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John 3:10-21

26 May

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should [c]not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 3:10-21

Dear God, following up on the impromptu prayer I did last night in the chapel, I want to talk a little about the book I finished reading: What is Jesus was Serious about Judgment? by Skye Jethani. I’ve been curious about Skye’s view of how Jesus would address everything from treating people fairly and forgiveness to heaven and hell and what the cut-line is for either destination.

And to be clear, I’m not sure how much stock I put into Jethani’s theological position. I think we are all wrong and none of us can know exactly what life will look like on the other side. Of all of the possibilities, Jethani’s view could be it. If I were putting money on a theological position given all of the options different teacher’s have, I’d put my money most closely to his. I tend to really agree with a lot of his positions. But the truth is, I simply don’t know. I simply don’t know. I am certain there will be a sorting one day. Jesus was clear about that in several parables. But what happens to the goats? It’s a hazy mystery to me. I hope they don’t really suffer for all eternity. As Jethani put it, that does not seem like proportional punishment for the crimes committed.

But I also think the temptation is to get too wrapped up in heaven, hell, the apocalypse, etc., and we forget to live in justice now. Jesus did care about justice in the here and now. And, frankly, although I read the book in order and didn’t skip ahead to the heaven/hell chapters towards the end, I was still distracted by their existence and looking back I don’t remember much of what his other real points were. So let me go back and look at the table of contents to see if that will help some thoughts stick out. Here are some elected chapter titles:

  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then evil empires will always misunderstand God’s justice.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then God hears the cries of the oppressed.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then experiencing oppression should give us compassion for others.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then evil will consume those who practice it.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then just laws will lead to community flourishing.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then true worship lifts up Christ by lifting up the oppressed.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then a heart far from God lacks mercy, not emotions.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then justice is about our identity, not the other person’s.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then God can be both merciful and angry.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then mercy and justice are partners, not enemies.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then justice alone won’t rescue us from our sins.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then God’s mercy comes with a condition.

Everything else starts getting into your wrath and how that will ultimately be handled, and I don’t want to go there this morning. I just want to sit with how I handle justice in my life. How I handle mercy.

I think the place to start is my own sinfulness and how I handle that. Before I can look at the speck in my neighbor’s eye, I need to look at the log in my own. And the more I truly address my own sins, failures, and foibles, the more empathy and mercy I have for others. To whom much is given much is required. I have been given a lot of mercy. Should I not give a lot in return?

Father, help me to find that line between mercy and justice. There should obviously be consequences for sin. David paid terrible consequences for his sin even though you loved him and cared for him. You forgave me. You even carried your path to Jesus through the woman he stole and murdered for. Maybe you did that more for her than him, now that I think about it. You had choices. You chose the victim to redeem through Solomon and his line. Nice. Help me to love victims, love sinners (who are sinners themselves–we all are), and carry your mercy into this world.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2025 in John

 

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John 9 – Certainty

28 Jul

9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

John 9

Dear God, I was just listening to a podcast from the Holy Post. Skye Jethani was talking about the story from John 9 (and half of 10) about Jesus healing the blind man and the Pharisees refusing to allow themselves to believe Jesus was from you. Jesus was you. They just couldn’t believe it. It would deconstruct (It’s funny I used that word. I didn’t mean to, but that word and concept has become a battleground in the American Evangelical church) their world and faith to think that Jesus might not only be the Messiah, but also that if he was and he was violating their laws then everything the believed would have to be reconsidered.

Skye Jethani called this certainty. They couldn’t or wouldn’t allow themselves to get past their certainty. He used examples of Christians from the past who were certain that lightning was demons and the fact that churches–often the tallest structures in towns–were struck more often than other buildings was an attack by Satan. They rejected Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod as an affront to their faith when he first invented it divided the church. Some installed them and the churches were safe. Some rejected the lightning rods and a portion of those churches continued to be struck. They were certain.

Skye’s real thesis was that the modern American Evangelical church has picked some things that it is certain about–politics, LGBTQ+, guns, COVID conspiracies, etc.–and is acting like the Pharisees when something challenged their assumptions. We aren’t willing to discuss and explore, perhaps even arriving back at the same conclusion we currently have. Instead we just say no to something that flies in the face of what we were taught to believe. The real danger is that, as our children grow and question, when they see us being unreasonable in our beliefs, we could lose an entire generation and they will just walk away from faith. I was talking with a friend at lunch this week about his concern about the LGBTQ+ agenda is going to be damaging to his kids. My encouragement to him was to figure out his persuasive arguments on the issues and be prepare to discuss them with his children beyond “it’s wrong,” because the world is very good right now with its persuasive argument in favor of it. He will have to make it a dialogue with his children, not a closed-minded mandate against.

