Ignoring God

The Ancient Israelites, the people of God, ignored their God and it led to drastic consequences. They continued ignoring God in spite of the drastic consequences. How bad did it get?

God imposed starvation ("cleanness of teeth ... lack of bread," Amos 4:6); and drought ("I also withheld the rain," v.7). Dramatic crop failures came from God (Amos 4:9); so too did suffering from disease, war, and domination at the hands of invading armies. God takes credit for all the pain (Amos 4:10-11). Even though it was awful, the wrath of God did not have its desired affect. Five times an exasperated God says, "Yet you did not return to me" (v.6, 8, 9, 10, 11). God brought about all this drama and to no avail.

I love the way Eugene Peterson renders these verses in The Message. A longing God says to Israel, "You never got hungry for me." "You never got thirsty for me; you ignored me." Three more times, he words it "you continued to ignore me." I am not always thrilled with that paraphrased version of scripture, but I think it really preaches in this case. When the people of God "hunger and thirst for God" and pay attention to God, life is good, very good.

When we hunger and thirst for other things, those things become idols, occupying the space God is supposed to have. We summarily ignore God, and life falls apart at that point.

It makes me think about the city of New Orleans. America built a large city below sea level with a lake on one side and the Mississippi Rive on the other. This city was built right next to the Gulf of Mexico - hurricane central. The poorest people of the city live in the low-lying, most vulnerable areas. And the city is known for partying (excessive drinking and women revealing their breasts so that they can build a collection of cheap beads).

So, the mother of all hurricanes hammers New Orleans, and some people shake a fist toward Heaven and blame God. Never mind that this hurricane wouldn't crack the top 10 of natural disasters for loss of life in the last decade. We'll blame God and make New Orleans the cause celeb in the United States.

Salvation comes because of great humanitarian efforts? Of course not! Salvation comes when the football time wins the Super Bowl. It was destiny (forget the superior game planning and the gutsy play-calling). And what does that Super Bowl win bring about - more partying (Mardis Gras style with beads and boobs and booze).

I am encouraging my congregation to seek Jesus during Lent, 2010. Of course, seek Jesus all the time, duh! But, the preaching emphasis for this season will be the relationship we have (as a church and as individuals) with God. Hunger for God. Thirst for God. At the end of Amos 4, God says,

¹²"Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"

¹³For behold,^AC)">(AC) he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and^AD)">(AD) declares to man what is his thought,
^AE)">(AE) who makes the morning darkness,
and^AF)">(AF) treads on the heights of the earth—
^AG)">(AG) the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name!

Does it sound ominous? It does to me. I'd rather have the experience of Mary in the garden. In her hazy confusion, she met the resurrected Lord and he called her by name. I want to see the risen Jesus and hear him say, "Rob." And I will say, "Master." And, I'll fall at his feet. Yeah, I want to want that. That's the way to meet God. So, I will seek that in Lent, 2010. I encourage you to join me in the quest.

Fat Cows

Honestly God, "fat cows"? Was that you, or is that Amos' paraphrase? Did you say it with more dignity, more aplomb?

I am asking these questions of God because I read of God's displeasure expressed in Amos 3:13-4:3.
^"15I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end, says the Lord.

4Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”"

The wealthy women of Samaria lived large, so Amos called them "Fat Cows." It reminds me of the unfortunate response from the queen in France shortly before the French Revolution. She was told the starving people where riotous because they had no bread. Her brilliant response? "Let them eat cake." Why didn't some court attendant pull the clueless monarch aside and say, "Um, excuse me your blindness, er, I mean, your highness. But they don't have bread. They certainly can't afford cake."

Or earlier in history, to the rich women in Samaria demanding "drink" from their husbands. "Excuse me ladies, but while you are loafing, consuming all the resources of the nation, the people in your country are starving and your opulent, extravagant life styles are contributing. And GOD SEES!!"

That's one thing I take away from Amos - God sees. God always sees when there are a few people soaked in riches and a lot of people wallowing in hunger and scarcity. God sees me - my life. In my honest talk with God, I have to honestly acknowledge where I have lived wastefully. I have to confess when I have demonstrated indifference where God would want me to express compassion. I don't want to be a fat cow demanding drink and living in summer and winter houses (Amos 3:15).

If you read Amos and try to localize his piercing prophesy so that you would say he only speaks to ancient Israel and ancient Samaria, hear the words of 19th century Bible scholars Johann Frederick Karl Keil and Franz Delitzsch. These scholars refute any attempt to dismiss Amos as a prophet for back then but with nothing to say today. Keil and Delitzsch write "The sin of these women consisted in the tyrannical oppression of the poor, whilst they asked their lords, i.e., their husbands, to procure them the means of debauchery." God's judgment speaks to wealthy people today.

Amos said they would end up dragged into slavery by hooks in their noses (4:2).

Really, God, did Amos need such graphic imagery?

Perhaps the real question is do I realize how disgusted God when people of privilege ignore people on the margins?

I hear enthusiastic Christians talk of the urgency of evangelism. They want to "get people saved," get them into Heaven. I don't deny it. With Heaven and Hell at stake, Christians need to share Christ with people. However, we also need to understand what it means to say Heaven and Hell are at stake. Read Matthew 25:31-46 or Luke 16:19-31. In those passages Jesus condemns to Hell anyone who has neglected to help the needy. Would that include me?

Or read Amos. The language is colorful and the reader might feel like Amos is calling him a "Fat Cow." But it is better to hear that, awaken, and take spiritual stock. It is better to change one's life and live compassionately today. That is better than to continue to live in blissful ignorance and then discover on the "Day of the Lord," that God was really angry, judgmentally angry, that we didn't notice those around us and help and love them.

