Upward Grace

Philippians 3:4b-14

Paul was a Jew of Jews as he claims in this passage, and it is important to note that he understood Jesus as per his Judaism.  Paul persecuted the church with zeal because he believed it went against the Law.  When Paul met the resurrected Jesus, he did not believe Christ as Lord and reject the Law, he understood Jesus to be Lord, because of his understanding of the Law.  Paul even writes that Jesus came first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.  Paul doesn’t care if you continue to follow the Laws, he did not tell the Jerusalem church to stop, he however did not like the hypocrisy and the requirement of the Law. 

Paul understood like the prophets, that once the Messiah came that this one God would reign over the entire world.  There were those that were monotheistic within their land, but Judaism was clear that the one true God was the God of creation.  Of the entire world, thus once the Messiah would come the world would be part of God’s kingdom.  Paul thus goes to the gentiles because of this Jewish belief.  Paul is critical of Judaism that does not understand this, because Paul knows Jesus as the Messiah.

In this passage, Paul is talking about the Judaizers, who want to require those in the Philippian church to follow the Law as well as Christ.  Paul is outraged at their requirement of others to know Jesus how they had discovered Jesus.  Paul even shares that in their method, he is far better to these Judaizers, but he says that those ways are rubbish.  Paul is not saying that was the wrong way to know Jesus, rather what is important is to strive to Jesus together.  We need only that.

I am reminded of a workshop in which was required by clergy to attend.  Early on in the workshop we were asked if anyone could help him out by cutting out some basic shapes for an illustration.  Well three of us raised our hand, and even though I was thinking “shouldn’t he have done this earlier,” I realized quickly that this was the illustration.  He gave us the paper with the three shapes and each a left-handed scissor.  Needless to say we struggled to cut out the shapes.

Paul understands that it is not important how we get to Christ, but that we strive to the call of Jesus, to Grace, holding fast to what we attained (v.16).  We can not require others to understand Christ exactly how we came to understand.  Just as we cannot require right-handed people to use left-handed scissors.  And if we make a requirement for Grace that is earth bound and not upward, heavenly bound, then those that don’t fit will not have them fully in our fellowship.  Just as any left-handed person would not volunteer for they would assume you would hand them “scissors” (which is what we call right-handed scissors).

Putting on Christ

Article in Daily Democrat, 9/16/2011

It has not been cool enough to put on a jacket, but I am sure looking forward to doing just that. I hope to find a five dollar bill in a pocket, I certainly will find a receipt or a business card from the last time I wore the jacket. I will take this item out and recall the event that brought me to save said item in the pocket. Often I remember it quite well, yet my memory was jogged by the discovery. Would I have remembered the event without finding the item, perhaps, but I obviously forgot about the item tucked within the jacket.

The Christian cannon, we refer to as the Bible, is not something we can read from Genesis to Revelation in one sitting. Well that is if you have any other responsibilities in life, and fitting three books in a week is hard enough, making sixty-six very difficult even if some are as short at Philemon. Of course, no one expects someone to read the entire Bible between Sundays every week. However, even those of us that have read the entire Bible once is not enough. We must return to the scriptures every day. Yet I know many Christians who concentrate on certain scriptures, and there is certainly reasons to hang around the familiar, the friendly, and favorites, for they confirm and comfort. That is important.

We must also read the passages we find less familiar, for we will find things we forgot. Our memories will be jogged by our discoveries, even memories that were not ours individually. We are all part of the one body as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” Therefore, our individual discoveries are assisted by others. Pastors, theologians, commentaries, scholars, church mothers and fathers, have all left important knowledge, be it in writings, sermons, actions, and questions, and all of them must be part of one’s Bible reading experience. We read the Bible and read the comments in our respective Bibles. We read old and new scholarship. We are in it together thus we go to Bible Studies and help each other. We do not simply have people tell us the truth, we together as Christians discover the truth of God’s Love and Grace, together. Every time we open our Bible we open it together as church, and we have personal epiphanies, assisted by our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Knowing the Bible is not done in a day and it is not done alone. It is done with a jacket that has many pockets, with many depths and textures. We read our Bible with this jacket of Christ’s that we share and explore all pockets of the truth united by the Holy Spirit.

