Bigger than the Clintons - don't let the race cloud the Grace.

Just so you know, I am a fan of opinion - good, well-thought-out, sincere and invested opinion.  It may not be what I believe or think to be right, but I love to hear people's views on everything from religion to politics.  Part of the excitement about being alive is hearing what people think can improve the world.  I am neither red nor blue - kind of an omnivore when it comes to ideas.

That is why when I see that Hillary Clinton is running for President, it gets me eager to hear what people think.  There are going to be a ton of people who love her and want a woman as president and a ton of people who think the exact opposite.  There will be the usual dividing lines of left and right and the accompanying camp-mentality that divides people (which makes this subject so intolerable for many).  

So just ease up people - life is too short to think that someone hates you because they disagree.

Let's enjoy the drama being played out in front of us.  As I was thinking about the upcoming primary season, I immediately thought that people would be sick of Bush and Clinton again.  When else in politics have there been so many re-runs?

(. . . well, actually there are those stints of divine-right rulers from Europe.  Names like Charles, James and Henry that dominated the news for millennia.  But they got to power by intrigue, back-room dealing, murder and playing on people's understanding of God and spirituality.)

This is totally different, right?

We are talking about democratic elections here.  People have the right to choose who they want to have lead them.  And it looks like we are about to go down the road of potentially choosing another Clinton in the White House.

And then it hit me - 1992 is almost 25 years ago.

Weird.  I work with High School Students.  None of them remember Operation Desert Storm.  None of them remember Ross Perot, Dan Quayle, "I created the Internet," and Monica Lewinsky.  

The last time a Clinton was in the White House was 15 years ago.  Is it possible that some younger voters will look at the upcoming White House run with fresh eyes and see only a woman running for president?  They won't look at the name Clinton with the rosy glow of the Dot Com bubble (we had a tax surplus?!) or the of the negative baggage of the Clinton Whitewater scandal.   Crazy to think that they might look at her and think . . . "oh yeah, the Grandmom."

Admittedly that is a small chunk of the voting public - and a chunk that routinely doesn't show up to vote.  Those who remember 1992 may side with Barbara Bush who has had enough of a Bush or a Clinton in the White House.  It seems some may think it is time for a change.  (As proof, I dropped the link for SNL's latest Hillary sketch at the end of the article.)

Here is what every Christian should definitely be careful of:  Christian political doomsday conversations.

Remember God works what He works with or without the White House's consent.  We won't win or lose God's favor in an election cycle.  The greatest democratic experiment took place when God gave us the free will to choose the way of Grace instead of the grave.  Work hard to see as many people come to settle their accounts with God and have peace with their Father in Heaven.  How the budget gets spent is really fluff in comparison.  

And remember that some of those conversations about eternity will start in the political arena.  So be nice.  Pause before you post - you could be shutting someone down with what you say - don't let the race cloud the Grace.

Of course . . . we can have a little fun, as long as everyone is laughing.

Here is the link to the Hillary sketch on SNL last weekend.  


 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Romans 2:3-4

Could you forgive the person who shot your son 8 times?

One of the biggest stories to emerge from the Walter Scott shooting in South Carolina has to do with Walter's mother.  

In case you hadn't heard, last Saturday a routine traffic stop led to a scuffle and then shots as Walter Scott ran away from policeman Michael Slager.  Slager fired eight shots as Scott ran through an abandoned lot.  Walter Scott lost his life after being pulled over for a broken taillight.    

Now I understand that nothing is ever that simple.  Great question is why were they wrestling in the midst of all of this.  I am sure both of them contributed to the encounter, but it shouldn't have ended this way.  A man is dead.  A son is gone.  A father is missed.

But the real story is his mother.
When Anderson Cooper interviewed his mother after the incident, I was struck by her faith.

When they asked her about the incident, she obviously showed that she is really grieving.  Cooper asks her about her son and how she feels.  Judy Scott said,  "He was a loving son, a loving father, he cared about his family . . .  No matter what happens it will not replace my son."

When asked if justice will be done she answered,  "I believe in God . . . The God I serve is able . . . God will fix it."

She even alluded to the person who shot the video, calling him the "the ram in the bush."  This is a reference to Abraham who was about to lose his son to a sacrifice.  God provided a ram caught in a thicket.  It is a symbol of God's mercy.  I can't believe that she is even able to see God's mercy in all of this.  I doubt that I could at this point.