A lesson for the Good Samaritan

We've had a couple of snowy days, much more severe winter weather than we are used to, even in January. It was enough that we had to cancel church. So I took my boys sledding and we were walking home. We walked past a home where a woman appeared to be trying to shovel thick, icy snow with a plastic dustpan.

We pass this house every day when we walk my 7-year-old to the school bus stop. They are our neighbors and I decided to play the hero. I sent my boys inside and I grabbed our snow-shovel and marched over to save the day.

The woman was very grateful. Her driveway is longer and wider than ours, is at a sharp angle and spends most of the day in the shade. The way the snow fell over the weekend, it was ice first, then wet snow on top of that, and finer, icier snow on top of that. It's a real bugaboo to shovel. Add in the angle of the driveway and the fact that none was melted, and I began to wonder if this type of thing was included in Hercules' labors.

I also noticed something. This Chinese woman, about my age, in her professional, high-heeled shoes was making good progress. And she didn't quit when Super-Pastor and his snow shovel showed up. She worked right alongside me and at just as quick a pace. Now, I will say that she had more than just that dust pant. She had a sort of chopping shovel, flat, and only about 3 inches wide. It's not good for moving mounds of dirt, but very effective at breaking ice. With persistence that a beaver would admire and speed that I couldn't seem to match, she chopped the ice, scooped it with the dust pan, and motored on.

So, I started in to working alongside, and I'd be hunched over the shovel, arms and hands aching. And, I'd feel pretty good about how much I had accomplished. Then, I'd look up and see that she had gotten just about as much done. The folks who wrote When Helping Hurts would be so pleased. They say you're not supposed to do 'for' people, but rather to do 'with' people.

As we worked, I learned that she and her husband are in application process for a Green Card. They are scientists and he is out of the state right now. I thought she was in the same field as one of our church members, so I asked if she knew the woman. I said our church member's name, and the woman, my shoveling partner, said, "Oh Yes, she's very famous." It was the second time I had heard this about my church member. When I see her on Sundays, she's just a quiet worshiper seeking a word from God. It's funny how in one context a person can be a big shot and in another completely anonymous and unassuming.

I don't know if the woman I was working with is a Christian. In our labors and brief conversation, I never sensed that opening where I felt it would be appropriate to begin a conversation about faith.

When we were done, she produced a bottle of wine. I tried to explain that I really don't drink very often and rarely wine. She insisted. I tried to explain that we don't keep wine in the house. She insisted. I decided that this gesture was very important to her, to show her gratitude. So I gratefully accepted. I wanted to honor her pride.

At home, at dinner with the family, my hands ached so much, it was difficult to grip a fork. I almost couldn't open the Texas Pete to pour in my soup. (I've really become a huge fan of the Texas Peter in recent years). The pain caused me to wonder what that woman must be feeling. Somehow, I think her body and her mind are used to extremely hard work and to getting the job done. And I thought, this lesson is good for all would-be-missionaries. Whether one is going overseas, on a day-mission project right in town, or helping a neighbor on one's one street, the missionary goes to serve and be served. In the name of Jesus, we give and receive love. I gave a woman some help she really did need. She gave me her story (a bit of it). She gave me a great lesson in diligent work. And she gave me a bottle of wine.

In the future as I see her in the neighborhood, I will know we share something. I wonder if the kingdom of God is like that - people coming alongside each other, working together, and realizing they share something.

Angry Amos and God's Wrath

I wrote the following as my newsletter column for our church newsletter which comes out every two weeks.

In 2010, one of the ways we are attempting to live out God’s call on us to be givers of love and compassion is to explore the scriptures to see if we can get a sense of how much God values justice and mercy. Throughout the Bible it is clear that the people of God are people of justice, people of love, people of grace, and people who care for one another and for all people. The book of Amos, found in the Old Testament, provides one of the most powerful and provocative pictures of Godly justice.

The prophet Amos gives us a picture of God’s anger throughout his book, and the first two chapters show the breadth of God’s judgment. Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary describe in vivid detail the sins of Damascus (1:3). “The threshing of the Gileadites with iron threshing-machines … took place … when the conquerors acted so cruelly towards the Gileadites, that they even crushed the prisoners to pieces with iron threshing-machines, according to a barbarous war-custom that is met with elsewhere.” At Gaza (one of the five capitals of the Philistines) the transgression was not as gruesome, but cruel nonetheless. They forced those they conquered into exile.

God threatened fire upon the walled city of Tyre because the rulers of Tyre were involved in slave trading (1:9). Edom was condemned specifically because of Edom did not show pity during armed conflict. These condemnations, straight from the mouth of God’s prophet, reveal God’s merciful character as well as God’s disdain for people who don’t reflect that character. When people lord power over one another, God does not like it.

Nor does God approve of excessive evil and violence. The Ammonites “ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead” (1:13). An awful thing described as the “climax of cruelties inflicted upon the Israelites” during the war with Ammon (Keil & Delitzsch). For this, God declares that the capital of the Ammonites would be burned and their king sent into exile (v.14-15). Just as Edom and Ammon would each suffer God’s wrath for their cruelty against God’s people Israel, Moab would be burned by fire sent from God for her evils against Edom (2:2). God has no hatred for Edom or any of the places condemned in Amos 1-2. The extreme measures of punishment described by the prophet do not reveal a rage-filled God; the writings of Amos show the response of a holy God to heinous sins.

Even the chosen people fall under judgment. “Because they have rejected my law … I will send fire upon Judah” (Amos 2:4-5). Judah was the southern kingdom of God’s chosen people the location of 2 of the 12 tribes. The other 10 tribes lived in the northern kingdom, Israel. And the harshest words of wrath are reserved for Israel. This is important to remember because what God says to Israel is equally severe in terms of punishment, but compare the sins.

