Matthew 4:18-22 for Sunday, January 27, 2008

Translation:
(18) And walking along side the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (named Peter) and Andrew, his brother, throwing a casting net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (19)And he said to them, "Come behind me and I will make you fishermen of people." (20)And immediately, leaving behind the fishing net, they followed him. (21)And going forward from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebadee and John, his brother, in the boat with Zebadee, their father, mending their nets, and he called them. (22)And immediately, leaving behind the boat and their father they followed him.

Jesus is one very unusual rabbi. Rabbis in his day typically waited for students to find them. The more well known the rabbi was, the more students he would acquire and the more selective he could be. Not Jesus. No, Jesus went out looking for his followers. While other rabbis were waiting for applicants, Jesus was out actively searching for his.

And that's not all that's unusual about Jesus. When he finds some interesting candidates he approaches them with this statement "Come behind me and I will make you fishermen of people." Literally the Greek means "Come be my pupils" because the word meaning "behind" not only means to follow, but to follow closely as a pupil follows a teacher. And to be fishermen of people? Strange statement, huh? Well, maybe not if you lived in the first century. Religious metaphors, both in Jewish and Pagan religions, using fishing, fishermen, etc. were common ways of talking about a diety's call to a new life. Turns out, Jesus was speaking just exactly the language that these fishermen would understand. Which evidently is true since they get up immediately and follow Jesus. No questions asked. No further explanation needed. Whatever Jesus said to them was recognized immediately as truth and they were convicted enough to simply go.

But they didn't just follow after Jesus like lost puppy dogs. The Greek says they followed as a willing, committed disciple would follow. They followed Jesus at a personal cost and personal risk. It is not just that they wandered around with him, but that they made a conscious decision to change their lifestyle.

I think if we (the church) have ever wondered how to do evangelism, Jesus lays out a pretty clear plan right here.

1. Jesus is walking. Jesus is the active character here. He does things like walking, talking. He gets out there. He meets people. Grammatically, these are not passive verbs. They are active participles--indicating that Jesus is up and moving! Moreover, he's not just sitting around waiting for applicants. He's out there looking for them!
2. Jesus meets fishermen. Where does Jesus go? Where the people are! He's not out there setting up booths and handing out brochures, but going straight to where people work--in boats in this case.
3. Jesus speaks their language. Jesus says what he means in a way the fishermen can understand. None of this cryptic church speak, but he uses a metaphor he knows they will really understand. And he says it in a very convincing way, a way that really gets the Truth across. He convicts those fishermen!

The time has passed in our churches when we can just sit in our cozy offices and wait for the applicants to come to us (and I preach to myself here too). We have to get out there, hit the streets and get active looking for people. And I don't mean that we just start taking ourselves to those big evangelism fairs. I don't mean that we need better business cards or flashier brochures. I mean that we need to get out there and find the fishermen! Go to where the people are--in their workplaces, at the playground etc. And that is something anyone can do. You don't need a seminary education, you don't need ordination credentials, and you don't need a lot of experience in "church work." You just need to be someone who does things like going to work, the supermarket, the dog park, the play ground etc.

And finally, Jesus says something the fishermen understand. He doesn't speak doctrine to them. He doesn't even quote scripture. None of that would be relevant to the fishermen. Instead, he uses a metaphor he knows that they will understand because their culture understands it. Pagan or Jewish (we don't know what the fishermen's persuasion is), Jesus is pretty certain they're going to understand what he means. And it's not a confusing message. It's pretty clear. We can't expect people are going to find following Jesus to be an attractive thing if we can't effectively and clearly articulate what we mean by it.

That said, I also think that Jesus called the fishermen to something that he was already doing. He told them that he would make them "fishermen of people." If Jesus wasn't already walking around "fishing for people," then I'm not sure exactly what he was doing. Moreover, Jesus did not have a preconceived notion that he was calling the fishermen to something they already knew how to do. The English and the Greek is abundantly clear "I will make you..." No prior experience necessary. Jesus will teach them what they need to know, something I think he'd already tried for himself.

So, those are my thoughts. Do you have any?