Isn’t it funny that there really isn’t one person in the New Testament pre-resurrection who was right about Jesus and what his purpose on earth was. Not one. Mary and Joseph didn’t understand it. Elizabeth, Zechariah and their son John didn’t understand it. I’m not really sure when Jesus fully understood it. But after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had to go hide because he knew the people were going to try to make him king. They were trying to make him king all of the way up to Passion week. He was the only one who comprehended what was going on. But everyone else was sure they were right about him, whether they were against him or for him. But every single one of them was wrong. And the commands of the Sermon on the Mount flew in the face of what everyone expected of him and what he would call them to do.

Father, I know I am blind. I know I have some preconceived theologies that are errant but are so baked into me that I cannot see them. I know I don’t know what you would have me do at any given moment. I guess the best thing I can say for myself is that I know that I don’t know. Please teach me, Holy Spirit. Please guide me. Help me to lead with humility. As I get ready to teach this Sunday school class this morning, make this a journey that we are all on together to simply hear from you. You are our God. We want you to teach us. Break us. Melt us. Mold Us. Fill us.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 28, 2024 in John

 

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Romans 10:5-13

15 Apr

5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is [b]based on law shall live [c]by that righteousness. 6 But the righteousness [d]based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 [e]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, [f]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, [g]resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be [h]disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:5-13

Dear God, I probably shouldn’t be talking about this yet because I just started it, but I began reading a book yesterday by Skye Jethani called What if Jesus was Serious about Heaven? It talks about some of our bad modern theology about heaven and how we might see the realm where you reside and where we go after death a little differently. Of course, I have my own thoughts as well–none of which I am confident enough to try to teach to anyone as truth.

But this is today’s passage from Bible Gateway (actually, it’s just verses 9 and 10, but I wanted to go ahead and put them in a little more context) so I will just sit with this and you for a bit.

When I was a senior in high school we got a new youth minister in our church and he made us memorize three passages: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, and Romans 10:9-10. So whenever I see this passage it always makes me think of him and my senior year. That seems like so long ago now. I guess it will be 37 years ago this summer. They were important for us to be able to share our faith and help people understand that we were all sinners, the result of sin is death, but there is hope in eternal life with you through believing in Jesus.

Father, for a lot of my life, people were scaring me into faith with the threat of hell. That’s like a parent coercing love out of a child through threats of being cut off or something. I don’t think that’s what you want from us when it comes to our love for you. You don’t want me to be here because I’m afraid to not be here. You want me here because I long for you. I need you. I love you. Well, I can honestly tell you that that is why I am here this morning. You are the one essential in my life. You are the only thing that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You are my only certainty. You are my God.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 15, 2024 in Romans

 

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Parable of the Faithful and Wicked Servant (Matthew 24:45-51)

12 Oct

45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24:45-51

Dear God, there isn’t much way around the idea that Jesus was clear about there being a separation from you for wicked people. I don’t know the exact definition of wicked. I don’t know where the line is. Somewhere between John the Baptist and Hitler (the two most extreme ends of the spectrum my mind can currently conjure up right now), I suppose. But it’s definitely there.

I heard an interesting discussion yesterday about heaven on The Holy Post. One of the things they made pretty clear is that it won’t be all just singing, but you will have work for us to do. Just as you didn’t create Adam and Eve to just worship you, but to work, you will have the same for us to do. And this parable of Jesus supports that when it says of the good and faithful servant after the master returns, “the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.” So there will be work to do, and I like that. I like that I won’t only just be worshipping you in voice, but I will also get to worship you in my work for you. It will be more than lip service, but serving you with my full existence.