The Gileadites crushed their prisoners to pieces. The Ammonites ripped open pregnant women. The Philistines and Phoenicians (Gaza and Tyre) sold defeated enemies into slavery. Compared to the graphic nature of those sins, Judah doesn’t seem so bad. All they did was neglect God’s law. But, it is just as sinful to God. Israel’s transgression also seems insensitive but not criminal to the degree of the sins of the other nations mentioned.

“For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. ⁷ They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. ⁸ They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines” (Amos 2:6-8).

In God’s eyes exploitation of the poor and the denial of justice to oppressed people warrants the hardest of divine discipline. In fact, because Israel and Judah were to be God’s light to the rest of the world and because they were blessed to descendants of Abraham, to receive the Law of Moses, and to be led by men like David and Solomon. They should have known how to act and how to treat people. Instead the hands of the Israelites were as dirtied with injustice as their neighbors.

As we think about how God wants us to live justly and treat each other and the peoples around us the values revealed in Amos 1-2 are a great help. When we hurt people, or participate in exploitative systems, we are as guilty of sin as if we committed violent crime. So, are we, as Americans, consuming an incredibly disproportionate amount of resources, knowing there are people in the world starving, participants in an exploitative system?

Rob Tennant

Child Sponsorship, World Vision, and A Compassionate Heart

One of the best moments of the New Year happened for me in a Bible study today when one of the members came in showing a picture of a child he adopted (sponsored) through World Vision. Essentially, he will send a monthly check of around $30-$40 to support a young Ugandan boy and his family. The money will ensure that the child is clothed, fed, educated, and receiving needed vaccines and appropriate health care. In addition to sending the check, the man can pray for his adopted child and write to the child.

The guy who is doing this is a committed Bible reader. Often he and I come to different conclusions after reading the same text. We sometimes engage in quite lively debates when our Tuesday group gets together. And, this man, my friend, is a regular reader of this blog, so I am certainly not talking behind his back. The fact is he is a bit of a provocateur. (I should add I use that term playfully and not in the confrontational sense.)

The reason I describe my learning of his decision to sponsor a child as one of the best of 2010 is I get to see his compassionate side. We have our entire church studying the compassionate life in small groups and in Sunday morning sermons. I am searching deep within myself and deep within the hearts of our members for the compassion Jesus had, especially with regard to disadvantaged people. We have had people who went on mission trips in 2009 share testimony. And in small group discussions we are trying to tackle the hows and whys of living compassionately and advocating for justice for all people.

My occasionally contrary and always thoughtful friend is taking every step of this seriously. After he and I had a spirited exchange (that carried over into several forms of media) regarding the Poverty and Justice Bible and the Green Bible, he went out and bought both. He's been critical of each, but not in an uninformed way. His criticism is valid because he shelled out the money for these study Bibles. And, now, he's revealed his own compassion by taking heart for a young Ugandan boy.

I am not arrogant enough to think for one minute my friend sponsored this child because of our church-wide emphasis. I believe he is trying to respond to the Holy Spirit's promptings. Perhaps this was his plan all along for 2010. Perhaps God would have led him to this regardless of what's happening at church. No, I don't think he's acting because of the direction we have set. But I am thrilled by what he's done because my big goal for this entire emphasis is to see more and more of our people live compassionately.

When you sponsor a child, you're helping and empowering. The comment was made, "Well, it's not like adoption," and that's true. But systemically, it might be more helpful. When one adopts a child, that child is taken out of his country. My little boy H__ has a great life now, but it is an American life, not an Ethiopian blood. My friend's sponsorship of his Ugandan child will help that child grow in body, mind, and spirit. Furthermore, that child is still in Uganda. He will grow up as an educated man with talents that can help transform his country. And he will grow up knowing (through the teaching of World Vision missionaries and his own church) that part of his provision all his life came from a loving Christian in America, one he never met.

So, I think sponsorship is a great act of compassion and one that has the potential to lead to transformation - both in the child and in the man sending the checks. I hope his action and willingness to share it with our group is a catalyst that provokes many others in our group and throughout the church to make similar decisions to do acts of justice and be moved by compassion in 2010.

And I encourage you, reader of this blog, to have your own honest talk with God about the ways you can live the compassionate life in 2010.

First Sermon of the Year - 2010

Sunday, January 3, 2010

You come to church where you hear a video about work being done somewhere else – a country you’ve only barely heard of on a continent you’ve never visited. You are wholly unaware of that country, what it is like to live there, what language they speak, what food they eat, what the whether is like, what daily life is like. But, you come to church and the pastor and elders and other church leaders – people you typically trust - implore you to dig deep and give your money because the people in this country you don’t know are materially poor and/or they don’t know anything about Christianity. So, you’re supposed to give your money to meet their needs and help them meet Jesus.

You flip on the TV in the evening and happen across a story about rising unemployment and the working poor – it seems a segment of the population in our mostly wealthy country suffer are languishing in poverty. There truly are people in America who cannot afford any kind of health insurance, are undereducated or completely illiterate, live in unsanitary conditions that perpetuate poor health, lack opportunities for advancement or improvement, and sometimes don’t have enough food - yes, here in America. You’re a hard-working accomplished person and part of you thinks “in America, those people can work their way out. I’ve worked for what I have – they should too.” But, you’re an informed person too. You know there are situations in which no amount of hard work is going to help because the individual lacks opportunity. Furthermore, you’re a Christian, called to live in compassion. The compassionate side of you wants to help.

You drive to work on Monday morning, and at the traffic light, in the median, is a guy with a sign. “Homeless. Desperate. Anything will help.” And you drive past and come to another major intersection and there’s another guy with a sign. “Will work for food.” Now come on! It’s one thing to be locked in a community or a situation where there is no way out. But there has to be a better way for the hungry individual to fight his problems and work toward a better life than to stand at a corner and beg for the spare change of willing donors, people who work for their money.