I especially love how she models forgiveness.

"I am supposed to be really angry and upset and raging and all that but I can't because of the love of God in me . . . I feel forgiveness in my heart even for the guy who shot and killed my son"

How?

I would probably know mentally that I need to forgive, but there is no way that I could feel forgiveness in my heart.  Not at this stage.  I would want revenge.  I could not be as forgiving.  I am not saying I am right.  She most definitely is an inspiration in her faith.

I just wish since that such a dear, sweet woman didn't have to be the one to show us how it is done.  She doesn't deserve this.


Watch the video here

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/04/09/ac-sot-walter-scott-mother-sc-police-shooting.cnn-ap

Day 9: Easter . . .

Very early in the morning, what would have been the first day of their workweek, some ladies go to the tomb to complete the burial process for Jesus.  They could not do it on Saturday because it was the Sabbath - a day of rest.

We miss this little irony in the Easter story.  Women went to the tomb.

Who were the last ones to see Jesus alive?  Women.  Who sat and cried at His feet?  Women.  Who are the first ones to head to the tomb?

Women.

No, this isn't some women's-rights thing, keep reading.

We forget that Jesus had one of the most liberating approaches to the station of women in His day.  Often you will hear Jesus in the books of Matthew and Luke share parables that include things like women's work (kneading flour, finding a lost coin).  Hebrew scholar Kenneth Bailey says this is significant because talking about women's work among men was considered rude . . . unless there were women present.  Bailey's conclusion is that not only did Jesus directly address and challenge women in matters of discipleship but He also included them in His teaching.

This was at a time when women were supposed to walk behind their husbands in the marketplace and even greeting you daughter in the marketplace was looked down upon.  Men and women sat separately at public functions.  Women were often seen as property.  Jesus seems to not care as much about some of these social rules - especially in John Chapter 4 where He just strikes up a conversation with a woman in public.

So obviously women were pretty important to God,  but again, this is not about feminist theology - we're getting there, be patient.

The key is in the detail of the story.  In Jewish culture, women were seen as emotionally unstable and not qualified to observe or give report about anything.  They couldn't even give testimony in court.

So did  you get it yet?

Women - unreliable - not admitted as witnesses in court . . .
And they are the ones who see Jesus rise from the dead and report this to the rest of the disciples?

So clearly we have a very unreliable account of the resurrection - one filled with women's recollections that can't be trusted because they are women.  Who knows what really happened . . .

 - Or -

The fact that women were the first ones to see Jesus raise from the dead shows us this is not a fairy tale.  I mean, who would make up a story in which the first ones to seem Jesus rise from the dead were seen as unreliable?  If the resurrection is a snowball of a story told to get people to believe something that never happened,  someone early on made a big mistake.  Why would you start with women as witnesses to the resurrection?

In today's terms it would be something like: "And this guy rose from the dead and the first to see him and report it to others were heroin junkies . . ."

Right . . .

Okay , maybe my analogy is a bit strained to make a point but I hope you get how ridiculous it really is to start with an account of women as witness in a male-dominated society.  As far as historical accuracy goes, elements that are retained in a story that could hurt the story's legitimacy are seen as authentic.  In other words - when a story has parts to it that seem to question its own truth  you have to take that as authentic (because no one would make up a story that invalidates itself).  That story is authentic.  That story is true.

Not like this is the only thing that proves the resurrection story is true, but it is a cool way to see how God works.  God likes to bust out of the boxes that we like to place Him in.  He clearly disagrees with our ancient assessment about women - so much so that He gave them ringside seats to the single most important event in the history of man (and woman)-kind. 

Easter is a reminder that we don't have the last word on what is true - He does.  It also shows us a God that we might consider obstinate to the way that we think things should be done.  I would probably have had the resurrection occurring in a palace so a king could see the awesome work of God.  

He picks a small group of poor women.

It makes me grateful that He is God and that He consistently busts open the the boxes I try to put Him in. 

Happy Easter!

Day 8: The 'in-between' day.

Today is Saturday.

For the disciples it was the in-between day.

Saturday is bookended with all the drama and misery of a death sentence on Friday and the confusing joy of Sunday.  So what do we do with Saturday?  Nothing happens on Saturday.  Jesus is gone.  The disciples are hiding.  Looks like evil won.  It is a strange Sabbath - eerie and quiet.

