The eyes of John

Like many mornings the day begins with two competing agendas.  First, there is the desire to stop and in the quiet hear the Lord’s voice, to encounter Him in a personal, profound, and life changing way.  The second agenda is the busyness of the day; it is the agenda of the lists.  There is the ‘must-do’ list, there is the ‘need-to-do list’, there is the ‘would-nice-to-be-done list’ and there is the ‘want-to-do list’.  All these lists scramble through my mind demanding attention.  The first agenda is orderly and quiet; it is practiced in calm, beauty and peace.  It enjoys a richness of heart that invites me to linger for the whole day in serene quietude.  The second is the chaos in which time and resources are not nearly adequate for all that is expected or needed.  This second agenda is lived out in functionality that is devoid of joy or passion.  How exciting can one really be about the dreariness of car service, errands, chores and all the other functions the suck up time; the most non-renewable, natural resource. 

We crave for the sublime moment where our encounter with the divine is along John the Baptist’s description: “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of Heaven, and remained on Him”.  But wait.  Jesus has just returned from the trials in the desert.  He is about to call His first disciples and dive headlong into three years of the chaotic life of ministry.  Jesus was serene, but His life wasn’t.  We may have missed something that will help us.

“When the Spirit descended like a dove” needs to be understood from the Jewish perspective.  Jesus and John were Jewish as were John’s original audience.  In the Jewish mind, what did this “descended like a dove” mean?  In Genesis 1:2, we learn that over the formless, void, waste and emptiness that was initial creation the Spirit of God hovered over the chaos.  The Rabbis saw the Spirit fluttering like a dove over the face of the waters.  They saw in this passage the Spirit breathe into the chaos beauty, order, purpose, direction and reason for being.  The Spirit did not obliterate chaos; it was shaped to conform to the will of God.  While this is not the whole meaning of the decent of the Spirit it would have been part of the Jewish mindset. 

Order that pleases God can come out of the chaos of busy days.  Jesus’ life did not, at this moment, become more quiet and reserved.  He didn’t go off to a retreat center for three years of Bible reading, journaling, and quiet study.  Instead, He waded into the chaos of life and the order that would please the Father emerged.

The chaos of my day is still before me.  My “must-be-done-by-noon” list could easily fill a whole day.  Some things simply will not get done and that will mean loose ends- read chaos-to be dealt with later.  But in cooperation with the Spirit of God this chaos need not distress me; in fact, I may see God at work in it.  If only I can develop the eyes of John.

We are running out of superlatives

Well Hurricane Florence has been down graded several times to the point she is now a low-pressure system with a lot of rain.  Thankfully the loss of life was small and most of the damage appears to come from flooding.  I wonder if there are some in the media that are disappointed.  I don’t mean to speak lightly of the losses suffered by people during hurricane Florence.  For those who have lost home property and or loved ones this is a tragedy of heartbreak magnitude.  But as the storm approached the warnings by many in the media went over the top with a predictive description of how bad it was going to be.  It was labeled “the storm of a lifetime”.  In October of 1780 a hurricane moved through the Caribbean killing in excess of 22,000 people, devastating the British Navy, on some islands destroying 100% of the buildings, and had winds of about 200 mph.   Think of a tornado the size of Texas.  That is a storm of the century that is a storm of a lifetime.  Compared with many major hurricanes Florence is just a lot of rain and localized flooding. 

The problem with predictive descriptions is that they are 100% unreliable.  It is not unlike the hype associated with college football games labeled as “THE Game of the Century”.  In fact there were 10 games that had the title “THE Game of the Century” during the 20^th century, we have had three games of the century so far this century.  We believe we must become shriller to be heard. During election season there is an explosion of negative campaign ads that seem to escalate in shrillness every two years.  In the age of Internet stardom everyone is attempting to create a brand for themselves and to do that everyone must stand out from the crowd, by being more extreme more radical.  Everything has to be labeled with superlatives, and we are running out of superlatives.  When a soft drink (artificially colored and flavored sugar water) is AWESOME what can you say about stars and galaxies?   

