb%25255B42%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p> As if we need to worry about a good God tempting us to sin. Many scholars, including N.T. Wright, conclude that a better translation is: “Do not lead us into the Testing (or Great Trial), but deliver us from Evil.” <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-33TekfSyZh0/U0tPtGVy76I/AAAAAAAAFUY/Gzgrch2yw9I/s1600-h/image%25255B80%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-sOayRdWIXrI/U0tPtqP5nHI/AAAAAAAAFUg/2x7qUedgsRI/image_thumb%25255B44%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus, in other words, knew that the Trial with a capital T that was coming was more than anyone could handle, that it would be horrific, the full force of evil unleashed on the earth. The clash of the titans, when God himself takes on the witches’ brew of empire/religion/dark powers. And Jesus knew that it was for him, the anointed one of God, to endure, and not for any other human being. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tYyi7MrhX8E/U0tPuI84hAI/AAAAAAAAFUk/KRbkXeYwqUg/s1600-h/image%25255B82%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-EuFe_XNJlew/U0tPuhGKApI/AAAAAAAAFUw/YGoj_mwdWWc/image_thumb%25255B46%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>[Bible geek alert: the phrase “Blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord” is a reference to the title given to the High Priest in psalm 118, and a way of Jesus saying that he was to recognized as the true High Priest after his death and resurrection, his entering into the Holy of Holies represented by the tomb, and then emerging from it with forgiveness, having opened the door to a new creation.] <p>You see, the reality and mystery of <i>evil </i>is the secret, insidious power underneath catastrophic thinking, the thing that gives it its legs. <p><i>Most</i> of the time, our imagined worst case scenarios don’t<i> </i>actually happen. And <i>most</i> of the time, even when the worst case scenario happens, we survive it. We discover resources we didn’t know we had within us, or around us, and we actually emerge stronger. It’s called “Post traumatic growth.” <p>But. But. But <i>most</i> isn’t all or every. We’ve all encountered the mystery of evil in this world. Evil is awful and knows no limits. Sometimes, evil is ruinous. Sometimes it <b>isn’t</b> <i>what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.</i> Sometimes what doesn’t kill us leaves us with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sometimes what doesn’t kill us cripples us. Sometimes it does actually <i>kill </i>us. What then? <p>What then? The <i>mystery of goodness</i> is what. The mystery of the cross is what. <p>We’ve seen Jesus’ goodness in so many ways this last month or so. In his trustworthiness, his humility, his incorruptibility, his lack of fear, his forgiveness, his healing power, his gentleness toward the weak, his love for the outsider, his compassion, his brilliance, his power. Jesus is really, really good. In ways any of us can see and understand and cheer wholeheartedly for. <p>But the cross is something a quantum order up in terms of goodness. It’s confounding. It’s goodness with mystery at its core. <p>I’ve spent – and perhaps some of you have too – years and years trying to understand how what Jesus does during holy week defeats evil. Trying to understand why good Friday is good even though it’s so truly horrible. And even though there are so many ways of understanding it, so many windows into the goodness of God on display on the cross, some of them helpful and others decidedly unhelpful, at the end of the day, it’s a deep mystery. <p>A mystery we can only truly apprehend from the inside as a participant, not from the outside as an observer. Like art, or music, or love. A mystery we are invited to <i>enter</i> into, to <i>experience</i> as goodness, to taste and see, to have its goodness done to us, so that we ourselves are set free from the grip of evil, of sin, of death, of fear. Much in the way a chick experiences the mystery of its mother’s goodness under her wings when the fire comes. <p>So that’s the invitation today. Are you willing to let Jesus gather you today, under his mothering wings? Are you willing to face the fire approaching you, the evil that threatens you, the people that seem bent on harming you, not by taking up arms against them, not by living in lala land and pretending nothing bad can happen, but by taking shelter in Jesus, and Jesus alone. Not sheltering in violence or defensiveness or trying to escape into something or someone else that offers protection or escape. But sheltering in Jesus. In the mystery of goodness revealed on the cross. The suffering servant who allows himself to bear the full weight of evil, God his only hope, even a God who seems to have left the building and abandoned him. <p>We see where Jesus’ faith is when evil bears down, and we see his response. We hear his invitation to come near, to gather around him. Are we willing to take a leap of faith that looks a lot more like a waiting in the darkness when everything in us wants to run or fight? <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VdTCtrImJXI/U0tPvR_JlSI/AAAAAAAAFU4/NQCDf3etENQ/s1600-h/image%25255B84%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XYQiyxZJHGg/U0tPv9qWVnI/AAAAAAAAFVA/obSwOmqQUJA/image_thumb%25255B48%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical suggestion: <p><b>“Get a feel” for the Mystery</b><b> of Goodness,</b> revealed at the cross. <p>Not a mere explanation (something you might regurgitate on an exam) but a real feel. <p>Take the image offered--a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wing—and internalize it. Imagine what it would feel like to be covered from harm in this way. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-DCdg-1JvJxE/U0tPwffZPNI/AAAAAAAAFVI/VsDSEeIwwUs/s1600-h/image%25255B87%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5aQJ_a532P4/U0tPw-ybRII/AAAAAAAAFVQ/LQLr4YHPiXA/image_thumb%25255B51%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Common image in Psalms: 17:8, 57:1, 63:7, 91:4 <p>Hint: When you see such an image offered, it pays to ponder-imagine-reflect on it. <p>Ponder the words. Picture what the words signify. Place yourself in the scene. <p>Notice the details. Stay there for a while. <p>Take note of the feelings, impressions, etc. evoked and see how that affects your understanding-experience of God. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-7295528075606277192014-04-06T13:08:00.001-07:002014-04-06T13:08:54.517-07:00Leap of Faith – Un-Exiled<p><em></em> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 03/30/2014</em> <p><em></em><br><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p>Note: As you will surely notice, this text is actually from Luke <strong>7</strong>v36-50. However, all of the images say “Luke 8.” This is an error. If you look for Luke 8v36-50 you will find stories about a demonized man, a dead girl, and a sick woman. This message has nothing to do with those stories. Alright….carry on! <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-eLOMxYtVBVg/U0Gz-dfV_cI/AAAAAAAAFLQ/bNkndojiVzs/s1600-h/image%25255B64%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zct4afC9wWE/U0Gz_I4nwhI/AAAAAAAAFLY/zfdQ6ogQty0/image_thumb%25255B22%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>36</sup></i><i>When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus</i><i> to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. <sup>37</sup>A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. <sup>38</sup>As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zv6zh7aQ2AY/U0Gz_3UAQNI/AAAAAAAAFLg/dy-1TRDH3G4/s1600-h/image%25255B66%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-xJNKJG5KaeM/U0G0AdywwRI/AAAAAAAAFLo/H00YZeLBmzc/image_thumb%25255B24%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>39</sup></i><i>When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>40</sup></i><i>Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“Tell me, teacher,” he said.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>41</sup></i><i>“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. <sup>42</sup>Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-bRKZOACz6p4/U0G0A0e8FuI/AAAAAAAAFLs/knjLBYySn0A/s1600-h/image%25255B68%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hQoWvgrCz8M/U0G0BUzsEzI/AAAAAAAAFL4/ssIg1u0TavQ/image_thumb%25255B26%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>43</sup></i><i>Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>44</sup></i><i>Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. <sup>45</sup>You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. <sup>46</sup>You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. <sup>47</sup>Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-z2k18NWP98g/U0G0Bk5kTtI/AAAAAAAAFMA/ZqhU3yj28JM/s1600-h/image%25255B70%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gkOy2q6frnQ/U0G0CR9Yf5I/AAAAAAAAFMI/120ZSTb-hgE/image_thumb%25255B28%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>48</sup></i><i>Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>49</sup></i><i>The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>50</sup></i><i>Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><b><i>Luke 7v36-50</i></b> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-dkrBLdY34jM/U0G0C_4qcSI/AAAAAAAAFMQ/OTiCFTJjvLQ/s1600-h/image%25255B72%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9BL3dSUQENE/U0G0DU7wrQI/AAAAAAAAFMY/mTjx24nv3bo/image_thumb%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>We’re going to talk today about forgiveness. About how the goodness of God, and the goodness of Jesus is revealed in forgiveness. About how Jesus’ forgiveness is one of the reasons that we can trust him, that we can have confidence in him, that we can be sure of him, that we can be free to take a leap of faith in depending on him. About how Jesus is <i>really</i> good, better perhaps than some of us might ever have imagined. <p>We all come to the topic of forgiveness with different perspectives, emotional responses, experiences. Some of us have experienced profound forgiveness, perhaps after having wronged a family member, or a really good friend, or maybe even a stranger who surprised you by their response to you. Some of us, maybe, even from God, in a moment, or many moments of spiritual repentance. Some of us have been offered forgiveness, but we feel conflicted about receiving it. Some of us have longed for forgiveness from someone, and they have been unwilling or unable to give it to us. Some of us wrestle ourselves with forgiving someone else. Perhaps we’ve started to, but it feels like more is required than we’ve already given. Perhaps we’re afraid to take the next step, or unsure if we even should. Probably, for some of us, we don’t even know exactly what forgiveness means. We have some feelings about it, but it’s hard to get our minds and hearts wrapped around it, at least enough to resolve the internal conflicts we feel about it. <p>[<i>Dating Ronni…blowing it big-time, causing her deep pain and distress…the sense that I felt unsafe to her, the rift in connection…the mutual vulnerability…the decision, embrace, the end of exile</i>] <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-SDmSZANOhCU/U0G0D7hybFI/AAAAAAAAFMg/caJKc0bTuKk/s1600-h/image%25255B74%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-L_vVm3NlMFA/U0G0EGE3hpI/AAAAAAAAFMo/RpWAIBlN-gY/image_thumb%25255B32%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Notice a few things. Forgiveness is not saying “what you did is OK.” It’s saying, at a more profound level, “there is no outstanding debt between us. I’ve canceled it.” <p>The terrible thing may remain a terrible thing. But forgiveness robs it of its power to separate people, to inhibit the intimacy where love brings life in a relationship. <p>That’s part of why, in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, the words for debt and sin were the same thing. When we sin against someone, we put ourselves in their debt. And beyond the pain of whatever the harm we’ve done, debt changes the power structure between human beings. It puts one in power over the other, just because of the presence of the debt. And power differentials make intimacy very, very unstable in human beings. Because intimacy is a fragile thing in the best of situations, given how dependent it is on trust. Throw a power difference in the mix, and the volatility of the intimacy goes way up. Can the debtor trust the indebted to pay them back? Can the indebted trust the debtor to not use their power to manipulate them? Every relational exchange becomes loaded with questions and suspicion. That’s why we hate having debts between family members or close friends – we recognize that the potential for the collapse of intimacy is sky high. Which puts love and the life that flows from it in jeopardy. <p>When Ronni forgave me, in other words, she was lifting me up from the position of a debtor, saying we were on equal terms with each other, neither owing the other anything but love. A powerful, courageous action that made room for intimacy to be re-established, and love to take root, and life to flow freely again between us. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-YhNCHsFwfFo/U0G0E6k6NFI/AAAAAAAAFMw/T8mrcoJNDLs/s1600-h/image%25255B76%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GuoJxpMtQiM/U0G0FZILXcI/AAAAAAAAFM4/0pAsKIs6mvk/image_thumb%25255B34%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>In Jesus’ day, the forgiveness of sins had an even larger, nation-wide implication. The Jewish people understood their exile from God – the experience of being out of his favor and under Roman occupation – as punishment for their collective sins. So the forgiveness of sins meant nothing less than “the end of exile.” It was much more than an individual wrestling with a troubled conscious. It was about God himself coming home to his people and saying, “It’s all over. I’m here and I’m with you! Your exile is over! We can get on together with the blessing of the world part of the story.” <p>So with all that in mind, let’s go back to that story about Jesus and the woman at Simon’s house. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GDS6PGEw7-M/U0G0F74sePI/AAAAAAAAFNA/i9Qff6ELhQ0/s1600-h/image%25255B78%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vdeWDIx0EjY/U0G0GSQ9ObI/AAAAAAAAFNI/2mzWP518tdA/image_thumb%25255B36%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>36</sup></i><i>When one of the Pharisees</i><i> invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.</i> <p>Set the scene. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-aNmH10lPjS4/U0G0HMfDNqI/AAAAAAAAFNQ/_Rjove2x6p8/s1600-h/image%25255B80%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-CRbUl91OsfE/U0G0HnEuHwI/AAAAAAAAFNY/xNaO371Zl20/image_thumb%25255B38%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Dinner parties were semi-public affairs. Takes place in an open air courtyard, with the door left open so uninvited guests could enter, sit by walls, and hear the conversation. The guests would have been seated on the ground, at a very low table – probably a Roman triclinium, a U-shaped dining area made up of three tables, diners on the outside, reclining with feet stretching away from the table. Servants could enter at the center of the table to replenish food, etc. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-R1DLgfgPGYw/U0G0IOYHJoI/AAAAAAAAFNg/WTbCxvNSspI/s1600-h/image%25255B82%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4ugz5SEUBbM/U0G0IujcUsI/AAAAAAAAFNo/dYvgPQ8Guts/image_thumb%25255B40%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Simon, a Pharisee, has invited Jesus to a dinner party at his house. The Pharisees had a conflicted relationship with Jesus. At one level they treated him as an equal, because they recognize he’s got the ear of the populous, and because he clearly has some extraordinary personal strength. On another level, they despise him, because he’s been hanging out with various “sinners” – the term the Pharisees used for religious, moral, and political outcasts. They think what Jesus is doing is really terrible. In their view, these sinners need to be condemned so that they get with the Pharisees program and reform, or they should be ignored and despised so that they don’t corrupt the “true” Israelites. In some ways, they’ve lumped Jesus with these “sinners” and consider him tainted by them. So this dinner is probably an attempt to either challenge Jesus and persuade him to change course, or it’s a chance to expose and humiliate him so that he loses credibility with the people. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RlF1Ic0YNYk/U0G0JJdum1I/AAAAAAAAFNw/V9qKTCWi91o/s1600-h/image%25255B84%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4oavE-Z7TPQ/U0G0JhCujjI/AAAAAAAAFN0/CI1eHMnMkhE/image_thumb%25255B42%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>37</sup></i><i>A woman in that town who lived</i><i> a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. <sup>38</sup>As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.</i> <p>We’ll talk about <i>why</i> she does this in a bit. For now, let’s just get a handle on what she did and why it was so incendiary. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-OnZbpjUk0xI/U0G0KOgiSaI/AAAAAAAAFOA/7BJFFT1t67g/s1600-h/image%25255B86%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--MtALsA89UY/U0G0KkyQhxI/AAAAAAAAFOE/8Qx_0bhrkUs/image_thumb%25255B44%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>The phrase “a woman in that town who lived a sinful life” is a polite way of saying she was a local prostitute, and that at least some of the people in the courtyard knew that about her. Simon the Pharisee among them. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IxoHKHN1hPA/U0G0LBZCLDI/AAAAAAAAFOQ/TpDyHx98SLI/s1600-h/image%25255B88%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EQy6g6iFuBc/U0G0LkLSmyI/AAAAAAAAFOY/yBJ7Q8YQ_Q4/image_thumb%25255B46%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>This woman had come along with a jar of expensive perfume, probably to give it to Jesus as a gift. It seems clear from the context that she’d heard Jesus’ message of good news that God loves people like her. That God’s grace was available to her even though she couldn’t pay the debt she owed for her sins. That she was welcome in Jesus’ community, even though she was an outcast in her own. So she had come to thank him. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8RnNRFAlXLo/U0G0MMswiFI/AAAAAAAAFOg/_7M5LlWFG7Q/s1600-h/image%25255B90%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-49LpVzoCTHE/U0G0NIia_4I/AAAAAAAAFOo/gLWcSmAVKmc/image_thumb%25255B48%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>But something happens before she does that, and it causes her to weep. She notices that her tears are falling on his feet, outstretched from the table towards her. Her tears are mixing with the dirt on Jesus’ feet, so she bends down and uses her hair to wipe his feet. <p>A few things about this were provocative to anyone witnessing. <p>First, feet are taboo in Middle Eastern cultures. They pick up the dirt of the roads, and in agrarian society, you shared the roads with livestock and all that they would leave behind, muddying the roads. As we’ll discover, Jesus’ feet at this point in the party are unwashed, and here this woman – a known prostitute - is <i>kissing </i>them. <p>And she’s let her hair down in the process. It was taboo for women to do that in the presence of any man except her husband. A woman’s hair was considered highly sexual (and still is, in conservative Muslim and Jewish cultures). In the first century, the most pious Jewish woman wouldn’t even let their hair down in their own homes. Had this woman been married, letting her hair down in public, where other men could see, would have been legal grounds for her husband to divorce her without any financial settlement. This prostitute does this highly charged act to a respected Rabbi, at the dinner party of a Pharisee’s home. That’s like flashing the Pope while he gives mass at the Vatican. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_U2sg2YaTL0/U0G0NrIcxHI/AAAAAAAAFOw/MYDa8XRgJuA/s1600-h/image%25255B92%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Z25C83HQh8c/U0G0OcsSGFI/AAAAAAAAFO4/oRES1NQXJFA/image_thumb%25255B50%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>39</sup></i><i>When the Pharisee who had invited</i><i> him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”</i> <p>Simon’s response, all things considered, is not surprising. It’s confirming to him everything negative and judgmental he’s thought about Jesus. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-HCYgZmUxbqM/U0G0O5We_TI/AAAAAAAAFPA/zLiEudmjbq4/s1600-h/image%25255B94%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FDt6Klviahs/U0G0PeB5OSI/AAAAAAAAFPI/n0WH-RjaGjM/image_thumb%25255B52%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>40</sup></i><i>Jesus answered him</i><i>, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“Tell me, teacher,” he said.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>41</sup></i><i>“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. <sup>42</sup>Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”</i> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bUFG9mGFRg0/U0G0P-p1t2I/AAAAAAAAFPQ/pwQmCkPr4hg/s1600-h/image%25255B96%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-2e7XOw2v_7E/U0G0QRw-4pI/AAAAAAAAFPY/5DoXpiclDyo/image_thumb%25255B54%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>43</sup></i><i>Simon replied, “I suppose the</i><i> one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>44</sup></i><i>Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. <sup>45</sup>You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. <sup>46</sup>You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. </i> <p>Ah, now some of what’s happening behind the scenes is starting to reveal itself. In Jesus’ words, we can begin to understand why this woman did what she did, and what it all means about her, and about Jesus, and about how staggeringly, remarkably, unprecedentedly, wonderfully <i>good </i>Jesus is. <p>The first thing that becomes clear is that Jesus was snubbed by Simon when he arrived. Powerfully, intentionally snubbed. <p>In any culture, there are things you are expected to do when a guest you’ve invited arrives to your home, especially if they aren’t a close family member or friend. Even here in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century U.S. you greet them at the door. You say hello, welcome, please come in, make yourself at home. You offer to take their coat. You offer them something to drink if the food isn’t ready yet. You turn off the TV, put your phone on vibrate. If it’s an honored guest, you maybe have the house all straightened up, candles lit, nice music playing, you bring the kids over to say hello, one by one. Not doing even a couple of these things – especially the common courtesies – can make a guest uncomfortable, feel unwelcome. For example, if I don’t offer to take your coat or suggest a place you can hang it, you’ll wonder if I don’t want you to stay very long. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-O8QBewQD9ns/U0G0RBtYKUI/AAAAAAAAFPg/WeZYDho5dAI/s1600-h/image%25255B98%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-iknILhB6ckQ/U0G0RsBzm4I/AAAAAAAAFPo/OMrU_OA_7I4/image_thumb%25255B56%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Basic Jewish hospitality at the time of this story required hosts to do at least three things for any guest – simple, common courtesies - none of which Simon did for Jesus. There was no water to wash his feet. An honored guest would have had a servant come to wash his feet for him, no less. There was no kiss on the cheek, no oil for his head. And it’s not like this rudeness could be explained by an oversight…Simon calls Jesus “Rabbi” earlier on, so we know he knew who Jesus was and what kind of respect would be anticipated. This is calculated mistreatment to knock Jesus off balance, to send him a message. <p>Imagine Jesus walking in. He’s taken a risk just accepting this invitation. He looks around and is met by…? Silence? Staring? Awkward ignoring as others wash? How long did it go on? We don’t know. We just know that eventually Jesus sat down at the table on his own, un-greeted, shamed. <p>And we know what that can feel like. To be hated, humiliated in that way. Made into an outcast. <p>And we know the woman could <i>see</i> it, what Jesus was experiencing. This woman who knew what it was like to endure that kind of humiliation, day after day, perhaps every day of her adult life. She knew how painful that was, even when she felt like maybe she deserved it. It’s awful, the heaviest kind of pain, the kind that pushes air out of your lungs and doesn’t let it back in easily. And here was Jesus enduring it. Without protest. Jesus, making himself vulnerable amongst the powerful. Taking his seat, as everyone watched without watching, out of the corner of their eyes. <p>Enduring it not because he’d earned it for himself, but because he made space for people like her to <i>not</i> feel it in his company. <p>So this woman who has come to thank Jesus, to honor him, sees the dishonor and begins to weep. <p>Tears of compassion. <p>Mixed with tears that spring from her own pain, too. <p>Then, it seems, she sees them splash against his unwashed feet. The rivulets and streams forming, accenting the dirt that signifies his humiliation. <p>She cannot let this go on. <p>She <i>loves </i>Jesus. <p>She feels safe with him. <p>So safe that she loses all regard for her own self, and makes herself completely vulnerable in this house of judgment. <p>She lets down her hair. Washes his feet. <p>Kisses them. <p>Opens the perfume and pours it on him. <p>She’s made a royal mess, and she doesn’t care. <p>Nor, it seems, does he. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-flnBYjt4IQw/U0G0SKftAJI/AAAAAAAAFPw/fmn7AnBm3pA/s1600-h/image%25255B100%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ZVoJZDWXDKs/U0G0St6oqII/AAAAAAAAFP4/OO1k79ei_go/image_thumb%25255B58%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Jesus takes in the judgment breathed against her by Simon, and probably by many others at the table, and tells his parable. <p>A parable that reveals the forgiveness she’s already experienced from him. The way in which he has cancelled her debts and put her on equal footing with himself. The way in which he has announced to her that her sin doesn’t stand between them. Forgiveness that everyone can see, a reality that’s embodied before them. Forgiveness that has made intimacy possible between them, a place for love to grow and life to flow. A table prepared for both of them in the presence of their enemies, as the psalmist wrote. <p>And a parable that shows Jesus has cancelled Simon’s debt for his rudeness as well. Except that Simon perceives his own cancelled debt to be small, as revealed by the smallness of his love. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-adaPcEhfLJg/U0G0TLOrf_I/AAAAAAAAFQA/9dmHMMUjnlE/s1600-h/image%25255B102%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wKCK_LDs5nQ/U0G0T5KacgI/AAAAAAAAFQI/poWkxNww2W4/image_thumb%25255B60%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>47</sup></i><i>Therefore, I tell you</i><i>, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”</i> <p><sup></sup> <p><sup>48</sup>Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” <p><sup></sup> <p><sup>49</sup>The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” <p><sup>50</sup>Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” <p>Do you see? It wasn’t her love that <i>earned</i> forgiveness from him. Her love that shone a light on the forgiveness she’d already received. <p>What she had was faith. Confidence in him. What faith, confidence, trust had she demonstrated? Simply that she could approach him vulnerably without fear, fully herself before him. The willingness to trust his forgiveness. To take a chance on it. To taste and see that he was good. To see that he was as good as she hoped he was. <p>What <i>goodness</i> Jesus must have exuded. We tend to conceive of forgiveness as an intellectual decision of sorts. Not for God. For God, forgiveness seems to be something of <i>who he is</i> towards us. Jesus seemed to have worn it on his shoulders, like clothing. <p>Because forgiveness is a relational reality. It is renewed peace between us and God, embodied in God’s incarnated love, Jesus of Nazareth. <p>The result is salvation and a life drenched in peace. <p>And so she welcomes Jesus where no other welcome was to be found for him. <p>He who was in exile in this house finds himself at home with her. <p>His exile over. <p>The forgiveness of sins, realized. <p>She who was in exile everywhere else has found herself at home with him. <p>Her exile over. <p>The forgiveness of sins, realized. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-e0bPVMM6hVw/U0G0UUMf6yI/AAAAAAAAFQQ/dkeXoEZs7Xs/s1600-h/image%25255B104%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8SW1AxBSbcA/U0G0VIOsSjI/AAAAAAAAFQY/amxPC_f5gJ0/image_thumb%25255B62%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical suggestions: <p>1. <b>Put yourself in the prostitute’s place</b><b>.</b> Take note of any vulnerability you feel when it comes to considering a leap of faith with Jesus. The vulnerability that comes when you think about asking him for help or responding to some invitation he’s giving you, depending on him to come through for you. Or maybe when you think about trusting him with your life and committing yourself to being his disciple. Now imagine yourself as that woman in that scene with Jesus, seeing Jesus vulnerability and shame. Ask God for the grace to leap the way she did, to see in Jesus the end of your exile and to be moved to trust from a place deep in your heart, not in the risk calculating part of your brain. <p>2. <b>Give away some perfume</b><b>.</b> Give a gift to a vulnerable person, as a thank you to Jesus for his forgiveness. It could be a world vision or compassion international sponsorship, or a gift to the compassion ministry, but perhaps better would be a direct gift to someone like a homeless person. So you can experience the exile/vulnerability dynamics personally. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4933925830598674038.post-89277849973577619532014-04-06T12:51:00.001-07:002014-04-06T12:51:21.512-07:00Leap of Faith – Peter, Pan, & Electroshock Soccer<p> <p><em>sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 04/06/2014</em> <p><em></em><br><em>video available at </em><em><a href="http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard">www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard</a></em><br><em>podcast here: </em><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan"><em>http://feeds.feedburner.com/VineyardChurchOfMilan</em></a><br>or <em>via iTunes here: </em><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379">https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vineyard-church-of-milan/id562567379</a></em> <p>Tom Guenther seemed like a god to me. As a 7<sup>th</sup> grader, playing on my first real basketball team, like the kind you have to try out for, with practices and a coach and uniforms and referees and everything, I’d never seen anyone who could play like Tom Guenther. He was a 9<sup>th</sup> grader, 2 years older than I was. He was taller than anyone I knew, faster, more graceful, able to drive and score at will, or hit the long range shot too. I don’t actually remember or know if he could dunk, but I <i>feel</i> like he could. Easily, in crowd, with people hanging off of him. <p>Anyway, I really have only one super clear, Technicolor vivid memory of Tom. It’s a moment where I knew that not only was he the best basketball player I’d ever been on the court with, he was <i>good</i>. Like <i>good</i> good, not just good at basketball good. I was in the game towards the end, near the other team’s basket, in the paint. Probably we were ahead by a lot, but in my memory it was a tie game with just a few seconds left on the clock. Tom Guenther (he’s always “Tom Guenther” when I think of him; both names together, like one name, like James Bond or Mother Theresa) got the ball outside the three point line. He jabbed a foot to the right, got his defender leaning, and burst to his left with an explosion of speed and power that left him all alone on his way to the hoop. Everything moved into slow motion as Tom Guenther ate up the distance to the basket in two thunderous, lightning quick strides. He took off on his left foot, elevating, free for a dunk to win the game. No one in his way. He caught my eye, in midair, as my defender left me to make a half-hearted showing of trying to stop him. And he didn’t dunk it. He gently dropped the ball in my hands with his right hand as he faked a layup with his empty left hand. I made the easy basket from right below the rim, no one near me. Tom Guenther passed <i>me</i> the ball. The game was his to win, but Tom Guenther let <i>me</i> have it. A 7<sup>th</sup> grader with braces and a bowl cut and striped socks up to my calves. Tom Guenther, the greatest player in basketball history used his power on my behalf, to make me look good, to give me that glory and joy. <p>I lost track of Tom after he graduated, and I have no idea of the rest of his story. But that act of generosity, that laying down of his power to lift me up, showed me something about his heart. About his <i>goodness</i>. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-IrS3u_pWKxg/U0Gv3RmLnSI/AAAAAAAAFF8/8yDnxEDN2D4/s1600-h/image%25255B70%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-qCSt5a0S320/U0Gv30aVweI/AAAAAAAAFGE/zrVnECSeUjs/image_thumb%25255B25%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>When we are deciding who or what to trust in our lives, who or what to take a leap of faith on, questions of power are right at <sub></sub>the center of that decision. Goodness & power are linked. Because we are inclined to trust that which is good, and goodness is profoundly manifest in how the powerful treat the less powerful. <p>(This tension around power is at the center of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” isn’t it? In the end, Scrooge uses his money - an expression of his power - to help Tiny Tim and we see in that action that there is goodness in his heart.) <p>The reason it’s so inspiring and surprising, even, to see someone with power use it to help the less powerful, the reason we recognize goodness at the heart of that, is that we see example after example of the opposite of that. Even in things that are <i>supposed</i> to be good. Like representatives of Jesus who find themselves