So where is Jesus?

Is He sleeping in the tomb?  Is He wrestling with the devil?  Did Jesus step out of His body and go up to heaven to take a break with God before the resurrection?  What happens in this 'in-between' time?

Jesus' followers may have thought that He went to Sheol - a kind of bleak, emotionless, grey place that people wandered.  This was more Hebrew folklore than reality.  Kind of like we say that people 'go to the grave' but we don't really think of them resting in the dirt.  For many Jews Sheol was kind of like a blurry holding place until "The Day of the Lord" in which God interrupts human history on the Day of Judgment.  Perhaps some day far in the future they will see Him again . . . they had no clue He was coming back to life in His body three days later.  

So is Jesus conscious, watching them?  From where?  And how?

Some early Christians take a couple verses in Peter and Jude to mean that maybe Jesus went to hell and preached to people there in order to repent.  It is a fascinating idea but the verses have so much symbolism in them we really aren't sure what those verses mean.  And anyhow, didn't Jesus say the thief would be with Him in Paradise . . . today?  How could he be in hell?  The whole thing seems like a giant mystery.

As a kid, I used to think of Jesus slipping out of the body and spending time in heaven between Friday and Sunday.  I don't like the idea of Him being really . . . dead.  The idea of Jesus being cold and lifeless in a dark tomb scares me.  It scares me to think of the extent to which God might go to overcome the darkness of death.  Could God really have made Himself so vulnerable as to be susceptible to death?  Our death?  My death?

Was Jesus really dead?

Remember, it was a resurrection - not a resuscitation.  For Jesus to have overcome death, He had to really die.  And I don't think that means that Jesus slipped His skin and went to heaven to meet up with people to prepare for Sunday morning.  That sounds more like Plato.  Plato taught that bodies and souls were separate.  The Old Testament seems to indicate that the body and soul are intertwined.  So resurrection means bringing life back to body and soul.

But I guess I won't know until I can ask God how He did it.

Anyway, this is beside the point.  I don't know where Jesus went, but the big question is already answered.  Death is not the end.  That in itself breaks the spell of Saturday as the bleak and dreary in-between day.  

Viewing Saturday from Sunday morning's perspective makes me grin.  If I was around on that Saturday and I knew that Jesus rose from the dead, I would have the biggest smile on my face.  My whole day would be consumed with telling people that Jesus will come back tomorrow.  Living Saturday with Sunday morning's reality is transforming.

And that is what our lives should look like.  When you think of it, our whole life is like one big Saturday.  We live at the in-between.  But we live there knowing that death is not the end.  So life doesn't have to be one be question mark.  We don't have to go around with the sadness of the cold tomb because we know that death has already been beat.

Today is Saturday - the 'in-between' day.  

Are you going to live it with doubt or with a grin on your face?  Will you go about today knowing that your job, your enemies, your unanswered questions, deepest hurts and greatest temptations do not win in the end?  

Go about today with with a smile on your face from the knowledge that - because you have placed your trust in Christ - Sunday holds good news.  Just like Jesus, you will walk away from a tomb into new life one day - a new life that never ends.

And there ain't nothing that can change that.

Easter Devotional Day 7: Never Forsaken

Matthew 27: 45-46:
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.  About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

I saw a story on video the other day about a woman who survived the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11.  She recounted the horror of the day and trying to come to terms with it all.  What was most striking to me was how she interpreted her story spiritually.  Instead of considering what a great miracle it was to have survived, she came to the conclusion that her life was spared because God didn't want her in heaven.

This is what it means to feel forsaken.

I had a similar conversation with a friend of mine in college who was gay but really loved God.  He thought because of his struggles with temptation that God had given up on him.

As I talk with more and more people I find that most often it isn't an issue of whether people believe in God, but whether they think that God believes in them.  A lot of people feel forsaken by God because of life's circumstances . . . or the presence of cruel people in their lives . . . or unanswered prayers.  Life has become a living hell.  Literally.  Hell being the absence of God - living without Him or His presence.  Desperately wanting it but never feeling it.  It is important to remind people who feel forsaken that God has already gone through hell so we don't have to.

There is only one who was forsaken by God - His only Son.  