This tendency toward narcissistic hyperbolic announcements does nothing to aid communication.  In fact it offers two powerful negatives.  First it inhibits trustworthiness.  “I rode out last year’s hurricane of a lifetime, I can ride out this year’s mega storm as well.”  But what if this year’s storm is really dangerous.  One has to wonder if some of those who lost there lives in Florence failed to leave early because they didn’t take the warnings seriously.  When everything is labeled a catastrophe and the catastrophic never appears we become dubious of future warnings.   It is the old story of the boy, or in this case the media, who cried wolf.  The second, and ironically the opposite error, is worry.  If the newscaster can work us into a sufficient state of panic we will become glued to their every word.  We will be dependent on the constant flow of information or stimulation.  We will believe them when they say, “Save yourself,” or “the government will save you” or “information (which we provide) will save you”.  The greater our worry the greater we are likely to become co-dependent with the voices of woe, and their advertisers.  Worry is honestly foolish.  Worry is the belief that somewhere in the future there is a place without God.

I am not advising carelessness about potential problems.  I have prepared for emergency, we all should.  But we must refuse to allow the siren song singing the tune of demise to be the background music for our lives.  We need to care for those who are facing the flooding in the aftermath of this storm.  But we need to realize that until the new Heaven and the new Earth comes, the fluctuations of weather will be a part of life and all the worry in the world will change nothing.   As the song says, “Odds are everything is going to be alright”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sw9Fh6uk4Q

Psalm 46:10 tells us to “Be still and know that I am God”.  So the next time you hear the call to worry or panic hear your Father in Heaven as He says, “Chill out I got this”.

Was Jesus being a snot to Herod or is there a lesson for us?

When Jesus shows up in Pilate’s court Pilate treats Him as a problem that must be dealt with.  He is nothing more than an unexpected item on his “to do” list.  Pilate is, at least for the moment, treating this with all the emotion of a mathematical equation, a sum to be reached by a process.  Ask questions of the accused, try to get beyond the story they spin, examine the facts, then render a verdict.  Justice is cold, calculating and not interested in emotions and superstitions.  When Pilate asked Jesus if He was the king of the Jews, Jesus’ response is short and enigmatic. Jesus answers with a test question, “Are you the one saying that?”  Directly it is neither a denial nor an affirmation.  But at least Jesus responds to Pilate’s inquiry, which is important to note.  Jesus’ answer is an invitation for Pilate to search his heart and find his convictions on this matter, to move beyond cold intellectualism. Jesus has begun a line of questioning that would, if followed, force Pilate to work out who Jesus was.  But Pilate only wanted a way out.  Pushing the case over to Herod seems like his way out.

Herod enthusiastically takes the case. Herod wants to see Jesus.  For some time he has heard of this miracle-working Galilean and he wants to see him do something.  Maybe Jesus would do a little magic trick, multiplication of bread, water into wine, curing some illness, pulling a rabbit out of the hat.  Herod wants to be wowed.  Jesus is very popular in Galilee.  If Jesus would collaborate with Herod it would be good politically, Jesus could give the population food and wine.  Maybe do something to lighten the burden of the taxes.  The possibilities are endless, but first a private show.  The stage is set the performer is on, but he does nothing.  He doesn’t even give so much as a word.  He is less obliging for Herod than He was for Pilate.   Had Jesus done even one little miracle Herod would have gladly taken him under his protection.  Herod would have had his court Magic Show. Entertainment was what Herod wanted but Jesus just stood there.  Herod and company did their best to entertain themselves at Jesus's expense. But bullying and mocking makes poor sport of someone who has the courage of Jesus and who refuses to be intimidated. Once he was bored Herod sent Jesus back to Pilot. He didn't want him; he didn't need him if he could not be entertaining.

Pilate was the chair of the committee for security and regional stability and was holding an interview for threat assessment.  Herod was a party animal ready to start leading the chant “Toga, Toga, Toga”. If Pilate was an auditor going over an accountant's books, Herod was a Las Vegas visitor with a ticket to the Penn and Teller show.  

