Jesus: the man

I had put together an Advent sermon series that was going to talk about 5 different aspects of the person of Jesus...and then our son Theo decided to begin his arrival on the 1st weekend of Advent which forced me to rework by series a little as I missed the first 2 weeks of Advent. Over the next week or so you will see a condensed version highlighting 3 aspects of Jesus: his humanity, his divinity and him as a baby. Right now we'll focus on the humanity of Jesus.

You might recall a story from back in the day about a group of people called the Israelites who spent about 40yrs camping in the wilderness? It was during this time that God really wanted them to know that they were His people, He was their God and that His presence would be with them. So He told this guy named Moses to get the people to build a place where He could dwell among them and so they built Him a tabernacle. Fast forward hundreds of years later...

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt (tabernacled) among us (John 1:14)

In "church" language we call this the Incarnation, the union of humanity with divinity in the person of Jesus. About this Carlo Carretto (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors) writes

The Incarnation brings the world his presence. It is a presence so complete that it overshadows every presence before it.
God is made human in Christ. God makes himself present to us with such a special presence, such an obvious presence, as to overthrow all the complicated calculations made about him in the past.
“The invisible, intangible God has made himself visible and tangible in Christ."

~From The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto

As we continue on this Advent journey toward the manger I think it is important we keep in mind the significance of the humanity of Jesus. The idea that God came in real flesh and blood in the form of Jesus changed everything and we cannot afford to miss weight of this event in human history.

I find it meaningful that Jesus as a human...

...faced temptation. (40 days of fasting in the wilderness being tempted by the devil himself and still not giving in, as a human being)

...suffered. (The events surrounding His crucifixion are enough to turn anyone's stomach, all of which He endured and experienced as a human being. Can you even begin to imagine that pain?)

...experienced death. (He died as a human in order to conquer death as a human so that all of humanity might live. Hebrews 2:5-18)

...has empathy. (This is the Christmas story of hope, joy, peace, love because we know we serve a God who can empathize with us, who has been there and done that. Hebrews 4:14-16)

...understands. (I am reminded of how upset Jesus was at the death of His friend Lazarus. He understands what it is like to feel pain and hurt, to suffer loss as a human being. John 11:17-36)

...connects humanity with the Divine. (If Jesus was not truly human than this whole thing is pointless but as a human He gives humanity a chance. Romans 8:3)

Thoughts for Lent Part 2

A few thoughts that I pray will encourage and challenge you on your Lenten journey. As always, feel free to share.

Prayer
Lord of life and love, help us to worship thee in the holiness of beauty, that some beauty of holiness may appear in us. Quiet our souls in thy presence with the stillness of a wise trust. Lift us above dark moods, and the shadow of sin, that we may find thy will for our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~From The Book of Worship

Scripture
-Psalm 42 (what does your heart thirst for? do you seek God to quench that thirst?)
-John 6:22-40 (when people look at your life, do they see bread of life or bread that is stale?)
-James 1:2-18 (are you finding joy in the development of perseverance? what if, we used the sufferings we faced as ways to connect with others? what message might that send about the Gospel?)

Thoughts

There is no Christian who is not in the same case as the disciples. Every Christian ought to say to the Savior as humbly as they: 'Lord teach us to pray.' Ah! If we were only convinced of our ignorance and of our need of a Teacher like Jesus Christ! If we would only approach him with confidence, asking him to teach us himself and desiring to be taught by his grace how to converse with God! How soon we should be skilled in it and how many of its secrets we should discover! Do not let us say that we know how to pray the prayer they learned from him. We may know the words, but without grace we cannot understand the meaning and we cannot ask or receive what it expresses.

~From How to Pray by Jean-Nicholas Grou

Thoughts for Lent Part 1

My hope is that this can become a place for you to find Scripture passages to study, prayers to read and thoughts to think about during this season of Lent. If, along the way, you have questions or comments you want to share about something in particular or a thought in general, please feel free to share.

Prayer
Almighty God, by the power of your Holy Spirit open our eyes, ears, hearts, and very lips to your presence so that today we may worship and serve you in faithfulness, be blessing and healing reminders of your love to all whose lives we touch. We offer our prayers in the name of Christ. Amen.

Scripture
-Matthew 3:11-4:11 (In what ways are you preparing your heart to experience God through Lent? Each day?)
-John 13:1-17 (What does Jesus' example of service mean for you?)
-2 Peter 1:1-11 (Which things are you adding to your faith? Which things do you need to add? How do you plan on making that happen?)
-Luke 10:1-12 (Are you living out your faith with a sense of urgency?)

Thoughts

We have fallen into the temptation of separating ministry from spirituality, service from prayer. Our demon says: "We are too busy to pray; we have too many needs to attend to, too many people to respond to, to many wounds to heal. Prayer is a luxury, something to do during a free hour, a day away from work or on a retreat." But to think this way is harmful. Service and prayer can never be separated.

~From The Living Reminder by Henri J. M. Nouwen

It must be realized that the true sign of spiritual endeavor and the price of success in it is suffering. One who proceeds without suffering will bear no fruit. Pain of the heart and physical striving bring to light the gift of the Holy Spirit, bestowed in holy baptism upon every believer, buried in passions through our negligence in fulfilling the commandments, and brought once more to life by repentance, through the ineffable mercy of God. Do not, because of the suffering that accompanies them, cease to make painstaking efforts, lest you be condemned for fruitlessness and hear the words, 'Take the talent from him' (Matthew xxv. 28).