It all starts on the night Jesus is betrayed by Judas.  The Gospel writers use a word - paradidonai - which means 'betrayed' or 'handed over.'  On that night Jesus prays to God and there is no answer to His prayer, He is betrayed into sinful hands.  Jurgen Moltman, a respected theologian, says this is the point in which God turns His back on His only Son.  There is a separation between the Father and the Son . . . a rift that eventually leads to a 'death in God.'  

In fact, Paul uses the same word in his letter to the Galatians- paradidonai (betray, hand over) - when talking about how God turned away from Jesus.  When we think of Jesus going to the cross we think of the pain that He endured from the beatings, whipping and crucifixion.  We seldom think of the psychological torture of having your Daddy turn His back on you and punish you for the sin of the world.  The one who had no sin paid the debt of those who sinned.  We forget that Jesus not only endured the penalty for my sin but also endured separation from God in my place.  He was forsaken so I never have to be.

You can feel the pain of the distance of God in Jesus' words on the cross: "why have you forsaken me?"

He is quoting a song.  Like we sometimes do when we share something on Twitter or Facebook  - posting a lyric from a song that fits our mood . . . Jesus is quoting from one of His favorite songs.  You can read the lyrics - it is Psalm 22.  The whole of that Psalm is really spooky as it describes crucifixion precisely (even though it was written hundreds of years before crucifixion was 'invented').  Essentially Jesus is experiencing a complete cut-off from God.  It is not because He has to, it is because He wants to . . . so you never have to be in that place. 

The suffering on the cross is not just religious drama.  It has a point.  Jesus went to the depths of suffering so that you don't have to.  If this is you, you need to stop living the lie that God has forsaken you.  You may feel that way and even have good reason to, but it doesn't make it true.  The truth is that you are deeply loved by a God that created you to live in and freely pass on the truth that God is for us, not against us.  

Listen to these nuggets from Romans 8:

            If God is for us, who can be against us?  . . .  
                      Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? . . .
                    Who then is the one who condemns? 
                                          No one. 
                Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—
              is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 
             Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 

The answer is the same:

No One.

So why are you?

If you or a friend of yours feels like God has given up on them, that is a lie. 

Lies sometimes cloak themselves as feelings . . . live in the truth, not the lies.  Send this to someone that needs to hear it.  The powerful truth of Easter is that it is about our resurrection someday as well as our coming out of the tomb now - starting living again in the love of God.  

Day 6: Easter Week Devotional - The shadow of death

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death; I will fear no evil for thou art with me." Psalm 23:4


Matthew 26:36-41

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them,“Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  

Have you ever walked through something in your life and you thought you would not survive?  
I don't mean physically.  I mean in your soul.  Has there been a point in your life where you thought you would just rather die than go on?

Maybe it is around the holidays with your family and knowing that there is going to be that person there.  It takes every ounce of your energy to stay composed and not completely lose it.  Or maybe it is at work.  You were asked to move into a position that helped the company but it really makes you feel like you have no value . . . you feel trapped because there is nowhere else to turn.  Or maybe it was the day you came home to find that the relationship was over.  Moving on feels impossible.  Raising the kids by yourself feels insurmountable.  Dying would be easier than what you are about to face.

This is exactly the position that Jesus finds Himself in late Thursday night.  See, we sometimes think that Jesus always had a Mona-Lisa smile on His face.  Unfazed by events.  The Son of God - walking on water to meet us in the midst of our problems.

We tend to forget that He was also plenty human.

Imagine the difficulty of Jesus' last day on Earth.  More than the beatings, the mockery, the crucifixion . . . imagine coming face-to-face with your betrayer.  The Gospel of John records Jesus looking right at Judas and telling him to do what he needs to do quickly.  John adds that as soon as Judas left, "it was night."  Darkness now takes center stage.  Jesus goes to a garden and pray to God and for the first time we see there is no answer from His Father. 

God 'hands over' His son to be tortured and killed and it all starts in the garden of Gethsemane.
  
Or perhaps even on the path to Gethsemane.

The path to the garden where Jesus is going takes Him through the valley of Kidron.  In order to get there He had to cross a stream - the Brook of Kidron.  On this night, the Brook of Kidron would have been red with blood.  Because it was Passover, almost 250,000 lambs were slaughtered for the festival.  There was so much blood it spilled over into the brooks and streams.