Sovereign Grace

John 17:1-26

Today’s scripture is part of Jesus’ farewell dialogue.  It is however, not to us, it is a pray to His Father.  We are privy to this very personal prayer on behalf of the disciples, and for those that would believe because of their witness, thus ourselves.  There is a great intimacy evident by this prayer.  It is also very pastoral for us as there is a petition to the Father God that we see His glory, we make it to heaven.  This is to happen because Jesus asks the Father God to protect the believers who are no longer of the world and to keep them united. 

This reminded me of a wonderful illustration.  There was an Admiral who decided to take the control room from the Captain of the USS Oklahoma.  The sailors in the control room all had their respective jobs.  One was on the helm, radio, radar, maps, etc.  They knew their jobs and even knew the way to their safe harbor. 

The night was foggy and dark, but the sea was not too choppy.  The ship headed their normal direction.  The admiral saw a light in the distance, and commanded the radio man to send a message that the ship change course.  The report back was that we are requested to change course.  This went back and forth a few times, when the admiral got up and grabbed the radio and barked into it, “This is the admiral of the fleet, I command you to move.”  A second later, the response was, “Sir, I humbly ask you again to change your course, as the lighthouse keeper for two months and I have not figured out how to move.”  The men and women in the control room held back their laughter as best they could.

See the ship represents the church, and it is important for everyone to be in the proper position.  Just as Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

It is true that the admiral did not depend on the people that knew the way, but neither did they speak up when they knew what the light was.  It is important for the church to be together and to have us working together as our gifts are given.  It is certainly much easier to navigate the sea of the world together then alone in a small dingy.

The lighthouse is the grace of God that shines out on everyone, but it is important we recognize it as Grace.  The ship could have ran aground if the reality that the lighthouse was warning them was not realized.  Grace directs us and protects us from the “evil one.”  The lighthouse keeps us from hitting the rocky coast, it is the answer to Jesus’ pray to His father, that we be protected and unified.  The lighthouse and the ship.

The ship may move with our help, but it is truly the lighthouse that should direct its every move.  God is truly in charge, God’s Grace is Sovereign.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Paul sums it up well here.  It is Grace that saves us and directs us, and we respond by good work of the church.

ALL ABOARD

As printed in Durant Daily Democrat June 3, 2011

Have you been stuck at a railroad crossing? If you run your errands around Durant, it is likely for that to happen a time or two. Have you heard the train whistles? If you live in Durant I am sure you have. I write this to emphasize how important these locomotives and rail companies are to our town and county. For many of the new industries that have come and those that will come to the Durant Area, rail is a key ingredient for receiving and shipping, as well as the trucks on 69/75. There is currently nothing as efficient and connected to the rest of the country as our rail system.

Many communities such as ours are lucky to have a class one carrier, yet we have been serviced by three. These are names we should know, but do not worry—I also had to find out the names. Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Sante Fe, and Kansas City Southern are the three class one carriers, reaching across our whole nation. To receive cars from these three lines requires the important work of the short-line carrier, Kiamichi-Rail America. These four rail companies are an essential ingredient to our community’s growth. So when I hear the train whistles or need to wait for a train, I think about how important it is to our community.

Now you may be asking why a minister is so interested in our local trains. The answer has two parts which I believe are related. The first is very simple and that is that our local churches are part of the same community and the reality is that churches need the community to be healthy on many levels, including economically. While some of our citizens have fallen on bad economic times, we are able to provide services in the community, such as (but not limited to) Loaves & Fishes and Families Feeding Families because many are able to give their time, talent, and money.

The second is how the train symbolizes our interconnection with the rest of the nation and even the world. What makes trains so important are how they provide efficient transportation from sea to shining sea. When you see or hear the trains in town, you know that the cars are filled with many different raw materials and finished goods, going throughout the land. This is a wonderful fact. Just as we have different churches in town, we have only one Gospel, one track. Paul states this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.” All Christians are baptized into one body, yet there is a diversity of gifts among the body, with Christ as the head.

Therefore when I see or hear the trains I think about how Christians from all walks of life and of all denominations may be different but are united by the tracks set by the Father God, the train that Jesus is at the control, and the Holy Spirit that powers the train. I believe today as the popular slogan in many frontier churches of the nineteenth century stated, “In essentials, Unity; in non-essentials, Liberty; and in all things, Charity.”