Psalm 40:1-11 for Sunday, January 20, 2008

Translation:
(1)To the director: a song of David
(2)I waited forever, the Lord stretched out to me, he heard my cry for help
(3)He lifted me from a roaring pit, from a muddy mire.
He stood my feet upon a crag and my step was set.
(4)He put a new song of praise in my mouth for our God
Many saw, and they feared and they trusted in the Lord
(5)Happy are those who put their confidence in the Lord
and do not turn to the proud, and swerve from deception.
(6)You have done much, O Lord my God, your wonderful things
And your thoughts toward us, none can compare to you.
I declare and I proclaim, they are too many to count!
(7)You do not delight in sacrifices or gifts, you gave me opened ears, you do not ask for burnt offering or sin offering
(8)Then I said, "Here I come!"
in the scroll of the book it was written about me
(9) I will delight in doing your will, my God; your laws are in the midst of my inmost parts
(10)I bear tidings of righteousness among the great congregation
behold, my lips will not be shut up, O Lord you know
(11)Your righteousness I have not concealed in my heart
of your faithfulness and your deliverance I have spoken; I have not hidden your steadfast love and your truth from your great congregation
(12)Lord, do not withhold your compassion from me
Your steadfast love and truth always guard me.

First, inquiring minds will want to know if I made a mistake. I advertised verses 1-11 here, but there appear to be 12 verses. Not a mistake, but a versification issue: Hebrew Bibles make the superscription its own verse. The superscription is the part that says "To the director: a song of David." English Bibles roll this statement into the beginning of the Psalm, which makes every English Psalm appear one verse shorter than every Hebrew Psalm. Confusing? Of course! That's what makes it fun!

The Psalms have long been recognized as a unique part of the Bible. Some have elevated them to the status of the "Bible in miniature," which is quite a statement! For millennia, they have been prayed and sung as a indispensible part of thousands of prayer lives. Somehow, the words of the Psalmist can easily become our words. Even as the world around us has changed, somehow these words are still applicable.

The Psalms have long since been put in many different categories as they all seem to serve different purposes. Just take a minute to read Psalm 137 and then read Psalm 150 and you'll know what I'm talking about. Psalm 40:1-11 seem to be a thanksgiving psalm. The Psalmist is thanking God for remaining faithful through a rough time.

The Psalmist was once in a pit--not just any pit, because there are lots of Hebrew words for pits. But, this is the same word for "pit" that is used in the Joseph story (when Joseph's brothers throw him into the pit, Genesis 37:22). This is the kind of low point that defines the direction in a person's life (as it certainly did for Joseph!). It was a chaotic pit, with roaring water, and sticky mud. And God remained close and even pulled the Psalmist out of this pit and put him on steady ground (in contrast to the mud that threatens to pull him under). As a result, the Psalmist is eager to proclaim God's praise, eager to do God's will. In verse 7, the English is best rendered as "you gave me opened ears," but the Hebrew literally says "you dug ears for me," a very physical acknowledgment that the Psalmist is now ready to do whatever God has ahead of him. He is ready to hear God. Likewise, the Psalmist does not keep his joy to himself, silently praising God, but shares it with the community.

It seems likely that anyone who reads this psalm can instantly relate. Haven't we all experienced at time in our lives when we were stuck in a pit? When the mud seemed so deep and thick and ready to swallow us up that there was no way out except through God? And for those of us that have emerged from these experiences, we sometimes do feel like praising God, sharing our story. For anyone that has been delivered from some calamity, it is hard to keep the story shut up inside. And it is hard for the community not to listen--we all love a story that gives hope.

For me, this psalm reminds me of times that I have been in the pit. It reminds me of the joy felt from emerging from a dark place. It also gives me a chance to remember that we all find ourselves at a different place on this continuum. Some of us are in the pit right now, being sucked under in the mud. Others are out there proclaiming God as their savior. Still others are just now being delivered. Where are you?

Acts 10:34-43 for Sunday, January 13, 2008

Translation:
(34)And opening his mouth, Peter said "Now I truly understand that God does not show favoritism, (35)but in every nation one who worships him and does what God requires is acceptable to him. (36)The word which he sent to the sons of Israel--preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is lord of all. (37)You have known the thing that happened throughout all of Judea, from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed, (38)how God anointed Jesus from Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, how he went doing good and healing all of those oppressed by the devil, that God was with him. (39)And we were all witnesses of what he did in both the region of Judea and Jerusalem, they they also killed him by hanging from a tree. (40)God raised him in the third day and he allowed him to be revealed (41)not to all the people, but to the witnesses, the ones having been chosen in advance by God, we who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. (42)And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. (43)All the prophets testify to him that all who believe in him receive forgiveness of sins through his name.

