The Rest of the Story . . ?

Have you ever seen a news report or heard a story that made you wonder what the rest of the story was?  I came across one of those stories in the book of Luke, chapter 8.

"On a certain day," Jesus got into a boat with His disciples and told them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out.

Sailing across the lake, Jesus falls asleep and a powerful storm descends from the surrounding mountains nearly swamping the boat. His disciples, some of whom were experienced fisherman, were so spooked that they rushed to Jesus. "Master, Master, we are perishing!"

Jesus rose,  rebuked the wind and raging water, and the storm just stopped.  Which I can imagine freaked the disciples out even more.  Imagine seeing someone tell the wind and water to stop and it does!  Who is this Man?

They sailed on and arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, in what is now Jordan!  Immediately, Jesus was met by a demon-possessed and naked man.  This man had been demon-possessed for a long time.  He had been placed under guard and bound with chains and shackles, which could not hold him.  And he was driven into the wilderness around the lake by the demons, where he lived among the tombs.

The demons recognized Jesus and begged Him not to torment them.  Jesus asked him for his name and the demons answered, "Legion" because many demons had entered him. They then begged Him to allow them to enter a herd of swine feeding nearby rather than sending them into the abyss.  Jesus permitted them.

You know the story, the demon's entered the swine and then ran down into the lake.  The keepers of the swine ran into the city telling everyone what had happened.  When the people from the city came out to find out to see for themselves, they found the demon-possessed man in his right mind, clothed and sitting at Jesus' feet.  They responded in fear, begging Jesus to depart their country.

The man begs to go with Jesus, but He tells him, "Return to your own home and tell what great things God has done for you." Then, Jesus and His disciples return to the other side of the lake.

OK, so my question is, who was this man? And what was the response to his testimony in the city?

It appears as though Jesus specifically crossed the lake to deliver him.  And, it seems that the enemy whipped up a powerful storm to prevent them from reaching him.  So who was he?  What was his history in the city?

Then again, maybe the man himself was not anyone important at all.  Yet, Jesus crossed the lake for him.  I would just love to know the rest of the story.  His history and then what happened to him after his deliverance?  How many in the city were intrigued and sought Jesus for themselves because of his testimony?  What difference did this event make in the lives of those who knew of it?

And the disciples?  How were they touched by this?  First to see Jesus' power over the natural forces of the world.  And then, to see His power over the supernatural forces of the demonic.  Can you imagine a host of demons begging Jesus?  I mean, we understand now Who Jesus was, but for the disciples it must have been so amazing to see.

Anyway, as I said, this is one of those times I would love to know the rest of the story.  I long to know the  reason this man, this event, was so important.  And I want to know what came of this meeting?

But to make it personal, I wonder how important my witness for Christ may be.  In this story, the people of the city feared and sent Jesus away.  They would not even hear the message.  But the man could then go and tell them his story.  Makes me realize more clearly that where Jesus is rejected and ignored by the world, our testimony may be the thing that He uses to soften those hearts, to reach past those fears, prejudices, and lies of the world.  Perhaps we can be His emissaries to open otherwise closed hearts and minds by our stories of what He has done for us.

I wonder what the rest of the story could be in my life or yours!!!

Responding to our World

I watched a movie last night on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  He was a Christian theologian in Nazi Germany during WWII.

What I thought was interesting since I knew the basic story of the stand he took and the consequences he faced, was the struggle he had to face with his conscience, his understanding of Scripture, and his concepts of right and wrong.  I guess I had imagined that he had it all figured out and knew what he should do.  Don't we always look at our heroes and believe that everything was easy for them?

And I especially thought about the choices he had to make in light of the changes our society is going through and the choices we are having to make.  And you know, there are times I struggle with how God wants me to respond to the world around me.  I see so many Christians speaking out on this situation or that one.  They are boycotting a company they disagree with.  Some are crying out due to the injustices that many Christians believe we are facing.  Others are becoming political zealots for one of the candidates believing they will turn things around.

I guess what can be difficult for me is that when I look at the first century church and Jesus, I don't see a lot of political activity.  Maybe there was and it just wasn't recorded in the letters that we have. So I don't know how those Christians reacted to the Jews being dispersed from Judea or to the abandonment of unwanted babies.  Did they raise their voices against the cruelties and injustices of their day.  Simply from reading Scripture, I really don't know.

So I am left sometimes to ponder how God wants me to respond to the cruelty, the injustice, and the bigotry I see around me.  As a Christian, am I to fight for my rights?  How does my loyalty to my country, my patriotism, relate to my Christian citizenship in the Kingdom of God?  Does it?

I know that these things need a lot more prayer from me and a lot more study of the Word.  Perhaps I won't find direct examples of how earlier Christians responded, or how Jesus Himself responded to these exact types of situations.  But I believe with prayerful study, God will give me enough insight from His Word and with His Spirit to be at peace with how I should respond.

The other thing to realize, and Bonhoeffer is a prime example of this, is that having the peace of God regarding how I need to respond or to act will not necessarily mean that there will be no price to pay for my choices.  Bonhoeffer, as many Christians before and after him, paid with his life for taking a stand and doing what He believed God wanted him to do.  I must also be prepared to pay whatever price is exacted.  Jesus Christ, Himself, did no less.