Around the world, around our country, and right here in our community, less than a mile from this spot and from the homes in which we live, people are struggling to make it. Poverty is real. There are children who go to bed not knowing if they will eat tomorrow. There are families who have had their very humanity stripped away because they have absolutely no way of knowing whether things will ever improve. But the reality of the world and of those who suffer is not an intractable situation. It is not hopeless because we aren’t just an assembly of hardworking Americans. We are the church, the body of Christ, the gathering of his followers. We live in the tradition of the very first believers who received the Holy Spirit. And we too have received the Holy Spirit. So we know God’s word in the Bible is God’s word for us – to show us what God is all about; to encourage us; and, to drive us to put our complete trust in God and to live as Jesus and the first disciples lived.

You and I – we come to church and hear the Bible we trust read, in it the very words of Jesus. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” That good news was not a hope for relief from pain in some far off future, or hope for better things in the next life. Jesus began demonstrating the good news and began establishing His kingdom before he was crucified. When he said God “sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” he meant right now. That “right now” continues in the age of the church, which includes the age in which we live. So, the work Jesus started, the work of bringing good news to the poor, is work to be carried out in the church. This is to be the life of Jesus followers.

HillSong Church will dedicate 2010 to understanding Jesus’ message of good news and carrying that good news to the people of Chapel Hill-Carrboro (and surrounding towns), to the people of North Carolina, to the people of the United States, and to the people of the world. Haven’t we already been doing this? Yes, but it will be of a particular emphasis this year with the intention of moving our entire body to great missions involvement through prayer, participation, and giving throughout the future life of this church. Compassionate living and a concern for justice will under gird everything we do.

Will every single sermon of 2010 and every Bible study be about poverty alleviation? No! We will deal with a number of themes as our church has many people with varied spiritual concerns. The compassion life of Jesus will though always be in the background and frequently as it is every year in the foreground. To open the year we are asking all small groups to study the Sunday morning texts which all come from the Gospel of Luke. The sermons and small groups discussions will align to bring awareness to all of us; and the awareness, which I believe is a gift of the Holy Spirit, will prod us to action – to live compassionate lives. This is no bleeding heart, guilt-inspired campaign, no initiative intended to salve the conscience of the opulent middle class American; this a gathering of disciples attempting to respond to God’s word in faith and deed.

We want what break’s God’s heart to break ours. We want to value what God values. We want to go where He leads. We want to become who He is leading us to become. With that in mind we will move into 2010 with a closer look at what Jesus is doing in Luke 4. But first, a note about poverty.

Consider what you think of when you hear the word “poor” or some group of people described as “the poor.” Ask yourself, what comes to mind? Are “the poor” a group of people who are “out there” in some unknown, seldom visited somewhere? Are “the poor” a group of people described as “they,” or “those people?” I suggest that the poor are in here. Now, don’t hear and then gaze around the room to see if you can figure out whom I mean. Every person suffers from spiritual poverty because of sin. My sins may be related to lust or rage; hers maybe related to sloth or gluttony; his may be related to lack of faith; someone on the other side of the room may deal with prejudice; someone on the other side of the room may commit sins of omission – not doing what he knows God wants him to do. Or, sins of greed. In myriad ways, we sin and thus are afflicted with spiritual poverty.

Spiritual poverty leads to relational brokenness. A man may suffer in that he is oblivious toward his neighbor; or he may openly hostile toward his neighbor. But all men and all women are locked in relational brokenness because of sin.

There is nothing to be done – we cannot by our will power stop sinning, but praise the Lord! We don’t have to. We need to stop sinning, but that much true. But, we have help. Jesus came to “bring good news to the poor” and “to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” Jesus is our hope and in the body of Christ, empowering through the constant presence of the Spirit, responding to our prayers from Heaven, Jesus is helping us live in His kingdom.

Our journey to awareness and compassionate living includes our admission, almost like a participant in a twelve step group. Every one stands, says his or her name, and admits the truth. “Hi. I am Rob. I admit that due to sin, I am spiritually impoverished and thus relationally broken.” It’s true of the millionaire and the pauper. Conversely because of God’s grace the Spirit empowers both the materially rich and the materially poor. Our journey to awareness and compassionate living is one in which we give and receive help. The woman with a sixth grade education who works 60 hours a week doing laundry and still needs food stamps to get buy has much to offer to a tenured university professor even as she has much to receive from that professor. On the road to relational wholeness and spiritual riches both make contributions and both need gifts of grace. Our commitment to live compassionate lives in which we champion the needs of the neediest in society includes us seeking tangible blessing those will are helping will give. We are recipients because we are poor and we are helpers because we are Jesus’ disciples and compassionate living is clearly what he leads us to do.

With that understanding of shared poverty and the commitment that we will give our attention to compassionate living, again we set our hearts and minds on the Bible and what we see in Luke 4.

Luke tells us that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when he returned to Galilee. We believe Jesus was God in human form, the incarnation, so that’s two members of the trinity at work, and actually all three when we consider that this comes on the heels of God blessing Jesus at his baptism. Clearly doing the work of God, Jesus goes home and goes to church – his home church. He returns to the region of his childhood, Nazareth, and to the synagogue of his parents. For Jesus, being “on mission” didn’t mean doing anything more than what he had done his entire life. It was how he did it. The same is true for us. As we consider ways we can pray, give to, and participate in ministries of compassion, remembering that God is at work in us leading us to relational wholeness and spiritual riches, we realize we begin by doing the very things we have always done but in a humble, love-inspired, compassionate way.

Jesus went home, to his synagogue, but he was a man and his hometown neighbors had no idea what he had become. He returns as a local boy made good. Already Luke writes, “A report about him spread through all the surrounding country.” Jesus had performed miracles, and the people who watched him grow up wondered if he wouldn’t show them some of his magic. The problem with miracles is they create impressions but rarely do they inspire transforming faith. The people heard Jesus was in the synagogue. They came hoping to witness a miracle. They got a sermon instead.