But looking at this from you angle and seeing what I can learn about you and who you are through what Jesus is telling me about you here, it seems that if you are going to use me in the after life you need me to be somewhat useful now. I need to be the kind of person who can die to myself and be your servant in the realm to come. If I am not that person now–or even trying to be that person now–how could I possibly be that person in the next life.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I know you understand my limitations now. I know you know what I’m capable of doing, even on my best day, and what I can’t do. I know you know my heart. Right now, I have some pains in my life. I have some sorrows. I have some people about whom I am very concerned. Some are relatives. Some are friends. Some are hurting emotionally. Some are hurting physically. Some are hurting spiritually. Please move and help them. Please love them. Please help them to be found good and faithful servants when you return. And help me to be your good and faithful servant too. And the interesting thing is that I would be here and doing this without the promise of a life to come. I’m just happy living this life serving the God of the universe. You are where true peace and happiness are found.

I pray all of this with the knowledge that I only have the right to be here through the life, death, and resurrection mercy of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

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The Gift of Pain

03 Oct

“[Dr. Paul Brand] was the one, really, who established that [leprosy], which is the oldest recorded disease, and a greatly feared disease. When you say leprosy people think of movies they’ve seen where patients are missing fingers and maybe even a whole hand, amputations, they are blind. And all of those are common manifestations of the disease. But Dr. Brand proved decisively that all of that abuse came simply because those with leprosy lacked pain. So they lacked that warning system that keeps you from reaching your hand into a fire, that forces you to blink every few seconds. And if you just keep your eyes open all day long, forcing them to stay open, they’ll eventually dry out and you’ll go blind. So millions of leprosy patients have gone blind simply because they don’t blink anymore. They lack the signal that says, ‘Blink, blink.’

“And he was the first person I met who said, ‘Thank God for pain. If I had one gift to give to my leprosy patients it would be the gift of pain. And I had spent my life trying to figure out suffering. I couldn’t think of anything good about it. I read lot of books on the problem of pain, the problem of suffering, but never one called, ‘The Gift of Pain.’ And ultimately, the two of us together ended up writing one. And it shifted my focus from, ‘Why do these things happen?’ Which I don’t think the Bible gives us much wisdom about. Job wanted that wisdom very badly, and he never got it from God. God just said, ‘No, that’s not your job. That’s my job. Your job is, ‘Now that they have happened, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to respond? Are you going to trust me or reject me? Is there something redemptive that can come out of this suffering?”

Dr. Philip Yancey – The Holy Post Podcast, Episode 476. 9/29/2021. Time Stamp 1:13:40

Dear God, I heard this podcast a few days ago, and I’ve been noodling with it in my head ever since. In fact, I probably let it distract me from actually spending much time simply worshipping you. I used my thinking time as a substitute for worship. I’m sorry about that. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth my time. It’s an interesting concept.

So what would the world look like if there were no pain? I suppose it would be easier to ask what my own life would be like if there were no pain. Prosperity gospel preachers would tell me, I think, that no pain is the goal for life. If we are doing it right with you then you will eliminate my pain. You will make it all sunshine and roses. I recently spoke with a woman whose husband died a few years ago. He had a terminal illness with almost no hope for survival. Yet, she expected him to be healed until the moment he died. She still carries the pain of his loss. She still carries, I believe, some anger towards you for letting her down.

As for me, I’ve certainly been disappointed with you over the years. I’ve had things happen, especially with my children, that have caused me tremendous pain. How could you let this happen? Wasn’t I supposed to get some amount of protection from these bad things if I prayed to you regularly, prayed for them, invested in them, etc.? What gives?

But I’ve learned over the last few years that you are doing things I cannot see. It’s in the Bible over and over again. Some of the stories are obvious to us now (although they were not obvious to the people who experienced them). Joseph, Jacob’s son, could not see how his imprisonment by Uncle Ishmael’s descendants would lead to your glory. But there are other stories that are more subtle. Like Naomi. She lost a husband and two sons, but you ultimately redeemed that to give David his great-grandmother, Ruth. As Yancy said above, ours is not to understand why something happened, but to decide how we are going to respond to the situation or circumstance. Will we trust and hope in you, or will we sink into despair?

My wife and I were talking about Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman’s story of when they lost their young daughter in an accident. They really struggled with both the loss and in dealing with each other and how they were processing the loss. Ultimately, they had to learn to both give freedom to the other as to how they needed to walk through and experience the pain, while still experiencing the pain themselves. And they needed to see how they could support the other in their own walk. It’s complicated, but it’s also essential. Right now, my wife and I are experiencing a painful situation, and we are responding differently. Thankfully, this is not our first rodeo with each other, and we are much better at both communicating what we need and also giving each other the freedom and support to go through the situation the way each of us needs to.