Love Expressed

Last night I read the story of the woman who entered the Pharisee's house to anoint Jesus' feet.  As well as the following paragraph regarding the women who provided for the needs of Jesus and His disciples as they traveled.  (Luke 7:36 - 8:3)  I was so touched by Jesus' treatment of women, especially in that time and that society.

The Pharisee invited Jesus into his home for a meal, yet he did not even offer Jesus the rudimentary courtesies one would normally offer to any guest in their home.  This spoke volumes, I am sure, to Jesus as to the Pharisee's attitude toward Him as well as his motives for the invitation.

As they reclined at the table, a woman entered the room.  She was a sinner, evidently well-known as such, but she had the audacity to enter into this 'religious' man's house.  Can you imagine the courage it took?  The side-ways sneers and whispers her presence must have elicited.  But she stood behind Jesus, as though not wanting to draw attention to herself, and stooped to minister to Him.  Weeping, her tears wet his feet, which she dried with her hair, continually kissing his feet.  Then, opening an alabaster vessel, she poured out a perfumed ointment to anoint them.  The fragrance must have filled that room.

I can well imagine the Pharisee silently smirking as he said to himself that if Jesus were a prophet He would surely know the type of woman she was and would 'of course' have draw back in horror that she should dare to touch him.  But Jesus knew his heart and plainly read his thoughts.

And so, after gaining the Pharisee's permission to speak to him, Jesus said:

'When I entered your house, you gave Me no water for my feet (to wash them from the dirt of the roads), yet she has washed My feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  You gave Me no (welcoming) kiss, yet this woman has not ceased kissing My feet since I came in.  You did not anoint My head with olive oil (mark of respect for a visitor), yet this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil."

Then Jesus goes on to say that it has to do with love.  "I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much.  How powerful is that!

Then, as I read on, in Luke 8, there were certain women who provided for Him from their substance.  These women had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.

All this made me think about how I express my love for Him.  And I am very sad to say that for the past several years, I have not been doing well in that department.

So, last night I prayed about it.  I asked Jesus to show me how I could express my love for Him.

Years ago, I was involved in many things because of my love for Him.  I wrote these type of postings, just motivated by the awe and love I felt for Him, wanting to share that with others.  I sang in the choir and for different church programs, and I also taught women's Bible study for a time.  But as I contemplated these things, I hesitated.  All of them, for me, now seem to get tangled up with both pride and/or fear of rejection.  So I was hoping that He could show me another way I could express my love that would be, for me, free of those constraints.

This morning it hit me -- like a ton of bricks.  Some people don't know me well enough to know that I am naturally a slob.  I guess for me, cleanliness, tidiness, and order just have never been that important.  I don't think it was for my mom and dad, so maybe that is where I learned it (well, that is sort of an excuse any way).  But following in my mom's footsteps, I am not big on entertaining or having folks drop by -- mainly because I know they would be shocked.  But for whatever reason, it has never bothered me, except when I worry what someone would think if they knew.

Anyway, as I said, this morning it hit me that one way I could express my love for Christ would be to make my home, my body (another area where I am sorry lax), and my life more inviting for Him.  I could think of the Pharisee that was so lax in making Jesus welcome in his home, and do what I can to make my home a place that I would imagine He would find comfortable and peace-filled.

YIKES!!!  God, really, did You have to pick the area of secret sin that I have given over to especially in the past few years?  Couldn't You suggest something more 'spiritual?'  Something more fitting my 'druthers?'

Well, it is going to take a lot of praying to take this through more than the first gung-ho effort.  With working from home, my life has been so sedentary (sitting in front of the computer most of the day), that I have been having trouble with my back, shoulders, knees, and ankles.  So, this will be a push for me, not just to get started but to keep going.  But it will be totally and completely a work of love to accomplish it.

What do you think God might suggest to you as a way for you to express your love for Him?  I would love to hear about it.

Authority

Luke 7:1-17

I was looking at the characteristics of the centurion's approach to Jesus this morning.  And my first thoughts were of his faith in Jesus' ability and his humility in the way in which he asked Jesus to heal his servant.  Then I took that to my relationship with Jesus and with God the Father.

I guess I have never really had the sense that I can "boldly" declare or "claim" God's answers to my prayers.  Although I know that I am His child and a member of His household, I still consider it an awesome thing to ask God for things.  I am not saying that I question His love or care for me, but rather that I just believe He is in control and He knows what is best in every situation.

And yet, I am probably still much too careless and cavalier in my dealings with Him.  It can be a struggle to find that place in my relationship with Him where faith-filled expectation that He will provide meets the humble recognition that He is my great and might Lord and God over all creation and over me/my life.  I don't want to get to the point that I begin to see Him as the safe and snuggly 'dad' I have wrapped around my little finger.

And going back to yesterday, I see this as another area for my digging deep to remove all my cultural and personal prejudices as to how one should relate to 'father' to find that place of intimacy/love/trust/acceptance and honor/respect/awe/obedience.