~Theophan the Recluse

Other Resources
-"2 Stories": A daily devotional from Asbury Theological Seminary

Dinner Guests

It is probably the combination of my 'Sacramental Theology' class at Asbury Theological Seminary taught by Dr. Stamps (@bobstamps) a few weeks ago, my final paper on the 'Openness of the Table' and having celebrated the sacrament of Communion this past Sunday that got me thinking. But before I jump in, I have to mention that 1) I would be incredibly surprised if this thought hasn't already been shared somewhere (I know John Wesley talked about the power of the Eucharist to transform people) and 2) I have not spent a lot of time studying this particular idea (yet). So, having said all of that, here we go...

Each Gospel has an account of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-23, John 13:18-30) and in each account Jesus mentions that the one who would betray him was dining at the table with him. I think this is significant for us today. In Jewish culture, the community and fellowship that took place around a meal was quite significant and the fact that this was a Passover Meal that Jesus and his disciples were sharing took it to an even deeper level of intimacy. This also happens to be the meal we model the sacrament of Communion after, as Paul mentions in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

Now, not only did Jesus know that Judas Iscariot was going to betray him, I think he knew he already had and Jesus still welcomed him to the table! Notice in John's account (John 13:18-30) that Jesus doesn't tell Judas Iscariot to leave before the breaking of the bread but rather Judas Iscariot leaves after he received it, on his own accord. It seems as though Jesus is demonstrating an open invitation to the table of the Last Supper, even for those who would betray and deny him, that could be a powerful reminder for our Communion celebrations today.

More Than Meets The Eye

One of the things that God has reminded me of over the past few months (and more recently the past few days) is that you and I often have no idea what kinds of things people are dealing with in their lives. This lack of knowing the whole story can result in doing or saying something that is unintentionally hurtful and insensitive or cause us to feel an unfair sense of frustration and anger toward someone.

The store clerk that seems to hate you specifically...just found out someone in her family is starting a battle with cancer.

The driver who cut you off and follows it up with a flip...is trying to cope with a relationship at home that is falling apart.

The individual at your church that seems to have everything put together...is working through an addiction that is on the verge of taking over his life.

Remember the story of Jesus talking with the woman at the well (John 4:1-26)? Jesus interacted with this woman in a way that was sincere, respectful, and full of grace...despite the fact that He knew the rest of the things this woman was doing and dealing with in her life, things that were not worthy of respect or grace. Think of the difference it could make if you and I were to approach people, conversations and situations with an attitude of humility and grace because chances are, we don't know the rest of the story.

"Unwrapped"

Here is the text from my sermon entitled "Unwrapped" which I gave on 12/27 at our Castleton campus. Feel free to share any thoughts, comments or questions.

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Well, here we are, a few days after another Advent season and Christmas day. Many of you had the chance to spend some time with family and friends, I hope you found it to be meaningful and enjoyable. Tai and I had a chance to make it up to Holland, MI to visit with my family and over to New Lisbon, IN to visit hers. We had a good time and were reminded of how blessed we truly are. Now, two days after Christmas, here we sit and if you’re anything like me, you begin to take inventory now that everything has been opened and unwrapped. I can usually break down my Christmas gifts into three categories: things on my list that I asked for and actually got (which sometimes end up not being as cool as I thought they would be); things I asked for but didn’t receive; and the third category of “thanks?!?”.

Now, I don’t know about your family but both of ours are notorious for using boxes from one thing to put another thing in, so you're not quite sure what you’re getting until you get it unwrapped and out of the box. The classic story of this from my family is when we were all at my grandparent’s house and all the aunts and uncles were opening their gifts from grandma and grandpa and my dad starts opening his…at the time, for whatever reason, my dad was really into bowling…so unwrapping his present he reveals a shoebox with a picture of what appears to be a very nice pair of bowling shoes on the front. My dad gets excited and says, “Whoa alright, new bowling shoes”…opens the box and says, “No, I got these...” as he lifts up the work light that I’m not sure he has ever actually used.

This kind of thing happens to us all the time doesn’t it, whether it’s Christmas or not? We picture something in a certain way, it's wrapped in shiny paper with a nice bow, then we get it out of the box and realize it’s not what we thought it would be.

Perhaps it’s a job or title or degree we think will make all the difference but once we get it unwrapped we find it falling short of our expectations. Or maybe your perfectly wrapped gift is to have a family that looks a certain way, but then your kids do something stupid, your parents do something hurtful, you or your spouse do something to hurt each other or maybe you’re not able to have a family at all. The list can go on and on of things we think will make everything perfect but once we get it unwrapped we find it isn’t what we had in mind.

And then we read of this gift...
Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 9:2-7

When we begin to unwrap the gift of God’s Son lying in a manger we see this is a gift that will not disappoint, not only this but we notice a couple things about this special gift…

It is a gift of His presence (Isaiah 43:1-3a)
-God promises to be present with us in the midst of the storms, trials and fires of life.

It is a gift of family (Galatians 3:23-4:7)
-God gives us the right to be called His children (John 1:12).
-You and I are connected as the family of God through the community of the Church.

It is a gift of hope (Hebrews 10:23-24)
-The gift of Jesus gives us hope in a world that can often seem hopeless.
-This is a gift we can and must share with others as we undoubtedly know people who abandoned, hopeless and alone.

Closing Prayer comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24:

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."