But to go back to the first question because I am way off topic. What would it be like to not experience any of this? What would emotional leprosy (as opposed to physical leprosy) look like? I suppose an emotional leper would be completely insensitive to other people. The parts of my that should contain sympathy and empathy would be gone. I would have no tolerance for others. I also wouldn’t have any motivation to do anything. Without the knowledge that even lethargy will cause me harm, I would totally embrace lethargy and laziness. I would be completely irresponsible because there would be no consequences for my irresponsibility.

I was talking recently with someone about the difficulty of parenting because, as adults we know that we only learn and grow through struggle and trials, but as parents our temptation is to protect our children from struggles as much as possible. I have another friend right now who is struggling to know what to do with his 20-year-old son who is living at home and dropped out of college. Does he kick him out? Does he give him space to figure his life out? Where does he draw the line? And what does he do about his wife’s perspective, which is different than his own? And taking a step further back from the situation, what is it that you are doing for him and his wife through this pain? How are you using it to shape them?

Father, I think it is right that pain is good for us, although it is probably still hard for me to label it as a gift. I’d just call it essential to our development as humans. Right now, the only thing that has restored some of the relationships in my life that were broken was pain and hitting bottom. Alcoholics often have to “hit bottom” to decide that they are powerless over alcohol, their lives have become unmanageable, and they need you to restore them to sanity. It doesn’t happen while they are at the bar. It happens the next morning. So I submit myself to whatever you need me to experience. For repentance. For growth. For love. For empathy and sympathy. For knowing what actions to take. For everything. I give it all to you, Father. I don’t need to know why something is the way it is in my life. I just need to know you are in your heaven and all is right in my world, whether I can see it with my eyes or not.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 3, 2021 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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“If they ain’t following you, you ain’t leading.” Skye Jethani

28 Dec

Dear God, I was listening to The Holy Post podcast from last week earlier today, and there was a part that really struck me. It starts at the 40:30 mark. They were talking about how evangelical leaders are making public statements regarding different social and political issues and yet evangelical people, when surveyed do not, for the most part, support those views. For example, in 2017, there were evangelical leaders who have said that it is important for the United States to be a place for legal immigrants to be able to come, but, when surveyed, a majority of white evangelicals support limiting legal immigration–more so than any other religious group surveyed. When one host, Phil Vischer, asked another, Sky Jethani, what he thought of that, Skye said, “It’s very simple: If they ain’t following, you ain’t leading.”

It made me think about a Baptist pastor in the town where I live. I was in a meeting among several pastors a couple of weeks ago, and the Baptist pastor, who has trained pastors in third-world countries in different parts of the world, said something to the effect that one thing he learned in the pandemic is that he thought they had a church where people were really seeking you, but what he’s found is that they have a social organization where like-minded people are getting together to socialize. The different agendas people have brought to the table since the pandemic and some of the decisions the church has made in relation to meetings has revealed the true character of the church. There was absolute silence when he said it.

Back to the podcast, they started talking about what each of us allows into our heads that shapes our thoughts, theology, and worldview. For example, if I give my church one hour of influence over me a week, how much time am I giving to news (and which news), television, music, movies, etc.? Phil Vischer mentioned (50:30 mark) that he normally spends time in personal Bible study, but lately decided to give himself over to some teaching from a theologian he trusts to allow that person to shape and/or challenge some of Phil’s perspective. The example he gave was a biblical commentary from Scot McKnight, a respected theologian, on the Sermon on the Mount.

That brings me to the last podcast host, Christian Taylor, who talked about a pastor, Matt Murdock at Church of the Resurrection, encouraging the parishioners to take an inventory of what influences them throughout the week (45:45 mark). What is everything I listen to/watch/consume? Who do I talk to? What all influences me? It doesn’t all have to be sacred, but what am I letting in? How am I using each day to know you better? As I envision doing this inventory, I almost envision the Weight Watchers point system. I can get some sweets, but too much is too much. Over time, I think the Holy Spirit will guide me to the answer of how much is too much.

The last part of the conversation is that evangelical leaders need to figure out the new paradigm of leading and influencing in this new age. They are using a 19th century model for parishioners living in a 21st century world.

Father, help me find good people to follow, and help me to be a good example for those who depend upon me to lead. Help me to see what you see, learn what you have for me to learn, and worship you the way you deserve to be worshipped. Do it all for your glory and so that others around me might be drawn to you, your salvation, your peace, and your path for them.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2020 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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