I was so very blessed to have had a father (earthly father) with whom I developed such a loving relationship.  I always felt so accepted and loved.  And yet, he had earned such loving respect, which began as a sort of awe/fear and deepened into a longing to live to please him because I loved him so much.

This passage of scripture shows Jesus' great love and compassion for people.  He was moved by the faith of men, moved by the grief and loss of a mother's heart.  He is not at all the sort of god we often see in this world who rules and judges from a distance.  Rather, Jesus reveals to us that God is personal, loving, caring, feeling and sympathetic.  He feels our pain; He knows our sorrows and fears; He truly loves us.

It also reveals His unique authority in all creation.  I think the centurion recognized that Jesus was not performing some magical 'faith healing,' but rather that He was carrying/wielding a power and authority above and beyond all that this world had seen.  It wasn't 'prayer' or request for healing; not some type of medical treatment that would hopefully overcome the disease; this was authoritative intervention in the laws of 'nature,' in any spiritual hierarchy, and in the very nature of physical reality.  Jesus didn't give it a try; He didn't have a decent win/loss ratio; His authority was complete and unlimited by time and space.  Even death itself had no power to stand or to hold a life where Jesus called that life to rise.

But perhaps when I look at that authority, I need to see more to it than the answers to my prayers, my help in times of trouble.

I am thinking that I need to recognize that the same authority that calls forth life from death rules in and over me and my life.  God is not a genie or a powerful servant to do my bidding, meet my needs, answer my calls.  On the contrary, He is my LORD, whom I am to serve with loving respect, humility and obedience.  It is as my Lord that He not only rules over my life, but He also provides for my needs.

My concept of who God is has been so pitiful and self centered.  I have lived so selfishly and rebelliously, never considering His will for my life.  My desire is to better recognize His authority over all things, especially over my life.  And I pray that He will forgive me, discipline and train me to do all His good will, to be obedient and respectful of all that He is!    In Jesus' Name

Digging Deep for the Rock

Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayins, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.  Luke 6:47-48

Now I know that this passage is talking about doing rather than just hearing.  But I was really touched by the illustration of the home builder.  That picture of digging down deep to the solid rock really spoke to my heart.  It seems so very easy in this day and this culture to be a 'Christian.'  And yet, how often, when the storms of life and the attacks of the world take their toll, are we left shaken and overthrown?

I was so encouraged by this passage of my need (and now my desire) to push down past all the stuff of this 'Christian life' to find the Lord Himself, to meet Him face-to-face, to go beyond the knowing about Him to the KNOWING Him and SEEING Him clearly for Who He is.  I may have been there at one time, but I think that over the years so many things have shifted in between us and it is so hard to see Him know through all the conflicting and competing representations of Him that surround us.

So, anyway, for what it is worth, I want to share my thoughts on this idea of digging down deep to build our foundation:

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Effectiveness and stability in the Christian life depend on what we choose to build our lives upon.  Jesus Christ is the only immovable, unshakable One upon whom we can set our foundation.  Everything in this world, a teaching, a teacher, a culture, a country, a 'truth,' a belief, or any code of ethics, everything changes and passes away.  Only Jesus Christ is unchanging.

The church changes, its teachings change, 'the truth' changes, right becomes wrong and wrong right.  Yet, Jesus Christ -- not our representations of Him, not our assertions, not our illustrations of Him -- Jesus Christ, Himself, is unchanging and immovable.

That being said, He is not so readily found.  By that I mean, He, Himself, His very being, His discipleship is not so easily come by.

Oh, there are invitations, clues, bread crumbs all around us because He really wants us to find Him.  But to find HIM, to find His heart, His face, His very being, we need to dig down deep, removing layers of selfishness, pride, misinformation, false-Messiahs, worldly attitudes, easy feel-good spirituality, harsh judgmental self-righteousness, our desires for 'signs and wonders,' our longings for knowledge and being 'right,' our cultural prejudices, our patriotism, our racism, and our fears.

Dig down past the comfort of the pews, past the recitations of orthodox creeds, past the feel-good self-sacrifices to earn acceptance.  We have to dig down beyond all that we want to hold on to -- jealousies, angers, fears, longings and desires.  Past all that we hide in our hearts -- our secret sins, our fears of being uncovered and our 'real' selves being exposed.

Then we can begin to build our foundation of truth.  Such a foundation is paramount.  But even a foundation of truth, if not built upon the solid bed-rock of the Source of Truth (the One who Himself is Truth), will not stand.  Truth, facts and evidence, alone cannot stand without His bedrock beneath it.

So we build the foundation of His Word and His Spirit, brick and mortar.  These two must go together, when they do, they are strong and sure.  And then, upon the foundation, we build our lives.  And here, too, how we build matters.  We measure, plumb, and choose only the finest materials, setting each stone in place with care and consideration.

Such a structure founded upon the True Rock can withstand all that this world can throw at it for it will take on the characteristics of the Rock it is built upon.  It will not be moved by opposition, assault, injustice, or turmoil.