He was given the book of Isaiah and he chose a prophecy that many understood to be messianic. The assumption was when the messiah comes, we will see the release of the captives and the recovery of sight of the blind, and we the oppressed will go free.” Jesus’ statement that today the scripture has been fulfilled was tantamount to announcing the beginning of the Messianic age.

The synagogue crowd responded in three ways. First there was great admiration. “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son”’ (v.22)? They immediately became admirers. But Jesus did not want or need admirers. He had no interest in people telling him how great he was. Admiration is fleeting quickly. Before December 2009, Tiger Woods had countless admirers. However, because like me, Tiger Woods sins, he is, for all his millions, poor and his spiritual poverty has yielded relational brokenness. This brokenness is where live. It won’t be fixed unless we realize that Jesus doesn’t want our admiration. He wants more from us.

The admiration Luke describes vanished when the crowd realized they weren’t going to be seeing any miracles. They knew Jesus’ family. They knew he was as broken and poor and insignificant as any other Jew. They wanted the Messiah to come an elevate Israel above other nations, but Jesus aggressively retorts that he will do no tricks for them but instead share truth. Then, by referring to their Bible, the Old Testament, and instances in which the great prophets Elijah and Elisha blessed non-Jews, Jesus tells the gathered synagogue crowd that God’s reign is defined by compassion, not miracles, and is for all people, not just the Jews. His implication is that they do not understand what God is doing among them and they will not, unless they change their expectations.

Do we need to change our expectations of God? Of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ? Do we need to rethink the Christian life before we have any hope of actually hearing the Spirit speak and receiving the blessings God wants to heap on us? The synagogue crowd asked for a miracle, they got a sermon. They expressed amazement at the sermon; Jesus told them they didn’t understand. At that point the crowd turned ugly and forced Jesus to the edge of the cliff on the outskirts of town.

Why did they get mad enough to kill him by mob action? Jesus told them the Messianic age had begun but they would never get it or be part of it, and they thought it belonged to them. Even in their poverty, the rural Galileans believed God was theirs instead rejoicing that they were God’s. The first two reactions to Jesus that day was (1) amazement, and (2) rage-filled rejection. There was a third that Luke unfolds throughout the rest of the Gospel and throughout the book of Acts. We see it in the final reading of the passage, verse 30.

The mob had dragged him to cliff’s edge with malevolent intentions and Luke writes, “He passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” Jesus always went on his way which was God’s way. In his life, he was opposed or at least his progress was blocked by the temptations of Satan, misplaced Messianic hopes of the crowd in Nazareth, the familial pressures placed on him by his siblings and mothers, the misunderstanding, doubt, and fear of his own disciples, the religious and theological challenges of the religious experts, the Pharisees, the political opposition of the temple leadership, the Sadducees and chief priest, and the imperial pressure to conform applied by Rome. Jesus would not be cowed by this attempt on his life. He would not shrink from the terror of demons. He showed no fear of Herod despite the corrupt king’s unpredictable nature. The crucifixion fell into God’s time table that is the only timeline Jesus paid any attention to.

It’s a short verse but it is not an afterthought. In carrying out his mission of bringing good news to the poor, Jesus went on his way, God’s way. We read the Gospel, we pray, and then we have choices before. We can hear Jesus and be amazed. Oh he’s such a good moral teacher. Oh he’s such an important figure in history. Jesus does not want admirers and admiring him does get one any closer to his kingdom.

We can hear Jesus and become enraged because we are broken, spiritually starving because of sin. To yield to Him as Lord, we submit everything – our possessions, our dreams, our aspirations, our grudges, our attitudes, our relationships with others – everything to Him. And we don’t want to do that, so many consciously or unconsciously rebel against God and against the Gospel and try to throw the parts we don’t like off of some cliff. Jesus is not impeded by those who react to him in angry rage and his kingdom is not hindered by the sins of humanity. Jesus does not need admirers and is not intimidated by rage-filled haters.

A third way that we can respond to the Gospel is to see that Jesus is going on his way and we can follow. We give up control of our destiny. We surrender the need to have the final say-so in our own lives. We look to Jesus and we follow the way He is going. We become followers walking the Jesus way.

This means two things: first, we acknowledge that when he says he’s bringing good news to the poor, that means us. We are spiritually poor and relationally broken and on our knees through grateful tears we receive the grace of God and we know that it will come in His Spirit speaking to our hearts; it will come in the way we love on another and function as a community; and it will come when we receive all the grace the economically poor have to give to us.

Second, we acknowledge that just as we receive the good news, we are to share the good news. We have surrendered everything we have, so our time, our words, our hearts, our money, our talents, our energy are things we give to God to use in the bringing the good news of salvation and the rescue from poverty to the world around us.

The observant listener will note that I have not provided specific answers to the problems I introduced that the outset – the world mission offering called for at church; the alleviation of painful economic poverty that exists right here in our country; and, the proper response to the guy at the intersection with the sign begging for a hand-out. The truth is I don’t have all the answers because I am still spiritually poor. I am still in the process of receiving relationship healing. Throughout 2010, we will seek answers for the best ways for us as a church to be involved in compassionate ministry.

I know this. The starting point is to forget all preconceptions we have and to walk in the way of Jesus, following him. That’s the beginning of the good news. We are poor. Jesus has come for us. Why don’t we release all of the trappings of materialistic life, all the seductions of the world around us, all the temptations to be in control of our own lives? Why don’t we hand it all to Him? I invite you this morning. Come and walk the Jesus way, the beginning of the compassionate life, the beginning of the good news.

