The path of blessing!!

I love Jesus, He never says do this or do that without a reason! And His reasons are always so good.

John 13, a chapter well known for the fact that it is here where Jesus washes the feet of His disciples. Why does He do such a thing? Well, He tells us it is because He wants to show us what to do for one another. He is instructing and teaching us to be servants, to bless and serve others.

He ends this scene with this saying "You know these things-now do them!", but that is only the first part of verse 17, he finishes by saying right after this, "That is the path of blessing."

It is not do this because I said so, although that would be plenty a reason. If ever that were a reasonable situation for such a response it would not be from a parent to a child, but from the creator King, to the created servant, there is no need for explanation. But He doesn't say that, nor does He say that it is our duty, our requirement, it is the higher ground. Although all these may true as well, Jesus lets us in on a little secret.

You want blessing, then serve and bless others, that is the path of blessing. How wonderful. Who doesn't want to be blessed? Who doesn't want to know the secret to a path full of blessing, a road that takes us to a place that we are striving to find anyway. Ahh, Jesus says do these things, because they will bring you where you really want to go anyway.

Some speak of men like Buddha or other wise sages from the east as holding the keys to such thinking or sayings. It is the transcendental meditators that talk of paths and blessings, but let us not forget that the true master, the greatest rabbi, the one who knows soul and life most intimately, and who is above all others the most spiritual, says to his following, "Let me show you the path of blessing, go where I go, do what I do, there in lies the good path, the blessing!

being "saved"...do we get it?

"Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit." (John 3:8 NLT)

Once again I read a few days ago something that stood out to me about the nature of our culture and our need to master everything. Here Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about salvation and about being born again. When Nicodemus gets confused about the idea of being born again, Jesus responds to him by saying, well, you need to be born by the Spirit and don't try and figure it out, because you can't.

Being born of the Spirit, being "saved" is a bit of a mystery, a total miracle and something that the Spirit causes. We can have a part in it, we can ourselves experience it, but to fully understand it, now that is not the point.

Oh to enjoy and embrace the mystery, the wonder of it all is what I challenge us all to do. To take a mystery, a miracle and pound it down into a formula, a measurable quantity is a bit silly (but I understand why we do it), if that be necessary, let it be so, but not at the expense of being in awe of the fact that we both are born of the Spirit and can somehow play a part in the salvation of others, a glorious and mysterious miracle that we should never get bored of or take for granted.

Familiarity Can be a Curse

Yeah, so reading through the gospels and looking at Jesus and His teaching, it is amazing to me how many (I am not talking like one or tow, or even a few, but possibly hundreds) times Jesus says something, or does something, or tells a story and it is not obvious.

What I mean is, I rarely come across something in the gospels that I have not read before. So when I read it, it is familiar, but is it clear? It is not new, but do I get it? I think there are so many things we gloss over, or read and don't really think about. We are so drawn to the obvious stuff, the stuff that fits easily with out theology or that is taught on much. But there is so much that when I talk to my friends or sit and think about myself, it is not obvious, it tends to lead to more questions than answers.

I think we need to come to gospels, and to Jesus and not gloss over stuff, not let the familiarity of what we read keep us from really wrestling with what the heck He is teaching. We need to be OK with not having it fit or having it all figured out, and replace that value with one of learning and following our Rabbi, Jesus.

So often the disciples were confused or misunderstood Jesus. What makes us think that we can nail him down and systematically categorize the greatest Rabbi who ever lived? It seems to me, part of Hebrew teaching was to set us on a path or to get us to wonder and wrestle and ask questions. But it seems to me also that we do far too little of such things.

I will leave you with just one thought, out of a chapter I read today, and out of a passage that seems quite clear really, but there was a question that arose for me, and this is simple and clear compared to so many stories and teachings of Jesus, but check this out.

Luke 21:1 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

My question is this: Does Jesus think we should give unto poverty? Should we give not just before we take care of ourselves, but give so that we cannot take of ourselves at all? Doesn't it seem irresponsible to give our rent and food money and have to rely on someone or something else to survive? Is that really Godly living? If it isn't, why does Jesus point out this woman as doing something good?

Happy questioning, wondering and rediscovering the familiar my friends.

A woe for me?

Luke 11:46 Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them."

I was reading this today and realized that maybe I was missing something or maybe I need to be careful as a minister myself and as a teacher and discipler of students. At first glance it seems that what Jesus is coming down on here is that the experts in the law were making loving God and following His ways a total burden. Jesus had yet to die and rise again, and so the context could not yet be the new covenant, but the principles probably apply. Since we are reading these words after Jesus provided a way to God through Him, totally based on grace and not works, we so often stress the relational grace elements, and downplay the religious works side.

Now I believe that if we make following Jesus a system, or something to do because you are supposed to or have to, then something is missing, and the passion and love and joy of following Christ gets replaced with duty, guilt, and work and eventually that leads to resentment, misery, and a frustrated life. But I think we need to find a way to not ignore the fact that Christ wants us to, in fact according to Ephesians 2:10 we are saved so that we can live out the good works we were created for! That is a glorious thought not a burdensome one. The King of the universe has laid aside things for us to do, and doesn't just forgive our sins, but invites us into bringing life and blessing and doing the work of the Kingdom. How cool would it be if the President of the United States called you and gave you a special mission, some extremely important task. That would actually be something to brag about to see as a highlight of your day, or year, or life. But when we take those good works and make them a boring, dead, burden they become something so different.

I think we don't know what to do with works as Christians now a days, and so we tend to avoid them altogether or just do them all wrong. I feel like there is great wealth and wisdom in spiritual disciplines for example, but in so many areas they are lost or looked down upon because they got misunderstood or misused or miscommunciated. But as a result there is something wonderful lacking.

I believe we are to teach people how to follow Christ and to obey all that he commands. The problem that Jesus had with the experts above though is not just that they put a religious burden on people, but more importantly that they themselves weren't willing to help. In other words, the greater sin was not that they were teaching laws, but that were doing so without love. To love people you teach is not just to tell them what to do, but help them carry there burdens, to help them accomplish good works, to help them live out there call to follow Jesus.

This is where I come in. I have to ask myself, as I call people and teach people to follow Christ, and do good works, am I also doing whatever I can to help them live that out? What exactly does that look like? Am I willing to just speak truth, or am I willing help someone live out truth even at a cost to me?

I hope so.