So when you now get stuck waiting to cross the tracks, or simply hear one of those impressive locomotives, I hope you will think about how blessed we are. We are blessed to have a town that has industry and jobs in part because of these railroads. We are also all blessed to be part of the wonderful Body of Christ, the church, which expands over the world like the rails, connecting Christendom, for “…God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.” (1 Corinthians 12: 18-20).

So I leave you with the words of the 1965 hit single by The Impressions:

People get ready, there's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord

We can all get on board. Be it for our community, but even greater for Christ.

Gifts of Prophecy

Matthew 2: 1-15

Christmas gifts are wonderful to give and receive.  And in my home our boy who is just two still does not expect or understand gifts.  He enjoyed many of the new items, including a shirt box and a empty tube.  In my family we receive and exchange Christmas tree ornaments each year.  It is wonderful to look at our tree each year and remember and recollect on the pass years.  Some especially from my childhood are slipping from my memory and/or are physically deteriorating.    My first ornament that started the tradition was given to me when I was but six months old.  It is a small glass bird, but I have no memory of that gift, save the memories of being told about it by my mother.  I recall she went out in the snow on Christmas Eve to get this special gift that started this Christmas tradition that now spans three generations. 

The Magi brought three gifts to Jesus.  Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, are gifts one would present a king.  Gold is of course very valuable, but so were the special resins, Myrrh being more valuable then gold at times in the ancient world, because of its scarcity.  The child Jesus I assume enjoyed playing with the boxes more then the gifts themselves, if not for Him acting like all other toddlers, but because the gifts were way too valuable for a family of meager means.  A family that would need to finance an extended stay in Egypt.  Once he was old enough to understand, I imagine His parents shared the story of the wonderful visit of the foreign Magi, and Joseph’s dream to save the family from Herod’s infanticide.

Jesus must have known He was Divine, yet being also fully human I know He must have pondered these gifts.  Why would they bring gifts for a king to a child of meager means?  Why were they foreigners who knew of His heavenly kingship?  And why Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?  Of course Gold, was a valued metal as it is still today, and both incenses were of great value, but of course these foreigners from the East would bring treasures from their land that was not native to Israel.  It would had been strange enough for this poor family to have Gold and frankincense, but it was the myrrh that certainly seemed the most prophetic.   

In learning the Jewish religion, Jesus would be exposed to the Torah.  Within the tradition God was present in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple, and to anoint the altar and the priests there is a recipe for holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:33).   The recipe includes other ingredients especially cinnamon and oil, but the text begins with liquid myrrh, thus concentrated, and verse 32 states, “It shall not be used in any ordinary anointing of the body, and you shall make no other like it in composition; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.”  This is interesting first of all because Jesus is the “anointed one,” the Christ (in Greek).  And why does God tell Moses to have this anointing perfume created?  This was to anoint the priests and the altar for the worship of God, and as specifically mentioned in verse 10 of Chapter 30, for the yearly rite of atonement.  This is the pivotal point.  Jesus will fulfill the law, the Torah.  It will not be a yearly rite, rather one horrific sacrifice of this anointed one, and atonement becomes communicable through the resurrection of the Christ.

Joseph hears God in a dream to save the child from death, as it was not simply Jesus’ mission to die, but to love, heal, and preach the good news.  Knowing full well that humanity would reject this perfect love with violence.  Herod’s fear and distrust that lead to lying and infanticide foreshadows, Jesus’ passion.  Rejected by His own people and the powers and violently killed, the young boys whose sins were that of babes were slaughtered by the King that should have protected them.  The Magi foretold that this child was not simply the King of Israel, but the King of the entire world. 

Can you imagine being a child that ponders these strange gifts, reserved for earthly kings?  Coming across the recipe for the anointing perfume and knowing it relates to not simply the yearly atonement but something even more profound and important.  A one time atonement for all, even beyond the Jordon and to the ends of the earth.  And perhaps while in Egypt learning that myrrh was a primary ingredient in preparing their dead, Jesus knew that people and powers would react like Herod.  However, as the King of Kings, as the anointed one, atonement would be achieved through His blood, and known by the resurrection.  Like a star that shows us the way.