AMEN

A Note to My Church to Begin 2010

“That all may go well with you …”

I began the HillSong Church elders meeting on January 5 with the following words – “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it is well with your soul.” Originally these words were written by an early Christian who called himself “the elder” and he wrote to a believer named Gaius (3^rd John 1:1-2). It’s a simple prayer and it was my heart’s desire for our church leadership. It is also my prayer for all who are a part of HillSong. In 2010, my prayer is that we would experience physical health and spiritual renewal; in other words, I pray that all would go well with us, by the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

We are an economically wealthy people. It would not seem that way to many members who struggle to make it from paycheck to paycheck. And, there are in America churches that have budgets 10x greater than ours. We look at the America around us and we don’t feel rich. But, as far as financial resources go, we are in the top 1% in the world. The Bible has much to say about money, about affluence and poverty. It behooves us to listen.

Simply put, for the prayer to be answered, for things to “go well” with us, for our lives to be blessed, and for us to experience Shalom (peace, wholeness, relational blessedness), we rich Christians needs to pay attention to Christians who are financially poor.

In the Sunday morning sermon last week (1-3-10), I asserted that we who have worldly means are also poor because of sin. We experience spiritual poverty which yields relational brokenness. The two great commands of Jesus are to love God and love people; we rebel against God and hurt people. For all to “go well” we need to move to a place where we trust God enough to surrender our hearts to God completely. We also need to move to a place of relational vulnerability that leaves us open to being hurt but at the same time makes us available for relationships God can use to transform us. This includes meaningful relationships with people in different economic situations.

Remember the prayer - “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you.” I don’t think all can go well with follower of Jesus Christ until he or she has realized his or her own spiritual poverty and has developed deep and lasting brotherhood with believers who live in material poverty.

Does this mean it is the church’s mission to through the power of the Spirit eradicate material poverty in the world? I don’t know that. I am not certain that moving out of spiritual poverty and relational brokenness and into the grace of God will lead to the eradication of all hunger and economical injustice in the world. I do know that when we follow Jesus we are filled with compassion for people.

Compassion means if I see someone in need of prayer, I pray with him. If I see someone truly hurting, I embrace him or her, and I communicate that I love because Jesus first loved me. Compassion means if I see someone hungry, I try to help bring food. Furthermore, to the extent of my ability and availability, I try to change the structures that left that individual hungry in the first place. In other words, beyond giving a man a fish, I try to teach him to fish and give him a fishing pole and a means to get to the water.

Compassion in the context of my own relational brokenness also means I realize that I have much to receive from the man I am teaching to fish. Even as the church helps economically suffering people, the church receives blessings of God from the poorest of the poor. Whatever your economic status and whatever mine is, we have much to give each other and much to gain from one another because we each receive the Holy Spirit according to God’s grace.

As we explore themes of compassion in 2010 and as we at HillSong Church pray that all may go well in our community and in our individual lives, I want to use the newsletter column to examine more closely specific scriptures. I will begin next week in the Old Testament. The prophet Amos deals with the people of God as they commit sins against the poorest of the poor. I will use this column to try to hear what God is saying to us through the words of Amos. I will also explore these themes on my blog - http://honesttalkwithgod.blogspot.com/. Please check it out.

A Parable for Christmas, Unexpected but Appropriate

Luke 10:25-37 (English Standard Version)

²⁵^A)">(A) And behold, a^B)">(B) lawyer stood up to^C)">(C) put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to^D)">(D) inherit eternal life?" ²⁶He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" ²⁷And he answered,^E)">(E) "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and^F)">(F) your neighbor as yourself." ²⁸And he said to him, "You have answered correctly;^G)">(G) do this, and you will live."

²⁹But he,^H)">(H) desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" ³⁰Jesus replied, "A man^I)">(I) was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a^J)">(J) priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise^K)">(K) a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a^L)">(L) Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴He went to him and^M)">(M) bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵And the next day he took out two^N)">(N) denarii^a]">[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" ³⁷He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

What's that? The Prodigal Son is not a Christmas parable? Take another look! The priest and the Levite both went to extremes to cross on the other side of the road so they wouldn't be too close to the man who had fallen under attack by roving bandits. Some readers of Luke have been highly critical of these religious men, but what if he was already dead. He would thus be a corpse and it was forbidden for priests and Levites to even come close to a corpse, let alone touch one. So while we may be tempted to lampoon them as hypocrites and maybe they put more emphasis on rule-keeping than compassion, they weren't technically in the wrong. It was not Jesus' point to criticize them so much as it was his point to show a new way - the way of compassion.

The Samaritan saw the wounded man and was moved by "compassion." And he came close - close enough to touch. Maybe he was touching a dead body. Even if the body was alive, he was bruised, bloodied, dirty. And there was risk. What if the bandits laid in wait and fell upon the Samaritan as well. All these concerns be darned, this man was moved by compassion and he came close.

The coming of Jesus is God "moved by compassion." God was so moved out His deep love for humanity - lost in sin as humans were (and still are) - that God departed from the glory of Heaven to take on fragile, dirty, fallen human skin. God came close - close enough to tough. Jesus is God, up close and personal.

I totally disassociate the commercial/secular holiday of Christmas and the faith celebration we observe to commemorate Jesus' birth. To me they are two separate things that happen at the same time. My wish is that people would hear the scriptures that tell of the angel coming to Mary and of Jesus' birth in the stable and the coming of Magi from Persia, and people would pause to consider the reality of God.

God is personal. In my thoughts and in my preaching lately, I keep coming back to this - a lot of people miss the fact that God wants a personal relationship with men and women, boys and girls. I don't care how secular Christmas is. I would like to see people get past the tradition and actually listen to God's word in the scriptures. And then as they hear God speaking to open their hearts to a true encounter with God.

It's not something that is fixed in time. O three years ago I had a real spiritual experience and I'll always remember it fondly and with wonder. That type of understanding stays in the "three years ago." A true meeting with God as I understanding is something that transforms the individual and from the epiphany going forward, that individual is never the same. How he sees people and how thinks about and relates to God is forever altered. How he views himself and his place in the world is never the same.