in places of power. Henri Nouwen makes this troubling observation: <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-gWPzEQasLHg/U0Gv4XiOidI/AAAAAAAAFGM/hhIDm-O5FBg/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AHZ-rkuXLHE/U0Gv5Nwfi1I/AAAAAAAAFGU/BakcsOqZAXY/image_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>“One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is that its leaders constantly gave in to the temptation of power – political power, military power, economic power, or moral and spiritual power – even though they continued to speak in the name of Jesus, who did not cling to his power but emptied himself and became as we are. We keep hearing from others, as well as saying to ourselves, that having power – provided it is used in the service of God – is a good thing. With this rationalization, crusades took place, inquisitions were organized, Indians were enslaved, positions of great influence were desired, episcopal palaces, splendid cathedrals, and opulent seminaries were built, and much moral manipulation of conscience was engaged in.” <p>-Henri Nouwen, <i>In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership</i> <p>On a slightly lighter note, watch this video from a Norwegian soccer talk show… <p><object width="418" height="235"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/wilf0X1ejlM?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/wilf0X1ejlM?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="418" height="235" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> <p>We’ve been talking about the idea of God’s goodness, about how he reveals himself in Jesus as someone who wants to bless us, to give us life, if only we’ll depend on him, trust him, take a leap of faith in his goodness. At the end of the day, some of the questions we have are about what kind of power God has, and what he’s going to use that power for. Can he actually make a difference in my life, in my world? And will he, if I look to him for help? <p>Unfortunately, our vision of God is more often like those Norwegian guys with the shock buzzers. We imagine God watching us play the game of life and taking joy in punishing us when we do anything that displeases him, or maybe even on some kind of divine whim. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wEIxbNDZyZg/U0Gv5sOYWpI/AAAAAAAAFGc/_koB9lftspU/s1600-h/image%25255B72%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-M0z8HdgC9qA/U0Gv50YcrKI/AAAAAAAAFGk/gHRNsCe3LaQ/image_thumb%25255B27%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Today I want to challenge that vision, and invite us to look at Jesus in light of his power and the goodness it reveals. To see how <i>really good</i> Jesus is. To see how God is exactly <i>not</i> like that ugly vision of him we sometimes have. <p>The passage we are going to look at is in Mathew 16v13-25. I should warn you before we read it – this story is packed full of meaning, but some of that meaning is a bit obscured by history, culture, and geography that many of us are likely to be unfamiliar with. Which is to say, don’t worry if the first time you hear its connections to this topic of power and goodness aren’t entirely obvious. We’ll work on it together. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-MKvWBZNdN7M/U0Gv6m9w4HI/AAAAAAAAFGs/S_DTQARflUk/s1600-h/image%25255B74%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-BhnqPjYe6to/U0Gv7EApdKI/AAAAAAAAFG0/qNG6oxiCJbU/image_thumb%25255B29%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>When Jesus came to the</i><i> region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>14</sup></i><i>They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xhBuunrwV6I/U0Gv7p3tjFI/AAAAAAAAFG8/NLKHPQQ4WJU/s1600-h/image%25255B76%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fuYizdR3Ks8/U0Gv8NWfSRI/AAAAAAAAFHE/jaXUQhdFR1I/image_thumb%25255B31%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>15</sup></i><i>“But what about you?”</i><i> he asked. “Who do you say I am?”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>16</sup></i><i>Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>17</sup></i><i>Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. <sup>18</sup>And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it. <sup>19</sup>I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” <sup>20</sup>Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.</i> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-IIeEsn11Ul0/U0Gv8pdYZlI/AAAAAAAAFHM/0zkIfQGWR3c/s1600-h/image%25255B78%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-gPiVfmTw6yU/U0Gv9ZnmrSI/AAAAAAAAFHU/edjqNmzUhig/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>21</sup></i><i>From that time</i><i> on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>22</sup></i><i>Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>23</sup></i><i>Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”</i> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--O_ucq_gw1A/U0Gv951Ui3I/AAAAAAAAFHc/_fHuuCzlH1I/s1600-h/image%25255B80%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mUTAJmidkTM/U0Gv-azA0gI/AAAAAAAAFHk/7FnWXEm6eho/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>24</sup></i><i>Then Jesus said</i><i> to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. <sup>25</sup>For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.</i> <p>By the time of this story, Jesus had already demonstrated a certain kind of power, and a certain kind of goodness. He’d walked on water. He’d raised the dead to life. He’d multiplied a happy meal to feed a crowd of thousands of the hungry poor. He’d exercised authority over personified evil by releasing people from demonization. He’d healed the lame, crippled, blind, mute – the powerless amongst his own people. He even used his power to heal a sick child, the daughter of a Canaanite, historic enemies of Israel, and the slave of a Roman centurion, the current oppressors of Israel. Jesus was using his power, in other words, to do good to the least powerful in his world, and even to do good to his enemies. <p>But it’s not until this moment, this set of interactions with his disciples, that we begin to get a fuller picture of his true power and the goodness it reveals. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9ZEmUAX0b9g/U0Gv-yLjNFI/AAAAAAAAFHs/J36PXs6CK5k/s1600-h/image%25255B82%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BxaUggUaS4M/U0Gv_UAL8qI/AAAAAAAAFH0/oi0bhxb4Fys/image_thumb%25255B37%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,</i> <p>Let’s start where the story starts, Caesarea Philippi. This is no small detail; it has huge significance. <p>// founded by Herod the great’s son, Philip, around the time Jesus was born. Named after Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor, for whom Herod the Great had built a temple prior to the foundation of the city. <p>// Strategic – <p>· high ground that oversees the plains of Syria, providing a military advantage <p>· source of fresh water; in time of Jesus called Caesarea Paneas, after the spring there that provided water to the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan river, on down to the Dead Sea. <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-71LtBYrPSe8/U0Gv_8X2vsI/AAAAAAAAFH8/IsFOTEkO3SQ/s1600-h/image%25255B84%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ohG0t5aSBNA/U0GwApfChgI/AAAAAAAAFIE/oBQtBW9_bsI/image_thumb%25255B39%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>// shrine dedicated to Greek god Pan built at the entrance to the large cave that led into a huge, seemingly bottomless hole filled with water from this spring (we know now it was over 800 feet deep). <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-PupLB7g4UpU/U0GwBFJsW3I/AAAAAAAAFIM/BSDfJVHhLDM/s1600-h/image%25255B86%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XzHJqUhzrY8/U0GwBi0suXI/AAAAAAAAFIU/qcgTLIoYKlQ/image_thumb%25255B41%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>· called the gates of Hades or gates of death (the place of the dead, the underworld, sometimes translated Hell), an epicenter of worship. <p>· city built above it <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GbzMaeyxfAs/U0GwCDwxthI/AAAAAAAAFIc/ZXnv4Wt9V0M/s1600-h/image%25255B88%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-L0IK5I6Lflk/U0GwD8J60aI/AAAAAAAAFIk/EdCklBZmbSA/image_thumb%25255B43%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>· Pan, male God who was a fawn (half man, half goat). God of shepherds and hunting, thought to have incredible sexual power, the god of lust <p>· Pan was temperamental and emotionally volatile (where we get our word “panic”) <p>· worshippers would sacrifice animals (and some sources indicate children) to Pan, and then throw them into the spring so as to appease him and stay in his good graces. <p>All that to say, this is no ordinary place that Jesus brings his disciples and starts a loaded conversation. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-otnygdJN5qU/U0GwEahCeYI/AAAAAAAAFIs/WjH8ssGRXcA/s1600-h/image%25255B90%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vQpe0LoZKJE/U0GwE0sYurI/AAAAAAAAFI0/b_9YYepsx4M/image_thumb%25255B45%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”</i> <p>Son of Man isn’t originally a title attached to Jesus. It’s an ancient prophetic term for someone God was going to establish to rescue his people from powerful empires who had oppressed them. It comes from Daniel (you know, Daniel in the lions’ den Daniel) 7: <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-JxZmtJbrQ0U/U0GwFY7kLbI/AAAAAAAAFI8/_ogHd_sKU0I/s1600-h/image%25255B92%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-M4hNv29EVks/U0GwF1jdFDI/AAAAAAAAFJE/kX-heXYM8Ts/image_thumb%25255B47%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>13</sup></i><i>“In my vision at night I looked</i><i>, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. <sup>14</sup>He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i>Daniel 7</i> <p>Notice how this “Son of Man” figure is all about power. He’s given authority, glory and sovereign power, worshiped by everyone in the world. He has a kingdom that lasts forever and is invincible to every other power in the world, including time and death. That’s serious power. And over time, the Jewish people had come to connect other prophecies about a promised Messiah – the god-anointed person who would deliver Israel and be established as King in Jerusalem – with this prophecy about the Son of Man. They would be one and the same person. <p>Jesus is starting this discussion by polling his disciples about what they’ve heard. Clearly, talking about the Son of Man was something of a pastime in Israel, especially since all kinds of people were claiming to be the Messiah at that time. Maybe like the way people today talk about the end of the world. Do the Mayans have it right? Is it going to be a nuclear war? Global warming? Aliens? Did it already happen and we’re just the left behind ones? <p>Who do people think the “Son of Man” is? Do they think Elijah was the Son of Man? John the Baptist? Jeremiah? Someone else? <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nZQtMBh9in8/U0GwGrL852I/AAAAAAAAFJM/6l98dTQFtbE/s1600-h/image%25255B94%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Nb5E4Dpd8xE/U0GwHG2JbiI/AAAAAAAAFJU/Aa6J-au4xMo/image_thumb%25255B49%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>15</sup></i><i>“But what about you?”</i><i> he asked. “Who do you say I am?”</i> <p><i><sup>16</sup></i><i>Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”</i> <p>Peter, in other words, recognizes that all the power he’s seen in Jesus isn’t just the power of a miracle worker. He recognizes that Jesus is this “Son of Man,” the Messiah, the long prophesied figure who would be given, by the creator God himself, the supreme power on planet earth, to rule from an undisputable and everlasting throne. <p>This is extraordinary power. What’s the first thing Jesus does with it? <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/--zksmisFDV8/U0GwHiUruAI/AAAAAAAAFJc/bZB2yLdXTKM/s1600-h/image%25255B96%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NHRITe5Xe10/U0GwIE2rcDI/AAAAAAAAFJk/1AaOvdh9sYM/image_thumb%25255B51%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>17</sup></i><i>Jesus replied, “Blessed</i><i> are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. <sup>18</sup>And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it. <sup>19</sup>I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” <sup>20</sup>Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.</i> <p>The first thing Jesus does is blesses Peter with it, and promises that he will <i>share</i> his power with him by giving him authority – the keys to the kingdom and binding and loosing privileges (which was a phrase in common use by the rabbis meaning prohibiting and allowing, the role the rabbis of the day played in relationship to interpreting the Torah) <p>Peter, a fisherman. Sharing in the power of the Son of Man. Peter, who didn’t make the cut to become a rabbi, given rabbinical authority in the Messiah’s kingdom. Tom Guenther just passed him the ball and said, <i>pretty soon you’ll be dunking this in the championship game.