Pilate and Herod represent two equally failing, but still current responses to Jesus.  One is when Jesus is an object of study and cold intellectualism.  We look at Jesus through our reason and analyze Him through the processes of our scholarship.   Over the years we have heard the warnings of a cold, dead, sterile, ritualized Christianity.  But we have heard fewer warnings about the danger of Neo-Herodism.  Available for us today is the Jesus Show complete with lights, band, jumbotron, smoke machines and stars of stage and screen.   We can have Christianity as entertainment with great looking preachers that give us talks worthy of any motivational speaker.  Stand up comics are also available, because laughs draw a crowd.  If you rather, you can have self-help where Jesus can be your own personal Dr. Phil.  Entertainment Jesus even has his own awards program, not unlike the Emmy, Oscar, Tony, Academy, thee are “The Church Stars”.  (I am not kidding it is an awards program for Christian entertainment.) 

Jesus walked past Pilate and dry intellectual pursuit of knowledge.   He would have nothing to do with the entertaining possibilities of entertainment offered by Herod.  Jesus was on His way to the Cross.  Our call is not to engage is dry discourse nor to entertain into imbecility, but rather to die to self, follow Jesus to the cross, first His then our own. 

Eschatology musing and a really great prophecy conference.

I have been reading lately Jesus’ discourse as He leaves the temple for the last time.  It was Jesus’ prophecy conference.  The audience was very exclusive; His insights and explanation being given to a very select few.   Jesus’ teachings are fascinating, powerful and convicting.  But they lack one thing that most prophesy conferences have and indeed have in abundance.  Talk about dates and times. In fact, in all the “prophecy conferences” Jesus held He had one consistent theme: “You will never know when.”

Do not attempt to determine when the Lord Jesus will return.  That is a wasted effort.   It will sell books and maybe even get you a radio/TV show or ministry.   (One televangelist who has made this his focus has a reported network of 2.5 million dollars and lives in a home valued on the upside of $400,000.  Not a bad gig if you can get it.)  One of the really great things about a prophecy conference, book, or program is that when you are wrong you can always right a new book to explain how a new insight makes your next set of predictions right on target and worth the money.

The following statements are not the result of scientific research and exhaustive data.  They are not meant to be universally applicable.  They are, however, the observation I have had in my ministry.

Observation #1 Prophecy aficionados can’t focus on anything else. 

Knowing when, or at least knowing the latest prediction of the Eschatological Super Stars, is more important than any other part of the Christian life.  Minutiae is the name of the game, some vague and little know fact is the secret key to great esoteric knowledge.  Their lives as disciples may be a sham and a shame but they could tell you that the inflation of the price of goats’ milk in the Himalayas was a sign of the soon coming END. 

Observation #2 Prophecy aficionados are all but useless.

Asking a prophecy aficionado to serve in the local church is like asking a wine snob to do manual labor in a vineyard.  Will prophecy aficionados volunteer in the ministry of the church?  Rarely.  Will they invite their friends to come to church? They will only invite other prophecy aficionados and only if you are hosting a prophecy conference.  Will they go on a short-term mission trip or help with summer youth camp?  No, they are using their vacation time to attend a prophecy conference, which happens to be at a 4-star resort.  Will they teach a Bible class?  Yes, but only if they can teach Revelation and prophecy, over and over again.

Observation #3 Prophecy aficionados do more harm than good.

Can prophecy aficionados make disciples of their friends? They don’t have friends.  Their dogmatism and their dire warnings about the rapture have alienated everyone in their lives except other prophecy aficionados.  Their shrill warnings about end times may have a short-term, evangelistic intent, but when they are wrong often the new believer will lose confidence and see Christianity as a scam.  I recommend reading the Amazon Reviews for “88 reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988”. https://www.amazon.com/reasons-Why-Rapture-Will-1988/dp/B00073BM8O

But rather than spend all of my time cursing the darkness allow me to light a candle.  The following is a really great prophecy conference.  But it will not cover the issues that you might expect. 

Charlie’s Great Eschatology Conference

Part #1 Do not focus on the signs of when the Lord Jesus will come again.  It is a waste of time because you ain’t that smart.

Part #2 Focus on the signs of where Jesus can come into our lives, circumstances and situations as Lord and Savior.  Then live under His Lordship as if everyday is the day of His return.

Thank you.

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