Throughout the year, my wish and my work is for people to meet God. At Christmas, if the holiday is a vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to help nonbelievers realize the significance of Jesus God-come-close (close enough to touch) then there is reason to praise and celebrate with holy joy.

Too Joyful for Fatigue

I have Christmas fatigue. My son has decided he loves Christmas music - the popular stuff a couple of radio stations are currently playing 24/7. I am thrilled that he has a love for music and so I happily switch to those radio stations when he's in the car with me. And when we are in the kitchen. And when we play with his toy cars and toy super heroes. Yes, he's listening to "Rockin around the Christmas tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock" every waking moment. Thus he hears the songs over and over and soon knows them well. Then he gets excited because a familiar song comes on.

So, I have Christmas fatigue. I love the parties because it means I am with people and I am an extrovert and I am relational. Plus, there's a lot of food. I could go to Christmas parties every day of the week. But, I am tired of "Jingle Bell Rock"; I am tired of watching the same Christmas movie my family insists on watching every single year at Thanksgiving. I am tired of all Christmas movies and I am tired sentiment. And Christmas cards. And green and red.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a scrooge. I am not in a crabby mood. I haven't shouted "humbug" at anyone. I am usually wearing a smile, a genuine, heartfelt smile. There are too many blessings in our town, in our church, and in my family to be a sourpuss. I don't want to skip Christmas, just the hoo-ha, the frivolous build-up.

I also have Job fatigue. I thought about writing a column entitled "What would Job put on his Christmas list?" I expect that in 2010, I'll read as much about Job as I have in 2009. I'll probably blog less about that particular book of the Bible, but my interested in that book of the Bible has not waned. I just need a break. There are probably myriad points where Job and Christmas intersect. I just can't see them right now.

So, that's Job fatigue and Christmas fatigue; I could probably come up with a few others, but I want to share something I am surprisingly not tired of. I am not tired of scriptures texts dealing with the coming of Christ. This is the 13th year I have preached through Advent and Christmas. That is a lot of sermon prep related to Luke 1-2 and Matthew 2 and the prophecies in Zephaniah, Micah, Isaiah, and the Psalms. In many years past, I have stared at Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and thought "what can I say about this that hasn't been said 1000 times before?" Writing Advent sermons was a labor where preaching (and sermon writing) is usually an unparalleled joy.

But not this year! I have found unexpected renewal in texts I have studied for nearly a decade and a half. What is it about my life now that finds such freshness in Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, and John the Baptist? I am not altogether sure. Life circumstances constantly change as one grows older. In recent years I have become much more of a reader and traveled to new places. I hope that my spirit is growing, maturing in Christ, and I am more able to hear the Holy Spirit. The gift (and the difficulty) of growing in the Spirit is one finds how little one truly knows and how immature one truly is.

I wish for you a merry Christmas. More than that I wish for you a word from the Holy Spirit so that the words of Matthew and Luke and the Psalms and the prophets will be new and enlivening. I have found joy and excitement in the Bible like I never have before. That is what I wish for you, dear reader. Thank you for reading my writings in 2009 and for your feedback, your encouragement, and your witness as you follow Jesus in your life. May 2010 be a year in which together, we see the scriptures come alive in our lives as we serve the Lord and love the world in His name.

The Correlation Between Suffering and Sin

Luke 13:1-9 (This is copied from the site http://bible.oremus.org/ and is the NRSV)

13At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”


The crowd assumes that suffering is a result of sin - that is, God brings suffering on someone for his or her sins. The suffering that comes may be unrelated to the sin, but nonetheless, God punishes for sin. So, if I am involved in corruption or spousal abuse or racism, I may contract cancer or I may be in a car accident that leaves me paralyzed. The disease or the accident would be unrelated to my specific sin, but God brought about the misfortune because of my sin. That's a crude synopsis of punishment theology (or retributive theology), and it is what is at work in Luke 13:1-2 (and also in John 9:2 where people assume blindness is attached to sin).

Jesus blows up the idea of retributive theology by challenging the crowd to stop considering the sins of others and start repenting of their own misdeeds (see also Matthew 7:3-4). In Luke 13:3 and again in verse 5, Jesus assumes the sinfulness of all who listen to him. It would be the same in contemporary situations. People are sinners and it is a lot easier to speak judgmentally about the sin of people around me than to come clean about my own and to deal honestly with God regarding my own sin. To me, it is clear from all the passages I have cited or alluded to here that Jesus does not cotton to his followers self-righteously looking down on others. We are to love others and consider our own mistakes and repent. We are to be in a state of constantly turning to God.

Fred Craddock (Interpretation: Luke) writes that the question of 'why' assumed in Luke 13:2 is an ancient question "finding classic expression in Job, Pslam 37, and Psalm 73." Some people believe in this punishment theology so strongly, when they go through hardship they assume God is punishing them. Others, equally committed to this theology, believe it is wrong to help people who are under the burden of misfortune because they are being punished by God. Their poverty, their homelessness, their pain is God's hand of discipline and we mustn't interfere with what God is doing! That's not the way Jesus operated, but it is the way a lot of his followers seem to think.

Jesus announced God's favor on the poor, the maimed, the blind, the crippled (Luke 4:18). "That in itself should have broken any insistence that one's financial, social, or physical condition is always a direct reflection of one's spiritual state" (Craddock, p.168).

Craddock goes on to point out further that when we start trying to figure how God is punishing this guy or that guy, we are distracted from the primary issue: every person is obligated to live in repentance before God. "Life in the kingdom is not an elevated game of gaining favors and avoiding losses. Without repentance, all is lost anyway" (p.169). Walking with Jesus is not about gaining 'points,' or 'jewels in one's crown' as the saying goes.