</i> <p>But that’s just the tip of the iceberg to Jesus’ goodness when it comes to power. Hardly worth mentioning compared to what comes next. <p>Remember, this revelation about Jesus’ royal identity and power comes in Caesarea Philippi. <p>A city that represents all the corrupt power in human systems. The military might of Rome – <i>Caesarea </i>Philippi. The capital of the corrupt Jewish Tetrarch, Philip, built with ill-gotten wealth stolen from the impoverished Jewish people. The home of a temperamental, violently sexual god, Pan, who demanded human child sacrifices to appease him. A nexus of military, political, economic, religious, and sexual power used to oppress, exploit, enslave, and terrorize. Power used to feed power and starve the powerless. <p>Jesus goes to this highly charged place and says that <i>he</i> is the one anointed by God to bring justice to <i>these</i> powers, and that their power <i>will not prevail</i> against him or his kingdom. <p>What are his disciples to think? They think, of course, what anyone would think. It’s time to take up arms against these powers, these pagans, these oppressors. Jesus has finally admitted that he’s the Messiah. It’s time to mobilize, to bring the power he’s been accumulating to bear in violent struggle against the enemies of Israel. God will join us in this fight. We only have to demonstrate our faith by entering the battle with courage. <p>This is why Jesus warns them not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah. Jesus knows it’s going to be hard enough keeping his disciples from war talk, let alone the restless masses. <p>And then what does he do? <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UuK6R_pASuE/U0GwIp6AvjI/AAAAAAAAFJs/BvfS0VaqlgY/s1600-h/image%25255B98%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VuyLY_7LNjo/U0GwJanjHTI/AAAAAAAAFJ0/FPoQkUex9wU/image_thumb%25255B53%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>21</sup></i><i>From that time on</i><i> Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.</i> <p>Say what!? He must go to Jerusalem and <i>suffer? Be killed?</i> <p>This isn’t what power does, is it? Not in our world. <p>Understandably, Peter is crazy confused. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iVuPYDHd1j4/U0GwJ7xncLI/AAAAAAAAFJ8/Xe5W_xkVrUs/s1600-h/image%25255B100%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tUjsjoNl-mI/U0GwKVabHdI/AAAAAAAAFKE/7z7YIRJJ6PE/image_thumb%25255B55%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>22</sup></i><i>Peter took him</i><i> aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>23</sup></i><i>Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”</i> <p>The concerns of God and human concerns are sometimes at odds with each other in unexpected ways. We see power being abused and we think, <i>ah, this is because the <b>bad </b>people are in power. If instead, we, the <b>good </b>people, could get enough power – if God would give us his power, even – well, then, we would use that power to defeat the bad people, and then do good with it.</i> <p>But no. It’s not that bad people are abusing power. It’s that power abuses anyone who grasps for it, and then uses them to abuse everyone else. <p>Jesus is <i>really, really good</i>. There has never been good like him before in human flesh. <p>Philippians, in the form of a hymn, says it this way about Jesus: <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8-jJz9NS3bU/U0GwLMuJw5I/AAAAAAAAFKM/X74ELulmUbA/s1600-h/image%25255B102%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_R0uyufKnPE/U0GwLo2S5PI/AAAAAAAAFKU/s_R9ql6Boyo/image_thumb%25255B57%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p><i><sup>6</sup></i><i>who, although He existed in the form of God</i><i>, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>7</sup></i><i>but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>8</sup></i><i>Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>9</sup></i><i>For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>10</sup></i><i>so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,</i> <p><i></i> <p><i><sup>11</sup></i><i>and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.</i> <p>Do you see? Jesus, to decisively defeat the powers represented at Caesarea Philippi, the powers that have brought so much suffering to so many – even to all of us in this space, gathered today – isn’t going to go up against them, power against power. Instead, he’s going to become the ultimate victim of the powers, taking the place of every one of us who is a victim. Jesus, good Jesus, the divine in human flesh, God himself, showing us who God himself is, <i>empties</i> himself of all power in order to let evil spend its ugly self on him in violence. Only then will he be exalted. Only then will he receive the name that is above every name. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ExVM7OSa2Ng/U0GwMExKBJI/AAAAAAAAFKc/K368z54eaX4/s1600-h/image%25255B104%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-oETJdTOJZac/U0GwM_4vp9I/AAAAAAAAFKk/oHUFCeh4Sic/image_thumb%25255B59%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Peter cannot even imagine this. Thankfully, neither can Satan, the name given to evil and earthly power in personal form, the prince of this world. <p>Only the mind of God, uncorrupted and unblinded by power could imagine such a thing. And oh what a thing it would be! <p>But that is for later. For Holy Week. And for Easter. <p>For now is for us to see the goodness of Jesus, the goodness of God, so foreign in our experience. A goodness that doesn’t grasp power, but spends it on behalf of the powerless. <p>Jesus will be good to us. A goodness we can taste as we depend on him, trust him, take up our crosses and follow him. <p>We can trust him. Him we can approach with a leap of faith. In him we have nothing to fear. <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-d8TGZI_IQ_4/U0GwNblR1dI/AAAAAAAAFKs/e81o_A5LecY/s1600-h/image%25255B106%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-puCEPk024jk/U0GwN3W787I/AAAAAAAAFK0/H-0-aIspf8Q/image_thumb%25255B61%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="418" height="314"></a> <p>Practical Suggestions: <p>1. <b>Sign up to get baptized</b>. If you really want to experience Jesus’ goodness and power in the way that Peter does, and be part of what Jesus is doing to realize his victory over the powers in your life and in the world, that’s where it starts. At a distance learning isn’t an option in Jesus’ school, because it’s not an academic exercise. Power and goodness never are. You’ve got to get on the court with him. <p>2. <b>Scour Mark for Power Encounters</b>. <i>(Thanks to Emily Swan from the Ann Arbor Vineyard for this suggestion, and many of the insights from this passage, by the way!)</i> Read Mark (it’s the shortest gospel, and the one we’ve been studying for Lent) and note how Jesus uses power. You can use these questions <p>· Who has the power in this particular scene? <p>· What gives the person power? <p>(Ethnicity? Religious “expertise”? Gender? Resources?) <p>· What does that power look like? <p>· How is that power being used? <p>· When Jesus exercises power, on whose behalf is that power being exercised? <p>· What’s the result? <p>3. <b>Pray & Observe</b><b>.</b> Pray this prayer each morning this week, repeating it 3 times as you breathe. “Jesus, you are the Messiah. Show me how power and goodness are truly connected.” Then observe your own personal experiences with power (your own or that you encounter) and any power in books, movies, or shows that you watch. Journal any thoughts you have at the end of the day. Jesse Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14146120918170141343noreply@blogger.com0