I sometimes think of the history of our God like an hour glass. You know how an hour glass looks--two wide ends with a slender center. I think sometimes that the history of our God looks like that. Everything that came before; all the people, all the events, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, the great prophets, all of that was an important part of the history that builds up to the advent of Christ, the coming of the Word. It is not just a prelude. No, it's more than that. Its as if each of those people were perfectly placed, chosen for specific reasons that lead to the ultimate salvation story.

And then the history narrows to that slender center when Jesus comes, giving his life for us on the cross so that those who believe can experience forgiveness of sins. That humble act is a definite point in history. Things changed after that. We entered a new era where death could not have a say. Death cannot hold any of us captive any longer.

And that message, the saving truth, then must be preached to all who will hear it. It is not a message only for Jews. Not a message only for Gentiles. Not a message only for men. Not a message only for adults. It is a message for everyone. The history of God's work in the world becomes wide again, like the reverse side of the hour glass. And wider and wider it gets as each of us become part of what God has for the future.

I think Peter's point in these verses was that God shows no partiality in who should hear the Gospel message. The Gospel is for all people. In fact, it is the responsibility of every person who believes in Jesus Christ to tell about God's work in Jesus Christ. The widening of the Gospel message so that it reaches all people relies on us, every believer.

Matt 2:1-12 for Sunday, January 6, 2008

Translation
(1)And Jesus was in Bethlehem of Judah in the days of Herod the King. There were magi from the east. They came into Jerusalem (2) saying "Where is the one who has been born king of Jews? For we noticed his star in the east and we came to worship him." (3)And hearing this King Herod was terrified and all Jerusalem with him; (4)and gathering all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked of them where the Christ was to be born. (5)They said to him "In Bethlehem of Judah, for thus it has been written by the prophet (6) "And you Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least in the rulers of Judah, for from you a ruler will come who will shepherd my people Israel." (7)Then Herod secretly called the magi. He found out from them the time the star appeared, (8)and sent them into Bethlehem saying "Go. Search carefully for the child and when you have found [him] report to me in order that I may go and worship him. (9)After they heard the king, they traveled and there was the star, which they saw in the east, it went ahead of them, until coming to a stop over the place the infant was. (10)And seeing the star they rejoiced with much great joy. (11)And they went into the house, they saw the infant with Mary, his mother, and they fell to worship him and opening their treasure box they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (12)And warned during a dream not to turn back to Herod, through another road they returned into their country.

This story is the stuff of movies. Inside plots and power struggles. It has all the makings of a Hollywood movie!

The magi and Herod seem to be the two major characters here and both are after the same thing: Where is the Christ child? The magi ask this question in verse two and Herod asks nearly the same question (he uses the same question word in Greek) in verse 4. Both want to know where to find the Christ child, but not with the same motive.

Herod is terrified to hear that the Christ has been born. In fact, all of Jerusalem is afraid. Naturally, Herod would be afraid of any other ruler coming to power as it would threaten Roman authority. That the Jews believed that the ancestor of David, the great general and king, was born meant that an uprising couldn't be far behind.

The magi understand something very different. They see a mysterious star and follow it until they find the Christ. They are not afraid, but understand that this child is something special, something holy. They carry gifts and endeavor to worship the child. Both Herod and the magi recognize that this child represents power, but they are at odds about what kind of power the child represents. The irony, of course, is that Herod seems infinitely more powerful than a tiny baby, and yet this infant is able to instill fear in the powerful ruler.

There is power in the Gospels, though it is never the power we expect. Jesus tells us to do things like sell our possessions, give to the poor, turn the other cheek. These are not the kinds of things that earn us respect or power in our culture, but there is power in them. If we trust enough in God, we are given power we never imagined. It isn't the kind of power we lord over others, but a power strong enough to change the world.

And perhaps that is what worried Herod the most. Not that an infant would somehow take over the empire, but that this infant would change the world. The magi certainly believed it. In a changed world, Herod would have no power any more.

Talk like this seems so mystical and surreal, but its true. God has worked in a magnificent way to change the world through one tiny baby.