The job of Jesus-followers is to proclaim forgiveness of sin in Christ and in the name of Christ to love the suffering people of the world. The closer we get to those who suffer, the closer we are to God.

Do people who claim to be Christian truly want to be close to God?

Five Reasons Today was a Great Day

First, my friend showed up at Bible study with the Green letter (eco-conscious) Bible. I am not an advocate of the Green Letter Bible, but in a recent blog I recommended people get study Bibles if it would prod them to open up scripture and read it. My friend thought I was succumbing to the latest liberal fad and he told me so. I rejoined that he ought to read it before he knocks it. Now, if he knocks it, I can't respond because I haven't read it. But, I am really just happy to be in a Bible study with a guy who is trying to hear God, trying to figure it out. That's very cool. I suspect he will still be more conservative than me, but that's fine. I hope we can learn from one another.

Second, a woman came into church and all I will say is someone in her family has been going through a lot. My wife and I have prayed often for that situation, as this woman has prayed frequently for us. Well, she said the family member had a really good day today. Lately that's been rare, and I could see in her eyes a lightness where there is usually burden. That was absolutely beautiful to see.

Third, a woman came into church pointing at me saying, "You said it! You said you wanted us (church members) to us our talents on the mission field, and I heard, and I am going." She went on to say how at her workplace there was a call out for people to go on mission to Uganda. She had the exact skill set needed. She knew the Holy Spirit (not me) was telling her to go. Then, she saw the price and knew it would be impossible. The next day, she got word that her skill set was in such demand, her department would pay her way. At that point, she had no choice and signed up. I feel so blessed to be a part of such mission-minded church. The prayer of commission (laying on of hands) is becoming a regular part of our worship we have so many people going!

Fourth, I had a good day with my son - from start to finish. This is huge because we've had our confrontations. I am extremely close to my little boy, but I am an intense person and he's strong-willed. Sometimes, we really clash. Today, we walked in great harmony and I am thankful.

Fifth, I was in a shopping center near our home when I happened to see someone who has been attending our church for some time. He told me he wants to join and he wants to be baptized! How awesome - a baptism. This is what we are all about.


As a bonus, my aunt and grandmother came over to join my dad and the boys and I. And tomorrow, my wife comes home. Yes, it has been a good day.

Upended

The book of Job came from a distinct theological worldview. To oversimplify it, if one does what is right, God will bless that person. If one does what is wrong, God will inflict suffering on him. Job suffered immeasurably. Therefore, Job must have sinned horribly.

Job’s friends along with the young critic Elihu insist on this theological worldview. Job, also a product of this worldview, cannot accept it. Whatever he may have done wrong, he knows the suffering imposed mercilessly upon him is not his fault. By insisting that what everyone has known to be true isn’t true, Job stumbles into a radical paradigm shift. It seems to him that God in fact does not punish the evildoers and reward the righteous. God is arbitrary and Job is suffering needlessly.

In the end, Job is vindicated. God does not agree with the numerous accusations Job hurled heavenward. God does not affirm what Job has said. God affirms that Job’s theological orientation was correct. Job remained pointed toward God. In that he wa sin the right. Furthermore, God does crush the presumption of the theology piously voiced by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.

And strangely, three are never heard from the final chapter. In Job 42, we see no mention of Satan. Elihu has nothing left to say and is not even so much as an afterthought. And, Job’s wife does not reappear. Curious.

Even more unexpected is the rush of characters we have not met to this point. Is it appropriate to be introducing new people, 41½ chapters into a 42-chapter book?

“All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to his house and dined with him in his house. They offered him sympathy and comfort concerning all the adversity the LORD had brought on him. Each one gave him a qesitah, and a gold earring” (42:11).

Where were the relatives when Job’s life fell to pieces? On the one hand, they didn’t judge him theologically the way his friends and Elihu did. Moreover, they didn’t discourage him the way his wife did. Nor did they doubt him as Satan had. On the other hand, they didn’t help him until now. The financial gifts (a qesitah is a monetary unit of unknown value) would secure his future. But why didn’t this extended family provide a defense against the onslaught of theological harangues from the three and young Elihu?

I think the reason is they couldn’t. These family and friend who obviously loved Job and had no heart to accuse him even if he had turned out to be in sin weren’t ready to question the theological assumptions that ruled their world. The theology of retribution (diving rewards for righteous behavior, divine damnation for sinful behavior) was the rule of faith. The book of Job was a minority voice, an alternative theological vision for the faith community circa 5^th century BCE.

The paradigm shift is artistically displayed in the final lines where we learn that Job fathers 10 more children. Already this book has stepped way outside of what had been established and accepted lines. Already this book has declared that everything we assumed about God isn’t all there is to know about Him. God exceeds our knowledge and all of us – the criminal and the saint, the scholar and the barroom brawler, the street urchin and the king are small in God’s presence. That’s understating it. We are miniscule in God’s presence.

Still, God notices us and takes interest in us. And, God loves us (though it would be stretching credulity to claim that Job asserts God’s compassionate love for us). Reading Job alongside Song of Songs, we know God is a passionate lover. Reading both books alongside Genesis 1-2, we know humankind is the apple of God’s eye. Indirectly, Job 38-41 does affirm this.

The final step out of convention’s established walls comes in Job 42:14-15. Job’s three daughters are awarded an inheritance along with his seven sons. That did not happen in the ancient world. Furthermore, of Job’s 10 children, the only ones the narrator bothered to name were the daughters. There’s no reason given for not naming the sons. The final word is a whimsical, quizzical way of reminding the reader, if the message hasn’t already gotten through, question everything. Theological rules won’t contain God. Assumed truths cannot be trusted. To know God, one must commit to holiness (virtuous living) and fallback on prayer when holiness fails. And it is more important that the prayer be embarrassingly honest than properly orthodox. It is more important that prayer from the heart than from the rule book.

I believe that is the final word in Job.