So think of the irony.  The "lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" is now crossing a stream filled with the blood of lambs being readied for the Passover.  

Does Jesus stop and look at the bloody stream as He makes His way to the garden where He is about to be betrayed?  

We know that Jesus asked God if there might be another way . . . but was there a moment in His heart where He just wished for it all to be over?  Maybe.  We aren't privy to His most fragile thoughts, one day we might be.  For now all we know is what He did - He crossed the stream and followed His Father.

Those footsteps are hard to find sometimes . . . but it is so good knowing that He has walked where we walk now.  When life is so hard we just want to give up, it is so good knowing that He has walked this path before and showed us what real life is.

Real life is not giving up.  Real life is giving it over to God.  We walk through the valley and follow His footsteps.  Jesus had no footsteps to walk in because He was alone.  But because He walked that path we never have to be alone.  He was acquainted with sorrow so that we can have someone to walk through the sorrow with us.  We have footsteps that we can follow . . . in obedience to God.

Though you have to go through a hard journey right now, you have a Savior that loved you.  He loved you enough to die in your place . . . so don't you think that means that He would love to deliver you from whatever it is that seems to be crushing you right now?  It is tempting to think that God doesn't care.  He is not indifferent.  Jesus, of all people, knows that walking through the valley is so hard, that is why though He may not be delivering you, He is definitely walking with you through it.  Remember, there is a Sunday morning at the end of it.  Allow Christ to go through this with you.  Walk through this difficult time right now whispering, "your will be done."

Day 5: Easter Week Devotional

Day 5:  Wednesday: A Tale of Two Secrets

Matthew 26:6-9

6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Some of this can be confusing - pouring perfume on someone's head sounds like a bad prank, what is this woman trying to do?

It was not uncommon for women to carry small containers of perfume around their neck.  For some it was their inheritance from parents.  For others it represented their future as it would be the only thing of value that  they would bring into marriage one day.  Either way, the perfume was very valuable as it represented the past or the future for a young woman.

This particular container of perfume was very costly.  It was what we might value at $30,000.  

Hold up.

$30,000?  

That is a lot of money.  

Just in case you forgot, this is what $30,000 can buy:

   * This home in St. Petersburg, FL

   * This BMW - a brand new 328i

   * This 4K piece of jewelry.

Granted, $30,000 doesn't mean your entire life is set, but it is a nice little chunk of change.  You can have a lot of fun with $30,000.

This woman broke the bottle and poured it on Jesus' head - a sign of deep respect back then.  There was no putting it back in the bottle.  All of her past and all of her future were broken to honor Jesus.  For her it wasn't so much about the money - it was about giving up a piece of herself.  

Nothing was more important than showing Jesus her love for Him.  It is tragically touching.

Something in me wonders if she knew what was about to happen to Jesus.  The Gospels don't record every detail of every event.  I wonder if she had a conversation with Jesus and in her own way she expressed her grief in the noblest way she could imagine.  She was preparing Him for burial.

I am almost certain she kept this idea a secret until she did it.  Anyone hearing about this idea would have tried to talk her out of it.  I mean, look at the reaction: "This could have been sold and the money given to the poor!"  John records Judas is the one who is most outraged in his Gospel.
   

And there is Judas . . . another plot in secret.

Remember, the Jewish authorities were looking for a way to arrest Jesus at night so they could take Him into custody without a riot.  Knowing this, Judas was working on a secret deal to let them know where Jesus was Thursday night.   He agreed to 30 pieces of silver (about $7,000-$15,000).  For half as much Judas sold Jesus out.

Two very different pictures . . . and very different people:

One person who sunk a small fortune to show her devotion.

One person who gained a nice bonus in exchanged for his integrity.

Sometimes we gauge the value of something by what we get out of it.  What am I getting out of this relationship?  What am I getting out of this job?  What am I getting for all the money I put into this car?  What am I getting out of this church or this school?

What does value look like when we measure how much we can give to it?  Is it possible that we only follow Jesus around for the carrot of eternal life?  Are you like the woman who would do anything for God?  Or are you more like Judas who is looking for what you can get out of it all?  If I am honest, there are times that I think more about what my relationship with God can get me versus what I can give to God.

Maybe that is why Jesus wants her story to be told every time His story is told.  It is haunting how much she understood.  She gets it even more than the disciples at this point that true value is found in how much we give, not in how much we get.